The other day I was working on one of my campaigns in the living room while daughter #3 and her boyfriend were watching an anime called Fairy Tail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_Tail). They had been bugging me for a while to run a D&D campaign for them, but I had put it off for lack of inspiration. However, as they watched episode after episode of the young people and talking, flying cat taking on quests and battling rival guild members, I had an epiphany – this was a lot like Eberron!
The similarities were superficial, to be sure, but the more I watched, the more I saw parallels. Wizards of different schools and styles of magic joined guilds dedicated to various ideals and responsibilities. Although everyone seemed to wield magic, there was a lot of combat as well. Sometimes the guilds cooperated, sometimes they were at odds.
I told daughter #3 and her boyfriend about the Dragonmarked Houses of Eberron, how they had integrated themselves into society by making their powers useful, and how various guilds superseded national loyalty as well. I told them about the races unique to Eberron (unique as in having debuted there first) – the warforged, shifters, changelings, and kalashtars – and I outlined the differences between the “standard” D&D races and their cultures in Eberron.
In Fairy Tail they have a mixture of technology and magic, just as in Eberron. The heroes drove a car powered by magic drawn directly from the driver, and there was a big battle on a speeding train. I told the two teenagers about the lightning rails, and the airships, and creation forges. We talked about the Great War and its significance to the storyline, and they decided they wanted to play.
I pulled up the Character Builder for them on D&D Insider, and they made 1st level characters. Daughter #3 made a warforged bladesinger, and her boyfriend made a changeling assassin. Armed with that information, I set to work.
The biggest challenge, of course, was adapting any adventures to just two characters. I decided that, just as in their anime, I would add an NPC to the party to shore up any weaknesses, and that NPC would change from time to time. Whenever possible I would try and adapt the action to just the two of them.
A couple days later, they said they had a friend who wanted to join, but couldn’t play every time we played. I thought I could work with that, if I kept the adventures short. The quests the characters from Fairy Tail undertook sometimes needed only two of them (plus the talking cat), sometimes three, and sometimes four, so I figured I could do the same in Eberron.
The first adventure I chose was “The Mark of Prophecy” in the back of the 4E Eberron Campaign Guide. I figured we’d start with the flashback and their characters at 1st level, then jump forward four years as the adventure directs, and I’d advance them to 3rd level. That would make it easier for them to survive encounters as a duo (sometimes a trio), and it would allow me to keep the mix of creatures in the encounters without cutting them down so much that every combat is just two on two.
So here is daughter #3’s character:
Morg Level 1 Bladesinger
Medium animate (living construct, warforged) XP --
HP 24 Bloodied 12 Initiative +2
Surge Value 6 Surges 8 Senses Perception +0
AC 19
Fortitude 11; Reflex 15; Will 13
Speed 6
Saving Throws +2 against ongoing damage
Action Points 1
Traits
Guarded Flourish
Morg’s ranged and area attacks don’t provoke opportunity attacks when he uses a one-handed weapon. He also gains a +2 shield bonus to AC when wearing no armor or light armor and wielding a one-handed weapon without a shield.
Implements
Morg is proficient with sickles, which he treats as wands.
Living Construct
Morg does not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep.
Unsleeping Watcher
Morg needs only 4 hours of inactivity for an extended rest.
Warforged Tactics
Morg gains a +1 bonus on melee attacks against foes adjacent to his allies.
Standard Actions
M Sickle (weapon) * At-Will
Attack: Melee (one creature); +7 vs. AC
Hit: 1d6+5 damage.
R Magic Missile (arcane, evocation, force, implement) * At-Will
Effect: Ranged 20 (one creature); 7 force damage.
r Prestidigitation (arcane) * At-Will
Effect: Ranged 2; choose one of the following effects:
Second Wind (healing) * Encounter
Effect: Morg spends a healing surge and regains hit points equal to his surge value. In addition, he gains a +2 bonus to all defenses until the start of his next turn.
Minor Actions
Bladesong (arcane) * Encounter
Requirement: Morg must be wielding a one-handed weapon with nothing in his other hand.
Effect: Until the end of Morg’s next turn, he gains a +2 power bonus to attack rolls and all defenses, and a +5 power bonus to damage rolls.
Warforged Resolve (healing) * Encounter
Effect: Morg gains 3 temporary hit points and can make a saving throw against one effect that deals ongoing damage. If Morg is bloodied, he also regains 3 hit points.
