Races of Eberron

[Elton Robb]

I'm wondering if anyone could use some rules incorporating some unique rules from Eberron. Mainly the Races of Eberron (Warforged, Changelings, Shifters, Kalashtar) and the Artificer class (which would probably be an unblooded substitute for humans other than the magician). Here are some ideas:

* Warforged could have been made for the Battle at Mount Deismaar for both sides. However, the Creation Forges were located on Aduria. Surviving Warforged might have a bloodline score, since they are living constructs.

* Changelings are the offspring of Dopplegangers and humans, just like it says. They would be found mostly in the cities.

* Shifters are the offspring of Lycanthropes and humans, probably an experiment in the Beastmen. Most shifters joined the forces of Light at the Battle of Mount Deismaar.

* Kalashtar are the strangest. They carry the spirits of the Quori within them; giving them psychic (psionic) powers. Since Birthright already has a lot going on with Blood Abilities, using the Kalashtar would mean that the non-psionic version has to be used. However, they could still be used. The Quori could be Azrai's servants or whole different faction entirely.

* Inspired. Which brings us to the Inspired. The Inspired are agents of Dal Quor in Eberron. Having Inspired would be . . . a whole other dimension. But it could be doable.

[Lee]

I'm wondering if anyone could use some rules incorporating some unique rules from Eberron. Mainly the Races of Eberron (Warforged, Changelings, Shifters, Kalashtar) and the Artificer class (which would probably be an unblooded substitute for humans other than the magician). .

I could see the middle two, but IMO, the Warforged and Kalashtar/Quori are too un-BR for me. I'd have to read Artificer again, but that's an idea.

[Mojczak]

I had already thought about the artificier class as a good possiblity for another BR-flavored class. But definitely nothing to consider for the races. The shifter perhaps could be rjuven beastmen or related, but that is the only exception...

[bbeau22]

Is the artificier class one of those classes that makes lots of magic items? Might not be a perfect fit for Birthright which is considered low magic.

I could see a single NPC artificier out in the world. A unique person that many seek out.

-BB

[Sorontar]

At one stage I was thinking about making a backup PC for me in our 2ed campaign that was an "inventor". After many deliberations, it was decided that rather than making a new class for him, it would be best just to make him a specialised thief. He was a toymaker who was a a 'boxman'. That is he was interested in intricate mechanisms like clockwork mechanisms and locks. He had good lock skills and engineering skills, but sucked at some of the other thief skills. The backstory was going to be that he was occasionally commissioned at making toys for the big boys, i.e. once-off contraptions for regents and their military. He would also help them understand, activate and unlock anything they "found". Occasionally this involved him having to help "groups" get into buildings past the security measures.

So something similar could be used for an artificier, but yes, you would have to lose the magic aspect of the class entirely, or make it very limited.

Never got to play the character though... my druid is too canny at surviving and I don't think he is appropriate for the campaign anymore.

Sorontar

[kgauck]

I always have been on the lookout for a real alchemist class, where the character accomplished things by use of alchemy rather than spells.

But currently I am interested in using 4e rituals to accomplish alchemical results.

[cyrano24100]

The shifter perhaps could be rjuven beastmen or related, but that is the only exception...
For shifters; the Rjuven setting does mention rjuvens humans who are able to change shapes (into raven, owls, boars, bears), not as blood abilities, but as one of several special "dooms" that include bezerker battle rage, and extreem luck... But they are humans... just cursed (or blessed) with shape shifting. :)

[Vicente]

I always have been on the lookout for a real alchemist class, where the character accomplished things by use of alchemy rather than spells.

But currently I am interested in using 4e rituals to accomplish alchemical results.

Then you may want to check the Adventurer's Vault:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20080814b

That excerpt talks about Alchemy (done like Rituals). So far the Adventurer's Vault excerpts are pretty good (the one about Figurines of Wondrous Power gives a little insight about how companions will work in 4e).

Regards,

Vicente

[AndrewTall]

Changleings could have been made by Azrai as spies and assassins - after Deismaar some survived (they probably weren't used as soldiers anyway) so could be found anywhere - but probably have a bad reputation. Or they could by elven type folk who simply have the ability to alter their corporeal form - in the latter case they might be very different socially.

