Some ideas for my Eberron campaign - review, constructive criticism appriciaed - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Some ideas for my Eberron campaign - review, constructive criticism appriciaed

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
wizardmon
Dec 21, 2009 21:28:29 As stated in my title, I wish to run Eberron, and I am taking it from level 1 to level 30. I am greatly inspired to do this, and therefore, I am wanting to lay out some of my thoughts for review of other Eberron enthusiasts.

These are the assumptions that I am making about the setting in this playthrough.

There are no gods (in the sense that the default setting would have you understand, anyway). Kyber's murder of Syberis in the creation story leads me to believe that whatever cosmic events happened in reality, the divine realm of the Astral Sea never developed as it should have. According to ledgend, the "blood" of Syberis was shed onto the surface of Eberron during creation, and whether symbolic or literal, this is the cause for "faith based" divine magic in Eberron. Even such beings that walk the earth claiming worshipers derive their power from the residual energy left from the Dawn War.

All the planes converge at Eberron. The creation myth can lead do no other explanation, and phenomina such as manifest zones support this. Eberron traped Kyber, and Syberis landed on Eberron's skin. The planet and all the planes that it touches hang in the balance as one.

The world is on the edge of destruction, just as it always has been. The Dawn War between the "Pregenitor Wyrms" was won by Eberron, but not without sacrifice. In the assumed D&D setting, I would enterprate this as the primordials and demons killed the gods, and the primal spirits were he ones to subdue and bind them away." In this way, the world is even closer to destruction than the typical D&D setting, because strong elemental forces of destruction are bound not by gods, but by the very planet the forces wish to destroy. In the time that PC's play in, the world is even more on the verge of destruction: the funeral pyre of the world has already been built by the wood of ambition, soaked in oils of hate, and protected by beings blinded with vanity. A single flame could signal the world's end.

But the Draconic Prophesy, being written by the world itself, heralds its own destruction and rebirth. And the world wishes to governed and protected by gods... and since the dragons proved to be inapproprate gaurdians of the world, the dragonmarks appeared on the flesh of morals indicate the next possible heirs of divinity. Each mark represents a god that will arise at the completion of the current phase of the profecy. This nature explains the mark's magical powers, their passage from generation to generation, and their spontanious appearance on heros. Needless to say, in Eberron, everyone wants to be on top, so the new age of the gods may never come.

This brings us up to he speed for he "past," and only one more thing need be questioned: The Mourning. And for this, I am happily pillaging an idea from another guy on another forum (origionally found here)

[The Mourning] is based on experiments between House Vidalis and House Cannith to attempt to synthesize an artificial Mark of Death from the flesh of certain ancient elven mummies. The Mark of Death, you see, was not what most people think; instead of killing enemies or creating undead, it had the laws of life and death. Sometimes this killed people, it is true, but that was a side effect of the process. Members of House Vol could also instill life where there was no life before: ressurrecting the fallen and giving life to unliving bone and metal. It was a very rudimentary understanding of this process that lead to the creation of the Warforged: living constructs. House Cannith hoped that a full understanding of the process would allow them to make Deathmarked Warforged that were functionally invulnerable: you could slay them, but they would immediately cross the boundary from Dolurrh to Eberron and come back to life. It was while they were perfecting this process that something went terribly wrong. The population of Cyre was sent to Dolurrh, and parts of Dolurrh were brought to Cyre. Things that were natural, harmless, or even mundane in Dolurrh, where they could only interact with the untouchable dead, became living nightmares when translated into the living world. The grey, memory sapping mists of Dolurrh began to hunger for life. Amnesiac souls, torn out of the underworld, became the fearsome Mourners. And 99% of all living Cyrans were sent directly to Dolurrh.

But they did not die..

There is a Shadow-Cyre in the heart of Dolurrh now. It lies inside a cavern the size of a small continent. Every Cyran who did not escape the Day of Mourning stepped out of their homes to find a grey sky overhead, and endless, misty horizons stretching in all directions. They discovered that Dolurrh is inimical to life, but not inherently deadly. The living can survive there, with difficulty. No food grows in that place, but neither is it possible to starve; the hunger, however, stays with you always. The flesh of the living neither heals, nor decays. Deadly things prowl the wastes, along with the vengeful dead, but Cyrans know how to fight.

That was four years ago. To them, it feels much longer.

They lost a quarter of their population that first year. They lost only an eighth the next. By the third year, they had gotten their creation forges up and running. Magic moves sluggishly in Dolurrh, but it can be coaxed to life. With their ability to create soldiers restored, the Cyrans raised an army. The Deathforged of Dolurrh are not quite the same as their living counterparts, but they can fight. They used that army to stoke the forges, and they raised two more armies. Since then, they have done nothing but make unliving weapons, in the timeless lands of Death. Growth has been exponential.

They have a plan, you see. Dolurrh is a plane, but it is also a place. You can walk out of it, if you know the way. Everyone knows there are doorways into the Land of the Dead scattered across khorvaire, but few bother to remember that they can also be exits. The path is not easy, but then, the remaining Cyrans have nothing on their hands but time. Time, and rage, and seething resentment, and a hunger to live in a world they can touch and feel. Dolurrh has changed them, and not for the better.

