Eberron Races and Magic

Eberron has a number of setting-specific races and new types of magic items. See below for details.

Common Races

New Races

Magic

Magic, in particular, is different in the Eberron setting than in normal Pathfinder. Eberron is built upon the premise that arcane magic behaves as a science and would thus become integrated into the world in a scientific manner. But one of the other basic principles of Eberron is that high-level characters are rare… and this ties to the magic that’s available. A few basic principles to consider:

  • In comparing Eberron to our world, it is closer to the late 19th century than to the present day. Eberrron has magical equivalents to the telegraph and the railroad and is just getting started with air travel. But Eberron doesn’t have widespread equivalents to automobiles, telephones, or the like.
  • Wide magic generally includes effects that mimic spells of up to third level. Spell effects of up to fifth level – teleportation, raise dead, cloudkill – are known, but rare. Higher level effects are still “magical.”
  • Making a breakthrough in magic is exactly as difficult as making a breakthrough in science. Why hasn’t someone invented an airship anyone can fly? Because they haven’t figured out how to do it, just like WE haven’t figured out cold fusion or time travel.

If we accept that these are basic principles of magic – that in Eberron they have figured out how to use magic to produce these effects using trivial (cantrip) amounts of magic – and you have the principles you need to create magical counterparts to the refrigerator (chill food), microwave (warm food), vacuum cleaner (clean room), lighter (firestarter) and washing machine (clean clothes). But these things won’t look like modern day tools, and they won’t act like them. Instead of a vacuum cleaner, there might be a broom that sweeps itself, of a fancier whisk broom that simply vaporizes dirt when you wave it over a floor. Such items won’t be cheap, but they also needn’t be ridiculously expensive; what you’re talking about is an object that only does a sliver of an effect of a cantrip.

Some examples of common magic items that are familiar to most people in the world of Eberron:

  • A chill stone, which keeps items cool when placed in a container and keeps perishables from expiring.
  • The everbright lamp, commonly used to light public spaces.
  • A lumen lamp, with a dial that can set the light to intensities from candle to lamp.
  • A purifying pot, which can destroy diseases, parasites, or poisons in any liquid within.
  • A searing stone, which when set on a flat surface can heat one side hot enough to cook food.
  • A witch weaver- a loom that can automatically make fabric from whatever thread is fed into it.

Also of note are the various enchanted fabrics that are not extremely magical but can produce illusory effects, such as glamerweave, darkweave, and shiftweave.

Eberron Races and Magic

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