Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Setherial 03-29-06, 02:11 AM	Part 1: introducing the players to the Trust The players start out as employees of a gouvernment intelligence angency of one of the 5 nations, for instance the Royal Eyes of Aundair. They are briefed on the existance of the gnome intelligence network called the Trust, emphesising on how the this organisation was able to ensure the gnomes neutrality during the war and how strong they came out of the war because of it. The agent briefing the players stresses the danger of the Trust, how well their spies are infiltrated into every organization across khorvaire, how they use shadow magic to cover their tracks etc... (important to blow this out of proportion) The agent tells them how long they had tried to infiltrate the Trust and how they finally managed to get someone in about 3 years ago. One of their very best, a changeling known as the Phantom (knowledge check DC 10 reveals that he is somewhat of a legend amongst the agency though noone truely knows his identity) was able to take the place of a young gnome and still fairly new recruit of the Trust making it easier to replace him. The reason he succeeded to fool the Trust for as long as he did was not because of his powers to alter his appearance but because of his increadible mental abilities. The Phantom is a powerful (by eberron standards) telepath able to shield his mind from magical detection, and manipulate the minds of others (high knowledge check: noone truely knows the phantom and he managed to keep his past a secret to most but some say he spend time on Reidra and developed his mental powers there). Last thing we heard of him, the agent continues, he spoke of a branch of the Trust called the shadow. Their existance a secret to even most Trust agents. Though the Phantom had learned very little of them he discovered they were involved in the paranormal, foretelling the future, extracting secrets from the dead, gruesome things as well as dangerous. It's been 2 months since our last contact with the Phantom and have we deceided it is time to send someone in, find out what happened to him, take action where needed. Keep a low profile, cover your tracks as always and good luck. Ok that's it so far, I told you it was a kick off, not a full adventure. I hope to see many ideas on how to proceed, think gnomes, zilargo, necromancy/horror/psionics, possible dreaming dark involvement, espionage, the supernatural, diplomatic relations, etc...
ChaoticGood 07-02-06, 03:34 PM	There is one small issue with this adventure idea: A changeling can't use his or her Disguise Self to change size categories. Thus, becoming a gnome is not going to work until it is a very large gnome. That said, perhaps this particular changeling psion could take the time to learn Psionic Reduce Person... To run with one of your ideas, the Shadow could be a Dreaming Dark plot to infiltrate Zil, the way the Riedrans have already begun to infiltrate Q'barra. As the top officials fall under the control of the Shadow's telepaths and mindbenders, the country inches closer and closer to allowing Riedran troops to be stationed on Khorvairan land. Perhaps the Shadow of the Trust is, in fact, a collaborative effort between the Zil Trust and the Order of the Emerald Claw. The Phantom may have been dominated by an Emerald Claw vampire. If you thought normal vampires were bad, just wait until you face one who can look like anyone... Another idea is that the Shadow of the Trust is a Cult of the Dragon Below within the Zil government. They have discovered that a daelkyr shrine lies in the depths of Thronehold and are using their political influence to infiltrate the seat of Galifar in order to discover what terrible magic lies within the ancient crypt. If they succeed, they will accidentally (or perhaps gleefully) unleash a terrible wasting disease which will turn all victims into pseudo-natural creatures.
ccerose 07-02-06, 03:48 PM	Eberron is a perfect setting to implement horror elements and fear of the unknown. The Mournlands, Xen'drick, and Demon Wastes should all instill a certain amount of fear from the PCs. I know this doesn't really go to your topic question, but I have been exploring horror encounters more and more (plus I just picked up Heroes of Horror). One of the things I did to instill fear in my players was while they were going down a tunnel. The passageway gradually got smaller to the point they were almost crawling with not nearly enough to swing anything other than a dagger or fire a crossbow. Then they heard the sound of several wet slapping footsteps closing in at a very rapid pace. (Basically I took the scene in the ventilation ducts from Aliens and set it in my dungeon.) The PCs ultimately made it to an opening where they could fight on slightly fairer ground. I only gave them a moment to catch their breath when who should come crashing down but the "queen mother" of the hive. After it was all said and done, the PCs totally knew where I got my inspiration from, but the sensation it left them with was pretty unforgettable.
Endless_Helix 07-03-06, 06:59 PM	The Phantom probably looks like this Rogue 6/Cabinet Trickster 5 with Persona Immersion, Quick Change, and Racial Emulation. Iron Will would be a possibility. It's also possible that he had warlock levels instead of rogue levels. Yes, then he could be a small creature and still have some measure of protection. He could also read minds and stun people with a thought. Frankly, a ring of mindshielding would be almost compulsory. He'd have many shared traits with a telepath, and thus could easily be mistaken for one. Actually, he'd be superior to a telepath because he can detect thoughts at will. If he needed someone to do something, he could just become them. I'm not sure about the name "the Shadow" for the secret bit of the Trust. Perhaps something like "Section Zeta". I say this because you've got the Trust, the Phantom, and the Shadow all in one plot and it would get kind of repetitive. If the Phantom was caught (like he probably was, at a guess he probably walked into a discern shapeshifter spell), then Zilargo would probably use him to generate disinformation. However, if they discovered his ability to read thoughts... They'd have a tough choice on their hands. He has the potential to be a huge threat if he ever has any contact beyond his immediate superior. On the other hand, he is a potent tool, if he can be won over. Their options are to kill him and attempt to create some sort of pretend version of him or to attempt to have complete control of him. The Trust would probably kill him. He is just too dangerous with his ability to constantly detect thoughts.