Cyre will rise again.

- OldKentuckyShark

Okay, so I know tha was a really long read... but what do you think? :D
#2
Alex_
Dec 21, 2009 22:15:36 Sounds great.

Although I don't think you changed as much as you think.

"At the beginning of time, called the Age of Dragons, three progenitor dragons fought. Proud Siberys was slain by dark Khyber. who in turn was bound by vibrant Eberron. The scattered remains of Siberys the Dragon Above became the ring that encircles the world. "

"Siberys turned to confront Khyber, to stop the dark dragon from consuming the stars. The two dragons fought, tearing at each other in their hatred. At last Khyber emerged victorious: Siberys
was torn asunder, her body broken into numberless fragments."

" Life sprang rrom the dragons' blood spilled in the great battle. The blood of Siberys became the dragons of the earth."

"The world changed when the dragons discovered what has come to be called the Draconic Prophecy and found allies- the couatls. According to legend, these celestial creatures were formed from the pure blood of Siberys berore it struck Eberron."

" The draconic faith of Thir maintains that in the Age of Demons sixteen great or infamous dragons called Sovereigns, ascended to godhood to watch over the world. As the dragons spread across the world, legends of those Sovereigns took root in humanoid cultures. For example the dragon Ourelonastrix, discoverer of the Prophecy, is represented in faiths across the world in the form of a divine bringer of knowledge and magic."

And it was the Couatls' sacrifice that inspired the faith of the Silver Flame.

So the core setting already supports the idea of Syberis being slain. It also supports the idea that is blood begat the Dragons and Couatls, and it was the actions of a few exceptional Dragons and Coautls that begat the major faiths of the world. It also suggests that while many Overlords and the spawn of Khyber (the rough equivelant of Primordials in the setting) are bound, that they seek to escape and reclaim the world.

Also, Eberron is already considered a merging of the other planes, a place where all things exist more or less in balance.

"Eberron feels the constant pull of the other planes as they exert their influence through cosmic conjunctions and manifest zones, but it remains in balance in between, truly part of neither the astral realm nor the elemental."

