Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DMDaddy 04-01-06, 04:28 PM	I've never followed guidlines for creating dungeons, but I did this time for a Mystery. I want to make sure it has the Eberron feel. So here is the basic, what would you do to make it feel and play like Eberron? Stolen item from mansion owned by an antique collector with a staff of 1maid, 3 cooks, 3 guards, and a son. The PCs will be able to question NPCs and search through rooms. I've added many many twists and clues. The final twist being that the son did it for a cult of the dragon below. The son paid the cook to do it, who in turn paid one guard to take it and give it to the cook who gave it to the son, who placed it in his secret Tavern for criminals. 3 fights. With guard, with cooks and with Son. 2nd level dungeon. Tips on how to make it feel like Eberron?
DoveArrow 04-01-06, 07:21 PM	Well, I think you have a good rough beginning, but before you can start working on making it feel more Eberronesque, you need to work a bit more on the concept. First, what is the son's motive for stealing the item from his father for the Cult of the Dragon Below? Is it because he needs money? Is he in some kind of trouble? Perhaps it's because he belongs to the Cult. However, if that is the case, how did he get involved? It's not like they're the Mormons and they come knocking at your door. The Cult of the Dragon Below primarily worships in the underground realm of Khyber, so it's unlikely that the son would have many run ins with them. Also, what does the Cult want with the item and how did it come into the father's possession? Next, why are the PCs fighting with the cooks? I'm not saying that they shouldn't, or that you shouldn't prepare for that possibility, but think about it for a second: If you were a cook involved in a theft, and a bunch of well armed men and women were interrogating you about the item's disappearance, what would you most likely do? Take up your ladle and saucepan and start attacking them with your -4 penalty to attack rolls, or would you confess? Personally, I'd confess, but if that didn't work, I definitely wouldn't start attacking the PCs. I'd turn around and start running. So with that in mind, let me make a few suggestions: First, I would recommend that you place your adventure in Sharn. It's a good environment for adventure and it automatically makes any adventure feel Eberronesque. Second, I would probably replace the Cult of the Dragon Below with the Boromar Clan (Note: if you're not familiar with the Boromar Clan, they are the halfling equivalent of the mafia in Sharn. For more information on them, check out Sharn: City of Towers). Third, I would make the son and the cooks and the guards hapless victims rather than true evildoers. For example, maybe the son is addicted to the dreamlily drug, and has been buying the drug from the Boromar Clan. Maybe he hasn't been able to pay, lately, but has told the halflings that he can get them an item from his father if they're willing to give him some more of the drug. The son then goes through the motions of procuring the item in a manner similar to the one that you described, but instead of battling with the son, the guard and the cooks, the PCs battle with the Boromar Clan somewhere in the depths of Sharn. Good luck with your adventure and let us know how it turns out. Take care.
DMDaddy 04-01-06, 10:34 PM	Your ideas are also excellent. I will change the Cult to Boromar clan. It does seem a better choice. As far as everything esle, I have it worked out so far. The father has been collecting family heir looms for some time and has a green gem which is actually a piece to a relic. A sorcerer from the cult (Boromar clan) has a part of an older sorcerers journal which details the relic. This sorcerer has discovered who owns the relic and has hired the son to steal it from his own father. The son owns a Tavern that was shut down because of bad food, so is willing to do anything to keep his good name intact. The son pays the cook to steal it. The cook is an Orc Rogue3 who has scammed the father into thinking he has been saved by the orc years ago. So the orc has been stealing all along and the son knows it. The Orc has 4 Goblin servants who are on his side. Plus the orc persuaded the father to hire a new guard who is also in league with the orc. So, the cook, orc, pays the guard to take it and deliver it to the tavern. The PCs will be questioning all of the inhabitants of the mansion that the father own (in a tower in Sharn). The maid is an Elf Sorc3 who seems guilty for various reasons. The other guards also have motives that are suspicious. The clues will stack up and lead to the cook inadvertantly. However, the cook knows the possible motives of the other inhabitants and will use this to mislead the PCs. Bluff, diplomacy, intimidate, sense motive will all be highly used skills. The way I've set it up is that they will be wondering who did it, but, it will lead to a fight with the guard because he will seem suspicious and try to bluff on everything he says. When they call his bluff he will fight (Fighter4) to the death. In his pocket is a Ogre skin pouch full of 300gp which will lead back to the Cook. When they go to the cook and search his room because of a tip from the maid, the cook will not open the chest and will fight to the death with his goblins. In the chest is the note that says to meet at the Tavern. When the PCs go to the tavern they will meet the son (Sorcerer3 and cleric2 and fighter2) and discover the whole scheme and do battle. Thus recovering the gem (relic piece). Unfortunately, the father does not understand and will become an enemy of the PCs and start efforts to get revenge in the future.
