Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Wrathamon 12-31-06, 03:17 PM	The next adventure I am looking for ideas (maybe an exsisting product that I can quickly modify) for my group. They have just finished up Steel Shadows and one of the warforged characters didn't survive. The Artficer has heard rumors of a creation forge in the House Cannith Forgehold in Sharn. He believes he can use it to resurrect the fallen comrade. He used his Favored In House to hear of the rumors. Now I need a way for them to infiltrate probably one of the most secure places in Khorvaire. :) They know Lady Elaydren, as I have played out the Schema series. They have some contacts with Cannith East. The group consists of a Changeling Binder, Warforged Crusader Juggernaut, Shifter Druid, Human Artificer Dragon Prophet & a Gnome Rogue (spy from Zilargo). The dead character was a Warforged scout Lurk. The easiest and quickest thing is to take a existing product that I could retro fit, but any suggestions would be welcomed. thanks!
Dawn_of_an_Age 01-03-07, 05:43 PM	Someone help this guy. Comon seasoned gamers be nice. :)
Shady314 01-03-07, 08:44 PM	Well it's a little confusing. Why don't they try and get someone to cst raise dead or something? Creation forges build warforged I haven't read anything about them repairing or rezzing one. I guess you as DM have changed a few things on how they work? Still getting raise dead cast is hard but not nearly as hard as breaking into Merrix's lair. At 9th level it's just short of impossible. Merrix has 9 levels in artificer (plus 3 in DMH) so his hq should be filled with appropriately challenged traps. Filled. He has an army of craftsman including other artificers working for him and he breaks the wealth level guidelines I'm sure. Not to mention the traps I'm sure Kundarak has laid. And not to mention the actual army of guards and such. Except for Vadalis the Head enclaves of the DM houses are fortresses. And he wants to break into that on a rumor? Is his character insane? A real person in such a situation would use their contacts to arrange a meet with Merrix where they would implore him for help with their dead warforged friend. He might offer to work for Merrix in exchange. He might dance around the creation forge subject but not say anything since Merrix would deny everything and be angered I'm sure. So the adventure could become doing something for Merrix. Possibly against Cannith East. Turning some sort of resource of East to South's side. Procure a contract, land, artifact what have you.
Kreistor2 01-03-07, 11:58 PM	I suggest taking a page from Splinter Cell. You want a sneaky and skulky non-lethal invasion. Sharn is very conducive to rappelling, drain pipe climbing, and so on. Though some may want the Forge to be in the Cogs, it would be better if you played most of it in the city above. Basically, place guards around the facility, give them patrol paths. Make sure you know all the Listen and Spot rules. Make certain to add unpredictable elements, so that the team has to stay on their toes. The players have to understand that even the remotest possibility of failure with a single dead guard means long jail time or worse (the death penalty), they have got to learn the non-lethal rules and look for anything they could do to ensure the guards don't die. Not everyone does things like this in DnD. It can provide a welcome change to a campaign where the sword is always the answer. Here, it's the sap.
Wrathamon 01-04-07, 03:43 PM	That is exactly what I was thinking... since the forgehold is deep in sharn in Ashblack a tunnel system splintercell operation would be needed. Dont get me wrong this should be deadly and high risk The idea is they get help from the inside... which is the only way they are going to be able to get close enough. We have a house cannith artifier with favored in house they have a contact in Lady E they have a contact in cannith east They have a contact in the Dark Lanterns Merrix knows of them They have a dragon in the chamber as a contact (except they think she is just a crime lord). they have a zilargo spy in their midst with the resources of that nation wanting to know what cannith is hiding. Merrix btw might "want them to use it" since they are the ones that recovered the schemas... he might have an interest in seeing what happens. One of the warforged since coming back from xen'drik has been spouting off about the becoming god, and has been gathering together the warforged for some divine mission. The artificer has been seeing visions (dragon prophet) and has a strange connection with the schemas. I dont care how implausible it may be the fact is it needs to have a plausible way in, even if it was "too easy" they think... maybe they wanted you to get in? The whole game has this draconic prophecy thing building up in the background. Each event is a piece in a confusing puzzle of events that leads to a very big end much later down the road. I just want a big infiltration adventure doing something high risk and daring. If anyone knows of any printed adventures that have that sort of feel, let me know or if you have any interesting ideas. thanks oh btw There really is very little on Creation Forges in what they do besides create stuff... so I'm allowing for that as a way to "raise" warforged. Raise dead is almost impossible to get in my games and requires a "quest". This is such a quest, the player's will be excited and sounds like fun. It seemed implausible that the Death Star would be so easy to destroy or that no one could walk into Mordor. EDIT: I was also thinking at the end, if they succeed having either activate the timer teleportation device to escape type event... the get the hell out of dodge before the Cannith Wand Adepts disintegrate them all or they get caught and now Merrix has new pawns to use... maybe something against the Lord of Blades... since LoB was trying to get the schemas as well... he has a creation forge also, yada yada ... extend plot line.
