Beneath the Ice! Eberron Dungeon Crawl {Full}

[nonamazing]

Nah, I only chose green to go with that whole original weird mating thing that the Vol line did with the green dragon. White, I felt, was too apropo, originally. If it fits with whachew got, then cool by me. I might change my spell line up based on that (is Lesser Shivering Touch okay?)

Traits:
Focused: Trained from day one to keep spells going and to ignore things around me.
Quick: Taught to keep my feet moving at all times.

Flaws:
Murky Eyed: My eyes are icing over!
Unreactive: It takes me a while to get Focused.

Does that work? Do you have any suggestions?

Here's why I had suggested white dragon (spoiler text):

Spoiler

One of the major NPC's in the game is a white dragon who has lived in the Frostfell all his life, since his mother left him several centuries ago. Rigel would be distantly related to the white dragon's mother, making the two of them cousins, in a sense.

This would have only a minor effect on the story, so it is completely optional. If you want to go for it, feel free to change your spell list to refect the new 'flavour'.

I did have an idea for the flaws, if you're interested. I thought that they could be related to the vampire side of her heritage, that she is extremely sluggish and sleepy during the day, which causes her flaws. Since that would alter the flaws so that they effect her during the daylight hours only, I'd want to add a third, 'extra' flaw, to balance things out. I was thinking of "positive energy reversal", which would mean that the character takes damage from cure spells and heals from inflict spells, like an undead, and can be affected by turn undead. Or perhaps, if that one seems too severe, light sensitivity, like the drow's weakness. The whole flaw 'package' would be a reflection of her vampire traits.

Here's some information your character would have about the backstory of the adventure. Feel free to incorporate any of this into your character's history: [SBLOCK]About twenty years ago, Lord Boroman ir'Dayne led an expedition to the Frostfell. It is considered to be the only truly successful expedition--Lord Boroman's party actually went deep inland, while other explorers had merely charted the shorelines. But one of the explorers did not return. Grinton Steed, listed in the records as an 'equipment wrangler', vanished. According to Lord Boroman, Steed had a difficult time adjusting to the harsh conditions, and died out on the ice. From your research, you have discovered that Grinton Steed was the last person to hold the Grimoire Arcanamacha, and Lord Boroman or his crew did not bring it back with them. Therefore, it must still be out there somewhere, perhaps in Steed's grave.
Lord Boroman's record of the expedition was very interesting, but he made no further trips. In fact, he discouraged other explorers. There was nothing valuable out there, he said, and no intelligent natives to trade with. Aside from a few bizarre and horrible monsters, the Frostfell was empty. That's why Quentin Voddlegrok was ridiculed so heavily when he announced his intention to travel to the Frostfell in search of the Dwarves--everybody knew there were no Dwarves in the Frostfell! But did Lord Boroman have something to hide? And could it possibly be related to the death of Grinton Steed and the missing Grimoire Arcanamacha? That is what Rigel is going to find out...[/SBLOCK]

 

[Mark Causey]

I'm more than willing to go with full blown positive energy allergy, if we can define one other thing. Spells sometime refer to as 'undead'. Am I undead? If so, then my Chill Touch spell would devestate me if I used it on myself, and would be susceptible to all things that state undead as targets. If not, then I could 'heal' myself with my Chill Touch (fine by me), but there might be some confusion later on as to what affects me or not. Also, do I heal with rest? We can solve this altogether by removing the human paragon levels, taking on the Necropolitan template, and taking a different level line up (I'd have 4 levels to play with, not 5). What're your thoughts?

 

[RillianPA]

Hello,

It looks as though you are short 1 or 2 players, and your alternates are not responding. If it turns out that you have room, please add me as an alternate (or actual player ), and I will toss some character ideas your way.

Thanks,
RillianPA

 

[nonamazing]

RillianPA - Hello! Well, since you've certainly shown some initiative, I don't see any reason not to add you to the game. Go ahead and put together a character. The new PCs will be introduced into the story fairly soon. You have the option of making either a native of the Frostfell (frost elf, glacier dwarf, or uldra) or a backup explorer who has been waiting on the ship this whole time (or you might have been one of the ship's crew, who suddenly sees a chance to try something new, or possibly one of the earlier captured soldiers who makes a decision to switch sides).

At this point, feel free to be as wide open as you'd like with your concept--go for whatever seems interesting to you. Between the two of us, we'll work it into the story.

adamantineangel - As I had envisioned it, the 'positive energy reversal' flaw would not make Rigel undead. It's only effects would be that 1) cure spells do damage to her, 2) inflict spells heal her, and 3) the channelling of positive energy (ie, turn undead) can repel her. Due to her heritage, positive energy reacts in strange ways when she comes in contact with it, and negitive energy seems to be attracted to her. I didn't want to make it too severe--just wanted to balance out the other two flaws if we decided to make them 'during daylight hours only'. Rigel would still be able to rest normally, and be considered a mortal creature in all ways.

Of course, if you want to go the undead route, that's certainly an option. I'd have to take a look at this Necropolitan template--that's in Liber Mortis, right?

