The Dragon Within
A 5th Edition D&D campaign set in the world of Eberron.
Character Creation Guidelines
All standard Eberron options available, and the DM will entertain any non-standard ideas. One thing is true of all PCs, however: you have an Aberrant Dragonmark, a unique mark apart from the Twelve or from anyone else's mark. As such, you are somewhat shunned by unmarked people and mistrusted by those of the Twelve Houses. You've found solace among friends--others with aberrant marks, who've formed independent guilds, banding together for mutual protection, economic opportunity, and just plain community.
Note: you can have one of the Twelve standard dragonmarks if you wish, and can even be a proper member of its house. However, your mark began to evolve away from its standard form, becoming something of an aberration, even if its core powers are still available to you. You might be on the outs with the house, or even exiled--discuss with the DM.
Rules
- Characters start at level 5.
- Starting location is your guildhall in Sharn, in the Clifftop district. You can be from anywhere, but this is your current address. The guild hall has dormitories, but you can live "off-campus" if you prefer (it'll cost some money)
- You start with 600 gp in addition to your normal starting equipment.
- You have two common magic items and two uncommon magic items.
Resources
- The Wayfarer's Guide to Eberron (5e) and Rising From the Last War are the primary world sourcebooks. Everything in there is canon unless otherwise specified.
- All 3rd edition Eberron supplements can be considered canon if they don't conflict with the above.
- All official WotC 5e rules are valid, as are homebrew rules noted here (TBD). Other resources need to be cleared with the DM.
Tone
In brief, light-hearted, occasionally silly and occasionally dead serious. The PCs should be good-natured or at least not evil, a bit out of place in regular society but welcome within the guild. The world is vast and full of possibilities, and danger is just part of the fun!
Eberron is neither modern Earth nor a renaissance fair, but something entirely different. Magic is commonplace and partly industrialized, and so larger-scale construction such as lightning rail lines are possible, but they don't have a 21st century understanding of chemistry and physics, so you won't see a lot of glass-and-steel skyscrapers, automatic rifles, or smartphones. Artifice has produced some fabulous and convenient inventions, but they always have a flair of medieval, renaissance, or perhaps even early modern design (Aundair's airships might be conflated for 19th-century naval vessels, for example). It's a melange of styles, but at the end of the day, there are swords, elves, wizards, castles, and all the trappings of classic medieval fantasy...plus lightning trains!
Structure
The guild (yours to name, although you aren't the only members) is part of a network of similar guilds operating under the Clifftop Adventuring Charter. In brief, that means:
- The guild and its members are obligated to follow the laws of Sharn, Breland, and the generally recognized universal laws of the Five Kingdoms
- Private citizens and public entities can create a formal request for adventurers' aid
- All guilds are allowed to bid for a bounty; whoever posted it decides who they will grant it to
- Guild members in pursuit of a lawful bounty are deputized to take certain otherwise extralegal actions, such as detaining criminal suspects (not just anyone; a quest might call for the return of a jilted lover, but dumping someone isn't a crime in Sharn), using lethal weapons and magic in self-defense without duty to retreat, and generally reasonable actions required to serve the bounty
Each adventure will tend to take the form of the PCs being awarded a bounty, serving that bounty, perhaps encountering a few twists and turns, before ultimately completing it (hopefully), enjoying the rewards, and filling out piles of insurance paperwork for the collateral damage (hopefully not that last part)
Characters
The Guild
Active
Inactive
NPCs
| Name | Bio | Abilities | Personality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ironheart | male human age 55 | high-level fighter | Pretty chill. |
| Apollo | male dragon age ?? | dragon? | Erudite, immaculately dressed, patient, a bit snooty. |
| Killgore | female bugbear, middle age | rank 5 chef | Convivial, nurturing, overbearing. |
| Lexi | gender-fluid cambion | mid-level outsider | Sexually fluid, matchmaker, thrives on gossip. |
| J4-C08 | male-patterned warforged, age 0/5 | mid-tier artificer | Curious, logical, industrious. |
Others:
- Unnamed shifter (honey badger) librarian / instructor
- Unnamed changeling security guard
- Unnamed stone giant groundskeeper
Rival Guilds
The Yellowjackets
- Queen Bea
- Leader: Vandar, male elf psywar
- 2nd: Triss, female fire genaasi sor
- Heavy: K0-BOR, warforged fighter
- Sneaky: Szzam, changeling rogue
- Heals: Rundeeli, faery warlock
(Triss and Rundeeli seem to have gone rogue)
Other NPCs of Note
| Name | Bio | Abilities | Personality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bella | female gnome, elder (dec.) | high-level artificer | not much is known |
| Osborn d'Cannith | male human, middle aged | ??? | Serious, cutthroat, corporate. |
| Lady Valice | female (living) Aereni elf, age ?? | ?? | Aloof, fancy, duplicitous. |
Others:
- The Inquisitor
Background
Sessions
| Session # | Session ID | Episode Name | Date | Starting Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TDW1-1a | The Iron Giant | 4-19-20 | 5 |
| 2 | TDW1-1b | The Iron Giant | 4-26-20 | 5 |
| 3 | TDW1-1c | The Iron Giant | 5-10-20 | 5 |
| 4 | TDW1-2a | Kobolds Ate My Baby | 5-17-20 | 6 |
| 5 | TDW1-2b | Kobolds Ate My Baby | 5-24-20 | 6 |
| 6 | TDW1-2c | Kobolds Ate My Baby | 6-14-20 | 6 |
| 7 | TDW1-2d | Kobolds Ate My Baby | 7-5-20 | 6 |
| 8 | TDW1-2e | Kobolds Ate My Baby | 7-12-20 | 6 |
| 9 | TDW1-3a | The Greatest Showman | 8-2-20 | 7 |
| 10 | TDW1-3b | The Greatest Showman | 8-16-20 | 7 |
| 11 | TDW1-3c | The Greatest Showman | 8-28-20 | 7 |
| 12 | TDW1-3d | The Greatest Showman | 9-13-20 | 7 |
| 13 | TDW1-4a | Monster of the Week | 10-4-20 | 8 |
| 14 | TDW1-4b | Monster of the Week | 11-1-20 | 8 |
| 15 | TDW1-4c | Monster of the Week | 11-15-20 | 8 |
| 16 | TDW1-4d | Monster of the Week | 12-6-20 | 8 |
| 17 | TDW1-4e | Monster of the Week | 12-13-20 | 9 |
| 18 | TDW1-5a | The Devil You Know | 12-20-20 | 9 |
| 19 | TDW1-5b | The Devil You Know | 1-10-21 | 9 |
| 20 | TDW1-5c | The Devil You Know | 1-31-21 | 9 |
| 21 | TDW1-5d | The Devil You Know | 2-6-21 | 9 |
| 22 | TDW1-5e | The Devil You Know | 3-7-21 | 10 |
| 23 | TDW1-5f | The Devil You Know | 3-21-21 | 10 |
| 24 | TDW2-1a | Fools and Kings | 3-27-21 | 10 |
| 25 | TDW2-1b | Fools and Kings | 4-11-21 | 10 |
| 26 | TDW2-1c | Fools and Kings | 5-2-21 | 10 |
| 27 | TDW2-1d | Fools and Kings | 5-16-21 | 10 |
| 28 | TDW2-1e | Fools and Kings | 6-6-21 | 10 |
| 29 | TDW2-2a | The One About Mummies | 7-11-21 | 11 |
| 30 | TDW2-2b | The One About Mummies | 7-25-21 | 11 |
| 31 | TDW2-2c | The One About Mummies | 8-8-21 | 11 |