What War Crimes Shall I Commit? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

What War Crimes Shall I Commit?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
misterfido_dup
Jun 29, 2009 20:42:37 I'm going to be running a pre-Mourning Cyre/Karrnath border game when school starts again. Playing the part of the Order of the Emerald Claw is, of course, Nazi Germany.

Now the question is...

To a group of players who are unfamiliar with Eberron, what's the best way to scream in their face "WAR CRIMINALS! TERRORISTS! KARRNATHI EXTREMISTS!" while sticking with Order goals? I'm going to modify the Order outfit to include nifty green armbands, but while that's a step in the right direction, it's not quite... vindiction-inducing enough.

The setting is likely going to be a border town that starts owned by Cyre, but the Order conquers for thier own ends. What sort of horrible things should I do to make the players realize... In Eberron, you can't judge someone by their alignment... unless they're in the Order of the Emerald Claw?

One scene I plan to do is the actual invasion of the town, where the Claw decides to make injured Cyran soldiers not a concern, by barricading the Jorasco doors shut and torching the building with everyone inside. Or something equally sinister involving breaking dragonmarked neutrality.

Perhaps make use of hostages? Hmm... or maybe an elf forest-village nearby that the Order is sorting elf by elf into two categories: "Possibly Vol bloodline" and "Rip skeleton out for use in army."

And post-occupation, of course, will be martial law and harsh hands to rebels. But that's AFTER...

===

A touch morbid and callous, this post, I realize--but this campaign will likely last 8 months. I want a villain, right off the bat, that the players HATE... that even the most evil party member (not that I'll allow evil) will want to just tear apart--while still learning to fear them. That makes players smile when horrible, horrible things happen to the Order at their hands.

The same smile I get when watching Indiana Jones punch a Nazi through a window, then run him o ver.
#2
yakman
Jun 29, 2009 22:15:02 the simple answer for crimes is to look at what the Nazis actually did (or any other band of genocidaires) and put it in Eberron.

You'd have to style it up, which I'm not very good at, but putting that little twist into Real World enormities would make for an very hated group of bad guys.
#3
rauric
Jun 29, 2009 23:01:54 THey found Prophecy stuff that talks about the Mark of Death and this town.
They locate all the elves in the town's area and put them in a new camp where horrible experiments occur. Bad times.
#4
SteelMirror
Jun 29, 2009 23:10:48 Well, a random list of thoughts:

-The order rounds up young women, including recently married and betrothed women, and force them to work for the soldiers and entertain them in their barracks.

-The order rounds up young boys . . . etc.

-The order rounded up all men of fighting age when they conquered the town and put them in an internment camp. They offer the men a way to earn their freedom, by earning "freedom credits" in work camps. These work camps are extremely dangerous, with high injury and mortality rates. Some prisoners are sent to clear out dangerous dungeon areas and return with captured loot- few return at all. To make it worse, prisoners can be fined credits for "unloyal behavior". None have ever earned their freedom.

-The order taxes 100% of all food and goods produced in the town. In the depot at the town square, people line up every week for their food and clothing allowance. Those caught keeping extra supplies for themselves are fined 1 finger (as in cut off) and put in the stocks with no food or water for 3 days.

-The leader of the town must approve all marriages and claims ius prima noctis.

-Whenever a member of the community dies, for any reason, their body is claimed by the order and reanimated. Violating this law is punishable by death, with the offending party reanimated in the corpse's place.

-Open worship of all other gods is banned. Citizens are required to attend Blood of Vol services once a week as well as on church holidays. Young children are required to attend special lessons 3 mornings a week, where they are brainwashed about the injustice of the gods and indoctrinated into the dogma of the faith.

-The occupation rewards sympathizers with increased food allowances, status, and occasionally women (or men). This pits brother against brother and father against son as the community tries to decide whether to resist and suffer or join and betray their heritage.