Water Stride (arcane) * Encounter
Effect: Until the end of Morg’s next turn, he can treat liquid surfaces as if they were solid ground but difficult terrain.
Triggered Actions
r Dazzling Sunray (arcane, bladespell, radiant) * At-Will
Trigger: Morg hits an enemy with his sickle attack while his other hand is empty.
Effect (No Action): Ranged 10 (one creature); 2 radiant damage, and the target takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of Morg’s next turn.
r Lightning Ring (arcane, bladespell, lightning) * At-Will
Trigger: Morg hits an enemy with his sickle attack while his other hand is empty.
Effect (No Action): Ranged 10 (one creature); 2 lightning damage, and the first time the target moves before the end of Morg’s next turn, it takes 2 lightning damage again.
r Shadow Sever (arcane, bladespell, necrotic) * At-Will
Trigger: Morg hits an enemy with his sickle attack while his other hand is empty.
Effect (No Action): Ranged 10 (one creature); 2 necrotic damage, and the target falls prone if it is the same size or smaller than the target of the triggering attack.
Suggestion (arcane) * Encounter
Trigger: Morg makes a Diplomacy check.
Effect (Free Action): Morg makes an Arcana check instead, using that result to determine the outcome of the Diplomacy check.
Skills Acrobatics +7, Arcana +10, Athletics +5, History +10
Str 11 (+0) Dex 14 (+2) Wis 10 (+0)
Con 12 (+1) Int 20 (+5) Cha 8 (-1)
Alignment Unaligned Languages Common
Equipment leather armor, sickle, adventurer’s kit, spellbook, 8 gp
Spellbook (Choose one per day):
r Chill Strike (arcane, cold, evocation, implement) * Daily
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +5 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 2d8+5 cold damage, and the target is dazed until the end of Morg’s next turn.
Miss: The target is slowed until the end of Morg’s next turn.
r Ray of Enfeeblement (arcane, implement, necromancy, necrotic) * Daily
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +5 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d10+5 necrotic damage, and the target is weakened until the end of Morg’s next turn.
Next Monday I’ll post the boyfriend’s character and we’ll talk about how the first session went.
Do you run games for your kids and their friends? How do they turn out? Let me know in the comments below.
The similarities were superficial, to be sure, but the more I watched, the more I saw parallels. Wizards of different schools and styles of magic joined guilds dedicated to various ideals and responsibilities. Although everyone seemed to wield magic, there was a lot of combat as well. Sometimes the guilds cooperated, sometimes they were at odds.
I told daughter #3 and her boyfriend about the Dragonmarked Houses of Eberron, how they had integrated themselves into society by making their powers useful, and how various guilds superseded national loyalty as well. I told them about the races unique to Eberron (unique as in having debuted there first) – the warforged, shifters, changelings, and kalashtars – and I outlined the differences between the “standard” D&D races and their cultures in Eberron.
In Fairy Tail they have a mixture of technology and magic, just as in Eberron. The heroes drove a car powered by magic drawn directly from the driver, and there was a big battle on a speeding train. I told the two teenagers about the lightning rails, and the airships, and creation forges. We talked about the Great War and its significance to the storyline, and they decided they wanted to play.
I pulled up the Character Builder for them on D&D Insider, and they made 1st level characters. Daughter #3 made a warforged bladesinger, and her boyfriend made a changeling assassin. Armed with that information, I set to work.
The biggest challenge, of course, was adapting any adventures to just two characters. I decided that, just as in their anime, I would add an NPC to the party to shore up any weaknesses, and that NPC would change from time to time. Whenever possible I would try and adapt the action to just the two of them.
A couple days later, they said they had a friend who wanted to join, but couldn’t play every time we played. I thought I could work with that, if I kept the adventures short. The quests the characters from Fairy Tail undertook sometimes needed only two of them (plus the talking cat), sometimes three, and sometimes four, so I figured I could do the same in Eberron.
The first adventure I chose was “The Mark of Prophecy” in the back of the 4E Eberron Campaign Guide. I figured we’d start with the flashback and their characters at 1st level, then jump forward four years as the adventure directs, and I’d advance them to 3rd level. That would make it easier for them to survive encounters as a duo (sometimes a trio), and it would allow me to keep the mix of creatures in the encounters without cutting them down so much that every combat is just two on two.
