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View Full Version : DM Help [Eberron] PCs are on a Lightning Rail, but why?



Xerlith
2016-01-05, 10:10 AM
So I'm running (yet another) an introductory adventure to Eberron for four players in a day-two. I decided to start them up on a Lightning Rail, for that quirky Eberron feel right off the bat.

My problem is, I'm stumped. I don't really know WHY they're there, what happens (Is it a train heist by them? Are they transporting sensitive goods? Are they AFTER sensitive goods? Is the train under attack suddenly? Who are the attackers and what are their motives?) and so on. So I thought I'd ask you.

The party (level 2):

Lyrandar Bard2//Swashbuckler1
Warforged Magus2//Fighter1
Hobgoblin Summoner//Fighter1
Human Artificer//Fighter1


So far, I've got:

The lyrandar kid (because she's a kid, more or less) is sent with some nondescript low-key research, to avoid suspicion she travels light.
The artificer is the co-author of the above mentioned research, a part of a team that's doing the dirty work of being a gopher.
Hobgoblin and Warforged are both hired muscle to protect the info and the people.
Stuff hits the fan, the train is attacked by [whom?], all the jazz.
Sometime in the middle, if it's on the Talenta Plains, Halflings on dinosaurs.
If the party causes a death of a civilian, it's bad rep for the Lyrandar house, so that's to be avoided
All the attackers are fair game.

Segev
2016-01-05, 10:29 AM
Well, my normal advice would be, "Have the players tell YOU why their PCs are on the train." However, it seems like you also don't know what you want to DO with them once they're on it, so your question as to "why" goes deeper than what put them there and into "Why does the story need them to be there?"

So, ask yourself this basic question: Why do you WANT them on a lightning rail? What is it that inspires you about that setting?

Âmesang
2016-01-05, 10:33 AM
Is there a snack car? Maybe they all bet at the train's bar? :smallbiggrin:

Xerlith
2016-01-05, 11:29 AM
So, ask yourself this basic question: Why do you WANT them on a lightning rail? What is it that inspires you about that setting?

Good questions. And the answer is essentially - because it's cool. It's a train full of magical stuff that can be attacked by robots with parachutes and flanked by halfling savages on dinosaurs.

But also because it's a closed, quite literally linear space, which forces the party of neutral and evil people to cooperate to survive whatever's thrown at them.

And I loved the Splinter Cell train mission.

Red Fel
2016-01-05, 11:46 AM
Well, there's a lot to be said about trains as a setting and plot device. There's a reason they're frequently used in thrillers - high speeds add a sense of danger, enclosed spaces add a sense of inescapability, the transient nature of the passengers means you're likely surrounded by people you've never seen and will never see again.

So you have what you're doing on the rail. Have the players agreed with why their characters are there? Because if they have, problem solved. You've pretty much just outlined it. If not, however, you'll have to rethink.

I'd suggest brushing up on your Hitchcock. The Master of Suspense knew how to use a train to its fullest. There are plenty of options, but here are a few choice ones (some of which I lifted from Hitchcock):
Baggage confusion. This one is a classic. One of the PCs has a package that's identical to another passenger's package. The PC's package contains something mundane, like lunch, equipment, research notes, or clothing. The other package, however, contains something valuable - either a rare or priceless object, or a dangerous compound, or stolen goods. The PCs are now being pursued by (1) the passenger originally taking the package, (2) the intended recipient of the package, (3) the person who previously owned the contents of the package, and/or (4) officials interested in the contents of the package.
Identity confusion. A passenger is being pursued and knows it. He deliberately (or accidentally) bumps into one of the PCs, making his pursuers think that either (1) the PC is the person they're pursuing, or (2) the PC is a friend or associate of the pursued person. Now the PCs have to escape their pursuers while tracking down the other guy to clear this mess up.
Stop, thief! An inversion of baggage confusion. Here, another passenger grabs something from the PCs, triggering their pursuit of the passenger, rather than the other way around. Bonus points if this sets off a Maltese Falcon-esque series of adventures.
Murder on the Orient Express. The PCs have to solve a crime, either because they're among the suspects or just because it would be awesome. In doing so, they draw the attention of officials who could use capable crime-solvers.
Basically, you need to look at two things - what's going to happen to them while they're on the train, and how it will lead to whatever follows. It seems like you've got some events planned - train gets attacked and so forth - but that's just an isolated incident. Now, if you want to make things interesting, have that happen while the PCs are involved in plot-motivating events. Robots attacking the train from the sky? Awesome. Robots attacking while the PCs pursue a thief from one train car to the next? Double letter bonus!

Segev
2016-01-05, 11:56 AM
I am not familiar with Splinter Cell except in a peripheral sense.

However, I would suggest that you look at those items you listed and consider why they might afflict the train. Figure out what YOU want to have happen as part of the adventure. Think of how things will go without PC interference, and know your key players (NPCs, objects, and terrain - both aboard the train and outside of it) and how they'll act towards their own goals or according to their own natures. Be ready, then, to adapt them logically and believably to PC intervention.

