Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Hideous Phidias 02-19-08, 08:46 PM	I am tired of the hack and slash campaigns that my group tends to get stuck in. So now that it is my turn to run the game,I want to run something with a plot. I love Eberron and the setting fits a cloak and dagger fell well. But I need help chasing down important NPC and organizations. The Plot: The players all pick a different Dragonmarked Houses. I was going to give them the feats for free as a added incentive to play up to the theme of their chosen houses. The party then would be formed up at the Tower of Twelve in Korth. Once there the would be informed that they job is to bring about the rebuilding of the the Great White Arched Bridge that once connected the cities of Thaliost, Aundair and Rekkenmark, Karrnath. The fun is in the fact that the two country or Karrnnath and Thrane,now in control of Thaliost,hate each other and rather see the bridge left in ruin then restored. Ideas for Groups to have a stake in the campaign In Thrane, the deposed Queen and Blood Regent Diani ir'Wynarn, she is looking to re claim so thing that is her birthright. She spends much of her time in the castle of Silvercliff near Thaliost. My idea is the territory around Thaliost could become part of a new country North Thrane lead by the true Queen and her loyal army of warforged soldier. In Aundair, the queens eye is always looking for ways to free Thaliost from Thrane rule. They know they do not have the military force to move against the kingdom but to divide and councker is always a good option to all out war. First Warlord Adan is also looking for away to take Thaliost. The arcane might of the Arcane College has yet to come up, maybe the Cannith of the Tower of Twelve will have something more to his liking. In Karrnath, King Kaius III has great hopes for a continuing friend ship with Aundair. A bridge between the two countries would be a big step to keeping a lasting peace in the region. Shorting the border with Thrane has more ups then downs from the Karrnathi side of the river. House Orien, the house of passage would see a return of its lost wealth with a line of the lighting-rail that can go coast to coast. Sense the loss of Cyre and the Metrol Line, House Orien need a new line around the Mournland. The wasteland that now sits in the middle of Khorvaire, makes travel hard. Why not take a easy route and help bring the great bridge back. House Cannith, build it and they will come. A project of this level may help to bring back the unity that was lost with the Day of Mourning. And if Diani ir'Wynarn needs new troops she maybe willing to deal for warforged, treaty or no treaty. House Phiarlan, what is a world of cloak and dagger with out the clowns from Phiarlan telling the story. I have a player that wants to go this route so I thought maybe he could help handle the spies and sabotage of the party. Again I need help thinking of groups of people that may have a stake in the White arch Bridge down or up. I am trying to make this a power play by the Tower of Twelve to regain so of the lost influence they once had over the world of Khorvaire. I would like to keep the Dreaming Dark out of it. But am always open to good ideas. I want to work the Lords of Dust, Blood of Vol and the Lord Of Blades in to the storyline with out over loading it.
Syltorian 02-19-08, 09:26 PM	Some suggestions: House Lyrandar: Officially supporting the bridge building since they're in the Twelve, and the Twelve voted for it. Unofficially sabotaging the enterprise: they do not want to see Orien recover. Could be nice if one of your players is a Lyrandar; he'd get secret orders from his house... Emerald Claw and Cyran Avengers: They want it down. The Emerald Claws does not trust the Thranes, and still believes in the war, not bride-building. The Cyran Avengers could see this as a way to revenge on Thrane and Karrnath. Aurum: Who gets the contracts? These are the rich guys who will give you your steel, marble, and so forth that Cannith can build with. They will try to fight the architects over prices, and each other in a competition over who gets which commission. Archbishop Dariznu: A fanatic. He will not sabotage the bridge intentionally, but if anything happens that goes against his ligne, he won't consider the best interests of the bridge either. Perhaps a cliffwalk shifter is working at the bridge, and gets arrested. Most of Thrane would laugh at such an arrest, but in Thaliost under Dariznu, the Puritans hold sway (largely). If you want to go all the way: no alcohol, no singing (except for Silver Flame hymns), no heathens, heretics or blasphemers. Thrane is a tolerant theocracy, but Thaliost is a nightmare. Dreaming Dark: Leave them out while getting the in. Basically, numerous people are driven to their acts of sabotage because of Quori prodding. Dariznu might arrest those heathen weretouched, but has other things to do. Still, he keeps thinking about them, so he'll do something about the matter. So, in essence, the DD are there, in the back, pushing people along their natural impulses, and nobody is the wiser. Lords of Dust: They'll help. They found some obscure text in the Prophecy that requires the Bridge to exist in a few years' time. So the Lords keep watch and guide mortals who seek to stop sabotage. Blood of Vol: See Emerald Claw above. Those not aligned with them would not care either way.