Shifters could be a failed attempt by Azrai to make beast-men - people who were changed, but either reverted or did not change completely. They still have traces of the beasts he tried to make them into, but only a trace. Alternatively they could have been an attempt by one of the Lost to copy Azrai's work (a Saruman/Sauron type issue), could be used as Rjurik shapeshifters, etc. Intriguingly this origin could make them championed by the churches (they rejected Azrai's evil) or despised by them (tainted by the corruptor!) - or accepted by the learned priests and despised by the community.

I like warforged - although I'd make them need 'down time' to recharge to duplicate the risk of sleep. But I would use them as a dwarven attempt to defend their people - with numbers dwindling, master crafters build the warforged, and then as dwarves die their souls empower the warforged into life. This could be a 1:1 shift with the warforged remembering their life, or result in several warforged for each dwarf with no memory and only a 'spark of a soul', or the converse, several dwarves spirits passing into a single warforged. The dwarves are skilled enough to make them, in 2e they'd probably need elven sorcery but that shouldn't be an issue.

The Kalashtar and Inspired could be empowered by spirits from the wild areas of the spirit world - with the inspired bent on making Aebrynnis safe for their masters to live in before the taint of Azrai makes the shadow world uninhabitable - not every spirit fleeing the shadow world needs to give up its magic and crawl into Cerilia as a supplicant seeking refuge as the halflings did!

[irdeggman]

Personnally I love the Races of eberron but inserting them into BR has a lot of issues for me.

Warforged just don't fit - the only race IMO capable of creating "war machines" is the dwarves. They are living constructs which is not alchemical but magical in origin.

Kalashtar reflect the insertion of being from the dream realm and a dual spirit concept that IMO might only apply to the elves, but since they are "immortal" and already spawn of the Sie it just doesn't fit.

Changelings could work - some new Shadow World race probably.

Shifters could work, but should be rare. They could be "the beastmen" referred to in legends from the southern Continenet. Making them the result of the Rjurik "dooms" doesn't quite fit to me - since that is supposed to be a "personnal thing" and not a racial one.

Alchemist as a new class does not fit the setting at all, IMO. The class is all about magic items which in absolute contrast to the core of the setting. Their basic class ability is about imbueing items with spells and getting all of the craft magic item feats for making things. The items they make are specifically neither arcane nor divine (which also goes against the clear contrast in magics in the BR setting IMO). The skill they use to activate their spells is UMD which should say something about the class itself.

[bbeau22]

At one stage I was thinking about making a backup PC for me in our 2ed campaign that was an "inventor". After many deliberations, it was decided that rather than making a new class for him, it would be best just to make him a specialised thief. He was a toymaker who was a a 'boxman'. That is he was interested in intricate mechanisms like clockwork mechanisms and locks. He had good lock skills and engineering skills, but sucked at some of the other thief skills. The backstory was going to be that he was occasionally commissioned at making toys for the big boys, i.e. once-off contraptions for regents and their military. He would also help them understand, activate and unlock anything they "found". Occasionally this involved him having to help "groups" get into buildings past the security measures.

So something similar could be used for an artificier, but yes, you would have to lose the magic aspect of the class entirely, or make it very limited.

Never got to play the character though... my druid is too canny at surviving and I don't think he is appropriate for the campaign anymore.

Sorontar



Did you know there was that type of character in Tournen? Baubb the Toymaker. He was hired by Alams to make toys for the nobles of Tournen that secretly had spring loaded poison needles.

What is interesting was in the players secrets is that Baubb created a couple of life size mechanical people that behaved and acted like real people. It says he himself was surprised at how life like they were.

Anyway he might be the ideal person for this character you want.

-BB

[AndrewTall]

What is interesting was in the players secrets is that Baubb created a couple of life size mechanical people that behaved and acted like real people. It says he himself was surprised at how life like they were.
-BB

Yup, Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes hit BR! The question is, did they protect the children from the evil baron bombast - um - duke Alam...


Incidentally with shifters, if they are used for Rjurik shapeshifters they would not be a race per se - unless the doom is inherited. The shifter mechanics would still work fine (how much of the beast is within you? Do you embrace or shun it?) even though their society would be totally different.

With a few changes warforged could be forest spirits of wood rather than metal - again the mechanics should work fine although again the society would change significantly.

[kgauck]

I was thinking Shields and Yarnell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5j2A0UIqwo&feature=related

[AndrewTall]

Similar sort of idea, but the chitty chitty bang bang skit is closer to the description - from recollection truly scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes) is a clockwork ballerina who turns and sings, Caractacus Potts (Dick van Dyke) capers about as a clown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygs2xfjJG2M

[bbeau22]

I can't believe what you are all making me watch on youtube. LOL.

