(Suspended) OOC 3.5 Eberron Shipwrecked Campaign

[Graybeard]

Here is my build. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

[sblock=Duran Thorn]

Duran Thorn
Age: 19 5'6" 144lbs
Brown Hair, Blue Eyes

Attributes:
STR: 10
DEX: 16
CON: 14
INT: 14
WIS: 8
CHA: 12

Saves:
FORT: 2
REFLEX: 5
WILL: -1

AC: 13 FLAT: 10 TOUCH: 13
INITIATIVE: +3
HP: 8

ATTACKS:
Grapple: +0
Melee: +0
Ranged: +3
Dagger: +0
Club: +0
Lt Crossbow: +3

SKILLS:
Balance: +6 (3 ranks + 3 Dex)
Bluff: +5 (4 ranks + 1 Cha)
Climb: +4 (4 ranks)
Disable Device +8 (4 ranks + 2 Int + 2 Feat)
Hide: +6 (3 ranks + 3 Dex)
Jump: +3 (3 ranks)
Knowledge: Local +4 (2 ranks + 2 Int)
Listen: +2 (3 ranks + -1 Wis)
Move Silently: +6 (3 ranks + 3 Dex)
Open Lock: +9 (4 ranks + 3 Dex + 2 Feat)
Search: +7 (3 ranks + 2 Int +2 Dragonmark)
Sleight of Hand: +6 (3 ranks + 3 Dex)
Spot: +2 (3 ranks + -1 Wis)
Tumble: +5 (2 ranks + 3 Dex)

FEATS:
Nimble Fingers: +2 Disable Device and +2 Open Lock
Least Dragonmark: Finding (House Tharashk) Provides: Locate Object 1x/day, +2 Search checks

[/sblock]


[sblock=Background]

Duran is a member of the Dragonmarked House Tharashk. He has lived in Sharn in the kingdom of Breland his entire life. Over the years, he has traveled to other House enclaves for training. As part of his training, he has taken part in a few expeditions to locate large fields of dragonshards. Although they were not usually successful, they did serve as valuable training in locating items of value.

As is sometimes customary, Duran’s parents had set up an arranged marriage with his distant cousin Tarra Velderan. They first met when they were still just children. Since then, they have seen each other several times. While Duran liked her as a friend, he did not love her. He felt he had no choice but to marry her. Duran didn’t want to marry someone he didn’t love

Duran’s life changed when he met a nice young woman named Adele Ennes 2 years ago while attending a show in the entertainment district of Sharn. The two of them struck up a conversation and ended up going to dinner after the show. They saw each other a few more times as friends before they mutually decided to take their relationship to the next level. Duran felt something for Adele, possibly love. It was an emotion he was not familiar with.

After Adele and Duran had been dating for 3 months, she confided to him that she had been keeping a secret from him. She revealed that she too, was a member of a Dragonmarked House. She had not developed a mark herself but, she revealed, her mother had a powerful one. The two of them had a long talk about their situation. Neither one of them wanted to end their relationship but they both knew that their families would not approve, especially since Duran’s parents had set up an arranged marriage.

Unknown to the young couple, someone did see the two of them together and reported it to House Tharashk. Duran’s parents confronted him about the relationship. He admitted to them that they were in love. His parents were livid. They forbade him from ever seeing Adele again. Duran and his parents argued about this for some time before Duran stormed out to go find Adele. He was surprised to see 2 Warforged standing guard outside her apartment. They refused him entry into the apartment and kept repeating that Adele was not home.

Duran knew he could not get past the guards and returned home. Once there, his parents told him that ‘That Girl’ was being sent away for her own good.

Heartbroken but wishing to get back into the House’s good graces, Duran decided he needed to do something extraordinary to improve his standing in the House. Growing up, he had heard rumors of powerful lost artifacts and schemas in Xen’drik. He formulated a plan. He needed to get to Xen’drik and investigate these stories and rumors. Logically, he knew that many others had likely already tried to find these items without success. That didn’t stop him though. He was convinced he needed to investigate the rumors of lost artifacts and massive fields of dragonshards waiting to be discovered. He believes that if he finds something of great value to the House, they will look favorably upon him. If he increases the wealth of the House enough, he thinks they might allow him to renew his relationship with Adele. If not, he might have to leave the House and elope with her, assuming she hasn’t been turned against him by her family.

Recently he booked passage on a ship traveling to Xen’drik. He had no idea what awaited him there. He only knew in his heart it would be exciting and beyond anything he had ever experienced previously.


