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[Sorrow of Heaven] Mark of War
Aegeri
Tiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered User regular
Tiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered User regular
This is the OOC and general thread for my campaign Mark of War.
We will be playing at the same time and such forth as Sorrow of Heaven, once the campaign has finished. I would like to see that roles are switched up as much as possible, so everyone has the opportunity to play something different if they want to. It always sucks to be stuck as the parties defender every campaign (this has happened in one of my games to one of my players).
Goumindong -
illgottengains -
REG Rysk -
Terrendos -
TSI|Awesome -
When the game starts I will make an in character thread.
Those who failed their part in the coming prophecy:
None yet!
The Glorious Dead list. Characters whom, in any campaign I've run have been permanently killed in gameplay.
The game will begin in May most likely, when Sorrow of Heaven finishes. Feel free to ask me questions and whatever else.
We are currently using: Maptools beta 63.
This campaign is set in Eberron, starting during the opening of the paragon tier of Artist of Sharn. Some of the things you do in this campaign can have effects on artist and vice versa (some things already have affected Mark of War). When making your character there are one really important thing you need to know:
In this game, you gain a dragonmark or an aberrant mark (described below). This mark doesn’t manifest itself until a certain point in the story and you cannot have any other mark until this point. This is free, it doesn’t take any feat slot or similar though. When this happens I won’t say though, but don’t build yourself around a mark for most of the heroic tier. Aberrant marks are not “evil” although many of them lean towards more destructive effects, but bear in mind that people in Eberron will think you’re positively terrifying for simply having such a mark at all. Reactions could range from someone fleeing for their lives or outright attacking you – not to mention that I will not blame other party members for having similar reactions!
Firstly, Aberrant Marks are not just a dragonmark! An Aberrant mark is something potentially more sinister and can lead to far greater power than a dragonmark – but at a high cost. Aberrant marks are improved by doing certain things in game, this improvement does not cost you a PP or other feats – but can cost other things. Aberrant marks function like dragonmarks in most ways mechanically, such as rituals that will hide a dragonmark will work on aberrant marks as well. Aberrant marks do not confer any bonus rituals like dragonmarks, but they specifically boost daily powers and have a general effect. These are the aberrant marks you can take (note this doesn’t represent what all aberrant marks can do, merely a selection that are more PC friendly, many of the most powerful aberrant marks can rend entire cities, control vast plagues of rats and many other things):
Aberrant Mark of Celerity: You do not concede combat advantage after running and gain a +1 bonus to your run speed.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, that enemy cannot make opportunity attacks or take immediate actions triggered by your actions until the end of your next turn.
Aberrant Mark of Contagion: Whenever you damage an enemy with a power with the necrotic keyword, you reduce any resistance it has to necrotic damage by 5 until the end of your next turn.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, that enemy suffers a -2 penalty to the next saving throw that it makes before the end of your next turn.
Aberrant Mark of Destruction: Creatures with the construct keyword and objects have no benefit from damage reduction against your attacks.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, that enemy takes an additional 5 damage from the next attack that hits before the end of your next turn. If the attack is a critical hit, the enemy takes 10 damage instead of 5.
Aberrant Mark of Ferocity: You gain a +3 bonus to attack rolls against a bloodied creature you are flanking instead of the normal +2 bonus.
Whenever you hit a bloodied enemy with a daily attack power, you and all adjacent allies gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls against that enemy until the end of your next turn.
Aberrant Mark of Immunity: You gain a +2 bonus to saving throws against ongoing damage and resist 5 poison.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, you automatically save against all ongoing damage effects upon you.
Aberrant Mark of Iron: Once per encounter as a free action when hit by an enemies attack you may gain damage reduction equal to 2 plus your constitution modifier until the end of your next turn.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power that pushes, pulls or slides, you may increase the movement by a number of squares equal to your one half your con modifier (minimum 1).
Aberrant Mark of Khyber: Enemies hit by an attack you make with an elemental keyword (Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder) take ongoing 2 damage of the same energy types as the power you used (save ends). If the power already does ongoing damage, the ongoing damage is increased by 2.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power with an elemental keyword (Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder) it takes ongoing 5 damage of the same energy types as the power you used (save ends). If the power already does ongoing damage, the ongoing damage is increased by 5.
The damage reduction granted by this mark does not stack with itself or ongoing damage from non-marked sources (if you hit an enemy with both an encounter and a daily power, 5 ongoing damage is added and if the enemy was taking ongoing damage from the encounter power only the higher bonus to ongoing damage is added).
Aberrant Mark of Sight: Enemies hit by your encounter and daily attack powers cannot benefit from concealment until the end of your next turn.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, that enemy cannot become hidden or invisible from you until the end of your next turn.
Aberrant Mark of Terror: Whenever you bloody an enemy it suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls against you until the end of your next turn.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, that enemy takes a -1 penalty to attack rolls against you until the end of the encounter. This is a fear effect.
