Comment on Idea for an Eberron Campaign? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Comment on Idea for an Eberron Campaign? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
JRROGERS
03-17-06, 12:23 PM Hey All!

I'm pretty new to Eberron (just got the campaign setting this Christmas) and will be starting up a new Eberron campaign in the spring with some friends who are longtime roleplayers. I like how this setting has very little to do with black and white morality, or crazy, stereotypical "destroy the universe!" type threads.

So I've been looking for a realistic campaign conflict, and I'd like your comments.

Seeing as how the goblin nation (don't have the book with me right now, sorry!) and the Mournland border each other, I was wondering if the Lord of Blades and the hobgoblin leader would have a good reason for joining up? I was thinking the warforged would admire the warlike spirit of the hobgoblin "fleshlings," and would like to keep them around, at least until war had destroyed all the other nations.

Obviously, the Lord of Blades and the hobgoblins would not trust each other overly much, but are putting in motion a joint plan to wipe out the rest of the nations in a catastrophic war. Then they each are secretly planning on betraying the other to take control of Khorvaire.

The PCs would come in (using the Forgotten Forge module) as random adventurers, who, through a series of unrelated (or are they related?) adventures, come to find hints of this plot. Perhaps an eldritch machine is involved. So they would hopefully decide to stop this war before it started, by defeating the agents of the Lord of Blades and the goblin tribes.

Sound good? What can I add to make it better? Or if this plot doesn't feel "Ebberonian" enough, why not?

Thanks!
John
jonthegm
03-17-06, 01:38 PM In my mind, there's a few problems with that:

The only way the LoB would stoop to dealing with the fleshies would be if he had a plan to double-cross them.

I see the hobgoblin leader of Darguun to be too smart for this. He's proven himself to be a savvy politician, focusing more on solidifying goblinoid sovereignty than open aggression.

The only way I would see it is if the LoB and the Lhesh Haruuc were trying to double cross each other. The LoB would want the Lhesh Haruuc to start a war to distract the remaining nations from a real strike against the humanoids. The Lhesh Haruuc would want to deal with the LoB menace, thus giving his rule legitimacy from both his countrymen (battle prowess, worthy blood, etc.) and the rest of the continent (goblinoids aren't the jerks we made them out to be).
Kid SixXx
03-17-06, 01:52 PM I see the hobgoblin leader of Darguun to be too smart for this. He's proven himself to be a savvy politician, focusing more on solidifying goblinoid sovereignty than open aggression.

I tend to concur. Lhesh Haruc is a pretty wise leader.

However he's not getting any younger & he's looking for an heir apparent since I don't believe he has any sons.

Perhaps the LoB could work to place an heir apparent on the throne who is "more sympathetic" to the plight of the Mournland, and the heir would aid the LoB in exchange for being handed the reigns of power in Darguun?

Naturally, both parties would still attempt to double cross one another.

That might put JRROGERS's party in the unenviable task of actually supporting Lhesh Haruc and making sure that a full blown civil war doesn't erupt in Darguun, or worse, having a coup take place where Lhesh Haruc is overthrown & Darguun becomes a rogue, expansionists nation.
Dragom
03-17-06, 02:05 PM However in Darguun there is a tribe made of bugbear dominated clans called the Marguul, it's one of the more powerful factions that got cheated out of power by Lhesh Haruuc.

Now these guys are probably spiteful enough to join up with the Lord of Blades and the eventual back stab. If they thought it would hurt Lhesh Haruuc more then their own tribe.

Starting a war between Zilargo and Darguun wouldn't fall into that catagory. Darguun is brand new and the thought of loosing the homeland is about as unsettling to the goblinoids as loosing Isreal is to the Jews.

But the Lord of Blades could certainly wind up with a lot of Goblinoid Mercs this way. In addition to anyone else who would accept the hire.

Lord knows theres an even distribution of Kobolds across the continent, and their easy to intimidate.

And we can't forget the Talenta Halflings. Any Tribal based society is going to have some serious troubles when exposed to an industrial one. In point is Holy Uldra, She would most certainly like to see the down fall of the reminant nations of Galfar.
Jaeden
03-18-06, 01:57 AM IMO opinion, Eberron' greatness lies in something simple.

