Hm. I think I need to push the eastern Eldeen border a little further in.

...why are you all looking at me like that? ^.^

What'd poor Breland do to you?

They're just in the way on the journey to greater glory.

Aundair, of course, needs to be removed from the map for the good of everyone.

So, I've decided that I'm going to roll back the clock to the original standard starting date for usual Eberron games.  I guess originally, the previous GM wanted the freedom to write everything themselves, but honestly I much prefer to be able to draw directly from the pre-established lore.  I'm already finding it much easier to do that as I'm preparing the story, and I think it's exactly that which has kept me from starting the first thread, which I had planned to do two days ago.  I believe this is for the best.

Thus, ignore any reference to 1065 YK.  We're starting back in 998 YK, with the Dragon's Dance occurring in 997.  If this changes your character's history, we'll work it out.  Otherwise, this will make it far easier for me to get the game started by either later today or early tomorrow.

Thanks.

Mmm. So spherecasting is something that's only been around for a year?

Widespread for a year, at least.

For Amadalash if it's alright I'll tweak his backstory as follows:

- A smith (later a Blacksmith, no archetypes) attached to a small farming community in Talenta during its violent period of separation from Karrnath. His curious mind for devices and machinery was the subject of some rumor and uncertainty among his neighbors; while his charitable nature and friendly outlook kept the peace, it made him a first stop conscripted consultant for an experimental Karrnathi unit garrisoned at a nearby fort working with captured warforged.

- They used mostly dumb undead as security, typical of Karrnathi military tactics, relying on the fear such creatures inspire to make up for their lack of initiative. This ultimately backfired when some of the warforged used their own bodies to steal and conceal some of Amadalash's tools and escape, more resilient and capable than humanoid prisoners would have been. The violence of this event redoubled when the unit's necromancer was slain and the undead went fully feral, spilling over into Amadalash's community. He hid beneath bodies to hide his living scent.

- In the wake of the slaughter, Amadalash went a little crazy, as one does, and the rest is mostly the same: began practicing necromancy to memorialize the slain, attracted a quori spirit through anguished nightmares. Soon after, the Day of Mourning and the aftermath would   spark him to employ his talents more broadly, and he'd want to preserve Kaius III's fragile peace by adventuring to see how the world unfolds and intervene where necessary.

His brother would probably work slightly better as a war profiteer and a...I can't think of a good name, but Karrnath used a lot of undead soldiers and presumably when their necromancers were assassinated or wild magic happened or whatever they had issues with sudden feral packs of undead. Someone who baited them towards military objectives or recovered stuff they were supposed to be guarding or just put them down as need be. Whatever you'd call that job.

Yeahhhhh, when you say it like that, it seems nonsensical.  Instead, it's an ancient magic system dating back to -70,000 YK.  The non-Khorvaire races might use Spherecasting more readily, but around Khorvaire it was considered inferior in one way or another by most cultures.  It is seen more commonly in druidic systems, as well as being in use by goblinoid races.

Honestly, making "spherecasting" a specific kind of magic feels overcomplicated. Why not get rid of the Dragon's Dance plot bunny in general and just have the SoP system be how it's always worked?

Besides being the catalyst of the entire plot?

Well, yeah, but the plot relied on there having been a transition between Vancian and Sphere magic that now seems to be outdated.

I mean I kinda like the original idea of being pioneers of a new breed of magic in a chaotic world, but I don't think it matters either way to us as PLAYERS.

If the Mourning created some kind of huge destructive ripple in the function of magic and people turned to an older system since Vancian casting got broken, that's an easy way to use spherecasting/mightsphere plot hooks instead of having them exist purely in the metagame. Something like "there's a marvelous item that seems to violate the way we understand magic items work and it's in the hands of some dude or dudette who wants to start the war up again." If that's desirable to the DM I think they should keep it.

Eberron has tons of plot hooks and story ideas that would IMO serve just as well if instead spherecasting has always been standard: you just do Eberron as default. Eberron psionics were just a feature and not really a plothook, part of the metagame: some things are psionic, but it doesn't matter if they're Mind and Telekinesis instead. The specific nature of power points and manifester displays isn't critical. You can just do a mental Find/Replace and you're good to go, Eberron's a rich setting with plenty to work with. So if the DM just wants to do Eberron I think they should do that instead.

See, my backstory and potentially some character motivations were fairly heavily tied up in the change between Vancian, Psionics Unleashed, and spherecasting, which is why I'm trying to nail down what happened so I know where Nova fits in with the setting.

