Character Classes | Creatures | Deities | Playable Races
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Unique Races of Eberron
Warforged
- 24-Hour Armor:
- In 3.5e they have built-in "composite plating" which grants a small armor bonus (and can be enchanted as magic armor) but restricts their movement less than actual armor. They can also select feats at 1st level which grant various heavier types of plating or remove it altogether. The Reforged Prestige Class also permanently removes their plating as part of their efforts to be more like humans.
- In 5e, the warforged stats in Rising from the Last War include the ability to meld with a suit of armor over the course of 1 hour, preventing it from being removed against their will.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Zig-zagged. Most of them want to lead a peaceful, constructive, fulfilling life alongside their organic fellows, and are no more prone to evil than a human or elf is. However, the Lord of Blades and his followers are a Reconstruction, being based more on Hitler than Skynet.
- Ban on A.I.: The Treaty of Thronehold which granted warforged personhood also made it illegal to construct new warforged, and required all existing creation forges to be shut down. However, Merrix d'Cannith II secretly continues to develop new experimental models, and the Lord of Blades may or may not have managed to reactivate one of the creation forges lost to the Mournland.
- Become a Real Boy: The objective of the Reforged, warforged who wear clothes, exaggerate their emotions and pretend to eat, sleep and get drunk, the better to fit in among the humanoid races. Some find them charming (their associated Prestige Class gains a bonus to social skills), while others find them an unsettling caricature of "real people".
- Born as an Adult: Downplayed. While their bodies don't grow, Depending on the Writer they have a brief "childhood" period in which they learn at a greatly accelerated pace, explaining how warforged who are only 1 year old can already have multiple character levels. Under other writers, they are simply imbued with these skills at the time of creation.
- Breakout Character: The Warforged are the most famous and iconic of all Eberron's unique races, even getting lifted from that setting and ported into the Nentir Vale setting.
- Chrome Champion: Monster Manual V introduces the mercurions, huge and incredibly powerful constructs of living quicksilver who share the warforged's living construct type. While their setting-neutral origin is a Freak Lab Accident involving smiths in the service of Surtr, they have an extended "In Eberron" adaptation section connecting them to the creation forges of ancient Xen'drik.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: A variant. Various character options for warforged allow them to distance themselves from the "living" part of "living construct", becoming Golem-like beings with many immunities. However, most of these have costs such as penalising their social skills or taking away their ability to be affected by healing magic.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Now that they have the option to actually exercise their free will without being hunted down for desertion, the Warforged seek a way to make their lives significant. Naturally, this makes them ideal adventurers.
- Distinguishing Mark: For reasons no one understands, the process of animating a warforged always causes them to manifest a ghulra - a mark on their forehead as unique as a fingerprint. Ghulra is said to be a dwarven word meaning "truth", a nod to the emeth of Golem lore.
- Exposed Extraterrestrials: Zig-Zagged. Most models of warforged cannot benefit from armor or magic robes, and many are comfortable going without. They can also equip warforged components as an alternative to standard items which maintain the "mechanical" look, and they don't even need to wear clothes to receive Status Buffs from an artificer (since their own body is a valid enchantment target). However, warforged can still benefit from Magical Accessories like hats or cloaks, and some go further for the sake of fashion or fitting in; the artwork for an example member of the Reforged prestige class verges on Pimp Duds.
- Flawed Prototype: The warforged titans, early "non-living" warforged models with the approximate size and mental capacity of elephants. The Forge of War claims that House Cannith was attempting to create an intelligent version of the Awesome, but Impractical "mechanical soldiers" that they had produced for King Jarot before the Last War, and that the titan model's enormous size was not for tactical purposes but due to difficulty in miniaturising the added functions.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: The original 3.5e warforged, being the face of a setting "designed from the ground up for the D&D 3.5 ruleset", have this in spades:
- Lv1 warforged uniquely have younger starting ages for "trained" classes than "intuitive" ones, reflecting how their initial skills come not from years of experience but are instilled within a short period of time after birth (with newer curriculums being more refined than older ones).
- Warforged are arguably less compatible with Sorcerer than any other class, since sorcerers both need high Charisma to cast spells (warforged have a Charisma penalty) and don't benefit much from the warforged racial abilities that other Charisma-based classes would find useful. This ties into how sorcerer powers are connected to magical bloodlines, something which constructed beings like warforged can only approximate.
- While warforged abilities are useful in the hands of a PC, they are incredibly useful in the context of large-scale fantasy military logistics, handily justifying their popularity as soldiers. This ranges from reduced need for a supply chain (their equipment maintenance kits even double as first-aid kits), to their ability to run non-stop or along improbable routes like riverbeds to avoid detection, to No Selling common Deadly Gas spells which would normally wreak havoc on troop formations, to depriving enemy Necromancers of resources and intelligence (since an inert warforged is technically not a corpse).
- The Generation Gap: Magic of Eberron introduces the psiforged, an illegally-constructed new generation of warforged with frames designed to boost Psychic Powers. As all known psiforged were created after the Day of Mourning, they lack any connection with the default warforged experience (fighting in the Last War as a piece of military hardware rather than a person) and can struggle to understand other warforged or why their race occupies the place it does in the world.
- Giant Scrap Robot: The ancient "quorcraft warforged" have this appearance, and are mindless but slightly tougher and harder-hitting than their modern counterparts.
- Item Caddy: Mildly associated with the Artificer class (which they were introduced alongside), and the most famous warforged - the villainous Lord of Blades - is usually depicted as one. The two also have some special interactions; in particular a warforged can treat their own body as an item for the purpose of artificer Status Buffs which work by turning a worn item into a temporary Magical Accessory.
- Job-Stealing Robot: After the Last War, warforgeds' ability to work non-stop without fatigue (along with a general willingness to follow orders) resulted in a number of employers finding them far more attractive than labourers of other races. One supplement even has artwork of an anti-warforged protest composed of people who lost their jobs to the constructs. Downplayed in 4e and 5e, where warforged's nature as The Needless is reduced and these protests are Ret Conned to be more about Fantastic Racism.
- Liminal Being: Modern warforged (but not their prototypes, nor apparently their ancient predecessors) are constructs with the "living construct" subtype. Their artificial bodies have a complex internal structure which includes fluids similar to blood and tissues composed of imported livewood (a tree that remains alive after being cut down), allowing them to be somewhat affected by things which affect living beings. Certain character options allow warforged to lean further into the organic or inorganic sides of their nature, and spells like humanoid essence and construct essence can temporarily push them closer to one side or the other.
- Magically Inept Fighter: In 3.5e their composite plating causes them to run into Armor and Magic Don't Mix; worse for warforged with feats which upgrade them to heavier plating, but negated entirely for those with Unarmored Body.
- Because druids can't cast spells while wearing metal, warforged normally cannot use their abilities. In place of Unarmored Body they can also take Darkwood Body to remove this issue while gaining a modest defensive boost.
- Arcane spellcasters like wizards and sorcerers have their Magical Gestures constrained by armor. However, the chance of arcane spell failure for plating is only 5%, which can be suppressed by armor enchantments like twilight or even just ignored. Sorcerers are worse off due to the warforged's Charisma penalty... which makes sense, since warforged don't have any ancestors to inherit sorcerer potential from.
- Magitek: Their entire race is the product of industrial scale magic to create artificial soldiers.
- Mecha Expansion Pack: Can dock magic items called "warforged components" to their bodies for various benefits. Examples include weapons like the Battlefist, Armbow and Armblade, movement options like the Traction Claws and Winged Cape, and utility items like the Tracker Mask (enhances their sense of smell) and Final Messenger (a message-delivery drone which can record what the bearer sees, and activates automatically if they are slain).
- Mechanical Lifeform: They are constructed from an intricate combination of inorganic material and artifice magic, courtesy of House Cannith. Unlike most versions of this trope, they're technically not mechanical; underneath a skin of steel or stone plates, warforged are made of soft woody "muscles" and stone "bones".
