A Socialist's Guide to Eberron

Eberron as a setting is currently, in my opinion, lacking in terms of labor history. The populist movements that defined the 19th and 20th centuries, which Eberron draws from (especially the former) are sometimes referenced in campaign materials or adventure hooks but never fleshed out in ways that I personally find meaningful. To remedy this, I wanted to introduce more of a history of labor itself and how it’s transitioning across Khorvaire. I also want to fit this perspective into the setting without adding too much to it, and instead just slightly tweak current trends in Khorvaire to better suit some of these ideas. I also just want to say that I’m not an economist or political scientist, so forgive me if I oversimplify. Finally, I like how especially in kanon the setting is always on the cusp of change: on the cusp of full arcane industrialization, on the cusp of transition from monarchy to republic, on the cusp of the Next War. I intend on keeping this theme alive in this writing. Socialism, or laborism or unionism or however you might want to retool it in your setting, is only just starting to pick up steam as a popular ideology, and there will be no governments who claim to be socialist/unionist in 998 YK. 

Why do this?

This isn’t merely an exercise in worldbuilding. I personally find that adding socialist agitation to your games makes Eberron feel even more alive and rich, and feels like a natural extension if we are to believe that the arcane revolution is going to spread to the point of mass production. Moreover, I think that trying to figure out how such an ideology could form in this world sounds very exciting, as it would by no means have to do so under the same conditions or with the same precepts that Marxism or anarchism or any other socialist thought coalesced under in our world.

An Assumption

Within Marxist thought, there exists the idea that capitalism is a stepping stone in human history, and that socialism will be the step that follows it. While I don’t necessarily agree with this conceptualization, I do believe that it provides for an interesting conflict as the feudal order of Khorvaire clashes with a rising capitalistic one, only to be met with demands for the introduction of a socialist mode of production. So, I will lead with the assumption that in order for us to have a better foundation for socialism in Eberron, we first need to explore how capitalism could develop in the setting.

Groundwork

First of all, I’m going to lead with my ideas about the setting that I’ve drawn from both kanon and canon and contrast that a bit with world history. The spark of the industrial revolution in our world and its subsequent social movements, which were centered at first in Britain, required specific conditions to arise. I’m not going to try to replicate those in Khorvaire, but I do want to see what other avenues the arcane revolution can develop in the continent, and see where the origins of some of the financial instruments of capital could have arisen. With that said, here are some background facts and histories before we get to the present day.

The simplified model of how Western economies progressed in our world, that being a transition from feudal to mercantile to capitalist structures, is not present in Eberron. The magical economy during the age of Galifar seemed stable and stagnant without needing to pursue any form of overseas colonialism or protectionism that defined mercantilism in our world. While those elements are still there, such as colonies being sent out to Xen’drik and the Houses staking interests in Q’Barra, the sort of export-dominated national economies that fueled the rise of capitalist ventures don’t really seem to exist in Khorvaire or were far less present. Instead, it was the Last War’s demands for mass produced weapons and technological advantages that spurred the creation of the capitalist transition. Here’s where technology in Eberron and technology in our world can diverge but still produce similar societal results.

Perhaps most importantly, Khorvaire urbanized. As the war demanded manpower and devastated countrysides, innovations between the Twelve in the form of eldritch machines such as weather control devices from House Lyrandar, calorie-rich magebreed from Vadalis, and better farming tools from Cannith produced a second agricultural revolution. Farmers and ranchers who were not turned into refugees by war had to leave anyway due to being outcompeted by wealthier planters. In short, the feudal system of tenant farmers began to break down. Importantly, it still hasn’t completely. Eberron as a setting still wants to cling to the feeling of a world that is mostly still grounded in the pseudo-medievalism of other D&D settings in 998 YK, and we’ll respect this. 

The new class of urban dwellers that flocked to the cities were not completely out of luck, however. The nature of the war meant that new industrial techniques were needed to supply the front lines, and the sovereigns of each nation understood that this meant putting this new class to work in Khorvaire’s first factories. While these primitive foundries were truly nightmarish in their working conditions, they also served as a blueprint that the private sector could build upon. While state-regulated foundries produced materiel vital to the war effort, civilian goods comprised a virtually untapped market, and one that was in critically low supply given the ongoing war. Like in our world, textiles were the first commodity to see mass production this way, but recent developments have pushed cookware, candles, and other mundane objects onto the assembly line.

