GROUP PATRONS
When creating characters for an Eberron campaign,
consider choosing a patron for your adventuring party.
This section describes general categories of patrons and
also examples of each kind of patron from across Khor
vaire. Work as a team with your DM to select a group
patron. As an alternative, your �haracters could form
your own organization that might one day stand among
the great powers of the world.
Mighty dragonmarked houses, small home-town
newspapers, national rulers, powerful immortals, and
various other organizations and individuals hold the
reins of power in Khorvaire. They bind the fabric of
society together, and they are responsible for much of
the change that occurs in the world-often by means
of agents that include parties of adventurers. An ad
venturing group that has a powerful backer as a patron
has a clear place in the world, access to additional re
sources, and a reason to work together in pursuit of a
common cause.How PATRONS WORK
Each type of patron in this section includes the follow
ing information:- An example of the general type of patron, including in
formation about its organization, headquarters, allies,
and enemies - Suggestions for various roles that characters in your
party might take on, including classes, backgrounds,
and skills that are useful for filling that role - Possibilities regarding your patron's background
and your characters' roles in it, including the kinds
of adventures and missions you might undertake on
its behalf - Benefits your group gets from your patron, which
might include compensation, equipment, privileges,
and proficiencies - A list of potential contacts who can serve as your per
sonal connection to your patron
ASSIGNMENTS
Patrons are more than a resource for your group to
draw on, they are also a responsibility. Some patrons
might be eager to support your group, while others
might prove more demanding.
Your group's patron might occasionally come to you
and give you an assignment. This can be an easy way to
get into an adventure. Of course, it's up to you how you
respond to your patron's demands, and interesting sto
ries can emerge if you decide to refuse an assignment.
Even a patron that isn't heavy-handed can significantly
motivate your group. Maybe you'll seek adventures
based on what pleases your patron and so earn a re
ward. A university, for example, might not send you on a
particular mission, but you might decide to follow leads
to an ancient artifact hoping the university might reward
you for bringing it back. You have the freedom to chart
your own destiny, while still letting the patron shape the
nature of your group and the adventures you undertake.
CHAPTER 1 f CHARACTER CREATION
It might help to think of the patrons in this section in
terms of three broad categories of autonomy:
With a highly directive patron, you are an employee of
an organization, and the organization often tells you
what to do. Crime syndicates, dragonmarked houses,
espionage agencies, military forces, and newspapers
are typically highly directive.
With a highly autonomous patron, you are more like a
freelancer. Your patron might offer you assignments
or reward you for achieving certain objectives, but it
doesn't dictate your activities. Adventurers' guilds,
heads of state, immortal beings, inquisitive agencies,
religious orders, and universities are typically highly
autonomous.
In a player-directed organization, you don't have a
patron because your adventuring party is in charge.
You're the boss; you tell others what to do, and you're
responsible to no one for your own activities. A crim
inal syndicate, inquisitive agency, military force, or
newspaper can be a player-directed organization.BENEFITS AND FAVORS
Every group patron offers your party a number of bene
fits for your service. These benefits range from standard
business arrangements, like a salary and access to staff
facilities, to more extraordinary boons, like audiences
with powerful figures or exceptions from certain laws.
Specific benefits are presented in more detail in the ben
efits section of each group patron.
Beyond the benefits described in each group patron's
description, patrons can also grant additional favors. If
your party is in good standing with your patron-prov
ing yourselves reliable agents who fulfill the group's
goals-your patron might grant requests for additional
favors. A favor might take a variety of forms appropriate
to the patron's area of influence or expertise, such as
small loans, specialized equipment, or access to people
and places you wouldn't otherwise have. Patrons who
you regularly find yourself in conflict with aren't likely
to grant you favors, unless doing so directly furthers
their goals.
In any case, the DM shouldn't feel limited to providing
only the benefits noted in each group patron's descrip
tion. Patrons give a party access to solutions and sup
port they wouldn't have otherwise, and a patron might
use their varied resources to guide their agents or pre
pare them for greater adventures.BEING YOUR OWN PATRON
For certain kinds of organizations, you can either join
an existing group or found your own. For some players,
the idea of running a crime syndicate, inquisitive agency,
mercenary company, or newspaper is much more excit
ing than working for someone else. Founding your own
organization offers a greater degree of autonomy, though
potentially at the cost of support and reliable work.
The information in this section applies whether you
join an organization or found your own. When you're the
boss, some of the benefits of belonging to an organiza
tion become expenses you have to worry about; when
you run your own mercenary company, for example, you