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Victorian Eberron idea
- Thread starter drothgery
- Start date
Necro_Kinder
First Post
I thought they bred true between themselves. Also, would other races (shifters, kalashtar, halflings) be descriminated against by the new mostly human populus? Would that make it harder to have say, a Shifter PC?
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stonegod said:
That, and most elves that lived and chose not to return to Arenal did so because they had a human or half-elf spouse; most of the 'full elves' in the Maradal Principalities are actually '3/4-elves', or otherwise have just enough elven blood that they're mechanically full elves, but they do have some human ancestry.
It's probably worth noting, though, that there are more elves in the Maradal Principalities than there were in Valenar, and more gnomes in the Republic of South Khorvaire than there were in Zilargo and Breland in 998 YK. Elf (at least, if you count 3/4 elves as full elves), dwarf, and gnome populations have pretty much recovered to where they were in 998 YK, it's just that humans and half elves have grown explosively, so they seem much smaller relatively speaking. Halflings have not, because the tribes of the plains were largely wiped out.
Necro_Kinder said:
There are no kalashtar. The link between Eberron and Dal Quor has been severed, but the Quori that their Inspired minions brought to Eberron did manage to hunt down every last bearer of the spirit of those who fled before they were all destroyed in turn (mostly by evils even greater than themselves). Halflings aren't discriminated against, but there just aren't very many of them. Shifters, on the other hand, are definitely discriminated against, and those that survive tend to live in regions that have not been claimed by the new nations of men and half-elves; currently this is most of western Khorvaire (what was the Eldeen Reaches, Shadow Marches, Demon Wastes, and Droamm). They weren't hit as hard as goblins, hobgoblins, and orcs by the vengeful armies of men and Khorvar in the rise and breakup of the Empire of the Flame (57 AS - 228 AS), but they were definitely hit.
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Religion
The Church of the Silver Flame
Largely because Flamekeep was the only major city that survived the cataclysm with minimal damage, because it was the sacrifice of the Keeper of the Flame that finally ended the time of Great Evils roaming free on Eberron, and because the initial expansion of civilized humanity out from Thrane was under the aegis of the short-lived Empire of the Flame, the Church of the Silver Flame is the dominant faith in Khorvaire. Not surprisngly, the faith has splintered over the centuries.
Orthodox Church of the Silver Flame
Easily the largest sect within the Church of the Silver Flame, the Orthodox faith is pretty much the faith as described in standard Eberron materials. The major changes have been the loss of temporal authority in Thrane (though the church still has great influence there), and some success by the Holy Office of the Inquisition in removing evil priests from positions of authority. The Keeper of the Flame is nominally of the Orthodox sect, and the Council of Cardinals are the church authorities.
Reformed Church of the Silver Flame
The major doctrinal difference between the Reformed Church and the Orthodox church is that they reject the authority of the Council of Cardinals, and emphasize personal faith more than collective action. The Reformed Church was established when the King of Wroat had a major dispute with the Orthodox Church regarding a corrupt local cardinal (the Kingdom of Wroat has long since been subsumed into the Republic of South Khorvaire). The Reformed Church is Chaotic Good.
Other Flamic Sects
There are scores of other breakaway sects from the mainline Church. Almost all reject the authority of the Council of Cardinals, but recognize the Keeper as the mortal representative of the Flame. The largest of them is the Gabrielite* ascetics, who actually predate the cataclysm; they tend to eschew material possesions, and, unlike the mainline church, do not object to resurrection magic. Flamic sects exists of every Good and Neutral (with respect to Good and Evil) alignment.
The Host of the Faithful
Followers of the Sovreign Host were once a majority in Khorvaire, and are still a significant minority. The faith is substantially less organized than the Orthodox -- or even Reformed -- Church of the Flame, which hurts its influence even in nations where its followers are a plurality.
The Undying Court
Many of the Undying were slain when the great evils released in the cataclysm turned their attention to Arenal, but they -- and the elves -- were ancient and powerful, and many elven heroes returned to Arenal to defend them. Some of the Court did survive, and the elves of Arenal, and many of the elves and half-elves of the Maradal Prinicipalities still follow the Court.
* And were sort-of established by a PC in my tabletop game.
