(Calling all Rat Bastards! It's CRUNCH time!) Adventure ideas on the Lightening Rail

Since my normal home at the Rat Bastards Club crashed I’m posting this here… Any Rat Bastard DM’s out there?

I need adventure ideas for what types of encounters characters will have while riding on the Lightening Rail in Eberron? It would be very cool to see some modules published that are adventures that take place on a trip on the rail and are completely contained within the train. It seems like there are so many possibilities for cool things to happen while characters travel from one city to another. Heck, they could also be adventures on airship, or boat too!

My introductory Eberron adventure all the PCs met with the classic “You are all sitting in an Inn” except it was “You are all sitting in the lounge car of the Lightening Rail Express…” They got to meet each other, and they discovered a plot to rob the train, apparently it was carrying a very valuable cargo. They attempted to thwart the robbers and had lots of fun in the ensuing chaos.

Another idea I had: Terroist attack by agents of the Lord of Blades. A group of Warforged attempt to hijack a Lightening Rail and take it into the Mournland for their own purposes… Lots of possibilities with this, but seems like there would be lots of bloodshed… (This brings up an interesting point, what kind of security would the Lightening Rail have? I would imagine you aren’t allowed to bring weapons on the train, but where would they be stored? Etc… )

Of course there is the classic murder mystery… someone turns up dead on the train, and the PCs have to figure out who did it…

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0077928/


i was born outside of Istanbul.

edit: and here is a list of others to try: http://www.rinkworks.com/movies/i/g_train.shtml

Watch one of the early Firefly episodes (they're out on DvD now) -- I think it's called the Great Train Robbery.

Westerns are focused on the train. A lot of the feeling of whistlestop westerns could do well for inspiration.

very best,

Carpe

Horror on the Orient Express

A CoC classic

Murder on the Orien Express (er, excuse me, Oriental).

Ten little Indians - the train is moving through some VERY inhospitable territory, and SOMEONE is killing off passengers one by one...

High-level adventure - the PC's have been hired to be guards for the train, and help them get a massive shipment of grain or such to its destination; however, a band of Orcs/Goblins/Evil Devas have destroyed the tracks. The group needs to teleport ahead, and slay the bandits and restore the track before the train gets there.

Lordnightshade said:

Since my normal home at the Rat Bastards Club crashed I’m posting this here… Any Rat Bastard DM’s out there?

I need adventure ideas for what types of encounters characters will have while riding on the Lightening Rail in Eberron? It would be very cool to see some modules published that are adventures that take place on a trip on the rail and are completely contained within the train. It seems like there are so many possibilities for cool things to happen while characters travel from one city to another. Heck, they could also be adventures on airship, or boat too!

My introductory Eberron adventure all the PCs met with the classic “You are all sitting in an Inn” except it was “You are all sitting in the lounge car of the Lightening Rail Express…” They got to meet each other, and they discovered a plot to rob the train, apparently it was carrying a very valuable cargo. They attempted to thwart the robbers and had lots of fun in the ensuing chaos.

Click to expand...

the reason i mentioned Midnight Express... the PCs catch someone rifling thru their things. the PCs assume he is trying to steal something. but in truth he is hiding/planting something. they may wait for the next stop to hand over the "thief".

he turns out to be a "cop"... a dirty one... and turns them in for smuggling illegal contraband/goods. if you use BoVD.. make it drugs...

throw them in a Dungeon until they pay their debt to society.

Another idea I had: Terroist attack by agents of the Lord of Blades. A group of Warforged attempt to hijack a Lightening Rail and take it into the Mournland for their own purposes… Lots of possibilities with this, but seems like there would be lots of bloodshed… (This brings up an interesting point, what kind of security would the Lightening Rail have? I would imagine you aren’t allowed to bring weapons on the train, but where would they be stored? Etc… )…

Click to expand...

Lawrence of Arabia style.

Well, there's always Murder on the Orient Express... Agatha Christie Classic...

And then there's that dreadful Steven Seagal movie, Under Seige 2...

And the end of Back to the Future 3...

The key, it would seem, to a good train adventure is the idea that there is a time limit. Either the train is rushing towards a cliff or the damsel in distress tied to the rail or the town in which the bomb is set to go off, or people are dying one by one, and you could be next...

Make 'em play it out in real time. Add a little tension...

jtb

Allright, so I've already done the great Train Robbery as my first adventure several levels ago, drawing heavily on inspiration from Firefly… and the group has seen ALOT of combat of late, so something along the lines of Murder on the Orien Express would be perfect I think...

