eberron / warforged and plane of madness

[DM Eberron D]

Greetings giants.

My eberron campaign has taken a strange twist

My players, following the Draconic Prophecy and missinterpreting it, opened a portal to plane of madness and several daelkyr are already running around in the material.

I have 2 questions:

1. Should I run a post-apocalypse campaign with daelkyr invading with no end or should I keep it for later? My players are 4 lvl so its kinds early I think.

2. The warforged fighter looked into the portal and in order to play on - and avoid saying anything before study plane of madness traits a bit - I told him that his character is stunned and his teammates dragged him out and run away, seeing their fighter has a blank sight for the first time like he is disabled.
I want to play a solo session with the forged explaining what he sees and maybe what he saw will leave him a drawback or a flaw.

The players are new and teaching them NOT TO LOOK / ENTER at everyportal they encounter is important.

So I appreciate any advice how tobsmoothly handle it.

Thanks in advance

D

[Fouredged Sword]

Maximize FUN. Are your players open to an end of the world game? Are they ready to move onto the next campaign? If so, end the world in a bang!

Are your players enjoying the game as is? Then make them suffer the problems caused by their actions, but don't have it be world ending.

[DM Eberron D]

Maximize FUN. Are your players open to an end of the world game? Are they ready to move onto the next campaign? If so, end the world in a bang!

Are your players enjoying the game as is? Then make them suffer the problems caused by their actions, but don't have it be world ending.

True that, indeed. About the unlucky warforged, any idea? :)

[Fouredged Sword]

Two issues I see. First the issue of a solo session. Time and asymmetrical rewards. Do you have time to meet him one on one, and are you and the group OK with him getting exp that nobody else is able to get?

Second, any penalty should be ether temporary (fades or is curable) or balanced in some manner by a bonus. Preferably both.

[DM Eberron D]

Solo session is clearly viable. In fact I have done solo session with all players before starting, to establish a "living" background.

The warforged was late addition, so that is a nice chance for his solo session.

I was thinking of something temporary actually, and curing it is adventure hook, but what? Physical / mental penalty? I could use the "confusion" spell effect (30% chance) but I was looking
for something more flavor-ish. I need him to be scared / freaked out / impressed / surprised, not to hamper him or nerf him particularly.

[Fable Wright]

First: I really don't think that there would be a constant stream of Daelkyr running around the Prime Material, even if you opened the way to Xoriat. Given the pattern of other superpowerful otherworldly beings, there are most likely 12 living Daelkyr in existence, and one dead one. So far, in canon Eberron, there are 7 trapped Daelkyr (Dyrrn the Corruptor, Belashyrra the Lord of Eyes, Orlassk the Master of Stone, Kyrzin, Prince of Slime and Ooze, The Stained One, The Master of Silence, and Bhodex'av'gr the Shaper of Plants) plus 1 'dead' Daelkyr-Spirit-thing that had a thing for edged weaponry. So, that's probably 'just' 5 Daelkyr running about on the Prime. (Though, given that those 8 were able to bring Khorvaire to its knees, 5+ Daelkyr would still be able to do a lot of damage.) And right now, Khorvaire actually has a decent shot of taking them out. More on this below.

Second: I would model the madness as the ability to randomly see objects and creatures on coterminous planes (the Astral, the Plane of Shadow, and the Ethereal planes) as though they were on the material plane. At the beginning of each encounter (and I mean 'encounter' as a day of travel, an important meeting, a combat, or basically any stressful situation), roll a d4. On a 1, the player sees nothing. On a 2+, roll up a random encounter on one of the following planes: on a 2, the Ethereal; a 3, the Astral; a 4, the Shadow. Or, for important meetings, scrap the randomness altogether and just say he sees a plot relevant event. So, for example, the player might wind up seeing three skeletal warriors chatting rudely with each other just outside the Diplomat's office, making it difficult for the Warforged to hear. (In which case, he may tell three ghosts no one else can see sitting on empty chairs to shut up.) In the middle of combat, he might see a strange looking creature (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG104.jpg) quietly walk up behind someone else in the middle of combat and steal an item, only to discover that the item really did go missing. In a meeting with an Inspired leader, he sees some kind of nightmare abomination (Quori) instead of the diplomat he's supposed to. Most of the time, it's a nuisance, but occasionally it turns up a plot-relevant detail, and it doesn't punish the player mechanically (which is a good thing).