In my lens of this, these factories and similar ventures created the economic environment necessary for joint-stock companies to rise. While the Dragonmarked Houses undoubtedly staked corners into this market, I believe that this could be an area where third parties may be able to slip in and take advantage of the hubris of the Houses. Without the vast, centuries-old deposits of wealth that the Houses possess, third-party industrialists would need private or state investors to assist them on these ventures. From here, we also can assume that there were developments in commercial promissory notes, otherwise known as paper money, that facilitated the exchange of stock options and the rise of the first stock exchanges. On top of all this, House Kundarak has been more than willing to get in on this scheme and issue its own banknotes and invest in these third parties, despite growing protests from the Twelve. Where they couldn’t strangle these new businesses in the cradle, the Houses have instead resorted to hostile takeovers, subterfuge - and if rumors are true - outright murder in the maintenance of their monopoly. However, the few who have slipped through the filter have created Khorvaire’s first department stores and shipping companies, taking advantage of the goods that the Houses eagerly supply.

From this jumping point, financial institutions sprung up as traditional seats of wealth began to decline. Even before the Mourning, Cyre and its magnificent cities were beginning to lose their international commercial importance in favor of port cities such as Sharn and Trolanport. 

Okay, let’s stop here for a second. I understand that this is a lot to introduce to the world. Even just adding paper money might get me shot. So, let’s keep some things in mind: a) all of this has happened slowly across a hundred years, and b) it still is not the norm in Khorvaire. I envision that in 998 YK, only about 5-10% of the population is employed in factory work. This number might even be lower outside the primary Nations. The vast majority of the workforce is still composed of artisans, laborers, and peasants, and that is partially because the economy of Khorvaire is dependent on a very specialized workforce. Magewrights spend years either in House-sponsored guilds, colleges, or under apprenticeships just learning the basic aspects of part of a cantrip, and this low magic still and always will be the driving force behind the arcane revolution. However, that revolution is spreading. A few hundred years ago, most wizards couldn’t even conceptualize what a 7th level spell could be. Now, airships streak the skies. Eventually, either the time required to train a magewright will dramatically decrease or the workforce will be flooded with so many of them that these factories will be able to employ the magically trained and fully begin the process of mass production of the magic goods Khorvarians have come to expect. 

You can tweak any part of this history you like, be it by making it so that the Dragonmarked Houses are the drivers of finance rather than third parties, eliminating mentions of paper currency, or any other detail you don’t prefer. The main idea that needs to be maintained is that some sort of condition was created that encouraged a rise in industrialization, and therefore a proletariat class. All else can be ignored, which is why I chose not to delve deeply into what some of those third parties are or how magic can be implemented into a stock exchange, although that does sound cool. I just personally like the idea that the Dragonmarked Houses in their hubris were happy to provide the goods for this magical economy but didn’t have the foresight to figure out how to maximally exploit it, and that this may prove to be their downfall as a new class of capitalists rise. Regardless, the details of who’s running the show in terms of capitalist vs merchant Dragonmarked aren’t important to the rest of the story, and so from here on the only thing that matters is that there are factories, and they are spreading. While our unionist thought could spring from a growing class consciousness among magewrights, it doesn’t seem like magewrights are in any way oppressed in the way that a wage worker would be, especially during this time frame. So, the factories and wage slavery are vital components here.

The birth of Unionism

The first factories in the Five Nations were like those of our world: dangerous, loud, and exploitative. With no labor regulations in place, these factories likely took advantage of the poorest members of society, such as those of the monstrous races or discarded warforged. It didn’t take especially long for people to take notice of these horrific foundries, especially as more “normal” humanoids began to be employed by them.

From here, we can introduce our first character into the play. Welnoa of Korranberg is a Zil gnome who dreamed of studying in her hometown institute, the Library of Korranberg. While not necessarily the top of her class, her passion and cunning earned her a positive reputation, and she was accepted into the Tabernacle, Korranberg's college of philosophy and religion in 925 YK. She took particular interest in two fields especially: the Blood of Vol, and the school of materialism. 

Welnoa’s studies drove her deeper into an appreciation for the religion of the Seekers. As investigation slid into devotion, she renounced her faith in the Sovereigns. Fearing reprisal for being labeled a disturber of the peace by the Trust, she fled to Karrnath, where at that time the state still upheld the Blood of Vol as its religion. She continued her studies and integrated herself into the communal rituals of the Seekers, deepening her connection to her newfound faith. 