The War of the Mark was a long, bloody conflict and primarily was an inquisition to exterminate anyone with an aberrant mark. They were inevitably successful in this endeavor and in doing so solidified their position and formed the original twelve houses (there are thirteen now after a group split off from House Phiarlan and formed House Thuranni). This consolidation of their power and willingness to work together for a common aim is what gives the dragonmarked houses their power today – and why it is likely in future it will not be a king that reunites a potential second coming of Galifar, but one of the houses dragonmarked heirs.
Although the scars of the war of the mark have long since healed, the propaganda and fear about the dangers of aberrant marks are still kept up in the populace to this day. As a result, people are not readily going to accept you if they notice you have an aberrant mark and houses reactions may range from horrified to outright assaults upon you.
And some claim that aberrant marks are beginning to reappear again in greater numbers than even during what was recorded during the war of the mark…
This campaign is my most “PC centric” in many ways. The more information you tell me about your character the better, this thread is obviously best used for finding out about Eberron, marks, houses and other things you may want to know. First, here is a nice map of Khorvaire for you:
Here is a general summary of the main four nations within it and two notable events.
Aundair is a large kingdom with numerous well developed cities surrounded by wilderness and farmland. They are particularly notable for their heavy use of magic (Swordmages in particular).
Breland is a relatively stable monarchy and while it suffered some damage from the last war, it managed to get through the war in a relatively good position compared with some of the others. It has one of the main cities on the continent as well, Sharn the city of Towers. It also houses the highest proportion of Cyrean refugees within its borders (See Mournland below).
Karrnath is a cold, desolate place where they have particularly hardcore warriors and practice necromancy to bring their dead soldiers back to life. Their use of necromancy to bolster their soldiers ranks during the last war was particularly upsetting to Thrane, who highly disapprove of such practices.
Thrane is a theocracy under the control of the Silver Flame church, known for its particular fanaticism and often somewhat tragic misdeeds.
Mournland was once a nation called Cyre but it was wiped off the face of the earth by an incredible magical event that annihilated all life. The tragedy that befell the nation ended the Last War some two years ago. Many of the people within Cyre have been displaced, left as refugees with none of the other main nations really wanting anything to do with them.
With that little summary out of the way, here are some important background questions for your characters:
Family: Any relatives or similar? Where do they live? Perhaps your character is from Cyre or their family is?
Last War: The Last War ended a mere two years ago and affected the entire continent. What did you do during the war? Were you a soldier? Where did you fight and who did you fight for? Did you lose anyone during the war?
Reason for Adventuring: Why are you out wandering? Are you looking for someone or something?
The game starts in Breland, near a small rebuilt town that had been razed in the war but that Cyrean refugees claimed as a “home away from home”. Oddly as you approach there is the sound of wedding bells and there seems to be some kind of celebration going on in the small city…
Why are you there? Anything specifically, perhaps you know the bride/groom or you have some other reason for being there.
That should give you a start. Any questions about Eberron or information on nations/marks or whatever else you want to help make your character just ask. It’s much easier to type a good answer on a specific topic than make a big post on a lot of different ones!
Starting gold is 100 as normal in the PHB as I’ve finished with my little experiment with a higher amount of starting gold for the time being. The only difference in character creation is your automatic (but inactive until a certain time) mark. This mark does not have to be out of race.
We will be playing at the same time and such forth as Sorrow of Heaven, once the campaign has finished. I would like to see that roles are switched up as much as possible, so everyone has the opportunity to play something different if they want to. It always sucks to be stuck as the parties defender every campaign (this has happened in one of my games to one of my players).
Goumindong -
illgottengains -
REG Rysk -
Terrendos -
TSI|Awesome -
When the game starts I will make an in character thread.
Those who failed their part in the coming prophecy:
None yet!
The Glorious Dead list. Characters whom, in any campaign I've run have been permanently killed in gameplay.
Abigail - Half-Elf Avenger (Striker) - Couldn't handle the ocher jellies jelly or the ongoing acid damage. Shipwrecked on the Dark Continent.
Calfrune - Razorclaw Shifter Druid (Controller) - Clubbed to death, literally. Shipwrecked on the Dark Continent.
DVG - Changeling Bard (Leader) - Eaten alive by Black Dogs and something worse. Artist of Sharn
Mongoose - Half-Orc Monk (Striker) - On the ground bleeding to death when the constructs sword finished the job by removing his head. Shipwrecked on the Dark Continent.
Woshor the Unknown - Genasi Swordmage (Defender) - Figured he could solo a solo, he couldn't and was stuffed into a trap to stop the gas. Tides of Dust.
Calfrune - Razorclaw Shifter Druid (Controller) - Clubbed to death, literally. Shipwrecked on the Dark Continent.
