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Unfortunately, this is one of the most boring products I’ve ever read. The writing is wholely uninspiring, and otherwise interesting ideas are quickly drowned in technicalities that do little to flesh out the religion in an interesting way. Further, the information on the various faiths is vague/simplistic/unhelpful. This is a product that will spend four or five paragraphs explaining that one religion doesn’t pray, all because there is a subsection about praying for each religion. Significant amounts of information is repeated from the Eberron Campaign Setting, more than is necessary to discuss the various religions.
The Physical Thing
This 160 page full color hardcover showcases the same high quality production values found in other Wizards of the Coast products. The art is wonderful, with full page spreads displaying a number of scenes appropriate to each chapter. The paper stock, formatting, margins, and other similar considerations are all dealt with in an excellent manner.However, this product makes use of a standardized presentation of the religions that results in significant amounts of worthless material. For the sake of looking uniform the publisher rewarded readers with whole sections that say absolutely nothing. 160 pages for $29.95 is a moderate value, but considering the significant amounts of repeat material and general lack of useful new content this product is a poor value.
Faiths of Eberron references other products at times, typically Complete Divine, but tends to do much less of this than many other Wizards of the Coast supplements. If you’re only using the Eberron Campaign Setting you will be able to enjoy this product.
The Ideas
Faiths of Eberron provides a religion by religion examination of various belief systems found in Eberron. By far the focus of the product is on the mundane priest – how she goes about her day to day life, what sorts of problems she encounters, and what flavorful events she oversees. For someone who wants to add a lot more roleplaying flavor to their faithful character a lot of interesting tidbits and ideas can be gleaned throughout.Under the Cover
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6Each of these chapters presents material in a very similar manner, so for the sake of brevity here’s how it works.
Each chapter presents information on the Doctrine (names of the gods, afterlife), Servants (becoming a priest, hierarchy, duties, fallen priests), Rites and Rituals (prayers, minor rites, major rites, calendar), Everyday Life (people, government, views on other religions, role in the Last War), Temples and Shrines (general description plus an example complete with a map and map information), Variant Sects (about four one to two paragraph entries), Gods (information on the individual gods), and finally a new Prestige Class for that group. Some chapters have multiple entries in this format, such as Chapter 5 which gives all four druid groups most of this treatment (still only one Prestige Class).
The biggest problem with this presentation is that it doesn’t work very well for some of the groups, and results in the publisher sacrificing usefulness for uniformity of presentation. I really fail to see a need for every religion to have its own calendar. A special calendar is a flavorful thing, but it is needless complexity. The normal Eberron calendar is flavorful while being easy to adapt from the sort of calendar most players are familiar with. These calendars are not, and tracking one of them along with a different calendar is extra work for the player or DM.
Many of the rites and rituals presented are the height of blandness. While harvesting and marriage rituals are at least useful, some groups have entries that say that the group has no rites and rituals – multiple paragraphs saying that there’s nothing to say!
Chapter 1 The Sovereign Host 28 pages.
The best known religion in Khorvaire, the Sovereign Host is composed of nine good deities. This chapter, along with the rest of the product, presents substantial amounts of material from the Eberron Campaign Setting and the Player’s Guide to Eberron. One of the more interesting new ideas explored is the idea that the Host and the Dark Six were once one great pantheon or that they were once split into gods of civilization and gods of nature. Either way, several interesting ideas are presented that could spin into plot hooks for any campaign that involves uncovering the past (and in Eberron that’s most of them).
Members of the Host are probably the most active of all the religions in spreading the faith. They continually thank the Host through prayer and find the influence of the Host in every aspect of daily life. Additionally, the Host actively recruits people (and large groups) of other faiths by convincing them their gods are merely a reflection of the Sovereign Host.
More information is presented on the Sovereign Host than any other chapter, but at the same time it is also the blandest and least interesting of the chapters. This may be because the Host is easy to identify with for most readers, but it’s also due to uninspired writing that does nothing new or interesting with the group. The Sovereign Host remains the simple “good guys” faith, and perhaps that’s for the best as every setting needs a mix of the familiar and strange.
The Prestige Class here is the Sovereign Speaker which represents a priest who worships all aspects of the Sovereign Host equally. This 9 level class has low entry requirements (8 ranks in K: Religion and a feat) and bestows a d8 HD, Medium BAB, Good Will save, 2 Skill Points, 7/9 divine spellcasting progression, 3 extra Domain spell slots, and 9 bonus Domains. Yes, 9 bonus Domains which must be selected from the Domains of the Sovereign Host with a few restrictions. I like the class, while it does lose some punch due to the 9 level progression and 2 levels lost of spellcasting it gains a lot of flexibility and flavor by gaining 9 Domains.
