Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Setherial 05-30-05, 10:15 AM	Hey guys I want to create a mini adventure as an experiment in pushing roleplay and minimizing combat. It will be very low level, run in the world of Eberron (naturally) and will have a dark fantasy/horror/detective feel to it. It should start like one of those scary campfire stories, but more interactive. Now it would be great if I could base the story upon an existing detective story (modified to the fantasy genre and situated in Eberron) or at least if I could gather some ideas from existing short stories. I've never read detective stories myself so if there is someone who reads a lot and can forward me to some stories that would be great (genre: detective/horror/fantasy or any combination of those) Ofcourse if there are people here who have some great adventure seeds/ideas for a dark fantasy adventure where the adventurers play the role of investigators who have to use their wits instead of their fists to save the day, lets hear them !! cheers Seth
Zalaz Mavi 05-30-05, 01:00 PM	"Plunder of the Sun" by David Dodge. Dodge also wrote "To Catch a Thief." Both would make excellent Eberron adventures...
Master of shaarat'khesh 05-30-05, 01:33 PM	I've drawn alot of inspiration from TV shows and cartoons. You can easily adapt these to a short campaigns without exerting too much time into a normal "Epic" campign. Now these may sound silly but; I've drawn inspiration from the likes of Jackie Chan Adventures, Inuyasha, Teen Titans, Samurai champloo, 24, Alias, Buffy, The A-team, MacGyver, The Dukes of Hazzard, Miami Vice, Even Power Rangers (before they just got rediculous). A bunch of old Kung Fu movies are great for short simple plots. Well now that my viewing habbits are on display, I am wondering if I might need some professional help... :confused: :)
anarco_rata 05-30-05, 07:13 PM	of course, sharn:city of towers is a must. It fits your adventure idea perfectlly... A couple of Sci-fi series can also give you some ideas...the x-files (when it was good),etc. Also, the sharn inquisitive gives you very good ideas, it's opn the eberron main page. Well now that my viewing habbits are on display, I am wondering if I might need some professional help... yes, yo do. it helped me.
KP91 05-30-05, 08:57 PM	I've drawn alot of inspiration from TV shows and cartoons. You can easily adapt these to a short campaigns without exerting too much time into a normal "Epic" campign. Now these may sound silly but; I've drawn inspiration from the likes of Jackie Chan Adventures, Inuyasha, Teen Titans, Samurai champloo, 24, Alias, Buffy, The A-team, MacGyver, The Dukes of Hazzard, Miami Vice, Even Power Rangers (before they just got rediculous). A bunch of old Kung Fu movies are great for short simple plots. Well now that my viewing habbits are on display, I am wondering if I might need some professional help... :confused: :) I do the same thing (though never with power rangers). I did once think of an adventure through Futurama (ask at your own risk).
Rechan 05-30-05, 09:02 PM	Just to offer some older readings: Edgar Allen Poe's "Murder in the Rue Morgue", "Mask of the Red Death", "A Cask of Amontillado" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" are very useful for adding elements to the story. Even better, they can be found on the Internet by a google search. Also, anything associated with Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you have some cash on hand, check out the Preacher and Hellblazer graphic novels. The former is less detective and more "Dark grit" but the former has some mystery and horror noir to it. Also, if you are going to play any sort detective game, go and watch "Casablanca" and watch Louie. I just think he's a great corrupt cop to deal with your detectives.
Setherial 05-31-05, 02:37 AM	thanks guys, for all the input I've drawn alot of inspiration from TV shows and cartoons. Yeb, television shows are a good source. The problem however is that this sort of inspiration comes and goes. One in 10 episodes might really give you an idea, though after a few weeks months without using the idea it fades. I used to watch Highlander and Charmed, bought would have been great but it's been a long time since I saw any of them. At the moment I only watch StarGate SG1, and although the idea might translate into Quori/Kalashtar intrigue it isn't exactly what I'm searching for for this one. But we are on the right track, anarco_rata mentioned the first X-Files, which indeed were great and would be good for this adventure although it's been too long to really remember any of the episodes. Any good movies in this genre maybe ? Lord of Illusion maybe ? Though I'm not sure Clive Barker translates well to roleplay Just to offer some older readings: Edgar Allen Poe's "Murder in the Rue Morgue", "Mask of the Red Death", "A Cask of Amontillado" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" are very useful for adding elements to the story. Even better, they can be found on the Internet by a google search. hey thanks, I already printed them and I'll read them on the train this evening :)
Setherial 05-31-05, 02:39 AM	thanks guys, for all the input I've drawn alot of inspiration from TV shows and cartoons. Yeb, television shows are a good source. The problem however is that this sort of inspiration comes and goes. One in 10 episodes might really give you an idea, though after a few weeks months without using the idea it fades. I used to watch Highlander and Charmed, bought would have been great but it's been a long time since I saw any of them. At the moment I only watch StarGate SG1, and although the idea might translate into Quori/Kalashtar intrigue it isn't exactly what I'm searching for for this one. But we are on the right track, anarco_rata mentioned the first X-Files, which indeed were great and would be good for this adventure although it's been too long to really remember any of the episodes. Any good movies in this genre maybe ? Lord of Illusion maybe ? Though I'm not sure Clive Barker translates well to roleplay Just to offer some older readings: Edgar Allen Poe's "Murder in the Rue Morgue", "Mask of the Red Death", "A Cask of Amontillado" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" are very useful for adding elements to the story. Even better, they can be found on the Internet by a google search. hey thanks, I already printed them and I'll read them on the train this evening :) of course, sharn:city of towers is a must ofcourse ;) it was great ! Futurama well comon', tell us :)
Naudachu 06-28-05, 07:35 PM	Just to offer some older readings: Edgar Allen Poe's "Murder in the Rue Morgue", "Mask of the Red Death", "A Cask of Amontillado" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" are very useful for adding elements to the story. Even better, they can be found on the Internet by a google search. Wow, I had no idea Edgar Allan Poe was so gritty. I only read a couple of these just now, but I'll definitely check out the others. Any other short stories you can reccomend? Also I don't know if you're familiar with the old D&D module The Veiled Society, but "A Cask of Amontillado" struck me when I read it. The main character, Fortunato, is the name of a merchant in this module who isn't around and the story deals with wine merchants. Plus the setting describes the streets as tight and winding like cities of Italy. This is definitely a connection. Its weird, I'm using this module as a backdrop for an Eberron campaign because of the dark noir feel. This will definitely add to it. Thanks.