DVG - Changeling Bard (Leader) - Eaten alive by Black Dogs and something worse. Artist of Sharn
Mongoose - Half-Orc Monk (Striker) - On the ground bleeding to death when the constructs sword finished the job by removing his head. Shipwrecked on the Dark Continent.
Woshor the Unknown - Genasi Swordmage (Defender) - Figured he could solo a solo, he couldn't and was stuffed into a trap to stop the gas. Tides of Dust.
The game will begin in May most likely, when Sorrow of Heaven finishes. Feel free to ask me questions and whatever else.
We are currently using: Maptools beta 63.
Background to Mark of War
This campaign is set in Eberron, starting during the opening of the paragon tier of Artist of Sharn. Some of the things you do in this campaign can have effects on artist and vice versa (some things already have affected Mark of War). When making your character there are one really important thing you need to know:
Your character is Marked – even if they don’t know this.
In this game, you gain a dragonmark or an aberrant mark (described below). This mark doesn’t manifest itself until a certain point in the story and you cannot have any other mark until this point. This is free, it doesn’t take any feat slot or similar though. When this happens I won’t say though, but don’t build yourself around a mark for most of the heroic tier. Aberrant marks are not “evil” although many of them lean towards more destructive effects, but bear in mind that people in Eberron will think you’re positively terrifying for simply having such a mark at all. Reactions could range from someone fleeing for their lives or outright attacking you – not to mention that I will not blame other party members for having similar reactions!
Aberrant Marks
Firstly, Aberrant Marks are not just a dragonmark! An Aberrant mark is something potentially more sinister and can lead to far greater power than a dragonmark – but at a high cost. Aberrant marks are improved by doing certain things in game, this improvement does not cost you a PP or other feats – but can cost other things. Aberrant marks function like dragonmarks in most ways mechanically, such as rituals that will hide a dragonmark will work on aberrant marks as well. Aberrant marks do not confer any bonus rituals like dragonmarks, but they specifically boost daily powers and have a general effect. These are the aberrant marks you can take (note this doesn’t represent what all aberrant marks can do, merely a selection that are more PC friendly, many of the most powerful aberrant marks can rend entire cities, control vast plagues of rats and many other things):
Aberrant Mark of Celerity: You do not concede combat advantage after running and gain a +1 bonus to your run speed.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, that enemy cannot make opportunity attacks or take immediate actions triggered by your actions until the end of your next turn.
Aberrant Mark of Contagion: Whenever you damage an enemy with a power with the necrotic keyword, you reduce any resistance it has to necrotic damage by 5 until the end of your next turn.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, that enemy suffers a -2 penalty to the next saving throw that it makes before the end of your next turn.
Aberrant Mark of Destruction: Creatures with the construct keyword and objects have no benefit from damage reduction against your attacks.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, that enemy takes an additional 5 damage from the next attack that hits before the end of your next turn. If the attack is a critical hit, the enemy takes 10 damage instead of 5.
Aberrant Mark of Ferocity: You gain a +3 bonus to attack rolls against a bloodied creature you are flanking instead of the normal +2 bonus.
Whenever you hit a bloodied enemy with a daily attack power, you and all adjacent allies gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls against that enemy until the end of your next turn.
Aberrant Mark of Immunity: You gain a +2 bonus to saving throws against ongoing damage and resist 5 poison.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, you automatically save against all ongoing damage effects upon you.
Aberrant Mark of Iron: Once per encounter as a free action when hit by an enemies attack you may gain damage reduction equal to 2 plus your constitution modifier until the end of your next turn.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power that pushes, pulls or slides, you may increase the movement by a number of squares equal to your one half your con modifier (minimum 1).
Aberrant Mark of Khyber: Enemies hit by an attack you make with an elemental keyword (Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder) take ongoing 2 damage of the same energy types as the power you used (save ends). If the power already does ongoing damage, the ongoing damage is increased by 2.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power with an elemental keyword (Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder) it takes ongoing 5 damage of the same energy types as the power you used (save ends). If the power already does ongoing damage, the ongoing damage is increased by 5.
The damage reduction granted by this mark does not stack with itself or ongoing damage from non-marked sources (if you hit an enemy with both an encounter and a daily power, 5 ongoing damage is added and if the enemy was taking ongoing damage from the encounter power only the higher bonus to ongoing damage is added).
Aberrant Mark of Sight: Enemies hit by your encounter and daily attack powers cannot benefit from concealment until the end of your next turn.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, that enemy cannot become hidden or invisible from you until the end of your next turn.
Aberrant Mark of Terror: Whenever you bloody an enemy it suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls against you until the end of your next turn.
Whenever you hit an enemy with a daily attack power, that enemy takes a -1 penalty to attack rolls against you until the end of the encounter. This is a fear effect.
