The Red Hand of Doom is written for a fairly generic D&D setting (and as such, is easy enough to incorporate into "vanilla" settings like Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk, which primarily use default fluff). However, this excellent module also works very well in Eberron, but adapting it will take slightly more work .
On the Nature of Tiamat
Black candles burning/Announce her comeback
The reign is awaiting/The Queen of the Dead
--Queen of the Dark Horizons, by Rhapsody of Fire
Tiamat in Eberron is significantly different from her incarnation in other settings in that she is not a goddess. The gods in Eberron are distant and have never walked the surface of the Material Plane in the flesh as far as mortals know. Tiamat, however, has.
Tiamat is a demon Overlord, the daughter of Khyber himself. She was born of the Dragon Below and had has the power to corrupt and enslave all dragons, metallic or chromatic (though chromatics are especially vulnerable).
During the Age of Demons, the dragons who fought against the Overlords feared her the most, for she could turn them against each other. It took the power of the Couatls to imprison Tiamat in the Pit of Five Sorrows in Argonnessen, but even then they feared her return. By tracing her symbol in the skies, the dragons gave Tiamat her own apotheosis, hoping to forever banish her from Eberron.
Now, the Pit of Five Sorrows is the most heavily-guarded fortification in all of Eberron, considering that it is guarded by the entire Light of Siberys (the dragon army of Argonnessen). Even a horde of ten thousand hobgoblins and a few, relatively young dragons cannot do much to bring down the a single Glorious Flame of the Light of Siberys, who would likely be a Great Wyrm with Prestige Class levels, let alone an entire crusading army of them.
This does not mean that her cult is inactive. Tiamat's clerics: twisted dragons (some of them fiendish, blessed with fell energy), rakshasas (some of them draconic, blessed with the might of the dragon), and others have attempted to bring her back, and continue to do so.
As such, the Red Hand Cult should be primarily concerned with setting Tiamat free. How they do so depends on how she is kept imprisoned, and this depends on the DM. For my purposes, I had the PCs discover that the Fane of Tiamat was not actually a temple, but one of the dimensional foci of the great planar seal that powered the Pit of Five Sorrows. The planar seal, a continent-sized pentagram, was drawn using epic magic across the land and sea, and anchored on five fanes. The Elsir Fane, which is where Azarr Kul hides out, is the easiest to access. The others are much more difficult to access (they are either deep underwater or hidden in dense jungle).
Most chilling here is that if the dragons perceive a threat (and Tiamat is indeed the most significant threat they have faced since), they have a tendency to mobilize en masse and destroy whatever is in the way. If they catch wind of Azarr Kul's plan, they might probably invade Khorvaire and unleash destruction on the already war-torn continent.
The Wyrmlords and the Talons of Tiamat
It is certainly well within the realm of possibility that none of the Wyrmlords are actually goblinoids. Since the high cult of Tiamat is often made up of Rakshasas, it is not a stretch to make the Wyrmlords themselves Rakshasas in disguise (or not in disguise at all).
- I. Azarr Kul: Half-blue dragon Ak'Chazar Rakshasa. On the really high end of the optimization scale, but you could give him gishy spell picks. As an outsider, he has racial proficiency with martial weapons and will do well as a superpowered gish.
- II. Kharn: Half-red dragon Zakya Rakshasa (no ToB) or draconic (red) Naityan Rakshasa with Swordsage levels (with ToB). Or you could do both and make him a Zakya Rakshasa with Warblade or Crusader levels.
- III. Ulwai: Bog-standard Rakshasa. Although relatively weak as a full caster enemy (CL 7th for a CR 10 enemy), you could give her martial weaponry and make her a gish instead.
- IV. Saarvith: As an archer build, he doesn't work too well as a rakshasa. Keeping him as written is fine.
- V. Koth: Keeping him the same is fine. Warlock or Hexblade could make him a challenging boss if you play it right.
You could also go the way I went, which is to add extra rakshasa bosses. I introduced a large-sized, half-bronze dragon Naityan Rakshasa with Swordsage levels as Azarr Kul's true right hand man.
Remember that half-dragons are considered abominations in Eberron, but Rakshasas easily get around this by participating in a ritual that, if successful, gives them draconic might in addition to their existing powers.
