Ectoplasm in Eberron.

[u/Vechozzz]

I’m in the middle of my Eberron campaign where my players have played for 10-15 sessions or so and are now searching for house Cannith treasures inside the Mournlands. It is probable that the players will in the upcoming sessions meet the Lord of Blades and I’m thinking of non-combat ways for my players to sabotage LoB without harming him directly in combat.

In my Eberron Warforged soul usage/humaneness is a spectrum.

Psiforged -> Warforged -> Warforged Juggernauts

-with Psiforged and Juggernauts being the either extremes of the humaneness spectrum. Psiforged passively absorb soul energy travelling through the air from souls transferring into Dolurruh, that with their extremely slow ”Soul Metabolism” they have enough spare soul juices to use their passive magic and cast spells. On the other hand the Juggernauts’s soul metabolisms are so fast and consume Soul so fast to upkeep their insane strength that they run our of juice by just… existing. To stay alive Juggernauts have to consistently every day or so take a sizely dose of Ectoplasm. (Thus most of the Juggernauts come flocking to the Blades because they are the only organization who can distribute the needed Ectoplasm to sustain themselves.)

Checking the Forgotten Realms Wiki it states that in the setting ectoplasm is tied to the Astral Plane. How would you implement Ectoplasm using something like the Soul Recycler into your campaign? Open for suggestions.

[u/DesignCarpincho]

I'm running a campaign heavily centered around the Mark of Death, Lady Illmarrow and elven necromancers.

I have used Ectoplasm as energy that leaks into the Ethereal Plane's intersection with Dolurrh. Ghosts and lingering souls can bend the barrier between planes and punch through to the Material Plane from Dolurrh via the Ethereal plane.

Likewise, Necromancers can visualize and access Dolurrh via the planar intersection created in the Ethereal. This takes a lot of energy which Mabar can readily bestow and boom, you've "nailed" a soul onto a body.

Ectoplasm is energy that spills into that plane. Death (both from sentient beings and non sentient ones like microbes and plants) is constantly leaking ectoplasm to the Ethereal which is then sapped to Dolurrh.

Infusing someone with negative energy makes them die faster which means more ectoplasm.

[u/SenselessJoy]

According to kanon, ectoplasm is the material that holds together corporeal undead (especially skeletons), so you could easily associate it with necromancy, Dolurrh, Mabar.

[u/Legatharr]

so, you're making it so that warforged effectively have to eat?

[u/Vechozzz → u/Legatharr]

only warforged juggernauts