Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 bofdm Nov 07, 2011 14:08:23	Ello again everyone. I'll be starting up a pathfinder eberron mini-campaign (4-5 adventures long) and while I have a general outline of the plot, I could always use some extra insight from other forumites and fellow eberron fans. Anyways the model of this campaign is after the B.P.R.D. organization from Hellboy, a mismatched group of somewhat supernatural/talented adventurers called in to investigate things that other people just can't deal with. There are things that go bump in the night. These are the groups that bump back. Overview: A long time ago during the Age of Demons the Rakshasa Rajahs waged war against the forces of the Dragons and the Couatls across Eberron. At the end of this time all of the Rajahs were defeated, though most were simply bound as killing them proved to be nearly impossible. One such Rajah is the dreaded Raan Iishiv, who when defeated was taken to the continent of Sarlona and bound underneath the land near the country of Adar (where the Kalashtar are from). The anger of this bound Rajah caused the land to explode, forming a volcanic mountain where he was kept. To channel the rage of this demon the Dragons created an Artifact made of Three Connecting Dragonshard - a khyber, siberys, and eberron respectively. This came to be called "The Teeth of the Three" and is the reason for the strange weather around Adar. What begins as an investigation into a Brelish intelligence agent turned rogue turns into a world-spanning trip to discover the machinations of the Lords of Dust, a group of powerful Rakshasas who wish to free their Rajah masters and once again gain control of the world... The adventures I *want* to use for this story are...(in the order I hope to run them) The party starts at lvl 5 and the goal is to end the campaign at lvl 10. Adventures #1 "Whispers of the Vampire's Blade" - a good introductory adventure for people who are new to Eberron. It has an interesting plot, some really awesome set piece encounters and throws the PCs onto just about every major moving vehicle in the setting and they get to fight on it. One of the set pieces for this adventure involves an intelligent weapon called the Soul Blade whose goal is to return to Karrnath. In my version of this, the intelligence of the blade is due to a bound demon (using the "possessing an item" rules to give it the magical properties) that has laid dormant for decades, merely listening and recording all of the things it heard. In the course of its slumber it heard some of the key words it was told to listen for - something called "The Teeth of the Three" and its effect on a bound demon lord. #2 "Christmas in Karrnath" - I'm working on writing this one for myself, so it's not based on anything so far. With the blade hopefully apprehended and interrogated, the PCs learn that the master it was to report to lies somewhere in the city of Atur (I'll need to double check to make sure I have my names right) - more specifically that the Rakshasa master it served created a nice underground lair for itself in the same vaults that now house the waiting undead army of karrnath. I want to make this adventure less combat heavy and more focused on investigation and RP, as well as be a little more lighthearted. To that effect an angelic being (haven't decided what yet) from Syrania (or possibly Irian) tracked the Rakshasa and defeated it some time ago...now living in its lair to slowly analyze the decades of notes, schemes, and items it has lying about its lair. Due to a creature from Syrania living in a place that was supposed to be devoid of life, many of the intelligent undead that had been lying dormant have begun to wake up from its influence and are not quite sure what to do with themselves...especially with these...happy feelings... The goal of this adventure is to deal with the angelic being and the restless undead, and to find something that points them in the right direction for their next goal...but at the moment I can't figure out which that is. Here are my next two options. #3 or #4 "Crucible of Chaos" - I want to throw in some Cult of the Dragon Below kinda stuff in the mix, and a Shoggoth is always fun. Exploring an ancient ruin in Xen'drik to find the next clue is also fun. The assumption of the adventure is the discovery of a golden compass that points unerringly to the ruined city (it used to fly). I could have this be either a gift from the Rakshasa's lair from the previous adventure OR if I run it after The Harrowing it could be a gift from the demiplane of stories. But I think there being a record of the creation of an artifact called the "Teeth of the Three" and its purpose could be somewhere in the City's records...unfortunately for the PCs the city has become associated with chaotic magics, summoning all sorts of terrible other-worldly things there. #3 or #4 "The Harrowing" - I've been *dying* to run this adventure since it came out. One of the last bits of information (thought I don't know what this information *is* yet - possibly where the item is *located* taken from the lyrics of an ancient song) the party will need to put the pieces together and race to Sarlona to stop the Lords of Dust from freeing Raan Iishiv upon the world. This adventure has the PCs tracking down the legend of a famous bard, a fortune telling woman whose passion in life was collecting stories. She lamented however that one day these stories would fade from the world until a traveling man she encountered offered her a solution - a magical deck of tarot cards within which the bard could create a demiplane of her own choosing and grant the stories she had collected eternal life - a place where they could play out for all eternity. #5 "The Teeth of the Three" - the party must make its way to the mountainside guarded by blue dragons and (they also need to find a golden key that grants entry to the mountain...so need to figure out where that comes from too...maybe *that* could be the gift from #2). After facing a number of challenges by the draconic gods the PCs finally make their way to the Chamber of the Three and must defeat the opposing forces found there to protect the world. Other factions I'd like to use somehow. The order of the emerald claw is always fun. I'm considering throwing them in under the sway of the Lords of Dust, essentially as possessable hosts for their demons. Vol herself might be okay with this as anything that can hurt dragons is probably okay with her. The Dreaming Dark - one of my favorite factions in the world. I like their complexity, and one of the PCs is a Kalashtar so I have to mess with him a bit. They could be both enemies and possibly allies in the course of this campaign. While the Rajah escaping would benefit them in the short term - by allowing them to make a full attack on Adar - it would upset the balance of the world with a Rajah loose again...and the ultimate goal of the Dreaming Dark is stagnation rather than destruction.
