What's your favorite Dragonmark house and why? [Archive] - Wizards Community

What's your favorite Dragonmark house and why? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Runepriest
05-12-07, 11:01 AM Post your favorite Dragonmark house and why using the following format:

House:
Flavor Reasons:
Mechanical Reasons:

Here's mine:

House: Cannith
Flavor Reasons: Monopoly over Magic Item Creation and not at odds with other houses.
Mechanical Reasons: Repair spells as Spell-like abilities for Warforged characters at the end of the day. Too bad Warforged can't have Dragonmarks.
Dragom
05-12-07, 12:02 PM Denieth
Flavour: They have the right to expect begrudging co-operation and the benifit of the doubt from any policing organization they encounter in Korvaire. Kind of like the FBI.
And it's a good way to shoe horn a Hobgoblin blademark into the party.

Mechanical: The ability to cast Shield Other and protection from arrows on the entire party and still be mostly a fighter. (and as such actually be able to exploit Shield Other for a while.)
Trannic
05-12-07, 07:22 PM So far, I'm having a hard time deciding between House Vadalis, and House Tharask. I like the fact that Vadalis doesn't follow the same house format as the other house and, doesn't much care about anyone's opinion of them while Tharask is a fairly young and hungry house that is working hard to establish itself among the other houses, like establishing their own mercenary corp.
Xanic_Indus
05-12-07, 08:56 PM My personal favorite has to be House Cannith. Not only have they found ways to incorporate themselves into the political workings of the nations, but their influence effects the day to day lifes of individuals, commerce and industry of most "civilized" locations. Their magical advances have made them responsible for such innovations as everbright lanterns, the lightning rails, an array of magical items and ofcourse the Warforged. I have also found that the dynamic of the power struggle between the three possible heirs (Merrix, Jorlanna, and Zorlan) to leadership of House Cannith can be a handy source for game ideas.
Runepriest
05-12-07, 09:24 PM I wish Merrix to win rule of House Cannith Personally.
Nived
05-12-07, 10:19 PM Orien.

Flavor: They're professional travelers, most of them have no home, yet they still come across as one of the more united houses. For some reason that apeals to me.

Mechanically: They can fly, and they can teleport... and with Unlock Dragonmark... they can do both in a pinch.
Xanic_Indus
05-12-07, 11:37 PM Merrix is very young compared to the other two heirs and his lack of political experience works against him. If it wasn't for the fact he knows the others as well as he does he would probably be content to let one of the others take over, but then probably wouldn't have the free range to develop what he wanted to.

Jorlanna holds the strongest claim by right of heritage, but her affair with a member of House Deneith and rumors of a possible child have partly damaged her credibility.

Zorlan's got a good claim also but he also has a cruel streak that makes a lot of House Cannith nervous.
Darth Syntax
05-13-07, 12:45 AM Sivis has long been my favorite house.

Flavor reasons

Item 1: Gnomes are fantastic
Item 2: The effectively control the flow of information on the continent
Item 3: They are ubiquitous to the point of being unwisely overlooked

Mechanical Reasons

Item 1: Very few of the Sivis mark abilities have any useful combat function
Item 2: Communication magic has all manner of devious uses
SquirrelMortis
05-13-07, 04:21 AM House Kundarak
Flavor Reasons: I've always loved dwarves, and Kundarak is even better! I love how they tie into Dwarf history as the Wardens of the Gates. With the Ghorad'din and the Keyguard, 'nuff said.
Mechanical Reasons: Silver Key!
Ront Iron-Roar
05-14-07, 08:40 AM Abberant Marks (House Tarkanan)
Flavor Reasons
1. The War of the Mark reminds me of Black October from the Tekkaman series.

2. I enjoy the tragedy of a char who was promised so much only to have his reputation destroyed by the cursed mark on his body.

3. Abberant Marks just look awesome and the roleplaying aspects of what transpires while using your mark's power are interesting.

4. Dozens of people are interested in your char.
-Dragonmarked Houses.
-Dragon Below
-House Tarkanan

Mechanical Reason

1. I love Bestow Curse.
Hennet
05-14-07, 12:08 PM House: Thuranni

Flavor Reasons: The seperation from House Phiarlan and the use of espionage through entertainment and all that stuff and yeah...

Mechanical Reasons: The Shadow Hunter prestige class from the Dragonmarked book.
DwarfPcfan
05-14-07, 04:18 PM House: Kundarak
Flavor reason: I just love the idea of dwarven bankers outwiting and simply outliving the competition in any economical area. also the house has a rich history to draw on both as a dragonmarked house, a clan of warriors with an ancient duty and a powerful loyalty structure to call on when help is neede Plus the idea of portraying them as ruthless debt collector sits well with the king of dwarves Ilike to play, seriously I'd like to play a mob wiseguy like character chasing down debts in the lower parts of Sharn in my next game (probably rogue2/fighterx/dragonmarked heirX/)
Mechanical reason: You can have so much fun with explosive runes when you're an enchanter...
WolfHati
05-15-07, 04:09 AM House Ghallanda.

Because someone needs to make breakfast.

And hero's feast is like Wheaties. Breakfast of champions.

Your party doesn't have to worry about poison or fear pretty much ever.
Splendide
05-15-07, 07:31 AM House Tharashk, because they are such punks in terms of international trade. They've got an excellent money-making talent, don't need to give a crap about convention, and have the balls to take on other dragonmarked houses at their own game. Pretty good mechanically also.
Logos7
05-15-07, 10:25 AM The Mark of Finding

Cause it finds stuff

If favorite institution counts the mark of finding gets tied with House Kundarak and the Mark of Warding

Logos

THIS IS DREADHOLD!
grifo
05-15-07, 03:00 PM i personaly like allot of the dragonmarked houses
the one house i really hate is lyrandar(prdon my spelling)
they are just so annoying!
they are way too overpowered (as far as fluff goes) and no one seems to mind! :mad: :mad: :mad:
its just wrong i tell you
polt
05-15-07, 04:49 PM House Thuranni and Pharlian

I've coupled those together, because they were once one house.
I like the dynamic between them, I like the idea that Pharlian is this old and somewhat honorable house, that does deal in espionage, assassination and stuff like that. But I feel there's a code here.
While Thuranni will take any job. There's not the throat that they will not slit.

Also I love House Deneith, I like the way they kind of work of the police of Khovaire, kind of like the rangers.

I'll up this thread a little bit and add my least favorite house.

House Cannith. I don't like magic being industrialized, I like my magic mysterious and rare. Even in Eberron, and to me House Cannith is the main utilizer of Magic, and they do not exist in my game. Maybe if I change them a lot, but not like they are in the ECS.
Elliot22
05-16-07, 08:55 PM I didn't want to break the rules of this thread, but I have too...
I have two favorite houses.

Orien
Flavour: They travel all over Khorviare, which means GOSSIP!! (I like Gossip, and yes I know other houses are better at getting gossip, but alot are bound to one area of gossip, Orien Travels), and They OWN the Lightning Rail... I love the lightning rail.. (Airships would be more entertaining if they used other Elementals besides fire....)
Mechincal: They have marks to make them move quickly, Dimension Leap.. *drool*, also the Blade of Orien class from Dragonmarked.

and

Vadalis
Flavour: They have animals (I like animals too). They make super animals...
Mechanical: They have a mark that lets them "commune" with animals. I would love a mark that would allow me to connect better with animals.

Together: They both have the feature though that long distance travel is something they specialize in with the Lightning Rail and Orien Caravans, but Orien wouldn't be having as good Carvans with out the Super Horses of House Vadalis. (They work together)
Psionycx
05-17-07, 11:45 AM House: Lyrandar
Flavor Reasons:

I'm very partial to half-elves, and Lyrandar puts a lot of effort into ensuring the success of half-elves as a true race rather than "half-breeds"
Aviation is under-explored in a lot of D&D settings, being seen as more of a speciality. Major use of air travel is cool.
Eberron is heavily driven by Pulp genre and the Pilot is a major character type in Pulp stories.

Mechanical Reasons:
Spell-like abilities, House attributes and PrC all favor travel, which can really make a campaign lively by moving the PC's around a lot.
From_Khyber
05-18-07, 06:13 AM House Tarkanan (abberant dragonmarks)

Flavor reasons:
- I like the fact that they are seen as abominations of the original d'marked houses.
- I likle the fact that House Tarkanan was established as a mockery of the d'marked houses.
- I like the fact that they are a crime syndicate.
- Lord Halas Tarkanan is way too cool not too be liked!

Mechanical Reasons:
- Abberant dragonmarks hold the power to destroy, unlike the other dragonmarks.
gelalshawr
05-18-07, 05:54 PM Lyrandar

Flavor reasons: Sky Pirates!!! and the fact that they are well organized and like Orien, can be just about anywhere at anytime.

Mechanical reasons: Windwright Captain PrC and weather control is an awesome ability with a lot of fun uses.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Runepriest 05-12-07, 11:01 AM	Post your favorite Dragonmark house and why using the following format: House: Flavor Reasons: Mechanical Reasons: Here's mine: House: Cannith Flavor Reasons: Monopoly over Magic Item Creation and not at odds with other houses. Mechanical Reasons: Repair spells as Spell-like abilities for Warforged characters at the end of the day. Too bad Warforged can't have Dragonmarks.
Dragom 05-12-07, 12:02 PM	Denieth Flavour: They have the right to expect begrudging co-operation and the benifit of the doubt from any policing organization they encounter in Korvaire. Kind of like the FBI. And it's a good way to shoe horn a Hobgoblin blademark into the party. Mechanical: The ability to cast Shield Other and protection from arrows on the entire party and still be mostly a fighter. (and as such actually be able to exploit Shield Other for a while.)
Trannic 05-12-07, 07:22 PM	So far, I'm having a hard time deciding between House Vadalis, and House Tharask. I like the fact that Vadalis doesn't follow the same house format as the other house and, doesn't much care about anyone's opinion of them while Tharask is a fairly young and hungry house that is working hard to establish itself among the other houses, like establishing their own mercenary corp.
Xanic_Indus 05-12-07, 08:56 PM	My personal favorite has to be House Cannith. Not only have they found ways to incorporate themselves into the political workings of the nations, but their influence effects the day to day lifes of individuals, commerce and industry of most "civilized" locations. Their magical advances have made them responsible for such innovations as everbright lanterns, the lightning rails, an array of magical items and ofcourse the Warforged. I have also found that the dynamic of the power struggle between the three possible heirs (Merrix, Jorlanna, and Zorlan) to leadership of House Cannith can be a handy source for game ideas.
Runepriest 05-12-07, 09:24 PM	I wish Merrix to win rule of House Cannith Personally.
Nived 05-12-07, 10:19 PM	Orien. Flavor: They're professional travelers, most of them have no home, yet they still come across as one of the more united houses. For some reason that apeals to me. Mechanically: They can fly, and they can teleport... and with Unlock Dragonmark... they can do both in a pinch.
Xanic_Indus 05-12-07, 11:37 PM	Merrix is very young compared to the other two heirs and his lack of political experience works against him. If it wasn't for the fact he knows the others as well as he does he would probably be content to let one of the others take over, but then probably wouldn't have the free range to develop what he wanted to. Jorlanna holds the strongest claim by right of heritage, but her affair with a member of House Deneith and rumors of a possible child have partly damaged her credibility. Zorlan's got a good claim also but he also has a cruel streak that makes a lot of House Cannith nervous.
Darth Syntax 05-13-07, 12:45 AM	Sivis has long been my favorite house. Flavor reasons Item 1: Gnomes are fantastic Item 2: The effectively control the flow of information on the continent Item 3: They are ubiquitous to the point of being unwisely overlooked Mechanical Reasons Item 1: Very few of the Sivis mark abilities have any useful combat function Item 2: Communication magic has all manner of devious uses
SquirrelMortis 05-13-07, 04:21 AM	House Kundarak Flavor Reasons: I've always loved dwarves, and Kundarak is even better! I love how they tie into Dwarf history as the Wardens of the Gates. With the Ghorad'din and the Keyguard, 'nuff said. Mechanical Reasons: Silver Key!
Ront Iron-Roar 05-14-07, 08:40 AM	Abberant Marks (House Tarkanan) Flavor Reasons 1. The War of the Mark reminds me of Black October from the Tekkaman series. 2. I enjoy the tragedy of a char who was promised so much only to have his reputation destroyed by the cursed mark on his body. 3. Abberant Marks just look awesome and the roleplaying aspects of what transpires while using your mark's power are interesting. 4. Dozens of people are interested in your char. -Dragonmarked Houses. -Dragon Below -House Tarkanan Mechanical Reason 1. I love Bestow Curse.
Hennet 05-14-07, 12:08 PM	House: Thuranni Flavor Reasons: The seperation from House Phiarlan and the use of espionage through entertainment and all that stuff and yeah... Mechanical Reasons: The Shadow Hunter prestige class from the Dragonmarked book.
