How to run the Aurrum thread [Archive] - Wizards Community

How to run the Aurrum thread [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Charles Phipps
09-10-05, 12:17 AM The Aurrum are underdeveloped in my opinion and this is a thread to discuss how to run them. Having looked over my previous portrayal of them, I'm revising them for my campaign and their potential usage. This thread is in the spirit of the How to play the Daelkyr, Quori, and Lords of Dust thread....

This is largely my speculation on how they'd run in Eberron and is a mix of my own thoughts and cannon representation.

The Aurrum are an organization that really puzzles many an individual. If you, tomorrow, had all the money and power in the world that you could ever want and someone told you that you'd jeopardize all of this by conducting illegal operations that could get you executed or strippedo of everything, would you believe them? Most of the members of the Aurrum would have said the same thing but they are almost all trapped in a web of lies and deceit that the organization wraps them in to not only force them to preserve the organization but expand it's influence. 'The Pyramid of Power' is a living entity of it's own in a way, served for it's own sake, a corporation and secret society that goes beyond the will of it's members now.

In the Aurrum you'll find Rakashasas, Inspired, Warlocks, Kalashatyr, Dragons, Magi, Changelings, and other individuals who would never work together but have been lured to the organization for the promises of more personal power and become enslaved to the point that their other organization is almost a distant memory to them. Given the immense personal power that some of these individuals wield in addition to whatever influence they might have over various organizations, this is mystifying. In this respect, the Aurrum is every bit as dangerous as the Dreaming Dark or other organizations.

The organization itself styles itself to be a champion of order in society. The highest goal of the Aurrum is one that they claim will bring stability to the world of Eberron and prevent the excesses of another Great War. The fact that so many of the Aurrum made profits from the conflict and would start another one tomorrow if they believed it would enrich them by a copper in the end is just part of the process to them. You don't have to believe in this dream of universal order to serve the Aurrum though. They count many believers in neutrality or even anarchy amongst it's members as those it cannot convince to obey through ideal, they can dominate through fear or persuasion.

Once a person is tapped to join the Aurrum, there's really no chance of them turning down their membership....or simply doing what they tell you. They might initially refuse but the Aurrum are a group that is very good at making offers that can't be refused and it is very rare that they don't recognize a man's weak spots. Simple corruption and favor trading is what gives them a great deal of their influence. The majority of people in Eberron are those who are worn out by fighting and ill suited to peace. It seems less like a betrayal of one's principles when one's family benefits from passing along information about the local syndicates or simply copying various ledgers from your guild (knowledge is the lifeblood of the Aurrum). The carrot win most people over to the Aurrum's influence and the stick they wield can be both subtle or severe. It's one thing for the Aurrum to kidnap your wife and child and act like a local thieves' guild. It's another that the next day your family doesn't recognize you because of the psychic manipulation of them by a psionicist member. The Aurrum rarely have to strike directly, even the bravest warriors have connections that can be severed. Tomorrow's hero can be the next day's rapist and murderer. Worse, all of it can be waved away by them with capitulation.

The Aurrum can also be a genuine benefit to players as a patron because their percieved humanity also makes them seem like less of an evil than some of the groups they oppose. A wizard can be provided with books of magic, magical items, and connections to any piece of lore he desires with any of it likely to spell the difference between life and death for Sharn with the attack of the Tarrasque. They don't necessarily order a paladin to kill a baby and one might join the group and never realize when they provide him with information to hunt down the Emerald Claw or Dragon's Below that they are merely filling in the lost places. A person who thinks he's acting his conscience is often preferrable to a man who knows he's doing deliberate evil.