All of the concepts of good and evil are destroyed. This world is not black and white, but shades of grey.

Everywhere else, goblins are evil, Kobolds are evil. Boom

Take your players preconceptions and turn them on their ear. If you have to turn the humans against them so they have to count non-humans as their only allies.

Emphasize the "technology" that wipespread magic has given. Lightning rails, speaking stones, etc.

Also, this world is relatively low power, there is no grand council or world protectors to save you. If you fail, you are screwed.
jaydubyadub
03-18-06, 12:57 PM Well, one thing that has been mentioned is that the Llesh Haruuc is neither evil, nor stupid, so there's that. BUT.

This is a pulp conspiracy setting with noir flavor, there are a lot of factions and there's nothing wrong with the DM secretly aligning any number of them against the PCs.

Vol, her cult, and the Emerald Claw. The Aurum. The Children of Winter. The Dreaming Dark. The Daelkyr. There's so many secret evil factions with agendas - surely you can make their schemes overlap, if even for a short while.

I would imagine the Llesh Haruuc would outright reject any overtures by the LoB, but there's no reason you couldn't use one of his political enemies to make a secret alliance and conspire to off the old hobgoblin. ^_^
ArcTan
03-18-06, 02:27 PM Secret political alliances, sure, but it kind of undermines what I think of as the menace of the Lord of Blades -- he's a canny bastard, sure, but he's not completely amoral. He has a deep, abiding hatred of all the flesh races and an almost religious fervor in proclaiming, openly, that he's going to wipe all intelligent life from the face of Khorvaire and replace it with constructs. It's not the sort of thing I can easily imagine someone making an alliance with. (Sort of like the reasons people opposed to the American war in Iraq thought it was horrendously unlikely that Saddam Hussein -- a dime-a-dozen petty dictator -- would ever work with Osama bin Laden -- a crazy, fanatical apocalyptic terrorist.)
DoveArrow
03-19-06, 03:09 AM I think everyone else has already pretty much pointed out the unbelievability of the LoB teaming up with the leader of Darguun, so I won't go into that. What I will suggest is that if you're set on this idea, then what you need to do is ask yourself what would cause the Lord of Blades to seek an alliance with the nation of Darguun and vice versa?

The only thing I can think of occurring for the two to seek an alliance is if some catastrophe has happened, either to the Lord of Blades and his followers, or to the nation of Darguun. Perhaps something like the Mournlands no longer being inhabitable for the Lord of Blades and his followers. Perhaps Darguun being on the verge of civil war, and Lhesh Haruc needing the military might of the Lord of Blades to assist him. Perhaps both of these dilemmas are true, and that is why the two nations have combined forces.

In any case, that brings us to our next issue. What does either nation gain from an alliance with the other? In the example above, both nations have something to gain, because in exchange for the military power of the Lord of Blades and his followers, Lhesh Haruc will allow them to stay in his country.

The next thing you want to ask yourself is what has driven these two factions to the brink of war with the rest of Khorvaire? Are they fighting for resources, or is there a religous or political ideal that they're fighting for? In considering that element, you might also want to ask yourself, who are the two factions declaring war against? Are they declaring war against all of the nations of Khorvaire, or just one or two? The reason I ask is because fighting against a single nation is one thing and motivation is easy to create. Fighting against two or more nations, is an entirely different matter, especially if it's against all of the nations of Khorvaire at once. However, if you want a second war to break out between all of the Five Nations, try to find a motivation for a conflict between your two allied parties and one other nation, with the rest of the nations taking sides in the ensuing battle. I think you'll have an easier time of it than if you try to have them embroiled in a suicide mission against all of the other nations at once.

I hope this has been of some help to you and I certainly wish you the best of luck with your campaign. Take care.
ArcTan
03-19-06, 03:41 AM The fun part of this hypothetical scenario is seeing how far both sides will take the charade before the inevitable backstab and the massive goblinoid/warforged killfest.
DoveArrow
03-19-06, 10:59 AM The fun part of this hypothetical scenario is seeing how far both sides will take the charade before the inevitable backstab and the massive goblinoid/warforged killfest.

