Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DanjaNinja 01-04-07, 03:16 AM	So I'm getting back into D&D after a bit of a hiatus, and I'm dragging along a few newbies with me. One has played a little bit of D&D and owns the PHB. The other two are completely new to PnP roleplaying. I'm going to be running an Eberron campaign, because I own most of the books and I've been itching to use them, but that's a lot of material to grok even for veteran D&Ders, let alone my unsuspecting newbies. I've devised this questionnaire to get their minds thinking in-character and in terms of Eberron. I have tried to avoid overly generic questions, because I believe they tend to elicit overly generic responses. I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions, but I'd also like to hear about other people's experiences with introducing the uninitiated to Eberron. What race is your character? How old is it? Where is it from? Is it from Cyre? If so, how did it escape the Mourning? Any aftereffects? How patriotic is it? If it's not from Breland, why did it leave for Sharn? Does the above information agree with its passport? Is it prejudiced? Against who/what? Did it go to school? What subject did it excel at? What did it do during the Last War? If it's a member of a long-lived race, what did it do before the Last War? What has it done in the two years since the Last War? What of its family? Any enemies? Good friends? Does it have an eyepatch? Why? Does it have any serious health issues? (lost limb, chronic disease, drug addiction, etc.) Is it a member of a dragonmarked house? Is it a member by blood or association? What was the last task it did for its house? How did it come to Sharn? What does it intend to do in Sharn? What phobias does it have? Who is its patron diety? Why? What does it do for entertainment? Class Specific: Cleric/Paladin: Sovereign Host, Silver Flame, Dark Six, Blood of Vol, Undying Court? Something else? Wizard/Artificer: Did it learn from a school? A dragonmarked house? As an apprentice? Bard: Is it a Gnome? Goblinoid? Other race? Is it a Greensinger? Sorcerer: What is the source of its power? (a pact, secrets gleaned from the walls of a mysterious cavern, just spontaneously, etc.) Druid/Ranger: Which tradition does it belong to? Fighter/Ranger: In the army? City guard? Mercenary? Vigilante? Bandit? Guerilla? Barbarian: Totem animal? Monk: Dol Dorn, the Mockery, or other? What are the tenets of its monastery? Psionic Class: Is it a kalashtar? Any ties to Adar or Riedra? Rogue: Thief? Inquisitive/investigator? Treasure hunter? Spy? Explorer? Race specific: Changeling: Does anyone know it's a changeling? Does it have a favorite form? Dwarf: From the Mror Holds? Is it a banker or a merchant, or employed by one? Elf: Aerenal? Valenar? Khorvaire? Ties to the Undying Court? How? Gnome: A skilled artisan? A scholar? A spy? Ties to the Library of Korranberg? Half-elf: Product of two half-elves, or elf and human? Half-orc/Orc: Member of a Shadow Marches tribe? From the Eldeen Reaches? Halfling: From the city? Fresh from the Talenta Plains? Kalashtar: Is it from Adar, or born in Khorvaire? Shifter: How comfortable is it in civilized society? Warforged: How has it adjusted to peacetime? Goblinoid: Is it from Darguun? Kobold: What the heck are you doing here?
goblin_pride 01-04-07, 03:33 AM	Kobold: What the heck are you doing here? That's seems to be the big question any time anyone plays a kobold, neh?
DanjaNinja 01-04-07, 03:51 AM	What can I say? I, like most of the world, love to pick on kobolds.
Koesherbacon 01-05-07, 04:31 PM	I love the questionnaire! Do you mind if I copy copy it and edit it to work in my buddy's homebrew world? I think this could really help us as players get to know our level 2, about to level up to 3, characters. Again, great job!
DanjaNinja 01-05-07, 04:57 PM	I love the questionnaire! Do you mind if I copy copy it and edit it to work in my buddy's homebrew world? I think this could really help us as players get to know our level 2, about to level up to 3, characters. Again, great job! Thanks. You're free to use it however you want.
ccerose 01-05-07, 06:22 PM	The questionnaire is really well thought out. At first glance, I thought it was a bit long. However, you were really specific with your questions and therefore make them much easier to answer. I've had mixed results with questionnaires. Out of my group, two players really get into character backgrounds and will not only answer all the questions, but write out additional details on their characters. Two of them might answer about half the questions. I'm fairly convinced the final two don't even read them anymore. With a questionnaire like this and also having some new players, it would probably be a good idea to set up a character creation session. That way you can be on hand to ask and answer questions of your players, especially if they don't own the ECS book.
DanjaNinja 01-05-07, 06:56 PM	Thanks. I've had the good fortune to bring a lot of newbies to the game, and so the question of how to introduce them is near to my heart. I find that the fun of playing in a detailed campaign setting is greatly enhanced when the player is familiar with it. At any rate, especially since Eberron runs counter to a lot of fantasy norms, it behooves the player to know a little about some of the more unique elements beforehand. One of the goals I had when writing the questionnaire was to get the players asking about uniquely Eberronish things which they wouldn't be aware of unless they had pored over the books (like me :)). The other goal was to help create well-developed characters. The questions are specific, because I find that overly vague questions don't elicit much thought or consideration. I don't expect to have three characters that all have eye-patches and are addicted to dreamlily, but I like to think it gets the players thinking of the characters in terms of real people that have had lives and experiences apart from the campaign they will soon be in. It makes for unique characters and fun roleplaying.
Neutronium_Dragon 01-06-07, 09:45 PM	There's one question that I'd tweak: > Who is its patron diety? Why? Generally, characters in Eberron worship a pantheon rather than individual members of that pantheon. That's not to say that they may not feel closer to some or even one than they do to others, but Eberron is very different from the generic/Greyhawk and FR settings on this count, where "patron deity" tends to be equate to "one true god"-ism. That's fairly rare in Eberron. Likewise, it's possible for someone in Eberron to blend multiple religions together. There's a fair bit of Sovereign Host/Dark Six crossover, but it happens in other combinations too. Hence, I'd suggest the question be something like: "Which pantheon or religion does your character associate most closely with? What is the extent of its reverence? How does it feel about other pantheons and religions?"
DanjaNinja 01-07-07, 12:43 AM	That's a good point, though I think I'd phrase it more like: Which pantheon or religion does your character associate with? Does it feel special affinity for a specific deity? Does it have any nonstandard or unique beliefs? How does it feel about other religions?