And ironically, the question of whether our powers are psionic does have mechanical implications for her sheet, because they mean we can take psionic feats. :)

I completely missed Psionics Unleashed was open. Which is probably just as well, I had to make enough hard choices as it was, and trying to fit in Mixed Combat or Greater Psionic Weapon would have probably been very messy. Psionic Sunder might be a good pick for the future, though.

Understandable re: backstory for sure.

The two PU feats I took are in my description. :)

The Dragon's Dance has far more implications than just introducing Spherecasting into the game.
How would Eberron, *the* D&D magitek campaign setting, fare after the system of magic that has existed for hundreds of thousands of years suddenly evaporated?
House Orien's Lightning Rail, House Lyrandar's airships, Sharn itself, etc. would at least temporarily be put out of service.  What are the ramifications of this?
Let's not forget that Arcanix just so happened to have what essentially amounts to a global anti-magic spell.  Where did they get it?  How long have they had it?  What other incredible magics might they have in their libraries?  How do other nations feel about an Aundairian city having such power?  Could it be turned back on at will, or otherwise used as a weapon?
The Giants used the old magics to cast Dal Quor out of alignment.  Might there be new problems which arise from this?
Without getting into spoilers, how many ancient god-like entities were once held in shackles by the old magics?  In hastily preventing one tyrant from ruling the continent, what might the mages of Arcanix have unleashed accidentally?

All of this, and more, is why it's taken me this long to do research, and why I decided to nix the timeskip aspect; there's already plenty of material to work with, without also wiping out many/most of the existing NPCs and needing to extrapolate the above questions, and more, 200 years into the future.  So while on one hand I've had to throw out material I made for that future timeline scenario, making material for this new scenario has been much easier.

As far as Spherecasting existing since ancient times, I far prefer that concept.  One thing that I'm doing is looking at the different cultures, or at least the main Khorvaire cultures, and determining their relationship to what used to be an old, unused form of magic.  If Spherecasting is considered a more primordial system, for instance, then it makes sense for the druids of the Eldeen to still have at least some practice with it, even if it wasn't as commonly used.  Aundair, on the other hand, would likely look at Spherecasting the same way musicians in our timeline look at classical or folk music; still practiced by dedicated connoisseurs, but ultimately overshadowed in popularity by the magical equivalent of hip-hop or rock.  Kobolds are natural sorcerers, and thus the Iejirastrix would surely have knowledge of Spherecasting.  Et cetera.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:51, Thu 28 July 2022.

Fair enough, and thanks for explaining your thinking. Of course, now that electric guitars don't work, classical is "in" even in places that didn't practice it, and people who weren't spherecasting before (like the Houses) are learning real damn quick.

In that case, before the Dance, Nova was a Psychic Warrior (Meditant archetype) with some martial spheres. Tashalatora shadow watchers have always been some of the finest martial-sphere practitioners in Eberron, but their Power side was classic psionic. Her Unified Tradition is her adaptation of the Tashalatora shadow art to the new system, and it includes a lot of druid magic because she's spent the past year retraining with the Wardens.

So, I have a request for everyone.

Upon meeting you at the camp, I'm scouting you, using the basic ability plus Study Technique. Could you all please PM me with:

-Any weaknesses, such as vulnerabilities or DR types
-BAB
-Any martial spheres you possess

Alternatively, if you're over 15th level, just tell me that instead. :)

No weaknesses such as vulnerabilities or DR types. But I am flammable.
BAB 6.
Brute, Dual Wielding, Duelist, Equipment, Fencing, Leadership, Shield, Trap

You could just ask, we're in the same party :P

But that takes all the fun out of it :)

No weaknesses or DR for Sula.
BAB 6
<deep breath> Equipment, Athletics, Berserker, Sniper, Guardian, Lancer, Warleader, Duelist.

None, +3, Leadership and Tech.

Thanks all!

Also, is it just me, or are the girls on this team more muscular than the boys?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:47, Tue 02 Aug 2022.

coughs Strength 23

Hmmm, not quite.  It's more that both the women are warriors.  Amadalesh doesn't have a description of his character yet, but without revealing anything from his character sheet, he's no slouch.  Speaking of, last minute inquiries.


.

I also need everyone to send me their final backgrounds in a new PM to me.

Beefy.

(21, or 27 when I'm hulking out.)