Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Grizzled Gryphon 03-10-07, 03:35 PM	Hey, folks, I am going to be starting in a game in Eberron tomorrow, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on what would be a good character for someone new to Eberron. I have no idea what the character creation process is going to be, but I do know that anything in Eberron is available. We will be starting at first level, too. So, no LA. Thanks for any advice.
Belabras 03-10-07, 03:59 PM	I'd advise looking through the source material and going with something that fires your imagination. From your sig I can see you have plenty of resources to pull from, so you should be able to make just about any concept that strikes your fancy.
Grizzled Gryphon 03-10-07, 04:07 PM	Yeah, and that isn't all I have, now that I think of it. I need to update that sig. I was wondering if anyone has played anything that seemed to really work well with the setting, and how things are different. I am not sure exactly how Eberron is set. for example, I know Eberron has its own gods, and the way dragons are is different, too. I was considering a Warforged Psion, or Psychic Warrior. Any thoughts on that? Of course, the Shifter looks like it might be an interesting choice, too. Or a changleing Rogue, maybe. Or... well, I could go on and on, so I am hoping for some ideas before I get to the game tomorrow so I don't get there without any idea of what to make. I assume that the regular classes are available? I know there is a new class presented in Eberron, the Artificier. They seem to be more NPC-ish than a useful class to play, though.
fiendish_platypus 03-10-07, 05:49 PM	It all depends on what Eberron books you can use. I really like warforged, but thats just me. If you want a warforged psion there is the Psiforged race (actually, come to think of it's a feat) and a couple of psionic warforged components (little dohickeys you attach to yourself, don't know how much you know so...) in Magic of Eberron. It also depends on where you're adventuring. Xen'drik, mournland, frostfell, argonessen, salrona, sharn, etc... So many choices... BTW don't underestimate the artificer, if there's a warforged thay can be great buffers, and they can make items too! Also, if you like psionics and wanna try out a warforged you might want to check out the psionic artificer in Magic of Eberron, never used one, hardly even looked at it, but it might work.
Grizzled Gryphon 03-10-07, 08:21 PM	Psiforged, eh? And where, pray tell, is that feat found? I won't know what books are available until tomorrow, so I may not be able to use it at all. I am thinking the Warforged Psion or Psychic Warrior is the way to go. Probably the Psychic Warrior. I don't know, though. I have been wanting to try a Lurk, and I think a Whisper Gnome would make a great one. Are there Whisper Gnomes in Eberron?
fiendish_platypus 03-10-07, 09:03 PM	Psiforged, eh? And where, pray tell, is that feat found? I won't know what books are available until tomorrow, so I may not be able to use it at all. I am thinking the Warforged Psion or Psychic Warrior is the way to go. Probably the Psychic Warrior. I don't know, though. I have been wanting to try a Lurk, and I think a Whisper Gnome would make a great one. Are there Whisper Gnomes in Eberron? Psiforged is in Magic of Eberron. As for the whisper gnome, most DMs (at least most that I know) allow any races in eberron (although they change the background a little) pg. 69, players guide to eberronWhisper Gnomes: Unlike chaos gnomes (also from races of stones) do not form their own communities. They live among other gnomes, but less often in Zilargo than in other lands. Rumors say that whisper gnomes were magically bred by the Trust to serve as spies and assassins among other gnomes, but these tales are not widely believed. BTW the Trust is a secret gnome organization that secretly protects Zilargo from outsiders or something, not sure, warforged expert, not gnome, sorry.
Dragom 03-10-07, 09:17 PM	The Trust is a secret orginaization of spies that know all and see all within the nation of Zilargo. They are the police of Zilargo. They wear no uniforms. Violent criminals generally go missing with very short notice. I'm sure in some cases they may be inclined to send operatives beyond there borders to seek out escaped criminals or to feed information back home. Would you be inclined to be a member of the Trust? Writing cyphers to send back home on your progresses? Quietly gutting a hapless Orc, who thought that just because he could see no city guards that there where none, in the back alley behind a tavern? Would your DM even go for it? PS: Who else thinks the Gnome racial traits has to be trimmed down to a 1/4 page?