War of the Mark
Eberron has twelve powerful houses, each bearing one of the normal dragonmarks from the Eberron players guide that essentially are major powers behind the nations of Khorvaire in their own right. This is due to the economic advantage their marks give them in the production of everything from magic items, to better infiltration skills to control over major resources like healing magic. These original houses of course were forged in blood, from a war that united each ‘pure’ dragonmarked bloodline together against aberrant marks – marks that arose from the interbreeding of dragonmarked members between the houses. The war began some 500 years before the formation of Galifar – basically the “Super nation” that all the other countries in Eberron splintered out of during the Last War into their current state.The War of the Mark was a long, bloody conflict and primarily was an inquisition to exterminate anyone with an aberrant mark. They were inevitably successful in this endeavor and in doing so solidified their position and formed the original twelve houses (there are thirteen now after a group split off from House Phiarlan and formed House Thuranni). This consolidation of their power and willingness to work together for a common aim is what gives the dragonmarked houses their power today – and why it is likely in future it will not be a king that reunites a potential second coming of Galifar, but one of the houses dragonmarked heirs.
Although the scars of the war of the mark have long since healed, the propaganda and fear about the dangers of aberrant marks are still kept up in the populace to this day. As a result, people are not readily going to accept you if they notice you have an aberrant mark and houses reactions may range from horrified to outright assaults upon you.
And some claim that aberrant marks are beginning to reappear again in greater numbers than even during what was recorded during the war of the mark…
Character Considerations
This campaign is my most “PC centric” in many ways. The more information you tell me about your character the better, this thread is obviously best used for finding out about Eberron, marks, houses and other things you may want to know. First, here is a nice map of Khorvaire for you:
Aundair is a large kingdom with numerous well developed cities surrounded by wilderness and farmland. They are particularly notable for their heavy use of magic (Swordmages in particular).
Breland is a relatively stable monarchy and while it suffered some damage from the last war, it managed to get through the war in a relatively good position compared with some of the others. It has one of the main cities on the continent as well, Sharn the city of Towers. It also houses the highest proportion of Cyrean refugees within its borders (See Mournland below).
Karrnath is a cold, desolate place where they have particularly hardcore warriors and practice necromancy to bring their dead soldiers back to life. Their use of necromancy to bolster their soldiers ranks during the last war was particularly upsetting to Thrane, who highly disapprove of such practices.
Thrane is a theocracy under the control of the Silver Flame church, known for its particular fanaticism and often somewhat tragic misdeeds.
Mournland was once a nation called Cyre but it was wiped off the face of the earth by an incredible magical event that annihilated all life. The tragedy that befell the nation ended the Last War some two years ago. Many of the people within Cyre have been displaced, left as refugees with none of the other main nations really wanting anything to do with them.
With that little summary out of the way, here are some important background questions for your characters:
Family: Any relatives or similar? Where do they live? Perhaps your character is from Cyre or their family is?
Last War: The Last War ended a mere two years ago and affected the entire continent. What did you do during the war? Were you a soldier? Where did you fight and who did you fight for? Did you lose anyone during the war?
Reason for Adventuring: Why are you out wandering? Are you looking for someone or something?
The game starts in Breland, near a small rebuilt town that had been razed in the war but that Cyrean refugees claimed as a “home away from home”. Oddly as you approach there is the sound of wedding bells and there seems to be some kind of celebration going on in the small city…
Why are you there? Anything specifically, perhaps you know the bride/groom or you have some other reason for being there.
That should give you a start. Any questions about Eberron or information on nations/marks or whatever else you want to help make your character just ask. It’s much easier to type a good answer on a specific topic than make a big post on a lot of different ones!
Starting gold is 100 as normal in the PHB as I’ve finished with my little experiment with a higher amount of starting gold for the time being. The only difference in character creation is your automatic (but inactive until a certain time) mark. This mark does not have to be out of race.
Aegeri on
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I'll post up my first few character ideas soon. Like I said, I have several.
fucking hell, this is the third time i have had to write my edit
I am either going to be an old cyre noble who has spent the last 10 years in exile in Droaam and Darguun with the name of Airegone(just kidding about the name!) some Elf who thinks he is destined to inherit the reborn mark of death ("Cyre was destroyed to give this new house a place that it can flourish!" whether that happens or not...whether he is sane or not...) , or a Gatekeeper who now works for Darguun who wants to rebuild the Dhakaani empire ("Only the might of the great hobgoblin empire can push back the Aberrations when they come again!"
So.. I'm just going to throw some ideas out here. There are a few classes I would like to check out but I'm not sold on any of them yet. I'm really leaning towards controller but I'll happily roll a defender or leader
Gnome Wizard ( Fallback if the seeker or druid doesn't work out )
Pacifist Cleric
Charisma Paladin
Seeker (Does this class suck as bad as the druid? Did they ever fix the druid?)
Let's go over the list.
