Kobold railway workers.

Make it happen.

I like the western feel of it. Very different from your usual tolkien-esque fantasy.

If I might ask, why D&D? Why not Deadlands or something that already fits the theme? I'm not saying D&D is a bad choice, just that it's not the obvious one so it's interesting you chose it.

I think calling the woman a princess seems out of place in the steampunk-esque feel I get from this setting.. maybe there's another title you could give her?

>>14731894
>Why D&D?
'Cause I wanted to do a pulp steampunk game and 4e felt about right for it [though I could probably also do it in Deadlands or Spirit of the Century]

>Maybe there's another title
You know, you might be right. I'm just not sure of appropriate high-ranking female titles aside from the ones that are just the original title with -ess at the end.

>>14731892

Oh I like that! Maybe a quest could involve helping out the workers, or getting them to stop striking. That'd be a nice 'morale grey area.' Easy solution is to threaten them, harder solution is to sacrifice something and make a compromise so they're happy to work for you. That sort of thing.


Maybe some 'native' sand drow causing problems.

>>14731894
>Steampunk
No. What the OP is describing is a high fantasy setting where someone literally just invented the caloric engine.

>>14731962
And there's this. Combustion is just now happening.

It's not yet hit the full steampunk of, say, Eberron

Though still, Marchioness could be fun to use as a title.

>>14731933
Well, here are some female noble ranks in no particular order.
Queen
Empress
Princess
Duchess
Lady
Marquise (female Marquis)
Baroness
Marchioness (female Marquess)
Countess
Vicereine (female viceroy)

Also, just because I'm looking at stuff, female knights are actually called Dames.

>>14731996
>Eberron
>Steampunk
Eberron isn't steampunk. All their technology is actually magic, trapped elementals, enchanted things etc.

>>14731933

Countess would be different and interesting. It could also be any masculine title, or a religious one, or something to do with her job. Instead of just some 'related to a powerful man' title like princess, giving her a title she earned (or making her the head of her family) would make the character seem more legit and less of a Damsel in Distress. If you're going to have her doing her own shit, calling her princess might put the wrong image in peoples' heads.

Some titles-

>Marquise (mar-key)
>Duchess
>Lady
>Baroness
>Governess
>Regent
>Consul
>Chamberlain
>Chancellor
>Baronet
>Dame
>Sister
>Saint
>Rebbe
>Acolyte
>Captain


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title#Titles_for_heads_of_state_and_other_leaders

>>14731996
>It's not yet hit the full steampunk of, say, Eberron

Contrary to what people who haven't read the setting think, Eberron is NOT steampunk.

It's mainly crystalpunk (dragonshards, namely) and elementalpunk.

Didn't mean to imply it was full on steampunk. Just that I get a bit of that 'feel' as well as the old western feel. The railroad kind of lends itself well to that setting. Making it in a more 'desert' type of place would also differentiate from the traditional 'middle-latitude deciduous forest' setting.

>>14732047
Yeah, it's basically a high fantasy western

I'll probably have some desert or at least a lot of open plains but with thick patches of growth where wild things lie [and must be destroyed in the name of PROGRESS!]

A corrupt wizard who owns and operates a system of teleportation zones. It serves as the most effective way to travel across the land, but his prices are extremely high due to the cost of maintenance and difficulty of making sure they don't go horribly wrong. The railway, while not as fast, is cheaper for the passengers and will loose him a lot of business. He will constantly try to sabotage them in any way he can imagine.

>>14732063

yup :)

So are you going to have unruly natives? /tg/'s favourite type of elf, the brown kind, might work. Sand drow! Or maybe some bugbears or goliaths.

>>14732082
Or all of them

Because it makes me laugh when people think of "Native Americans" as a homogeneous entity.

Maybe he needs something to run the trains. Some special element.. like a type of stone from the fire plane, that sort of thing.

Sounds a little Eberronish, but I was thinking of Howl's Moving Castle, how that fire spirit powered it. Maybe it could be more like Futurama, with the ship being powered by .. nibbler.

pic related, the wizard somebody mention in another post made me think of this.

>>14732082
Or perhaps the train has to go under a mountain, and the PC's must negotiate a treaty with the local under-dark powers. Except there are 3 factions fighting in this area.
Bread and Butter Drow being one of them. Then the choice is
> Wipe out all factions (difficult)
> Ally with one faction and ensure their dominance in return for allowing construction to continue.

Traveling evangelist following the path of the party. His name is Saint Onegon, and he brings the love of the gods to savages as they gather around the Great Trail. His love is the warmth of the flame which guards from biting winter, his strength is that of a great dragon of steel and mithril, his comfort is the strong wind that brings relief in the wake of his passing.

Before long, pilgrimages begin along Onegon's Trail.

-Your employer needs lumber for the railroad, but the only forest within 100 miles is the home of a bitter old dryad and (possibly) a few twisted cactus-ents.

-Turns out the railroad's planned route goes straight through the tower of a hermit wizard.

-An evil rival inventor wants to bribe you to steal a copy of the engine plans for his own nefarious ends. If they comply they get a decent reward but he comes back with a battlesuit powered by the stolen tech later on.

-Bandits!!1!1!!1

-A cadre of halfling cowboys gets ornery after the party is caught trespassin on their rustlin territory.

>>14732194
>>western setting
>>battlesuit powered by steam tech

Things to think about: What do you do when a few PCs sell out the princess right away for gold and glory? Granted, this wouldn't affect the actual missions too much.

>>14732194

I like the Rustlin' idea.