Cifer 03-11-07, 02:46 PM	I know there is a new class presented in Eberron, the Artificier. They seem to be more NPC-ish than a useful class to play, though. Artificers are a massive boost in equipment for the party. You don't need to buy stuff (and sell yours at half value), you can just make it yourself. I'd guesstimate that an artificer is able to almost double the party wealth. Plus, he can do a lot of stuff with wands/staffs (there are infamous accounts of 400+ damage in a single round, using up an entire wand), buffs your party and enables completely new ways of using and abusing magic items - you're fighting trolls? Well, suddenly everyone in your party has a temporary Giant Bane weapon - and look, it's acidic, too. So while it takes some thinking to use them effectively (Edy's guide is a good start), they make a great addition to just about every party. Otherwise, well, you've already got plenty of ideas - how shall we know what suits you best? What character types did you already play? How did you enjoy them?
Edymnion 03-11-07, 02:57 PM	You kidding? Artificer is one of the best classes they've made since the Rogue. It just requires you to stop and think instead of just beating at things with a sword or spell to use it though.
goblin_pride 03-11-07, 03:53 PM	You kidding? Artificer is one of the best classes they've made since the Rogue. It took me awhile to see it myself, but an artificer is really potent as the gadget-man of the party. When you look at all the things an artificer can make, it boggles the mind. I was thinking about playing a artificer/rogue next to make the pair of warforged in the group I play in really potent while still maintaining my position as the sneaky one in our group.
UnderworldLord 03-12-07, 12:09 AM	The artificer in my party (ran last night with only two players) portrays his character as looking and speaking like Christopher Walken. It makes life interesting, at least. :)
okaynowa 03-12-07, 02:10 PM	Just to chime in, playing a warforged character could be a good metagaming move for an "Eberron noob." The warforged themselves are still relatively new on the scene and finding their place in Khorvaire; it's a good excuse for asking questions whose answers would otherwise be obvious. Both the player and the character can rightly claim ignorance about this or that detail, and make exploration of the setting part of the experience.
Grizzled Gryphon 03-13-07, 11:26 PM	Wow, that is a good point, okaynowa. I never thought of that. I basically knew that about them. Something about them not being legal to make anymore, but someone is still making them in Sharn, and the Lord of Blades makes them, too. I think. Like I said, I don't know much at all, so that just might be the way to go.
okaynowa 03-14-07, 08:16 AM	There are several rumors and conspiracy theories about Cannith and the Lord of Blades minting new warforged, but whether they're true or not depends on the DM's campaign. Legit warforged were probably being made right up until the Day of Mourning. P.S. Mishawaka? Go Penn!
Cifer 03-14-07, 09:14 AM	Legit warforged were probably being made right up until the Day of Mourning. I'd rather say they were made up until the end of the war two years later. Trivialities such as the loss of their capital in Cyre wouldn't get in the way of The Bottom Line for the house.
okaynowa 03-14-07, 09:40 AM	Hmm... or one could argue the other way: Magic blew up Cyre Cannith had big magical forges in Cyre The forges may have blown up Cyre "Turn off all forges until further notice" People jump to all sorts of paranoid conclusions when trying to protect themselves from apparently causeless events. In my campaign, at any rate, Cannith stopped the forges because they don't know that the forges didn't have anything to do with the Mourning. Canon or other campaigns may vary. (For what it's worth, in my campaign Mordain the Fleshweaver doesn't know that his experiments with incorporeal grafting motes didn't have anything to do with the Mourning, either. And there's a reclusive divine channeler in Thrane who's not sure if he prayed the Mourning or not.)
Grizzled Gryphon 03-14-07, 04:07 PM	Well, you have all done a great job of losing me, there. I haven't a clue what the mourning is, or who any of those people and/or roganizations are that you mentioned. Heck, I don't even knowwho the lord of blades is, other than he has a semi-functional warforged Forge. Aside from that, I know nothing. P.S. Mishawaka? Go NOTRE DAME, baby!!! Woot, Woot!!
okaynowa 03-14-07, 04:12 PM	Heck, I don't even knowwho the lord of blades is, other than he has a semi-functional warforged Forge. Aside from that, I know nothing.Then don't read anything here that starts with "LoB" or "LoBster" You'll appreciate the surprise if and when it turns up in game. P.S.: What, no love for Penn High School?
