To make a long story short: I'm planning a game for my best friend who has been playing in the Eberron setting for the past 5 years. I've concocted an "alternate universe" game where Breland was lost in the Mourning instead of Cyre, so that my friend won't be able to rely on the same assumptions and expectations. Obviously I welcome feedback and input because I'm not as big an Eberron scholar as I would like, so I don't necessarily see all the changes that could come out of this one difference.
Anyway.
In this AU the Last War winded down after Breland was destroyed. The surviving nations decided to band together and create a New Galifar United (or something like that) ruled over by a royal council. I made it this way less for fluff reasons and more for practical reasons because with Cyre still around, Cannith remains a powerhouse and I don't want to tilt too much power in the Dragonmarked Houses hands from the get-go. I think each nation probably still handles their own business, but for matters that affect everyone it's a "got your back bro" political gesture. My goal with this New Galifar business is to give my player the feel of a strong support center, with enemies all around.
So, changes to the world:
My understanding was that Breland was a major agricultural center, so I suppose everyone would have a big food issue.
Cannith is still very powerful. I think I'll say that Cannith, so assured in their dominance, has become eccentric is what projects it chooses to pursue so that they're not portrayed as wholly evil, just somewhat removed from the general power struggle. Maybe the Patriarch has become more interested in peace-time endeavors and refinements upon previous inventions than gearing up for more battles.
With Cyre still around, I think the Warforged are not free. Cyre would have a vested interest in not declaring them citizens, because it still has Valenar to deal with. Lord-of-Blades has something worth complaining about.
Medani's stronghold was destroyed with Breland. My understanding was that the majority of House Medani was located in Breland, so I'd imagine very few are left in this world. Did the Medani prophets foresee the devastation that was about to occur? I sort of like the "prophets driven mad by their visions" trope...
The Thronehold Treaty didn't necessarily happen. Many places wouldn't be legally recognized by the NGU as sovereign nations. I have to take this on a case-by-case basis.
Zilargo is crammed between the Mournlands and Darguun which might be bad for them, Droaam is still scary but now far away.
Stormreach is developing on its own, as it lacks a direct port to Sharn now and air traffic wouldn't be a constant thing.
The lightning rail tracks are seriously sliced up.
There's no more Dark Lanterns, so I guess the Royal Eyes are now the best spies? Maybe I'll have the New Galifar government make a central intelligence agency, with the nation's retaining their own forces for matters of Internal Security.
Maybe to give the Dragonmarked Houses more conflict aberrant marks are appearing with greater frequency. Almost everyone has an "I have a friend of a friend who manifested an aberrant mark" story. Maybe that storyline can be connected with Medani's problems, to show that something is seriously off in this world...
And so on. I'm thinking of starting the game off with a simple Khyber cult adventure, to help my friend get his bearings down first.
Ummmmm....I actually think that by canon, most of Breland's food went to feed its own population. But, if you want to play Breland as one of the breadbaskets of Khorvaire, that means that the Eldeen Reaches would grow in importance. As would House Vadalis and House Lyrander (remember, the Rain-Caller Guild!)
Hmm, thinking about it, it would make sense if most of Breland's food just went into their huge cities. Still, I kind of like the idea of the Eldeen Reaches and the Rain-Caller's Guild being really important to creating stability, so I'm gonna roll with it. It will either be interesting to my player, or just some background fluff that he doesn't need to deal with.
With the Zilargo, I think they are going to be in a lot of trouble, Darguun would definitly attack unless a treaty of some kind stopped them. As a matter of fact without a treaty Cyre is in a lot of trouble since at the end of the war they both the goblins and the elves betrayed them.
Anyway Cannith will suffer either way, just not as much since they have important labs in Sharn also.
Was the Sharn lab really very important pre-Merrix taking over there? Not that I think it's useless, but that I assumed Whitehearth and Making held the major facilities, including the majority of resources and Cannith family documentation. I'm sure House Cannith isn't pleased at losing their Brelish enclaves, but they're still in a far better position than in standard Eberron.
Also Sharn is like a combination New Orleans, New York type of port for Khovaire, so it might be worth thinking what city is going to replace that.
That is very interesting food for thought!
With the Zilargo, I think they are going to be in a lot of trouble, Darguun would definitly attack unless a treaty of some kind stopped them. As a matter of fact without a treaty Cyre is in a lot of trouble since at the end of the war they both the goblins and the elves betrayed them.
Poor Cyre. They can never win. :P
I talked it over with my player and we're okay with the situation in Khorvaire being more dire and volatile than usual. I think my friend is kind of enjoying having overt enemies to deal with as opposed to Cold War shenanigans, for a change of pace.
My issue now is, where do the displaced Brelish go? Assuming everything else happened normally up to the Day of Mourning, then I think there's a sizable Brelish army kicking around...
Anyways displaced Brelish, are going to face a problem that the neighbors do not have King Bornal leading them. I'm guessing many to Zilargo, which means they could be fighting Hobgoblins on the border. Aundair probably wouldn't take them, Thrane is really dependent on who is leading the country, Jaela Daran or the Cardinals either way I think they will take followers of the Flame. Cyre is also a wildcard, I really don't know what they would do because very little is known about them premourning.
My issue now is, where do the displaced Brelish go? Assuming everything else happened normally up to the Day of Mourning, then I think there's a sizable Brelish army kicking around...
The displaced Brelands could go back to Droaam. Graywall's Calabas district turns into a "new-Breland" (with the Daughters of Sora Kell permission or without?).
- Some may fall into slavery in Darguun.
- A ragtag fleet of Brelandish ships (lead by the sea-floating Argonth fortress) heads to establish a new colony in Hope (Q'Barra), sadly they are hunted by the Chaos Fleet and are forced west into the Barren Sea.
- Zil lands are also covered by the Mournland, but the gnomes have survived by activating their secret Dome of Force fail safe (at least until they run out of dragonshards to power it).
I should be starting my game soon. My friend made an essentials wizard (an evocation mage I believe). I'm starting him out with a small prologue adventure, a simple "retrieve the magical Macguffin before the Mosaic Committee gets it, but also the employer is wanted by the Royal Eyes" quest. That should give him some time to get settled in to his character before I start up the more unfamiliar elements.
I like 'alternate history' stuff.
Random chatter sorry, but I'd play in your campaign for a change.
I like 'alternate history' stuff.
Haha, cool. I like alternate history stuff a lot myself. There's just something about "what if?" that gets my mind going. Of course, it helps to be really familiar with the source material, to appreciate the changes.