Finally, my thoughts on how Eberron would deal with the Daelkyr. I'm just thinking aloud here on the interesting question of what I'd do if I were running this game; feel free to ignore it.

First, how the big factions of the world would react:
1. The Lords of Dust. They probably won't care or do much; they've let apocalypses happen before, they'll let them happen again.
2. The Chamber. Oddly, the most likely group to help the PCs/Khorvaire stop the Daelkyr. Last time, the Dragons didn't get involved at all, save for one rogue agent. They had no stake in the events, save that to involve themselves would be to risk increasing the influence of Tiamat. However, now that there are 12 Dragonmarks among the mortal races that the Chamber actively monitors, you can bet that a few agents will become at least covertly involved in the war effort, and will likely know the paths of Prophesy that have to be taken for the Daelkyr to be defeated. To this end, at least one Chamber agent is probably going to be dispatched to guide the PCs, who are very Prophesy-relevant as the ones who opened the portal, to follow the choices that will be necessary to rediscover the means to bind the Daelkyr. Or perhaps they have those means already, and are merely preparing the PCs to become the vessels of that power...
3. The Dreaming Dark. Their goal is to destabilize Khorvaire, and take control over the shattered remains of the continent. Of course, they don't want to fight the Daelkyr themselves, so they have to ensure that the Daelkyr are bound... but not while the Five Nations stand.
4. The Undying Court. They just don't care as long as the Daelkyr stay off their island.

As for the factions on Khorvaire...
1. Erandis Vol. She probably doesn't care about the Daelkyr invasion save as some means by which to ascend as the Goddess of Death. To this end, the Emerald Claw is the most likely to sabotage the Five Nations' war efforts against the Daelkyr. Turning to Mass Effect 3 as an example, they're very analogous to Cerberus, the Pro-Human terrorist organization that hinders the PC at every turn.
2. The Valaes Tairn. They are going to be the vanguard against the Daelkyr invasion. They've been preparing Valenar as a staging ground since they became involved with the Last War, and this is the single greatest fight of their generation. They'll likely gain reinforcements from the rest of the Tairnadal back on Aerenal, who also probably want in on the fight.
3. The Aurum. They'll be war profiteers to the end, which may be a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, they're probably going to drive up demand for arms and weapons any way they can: paranoia, panic- and warmongering, and generally causing unnecessary chaos in which they can profit. They're not going to be as obviously bad as the Emerald Claw, and some might actually help the war effort, but this is a good tertiary villain if you need one.
4. Darguun. The Dhakaani fought the Daelkyr thousands of years ago, and they're ready to do so again. The Dhakaani clans will probably find some temporary means of coordinating combat efforts, and elect a leader based off the best war hero they can find. The other Goblin power groups are likely to rally behind the Dhakaani banners, either due to an ultimatum from the Dhakaani or just for the chance to defend their home.
5. Droaam. Now, this is the wildcard. The inhabitants of Droaam have no love for the Daelkyr, but they might be Manchurian Agents; Orlassk, one of the Daelkyr, once brought an army of Medusa to wipe out the city that would become Greywall, and the Goblins have not forgotten this. It might be that the Daelkyr could seize control of Droaamish forces at any time, or the inhabitants of Droaam may be free from their influence. Either way, I see the Daughters of Sora Kell offering the service of Droaamish armies for the war effort; their heavy soldiers are the best outside of Argonessen, and the Five Nations couldn't rightly turn them away if they wanted to win. And when they accepted the help of Droaamish armies, they'd be hard-pressed to find a good reason to refuse to recognize Droaam's status as a nation.
6. The Dragonmarked Houses. House Cannith is going to get itself together fast, either with the PCs' help or without it. There's just too much profit in the war effort not to get together. Merrix is probably going to wind up in charge of the house, barring PC intervention, due to the fact that he has a creation forge ready to mass-produce Warforged again; the ban on making new warforged will inevitably drop, and this initial influx of resources will probably force the other two barons to work under Merrix. Other than that, the Houses are going to function as they did in the wartime, offering mercenaries, bodyguards, mounts, healing, communication, intelligence, and pretty much everything else they can offer.
7. The Five Nations. They're not exactly going to go back to Galifar, but they'll probably convene a summit where they construct an apparatus to get the Five Nations' troops to work in sync with each other. This summit is probably the most important section of the game that the PCs would have to navigate, as they'll have to find some way to set up an unbiased war strategy that doesn't force any one nation to shoulder unnecessarily heavy burdens. Getting the alliance should be a turning moment in the war, like uniting the Krogans and Turians in Mass Effect 3.
8. The Gatekeepers. They get their big "I told you so" moment, and probably move up a notch in the respect of the public. They're probably going to commandeer large sections of House Tharashk to find and commandeer relics, historical documents, and other such things to find out how the Daelkyr were bound the first time. The PCs are probably going to be hired as security on the one mission that actually gets it right, and are likely going to be the ones distracting the Daelkyr long enough for the Gatekeepers to bind them. Turning to Mass Effect 3, this is the Crucible Project, the secret weapon that has to be completed and delivered to actually stop the invasion.

