Prestige Classes

Heroes of Battle presents four new prestige classes. While these classes could be found anywhere in Eberron, there are a few cultures that are especially well-suited to these classes.

Combat Medic. During the Last War, Thrane had the largest force of characters with levels in the combat medic PrC. Aside from its strong reliance on divine magic to bolster its troops, the ministry of the Silver Flame fights evil by merciful acts, and many members of the ministry are trained in the healing arts. In the armies of other nations, combat medics are usually agents of House Jorasco. The House of Healing maintains a corps of healers and combat medics, and many nations rely on these mercenary agents of mercy. Other combat medics are usually devotees of Boldrei, Olladra, or the Silver Flame. Even during the Last War, followers of the Flame were found throughout the Five Nations; many placed national loyalty before allegiance to Flamekeep.

Dread Commando. These soldiers can be found in any army, but the best known commando units are those of the Valenar elves and goblinoids of Darguun. Dread commandos are trained to be stealthy even while armored, making them excellent shock troops. Stealth is one of the primary weapons of the Valenar; while the elves are known for their terrifying cavalry charges, a small warband will often use guerilla tactics to defeat an enemy, striking with patience and precision. Valenar commandos usually begin as rangers or scouts.

In Darguun, all of the different races have their own dread commando traditions. Among the Dhakaani goblins, the taarka’khesh rangers frequently take two levels of dread commando to offset the penalties of armor. Goblin legends say that the Dhakaani emperor maintained a squad of elite warriors known as the Kech Nasaar, “Keepers of Night.” The Kech Nasaar heroes possessed four or more levels of dread commando and wore full plate enchanted with the shadow and silent moves properties. They have not been seen since the fall of the empire, but some goblins say that the Kech Nasaar are watching in the shadows, waiting to stake their claim to the new throne.

Shield Wall and Coordinated Shot are ways to make masses of warriors more of a challenge for higher level opponents. Archers with the Ready Shot feat can also prove an unpleasant surprise to the half-orc barbarian used to charging his foes!

Choosing a War

So: you’ve decided to run a military adventure in Eberron. But where? And when? War has shaped the history of Eberron, and there are a host of battles to choose from.

The Last War

The conflict that has the greatest impact on the lives of most of the people of modern Khorvaire is the civil war that shattered the nation of Galifar, a century-long campaign optimistically known as the Last War.

When generating a campaign around the Last War, it is important to establish the goals. Are you exploring the very beginning of the war? Or the end? Is this a campaign of its own, or is it the prologue to an adventure set in the postwar era?

Building a war campaign as a bridge leading into a more traditional series of adventures set after the war is an excellent tool for bringing characters together and establishing them as adventurers in the modern age. After a few missions on the battlefield, adventurers can emerge as 3rd or 4th-level characters — ready to tackle more powerful dungeons or challenges in the world beyond the war. The experience can also provide them with important connections to NPCs. An old war buddy might need a helping hand. A former commander could hire the party for dangerous work based on her knowledge of their skills. An enemy soldier could be met in the neutral ground of an inn — do the characters still hold a grudge? Even their actions in the war could form the basis for future adventures. In one of their early missions, the heroes must help secure a stockpile of gold in the vaults of Metrol. After the Mourning, they are among the only people who know the location of the vault — can they lead an expedition into the Mournland to recover the gold? And what if it’s already been seized by the Lord of Blades?

A full history of the Last War is sadly beyond the scope of this article. A few of the major battles are mentions in the Eberron Campaign Setting and The Five Nations, and others will be described over the course of time. For now, look at the map, choose your battlefields and combatants, and build from there. All of the nations fought each other at one point or another, and each nation had its own flavor on the field of battle. While all of the Five Nations used magic, Aundair made the greatest use of arcane magic, while Thrane had strong divine support from the Church of the Silver Flame. Karrnath combined grim discipline with the power of necromancy. Cyre made extensive use of mercenaries in the early stages of the war, and used the greatest number of warforged troops towards the end of it. And Breland relied on its clever generals and industrial capability, outmatching its enemies’ abilities in the production of siege engines and other mundane tools of war. Chapter Two and Chapter Three of Heroes of Battle presents a host of ideas for adventures and battlefield encounters. Choose your sides, and make sure that the forces involved reflect the nature of each nation involved; between the Eberron Campaign Setting book and Heroes of Battle, you should have all the tools you need.

The Lycanthropic Purge

In 832 YK, the Church of the Silver Flame responded to the pleas of the people of Western Aundair and Breland. These regions were under attack by waves of shapeshifters — packs of savage werewolves and cunning wererats, who were carving a swath of death and infection across western Khorvaire. This was the beginning of the Lycanthropic Purge, which started as a war against these vicious killers but ultimately resulted in the virtual extinction of all lycanthropes.

The Lycanthropic Purge can be an interesting backdrop for adventure, regardless of which side the party chooses to explore. In the early stage of the conflict, players could assume the roles of Silver Flame templars protecting an Aundairian village against an anticipated onslaught: but will the lycanthropes rely on brute force, or seek to infiltrate and infect from within? A higher level party could lead a force against a shapeshifter stronghold deep in the Eldeen Reaches, fighting both lycanthropes and the beasts they control through their empathic abilities. Alternately, players could assume the role of shifters or noble lycanthropes caught in a region under siege by Silver Puritans. Can they find a way to break through the enemy lines and lead any innocents to the gates of Lamannia?

For the most part, the Purge is a struggle between the discipline and divine magic of the Silver Flame and the raw power of the lycanthropes. The shapeshifters’ ability to hide among humanity and to swell their ranks through infection adds to the challenge of the battles.

The Battles of the Future

No one won the Last War. The conflict was brought to an abrupt halt by the terrible destruction of the Mourning. The nature of the Mourning remains a mystery, and for the moment no nation dares to fully return to the field of battle until the threat of the Mourning has been laid to rest.

But tensions remain — and the war is not truly over. The Valenar elves still battle the Darguuls in the Mournland, and cross blades with the Karrns in the Talenta Plains. The lords of Aundair eye the Eldeen Reaches with covetous eyes. The survivors of Cyre seek a new land to replace their lost kingdom. The Thranes still despise the Karrns, and the feeling is mutual.

These struggles could be a temporary distraction from the normal events of a campaign, or they could be the focus of it. Perhaps the party are members of a Valenar warband, and they are traveling the east in search of glory for their ancestors, joining in any battle they can find. Maybe they are Karrns stationed at Fort Bones, fighting elf and halfling raiders while dealing with the internal conflicts between the soldiers loyal to King Kaius and those who favor the Emerald Claw. Perhaps they are Dhakaani goblins, engaged in full-scale wars with the other Kech clans to determine the future of the empire. Or maybe the Treaty of Thronehold finally breaks and the heroes must take sides as the remnants of the Five Nations return to the war for the Kingdom of Galifar.

The advantage of these modern-day conflicts is that players don’t know the outcome. In a campaign based in the Last War, the players know that it will eventually come to an end with the Treaty of Thronehold. If the battles begin again, the outcome is a mystery. Will one nation finally seize regain control of the old kingdom? Or will the Mourning come again? Are these the final days of Eberron?

This ideas are just the beginning. Adventurers could explore the ancient war between dragons and rakshasa, or the elven rebellion against the giants. They could take the role of the orcish Gatekeepers fighting against the horrors of Xoriat, or the dragonmarked houses battling the aberrant forces of Lord Halas Tarkanan during the War of the Mark. Conflict is part of the foundation of Eberron — and Heroes of Battle gives you everything you need to set these adventures in motion!