Kethelrax the Cunning and more thoughts... (Patreon)

If my latest post looks familiar, it's because I posted a Patreon preview of it earlier in the month. I'll be posting another preview article for you all over the weekend. 

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you who have become patrons to express your thoughts on where I go with Frontiers. I really appreciate all the opinions that have been shared on the poll, both for and against, and the poll will run for weeks yet; this isn't a decision I'm making lightly. Meanwhile, here's a response I've posted to threads on ENWorld and Reddit. 

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Just to be clear: I have no intention of completely abandoning Eberron. I’ve been supporting it for twenty years and I’m not going to stop now. Whatever path I take going forward, I will continue to answer questions on my Patreon and as time permits, post articles as I have been for years; I may have less time for it, but I won’t stop. Likewise, If I do take Frontiers in a different direction, I’ve already written material that is directly tied to Eberron — such as statistics for the daelkyr Orlassk—that I would release in some form.

The question is more long term. At the moment, the only path for Eberron content is the DM’s Guild, which has a steep royalty and prevents any other use of the IP (such as novels or supporting products). Beyond this, I don’t know if the arrangement allowing Eberron material to be produced on the DMsG will continue into One D&D. If I create something new, I will surely lose a huge chunk of my audience who don’t have time or interest in trying that new thing (as shown by Phoenix) but I will also have full freedom to develop it however I want and no fear of having it taken away without warning.

It’s not an easy decision to make. But again, rest assured that whatever I decide to do with Frontiers I am not ABANDONING Eberron. And I’m no longer the only source of Eberron material; there are many community members developing interesting Eberron content for the DMs Guild.

So—thanks to everyone who has shared their thoughts, whether here or on my Patreon. I’m not rushing into this; the poll on Patreon runs for a month, because I want people to have time to think about it and discuss it. And again, I very much understand and sympathize with people saying “Best of luck, but realistically I’m not going to try your new thing if you do it.” It’s important for me to know that, to be able to realistically consider the cost of change.

Finally: I don’t really want to discuss where I’d take Frontiers if I move away from Eberron, because it’s too early for that. But I will say that it won’t just be “Frontiers without Eberron.” People who know me know that I’m interested in the industrial impact of everything from magic to monsters, that I love exploring dreams and faerie tales, and that I like using traditional things in untraditional ways. A new frontier will allow me to do all of those things again, just exploring different paths from what I did with Eberron. It won’t just be “Fantasy Western” any more than Eberron is just halflings on dinosaurs. But also, part of my intent would be to create something interesting that could be integrated into other worlds—whether that’s back into Eberron, Golarion, or your homebrew world.

Thanks to all of you who’ve played in Eberron or supported me in the past—I truly appreciate it, and whatever I choose to do, this isn’t the end of Eberron.