- Meditation Powerup: In 3.5e they do not sleep and cannot recover Hit Points by resting, but the "Harmonious Form" option in City of Stormreach lets warforged monks learn to do so through meditation (replacing the monk's otherwise redundant immunity to disease). 4e and 5e make this a standard racial ability.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Warforged creation forges were based on Lost Technology discovered on Xen'drik, but their exact origin is unclear; similar constructs appear to have been created both by the giants as workers/soldiers and the quori as host bodies, but there's contradictory evidence on which came first and which modern warforged technology was based on. Adding to the confusion is the strong implication that ancient warforged did not have souls but modern warforged do, raising the question of where these souls came from.
- Mundane Utility: After the Last War, the tracker mask - an equippable component which allows warforged to track enemies by scent - gained a
Periphery Demographic of warforged who sought it out for its side effect of allowing them to taste food. - Nature-Loving Robot: In 3.5e this is both Defied and played straight. Because standard warforged have metal armor as part of their bodies, they cannot cast druid spells unless they have the Darkwood Body or Unarmored Body feats. However, those who do qualify have access to the Landforged Walker Prestige Class, who apply their Green Thumb abilities to their own wooden components in order to camouflage themselves, sprout Healing Herbs from their body or shapeshift into plant creatures.
- The Needless: Warforged don't need food, water, air or sleep, and are usually at least resistant to disease and/or poison. In their original 3.5e appearance they are also immune to fatigue and exhaustion, allowing them to run forever without tiring.
- No Biological Sex: While they have some of the functions of living beings, reproduction is not one of them, and most warforged designs are vaguely male in appearance (the closest thing to a Fem Bot being lightweight models created as scouts). Some warforged have come to consider themselves male or female in personality however, especially those who have spent more time socialising among humanoids than their own kind.
- No Place for a Warrior: A common backstory for warforged antagonists is that they defined themselves by their effectiveness on the battlefield, and are unable to adapt to times of peace where their skills are useless or hated.
- No-Sell: One of their stand-out traits in 3.5e - in addition to high Hit Points, their semi-organic bodies give them immunities to many common effects and conditions, as well as a chance to negate the extra damage from critical hits. Through various feats and prestige classes (most famously the Warforged Juggernaut) they can embrace their construct nature to take this even further.
- Our Souls Are Different: Unlike normal constructs, warforged can be affected by things which affect souls... kind of, raising in-universe debate about whether they truly exist. They can be brought Back from the Dead but never have memories of the afterlife, nor are there any confirmed reports of a dead warforged becoming a ghost. Among other things this has lead the creation of a religious sect called the Godforged, who believe that warforged souls are pieces of a being they call The Becoming God.
- Power Crystal: The psiforged have frames laced with cognizance crystals, allowing them to store greater reserves of psionic power. They can also add more crystals to their body in the form of specialised warforged components.
- Religious Robot: Warforged can worship the same gods as any other race, and there’s nothing stopping one from becoming a cleric or paladin.
- The Remnant: Some rogue warforged seek to continue or reignite the Last War, simply because it was the only thing which gave their life purpose. It's also noted that the warforged's nature as The Needless makes them ideal long-term sleeper units; there could easily be warforged cells hiding in inhospitable locations, unaware or unbelieving that the Last War has ended, preparing for secret missions that even their own countries are no longer aware of.
- Resistant to Magic: Their 3.5e incarnation is immune to a number of spells, both beneficial and harmful, as a result of either their racial immunities or those spells only affecting creatures of the humanoid type. Most significantly, they recover only half the normal Hit Points from cleric spells that heal living creatures, though they receive full benefit from wizard spells which repair damage to constructs (as well as a handful of non-spell Healing Hands abilities).
- Robot Soldier: The purpose of their creation, and the source of their name.
- Robot Wizard: Warforged are just as capable of mastering arcane magic as any other race, so there's nothing stopping a player from creating a warforged sorcerer, warlock, or wizard.
- Series Mascot: Of Eberron, being connected more than anyone else to The War Just Before which defines the setting. A picture of a warforged even serves as the setting's original cover art.
- Slave Race: They were originally created by Cannith as soldiers for the war. After the war, they were given equal rights by the Treaty of Thronehold.
- Square Race, Round Class: Their 3.5e incarnation notably downplays this compared to most other races in the system. They receive +2 to Constitution and -2 to Wisdom and Charisma, which seems like it would make them a worse, more pigeonholed version of dwarves. However, high Constitution and multiple immunities are useful to just about any character, and their racial abilities are designed to be extra-useful for classes normally reliant on Wis and Cha. E.g. Monks get to (kind of) wear armor and can equip battlefists to boost their attack power, Paladins have a form of healing which bypasses their normal resistance to healing magic, and psionic characters can pull off various unique strategies due to sharing the same creature type as their psicrystal.
- The Stoic:
- While far from universal, warforged do have something of a reputation for this, not helped by their inexpressive faces. In 3.5e they have a penalty to Wisdom and Charisma, reflecting lower perceptiveness, willpower, social skills, and sense of self. It's left deliberately ambiguous how much of this is a product of their nature as artificial beings, and how much comes from their lives as undersocialised Child Soldiers who are inured to violence.
- Defied by members of the "reforged" subculture, who exaggerate their emotions in order to make humanoids feel more at ease around them, to the point where they gain increased benefit from morale-based Status Buffs.
- Stone Wall: In addition to high Hit Points from their increased Constitution, warforged in 3.5e have access to the Adamantine Body feat, giving them protection equivalent to full plate and early access to Damage Reduction. Psionic warforged in particular can be incredibly durable by combining the powers share pain (splits half their damage with another creature) and psionic repair damage (which due to them both being constructs can heal themselves and their psicrystal at the same time).
- Virtual Sidekick: The docents, small metal spheres recovered from Xen'drik which can attach to warforged to provide various bonuses. Warforged can communicate with their docent telepathically or allow it to speak through them, giving them access to its vast knowledge and skill at speechcraft. It is suggested, however, that some docents may be damaged or untrustworthy, as their stories of ancient Xen'drik often conflict with each other.
Kalashtar
A female Kalashtar in 5e
A kind of planetouched unique to Eberron, the Kalashtar are humanoids who are irrevocably tied to a Quori dream-spirit. Long ago, the minority good-aligned Quori were kicked out of their home plane of Dal Quor by their more numerous evil-aligned kin. The surviving 67 good Quori made a deal with a monastery in Adar, a continent on Eberron, to voluntarily possess and share their bodies, creating the psionically gifted race known as Kalashtar. Each kalashtar is descended from one of these 67 monks, and is tied to the same Quori their ancestor accepted into their mind, essentially spreading the Quori influence out over countless bodies.Kalashtar would be identical to humans, were it not for their psionic potential and the fact that, rather than dream, they view the memories of, and commune with, their Quori spirit. Most Kalashtar still live on the continent of Adar, where their ancestors first merged with the Quori, but some have migrated to Khorvaire to seek fortune and preach their faith. The evil aligned Quori have also begun influencing Eberron through their own version of Kalashtar, known as the Inspired, who now rule most of Adar.
- Ascended Demon: Quori are usually evil, but kalashtar are bound to the minority good ones.
- Cannot Dream: Kalashtar can't dream because their subconscious is bound up inside the consciousness of a Quori. Instead, when they sleep, their conscious minds immerse themselves into the consciousness of their ancestral Quori. This also has the added benefit of making them immune to Dream spells, the Night Hag's Nightmare Haunting, or similar effects.
- Gender Equals Breed: If a kalashtar have children with non-kalashtar and the child is a kalashtar, their gender will be the same as their kalashtar parent. This is because each of the kalashtar-aligned Quori is pacted to a specific gender, based on the individual with whom they formed the initial pact. When two kalashtar mate, a similar thing happens; sons are bound to the same Quori as their father, and daughters to the Quori of the mother.
- Human Subspecies: Kalashtar are descended from humans who made deals with Quori. Even more-so with their Inspired kin, who are specifically bred to be the best hosts for their Quori spirits.
- Kung-Fu Wizard: Kung-Fu Psion. This is the natural outcome of an entire monastic species with innate psionic potential. It's not innate though, and without training they can easily be a Squishy Wizard instead.