So how would something like this go down exactly? I havent' seen the movie or read the book, so I guess I have to do alot of work to figure this out... Oh my game is tomorrow so any help anyone can provide would be great!

Who would be the passengers? How would they translate into Eberron?

Who or what would be the following: (edit, the correct list of suspects)

Hector MacQueen, a tall, young American man, the victim's secretary and translator.
Masterman, a short pale Brit, the victim's secretary.
Mary Debenham, a tall, dark, young British woman, working as a governess in Baghdad
Colonel Arbuthnot, a tall British army officer returning from India
Princess Dragomiroff, an elderly and very ugly Russian grande-dame
Hildegarde Schmidt, a middle-aged German woman, the Princess's lady's-maid
Count Andrenyi, a tall, dark Hungarian diplomat with English manner and clothing, travelling to France.
Countess Andrenyi, his pale young wife.
Greta Ohlsson, a middle-aged blonde Swedish missionary returning home for a vacation.
Mrs. Hubbard, an plump, elderly, very excitable American woman returning from a visit to her daughter, a teacher in Baghdad.
Foscanelli, a portly and exuberant Italian businessman
Cyrus Hardman, a large and gregarious Texan typewriter ribbon salesman.

And what would be the equivalent of the "Daisy Armstrong" case?

Also what are the clues after the murder?

someone attempted to teleport or transport themselves aboard the train and got shunted. so badly they are killed.

but they had to risk it cuz something was chasing them.

that someone gets aboard at the next stop to recover the body.

Okay . . . I don't think a western-style train ride is the best model for the Lightning Rail.

Travel by lightning rail is VERY expensive in Eberron. Non-adventurer types like middle class merchants and the like will only be able to afford trips once in a very long while, and it's more than a typical farmer will earn in his lifetime. So you're going to have a pretty exclusive passenger list on the train.

PCs on the train who don't have a good handle on diplomacy and etiquette will stick out like sore thumbs. Because of the expense, the lightning rail isn't going to look quite so much like old western train ride. The wealthy, noble, and high-ranking dragonmarked people on the train will make it a very different setting indeed.

What you might want to institute is a sort of class system of passage on the trian -- perhaps far cheaper tickets are available for people willing to travel in what amounts to boxcars. They would have to pack their own food, and not have access to the more posh parts of the train. Perhaps some enterprising young House Orien stevedore lets people into the luggage compartment . . . so it's not exactly legal, but tolerated by House Orien.

I also suspect that passengers walking around the train in full combat gear would be asked to disembark at the next stop or stow their battle gear. PCs HATE not being able to walk around in their full kit.

So, given all that, the question of what sort of encounters might they have on the train . . . . how about:
1. A Karrnathi Nobleman, complete with Karrnathi Skeleton Bodyguards and servants is on the train with a few traveling companions. He is an official courier on his way to Wroat. He's a bit paranoid, and suspects the PCs -- because they stand out -- of being members of a group of agents of the Silver Flame that are trying to interfere with him. He does not attack the PCs overtly, but tries to make sure they are kept away from him by the authorities on the train, and is quick to jump on any breach of protocol on the part of the PCs.

2. Gamblers. With so many idle rich on the Lightning Rail, they should be magnets for professional gamblers of all kinds -- and while House Orien does it's best to make sure everyone plays by the rules and anyone caught cheating is punished, there would be a class of gamblers that spend most of their time on the trains, fleecing the rich and bored during the trips. Perhaps House Orien grants permits for those professional gamblers -- basically taking a cut of their winnings to permit them to ride. Also, where there are gamblers there will be others who make their living off the wealthy in illegal ways -- pickpockets, prostitutes, etc.

3. Think cruise ship, more than train. Watch some Love Boat episodes. What sort of encounters might you expect on a cruise ship, and how would they translate into the Lightning rail? There would be nightly entertainment -- probably a stable of bards employed by House Orien. Most of those would actually be house Phiarlan agents, probably low level ones, just gathering information that they report back to their superiors. Perhaps conflict between House Phiarlan and House Thuranni bards takes place on the trains.

4. More Love boat stuff -- the Lightning rail represents a block of time in which the travelers are cut off from their regular society. It would be a great time for extramarital liasons and affairs of all sorts. What happens on the Rails stays on the Rails. So there would be lovers sneaking into each other's compartments left and right -- making it very difficult to sort out the real bad guys on the train at night.

it's a start . . .

-rg