Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Elan The Eternal 03-13-07, 01:05 PM	So I'm starting a Eberron campaign and had this ideia. I'm starting 10 years back in Eberron chronology, so this means Cyre still exist. I want to somehow make my players foresee the Day of Mourning (like when Hiro goes to the future and see new york destroyed). And all campaign will be based in them tryin' to avoid the day of mourning. But i'm little stuck the way to my players aknowlege this future event. Eiter time-travel or a prophecy, or something else. Any ideias ??? Thanks in advance!
SiouLubb 03-13-07, 01:19 PM	A particularly clear bit of the Draconic Prophecy
Arcane Guyver 03-13-07, 01:22 PM	Pretty simple. Have at least one character work with House Cannith, and using some sort of one-shot eldritch device either teleport them to the future for a short time, or they just scry the future and see the mourning happen. Then the device inexplicably fails and does not work ever again. :) Then, to confirm that that wasn't just some mystical malfunction, someone comes up with the ability to paint the future, and paints the destruction of Cyre. BTW, I'd recommend you set the game less than a year before the Mourning. That way the players feel the pressure to hurry up and save Cyre. Oh yeah, make sure you have a Chamber member go around, looking for specific individuals with 'special gifts.' And just for kicks, have a rival Chamber fellow go around kacking off the gifted NPCs.
Nuclear_Buddha 03-13-07, 01:26 PM	A horrific dream shared by the characters, the night after they meet the [Adaran mystic/Riedran ambassador] (whichever best applies, or both, if you're feeling really ambitious).
Syltorian 03-13-07, 01:42 PM	BTW, I'd recommend you set the game less than a year before the Mourning. That way the players feel the pressure to hurry up and save Cyre. I definetly agree with this. 10 years before the present is 6 years before the Mourning, that's a long way to go unless you have something very special planned. Apart from the above suggestions... why not use the Mourning itself? Maybe the unexplained energies managed to throw something back in time. Either the characters themselves, or an S.O.S. message. Of course, since the campaign is to stop the Mourning, you might have to explain what it is, and this solution might not fit. As for Arcane Guyver's suggestion: if you want the 'scrying one', you could substitute Cannith with Medani. Some of them can see the future (Medani Prophet, Dragonmarked - flavour text, at least). Getting an alert when actually asking about something else ("should I speculate and buy this estate in Metrol?") could be done. Perhaps add to the vision that the PCs are actually caught in the Mourning and die there, just to add some tension.
Elan The Eternal 03-13-07, 02:58 PM	1 year to the Moruning seems better! As for Arcane Guyver's suggestion: if you want the 'scrying one', you could substitute Cannith with Medani. Some of them can see the future (Medani Prophet, Dragonmarked - flavour text, at least). Getting an alert when actually asking about something else ("should I speculate and buy this estate in Metrol?") could be done. Perhaps add to the vision that the PCs are actually caught in the Mourning and die there, just to add some tension. I liked this ideia, i'm thinking a way to pull this without the players knowing this is a vision. They start battling and die, just to discover that was a vision or one of them time travel just to see everyone dying. Now how to actually trick the pcs that they are fightin in this big battle, not knowing that they are there or are seeing the future?
cancerousmango 03-13-07, 03:15 PM	Air Bud has the power of basketball.
Kensan_Oni 03-13-07, 06:19 PM	Ya know... I see using the Mourning as a crutch. There are many disasters just as bad that don't involve blowing up whole entire nations. For instance... Cultists of the Destroyer are organizing to open a gate using a ritual spell to summon forth a named demon from Ferina. However, the spell is going to backfire on the hotest day of summer. All of Newthrone is going to be engulfed in flames, setting free a legion of fire-elemented hell upon the world, lead by a powerful demon warlord, unless the players can figure out where the ceremony is going to be held and stop it. ... I mean, come on. There are other disasters beside Mourning to stop!
Arcane Guyver 03-13-07, 07:01 PM	I mean, come on. There are other disasters beside Mourning to stop! But the Mourning is so well known...how cool might it be for the players to theoretically be able to prevent it, and thus irrevocably change your version of the Eberron setting?