 

[RillianPA]

Hey nonamazing,

Thanks, I'm looking forward to joining in. If we can find a way to make it work, here is my character idea, in very broad strokes...details and stats to follow:

Balthazar d'Still ay il'Quartos is the son of a union between noble house and dragonmark house (I took the liberty of deciding that the naming convention for the rare children of both noble and dragonmark is similar to the Spanish, father's patronymic first, then mother's, but anyone who calls him by a last name would call him il'Quartos or maybe just Quartos). He is what might be refered to as a "gentleman explorer", a poncy, effete, dilletante (imagine certain English explorers of the early 1800s). For all of that, he is still quite competent (he's 5th+ level, he must be), quite likeable, and someday, he might make a reasonable Quartermain. He really should have a gentleman's gentleman, Jenkins, a man who cleans, cooks, serves, and possibly loots the dead, but is otherwise useless in combat, and whose only real knowledges are related to noble precedence. However, I understand if an NPC like that would get in the way, and can do without.

He will probably be a member of the explorer Dragonmark house, and might very well be a friend/aquaintance of the Quentin Voddlegrok, who just caught up (had an airship deliver him).

Mechanically, I have 2 ideas:
First idea is a Soulknife/Psychic Warrior who will take levels of Elocater (Scorn earth, the ability to walk around without touching the ground, just seems so amazingly appropriate for this character)

Second idea is a Warlock from Complete Arcane.
Either way the character will have relatively high Dex and Cha.

Anyway, let me know what you think so far...I can alter, expand or scrap.

 

[nonamazing]

RillianPA - That sounds like an interesting character. I'm sure the naming conventions are fine. Here's my idea for how to work hime into the story: Back on the mainland, Lord Boroman ir'Dayne is going mad with worry. His incredibly valuable sailing ship has been stolen (by the paladin he hired to guard it, no less!), and he suspects a plot is afoot to interfere with Voddlegrok's expedition. He wants to try and contact the explorers, but the ship that was stolen was the only ship that could have possibly caught up with them (an airship is limited in that it must return to port fairly often to 'recharge'--one could not make it all the way across the ocean).

Lord Boroman comes to you asking for help. He had spent nearly his entire fortune on his ship, now wasted money. At first, Boroman comes asking for a loan (as you are incredibly rich), but something about this whole matter intrigues you (you are an acquaintance of Voddlegrok, and somewhat worried about the poor little fellow). You agree to help Boroman contact the explorers--but you insist that you have to be the one to do it. You arange to contact the most powerful woman in Stormhome, Esravash d'Lyrandar, and between your charm and your huge sacks of money, you manage to convince the Lyrandar family to hire a teleporter to send you to the Frostfell. Since you are friends with Voddlegrok, they can use the connection between the two of you to teleport you straight to him. Esravash also entrusts you with the Horn of Lyrandar and insists that you bring it to her beloved cousin, Karthak d'Lyrandar.

As for your man Jenkins (who you would, of course, insist on bringing along, no matter the cost), I was thinking that he might be an early model Warforged, one that your family ordered specially designed for you (did I mention that your family is incredibly rich? they are). He would be a very early model, and kind of old, so he's a bit creaky and clanky, not much use in a fight. But he is always very calm and collected--nothing ever fazes him. No matter what you might ask of him, he always just says, "Very good, sir", and does his best.

You're free to go with either of the class options you suggested, but I feel that the flavour of Warlock might fit a little better for this character. Perhaps Warlock/Swashbucker?

Anyway, all of these are just ideas and suggestions--tell me what you like and we'll use it, anything you don't like, we'll toss aside.

 

[RillianPA]

Actually that all sounds really good. In fact, since his career of choice is exploration, a chance to seek out the lost home of the dwarves, in addition to helping out his friend, is all the incentive he would need.

I agree, the warlock/swashbuckler is a really good match. Ok, I will go with warlock...but I dont plan on taking many levels of other classes, and with the warlock, I have no PrC plans. Before I finish my character, I will need to examine the swashbuckler class, and some PrCs, but I should be able to finish tonight.

Before I do the detailed background, I was hoping you could answer a couple questions / make a couple suggestions. Which dragonmark house should he be from, and where should his noble parent be from? My general expectation is that his father is the dragonmark, his mother the noble, and that while he believes they fell in love (though its hard to tell since they are not particularly effusive people), the mother's dowry included massively valuable mineral rights. Are the surnames that I gave him ok? I didnt see anything about the names in my Eberron campaign setting (but I might have missed it).

Also, I saw somewhere a mention of the Wayfarer's Guild? Do you know what this is, because Balthazar should probably belong to some snobby explorer's club.

Last is there any way that Jenkins could have 1 use per day of Prestidigitation? No other spells, its just that this is the perfect spell for a gentleman's gentleman (cleaning and maintaining, and even color changing clothing).

 

[Mark Causey]

adamantineangel - As I had envisioned it, the 'positive energy reversal' flaw would not make Rigel undead. It's only effects would be that 1) cure spells do damage to her, 2) inflict spells heal her, and 3) the channelling of positive energy (ie, turn undead) can repel her. Due to her heritage, positive energy reacts in strange ways when she comes in contact with it, and negitive energy seems to be attracted to her. I didn't want to make it too severe--just wanted to balance out the other two flaws if we decided to make them 'during daylight hours only'. Rigel would still be able to rest normally, and be considered a mortal creature in all ways.