- Super Breeding Program: The evil Quori have spent centuries breeding inspired to be the best hosts for the Quori possible. Unusually, they are not made to be powerful on their own, but rather to be a psionically gifted Empty Shell that the Quori can easily possess.
- Telepathy: Kalashtar have telepathic powers which let them communicate with other creatures, regardless of language.
- Touched by Vorlons: Kalashtar are humans touched by Quori dream-spirits.
- True-Breeding Hybrid: Children of kalashtar will also be kalashtar if their gender matches their kalashtar parent.
Shifter
A female shifter in 5e
"Ferocious heirs of the wild, the perfect fusion of civilized race and wild beast."
A race native to Eberron, closely related to lycanthropes. Shifters are humanoids that can partially "shift" into a more bestial state. This is not quite shapeshifting, but it gives them traits of an animal determined by their subspecies. Shifters suffer from a negative reputation, due to their close relation to werebeasts, a deadly threat on Eberron thanks to the plane's 13 moons.Shifters come in four variants, related to the main types of lycanthropes;
- Beasthide are powerful beasts, related to werebears and boars.
- Longtooth are fierce canines, related to werewolves.
- Swiftstride are graceful felines and cunning vermin, related to weretigers and rats.
- Wildhunt are cunning trackers, related to any kind.
- Ambiguously Related: Similarly to Changelings and Doppelgangers: While older editions had them be the decendants of humans and werebeasts, 5e has the Shifters themself claim that the original werebeasts were corrupted shifters. This also helps explaining why shifters can still become infected with lycanthropy.
- Beast Man: Shifters are essentially werebeasts lite.
- Cat Girl: Razorclaw Shifters can be described like this, and even have the mannerisms... assuming the table is okay with it.
- Fantastic Racism: On the receiving end. Eberron has 13 moons, resulting in werebeasts going nuts from the full moon every few days or so, and a shifter looks a lot like a werebeast if you don't look too closely... note
- Gonk: Original shifter art
◊ was notoriously ugly. - Man Bites Man: Longtooth shifters grow long, sharp fangs while transformed, letting them take nasty bites out of their enemies.
- Mix-and-Match Critter: 3.5 Shifters could take a feat to get a second shifter trait, and those who leveled in the Moonspeaker prestige class could pick up to three.
- Our Werebeasts Are Different: Shifters are closely related to werebeasts, and are capable of partially turning into animals. They are still humanoids in this state, and only gain some bestial traits. How they are related to werebeasts varies by edition, but they are either descended from lycanthropes who had children in human form, or it's the other way around, and lycanthropes are shifters who were mutated by either the Daelkyr or the Overlords.
- Super-Senses: All shifters have excellent night vision. Wildhunt shifters also have a particularly keen sense of smell which lets them track scents like a bloodhound.
- Super-Toughness: Beasthide shifters are the toughest of their ilk. Their shifted form has temporarily increased hit points and Armor Class, and in 5th edition they get a natural bonus to Constitution even when not transformed.
Changelings
Changelings
A female-presenting changeling
"Anyone, anywhere, hidden in plain sight."
Changelings are pale, nearly featureless humanoids native to Eberron who have the innate ability to transform their appearance to look like anyone (though not significantly larger or smaller than their base form). Changelings are looked at with suspicion by the other races of Eberron, seen as naturally deceitful beings. Therefore, they usually flock together with their own kin in large family units. Broadly defined, changelings can be grouped into three philosophies; Passers pick a form and stick with it, whether that's their true form or something they've shapeshifted into; Becomers tend to change shape regularly, becoming new identities as they do so either for fun or for work, and reality seekers seek perfection of form, trying to find one shape that is perfect.- Ambiguous Situation: Exactly how they are related to the far more alien Doppelgangers is never truly explained. In 3rd, it was assumed that they were a true-breeding result of humans doing the do with doppelgangers, but 5th edition proposed the alternate theory that changelings are the originals, and doppelgangers are a mutated race created by the Daelkyr. 4th edition, meanwhile, suggests in an ambiguous manner that "changeling" and "doppelganger" are actually different names for the same race.
- Humanshifting: Their primary shtick Changelings have the ability to assume the form of any humanoid race.
- Mundane Utility: A very common profession for changelings is sex work as they can shift gender and appearance at will.
- Power Perversion Potential: Changelings have a long history with sex work in Sharn and other locations where they can use their shapeshifting as an economic advantage.
- Shape Shifter Default Form: Changelings in their true form are white-skinned, nearly featureless humanoids. The Passer philosophy picks their own default form and sticks with it their entire lives.
- Sneaky Spy Species: The Changelings' shapeshifting powers have led them to being frequently sought after as spies and assassins; they're also quick to learn the language and customs of other cultures, making them even more desirable in clandestine fields. Unfortunately, their powers and criminal value have left them widely mistrusted and even feared by the other races of Eberron, who tend to stereotype them as devious and naturally deceitful.
- The Social Expert: 5th edition changelings get a bonus to their Charisma and free proficiency in two of the game's four social skills (Deception, Insight, Intimidation, and Persuasion), while their 3rd edition equivalents get a small racial bonus to the equivalents of these skills instead. Combine that with their ability to look and sound like anyone they want, and you get a perfect candidate for the party face.
- This Was His True Form: Upon death, changelings will revert to their true form.
- True-Breeding Hybrid: If you believe the theory that changelings are human/doppelganger hybrids.
Royalty
Boranel
King Boranel ir'Wynarn (Breland)
Bully!
Race: Human
"I have to go get my hammer."
The well-loved king of Breland, known for such feats as defeating an ogre in single combat.- Rank Scales with Asskicking: He became a general through merit alone.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Sadly not as young as he used to be...
- Cool Old Guy: He's a cheerful and heroic old man, a former adventurer, and now a proponent for peace in Korvaire.
- Fluffy Tamer: Even in his old age, he still keeps two pet magebred ghost tigers.
- Retired Badass: He used to be an adventurer, leading two expeditions into Xen'Drik before he ascended to the Throne, where he was also active on the field during the Last War.
- Universally Beloved Leader: He's astoundingly popular a monarch in his own country and even abroad. Partially it is what helped him become the engineer of the current peace. He's so popular that many of the setting's resident chessmasters hone their plans to begin after he dies of old age, because his popularity is such that it's better to not have to deal with it. Incidentally, the fact that none of his sons share his popularity has been noted by many. Even the people who desire to make Breland a democracy realize that their idea has no chance of passing during Boranel's lifetime.
Kaius III
King Kaius III ir'Wynarn (Karrnath)
Peacekeeper King
Race: Human Vampire
The iron-fisted king of frozen Karrnath. He is actually King Kaius I, turned into a vampire by Vol. When he refused to do her bidding any more, she triggered his bloodlust, forcing him to kill his wife. He eventually retook the country from his own grandson, and is now working to purge all of the lich's influences from the land, including both the Blood of Vol and its militant arm, the Order of the Emerald Claw.
- Ambiguous Situation: As of 5th edition, it is left open if he is the vampiric Kaius I, the actual Kaius III, one of them pretending to be the other, or someone else altogether.
- Characterization Marches On: While he's introduced as a sympathetic character whose vampiric impulses disturb him, some of the later writers tend to depict him as a straightforward Evil Overlord who enjoys them.
- Daywalking Vampire: Rising From the Last War states that Kaius discredited a rival who accused him of being a vampire by making a public appearance in broad daylight without any ill effects. Mind you, the same book makes it ambiguous whether Kaius even is a vampire in 5th edition...
- Deal with the Devil: He made a deal with the Blood of Vol to become a vampire, but later kicked them out of Karrnath when they became a bit too comfortable.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He is one one the main proponents for peace in Khorvaire.
- Foil: To Queen Aurala of Aundair. Kaius is an Obviously Evil Tin Tyrant who has actually gone through a Heel–Face Turn and serves as one of the setting's potential Greater Scope Paragons. Aurala is a kind and gentle The Good Queen who is actually a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who wants to start a war.
