Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Aurum 08-02-04, 10:44 AM	I have a question I'd like to bounce off the assemblage here. Let's say you have a group of players, of which the majority have no familiarity with Ebberon, but who are DnD players from 2nd edition or before. Your group might have one or possibly two people familiar with Ebberon, who have either picked up the book or peruse the forums, but the other three to six players don't. Familiarity with the mechanics of DnD, in other words, is not an issue. Part of the problem with this group is currently an "It's all been done" malaise. Ebberon seems to fit the bill nicely of something familiar enough to pick up fast but different enought to focus attention. What kind of adventure would you run (or, want to run) with such a group?
Ishorn 08-02-04, 11:09 AM	I would let them read through the book. The people I notice that are having the hardest time with Eberron are the people that started playing D&D in the 90's. My group that I have played with since the early 80's looked through the book and jumped right in. Most of them said that it looked like my Greyhawk campaign anyway.
WizO_Sith 08-02-04, 02:41 PM	I'd start an adventure that throws them into a uniquely Eberron situation in media res (In the middle of the action). Have them start the adventure as passengers on a lightning rail that comes under attack by a marauding band of outlaws made up of Ebberon-specific races, have them recieve unexpected help from fellow passengers with uniquely Eberron powers and abilities (Maybe they share a coach with a Dragonmarked house member, or a professional magewright, an artifacer, etc...). Drench them in the stuff that seperates Eberron from other fantasy campaign settings right at the outset and they'll catch on pretty quickly. YMMV, of course.
Fangslayer 08-02-04, 04:02 PM	Another possibility is to borrow a concept from another game system, one which your players may not be familiar with or one that always excites your players (thereby staving off the "been there, done that" syndrome). For example... Having just finished the third D&D campaign in a row (3.0, 3.5, then 3.5 again), my players really needed something different to keep their attention within the D&D universe. The first thing I had to do was choose a setting unfamiliar to them, yet was still fleshed out enough to get them interested in the lands, peoples, and politics going on. Eberron's release neatly provided the first part to the solution, being a new setting with untapped potential... But now the hard part... What sort of style to choose? The last three campaigns were heavily focused on epic scale dungeon crawls (Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, Rappan Athuk, and City of the Spider Queen) with the occasional side plot/module thrown in to fill in the gaps and bring everything together. 4 in a row? No way... If the idea was tedious to me, then it would be moreso to my players. I had to find a concept, but what should it be? The answer came from another game... In this case, Shadowrun... In Shadowrun, the party is contracted for their unique skills to do a job... These missions always appear to be simple, but are rarely ever what they seem (usually a much bigger plot is going on behind the scenes). This concept gave me the freedom to create smaller, more dynamic scenarios that could grab the players attention each game night. The Houses of Eberron would serve just as Corporations do in Shadowrun, being the main movers-and-shakers behind the scenes and needing adventurers to go out and do their dirty work. Sometimes missions might be noble, such as rescuing the daughter of a Breland noble from the clutches of the Order of the Emerald Claw... other times, the missions may have darker aspects, such as the infiltration of Karrnath fortress and stealing the battle plans for an invasion. While I could go on (and on.. and on.. hehe), I think I conveyed the point. There is always a concept, plotline, monster, or item that your party hasn't dealt with yet. The trick is to find it, and then present it in a manner that'll blow them away. Eberron is a great choice of settings for people sick of Forgotten Realms or tired of the same-old-same-old.
Alac Luin 08-02-04, 07:16 PM	As earlyer stated, Lightning rail!!! stories from "orirnt express" to the recent "Atomic Train" from the sci-fi network. Sharn- Blade Runner story- hired to trck down rouge warforged. Air ships- arieal battles.. etc. Going to the Demon Wastes and actually haveing to help orcs. helping orcs? Orc Paladins? What is this?