#2 Ogiwan Nov 08, 2011 6:17:53	In my opinion, Whispers of the Vampire's Blade is one of the most epic modules ever. My players still remember all the things they did in that module.
#3 bofdm Nov 11, 2011 8:39:12	I agree Ogiwan, I really like that module. I'm looking forward to running it and seeing how things turn out. We'll be finishing up character creation tonight and possibly starting as well. It looks like my PCs will be... Drusilla LaMorte - Tiefling Rogue with an Aberrant Dragonmark. Inspired by Harley Quinn (particularly her Arkham City outfit) complete with a giant two handed hammer. Probably worked for the Phiarlan Shadow Circus for a while. May or may not have bat-sh*t crazy ex-boyfriend locked up in Dreadhold. Hippy Wizard from Aundair - can't remember his "new" name that the Gatekeepers gave him, but he has spent a number of years playing Medicine Man in the Eldeen Reaches and was likely a draft dodger from the Last War. ???? - Human Inquisitor of the King's Citadel of Breland. I've been told the inspiration for the character is based on Agent Coulsen (agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.) from the Marvel universe movies. ???? - Halfling Paladin of Dol Arrah and raptor rider. Kalkhad - Kalashtar Monk from Adar, working as a professor of esoteric studies at Morgrave University.
#4 dmnate Nov 29, 2011 13:43:29	Looks pretty good. The best advice I can give you is to work in as much of your characters' backgrounds into the plot as you can. Take whatever scraps they give you and weave people from their lives into the story as opponants and allies. Feel free to tweak their concepts a little, or add in things if their background was particularly bare. Make sure THEY are the stars, and work in their lives and passions so that the plot isn't just a job they're doing but a personal "quest". Drusilla might have a Joker-crazy boyfriend locked up? Have him escape or be set loose to help or (more likely) hurt the party. Or have him be a key information holder, and stage a breakout (at higher levels). Obviously if you go to Adar the kalashtar's background will be easy to work in, but try to have allies or enemies from his life (in Adar or at Morgrave) even before you get to that point. Your agent Coulson can easily see this as a job, but try to work in his family or friends. Same for the others... make them feel special and make them feel like their characters are part of the world.
#5 bofdm Dec 09, 2011 16:06:18	Hello again. Sorry for the lateness in my response, but I hope to do some session summaries as the game progresses. DMNate thank you for the advice. The group I'm DMing for is a rotating group that came up to my turn to run a game. We're sort of a motley crew and our "friday game" as its referred to is less serious or involved than other games we are in. As a result I have some detailed backgrounds from about two of my (now 6) players. While I'll try to draw from their backgrounds to reflect their characters importance in the setting I'm working with little, but we all have fun and that's the most important part. I do want to include Dru's psychotic boyfriend "Rocco" at some point I just haven't figured where to use him yet. Without further ado here is Session 1 of "Whispers of the Vampire's Blade" - Campaign B.P.R.D. Session 1 Our five intrepid adventurers each received a formal invitation…   As Drusilla finished her current game of Three Dragon Ante with the jailers who were supposed to be guarding her, the warden approached causing the relaxed guards to jump to attention. “Seems someone decided to pay your bail Dru. Guess you still got a couple friends out there somewhere.” The warden tossed a scroll onto the table sealed with an emblem the tiefling had never seen before, rather than the symbol of a Dragonmarked House or the crest of a noble family the wax was imprinted with the letters ‘B.P.R.D.’ With an impish smile the rogue quickly piled her winnings into her outfit as she picked up the scroll and began to read…   As a wandering paladin of Dol Arrah, Libels d’Jorasco only constant companion was her Clawfoot that served as friend and ride, aptly named Clever Girl for her near-human intelligence. Her service to the Sovereign Host had caused contention between her family, and in particularly her House. It was considered taboo to be both a member of the cloth and still be expected to carry out the duties of a scion of a Dragonmarked House. While she still took the Jorasco name she was not considered an official member anymore. This was not taken to the lengths of excoriation but relations were…strained. It was on a recent mission of healing in the area of Breland known as New Cyre that a scroll arrived with a special seal…   Rendran of the Wood as he was now called (his old name discarded along with his previous life in Aundair) had spent the past couple of years experimenting with the nature of both Arcane and Druidic magic. Were the two really so different? Was it possible to recreate the effects of ‘divine’ magic with ‘arcane’? These questions as well as the draw of mind-expanding drugs brought the young wizard to the Eldeen Reaches after leaving the floating arcane academy of Arcanix. With his respect for mother nature and drawing a celestial bird as his familiar the group calling itself The Gatekeepers took an interest in the human wizard. After all, if his experiments