Siran Dunmorgan 06-28-05, 08:12 PM	Why stop there, with Poe? "The Fall of the House of Usher" would also be an astonishingly good atmosphere piece. As long as you're into the classics, also be sure to look for stories by Arthur Machen. Some of the classic stories by H. P. Lovecraft—"The Shadow Over Innsmouth", "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", and "The Thing on the Doorstep" could be remarkable adventure inspiration, the first of them featuring a race of oceanic humanoids not wholly unlike the sahuagin. And, of course, "The Call of Cthulhu", with its 'cult of the Dragon Below', and globe-trotting implications, not to mention breaking one of the seals that keep the Old Ones—excuse me, the Rajahs—in check. Later tonight, I'll find some pulp titles you've never heard of—in the meantime, take a look at anything here: http://www.njedge.net/~knapp/Virtual.htm —Siran Dunmorgan
Sereno 06-29-05, 01:01 PM	Check out http://www.blackmask.org/ ... they've got all sorts of great adventure literature including Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holms), H.P Lovecraft (classic horror/Chthulu), Robert E. Howard (Conan), Kenneth Robeson (Doc Savage), and many more. They're all legally free; most of them are public domain, have expired copyrights, or were never copyrighted to begin with -- so you won't be stealing. You can get them in multiple eBook formats. I've got a bunch of them on my Palm Pilot. Doc Savage is one of the characters Keith lists as his inspirations for Eberron. The stories use technology higher than Eberron, of course, but the PLOTS are excellent! Doc and his friends are basically the architype for all "adventuring parties," if you ask me.
Beleriphon 06-29-05, 02:53 PM	Don't forget to check Project Guttenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/. This has more than 16,000 books for free. It is spectacular.
Jalinth 07-01-05, 12:11 AM	Hey guys Now it would be great if I could base the story upon an existing detective story (modified to the fantasy genre and situated in Eberron) Well, Glen Cook has written a number of books that are very much detective storys, but in a fantasy world, these being his "Garrett, P.I." novels. "Sweet Silver Blues" and "Bitter Gold Hearts" are the first two books. They fit oh so very well with eberron, in fact I would not be surprised if they were an inspiration for Eberron. I am fairly sure that at least both Cook and Baker got ideas from the same source material. Now I am not an expert on the genre, but they read alot like a couple "classic" detective stories I've encountered. Cooks other novels are also REALLY good. His Black Company books are some of my fav. fantasy books I've ever read. I won't clutter this thread up with my gushing about how much I've enjoyed them, and how useful they were to my most recent d20 game (using the Black Company Campaign Setting from Green Ronin ) This page has a listing of his books http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/Glen_Cook.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Cook -------------------- "The chain rattled softly. 'For the love of god, Christopher Robin!' For a long time, there was no answer. Then a thin, boyish voice replied, 'Yes, Pooh. For the love of God.' The final brick slid into place, plunging the Small Bear With Very Little Brain into utter darkness. 'Oh, Bother!' said Pooh."
okaynowa 07-01-05, 03:04 AM	A.C. Doyle has already been touched upon ("The Speckled Band" and "The Blue Carbuncle" in particular would make good low/non combat sessions), but you might consider raiding some of the classic gothic fiction. Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan" would set your players against a tiefling femme fatale who's been corrupting high society for the fun of it. Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" could be used as a prelude to meeting Mordain the Fleshweaver or a similarly mysterious, arcane researcher. You could use the same author's "Young Goodman Brown" as a model for a night of fun and games with a cult of the Dragon Below. Using J. Sheridan LeFanu's "Carmilla" you could even get a low-level party to survive encountering a solo vampire (a novice from Karrnath, perhaps). Aaalllllll sorts of fun!