DM help papers for Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

DM help papers for Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ChronosCrow
06-14-04, 02:00 PM I'm putting together some of my own DM help papers right now. It's all hand written, but i"m contemplating putting it into Digital format. I'm just reading everyword of the "Life in the World" chapter and putting down what I want to use or know on the fly. If anyone wants some copies I might post a link to them (if it's ok to do this per legality). Here's what I'm doing:

1. Factions connections by Region- This started out as family lineages of royalty by region but I started going areas w/out royalty so I just changed it to how certain people of regions were connected to each other.

2. Politics by region- This is a paper on the politics of a certain towards how they deal with other certain regions. Very helpful for indeepth games.

3. Main Plot- this is the main plot for my story, so I won't be posting that one up.

4. Plot hooks- Lots of various kinds of plot hooks I personally developed a little further than the book listed by region.

5. How the people feel- this is like the politics section but it applies to the average bar tender and shop keep or farmer so it's much more of a social thing than politics. It's just how the people of the region feel towards others.

6. "Catch them off Guard"- Them refers to the PC's. Often role-playing groups get into funks where they start assuming the classic roles too much and just act of RPG sense and now the role of the character. This section is a bunch of plot hooks that I've made from Eberron specific things that I'll use to break my PC's of thinking it's ok to go kill a bunch of bandits that annoy people. The format per issue goes like this: Plot hooks name (certain RPG funk issue too abolish)-EXPLANATION of plot
Example:

The Jungle Boys(zelaousness and righteousness of PC's)
-maruaders in "The King's Forest" that steal from travelers; at most they only wound their victims never killing an person. They're just greedy.
- People in the area end up thinking the worst of the Jungle Boys and talk bad about them like they were the scum of Eberron.
-PC's interact w/ the towns folk and assume too much: "Hey, they're an evil band of bandits let's go kill/main them and take their gold/exact revenge for these people. When they attackteh J.Boys if they violently do things the J.Boys will run away not wanting to deal with deaths on either side.
-If the PC's follow through and it ends out to maliciously then there should be some kind of consequence. The village people could become appauled at the PC's and run them out of town. They could be charged by local goverment feels they acted too rashly and gov't takes some kind of action on them.

What i basically want to deal with that page is make the PC's realize that their actions aren't always the right ones and that they need to think things through. Don't assume that every good person you come across is actually good. Don't assume that all lonesome bands out on the lamb are really evil or dangerous.
magicmarker13
06-15-04, 01:02 AM the politics by region thing as well as a faction paper would be pretty neat to read and pretty useful since i just picked up the CSB and will be running a game of it soon, you should definately make a digital copy, me and i'm sure a few other eberron dm's out there would appreciate it
Ch@pel
06-15-04, 01:14 AM Second that.
ChronosCrow
06-15-04, 09:17 AM Originally posted by magicmarker13
...as a faction paper would be pretty neat to read and pretty useful ...

Ah right, I had gotten to the organizations page yet so yeah I'll probably be adding the factions page.
Ashrem Bayle
06-15-04, 10:13 AM This is a good idea. A sort of Eberron Cliff's Notes would be handy. Not that reading the Eberron book isn't a treat in itself, it's just so....BIG!

What I'm working on now however, is a handout for my players who won't have the book.
Captain One
06-15-04, 10:33 AM Chronos,

You would be loved by many if you can get that up for all of us lazy people!! I'm sure if you even get up a rough draft, even the lazy ones (like myself) will help fill in the blanks.
ChronosCrow
06-15-04, 11:39 AM Originally posted by Captain One
Chronos,

You would be loved by many if you can get that up for all of us lazy people!! I'm sure if you even get up a rough draft, even the lazy ones (like myself) will help fill in the blanks.

Yeah, I'm working on the written version right now. I'll transfere soon I think.

Though anyone thinking this will get them anywhere without having the book will be sorely disappointed. I do no want people getting info. for not having the book so I'll either reference certain things with page numbers or leave certain things out which are not hard to understand or find if you have the book. Stupid moochers.
Ch@pel
06-15-04, 06:44 PM Yeah thats probably a good idea, Chronos. I hope WoTC doesn't get angry about it, even though it would only really be helpful to anyone who already owns the book.