1. This wizard would be the...fourth wizard I would have seen in 4e. I have seen 1 druid(played by me), 0 invokers, 0 seekers. That said, it's a good choice, I've just seen it many times. I'm a little tired of it, same as how im tired of sword and board fighters, and clerics(no offense terrendos). I'll bring up Seeker in a moment.
2. Did I mention I'm bored of clerics? I think Aegeri has said some harsh things about Pacifist clerics, and I can't help but admit there are a few oddities with them.
3. I, uh, have been kinda planning on playing a paladin. Hobgoblin Paladin, to be exact. He will be awesome.
4. Seekers look pretty good. Solid design, solid concept, and finally an archer that isn't a Ranger. Also, Druids aren't bad; Beast Form Druids are the definition of mediocrity, and I'm sure Aegeri would speak of them even more harshly. But druid powers that aren't beast form are great.
Wizards are awesome because they're so iconic. That is why you see them a lot. That being said, i would love to see a game where we didn't have any wizards in the party. JUST so that we could get closer to the archetype where the wizard is the "outside help" guy rather than an actual member of the party.(Gandalf was a always running off to do "other important shit" and not sticking with the party etc)
1. The Mechanist - He's an Artificer who insists that there is a logical explanation for all this tomfoolery. He doesn't use magic, he uses logical deduction, mechanics, and engineering to solve all his problems. Carries a primitive rifle (Superior Crossbow) and makes liberal use of a slide rule. Catchphrase: "Stand back, I'm going to try science!"
2. The Inexorable Vizzini (AKA Wulfrich von Richter) the Tiefling Bard - After abandoning those crazies trying to find the Artist of Sharn, Vizzini went back to working at The Courageous Courtesan Stein House and Brewery. Sadly, he found that the small stage no longer held the wonder and majesty it used to, and he soon left. A few months later, he managed to get a job as a wedding singer.
3. Reverence the Tiefling Chaladin - abandoned by his true parents, Reverence was raised by the clergy of The Silver Flame. Although he turned out well enough, the psychological effects of childhood abandonment linger still, and he has taken the Dulcinea Effect to its not-so-logical extreme.
4. Sidus Solitarius the Half-Elf Warlock - as the roof of the Keep on the Shadowfell collapsed around him, Sidus attempted a most dangerous move to escape: he took his own fateline and shoved it in any direction it could go. As it happens, Fate took him completely out of the Realms and dropped him right in the middle of a wedding in Sharn. Terrified of what his risky maneuver has wrought, he no longer dares using the more advanced techniques he had developed during his time in Aurasberg, at least until he gains much more practice with their techniques.
5. Pokemon Master the Vestige Lock - So named because his vestiges come from creatures he has bound under his control back home. By channeling different creatures he can alter his powers and the way they perform. The original concept had the character binding the more annoying/dangerous boss monsters the group kills and using their names rather than the ones of the actual vestiges.
6. Some Kinda Fighter Guy - Haven't really thought this one through much yet. Probably a Warforged Fighter.
The ordering is a mix of "how much have I planned this character" and "how much would I like to play this character."
Terrendos : Artificer or Bard (Leader)
Illgotten: Wizard (Striker)
Rysk: Rogue ( Controller)
TSI: Paladin (Striker)
Goum: Ranger (Defender)
With TSI:'s hobby paladin idea i am thinking i would play another Darguun based character(Either hobgob, gob, or bugbear). And that fits for either the bard/warlord, or seeker, or ranger. So i am fine on any of those.
Edit: Also Bard/Seeker MC works pretty well since there is a wisdom based bard secondary and all the seekers attacks are wisdom based.
Edit2: But I really like the "Crazy Elf who thinks he can regain the mark of death"
edit 3: Ranger/Seeker also work really well it looks like.
Goum: really I could play just about any role. I don't mind any of them. If you guys needed a Controller though I'd probably just go Wizard or something.
I'm thinking of maybe a Githzerai Seeker. I'm just going to roll with this and see where I end up.
He's from the Elemental Choas plane but that place sucked so he went to live in Sigil to learn about as many different peoples and philosophies as he could. He made a simple and honest living as a Soothsayer. He had a little hut in Ragpicker's square where a sign read " Garthwain's Prophecies 5 silver. " He would answer every question to the best of his ability. After he made enough coinage to eat and sleep at the inn Gertehyeine would close up shop for the day. He wasn't very interested in making much more than that. The others, he figured, needed it more.
( Most folks just call him Garthwain. )
One day a human lady so old Gertehyeine nearly thought she was an undead came up to him and asked him a question that Gertehyeine could not answer.
"What's that on yer hand?"
Gertehyeine looked down at his left hand. Much to his amazement and confusion there was what appeared to be a Tattoo of some sort appearing on the top of his hand. It seemed to give off a bit of smoke as it spread however it was not a painful sensation.
After a moment it seemed to stop. He stood there stunned before the old woman repeated herself.
"What's that one yer hand?"