Chapter 2 The Dark Six 20 pages.
Six evil gods representing the vices of the world, the Dark Six are presented in a very positive light (the same can be said for the Blood of Vol) which leaves the reader wondering why exactly they’re the bad guys. The Dark Six acknowledges the Sovereign Host, pays them respect, but believes that the Six are far more important. Some interesting new discussion of the original names of the Dark Six is presented. Their ancient roles in the pantheon are presented here and in Chapter 1.
The Prestige Class here is the Escalation Mage which is an arcane spellcaster who worships the Shadow and gains… shadow powers. This 6 level class has low entry requirements (any 5th level arcane caster can qualify) and bestows a d4 HD, Poor BAB, Good Fort save, 2 Skill Points, 6/6 arcane spellcasting progression, and a shadow ability every level which involves risking hit points (by making caster level checks) in order to apply metamagic effects.
Chapter 3 The Silver Flame 18 pages.
A religion focused around the worship of a mystical fire, the eradication of evil wherever it may be found, and the maximizing of good in the world. This chapter does a good job of expanding upon the Silver Flame by presenting bits and pieces of philosophy and tradition that help paint a clearer picture of how the faith functions.
Some of the religions presented, including the Silver Flame, promise an afterlife other than Dolurrh – the gray eternity that waits for most (perhaps all) souls. In the case of the Flame the souls of followers merge with the actual Silver Flame and strengthen it. Thus resurrection is avoided as it diminishes the Flame. This continues one of the best parts of the Eberron mythos, which is that no one truly knows what happens after death.
The Prestige Class here is the Argent Fist which combines the Paladin and Monk classes (requiring one of the feats from the Eberron Campaign Setting) and has moderate entry requirements. This 10 level class bestows a d10 HD, Medium BAB, Good Fortitude and Will saves, 4 Skill Points. A variety of abilities are gained, such as being able to retain the Monk AC bonus from class levels and Wisdom bonus while wearing heavy armor and carrying a shield. Monk unarmed strike damage continues to progress (and counts Paladin levels too) and many holy / silver fire oriented abilities are gained.
Chapter 4 The Blood of Vol 14 pages.
The Blood of Vol believe in realizing the divine potential within the individual. No prayers (except to the self), no devotion to anything else (except the lich Vol of course), just a desire to do whatever it takes to realize that divinity. While somewhat interesting, Chapter 4 is an excellent example of why the standard format doesn’t work well in this product as every Blood of Vol group does its own thing.
The variant sects (about four for each faith) are one of the most entertaining parts of each chapter, but Blood of Vol includes a brief description of the Order of the Emerald Claw in place of one of its entries. No new information on the Order is included, just a paragraph of information that anyone who read the Eberron Campaign Setting would know. This sort of thing is not unusual for Eberron products, and is just one example of the large amount of repeat information presented in this product.
As an aside, I found the following quote amusing and illustrative of the fact that I don’t think the writers are on top of what Eberron is like. “Any Vol cleric capable of true resurrection is deemed particularly blessed.” – no kidding, as they would be one of the most powerful people in the world. Pure filler statements like this are common in the product.
The Prestige Class here is the Thief of Life which involves detecting and stealing life in order to gain power and immortality. Unfortunately, these benefits involve dealing lethal sneak attacks to higher level creatures. This 10 level class gains a d6 HD, Medium BAB, Good Fortitude and Reflex saves, 6 Skill Points, and a special ability every level including Sneak Attack progression (up to +3d6) and Lifesense. The entry requirements are low and could be met as early as level 4.
Chapter 5 Druid Sects 22 pages.
The Wardens of the Wood, the Ashbound, The Children of Winter, and the Gatekeepers are all presented here. I felt like there were some inconsistencies between material presented here and in the Player’s Guide to Eberron, but I couldn’t say for certain. As presented these groups have little structure, which seems strange for such important organizations that are generally concentrated in a smaller geographic area. Some, such as the Ashbound, have strange notions driven home (such as not wearing armor or using weapons – a tough order for a D&D campaign). This chapter generally feels less in tune with other Eberron material and previous write ups than the rest of the book. It also fails to make these groups more interesting (which is unfortunate as they have a lot of potential).