Isn't it obvious that that's why he wants to go through with this idea? :P
Bocamb
03-19-06, 12:28 PM I tend to concur with what's already been said, but I'll share where my own campaign is heading since it involves the Lord of Blades and Darguun.

(IF YOU'RE ONE OF MY PLAYERS, STOP READING NOW).

During a recent expedition to the Lightning Rail station in Kalazart, I assaulted my party with a flesh golem (made up of various humanoids, including at least one goblinoid) that was chained to two shocker lizards with an invisible handler using spectral hand/shocking grasp to charge up ol' Frankie. The backstory on all of this is that the Lord of Blades has begun creating a unit of flesh golems to sack Darguun or New Cyre (I like to call them "shock-troopers"). Personally, I like the idea of a sadistic LoBlades who loves nothing more than to hit his enemies where it hurts; so why not create a regiment of flesh golems? Of course, flesh golems take some mighty magics to make. So where did the LoBster get this power? Prince Oargev wants an answer to this same question and suspects, based on the party's description of a golem with a goblinoid head, that the responsible party must be hiding out in the Field of Ruins in Mournland, since that's the only place where a great number of preserved goblinoid corpses are to be found. And indeed, that's where the Lord of Dust with whom the LoB has made a pact lives. This same devil is a kyton (who looks like the Chatterer from _Hellraiser_), dressed in a living breastplate with a skirt of steel chains. Because he's immortal, I've decided that he has access to a vast library of devilish books written on human skins - including several golem manuals - back in Ashtakala. He's agreed to aid the Lord of Blades in the creation of this small army. The Lord of Dust has taken up residence in Broken Tower and has several henchmen who collect corpses from the field of ruins which he skins to make new manuscripts for his library back in Ashtakala or uses to build flesh golems. In my campaign, this devil taught the ancient Dhaakhani how to fight with the spiked chain, and he has a few fanatical goblinoid cultists who aid him in his project. (I've decided that this immortal Lord of Dust is the "lost god" that is described in the PGtE.) Moreover, he's attracted the attention of a worshipper of the Mockery whom he has deluded into thinking he's the living embodiment of that deity... It's not a direct link to Darguun like you're proposing, but it might provide you with a middle-man that would allow you to bridge the LoBlades and the Darguul.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JRROGERS 03-17-06, 12:23 PM	Hey All! I'm pretty new to Eberron (just got the campaign setting this Christmas) and will be starting up a new Eberron campaign in the spring with some friends who are longtime roleplayers. I like how this setting has very little to do with black and white morality, or crazy, stereotypical "destroy the universe!" type threads. So I've been looking for a realistic campaign conflict, and I'd like your comments. Seeing as how the goblin nation (don't have the book with me right now, sorry!) and the Mournland border each other, I was wondering if the Lord of Blades and the hobgoblin leader would have a good reason for joining up? I was thinking the warforged would admire the warlike spirit of the hobgoblin "fleshlings," and would like to keep them around, at least until war had destroyed all the other nations. Obviously, the Lord of Blades and the hobgoblins would not trust each other overly much, but are putting in motion a joint plan to wipe out the rest of the nations in a catastrophic war. Then they each are secretly planning on betraying the other to take control of Khorvaire. The PCs would come in (using the Forgotten Forge module) as random adventurers, who, through a series of unrelated (or are they related?) adventures, come to find hints of this plot. Perhaps an eldritch machine is involved. So they would hopefully decide to stop this war before it started, by defeating the agents of the Lord of Blades and the goblin tribes. Sound good? What can I add to make it better? Or if this plot doesn't feel "Ebberonian" enough, why not? Thanks! John
jonthegm 03-17-06, 01:38 PM	In my mind, there's a few problems with that: The only way the LoB would stoop to dealing with the fleshies would be if he had a plan to double-cross them. I see the hobgoblin leader of Darguun to be too smart for this. He's proven himself to be a savvy politician, focusing more on solidifying goblinoid sovereignty than open aggression. The only way I would see it is if the LoB and the Lhesh Haruuc were trying to double cross each other. The LoB would want the Lhesh Haruuc to start a war to distract the remaining nations from a real strike against the humanoids. The Lhesh Haruuc would want to deal with the LoB menace, thus giving his rule legitimacy from both his countrymen (battle prowess, worthy blood, etc.) and the rest of the continent (goblinoids aren't the jerks we made them out to be).
