Campaign Themes and Recommended Reading

Campaign Style

I figured that everyone would appreciate taking a more in-depth look to the storytelling of the Shadows over Cyre and its running themes. Our campaign is not just a part of Eberron but distinct in its own right. This attempts to give some depth to our already interesting and unique setting.

Moods

Bleakness is the prevailing mood of Khorvaire in the Shadows over Cyre. The Next War is just around the horizon and Ben Greywood's visions mixed with other prophecy just reinforce that another conflict is an inescapable fact of existence. The Mournland is approximately thirty miles away from Castle Shadowfast and is no further than Gondor is from Mordor. No one in the city can deny the memory of the Last War and the inevitability of death with such an embodiment in the near distance.

Defiance is another strange mood as the characters continue to struggle against the evils all around them despite the fact that they are better equipped, more skilled, and endless in number. The type of heroism is very two fisted Pulp type as befitting the kind of adventures from the period before World War 2. Nevertheless, there's always a mild aftertaste to the heroism as if the victory was not as complete as it could be.

Campaign Themes

Trauma: is a major theme of the setting as very few of the heroes are people who are whole human beings. Victims of the Last War, former villains, alcoholics, ex-slaves, and vengeance seeking avengers make up the bulk of the heroes. There is very little joy in the heroes as they are motivated by a need to lash out as much as the belief they can make things better.

Innocence: The Shadows over Cyre has a rather curious proliferation of innocent characters. Marie, Samantha, and Aurra are people that tend to be in stark contrast to the rest of the survivors of the Last War due to the fact that the worst of the Last War never touched them. They're a pleasant reminder that the horror of life of THIS generation doesn't necessarilly need to affect the NEXT generation. This one is beyond salvation but the future doesn't have to be cursed for the future.

Arcane: One oddity of our Eberron is that the magic is much more Howardian than Lovecraftian. There is a distinct difference between the "Magic as Technology" that proliferates and the Ancient Magic of the Rajahs, Dragons, Demons, and others. Sorcery and creatures have a distinctly dark edge to them that is more than purely functional. Many weird mysteries and horrors are lying about this place.

Intrigue: The SOC's Eberron is extraordinarily political. There's wheels within wheels, intrigue, and secret societies filling every nook and cranny. The heroes can't hope to undo all of it but they have the potential for blunting some of the constant plots going on around them. The map from the Treaty of Thronehold doesn't remotely resemble the political description of the world.

Zanniness: While disconnected thoroughly from the main narrative, there's a good deal of screwball comedy that seems to rather underscore the place. Don't blame me, I blame the fact that Ari and Reade warp reality around them with Brella being blessed of the Traveler.

Recommended Viewing

Fitting our concepts of the game storyline, here is a few mood setting pieces for our game.

Anime

* Berserk

For it's mixture of intrigue, politics, and the horrific nature of magic. Eberron is significantly more advanced than the Medieval setting depicted here but the relationship with the dark elements of sorcery is pretty damn accurate.

* Full Metal Alchemist: The Conquerors of Shambala

Oddly, the rest of Full Metal Alchemist is significantly more upbeat even if it has its unrelentingly Dark moments. Only the movie pretty much perfectly reflects how damned depressing Caer Shadowfast is. Frankly, I'd say FMA is everywhere in Eberron BUT Shadowfast while the movie is squarely in it.

* Hellsing

While it applies little to us, the Hellsing Organization is pretty much lifted directly for describing Karrnath's Secret Service.

* Mobile Suit Gundam

The classic mecha for establishing the predominant theme of war being something that nobody ever seems to actually win but everyone seems to be extremely eager to participate inside. Cassius is almost a tailor made villain from it.

* Vampire Hunter D

Obviously.

Books

* From Hell

Much better than the movie adaptation, a stirring tale of intrigue and secret society style activity that is just business as usual in Victorian Sharn.

* Hamlet and Macbeth

Two of Shakespeare's works that are odd but classic sources to draw from. Pretty much they're Eberron's nutshell of how already messed up situations are made much worse by supernatural intrusion.

* H.P. Lovecraft

Eberron is a heroic Pulp Setting, so it's POSSIBLE to fight against the ancient horrors beneath the surface of the world. Still, the forces below are so unimaginably powerful and alien that its often difficult to fathom how victory can be achieved. To better describe this, not even Khorvaire's greatest sages like admitting that the Great Old Ones exist. They prefer to pretend they're human-like demons and archdevils.

* Vampire Hunter D Novels

I heartily recommend these, even more than the animes.

Movies

* Bladerunner

A curious work for the depiction of our Warforged but reflecting the Noir sensibilities of our established game.

* The Name of the Rose

I heartilly recommend it for the fact its a great work on Church Politics, Murder, Isolation, but also has Sean Connery.

* Van Helsing

Now if only the movie had actually been good....

Video Games

* Castlevania

Pretty much a direct lift for describing the peculiar relationship between Karrnath and one band of Vampire Hunters.

* Metal Gear series

Not just for the Rupin connection but describing the fact that the politics and supernatural are incredibly densely packed into the tale of one man trying to blow up an extremely large walking tank on foot.