Archetypes Part 7: Foreign National

This is the archetype for the strange, exotic, or unusual PC.  This gave me the freedom to say that, pretty much anything in 4ed, was available to my PCs.

Archetype: Foreign National

Race: Elf, Halfling, Hobgoblin, Goblin, Bugbear, Kalashtar, Dragonborn, Human, Tiefling, Minotaur, Gnoll, Drow, Eladrin 

Class: Any (see cultural restrictions)

Religion: Spirits of the Past, Deathless Ancestors, Sovereign Host/Dark Six (Dragon variant, Nature variant), Scorpion King, Silver Flame (Demon Waste variant), atheist, Path of Light

Hook: You are from a foreign culture, working with Cyre either independently or with your government's sanction.  You may be a representative of Aerenal, Valenar, the Talenta Plains, Xen'Drick, Argonessen, the Demon Wastes, the Rhuukan Draal, the Feyspires, Droaam, Adar, Q'barra (natives), or Riedra.  Your strange ways bring an interesting point of view to court politics, which has ingratiated you to Prince Oargev.

Benefits: You gain either the Diplomatic Immunity trait or the Well Traveled trait, in addition, you gain an additional trait based on your nation of origin.

Diplomatic Immunity: As an official foreign representative, you are not held to quite the same standards as other citizen in legal proceedings. More can be forgiven, but extremely heinous crimes could potentially cause international incidents or deportation.

Well Traveled: You gain 2 bonus languages. You may keep these languages undetermined until you decide that you should know the language in question. At that point, you may set a specific language. You may not select any secret languages as these two bonus languages.

Nation/Race/Class/Religion

Aerenal (Elf; Any Non-Psionic Class; Deathless Ancestors): Once per level, you may send word back to Aerenal to ask a question of the Deathless Ancestors. Questions concerning Arcana, History, Religion, and Nature are most likely to get a useful response.

Valenar (Elf; Any Non-Psionic Class; Spirits of the Past): You gain the Mounted Combat feat for free. You begin play with a Valenar Warhorse that levels up with you.

Talenta Plains (Halfling; Any Class; Sovereign Host/Dark Six nature variant): You gain the Mounted Combat feat for free. In addition, you gain a Riding Raptor that levels up with you.

Xen'Drick (Drow; Any Class; Scorpion King): You gain a +2 bonus to saving throws against ongoing Poison damage or any effect inflicted by a Giant that a save can end.

Argonessen (Human or Dragonborn; Any Martial, Primal, or Arcane Class; Sovereign Host/Dark Six Dragon variants): Once per level, you may send word back to the Dragons of the Chamber to ask a question concerning the Draconic Prophecy. Questions concerning Arcana, Dungeoneering, Nature, and current events are most likely to get a useful response.

Demon Wastes (Human or Tiefling; Any Class; Silver Flame demon waste variant): You gain a +2 bonus to saving throws against ongoing Fire damage or any effect inflicted by a Demon that a save can end.

Rhuukan Draal (Hobgoblin, Bugbear, or Goblin; Any Martial or Shadow Class; Atheist): You gain a +2 bonus to saving throws against ongoing psychic damage or any effect inflicted by an Abberation that a save can end.

The Feyspires (Eladrin; Any Non-Psionic Class; Spirits of the Past): Once per level, you may commune with one of the Spirits of the Past and ask him a question. Questions concerning History, Religion, warfare, or heroics are most likely to get a useful response.

Droaam (Minotaur, Gnoll; Any Military, Shadow, or Primal class; Sovereign Host/Dark Six Nature variant): You may specify a fairy tale told about you in civilized lands. Every time you reach a new settlement, roll an Intimidate check. On a success, the people of the town will either be terrified of you or beleive that you couldn't possibly exist.

Adar (Human or Kalashtar; Any Psionic or Divine class; The Path of Light): You gain a +2 bonus to saving throws against ongoing Necrotic damage or any effect inflicted by a Fey creature that a save can end..

Q'barra Natives (Dragonborn; Any Class; Sovereign Host/Dark Six Dragon variants):

Riedra (Human; Any Military or Psionic class; Atheist): Once per level, you may send word back to the Inspired to ask them a question. Questions concerning Arcana, History, and Current Events are most likely to get a useful response.

Commentary:   Part of the intention of this Archetype was to be for players new to Eberron.  There's a lot of politics and intrigue that go into understanding the setting of the Five Nations.  However, if I'm playing a foreign national, I am not going to be expected to know and understand all of that at first.  My customs and ways can be strange.  Plus, it's easier to say to a new player, "Picture a nation of Samurai-Viking Elven mercenaries who just decided that a huge chunk of this country belonged to them. Go." or "Mongolian/Native American nomadic halflings that ride dinosaurs instead of horses. Go." or even, "Psionic Tibetian rebels holding out against Utopian China, because they achieved Utopia through MIND CONTROL."  All of that creates a useful shorthand for a new player that will help them with characterization and personality, but not rely on tons of details they will be expected to bring forth at every turn during play.
     I also thought this background would do well for my players who tend towards randomness and ignoring in-game social mores.  Perhaps we could write much of their crazy off to being from foreign cultures?  That was my hope.
     I only included two of these cards in my deck because I didn't want the game to be Oargev and his team of freaks.  That said, I thought it would be cool to have the Cyran equivalent of Thoros of Myr or Xalabar Xho in the game, should a PC decide that'd be cool.
     I decided against including representatives of the other 5 Nations or key "civilized" nations of Khorvaire such as the Lhaazar Principalities, Eldeen Reaches, Shadow Marches, Mror Holds, or Zilargo.  I did this because I wanted to preserve certain groups as enemies to challenge the PCs with, or at least as stolid allies of the other nations.   
     When I tried to get this game going on a PBP, I had a foreign national PC: a Human Sorcerer (Dragon) from Argonessen sent to advise the young prince because recent interpretations of the draconic prophecy indicated that he was DEFINITELY important and needed to be guided by the Chamber.