- Friendly Neighbourhood Vampire: Well, kinda. He keeps a harem of males and females so he can drink blood without causing trouble, and does seem to want what's best for his nation.
- Heel–Face Turn: He was one of the original instigators of the Great War, but has since then come to see the folly of war, and works to keep the peace between nations.
- Hidden Backup Prince: Used this as his cover when retaking the throne.
- Identical Grandson: Kaius III is the absolute spitting image of Kaius I. Which is how Kaius I was able to steal his grandson's identity.
- Interspecies Romance: Kaius is a human vampire, his wife is a living elf. She does know what he is and accepts it.
- Man in the Iron Mask: The real Kaius III is locked up in Dreadhold.
- Multilayer Façade: Keith Baker suggests this as one solution to the conflicting rumors about Kaius III. He might actually be the real Kaius III pretending to be Kaius I pretending to be Kaius III. In this scenario, Kaius III is working with Kaius I behind the scenes. Kaius I "escaping Illmarrow's control" was simply him swapping places with his grandson; of course she can't control Kaius III, he's not a vampire.
- My Grandson, Myself: He's impersonating his grandson, yes.
- Retcon: The original Eberron Campaign Setting sourcebook explicitly stated that Kaius is a vampire impersonating his own grandson. The 5th edition sourcebook Eberron: Rising From the Last War makes the situation more ambiguous, stating that there are rumors that Kaius III is really being impersonated by his vampiric grandfather, while also presenting solid evidence that this may not be the case. Ultimately, it's up to DM interpretation.
- Shoot the Dog: Presided over a lot of very harsh decisions during the war.
- Tragic Monster: Given his backstory, it's hard not to feel bad for the guy.
- Warhawk: Kaius I was one of the original heirs of Galifar who started the Last War because he believed he deserved to rule. Which makes his turn towards peace more poignant.
Aurala
Aurala ir'Wynarn (Aundair)
Warmongering Queen
Race: Human
The friendly, compassionate ruler of Aundair...who wants to take over Khorvaire.
- Affably Evil: She's a genuinely kind and gentle ruler. Who is also a warmonger who wants to take over the world.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Oh, she's kind and compassionate, all right. She also actively schemes to reignite the Last War.
- Mirror Character: To king Kaius of Karrnath. Aurala is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who wants to start a brutal war, all the while wearing the facade of The Good Queen. Kaius is an Obviously Evil Tin Tyrant who has actually gone through a Heel–Face Turn and wants to prevent another war.
- More Dakka: Has her artificers and wizards working on the various flavors of this. Having performed fairly poorly on the battlefields of the Last War, Aurala wants to switch to overwhelming magical firepower in the next round, hoping to quickly force the other nations into submission.
- Take Over the World: She wishes to reunite the Five Nations with her on the throne.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: She honestly believes conquering the other nations is for the best.
Oargev
Prince Oargev ir'Wynarn (New Cyre)
Last Prince of Cyre
Race: Human
"Sadly, there are a few, in Parliament and elsewhere, who can't accept that the Last War is over and still want to do battle with Cyre. To them I say: Do your worst—we survived the Day of Mourning, and we'll survive your petty prejudice."
The last son of Cyre's ruling family who was serving as the ambassador to Breland when the Mourning struck. He is now the mayor of New Cyre, a town inhabited by Cyran refugees.- Altar Diplomacy:
Keith Baker suggested centering an adventure around the intrigue of Oargev's love life. He's politically important enough to be of interest to a number of factions, but lacks power and thus all his suitors are a little on the desperate side. His potential suitors are Haydith ir'Wynarn, Princess of Karrnath ("sharp-witted gothic princess—a blend of April Ludgate and Wednesday Addams"), Rose (envoy from the Mournland warforged who do not follow the Lord of Blades), Lady Talalara (Inspired ambassador from Riedra, definitely not using this to gain a quori foothold in Khorvaire), Vestige (changeling spirit medium who might be a con artist), Ilina Corla d'Cannith (unaligned Cannith heir, possibly nice, possibly evil, possibly trying to conquer the Mournland), and Siiana of the Kapaa Dor (hobgoblin from Darguun, rival of Lhesh Haruuc). - Ambiguously Bi: One of the potential suitors listed above, Vestige, is male. The ambiguous part comes with Keith explaining that he adopts the form of Oargev's late wife whenever the latter wishes to spend time with her. That said, Vestige also maintains his own identity, and as a consort would expect to be identified as Vestige.
- According to Word of God, Oargev is pansexual.
- Ethnicity Monarch: Many of the surviving Cyrans still look to him for leadership.
- Fallen Princess: Gender Flipped. He went from being a kingdom's prince to being the mayor of a bordertown.
- Humans Are Diplomats: Cyre was famous for its diplomats, and its last prince is no exception.
- King of the Homeless: Downplayed in that he still seems to cling to royal vestiges. His portrait in Rising from the Last War depicts him wearing Requisite Royal Regalia, including a crown.
- Rightful King Returns: Technically speaking, his blood has one of the strongest claims to the throne of Galifar, if you ignore the part about his entire country having been wiped out. This is the primary reason people are interested in him, but since it's a long shot, only those working on similarly long shot plans are trying to earn his hand.
- The Unfettered: He is obsessed with the Mourning and its cause.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Like all surviving Cyrans.
Diani
Queen Diani ir'Wynarn (Thrane)
Race: Human
The "Blood Regent" of Thrane, whose line was reduced to mere figureheads by the Church of the Silver Flame. She tries to keep the monarchy relevant to the people, hoping to one day be restored.
- Authority in Name Only: Her position as "Blood Regent", with the power having gone to the Keeper of the Silver Flame and the Council of Cardinals.
- The Good Chancellor: She still advises the Keeper on matters of policy and actually likes her.
- Rightful King Returns: What she envisions for her line.
Church of the Silver Flame
Keeper of the Flame Jaela Daran
Keeper of the Flame Jaela Daran
Race: Human
Class: Cleric
As the Keeper of the Flame, Jaela Daran serves as both the highest authority within the Church of the Silver Flame, as well as Thrane's head of state. Being able to directly commune with the Voice of the Flame, she spends her days in prayer as well as putting the voice's theological instructions in place after consultations with her cardinals. She definitely has more on her plate than other eleven-year-olds.- A Child Shall Lead Them: Although her actual power pertains more towards church doctrine, she is still the formal head of state of Thrane, being directly advised by Blood Regent Diani. She was chosen for this role when she was six.
- Animal Companion: The Keeper of the Flame is traditionally guarded by the Skaravojen, a uniquely bred dragon-hound. Jaela likes to play fetch with it.
- Assassination Attempt: There have been quite a lot on her, given her importance. It has led to her only leaving the Cathedral under heavy protection.
- Badass Adorable: If she is under the effects of her Field Power Effect, she is one of the most powerful non-player-characters in the whole of Eberron. She is also a cute little girl who likes her dragon-dog and is actually quite shy.
- The Chosen One: Her special connection to the Voice of the Flame led her predecessor to step down, with the council of cardinals promptly selecting her to be the next speaker.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: At the age of four, she manifested the ability to predict certain catastrophic events through her dreams, leading to the Church taking interest in her.
- Field Power Effect: Within the Cathedral of the Silver Flame, Jaela is a level 18-cleric. Outside of it, her level drops to 3.
- Good Shepherd: She is very kind-hearted and gentle. She firmly believes that the Silver Flame's creed of "defending the innocent" encompasses everybody.
- Position of Literal Power: As the Speaker of the Flame, she can perform insane feats of divine power, such as summoning celestials or even raising the dead, provided that she is within the Cathedral of the Silver Flame.
- Power Dyes Your Hair: Implied. She has light streaks in her black hair, possibly due to her connection to the Flame.
- Shrinking Violet: She is quite meek in person, should she not appear in her role as Keeper of the Flame.
- Token Mini-Moe: Besides being the only NPC that is canonically able to cast True Resurrection, she is also a cute little girl for players to protect.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Due to her premonitions and instructions from the Flame, Jaela is certainly more knowledgeable and insightful than she looks.