Over time however, Welnoa became disillusioned with both the Karrnathi government and the local Seeker clergy. Her studies into materialism led her to develop the theory of historical materialism, an economic philosophy that examines the history of Khorvaire’s societies under the lens of their material and economic conditions. She began publishing scathing critiques of monarchism and republicanism, believing that the nations of the continent had failed in their mandate to the people, and that the nation-state itself could only ever be used as a tool of oppression. Initially, much of this early work was meant to inspire Seeker separatism and to convert non-believers to the Blood of Vol, as well as reduce the influence of the Crimson Covenant in the daily lives of its believers.

Eventually though her writings began to shift more to an internationalist, irreligious perspective. Though Welnoa still desired new Seekers to find the power within, she believed that her message of self empowerment would reach wider audiences if the references to her personal faith were more subtle and if the message was more agnostic. She saw during her lifetime the rise of the factory system and the growing capitalist class profiteering off the war, and spoke of a new specter looming over the continent. Through Welnoa and other intellectuals during the 950s, the basic principles of the desired stateless, classless society that humanoids must now aspire to, the one that they must achieve through the breaking of their own chains, was formulated. Unionism as an ideology and its main tenets would be refined further as international conventions of unionists from across Khorvaire convened regularly in Korth to discuss new developments and complications in their ideology.

Two setbacks would dim this early galvanizing period. When Regent Moranna ir’Wynarn disbanded the old military orders and revoked the Blood of Vol as Karrnath’s state religion, she took the opportunity to also exile many of the eager revolutionaries plaguing her kingdom. Welnoa, along with many other unionists, fled once again. She still resides to this day in an undisclosed commune in Q’barra, with followers who smuggle her new works across Khorvaire. The second setback would be in the form of the Thaliost Commune. Towards the end of the war, the world was suddenly and dramatically shown what the new Unionist ideology could truly entail. In 991 YK Thaliost’s workers and magewrights made their largest and most successful gambit in throwing off the chains of their occupiers. The city had been seeded with unionist propaganda for decades due to its close proximity to Karrnath. Though the revolt failed in its goal to inspire simultaneous movements in Aundair and Karrnath and was violently quelled within months, it still showed the world the power that this new ideology held. A new wave of unionists, inspired by the fallen heroes of Thaliost, flocked to the teachings of Welnoa. Meanwhile, the unmistakable omen that the Thaliost Commune augured was carefully examined by Khorvaire’s conservatives. The Five Nations, Zilargo, the Mror Holds, and Valenar immediately took steps to censor any unionist propaganda spreading within their borders. Only the nations on the periphery of Galifar’s former imperial core became safe havens for Khorvaire’s new revolutionaries.

So, essentially we have our Marx, but with a few key differences. Unionists do not believe that religion is a toxic opiate of the masses. In fact, the spread of unionism has many times been accompanied with proselytization of the Seeker faith. Orthodox unionism, also known as Welnoism, holds this connection to the Blood of Vol as a core pillar of its ideology. “No gods, no masters” has effectively been replaced with “One god, one master: me.” This has led many bigots across the continent to equate unionism with an imagined Seeker conspiracy, even going so far as to say that unionists are in league with the Emerald Claw, even though the two have radically different aims.

The other major difference is that Eberron does not quite seem to suffer from the same sexist influences that have pervaded our own world, at least not from what I’ve seen. Therefore, the abolition of the family may not be a core principle of unionism or may be radically different. Unionists would likely object to the generational accumulation of wealth that occurs within privileged bourgeois families, but the feudal nature of the setting and its gender equality probably tells us that the nuclear male-dominated family is not the normal mode of familial organization in Khorvaire.

This does not necessarily mean that we can yet define what the most popular strands of unionist thought are in 998 YK. Ideologies change and adapt to the circumstances of the people following them, and the spokespeople of those ideologies are almost always the most radical followers of them, meaning that they may not reflect the attitudes of their fellow believers. We can define some common themes though:

• All unionists desire the transition to a society without money, without state structures, and without hierarchy. From each according to their ability, to each according to their need. Once this is achieved, the unionists believe that the era of communism will be ushered in.
• All unionists believe that the Dragonmarked Houses and independent commercial powers that uphold private property are parasitic structures that rob the worker of the fruits of their labor.
• All unionists reject the arbitrary lines of national divisions, especially those that have sprung up during the Last War. They believe in a worldwide revolution of workers that will replace the current feudal and capitalist system, and that will unite workers of all nations.

So, how has this affected things in 998?