"Gertehyeine does not know..."
Eventually the woman wandered off but not before demanding that Gertehyeine pay her 5 silver since he couldn't answer the question. It seemed fair enough. He closed up shop by removing the 15 silver coins and turning his sign around. He then exited the little shack by crawling over the "counter."
Then he wasn't in Sigil anymore. He was somewhere else. He was pretty sure. It was really bright out and it hurt his eyes a bit. He could hear a very very pretty noise that must have been a bell ringing...
*Cue Spooky Music*
1000 years ago, the Mark of Death was eradicated from the face of Eberron in a terrible war!
Now, the terrible lich Vol has been trying to resurrect it!
*End spooky music*
Cannonically its a plot devise typically tied to the Blood of Vol, whether or not its true or not is of course, entirely up to the DM. The plot goes that Vol was the last of the Elves in that line and became a lich so that she could find a way to resurrect the houses power. But of course, not very many people, if any, actually know this about Vol's true intentions.
edit: now it would be more of an old wives tale.
Also. Has the PHB 3 been uploaded to the compendium or is it even out yet? I can't seem to find the seeker MC information.
Edit: Yea, i think i really like the idea of a Bard MC/Seeker who uses a bow or Ranger MC/Seeker. Hell, even just a straight Seeker.
EDIT: This part is shaping up to be aggressively ranged. Assuming it continues along these lines:
Me: Hobgoblin Paladin (Melee)
Goum: Bard or Ranger (Ranged)
Ill: Seeker (Ranged)
Terrendos: Artificer (Ranged)
Rysk: Rogue (Melee?)
Yeah. If Rysk wants to use a crossbow as his weapon, I am going to have a very dicey job.
If you go bow, can't you just take Bow Mastery? Don't overcomplicate things.
EDIT: Compendium says 20 feats, though some of them are silly familiar feats.
If i go Hobby, it will be Bard/Seeker.
Edit: What i would think would be very cool would be this
TSI: Paladin (Hobgoblin)
Goum: Bard MC/Seeker (Hobgoblin)
Ill: Paladin (?)
Terrendos: Warlock (Half-Elf)
Rysk: Rogue (Ranged?)
Or:
TSI: Paladin (Hobgoblin)
Goum: Ranger MC/Seeker (Elf, maybe Hobgoblin depending on how the stats come out)
Ill: Paladin (?)
Terrendos: Artificer
Rysk: Rogue (Ranged?)
Two defenders up front. One leader, two strikers in the back. No one has the same role as they did in the last game. Paladin's make great "dual defenders" imho and the Warlock/Seeker MC combination should leave us with plenty enough controllery goodness
Two leaders and only one striker seems like it might take a long time to end fights. As well, i like the crazy elf(Ranger/Seeker) or Hobgoblin ( Bard/Seeker ) better than the Cyre warlord(A hobby warlord might work OK, but it doesn't fit in as well with the Gatekeeper idea). And i really don't want to play another defender. So if we go that route, then we have only 1 person up front in the Paladin.
Edit: Oh, and i see the Seeker as more of a martial class than Primal. They do different damage types by shooting different arrows(and so encounter/daily powers have to be prepared and that is why they only get one)\\
If Illgotten is willing to roll the Paladin then i think we have a pretty solid ideal setup there. Granted, i think i would rather be rolling the bard than the ranger, but i could deal with it
Like I said on the end of the first page, 19-20 crits can be gotten with the Bow Mastery feat since you expressed interest in them.
Of course, Rysk hasn't weighed in on what he wants to play either we are just assuming based on what Aegeri has said.
@ Goum: If you are really sold on playing a seeker I wouldn't mind maybe trying out that there assassin class. I would like to play a controller but I think it's mainly because I like to play wizards. I'm curious as well about how some of the other controllers work out though. Any how, bottom line, if you want to play a seeker go for it there are plenty of other strikers to play.. although I don't really see the point in playing anything beside a barbarian.
Seeker plays a lot more like a Striker than a Controller, really. Not a whole lot of aoe damage. Very strong single target control effects and good single target damage, though. The class is actually quite strong.
If its a halfling he will be plenty mobile to get away from enemies even without powers (18 base charisma, defensive mobility, racial bonus) you get a +8 bonus to the OA attack roll so you don't even care about provoking [AC will be 10 base, 2 for leather, 4 for dex, +8 vs OA = 24 vs OA at lvl 1]
IIRC a lvl 1 soldier hits for +6 so needs an 18 to hit a Cha based CB rogue. And with the rogue ranged talent you can make that CB into a +4 proficiency weapon like the Rogue.
I very, very much hope you're assuming a second Paladin is being rolled with this suggestion, or at least another frontliner(and assassins don't count), or otherwise my job would be very, very interesting. And probably lead to a few deaths.
@Shamans - I would never wish upon Aegeri to have a shaman in his game. I will probably never allow it in one of my games again.
