Jürgen Hubert
First Post
After some discussion on the WotC boards, I have come up with the following concept for an Eberron campaign, loosely modelled after H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds. Basically, the world of Eberron gets invaded by aliens from another planet - in this case, the neogi, who live on another planet in the same star system as Eberron.
The campaign would proceed in several phases:
First Phase: An invasion force of neogi lands in the country the PCs are currently in, and their war machines - giant arachnoid constructs and weirder things - devastate the countryside and a few major cities.
This should be a phase of horror and uncertaincy. What are these creatures? Where do they come from? How can we fight back?
Also give some thought to their war machines. Don't make them look like modern-day jet fighters or tanks, even if there are vehicles that fulfill similar niches. Make them weird and enigmatic. Wells' tripod are a good start. The point is that neither the PCs nor the players should have a clear idea of what the vehicles can do and how they operate just by looking at them - and the stranger the vehicles, the more frightening will they be as they cut through Breland's Finest like butter.
At this stage, the main point should be to flee, regroup, and save as many people as they can. Particularly powerful or ingenious parties might be able to take down a few of the invaders, but loose enough resources in the process to make them realize that taking on the whole army by themselves is futile by this point. There are simply too many of the enemies, and they are advancing fast. Still, vital information might be gained if they manage to look into one of those vehicles, or even capture one...
Second Phase: Now the neogi control a large stretch of territory, and most people who used to live there have either fled or died, with a few survivors struggling to hide in the ruins. The aliens have stopped their advance for the moment, and are now consolidating their gains and build up their infrastructure in preparation for future conquest. They might also seek to alter the very landscape to suit their needs - strange red plant growths might cover once fertile valleys, weird and huge constructions are erected that suck up the air and transform it into something the aliens can breathe, and so on.
This is where the PCs can shine by sneaking into enemy territory and bringing back vital intelligence on the aliens. As they view the devastation, it should become clear to them that if they don't act, the whole of Eberron is in danger. They should make daring raids on enemy facilities to learn more - and possibly bring back alien artifacts or even live neogi that experts can examine (and vivisect).
One thing they should discover is how the neogi power their magitech:
They have special contraptions that steal the life force of living beings (all the way down to zero levels, which kills the creature). This life force is then transformed into XP, which can be used to either create new magitech items, or recharge existing ones. So their contraptions can have "lightning cannons" which are effectively Wands of Lightning, but which are recharged from special canisters containing the life force of living being!
Third Phase: Now it is time to fight and kick back those alien scum back into space!
Simply causing the neogi to succumb to some native disease like in War of the Worlds would cheat the PCs out of their chance to really shine and slaughter aliens in large numbers, so I recommend against it. Instead, the intelligence the PCs brought back should uncover some critical weakness in the defense of the aliens - nothing that will make the fight easy, but something that will give the inhabitants of Khorvaire an even fight. Now the PCs can travel around and convince various resistance groups as well as the nations unaffected by the attack so far to mount a coordinated assault - and then lead the charge into the neogi headquarters!
Fourth Phase: The neogi have been defeated in Khoirvaire, and the surviving artificers are learning a lot of the recovered alien magical technology - some even speculate that it might be possible to travel to other planets with what they have uncovered.
However, all is not well - there are already some secret fights and intrigues breaking out between the nations of Khoirvaire for access to especially intriguing alien artifacts, and some act less than ethically when it comes to testing the alien tech and its more sinister applications (especially that "life force draining" part...).
In the meantime, the neogi might be defeated on Khorvaire (though some might have fled into remote wilderness areas) - but what about the other continents? The dragons on Argonessen can presumably take care of themselves (though the dragons were notably missing during the Khorvaire invasion - perhaps they have been called home for the fight), and Sarlona has also survived with heavy losses. But what about Xen'drik?
Perhaps the aliens have managed to establish a permanent base there, and the disorganized giants were not able to mount a united front against them (and they have a hard time hiding, anyway). So now the PCs have lead raids using elemental-powered airships to get rid of the aliens there, too. But can they convince the bickering national leaders to lend their resources to such an effort - especially since they don't know if more neogi will land on Khorvaire and they don't want to leave their nations defenseless?
Fifth Phase: Eberron is safe again - and now, with reverse-engineered magic space drives, the Worlds Above beckon! First and foremost on the minds of the brave souls exploring the Void Between The Worlds is the neogi homeworld from which this brutal assault has started. But what else is out there?
You can use spelljammer-esque space drives or possibly something more exotic. Likewise the ships could be similar to those used in Spelljammer - hastily converted elemental galleons and airships, perhaps? - or they could be solid hull constructions that protect the vehicle occupants against the vacuum outside.
The invasion could be the last gasp of a dying civilization, or they could be the prelude to greater and better-planned efforts. In the latter case, the desperate struggle takes place over the canvas of an entire star system. In the former case, the neogi are now unable to fight back effectively, and the nations of Khorvaire and Sarlona use their newfound technology to create colonies across the star system in the rush to acquire vital resources only found elsewhere. In either case, opportunities for adventures abound!
Though personally, I would limit the action to a single star system for the time being - there should be enough planets for everyone to explore, and the vastness of interstellar space would make the struggled back on Eberron irrelevant, which would miss the point in my opinion - the Worlds Above beckon, but the people of Eberron are still mostly the same and carry the same prejudices and grudges with them.
Of course, this scenario changes the setting rather drastically. But the Roaring Twenties which partially inspired the setting also were a time of rapid change, so I see nothing wrong with that. And there is a clear process for getting from the "canon" Eberron setting to one with spelljammer-like space travel - and that period of change can be an exiting time to play in!
