Eberron Part One - General Overview:

Here is the first in my series of "boiled down" Eberron for players' eyes. I'll hit what I think are the crucial elements of the Eberron setting.

Some movies that inspired the "Eberron mood":
Brotherhood of the Wolf, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Mummy, Pirates of the Caribbean, Raiders of the Lost Ark

The tone:
Eberron combines traditional medieval fantasy with pulp action and dark adventure. A devastating war (The Last War) took over the world for the last 100 years (it has been two years since a treaty ended it) and magic is built into the fabric of the society. Cities exist which feature buildings tall as modern skyscrapers, an aristocracy of "Dragonmarked" merchant families control much of the world's economy, elemental-bound airships and magically powered "lightning rails" (think magic trains) provide mobility across the world for a great majority of the citizenry, not just the lucky adventurers with teleport and flight spells.

Ten Things You Need to Know:
This comes straight out of the book, but I've truncated the descriptions. If you want to read the full list (and I recommend it), it's on page 8-9 of Eberron, and I'll bring the book with me to gaming from now on.

1. If it exists in D&D, it exists in Eberron - In short, beholders, +1 swords, etc. are all present
   
2. Tone and attitude - Alignments are relative, there are limited "action points" (like Spycraft, but different) to accomplish dramatic or cinematic scenes even if the dice don't always roll your way
   
3. A world of magic - There's a working class of mages, as well as the Dragonmarked houses, that provides any number of magical conveniences to everyone
   
4. A world of adventure - Magical transport means your adventures will be far-reaching and mobile, and there is a vast array of locations, from the war-blasted Mournland to the jungle continent of Xen'drik with its fallen giant civilization.
   
5. The Last War has ended - sort of - There is a two-year peace as the campaign begins, but there are still old feuds and pain from one hundred years of war affecting people from the commoner to those in power
   
6. The Five Nations - Galifar, the kingdom that shattered when the Last War began, was made up of Five Nations: Aundair, Breland, Cyre, Karrnath and Thrane. Four of them survive as independent countries; Cyre was destroyed in the closing days of the Last War, and is now known as the Mournland. The campaign will be based in the city of Sharn, which is in the nation of Breland.
   
7. A world of intrigue - Eberron has a great need for adventurers, espionage and sabotage. The dragonmarked houses, churches both pure and corrupt, crime lords, monster gangs, secret societies, dragons, etc. all jockey for power in the post-war society.
   
8. Dragonmark dynasties - There are 13 Dragonmarked Houses that represent the majority of business interests in Eberron. The family members don't all manifest Dragonmarks, but those that do gain special magic powers that help them with the chosen vocation of the houses. The houses are: House Cannith (Architects of magic and steel, original builders of the Warforged), House Deneith (Bodyguards and mercenaries), House Ghallanda (Magically enhanced halfling innkeepers and chefs), House Jorasco (Halfling healers), House Kundarak (Dwarven bankers, offering bills of exchange instead of bulky coins to carry around), House Lyrandar (Half-elf weather manipulators, helpful to farmers and sailors), House Medani (Half-elven bodyguards, inquisitives, scouts and sentries), House Orien (Couriers and transportation, responsible for the lightning rail and elemental airship routes), House Phiarlan (Elven artists and entertainers with illusion and divination magic), House Sivis (Gnomish translators, notaries and scribes), House Tharasik (Human/half-orc prospectors, inquisitives and bounty hunters), House Thuranni (A split faction from House Phiarlan, slightly more shady and aggressive in the way they provide services), House Vadalis (Producers of fine magebred animals, animal trainers and teamsters of renowkn)
   
9. Dragonshards - The creation myth divides Eberron into three parts, each tied to a dragon of legend: Siberys (The sky and stars), Khyber (The underdark and abyss) and Eberron (the world itself). Each section produces stones and crystals imbued with arcane power known as dragonshards. These dragonshards enhance dragonmarks, allow the binding of elementals and can be used in the construction of various magic items. They are rare and difficult to come by, and are often the subject of quests, especially in the lost continent of Xen'drik.
   
10. New races - In addition to the standard campaign, there are three new playable races: Changelings (half-doppleganger), Shifters (half-lyncanthrope) and warforged (sentient constructs forged during the Last War).