Some brainstormy ideas-
>fetch materials
>find the most efficient route
>deal with local government, church, citizens
>duel
>prospectin'


The duel can be a Pistols at Dawn situation, perhaps an NPC disrespecting a lady? A gruff PC steps up to defend her honour. That'd be a nice character moment. Ends with a "you're always welcome at this saloon, free drinks etc" reward.

Maybe players meet a prisoner in a cage left to die outside of town. They need to prove him innocent in order to save his life.

The PC's see some men in a town beating some old man. Apparently he found some gold in a cave outside town (he's a hobo of some sort, was just staying the night and found it!) Came back claiming to be rich, but it turns out his gold mine was a fake. The pouch of gold nuggets he found was legit (banker confirmed it, thus the townsfolk believing the tale) but when an expert went back to the cave it was determined that the streams of gold weren't real. It was pyrite- fool's gold! Finding the pouch was a coincidence. The players have to convince the townsfolk to spare him (they've been giving him stuff, thinking he's rich now etc) or find the real gold mine and 'prove' he wasn't lying.

Yea, that last one is sort of based on an episode of Gunsmoke or something. Maybe it was Bonanza.

>>14732283
I don't plan to reveal her identity right away except as a generous employer looking for certain trinkets and records on certain units involved in conflicts - like a group of soldiers carrying an important ring slaughtered by goblins. I figure they'd find the group, one man defiled and still clutching a ring, the tops of his hands burned by acid spilling from a flask that defaced the ring she was after. Some early frustrations until she reveals her true purpose, by which point the PCs know something's up.

>>14732323
Still cool

I like you guys.

>>14732283

She vows revenge and follows the heroes. Her attempts are always thwarted with Team Rocket-esque hilarity.

>>14732259
At least it doesn't have an ancient Aztec laser mounted on its right arm.

of course, saboteurs was to obvious to mention.

The more I think about it the more I like the idea of the inventor sending them on 'I need this for the train" missions now and then. They can always be dangerous and ridiculous, so the PC's roll their eyes whenever he calls them.

>Trip to the fire plane to get a special rock that will burn forever to fuel the train. There are fire creatures of all sorts of course.
>Iron. Negotiate with dwarves maybe? Massive amounts so the players could steal it, buy it, arrange for it to be delivered or fetch it themselves. Many sources available, but the PC's are the errand boys and have to figure out how to acquire a steady supply.
>*made-up gem* for the control panel. It grows in the belly of a rust monster(or whatever)
>Arcane Ink to oil the wheels. How do you get that much? Kill a goddamned kraken, that's how.

I can't think of any more examples but you get the jist.

>>14732082
mmmmm....delicious brown elves.

...ahem....anyway...

dragon are always good to throw in as a random encounter but I fear in this setting their quests might take on a life of their own.

you could take a page out of tremors and have purple worms everywhere in one or two sessions.

I could also see hijackin'/bandit orcs or elves. maybe one of those rare times when you see them working together.

perhaps the need for water during the construction of this railway leads to the party discovering a society of mycoids.

peyote...do I really need to say anything else?

a large ruin in the middle of the desert (perhaps in a canyon) is not on any map, delving further the PCs find a mass burial ground, if PC explore further they find a lich which is the last of his people. so long as nothing is taken from their home the undead will not rise or the PC's might be able to convince the lich to have the undead help build the railway in exchange for some fruitful venture in the future ( a casino perhaps?)

nearing the end the players may feel like they are going to be betrayed, they need to recruit the help of three factions they have helped through the campaign to lead an assault on whoever takes a swipe at them. (be it the princess or the baron)

Centaurs might make a good 'native american' substitute.

>>14732417
GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

I've discovered a new fuel source that will only require 10 cut up trees, 4 owlbear beaks, 2 rabbit hearts and a red dragon testicle! Off you go!

Also, were you aware you were reading this in my voice?

>>14732571
You motherfucker.

I'm going to be writing it in his voice now.

Son of a bitch.

Bumping.

>FINAL DESTINATION: The baron is escaping on the train! Stop him before the princess tries to derail the entire project in order to kill him.

That is awesome beyond words. Can the train he is escaping on be the inventors private hobby train i.e. one decked out in plate armour, steam cannons and clockwork redcoats?

>>14732441
>>native american lich running an undead casino

This is the setting of my next campaign. Thanks.

>>14737375
I have to admit.

It's pretty cool.

A train is going to stir up things and anybody who is strongly invested in the old way of doing things is going to have problems with it. Expect it to be opposed by trade guilds, provincial governors who like the level of autonomy their distance from the capital grants them, country folk who like their traditional way of life, xenophobes who are afraid of the foreigners and alien races the train may bring, wagon-builders and anybody with a stake in an alternate form of transportation, etc.

Also, there may be friction between the various people hired to build the railroad. Humans resent dwarves for stealing their jobs and raising expectations on how long and hard workers should toil. Dwarves resent elves for their ridiculous demands regarding forest preservation, making them hew through solid rock rather than upset some ecological balance. And then there's the unavoidable tension between workers who want better pay, more safety, and shorter hours, and their bosses who want things done quickly, efficiently and on budget. Maybe there will be a strike. Maybe organized crime starts to become a problem as it moves into the workers camps and earns money off gambling, whoring a such... and then people who don't pay up start dying. Maybe foreign nations hire saboteurs to prevent the railroad from coming to fruition and strengthening the kingdom to the point where they feel threatened.

>>14734202
Aren't they dead?

I blame Richard Dreyfuss.

Seriously though I love your concept. I think you could really have some interesting times when people DON'T want to give right-of-way to the project. See if you can work the plot to Blazing Saddles into the plot and then see if anyone notices.

>>14739325
Yes they are.

And I love it too

And all the ideas posted here. Would you believe I have no players?