I bet there is a pretty good adventure to be had with two "lifelike" toys.

- At night they both come to life and start all kinds of fun stuff in Castle Haes.

- At night they both come to life and have the ability to make all of the other toys come to life that they touch. High hilarity would follow.

-BB

[AndrewTall]

We're on Bagpuss now? Eepers!

Hmm, two toys containing a number of elemental spirits that can animate them - or transfer to other 'toys'. An interesting angle - if the 'toys' have been the subject of prolonged intense emotions those carry over after it is animated - so we have the 'ase' animated statues carrying out their mission / etc, the animated 'sir Vaesil' trying to finish his quest to rescue 'the fair Katherine' (taken by the nanny to be re-stitched) and an ongoing war between the toys of brother #1 and brother #2 over who gets to wield Lord Nabhriene's sword...

Of course the children would oppose any attack on their toys (whether or not the toy recognised them), some toys would be alive enough to perhaps oppose the others from loyalty to 'their' family, while others pursued old vengeance, in between the servants are fleeing the house, Lady Nabhriene is politely having a nervous breakdown, and the toy bandit is looting the family vault.

[bbeau22]

We're on Bagpuss now? Eepers!

Hmm, two toys containing a number of elemental spirits that can animate them - or transfer to other 'toys'. An interesting angle - if the 'toys' have been the subject of prolonged intense emotions those carry over after it is animated - so we have the 'ase' animated statues carrying out their mission / etc, the animated 'sir Vaesil' trying to finish his quest to rescue 'the fair Katherine' (taken by the nanny to be re-stitched) and an ongoing war between the toys of brother #1 and brother #2 over who gets to wield Lord Nabhriene's sword...

Of course the children would oppose any attack on their toys (whether or not the toy recognised them), some toys would be alive enough to perhaps oppose the others from loyalty to 'their' family, while others pursued old vengeance, in between the servants are fleeing the house, Lady Nabhriene is politely having a nervous breakdown, and the toy bandit is looting the family vault.

Now this is an adventure. This would actually be a great way to show some of the history of the land without actually going into boring speaching talking about the split of the original Alamie.

I could see this being a great low level adventure. The heroes would have to go to mutiple noble houses and try to find the toys and deactivate them somehow. Each house will have a different situation going on.

The ring leaders are the two life like toys that were imbued with elementals spirits. They touched the other small toys bringing them to life. Now the toys were created with poison darts so many of these toys are very dangerous even though they are tiny.

Perhaps the witch in the swamp nearby decided to have a little fun with the nobles of Tournen which is ultimately the cause, although she didn't know the toys had poison darts so it became more deadly than she realized.

-BB

[AndrewTall]

The who behind it can have a number of interesting possibilities - did Maeve see the growing prevalence and set loose spirits early to prevent a greater future calamity (don't expect much calm understanding from the bereaved) - or to ensure that Alam or Baubb didn't get cold feet?

Did an elf imbue the spirits as a whim, or because somewhere in a Tuornen attic there is a lost spirit trapped in a forgotten idol - by setting the lesser spirits amongst the toys (with a suitable 'incubation period') the great spirit would inevitably be found (who mingle more than children? What child travels without a few of their favourite toys to distract them? An adult might be searched, but who would take the toddlers beloved 'uncle bear' - and deal with the screaming without relenting?)

Is it a completely separate plot which just releases baubb's malice - and if so who will take the blame, baubb, or the sorcerer whose magics made the toys 'grow deadly'?

A good low level adventure that could easily have a massive impact - save a child's life and the entire family is in your debt, fail and be damned for incompetence. Diplomacy and etiquette would be major concerns - you need to search <many> noble houses - likely without explaining exactly why until after the house is saved - 'lord Tuor's toys infected those in my house loosing deadly peril on my beloved daughter? Curse him for a thrice damned fiend I'll see him on the commons at dawn!' People have family feuds and social damnation over head-lice, marauding spirits would make them look tame.

Of course if the PC's simply rampage through the kingdom destroying every child's toys they may make the parents happy - at least briefly - but they will always be 'the savages who tore apart my beloved pooky bear' to the next Lady Haes :D Also of course many parents/servants will secretly hide toys from the PC's allowing further mayhem, churches may not consider mannequins / statues / idols to be toys, etc. Hmm, I wonder what happens when the toys touch the statute 'Roele banishes his brother Raesene' in the town square?