As for the actual means of winning the war... Mass Effect 3 sets a rather good example. Do sidequests, gather allies in the war effort, unite feuding houses and get them to put up a defense together, find the plot-relevant artifacts necessary to construct the DM Fiatium Daelkyr-binding device, and deliver it in a climactic fight in the core of Daelkyr-controlled territory.

[DM Eberron D]

(@DMofDarkness I apologize for not quoting your reply, trying to keep the post short and efficient)

WOW. JUST WOW!

Sir, you got my attention! That was one of the most - if not the top - constructive answer I have EVER received.

I honestly thank you for that, it was helpful, interesting and I am literally shocked, in a good way.

Can't thank you enough, can't even express my gratitude.

DMofDarkness, you enlightened - oh, the irony - me beyond expectation.

p.s. When I was saying Daelkyr invasion, I probably meant abberations led by Daelkyr.

[Bronk]

Second: I would model the madness as the ability to randomly see objects and creatures on coterminous planes (the Astral, the Plane of Shadow, and the Ethereal planes) as though they were on the material plane.

To truly make it a curse, perhaps eventually there could be a chance that the creatures can see and affect the warforged PC as well. I'd suggest keeping these encounters short and sweet, and just tough enough that the character could take the challenge on by itself, but with enough leeway to let the other players help. That way the curse is both a plot hook and an excuse for random encounters if things get slow.

For example, after seeing a few weird things, he sees a trio of azers walk by, but then they stiffen and turn towards him, shout something he can't hear, and attack. They trade blows, and he might get hit a few times, but maybe he's like a ghost to them, or at least blurred and they miss more often than normal. The PC can then talk with his allies and direct them on how to help... a fellow PC heals the warforged while another one drags him to one side, away from danger, or levitates him out of range, and so on, and they are able to fight back as a team.

Perhaps he can see and attract the attention of non manifesting ghosts on the astral plane, but can fight them without a miss chance?

[DM Eberron D]

Perhaps he can see and attract the attention of non manifesting ghosts on the astral plane, but can fight them without a miss chance?

Thing is they already have a dream dwarf in the group (dream sight racial = can see ethereal creatures) so this could be a combo they can use together. But on the other hand maybe the Warforged
can see things that the Dream Dwarf can't, so it will be spookier for the group!

How about a living eye "growing" in his forehead? Yellow, maybe described as "dragon eye", wet and scaled, the PCs will tie it to the Draconic Prophecy?