Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Counter_Break Aug 12, 2011 21:51:20	I've recently started fleshing out my idea for an Eberron campaign for my players to go through once they finish the Scales of War campaign (they're currently just finishing up the "Shadow Rift of the Umbraforge" adventure, so I've got plenty of time to do this, but I wanted to give myself as much time as possible to work things out).  So far, I've got the basic storyline more or less thought out, and I was looking for suggestions of books or other materials to read that would help me familiarize myself with the major players in the campaign, or pretty much any other suggestions that you guys think would enhance the story.  Here's what I have so far: Show Heroic Tier: Show Starting off with heroic tier, the party finds themselves in the midst of an outbreak of undead all over Karrnath.  After saving a few towns and a couple of run-ins with the group who they believe to be at the root of the outbreak, they are approached by a Mysterious Figure who claims to be able to help them.  Said person reveals (or confirms, if the group has picked up on the clues) that the Emerald Claw is the group behind the undead invasion, and also reveals/expands upon the connection between the Claw and the Blood of Vol.  Mysterious Figure will be a recurring character for the rest of heroic and paragon tier, giving them cryptic advice and such.  By the end of heroic tier, the players have discovered that the Blood of Vol (specifially Erandis), is trying to perform a ritual that will allow the Queen of Death to sieze divine power for herself, giving her a divine body and allowing her to utilize her Mark of Death once again.  This act of deific resurrection may or may not be followed by the destruction of the known world, or at least the raising of countless undead and general bad-happenings, which the party would presumably like to prevent.
#2 CorrinAvatan Aug 15, 2011 11:46:57	I would suggest putting your plot behind a spoiler block to make sure your future players don't read it.  Just put 'sblock' between brackets. Show   Really good idea as far getting the plot going.  You've got a good over-arching framework that I think you can make good on.  You're using eldritch machines in the way they are supposed to be used, as a plot device that allows you to fudge the "rules" to get a plot to work.
#3 Counter_Break Aug 15, 2011 21:29:58	Thanks for taking the time to give me some feedback, Corrin.  I appreciate the warning about adding in side plots and other things for the party to do, especially since I have a tendency to get too focused on one or two things at a time.  It'd probably be easier to plan out things like that once I have character backgrounds and such from my players, but that probably won't be for a long time since I'd definitely want to wait until they're almost done with their current campaign before asking them to think about another one.  I'll definitely check out the splat book you recommended, especially since it talks about Karnnath and undead, since that was one of my bigger questions about the region when I was thinking about heroic tier.  Specifically, how aware are people of the Emerald Claw's connection to the Blood of Vol?  From the 4e ECG, it would seem like there would be a pretty obvious connection, and yet the BoV seems to be relatively acceptable, even though people seem to see the EC as a sort of terrorist group.  I'm guessing it's similar to the way that Muslims in the real world are not immediately labeled as evil simply because of the acts of terrorist groups like Al-Qadea?
#4 CorrinAvatan Aug 16, 2011 6:27:15	Actually, here's the way that I handle the Emerald Claw, which, I feel, is the intent of how they are supposed to work, based off of all of my reading of ALL of the 3.5 splatbooks for Eberron. Show Newer Members:  Anybody who joined the organization immediately before or anytime after being outlawed: Have no idea that they are basically the enforcement arm of a religious cult.  To be honest, these guys are the ones that are in the "grey area".  Quite a few of them honestly believe that they were betrayed by Karnnath, and actively fight to strengthen Karnnath/weaken it's enemies.  Essentially, these guys are going to be the Karnnathi loyalists/fanatics. Veteran:  Anybody who has been with the organization for a while, between 5-10 years, knows some of the darker secrets, like higher EC members being offered vampirism, and is exposed to the idea that the Blood of Vol religious beliefs were more than a major influence on their order.  However, most of them are still going to see it as a "desperate times need desperate measures" situation, taking the necromantic gifts very slowly, and seeing them as tools for Karnnath. Fallen Veteran:  At some point, the indoctrination of the Blood of Vol takes hold.  The member is essentially brainwashed, and will think nothing about killing all of Karnnath in order to re-build it in the image they want (which is actually what Erandis wants).  Some might have an inkling of what power is behind them, but are likely only aware that there is some power within the organization that was so powerful, that they were banned out of fear. Exalted:  From the Fallen Veteran group, and sometimes the veteran group, there are going to be those who figure it out quicker, or might just accidentally stumble on the connection between the Blood of Vol.  If the member is seduced by the power offered, they are given positions of power within the organization.  Instead of thinking that the Blood of Vol is a quasi-religion that influenced the Emerald Claw, they now know that the Blood of Vol is the reason of their existence. Chosen of Erandis:  From the Exalted, those who show their loyalty and success will be offered major necromantic "upgrades": being changed into vampire lords, liches, death knights, mummy lords, whatever.  These members know EXACTLY that the Emerald Claw actually has no real plans for the restoration of Karnnathi power, but only serve Erandis Vol. As you can see, there is some sliding gray area, where somewhere along the line, they loose sight of the fact that they were once trying to protect Karnnath in an unselfish manner, but somewhere lost sight of that goal. VERY few regular people know about the Blood of Vol being majorly tied to the Emerald Claw.  Influenced, yes, but only King Kaius and a few of his advisors know that the EC is the military arm of it.