Eberron: Off the rails.

[weckar]

The story thus far: A brave party of questionable heroes have been tasked with disabling the last remaining active Creation Forges throughout Khorvaire. This mission has taken them, after many months, to Sharn.

What the plan was: They were supposed to find a hidden hall in the Cogs where the forge was and destroy it in some undetermined way. It would have been guarded by a house Cannith construct. Relatively straightforward dungeon crawl.

What actually happened: They accidentally cursed the whole city to be destroyed in an undefined way at a predetermined (yet unknown) point in the future. They then went on to ward the whole city so that when it does happen the populace will be unharmed. The general public is unaware of any of this. Satisfied with their work, they have taken their boat to the next destination.

I am rather stuck on what should happen next. On one hand, they went out of their way to prevent a mass genocide, on the other hand the largest population in the world will suddenly be without home. The Forge was also never strictly deactivated, but likely will be in the event. All this should have consequences. I got no clue. Any ideas?

[Gildedragon]

How did they curse Sharn? They gonna trigger a Second Cataclysm?

If so: Adventure to the Mournlands, find experimental device that was almost completed that could have stopped the cataclysm!

[Darkweave31]

How did they curse the city to be destroyed in an undetermined way? Dragon prophecy thing?

[weckar]

They used a divine artifact they had saved from an earlier adventure.

Considering their next destination is in the Mournland anyway (taking on the Lord of Blades, joy!) that might not be the worst side-plot to use...

[Gildedragon]

Where did the artifact come from
what is its abilities
what artifact is it?

Ideas:
Lord of Blades used to be a H. Cannith Researcher working on the Mourning Preventer
A similar ancient artifact exists in the ruins of cyre

[weckar]

It was an artifact containing a one-time-use Divine Wish. It was, of course, subject to an 'exact wording' clause and was really never meant to be used by the players. They just sniped the NPC who had it before he could use it. I'm actually kind of glad they got rid of it in a semi-containable way.

[Gildedragon]

What did they say that doomed the city? "We wish for the forge not be destroyed rather sharn?"
Also, did you tell them the city is doomed, cause with Wish you can just have the city not be doomed...

[Darkweave31]

Let the city fall. Sharn was largely untouched during the last war, so severe destruction they cause will be incredibly devastating. When it does fall, the emerald claw takes credit for it, sparking huge animosity between Breland and Karrnath (where there are factions that would like to see a continuation of the last war and the emerald claw still has a good foothold). Of course you see where this is going. Let them have fun ousting the Lord of Blades, and when they return from the Mournland they find that the continent has once again been thrown into war because of their actions. Only this time there are no warforged (the last large refuge for them was just PC'd) for the populace to hide behind since the creation forges have been destroyed. Huge amounts of death and despair ensues.

This is especially poignant if any grew up, fought, or experienced some kind of loss during the last war. Now they have the guilt of causing it all again. Let the consequences of their actions weigh on their shoulders.

[weckar]

Darkweave, you should do this for a living.

[Gildedragon]

Let the city fall. Sharn was largely untouched during the last war, so severe destruction they cause will be incredibly devastating. When it does fall, the emerald claw takes credit for it, sparking huge animosity between Breland and Karrnath (where there are factions that would like to see a continuation of the last war and the emerald claw still has a good foothold). Of course you see where this is going. Let them have fun ousting the Lord of Blades, and when they return from the Mournland they find that the continent has once again been thrown into war because of their actions. Only this time there are no warforged (the last large refuge for them was just PC'd) for the populace to hide behind since the creation forges have been destroyed. Huge amounts of death and despair ensues.

This is especially poignant if any grew up, fought, or experienced some kind of loss during the last war. Now they have the guilt of causing it all again. Let the consequences of their actions weigh on their shoulders.

It might be poignant but there are 2 problems
1) do the players know they've doomed the city. If they don't then the whole Sharn is Cursed subplot the DM wasn't expecting needn't go anywhere; the campaign can proceed as normal. As such it is safe to assume the players know about the doom; they will presumably try and reverse it. If the mournlands isn't the save sharn destination, then they won't go there leading to further derrailing
2) presuming they go to the Mournlands to save Sharn and Sharn is destroyed in their absence: expect players to get angry. You've sent them on a pointless quest that accomplished nothing. It might be poignant world tipsyturveying storytelling, but it is less than fun adventure.
If you do feel like sparking the great war anew: the doom of sharn is prevented, but not before something happens (skies redden, fire comes down... then stops, but the tops of towers have been shattered, causalities are low but dread is high...) PCs get to feel like big heroes until the EC makes an anouncement...

