New to Ebberon here but greatly enjoying the new books. Just one thing is bothering me, the low cost of using House Oriens linked portals. It says in the ECG on page 44 that the cost is only 50gp. That seems really cheap compared to other(imo more fun) travelling options. Travelling to Stormreach from Sharn with a regular ship is 30gp (page 61). Why would anyone choose any other option if there is a linked portal to a destination? Am I missing something?
2) Linked Portals are generaly, IMO at least, reseved for the upperclass.
* Take a class that grants the ritual feat for free or spend a feat on it.
* Wait until they're 8th level so they can cast the Linked Portal ritual.
* Spend 680 gp to buy the ritual
* Spend 135 gp on ritual components every time I want to use the ritual.
That price has quickly skyrocketed from a mere 50 gp.
Although having said that, I could be 100% wrong. It could be 50 gp buys you a marked Orien heir who will personally teleport you.
That's in addition to the money for the ritual.
I don't have the ECG so I don't know what that 50 gp covers. Although I'm imagining it covers the cost of learning that particular portal's sequence. That means after someone has paid their 50 gp, they also have to:
* Take a class that grants the ritual feat for free or spend a feat on it.
* Wait until they're 8th level so they can cast the Linked Portal ritual.
* Spend 680 gp to buy the ritual
* Spend 135 gp on ritual components every time I want to use the ritual.
That price has quickly skyrocketed from a mere 50 gp.
Although having said that, I could be 100% wrong. It could be 50 gp buys you a marked Orien heir who will personally teleport you.
You're 100% right and 100% wrong: The book has two prices.
For using a linked portal for your own use, it's 50 gp per use of the portal, as per mentioned in the ritual description, using their permanent portals costs you 50 GP + 50 GP to cast the ritual. So 100 GP I guess?
For having House Orien cast the ritual FOR you, it's 50 gp.
So it's 50 gp either way, and one has a higher price because you have to cast the ritual... the other is 50 gp to have House Orien cast it.
I see a little bit of a problem with all of this as well =P
The problem with heirs also doesn't fly since the 50 GP is for a portal usage as well. Bit weird and highly unlikely the would hold those open only for important customers since not many would cast the ritual themselves.
For having House Orien cast the ritual FOR you, it's 50 gp.
I know 4th ed was trying to make the Dragonmarked services more PC friendly, but this gives PCs absolutely no reason to travel somewhere by either boat or airship if they're heading to a city.
I guess if you're heading somewhere civilised FROM a civilised location, there's absolutely no reason to not teleport there unless you've got a lot of luggage? Otherwise you take a boat or airship? Except its 50 gp to teleport to Xen'drik, a lot more if you travel there by any other means.
I'm very confused ;) If the ECG clears this up at all I'd love to hear it
I'd definitely say that the 50G is a surcharge, on top of the base cost of the ritual.
This is my assumption as well.
I'm very confused ;) If the ECG clears this up at all I'd love to hear it
It does not, it merely provides prices.
I WOULD say however, that the cost of casting that ritual gives you a 1 or 2 round time to move luggage as well as yourself. It does not include teammates, large pieces of luggage... and the chance of failure to teleport is also up to the DM ;)
Incidentally, it's 50 gp to hop on an airship to travel from one kingdom to another. The lightning rail is 5 gp per stop.
I would assume that the 50 gp to have an Orien ritual caster is balanced on those figures. It's neither more expensive, nor less expensive.
Plus, the chance of mishap, and the fact that any heavy luggage isn't included in the price...
Oh yeah, and House Orien only goes to other House Orien stations, which are only in major cities. So, no trips to Xen'drik.
Only if I was of course.
(Hint: The caravans are less watched if you need to be subtle.)
If they're wanted criminals, even for relatively minor adventurer misdemeanors, then forget about it. I'd suggest Orien have complicated magical combination locks on their portals to keep people from just killing their way to the door to everywhere.
Oh yeah, and House Orien only goes to other House Orien stations, which are only in major cities. So, no trips to Xen'drik.
Oooh. So we can't get instantaneous teleportation to Xen'drik for only 50 gp?