[/sblock]

 

[Scott DeWar]

I have a couple suggestions for you. First, you might want to consider the geography of Khorvaire a bit when determining where the event with the merchant's daughter happened. Note on the linked map the dwarf lands of the Mror Holds are on the northeast parts of the continent and their main route of travel and communication is via Krona Peak into Karrnath (a human nation). Since you mention the event occurred in human lands, the nearest human nation to Darguun is Breland, which lies directly north of Darguun (the Mournland is a wasteland). The gnomes of Zilargo have a mercantile, sometimes nefarious bent to them, and their lands might be the route through which Samon was taken to be shipped to Stormreach. Perhaps he was put to ship in Trolanport?

I like everything else. 32-point buy approved.

just some continuity and connection notes here .. .. ..


something like this?
from southern edge of the Mror holds north to the Ice land mountains he tracked them, west to the edge od the Karrenwood forest, skimming the north edge of the Ashenspires of karnath. Eventually to Rekkenmark, accross to thalrost of Thrane then southwest to Brealand where they get reckless.

hobgoblins from Darguun
Mournland is a wasteland
Trolanport is located south of the 'i' of zilargo, of the merchtile gnomes

 

[Yttermayn]

Re: (Closed) OOC 3.5 Eberron Shipwrecked Campaign

Eldeen reaches sounds right. I like vast forests. Thanks for the compliment, and the 32 point buy. Oh, and the info on paragon/warlock stuff. One other question - is our next experience level at 1000, or whatever it takes to get to 5th?

 

[airwalkrr]

Your characters are technically 4th-level for the purposes of game mechanics (you are heroes!) with the exception of experience. Your next level will be at 1000 XP.

 

[pathfinderq1]

Your characters are technically 4th-level for the purposes of game mechanics (you are heroes!) with the exception of experience. Your next level will be at 1000 XP.

>So, we get a bonus feat (3rd level) and a stat point increase (4th level), in addition to paragon benefits?

 

[Yttermayn]

Re: (Closed) OOC 3.5 Eberron Shipwrecked Campaign

Your characters are technically 4th-level for the purposes of game mechanics (you are heroes!) with the exception of experience. Your next level will be at 1000 XP.

Ahh, good. I was worried about nerfing magic users.

 

[doghead]

Rain Washes Away Tears

I am going to go out on a limb here and make a slightly unusual request. I would like to use the Half-Dragon paragon for Rain. At a mechanical level, it is much more useful than the elf paragon. But more significantly, as I drafted a background to fit, I found it to be a rich vein of role-play potential.

So thats the pitch. I've written a background built around the idea to give it some context. Its is a little longer than I planned. It kept evolving as I wrote. I hope that you like it.

[sblock=BACKGROUND]

Sound of Rain Falling on Leaves was born in Valenar, a member of the Bitter Wind war-clan. Rains's mother was a clan warrior fiercely free spirited and deadly with the bow. Her father was one of the clan's Keepers of the Past. He had a beautiful singing voice and a powerful way with healing. But unlike his wife he was a quiet man with a deep wellspring of anger inside. Despite his attempts to conceal it, Rain knew it was there. As children do, Rain believed that she was responsible for his anger because she was different.

Rain's early childhood was much like that of any other child in the clan and Rain was much any other child; except perhaps in her ability to get into scrapes. Rain was a tearaway, driven by a desire to test her limits. She wanted to poke ants nests and explore caves. As she grew older, she wanted to be a warrior like her mother. Her parents wanted her to slow down, listen to the sound of the rain falling on leaves and spend more time mastering her abilities and developing her powers. Sorcery was not held in the esteem that wizardry was, but it was an arcane art nevertheless. But Rain had little interest in developing her powers. She wanted to learn to wield a sword and ride.

As Rain grew, she came to understand that Bitter Wind was not like the other clans. Valenar clans are tied together by complex ties of blood, marriage and debt. Bitter Wind was different, made up of a disparate group of families and individuals whose only tie to each other was their shared loyalty to the clan. Bitter Wind did not fit into Valenar society in the way the other clans did. It was not that the clan was unwelcome. The clan's work keeping the dangerous north western borders safe ensured respect. It just that they were not welcome in the way other clans were.

Rain also came to understand that her maternal grandmother was in some way central to her family belonging to the clan. Rain vaguely recalls her grandmother appearing when Rain was very young. Grandmother was tall, aloof and terrifying, despite the fact that she never carried a weapon or wielded magic in all the time Rain knew her. Rain remembers little of her grandmother other than the fact that she said little but watched Rain with unblinking intensity. Rain's parents watched Grandmother with a similar intensity. One day, in a swirl of anger and recriminations, Grandmother was gone.

As Rain approached her maturity, she did try to develop her ability as a sorcerer. But despite her efforts, she developed in ways that were both strange and exhilarating. Rain did her best to conceal this, but she lived among people wiser and more experienced in the arcane arts than she and inevitably the truth came out. Bitter Wind never threatened to banish Rain, but Rain knew, even after she had ascended to adulthood in the clan, that she would always be seen as an outsider. After two winters as an adult, Rain decided that she could not stay. She had to learn what she was. The only person Rain knew who had answers was her grandmother, and the only place she knew to start looking was Xen'drik. So to Xen'drik Rain set off.

