Post/Author/DateTime	Post
On_the_wings_of_TPK 09-27-06, 12:01 PM	Steve, Jason, Sean, and now Craig. Stay out, although i doubt any of you read the boards. But if you do..**** off! captain odviouse would tell you I am running an Ebberron game right now. What I am doing here is looking for help to flesh out my next adventure. The Party is all 6th and breaks down like so: 1 Monk4/paladin2 1 Wizard 6 1 Bard 6 (I think I haven't seen the character sheet yet) 1 ??? (new player is building a character on his own. The players now jack all about ebberron, but thats ok, up untill they have had a bard kronicaller who works for the local papers to help with information related things. Sometimes she accompanies them, but most hides under tables and the likes when the :censored: hits the fan. I recented toasted off the party cleric however, and the play replaced it with a bard. So now they theoritically have somehow to do their own bardic knowledge/gatherinfo. Their first solo adventure as it were. The adventure will take place entirely in Sharn. they started their at 4th level, and I have no entention of moving them out of Sharn. Here is what is was thinking: Two house scions have fallen in love with each other, and decided to run away and get married. One from House Thuranni<--SP? and the other from house X (=/=house Thuranni, or cannith, or Dennith.) The two houses want to get their kids back unharmed, and want to do it quietly. Enter the adventurers. House Cannith, and Dennith want to stop the union by any means nessary. For fear of another possible war of the mark happening agian. Both are willing to commit obseen resources to this end. (Assains, bounty hunters, warforged gooodness, etc,etc) House Tarkanoen, has taken an enterest in seeing the two love birds live happily ever after. They along with the tyrants crime family are aiding the two house scions. thoughts? questions? Ideas?
Gladius_Lucix 09-27-06, 12:48 PM	I think the house you're speaking of is either Thuranni or Phiarlan, and you combined the names of both. Since those are both elf houses, I would suggest a half-elf or human house. As another point, why specifically are Cannith and Deneith after the pair? I would expect that the two lovebirds' own houses would be after them, but I think these matters are usually handled quietly. One child wouldn't result in the War of the Mark re-erupting... unless there's something special about these two that makes them different from most heirs.
On_the_wings_of_TPK 09-27-06, 01:24 PM	I think the house you're speaking of is either Thuranni or Phiarlan, and you combined the names of both. Since those are both elf houses, I would suggest a half-elf or human house. As another point, why specifically are Cannith and Deneith after the pair? I would expect that the two lovebirds' own houses would be after them, but I think these matters are usually handled quietly. One child wouldn't result in the War of the Mark re-erupting... unless there's something special about these two that makes them different from most heirs. I read somewere (thinking sharn city of towers) that Cannith and dennith led the charge in the first war. Not sure why they are after them specifically, except that i wanted a third, and possiblely fourth element in the arch. My midterms are coming up soon, and i want to have an on going story, so i don't have to worry too much about DnD while studying. Maybe there is something about those two. maybe something with the profecy, and some dragons from the chamber are influencing House cannith and dennith. maybe i need different houses?