High Cardinal Krozen
High-Cardinal Krozen
The man behind the Flame
Race: Human
Class:Cleric
"Our blessed child is the Keeper of the Flame and shows us all the path to the light. But I am the keeper of the nation, and if I must toil in the darkness to ensure its prosperity, so be it."
— High Cardinal Krozen
A powerful cleric and he de-facto leader of the council of Cardinals, High Cardinal Krozen is viewed by many as the real power within Thrane. Fiercely devoted to the Flame and Thrane itself, he is seen by some as a staunch and powerful defender of faith and country, while to others he is an embodiement of the Church's growing corruption by political power to others.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Played Straight, atypically for Eberron: Krozen is a veteran templar and one of Khorvaire's most powerful clerics (being level 12 in 3e), with Keith Baker describing him as "one of the player characters of his generation." note This actually leads to him viewing himself as chosen by the Flame, and operating heavily on Protagonist-Centered Morality.
- Evil Chancellor: What he is viewed as by many people, even within Thrane.
- Expy: Per Word of God, he is based loosely on Cardinal Richelieu as a scheming, but very capable statesman serving a more idealistic ruler.
- Knight Templar: Krozen believes very much in the Silver Flame's creed of defending the innocent, it's only that in Krozen's mind, everybody who opposes him can't be innocent.
- No Full Name Given: According to Word of God, his first name isn't generally known.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: Due to his immense divine power, Krozen views himself as chosen. In addition, the fact that he hasn't lost his power means that, at least in his eyes, he is still on the right path.
- Sinister Minister: Probably the setting's most prominent example.
Tira Miron
Tira Miron, the voice of the Flame
Race: Human
Class:Paladin
Tira Miron began as a Paladin of Dol Arrah, yet guided by visons of feathered serpents, she harnessed the power of the Silver Flame and sacrificed herself to bind the Overlord Bel Shalor in what is now Flamekeep. Her companions went on to establish the modern Chruch of the Silver Flame, whereas Tira herself became the Voice of the Flame, seeking to guide the Keepers of the Flame down a path of righteousness.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: By binding Bel Shalor, she became the "Voice of the Flame", the voice within the Silver Flame that communes with the church's Keeper.
- Barrier Maiden: What her sacrifice turned her into, although she is non-corporeal. She now maintains the Silver Flame that keeps the overlord Bel Shalor bound, and possible all overlords.
- The Chosen One: She received visions of the coatls, warning her of the danger and instructing her how to use the Flame. Keith Baker describes her as a "player character of her time".
- Hero of Another Story: The actual deeds of her and her companions, besides binding Bel Shalor, are only vaguely laid out, with it being very possible to run her story as a campaign, should one wish to do so.
- Heroic Sacrifice: She gave her own life as a conduit for the Silver Flame in order to bind Bel Shalor, throwing herself into the demonic fire and impaling him with her sword.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: She bound Bel Shalor with the legendary blade Kloinjer, which still is impaled at the Flame's center.
- Jeanne d'Archétype: During her fight against the demons, she gathered a large amount of Thranish troops, who later went on to serve as the first templars.
- Messianic Archetype: A wielder of holy power who opposed evil and sacrificed her life/ in the process to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence.
Other Groups
The Aurum
Money makes the world go round
A cabal of rich merchants, socialites, and officers, the Aurum seeks to dominate events from behind the scenes through the means of wealth.
- Corporate Conspiracy: As opposed to many of the more Covert groups operating in Khorvaire, the Aurum is "just" a bunch of rich people trying to pull the strings.
- Covert Group with Mundane Front: The Aurum to the public is a group of rich philanthropists and patrons of the arts with interests in art, culture, and historical artifacts. Only the upper ranks, the so-called Shadow Cabinet, actively conspire to reach their goals.
- Metallic Motifs: The Aurum is divided into four Concords: Copper, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Membership and rank are displayed by wearing eight rings of the corresponding material.
- Mysterious Employer: A Crime Lord from the Mror Holds, only known as "Adamantine", is slowly building up a consortium of various gangs throughout Khorvaire. Most people assume "Adamantine" to be a dwarf, yet others describe him as a warforged or even a lich.
The Chamber
A group of dragons operating out of Argonnessen, the Chamber seeks to study the Draconic Prophecy and prevent its misuse.
- All-Powerful Bystander: Justified, as too much open draconic activity strengthens the Daughter of Khyber, the draconic Overlord bound within the Pit of five Sorrows.
- Ancient Order of Protectors: They are probably the most benevolent of all of Khorvaire's Secret Societies. They often view their goals in a far greater perspective compared to mere humanoids, so they can often be a case of Good Is Not Nice.
- Benevolent Conspiracy: Relatively speaking. They have benevolent goals (stopping the Lords of Dust), but have a tendency to disregard "lesser beings" while doing so.
- The Chessmaster: Having millennia to fulfill their plans probably helps.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The Chamber is a group of oversized lizards pretending to be humanoids in different positions of power...
- Either/Or Prophecy: They study the Draconic Prophecy, which is more about lining out different possibilities than predicting one course for the future.
- Human Disguise: Dragons are found in important positions all throughout Khorvaire, gathering intel and pulling the strings.
- The Plan: Their main modus operandi.
- Powers That Be: As a Good Counterpart to the Lords of Dust, the Chamber has agents nearly everywhere.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Or non-dragon, in this case. Due to their own longevity, dragons have the bad habit of treating humanoids as expedient pawns in their plans.
- White Man's Burden: A more sinister interpretation of the Chamber's actions is that of a long-lived race "guiding" the "lesser" races along their own machinations. They are said to be behind the Giant's magical achievements.
The Daelkyr
"They are perfect in their power. They are without flaw save those flaws they choose. Their triumph is delayed but not denied—they will hold Eberron as they held Xoriat. They are the great lords of the dark and nothing is beyond their will."
Immortal adversaries from Xoriat, the Realm of Madness. They are the lords of aberrations and countless other monster races, twisting existing life into mutated servants or just leaving their creations free to wander the world. Nine thousand years ago, they invaded Khorvaire, and were only sealed by the Gatekeeper druids working with the Dhaakani armies—but the Empire of Dhakaan was still shattered, left as countless wandering tribes.— A fragment from the rites of a Cult of the Dragon Below
The following Daelkyr are named:
- Avassh: The Twister of Roots, associated with corrupted plants such as shambling mounds.
- Belashyrra: The Lord of Eyes, associated with beholderkin and sight-related powers or madness.
- Dyrrn: The Corruptor, associated with Mindflayers, symbiotic weapons, and warping flesh.
- Kyrzin: The Prince of Slime, associated with oozes, liquids, and alchemy.
- Orlassk: The Voice in the Stone, associated with earth, minerals, and caves.
- Valaara: The Crawling Queen, associated with insects and vermin.
- Brown Note: Daelkyr have the power to cause confusion in any target at will. Keith Baker suggests that this isn't an attack, but merely the daelkyr thinking about someone.
- The Corruptor: All daelkyr in general enjoy warping flesh, but Dyrrn the Corruptor is most infamous for it. It turned the goblins into dolgrims, the halflings into chokers, and countless more.
- Eldritch Abomination: One thing emphasized over and over is how unknowable they are. It is entirely possible that they could free themselves at any time—or that they are sealed, but they are barely even aware of it. No one even knows if they were truly defeated last time, or if they got exactly what they wanted.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: Belashyrra, the Lord of Eyes, is credited with doing weird things with eyes. Beholders are its most well-known creations, but it has many others.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Attempting to read a daelkyr's mind causes temporary insanity.
- Human Alien: They bear a strong and unexplained resemblance to humans... and showed up on Khorvaire before humans did, resulting in a brief panic among native orcs and goblinoids when they encountered human settlers for the first time.
- Mad Scientist: It has been suggested repeatedly that rather than being conquerors, the daelkyr are scientists or even artists. They don't mind being sealed because all they really wanted was to let their creations run free and see what happened.