The Church of the Silver Flame
Largely because Flamekeep was the only major city that survived the cataclysm with minimal damage, because it was the sacrifice of the Keeper of the Flame that finally ended the time of Great Evils roaming free on Eberron, and because the initial expansion of civilized humanity out from Thrane was under the aegis of the short-lived Empire of the Flame, the Church of the Silver Flame is the dominant faith in Khorvaire. Not surprisngly, the faith has splintered over the centuries.
Orthodox Church of the Silver Flame
Easily the largest sect within the Church of the Silver Flame, the Orthodox faith is pretty much the faith as described in standard Eberron materials. The major changes have been the loss of temporal authority in Thrane (though the church still has great influence there), and some success by the Holy Office of the Inquisition in removing evil priests from positions of authority. The Keeper of the Flame is nominally of the Orthodox sect, and the Council of Cardinals are the church authorities.
Reformed Church of the Silver Flame
The major doctrinal difference between the Reformed Church and the Orthodox church is that they reject the authority of the Council of Cardinals, and emphasize personal faith more than collective action. The Reformed Church was established when the King of Wroat had a major dispute with the Orthodox Church regarding a corrupt local cardinal (the Kingdom of Wroat has long since been subsumed into the Republic of South Khorvaire). The Reformed Church is Chaotic Good.
Other Flamic Sects
There are scores of other breakaway sects from the mainline Church. Almost all reject the authority of the Council of Cardinals, but recognize the Keeper as the mortal representative of the Flame. The largest of them is the Gabrielite* ascetics, who actually predate the cataclysm; they tend to eschew material possesions, and, unlike the mainline church, do not object to resurrection magic. Flamic sects exists of every Good and Neutral (with respect to Good and Evil) alignment.
The Host of the Faithful
Followers of the Sovreign Host were once a majority in Khorvaire, and are still a significant minority. The faith is substantially less organized than the Orthodox -- or even Reformed -- Church of the Flame, which hurts its influence even in nations where its followers are a plurality.
The Undying Court
Many of the Undying were slain when the great evils released in the cataclysm turned their attention to Arenal, but they -- and the elves -- were ancient and powerful, and many elven heroes returned to Arenal to defend them. Some of the Court did survive, and the elves of Arenal, and many of the elves and half-elves of the Maradal Prinicipalities still follow the Court.
* And were sort-of established by a PC in my tabletop game.
Jemal
Adventurer
I was picturing a swashbuckler/fighter who uses pistols. (High dex/int, lotsa skills, pistol's are light weapons and thus gain the swashbuckler's int to damage. Fighting defensively in light/no armour, quipping, etc.).
The reason swashbuckler's suck is b/c they're basically a dip class, (Similar to monks/paladins, except monk's and paladins have SOME reason to take more than a few levels). After level 3 they don't really have anything that I find fun. Dodge bonus +1(single target) every 5 levels? woohoo. Maybe if it were a flat out Dodge bonus to AC (and not single opponent), like monk.. And as for Grace and improved flanking..
The problem with Swashbucklers is that while a lot of their abilities make sense (Weapon Finesse, acrobatic charge, acrobatic skill mastery), they aren't very USEFUL.
Some of the higher level stuf, while powerful, either comes too late to be useful(slippery mind at lvl 17?), or is based off of Crits (weakening and wounding critical)... Meaning to make proper use of them you should be playing a 'crit character'.
My biggest problem is that they don't have a good END ability (Unless, as stated before, you're into crits, and I don't like playing crit characters b/c there's a good chance at high level that your opponent will be immune)
Personally what I'd do to it is drop grace, and instead give them a GOOD reflex save. Replace the dodge bonus with a +1/5 levels Dodge Bonus to AC and drop Improved Flanking for Uncanny Dodge at lvl 2, Improved Uncanny dodge at level 8.. (I never saw swashbuckling as focusing on one opponent, I picture people moving and fighting several foes, fencing with three opponents at a time.. you know, MOVIE swashbucklers).
NOW, at this point there's two ways to go.. If you want the swashbuckler to be a critical hit character, keep weakening/wounding critical, and add Improved Critical as a bonus feat at level 9.
Otherwise, i'd drop those two in favour of bonus feats or specific rogue special abilities(Defensive roll/Opportunist?) at levels 9, 14 and 19.