Shady314 09-27-06, 06:44 PM	Steve, Jason, Sean, and now Craig. Stay out, although i doubt any of you read the boards. But if you do..**** off! captain odviouse would tell you I am running an Ebberron game right now. What I am doing here is looking for help to flesh out my next adventure. The Party is all 6th and breaks down like so: 1 Monk4/paladin2 1 Wizard 6 1 Bard 6 (I think I haven't seen the character sheet yet) 1 ??? (new player is building a character on his own. The players now jack all about ebberron, but thats ok, up untill they have had a bard kronicaller who works for the local papers to help with information related things. Sometimes she accompanies them, but most hides under tables and the likes when the :censored: hits the fan. I recented toasted off the party cleric however, and the play replaced it with a bard. So now they theoritically have somehow to do their own bardic knowledge/gatherinfo. Their first solo adventure as it were. The adventure will take place entirely in Sharn. they started their at 4th level, and I have no entention of moving them out of Sharn. Here is what is was thinking: Two house scions have fallen in love with each other, and decided to run away and get married. One from House Thuranni<--SP? and the other from house X (=/=house Thuranni, or cannith, or Dennith.) The two houses want to get their kids back unharmed, and want to do it quietly. Enter the adventurers. House Cannith, and Dennith want to stop the union by any means nessary. For fear of another possible war of the mark happening agian. Both are willing to commit obseen resources to this end. (Assains, bounty hunters, warforged gooodness, etc,etc) House Tarkanoen, has taken an enterest in seeing the two love birds live happily ever after. They along with the tyrants crime family are aiding the two house scions. thoughts? questions? Ideas? Well the main problem is you just chose one of the two most capable dragonmark houses for getting things done swiftly and quietly. If Thuranni or Phiarlan need two people eliminated they are possibly the best group in Eberron to do it. They wouldn't hire adventurers to do their job. That's less quiet than the house made up of spies doing it themselves. And they are willing to commit obscene resources to do it? If the full fury of House Thuranni were turned on two people those two people would be dead in days. And I have to ask just how quiet this is when you've got like 6 major groups taking an active hand in it? I think your plot and what you want to accomplish are at odds. You've taken a noir situation and want to apply pulp to it. It's a low key situation with the potential for great embarrassment to the Houses not the beginning of another War of the Mark. If I did it it'd be more like this: The PCs need to handle it because they are currently the only ones aware of it. Do any of the characters have ties to a dragonmarked house? One of the lovebirds could be an old friend. Maybe even asks them to be best man or something touching like that. Of course they don't have to have ties to a house to have a friend in it but it'd help. Now the PC needs to keep his friend safe. Do they help the lovers? Split them up for their own good? Sell them out to their houses to look good? Etc. Of course the lovebirds are getting married no matter what the PC decides so if they try to stop them that's when House Tarkanen appears to help them. (That part of the idea I LOVE) If they try to help them suddenly Tarkanen are their allies as (insert two smaller DM houses such as Vadalis, Medani, etc. Ghallanda & Jorasco could be good..) devoting moderate resources to finding a missing heir, (they don't yet realize the full scope of the situation) attempts to track them down. As the houses become more aware they devote more effort and the challenge grows for the PCs. Don't involve Deneith or you open the door to the mind seed conspiracy present in S:CoT and don't use either of the spy houses. I find the best adventures let the PCs make some choices for themselves. Personally I hope they help the lovers since it makes for a much more unique adventure. As for needing an ongoing story once this adventure plays out the door is WIDE open to all kinds of stuff. Depending on their action the PCs are now very famous or very infamous. The Chamber may be fearing/desiring the abberant marks to rise again and see this as an important precursor and now want the PCs to do more to further it. The other houses might be devoting more resources to find the lovers and/or the PCs. Tarkanen may put a lifelong contract out on the PCs. They may need the Tyrants to alter their faces because they are now wanted. The Houses may make them their goto enforcers. Endless possibilities are now opened in a much more organic and interesting way than having every group interested at once.
On_the_wings_of_TPK 09-27-06, 09:45 PM	I could change the names of the houses. They were honestly the first too that came to mind. A couple of things with my party. 1) They tend to identify with humans more. I want them to make a moral desion one way or the other. So the two lovers must be human. 2) My party is completely ignorant of ebberron in its entirety. That actually what attracts them to the setting. ( Ithink they were sick of FR, but thats just me.) I could use anything, from anywere, and they'd be none the wiser. Dropping Dennith in favour of the chamber, wanting/not wanting more abberant marks is cool. I think i'll rail road that one a bit. what ever path the party chooses, will put them at odds with the chamber. Actually now that you memtion it I could drop Tharunni as a one of the lovers house. That way i could use House Tharunni as a nuetral, broker of secrets, to both sides. :evillaugh: And yaa I agree, neither of the houses would be concerned about an out break of another war of the mark. However the two house that the lovers are from would be concerned about embarassment. And Cannith would want to prevent more abberant marks from appearing, andway he could. I was thinking, he would employee and artificer with a troop of warforged. And also hire a bounty hunter. I'll stat them out tonight. I was going to use changling ninjas to represent the Tyrants, the lovers will be experts, with DMs. Their body gard would most likely be a knight from the PHB 2, swore to serve one of them untill death. As for the chamber, I'm thinking, a silver, and a green. To highlight that dragons are not colour coded here. The Tharunni knowledge dealer will have to be a bard of some kind. What class/feat combo would best represent House Tarkanon?
