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View Full Version : [Eberron] Three Dragon Ante and the Draconic Prophecy?



Rust
2011-04-20, 10:55 AM
I was playing 3DA the other day after announcing my plans to run a new Eberron game. We all enjoy playing 3DA and haven't really had a chance to use it much in game yet, sure our characters play a bit in taverns but we usually just cover the whole game with a die roll or something.

But a while ago I was reading through Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, as many people may know one of the key features of the adventure revolves around the party having their fortunes read with tarot cards. I won't go into the mechanics but its a great idea and fits brilliantly. There was also an option to use a deck of 3DA cards, which while quirky felt a bit weird in the setting but I think would work quite well in Eberron.

Consider that originally Tarot was used for card games similar to modern playing cards before their mystical connotations became so well known that the games fell out of use. Then consider the draconic prophecy and how 3DA could be seen as Eberron's equivalent to tarot. The Dragon connotations are the most obvious but then the cards go up to 13. The number of the Dragonmarks. After googling the subject a bit all I found was a Steal that Hook article which involves one of the undercover dragons comically flustered about the game which she views as degrading to dragons but her pride means that she seeks out tutors so she might at least be the best at the game in the land.

Tbh I think, while a rather comical diversion from Eberron's usually gritty themes its not all that interesting beyond a single adventure seed while mystical connotations offer limitless opportunities to build upon. Fortune-telling, occult history, 3DA themed markers and supersticous gamblers just off the top of my head.

But I'm rambling now. Its one of those tangents you have to let free or it will distract you constantly. What do other people think of this? Has anyone used 3DA in their D&D games to similar effect? Ideally Eberron? And do you think in Eberron the Dragon Gods would instead be called Syberis (Bahabmut), Eberron (Io) and Kyber (tiamat) or is that unnecissary?

Prime32
2011-04-20, 11:17 AM
And do you think in Eberron the Dragon Gods would instead be called Syberis (Bahabmut), Eberron (Io) and Kyber (tiamat) or is that unnecissary?Bahamut, Tiamat and Io do exist in Eberron as constellations and/or dragon gods, IIRC.

Greenish
2011-04-20, 11:59 AM
Bahamut, Tiamat and Io do exist in Eberron as constellations and/or dragon gods, IIRC.Indeed, dragonic gods exist (maybe) in the Eberron and are separate from the big three. There's even a PrC for humanoids worshipping them.

The idea of using the cards sounds fun.

Goober4473
2011-04-20, 12:35 PM
I like this idea and may steal things from this thread for my own Eberron game.

Would you be using this as just setting background, such as having some superstitious types join while playing in a tavern, or a plot hook, such as a fortune teller gives the PCs some information, or something the players can use in some way?

GreyMantle
2011-04-20, 12:38 PM
To make it really epic, you could also try to emulate The Deck of Dragons from Malazan Book of the Fallen.

askandarion
2011-04-21, 11:34 AM
An ancient House Sivis scribe first created the 3DA decks long ago, imbuing them with divinatory magic based upon and using the inherent magic in a Sivis dragonmark. His original purpose was to explore the possible ways to influence the Draconic Prophesy on a much smaller scale. When the dragons found out about the scribe's creation, they acted to suppress and destroy any knowledge of the decks' true purposes. Though unable to destroy all traces of the decks, they were able to stamp out that knowledge- thus, the decks that survived were treated and viewed merely as a game, a diversion, and mundane copies spread across Khorvaire. But perhaps a scion of Sivis could rediscover how much these decks can predict and influence the Prophecy? Perhaps inadvertently, during a game taking place near a location containing marks of the Prophecy, or when his or her dragonmark flares just as a winning hand is dealt to them?

What could an heir of Sivis do, if wielding both a true deck and knowledge of how to use it, at a nexus of the Draconic Prophecy? If the dragons let such a being survive long enough to try...

[EDIT] Or perhaps it requires a Medani touch? Maybe a game between a Sivis heir and a Medani heir opens up the full divinatory potential of a deck?