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View Full Version : Idea: Eberron vs. The Ur-Quan



Leliel
2009-11-30, 12:23 AM
All right, I know-two different games, two different genres, etc. However, a recurring idea of mine is mixing fantasy and space opera, and I like moral ambiguity-or at least, sympathetic backstories for villains-and given my recent passion for Star Control, the slaves-turned-slavers of the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za seem like an ideal race of BBEGs.

So, the idea is that three years after the Last War, Eberron is found by the still Battle-Thralled Umgah, and seeing the opportunity for a prank, happily tattle on the war-weakened world to the recovering Ur-Quan (if I'm feeling particularly mean to the blobbies, I'll point out that the Mourning was also an Umgah prank-that'll get the PCs even angrier IC at them). Not long after, the entire world finds itself being attacked en masse by the remaining Battle Thrall races, including a few new ones. Unfortunately, while the PCs may valiantly struggle against the Ur-Quan for a few levels, Eberron loses thanks in part to a good Dynarri (based on the Kzer-Za's definition of "good", ie completely subservient to them). As a result, more than a few of the Eberron races join the Thralls while the rest are slave-shielded. The PCs, however, manage to escape with what's left of the Five Nations.

Thus begins the main mission of the campaign-reconstructing the Taalo Mind Shield to protect themselves from the Dynarri thrall's telepathy, and liberating Eberron from the rapidly regenerating Kzer-Za. Along the way, they have to deal with clever Syreen, confusing Orz, egotistical Ilwrath, and of course, the Melnorme. Geez, those guys make a Sigilian chant-broker look generous.

So, good plot idea for an admittedly out-of-ordinary game?

And if you're wondering why the Ur-Quan even tolerate a sapient Dynarri, it's because his genetic memory was wiped clean, causing him to be raised entirely by nurture rather than nature. He honestly identifies more with Ur-Quan than his ancestors.

Kol Korran
2009-11-30, 03:12 AM
the general idea of a the conquering overlord race with it's battle thralls and so on does sound fun, but the space part... not so much, at least to me. the thing is- most of the abilities and mechanics in D&D don't include spaceship, and mostly wotk to ranges of melee- a few hundred meters.
a slightly changed idea perhaps?
what if the conquering race is a plane jumping race instead. in mind i have vastly improved githzerai and githyanki (insted of kzer za and kohr ah). who lean that a few of the "Dnyaari" one their home plane have escaped them (actually the Daelkyr and mind flayers) and so are seeking to capture them and eliminate any possible threat in the process.
for battle thralls you could refluff/ restat/ make anew some of the plane dwellers. (with lots of mini planes) it might feel more eberronian.
the dragons of argonnessen could be the CHMMR (i hope i spelled it right) who just need enough energy to break down the shield. (i suggest you send the party to some mission in an outer plane to somehow help the battle against the overlord when eberron is encased in the slave shield. they might reside on a different plane or perhaps... on the ring of syberis? (some prophet foresaw this and dragons and dragonmarked houses built this place to be sure) -here's your starbase.

hope this helps,
Kol.
P.S.- Bebilith could make nice Illwarths, if a tad powerfull perhaps. the Maelnorm should be a race of Kol Korran worshipers (or traveler)?- i suggest Phasms. curious as to what you'll have for the slylandro, though their probe could easely be a construct of some sort ("we come in peace"). Mycon are uber fungus volcanic trolls? damn that was a fun game!

Eldan
2009-11-30, 03:39 AM
The similarities in mindset beween Gith and Ur-quan have already been discussed in an earlier thread, I think. The problem I see is that they would have to be refluffed: while the Githyanki fit the Kohr-ah mindset of "KILL! MAIM! BURN! WIPE OUT EVERY POSSIBLE THREAT!", the Githzerai just don't fit the Kzer-za: neither Gith race would ever take slaves. Also, they aren't gigantic tentacle monsters, but that's a fluff thing. Mindflayers make interesting Dynarri, though.
As for spaceships: there's astral ships already for the Gith, so that could work.

Now, assuming that you wanted to go with the Ur-Quan themselves (an idea which I think is actually cool): I'd make them not come from space but from another dimension. Idea, set after the end of SCII:
After the destruction of the Sa-Maatra, the Hierarchy races fight a losing battle against the Alliance, until they manage to capture an intact Ariloulaleelay ship and attempt to reverse-engineer the Quasi-space drive. There is a malfunction, however, and they instead open a portal to *below*, the home of the Orz, also known as DnDs Far Realms. Travelling through it in a desperate attempt to outrun the alliance, the Ur-Quan are taken to Eberron with their fleet.

sonofzeal
2009-11-30, 07:43 AM
I want to play this.

Please, can I play this?