Shady314 09-28-06, 11:28 AM	I could change the names of the houses. They were honestly the first too that came to mind. A couple of things with my party. 1) They tend to identify with humans more. I want them to make a moral desion one way or the other. So the two lovers must be human. Human = 5 possible houses. Deneith, Cannith, Vadalis, Orien, Tharashk. Half-Elves are almost human so possibly Medani and Lyrandar. Plus one could be from a DM house and the other could have an aberrant mark... I think certain houses get way too much attention. Mainly Cannith due to the popularity of artificers. Tharashk track things down so they'd be a poor choice for a the same reason as Phiarlan or Thuranni. But What did you think of tieing one of the lovers into a PCs background? That should help them identify. Personally I'd say use Orien and Vadalis. The two houses would work closely providing the explanation for the two lover's meeting. If they become allies of the PCs these houses can be huge helps or huge annoyances without crushing them the way a House like Deneith would. And they are the most likely to hire discreet outside help (If you stick with the "hired" concept which I hope you don't since that is about 90% of all adventures motivation.) 2) My party is completely ignorant of ebberron in its entirety. That actually what attracts them to the setting. ( Ithink they were sick of FR, but thats just me.) I could use anything, from anywere, and they'd be none the wiser. That's great. You got to love setting newbies. You can drop bombs straight from sourcebooks and actually surprise them. :D Dropping Dennith in favour of the chamber, wanting/not wanting more abberant marks is cool. I think i'll rail road that one a bit. what ever path the party chooses, will put them at odds with the chamber. OUCH! I feel sorry for these PCs already. :D Actually now that you memtion it I could drop Tharunni as a one of the lovers house. That way i could use House Tharunni as a nuetral, broker of secrets, to both sides. :evillaugh: The best use for them I think. The houses of the lovers would probably go to one of them to find their wayward heirs. And yaa I agree, neither of the houses would be concerned about an out break of another war of the mark. However the two house that the lovers are from would be concerned about embarassment. And Cannith would want to prevent more abberant marks from appearing, andway he could. HE? could. You mean Merrix? He's most concerned about warforged to the point of obsession. Aberrant marks are a low priority for him. I was thinking, he would employee and artificer with a troop of warforged. And also hire a bounty hunter. I'll stat them out tonight. Most of the best bounty hunters are Tharashk. Again I ask if Cannith is the best choice though? There are 4 other human houses and if Merrix is sending a troop of warforged with an artificer and a bounty hunter then he has just given up all hope of this being handled quietly. The essence of what the Houses will be trying to achieve is to hush this all up. I doubt they even care all that much about the heirs themselves. They could be excoriated in a worst case scenario it is the loss of face that will gall the Houses. Actually come to think of it the most likely situation will be the FAMILIES looking to get their relatives back safely and convincing them to stay apart from each other. Distraught Mother: please find my daughter and bring her back home safely! She's not a bad girl she's just not thinking clearly. I was going to use changling ninjas to represent the Tyrants, What is the Tyrants stake in all this? I realize they can be an inscrutable organization I was just curious what behind the scenes reasons you concocted for their interest. Are the tyrants secretly involved in the marks in your campaign? the lovers will be experts, with DMs. Excellent. Which DMs? And what level? It would be good for them to use their DMs to advance the adventure. If one is an Orien they could whip up a phantom steed for example and flee at some point on it. Their body gard would most likely be a knight from the PHB 2, swore to serve one of them untill death. Where's this bodyguard come from? I could see a knight might be sworn to a house and retained to protect certain individuals. I couldn't see the two hiring a knight. Some sort of bodyguard sure but a knight??? As for the chamber, I'm thinking, a silver, and a green. To highlight that dragons are not colour coded here. The Tharunni knowledge dealer will have to be a bard of some kind. What class/feat combo would best represent House Tarkanon? Well the Chamber agents shouldn't even reveal themselves as dragons if they can avoid it. Tarkanan is a guild of assassins. So expert/rogue/ranger and urban variant/assassin and maybe sorceror do with that what you will and of course they all have an aberrant mark.