Kid SixXx 03-17-06, 01:52 PM	I see the hobgoblin leader of Darguun to be too smart for this. He's proven himself to be a savvy politician, focusing more on solidifying goblinoid sovereignty than open aggression. I tend to concur. Lhesh Haruc is a pretty wise leader. However he's not getting any younger & he's looking for an heir apparent since I don't believe he has any sons. Perhaps the LoB could work to place an heir apparent on the throne who is "more sympathetic" to the plight of the Mournland, and the heir would aid the LoB in exchange for being handed the reigns of power in Darguun? Naturally, both parties would still attempt to double cross one another. That might put JRROGERS's party in the unenviable task of actually supporting Lhesh Haruc and making sure that a full blown civil war doesn't erupt in Darguun, or worse, having a coup take place where Lhesh Haruc is overthrown & Darguun becomes a rogue, expansionists nation.
Dragom 03-17-06, 02:05 PM	However in Darguun there is a tribe made of bugbear dominated clans called the Marguul, it's one of the more powerful factions that got cheated out of power by Lhesh Haruuc. Now these guys are probably spiteful enough to join up with the Lord of Blades and the eventual back stab. If they thought it would hurt Lhesh Haruuc more then their own tribe. Starting a war between Zilargo and Darguun wouldn't fall into that catagory. Darguun is brand new and the thought of loosing the homeland is about as unsettling to the goblinoids as loosing Isreal is to the Jews. But the Lord of Blades could certainly wind up with a lot of Goblinoid Mercs this way. In addition to anyone else who would accept the hire. Lord knows theres an even distribution of Kobolds across the continent, and their easy to intimidate. And we can't forget the Talenta Halflings. Any Tribal based society is going to have some serious troubles when exposed to an industrial one. In point is Holy Uldra, She would most certainly like to see the down fall of the reminant nations of Galfar.
Jaeden 03-18-06, 01:57 AM	IMO opinion, Eberron' greatness lies in something simple. All of the concepts of good and evil are destroyed. This world is not black and white, but shades of grey. Everywhere else, goblins are evil, Kobolds are evil. Boom Take your players preconceptions and turn them on their ear. If you have to turn the humans against them so they have to count non-humans as their only allies. Emphasize the "technology" that wipespread magic has given. Lightning rails, speaking stones, etc. Also, this world is relatively low power, there is no grand council or world protectors to save you. If you fail, you are screwed.
jaydubyadub 03-18-06, 12:57 PM	Well, one thing that has been mentioned is that the Llesh Haruuc is neither evil, nor stupid, so there's that. BUT. This is a pulp conspiracy setting with noir flavor, there are a lot of factions and there's nothing wrong with the DM secretly aligning any number of them against the PCs. Vol, her cult, and the Emerald Claw. The Aurum. The Children of Winter. The Dreaming Dark. The Daelkyr. There's so many secret evil factions with agendas - surely you can make their schemes overlap, if even for a short while. I would imagine the Llesh Haruuc would outright reject any overtures by the LoB, but there's no reason you couldn't use one of his political enemies to make a secret alliance and conspire to off the old hobgoblin. ^_^
ArcTan 03-18-06, 02:27 PM	Secret political alliances, sure, but it kind of undermines what I think of as the menace of the Lord of Blades -- he's a canny bastard, sure, but he's not completely amoral. He has a deep, abiding hatred of all the flesh races and an almost religious fervor in proclaiming, openly, that he's going to wipe all intelligent life from the face of Khorvaire and replace it with constructs. It's not the sort of thing I can easily imagine someone making an alliance with. (Sort of like the reasons people opposed to the American war in Iraq thought it was horrendously unlikely that Saddam Hussein -- a dime-a-dozen petty dictator -- would ever work with Osama bin Laden -- a crazy, fanatical apocalyptic terrorist.)
