Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Char Aznable 04-19-07, 04:18 PM	We all know how Sharn is- it's a big city, with some crime. Imagine Sharn in a darker sense- overloaded with refugees from the last war, the Watch is overworked, underpaid, and very corrupt. The Dragonmarked houses continue their little games of chess with each other and governments. Who will stand up for the citizens? Who will punish evil? Masked Vigilantes. I really liked the idea of the Vigilante class from Complete Adventurer,(Even though I was sort of nonplussed by the prestige class) and I thought that the idea of a darker, more sinister Sharn might facilitate this sort of game. Wouldn't it be cool to make Fantasy Superheroes, fighting for Justice? Afterall, the baseline player classes in D&D are already supposed to be a step above the crapulent NPC classes.
Cloud Divider 04-19-07, 05:05 PM	We all know how Sharn is- it's a big city, with some crime. Imagine Sharn in a darker sense- overloaded with refugees from the last war, the Watch is overworked, underpaid, and very corrupt. The Dragonmarked houses continue their little games of chess with each other and governments. This is pretty much how I run Sharn... Though it's more than just the 'Marked houses running their own power plays. Regardless, I very much key in on the more noir aspects of the setting - so much so, that the campaign I was running had the PC's organized as a detective agency of sorts. Who will stand up for the citizens? Who will punish evil? Masked Vigilantes. I really liked the idea of the Vigilante class from Complete Adventurer,(Even though I was sort of nonplussed by the prestige class) and I thought that the idea of a darker, more sinister Sharn might facilitate this sort of game. Depending on how you play it, I can definitely see the masked vigilantes being an ideal role for the players to take. Regardless of whether or not they actually take capital-C Classes in Vigilanteism. Why masks, as opposed to acting openly? That should be pretty obvious. Pretty much anyone that's a major power player in Sharn has tendrils of influence that run throughout the city. Start investigating those rumors about a secret Deneith chapter house in Copper Arches (is that it? My Sharn sourcebook is a continent away), and you'll likely get your brain melted, even if you live districts away. So once the PCs start really acting out against any of those major villainous threats, their lives will rapidly get much more difficult... Furthermore, if you consider that Joe Resident is a 2nd or maybe 3rd level Commoner/Expert(Grocer), having your party of 8th level PC's is not a bad start for the Sharn chapter of the Justice League. Sure, there's mid-level PC-classed folks among the police (notably the Redcloaks), but they're just as much tied down by politics (or outright corruption). So yeah, it'd be pretty cool. You've even got a pretty nifty Rogues' Gallery of supervillains to work with in Sharn - Liches, Vampires, Illithids, invisible conspirators (Inspired), plus good old fashioned Organized Crime and the Megacorporations (Marked Houses). As far as Joe Resident is concerned, that brain-eating squid-faced guy who can kill men with a thought is pretty much spot-on for a 4-color Supervillain. And he's even got an army of super-henchman with those various Dalkyr grafts, and monster-henchmen (chokers, the various other Dalkyr-breeds of goblins/hobgoblins/etc). Then you can reveal that squid-face is only a henchman to some greater Dalkyr entity...
Jagnis 04-19-07, 05:06 PM	Sound like a good idea to me. Make sure that the PC's have makes to hide their identity. I can just see a Sharn inquisitor fighting crime in a blue and red outfit. *Jagnis*
DragoonDarkfire 04-19-07, 10:26 PM	You might wanna introduce the reputation score rule if you're gonna do that. And why not? Sharn is basically the New York City of Eberron.
Soloran 04-20-07, 01:08 AM	I would suggest that you pick up a copy of 'Watchmen' for ideas. The author did a fantastic job in mixing the masked hero genre with dark, gritty noir elements. In other words: perfect for Sharn.
Char Aznable 04-20-07, 02:00 AM	I would suggest that you pick up a copy of 'Watchmen' for ideas. The author did a fantastic job in mixing the masked hero genre with dark, gritty noir elements. In other words: perfect for Sharn. Oh yeah, I've read Watchmen. I thought I would omit saying I want a Watchmen-esque game because every GM who wants to run a Watchmen like game ends up with the Tick. It's just one of those things... The Reputation score would be a must. Same with the Optional rules for contacts, I would think.
OnusBone 04-21-07, 06:44 PM	Ahh, Watchmen...Source material of the gods. What if an Eberron equivalent of Ozymandias engineered the Day of Mourning, in order to end the war? What if everyone finds out that some up-until-now benevolent and nigh-unassailable moralist is responsible for the murder of an entire country? I know that the Silver Flame, for instance, is very shades-of-gray, but how would PCs cope with a DM dropping incontrovertible evidence that the closest thing to a Lawful Good organization in the campaign is responsible for that? Especially when you underline the idea that the altruistic PCs' themselves will then be responsible for starting WW2 for bringing it to light? Nothing better than watching players squirm in their seats!
OnusBone 04-21-07, 06:45 PM	By the way, avoid Ninjas from House Thuranni, and you are half-way to avoiding "The Tick Scenario" :)
Soloran 04-23-07, 12:10 AM	Oh yeah, I've read Watchmen. I thought I would omit saying I want a Watchmen-esque game because every GM who wants to run a Watchmen like game ends up with the Tick. It's just one of those things... I fail to recognize the Tick - Watchmen correlation. Perhaps because I've never really watched Tick. ;)
Lancer2010 04-23-07, 02:48 PM	I think what they meant is that whenever they try to do something like The Watchmen, they players instead end up acting like The Tick. So instead of dark, gritty, noir, they end up with over the top cheese.
DwarfPcfan 04-24-07, 10:42 AM	Watchmen is definetly a good read for vigilante heroes but here are a few other: -The Ultimates Vol1 and Two (a good view on comparing pcs to npcs and the idea of politics and heroism) -Hush Vol1 and Two (shows how to take introduce new villains and make them hurt on a personal level) -Dark Knight Returns (The real reason why batman is the baddest m********* in Dc comics) -The killing Joke (helps to grasp concepts of insanity, pain etc and the villains who spread it around) -War Games Saga ( good read to build on Gang warfare) -The long halloween and Dark victory, gritty noir goodness Have fun