"The man in black fled across the Mournland, and the Dragonmarked followed"

[SurfMonkey01]

I was looking at my copy of Stephen King's "The Gunslinger" the other day. It has one of the best opening lines I've ever read, and I started thinking about how to make a game from that one line. I thought it would make a good fit for Eberron, and I ended up with the line you read in the subject. I basically have nothing beyond that, but just based on that, does it sound badass? Is that something you would try?

 

[Mentat55]

Yes it sounds badass, and I would definitely try it. Assuming my character had a fighting chance of surviving the Mournland.

 

[Ryujin]

Sounds like a good start if the PCs are "The Dragonmarked", and they've been trying to nail down "the man in black" right through Heroic, into Paragon.

Along a similar line I've wanted to base an adventure on the Golden Earring song "Twilight Zone", for years now.

 

[Ryujin]

Oops! Double post

 

[Aulirophile]

Gunslinger as a whole seems more Dark Sun to me.

 

[OSEZNO]

I basically have nothing beyond that, but just based on that, does it sound badass? Is that something you would try?

It is absolutely something I would try.

Gunslinger as a whole seems more Dark Sun to me.

In my head it's a bit of both. Dark Eberrsun.

 

[SurfMonkey01]

I thought about Dark Sun, but I'm a big fan of Eberron, and I just saw more possibilities there...

Anyways, I'm thinking upper ends of Heroic Tier, probably a solo to 2- person campaign to start, with the possibility of more players being added later...

 

[Riastlin]

A good tag line or opening line can be absolutely a cool way to organize a campaign, I would certainly be willing to try to run a campaign around such a line.

With this line, the "dragonmarked" could even have plenty of interpretations. It could simply refer to all the houses wanting to get him and thus, could even work with a campaign starting at 1st level. If the PCs happen to be marked too, so much the better, but otherwise they could simply be hired by representatives from all the houses. In fact, how badass must the man in black be if all of the Houses want him eliminated?

Granted, the PCs probably cannot go into the Mournland at first level but that doesn't mean the campaign cannot start at 1st. Perhaps the houses lost him after he faded into the Mournland and now they are trying to pick up the trail. Maybe there have been certain recent events that are characteristic of the Man in Black, etc.

Anyhoo, all kinds of options for something like this. The only issue you really have to be careful with is knowing how long you want the campaign to run and making sure that trail stays warm enough to keep the party's interest while making sure that the Man in Black continues to avoid capture, etc.