DoveArrow 03-19-06, 03:09 AM	I think everyone else has already pretty much pointed out the unbelievability of the LoB teaming up with the leader of Darguun, so I won't go into that. What I will suggest is that if you're set on this idea, then what you need to do is ask yourself what would cause the Lord of Blades to seek an alliance with the nation of Darguun and vice versa? The only thing I can think of occurring for the two to seek an alliance is if some catastrophe has happened, either to the Lord of Blades and his followers, or to the nation of Darguun. Perhaps something like the Mournlands no longer being inhabitable for the Lord of Blades and his followers. Perhaps Darguun being on the verge of civil war, and Lhesh Haruc needing the military might of the Lord of Blades to assist him. Perhaps both of these dilemmas are true, and that is why the two nations have combined forces. In any case, that brings us to our next issue. What does either nation gain from an alliance with the other? In the example above, both nations have something to gain, because in exchange for the military power of the Lord of Blades and his followers, Lhesh Haruc will allow them to stay in his country. The next thing you want to ask yourself is what has driven these two factions to the brink of war with the rest of Khorvaire? Are they fighting for resources, or is there a religous or political ideal that they're fighting for? In considering that element, you might also want to ask yourself, who are the two factions declaring war against? Are they declaring war against all of the nations of Khorvaire, or just one or two? The reason I ask is because fighting against a single nation is one thing and motivation is easy to create. Fighting against two or more nations, is an entirely different matter, especially if it's against all of the nations of Khorvaire at once. However, if you want a second war to break out between all of the Five Nations, try to find a motivation for a conflict between your two allied parties and one other nation, with the rest of the nations taking sides in the ensuing battle. I think you'll have an easier time of it than if you try to have them embroiled in a suicide mission against all of the other nations at once. I hope this has been of some help to you and I certainly wish you the best of luck with your campaign. Take care.
ArcTan 03-19-06, 03:41 AM	The fun part of this hypothetical scenario is seeing how far both sides will take the charade before the inevitable backstab and the massive goblinoid/warforged killfest.
DoveArrow 03-19-06, 10:59 AM	The fun part of this hypothetical scenario is seeing how far both sides will take the charade before the inevitable backstab and the massive goblinoid/warforged killfest. Isn't it obvious that that's why he wants to go through with this idea? :P
Bocamb 03-19-06, 12:28 PM	I tend to concur with what's already been said, but I'll share where my own campaign is heading since it involves the Lord of Blades and Darguun. (IF YOU'RE ONE OF MY PLAYERS, STOP READING NOW). During a recent expedition to the Lightning Rail station in Kalazart, I assaulted my party with a flesh golem (made up of various humanoids, including at least one goblinoid) that was chained to two shocker lizards with an invisible handler using spectral hand/shocking grasp to charge up ol' Frankie. The backstory on all of this is that the Lord of Blades has begun creating a unit of flesh golems to sack Darguun or New Cyre (I like to call them "shock-troopers"). Personally, I like the idea of a sadistic LoBlades who loves nothing more than to hit his enemies where it hurts; so why not create a regiment of flesh golems? Of course, flesh golems take some mighty magics to make. So where did the LoBster get this power? Prince Oargev wants an answer to this same question and suspects, based on the party's description of a golem with a goblinoid head, that the responsible party must be hiding out in the Field of Ruins in Mournland, since that's the only place where a great number of preserved goblinoid corpses are to be found. And indeed, that's where the Lord of Dust with whom the LoB has made a pact lives. This same devil is a kyton (who looks like the Chatterer from _Hellraiser_), dressed in a living breastplate with a skirt of steel chains. Because he's immortal, I've decided that he has access to a vast library of devilish books written on human skins - including several golem manuals - back in Ashtakala. He's agreed to aid the Lord of Blades in the creation of this small army. The Lord of Dust has taken up residence in Broken Tower and has several henchmen who collect corpses from the field of ruins which he skins to make new manuscripts for his library back in Ashtakala or uses to build flesh golems. In my campaign, this devil taught the ancient Dhaakhani how to fight with the spiked chain, and he has a few fanatical goblinoid cultists who aid him in his project. (I've decided that this immortal Lord of Dust is the "lost god" that is described in the PGtE.) Moreover, he's attracted the attention of a worshipper of the Mockery whom he has deluded into thinking he's the living embodiment of that deity... It's not a direct link to Darguun like you're proposing, but it might provide you with a middle-man that would allow you to bridge the LoBlades and the Darguul.