An Interview With Keith Baker

The Eberron campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons was a collaborative effort, but it originated in the mind of longtime gaming fan and writer Keith Baker. His concept for a world of swashbuckling adventure and deep intrigue had the right combination of originality and percieved staying power to win Wizards of the Coast's Setting Search competition in 2002. Keith has seen the world of Eberron grow from his original one-page pitch to a 100-page treatment and a 288-page sourcebook.

Nearly two years later, the Eberron campaign setting book is just a few months away. While Keith is currently busy with several ongoing projects, he takes time to post on message boards and chat with D&D fans about the upcoming campaign setting. Keith was kind enough to share a few words with me about the upcoming release in the interview below.

Eberron is less than five months away. How are you feeling about it right now? What kind of reaction have you heard from gamers so far?

I've been working on it for so long now that it's really quite difficult for me to imagine it ever coming out! It's been wonderful being able to start telling people about it, but it is of course difficult not being able to spill all the beans. As for the reaction, there are still a lot of people who hate the whole idea -- generally evenly divided between people who say "There's nothing original about this setting" and those who say "This setting is far too bizarre and unusual to succeed." However, over the last two months, more and more people have been showing an interest in the world, and at this point the yay-sayers far outnumber the nay-sayers. So, nothing for it but to cross my fingers and hope people enjoy it when it finally comes out.

What aspects of Eberron do you think will be most attractive to veteran D&D players?

That's a challenging question. I think if you as a half dozen veteran gamers what they like about D&D you'll get six different answers. One thing is our goal of giving the different elements of the game a logical place in the world. To take psionics, as an example: Eberron is not a psionics-heavy world. If you wanted to play a campaign without psionics, it's easy to do. But if you want to play a psion, there are a few nations you could trace your lineage to, and even a naturally psionic race. It's not a question of "So, am I just this random guy who for some reason has psionic powers when no-one else does? Or what?" Likewise, there is a basis for having dungeons in the world, even right under the player's noses.

Another element of this is the Last War, the conflict that has just come to an end. For players who like story or roleplaying, this provides a host of opportunities for character backstory and an explanation of why you're an adventurer in the first place. Did you fight in the war? Who for? How does this color your attitude towards the various nations of the world? Did you lose friends or family, or make deadly enemies that may come back to haunt you? Many people won't care about these things and will simply want to get out there and start kicking in dungeon doors. But for the people who what a deeper roleplaying experience, Eberron supports that.

I suspect that some people will really like action points, whereas other veterans will hate them just because they're something new. But they do provide players with a host of options, and they also let you try things you normally just might not risk; they have really added a little more energy to my game. And hey, if you don't want to use 'em, don't use 'em.

What about Eberron will make it accessible for new players?

Well, one obvious thing is that the world is just starting out. You buy one book and you know everything there is to know. I think that the Realms can be somewhat intimidating to new players just because of the sheer volume of its history. But that's obviously a temporary thing. Beyond that, I think that Eberron has a few solid central elements that are very easy for people to get a handle on, like the war. It also uses a lot of classic pulp archetypes - explore the unknown! Battle villainous masterminds! Or, if you're more interested in the noir end of things, fight greed and corruption in the darkest alleys of Sharn! There are a lot of high concepts that a new player can jump on as a foundation for her character.

What has it been like working with the folks at Wizards of the Coast? What's been the biggest surprise to you during the Eberron development process?

Well, I'm used to working alone, and it's obviously a very different experience. There are certainly things in Eberron that would be different if it had been entirely in my hands. But that's not a bad thing; some of my favorite elements of the world actually evolved out of the brainstorming sessions with James Wyatt, Bill Slavicsek, and Christopher Perkins that occurred after Eberron was chosen. They are all brilliant writers and designers. James came up with some wonderful game mechanics for the corebook, and reading Bill's chapters, I find myself saying "Dang, I wish I'D written that" a lot. I've worked most closely with James Wyatt, since we collaborated on a sourcebook in addition to the Campaign Setting Book, and it's always great to just get into a conversation and start throwing ideas around. In some ways, I feel guilty saying that Eberron is "my" world, because everyone involved has brought a lot of good ideas to the table.

Do you have any plans for future Eberron sourcebooks, such as a book detailing aquatic adventures in Eberron?

As I said, James Wyatt and I have already completed an Eberron sourcebook, and I certainly hope to work on additional projects in the future. I want to try to make time to post additional information on my website, as well, since there are lots and lots of different ideas that we just didn't have time to develop in the world. The original Eberron proposal did include more details on the aquatic nations (since that's another exotic environment to explore), but I don't think that WotC has any plans to explore that element of things in the near future.

Do you expect any Eberron material, such as the new PC races and basic classes, to eventually become part of other D&D settings?

We've said all along that Eberron is full of material that can be plundered for other campaigns. Even if you don't like the world, there's no reason you couldn't drop shifters into the High Forest. Now, would these ever officially become part of those worlds? Would you see a warforged in a Realms novel? Probably not, but you never know.

You've published a lot of other RPG products since Eberron was chosen for the Setting Search. Which of these would you recommend most highly to folks who are interested in Eberron?

If I had to pick one, I'd go with Crime & Punishment, published by Atlas Games. This is an in-depth look at law, investigation, and bounty hunting in a fantasy setting, and there's a lot of ideas that could be pulled directly into an Eberron game. My second favorite is probably the Oneiromancy chapter in Atlas Games' Occult Lore. Part of Eberron's cosmology ties to dreams, and when I have a moment I'll have to write up something about using Oneiromancy -- which deals both with actual dream magic and more general adventuring in dreams -- in Eberron.

Without violating your non-disclosure agreement, can you give us any highlights from your own Eberron campaign?

Five ducks in a battlesuit. Oh, wait - that's a highlight from my Over the Edge campaign. The main thing that comes to mind from my Eberron campaign is "Dang, I wish I was PLAYING this!" Though I'd have to play an entire party to play all the different characters I'd want to play! Otherwise - it's hard to come up with specific good stories when so little information has been released. Ask me again in a month!

Don't worry, I will. Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts!