Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Cuaglar 12-03-07, 10:23 AM	I'm running an Eberron campaign, and currently I'm at the pivotal brink of the adventure. Shortly, it runs like this: The PC's were sent on an expedition by a scholarly body (Morgrave University) to study a prophetic marking on a remote cliff-face far, far away (a dragonmark in the Lhazaar Principalities.) They come to the cliff face and spend the night at its base, on a narrow spit of beach. During the night, their guide pulled up the rope that was their way out of the beach, and someone stole one of the players' magic sword. After a bit of investigating, they find an entrance to an underground tunnel, where they meet a barbarian man wielding the stolen sword. Here is where the 'dramatic death' comes in. I've had problems with this scene before, about whether or not I should make this barbarian die. Though the PC's don't know it, he was chosen from early childhood to be the guardian of the cavern, by a benevolent (or, at least, LN) beholder philosopher (more on that later.) And he was instructed to guard the cave from all intruders, by all means at his disposal. My initial plan for him was for him to die, then for the beholder to come along and blame the PC's for the death of his chosen one, and lay his task on them, which is to recover and destroy an artifact that the beholder, and the dragons before it, were protecting. However, I feel this might be a little rail-roading, so I'd like a bit of input, perhaps. Also, the second question is that, as far as I can see, there is a serious language barrier. The beholder spent all its life in the Underdark (Khyber), for thousands of years, and when it came up to the surface, it didn't go beyond the cave the dragons had been guarding before it, and took it upon itself to be the warden after the last dragon guardian died. So, I don't think any of my players know Undercommon, and the Beholder can't have learned Common, so far as I could see (the humans the beholder also protects speak Draconic, as a result of being in the custody of dragons for so long). So I think I could use a little help with this.
Belkar 12-03-07, 11:52 AM	I see no reason it couldn't speak common - especially if it's a scholar/philosopher. I think you might be seriously over-thinking this? I don't think a simple language decision will be construed as "railroading" if it advances the plot... And don't worry to much about "railroading" in Eberron... that's kind of the point - it's a comic book/pulp novel/film noir. You keep the scenes moving... ;)
kuonji 12-03-07, 12:00 PM	If the beholder has been around for centuries, there's no reason for it to not know common. It easily could have studied the language in travels or from meeting other beings who communicated in common or even from it's barbarian chosen one. Don't over think it too much, adding a language to a highly intelligent creature isn't a big deal. The barbarian doesn't need to die, but if the PCs are going to encounter him, then it's pretty much up to them how they handle the encounter. Maybe they will talk him down, or kill him, or KO him. Any way it happens, the beholder can show up and lay the task on the PCs ("You killed my chosen one!" or "You severly injured my chosen one!" or "You corrupeted my chosen one with your deceptive, misleading words!") Sometimes a plot hook is something the PCs notice or figure out on their own and sometimes a beholder says go do this thing for me.
Eater_Of_Souls 12-03-07, 12:04 PM	Well anyway the player who's sword was nicked is sure as hell going to be mighty pi ssed if he won't get it back.
Etarnon 12-03-07, 12:35 PM	Interesting that this parallels the Heroic Journey myth. Good job. A few things: I've had problems with this scene before, about whether or not I should make this barbarian die. It's not your choice, it is the player's choice. Read that again. Plus, you've got a glaring problem of a split story / conditions for the barbarian. A) He was chosen from early childhood to be the guardian of the cavern [snip] he was instructed to guard the cave from all intruders, by all means at his disposal. B) ...his task...which is to recover and destroy an artifact that the beholder, and the dragons before it, were protecting. This to me begs the question of how do they / it protect an item that they don't control but perhaps that's a bit of miscommunication. Also is not clear is/was "his Task" given to the barbarian or the beholder? And because the barbarian is slain, how does this then convey to the characters? what is their motivation? guilt? Force by the beholder? How I would do it / revise it: Let the pcs find something that foreshadows the thing that the barbarian guards..not the artifact, [b]the beholder scholar himself/[b]. People in town or a villager wander past, asking what the strangers are doing in town, are they searching for "The curse, the beast of the mount, the evil that lurks." "Tis an old legend, of lost empires, and flying death..." [etc. whatever you want the beholder to be to the locals] Build up to it, with a mention of the "Curse of the Evile Eye" or something. Then they meet the barbarian, who is the guard, who might say something like "Beyond me lies wisdom and death. No mortal may pass, as my master bids." Do not make this barbarian guy a punk, make it that he sorely tests them, if they decide to fight. They are in fact, killing a Lawful / Good guy, and that should be apparent at some point. If they parley, The barbarian summons his master from the depths, and they learn of the quest of the artifact. If they do fight, perhaps they lose a party member, or very nearly should. Not a TPK, but this should be one heck of a scrap. They then find some ancient tomes or something that goes into the backstory. Perhaps a few prop pages, all you need is a cool font on a sheet that's been aged, from it they learn of the quest of the artifact. In the middle of reading all of this, (or summoned by the barbarian) a lurking presence appears. Perhaps a blind Beholder, scarred, and aged, or blind in all eyes, except one stalk. (thus to the wary, not as much a threat. And this is why he needs a powerful guardian, in the barbarian, as he had been cut up over the years, gathering the knowledge needed to regain the artifact...he's a scholar, after all of this artifact knowledge. I suggest the artifact is not in the cave, the scholarly beholder has a medium sized library in the depths below in a dry cavern, that is ice cold, containing tomes of books that he studies by candle light, with his one tiny eye roving the pages, in the dimly lit near darkness of the inner depth of the cave burned out candles litter the area. How he handles the candles, is anyone's guess. Another thins is when does the barbarian sleep? Unless he has some magical rest or needs no sleep. Maybe it is an Elven barbarian, in that case, needing only reverie. Maybe also the Barbarian is sent to town, to buy 100 candles a month or something, when he buys his own food, for them both. How do the pair make money? Perhaps as sagely advice, or it could be some near religious thing, or a cult of followers, or from an ancient hoard of the drakes. In any case, the beholder appears... a bulk moving in the darkness. "I percieve that you have [slain/met as appropriate] my Ward. Now I am old, and near defenseless, and the quest to restore the balance is near at an end, with my own. You know not the events that surround my ward and I, but if you will slay me out of hand, be done with it, and cast the fortunes of the world into ruin." If they slay the Scholar , they go home, empty handed. Too bad, they are not heroes. If they talk to it, the scholar gives them more information that he memorized from the days when he had sight. But there is still a puzzle to solve that the beholder can not figure out, that somehow the party helps him to work out, such that now, they are charged with the quest. If the barbarian is alive perhaps with him also. That's how I'd try to run it, I think, given what you've laid out here. P.S. The beholder speaks broken / accented english, yeah it's a plot device but so what.
setekh 12-03-07, 01:01 PM	You could give it (The Beholder) A few levels in Beholder mage (I'm thinking the Tongues Spell here) Which would make it a wee bit more powerful than your average Beholder, and everyone loves a powerful Monsterous NPC.
Cuaglar 12-03-07, 02:07 PM	Thanks, that's a lot more help than I usually get! The bit of confusion between guarding and recovering was the fact that the artifact was stolen recently from the cave; and the barbarian (named Craben) stole the sword from the PC's partially because he needed some extra firepower to go get it. But I really like the ideas so far here, and I'm going to use them, especially Etamon's. Thank you very much!
Etarnon 12-03-07, 05:54 PM	Good luck with it, and you're welcome. I like the against the grain idea of a LN beholder.
lifeblender 12-03-07, 07:42 PM	The Beholder might not know Common, but it could know Elven, Dwarf, Draconic, Infernal, or something like those, which someone in the party would know (probably the wizard).