DMs: How do your parties move up in the world? [Archive] - Wizards Community

DMs: How do your parties move up in the world? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Dauntless
12-29-04, 01:20 AM I am running a low level Eberron game which has just recently started. The party is all 2nd level (about half-way to 3rd). They are starting off as just everyday nobodies willing to kill a monster or ransack a dungeon for a reward.

I want to eventually move them upwards into the more interesting aspects of Eberron, with direct access to some of the movers and shakers (though this doesn't mean getting audiences with the king whenever they demand it, just that they are doing more interesting and important things than generic dungeon crawling).

So to the other DMs: How do you involve the players in the more interesting plots you have devised? How do they move up in the adventuring world?
Raede
12-29-04, 02:08 AM well, sounds like you've got a party of chaotic nuetrals. some excellent hooks to get them involved in an ongoing process would be to have them get involved in house politics or the criminal element in sharn. unfortunately both of these dont work too well in eberron since there are too few humanoids to battle them all the way up the levels, so there would be a lot of roleplaying xp involved and less outright killing. which is fine if your players are up for it. definetly a lot of fun below lvl 10, at which point your party should be able to take on the master of blades, one of the most powerful NPCs in the world without too much difficulty.

but within these limits they can go on contracted treasure hunts, uncover crime syndicates, assassinate world leaders, set up their own crime syndicate or business empire, start a warforged foundry, you name it.

plenty of monster killing can be involved in many of those.
SPQR Anarchy
12-29-04, 04:40 PM Use the houses for advancment.
If you have the members work through a non marked house then they can rise in stature in that house and eventually be big players in a local. Or you could have them become movers in a dragonmarked house and make allies in one of the internal factions of that house.
Just another user
12-29-04, 06:02 PM All depends on who are your character.

Just start saying that "2nd level nobody" is a bit of a contradiction. A 2nd level in Eberron is... well, not the best of the world, but the top of his class at least, they are "promising upstarts" it is very probable that some of the big organizations will note them sooner or later.

second how I've said, who are they? There is some 'marked between them? then be sure (see previous point) that their house is watching at them with attention. There are clerics? same thing, but with their religion just even more. Druids ? Paladins? idem. All of these organization will be more than willing to give them opportunities to show their valor.

If nothing of this apply, what about a ken'drik expedition? The standard old profesor is preparing an expedition for Ked'drik to search for a misterious artifact/ancient tomb/lost city and is hiring adventurers to help in the travel, Of course what they'll found would be something extremelly dangerous that many of the Bad Guys (and some of the Good) would want for himself and they are the only one that..., well I'm sure you know the drill. :)

If you don't want to send them to Ken'drik already just say the professor is searching for the tomb of some historical figure of the Dakhani empire, that should put them in enough troubles without making them go too far away. :D

(of course even that would be just the beginning of the true adventure.)
motorfirebox
12-29-04, 06:09 PM like it says in the most recent Under the Glass, mid-level characters are b-list celebrities. at 3rd-5th level, the characters should be treated like important guests at the larger villages and hamlets they stop through, and they'll be popular at the bars they frequent in larger towns and cities. by 6th level or so, they should start recieving invitations to dinners and parties thrown by minor city officials whenever they're in town. at 9th+, they're celebrities.
Dauntless
12-29-04, 06:56 PM like it says in the most recent Under the Glass, mid-level characters are b-list celebrities. at 3rd-5th level, the characters should be treated like important guests at the larger villages and hamlets they stop through, and they'll be popular at the bars they frequent in larger towns and cities. by 6th level or so, they should start recieving invitations to dinners and parties thrown by minor city officials whenever they're in town. at 9th+, they're celebrities.

The question remains though, how do they get to that position? Simply being higher level isn't the answer, since that is meta-game thinking. How do they get into the circles of high society if they start as dirty sewer-scavenging and dungeon delving adventurers?
Raede
12-29-04, 07:03 PM The question remains though, how do they get to that position? Simply being higher level isn't the answer, since that is meta-game thinking. How do they get into the circles of high society if they start as dirty sewer-scavenging and dungeon delving adventurers?

through gossip and people repeating tales of their deeds. if they pull off huge heists, slay dragons, etc. (or people think they do) and people find out, then word spreads because its interesting news and makes a good story. like superheroes/villains.