ussie 04-02-06, 05:50 AM	me likie *steals idea* :evillaugh :plotting:
DoveArrow 04-02-06, 11:02 AM	The son pays the cook to steal it. The cook is an Orc Rogue3 who has scammed the father into thinking he has been saved by the orc years ago. So the orc has been stealing all along and the son knows it. The Orc has 4 Goblin servants who are on his side. Plus the orc persuaded the father to hire a new guard who is also in league with the orc. So, the cook, orc, pays the guard to take it and deliver it to the tavern. I would change the orc to a hobgoblin. Orcs in Eberron aren't the bad guys that you remember from other campaign settings (they're more nature loving, tree huggers). Goblins and hobgoblins, on the other hand, while they aren't always the stereotypical bad guys, they are a better fit for the story you have in mind. However, I would ask yourself why the father decided to hire goblinoids, as opposed to humanoids, as his servants. Many people in Eberron consider goblinoids to be untrustworthy, even in Eberron. To hire goblinoid servants would appear peculiar, to say the least Oh, and here's another thought (to expand your game into several sessions). It's possible that the Boromar Clan could be stealing the object for someone in the Cult of the Dragon Below. Something to consider.
DMDaddy 04-02-06, 12:57 PM	I would change the orc to a hobgoblin. Orcs in Eberron aren't the bad guys that you remember from other campaign settings (they're more nature loving, tree huggers). However, I would ask yourself why the father decided to hire goblinoids, as opposed to humanoids, as his servants. Many people in Eberron consider goblinoids to be untrustworthy, even in Eberron. To hire goblinoid servants would appear peculiar, to say the least I didn't know that about orcs. The reason he hired the Orc in the first place was because the father was getting mugged and it was the orc who saved him. However, the Orc set this up. As a result the father feels indebted to the orc. That is why the orc was allowed to hire goblins and a crooked guard. This is also why the PCs won't have any luck trying to blame the orc. The father won't hear of it. They will need to find better proof. Either way, when the PCs kill the Orc, that is why the father will become their enemy and spend his life seeking revenge. He is old and a little on the mad/crazy side.
nyysjan 04-02-06, 01:23 PM	Eberron, a world where Orcs are the tree hugging hippies and elves the screaming horde :P how can anyone not love it :D
DoveArrow 04-03-06, 01:21 PM	Eberron, a world where Orcs are the tree hugging hippies and elves the screaming horde :P how can anyone not love it :D That needs to be in somebody's sig.
Naudachu 04-03-06, 01:49 PM	There is the Gatekeeper druid sect that is/was mostly orcs. But there is also the more stereotypical orcs that fight the dwarves in the Mror Holds. And there's the orcs of the Shadow Marches. I think there's some Gatekeeper influence there, but the sect seems fairly small. I haven't really heard about orcs anywhere else in Khorvaire. If goblinoids are part of society, I would think a cosmopolitan city like Sharn would probably have some urban orcs. The madness of the father could be caused by the Cult of the Dragon Below relic, influence of the mad plane Xoriat. This could also start affecting some of the theives or even the son, which could explain some of the battles that happen. Maybe even use the Madborn template from Five Nations. Sounds interesting. Let us know what happens.
DMDaddy 04-23-06, 03:28 AM	Finaly, they played it. It was awesome. We played for 8 hours strait with only three fights. They ate it up like cereal. All of the NPCs had traits, characteristics, detailed descriptions. I mapped out what they might say and how they might act. Every NPC had motive and other NPCs were pointing toward each other. They didn't know who stole the item. Of course I only gave them two clues to find. They figured out that the stuttering maid 1/2elf Sor had a stuttering problem from birth. But, the Orc cook told them that it was the maid, "just look at all the jewelry she's wearing. She also stutters when she nervous or lying." He also lied and said, "maybe even the guard out front, look at the gash on his forehead. He's was fighting the other night. I heard him and it was in the room where the item was." The fighter actualy snuck out the last night and got into a bar fight and doesn't want anyone to know. To the PCs, he seemed guilty because he wasn't telling them everything about how he got the gash on his forehead. In the end they figured out that who ever was paying was giving Ogre skin poches with money in it. It was the cook who makes Ogre skin pouches. When they chased the cook, he eluded them for a few rounds and when they finaly entered the abandoned Inn that he ran into, they found him dead on the ground with the son standing over him with sword in hand plus 4 goblin Fight2. Final battle.
Joni-san 04-24-06, 12:21 PM	Eberron, a world where Orcs are the tree hugging hippies and elves the screaming horde :P That needs to be in somebody's sig. Done and done :D