The day of Rain's departure she changed her name to Rain Washes Away Tears. When she announced it, Rain saw something in her mother's eyes that she had never seen before, and did not recognise. Her father cried that day, something Rain had never seen before. "It was never you," he whispered to her as he gave her one last hug. Months later while watching the stars wheel overhead, Rain realised what her father had meant. Rain cried that day for the first time since leaving.

Eventually Rain found herself on a merchant ship making its way to Xen'drik. Its not an impressive vessel, nor a reputable one. But it met one essential criteria. It was cheap. [/sblock]

[sblock=MISC NOTES]

* Rain's grandmother has Half-Dragon paragon levels, possibly even the Half-Dragon template or something similar. She was banished from Valenar shortly after the birth of Rain's mother. Grandmother was allowed to return after the birth of her granddaughter, but on the condition that she carried no weapons and never manifest any of her powers. She stayed with the Bitter Wind for around a decade. But a terrible argument lead to her losing her temper and manifesting her powers, and she was summarily banished again. The Dragon blood skipped a generation with Rain's mother, but has reappeared in Rain.

* Rain's mother was raised by her mother's sister of the Pure Diamond Water clan. Despite showing no evidence of Dragon ancestry, Rain's mother's ascendancy into the clan was resisted by all of the clan's Keeper's except one. He championed her cause, but he was young and his voice carried little weight. When it was clear that he could not prevail, he and Rain's mother left the clan and joined Bitter Wind. They were married a few years later. The intolerance and prejudice of Pure Diamond Water and elf society generally is the source of Rain's father's rage.

* Rain's grandmother spent much of her early years in Xen'drik. It was there that she came to master her dragon heritage, becoming a powerful warrior and sorcerer. Although it was a few decades ago, there will still be many in Xen'drik who remember her name, and some who knew her personally. Whether she returned there after being banished a second time, is unknown (I will leave that up to you). It is also rumoured that she visited Argonnessen (true I think, but she was not welcomed, and never found what she was looking for).

* I haven't selected a type of dragon. Given the history between the elves and dragons, any type of dragon ancestry would be problematic. Choosing a chromatic dragon would provide greater potential conflict. Choosing a metallic dragon would provide greater avenues for redemption. I thought that I would leave this open to see if you had any preference.

* At this stage looking to take levels in Ranger (maybe 2) then Sorcerer next.[/sblock]

thotd

 

[airwalkrr]

...

Background will follow soon. Basic info is he is traveling to Xendrik because he has heard rumors of great treasure and dragonshards. He embarrassed the House and to atone for it, he feels like he has to find something rare and valuable.

Looks good to me so far. I always like having at least one dragonmarked character in the party in Eberron games. It opens up lots of roleplay and story opportunities.

 

[airwalkrr]

just some continuity and connection notes here .. .. ..


something like this?
from southern edge of the Mror holds north to the Ice land mountains he tracked them, west to the edge od the Karrenwood forest, skimming the north edge of the Ashenspires of karnath. Eventually to Rekkenmark, accross to thalrost of Thrane then southwest to Brealand where they get reckless.

hobgoblins from Darguun
Mournland is a wasteland
Trolanport is located south of the 'i' of zilargo, of the merchtile gnomes

Sounds good to me.

>So, we get a bonus feat (3rd level) and a stat point increase (4th level), in addition to paragon benefits?

Yes, exactly. Just treat your characters as 4th-level. I will let you know when to level up.

Ahh, good. I was worried about nerfing magic users.

Several of the paragon classes grant spellcasting levels for some classes or (in the case of humans) any class. I don't think this will negatively impact anyone yet. If so, we might be able to work something out. Like if you want to play a dwarf cleric, we could trade a couple dwarf abilities for cleric spellcasting instead.

 

[doghead]

Some Character Tie-in Ideas for Consideration

* Scott's Ranger - Bit of a story hijack here. Scott, let me know if this is problematic - Rain assists Samon escape from the hold once it is clear that the ship is foundering. He might be short and hairy and smell of ale and pipe-smoke, but he is a ranger. And Rain wants a teacher.

* Yttermay's Warlock - I suspect that Rain will take an almost instant dislike to this arrogant child and his moody self-absorption. I also suspect that the feeling will be mutual.

* Greybeard's Rogue - Like Rain, he is heading to Xen'drik in search of something. While I see both characters keeping the specifics close their chest (at least initially), the fact that they are both looking for something may lead them to becoming travelling companions. Perhaps they met in port while looking for passage to Xen'drik.

thotd