Shady314 02-20-08, 04:53 AM	I really like your idea. It's elegantly simple. Get a bridge built. But deceptively complex and loaded with story potential. I would suggest making sure to keep it local. You can make the White Arch Bridge construction a microcosm for all of Khorvaire (the good and the bad). It's a symbol of the Last War and rebuilding it can be a powerful symbol for peace. This is how you can work in all the groups you want without overloading it. Over time every group might come to have a stake in the enterprise. One way or another. So my suggestions.... First off I'd give this a TON of publicity. There's always a reporter from the Chronicle and more on hand documenting every struggle. This would probably be the first true sign of progress. The first time this bridge might actually get rebuilt. LoB: There are warforged working on the bridge. In Thrane(and thus Thaliost) and Karnath this means indentured servitude. The LoB will not take kindly to that and will probably aim to commit acts of terrorism due to the high profile nature of the bridge. This will also give the characters a little moral quandary and a chance to exercise some power. Their houses are counting on the indentured servitude of the warforged to keep costs low. Will the PCs buckle to the pressure or more evilly keep costs low to line their own pockets? Or treat the warforged fairly with equal wages and make a powerful statement? Lords of Dust: As was already said the Prophecy really makes things too easy. I assume you want them to be antagonists and so I'll say they want the bridge to remain destroyed. Something like as the White Span stands so to does the prison of Khyber or whatever. So they are looking to keep the bridge in ruins. I'd put a Rakshasa in disguise as an important Karnathi government official holding up construction of the bridge. Probably secretly in league with another group like the Emerald Claw who of course have no idea of the fiend's true nature. Blood of Vol: Plenty of Karnath still worships the Blood of Vol. Getting the bridge built probably requires winning the support of the people. Getting the backing of the Blood of Vol, like an influential charismatic priest could be a serious PR boost. Though it might ruffle others feathers. It's a balancing act. The Royal Eyes of Aundair will be all over the bridge. At first just keeping an eye on everything for Aurala eventually though if the PC's start succeeding Aurala will have to decide if she wants it built or not. Then they switch from neutral party to friend or foe. Up to you. Dreaming Dark in the form of the official government of Riedra offers their assistance as always hoping to remain in the good graces of the Five Nations. Ever plotting to expand their influence and popularity. They have no agenda beyond that. So the twist is in this instance they're actually the good guys. If the bridge is built and they play an important part they look good. Even if the bridge project ultimately fails. If the bridge is built they've taken steps towards unifying Khorvaire that they might more easily take it at once. If the Last War restarts it will be an important route for supplies and troops thus feeding the conflict. The players however might instinctively suspect ill intent and try to keep them from helping. Or maybe just for the symbolism. Rebuilding the bridge with the resources of Khorvaire and without any "outside" help. To their own detriment MWHEHEH. Since that's when the DD does step in and tries to coerce the PCs into accepting Riedra's help. Archbishop Dariznu: Great idea Syltorian! If you want to give the PCs a little chance to stretch their legs and get out of town for a bit Phidias they could go to Flamekeep to go over the Archbishop's head and cut him off at the knees. Perhaps a chance to meet Jaela herself. Of course that'd **** off Dariznu but that's half the fun. The Houses: Cannith of Aundair: Obviously they want the bridge built. They want to be the ones to build it. Staunch supporters and allies of the PCs helping them in their task. The hope is this task is a step towards unifying the House. Cannith of Karnath: Pretending to be just like Cannith of Aundair but secretly working to keep the bridge down to keep Cannith divided. The Baron believes his fortunes better lie in the status quo for now. For one thing eternal construction on the bridge means a constant contract for Cannith East. Supplies will be late shipping. Shoddy. Overpriced etc. Cannith of Breland: Little interest. The PCs can work to sway Merrix to their cause. Perhaps drawing on whatever love of artifice he posses or even vanity. Surely the White Arch Bridge should feel the hand of a master artificer like yourself Baron? Lyrandar: As was already said. As the rivals of Orien and benefiting greatly from Orien's inability to traverse the continent as they once did they will work against the PCs at every turn. Though they won't resort to assassination or anything too extreme. Or rather most wouldn't... Tharashk: Little Interest. Rather it wasn't built just to irk the bigger houses especially Deneith. Would only hinder PCs through their apathy. Deneith: Providing security to the construction and afterwards to the safety of the bridge. A good contract so they want it built. Plus it's a cheaper alternative to transporting their mercenaries and such than sailing or flying. Medani: Similar to Deneith. Phiarlan: As presented in Dragonmarked the House of Shadow uses their spycraft for the good of Khorvaire attempting to keep the status quo and prevent war. Thus they want the bridge built as a step toward peace and reunifying Khorvaire. Thuranni: Hired by the Baron of Cannith East to keep the bridge from being built. Kundarak: Want the bridge built for the same reasons as Deneith. Jorasco: Want it built for the transportation it provides. Ghallanda: More travel (By Land) means more travelers! They'd like it built. Orien: Blindingly Obvious. Sivis: Against it. The more people using elemental galleons and airships the more elemental binding Zilargo get's to do. But not so against it they'd ever actively sabotage the PCs. In regards to the Phiarlan PC remember to most Phiarlan means entertainment. If you take my suggestions and put Sivis, Lyrandar (these two being the usual diplomats) and Thuranni working against the bridge Phiarlan may be providing their spy/entertainer as the PR guy since they'd be the next logical choice. Of course this is assuming the player's character is halfway decent at social interactions. At the very least he might be a semi-famous performer being used for publicity. If all that is impossible it might be that no one is actually certain what this Phiarlan guy is around for but the House assures them he's helpful to have around. :)
skrap-san 02-21-08, 03:18 AM	If all that is impossible it might be that no one is actually certain what this Phiarlan guy is around for but the House assures them he's helpful to have around. :) Actually House Phiarlan is said to be quite the architectural masters. So I could see how they would buy their ticket inn. Also it could be a stress factor for the house. What is most important to us, to have drawn and designed the bridge, or the contract of its destruction?
Shady314 02-21-08, 11:44 AM	Actually House Phiarlan is said to be quite the architectural masters. No. You're thinking of Thuranni. Dragonmarked P. 86 It's also unlikely Phiarlan could be hired to destroy the bridge. They're more high minded about their spycraft. Thuranni are the ones that take the more criminal work. Not that the PC can't buck the steretype of course. These are all generalities.
skrap-san 02-22-08, 04:01 AM	Ah sorry my mistake. Do carry on