The Present

We have our groundwork and our context. Where, then, can we incorporate this into our setting and get some good story hooks out of it? I would like to propose 3 primary locations for where a unionist revolution could possibly spill over within the next few years, and give context for what their unionist movements look like. At the end I’ll also mention other regions of Khorvaire to see how unionism has affected them

The Eldeen Reaches

This might seem like an odd focal point, but I personally think that the Reaches are the most interesting center for unionist agitation. Ever since the Reachers declared their independence from Aundair, they have effectively been living in a communalist system that is not far from the communist one unionists are trying to create across the continent. Communities across the Reaches are self-sustaining, base themselves on mutual aid, and the Eberron Campaign Guide even states that the druids permit no commerce in Greenheart. While some claim this alone is not enough, many unionists point to the Reaches as the first true unionist or even communist state, and many of the founding druids of the secessionist movement were in fact either unionists or sympathetic to the cause.

However, it is important to recognize that although it walks like a magebred duck and quacks like one, the Reaches are not explicitly unionist. Oalian and the other druid circles broke away from Aundair to preserve their way of life and devote themselves to nature. For Oalian, unionism is another passing fad of the lesser-lived humanoids, and their approach to the issue has been that it does not matter if the organization of the Reaches fits into the definition that some Seeker hundreds of miles away wrote about. This has frustrated several of the radical members of the Wardens of the Wood and the Ashbound, among whom unionist sympathy is highest in the Reaches. They believe that since the Eldeen Reaches are practically already organized in a unionist fashion, that it would not matter if unionism was enshrined as an official edict. They wish to establish the Eldeen Federation of Communes and use it as an instrument to spread the international workers’ revolution. This has been incredibly frustrating for other Reachers, especially as foreign unionists have migrated to the Reaches to participate in what they believe is a unionist experiment, often getting themselves killed in the process as they lack the skills needed to survive in the Towering Wood. To these more moderate Reachers, unionism is a foreign poison that threatens to upset the natural balance of their young nation. The Children of Winter in particular have started attacking some of the incoming revolutionaries under the guise of culling the weak, threatening the cooperation that Oalian has carefully tried to cultivate.

Internationally, the alarming rise in unionist sympathy among Reacher communities, coupled with the suspiciously unionist-adjacent mode of organizing their state, has drawn the ire of foreign powers who wish to quell unionist thought. Aundair and Breland have already made joint promises to stage a military intervention in the Eldeen Reaches should Oalian openly embrace unionism, and trade embargoes from other nations have left the Reaches even more diplomatically isolated than Oalian ever intended. Oalian understands that the changing political climate following Thronehold might force the Reaches to seek foreign allies, and will soon have to make a decision in regards to whether the unionists in their presence could pose an existential threat to the continued survival of their Eldeen project.

The openness of unionist discourse in the Reaches has had a profound effect on the development of unionist thought across the continent. The dominant subideology has now become what is termed the Eldeen Model. Unionists across the continent believe that the best way to establish their communist utopia is through a federation of communes held together by an informal, popular peoples’ militia. This means that unlike our world in the 20th century, most leftists in Eberron do not believe that unionist revolution is dependent on a vanguard party creating a one-party state that guides the nation towards socialism. Rather, they wish to violently create the conditions necessary for a sudden and popular overthrow of the state, with no desire to replace it with a workers’ state. In real-world terms this means that ideologies like anarchism and syndicalism have won out in Eberron over vanguardist theory such as Marxist-Leninism, making those ideologies the exception, not the norm. The main arguments are now how to create that popular revolt. 

Breland

Probably the most obvious choice for unionist revolution. Breland has long been stated as having the greatest industrial capacity of the Five, and this industrial might coupled with its myriad social issues makes it the perfect pot of boiling worker rage.

I could see upwards of 15% of the workforce being employed in the factories in Breland, and that despite labor movements trying to regulate the conditions on the assembly line, the rampant corruption of local officials and the blasé attitude of the Chamber of Nobles has kept the working class underpaid, overworked, and neglected. To make matters worse, the abundance of disgruntled warforged and Cyran refugees has fueled the fires of radicalism further.

Interestingly, Breland’s unique demographics and urbanization has made them shift away from mainstream unionism. I decided that it would make sense for authoritarian socialism to have originated primarily among the lower classes of Sharn rather than anywhere else, and particularly to have done so among the warforged first. Most warforged are at least sympathetic to the unionist cause, but because militarism and authoritarianism is all they’ve ever known, it is possible that unionist thought in Breland developed to see the dictatorship of the proletariat as both a literal and necessary, even positive, concept. While the rhetoric of the revolutionaries still likely includes slogans of freedom and a breakaway from oppression, if a revolution were to start in Breland, it is likely that it would be led by a bureaucratic and militaristic vanguard. The consequences of such trends could make for very dramatic campaign arcs.