Grizzled Gryphon 03-14-07, 05:03 PM	Ohhhh, the high school. In that case, you are forgiven for your apparent blasphemy.:P
Cifer 03-14-07, 07:33 PM	I haven't a clue what the mourning is It's the catastrophe that effectively ended the Last War. Picture the following scenario: - free-for-all war rages for about a hundred years - one of the participants is eradicated by what amounts to a nuclear strike (everything still existing in the ruins is warped and mutated) - noone knows who did it and whether they could do it again - everyone agrees that engaging in peace negotiations might be a really good idea The blasted ruins that are left of the one nation (Cyre) are called the Mournland and the catastrophe is known as the Mourning. The twelve Dragonmarked Houses are essentially megacorporations, sustained by their monopoly in a chosen field and mystic skin markings known as dragonmarks. House Cannith, for example, has the Mark of Making and was the primary arms dealer during the war. It also was responsible for the creation of the Warforged. And about the LoBster (Lord of Blades), well, it's pretty well-known that he is a warforged who tries to carve out a nation for other warforged using rather radical means against the "fleshies". His followers regard him as a holy messiah. He is operating from the Mournland. The fact that he is in possession of a creation forge is not common knowledge.
Anyeith 03-14-07, 10:58 PM	If you're looking for a fun and effectual class/race combo in Eberron, think about trying a shifter monk. I made one as an NPC who helped my players take down a baddy and with the right combination of shifter traits and shifter-specific feats that are in the Eberron campaign setting, you can make a kick-a** monk. I gave her the "beasthide" trait which gave her more HP because of her increased con and a higher AC which is good when you can't wear armor. I also had her take the "beasthide elite" feat which increased the natural armor by 2. I personally think that the shifter race is a very cool and fun addition to the races.
Grizzled Gryphon 03-15-07, 12:39 AM	Thanks for that, Anyeith. That is the kind of info I am looking for. Some serious ideas on what to do in Eberron. Cifer, thanks for the info. A magical nuclear strike, huh? Must have been those damn pointy eared bastards. As the game has been off set for a week, I can continue to garner interesting ideas from you all. Now, I have to choose from a Warforged Psion, a Shifter Monk, or an Artificer. Decisions, decisions...
goblin_pride 03-15-07, 01:07 AM	Cifer, thanks for the info. A magical nuclear strike, huh? Must have been those damn pointy eared bastards. Could you please be a bit more specific about which pointy-eared bastards you're referring to? There seems to be rather a large selection of pointed ears and Cyre was in conflict with at least three* of them and one of Cyre's enemies was allied to a fourth. *Goblinoids in Darguun, Valenar mercenaries turned traitor and Talenta Halflings allied to Karrnath. All on Cyre's border or in territory that Cyre owned at one point in time.
Splendide 03-15-07, 01:12 AM	I would favour a halfling ranger for a new player, because they can get away with being completely ignorant of everything outside of the Talenta plains, and can just ad-lib tribal stuff for their own background as they go.
Cambian00 03-15-07, 01:15 AM	Dude.... Shifter barbarian with beasthide trait.... AC benefits from shifting cancels out AC penalties from raging and Con bonuses from both stack making for a serious HP boost when fighting.... ultimate survivor
Grizzled Gryphon 03-15-07, 01:19 AM	Could you please be a bit more specific about which pointy-eared bastards you're referring to? There seems to be rather a large selection of pointed ears and Cyre was in conflict with at least three* of them and one of Cyre's enemies was allied to a fourth. *Goblinoids in Darguun, Valenar mercenaries turned traitor and Talenta Halflings allied to Karrnath. All on Cyre's border or in territory that Cyre owned at one point in time. I was refering to Elves. LOL
mhacdebhandia 03-15-07, 02:01 AM	Here's my advice, presented as random thoughts. Psionic warforged are extremely rare. Basically, such a character would have been an experimental model and may well have seen very little of the war before it ended. Warforged characters can take different "body feats" at first level to represent different ways in which their physical forms were constructed. You can't change these after first level except as the capstone of a prestige class. The Psiforged Body feat is found in Magic of Eberron, though you don't actually have to take it in order to play a psionic warforged character (unless your DM says you do). There are many opportunities for you to find quirky characterisation moments if you're playing a warforged. They can be shockingly ignorant of life outside their direct experiences - there are still many warforged who are not aware that their freedom was guaranteed them by the Treaty of Thronehold at the end of the Last War, for instance. Unless your DM permits you to say that your character was built by Merrix d'Cannith or by the Lord of Blades, you can't assume that your character is certain their rumoured creation forges are in operation or even exist at all. Both are available as possible sources of new warforged; such a possibility is required because the Treaty of Thronehold also forbids the construction of new warforged by any party. By the by, Merrix d'Cannith is not the inventor of the warforged; he is simply one of three powerful regional barons of the dragonmarked House Cannith, whose inherited magical abilities give them a virtual monopoly on magic and mundane arms, armour, and crafted goods - and allowed them to create the warforged race as artificial soldiers for the Last War. So Merrix d'Cannith may have access to one of the creation forges - artifacts which facilitated the production of the warforged - but if he does it is kept hidden from even the other regional barons of House Cannith. Likewise, the Lord of Blades may have access to a working creation forge somewhere in the Mournlands (the magically-devastated ruins of the nation of Cyre), but since he does not possess the Cannith dragonmark (only humans of the Cannith bloodline do, after all) he must have figured out some other way of getting it to work. It's rumoured that the warforged he creates, if they do exist, are defective in some way - this may be because of the jury-rigged activation method he's using, or because the artifact itself was damaged in the Mourning - he may have an enslaved or even willing scion of House Cannith operating the creation forge for him, but if the forge itself was damaged it may be unable to produce fully-functional warforged even so. Great source for crazy-templated warforged, if you ask me!