[Darkweave31]

It might be poignant but there are 2 problems
1) do the players know they've doomed the city. If they don't then the whole Sharn is Cursed subplot the DM wasn't expecting needn't go anywhere; the campaign can proceed as normal. As such it is safe to assume the players know about the doom; they will presumably try and reverse it. If the mournlands isn't the save sharn destination, then they won't go there leading to further derrailing
2) presuming they go to the Mournlands to save Sharn and Sharn is destroyed in their absence: expect players to get angry. You've sent them on a pointless quest that accomplished nothing. It might be poignant world tipsyturveying storytelling, but it is less than fun adventure.
If you do feel like sparking the great war anew: the doom of sharn is prevented, but not before something happens (skies redden, fire comes down... then stops, but the tops of towers have been shattered, causalities are low but dread is high...) PCs get to feel like big heroes until the EC makes an anouncement...

Hmmmm... I feel like I disagree. IF the PCs go to the mournland for a solution to their sharn faux pas and come back touting the device that can save the city only to be too late it becomes just that much more devastating. The PCs don't always have to win. Sometimes a failure can spark memorable roleplay and drive the players on to greater heights. And when they do finally manage to be the heroes despite all the trials, the losses that brought them there will make it all that more powerful.

Now the players have a powerful defensive artifact that they failed to use to protect Sharn, but that doesn't mean they couldn't find redemption later on by using it just in the nick of time to save say... New Cyre from ultimate annihilation, saving the remnants of the once great culture... Or perhaps they find a way to manipulate the artifact to reverse the effects of the mournland. Give the players something to keep them engaged, especially in the face of loss.

[Grayson01]

How did they curse Sharn? They gonna trigger a Second Cataclysm?

If so: Adventure to the Mournlands, find experimental device that was almost completed that could have stopped the cataclysm!

Hey I read that book, Heirs of the Ash Trilogy lol

[Gildedragon]

Hmmmm... I feel like I disagree. IF the PCs go to the mournland for a solution to their sharn faux pas and come back touting the device that can save the city only to be too late it becomes just that much more devastating. The PCs don't always have to win. Sometimes a failure can spark memorable roleplay and drive the players on to greater heights. And when they do finally manage to be the heroes despite all the trials, the losses that brought them there will make it all that more powerful.

I agree with what you say regarding failure and success. Yeah stories have their ups and downs and whatnots. But it isn't the case here for a number of reasons.
1) the destruction of sharn wasn't originally in the books (otherwise this tread wouldn't have its raison d'etre)
2) the destruction of sharn is the result of the DMs interpretation of a wish which probably needn't have gone that way (i seriously doubt the PCs made a wish that would explicitly doom the city) The problem about sharn being doomed falls also on the DM who didn't think the results of a judgement call through.
3) having a foregone conclusion to an event the PCs are acting to affect is not letting them even have the chance to win. Their failure means nothing because they had no agency in it.
Which is to say, the posibility of the doom on sharn should be a real one, but not a foregone one. If they spend too long dawdling, helping villages along they way, fighting the LoB or the minions thereof, sure let them whittle away their time, but if they are going on a quest there ought be a chance of success.

[Anlashok]

1) do the players know they've doomed the city. If they don't then the whole Sharn is Cursed subplot the DM wasn't expecting needn't go anywhere; the campaign can proceed as normal. As such it is safe to assume the players know about the doom; they will presumably try and reverse it. If the mournlands isn't the save sharn destination, then they won't go there leading to further derrailing.

Er. OP said that they put up wards so that the population wouldn't be destroyed when the city was leveled, so... yeah I think they know.

[T.G. Oskar]

Agree with Guigarci on this. I'll use Red Hand of Doom as an example of this: the whole reason the adventure is so great and so widely recommended is because you're thrust with a real and present danger, but it's your roleplaying actions which determine if the adventure ends successfully or if there's a big disaster and all the PCs can do is avenge the population and stop a major disaster.

