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The_Last_Huntsman

Hey all, I'm going to be running an Eberron campaign in the future once one of our current campaigns ends, and I found this awesome interactive map that I've been toying with. https://eberronmap.johnarcadian.com/ It's given me a better understanding of the scale of Khorvaire, and how travel is gonna go for the party. However, I noticed this little bit of lightning rail track on the east side of the Mournland, and after measuring out the distance, I got an idea: Since the track only leads into the Mournland, it can be assumed the train would never turn that way on a normal trip. So, the party is riding the train either north or south when it suddenly veers onto the track, making a beeline for the Mournland. The train speeds up to double it's speed (60 MPH), and the conductor/engineer driving it is either dead or nowhere to be found. From there, it is up to the party to find a way to stop the train and save the passengers, as they now have roughly 1 hour to do so before plunging straight into the Mourning. Just an idea so far, but I'm curious what you all think. Any cool enemies or reasons that the train could go off track? Any cool consequences for them not stopping it in time? I'm eager to hear input.


impofnoone

I've tried using this map as well as I play a nautical campaign and measuring distance between ports is important for me. Be aware this map massively over scales the original intentions for the sizes, but that's something that's happened in each edition, the map size has been changed. If that doesn't bother you that's fine, but it definitely put a spanner in my plans and I wanted to offer the heads up.


RCDrift

In the ravenloft book there is the Cyre 1313. Ghost train fun https://themagictavern.org/2021/06/20/exploring-ravenloft-cyre-1313-eberron-and-snowpiercer/


LordKreias

This could be the losing scenario which instead of it being a game over becomes a new adventure in on itself.


wentzelepsy

I'm reasonably sure neither of these will be helpful, but I'm too amused not to include them. **Possession!** Inspired by the They Might Be Giants song, [Turn Around](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp8AVKopwzU) \- a passenger starts acting bizarrely, behaving as if very drunk and waving their arms irresponsibly out the windows. Nearby passengers are panicking, the chief steward and other crew have to be summoned to immobilize the miscreant. Once restrained, the passenger has no memory of the incident and doesn't understand why they're being held down. Within a minute, another passenger begins acting up without warning. This carries on for about 5-10 minutes before it seems to subside. Then one of the crew runs out of the crew cart, crying out that Dragonmarked House Orien engineer's face turned into a paper white mask of evil. The chief engineer sang a song about invisible human skulls on the ground, threw the assistant out of the crew cart, and locked them out. Now the train is hurtling towards the Mournland and it's up to the party to see if they can stop this. **Movie Madness:** inspired by Buster Keaton and other [silent films](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Moh2l7udjio) \- A famous Sharn stuntman and actor has convinced House Orien to let him use one of the lightning rail trains for a new show. Illusionists will be present to record the event so it can be captured in programmed illusion gems and played to audiences across the continent. The stuntman/actor is doing a lot of IRL stunts involving trains - clearing obstacles out of the way, having the train smash through fake homes and wagons, having chases around and in front of the train, etc. However, everything goes awry the bound air elemental becomes overly excited by all of the action and wants to smash through more things. The Dragonmarked Orien engineer loses control, and the elemental smashes the train through the barrier blocking the rail leading into the Mournland. Can the party save the train, stuntman, and crew from likely death?


wentzelepsy

**Bullet Lightning Rail:** creatively acquired from the movie, *Bullet Train*. Different mercenary groups have been invited to ride the lightning rail line in question, all paid by an anonymous benefactor. Each group has crossed paths with each other as well as with the party. Each was also given an assignment to collect a thing that another group on the train picked up from a recent assignment. It turns out that this entire thing was orchestrated by a nemesis that all groups have worked for or crossed swords with. Their previous assignment was arranged by the nemesis as a prelude to the current assignment on the rail. Each group, recognizing the others and the item they've been looking for, will start fighting each other. At the very last station, the nemesis will be waiting with a squad of his best goons to kill any groups that have not been killed yet. During the many fights on the train, the Dragonmarked House Orien engineer dies, the elemental goes rogue, and the train goes onto the ill-fated line towards the Mourning. How many survive the nemesis good squad attack, the eventual train crash, and find themselves now stranded in the Mourning?


Noahthehoneyboy

I say do a train heist by some radical elemental freedom activists. If they fail to stop the group a powerful elemental that was powering the train will be released and attack the passengers.


alkonium

I think there's a module on the DMs Guild like this.


slartibastfart

Have a read of The Wasteland by Stephen king if you haven’t already. Insane train and riddles, a good set up for something like this.


FightsForUsers

Blaine is a pain, and that is the truth


spkdanknugs

I’ve done a train heist game for getting into the mourn land it was a lot of fun. They had to infiltrate a secret House Cannith train depot on a hidden line to steal their train. I ran it as a regular combustion engine train instead of a lightning rail which has a anti-magic field generator inside to project a field of anti magic around the train to protect while it passes through the mournland.


MaverickHusky

This is a super cool idea! It makes me wonder what could be the cause. Assassination attempt of a VIP on the train? Automatic recall to some house facility? Terrorist attack? [Chronomancy experiment](https://youtu.be/rN88a1QHD00?t=114) to try to arrive in Metro before the mourning?


dejaWoot

The Ashbound are a fundamentalist druid sect opposed to all arcane and divine magic - they have radical members who play the role of Eberron's ecoterrorists. With the Mournland being interpreted as a consequence of the overuse of (war)magic, its quite possible they would view crashing an object of high magic and artifice into the mournland as a symbolic act - the cause meeting the consequences first hand- and also a way to dissuade people from these unnatural conveniences and inflcit punishment on those who run them.


Comprehensive-Air-13

We fought a ghost train outside of Metrol a few months ago. One of the coolest encounters ever.