Destination: Xendrik [Archive] - Wizards Community

Destination: Xendrik [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Knobl
01-13-05, 10:19 PM My group has decided to go to Xendrik. I already have some ideas of encounters there, but I am interested in other ideas.
Any thoughs?
MarkB
01-14-05, 09:23 AM That's a little too general to respond to usefully, especially given how open-ended Xen'Drik is. What level are your players? What sort of encounters have you already planned? How and why are they going there?

The third official Eberron module, Grasp of the Emerald Claw, will apparently take the players to Xen'Drik, so maybe you could pick it up and incorporate it into your campaign.
Knobl
01-14-05, 05:45 PM My players are second level, and they decided to go to Xendrik to get rich. So, mostly, they know only the rumors, but not any fact.
I haven't found any copies of that Grasp adventure, so I only have the pictures from the gallery.
So, what I have is this:
A few encounters in Stormreach, while they stay there, and from there, it will only jungle.
I have a few problems:
How do they find any interesting ruin, without any serious knowledge? Anyone in Stormreach certainly won't talk, and I don't want to make it just a stroke of good luck.
And once they have found it; what could I possible put there? A Giant would crush them, and more than 10 drow will do the same.
Isran_Imrador
01-14-05, 07:55 PM If you use the seach thing! and search for Stormreach you will find some threads about Xen`drik!
D4rkchylde
01-14-05, 08:34 PM Then my good man, you will have to make sure that they are not crushed by said giant. You could let them a find a "Treasure map" some where. It will be a map that was been sold to many an adventurer or something. By the time they get to the Ruins all the major baddies will have already been killed, so they wont be crushed by Giants or massacred by Drow and you will still be able to keep the game realistic and stuff. You could say that they see dozens of footprints heading in and out of the place to give a clue that the map is not as secret or special as they had first suspected.

Of course you can also have them sneak past various Giants, that shouldnt be too hard, to get to a Ruin they have heard about.

You can rule that the Drow tend to remain underground therefore the party would not have to worry about being ambushed while they are in the forest.

There is also an article on this site, I think its called Swashbuckling 101, in that article they outline how a guy single handedly defeated a Warforged Titan by dropping a ton of scrap metal on his head. You can setup similar encounters with a giant. Just have the PCs roll some spot checks and stuff, then let them drop a ton of stones on his head or what ever.

You can also have them roleplay an adventure while they are on there way to Xen'Drik so by the time they get there they will be at a suitable level to tackle the challenges you have in store for them.

Just some suggestions, I hope this helps.
N'wah
01-14-05, 11:46 PM First off, getting rich in Xen'drik is more expensive than the riches would cover in some cases. I don't know if you have the Sharn book, but there's a lot of paper that needs to be bought to legally profit from your quests in Xen'drik- to say nothing of the cost of actually getting there.

A few ideas:

The PCs could ask around at good ol' Morgrave U for opportunities to explore Xen'drik. As the financier ofthe expedition, they'll take care of the legal work and let the PCs do what they do best- grave robbing. Er, "artifact location and extraction". Since Morgrave has a ton of leads on various ruins in Xen'drik, the group can get as specific of vague a target as you like.

Second idea- the group, if of a more criminal bent, could become treasure smugglers. Haga Wissel in "Little Xen'drik" would make a great financier for such underhanded heroism. She could provide a risky job offer acquiring artifacts from a ruin only rumored to exist, pay for the PC's fare on a less-than-honest merchant vehicle, and make them slip the goods by the Sharn port authority on the way back.

As for ruins themsleves, a drow-infested ruin can be of any difficulty thanks to drow being as difficult as their level makes 'em. There's plenty of monsters that make good opponents- any natural animal that thrives in jungles works great, as do odd or ununsual monsters, and the MM is chock full of EL 1-4 nastiness to throw at the group.