On_the_wings_of_TPK 09-28-06, 01:23 PM	Human = 5 possible houses. Deneith, Cannith, Vadalis, Orien, Tharashk. Half-Elves are almost human so possibly Medani and Lyrandar. Plus one could be from a DM house and the other could have an aberrant mark... I think certain houses get way too much attention. Mainly Cannith due to the popularity of artificers. Tharashk track things down so they'd be a poor choice for a the same reason as Phiarlan or Thuranni. But What did you think of tieing one of the lovers into a PCs background? That should help them identify. The problem with is that all the PCs lack backstories. Non of them see themselves as particualrily good writers, and asking them to write something for the campiagn would make them uncomfortable. It just really isn't in there style of play yet. Its ok, all it means is that i have to either develope my aventures in a vacume, or use exsisting NPCs. I have on that may fit, but she is agnome. Would house sivis work well as a house for this adventure? Personally I'd say use Orien and Vadalis. The two houses would work closely providing the explanation for the two lover's meeting. If they become allies of the PCs these houses can be huge helps or huge annoyances without crushing them the way a House like Deneith would. And they are the most likely to hire discreet outside help (If you stick with the "hired" concept which I hope you don't since that is about 90% of all adventures motivation.) House Orien works well enough for me. I already switched Juliet's (code name for the female hier) house to vadalis. Hired works, becuase money is a motivation i can count on being 100% successful. They will do just about anything for money, and never get board of it. Although if i use the gnome, that would provide other motivation for them.... Its something to think about. I'm just not sure i want to envolve the trust, as well if anyone could make someone disappear easily it would be them. However the Trust manipulating the PCs into acting on their behave, while hiding any envolvement they have seems to fit right up their alley. HE? could. You mean Merrix? He's most concerned about warforged to the point of obsession. Aberrant marks are a low priority for him. I haven't had the opertunity to use warforged at all yet in this campaign. Could one the lovers perhaps be a Cannith hier? I also need a third elemnet to give this adventure, and race aginst time element. Find them before evil NPC X does, and becareful becuase when NPC finds out about you, it may come after you as well. House medani might be a good fit here though. And they could simplely be employing warforged as well. What do you think? Actually come to think of it the most likely situation will be the FAMILIES looking to get their relatives back safely and convincing them to stay apart from each other. Distraught Mother: please find my daughter and bring her back home safely! She's not a bad girl she's just not thinking clearly. Agreed, that was actually how I was planning on presetning it to the party. Juliet was going to be presented as being kidnapped by the brute romeo from House Orien, while Romoe was saduced, and has run off with that trap Juliet from the Valadis house. Niether is thinking clearly, and don't realise what their doing. The sole purpase for Canninth was to provide a third antanogistic element to to it. Someone for the PCs to be actively working against, and someone they have to race for the prize, yet someone who is powerful enough, that you can't deal with by storming his keep, and smashing face. What is the Tyrants stake in all this? I realize they can be an inscrutable organization I was just curious what behind the scenes reasons you concocted for their interest. Are the tyrants secretly involved in the marks in your campaign? Mostly money. The two are niave, wealthy, and in need of new identies. They will know damn well that their respective families will never stop hunting them, who better then to offer them a chance to dissappear? Also becuase they are so disreptuable, they will turn on them if given the right insentives. (More money/face smashing) Gives the PCs information on were to look, gives the NPCs away to apply pressure. Plus how embaressing would it be for the houses if their heirs were exposed as dealing with organised crime? The first couple of sessions of this would be the PCs trying to use House Tharunni/ there contacts to make contact with the tyrants to get the info from them. i figure they can try and bride/RP the info out of them, or they can fight it out them, witch is were the ninja come in. Excellent. Which DMs? And what level? It would be good for them to use their DMs to advance the adventure. If one is an Orien they could whip up a phantom steed for example and flee at some point on it. Again I availe myself on your expertise. What do you think would be approiprate <--sp? I have yet to have opertunity to use Dms, and woefully inexperienced with them as a result. Where's this bodyguard come from? I could see a knight might be sworn to a house and retained to protect certain individuals. I couldn't see the two hiring a knight. Some sort of bodyguard sure but a knight??? The knight is another element catored towards my players play style. His story is that he was a warforged