- Non-Linear Character: Xoriat has a notably mutable timeline, and so do the daelkyr. They perceive all time at once, past and future. They don't care about the seals because they are already free; they don't care about their deaths because it has already happened. It should be noted that this does not mean that the future is set in stone (the changing Draconic Prophecy proves that it isn't). One day, the daelkyr will know and has always known that its seal will break tomorrow—but when the seal is strengthened, it doesn't care, because it knows and has always known that its seal will break in a hundred years.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Gatekeeper druids sealed them nine thousand years ago. But the seals are weakening, and the Gatekeepers do not actually know how to fix them.
- Weak, but Skilled: On the level of the various canon endgame opponents, the daelkyr are notably on the lower tier. The Lords of Dust have Complete Immortality and endless patience, while the Dreaming Dark have an entire continent and are perfectly united in their goals. By contrast, all of the daelkyr's servants are insane, it's unclear if they are even slightly united, and the daelkyr themselves have rather weak stats. Their main advantage is that they are so completely unknowable. You stopped Dyrrn the Corruptor from turning everyone in Sharn into a gibbering mouther—but did he ever want to do that in the first place?
The Dreaming Dark
Dream on, little dreamer.
The dark quori spirits that rule the plane of dreams, and also reach into the waking world.
- Ascended Demon: How kalashtar are born; quori are still creatures of dreams, and it's possible for them to gradually develop empathy for their "crop". From there, it simply becomes a matter of survival to merge with humans and become the guide of a new lineage of kalashtar lest the Dark destroy them for being a traitor and to eradicate their new personality.
- Bad Samaritan: They managed to take over Riedra by appearing to certain "inspired champions" who toppled the old regimes of Riedra at the end of the sundering, before turing all of Riedra into their new empire.
- Big Bad: The Dreaming Dark in general serves as a common high-level enemy, but the greatest of them all is the Devourer of Dreams, who speaks for Dal Quor itself.
- Demonic Possession: The inspired, having even been bred to be the best hosts for the quori.
- Dystopia Justifies the Means: Their end goal is to create a world without hope - because that's a world where Dal Quor has no chance of becoming based in good dreams, which would lead to the extinction of the quori as they are now.
- Eldritch Abomination: The quori on their own look like Lovecraftian horrors.
- Emotion Eater: The quori feast on the feelings produced by nightmares.
- Loss of Identity: Fear of this is what drives them - if the nature of Dal Quor changes, then the quori will be forced to change with it - and because of that, will completely lose their memories, forms, and sense of self, destroying the current variety utterly. Everything the Dreaming Dark does is meant to stop that at all costs.
- Nightmare Weaver: Their specialty, thanks to controlling the plane of dreams.
- Resurrective Immortality : A quori whose vessels are slain reforms in Dal Quor. The Dreaming Dark actively seeks this out in order to turn the rogue quori of the Kalashtar back to their side.
The Heirs of Dhakaan
"Raat shan gath’kal dor: the story stops but never ends."
During the fall of the Goblinoid empire of Dhakaan, some of its clans sealed themselves in vaults deep within the earth. During the Last War, some of them emerged in Darguun. The Kech Dhakaan ("beares of Dhakaan") seek to reforge their old empire, but found what once was theirs changed by conquest, magic, and war. Two of them, the Kechs Shaarat and Volaar, became parts of Darguun's clan-network, although they are concealing their origins. However, their efforts of reforging the Empire are hampered by one fact: The empire of Dhakaan still lacks an emperor.— Exploring Eberron
- The Beastmaster: The Kech Ruuksa ("Keepers of the Tiger") specialize in training animals.
- The Chosen One: The Dhakaani dream of an "emperor yet to come", but no one knows who that is supposed to be. So far, the leaders of the two open Clans have claimed the throne, but others might follow.
- Construction Is Awesome: The Kech Draal ("Keepers of the City") are almost peerless architects and builders.
- Fantastic Racism: They view all non-goblinoids as intruders on their land, often referring to them as chaat’oor ("defilers"). The Dhaakani also look down on their modern goblinoid brethren, who they view as "crippled" by the Daelkyr. The Dhakaani are divided on whether or not, and to what degree they should be incorporated within a reforged Dhakaan. The Kech Shaarat are torn between keeping them as slaves, expulsion or straight up genocide, whereas the Kech Volaar are looking for way to reopen Uul Dhakaan to them. Some among them even wonder if non-goblinoids could be incorporated as well.
- Fantastic Slurs: Hostile dar tend to refer to non-goblinoids, especially humans, as chaat'oor ("defilers"). A more neutral term is gath'dar ("non-dar").
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: The Kech Nadaar ("Keepers of the Night") are run by the vampire-couple Iraala and Muurat. Exploring Eberron leaves the friendly part open, however.
- Insistent Terminology:
- A good way to provoke a Dhaakani dar is to refer to them as a "goblinoid", or by the modern designation of ther sub-species.
- On a more meta-level, there's ghaal'dar (the Dhakaani term for Hobgoblin) and the Ghaal'dar (the conferderacy of Hobgoblins ruling Daargun).
- Magically Inept Fighter: Played With, but the Kech Dhakaan, following in Dhakaan footsteps, only have access to bardic and artifice magic. This gap in their defense doomed them against the Daelkyr. After reemerging, the Kech Volaar push for adopting arcane magic into this repertoire, whereas the Kech Nasaar focus more on necromancy.
- Proud Scholar Race: The Kech Volaar ("Keepers of the Word"), one of the two openly acting clans, has a big focus on acquiring arcane knowledge, which they view as crucial for fending off further Daelkyr encroachment.
- Proud Warrior Race: Like all Goblinoids, they have a big focus on warfare. One of the two open clans, the Kech Shaarat ("Keepers of the Sword"), is especially noteworthy for its martial focus.
- The Remnant: They are literally the remains of an ancient empire.
- Resurgent Empire: They are very much in the early stages of reclaiming the old empire, without even a clear leader. They are still one of, if not the most formidable fighting forces in all of Khorvaire.
- Shared Dream: The goblinoids of pre-Dhakaan Khorvaire unified through the Uul Dhakaan, a shared dream of empire. The influence of the Daelkyr severed the connections of modern goblinoids to this dream, but the Heirs still dream their ancient dream.
- Secret Police: The Khesh’dar (Silent Folk) consisting of specially trained goblins, gathers intel on the modern world, but remains neutral within Kech disputes.
- Vestigial Empire: Many of them seek to reclaim old Dhakaani ruins littered throughout Khorvaire.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Maybe their greatest obstacle in reforging Dhakaan (besides the lack of an emperor) is the Kechs' disunity.
The Lords of Dust
The first rulers of Khorvaire.
"Looking at the power of the Council of Ashtakala, people might wonder why the Lords of Dust haven't conquered the world. A rakshasa's first answer to this would be, 'Haven't we?'"
A group of demons operating all over Khorvaire, the Lords of Dust are the surviving servants of the Overlords. Consisting mainly of Rakshasa based in the ancient city of Ashtakala in the Demon Wastes, they try to utilize the Draconic Prophecy in a way that will free their bound masters.— Eternal Evil
- Anti-True Sight: Inventors of the spell Cloak of Khyber, which renders a magical disguise impenetrable once it's been maintained continuously for a certain amount of time.
- Armor-Piercing Response: The quote above, from Eternal Evil, is often cited.
- The Chessmaster: Just like the chamber, they are able to infiltrate and operate within human society on an incredibly long scale.
- Demonlords And Archdevils: They may serve the Overlords, but many of the speakers are very powerful demons in their own right.
- Dracolich: One of the named speakers is the Dracolich Mazyralyx, who serves Katashka the Gatekeeper, the overlord of undeath. Mazyralyx himself is thought by some to be an inspiration for some myths of the Keeper.
- Human Disguise: Reflecting the Chamber, they also plant operators in important positions all throughout Khorvaire.
- Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering: The Lords of Dust are, just like their masters, in no way a unified faction, with different servants prioritizing the release of their Overlord. Due to the nature of the Draconic Prophecy, they may even help players in opposing each other, if for example the conditions for the release of one Overlord exclude another one from being released at all.