Hopeless 03-13-07, 07:18 PM	But the Mourning is so well known...how cool might it be for the players to theoretically be able to prevent it, and thus irrevocably change your version of the Eberron setting? BUT what if their purpose is NOT to stop the mourning at all but to prevent the death of something considered more important? I was thinking around altering the magic level of Eberron so to make artificers more interesting and making the campaign a bit more final fantasyish and retain the mystery of the setting. What I was thinking was revealing that the original war with the devils was actually ended by the actions of the dragons not the coatul and that one dragon figured out how to permanently seal the devils away and allow the supplicant to be reborn albeit having to live their life again with memories of their past but in a position to help prevent a second devil invasion believing that they might not have the strength to stop another such war. When the mourning happened something intervened thereby turning the destruction into a means to send a message to someone who could alter the future and save someone vitally important to the future of Khorvaire and that someone I was planning to be revealed to be Tira Miron the founder the sacred flame faith itself! With the last war in full swing and Thrane pretty much responsible for a lot of the carnage it made sense that their new speaker was a child to beat it into the Thrane Theocracy that what they were doing was wrong and having their founder reborn as a Cyran made a lot more sense to heal some of the wounds that was sundering Khorvaire as a new foe approached and I planned on revealing the Quori were altered into theri current state by the devils who are using them to help free themselves since they need them to discover exactly how they were bound and more importantly how to free themselves which can only be done by finding the dragon responsible for the feat. That dragon is the one who sent the message and has been reborn himself to protect the chosen hero, however the PCs don't know why they were chosen nor exactly what they're supposed to do, they were chosen because they were there at the Mourning and had the message sent back in time to make them do something to alter the event. It doesn't matter what they do only that in doing something they are actually helping but will only understand their success since they might survive the mourning but only by investigating will they realise there's more going on than they realise ergo the prophecy say about "a dark legend reborn heralding the return of a sacrificed champion at the onset of an oncoming apocalypse" and so on...
keethor_smash 03-13-07, 10:13 PM	Another possibility is that Cyre could have developed something to turn the war back in their favor. The reunification of the five nations… but what should be a time a peace an prosperity turns into a reign of tyranny and oppression. So the pc’s are left with a choice destroy their homeland or lead to the complete oppression of the people Khovaire.
Kid SixXx 03-14-07, 07:54 AM	BUT what if their purpose is NOT to stop the mourning at all but to prevent the death of something considered more important? Someone has seen Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines one too many times. :D
Kaodi 03-14-07, 02:53 PM	Odyssey Five saw you coming a mile away. Look it up on Wikipedia.
Setherial 03-15-07, 10:33 AM	I like the idea of the players getting send into Cyre on an important mission for somebody they can't just deny only days before the day of mourning. Whether their characters know something will happen or not, either way it would be fun.
Euangelion 03-15-07, 11:16 AM	BUT what if their purpose is NOT to stop the mourning at all but to prevent the death of something considered more important? Better yet, they eventually realize that they have to cause the Day of Mourning in order to save Khorvaire/Eberron/the multiverse from a far greater disaster... Edit: oops, just realized that keethor smash also suggested in a more specific sense the same idea. Sorry!
Jimmifett 03-15-07, 04:09 PM	I liked this ideia, i'm thinking a way to pull this without the players knowing this is a vision. They start battling and die, just to discover that was a vision or one of them time travel just to see everyone dying. Now how to actually trick the pcs that they are fightin in this big battle, not knowing that they are there or are seeing the future? You might want to consider the pros and cons of putting players into a battle they are supposed to lose. I've read plenty of article on gaming (both tabletop and video) how when done badly, becomes very negative to the game and players. I'm sure others could do a much better job explaining this than I can, so I thought i'd just point this out.
Kensan_Oni 03-15-07, 04:42 PM	You might want to consider the pros and cons of putting players into a battle they are supposed to lose. I've read plenty of article on gaming (both tabletop and video) how when done badly, becomes very negative to the game and players. I'm sure others could do a much better job explaining this than I can, so I thought i'd just point this out. I double this advice. I was playing a L5R game where my character personally was fragged at the end of a story line, and my character was walking into what was going to be his death no matter what, and he knew it. He asked the party, he begged the party DO NOT follow me. Middle of scorpion clan territory. They absolutly insisted on following me and the DM rightfully slaughtered the whole bunch. Now, please understand that this is L5R (Rokugan) we are talking about, and Samurai die in that system heroicly. There was nothing wrong with me dying. However, half of the players were not use to the Eastern way of thinking, and went in like Cavaliers, expecting to turn the day, and got owned. They were so peeved off about it, but to this day, I still stand by the game master, even telling them, "I told you not to follow me!". Players don't like losing, and you should be prepared for that problem when it comes up.