The Prestige Class here is the Planar Shepherd is a Druid who wishes to bring the conditions of his chosen plane to Eberron. This 10 level class has low entry requirements (a 5th level druid could get in) and bestows a d8 HD, Medium BAB, Good Fortitude and Will saves, 4 Skill Points, full divine spellcasting progression, and a variety of special abilities involving manifesting elements of the chosen plane. Some wild shape progression is gained, involving the chosen plane, so a Shepherd could use Wild shape (elemental or outsider) to turn into a barghest if she was aligned with Mabar, the Endless Night.
Chapter 6 Other Cults 34 pages.
Three Warforged religions, a Quori religion, a Kalashtar religion, the Undying Court, the Cults of the Dragon Below, and the Seren Dragon Cults are all presented here.
Those who worship the Lord of Blades believe the Lord is either divine or the next best thing and have founded a militaristic religion based around becoming stronger and embracing superiority over lesser, fleshy races.
Those who worship The Becoming God believe that a Warforged god has only recently been born and that this god is still largely without form. It would be a wonderful addition if not for the fact that followers are obsessed with finding the First Forge in the Mournland and so don’t have much contact with the rest of the world. That’s it too, they search through the Mournland and obsess over The Becoming God – there’s just nothing else here.
The Reforged is more of a philosophy than a religion. The book even says so on the first line. Some may recognize this idea from the Magic of Eberron supplement. Reforged are Warforged who want to become human by giving up their construct nature. The entry is short, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and shows a general lack of understanding of how the Warforged work. I like that they have birthday parties, but find their obsession (?) with eating food (doesn’t work so well for the Warforged) to be a little odd even for creatures that want to become more… fleshy. No doubt a humorous sexual joke or ten could be made at this point.
The Inspired are Quori that have taken a human body, and are worshipped by some citizens of Riedra. Some of these citizens become Priests (no ranks or titles) and report to the lowest level lords for assignments. Their job is to keep the common folk under control.
The Path of Light is focused on quiet meditation and struggle against the Quori – exactly the same thing the Kalashtar are about. Religious adherents (Kalashtar of great drive) are called Lightspeakers and they revere the good Quori who still exist within the souls of the Kalshtar people.
The Cults of the Dragon Below are random groups of worshippers that typically follow some sort of intelligent aberration. The only thing they have in common is madness and generally being a foil for adventurers.
Seren Dragon Cults briefly discusses the Dragon-worship of the Seren barbarians, and it’s nicely flavorful. The only problem with it (found in some other entries as well) is that it takes 15 years to train to become an apprentice – not something a character can easily do after the game starts. It’s not complex, but I like the idea of Dragon-worshipping barbarians and the section does a good job of making them more interesting.
The Undying Court is a group of dead and positive energy liches worshipped by the elves of Aerenal. The religion has already been discussed in other products, and only minor details of how members behave are provided. That the mask of the Undying Court is not a holy symbol, and that everyone has their own unique holy symbol, is strange and generally make it a less intuitive transition from the Eberron Campaign Setting to this product.
Each of these groups gets its own example location, but no new Prestige Class is presented here.
Chapter 7 The Trappings of Faith 13 pages.
Nineteen new feats are presented, and they are a mix in quality. If I were playing in an Eberron game there are only two or three that would interest me, with a couple more for purely flavor reasons. Two new Domains – Revered Ancestor Domain and Warforged – are also presented along with a smattering of spells, magic items, and cyber-ware-like Warforged body replacements for non-Warforged. This is the weirdest thing I could imagine including in this book, but the system is simple and anyone that wants cyber-ware in Eberron need only look to the last few pages of this product (and the system introduced in Magic of Eberron).
My Take
Faiths of Eberron does little to flesh out the various religions of Khorvaire. The new material tends to be very bland, as if written by authors who were not allowed to expand upon the setting in any meaningful way (which is likely the case) and with only the occasional interesting idea thrown in the mix. Even mechanics junkies will find little of interest here, though some of the Prestige Classes and the cyber-ware additions are fun and could see use in many campaigns.If you are currently playing a member of one of the major religious orders and need ideas for minor rituals and the like to use with your character, this product has something to offer you. However, if you just want more information about Eberron, haven’t already purchased all the other Eberron products, don’t have a lot of money to spend on RPGs, or don’t need this sort of small scale minutia then avoid this product.