#3
onusbone
Dec 24, 2009 16:39:46 LOVE the shadow-Cyre idea! It sounds like a great way to bring the Domains of Dread to Eberron. I usually interpret it as more aberrant/abomination-centered in my games, but you have some good ideas here.
#4
PJammaGod
Dec 29, 2009 4:58:23 Cool stuff Wizardmon. Personally I've always left The Mourning quite ambiguous, but this might just tempt me enough to actually set down something solid in regards to my Eberron campaigns. Bring on the second Mourning and the Deathforged I say!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 wizardmon Dec 21, 2009 21:28:29	As stated in my title, I wish to run Eberron, and I am taking it from level 1 to level 30. I am greatly inspired to do this, and therefore, I am wanting to lay out some of my thoughts for review of other Eberron enthusiasts. These are the assumptions that I am making about the setting in this playthrough. There are no gods (in the sense that the default setting would have you understand, anyway). Kyber's murder of Syberis in the creation story leads me to believe that whatever cosmic events happened in reality, the divine realm of the Astral Sea never developed as it should have. According to ledgend, the "blood" of Syberis was shed onto the surface of Eberron during creation, and whether symbolic or literal, this is the cause for "faith based" divine magic in Eberron. Even such beings that walk the earth claiming worshipers derive their power from the residual energy left from the Dawn War. All the planes converge at Eberron. The creation myth can lead do no other explanation, and phenomina such as manifest zones support this. Eberron traped Kyber, and Syberis landed on Eberron's skin. The planet and all the planes that it touches hang in the balance as one. The world is on the edge of destruction, just as it always has been. The Dawn War between the "Pregenitor Wyrms" was won by Eberron, but not without sacrifice. In the assumed D&D setting, I would enterprate this as the primordials and demons killed the gods, and the primal spirits were he ones to subdue and bind them away." In this way, the world is even closer to destruction than the typical D&D setting, because strong elemental forces of destruction are bound not by gods, but by the very planet the forces wish to destroy. In the time that PC's play in, the world is even more on the verge of destruction: the funeral pyre of the world has already been built by the wood of ambition, soaked in oils of hate, and protected by beings blinded with vanity. A single flame could signal the world's end. But the Draconic Prophesy, being written by the world itself, heralds its own destruction and rebirth. And the world wishes to governed and protected by gods... and since the dragons proved to be inapproprate gaurdians of the world, the dragonmarks appeared on the flesh of morals indicate the next possible heirs of divinity. Each mark represents a god that will arise at the completion of the current phase of the profecy. This nature explains the mark's magical powers, their passage from generation to generation, and their spontanious appearance on heros. Needless to say, in Eberron, everyone wants to be on top, so the new age of the gods may never come. This brings us up to he speed for he "past," and only one more thing need be questioned: The Mourning. And for this, I am happily pillaging an idea from another guy on another forum (origionally found here) [The Mourning] is based on experiments between House Vidalis and House Cannith to attempt to synthesize an artificial Mark of Death from the flesh of certain ancient elven mummies. The Mark of Death, you see, was not what most people think; instead of killing enemies or creating undead, it had the laws of life and death. Sometimes this killed people, it is true, but that was a side effect of the process. Members of House Vol could also instill life where there was no life before: ressurrecting the fallen and giving life to unliving bone and metal. It was a very rudimentary understanding of this process that lead to the creation of the Warforged: living constructs. House Cannith hoped that a full understanding of the process would allow them to make Deathmarked Warforged that were functionally invulnerable: you could slay them, but they would immediately cross the boundary from Dolurrh to Eberron and come back to life. It was while they were perfecting this process that something went terribly wrong. The population of Cyre was sent to Dolurrh, and parts of Dolurrh were brought to Cyre. Things that were natural, harmless, or even mundane in Dolurrh, where they could only interact with the untouchable dead, became living nightmares when translated into the living world. The grey, memory sapping mists of Dolurrh began to hunger for life. Amnesiac souls, torn out of the underworld, became the fearsome Mourners. And 99% of all living Cyrans were sent directly to Dolurrh. But they did not die.. There is a Shadow-Cyre in the heart of Dolurrh now. It lies inside a cavern the size of a small continent. Every Cyran who did not escape the Day of Mourning stepped out of their homes to find a grey sky overhead, and endless, misty horizons stretching in all directions. They discovered that Dolurrh is inimical to life, but not inherently deadly. The living can survive there, with difficulty. No food grows in that place, but neither is it possible to starve; the hunger, however, stays with you always. The flesh of the living neither heals, nor decays. Deadly things prowl the wastes, along with the vengeful dead, but Cyrans know how to fight. That was four years ago. To them, it feels much longer. They lost a quarter of their population that first year. They lost only an eighth the next. By the third year, they had gotten their creation forges up and running. Magic moves sluggishly in Dolurrh, but it can be coaxed to life. With their ability to create soldiers restored, the Cyrans raised an army. The Deathforged of Dolurrh are not quite the same as their living counterparts, but they can fight. They used that army to stoke the forges, and they raised two more armies. Since then, they have done nothing but make unliving weapons, in the timeless lands of Death. Growth has been exponential. They have a plan, you see. Dolurrh is a plane, but it is also a place. You can walk out of it, if you know the way. Everyone knows there are doorways into the Land of the Dead scattered across khorvaire, but few bother to remember that they can also be exits. The path is not easy, but then, the remaining Cyrans have nothing on their hands but time. Time, and rage, and seething resentment, and a hunger to live in a world they can touch and feel. Dolurrh has changed them, and not for the better. Cyre will rise again. - OldKentuckyShark Okay, so I know tha was a really long read... but what do you think? :D
#2 Alex_ Dec 21, 2009 22:15:36	Sounds great. Although I don't think you changed as much as you think. "At the beginning of time, called the Age of Dragons, three progenitor dragons fought. Proud Siberys was slain by dark Khyber. who in turn was bound by vibrant Eberron. The scattered remains of Siberys the Dragon Above became the ring that encircles the world. " "Siberys turned to confront Khyber, to stop the dark dragon from consuming the stars. The two dragons fought, tearing at each other in their hatred. At last Khyber emerged victorious: Siberys was torn asunder, her body broken into numberless fragments." " Life sprang rrom the dragons' blood spilled in the great battle. The blood of Siberys became the dragons of the earth." "The world changed when the dragons discovered what has come to be called the Draconic Prophecy and found allies- the couatls. According to legend, these celestial creatures were formed from the pure blood of Siberys berore it struck Eberron." " The draconic faith of Thir maintains that in the Age of Demons sixteen great or infamous dragons called Sovereigns, ascended to godhood to watch over the world. As the dragons spread across the world, legends of those Sovereigns took root in humanoid cultures. For example the dragon Ourelonastrix, discoverer of the Prophecy, is represented in faiths across the world in the form of a divine bringer of knowledge and magic." And it was the Couatls' sacrifice that inspired the faith of the Silver Flame. So the core setting already supports the idea of Syberis being slain. It also supports the idea that is blood begat the Dragons and Couatls, and it was the actions of a few exceptional Dragons and Coautls that begat the major faiths of the world. It also suggests that while many Overlords and the spawn of Khyber (the rough equivelant of Primordials in the setting) are bound, that they seek to escape and reclaim the world. Also, Eberron is already considered a merging of the other planes, a place where all things exist more or less in balance. "Eberron feels the constant pull of the other planes as they exert their influence through cosmic conjunctions and manifest zones, but it remains in balance in between, truly part of neither the astral realm nor the elemental."
#3 onusbone Dec 24, 2009 16:39:46	LOVE the shadow-Cyre idea! It sounds like a great way to bring the Domains of Dread to Eberron. I usually interpret it as more aberrant/abomination-centered in my games, but you have some good ideas here.
#4 PJammaGod Dec 29, 2009 4:58:23	Cool stuff Wizardmon. Personally I've always left The Mourning quite ambiguous, but this might just tempt me enough to actually set down something solid in regards to my Eberron campaigns. Bring on the second Mourning and the Deathforged I say!