Eldan
2009-11-30, 08:00 AM
A few more ideas, perhaps:

Of course, DnD deals, at least outside of extreme cheese and epic levels, rarely with interstellar distances. There's spelljamming, but as far as I know, this doesn't occur in Eberron.
So, what do the power blocks of Eberron do? Khorvaire, I think, doesn't have much to actually oppose them. That continent doesn't have much in the way of high-level NPCs, which would be necessary to oppose the Ur-Quan.
However, we have, as significant factors in a resistance:

Villains:
The Inspired and Dal Quor
The Dragon Below
The Rakshasa
The Daelkyr

Good-ish guys:
The Undying Court
The Dragons of Argonessen

All of these could, and most likely would, mobilize epic level forces. And I have no idea how well the Ur-Quan could deal with dragons teleporting into their ships and elven high magic. On the other hand, the Ur-Quan have used orbital bombardment before, and that would seriously screw over even the dragons.

Leliel
2009-11-30, 10:24 AM
Indeed.

And what's more, there's the good Dynarri.

The typical battle between him an Argossen:

Dragon: "Die, spawn of Xoriat! Your interference with the Prophecy will not-"

Dynarri: <GO GET YOURSELF KILLED>

Dragon: "DONE" (Flies directly into Khyber)

Thus, the struggle to get the Mind Shield.

sonofzeal
2009-11-30, 10:29 AM
Indeed.

And what's more, there's the good Dynarri.

The typical battle between him an Argossen:

Dragon: "Die, spawn of Xoriat! Your interference with the Prophecy will not-"

Dynarri: <GO GET YOURSELF KILLED>

Dragon: "DONE" (Flies directly into Khyber)

Thus, the struggle to get the Mind Shield.
Model the Dynarri after an Elder Brain, perhaps?

Also, are the Mycon around? They were always my favorite. Also the Vux, Spathi, Ilwrath (looooved the philosophical debate section), and of course the Arilou Lalee'lay.

The Glyphstone
2009-11-30, 10:48 AM
Indeed.

And what's more, there's the good Dynarri.

The typical battle between him an Argossen:

Dragon: "Die, spawn of Xoriat! Your interference with the Prophecy will not-"

Dynarri: <GO GET YOURSELF KILLED>

Dragon: "DONE" (Flies directly into Khyber)

Thus, the struggle to get the Mind Shield.


Um, isn't one of the typical standards for Vs. threads setting equivalency? Ebberon doesn't have any technological Mind Shield, but a simple Mind Blank spell should work just as well from any sort of psychic control, and most of the dragons (the biggest, meanest ones) can easily keep Mind Blank up 24/7. Non-high level spellcasters are OOL though.

ocdscale
2009-11-30, 11:09 AM
Consider reversing the roles a bit.

The Ur-quan (and all the 'space' races) have access to high technology. That means even the lowest grunt has access to weapons that far outclass anything else in the world. But due to the nature of their plane/dimension they haven't developed an inherent resistance to mind affecting magic (in the form of will saves).

They arrive, cause havok initially, maybe the PCs have to fight off a scouting party or something. Then some BBEG enslaves them all again. PCs have to deal with this new threat before the BBEG is able to leverage this new technology to destroy everyone, they also learn more about the Ur-quan and their former slavery/slaving, and need to figure out what to do with the remaining Ur-quan when the BBEG is overthrown.

Artanis
2009-11-30, 11:39 AM
I imagine that such an enemy would lead to the PCs finding some unlikely allies. The Quori in particular come to mind because if anybody is willing and able to resist the invasion, it'd be psionic dream-creatures who want to conquer the world via mind control.

Also, in Eberron's backstory, the Daelkyr once tried something vaguely similar, so you might be able to pick up an idea or two from looking at their invasion.

Salanmander
2009-11-30, 12:50 PM
I actually think the space-faring thing could work reasonably if you contrived a way to put things back on the terms that D&D works well with. Perhaps the players quickly come into possession of a high-stealth low-weaponry space ship that allows them to board enemy ships and fight them from the inside?

It could definitely be fun role-playing D&D world folk suddenly exposed to non-magic technology. (Cables? Why are there cables everywhere?)

(I feel it necessary to point out the corollary to one of Clarke's laws at this point: "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.")

Leliel
2009-11-30, 02:19 PM
Model the Dynarri after an Elder Brain, perhaps?

Probably. They're pretty powerful.

Also, are the Mycon around? They were always my favorite. Also the Vux, Spathi, Ilwrath (looooved the philosophical debate section), and of course the Arilou Lalee'lay.

The Spathi are slave-shielded and quite happy about it. The Vux, Mycon, and Ilwrath are still around though, and the Arilou are quite happy to help the Eberron refugees.

Speaking of the races, I have decided to steal one of the only good things from Star Control 3 to help round out the Battle Thralls-the Daktaklakpak. Yes, I know the game they come from is bad-way bad-but you can't beat the inbred cousins of HK-47. The Eternal Ones don't exist though.

What's more, it's also a good justification for why the PCs can fly ships not built for them-a computer virus mysteriously rendered a few of the Daks sane, and after the Arilou help evac the remaining resistance against the Kzer-Za, the nice Daks defect and create a universal captain's chair for the PCs.

It also gives me an excuse to have the Lord of Blades work for the Ur-Quan.

