Mixing Eberron with the Modern Day - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Mixing Eberron with the Modern Day

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
talos14
May 02, 2010 19:47:26 So I am about to start up a 4th edition game soon using Eberron as a source for guilds, plots and magitech, but I'm setting it in modern times (d20 Modern Urban Arcana style). Want I really need help with is upgrading the dragonmarked houses into modern corporations, or at least modern technologies. Phiarlan and Thuranni run competing news channels. House Sivis make computer software, but should it be Cannith that does the hardware? Deneith might now be Rent-a-Cops?

Any more ideas along any lines like these would be great. I'm also looking into Shadowrun plots for the magic/cyber-punk flavor, but I want more Eberron vibe to it than that.
#2
Madfox11
May 03, 2010 4:53:12 Midani would be private security specializing in alarms, security systems and so on. Tharask would be a big oil and mining company, owning powerplants as well. Orien of course would be running a teleportation grid of near permanent portals with lightning rails and elemental wagons to supply those regions that lack the resources for a permanent portal. Vidalis would be genetic engineers, mostly using their skill for agriculture, but also for the production of super soldiers.
#3
MrCelsius
May 03, 2010 7:47:25      Depending on how ubiquitous you want the houses to be, you can even have multiple roles per house, the same way many distinct and unrelated brands are subsidiaries of higher corporations. Even if you don't want them to be everywhere, you can give individual houses a more varied cross-section so they aren't totally pigeon-holed. For example, Ghallanda can own (I'll just throw real companies as shorthand) Holiday Inn as well as the Waldorf-Astoria hotels around the world, and might also be the lords of Vegas. That keeps them from being any one thing, just like Ghallanda in Eberron is perceived as being much larger than a bunch of taverns. Think of Blue Sun in Firefly; if all they did was soda, they wouldn't have nearly the identity that they do. I'm not saying that they should control everything, but I really don't see the dragonmarked houses being anything short of cyberpunk-style megacorporations.

     My breakdown (again, using real corps as shorthand) would be something like:

    House Cannith - Lockheed Martin, Honda, Sony, Intel
    House Deneith - Blackwater, rent-a-cops, private security firms
    House Ghallanda - Holiday Inn, Waldorf-Astoria, Vegas, Disneyland
    House Jorasco - HMOs, the Mayo Clinic, pharmaceutical companies
    House Kundarak - Wells Fargo Bank, Goldman-Sachs, New York Stock Exchange
    House Lyrandar - Boeing, Northwest Airlines, JetSki, Exxon Mobil (shipping)
    House Medani - Clearview Home Security, corporate security tech, Norton Antivirus
    House Orien - Teamsters, Amtrak, highway construction and maintenance, FedEx, Exxon Mobil (distribution, gas stations)
    House Phiarlan - Media giant, FOX News, 20th Century FOX, Enquirer, radio stations, music labels, local papers
    House Sivis - Google, AT&T, encryption software, computer security, translation software, Reuters
    House Tharashk - Exxon Mobil (production of oil), coal mining, Google Maps, GPS, radar/sonar tech
    House Thuranni - Media giant, NBC, MSNBC, Warner Brothers, radio stations, music labels, local papers
    House Vadalis - Monsanto, corporate livestock farming, genetic research, pet mills, pet foods

     That's just where I'd go off the top of my head, anyway. You can probably think of ideas that better fit what you have in mind.

     EDIT: Oh, didn't think about the odd houses out.

          House Tarkanan - Murder Inc., Hell's Angels, domestic terrorism
          House Vol - The Vatican, The 700 Club, televangelism

     Blame that last one on my finally getting around to watching 'Religulous'.
#4
talos14
May 07, 2010 18:46:22 This sounds like some good stuff so far. For some reason I completely forgot the mining aspect of Tharashk, so my mind was stuck on Bounty Hunters for them, so already a big improvement.

I'm leaning into making House Vol a pharmeceutical company (Jorasco needs a little competition after all), using cadavers as learning tools (and as security guards). It also lets me use the Umbrella Corp. feel from Resident Evil plenty there. Plus, I don't need Vol to be as hidden as in traditional Eberron, as they instead hide behind business fronts (like any good megacorp).