The Mighty Ones
We goblinoids are just like you humans, except our empire lasted eleven thousand years.
--Lhesh Haruuc (Races of Eberron)
Another interesting piece of lore: Eberron's goblinoids, unlike the relatively lowly and reviled mook creatures in other settings, actually once ruled all of Khorvaire in an empire that lasted ten thousand years. They slowly crumbled after a catastrophic war with the Daelkyr and their aberrant hordes. Numerous ruins still dot the landscape of Khorvaire, testament to the fallen glory of the Dhakaani Empire. The goblins call themselves Golin'Dar, or "The quick and shrewd ones" (in fact, "goblin" is a human corruption of the term), the hobgoblins call themselves the Ghaal'Dar (the mighty ones; specifically connoting battle prowess), and the bugbears are the Guul'Dar or "the strong ones" (connoting physical strength). Collectively, the goblinoids call themselves "the Dar" or "the People." Most of them are not happy with their current lot in life, treated as "savages" by the "more civilized" human-dominated Five Nations. There is a lot of inherent racial pride.
Furthermore, while hobgoblins have a sovereign nation (Darguun), Darguul mercenaries were hired by many sides during the Last War (mostly Breland, however), so it's easy to explain why a large group of thousands of goblinoids is operating independently of the Lhesh Haruuc in Darguun.
The Giants
In Eberron, giants are not native to Khorvaire. They mostly inhabit the fallen empire of Xen'Drik, another continent to the southwest of Khorvaire. Since setting RHOD makes most sense in Khorvaire, it makes very little sense for a DM to have Warklegnaw's tribe of Forest Giants in the area.
Here are some ideas:
- I personally used Lycanthropes. Purged to near extinction by the Church of the Silver Flame in the past, isolated enclaves could still be discovered by the PCs. If the PCs are working for the Silver Flame, this might even be a chance to offer reconciliation. For irony, I made Amery Vraath a former Silver Flame paladin who got turned into a lycanthrope himself.
- Trolls: While the main issue with trolls is that they're not intelligent, it might make a lot of sense for them to not want to let the Red Hand Horde pass. They also live in forests.
- Ogres: Most ogres in Khorvaire are mercenaries from Droaam. In the Last War, many of them were conscripted for various nations, but after the war ended there could be any number of them hiding out in forests and other secluded areas.
The Elsir Vale
"If you want to escape the Last War, move to the Elsir Vale."
--Beggar Dane
RHOD describes the Elsir Vale as a very isolated and backwater area.
One major issue here is that in Eberron, long-range transportation is relatively easy to come by (the Lightning Rail and Airships contribute a lot to this). As such, it is more difficult to isolate the Elsir Vale. Thankfully, there are still large stretches of land that are not accessible by lightning rail, and airships are relatively expensive to charter at the PCs' level.
Another is that the highly-charged political climate left by the Last War makes large massed military movements very sensitive events; this actually helps the DM explain why neither the formidable armies of the rich, technologically-advanced Breland, nor the zealous paladins and crusaders of Thrane, nor the arcane knights of Aundair, nor the undead legions of Karrnath can be bothered to deal with the Red Hand threat. They might be aware of it, but moving large armies close to any borders (three out of the four suggested locations are very close to international borders) might spark the Last War all over again.
Eberron is a very large setting, and even on the densely-populated continent of Khorvaire, there are many isolated and deserted areas that the game can be set in. The map shows an area about 320 x 240 miles, which can be easily wedged into the following suggested locations:
The Western Eldeen Reaches
This is probably the most isolated part of the Eldeen Reaches, being wedged in between the Shadowcrags and the Byeshk mountains.
Pros:
-Pretty much the middle of nowhere.
-This is the best place to explain the elves.
Cons:
-Too far from any populated hobgoblin areas.
-Mostly dense forest, although some rolling plains are available. The geography of the adventure assumes a very open vale with mountainous areas.
Karrnathi-Talenta Plains Border
Another isolated area.
Pros:
-There is nothing much here; the Giantshield Mountains can fit neatly into the map as part of the Ironroot range.
-There is enough space to fit in Brindol without overwriting or deleting any town.
-Irontown can replace Dennovar.
Cons:
-The Wyvernwatch and Wyrmsmoke Mountains don't seem to fit in well with the Talenta Plains.
