Threshold Begins

Art by Carolina Cesario

The Five Nations never expected Droaam to last. A nation of monsters? Medusas and harpies working with trolls and ogres? Surely they’ll turn on each other. It’s only a matter of time. A decade later, Droaam stands stronger than ever. Dragonmarked houses and independent traders smell opportunity. But some are afraid to invest too heavily in Droaam itself. After the bloody incident at Kundarak’s outpost in Graywall, many houses are looking for a foothold on the Brelish side of the border… And that foothold is Threshold.

A small mining town on the edge of the Graywall mountains, Threshold was devastated by raids during the Last War. In the last decade a number of forces have converged to rebuild and expand the town. Followers of the Three Faces of Coin believe in unhindered trade, and have an interest in creating a haven for smugglers. Count Thavius ir’Blis has allowed a group of Cyran refugees to settle in this corner of his domain, while also granting a stake in Threshold to the Brelish soldiers that served him faithfully during the Last War. House Orien has brought the lightning rail to Threshold… the last stop as it considers expanding into Droaam. But Threshold was never a large town. There are still secrets in and below the mountains that the townsfolk have yet to discover. And Droaam may be a source of opportunities, but it unquestionably holds deadly threats. Threshold fell during the Last War. Will this new incarnation thrive, or is it a disaster waiting to happen?

Art by Julio Azevedo

Threshold and the region around it are the subject of the sourcebook I’m currently working on—Frontiers of Eberron: Threshold. It’s also the setting of an online campaign I’m running for my Patreon supporters. This is an experiment: while I may livestream it in the future, to begin with I’ll just be recording it and sharing the episodes with supporters. Rather than having a set cast of players, there’s a set roster of characters, but each session I’ll recruit a new set of players from my Patreon supporters. Before each session, I’ll pose a creative challenge (as the rules governing Patreon prevent it simply being a random determination); I’ll use this to choose the players for the session. Once someone plays in a session they can’t be chosen again for the next few sessions. I’m sure this process will evolve; I see the first three sessions as an experiment. But the point is that we’re creating an ongoing story about a set of shared characters, and every patron has a chance to participate. Even people who don’t get to play will be able to shape the story. Over the last two months, supporters have helped to create our roster of characters, and every month I’ll be posing a few polls that will help to shape the story and the town. Here’s the cast of characters that emerged from this process; the image above is Julio Azevedo’s interpretation of Ja’taarka, a worg ranger.

  • Bel, the Smith (Beasthide shifter, Beast barbarian, folk hero)
  • Briar, the Greensinger (Changeling, Dreams druid, entertainer)
  • Deven, the Tailor (Goblin, Mastermind rogue, spy)
  • Ja’taarka, the Good Boy (Worg, Dark Stalker ranger, soldier)
  • Rolan Harn, the Marshal (Deneith human, Battle Master fighter, soldier)
  • Sora, the Stonespeaker (Sivis gnome, Scribe wizard, entertainer)
  • Tari, the Flame (Kalashtar, Divine Soul sorcerer, urchin)
  • Three-Widow Jane, the Wandslinger (Khoravar, Genie warlock, smuggler)
  • Ink, the Scholar (Ruinbound dwarf, Alchemist artificer, sage)
  • Vael, the Mystery (Valenar elf, Glory paladin, folk hero)

I’ll be running the first https://beachyspharmacy.com/ Threshold game at 1 PM Pacific Standard Time on January 23rd. I’ve just posed the challenge to determine the first set of players on Patreon, and it will run until Sunday, January 17th. If you have questions you can ask them here, or find out more in the Threshold posts on Patreon! I’m looking forward to getting the campaign underway.

14 thoughts on “Threshold Begins

  1. this sounds like alot of fun! I look forwarding to some session summaries ! might even make a good novel!

    • Sorry, this slipped my notice. At the moment, I’m only going to be posting the recordings on Patreon.

  2. Hi, I’ve translated some articles in this blog to Japanese for my learning (and for fun). Would you allow me to post my translations on my blog?
    Originally, I didn’t intend to show them to someone (so I’ve not decided which blog to use), but ExE and Threshold are inspiring me to contribute.

  3. Was the ‘Threshold’ name chosen to honor the city of the same name (and function, in a way) which is in Karameikos, Mystara?

    • Nope! I know absolutely nothing about Mystara, I’m afraid. There’s a relatively limited number of words for “on the edge.”

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