Exploring Eberron is the new 240+ page sourcebook from Keith Baker (and company) that expands on Eberron lore, now available on the DMs Guild as a PDF or Print-on-Demand hardcover.
This article is one of a series looking at the contents of the book. I am uncomfortable with calling it a “review” as I have not used the material in play; instead, these are my impressions of the product. This article covers the Uncharted Domains chapter, which describes several lands and nations of which little has been said in previous products: Droam, Dhakaan, the Mror Holds, and the Thunder Sea.
Here are the chapters in this work:
- Discovering Eberron
- Races of Eberron
- Faiths of Eberron
- Uncharted Domains
- Planes of Existence
- Character Options
- Treasures
- Friends and Foes
Droaam
Droaam is one of the newer nations to come out of the Last War and is inhabited by monsters of all sorts. Exploring Eberron presents a description of its history, its rulers, and an overview of how everything works.
However, because Droaam is a nation full of monster races, ruled by warlords and with incredibly diverse areas, the section tends to lack many specific examples of settlements or life in the country. It does cover overall descriptions of the various monster cultures that live in the areas, and this works moderately well for me. However, I find the nation’s rulers, a coven of hags, fascinating and well done. The Daughters of Droam are lovely gifts to a DM: characters that can work as either patrons or foes. Exploring Eberron devotes significant space to each of them, which makes them unique individuals with goals that may or may not be in the adventurers’ interests.
Apart from the Daughters, the group that gets the most detail is the Gnolls of the Znir Pact, mercenaries who serve various warlords in Droaam. This group has much potential. The description of the tolerance of the gnolls is priceless: “They don’t judge people by appearance or by their beliefs; just as they put up with demon-worshiping minotaurs in Droaam, a Znir hwyri can work alongside a templar of the Silver Flame or a warforged paladin of Dol Arrah.”
The book also includes a few suggestions for using Droaam in a campaign; amusingly, every single one of them begins with “P”: “Patrons”, “Peculiar Needs”, “Peering into the Past”, “Politics”, and “Pursuit”!
The Heirs of Dhakaan
Goblins. It is all about the goblins in Dhakaan.
The description of the goblins works brilliantly for me. The goblins had a great empire, but it fell under the assault of the daelkyr, with their curses twisting goblins into the creatures we know today.
However, not all the goblins of the empire descended into savagery. Some locked themselves away in underground vaults and are only now returning to the surface – wanting to regain their civilisation and appalled by what they have found!
I love this! This background can form the basis of entire campaigns. As each vault’s goblins have different specialities and goals, their differences in opinion breed conflict and the potential for fun scenarios. An extensive section aids players in creating backgrounds and personalities for characters from the region.
So, how many campaigns will DMs set here?
The Mror Holds
The dwarves of the Mror Holds love telling stories about their past, according to Exploring Eberron, but they do not bother with pesky little details like what really happened. This greatly amuses me.
A portion of the text discusses what it means to be a player character dwarf from this part of the world. It then examines the adventure opportunities available in the area. As the dwarves are in a war with the aberrations of the underworld beneath them, this is another part of Eberron that could easily have a campaign devoted to it.
Several pages describe the thirteen clans of the dwarves; twelve clans that still exist and one that has disappeared. What has happened to Noldrun, the Lost Clan? We do not know. Exploring Eberron does not answer this; the individual DM must determine it for their campaign.
For DMs who want to create adventures set below the holds, in the war against the aberrations, Exploring Eberron has a few ideas as to what they might do. These include story hooks, goals, and a view of the monsters and environment of the Realm Below. While a few specifics are detailed, such as trinkets adventurers might find in Sol Udar, this is primarily an overview. It is good material, though. Things are often described ambiguously, as with the Lost Clan, leaving it open to DMs to decide which of the legends are accurate and which are tales told by dwarves.
The Thunder Sea
The final section of this chapter describes the environment beneath the Thunder Sea, where sea elves, merfolk and sahuagin contend for dominance with other strange creatures.
You have details here on the culture of those three denizens of the deep, as well as various plot hooks to make them attractive for adventurers to visit. A large portion of text describes the Eternal Dominion of the Sahuagin; I find it unusual that this section at times speaks to the reader as if they were playing a sahuagin. To me, the sahuagin are the final enemies of the Saltmarsh trilogy; I am unused to sahuagin as a playable race. It is a later chapter that gives rules for playing a sahuagin – and it is not what you might expect! (Exploring Eberron allows you to play malenti, which use the stats of whatever race they resemble. The book suggests using the locathah stats in Locathah Rising to play a normal sahaugin).
The details on the Thunder Sea appeal to me even more, especially the concept of the Kar’lassa – giant beasts dreaming on the bottom of the sea. They have links to the planes and are beings of legend and wonder, rarely fought but often admired and studied. I love their potential.
General Notes and Conclusion
There are a few odd decisions in this chapter for how it presents information. With the space restrictions, there was no way that it could go into the detail I would like in some areas. However, mixing up player character information with DM information is not something I recommend. I would prefer the player-facing material to appear later in the book. It better appearing in a section playing races, rather than with information that is primarily for the DM’s eyes.
Each of these areas is quite distinct and should provide fascinating material for campaigns. As you might gather, I prefer the lands of the Mror Holds and the Heirs of Dhakaan, but what is important is the range of areas presented; one man’s views on how underwater adventures do not excite him does not help those of you who love underwater play!
The main thing to consider is how happy you are with a more general overview rather than specifics: this is inspiration; it will not do the work of adventure design for you. I am happy where it sits, but this is more of an overview than a deep dive into any of the areas. It is still significantly more than we have seen!