The New Cyre Periphery in Breland
This is where I personally inserted the Elsir Vale, as the area is mostly featureless. It's also very close to the Mournland, which could explain why it's so isolated.
Pros:
-Isolation, distance from capital ensures difficulty in calling for military support. Close to traditional goblinoid land (Darguun).
-Vathirond can replace Dennovar.
Cons:
-It takes some map rotation to fit properly. I ended up having the compass slightly tilted to the right on the main Elsir Vale map.
Southwestern Thrane
Personally, this might be either the easiest or most difficult area to adapt.
Pros:
-Thrane's strong militant Church of the Silver Flame could be a good employer for the PCs
-It is possible to do away with the RHOD map entirely and simply use the map of Thrane; while Thrane is the smallest of the Five Nations, it is not really the weakest, and in this case the Red Hand horde could possibly threaten even Flamekeep, the capital, directly.
Cons:
-Southwestern Thrane borders Breland and Aundair. Any massed military movements to fortresses on the border (such as Fort Light) might be difficult to explain away politics-wise, as Aundair is closest to Fort Light, and relations between Aundair and Thrane are not at all pleasant. Breland might be more tolerant, but it also has large fortifications on the border (such as Sword Keep), making this an unpleasant political situation. Perhaps if this were the case, it would be good to insert a political angle, adding to the pressure of solving the Red Hand problem before all three nations fall right back into another war.
-If you want to keep the RHOD map, it might have to be completely inverted. However, this presents its own difficulties:
- Lake Rhestin is replaced by the much large Lake Brey; Lake Brey is on the border between Breland and Thrane.
- There are no mountains in this area; the closest are the rather distant Blackcaps in Breland.
- There is simply no space for the Thornwaste or the Wyvernwatch mountains.
As such, if you want a Thrane campaign, I propose the following:
-The PCs could be dispatched to a small border town (Fort Light) to halt the hobgoblins raiding out of the
-Azarr Kul's objective is Flamekeep itself! He could plan to free the demon lord imprisoned within the Silver Flame. With the power of a Rakshasa Rajah (feel free to fluff the Rajah as a minion of Tiamat, it would be much easier for A.K. to free Tiamat as he prepares an assault on Argonnessen).
Conversion suggestions:
- Instead of the Wyrmsmokes, the Fane of Tiamat could instead be in Khyber deep under the Greenhaunt across the border in Breland. (The border troubles will also make for a lot of political intrigue as the PCs try to deal with Brelish and Aundairian diplomatic/military pressure.)
- Because of this, the Red Hand's movement will be in a northeasterly direction instead of south, then east, as in the module.
- Skull Creek could run across the border between Breland and Thrane, and the bridge crosses the road between Sword Keep and Fort Light.
- Replace Drellin's Ferry with Fort Light. This could make it a great deal more fortified and defensible, but in this case you could have an overwhelmingly large force of hobgoblins coming. The primary difficulty the PCs might have in the module by RAW is persuading an indecisive Norro Wiston--in this case it could be dissuading an overzealous Norro Wiston from making a stand.
- Replace the Witchwood with the Imstil Forest. You will have to spread the Imstil Forest some more to cover the highway that leads into Breland.
- Replace Terrelton with Rellekor.
- Replace Talar with Tellyn.
- Replace Brindol with Sigilstar. Of course, the Cathedral of Pelor will be a Cathedral of the Silver Flame instead.
- The ultimate destination for Azarr Kul will actually be Flamekeep in Northern Thrane, but since Sigilstar is in the dead center of the nation, it is a great position to start spreading out.
Recommendations Per Chapter
I. The Witchwood
a. NPCs:
i. Change all references to Pelor to Dol Arrah. As the goddess of the sun and war, Dol Arrah's clerics will be a bit tougher, although they will be fewer. Most of the priests will be experts.
ii. Soranna can be a Deneith Dragonmarked heir, giving her a great deal more importance to the people.
iii. I had Delora Zann as a House Vadalis excoriate.
iv. Kellin Shadowbanks, as a inn owner, could very likely be a House Ghallanda representative.
v. Avarthel could be a reclusive Orc Gatekeeper druid, or perhaps a civilization-friendly Warden of the Wood.
vi. Jarret Nurth: As a "red herring" NPC, she could easily be a cleric of the Mockery.
b. Setting:
i. If you use Lycanthropes in place of Forest Giants, you could have Vraath Keep littered with the skeletons of wereboars and werebears instead.