You'd think thats the kind of thing they would put in the book in the first place, so that a DM can buy the book, but the players would still have a means to get a general idea of how the world works, even if they can't get the book.
ChronosCrow
06-15-04, 08:53 PM my thoughts exactly.
EarthsShadow
06-17-04, 01:47 AM that sounds like a way cool idea, especially for us lazy DM's. :):D
ChronosCrow
06-17-04, 01:58 AM Yeah, it's meant to be a references page for things to just jump to real quickly while in game and not have to run through the book for information. It should make things a lot easier indeed for people that like to have a lot of the facts all involved in the game.
Lasrifriir
06-17-04, 08:24 AM Sounds brilliant, I'd love to see the finished copy. Unfortunately, I can't contribute anything yet (won't have the CSB for another two weeks or so :( .)
Ashrem Bayle
06-23-04, 12:31 PM So, how's this going?
Gannd
06-23-04, 01:50 PM I'd love something like this and would be willing to help out.
ChronosCrow
06-23-04, 03:05 PM Originally posted by Ashrem Bayle
So, how's this going?

Still working on it right now, I took a short break b/c I got really caught up in it and it began to feel like 'work' but now I'm back on it and almost finished out.
ChronosCrow
06-23-04, 03:07 PM Originally posted by Gannd
I'd love something like this and would be willing to help out.

hhhmmm, i did have something I wanted help with, but I forgot it, I'll let you know when I remember it.
ChronosCrow
06-23-04, 03:22 PM Unfortunatly some of the things like family relations and thigns are going to be done as Jpegs b/c families are made up like Trees and i'm not that good with Microsoft Word to try and figure how to represent that, but I can do it with Adobe.
Azual
06-23-04, 04:02 PM Originally posted by Ashrem Bayle
What I'm working on now however, is a handout for my players who won't have the book.