So here is daughter #3’s character:
Morg Level 1 Bladesinger
Medium animate (living construct, warforged) XP --
HP 24 Bloodied 12 Initiative +2
Surge Value 6 Surges 8 Senses Perception +0
AC 19
Fortitude 11; Reflex 15; Will 13
Speed 6
Saving Throws +2 against ongoing damage
Action Points 1
Traits
Guarded Flourish
Morg’s ranged and area attacks don’t provoke opportunity attacks when he uses a one-handed weapon. He also gains a +2 shield bonus to AC when wearing no armor or light armor and wielding a one-handed weapon without a shield.
Implements
Morg is proficient with sickles, which he treats as wands.
Living Construct
Morg does not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep.
Unsleeping Watcher
Morg needs only 4 hours of inactivity for an extended rest.
Warforged Tactics
Morg gains a +1 bonus on melee attacks against foes adjacent to his allies.
Standard Actions
M Sickle (weapon) * At-Will
Attack: Melee (one creature); +7 vs. AC
Hit: 1d6+5 damage.
R Magic Missile (arcane, evocation, force, implement) * At-Will
Effect: Ranged 20 (one creature); 7 force damage.
r Prestidigitation (arcane) * At-Will
Effect: Ranged 2; choose one of the following effects:
- Change the color of items in 1 cubic foot.
- Create a harmless sensory effect.
- Clean or soil items in 1 cubic foot.
- Instantly light or snuff out a candle, torch, or small campfire.
- Chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 lb of nonliving material for up to 1 hour.
- Perform an act of legerdemain.
- Make a small, handheld item invisible until the end of Morg’s next turn.
Second Wind (healing) * Encounter
Effect: Morg spends a healing surge and regains hit points equal to his surge value. In addition, he gains a +2 bonus to all defenses until the start of his next turn.
Minor Actions
Bladesong (arcane) * Encounter
Requirement: Morg must be wielding a one-handed weapon with nothing in his other hand.
Effect: Until the end of Morg’s next turn, he gains a +2 power bonus to attack rolls and all defenses, and a +5 power bonus to damage rolls.
Warforged Resolve (healing) * Encounter
Effect: Morg gains 3 temporary hit points and can make a saving throw against one effect that deals ongoing damage. If Morg is bloodied, he also regains 3 hit points.
Water Stride (arcane) * Encounter
Effect: Until the end of Morg’s next turn, he can treat liquid surfaces as if they were solid ground but difficult terrain.
Triggered Actions
r Dazzling Sunray (arcane, bladespell, radiant) * At-Will
Trigger: Morg hits an enemy with his sickle attack while his other hand is empty.
Effect (No Action): Ranged 10 (one creature); 2 radiant damage, and the target takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of Morg’s next turn.
r Lightning Ring (arcane, bladespell, lightning) * At-Will
Trigger: Morg hits an enemy with his sickle attack while his other hand is empty.
Effect (No Action): Ranged 10 (one creature); 2 lightning damage, and the first time the target moves before the end of Morg’s next turn, it takes 2 lightning damage again.
r Shadow Sever (arcane, bladespell, necrotic) * At-Will
Trigger: Morg hits an enemy with his sickle attack while his other hand is empty.
Effect (No Action): Ranged 10 (one creature); 2 necrotic damage, and the target falls prone if it is the same size or smaller than the target of the triggering attack.
Suggestion (arcane) * Encounter
Trigger: Morg makes a Diplomacy check.
Effect (Free Action): Morg makes an Arcana check instead, using that result to determine the outcome of the Diplomacy check.
Skills Acrobatics +7, Arcana +10, Athletics +5, History +10
Str 11 (+0) Dex 14 (+2) Wis 10 (+0)
Con 12 (+1) Int 20 (+5) Cha 8 (-1)
Alignment Unaligned Languages Common
Equipment leather armor, sickle, adventurer’s kit, spellbook, 8 gp
Spellbook (Choose one per day):
r Chill Strike (arcane, cold, evocation, implement) * Daily
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +5 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 2d8+5 cold damage, and the target is dazed until the end of Morg’s next turn.
Miss: The target is slowed until the end of Morg’s next turn.
r Ray of Enfeeblement (arcane, implement, necromancy, necrotic) * Daily
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +5 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d10+5 necrotic damage, and the target is weakened until the end of Morg’s next turn.
Next Monday I’ll post the boyfriend’s character and we’ll talk about how the first session went.
Do you run games for your kids and their friends? How do they turn out? Let me know in the comments below.
). Unfortunately, I ran it way too long and it kinda turned him off. 
