with the bad guys i woul have to say
Lady Vol
with the good guys i like
Ashrem d'Cannith
Esprë
Lei d'Cannith
Tristam Xian
and
Seren Morisse
how do u guys like
like are your PC evil or ....
how do u do that
like are your PC evil or ....
This is Eberron my friend, where you have the choice between shades of black or annihilation. The place where you never have easy choices, this is the home of the Noir setting in fantasy. This is were the fact that you actually survived sometimes is seen as a triumph.
And on the other hand it is the home of the pulp action. The insane and lucky heroes who act more on whim and instinct than anything. But if you ask me, id say that Edymnion follow the noir part more than he follows the pulp part. So it comes as no shock to me that he makes people sacrifice their principles to defeat their enemies.
PS: My favourite bad guy so far is Garrow from the schema adventure path. And I will not go into more details about him now to avoid spoilers.
Haven't had any chance to explore that many good guys yet, me and my group are kinda slow to gather
all the my good guy are from novels.
how do u do that
This is Eberron. Just because someone is Evil doesn't mean they can't be a powerful ally and friend. And just because you're evil doesn't mean you just run around kicking puppies and double crossing people just because you can.
Thats Stupid Evil. Erandis is thousands of years old, she's not stupid, or she wouldn't have survived as long as she has.
Without getting into my full psychological breakdown of the character, as long as you are helping her with her goals, she will keep her end of a bargain. Thats the thing with her kind of Evil, she knows that a double cross that doesn't wipe you out of the picture entirely is going to draw more trouble down on her head than it's worth. Where a more "good" organization may decide that sacrifices have to be made, namely you, and she's not going to go out of her way to save you, you can generally trust her to follow the deal.
I think Erandis/Emerald Claw is the only person/group I can't see ever helping the party (even if you help them, they seem to like their goals done.) Besides, if they weren't there, you wouldn't have the random army that always goes after everything the PCs do.
Well, you have to get into her head as more than "Generic Nazi Leader". While you can play her and the Emerald Claw that way, I think it tends to make them rather 2 dimensional.
What is Erandis? The last surviving member of her house, who was originally an innocent victim of the purge. In my games, I make her the equivolant of about 12 years old when she became a lich, just barely hitting puberty (and I also rule that draconic heritage doesn't manifest until puberty, no fire breathing toddlers), so you get what looks like a little elven girl with just a twinge of green dragon to her, and that her most basic, underlying motivation is to try and rebuild her family like it used to be.
Sure, she's become twisted and evil over the millenia, to where she doesn't care who she hurts while persuing her goals, and even a vicious streak of mean spirited childish spite, I try to keep the original child mentality in mind.
So, with a good mindset as to how and why Erandis does what she does, you can then use it to create goals and desires, and see how they mix in with the rest of the setting. If the goals of the PCs mesh with the goals of Erandis, then it only makes sense that the two be able to work together reliably. And once you find a reason for those two to work together, it isn't too hard to find another group that would oppose both, and bam, you've got the "badguys", the ones trying to stop you, and the "goodguys", the ones trying to help you.
Well, you have to get into her head as more than "Generic Nazi Leader". While you can play her and the Emerald Claw that way, I think it tends to make them rather 2 dimensional.
I have to admit, I do this in my games with the Silver Flame. Aside from the players that make Paladins or Clerics of the Flame, I tend to paint them as evil and run them much like the Church during the Crusades. Maybe I should, just once, actually try and make them the good guys...
The Bad guys: Again, IMC's, they tend to shift and alter. In general though, the Silver Flame is almost always "bad". I think this has to do more with my groups outlook on religion IRL then anything in game. A second evil is The Dreaming Dark, which can be anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Interestingly enough, my last PC was a Karrn, worked for the throne, but was very sympathetic to the Emerald Claw, since he viewed it as a patriotic movement, not as Vol's plaything, and was a closet Seeker himself.
Now, the player knows Erandis is using him. But the character doesn't. As Edymnion has said, Erandis is intelligent and immensely charismatic; it's that charisma that allowed her to originally win the trust of Kaius I. He - the character - is a faithful follower of the true path of the Blood of Vol, and he believes in Erandis as a spiritual guide. The fact that the player knows this trust is likely misplaced hasn't made it any less entertaining to deal with her... and, of course, as long as he is working towards her ends, her advice is likely to be good. The question is at what point people will discover what her true agenda is.
Be aware that this character was created before there had been any discussion with other WotC designers as to the role of Dragonborn in Eberron - therefore this should NOT be taken as a preview of that. It's one approach, but not necessarily one you'll see in the final book.