Before we close out on Breland, I think it would be pertinent to cover the Swords of Liberty and the Lord of Blades. The Swords of Liberty, as described within canon, are an antimonarchist and Brelish nationalist organization. They want to overthrow the monarchy and reignite the Last War, believing that Breland’s might makes victory inevitable if led by the proper leaders. While canon material calls them democratic, I think it would instead be very interesting if the Swords were the first true fascists of Khorvaire. Doing so is fairly easy, too. It’s likely that the Swords steal the rhetoric of Brelish unionists, but rather than propose class conflict, they embrace class cooperation. The Swords of Liberty desire a corporatist model where duty to the Brelish state supersedes duty to anything else, and their definition of who deserves to be Brelish would slowly narrow the further they entrenched their power. Cyran refugees, warforged, the monstrous races, all of these would be put on the chopping block as the Swords create their National Republic of Breland. I believe that in the event of a campaign covering a unionist revolution in Breland, there could be a fascinating and terrifying three-way civil war between the radicals, the old guard of nobles, and the reactionaries. 

As for the Lord of Blades, I don’t think he should actually be touched much. Others who have tried to incorporate socialism into their settings often make the Blades a leftist revolutionary organization, but I think it’s more interesting if the Blades offer warforged a different path forward. Rather than unionist revolution and equality with their fellow man, the Blades should still embrace race war as the inevitable future of the warforged. Removing them from this podium makes the setting less diverse and less interesting in my opinion.

Karrnath

The birthplace of unionism has long called out for a savior, a chance to finally step out of the dark. Inspired by the Reachers to the west, Karrnathi unionists are primarily of the orthodox branch, meaning that the majority of revolutionaries are Seekers. 

The main difference between Karrnathi unionists and other leftists across Khorvaire is that the Welnoists of Karrnath have not fully devoted themselves to revolution, at least not yet. The people of Karrnath are accustomed to harsh realities of life, and in general their tolerance for oppression is greater than those of other Khorvarians. For this reason, unionists in Karrnath are actually more akin to our world’s social democrats. The primary push for democracy has come from unionist agitation seeking to reform Karrnath’s system rather than sow even more chaos and violence through revolution.

This marked difference from foreign unionists has attracted praise from international governments, calling the Karrnathi radicals a necessary voice of reason in a world being agitated by the far left. Foreign unionists on the other hand believe that the Karrns are fools who are dividing the movement, and claim that the state can never be used as a tool to bring about unionism. 

A campaign set in Karrnath could grapple with this question of revolution vs reform, especially if sister revolutions break out in neighboring states. You can delve into how the Code of Kaius is affecting the social order of Karrnath, and how abactors of the Blood of Vol either integrate with the unionists or outright reject them.

Other Regions and Hooks

Among the monstrous nations, I don’t believe unionism would be present as a revolutionary force. Instead, its principles of cooperation would probably be adopted and adapted by the ruling elite to forge a sense of nationalism in their homelands. I could see unionist principles being applied in Droam and Darguun for example to foster a greater sense of community, but without calling those ideas out as being unionist. However, you can take this in the other direction. In our world, many African nations who gained their independence from colonialism tried to build a sense of identity by building socialism. Could the same happen in Darguun?

In the Lhazaar Principalities, I can definitely envision communes being created on remote islands, perhaps against the wishes of the local princes. These wouldn’t have anywhere near the influence or international recognition that the communes of the Reaches have, but if your players want to build up their own commune and spread the revolution, they could definitely do so either here or in Q’barra.

Finally, I wanted to list some plot hooks that could involve unionism as a core story pillar:

• An international manhunt has been launched to find and eliminate Welnoa of Korranberg. Your players travel to Q’barra to locate her, though their thoughts on this nascent ideology might change as they learn more about the revolutionary thinker…
• A joint warforged and ashbound terrorist attack in Sharn’s Central Plateau reveals the rising unionist cells spreading throughout the city. The Red Hammer Inn deep within the Cogs seems to be a hotspot for this agitation, inviting the player characters in…
• For the first time in decades, an international convention of unionists is once again being called. The Second Internationale, to be held in Greenheart, could fundamentally reshape the continent as radicals across Khorvaire coordinate their efforts…

Edit: Due to the overwhelming response to this post, I’ll try and expand this and turn it into a PDF for dmsguild. I’ll make another post, but expect something within a few weeks or months!