-Through some twisted sorcery, the fountain at the center of town gurgles forth fresh blood at all hours of the day. If you are dying of thirst or hunger, the fountain will save you . . . but you forfeit your soul to the leader of the town.
#5
misterfido_dup
Jun 30, 2009 15:11:04
THey found Prophecy stuff that talks about the Mark of Death and this town.
They locate all the elves in the town's area and put them in a new camp where horrible experiments occur. Bad times.

An idea like this has sprung up in my mind, but that'd be for later in the campaign. Effectively, I had the idea that everyone in the party was somehow a "nexus" for the Prophecy--that all points on the Prophetic map crossed through them, somehow. Ever see The Lost Room? You should, it's a fantastic show, and inspiring for my story: the Objects in The Lost Room all have a tendency to manipulate events so that they will collect (for instance, the owner of The Key goes to a hospital--the same hospital that the owner of The Bus Ticket is at for unrelated reasons).

In my game, being central to the current chapter of the Prophecy, the PCs will have a similar tendency to gather dragonmarked NPCs around them--including Miss Vol. Vol might've ordered the soldiers to attack this town for one reason, but even she doesn't know that the real reason is because her dragonmark resonates with the PCs...

...or something like that.

In any case, I plan for this attraction between important points of the Prophecy to grow larger, and the PCs to become more obviously the center of it all. And eventually, everyone will get terrific ideas on what to do about this: Vol, for instance, might decide that enough experiments on the PCs might yield a way to control the Prophecy--and perhaps, force it to imprint more Marks of Death onto mortal elves.

Something like that, maybe.

In any case, I don't want to tread the idea of "These guys are secretly looking for dragonmarks!" too early. I'd rather it happen more directly to the PCs, and more in reference to the plot line above =P
#6
Gilo
Jun 30, 2009 16:47:26 Taking some ideas from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom": The order takes a magical relic(s) of great importance to the town (Boldrie's Hearth or the town's stones of purity). In its absent the town is suffering.

