Is Eberron Actually Steampunk? A Steampunk Writer Weighs In

 

by Charlie Stayton, Behind the Die

As someone who spends a great deal of time immersed in the gears and grit of steampunk storytelling—particularly through my work on the Tephra RPG—I'm often asked: “Is Eberron steampunk?” And that’s a fair question. On the surface, the Eberron campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons flaunts many of the trappings associated with steampunk: lightning rails, airships, arcane technology, and an industrialized world still licking its wounds from a global war. But once you pull back the curtain and get under the hood, the answer isn’t quite so cut-and-dried.

Let’s unpack it.

The Aesthetic Versus the Ethos

Steampunk is more than just goggles and gears. It’s a genre with a distinct ethos—a marriage of industrial revolution aesthetics, speculative science, and often, a critique (or celebration) of imperialism, class struggle, and unchecked progress. It thrives on tension: between magic and machinery, tradition and innovation, the elite and the underclass.

Eberron does wear the aesthetic well. House Cannith’s creation forges, lightning rails, and elemental-bound vehicles evoke the same sense of wonder you get when firing up an aether-tech weapon in Tephra. But while Eberron borrows heavily from the look of steampunk, it roots its innovation in magic—not steam, coal, or pseudo-science. That’s a big shift.

What Tephra calls “aether”—an unstable energy with volatile consequences—Eberron translates into “arcane science,” a discipline as systematic as it is wondrous. In that way, Eberron may be closer to magepunk than steampunk.

The Power Structures

Another key element of steampunk is its underlying power dynamics: magnates versus inventors, corporations versus rebels, high society versus gutter-born geniuses. Tephra leans into this with its fractured city-states, rogue inventors, and volatile political factions constantly vying for control over emerging technologies.

Eberron, on the other hand, grounds its power struggles in ancient bloodlines and magical monopolies. The Dragonmarked Houses are not just aristocrats—they’re magical oligarchs. Their control over commerce, transportation, and warfare feels more like a fantasy spin on corporate feudalism than the industrialist conflicts you’d expect in core steampunk. Still, the setting echoes similar themes: class division, rapid change, and the lingering trauma of war.

The Verdict?

So, is Eberron steampunk?

As a Tephra writer, my answer is: not quite—but close enough to be kin. Eberron is what I’d call arcane-industrial fantasy with steampunk influence. It shares the genre’s energy, its industrial tempo, and some of its social undercurrents, but it swaps steam engines for elemental-bound turbines, factories for mage-forges, and clockwork for living constructs.

If you’re coming from the Tephra world—where innovation is dangerous, volatile, and fiercely political—you may find Eberron a little too clean, a little too arcane. But if you’re a D&D player curious about steampunk’s heart and soul, Eberron is an excellent entry point.

At the end of the day, steampunk isn’t just an aesthetic—it’s a mindset. And Eberron, for all its arcane polish, still captures some of that bold, brass-bound spirit. Also always remember it is your game and world make it yours!