DwarfPcfan 05-14-07, 04:18 PM	House: Kundarak Flavor reason: I just love the idea of dwarven bankers outwiting and simply outliving the competition in any economical area. also the house has a rich history to draw on both as a dragonmarked house, a clan of warriors with an ancient duty and a powerful loyalty structure to call on when help is neede Plus the idea of portraying them as ruthless debt collector sits well with the king of dwarves Ilike to play, seriously I'd like to play a mob wiseguy like character chasing down debts in the lower parts of Sharn in my next game (probably rogue2/fighterx/dragonmarked heirX/) Mechanical reason: You can have so much fun with explosive runes when you're an enchanter...
WolfHati 05-15-07, 04:09 AM	House Ghallanda. Because someone needs to make breakfast. And hero's feast is like Wheaties. Breakfast of champions. Your party doesn't have to worry about poison or fear pretty much ever.
Splendide 05-15-07, 07:31 AM	House Tharashk, because they are such punks in terms of international trade. They've got an excellent money-making talent, don't need to give a crap about convention, and have the balls to take on other dragonmarked houses at their own game. Pretty good mechanically also.
Logos7 05-15-07, 10:25 AM	The Mark of Finding Cause it finds stuff If favorite institution counts the mark of finding gets tied with House Kundarak and the Mark of Warding Logos THIS IS DREADHOLD!
grifo 05-15-07, 03:00 PM	i personaly like allot of the dragonmarked houses the one house i really hate is lyrandar(prdon my spelling) they are just so annoying! they are way too overpowered (as far as fluff goes) and no one seems to mind! :mad: :mad: :mad: its just wrong i tell you
polt 05-15-07, 04:49 PM	House Thuranni and Pharlian I've coupled those together, because they were once one house. I like the dynamic between them, I like the idea that Pharlian is this old and somewhat honorable house, that does deal in espionage, assassination and stuff like that. But I feel there's a code here. While Thuranni will take any job. There's not the throat that they will not slit. Also I love House Deneith, I like the way they kind of work of the police of Khovaire, kind of like the rangers. I'll up this thread a little bit and add my least favorite house. House Cannith. I don't like magic being industrialized, I like my magic mysterious and rare. Even in Eberron, and to me House Cannith is the main utilizer of Magic, and they do not exist in my game. Maybe if I change them a lot, but not like they are in the ECS.
Elliot22 05-16-07, 08:55 PM	I didn't want to break the rules of this thread, but I have too... I have two favorite houses. Orien Flavour: They travel all over Khorviare, which means GOSSIP!! (I like Gossip, and yes I know other houses are better at getting gossip, but alot are bound to one area of gossip, Orien Travels), and They OWN the Lightning Rail... I love the lightning rail.. (Airships would be more entertaining if they used other Elementals besides fire....) Mechincal: They have marks to make them move quickly, Dimension Leap.. drool, also the Blade of Orien class from Dragonmarked. and Vadalis Flavour: They have animals (I like animals too). They make super animals... Mechanical: They have a mark that lets them "commune" with animals. I would love a mark that would allow me to connect better with animals. Together: They both have the feature though that long distance travel is something they specialize in with the Lightning Rail and Orien Caravans, but Orien wouldn't be having as good Carvans with out the Super Horses of House Vadalis. (They work together)
Psionycx 05-17-07, 11:45 AM	House: Lyrandar Flavor Reasons: I'm very partial to half-elves, and Lyrandar puts a lot of effort into ensuring the success of half-elves as a true race rather than "half-breeds" Aviation is under-explored in a lot of D&D settings, being seen as more of a speciality. Major use of air travel is cool. Eberron is heavily driven by Pulp genre and the Pilot is a major character type in Pulp stories. Mechanical Reasons: Spell-like abilities, House attributes and PrC all favor travel, which can really make a campaign lively by moving the PC's around a lot.
From_Khyber 05-18-07, 06:13 AM	House Tarkanan (abberant dragonmarks) Flavor reasons: - I like the fact that they are seen as abominations of the original d'marked houses. - I likle the fact that House Tarkanan was established as a mockery of the d'marked houses. - I like the fact that they are a crime syndicate. - Lord Halas Tarkanan is way too cool not too be liked! Mechanical Reasons: - Abberant dragonmarks hold the power to destroy, unlike the other dragonmarks.
gelalshawr 05-18-07, 05:54 PM	Lyrandar Flavor reasons: Sky Pirates!!! and the fact that they are well organized and like Orien, can be just about anywhere at anytime. Mechanical reasons: Windwright Captain PrC and weather control is an awesome ability with a lot of fun uses.