The adventure Grasp of the Emerald Claw, while good, is for 6th-level PCs. It could provide some ideas for what to expect in Xen'drik, though- those giant-built ziggurats are HUGE. :)

Just some ideas.
Jarlaxle_The_Rogue
01-15-05, 12:36 PM My PC's are also going to xen'drik but not to get rich simply to advance the plot becaus the ring of Syberis has been blacked out and the Chamber sent them there along with like a 1000 others. Another way of finding ruins our avoiding fights is to just make your giants Lawful Good nothing is as it seems in Ebberon. And drow could be actually leading your party into a huge money cache. But your best bet is to stay the hell out of Xen'drik with your level 2 PCs.
Endless_Helix
01-15-05, 07:18 PM One way to reduce the challenge rating of a fight is to hide little ways to instantly win, or cause a huge hole in the opponent's plans to appear. The most interesting example from a friend's group was when the party wizard was bargaining with a demon. The demon got angry at the wizard and summoned a horde of little demons. Then the party wizard cast spider climb, climbed up the wall and dropped a magical toy boat the grew into a real galleon that could sail and everything. So the Demons got hit by a few tons of wood and metal and died. So give them items that lead to sneaky tricks in combat, hide the pile of scrap metal over the titan's head, and make sure to hide a few surprises for the enemies to use :P
megamania
01-16-05, 10:18 AM Maybe its me but envisioned Xen'drix to be a place for level 6+ adventures. The deeper or further south you go the higher the level.

Giants
Giant structures
Huge+ dinosaurs

Drow whom have set up shop

Dangerous place to be.