The influence of the Aurrum is one that makes it's probably the most powerful group in Eberron after the Quori and the Lords of Dust. They have less than the Power of any of the Four Nations but only slightly less and more than any of the other nations of Khovaire or even any Dragon House. With their power they could cause a civil war or bankruptcy to any of the nations but Breland and even it they could cause a severe economic depression and significant civil unrest. Like the Quori, they operate through front groups but diversify themselves. Artificer's guilds, Magic User's Societies, Trading Companies, Gentlemen's Clubs, Knightly Orders, Crimminal Gangs, and even certain individual Churches are all "Gateway" groups that the Aurrum controls to spread their idealogy and will from and slowly test prospective new members. By the time a person is approached, they usually have already molded them into ruthless and talented sharks or at the very least, people who can be manipulated through very strong and well tested means. They even have their own core of wizards, psionicists, and priests (usually of Kol Korran, Dol Dorn, Onatar, and the Dark Six). They even can field their own army under the guise of House Deneith troop movements or pass themselves off as members of the main country armies. Often, they are armed with technologies above anything else that may be fielded since the Aurrum copies nearly all of House Cannith's inventions plus improves on many found "impractical."

Inspirations

* The Godfather
* Nowhere Man
* James Bond's Specter
* Hellfire Club
* Cyberpunk Corporations
* Freemasons
Charles Phipps
09-10-05, 12:37 AM Completely Made up fanworks for my campaign

Lexicon and Terms

Ring Organizations- After the Fact that they "encircle" the Aurrum. Ring organizations are independent groups that exist to take the fall if the Aurrum's plots are ever endangered enough to require the divorce of a group in order to take the fall for a problem.

Actual members of the Aurrum are rare in these groups and almost always killed when the Aurrum supplies evidence of their wrongdoing to prevent the chain from being linked to them. Many members are recruited from these groups and immense wealth flows from the Ring groups into the ranks of the Aurrum.

The Faceless Guard- Mercenaries whom are commanded by Aurrum generals but most are merely aware they have employers with heavy purse strings and are recruited for no questions asked as a policy. The Army is Divided into several groups that keeps their numbers unknown even if it reduces their effectiveness (the Aurrum rarely needs it's full force)

The Black Hand- Agents of the Aurrum who form the elite operatives of the group. They serve as assassins, saboteurs, spies, and are trained at a special camp that gives them all the skills of an Agent of the King's Citadel or a Dark Lantern. Some take deep cover assignments to even marry various groups and produce new generations of Aurrum. All are given the rank of Knight at the completion of their training.

The White hand- The Coordinators of the White Hand. They are all given the rank of Bishop and choose targets for attack and other activities. They also serve as an internal police for the Aurrum as they accumulate mounds of data for use against the membership itself and answer directly to the higher councils.

The Black Library- The Accumulated Blackmail and personal information of the Aurrum that's hidden in a secret location and supposedly dolled out. Most think the Black Library is a myth.

The Player- Likely fictious master of the Aurrum.

The Three Kings- The leaders of the Society that form a Triumviante for world domination. Speculation abounds that they are Lichs, Dragons, normal human beings, or even Deathless abound.

The Pyramid- A Representation of the Society's influence that slowly extends the power of the group upwards to to the world.

The Conspiracy- The believed gradual expansion of the world towards World Domination.

The Web- The Network of all the Aurrum's actions and activities across the land.

Blood Oath- The Masonic like oath to never betray Aurrum secrets or horrible death will follow. Sometimes enforced with geas, these are almost always done in a manner to terrify traitors.

The Chessboard- The Ranks of Pawn (entry level "true Aurrum"), Knight, Bishops, Rooks, Queens, and Kings that each have 7 ranks inbetween up til the "true kings".

False Aurrum- Occasionally Ring organizations where true Aurrum members pretend to be the whole sum of the group with largely patsy rich and manipulative fools who think they are part of a grand conspiracy but seem largely harmless if greedy and manipulative. Occasionally no true Aurrum are present and the group exists to make the True Aurrum seem ridiculous.

Dungeons- Dungeons are locations that the Aurrum creates that are for people who are too valuable to kill but not necessarily places that are merely places of torture either. They are designed with isolation and surreality in mind. Some are actually quite pleasant with peer pressure and temptations thrown in to render even the most hostile man compliant.