Leliel
2009-11-30, 07:03 PM
What.

Is the revulsion for Star Control 3 so strong you won't post anymore?

Eldan
2009-12-01, 04:22 AM
I never played Star Control 3.

Now, I think you still give too much credit to the Hierarchy technology: as we all know, high-level magic is WTFHAX!. It is a reasonable assumption that the dragons of Argonessen have at least a epic level spellcasters, as they have racial spellcasting of already incredible levels, and the more powerful Wyrms can easily cast Mind Blank if they know it, or from scrolls. Even without it, their will saves should be strong.
Now, assuming that some of them can resist mind control, what can they do? Assuming there are ships in orbit, they would still be within the reach of teleport spells. I think that a sufficiently buffed dragon or undying councilor could absolutely wreck an Ur-Quan Dreadnaught if it got on board. I mean, how powerful will weapons carried inside a spaceship be?

If, however, we assume that the Ur-Quan eventually win, perhaps after a long and drawn-out war which will destroy vast parts of Argonessen, Riedra and the elven lands, while leaving much of Khorvaire intact, what will happen next?
The Ur-Quan will probably initiate their standard fallow world protocols: nuke any and all cultural artefacts. Xen'Drik is mostly reduced to ashes. The old cities of Khorvaire are destroyed, the remaining population made into farmers.
They seem to destroy technology above a certain level as well, judging by Hayes' "pre-atomic savagery" comment. It's a fair bet that, to them, this would also include spellcasting. They would probably start by destroying magical universities and schools and large parts of Sharn, then killing spellcasters.

This still leaves extraplanar threats. The Ur-Quan have mindshields, and therefore should be mostly immune to the Quori and their psionics/dream attacks. So far, so good. Other planar races don't seem to bother much with Eberron.

Now, we have the races of Khorvaire, left to find either a mindshield and sufficient technology to break the slave shield, or a high enough spellcaster to break both. How do they go about this?

sonofzeal
2009-12-01, 09:05 AM
I do agree that at least some magical defenses should work against the Dynarri, as a way of evening the odds somewhat. Mind Blank is an 8th level spell, it should work for this. Perhaps that's how the PCs stay independant; they (somehow) had access to a Mind Blank effect when everything went down. Problem is, 8th level single-target spells aren't going to save many. Hardly any at all, relative to the whole population. Maybe some dragons see what's going on, some swoop in and grab as many people as they can (making your whole party Dragonmarked would help explain this), and then everything starts going to shizznit as it's maybe 1% of the population, including the dragons, vs 99% of the population, including the Battle Thralls.

Or leave the Dynarri out of it until later, rolling it out in the position of the Sa-matra

Fishy
2009-12-01, 11:49 AM
Star Control 3 Never Happened. Just like that sequel to the Matrix that they talked about making.

Anyway. I keep thinking about it from another angle entirely- Out in Xoriat, the Daelkyr are hard at work with their fleshcrafting, and they make a species out of eyes and tentacles to serve as their shock troops for invading other planes.

They rebel. They succeed. They decide that no, no one is ever going to be invading any other planes ever again. They reverse-engineer the ancient planar seals that keep Xoriat and Dal Quor remote, and develop a way to permanently shut off all travel into and out of a plane. They start walking the Path of Now and Forever.

-The PCs wandered through a Manifest Zone and are extraplanar when all this happens, and return home to discover a glowing red sphere in the Astral plane.
-The Quori, weirdly enough, take the role of the CHMMR here: They have experience communicating through a planar seal, and they have all that crystal technology.
-A handful of Daelkyr are still imprisoned deep in the Khyber. Getting one of them on your side to use against the Ur-Quan may or may not be a good idea.
-Thelanis is full of Sireens, Fernia is presumably where the Mycon come from, and the Illwrath are from Mabar, because it amuses me.

Eldan
2009-12-01, 12:25 PM
And to make it funnier: the Traddash are the Tairnadal.

sonofzeal
2009-12-01, 12:27 PM
And to make it funnier: the Traddash are the Tairnadal.
I was thinking the Thraddash would be the Valenar. I have a burning desire to see elves do slapstick...

Eldan
2009-12-01, 12:47 PM
That's the same thing, actually. Tairnadal is what they call themselves, Valenar is the nation. More or less. But they are a warrior race, at least. Now they just need horses with rocket boosters.

sonofzeal
2009-12-01, 02:05 PM
That's the same thing, actually. Tairnadal is what they call themselves, Valenar is the nation. More or less. But they are a warrior race, at least. Now they just need horses with rocket boosters.
Ah! My apologies. I've been reading up on Eberron lately, but I've only really gotten as far as the human lands and Houses, and even those I get the names switched around on (especially Houses; I can never remember which does overland travel and which does mail, without the book in front of me).

So yes. Thraddash = elves, ftw.

Eldan
2009-12-01, 02:08 PM
Please. No apologies. I only remembered that detail because I played a valenar elf once. I have no idea about the names of half the houses, actually, so you have me beat there.