bought during the war to protect Juliet. After he was given freedom, he did not know what to do. She had become his only friend, and protecting her was the only purpase he ever knew. So he swore an oath to protect her unto death. Should the PCs decide to turn the kids in, they will have to fight him, while the two kids escape. He need only by a few rounds, espailly if they are running on a phantom steed. I choose the knight class becuase flavourly it fits the warfoged personality, mechanically it offers good saves, and a high HD. With full base attack progression. Combined with a warforged bonus to con, and the fullplate armour feet, he should be just about right, well after i give him resistance to electricty, and fire. Tarkanan is a guild of assassins. So expert/rogue/ranger and urban variant/assassin and maybe sorceror do with that what you will and of course they all have an aberrant mark. Excellant :evillaugh
Shady314 09-28-06, 09:53 PM	The problem with is that all the PCs lack backstories. Non of them see themselves as particualrily good writers, and asking them to write something for the campiagn would make them uncomfortable. It just really isn't in there style of play yet. Its ok, all it means is that i have to either develope my aventures in a vacume, or use exsisting NPCs. I have on that may fit, but she is agnome. Would house sivis work well as a house for this adventure? The problem is there's only the one gnome house so so they have to run away with a gnome with an aberrant mark which means only one house is looking for them and then as you mentioned the Trust is involved. I think the PCs not writing backatories is perfect for you though. You can dole out snippets of their own backstory to introduce NPCs. Or this gnome NPC could simply know the two lovers and arrange a meet between the PCs and them. House Orien works well enough for me. I already switched Juliet's (code name for the female hier) house to vadalis. Hired works, becuase money is a motivation i can count on being 100% successful. They will do just about anything for money, and never get board of it. Although if i use the gnome, that would provide other motivation for them.... Its something to think about. I'm just not sure i want to envolve the trust, as well if anyone could make someone disappear easily it would be them. However the Trust manipulating the PCs into acting on their behave, while hiding any envolvement they have seems to fit right up their alley. Ah but the lover's will have money too. And you can use the gnome as an acquaintence of theirs. So both sides can offer money. If they've ran off they could have taken a few choice items with them. The Vadalis heir may offer them the chance at a few FREE magebred mounts. :D I haven't had the opertunity to use warforged at all yet in this campaign. Could one the lovers perhaps be a Cannith hier? I also need a third elemnet to give this adventure, and race aginst time element. Find them before evil NPC X does, and becareful becuase when NPC finds out about you, it may come after you as well. House medani might be a good fit here though. And they could simplely be employing warforged as well. What do you think? You can still use warforged. They are just like any other race. There are fighters, rogues, artificers etc. and they don't all work for Cannith (and neither do artificers) so feel free to still use them! As for House Medani they are my favorite house and I've come up with a lot for them in my campaign. too much to take up space here but you could definitely use them. Feel free to PM me if youre curious on how I use them. You don't need a third group to introduce a time element. Maybe the families need the heirs back soon before this becomes public and once that happens they will have no choice but to excoriate them. Or if they are helping the lovers they need to get them to the altar (they insist on a Sov Priest marrying them) before they are caught. Say 3 days either way? Agreed, that was actually how I was planning on presetning it to the party. Juliet was going to be presented as being kidnapped by the brute romeo from House Orien, while Romoe was saduced, and has run off with that trap Juliet from the Valadis house. Niether is thinking clearly, and don't realise what their doing. A nice fuzzy situation. If you REALLY want a third element they may be under the control of a LoD attempting to propagate more Khyber marks. There's a nice pure evil antagonist for ya. They really are lovers but had no intention of actually marrying till a LoD found out and using magic (what kind is up to you) influenced them to run away together. The sole purpase for Canninth was to provide a third antanogistic element to to it. Someone for the PCs to be actively working against, and someone they have to race for the prize, yet someone who is powerful enough, that you can't deal with by storming his keep, and smashing face. An LoD just a little too high in level for them works. But he will stay behind the shadows and use minions. For example warforged mercenaries... Mostly money. The two are niave, wealthy, and in need of new identies. They will know damn well that their respective families will never stop hunting them, who better then to offer them a chance to dissappear? Great idea! But