"Be seeing you."
rwarner3701
09-12-05, 10:42 PM Good posts , I was wondering if there was more or if that was all, so I thought I would bump it to let others see and tell you that it was helpful at least to me. Also if you could send me links to those other threads since the search is down I would really appreciate it.

thanks

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Charles Phipps 09-10-05, 12:17 AM	The Aurrum are underdeveloped in my opinion and this is a thread to discuss how to run them. Having looked over my previous portrayal of them, I'm revising them for my campaign and their potential usage. This thread is in the spirit of the How to play the Daelkyr, Quori, and Lords of Dust thread.... This is largely my speculation on how they'd run in Eberron and is a mix of my own thoughts and cannon representation. The Aurrum are an organization that really puzzles many an individual. If you, tomorrow, had all the money and power in the world that you could ever want and someone told you that you'd jeopardize all of this by conducting illegal operations that could get you executed or strippedo of everything, would you believe them? Most of the members of the Aurrum would have said the same thing but they are almost all trapped in a web of lies and deceit that the organization wraps them in to not only force them to preserve the organization but expand it's influence. 'The Pyramid of Power' is a living entity of it's own in a way, served for it's own sake, a corporation and secret society that goes beyond the will of it's members now. In the Aurrum you'll find Rakashasas, Inspired, Warlocks, Kalashatyr, Dragons, Magi, Changelings, and other individuals who would never work together but have been lured to the organization for the promises of more personal power and become enslaved to the point that their other organization is almost a distant memory to them. Given the immense personal power that some of these individuals wield in addition to whatever influence they might have over various organizations, this is mystifying. In this respect, the Aurrum is every bit as dangerous as the Dreaming Dark or other organizations. The organization itself styles itself to be a champion of order in society. The highest goal of the Aurrum is one that they claim will bring stability to the world of Eberron and prevent the excesses of another Great War. The fact that so many of the Aurrum made profits from the conflict and would start another one tomorrow if they believed it would enrich them by a copper in the end is just part of the process to them. You don't have to believe in this dream of universal order to serve the Aurrum though. They count many believers in neutrality or even anarchy amongst it's members as those it cannot convince to obey through ideal, they can dominate through fear or persuasion. Once a person is tapped to join the Aurrum, there's really no chance of them turning down their membership....or simply doing what they tell you. They might initially refuse but the Aurrum are a group that is very good at making offers that can't be refused and it is very rare that they don't recognize a man's weak spots. Simple corruption and favor trading is what gives them a great deal of their influence. The majority of people in Eberron are those who are worn out by fighting and ill suited to peace. It seems less like a betrayal of one's principles when one's family benefits from passing along information about the local syndicates or simply copying various ledgers from your guild (knowledge is the lifeblood of the Aurrum). The carrot win most people over to the Aurrum's influence and the stick they wield can be both subtle or severe. It's one thing for the Aurrum to kidnap your wife and child and act like a local thieves' guild. It's another that the next day your family doesn't recognize you because of the psychic manipulation of them by a psionicist member. The Aurrum rarely have to strike directly, even the bravest warriors have connections that can be severed. Tomorrow's hero can be the next day's rapist and murderer. Worse, all of it can be waved away by them with capitulation. The Aurrum can also be a genuine benefit to players as a patron because their percieved humanity also makes them seem like less of an evil than some of the groups they oppose. A wizard can be provided with books of magic, magical items, and connections to any piece of lore he desires with any of it likely to spell the difference between life and death for Sharn with the attack of the Tarrasque. They don't necessarily order a paladin to kill a baby and one might join the group and never realize when they provide him with information to hunt down the Emerald Claw or Dragon's Below that they are merely filling in the lost places. A person who thinks he's acting his conscience is often preferrable to a man who knows he's doing deliberate evil. The influence of the Aurrum is one that makes it's probably the most powerful group in Eberron after the Quori and the Lords of Dust. They have less than the Power of any of the Four Nations but only slightly less and more than any of the other nations of Khovaire or even any