Also, what's so broken about Shamans? It's not exactly apparent in their base design.
Drow are from Xendrik, the Dark Continent and are mainly savages, having been previously enslaved by the now destroyed empire of Giants(in fact all Elves, but drow broke out later and did not produce civilizations as we know them). This place is not on the map of Khorvaire above, but is to the south of it.
To the South East of Khorvaire is Argonessen, which is where the wild things are. And by Wild Things, i mean Dragons. Its some sort of mystical place that they believe has to do with the whole world ideal thingy, which is basically the three "dragons" of Kyber, Eberron, and Syberis which make up the underworld, the earth, and the heavens.
North East of Argonessen and West a good ways from Khorvaire is Sarlona which is where the psions are. And they are kinda off there doing their own thing being enslaved by a mind fuck race of mind fucks that fuck with your mind and your dreams.
Between Khorvaire and Xendrik and a bit to the west is Arenal, where half the elves live. These elves are undead ancestor worshiping elves that look like arabs and ride horses while swinging double scimitars at you. The other elves are from Valenar and are a bit closer to your bog standard "we live in trees" elves, but a lot more like Tolkien elves if Tolkien elves liked to kill people.
For basics on some others as i understand it: (I.E. Aegeri can correct me if i am wrong)
Gnomes reside largely in Zilargo. Its a pretty typical Gnomish Region with the biggest library in the world residing in Korranburg. Yes, even bigger than the Library at Morgrave University in Sharn. Which is like, totally a diploma mill.
The Shadow Marches is where the Orcs are. Q'barra is where the lizardmen are. Its a frontier region and shit. The M'ror holds are where the dwarfs are. I hear they dug too deep in some places or something. But yea, they do a lot of banking and shit.
The Lahazar Principalities are where the libertarian swashbucklers are. Well maybe not libertarians, but they're definitely swashbucklers. Thrane is where the "Christian Religious Zealots" are at. So just think of them as your pretty bog standard were-phobics who detect evil on everything then try to smite it(just kidding... almost). Knaarth is where the Zombies are at. They are like, in a cold war with Thrane. Oh, and the Zombies are intelligent and this is pretty much what makes up their entire army, intelligent shock troop undead.
The Eldeen Reaches is where the Abberrations at. And some Orcs and Druids and primal shit that is all like "yo buddies we are totally not going to let these Abberrations ruin this shit!" Also, the most powerful creature in the world resides there(Except maybe for the Lich Vol). And he is a tree.
The Demon Wastes are where the demons at (but you didn't guess that one!). Actually this is a pretty long dead empire so the actual demons aren't a civilization, but supposedly this is where the Three Rakshasa of doom get together and plot evil plots of doom.
Darguun is where the Goblins at. They just forged this kingdom after the Last War and are dedicated to a) being fuckawesome, b) restoring the Goblinoid Empire that lasted 1000 years and only fell after successfully defending the world from an Army of Beholders. I shit you not. Did I mention that they're awesome? This is why everyone wants to be a hobgoblin. up and comers, yo.
Breland has Sharn, Unquestionably the best city by all measures, ever. Its Gotham meets DnD meets Blade Runner meets Noir detective stories, meets the Mummy, meets the phantom, meets robocob. Morgrave University is here and getting a marque from them is the only way to legally bring back stuff from Xendrik, which is uhhh... totally for research, "wink wink, nudge nudge". More stories in Sharn start with "and then some guy fell out of the sky and died" than anything else, and that is even with half the people in the place learning feather fall and taking elevators. The other half the stories end with "and then some guy fell out of the sky and died.
Aundair is where the wizards at. Well, its where the wizard school is and where the wizards council is and yadda yadda yadda they like magic here.
Droaam is where the monsters are at. Its ruled by 3 clairvoyant hags. It is a kind and loving and warm and safe place.
The Talenta Plains are where the Halflings come from. Riding Dinosaurs.
Other things you might want to know about:
There are these things called manifest zones. They make magic easy since they are close to some other plane(of which there are limited planes, none of which go to Sigil by canon). Sharn is a manifest zone to the plane of air, which is why half the things fly and then sometimes they randomly fall down. Planes come and go in terms of how close they are to Eberron so these zones come and go. I hear that the 10,000 years are up and the Aberrant plane is going to be coming back or some such. Oh and there is this "lord of the blades guy" who wants to take the robots and make a kingdom in the mournland/kill all humans.
There are a whole bunch of Gods, but no one really knows if they do anything or not. There are 6 good ones and 6 bad ones(called "the dark 6" i shit you not, some of the names aren't that great here). But the only one you need to know about is the Traveler because all the others are not cool. The Blood of Vol is pretty cool as well and something will probably come up with them or the cult of the Dragon Below.