OP, if you choose to give the players a chance to save Sharn, make sure it allows the possibility of success. The concept of "victory points" can be a good start, or whatever replacement there is, but make sure they have a good chance of saving Sharn. You could provide an artifact that actually alters the Wish to something more favorable for both the party's mission and the city itself (IMO, the only thing that would make Sharn suffer is if the wish severed its link to Syrania; the artifact could effectively replace the source of the coterminous link with another, less dangerous thing). You could even give them an unusual clue: maybe Sharn IS destroyed, but they know what made the Day of Mourning, and if the situation grows dire, they may even know how to replicate it (which means that your PCs suddenly become unintentional terrorists attempting to eradicate the threat of war by threatening another disaster like the one that ended it). It could be light, it could be dark; it all depends on how your party likes to play.

If it's a light-hearted campaign (which I doubt), then make them save Sharn and actually succeed; dropping a disaster like that will suddenly shift the course of the campaign and leave most people shocked and probably unwilling to play. If it's a darker campaign and you're truly interested on them to re-ignite war again, then drop Sharn no matter what. However, for most campaigns, the best choice is to provide a way to save Sharn and have that chance be realistic. Having them travel to the Mournlands only to have Sharn destroyed is, except for the darkest and grittiest of campaigns, an insult to the players because it makes their efforts wasted on what's essentially a "side quest" now (you've effectively shifted their priorities for the moment).

If you intend to save Sharn, make all their efforts count. Do they tell people about what's happened to Sharn? Maybe you'll generate some enemies, but the efforts to keep the city save may buy them some time. Do they stop to help someone? Maybe an artificer hears their plea and adds more time to the clock. Do they think the time is fair? Send a message that things are starting to fall faster than expected. Keep the players on their toes, but focused on what you want. It doesn't have to be the Mournlands; maybe they end up making a pact with someone and that saves Sharn, but pits them on whatever quest you want. Maybe the Lord of Blades offers to save Sharn and follows on his word (he's LE, after all), but then uses this to gain more favor (unwittingly making him more powerful). Maybe you're even a part of history! Perhaps what you're doing is what caused the Day of Mourning, but it was unintended and a fixed point in time, and that would be a humongous shock to them (they destroyed an entire city, but if it weren't for them, the War would never have stopped). There's lots of ideas; just follow the one you seem to like, and work something around. And look out for anything daring the players may want to do; sometimes, saying yes and working that out positively is a reward on itself (it makes the story far more interesting than just dutifully saving the day, even if it becomes a logistical nightmare for you); after all, it was their possession of an artifact what allowed them to avoid the loss of all people in Sharn, so stretching that story around into a second turnaround for the party will make the story even more engaging (and inflate the party's ego, but that's inevitable).

[Gildedragon]

Er. OP said that they put up wards so that the population wouldn't be destroyed when the city was leveled, so... yeah I think they know.

So they did. I missed that entirely in my "what are the ways out" mindset.

[weckar]

I think part of the core problem is being overlooked here, or I did not express it properly. The party fully thinks that having the population of Sharn survive after its complete destruction clears them of any blame and I doubt a second thought would be given unless I made the effort to bring up the after effects.

I made that post minutes after the session ended, and I'm a little more clear-headed on the matter now. I think I should provide some insight into the mentality of my group members for this to be a fruitful discussion. Starting with the person who actually used the artifact.

-The person who made the wish plays a Half-Orc Monk whose major claim to fame thus far was summoning a giant whale to attack their boat (granted, that was an accident). He (the character, but maybe also the player) isn't too bright and tends to do things without thinking about the consequences. He will pick a fight with literally anyone, and proceed to get pummeled, which has become a bit of a running joke. He literally wished for the destruction of Sharn (I think he used to word 'decimated'), and for the artifact in question to be sent a 'billion' years into the future. All fair game, and I only managed to save the situation a little by pointing out that he didn't put a time clause on the wish.

-The brains of the group, player-wise, plays a warblade warforged. When the wish happened, he was the one to first realize the 'oh ****' of the situation. He is also the de facto leader of the group. He had been debating the use of the wish for a couple of sessions now, and wasn't happy when it was 'wasted' on the fly. Still, he feels no in-character moral obligation to help the city at all.