Your thoughts?
The campaign would proceed in several phases:
First Phase: An invasion force of neogi lands in the country the PCs are currently in, and their war machines - giant arachnoid constructs and weirder things - devastate the countryside and a few major cities.
This should be a phase of horror and uncertaincy. What are these creatures? Where do they come from? How can we fight back?
Also give some thought to their war machines. Don't make them look like modern-day jet fighters or tanks, even if there are vehicles that fulfill similar niches. Make them weird and enigmatic. Wells' tripod are a good start. The point is that neither the PCs nor the players should have a clear idea of what the vehicles can do and how they operate just by looking at them - and the stranger the vehicles, the more frightening will they be as they cut through Breland's Finest like butter.
At this stage, the main point should be to flee, regroup, and save as many people as they can. Particularly powerful or ingenious parties might be able to take down a few of the invaders, but loose enough resources in the process to make them realize that taking on the whole army by themselves is futile by this point. There are simply too many of the enemies, and they are advancing fast. Still, vital information might be gained if they manage to look into one of those vehicles, or even capture one...
Second Phase: Now the neogi control a large stretch of territory, and most people who used to live there have either fled or died, with a few survivors struggling to hide in the ruins. The aliens have stopped their advance for the moment, and are now consolidating their gains and build up their infrastructure in preparation for future conquest. They might also seek to alter the very landscape to suit their needs - strange red plant growths might cover once fertile valleys, weird and huge constructions are erected that suck up the air and transform it into something the aliens can breathe, and so on.
This is where the PCs can shine by sneaking into enemy territory and bringing back vital intelligence on the aliens. As they view the devastation, it should become clear to them that if they don't act, the whole of Eberron is in danger. They should make daring raids on enemy facilities to learn more - and possibly bring back alien artifacts or even live neogi that experts can examine (and vivisect).
One thing they should discover is how the neogi power their magitech:
They have special contraptions that steal the life force of living beings (all the way down to zero levels, which kills the creature). This life force is then transformed into XP, which can be used to either create new magitech items, or recharge existing ones. So their contraptions can have "lightning cannons" which are effectively Wands of Lightning, but which are recharged from special canisters containing the life force of living being!
Third Phase: Now it is time to fight and kick back those alien scum back into space!
Simply causing the neogi to succumb to some native disease like in War of the Worlds would cheat the PCs out of their chance to really shine and slaughter aliens in large numbers, so I recommend against it. Instead, the intelligence the PCs brought back should uncover some critical weakness in the defense of the aliens - nothing that will make the fight easy, but something that will give the inhabitants of Khorvaire an even fight. Now the PCs can travel around and convince various resistance groups as well as the nations unaffected by the attack so far to mount a coordinated assault - and then lead the charge into the neogi headquarters!
Fourth Phase: The neogi have been defeated in Khoirvaire, and the surviving artificers are learning a lot of the recovered alien magical technology - some even speculate that it might be possible to travel to other planets with what they have uncovered.
However, all is not well - there are already some secret fights and intrigues breaking out between the nations of Khoirvaire for access to especially intriguing alien artifacts, and some act less than ethically when it comes to testing the alien tech and its more sinister applications (especially that "life force draining" part...).
In the meantime, the neogi might be defeated on Khorvaire (though some might have fled into remote wilderness areas) - but what about the other continents? The dragons on Argonessen can presumably take care of themselves (though the dragons were notably missing during the Khorvaire invasion - perhaps they have been called home for the fight), and Sarlona has also survived with heavy losses. But what about Xen'drik?
Perhaps the aliens have managed to establish a permanent base there, and the disorganized giants were not able to mount a united front against them (and they have a hard time hiding, anyway). So now the PCs have lead raids using elemental-powered airships to get rid of the aliens there, too. But can they convince the bickering national leaders to lend their resources to such an effort - especially since they don't know if more neogi will land on Khorvaire and they don't want to leave their nations defenseless?
Fifth Phase: Eberron is safe again - and now, with reverse-engineered magic space drives, the Worlds Above beckon! First and foremost on the minds of the brave souls exploring the Void Between The Worlds is the neogi homeworld from which this brutal assault has started. But what else is out there?
You can use spelljammer-esque space drives or possibly something more exotic. Likewise the ships could be similar to those used in Spelljammer - hastily converted elemental galleons and airships, perhaps? - or they could be solid hull constructions that protect the vehicle occupants against the vacuum outside.
The invasion could be the last gasp of a dying civilization, or they could be the prelude to greater and better-planned efforts. In the latter case, the desperate struggle takes place over the canvas of an entire star system. In the former case, the neogi are now unable to fight back effectively, and the nations of Khorvaire and Sarlona use their newfound technology to create colonies across the star system in the rush to acquire vital resources only found elsewhere. In either case, opportunities for adventures abound!
Though personally, I would limit the action to a single star system for the time being - there should be enough planets for everyone to explore, and the vastness of interstellar space would make the struggled back on Eberron irrelevant, which would miss the point in my opinion - the Worlds Above beckon, but the people of Eberron are still mostly the same and carry the same prejudices and grudges with them.
Of course, this scenario changes the setting rather drastically. But the Roaring Twenties which partially inspired the setting also were a time of rapid change, so I see nothing wrong with that. And there is a clear process for getting from the "canon" Eberron setting to one with spelljammer-like space travel - and that period of change can be an exiting time to play in!
Your thoughts?
