Houses of The Dark Elves (COMPLETED)

[Prime_Evil]

I like the way you're constructing the house as cult ranks, but I've said that before. I've noticed that the skill percentage requirements are a little lower than in the Legend Corerule books examples. Is this intentional?

I presume that House members get a break in the skill percentile requirements because it's easier to advance ranks within a faction where all members are related to each other than one where they are strangers. A noble house is not a strict meritocracy - I presume that Dark Elves often rise to positions of authority within a House because of who they are related to rather than how competent they actually are. Of course, gaining a position of power is the easy part - keeping it does require a modicum of actual talent...

 

[Prime_Evil]

Oops...Wolf beat me to it by mere seconds

 

[The Wolf]

I did some number adjustments, but yeah, that was my thinking on it Prime_Evil. Though originally, those numbers might have been a tad too low.

 

[auyl]

I like the way you're constructing the house as cult ranks, but I've said that before. I've noticed that the skill percentage requirements are a little lower than in the Legend Corerule books examples. Is this intentional?

I presume that House members get a break in the skill percentile requirements because it's easier to advance ranks within a faction where all members are related to each other than one where they are strangers. A noble house is not a strict meritocracy - I presume that Dark Elves often rise to positions of authority within a House because of who they are related to rather than how competent they actually are. Of course, gaining a position of power is the easy part - keeping it does require a modicum of actual talent...

I'm not arguing that at all, they just seemed a bit low even for a family structure that focuses more on a social hierarchy than a skilled one. Keeping that in mind, skills such as Courtesy and Influence might be suggested, maybe not "required" but desireable for such a structure.

 

[The Wolf]

They were low, the newly revised numbers can be seen in the newest house (on the other page).

 

[auyl]

I saw that :wink:

 

[The Wolf]

This book makes reference to dark elven pantheons, I am going to have a word with Matt and see if I can't re-work those too because I swear if I ever see another spider reference

Edit: actually, I'm going to tie it into the gods from Sheoloth core because that makes more sense to me. I may still have to write/re-write some of the other gods mentioned.

Not impossible to add a small section to the new book detailing my take on these gods

4 dark elf houses down now, and I have a gameplan for the gods!

 

[The Wolf]

5 houses all done. I'll be adding in the gods from another source, as well as looking at the Game of Bones, the GM tool for arbitrating conflicts between NPC dark elf houses. It should be a pretty simple thing to convert.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I'd definitely add a few secret cults or heretical factions banned in most Dark Elf cities though - this would be a good place for some ancient Lovecraftian entities or demon lords. I can see that even Dark Elves would be nervous about messing with slumbering god-like beings from beyond space and time. And as for demon lords, I'm fairly sure that Dark Elves are arrogant enough to believe that they should command demons rather than worship them...

 

[Prime_Evil]

5 houses all done. I'll be adding in the gods from another source, as well as looking at the Game of Bones, the GM tool for arbitrating conflicts between NPC dark elf houses. It should be a pretty simple thing to convert.

I'd taske some time over the Game of Bones as it will be an important element in games based around Dark Elf Houses. And I'd definitely tie it into the Intrigue skill introduced in the main Sheoloth book. Also, remember that as well as the section from pp.82-93 of Quintessential Drow, a range of additional options are presented in pages 88-99 of the Tome of Drow Lore.

 

[The Wolf]

I'm having to basically cherry pick through a bunch of collected d20 drow based stuff, so Game of Bones will take some time. I plan to use the new skill(s) though, like Intrigue. I'm also going to keep the Seekers and so on that appear in the drow lore.

I am not sure if I'll present them as factions like with the dark elf houses, because some of them don't really fit that mold. What I am sure of, is that they will appear so that if the GM desires to make use of them, they have that option.

The Dark Fey and the Cabal and so on.

I'll probably present the gods as a cult option though, akin to the way I did it for Spider-Gods Bride.

That means this book will likely be bigger than anticipated and take a bit more time to do.

 

[Prime_Evil]

Some of the factions from Tome of Drow Lore aren't really suitable for adventurers and should deliberately left vague to give GMs some wriggle room. It might be a good idea to use the space to indicate what resources each of the NPC factions can throw at the characters....

 

[The Wolf]

Now that's an interesting idea, yeah. Rather than a full blown faction writeup for those, just a sketch of things that they can hurl at PCs.

What do you think about using the cult writeups though for the gods, like: Thraud?

 

[Prime_Evil]

I think using the standard cult writeups for the gods is a good approach, although if you're pressed for space you can sketch the minor ones out using the compact version developed for the Spider God's Bride.

 

[The Wolf]

I figure that PCs can join cults, so I could make it an option for the gods at least. Then leave the 'other' factions as writeups as they stand, with a few notes on what they can throw at PCs in a pinch.

 

[Prime_Evil]

That's probably a good approach.

 

[The Wolf]

It is good to see you back

 

[Prime_Evil]

I think that for those factions offered as potential adversaries, three things are necessary:

• Both the long-term goals and immediate short-term objectives of the faction need to be clear to ensure that the GM understands them. Personally, I'd be tempted to list them in bullet point format to keep them brief.
• The methods used by the faction to pursue their objectives need to be outlined. Don't go into too much detail, but give the GM something to work with. You can sometimes create interesting factions by having a mismatch between the faction's goals and their methods - maybe the organization uses dirty methods to achieve desirable goals or operates within the rules while pursuing a nasty objective. For example, imagine a group of cultists who maintain a respectable public image while attempting to awaken an evil Lovecraftian entity from aeons of slumber...
• Finally, the resources that the faction can throw at rivals and enemies need to be described. Remember that some factions will have a mixture of public and covert resources.

 

[auyl]

I think that for those factions offered as potential adversaries, three things are necessary:

• Both the long-term goals and immediate short-term objectives of the faction need to be clear to ensure that the GM understands them. Personally, I'd be tempted to list them in bullet point format to keep them brief.
• The methods used by the faction to pursue their objectives need to be outlined. Don't go into too much detail, but give the GM something to work with. You can sometimes create interesting factions by having a mismatch between the faction's goals and their methods - maybe the organization uses dirty methods to achieve desirable goals or operates within the rules while pursuing a nasty objective. For example, imagine a group of cultists who maintain a respectable public image while attempting to awaken an evil Lovecraftian entity from aeons of slumber...
• Finally, the resources that the faction can throw at rivals and enemies need to be described. Remember that some factions will have a mixture of public and covert resources.

Giving them some unique heroic abilities and spells that can only be attained through that house would give them a bit more flavour as well.

 

[The Wolf]

That would 10 new heroic abilities and at least 10 new spells to design. That might not sound like much, but that's actually quite a bit extra considering that Legend abilities and spells aren't simply cut and dried like many D&D ones.

That's assuming 1 new spell and heroic ability per house, since there are 10 of them.

Currently they have magic and heroic abilities taken from the Legend core in the writeups of the Houses so far.