- Reincarnation: Slaying one of the Lords of Dust eventually results in a new Outsider of similar kind being born and joining the ranks. If they have 12 Hit Dice or more, then the new Outsider appears in a mere week and retains the memories of their past life (though not always their personality).
- The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: The most powerful Lords of Dust are the "Speakers" of each Overlord, forming a Council that regularly meets in Ashtakala.
- Powers That Be: Alongside the Chamber, with whom they have fought a shadow war for millennia.
Other Characters
Progenitor Dragons
The Progenitor Dragons
Siberys, Khyber, and Eberron dragonshards
Race: Primordial Dragon(?)
Eberron, Khyber, and Siberys, the three primordial dragons that partake in Eberron's Creation Myth. Before creation, Khyber murdered Siberys, but was stopped and bound by Eberron. The three thus became the world; Siberys, the Dragon Above, is the planetary ring; Khyber, the Dragon Below, is the underworld, and Eberron, the Dragon Between, is the surface world.
- Big Good: Eberron is the archetypical creator deity who sacrificed themselves to make the world.
- Cain and Abel: Khyber is the Cain, while the role of Abel is shared between Eberron (who actively opposes their sibling) and Siberys (who was killed by their sibling).
- Composite Character: 5th edition suggests that, should the DM wish to use the First World creation myth, Eberron, Khyber and Siberys could be the Eberronian names for Bahamut, Tiamat, and Sardior.
- Dragons Are Divine: These dragons are the creator-gods of the world of Eberron.
- The Maker: Together they created the self-contained multiverse of the Eberron setting, then became various aspects of the planet Eberron.
- Satanic Archetype: Khyber is considered this to a much greater degree than even the Overlords. Despite being sealed and no longer capable of interacting with the world, its malevolent sapience still creates monsters, among them the Overlords.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Well, there was no earth yet, but Siberys is generally considered a good being, who was killed by Khyber for apparently no reason.
Overlords
The Overlords
Also called the Rakshasa Rajahs, the Overlords were the firstborn children of Khyber and the first lords of Eberron, ruling over their hordes of lesser fiends during the Age of Demons. They were eventually overthrown by the combined might of the dragons and couatls, and imprisoned across the world, though it took the sacrifices of most couatls in the world to do so. Today, there are about 30 overlords trapped across the world, though only some are known.The more well-known overlords include:
- Bel Shalor: The Shadow in the Flame, who embodies paranoia, the fear of other mortals. He was famously bound by Tira Miron in Flamekeep, whispering to those who seek to hear her voice in the Flame. He also has a covert cult within the Church of the Silver Flame, the Tarnished.
- The Daughter of Khyber: Sometimes compared to Tiamat, she embodies the fear of dragons and is the main reason the Chamber has gone into hiding. While she has a small following among the Lords of Dust, her main followers are abishai.
- Katashka: The Gatekeeper, who embodies the fear of death and undeath. It is not known where he is bound. Many of his followers are undead or necromancers, and many believe that he is the "Death" who the three Faces of War fought in the myth of the Mockery's betrayal.
- Rak Tulkhesh: The Rage of War, who embodies the fear of war and bloodshed. He doesn't seem to be bound in one specific area, but the Last War has spread his influence far and wide in Khorvaire, with cultist ranging from Brutal Bandits and reborn "heroes" to the demonically corrupted Carrion Tribes of the Demon Wastes.
- Sul Katesh: The Keeper of Secrets, who embodies the fear of magic and secrets. Her most well known cult is the Court of Shadows, wich is slowly spreading across Khorvaire.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: The overlords represent the darkness in people's hearts, and fundamental forces of nature. Many of them also draw power from fear of their specific domain, such as fear of the Undead, fear of dragons, fear of betrayal, etc.
- Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit":
- They are not rakshasa, yet they are called Rakshasa Rajahs because their minions are.
- Sourcebooks are very careful to say that the Overlords are not deities, even though they embody aspects of reality, reuse the mechanics for deities, and many of the setting's "actual" gods are implied to be fictional. This even extends to the Eberron version of Tiamat, who in other sources is not only a god but a multiversal being who shares a single consciousness across settings. Presumably this is either to avoid saying that God Is Evil, or to keep them as a background element rather than encourage cleric players to take one as a patron.
- The Corruptor: Bel Shalor's domain is good people who fall to evil through genuinely good intentions. It's implied that he voluntarily bound himself to the Silver Flame in order to influence the church.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: They fulfill the role of demon lords in Eberron, being the rulers of fiends.
- Draconic Abomination: Rak Tulkhesh looks vaguely like a twisted dragon-centaur, with a humanoid torso instead of a dragon's head. It is also impaled with spears that may be part of its body, and has horns growing out of its eye sockets.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Early material mostly refers to them as "the rakshasa rajahs"; the shift to "Overlords" as the preferred term was presumably to avoid players confusing them for a type of rakshasa themselves.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Rak Tulkhesh is impaled with spears across his body. It doesn't seem to inconvenience him in the slightest.
- Knight Templar: Bel Shalor's domain is xenophobia and self-righteousness - he himself is not one, but he gleefully influences people who are. Which makes anyone aware that he is The Shadow In the Flame who whispers to worshipers of the Silver Flame very nervous.
- Master of the Levitating Blades: Rak Tulkhesh is constantly surrounded by a multitude of floating weapons which chip away at anyone in his immediate vicinity.
- Meteor-Summoning Attack: In 5th edition, Sul Khatesh's Arcane Cataclysm ability drops three magical meteorites on the battlefield. These meteors inflict heavy damage to everything caught in their blast radii and turn the impact sites into large antimagic fields, which don't inhibit Sul Khatesh's own magic.
- Physical God: No actual gods are physically present in Eberron, so the overlords are the closest thing we've got. Their power level fluctuates between editions but tends to be close to or on par with a deity's avatar in any other world.
- Resurrective Immortality: If somehow killed, they disappear and respawn in the depths of Khyber 2d6 hours later. While the Lords of Dust can also reconstitute themselves in a similar manner, the Overlords do so much faster and while retaining all their abilities and personality.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The thirty-something overlords are trapped all across the world of Eberron in various prisons.
- Spontaneous Weapon Creation: As the Rage of War, Rak Tulkhesh can create weapons from thin air and hurl them at his foes.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: In 3.5e, their statistics include many of the abilities of a Rank 7 deity under the Deities and Demigods rules, just renamed or rearranged. They explicitly lack the power of deities to grant spells to clerics... but have clerics who cast spells anyway, because Eberron clerics don't get their powers from divine sponsorship in the first place.
Erandis d'Vol
Erandis d'Vol
See Dragonmarked Houses, house Vol. The Lord of Blades
The Lord of Blades
Freedom for his people.
Race: Warforged
Class: Artificer
An enigmatic warforged warlord who seeks for his race to rule all of Eberron, said to be building an army of followers somewhere in the Mournland (literally; he has access to the creation forge in House Cannith's old headquarters). It's unknown where The Lord of Blades came from, or even whether "The Lord of Blades" is the name of a specific warforged or just a title; some think he was just invented by dissident warforged as a rallying symbol.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Reconstructed. They're much more comparable to real-life figures such as Adolf Hitler than to common fictional robot uprisings.
- Double Weapon: His polearm has blades on each end
- The Dreaded: Played With. While he is a powerful threat, and many rightfully fear him and his followers, a newspaper clipping in Rising from the Last War shows that not all take him seriously.
- Fantastic Racism: He regards all organic races as worthless inferiors.
- God-Emperor: Some of his followers manage to channel their devotion to him into divine magic.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Given his views are based and influenced by the final years of the Last War and The Mourning, he despises the other races for using warforged as weapons for a hundred-year war. He also blames them for The Mourning and Mournlands, though it isn't confirmed whether he believes this for real or just uses it as convenient propaganda, given that no one is sure what caused The Mourning.
- Impossibly Cool Weapon: The "six-blade" part of his polearm. There are three at each end, which in D&D logic means it rolls three dice for damage every time it hits. And that's not including the Force Damage it also deals.
