Hi all. Does anyone else think that controlling the lightning rail is too easy for an unmarked character? The sidebar on p. 267 says that it just takes an opposed Charisma check, with the elemental generally having a modifier of +0. Also, if the check fails, all the elemental can do is stop or keep doing whatever's going on right now. That implies that if you succeed one check (it doesn't say how long it takes, so I'm assuming a standard action), the vehicle is completely halted until someone else commands the train to move.
The reason I ask this is that 'out of control train' is a staple of pulp novels, and Eberron doesn't really seem to support it. As it stands, Average Joe Commoner has a 50% chance to save the day, each round. In order for this to be a serious hazard to a party, the danger has to spring up on them with only one or two rounds left before collision/derailing/whatever. Has anyone worked out a more gratifying system for controlling the lightning rail? I personally love the idea of there being a minute or more of chaos, during which one PC will go to the first car and ask, "Is there a spontaneous caster in the house?" (thus sending the entire train into a general panic) while the rest of them scurry around the front car, trying to jury-rig a solution or negotiating with the bound elemental. Bonus points if the "I spend every round attempting an XYZ check" solution is more likely to work for a commoner with specific skills than a typical low-level PC.
The reason I ask this is that 'out of control train' is a staple of pulp novels, and Eberron doesn't really seem to support it. As it stands, Average Joe Commoner has a 50% chance to save the day, each round. In order for this to be a serious hazard to a party, the danger has to spring up on them with only one or two rounds left before collision/derailing/whatever. Has anyone worked out a more gratifying system for controlling the lightning rail? I personally love the idea of there being a minute or more of chaos, during which one PC will go to the first car and ask, "Is there a spontaneous caster in the house?" (thus sending the entire train into a general panic) while the rest of them scurry around the front car, trying to jury-rig a solution or negotiating with the bound elemental. Bonus points if the "I spend every round attempting an XYZ check" solution is more likely to work for a commoner with specific skills than a typical low-level PC.
