Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 yogsothothery Aug 27, 2010 8:05:47	has anyone thought about using the themes mechanic from dark sun for use with eberron dragonmarks?  because i'm lazy i thought i would ask before i started doing the work for myself.
#2 gladiusstormhand Aug 27, 2010 15:43:27	I'm brainstorming for a Wind Walker character theme that involves House Lyrandar and their secretive Lightning Strike covert ops security group. I can see the Wind Walkers as agents of Lyrandar's security force. Characters learn some storm magic, gain a patron, and missions. They could gain gust of wind (adapted to 4e) as a theme power, and either: traning in Athletics, Stealth, or Insight; or Light Armor; or traning in a weapon proficiency. I'm planning on taking the old Storm Sentry  and Windwright Captain prestige classes and turning them into Paragon Paths for the theme. Anyway the idea is pretty new in my mind.
#3 snarky_monkey Aug 28, 2010 20:49:37	Themes seem, least to me, to be the system they should of used for Dragonmarks in the first place.  With that in mind, I am working on themes for each mark.  First one I have done so far is the Aberrant mark and based the powers on the chaotic nature of the mark.  Figure I will add a couple paragon paths that expand the mark's abilities to cover madness and disease as well.
#4 Madfox11 Aug 31, 2010 7:09:21	The downside of themes is that they are not really optional. If you use them, all players will want to select a theme for their character - a bonus encounter power is simply too good to pass up ;) So while I agree that themes are a great way to represent a dragonmark power, IMO you would need to add a lot more then just dragonmarked themes to make it fair for the other players (unless your campaign assumes every PC is dragonmarked).
#5 snarky_monkey Sep 01, 2010 23:53:55	The downside of themes is that they are not really optional. If you use them, all players will want to select a theme for their character - a bonus encounter power is simply too good to pass up ;) So while I agree that themes are a great way to represent a dragonmark power, IMO you would need to add a lot more then just dragonmarked themes to make it fair for the other players (unless your campaign assumes every PC is dragonmarked). I absolutely agree with that.  It's why in my current campaign, my players will be able to pick a theme for a mark or any other theme available.  I think most of the themes I have seen so far wouldn't take much tweaking to make them Eberron specific, and as Gladius has shown, there are endless possibilities.  I think a general "Spy" theme would work wonders for groups such as the Dark Lanterns.  The Templar theme from Dark Sun, with some cosmetic tweaking, would be great for a Knight of the Silver Flame, for example.
#6 jhanzur Sep 06, 2010 10:43:22	o The downside of themes is that they are not really optional. If you use them, all players will want to select a theme for their character - a bonus encounter power is simply too good to pass up ;) So while I agree that themes are a great way to represent a dragonmark power, IMO you would need to add a lot more then just dragonmarked themes to make it fair for the other players (unless your campaign assumes every PC is dragonmarked). I absolutely agree with that.  It's why in my current campaign, my players will be able to pick a theme for a mark or any other theme available.  I think most of the themes I have seen so far wouldn't take much tweaking to make them Eberron specific, and as Gladius has shown, there are endless possibilities.  I think a general "Spy" theme would work wonders for groups such as the Dark Lanterns.  The Templar theme from Dark Sun, with some cosmetic tweaking, would be great for a Knight of the Silver Flame, for example. I hope one of those tweaks is taking away the affinity for defiling and the ability to go into those paragon paths in the DSCG =P. On a more serious note, if I was of the more ambitious type, I might be inclined to work on things like this as well. It's a great idea.
#7 faelan Dec 11, 2010 21:22:23	I'm considering adding themes to an existing game at this point.  I'll probably wait until the new Character Builder has some of the first-run kinks worked out though.  In the mean time, I've decided that (in my campaign) the Mourning was a first (and disasterous) foray into defiler magic.  When my players first enter the Mournland, those with arcane characters will be given a note hinting that they can push more energy into their powers, and things will run from there.  (The Dark Sun Creature Catalog is a good source of bizzare creatures with which to populate the Mournland, too.)
#8 GeorgeLanning Dec 14, 2010 0:13:04	Building on your original idea for themes, and plundering the various Eberron books: Dragonmark Heir Hardboiled Inquisitive Gatekeeper Guardian Relic Hunter Prophecy Sage Undercover Agent Sword of Liberty Throneholder Loyalist Wandering Mercenary Sovereign Vassal Illuminated Lightspeaker Fey Court Ambassador Mournland Survivor Abberant Fugitive Freelance Chronicler Manifest Spellshaper Warrior of Glory Heir of Vol