That sounds a bit better considering Lyrandar charges 300 gp (from memory at least).
I WOULD say however, that the cost of casting that ritual gives you a 1 or 2 round time to move luggage as well as yourself. It does not include teammates, large pieces of luggage... and the chance of failure to teleport is also up to the DM ;)
If you want to get technical and say they use the linked portal ritual (up to the DM if you want to get this technical) from my understanding initiative would be rolled and the amount of time would be quite variable.
So not a good way to travel large quantities of goods. But much better if you're a small group of five people or even a lone inquisitive or assassin (with false or real travelling and identity papers as required).
So not a good way to travel large quantities of goods. But much better if you're a small group of five people or even a lone inquisitive or assassin (with false or real travelling and identity papers as required).
If you're traveling to an adventuring site, almost any other form of transportation is more desirable, because you only have to pay for that transportation, AND bringing loot back, you already have the caravan/airship/ship right there. Iff you're traveling to a major city and do not intend to make a return trip, is the portal better.
Teleportation only happens in Teleportation Circles. For the most part, under D&D rules, that is a Centerally Known Location inside a Major City. You are paying for the convience of transporting to the location, and you are most likely not travelling alone. You are probably with many other people. The nice people of House Orion gather together, perform a mass ritual, and poof, off you and all your travellers go to your destination, all nice and quickly and much more efficently then if you went by Lightning Car.
Of course, with Lightning Car, you can get to all those places inbetween that isn't hooked up to the Teleportation Circles. You also don't accidently pop up inside a city in the middle of a seige, either.
In either case, Teleportation to Adventure Sites probably also could be arranged for (at the normal fee), but you better be darn sure you have a way back, and you better be sure you know where you are going to pop up at. Nothing is worse then teleporting someplace where you are both instantly lost, instantly in trouble, and have no way back from.
I guess if you're heading somewhere civilised FROM a civilised location, there's absolutely no reason to not teleport there unless you've got a lot of luggage? Otherwise you take a boat or airship? Except its 50 gp to teleport to Xen'drik, a lot more if you travel there by any other means.
Well, unless I am mistaken, you COULD pay to use one to take you to the only city in Xen'Drix with a known operating Portal, Stormreach. (I might be mistaken. There might be a few other major cities that I don't know about). This would let you get around a lot of things. However, what will more then likely happen is you'll pay your 50 to get there... and then pay more fees to get that airship/boat/whatever that you could have just payed the flat fee for back in Sharn (or my favorite Departure point, Trolanport).
In anycase, this assumes that you don't have any problems with House Orion. If you and House Orion haven't been seeing eye to eye lately, you probably would be advised not to travel that way.
And Oh God, how many times have they decided to get past enemy lines by crashing a Lyrandar airship into a building on the other side =O
Also, it's 50 gp charged PER PERSON...while it's 135 gp per cast ritual. As long as Orien transports at least 3 persons per casting, they'd be coming out ahead on cost, even if they did have to spend cash (which I don't believe they do)
I'd just force a minimum of 3 people per ritual so Orien is making a profit. The more people the merrier. If they don't have gp costs, then they are making a profit even if they send just one person...a clear advantage over casters, and why they dominate the market.
So, no, it's not cheaper then a cast ritual if you look at it like a good merchant would.
==Aelryinth
Maybe they have some sort of iris made of adamantine on every portal and you need to send them a code in order to open it. :P
Another problem is how does House Orien prevent you from knowing the destination circle address if you need that address to cast Linked Portal, even if they're letting you use one of their circles as the origin point?
The books say they "jealously guard" them; I wouldn't be surprised if they ran background checks before letting you cast the ritual yourself, preferring to have an Orien heir do it for you. Not to mention the NDA they doubtlessly make you sign, the guards and wards stationed at every circle, and so on. Heck, they might even have contingency plans; in the event a circle's sigil sequence is leaked, they can change it and contract with House Sivis to start rolling out new sequences to the other stations.
Maybe they have some sort of iris made of adamantine on every portal and you need to send them a code in order to open it. :P
On that note, you should turn to page 69 in the ECG and read about the Gate of Xabra. My first thought upon reading it: "Chevron 7... locked." :D