Arcane Guyver 03-15-07, 03:30 AM	By the by, Merrix d'Cannith is not the inventor of the warforged Well, I don't have my book with me right now, but I recall being somewhat confused by this myself. The warforged were supposedly "invented" by Merrix...but that was towards the start of the Last War. His son found a way to make them sentient, and now HIS son (named Merrix) is the schemer playing around with an illegal forge.
mhacdebhandia 03-15-07, 09:08 AM	Hehe, that's true. It's Aaren d'Cannith who discovered the way to make warforged into truly self-aware living constructs - but for both him and his father, I would prefer to phrase it as "these men led the team of Cannith artificers who achieved these breakthroughs", rather than lay it all at the feet of them as individuals.
Cifer 03-15-07, 09:48 AM	@mhacdebhandia I'm not too sure about that - Aaren always seemed to me like the inventor genius and I wouldn't put it past him to discover the means to warforged sentience on his own.
mhacdebhandia 03-18-07, 08:45 PM	It's just my opinion; I'm not particularly fond of ascribing great advancements to the work of one individual. In real life there are geniuses like Leonardo da Vinci and that's great, but I prefer the idea that Aaren d'Cannith was simply the leading light of his house in his day, working at the head of a team of incredibly talented artificers. More like the Manhattan Project, if you see what I mean - Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the scientific team which produced the first nuclear weapons, but he didn't do all of the work himself and he certainly couldn't have done it alone. If nothing else, the more people who were involved with a major advancement like warforged sentience, the easier it becomes to make the task of finding out about exactly how warforged came to be intelligent more of a puzzle - tracking down different artificers' notes, private workshops, et cetera. That makes for better games than if you only had to find the workshop or records of Aaren d'Cannith.
Thindelock 03-20-07, 09:54 AM	One idea I've been kicking around: a psiforged psion, found disabled (0hp) on the streets of Sharn by the other PCs. It has no memory of its past, no real knowledge of the world around it or the history of Eberron. It has an innate understanding of psionics and language, and a drive to learn all it can (thus a drive for adventuring). This could be difficult to roleplay, but it could work well for a player who doesn't know anything about Eberron, and leaving your background in the hands of the DM for you to discover in-game could be entertaining :) Also on these forums, I've seen a nifty warforged paladin idea: a paladin of the Silver Flame, who believes himself to be a tool in the service of the Flame. That faith believes warforged do not have souls, so a warforged believer would believe itself without a soul. "My purpose is to be an extension of the will of the Flame in this world. I do not do it for glory, nor for hope of reunion with the Flame upon my death. I do it because it is my duty, and it is the right thing to do." Hardcore self-sacrificial. Anyway, just tossing a couple of ideas out.
neantollo 03-20-07, 06:04 PM	Also on these forums, I've seen a nifty warforged paladin idea: a paladin of the Silver Flame, who believes himself to be a tool in the service of the Flame. That faith believes warforged do not have souls, so a warforged believer would believe itself without a soul. "My purpose is to be an extension of the will of the Flame in this world. I do not do it for glory, nor for hope of reunion with the Flame upon my death. I do it because it is my duty, and it is the right thing to do." Hardcore self-sacrificial. That would be Edymnion's great thread My PCs (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=399755). He has a number of great backstorys in there that you could use, and I agree with Thindelock, the warforged paladin of the Church of the Silver Flame is a great starting character. I'm rather fond of the Elan in that thread myself; its about the most Eberron-unique thing I've seen.
Grizzled Gryphon 03-22-07, 09:05 PM	Well, I really like the idea of the Warforged being found by the other characters disabled idea. I would have no idea of the world, which would be very easy for me to roleplay, as it also happens to be true! Well, thanks, all. That is what I am going to do.