Of course, if you want to go the undead route, that's certainly an option. I'd have to take a look at this Necropolitan template--that's in Liber Mortis, right?

Nah, I was only going with the undead so that there would be an easy reference for questions yet to arise. How about this:

-Positive energy is anathema, all the time. Treat as negative energy on standard PHB races.
-Negative energy is curative, all the time, at half rate (like how 'forged are affected by positive energy).
-Rigel is treated as an undead for the purposes of being turned or commanded by clerics, all the time. I count as a creature at half my HD.
-When in bright light conditions, such as sunlight or the daylight spell, I am affected by two more Flaws: Murky Eyed and Unreactive.

This is balanced, especially in a dungeon crawl, where day and night are hard to determine.

Does that work? The more questions we can avoid in the future, the better, IMHO.

 

[Ferrix]

Nah, I was only going with the undead so that there would be an easy reference for questions yet to arise. How about this:

-Positive energy is anathema, all the time. Treat as negative energy on standard PHB races.
-Negative energy is curative, all the time, at half rate (like how 'forged are affected by positive energy).
-Rigel is treated as an undead for the purposes of being turned or commanded by clerics, all the time. I count as a creature at half my HD.
-When in bright light conditions, such as sunlight or the daylight spell, I am affected by two more Flaws: Murky Eyed and Unreactive.

This is balanced, especially in a dungeon crawl, where day and night are hard to determine.

Does that work? The more questions we can avoid in the future, the better, IMHO.

Having yourself count as a creature of half your HD makes you incredibly easy to control/turn by a cleric. It should stay at your HD.

I think you're giving yourself the short end of the stick with healing half with negative energy and taking full damage from positive, at least warforged can be repaired fully with repair damage spells.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[nonamazing]

Does that work? The more questions we can avoid in the future, the better, IMHO.

That all looks fine to me, with two minor corrections. First of all, I do agree with Ferrix that being considered as half her Hit Dice for purposes of being turned/controlled is a little bit harsh (I know of at least one evil cleric in the story that would love to have the chance to control Rigel, if it were that easy). Secondly, I don't like the idea of her being actually controlled by evil clerics, as she is not a mindless undead. Let us say instead that as she is attracted to negative energy, successful control attempts work on her like a charm person spell. Thus, she can't be commanded to do anything suicidal. I wanted to cross that option off the list, because it would make it waay to easy for one of the story's villains to dispose of Rigel.

I do like the idea of having negative energy cure her by only half the amount (as per Warforged healing). After all, she is not truly undead, so the energy is not completely compatible with her system (and from a game balance standpoint, it makes sense, as negative energy can be used as both a weapon and as healing for Rigel. For example, a wand of inflict light wounds works double duty for her).

Which dragonmark house should he be from, and where should his noble parent be from? My general expectation is that his father is the dragonmark, his mother the noble, and that while he believes they fell in love (though its hard to tell since they are not particularly effusive people), the mother's dowry included massively valuable mineral rights. Are the surnames that I gave him ok?

Looking over the various houses, I think that House Orien makes the most sense. They're the house that deals with travel, which would appear to fit your character concept. You could also be from House Tharashk, the house of Finding, but they're a little more uncouth--I don't think any of them would be marrying into any noble families.

The game started off in Aundair, and it makes sense that your character would be from there. A large portion of House Orien's lightning rail runs through Aundair, and during the last war, Orien probably sought to form alliances with Aundairian nobles in order to protect their property. No doubt some of these alliances would have been in the form of marriages. Looking for Aundairian noble families, I found Lain, Torn, and Kenthi. Any one of those would make for a suitable noble family for your character to be from. Of course, there are many, many rich noble families in Aundair, so there are all sorts of possible names (ie, you could just make up a name, it's okay).

Dragonmarked house members use an apostrophe-d (d') in front of their house names, like so: Karthak d'Lyrandar. Noble families use a title (usually Lord or Lady) and an apostrophe-ir (ir'), like so: Lord Boroman ir'Dayne. I believe that the Dragonmarked House name takes precedence, despite whether it came from the father or the mother's side. So your character's name would be something like this: Lord Balthazar d'Orien ir'Torn. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Also, I saw somewhere a mention of the Wayfarer's Guild? Do you know what this is, because Balthazar should probably belong to some snobby explorer's club.

A snobby explorer's club is exactly what the Wayfarer's Guild is. Well, maybe not that snobby. They hire explorers and provide funds to various important expeditions. Lord Boroman is, in fact, the respected founder--maybe that's where he happened to know your character from?

Last is there any way that Jenkins could have 1 use per day of Prestidigitation? No other spells, its just that this is the perfect spell for a gentleman's gentleman (cleaning and maintaining, and even color changing clothing).

That makes perfect sense. Jenkins has a warforged component of prestidigitation, which allows him to use the cantrip up to 5 times per day.