Dragon House. With their power they could cause a civil war or bankruptcy to any of the nations but Breland and even it they could cause a severe economic depression and significant civil unrest. Like the Quori, they operate through front groups but diversify themselves. Artificer's guilds, Magic User's Societies, Trading Companies, Gentlemen's Clubs, Knightly Orders, Crimminal Gangs, and even certain individual Churches are all "Gateway" groups that the Aurrum controls to spread their idealogy and will from and slowly test prospective new members. By the time a person is approached, they usually have already molded them into ruthless and talented sharks or at the very least, people who can be manipulated through very strong and well tested means. They even have their own core of wizards, psionicists, and priests (usually of Kol Korran, Dol Dorn, Onatar, and the Dark Six). They even can field their own army under the guise of House Deneith troop movements or pass themselves off as members of the main country armies. Often, they are armed with technologies above anything else that may be fielded since the Aurrum copies nearly all of House Cannith's inventions plus improves on many found "impractical." Inspirations * The Godfather * Nowhere Man * James Bond's Specter * Hellfire Club * Cyberpunk Corporations * Freemasons
Charles Phipps 09-10-05, 12:37 AM	Completely Made up fanworks for my campaign Lexicon and Terms Ring Organizations- After the Fact that they "encircle" the Aurrum. Ring organizations are independent groups that exist to take the fall if the Aurrum's plots are ever endangered enough to require the divorce of a group in order to take the fall for a problem. Actual members of the Aurrum are rare in these groups and almost always killed when the Aurrum supplies evidence of their wrongdoing to prevent the chain from being linked to them. Many members are recruited from these groups and immense wealth flows from the Ring groups into the ranks of the Aurrum. The Faceless Guard- Mercenaries whom are commanded by Aurrum generals but most are merely aware they have employers with heavy purse strings and are recruited for no questions asked as a policy. The Army is Divided into several groups that keeps their numbers unknown even if it reduces their effectiveness (the Aurrum rarely needs it's full force) The Black Hand- Agents of the Aurrum who form the elite operatives of the group. They serve as assassins, saboteurs, spies, and are trained at a special camp that gives them all the skills of an Agent of the King's Citadel or a Dark Lantern. Some take deep cover assignments to even marry various groups and produce new generations of Aurrum. All are given the rank of Knight at the completion of their training. The White hand- The Coordinators of the White Hand. They are all given the rank of Bishop and choose targets for attack and other activities. They also serve as an internal police for the Aurrum as they accumulate mounds of data for use against the membership itself and answer directly to the higher councils. The Black Library- The Accumulated Blackmail and personal information of the Aurrum that's hidden in a secret location and supposedly dolled out. Most think the Black Library is a myth. The Player- Likely fictious master of the Aurrum. The Three Kings- The leaders of the Society that form a Triumviante for world domination. Speculation abounds that they are Lichs, Dragons, normal human beings, or even Deathless abound. The Pyramid- A Representation of the Society's influence that slowly extends the power of the group upwards to to the world. The Conspiracy- The believed gradual expansion of the world towards World Domination. The Web- The Network of all the Aurrum's actions and activities across the land. Blood Oath- The Masonic like oath to never betray Aurrum secrets or horrible death will follow. Sometimes enforced with geas, these are almost always done in a manner to terrify traitors. The Chessboard- The Ranks of Pawn (entry level "true Aurrum"), Knight, Bishops, Rooks, Queens, and Kings that each have 7 ranks inbetween up til the "true kings". False Aurrum- Occasionally Ring organizations where true Aurrum members pretend to be the whole sum of the group with largely patsy rich and manipulative fools who think they are part of a grand conspiracy but seem largely harmless if greedy and manipulative. Occasionally no true Aurrum are present and the group exists to make the True Aurrum seem ridiculous. Dungeons- Dungeons are locations that the Aurrum creates that are for people who are too valuable to kill but not necessarily places that are merely places of torture either. They are designed with isolation and surreality in mind. Some are actually quite pleasant with peer pressure and temptations thrown in to render even the most hostile man compliant. "Be seeing you."
rwarner3701 09-12-05, 10:42 PM	Good posts , I was wondering if there was more or if that was all, so I thought I would bump it to let others see and tell you that it was helpful at least to me. Also if you could send me links to those other threads since the search is down I would really appreciate it. thanks