Races of Eberron

I asked ChatGPT to generate an image of the four Eberron races, warforged, shifter, kalashtar and changeling. I wasn't sure if it would actually be able to parse that, but it did OK. The changeling is the only one that it didn't really understand, and I wasn't super pleased with either the shifter or the kalashter, but y'know. Whatever. It's just to add visual interest to the post.

I've been reading Races of Eberron and I'm reminded once again that I'm not really a huge fan of the signature races. Even the ones where I like the concept, I'm often not a fan of the mechanics, which are often more fiddly than I'd like. Let me talk about the four races and tell you what I think of them.

Warforged: I don't like the concept of the warforged, actually. They are probably the most signature of the signature races. They're really kind of a pain to use, though. From a roleplaying perspective, they aren't necessarily a bad idea. but I'm not really a fan of them. Fantasy robots animated by magic. They have much of the exact same vibe as emancipated robots in many science fiction settings. But mostly I just find that the mechanics of playing them are kind of a pain, and the concept doesn't fit D&D to me, and I just don't really like or care for them. I can, however, at least understand why they're important to the setting, and why someone who doesn't mind the mechanical nonsense around healing and whatever might find the idea of roleplaying one to be interesting. 

Shifter: This is one that I've always really love the concept of the race, but it's also a bit complicated to build, with lots of things to choose from; but if you set it up where it's a pretty standard shift, kind of like a barbarian rage, then it probably works OK. I do like the concept of a "wild man", whether associated with lycanthropy like the shifters or not a lot. It's really up my alley (although I don't love the image ChatGPT just gave me. I'm going to guess that that character is shifted which is why she looks more inhuman.) Their communities of xenophobic introverts who hang out in the forest and avoid everyone else doesn't really lend itself to being eminently role-playable, but I guess maybe that kind of depends on the campaign.

Changeling: This is another great roleplaying race, if you want to play a disguised spy or something. However, I can tell you by personal experience that you have to be careful to validate that your campaign will actually accommodate your concept, or you'll be pretty disappointed. My changeling rogue in Age of Worms wasn't meant to be a trap-finding, lockpicking scout, but more of a con artist and disguised spy or criminal type, but it turns out that that didn't matter at all, and I couldn't use the character the way that I intended to. That's the one that I ended up retiring shortly after getting to Greyhawk City and replacing with my shifter barbarian/ranger/stuff character. In most respects, he was more straightforward, at least from a roleplaying perspective. I had a prestige class that basically gave me the Pounce ability, and I'd just shift and rage and jump in and do maximum damage as fast as I could. I'm still a little bit regretful that I didn't get the roleplaying opportunity to play the changeling that I wanted to. I've also seen a changeling rogue played without any particular roleplaying hook; he just liked to use his disguise ability to impersonate enemies and do stuff like that. I think this is a pretty fun race.

Kalashtar: I don't care for this one, and it really doesn't feel like it belongs. Because their whole thing is that they're from the other side of the world, but a few of them have started to trickle into the main Eberron area (Khorvaire) I've always felt like they came across as very tacked on, and they don't really have much of a place in the normal setting that isn't kind of forced. Also, the weird, peaceful "shaolin monk elves" kind of vibe that they give off is one that I don't like. I do like that the guys, Keith Baker and whomever else he worked with on this one, deliberately wanted to find a race that was set up to use the psionics rules, but I think the decision to make them too foreign and really associated with Sarlona, which is far enough away to almost be it's own sub-setting that's not really related to Khorvaire except by awkward fiat. 

I'd really like to finish Races of Eberron this week, and maybe I can get quite a bit read while traveling. I'm taking tomorrow off to drop my wife off at the airport, but I actually don't have to take her until late afternoon. It's about an hour and a half to two hour one-way drive, depending on traffic. so I'll still have most of the day to sleep in, maybe pack my bag, or at least half of it, and have a couple of hours to read before I have to do that. And then I travel the next day, but again it's late in the day, so I'll sleep in, finish any last minute packing (like my toiletries that I'll still need to use) and I'll still have some time. With any luck, I'll actually finish it before I leave, and I can pack it away and read something else on the flight.