Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 androkguz Aug 07, 2009 23:31:55	Hi everyone! I've been running a mystery-themed campaing for the last months in Eberron and recently, the lead that my PCs where following has brought them to Valenar. For the next sesion they are planning on investiganting the land and stuff. So I started wondering what would a typical Valenar encounters be. For example, I've already tought of taking the two elves in the MM entry and giving them 2+ levels and posibly make them elite to represent the superior Taernadal rangers and archers that live in the area. But what about the wizards, druids and clerics of the elves? and what other threats do you imagine exist in the land? How would you represent them? They are probably not gonna go to the capital, so I don't really have to worry about creating royal guards and that sort of stuff. Also, a much important question: what level do you imagine the elves-monsters-humanoids of Valenar to be? Obviously the anwser depends on the specific, but something on the order of "a normal warband would have elves of level around X" would be nice. Thanks in advance.
#2 polt Aug 08, 2009 17:19:11	I don't really see the Valenar having druids for some reason. I always liked druids better as either a loner, or as part of druidic sect. I'm thinking the Valenar would probably stalk the PCs for some time, not caring particulary about being seen or not. Trying to decide if the PCs were anybody worth challenging.
#3 androkguz Aug 08, 2009 18:34:05	Well, acording to Keith Baker, the valenar have druids. They where the ones that grew the thorn walls of the capital city and the spires that ring the Blade Desert. They are called the Siyal Marrain.
#4 soyim Aug 08, 2009 19:34:56	I don't have any stats for you (mostly because i dont have my MM's in front of me, nor an ECG)- but my assumption is that a Wandering Valenar Warband of... 7-12 Elves would be a Elite Heroic fight or a low Level Paragon battle. Mostly the threat should come from their high damage output and mobility. Remember that all of them have a speed of 7 (or more) and can shift in difficult terrain. Also the reroll. While the Soldier and the Leader engage in close the skirmishers move to the sides and cut off movement. The Lurkers hides with the Artillery and attacks anyone gets near them- or he chases down highly mobile enemies (Fey Warlocks, Barbarians, Pursuit Avengers) I would comprise the "Average" Valenar Warband as... 2 Elf Artillery (level's 6-9) 1 Elf Controller (Elite) (level 12) 1 Elf Brute (Leader-Elite) (level 11) 4 Elf Soldiers (level 10) 1 Elf Lurker (Elite) (level 9) 2 Elf Skirmishers (Level 7) I would recommend modifying the Valenar off of Hobgoblins and Eladrin as well as upgrading the level of Elf monsters you want to use. Add one speed, remove any given racial, and give them elven accuracy- the minor stat adjustments aren't really worth dealing with unless you plan to have them be recurring foes. To make the encounter interesting you might have the characters who understand Elvish hear them talking to each other and bantering- as they try to outdo in each other in style, flair and skill in killing the party. Remember that several of these Valenar might have the same ancestor and its very important for those soldiers to show off to their peers/rivals that they are the true descendants.
#5 androkguz Aug 08, 2009 21:02:01	Sorim, thanks very much, that will be very useful. I think you nailed it in the level of the average band, thanks. By the way, what other threats (elementals, undeads, humanoids, foreigners, dangerous animals, weird humanoids, etc.) do you think that might be found in the land? I don't really plan on throwing random encounters, but to expose them to something interesting.
#6 Captain_Kobold Aug 10, 2009 8:55:56	In terms of other stuff in Valenar capable of threatening an adventuring party, I wouldn't expect much. Roving warbands would likely have eliminated anything that looked like it might prove a challenge. There is the possibility that they actually breed dangerous animals in order to supply a continual stream of challenges, but it strikes me that they would view this as taking things a little too seriously. You are likely to be left with creatures that would be regarded as beneath notice or unchalllenging by the elves. Quite how you can turn that into a challenge for the PCs would be tricky however. Environmental challenges such as cliff faces, chasms or rivers will still be around however, and its perfectly possible that the Valenar will have modified them to make them more of a challlenge. (Making rope bridges deliberately thin, chipping handholds off a slope that must be climbed etc.)
#7 Alex_ Aug 10, 2009 9:08:35	There is the possibility that they actually breed dangerous animals in order to supply a continual stream of challenges, but it strikes me that they would view this as taking things a little too seriously. You truly underestimate the obsession the Tairandal have with proving themselves in battle. They do exactly this back home with Trolls. Heck, the entire reason they bothered to conquer a part of Khorvaire and create Valenar was because they wanted the people of the Five Nations to get so ****** off at them that they'd war with the Elves and not just each other. When that failed and the Thronehold Accords were signed, they've turned to unprovoked attacks against Darguun and Karrnath in the hopes of goading them into a protracted war. They will get a fight. One way or another.
#8 soyim Aug 10, 2009 13:02:38	Indeed- if i were to do a series of encounters in Valenar i might do it like so... 1) Party finds a wandering monster, possibly a Dire Bear; Bulette or Displacer Beast Pack Lord (depending on the level of challenge you want) : they kill it. High perception checks notice that a Valenar Scout watched them- but the scout rides off before the party can engage him in conversation. 2) The party finds themselves being hounded at night by unknown persuirers- who are not attacking them but seem to be steering them into something. Skill Challenge to try and gain the upper hand in the dark: Perception, Nature, Stealth, Athletics. 3) Party finds themselves outside a particularly dangerous monster lair: the Valenar appear and attack them for the right to kill this creature since the party has accidentally joined in on an Ancestral Hunt by slaying the first monster. Valenar Warband Encounter: If the party wins the skill challenge the Valenar challenge them, if they lost the skill challenge the Valenar Ambush them. 4) The party, victorious, is now allowed to go into a terrible monster lair and kill another beast (a creature vaguely related to the first one- so if you used a Dire Bear now you can use a Chimera with 3 Bear Heads) and take its treasure: ancestral artifacts from Fallen Valenar. They have also made some terrible enemies: whether they killed the Valenar or not. If they did kill the Valenar then their families will seek vengeance and try to recover what they view as "Stolen Goods", if they didn't its a matter of honor and at least one member of the Warband may now seek their destruction to reclaim their Ancestors Weapons. Minor Quest Completion
#9 androkguz Aug 10, 2009 22:48:00	Soyim, that's a very good idea! Thanks man! I'm probably going to twist it a little. Maybe the fact of been seen killing a beast makes the party a greater challenge than the beast itself. Therefore, they want to defeat them. And yes, I agree with the notion that the Valenar are crazy enought to breed animals to be a challenge.
#10 Hellcow Aug 12, 2009 2:07:01	Well, acording to Keith Baker, the valenar have druids. They where the ones that grew the thorn walls of the capital city and the spires that ring the Blade Desert. They are called the Siyal Marrain. Just as a side note, this dragonshard gives more information on the Siyal Marrain than you get from the expeditionary dispatch.
#11 androkguz Aug 12, 2009 10:54:42	Just as a side note, this dragonshard gives more information on the Siyal Marrain than you get from the expeditionary dispatch. Ok, thanks very much dude! That is very useful.