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(Calling all Rat Bastards! It's CRUNCH time!) Adventure ideas on the Lightening Rail
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<blockquote data-quote="Radiating Gnome" data-source="post: 1761017" data-attributes="member: 150"><p>Okay . . . I don't think a western-style train ride is the best model for the Lightning Rail.</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>So, given all that, the question of what sort of encounters might they have on the train . . . . how about:</p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>it's a start . . . </p><p></p><p>-rg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Radiating Gnome, post: 1761017, member: 150"] 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 [/QUOTE]
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