I’ve been traveling, preparing for PAX, and struggling to keep up with my regular workload this week, so I haven’t had chance to post on a new subject this week… and with PAX less than 48 hours and the length of a continent away, I don’t see it happening until next week. However, I have a topic in mind, so check back next week… and if you’re at PAX, I hope I’ll see you at one of my panels!

Are you going to PAX Prime is September? I am, and if you’re going to be there, here’s my schedule of events. The Basics of Good Game Design (Friday, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM, Wolfman Theatre) Veteran designers James Ernest and Keith Baker have designed nearly every type of game imaginable. Board games? Pen and paper roleplaying? MMORPGs? Transparent gothic storytelling card games? Button based fighting games? They’ve done it. Join them for a discussion of the underlying principles of good game design, and a few laughs as well. The Evolution of RPGs  (Saturday, 5:00 PM –...

I said I was going to try to post one Eberron FAQ a week. Well, apparently the week starts on Tuesday. Enjoy. QUESTION ONE The Emerald Claw as a group, are they criminals and outlaws in all of Khorvaire or just Karrnath? The Emerald Claw is essentially an onion… an organization with many layers. At its heart you have the members of the original chivalric order – elite  soldiers, wizards, and necromancers dedicated to Karrnath and the Blood  of Vol. These people were some of the finest soldiers in the war. From the 4E ECG: “Its members have been praised for bravery, innovation,...

Sadly, as a freelancer I have a limited amount of time to answer questions and post on boards. So I’m going to start an archive of frequently asked questions here on HDWT… about once a week, though no promises. Feel free to send questions to me here, on Facebook, or to Hellcowkeith on Twitter. This week’s question concerns Eberron dragonshards. I’m running an Eberron campaign and I can’t find any clarification in any of the Eberron books as to what benefit an Eberron shard provides when crafting it into a typical magic item. By the Rules As Written, not much. From...

Long ago, Offworld Designs produced a Gloom t-shirt featuring the Cadaverous Child; there’s still a few left, and it’s a great deal if you can fit in them. I love my Cadaverous Child shirt, but OWD is phasing them out. So Atlas and I have been talking about putting up a few new Gloom shirts at the Atlas Zazzle store. What we want to know is: If we made three Gloom shirts, what would you want to see on them? A few basics to work with: Shirts will be singlesided to keep costs down. Characters seem like an obvious choice, and I’d follow the Cadaverous Child example of using the character’s...

So my earlier post asked if people would rather see something entirely new that might stand on its own, or material that could be easily adapted to Eberron. A few people said “Well, what would ’something new’ actually be?” Good question. I’ve got no shortage of projects I’m interested in. Most likely I would turn to Kickstarter as a way to see what people were actually interested in. But here’s a few possibilities. A New Fantasy World. This is the broadest project, but one I’m certainly interested in doing… going back to the drawing board and...

So here’s a question for folks. There’s lots of subjects I’d like to cover in Eberron, but I don’t know if there’s ever going to be an opportunity to do it officially. It would certainly be possible to use a site such as Kickstarter to fund a small sourcebook or four. The question is which people would rather see: the development of a completely new world from scratch, or the exploration of Eberron in a “generic” fashion. What do I mean by “Generic”? Well, I’d love to write about the Dhakaani… to present player options for Goblin...

For the last few years, I’ve always set aside a few hours at GenCon to hang out in the Hyatt lobby to chat with anyone who wants to talk about Eberron or anything else. I’m not actually doing any sort of official talks this year, so if you have any burning Eberron questions this year, this would be the place. My plan is to hang out in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency from 4 PM to 6 PM on Friday – if you’re free, stop by!

I made things difficult for myself this week. It means a lot to me to hear what different people enjoy about the setting. But there were many great responses, and no single right answer. I enjoyed Kell’s decision to give his answer in-character. Michael Pfaff’s insight as a veteran was intriguing. I laughed at Cheryl’s complaints about her boyfriend’s efforts to get her into the setting – I had to endure his leaving Inquisitives novels by my bed, or him suddenly exclaiming, “Whoa, she turned into a dragon!…And then she ate that guy!” So how to choose between...

We have two seats left, but with just over a week until GenCon, I don’t want to push the time. So we’re going to have a lightning round… one question, two winners, chosen next Monday. Once again, the game will be at Sunday at 11 AM; if you feel like answering but aren’t in the running for a seat, please clearly state this with your answer. Most of our previous questions have been turned on storytelling skill. This time, we want a more general question. I want to know: What’s your favorite thing about Eberron? Good luck!