Nived 01-05-07, 01:37 AM	I agree with the Splinter Cell suggentions. Have the player with the dead Warforged play a temporary PC the 'inside man' on this operation, the contact that's going to help them get in even though even they have not actually seen the Forge. Watch Mission Impossible, The Rock, Oceans 11 & 12, maybe some Bond movies, anything that involves climbing through airducts really. Play some Metal Gear, Spinter Cell, and Theif... and make a good ol dungeon crawl. I don't know much about the Adventure Steel Shadows or the other Eberron Adventures so I don't know what your overall plot is, but as for where to go from here consider... Actually getting to the creation forge, actually being able to raise the Warforged (consider having the 'dead' warforged having a plot related vision before coming back from the dead) have them get caught before they can escape... have Marrix make the classic Lex Luthor/Bond Villian entrance. Horrified and Impressed with the adventuring party he contemplates killing them, but decides to use them. Cue the use of Geas. Or good ol' fashion blackmail. Some magical enchantment that keeps them from telling what they know... and being used by Merrix on some fool's errand with little chance for survival. Take them to the next point in the plot that way. When they eventually slip the geas (come on they're heroes), they'll have a powerful and visible villian in Merrix... Bonus point for Merrix killing the dead warforged player's temporary 'inside man' PC to get those revenge juices flowing.
Kreistor2 01-06-07, 12:31 AM	Have the player with the dead Warforged play a temporary PC the 'inside man' on this operation, the contact that's going to help them get in even though even they have not actually seen the Forge. Actually, it is better to ensure the "inside man" is untrustworthy. The whole thing lacks a sense of risk if the player that wants the rez to happen is playing somene that might not be everything you think he is. For something like this, the PC's should be thinking about getting a professional second story man to help them. For that purpose, I used the Thief-Acrobat from Complete Adventurer for that role with my party. Of course, in my case, he was a villain (albeit a hired one) first and because he was captured rather than killed (which always gets more in my campaigns), he was available later when they had a more serious enemy to encounter. He's gone on to become a regular (albeit coersced) ally. In fact, his story has quite a bit of depth that I don't want to write here, in case my players stumble onto this. have them get caught before they can escape... have Marrix make the classic Lex Luthor/Bond Villian entrance. This does not work well with all players. You're railroading them, and players usually don't like that without a good reason. If it was not the players' fault that they wound up in this mess (ie. you scripted it and they couldn't avoid it), then make sure to get them out ASAP. Players get angry without freedom. If you script this, then script as much as possible, so that they know it isn't a mistake they made, but a plot element. Anyway, I think that is too much for this, unless the DM has a ton of experience. It is better to make it simple. Create an in-and-out design that will more closely resemble the Indiana Jones motife than the Film Noir side of Eberron. Something like... Step 0) Hire a pro to help figure out how to do this. (Enter temp PC.) 1) Use Gather Information to learn about some foolish warforged that accidentally suggested he was only a couple months old. 2) Track down the Warforged. Question him. Learn about creation facility. (He remembers it exists, but not where. Get some descriptions.) 3) Go to Elaydren and describe the building but NOT their purpose. (Don't clue her in to the existence of the Forge.) 4) Elaydren tracks down three locations that fit. 5) Surreptitiously watch each of the four locations. Notice that once every few days a crate leaves each one. Follow the crate to find a warforged left abandoned somewhere in Sharn. That limits the location. 6) Back to Elaydren to get the layout. 7) Use whatever magics, etc. you can to figure out security before going in. (Prying Eyes can work here, if the DM is a little easy-going on the spot checks.) 8) Use the information you know to do the invasion. Designing the building will be the hard part and I can't help you there. You should include two or three ways to bypass each section. Know their Take 10's on movement skills and set the DC's to fit that, wherever possible. Be very kind to Know(Architecture). If the PC's are smart, they'll use their magics for Silence, Darkness, Dispel Magic, Dominate, and Arcane Sight instead of Fly and other mobility spells to bypass things that skill-based PC's can solve without relying on resources. Remember to include the following in the design... Water/gas pipes vertically and across rooms. Walls with cracks that can be climbed horizontally. Tall walls that can be walked. Walls that can be roped down. Gaps to be jumped. None of this really needs to make sense. Seriously. If the players start demanding explanations, just say, "I'm not an architect. If you've got a problem, just imagine that this same thing needs to be done someplace that makes sense to you." I'd break it up into chunks, instead of trying to design the whole building. Just decide how many sections you want to design, how many things will be in each section, and design them. Don't try to hook each section up, just Script the section in between sections, like a Cut Scene. Cut scenes where you describe the PC's doing things that the players don't think of can be inspirational.