Robbert Raets
Explorer
With the whole pulp setting, Eberron might be a great place to put mystery men and costumed heroes a la the golden age of comics. Got some ideas fer that, m'self.
How to add more Pulp - or more Fantasy - to Eberron
- Thread starter Von Ether
- Start date
Robbert Raets
Explorer
What? No one interested?Robbert Raets said:
Mystery Man
First Post
I don't have a costume.Robbert Raets said:
You know, using Xen'drik as Planet Mongo, and making a fighter who is a Flash Gordon clone is not out of the picture, either. 
Talenta Plains halflings can rob lightning rails on Fastieths and airships on Glidewings (if you slow the airships down). They should make quite a fearsome sight, pacing the rails on their mounts then leaping off, like horse-riding train robbers. And then, of course, there could always be a 'gnome raised by plains halflings' or something who is an exceptional rider.
Also remember the Korranberg Chronicle. The PCs should read about their own exploits - and of course, the story will almost always be wrong, because the editors change the story to sell more copies. Or maybe a reporter has a grudge against them.
PCs should be encouraged to do more than say "I attack. I attack," every round. Award a +1 bonus to attack roll/save DC for anything that's well-described and evocative. Pulp combat also includes lots of unlikely weapons such as bare fists (even for non-martial arts types), rugs, tables, doors, candelabras, chandeliers, pots, pans, ceiling fans, priceless works of art, and sometimes the kitchen sink. I'm not exactly sure how to handle those scenarios. The obvious thing I can think of is to remove the attack penalty for improvised weapons - but only for a few rounds, since the bad guys will always find a way to beat your technique if you try to do it repeatedly. Some things can come to mind easily - a long run allows a trip attempt with no chance of being counter-tripped, while a candelabra lights someone on fire as a touch attack (since everyone is hyper-flammable in the pulp world). Any other suggestions?
Try to incorporate non-lethal combat when possible. I think that in Eberron, even most villains aren't willing to kill over trivial matters. Everyone knows or is related to someone who died in the Last War; anyone over 16 has probably participated in it in some way during their lifetime. No human or half-orc predates the Last War. Of half-elves and halflings, the elderly will remember peace as an ephemeral part of their childhood - I would think of them as being the most happy to see the war end. Gnomes, dwarves, and elves are the only races who can have any kind of perspective on the Last War, but it's still probably going to dominate their psyches heavily for quite some time - it's roughly equivalent to, say, the Thirty Years' War for humans, only with much more constant fighting. The 'bank robber' types really do just want the money, and most of them would be happy to make their getaway without anyone getting hurt. The 'world domination' types love to gloat over heroes. They can't help it.
This isn't to say that no one ever kills anyone. It happens, probably a lot more than most people really care for. But the vast majority of PCs and NPCs should think twice before they end the life of an intelligent being. After all, it will only make the Order of the Emerald Claw look that much more evil by comparison.
In the Mournlands, of course, the gloves are off. Monsters are crazy as fizuck and they don't give a shiot.
Well that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Good thread! Keep it going!
Also remember the Korranberg Chronicle. The PCs should read about their own exploits - and of course, the story will almost always be wrong, because the editors change the story to sell more copies. Or maybe a reporter has a grudge against them.
PCs should be encouraged to do more than say "I attack. I attack," every round. Award a +1 bonus to attack roll/save DC for anything that's well-described and evocative. Pulp combat also includes lots of unlikely weapons such as bare fists (even for non-martial arts types), rugs, tables, doors, candelabras, chandeliers, pots, pans, ceiling fans, priceless works of art, and sometimes the kitchen sink. I'm not exactly sure how to handle those scenarios. The obvious thing I can think of is to remove the attack penalty for improvised weapons - but only for a few rounds, since the bad guys will always find a way to beat your technique if you try to do it repeatedly. Some things can come to mind easily - a long run allows a trip attempt with no chance of being counter-tripped, while a candelabra lights someone on fire as a touch attack (since everyone is hyper-flammable in the pulp world). Any other suggestions?
