So, I'm beginning a brand new campaign set in Eberron (Khorvaire). As the GM, I have a question regarding establishing a patron for the PCs. There are 4 PCs and each one has a different Dragonmark and are therefore each tied to different Dragonmarked Houses. It would seem that the logical patron would be a Dragonmarked house, but...
1. Why would a PC from House Sentinel have any other Dragonmarked house as his patron?
2. Can these PCs with different Dragonmarked Houses have a non-Dragonmarked house as their Patron, like an Adventurer's Guild, or a University or a Newspaper?
3. How would Eberron-experienced GMs handle this situation? We are beginning our first campaign adventure soon and I'd like this cleared before we get going.
The Twelve were my thought as well (it's a group set up by the Dragonmarked Houses to promote inter-house cooperation and also do cool industrial espionage stuff).
That said, the houses generally have monopolistic control over their industries and don't directly compete with the others. A PC with the Mark of Sentinel is a bodyguard, and one with the Mark of Healing is a doctor; they're not competing in the same market. There's really nothing stopping them from working together even if the patron is a member of one house and not another or if they're not a member of any house at all.
In my game, one half of the party's patrons is a member of House Phiarlan, and one of the party members is from House Tharashk. We haven't done a lot of inter-house politics yet (that's their next adventure), but it's not really an issue unless there's some reason for the houses to be opposed in some enterprise.
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So, I'm beginning a brand new campaign set in Eberron (Khorvaire). As the GM, I have a question regarding establishing a patron for the PCs. There are 4 PCs and each one has a different Dragonmark and are therefore each tied to different Dragonmarked Houses. It would seem that the logical patron would be a Dragonmarked house, but...
1. Why would a PC from House Sentinel have any other Dragonmarked house as his patron?
2. Can these PCs with different Dragonmarked Houses have a non-Dragonmarked house as their Patron, like an Adventurer's Guild, or a University or a Newspaper?
3. How would Eberron-experienced GMs handle this situation? We are beginning our first campaign adventure soon and I'd like this cleared before we get going.
Thanks!
"The Twelve" would be a well suited patron to a group that are all different houses.
The Twelve were my thought as well (it's a group set up by the Dragonmarked Houses to promote inter-house cooperation and also do cool industrial espionage stuff).
That said, the houses generally have monopolistic control over their industries and don't directly compete with the others. A PC with the Mark of Sentinel is a bodyguard, and one with the Mark of Healing is a doctor; they're not competing in the same market. There's really nothing stopping them from working together even if the patron is a member of one house and not another or if they're not a member of any house at all.
In my game, one half of the party's patrons is a member of House Phiarlan, and one of the party members is from House Tharashk. We haven't done a lot of inter-house politics yet (that's their next adventure), but it's not really an issue unless there's some reason for the houses to be opposed in some enterprise.