- Living Legend: To the point that some Warforged outright consider him their god.
- Magic Knight: In 5th edition, the Lord of Blades has the spellcasting abilities of a 20th-level artificer on top of his formidable martial skills.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Evidence has been put forward for multiple figures who could have become the Lord of Blades. Not all of them are even warforged. Of the most common rumors, three particular ones stand out; the first notes he may have been a veteran or even commander of Cyre's warforged in the Last War, the second has his "birth" off the assembly line right at the end of the war, and the last is a fantastical theory that claims the original creator of the Warforged, Aaren d'Cannith, uploaded his consciousness to the warforged that would become known as the Lord of Blades in protest at his creations being treated as little more than disposable weapons and the death toll the war was causing.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: From his desire to expand his conquests to his use of death camps for his enemies, among other traits, he is deliberately comparable to Adolf Hitler.
- Razor Wings: Usually depicted with them; they appear to be purely decorative. 5th Edition's Eberron: Rising from the Last War changed that: he can't use those wings to fly, but he can use them to slice adventurers to ribbons.
- The Remnant: Many of his followers are warforged who were unable to adjust when the Last War ended.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Embraced without hesitation by the Lord of Blades. The message he spreads to his followers and potential new recruits is that Humans Are the Real Monsters, and that everything he and his warforged do against those of flesh and blood is simply humanity getting its "just desserts" for the Last War and treating warforged merely as weapons and the refusal or slow acceptance of their sentience. He and his followers make use of prison-labor death camps in the Mournlands, forced human experimentation conducted in the Mournlands, and outright genocide and world domination.
- Shrouded in Myth: No one is sure of his origins, some of which have multiple interpretations. Some aren't sure if he even actually exists and think he's just a "boogeyman" story that others tell.
- Spikes of Villainy: Played With. Most warforged juggernauts grow spikes from their bodies, but he uniquely has blades instead.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: A mindset fully embraced by the Lord of Blades and his followers; if people are going to see and treat them as machines of war and give them no value beyond that, then it is their intention to make those people eat their words.
- Turned Against Their Masters: A classic example, leading a Magitek robot revolution.
- Wolverine Claws: In some depictions. An image of his clenched fist has even been used as a holy symbol.
Mordain the Fleshweaver
Mordain the Fleshweaver
The Fleshweaver
Race: Elf (Mark of Shadow)
Class: Wizard
Excoriated from House Phiarlan two hundred years ago, the elven wizard Mordain is one of the most powerful spellcasters on Khorvaire, which would probably be a good thing were he not obsessed with unlocking the secrets of transmuting life. He spends his time working on horrifying experiments using power drawn from the daelkyr and the overlords to further his studies, often releasing the monster apparently just to see how it went.- The Dreaded: Being a high-level wizard in a world where such things are extremely rare would make him intimidating, but the mutations he inflicts on his experimental subjects make him terrifying.
- Evil Tower of Ominousness: Blackroot, a twisted, leathery, possibly living wizard's tower where Mordain performs horrifying biological experiments. It's possible that Blackroot is just an extension of Mordain at this point.
- Evilutionary Biologist: His desire to create new, improved life makes even the darkest rumors about House Vadalis's secret experiments look like children playing with a chemistry set. If you need a terrifying monster produced from merging innocent people together or an explanation for where a very unusual player character came from, Mordain's lab is right there.
- For Science!: Mordain generally seems indifferent to anything but his work of unlocking the secrets of life: he has no political goals, no apparent loyalty to any nation, religion, or dragonmarked house, and he definitely doesn't care about the life and well-being of anyone who ends up in his lab or in the path of one of his experiments.
- Horrifying the Horror: Some say he has an accord of some sort with the Daughters of Sora Kell. Others think they let him set up in Droaam because they're afraid of him.
- Mad Scientist: He's been pursuing his utterly amoral experiments for more than two centuries.
- The Man They Couldn't Hang: The story on Keith Baker's blog is that his mastery over his own anatomy is such that the Twelve tried to execute him in four increasingly brutal ways and none of them took, followed by him un-petrifying himself and escaping on the way to Dreadhold.
Rhashaak
Rhashaak
Black Wyrm of Old
Race: Half-Fiend Black Dragon Greatwyrm
Rhashaak is a truly ancient black dragon. During the Age of Demons, he was set to guard the demonic city of Haka'torvhak, and its imprisoned overlord, Masvirik the Cold Sun. At first, this went well, as Rhashaak was not alone and had many dragonborn servants to aid him in this task, but as time went on, the descendants of these servants lost their way, and left to seek fortune elsewhere. Left alone, Rhashaak did his best to maintain his mission and keep the Overlord imprisoned, but as millennia passed, even he was eventually driven to madness and corruption.
Today, Rhashaak still guards the ancient city, aided by the distant descendants of his followers, but the corruption has bound him and he can no longer leave, warden and prisoner alike. The Cold Sun also has its claws deep in Rhashaak's mind, and the ancient dragon has paradoxically become both its hated guardian and the speaker for its will.
- Alternate Self: 5th edition makes him a Greatwyrm, meaning that he not only has echoes of himself across many worlds, but he has somehow merged with or consumed them.
- Ambiguous Situation: Exactly what is up with Rhashaak is up in the air, with several proposed theories. He could be a puppet of the Overlord he's supposed to guard, a poor soul aware of his own corruption but helpless to do anything about it, completely off his rockers insane with delusions of grandeur, all of the above, or something else. It also varies with edition if Rhashaak is truly so ancient, or if he's just the latest in a long line.
- The Cameo: Rhashaak's only mention in Rising from the Last War is as an unnamed demonic black dragon said to dwell in Haka'torvhak. Fizban's Treasury of Dragons not only has a full-page illustration of him, but indirectly stats him out (the book has generic stats for Chromatic Greatwyrms, which Rhashaak is).
- Dark Is Evil: Eberron usually eschews the traditional colour-based morality system of dragons. Not so much for Rhashaak, who is just as cruel and sadistic as the black dragons of other worlds. That said, he wasn't born this way.
- Fallen Hero: Rhashaak was once a heroic dragon, a member of the Light of Siberys order who battle demons. A million years of guarding a city full of demons has made him something truly monstrous and demonic, though he still maintains his ancient duty.
- Godhood Seeker: Possibly. The various Scalykind tribes of Q'barra worship Rhashaak as an incarnate god, and he supposedly seeks to truly become one, but it's equally likely that the Scalykind actually worship the imprisoned overlord, and Rhashaak is merely its voice.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A Black Dragon who's been corrupted by demonic powers, becoming effectively half-demon. 5th edition also makes him a Greatwyrm, meaning that he has consumed or merged with echoes of him from other worlds.
- Oxymoronic Being: Rhashaak's writeup is self-contradictory on a lot of points, and it's hard to get a grasp of his actual character, most likely so that the DM is free to decide for themselves. Most notably, he still guards the city and wants to prevent the demons from escaping or mortals from meddling with it, but he has also become a servant and speaker for the overlord he supposedly guards.
- Skeleton Motif: Black Dragons in general tend to have skull-like features, with sunken eyes and ridged craniums that can be seen through their leathery hide. Rhashaak, at leaast in his 5th edition artwork, takes it a step further by having distinct white colouration on his face, giving the impression that he literally has a Skull for a Head.
- Swamps Are Evil: A cruel and corrupted dragon who lives in the swamps of Q'barra.
- Time Abyss: Even by the standards of dragons, Rhashaak is truly ancient. If he really is the first guardian of Haka'torvhak, and not the latest in a long line, then he would easily be over a million years old.
- Took a Level in Badass: Rhashaak has grown steadily more powerful throughout the editions. 3.5th edition claimed that Rhashaak was merely the latest in a long line of black dragon guardians, 4th edition placed him as the immortal guardian, which would make him at least 1,000,000 years old. The only mention of him in 5th edition doesn't specify his age, but describes him as a Greatwyrm, which in that edition is one step down from a Physical God.