Try to incorporate non-lethal combat when possible. I think that in Eberron, even most villains aren't willing to kill over trivial matters. Everyone knows or is related to someone who died in the Last War; anyone over 16 has probably participated in it in some way during their lifetime. No human or half-orc predates the Last War. Of half-elves and halflings, the elderly will remember peace as an ephemeral part of their childhood - I would think of them as being the most happy to see the war end. Gnomes, dwarves, and elves are the only races who can have any kind of perspective on the Last War, but it's still probably going to dominate their psyches heavily for quite some time - it's roughly equivalent to, say, the Thirty Years' War for humans, only with much more constant fighting. The 'bank robber' types really do just want the money, and most of them would be happy to make their getaway without anyone getting hurt. The 'world domination' types love to gloat over heroes. They can't help it.
This isn't to say that no one ever kills anyone. It happens, probably a lot more than most people really care for. But the vast majority of PCs and NPCs should think twice before they end the life of an intelligent being. After all, it will only make the Order of the Emerald Claw look that much more evil by comparison.
In the Mournlands, of course, the gloves are off. Monsters are crazy as fizuck and they don't give a shiot.
Well that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Good thread! Keep it going!
Henry
Autoexreginated
Actually, as Someone (that's his name) reminded me on the Rules thread, a flying creature can Run (at 4x their speed). So, if the airship flies at a constant of 20 miles per hour, then "booking" Glidewings can catch up over short distances. HA-HA!
Those fastieths may be out of luck, however. They go at what? 60 speed overland? Even at top full out run, they couldn't catch the 30 mph Lightning rail. You'd have to get a Speed 80 creature to catch up - again, putting it back in Flying creature territory, or some Valenar Horses...
Yeah, I did the math on the dinosaurs, too.
Fastieths have a land speed of 50 ft and the Run feat, letting them travel 250 feet in a round with a light load (i.e. halfling). A train at 30 mph travels 264 feet per round (30 miles/hour * 5280 feet/mile * 1 hour/60 minutes * 1 minute/60 seconds * 6 seconds/1 round). So they can't pace the train at max speed. However, since trains can't travel in arbitrary locations, halflings on fastieths could ambush the train from a position ahead of its movement, then jump off as the train passes them at a relative speed of merely 14 feet per round, slower than a walking pace. 5 miles down the rails, another group of halflings waits with spare mounts - the PCs have 10 minutes to stop them before their chance to escape with the booty.
Of course, with a mere +10 enhancement bonus to speed, the fastieths could keep pace with the lightning rail, and if we follow the 'bonus squared' proportionality (using horseshoes of speed as a reference), a magic item granting +10 speed for a mount should cost only 333 gp or so. And I doubt that the train will be at full speed for its entire journey (although I admit that coming up with reasons for the trains to slow down in the middle of the Talenta Plains may prove difficult).
Fastieths have a land speed of 50 ft and the Run feat, letting them travel 250 feet in a round with a light load (i.e. halfling). A train at 30 mph travels 264 feet per round (30 miles/hour * 5280 feet/mile * 1 hour/60 minutes * 1 minute/60 seconds * 6 seconds/1 round). So they can't pace the train at max speed. However, since trains can't travel in arbitrary locations, halflings on fastieths could ambush the train from a position ahead of its movement, then jump off as the train passes them at a relative speed of merely 14 feet per round, slower than a walking pace. 5 miles down the rails, another group of halflings waits with spare mounts - the PCs have 10 minutes to stop them before their chance to escape with the booty.
Of course, with a mere +10 enhancement bonus to speed, the fastieths could keep pace with the lightning rail, and if we follow the 'bonus squared' proportionality (using horseshoes of speed as a reference), a magic item granting +10 speed for a mount should cost only 333 gp or so. And I doubt that the train will be at full speed for its entire journey (although I admit that coming up with reasons for the trains to slow down in the middle of the Talenta Plains may prove difficult).
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