BTW, keep in mind that As it stands, Swashbuckler doesn't have any real 'dead' levels, because all the levels when they don't gain a class ability they either gain a feat or a stat point (4,6,9,12,16)
The reason swashbuckler's suck is b/c they're basically a dip class, (Similar to monks/paladins, except monk's and paladins have SOME reason to take more than a few levels). After level 3 they don't really have anything that I find fun. Dodge bonus +1(single target) every 5 levels? woohoo. Maybe if it were a flat out Dodge bonus to AC (and not single opponent), like monk.. And as for Grace and improved flanking..
The problem with Swashbucklers is that while a lot of their abilities make sense (Weapon Finesse, acrobatic charge, acrobatic skill mastery), they aren't very USEFUL.
Some of the higher level stuf, while powerful, either comes too late to be useful(slippery mind at lvl 17?), or is based off of Crits (weakening and wounding critical)... Meaning to make proper use of them you should be playing a 'crit character'.
My biggest problem is that they don't have a good END ability (Unless, as stated before, you're into crits, and I don't like playing crit characters b/c there's a good chance at high level that your opponent will be immune)
Personally what I'd do to it is drop grace, and instead give them a GOOD reflex save. Replace the dodge bonus with a +1/5 levels Dodge Bonus to AC and drop Improved Flanking for Uncanny Dodge at lvl 2, Improved Uncanny dodge at level 8.. (I never saw swashbuckling as focusing on one opponent, I picture people moving and fighting several foes, fencing with three opponents at a time.. you know, MOVIE swashbucklers).
NOW, at this point there's two ways to go.. If you want the swashbuckler to be a critical hit character, keep weakening/wounding critical, and add Improved Critical as a bonus feat at level 9.
Otherwise, i'd drop those two in favour of bonus feats or specific rogue special abilities(Defensive roll/Opportunist?) at levels 9, 14 and 19.
BTW, keep in mind that As it stands, Swashbuckler doesn't have any real 'dead' levels, because all the levels when they don't gain a class ability they either gain a feat or a stat point (4,6,9,12,16)
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nonamazing
Explorer
What if the alchemists had found a very easy way to work with cold iron? Cold iron weapons could be very common, and perhaps many of the major new structures (such as the new rails, etc.) could be made of cold iron. Maybe that's one of the things helping to keep magic "down"? It would be interesting if most of the ammunition for the firearms were made of cold iron. If my history is accurate (and it may not be), firearms dominated the battlefield because they were capable of piercing any sort of armor. Maybe in a quasi-magical world, firearms dominated because the cold iron bullets had the ability to pierce magical defenses.
It seems like alchemy will will be important in this setting. Will it be fairly common? It seems that if the players have a chance to get themselves prepared, they can make good use of alchemy to deal with various problems (i.e, using alchemist's fire to deal with creatures weak against fire). You'll just want to make sure that most of the monsters your players fight have some sort of exploitable weakness.
If your main concern is balance, keep in mind that if the majority of opponents are humanoids with class levels, then the game balance will be intact, assuming the opponents are also lacking magic items and using the same optional rules as the players (such as the defense bonus rules and the variant classes). If the characters will be fighting monsters, then you'll need to consider different variables, as the CRs won't quite match up. But that might actually work in your favor: it may be that battling monsters is meant to be extremely difficult and dangerous.
What about giving some (if not all) of these classes have extra skill points? (To reflect a more educated society, and because a broad foundation of skills may be useful in a low magic setting.)
What other sorts of cool non-magical equipment might the characters have access to, in addition to firearms?
It seems like alchemy will will be important in this setting. Will it be fairly common? It seems that if the players have a chance to get themselves prepared, they can make good use of alchemy to deal with various problems (i.e, using alchemist's fire to deal with creatures weak against fire). You'll just want to make sure that most of the monsters your players fight have some sort of exploitable weakness.
If your main concern is balance, keep in mind that if the majority of opponents are humanoids with class levels, then the game balance will be intact, assuming the opponents are also lacking magic items and using the same optional rules as the players (such as the defense bonus rules and the variant classes). If the characters will be fighting monsters, then you'll need to consider different variables, as the CRs won't quite match up. But that might actually work in your favor: it may be that battling monsters is meant to be extremely difficult and dangerous.
What about giving some (if not all) of these classes have extra skill points? (To reflect a more educated society, and because a broad foundation of skills may be useful in a low magic setting.)
What other sorts of cool non-magical equipment might the characters have access to, in addition to firearms?
