Chapter 04: Sharn Inquisitives - Eberron: Forge of the Artificer

Chapter 04: Sharn Inquisitives. Adventure Genre: Film Noir Pop Culture: Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, Mike Hammer, Dick Tracy A Battle Smith inquisitive trails his quarry through the streets and towers of Sharn The inquisitives of Sharn are a distinctive breed of adventurers: part private investigator, part police detective, and part spy. To them, adventure means investigating crimes and making sure the criminals get their due. Inquisitives probe murders, find missing people, stop blackmailers, and break up smuggling rings. And they don't necessarily limit their investigations to such mundane problems. They might unmask a rakshasa posing as a city councilor, find a possessed ancient mask that forced a professor to commit grisly murders, or dispel the magic keeping a noble scion in comatose slumber. Run a Sharn inquisitives campaign if you want to emulate the film noir adventures of detectives like Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, Mike Hammer, and Dick Tracy in a fantastical environment. If you decide to run this kind of campaign, it's a good idea to discuss with your players how serious you intend the game to be. There's a fine line between playing an archetype and parodying it; the "hard-boiled detective" noir archetype has been parodied so often that a campaign based on it can easily lean on the comedic side. Talk with your players early and often about the tone you're aiming for, as well as what they want from the campaign. Inquisitive Characters A Sharn inquisitives campaign revolves around the idea of the characters as investigators who might work for an inquisitive agency at the start of the campaign but might run their own in time. In any case, the inquisitive agency functions as a patron to the adventuring party, becoming a source of both missions and rewards. You can use the group patron rules in Eberron: Rising from the Last War or Tasha's Cauldron of Everything to give characters the benefits of this patronage. The Inquisitive background in chapter 2 is a good...