Then tell your players that the game starts on a train going from [origination] to [destination] (which you need to specify), and give them some idea of what it's carrying. Any particularly notable NPCs, interesting cargo (typical, rumored, or known), and a general reason why people travel on this particular mode of transport. Give descriptions of amenities and conveniences, as well as potential inconveniences and reasons to put up with them (e.g. if there's a "coach" section, why its prices are worth paying for whatever little it gives).

Then ask THEM why they're on the train. What brought them there? Do they know each other? Or, if you want them to know each other, have them also tell you how they know each other. They may or may not be travelling together, but if it's critical that they know each other well enough to band together against a common threat (or somesuch), then have them tell you how they know each other, even if they don't necessarily know they're all on the train.

Make them collaborate with you.

Then adapt the situation to accommodate any additions they want to make to explain their presence. Maybe the rogue/swashbuckler decides there's a cargo item she wants to steal, and she's on board to plan and execute the heist. If she specifies what it is, you can decide whether it's really there or not, but you allow her player to instigate the rumor, at least, that it was, so she has reason to be there. Maybe the summoner decides he's escorting a dangerous magical beast to a zoo in [destination]. You make sure there's a cargo car that can contain it, and allow its addition to the roster. Maybe even add a team of NPCs to help with it, depending on how dangerous it is.

I'm not saying you should suggest or plan for these things; just giving examples of how you might adapt to include and permit these ideas.

Take whatever they give you and incorporate it.

Now, not only are all the PCs on the train, but they have already decided for you why they're there and you have ready-made hooks to grab onto the plot. Maybe the dino-riding halflings are threatening to cut off the cargo cars - that'd be disastrous for both the above example motivations.

In any event, when starting up a scenario with new PCs that requires certain things in place, don't tell the players why their PCs are there. Ask them to tell you. It's their responsibility to invest their characters into the scene, and by asking them to do it, you avoid giving them weak motivations they barely care about. They'll come up with their own reasons, which will therefore make sense to them for their characters to be truly interested.

Xerlith
2016-01-07, 05:24 PM
So I ran the first session, which was sooner than I anticipated, and was actually rather simple:


They had the airship blueprints, but only an incomplete part of them, scrambled enough not to be able to be reverse engineered.
On the train was a Lyrandar noble that got killed along with his two armed guards.
The party was attacked by three covert ops mercenaries through a pincer attack (door+window), whom they succesfully repelled
Those weren't the ones that were responsible for the other Lyrandar's death.
The party's ignoring the dead Lyrandar, seeing as his demise has nothing to do with their mission. Little do they know, they were attacked by a group meant to kill/capture the other Lyrandar, while the person who's targeting them is still on the train.


What I didn't take into account was how straightforward the PCs would be. In hindsight, it should be obvious - they're paid to escort a thing, they'll be excorting the thing period. I was trying to incorporate some of the hooks mentioned here, but they were (deliberately :smallannoyed:) ignored. So, seeing as they haven't gotten off from the train yet (Fairhaven -> Sharn relation, they're still before Wroat), I'm going to simply steal the schematics from them. I have a Changeling spy in the ship crew and the dead man's illegitimate son (Who blames his father for everything he's had to go through and wanted to kill him), whose mercenaries mistakenly attacked the wrong Lyrandar (He didn't doublecheck and the dead guy was vain enough to travel under his real name, despite knowing he's pursued for debts he's made).

In plans:


LoBster's Warforged in an Airship making an air drop to get the schematics, because the airship's:

Old
Malfunctioning
Requiring a GROUP of Warforged to command the bound elemental

The changeling makes his move on the group to steal the schematics (So far she's presented herself as a middle-aged, greasy, balding crewman and a competent-looking armed crew member, different enough not to cause any suspicion (The PCs TANKED Perception and Sense Motive, to my glee).
The dead man's son possibly being pursued to be killed by a member of a crime organisation from Fairhaven, to cover the tracks (They founded the mercenaries to kill the Lyrandar, because he tried to borrow and not give the money back)

Fable Wright
2016-01-07, 05:40 PM
Do remember that the Changeling's going to steal the look of the person who's carrying the plan. This way, when the LoBster's minions attack, the PCs notice the plans are gone, and when the Changeling had to drop the package somewhere for safekeeping, the PCs are the ones the Warforged immediately turn to. This way, they're teaming up with the robots who they know are going to stab them in the back while looking for a shapeshifter who's trying to trick both sides and they have to search and interact with a dozen or more quirky crewmembers who're going to get involved in this conflict one way or the other. And that's before the debt collectors show up and start looking for the Changeling, who they think actually owes them the money. The Changeling might be convinced to hand the plans over in exchange for getting the PCs to side against the debt collectors, though this invites the PCs to get attacked by the Warforged while the Changeling tries to slip away with the plans in the middle of the ruckus.

In short, turn this into a convoluted, fun mess where the PCs have to interact with people as well as fight. Just remember to keep your sides straight.