Hey All,
any suggestions how to dm this great adventure in Eberron?
I face major problems with background, plane (Mechanus) and Derro. on the other hand this adventure seems very eberron like or Cannith like but how to incorporate it.
thx for assistance.
A couple suggestions:
1.You could have it be that House Cannith workshop in the Mournland, in the expanded map in Five Nations, Cannith 12, with the contamination/taint/chaos-if-ication of the Gearspring Well being caused by the Day of Mourning.
2.Right now, I can't recall the derro's place in Eberron (or core D&D, for that matter), but they could have come up from Khyber or could be replaced with 'forged gone wild.
3.The tie to Mechanus could be replaced/explained by the Cannith research. Maybe they were researching into the ultimate construct, or their research involved a construct that was more like a life-form in that it was composed of individual organisms tied together by a mechanical/magical link.
Good Luck!!
WaterdhavianFlapjack
A couple suggestions:
1.You could have it be that House Cannith workshop in the Mournland, in the expanded map in Five Nations, Cannith 12, with the contamination/taint/chaos-if-ication of the Gearspring Well being caused by the Day of Mourning.
2.Right now, I can't recall the derro's place in Eberron (or core D&D, for that matter), but they could have come up from Khyber or could be replaced with 'forged gone wild.
3.The tie to Mechanus could be replaced/explained by the Cannith research. Maybe they were researching into the ultimate construct, or their research involved a construct that was more like a life-form in that it was composed of individual organisms tied together by a mechanical/magical link.
Good Luck!!
WaterdhavianFlapjack
thx a lot WaterdhavianFlapjack
you have opened the first door :)
Welcome. I might just have to run that adventure in Eberron myself!
WaterdhavianFlapjack
My first guess is that the clockwork fortress is an Eldritch Machine, and instead of derro, it's been taken over by warforged who were sent to investigate by the Lord of Blades, but went a little insane. They're now guarding the place, paranoid, for fear of anyone breaking in and attacking, but they're keeping the bridge down and waiting for the Lord of Blades to show up. He's not going to, but like I say, they're a little insane.
Mayhaps there's a tie to Xoriat here - perhaps a certain Khyber dragonshard that was being worked on in the fortress had an unexpected effect and broke open an unstable rift to Xoriat, a limited and flawed manifest zone where Xoriat doesn't so much overlap as leak and drip out like a gas leak. Perhaps the fortress' research was something to do with planar travel research, done to get an edge over the other countries in the Last War? This might explain the salamanders, who are laying low, making plans and playing cards until they're rescued, whereupon they plan to escape with armfuls of loot.
Was Cannith the creator of this fortress? It's possible, seeing as it can move between countries just like a dragonmarked heir can. It's also possible that it was developed by Breland, a predecessor to the moving fortress Argonth. Perhaps, alternately, it was a secret fortress hidden in the woods in Karrnath as a secret weapon, an "ace up their sleeve".
According to the WotC designers and developers every monster to be found in the Monster Manual can be found in Eberron. Therefore derro can be found in Eberron, just as they can be found in FR or Greyhawk. Since derro are degenerate hybrids of humans and dwarves they could easily be the result of a failed daelkyr breeding program (the same breeding program that created chokers and dolgaunts).
As for the planar issue, the realm of Daanvi the Perfect Order is a perfect substitute for mechanus. Both planes are strongly law-aligned, and both planes are inhabited by inevitables and formians. The only problem I see with using Daanvi is that it is only coterminous with the prime material plane once every four hundred years and does not exert any influence over Eberron.
The suggestions about using warforged and the plane of Xoriat are quite interesting, but I think that the new races and that particular plane of existence are being used just a little too much. I think the word I'm looking for is "overkill". On the other hand involving House Cannith, Karrnath, Xoriat, warforged, etc. would give the adventure that Eberron flavor. I guess the choice is up to individual DMs.
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I think derro could easily be a Khyber tainted subrace of Dwarves. I know the tendency in Eberron is not to emphasize the subraces, but I think the derro are an easy exception to that rule. Perhaps they are remnants of the original dwarves, who did not leave the dwarven citadel in the deep, to be corrupted by centuries of slavery to the daelkyr. (See the Dragonshard on the history of Eberronese dwarves: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20041101a).
As for the planar issue, the realm of Daanvi the Perfect Order is a perfect substitute for mechanus. Both planes are strongly law-aligned, and both planes are inhabited by inevitables and formians. The only problem I see with using Daanvi is that it is only coterminous with the prime material plane once every four hundred years and does not exert any influence over Eberron.
That is easily explained by an Eldritch Machine designed to make Daanvi coterminous with that part of the Mournland, sort of like an orrerry of the planes, only on a much larger scale. Perhaps this is supposed to weaken a dimensional seal imprisoning a daelkyr deep beneath the Mournland?