And for those intrigued by this topic, I'm having all farming done in high density bio-domes jointly run by Lyrandar and Vadalis for proper weather control and growth. Anyone else have any ideas for magictech of Eberron after 100 years more progress?
#5
ukplayerx
May 09, 2010 7:20:56 for house of vol - one of the supplements for shadowrun gave guidlines on how to keep a characters 'alive' using technology, after losing some sort of life essence - it's been YEARS since i last played shadowrun - substitute the tech for dragonshards maybe?

and d20 resident evil for anyone interested:

www.4shared.com/document/El-gfDur/D20_-_...
#6
Madfox11
May 10, 2010 4:26:00 Having the House of Vol involved in pharmalogy and nano-technology, especially the illegal kind for both, is certainly a cool idea.
#7
DoctorBadWolf
May 10, 2010 15:45:43 House Deneith could also be an internationally respected provider of military/tactical and police training.

House Medani could have a wing that is essentially mercenary style detective organization. (like if scotland yard was a company that had a contract with the UK, rather than being part of the government.) Also counter intelligence, and I imagine that they would be rather good at testing and even breaking encryption.

House Tharashk could be in competition with both House D and House Medani. Medani, because they could have a smaller firm along similar lines as the privatised scotland yard idea, but more easily available to normal people, and more focused on, well, finding things. Missing persons, stolen goods, fugitives, where Medani would mostly take big contracts and focus on detective work, solving crimes and the like (rather than apprehension and such.) Like I said, there'd be overlap, and thus competition.
With Denieth, house Tharask could have mercenaries, ahem private security firm...:P made up of highly trained specialty units, particularly covert operations. You need guards for a checkpoint, or an area protected from insurgents, hire House Denieth. Want a druglord's compound infiltrated, the druglord apprehended, along with intel on his organization, etc, and all of it brought back, without it getting to the media? Hire Tharashk.
#8
solidscar
May 15, 2010 9:43:12 House Cannith as OCP from Robocop springs to mind

