Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 durskut Sep 17, 2009 10:24:41	[3.5] I have an Aerenal Elf Duskblade from the Jhaelian line (or whichever the Aerenal Half-life feat was made for) who is entangled in Inspired plots.  This PC is the sole survivor of a broken up group, so I want to move the game back to Khorvaire and involve her with plots surrounding the Blood of Vol.  I eventually want to have her become touched by Vol and sprout the Siberys mark of death.  She is fierce and determined, not letting anything get in her way.  Generally, she acts first and decisively, much to the chagrin of her duskblade master, a bearer of the mark of shadow. My question to the community is thus:  Given the above circumstances, how can I work in the OOG desire of the PC to attain a Unicorn mount via the leadership feat?  I hadn't even thought of unicorns in Eberron until she brought it up and obviously the "fair elf maiden atop a unicorn" trope would be awkward at best. Does anyone have any creative ideas for where in Eberron are all the unicorns and how to make them more than the stereotype.  Alternatively, any cool situations you can think of where a Unicorn would want to hang out with this PC? Currently I can only come up with her saving one from Mind Flayers/Carrion Tribes/Mordain the Fleshweaver/other very bad big fate and the "she saved me I guess I'll stay" settling in.
#2 Veritatis Sep 17, 2009 14:37:33	I have a female cleric of the Silver Flame PC in may party, and its player want an unicorn too, but as mount... mechanically he´ll go for prestige paladin (yeah, it´s my 3.5 party). Flavorfully, unicorns in my campaign just appear (in the case of the Church of the Silver Flame) to the ones who pray and fast in the Eldeen Reaches as a way commune for the sins of the Church (the Purge). Of course, I left that "behind the curtain" in my campaign. I´d award the unicorn only if the player can make a post in our blog about the rite his character went through.
#3 Alas Sep 21, 2009 8:44:10	Unicorns are typically associated with fey things, which in Eberron typically means Thelanis or one of its manifest zones. Faery has its dark side, and an Unseelie unicorn might be a good fit for a morbid Aerenal elf. But there are other planes, too. Can you imagine what a unicorn from a forest with a Mabar or Dolurrh manifest zone might be like? The basic idea is that a unicorn is a magical creature in tune with the land around it. If you want a different sort of unicorn, give it a new land to represent. Heck, the unicorn she's looking for might already exist in the forests of Aerenal.  As for how they end up together... unicorns are intelligent creatures, so they can be as different in personality and motivation as any person. Maybe one unicorn is attracted to this elf's determination, her willingness to charge forth and accomplish what must be done. If the PC has been making a name for herself, perhaps the unicorn appears at the right time to bail her out-- her very own cavalry, riding to the rescue. Maybe the unicorn orchestrates a little challenge, a duel, to make sure this elf is worthy of the commitment. Picture it this way-- if the unicorn were another duskblade, what would it be like and how would you introduce them to each other?
#4 Gurv Sep 21, 2009 9:48:34	I see a couple of options. The first follows the same line of thinking as previous posters. Alignment goes out the window with Eberron. Twisted fey creatures with their own agenda are pretty much the standard, not the exception. A dark unicorn might find itself drawn to the characteristics and/or fate of the PC. It might have its own goals and purpose, or it might serve another, such as Vol or one of the dark fey rulers of Thelanis. If you want to keep with the archtype of a unicorn,  then maybe the creature has come to protect the PC's purity. Obviously, the powers she will soon wield will tempt her down dark paths. The unicorn may have been sent to act as her anchor and moral support. Finally, perhaps the unicorn isn't what it appears to be. Perhaps it is another kind of entity completely and has disguised itself as a unicorn to deceive the PC. While that opens a lot of story options, it doesn't really fit the spirit of the Leadership feat.
#5 durskut Sep 21, 2009 10:12:18	*Alas and Gurv use the Sunder Stereotype Ritual* Thanks.  My real weakness as a DM is wrapping my head around the more natural aspects of the game.  I could play the spy game indefinitely, but coming up with even one hook for a druid was a real challenge in my last game. "Can you imagine what a unicorn from a forest with a Mabar or Dolurrh manifest zone might be like? The basic idea is that a unicorn is a magical creature in tune with the land around it. If you want a different sort of unicorn, give it a new land to represent," in particular broke me out of the temperate forest trope.  I'll think on your posts and tell you what happens.
#6 dread_lord Sep 21, 2009 18:43:10	Or the Unicorn could even think of the character as the sidekick. It's a magical creature with amazing powers, but it needs hands that can go places and do things it's not suited for. You can have some fun with your player when the "mount" has different ideas or priorities than the player.
#7 Gurv Sep 21, 2009 21:17:36	What if the Mark of Death was not wiped out completely? Of course, most mark-of-death-campaigns are all about that. A given DM must come up with a reason why the antagonists believe they can bring the Mark of Death back, as well as a feasible reason why they have not been able to do so. They have, after all, had hundreds of years. What if a bearer of the Mark of Death travelled to Thelanis? He might have fled there when the dragons came to destroy the line of Vol. Or maybe a lone explorer went there long before the trouble started. Either way, he found a reason to stay. Perhaps he was a sage studying mystical secrets in an otherworldly library. Maybe he found a wife and started a family. Of course, you can't trust a fey's watch, so by the time he returned with his child, things had changed. He had to go into hiding, because the secrets he knows are significant. He managed to smuggle the child (the PC) into mainstream elven society. Now that he is grown, the unicorn has come to fulfil some oath made to the father- to safeguard the family, help the PC find his father and recover the ancient secret...whatever fits.