II. The Ruins of Rhest
a. Setting:
i. Rhest will most likely be an ancient Dhakaani ruin. It could be sunk in the marshes on the edge of Lake Brey (if you chose the Thrane option) or any other large body of water.
ii. The Tiri Kitor encampment: Since elves aren't tree-loving hippies in Eberron, making this group an encampment of shifters instead works well. I still kept them elves (Wardens of the Wood), but shifters thematically fit this perfectly. They will be fierce, independent, and possibly difficult to recruit.
b. NPCs:
i. Miha Serani: A changeling with sorcerer (or psion!) levels works well, and so does a rakshasa (though this makes her stronger and possibly an encounter for much later in the game)
ii. Killiar Arrowswift: Being a shifter will explain his rather gruff initial attitude. Also, I recommend that their names be changed. Honestly, I found their naming conventions very WoW-ish. Look up Night Elf NPCs in Warcraft and you'll see what I mean.
iii. Sellyria Starsinger: A shifter Moonspeaker druid might work well here. Also, she has a pet croc, right? If she's a shifter, you could make her a longtooth/beasthide shifter---descended from a werecrocodile.
iv. Trellara Nightshadow: Not sure what to do with her. You could keep her as a shifter bard with an unusually high charisma, or simply perhaps make her an emotionally unstable Wilder (see Races of Eberron's Shifter Wilder substitution levels).
v. Illian Snowmantle: Balinor works well as a substitute for Corellon.
c. Encounters:
i. Dirty Rotten Looters: If you played up the "border troubles" angle, these guys could be an actual Silver Flame Inquisitor/Dark Lanterns/Royal Eyes of Aundair/Cyran Avenger/Order of the Emerald Claw hit squad instead of a pathetic bunch of amoral goons.
ii. The Lizardfolk: Considering that the MM3 Lizardfolk (Poison dusks and blackscales) figure well in Eberron's canon, a group of these guys could have been brought in by Saarvith and Regiarix and bred for war.
III. The Ghostlord's Lair
a. NPCs.
i. The Ghostlord: The heart and soul of this chapter. I wrote him up as an ancient Dhakaani (hobgoblin) Gatekeeper druid who was driven insane by the Daelkyr invasion. He invented the bonedrinkers, inspired by the Daelkyr's often tentacled aberrations.
ii. Wyrmlord Ulwai: No real suggestions here, apart from [i]please use another depiction of her. I can't stand her "80s dominatrix catgirl" look in the book. She's supposed to be hot.
b. Setting.
i. I fluffed the entire Thornwaste as a barren and blasted land stripped of natural life by the Daelkyr invasion, and it's still like that. Most of the animals that live here are aberrant at best and half-farspawn horrors at worst.
IV. Enemy at the Gates
a. NPCs
i. Jarmaath will definitely be a war hero from the Last War, although not quite as strong as he used to be. He could be a lot less noble (perhaps desiring a vainglorious end as he makes a final stand against the Red Hand), however, presenting the PCs with a complex moral dilemma: Do they support the rightful lord of the land and sacrifice the people, or subvert him and side with Lady Kaal, whose methods are reprehensible, yet truly wants to save Brindol?
ii. Lady Kaal could be a potential primary villain here: She could actually be a foreign sleeper agent, planted to undermine local sovereignty by spreading crime, or to simply be a spy. As such, she might work best as a member of the Royal Eyes of Aundair, or perhaps a Brelish Dark Lantern. Alternatively, she could be secretly a member of House Tarkanan and possess a hidden aberrant dragonmark.
iii. Tredora Goldenbrow: Aasimar are very rare in Eberron, but she is most likely going to be a cleric of either Dol Arrah or the Silver Flame.
iv. Lars Ulverth: He could easily be Soranna Anitah's House Deneith superior, or a war hero, or both.
v. Immerstal the Red: Artificer would work as well as Wizard.
b. The Siege of Brindol:
i. Bombardment: I used homebrewed Warforged Titan variants, since giants, as mentioned above, aren't native to Khorvaire. Skullcrusher ogres work well, though. Alternatively, traditional siege engines could work.
ii. Kharn's Retinue: Again, scrap the giants. Skullcrusher ogres with class levels work well, as do Spawn of Tiamat (Redspawn Berserkers [Dragon Magic], or Whitespawn Berserkers [MMIV] could work well).