But if they operate in secrecy at all times then their faces wont be known but a mysterious entity will still be talked about. If noone discovers anything about what they've done ever or its ramifications, then they're just well-equipped strangers.

but PCs can also raise their reputation by paying bards to sing of their deeds or bragging and they can even make stuff up and artificially inflate their reputation.

the scale in under the looking glass represents and average with a party who has most of their deeds known.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dauntless 12-29-04, 01:20 AM	I am running a low level Eberron game which has just recently started. The party is all 2nd level (about half-way to 3rd). They are starting off as just everyday nobodies willing to kill a monster or ransack a dungeon for a reward. I want to eventually move them upwards into the more interesting aspects of Eberron, with direct access to some of the movers and shakers (though this doesn't mean getting audiences with the king whenever they demand it, just that they are doing more interesting and important things than generic dungeon crawling). So to the other DMs: How do you involve the players in the more interesting plots you have devised? How do they move up in the adventuring world?
Raede 12-29-04, 02:08 AM	well, sounds like you've got a party of chaotic nuetrals. some excellent hooks to get them involved in an ongoing process would be to have them get involved in house politics or the criminal element in sharn. unfortunately both of these dont work too well in eberron since there are too few humanoids to battle them all the way up the levels, so there would be a lot of roleplaying xp involved and less outright killing. which is fine if your players are up for it. definetly a lot of fun below lvl 10, at which point your party should be able to take on the master of blades, one of the most powerful NPCs in the world without too much difficulty. but within these limits they can go on contracted treasure hunts, uncover crime syndicates, assassinate world leaders, set up their own crime syndicate or business empire, start a warforged foundry, you name it. plenty of monster killing can be involved in many of those.
SPQR Anarchy 12-29-04, 04:40 PM	Use the houses for advancment. If you have the members work through a non marked house then they can rise in stature in that house and eventually be big players in a local. Or you could have them become movers in a dragonmarked house and make allies in one of the internal factions of that house.
Just another user 12-29-04, 06:02 PM	All depends on who are your character. Just start saying that "2nd level nobody" is a bit of a contradiction. A 2nd level in Eberron is... well, not the best of the world, but the top of his class at least, they are "promising upstarts" it is very probable that some of the big organizations will note them sooner or later. second how I've said, who are they? There is some 'marked between them? then be sure (see previous point) that their house is watching at them with attention. There are clerics? same thing, but with their religion just even more. Druids ? Paladins? idem. All of these organization will be more than willing to give them opportunities to show their valor. If nothing of this apply, what about a ken'drik expedition? The standard old profesor is preparing an expedition for Ked'drik to search for a misterious artifact/ancient tomb/lost city and is hiring adventurers to help in the travel, Of course what they'll found would be something extremelly dangerous that many of the Bad Guys (and some of the Good) would want for himself and they are the only one that..., well I'm sure you know the drill. :) If you don't want to send them to Ken'drik already just say the professor is searching for the tomb of some historical figure of the Dakhani empire, that should put them in enough troubles without making them go too far away. :D (of course even that would be just the beginning of the true adventure.)
motorfirebox 12-29-04, 06:09 PM	like it says in the most recent Under the Glass, mid-level characters are b-list celebrities. at 3rd-5th level, the characters should be treated like important guests at the larger villages and hamlets they stop through, and they'll be popular at the bars they frequent in larger towns and cities. by 6th level or so, they should start recieving invitations to dinners and parties thrown by minor city officials whenever they're in town. at 9th+, they're celebrities.
Dauntless 12-29-04, 06:56 PM	like it says in the most recent Under the Glass, mid-level characters are b-list celebrities. at 3rd-5th level, the characters should be treated like important guests at the larger villages and hamlets they stop through, and they'll be popular at the bars they frequent in larger towns and cities. by 6th level or so, they should start recieving invitations to dinners and parties thrown by minor city officials whenever they're in town. at 9th+, they're celebrities. The question remains though, how do they get to that position? Simply being higher level isn't the answer, since that is meta-game thinking. How do they get into the circles of high society if they start as dirty sewer-scavenging and dungeon delving adventurers?
Raede 12-29-04, 07:03 PM	The question remains though, how do they get to that position? Simply being higher level isn't the answer, since that is meta-game thinking. How do they get into the circles of high society if they start as dirty sewer-scavenging and dungeon delving adventurers? through gossip and people repeating tales of their deeds. if they pull off huge heists, slay dragons, etc. (or people think they do) and people find out, then word spreads because its interesting news and makes a good story. like superheroes/villains. But if they operate in secrecy at all times then their faces wont be known but a mysterious entity will still be talked about. If noone discovers anything about what they've done ever or its ramifications, then they're just well-equipped strangers. but PCs can also raise their reputation by paying bards to sing of their deeds or bragging and they can even make stuff up and artificially inflate their reputation. the scale in under the looking glass represents and average with a party who has most of their deeds known.