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 talos14 May 02, 2010 19:47:26	So I am about to start up a 4th edition game soon using Eberron as a source for guilds, plots and magitech, but I'm setting it in modern times (d20 Modern Urban Arcana style). Want I really need help with is upgrading the dragonmarked houses into modern corporations, or at least modern technologies. Phiarlan and Thuranni run competing news channels. House Sivis make computer software, but should it be Cannith that does the hardware? Deneith might now be Rent-a-Cops? Any more ideas along any lines like these would be great. I'm also looking into Shadowrun plots for the magic/cyber-punk flavor, but I want more Eberron vibe to it than that.
#2 Madfox11 May 03, 2010 4:53:12	Midani would be private security specializing in alarms, security systems and so on. Tharask would be a big oil and mining company, owning powerplants as well. Orien of course would be running a teleportation grid of near permanent portals with lightning rails and elemental wagons to supply those regions that lack the resources for a permanent portal. Vidalis would be genetic engineers, mostly using their skill for agriculture, but also for the production of super soldiers.
#3 MrCelsius May 03, 2010 7:47:25	Depending on how ubiquitous you want the houses to be, you can even have multiple roles per house, the same way many distinct and unrelated brands are subsidiaries of higher corporations. Even if you don't want them to be everywhere, you can give individual houses a more varied cross-section so they aren't totally pigeon-holed. For example, Ghallanda can own (I'll just throw real companies as shorthand) Holiday Inn as well as the Waldorf-Astoria hotels around the world, and might also be the lords of Vegas. That keeps them from being any one thing, just like Ghallanda in Eberron is perceived as being much larger than a bunch of taverns. Think of Blue Sun in Firefly; if all they did was soda, they wouldn't have nearly the identity that they do. I'm not saying that they should control everything, but I really don't see the dragonmarked houses being anything short of cyberpunk-style megacorporations. My breakdown (again, using real corps as shorthand) would be something like: House Cannith - Lockheed Martin, Honda, Sony, Intel House Deneith - Blackwater, rent-a-cops, private security firms House Ghallanda - Holiday Inn, Waldorf-Astoria, Vegas, Disneyland House Jorasco - HMOs, the Mayo Clinic, pharmaceutical companies House Kundarak - Wells Fargo Bank, Goldman-Sachs, New York Stock Exchange House Lyrandar - Boeing, Northwest Airlines, JetSki, Exxon Mobil (shipping) House Medani - Clearview Home Security, corporate security tech, Norton Antivirus House Orien - Teamsters, Amtrak, highway construction and maintenance, FedEx, Exxon Mobil (distribution, gas stations) House Phiarlan - Media giant, FOX News, 20th Century FOX, Enquirer, radio stations, music labels, local papers House Sivis - Google, AT&T, encryption software, computer security, translation software, Reuters House Tharashk - Exxon Mobil (production of oil), coal mining, Google Maps, GPS, radar/sonar tech House Thuranni - Media giant, NBC, MSNBC, Warner Brothers, radio stations, music labels, local papers House Vadalis - Monsanto, corporate livestock farming, genetic research, pet mills, pet foods That's just where I'd go off the top of my head, anyway. You can probably think of ideas that better fit what you have in mind. EDIT: Oh, didn't think about the odd houses out. House Tarkanan - Murder Inc., Hell's Angels, domestic terrorism House Vol - The Vatican, The 700 Club, televangelism Blame that last one on my finally getting around to watching 'Religulous'.
#4 talos14 May 07, 2010 18:46:22	This sounds like some good stuff so far. For some reason I completely forgot the mining aspect of Tharashk, so my mind was stuck on Bounty Hunters for them, so already a big improvement. I'm leaning into making House Vol a pharmeceutical company (Jorasco needs a little competition after all), using cadavers as learning tools (and as security guards). It also lets me use the Umbrella Corp. feel from Resident Evil plenty there. Plus, I don't need Vol to be as hidden as in traditional Eberron, as they instead hide behind business fronts (like any good megacorp). And for those intrigued by this topic, I'm having all farming done in high density bio-domes jointly run by Lyrandar and Vadalis for proper weather control and growth. Anyone else have any ideas for magictech of Eberron after 100 years more progress?
#5 ukplayerx May 09, 2010 7:20:56	for house of vol - one of the supplements for shadowrun gave guidlines on how to keep a characters 'alive' using technology, after losing some sort of life essence - it's been YEARS since i last played shadowrun - substitute the tech for dragonshards maybe? and d20 resident evil for anyone interested: www.4shared.com/document/El-gfDur/D20_-_...
#6 Madfox11 May 10, 2010 4:26:00	Having the House of Vol involved in pharmalogy and nano-technology, especially the illegal kind for both, is certainly a cool idea.
#7 DoctorBadWolf May 10, 2010 15:45:43	House Deneith could also be an internationally respected provider of military/tactical and police training. House Medani could have a wing that is essentially mercenary style detective organization. (like if scotland yard was a company that had a contract with the UK, rather than being part of the government.) Also counter intelligence, and I imagine that they would be rather good at testing and even breaking encryption. House Tharashk could be in competition with both House D and House Medani. Medani, because they could have a smaller firm along similar lines as the privatised scotland yard idea, but more easily available to normal people, and more focused on, well, finding things. Missing persons, stolen goods, fugitives, where Medani would mostly take big contracts and focus on detective work, solving crimes and the like (rather than apprehension and such.) Like I said, there'd be overlap, and thus competition. With Denieth, house Tharask could have mercenaries, ahem private security firm...:P made up of highly trained specialty units, particularly covert operations. You need guards for a checkpoint, or an area protected from insurgents, hire House Denieth. Want a druglord's compound infiltrated, the druglord apprehended, along with intel on his organization, etc, and all of it brought back, without it getting to the media? Hire Tharashk.
#8 solidscar May 15, 2010 9:43:12	House Cannith as OCP from Robocop springs to mind