indeed made a breakthrough the membership of the Gatekeepers could become open to an entirely new group of people. And one day a scroll arrived for Rendran…   Aldore was a member of the King’s Swords section of the King’s Citadel. During the Last War he fought for Breland, and the with the onset of peace he settled into the role of a wandering policeman and knight. His belief in the Sovereign Host prevented the agent from being considered for the elite counter-intelligence arm of the Brelish Crown, the Dark Lanterns, but his service and skill to the crown was undeniable. It was for this reason that Aldore was given a specially sealed scroll and informed that he would be working with a larger organization in the near future. His allegiance would need to be bigger than simply that of the Crown…but of the world at large.   Professor Kalkhad was finishing another lecture on the nature of ectoplasm and the theoretical evidence of creatures beyond the scope of the known planes of existence, creatures referred to in historical and religious texts as names such as “Dagon” and “Cthulhu” when two well dressed men entered his classroom. This prompted an early dismissal of two minutes and 15 seconds ahead of his normal class hours for his students. The Kalashtar Monk quickly sized up the two and listened to their proposal. Morgrave University had become more friendly towards the Kalashtar lately as well as the city of Sharn officially asking the visiting diplomats from Riedra to politely leave…someone knew about his peoples…conflict. Little was directly discussed regarding the nature of the Kalashtar by the agents though they did offer him a scroll…   And so each of our heroes wound up in Wroat, the capital of Breland and at a seemingly innocuous building within sight of Brokenblade Castle. The five each took a moment to introduce themselves to one another after realizing they each had a similar invitation. Libels, ever the caregiver, offered a bowl of soup and some silver pieces to a nearby homeless man resting against a fountain who responded in a voice too deep “Wrong key.” Quickly realizing that the “key” the man was referring to was the invitation itself Libels dropped her scroll in the man’s begging cup which quickly disappeared afterwards. “Four more keys.” Came the voice again. Each of the group gave up their scrolls with a nod from the rag-covered man. “Go on up. The professor is waiting for you.” With a metallic *click* the nearby massive black iron gate had opened slightly and the party headed up the stairs…   The group found themselves in a greenhouse with most of the flora and fauna coming from a jungle environment. Not only that but the size of the building was bigger than the outside had let on! At the end of the short path into the greenhouse was a wooden table upon which were chemical beakers and assorted open books all at different pages. Standing behind the desk was an well dressed elderly man with graying hair and a small pair of bi-focals. “Greetings, one and all.” The older man’s voice was somewhat gravelly and betrayed his age. “Each of you are an expert in your respective fields, and because of this excellence you have been brought to my attention. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Professor Mopp of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Since you have arrived I am to assume you are interested in working for our organization…but first, there is a favor I must ask of you. It would seem that an ape has escaped from its cage and lost its way somewhere in my garden. I would like for you to bring it back, alive and in one piece.” The ever analytical Kalkhad quickly read the older man’s tone of voice and body language, trying to determine just how dangerous this test was intended to be. While Mopp was clearly not telling them everything Kalkhad realized that the man would rather send a group of adventurers that were not capable of handling something *more* than this home rather than risk their deaths in the field. Tracking the Ape was not hard though the group did realize based on its footprints that the creature was considered a larger beast, a Dire Ape. With both Kalkhad and Drusilla taking to the forest brush for sneaking the rest of the group traveled forth into the greenhouse. The Ape quickly spotted intruders in its new home and leapt from the tree – charging at Rendran of the Woods who failed at trying to convince the Ape to “chill out man”. Springing their trap both Kalkhad and Drusilla burst forth from the brush – tripping and swinging a massive hammer at it. With the Ape not quite sure what happened Libels charged forth atop her Clawfoot Clever Girl and Smote the Ape (for nonlethal) with her Talenta Sharrash.   With the beast instantly subdued by the group the Professor was impressed and set a file folder down on his desk. “There’s a case I’d like you to look into. A favor we’re performing for the King of Breland. Head to the crime scene and see what you can find out. I have faith in you all.”   With the test passed and their first mission assigned the group headed to another part of the City of Wroat to investigate a crime that occurred barely 10 hours ago… Kalkhad opened the file folder, inside was a dossier on a man named Lucan Stellos, classified as a Dark Lantern of Breland. A counter-intelligence specialist that as of 10 hours ago apparently turned rogue.