Eberron: The all Abberant Dragonmark Campaign

[Crothian]

Eberron is going so well for us it is getting it's own spinoff series!! We have a campaign at about 11th level and in a few weeks we will start a second campaign at 0th level in Sharn and everyone has an Abberant Dragonmark.

Has anyone tried this sort of thing yet? I've seen people talk about wanting to but I hadn't heard of anyone doing it. I already have a nice villain of one of the Dragonmarked houses not sure which one yet. I'll see if the PCs have ties to the houses and go from there. The first adventure is going to be DCC 0: Here's are made not born (though reading about Andrew Kehoe really makes me not like the title as much) and it will be completely redone for Sharn. I like the PCs to be seen as heroes before their world crashes down on them. They will get involved with the House T (I can never recall their name).

 

[awayfarer]

I thought of doing something like this a while ago. Basically the idea was to have a bunch of aberrantly marked characters join up and make their own house. I never developed it and I'm not sure how it would work exactly.

 

[LordMelquiades]

Cool. I've not done it, so why am I posting? To say "cool", I guess.

I think one key element will be the relationship between the characters and the DMHs to which the aberrant ones are (loosely or tightly) linked.

 

[Crothian]

It's okay to post and suggest ideas or what would you do in this campaign.

 

[Anti-Sean]

Crothian, will you marry me? Or at the very least, pay all my expenses to get me out there to play in this game? I've had a hankerin' for some hawt, sweaty Aberrant marked action since Dragonmarked came out.

There's soooo much fun for you to have whether or not you tie the characters to House Tarkanan. Of course, eventually Thora Tavin isn't going to give them much of a choice about joining. There's currently a truce between Tarkanan and the Boromars, but a campaign like this one seems like the perfect time for such a truce to fall apart. Daask and the Tyrants will probably want a piece, too.

Also, Thora Tavin formed the house with the few remnants of the Dark Lanterns' experimental team of aberrant marked spies that survived; if the Dark Lanterns figure out the truth behind the house's origin, that'll be even more fun for the party to have to deal with!

 

[Crothian]

The commute can't be that bad.

They are going to be part of House Tarkanan though I'm hoping they are a little on the good side so we can have them bump heads with them morally. as for the rest, nice ideas.

 

[Kaodi]

I must beseech you to make the great and powerful villain a House Vadalis wizard who is doing research into Aberrant bloodlines (breeding being a Vadalis family pastime and all).

After that serious thought, and just because I am feeling silly, give him a rat familiar named Rattata, or Raticate, hehehe...

 

[Grymar]

I don't know if it is your cup of tea, but the Abberant marks are known (rumors) to be associated with insanity. You could always apply sanity points (with or without player's knowledge) to each use of their mark.

I too like the Vadalis experimenter. There is also the Fleshweaver and the Daelkyr who could be interested in the abberant marks, along with the obvious Dragons and the Chamber. Wow, the more I think about it the more interesting this is getting!

 

[Anti-Sean]

Oooh, I didn't even think of the Chamber - good call! I'm liking the Vadalis heir as well.

Tarkanan could send them rooting through the Cogs and the Depths into Undersharn to uncover relics from the time of the original Tarkanan and the Lady of Plague. And while they're down there, they can run into all sorts of interesting locals: city goblins, hidden groups of warforged, Dhakaani relic hunters, Dragon Below cultists...

Which Houses are the big players within Sharn aside from Cannith and Deneith; Medani, maybe? Deneith has their own issues going on in Sharn at the moment, and it could be fun to watch the party butt heads with that, also.

It might be fun to have the PCs working as moles within one or more 'marked Houses as well. IIRC, there's a spell and/or feat in Dragonmarked that will suppress/hide an abberant mark. They could try to surreptitiously drum up support among heirs and excoriates alike for abandoning the age-old stigmas against aberrant and mixed marks. Surely there are at least a few people on the inside who would be sympathetic to that cause. Or at least would appear to be so long enough to burn the PCs... Or if they're feeling vindictive, they could focus on exploiting some of the tensions between the houses (Tharashk/Deneith, Lyrandar/Orien, Phiarlan/Thuranni, etc.) and pushing them towards a breaking point instead. If they can't gain acceptance for their brethren, at least they can try to weaken the bonds among the Twelve.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Back when Eberron came out, I had an idea for fitting the Illumians (from Races of Destiny) into Eberron. Seems like the Illumians, who are literally Words Made Flesh, would fit right in with the abberant dragonmark idea.

Also, the Illumians, with their love of cabals and secret political skullduggery, are PERFECT for the tone of an Eberron campaign.