Why the Last War?

Well, the answer of course, is because the Last War is cool. Actually I have this pet peeve about writing history for a campaign setting, especially if the players never get to experience it in some fashion. Designing a module during the Last War lets me do just that, immerse my players in an aspect of the Eberron Campaign Setting that they might not normally have a chance to experience.

Having said that, creating a setting in history poses some of its own problems as well. First of all it can take a lot of control away from the players. Everybody (with a copy of the ECS) already knows what is going to happen to the Cyran frontier town in this location, in 969YK. It's not a surprise, and the PCs have no way of preventing it (without altering the future - which is a headache I want to avoid).

So how do I reconcile these two different ideas. The answer came to me late last night. I need to stop treating the Last War as part of the adventure itself, and start treating it more as part of the scenery. The module doesn't work if the Last War (and the specific battle in 969 that I'm focusing on) is the main focus for the players. However I think it will add quite an impact if I can make the Last War part of the backdrop. It's something that the PC will constantly be aware of. It's part of the adventure, but not the driving force.