Below 6th level I could see the adventure be more of the trip there then keep it within the limits of Stormreach or the other trade town.
Lord Yod
01-16-05, 03:53 PM Like what a few others have said, your PC's should probably be around 6th level if they want to adventure in Xen'Drik. You could have several ship captains laugh them off their ships, and Sharn officials won't sell them letters of marque. Perhaps Morgrave U. needs adventurers like them to explore the Depths of Sharn and recover Dhakaani artifacts instead. This way, they'll grow a bit before meeting giants and drow.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Knobl 01-13-05, 10:19 PM	My group has decided to go to Xendrik. I already have some ideas of encounters there, but I am interested in other ideas. Any thoughs?
MarkB 01-14-05, 09:23 AM	That's a little too general to respond to usefully, especially given how open-ended Xen'Drik is. What level are your players? What sort of encounters have you already planned? How and why are they going there? The third official Eberron module, Grasp of the Emerald Claw, will apparently take the players to Xen'Drik, so maybe you could pick it up and incorporate it into your campaign.
Knobl 01-14-05, 05:45 PM	My players are second level, and they decided to go to Xendrik to get rich. So, mostly, they know only the rumors, but not any fact. I haven't found any copies of that Grasp adventure, so I only have the pictures from the gallery. So, what I have is this: A few encounters in Stormreach, while they stay there, and from there, it will only jungle. I have a few problems: How do they find any interesting ruin, without any serious knowledge? Anyone in Stormreach certainly won't talk, and I don't want to make it just a stroke of good luck. And once they have found it; what could I possible put there? A Giant would crush them, and more than 10 drow will do the same.
Isran_Imrador 01-14-05, 07:55 PM	If you use the seach thing! and search for Stormreach you will find some threads about Xen`drik!
D4rkchylde 01-14-05, 08:34 PM	Then my good man, you will have to make sure that they are not crushed by said giant. You could let them a find a "Treasure map" some where. It will be a map that was been sold to many an adventurer or something. By the time they get to the Ruins all the major baddies will have already been killed, so they wont be crushed by Giants or massacred by Drow and you will still be able to keep the game realistic and stuff. You could say that they see dozens of footprints heading in and out of the place to give a clue that the map is not as secret or special as they had first suspected. Of course you can also have them sneak past various Giants, that shouldnt be too hard, to get to a Ruin they have heard about. You can rule that the Drow tend to remain underground therefore the party would not have to worry about being ambushed while they are in the forest. There is also an article on this site, I think its called Swashbuckling 101, in that article they outline how a guy single handedly defeated a Warforged Titan by dropping a ton of scrap metal on his head. You can setup similar encounters with a giant. Just have the PCs roll some spot checks and stuff, then let them drop a ton of stones on his head or what ever. You can also have them roleplay an adventure while they are on there way to Xen'Drik so by the time they get there they will be at a suitable level to tackle the challenges you have in store for them. Just some suggestions, I hope this helps.
N'wah 01-14-05, 11:46 PM	First off, getting rich in Xen'drik is more expensive than the riches would cover in some cases. I don't know if you have the Sharn book, but there's a lot of paper that needs to be bought to legally profit from your quests in Xen'drik- to say nothing of the cost of actually getting there. A few ideas: The PCs could ask around at good ol' Morgrave U for opportunities to explore Xen'drik. As the financier ofthe expedition, they'll take care of the legal work and let the PCs do what they do best- grave robbing. Er, "artifact location and extraction". Since Morgrave has a ton of leads on various ruins in Xen'drik, the group can get as specific of vague a target as you like. Second idea- the group, if of a more criminal bent, could become treasure smugglers. Haga Wissel in "Little Xen'drik" would make a great financier for such underhanded heroism. She could provide a risky job offer acquiring artifacts from a ruin only rumored to exist, pay for the PC's fare on a less-than-honest merchant vehicle, and make them slip the goods by the Sharn port authority on the way back. As for ruins themsleves, a drow-infested ruin can be of any difficulty thanks to drow being as difficult as their level makes 'em. There's plenty of monsters that make good opponents- any natural animal that thrives in jungles works great, as do odd or ununsual monsters, and the MM is chock full of EL 1-4 nastiness to throw at the group. The adventure Grasp of the Emerald Claw, while good, is for 6th-level PCs. It could provide some ideas for what to expect in Xen'drik, though- those giant-built ziggurats are HUGE. :) Just some ideas.
Jarlaxle_The_Rogue 01-15-05, 12:36 PM	My PC's are also going to xen'drik but not to get rich simply to advance the plot becaus the ring of Syberis has been blacked out and the Chamber sent them there along with like a 1000 others. Another way of finding ruins our avoiding fights is to just make your giants Lawful Good nothing is as it seems in Ebberon. And drow could be actually leading your party into a huge money cache. But your best bet is to stay the hell out of Xen'drik with your level 2 PCs.
Endless_Helix 01-15-05, 07:18 PM	One way to reduce the challenge rating of a fight is to hide little ways to instantly win, or cause a huge hole in the opponent's plans to appear. The most interesting example from a friend's group was when the party wizard was bargaining with a demon. The demon got angry at the wizard and summoned a horde of little demons. Then the party wizard cast spider climb, climbed up the wall and dropped a magical toy boat the grew into a real galleon that could sail and everything. So the Demons got hit by a few tons of wood and metal and died. So give them items that lead to sneaky tricks in combat, hide the pile of scrap metal over the titan's head, and make sure to hide a few surprises for the enemies to use :P
megamania 01-16-05, 10:18 AM	Maybe its me but envisioned Xen'drix to be a place for level 6+ adventures. The deeper or further south you go the higher the level. Giants Giant structures Huge+ dinosaurs Drow whom have set up shop Dangerous place to be. Below 6th level I could see the adventure be more of the trip there then keep it within the limits of Stormreach or the other trade town.
Lord Yod 01-16-05, 03:53 PM	Like what a few others have said, your PC's should probably be around 6th level if they want to adventure in Xen'Drik. You could have several ship captains laugh them off their ships, and Sharn officials won't sell them letters of marque. Perhaps Morgrave U. needs adventurers like them to explore the Depths of Sharn and recover Dhakaani artifacts instead. This way, they'll grow a bit before meeting giants and drow.