Looking to the original question, I'd have to put the Daughters of Sora Kell in my favorite villain slot - although again, the DoSK can fill many roles. Looking to heroes, I'm very fond of the protaganist of my upcoming novel - obviously I like the whole Dreaming Dark crew too, but the new novel comes at the world from a different angle, and I'm happy with how it turned out.
Erandis D'Vol: I portray as unambigously evil but in a slightly childish and petulent way. She's thousands of years old, probably the world's greatest wizard, and a Machiavellian genius but she's still motivated by the concerns of a fourteen year old girl (or elf equivalent). That means that Erandis will often go out of her way to do things directly harmful to her greater cause because she's distracted by something interesting to her or overwhelmed with emotion. I state, unequivocably OOC, that if she wasn't like that then she probably would have conquered Khorvaire by now.
Likewise, the PCs find it difficult to hate someone whose stunted at such a cute age even when she's capable of using a Weather Eldrich Device to bring about a new Ice Age. She's sort of the Anti-Jaela.
Jaela: Likewise, I enjoy portraying Pontiff Jaela the First as really too cute for words. I'm partially inspired by the Archive from the Dresden Files in that she's capable of ordering massive strikes with the military, speak of the ancient wisdom of the Flame, and work monstrous magical miracles but also really luv fluffy kitties and chocolate. I also enjoy how her feet don't touch the throne's floor. I think the incongruity has inspired all manner of fun little games thanks to her inherit cuteness.
Cardinal Krozen: You just NEED Cardinal Richelieu. Yes, Krozen is an evil scheming so-and-so but he's also necessary for Thrane to run.
King Boranal: I love how he's such a stereotypical Arthur and Beowulf figure that is in a setting that otherwise doesn't have them.
One of the players in one of my current 4E Eberron campaigns is a dragonborn paladin of the Blood of Vol, whose distant ancestors fought alongside the Emerald Claw (Erandis' father) when Argonnessen and the Undying Court exterminated the line of Vol. He himself is a seeker, not an agent of the modern Order of the Emerald Claw. However, he has been contacted by Erandis, who has promised to help him fulfil his destiny (which, among other things, involves wresting Karrnath from Kaius... who after all turned against the Blood of Vol).
Now, the player knows Erandis is using him. But the character doesn't. As Edymnion has said, Erandis is intelligent and immensely charismatic; it's that charisma that allowed her to originally win the trust of Kaius I. He - the character - is a faithful follower of the true path of the Blood of Vol, and he believes in Erandis as a spiritual guide. The fact that the player knows this trust is likely misplaced hasn't made it any less entertaining to deal with her... and, of course, as long as he is working towards her ends, her advice is likely to be good. The question is at what point people will discover what her true agenda is.
Be aware that this character was created before there had been any discussion with other WotC designers as to the role of Dragonborn in Eberron - therefore this should NOT be taken as a preview of that. It's one approach, but not necessarily one you'll see in the final book.
Looking to the original question, I'd have to put the Daughters of Sora Kell in my favorite villain slot - although again, the DoSK can fill many roles. Looking to heroes, I'm very fond of the protaganist of my upcoming novel - obviously I like the whole Dreaming Dark crew too, but the new novel comes at the world from a different angle, and I'm happy with how it turned out.
like how you did the dragonborn story and i did not know you have a new book comeing out i will have to look that up.
Overall, I stick with this view....
Erandis D'Vol: I portray as unambigously evil but in a slightly childish and petulent way. She's thousands of years old, probably the world's greatest wizard, and a Machiavellian genius but she's still motivated by the concerns of a fourteen year old girl (or elf equivalent). That means that Erandis will often go out of her way to do things directly harmful to her greater cause because she's distracted by something interesting to her or overwhelmed with emotion. I state, unequivocably OOC, that if she wasn't like that then she probably would have conquered Khorvaire by now.
Likewise, the PCs find it difficult to hate someone whose stunted at such a cute age even when she's capable of using a Weather Eldrich Device to bring about a new Ice Age. She's sort of the Anti-Jaela.
Jaela: Likewise, I enjoy portraying Pontiff Jaela the First as really too cute for words. I'm partially inspired by the Archive from the Dresden Files in that she's capable of ordering massive strikes with the military, speak of the ancient wisdom of the Flame, and work monstrous magical miracles but also really luv fluffy kitties and chocolate. I also enjoy how her feet don't touch the throne's floor. I think the incongruity has inspired all manner of fun little games thanks to her inherit cuteness.
I totaly agree