Speaking of the Dragon Below, that is like the underdark or some such. And its Evil and it makes Khyber dragonshards and its called Khyber and its also the "evil" dragon that made the world with the other Dragons, Eberron and Syberis. And some people/dragons/dragon people think there is this thing called the Draconic Prophecy. No one really knows what it Prophecies but mainly its an interesting plug for making Dragons hate Dragonborn and giving them all sorts of reasons to be random places and act insane.
The dragonmarked houses you need to know of are the post office... i mean Orien, they carry the mail. Lyrander because they make shit awesome elemental powered flying boats (seriously they bind fire elementals and air elementals into ships).. the gnomes because they're the notaries... if you have to deal with the law and such. The halflings(i forget which one) because they got it first. The Orcs because they got it last. The Dwarves because they do all the banking. And Cannith because they make the robots.
There is also this group called the Aurum which like totally supposedly rule the world but everyone knows about it but no one does at the same time. Its secretive yet people openly display their allegiance to it. Don't ask me..
A short history of the world:
-a really long fucking time ago- 3 really powerful dragons discover or create the prophecy. Fight a big ass battle and become the underworld, regularworld, and atmosphere that we know today as Khyber, Eberron, and Syberis. And those are their names
-10,000,000 years ago- Demons spawned from Khyber take over the world. What they take it over from, who knows
-1,501,000 years ago- Dragons discover the Prophecy and stop being primitive and fight the Demons
-101,000 years ago- Coutl's sacrifice most of their number and send the Demons back to hell ending the one million four hundred thousand year war. Dragons leave to Argonesson to contemplate "the prophecy"
-81,000 years ago- Giants take over and become civilized and enslave the elves and drow on Xendrik
-61,000 years ago- Dragons teach Giants magic, elves kinda pick it up too
-41,000 years ago- Quori(those mind fuck things) invade Xendrik. Giants resort to dragon magic and sink most of the continent.
-39,000 years ago- Goblins start an empire in what will be modern day Darguun. Giant Civilization is mostly gone, only a few punctuated places here and there
-31,000 years ago- Elves get free and rebel after the Giant induced cataclysm sends plagues and other bad stuff through the giant population. Giants get ready to use the dragon magic again to kill the Elves, but the real Dragons come and fuck their shit up. Giant civilization crumbles and Giants devolve into gibbering lumbering XP bags. Elves move to Arenal, Drow go into hiding.
-31,000 years ago- Orcs create an empire to compete with the Goblins
-26,000 years ago- The Areanal Undead Ancestors appear. Elves do some fighting with Dragons, but neither are wiped out... unfortunately.
-17,000 years ago- Dhakaani unite the Goblins to make the super awesome Goblinoid Kingdom/Empire. Oh and some Gatekeepers start doing their Gatekeeping thing
-13,000 years ago- Dwaves migrate from Frostfell to the Ironroot mountains. How they got to the frostfell no one knows because no one cares about dwarves. Oh and the Frostfell is like the artic except not on any maps until someone mentions it like it actually exists (its like a wizards familiar)
-10,000 years ago- The Aberrations invade and the Goblins fight them off.
-6,000 years ago- Weakened by the fighting, it takes only 4,000 years for the Dhakaani empire to fall apart due to civil war.
-5,200 years ago- A tree falls in a forest. No one hears it. Except another tree. That was odd.
-4,800 years ago- the mark of hospitality appears, then the mark of shadow and the mark of death.
-4,000 years ago- humans arrive from Sarlona.
-3,600 years ago- The House of Vol and the Mark of Death are eradicated. Vol the lich is created. No one remembers that the house was called the House of Vol and so conveniently forgets the entire connection there might be with the Blood of Vol. And no one ever remembers.
yadda yadda yadda
-35 years ago- Warforged are perfected by house Cannith.
-2 years ago- Cyre explodes.
-0 years ago- This game starts.
1. There are more powerful things than the Tree Druid. And you do not want to fight them. But they're the closest thing to god killing there is.
2. There are nine good gods, not six. They all apparently use to be one big pantheon, but they had a falling out. They also used to have, like, names. Like The Keeper use to be called Dol Kurrant. Anyways, the nine "good" gods are sissies, so my Paladin is probably going to be a paladin of the evil god of war, Dol Azur, also known as the Keeper, because he sure as hell isn't going to worship some human's god.
Other religions in Eberron are The Path of Light(Kalashtar thing), The Silver Flame(crazy fanatics, but on the other hand at multiple points have saved Khorvaire so), Blood of Vol(traditional religion of the Karrnathi, until the king suddenly decided he didn't like it), Undying Court(Elf ancestor worship), Cults of the Dragon Below(read: crazy people).
To also note, you don't NEED to worship a god in eberron to have cleric/paladin powers.
Also: Bastard Swords do not work with versatile duelist, even after I got the expertise feat. Don't know why, but I'm cool with not losing another heroic feat for an extra +1 to attack.