why ninjas then? They'd need a surgeon/wizard of some kind. Could be an awesome transmutation magic only the Tyrants know. There's another time element right there. They have an appointment with the tyrants they need to keep. Also becuase they are so disreptuable, they will turn on them if given the right insentives. (More money/face smashing) Gives the PCs information on were to look, gives the NPCs away to apply pressure. Plus how embaressing would it be for the houses if their heirs were exposed as dealing with organised crime? Actually the Tyrants aren't disreputable. I haven't read anything about them breaking their word or not keeping their bargains or selling out customers. Why would anyone go to the Tyrants if they would just sell your enemies a picture of your new face? They are above all discreet and favor secrets though. If the PCs discover them and their involvement they would probably trade secrecy for the information but not happily. And force usually works. The first couple of sessions of this would be the PCs trying to use House Tharunni/ there contacts to make contact with the tyrants to get the info from them. i figure they can try and bride/RP the info out of them, or they can fight it out them, witch is were the ninja come in. Got it now. ;) Again I availe myself on your expertise. What do you think would be approiprate <--sp? I have yet to have opertunity to use Dms, and woefully inexperienced with them as a result. DMs are just spells really. Let them use their spells the same way you'd use a wizard casting phantom steed or overland flight. Also don't forget they don't just have DMs they are members of a DM house. An Orien DM heir can grab a lightning rail coach and pilot it if he needed to. A Vadalis DM heir has access to the finest domesticated animals and could dominate them to help her. And until they are publicly known as missing they can still use their status to influence NPCs. A DM heir calling to a guard patrol for help gets the benefit of the doubt over PCs. :) When you settle on what DMs they will have I can happily offer a ton of specific suggestions. If they work against the lovers the Orien one having overland flight can be really annoying. :) In a good way. The knight is another element catored towards my players play style. His story is that he was a warforged bought during the war to protect Juliet. After he was given freedom, he did not know what to do. She had become his only friend, and protecting her was the only purpase he ever knew. So he swore an oath to protect her unto death. Should the PCs decide to turn the kids in, they will have to fight him, while the two kids escape. He need only by a few rounds, espailly if they are running on a phantom steed. I choose the knight class becuase flavourly it fits the warfoged personality, mechanically it offers good saves, and a high HD. With full base attack progression. Combined with a warforged bonus to con, and the fullplate armour feet, he should be just about right, well after i give him resistance to electricty, and fire. Ah I see. Why stop at the knight though? Give the Vadalis heir a magebred animal that protects her too. Also I'm loathe to give out PC classes to less important NPCs. Just as I would make the lovers experts (as you did) I'd make their bodyguard use a few warrior levels and not be a pure PC class. Knight 3/war 4 maybe. If his main use is to be distraction I wouldn't give him the rare PC class and levels. Thats just my personal preference though.
On_the_wings_of_TPK 09-29-06, 11:43 AM	I use ninjas and other pc classes becuase my players are just too strong for NPC classed guys. It was disgusting watching the enlarged monk destroy a room full of orcs with AoOs. Ninjas in particular becuase i wanted to give thee Tyrants an asian crime syndacate sort of feel to them. That and ninjas are cool.:cool: We gamed last night, and here is how things went down: For houses i went with Madeni, and Orien. Both houses descrightly paid the Pcs 3,000gp up front, and promises for more for a job well down. They didn't discuss failure. They've spent at least 1,700 in briding poeple for information, and arranging meetings. For their efforts they have managed to annoy House tarkanon, and have made the tyrants nervouse. they also have set a meeting with the kids. They will meet with the kids, and the paladin swore to respect their wishes. And enforce that shoudl the rest of his party not want to do that. They'll send an intermedary to confirm that. When the PCs meet with the kids, I'm going to introduce my time element. Juliet is pregant. Now she won't be able to return home like that, for odviouse reasons. Nor is Romeo about to leave her, again for odviouse reasons. This gives the PCs two options: A) Help the kids. This will alienate the two houses, and allow me to use my bounty hunter that i have stashed. He's going to kidnap their gnome, and offer to trade her for the kids. And they are at odds with two dragon marked houses. B) force the kids home anyway. This puts them at odds with Tarkanon, and the Tyrants. But they have two Dragon marked houses as alleys. Either way the chamber will take an interest in how this developes. I 'll definately have to use this later on. For now i think I'll see how this all plays out.