First time DMing Eberron - one of my players has requested his Warforged Warlock manifest a mark of making. Now I have no problem with this per se, but I asked him to work with me on a sensible backstory. We've come up with a story which essentially means his PC and the warforged who will become the Lord of Blades were being made in the same creation forge when an incedent occurs. This causes the PC and the other warforged to manisfest dragonmarks.
This seems to me to a: give me a stunning plot hook into a mid-level paragon Mournland/LoB quest. and b: allows me to say yes to his crazy idea...
I'm going to suggest that he generally conceals his dragonmark as it's unusual and I suspect that House Cannith operatives would 'take and interest' in it if they saw it.
Am I causing myself problems in the future or are there possible unintended consequences I haven't thought about? Is there anything else cool that I haven't thought about I should consider.
Sounds like a fun idea, don't think there are any unintended consequences. If there are, you should be able to deal with them then.
Go with it!
He's looking at Vestige Pact. I was thinking his primary channel was the remnant of the powerful Cannith Master Maker who was killed when they were created who he formed a bond with.
Have sent him the following (sorry for the wall of text!):
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You were actually part of an experiment during the last year of the war by House Cannith at their creation forge in Cyre when they were trying to expand on the Warforged concept, and when they were doing the soul merge which animated yourself one of the Cannith Master Makers was killed - this resulted in a Dragonmark appeared on you. You were held back by Cannith to allow them to research what happened but they never really understood what caused it. There was one other warforged on the forge line when this occurred - your forge brother if you like. He also manifested the Mark of Making, but due to his personality being less formed due his immaturity when the incident occurred he slowly went mad over the next few months. One day he broke out of the forge complex killing a number of the guards, and was not seen again. Every Warforged has heard rumours of an enigmatic Warforged leader who has taken residence at the ruined creation forge in the Mournland called the Lord of Blades, including the rumour he bears the Mark of Making. You think you know more about him than than most, and have a desire to meet with him at some point to confirm your suspicions. You are naturally cautious about your Dragonmark - if the average person saw it they'd be surprised, and if a Cannith operative got wind of it they'd want to talk to you about it, at length, in less than comfortable surroundings. Not that warforged feel pain, but it would be 'inconvenient'. You therefore tend to conceal it's existence at all opportunities
Am I causing myself problems in the future or are there possible unintended consequences I haven't thought about? Is there anything else cool that I haven't thought about I should consider.
Well whoever created your Warforged and LoB has stumbled upon a way in which to artifically induce dragonmarks within animate objects. If anyone were to ever discover this they would be desperate to work out how it was done. House Cannith, if they dared, could run every single Dragonmarked House out of business if they were able to reliably create dragonmarked Warforged. However the Warforged could rebel and become the sole controllers of Dragonmarks and gain an almost unlimited mercentile monopoly.
Regardless, I imagine House Cannith would spend centuries attempting to recreate a dragonmarked Warforged if ever they found out it was possible. They don't have to necessarily succeed, but I quite like the idea of Warforged gaining control over the market and essentially becoming the most powerful force in Khorvaire, while mortal dragonmarked bearers are unofficially hunted down and executed. It could be the War of the Mark all over again
Lot of good ideas here. One of my players had a 'forged Artificer who was devout in his worship of Onatar. The player was toying with the idea of getting a Mark of Making, which would become his ghulra.
Regardless, I imagine House Cannith would spend centuries attempting to recreate a dragonmarked Warforged if ever they found out it was possible. They don't have to necessarily succeed, but I quite like the idea of Warforged gaining control over the market and essentially becoming the most powerful force in Khorvaire, while mortal dragonmarked bearers are unofficially hunted down and executed. It could be the War of the Mark all over again
I like this. I see a nice high level quest coming off this - heros race against time to stop the competing factions who are all after the key to artifical Dragonmarks - all the houses involved and any number of other factions!
Of course, since nobody knows how particular families even acquired dragonmarks, and they have a tendency to spontaneously appear on objects anyway, I am not sure people would even assume it had anything to do with the creation process.
The Draconic prophecy manifests itself on objects. Dragonmarks are a manifestation of the Draconic prophecy. However I've never heard of an inanimate object bearing a Dragonmark. Although imagine if it did. If a table spontaneously gained the Mark of Making.
The Draconic prophecy manifests itself on objects. Dragonmarks are a manifestation of the Draconic prophecy. However I've never heard of an inanimate object bearing a Dragonmark. Although imagine if it did. If a table spontaneously gained the Mark of Making.
Sounds a bit like semetics to me. The only differentiation between Dragonmarks and those manifestations is that the marks of the same type have the same appearance and grant the wielder powers. Of course, aberrant marks are all different and inanimate objects would not have the willpower to activate any powers, nor do they reproduce, so there is no way to know there is a difference between the two. Some people would likely blame the creation process, but those with a solid knowledge of the Draconic Prophecy would probably think something else at play. No mere human can create Dragonmarks, that would be silly ;)