Oh, also they took all the children as slave labor to dig for dragonshards in the nearby mine (which is inside the Mournland).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 misterfido_dup Jun 29, 2009 20:42:37	I'm going to be running a pre-Mourning Cyre/Karrnath border game when school starts again. Playing the part of the Order of the Emerald Claw is, of course, Nazi Germany. Now the question is... To a group of players who are unfamiliar with Eberron, what's the best way to scream in their face "WAR CRIMINALS! TERRORISTS! KARRNATHI EXTREMISTS!" while sticking with Order goals? I'm going to modify the Order outfit to include nifty green armbands, but while that's a step in the right direction, it's not quite... vindiction-inducing enough. The setting is likely going to be a border town that starts owned by Cyre, but the Order conquers for thier own ends. What sort of horrible things should I do to make the players realize... In Eberron, you can't judge someone by their alignment... unless they're in the Order of the Emerald Claw? One scene I plan to do is the actual invasion of the town, where the Claw decides to make injured Cyran soldiers not a concern, by barricading the Jorasco doors shut and torching the building with everyone inside. Or something equally sinister involving breaking dragonmarked neutrality. Perhaps make use of hostages? Hmm... or maybe an elf forest-village nearby that the Order is sorting elf by elf into two categories: "Possibly Vol bloodline" and "Rip skeleton out for use in army." And post-occupation, of course, will be martial law and harsh hands to rebels. But that's AFTER... === A touch morbid and callous, this post, I realize--but this campaign will likely last 8 months. I want a villain, right off the bat, that the players HATE... that even the most evil party member (not that I'll allow evil) will want to just tear apart--while still learning to fear them. That makes players smile when horrible, horrible things happen to the Order at their hands. The same smile I get when watching Indiana Jones punch a Nazi through a window, then run him o ver.
#2 yakman Jun 29, 2009 22:15:02	the simple answer for crimes is to look at what the Nazis actually did (or any other band of genocidaires) and put it in Eberron. You'd have to style it up, which I'm not very good at, but putting that little twist into Real World enormities would make for an very hated group of bad guys.
#3 rauric Jun 29, 2009 23:01:54	THey found Prophecy stuff that talks about the Mark of Death and this town. They locate all the elves in the town's area and put them in a new camp where horrible experiments occur. Bad times.
#4 SteelMirror Jun 29, 2009 23:10:48	Well, a random list of thoughts: -The order rounds up young women, including recently married and betrothed women, and force them to work for the soldiers and entertain them in their barracks. -The order rounds up young boys . . . etc. -The order rounded up all men of fighting age when they conquered the town and put them in an internment camp. They offer the men a way to earn their freedom, by earning "freedom credits" in work camps. These work camps are extremely dangerous, with high injury and mortality rates. Some prisoners are sent to clear out dangerous dungeon areas and return with captured loot- few return at all. To make it worse, prisoners can be fined credits for "unloyal behavior". None have ever earned their freedom. -The order taxes 100% of all food and goods produced in the town. In the depot at the town square, people line up every week for their food and clothing allowance. Those caught keeping extra supplies for themselves are fined 1 finger (as in cut off) and put in the stocks with no food or water for 3 days. -The leader of the town must approve all marriages and claims ius prima noctis. -Whenever a member of the community dies, for any reason, their body is claimed by the order and reanimated. Violating this law is punishable by death, with the offending party reanimated in the corpse's place. -Open worship of all other gods is banned. Citizens are required to attend Blood of Vol services once a week as well as on church holidays. Young children are required to attend special lessons 3 mornings a week, where they are brainwashed about the injustice of the gods and indoctrinated into the dogma of the faith. -The occupation rewards sympathizers with increased food allowances, status, and occasionally women (or men). This pits brother against brother and father against son as the community tries to decide whether to resist and suffer or join and betray their heritage. -Through some twisted sorcery, the fountain at the center of town gurgles forth fresh blood at all hours of the day. If you are dying of thirst or hunger, the fountain will save you . . . but you forfeit your soul to the leader of the town.
#5 misterfido_dup Jun 30, 2009 15:11:04	THey found Prophecy stuff that talks about the Mark of Death and this town. They locate all the elves in the town's area and put them in a new camp where horrible experiments occur. Bad times. An idea like this has sprung up in my mind, but that'd be for later in the campaign. Effectively, I had the idea that everyone in the party was somehow a "nexus" for the Prophecy--that all points on the Prophetic map crossed through them, somehow. Ever see The Lost Room? You should, it's a fantastic show, and inspiring for my story: the Objects in The Lost Room all have a tendency to manipulate events so that they will collect (for instance, the owner of The Key goes to a hospital--the same hospital that the owner of The Bus Ticket is at for unrelated reasons). In my game, being central to the current chapter of the Prophecy, the PCs will have a similar tendency to gather dragonmarked NPCs around them--including Miss Vol. Vol might've ordered the soldiers to attack this town for one reason, but even she doesn't know that the real reason is because her dragonmark resonates with the PCs... ...or something like that. In any case, I plan for this attraction between important points of the Prophecy to grow larger, and the PCs to become more obviously the center of it all. And eventually, everyone will get terrific ideas on what to do about this: Vol, for instance, might decide that enough experiments on the PCs might yield a way to control the Prophecy--and perhaps, force it to imprint more Marks of Death onto mortal elves. Something like that, maybe. In any case, I don't want to tread the idea of "These guys are secretly looking for dragonmarks!" too early. I'd rather it happen more directly to the PCs, and more in reference to the plot line above =P
#6 Gilo Jun 30, 2009 16:47:26	Taking some ideas from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom": The order takes a magical relic(s) of great importance to the town (Boldrie's Hearth or the town's stones of purity). In its absent the town is suffering. Oh, also they took all the children as slave labor to dig for dragonshards in the nearby mine (which is inside the Mournland).