V. The Fane of Tiamat
a. Setting:
i. The Wyrmsmokes: I went ahead and just plopped down the Wyrmsmokes in the middle of Eastern Breland, but this could be more difficult in more constrained areas (namely Southwestern Thrane). Regardless, as a volcanic area, it is quite likely that it could be a Fernia manifest zone and as such have a lot of diabolic interlopers.
ii. Khyber: The alternative is to bury the Fane deep underground. It could be rather eerie for the PCs to travel for days in pitch-dark tunnels, only to see an immense, yawning abyss beneath them, and the vast, dimly-lit Tiamat sculpture stretching from deep below.
iii. What the Fane of Tiamat Really Is: This is up to you, but I had the PCs discover that the Fane is actually a part of Tiamat's vast prison (or at least its support system). Since Tiamat isn't trapped in the Nine Hells (which don't exist in Eberron), she has no strong ties to devils and extraplanar enemies. Instead, I had Azarr Kul attempting to manipulate the Planes to slow or stop them, causing Tiamat's prison in Argonnessen to catastrophically fail.
iv. To this end, Azarr Kul was using a large eldritch engine---a planar orrery---to stop the planar orbits.
b. Encounters:
i. Tyrgarun: If he's fought in Khyber, this encounter is going to be a lot more interesting. He can see much farther than any of the PCs, and can potentially fight in complete darkness (thanks to Blindsight).
ii. Laryssa: If you're like me and absolutely hated the "lol Azarr Kul has a cannibalistic night hag cook" encounter, feel free to swap her out with another Rakshasa encounter. In this case I threw a Naztharune Rakshasa with one Swordsage level at them.
iii. The Fane is Ancient Dragontech: To play up this angle, I had some traps that were part of the original structure. Azarr Kul's forces have found fighting them not worth the trouble, and so have left them in place as barely-controllable guard systems. As such, I had the original dragon constructors leaving a dragon-like iron golem in the main corridor, as well as a Spell Turret.
iv. Devils: Devils have no true strong relationship with Tiamat, so I fluffed them as fiends who got through the portal as Azarr Kul weakened the planar boundaries.
v. The Barracks: Instead of having just one dragon, I had several young dragons hanging dismembered and disemboweled here. They were the children of the original guardian of the Fane, a great wyrm bronze dragon tasked to maintain the Inner Sanctum's power systems. The dragon has since died, and it was unable to pass on the true nature of the Fane to its children. The children were overwhelmed by Tyrgarun and thrown to the devil army as food.
vi. Azarr Kul: There are many suggestions to fix this encounter, but I think that if AK manages to get his buff spells up, the PCs have a full-power Clericzilla on their hands. Whatever the case, when AK dies, I made it so that he uses the last of his strength to shift the planar orrery to directly breach Tiamat's prison, with just enough energy for her to project an Aspect through.
vii. Aspect of Tiamat: If you really want the aspect to be tough, give her cleric casting equal to her HD.
c. Conclusion:
i. If the Aspect of Tiamat breaks free and the PCs don't kill it, she could prove to be a very devastating "optional boss" monster, ravaging the countryside.
ii. If the border troubles escalate into full-blown diplomatic hostility, you could easily have a reignited Last War.
iii. If Azarr Kul completes his objective, congratulations. You now have an Elder Evil campaign. The Dragons of Argonnessen mobilize to attack Azarr Kul, likely razing all of Khorvaire to the ground in the process. Thrane Paladins mounted on wyverns will dogfight with dragons in the skies over Flamekeep as the Fiend in the Flame awakens. Flights of great wyrm dragons will airdrop Seren Barbarians onto Sharn. The Fiend in the Flame strides across the ocean to Argonnessen, swatting aside Light of Siberys crusader dragons as he marches. When he reaches the Pit of Five Sorrows, the Current Age will end, and a new Age of Demons will begin.
As another Eberron-themed adaptation,
consider making the module all about the Lord of Blades rather than Azarr Kul.