its sad really.... none of my players buy ANY of the books. no core, no supplements, no NOTHEING. i wish i had players who actually bought the books>
:nonono:
Ch@pel
06-23-04, 11:58 PM Hey Chronos, if you want to create "Trees" for for families or whatever in Word, make a couple of text boxes. Put the info for each "branch" in its own box, then arrange the boxes as you see fit. It should be pretty easy to move things around and get them in a coherent order, while having everything in it's own box makes editing a smoother process. Hope this helps; and can't wait to see what you're working with.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ChronosCrow 06-14-04, 02:00 PM	I'm putting together some of my own DM help papers right now. It's all hand written, but i"m contemplating putting it into Digital format. I'm just reading everyword of the "Life in the World" chapter and putting down what I want to use or know on the fly. If anyone wants some copies I might post a link to them (if it's ok to do this per legality). Here's what I'm doing: 1. Factions connections by Region- This started out as family lineages of royalty by region but I started going areas w/out royalty so I just changed it to how certain people of regions were connected to each other. 2. Politics by region- This is a paper on the politics of a certain towards how they deal with other certain regions. Very helpful for indeepth games. 3. Main Plot- this is the main plot for my story, so I won't be posting that one up. 4. Plot hooks- Lots of various kinds of plot hooks I personally developed a little further than the book listed by region. 5. How the people feel- this is like the politics section but it applies to the average bar tender and shop keep or farmer so it's much more of a social thing than politics. It's just how the people of the region feel towards others. 6. "Catch them off Guard"- Them refers to the PC's. Often role-playing groups get into funks where they start assuming the classic roles too much and just act of RPG sense and now the role of the character. This section is a bunch of plot hooks that I've made from Eberron specific things that I'll use to break my PC's of thinking it's ok to go kill a bunch of bandits that annoy people. The format per issue goes like this: Plot hooks name (certain RPG funk issue too abolish)-EXPLANATION of plot Example: The Jungle Boys(zelaousness and righteousness of PC's) -maruaders in "The King's Forest" that steal from travelers; at most they only wound their victims never killing an person. They're just greedy. - People in the area end up thinking the worst of the Jungle Boys and talk bad about them like they were the scum of Eberron. -PC's interact w/ the towns folk and assume too much: "Hey, they're an evil band of bandits let's go kill/main them and take their gold/exact revenge for these people. When they attackteh J.Boys if they violently do things the J.Boys will run away not wanting to deal with deaths on either side. -If the PC's follow through and it ends out to maliciously then there should be some kind of consequence. The village people could become appauled at the PC's and run them out of town. They could be charged by local goverment feels they acted too rashly and gov't takes some kind of action on them. What i basically want to deal with that page is make the PC's realize that their actions aren't always the right ones and that they need to think things through. Don't assume that every good person you come across is actually good. Don't assume that all lonesome bands out on the lamb are really evil or dangerous.
magicmarker13 06-15-04, 01:02 AM	the politics by region thing as well as a faction paper would be pretty neat to read and pretty useful since i just picked up the CSB and will be running a game of it soon, you should definately make a digital copy, me and i'm sure a few other eberron dm's out there would appreciate it
Ch@pel 06-15-04, 01:14 AM	Second that.
ChronosCrow 06-15-04, 09:17 AM	Originally posted by magicmarker13 ...as a faction paper would be pretty neat to read and pretty useful ... Ah right, I had gotten to the organizations page yet so yeah I'll probably be adding the factions page.
Ashrem Bayle 06-15-04, 10:13 AM	This is a good idea. A sort of Eberron Cliff's Notes would be handy. Not that reading the Eberron book isn't a treat in itself, it's just so....BIG! What I'm working on now however, is a handout for my players who won't have the book.
Captain One 06-15-04, 10:33 AM	Chronos, You would be loved by many if you can get that up for all of us lazy people!! I'm sure if you even get up a rough draft, even the lazy ones (like myself) will help fill in the blanks.
ChronosCrow 06-15-04, 11:39 AM	Originally posted by Captain One Chronos, You would be loved by many if you can get that up for all of us lazy people!! I'm sure if you even get up a rough draft, even the lazy ones (like myself) will help fill in the blanks. Yeah, I'm working on the written version right now. I'll transfere soon I think. Though anyone thinking this will get them anywhere without having the book will be sorely disappointed. I do no want people getting info. for not having the book so I'll either reference certain things with page numbers or leave certain things out which are not hard to understand or find if you have the book. Stupid moochers.
Ch@pel 06-15-04, 06:44 PM	Yeah thats probably a good idea, Chronos. I hope WoTC doesn't get angry about it, even though it would only really be helpful to anyone who already owns the book. You'd think thats the kind of thing they would put in the book in the first place, so that a DM can buy the book, but the players would still have a means to get a general idea of how the world works, even if they can't get the book.
ChronosCrow 06-15-04, 08:53 PM	my thoughts exactly.
EarthsShadow 06-17-04, 01:47 AM	that sounds like a way cool idea, especially for us lazy DM's. :):D
ChronosCrow 06-17-04, 01:58 AM	Yeah, it's meant to be a references page for things to just jump to real quickly while in game and not have to run through the book for information. It should make things a lot easier indeed for people that like to have a lot of the facts all involved in the game.
Lasrifriir 06-17-04, 08:24 AM	Sounds brilliant, I'd love to see the finished copy. Unfortunately, I can't contribute anything yet (won't have the CSB for another two weeks or so :( .)
Ashrem Bayle 06-23-04, 12:31 PM	So, how's this going?
Gannd 06-23-04, 01:50 PM	I'd love something like this and would be willing to help out.
ChronosCrow 06-23-04, 03:05 PM	Originally posted by Ashrem Bayle So, how's this going? Still working on it right now, I took a short break b/c I got really caught up in it and it began to feel like 'work' but now I'm back on it and almost finished out.
ChronosCrow 06-23-04, 03:07 PM	Originally posted by Gannd I'd love something like this and would be willing to help out. hhhmmm, i did have something I wanted help with, but I forgot it, I'll let you know when I remember it.
ChronosCrow 06-23-04, 03:22 PM	Unfortunatly some of the things like family relations and thigns are going to be done as Jpegs b/c families are made up like Trees and i'm not that good with Microsoft Word to try and figure how to represent that, but I can do it with Adobe.
Azual 06-23-04, 04:02 PM	Originally posted by Ashrem Bayle What I'm working on now however, is a handout for my players who won't have the book. its sad really.... none of my players buy ANY of the books. no core, no supplements, no NOTHEING. i wish i had players who actually bought the books> :nonono:
Ch@pel 06-23-04, 11:58 PM	Hey Chronos, if you want to create "Trees" for for families or whatever in Word, make a couple of text boxes. Put the info for each "branch" in its own box, then arrange the boxes as you see fit. It should be pretty easy to move things around and get them in a coherent order, while having everything in it's own box makes editing a smoother process. Hope this helps; and can't wait to see what you're working with.