-The third guy is a bit of a random one. Sometimes he's the best roleplayer, but he tends to zone out a lot. He plays a LG cleric shifter, and he was the one to research and coerce the party into warding the city. He feels there is nothing more he can do, and thinks they should continue on their mission.

-The fourth and last guy is a wanted criminal in the city. A dwarf rogue, he recently acquired a third leg (don't ask) which he was trying to get surgically removed when the wish happened. He got into conflict over compensation and things went bad. All things considered, he is the one most justified in wanting to leave the city be.

-One of the girls (the badass 20 Dex elf Wizard) was only there over skype, and didn't contribute to the discussion. She wasn't happy afterward, though.

-The last member of the group is a throwing-specialised human barbarian. She initially wanted to use the wish to complete their mission, but after long discussion with the warforged couldn't find a wording guaranteed to have no bad repercussions. She is, apart from the rogue, the only one to have actually seen the Creation Forge in Sharn, and is the only one who cares to actually destroy it. She was overpowered (because she decided to go down there alone) and still intends to destroy it before the wish takes hold. She holds little sway in the group, though.


So, yeah, their general direction is away from sharn both physically and mentally. But, dramatically, SOMETHING should happen.

[Darkweave31]

Well if you would like the literal (historical) interpretation of decimated- it would mean to destroy 1 in every 10

That could mean people (who are now protected) or you could destroy 10% of Sharn's towers...



It sounds like 3 of the 6 party members really do care about the destruction of the city and would jump for the opportunity to prevent the devastation. So maybe you could turn it into a race against time to try and save the city once a convenient plot opportunity to do so comes about. Definitely possible to tie this into the mournland.

If party members slow the group down that's one tic closer to Sharn's destruction. Present them with tempting diversions like treasure or some other form of power. If they slow down and take the bait one more tic on the doomsday clock. Perhaps a moral dilemma to help a worthy cause, but forcing them to take time. Tic toc. Perhaps a chance to discover the truth behind the Day of Mourning. Time slips away.

Meanwhile Sharn crumbles slowly. Every day a tower or two crumbles, starting just as the PCs are looking back at the spires one last time before they disappear over the horizon. Lead on that the city isn't being destroyed in an instant, but rather piece by piece. Hopefully players will remember this when you present to them the possibility of a plot device to stop Sharn from crumbling and realize that it's a race against the clock.

That way if you did like the idea of a continuation of the last war it would still be very possible, but now the PCs have a chance to minimize the impact of the destruction and save the city as a whole.

[Coidzor]

I'm simply astounded that they gave the wish artifact to a player and character like that. That pretty much puts to rest any reservations I had about teaching them a lesson.

Granted, *you* need to be taught a lesson about including those kinds of artifacts in your game as well...

[Gildedragon]

He literally wished for the destruction of Sharn (I think he used to word 'decimated'), and for the artifact in question to be sent a 'billion' years into the future.


... ¿¿¡¿¡¡¡What?!?!!!!

Pardon me I am a bit stunned but: What?!?!

Io Allmighty...
Why would...
How is he not comatose from Wis drain... Or is he plant type so it is a non ability...

Wow... Kudos to the party (and you) for not flipping. Jeez.
Yeah guess there's no way around it.

For a Mourning Redux: have them find something in the city: a rift or crackling orb that is wrecking stuff up, and it is growing. Maybe starts as a more in the sky. Maybe the Wish gives a cultist a vision on how to trigger a second mourning. The Cannith head (Merrith? Merry? Marcus?) goes cuckoo for Cannith puffs and starts researching the mourning, experimenting. A Radiant Idol starts trying to break into Syrannia. A Lord of Dust stirs beneath the city. Syrannia starts moving away.

Merrix!

[Brunks]

(I think he used to word 'decimated')

I feel I have to point out the meaning of the word "Decimate"
To reduce by one tenth, or to remove one tenth.
A roman practice for punishing mutinous soldiers, killing one in ten men.

My reading of that wish would almost certainly apply SPECIFICALLY to the population, not the structure of the city.
And even if it did, it would only destroy one tenth of the city. And not necessarily the forge either.


Also what sort of wards did they put up, and how could they possibly stop the effects of this artifact?

I say make their failure resonate throughout the land and have them work to right their wrongs.