Eberron: Advice [Archive] - Wizards Community

Eberron: Advice [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Serow Darkstar
12-11-05, 07:50 AM I'm looking at starting to run the Eberron adventures with my gaming group, and I'm looking for advice. I have the following Eberron books:

Eberron Campaign Setting
Races of Eberron
Sharn: City of Towers
Shadows of the Last War
Whispers of the Vampire's Blade
Grasp of the Emerald Claw

I know the basic adventure plan: Read the whole thing, Re-Read before each session what you're going to be going through that session.

But, I'm still a bit... Loose with the Eberron way of things. Can anyone give me some good advice on what sections of the books I should go over in the most detail? What's most important in the book, fluff wise? Crunch is easy, it's the way things work in Eberron I want to have the best grasp of.

Essentially, for someone running these adventures (Starting with the one in the ECS itself), what's most important to me?

The characters so far are a Warforged Barbarian, a Warforged Artificer, maybe a Changeling Rogue, and another undecieded character. Are there any issues I should be aware of with these characters?

Also, the player whose character is the Warforged Barbarian is having a little bit of trouble justifying the class. He got interested in the combination because of the nature of the Warforged and their ties to civilization, and trying to escape those ties. But, he's wondering, if the character's first level really makes sense to have as Barbarian? Any ideas in this area would help, too.
jpwyrm
12-11-05, 09:11 AM Hi there! Well, as you'll probably see on this same board, Whispers of the Vampire's Blade is somewhat a problem if your group isn't REALLY tied together and well prepared. You could consider adding some hint about undead here and there in your game.

As for the WF barbarian, the guy could have been created with a special mechanism that temporarily boost his physical strengh and endurance. This can justifies the Rage ability. As for the wild part, that is more background stuff and I think if your player can come up with something decent, it could be ok. Oh and by the way, this barbarian won't be fatigued after his rage, remember that WF are imune to that.

And for the vampire thing again, since you got an artificer in your party, someone (cleric or artificer NPC) could let him know sometime in the adventure that "Bane" is a +1 enhancing bonus that artificers can give to their companion's weapon. Even if not silver, a two-handed sword +2 (+3 if already magic) that adds 2d6 pts of damage to undead weild by a raging Warforge should trouble the rogue spy in WoVB :devil:

Hope that helped
Ibbins
12-12-05, 04:29 PM The Barbarian Warforged may have been forged shortly before his creation forge was shut down, so he has the strength but not the training, forcing him to survive by instinct rather than tactics.
Gurv
12-12-05, 04:39 PM The Barbarian Warforged may have been forged shortly before his creation forge was shut down, so he has the strength but not the training, forcing him to survive by instinct rather than tactics.
Not a bad idea.

There is a lot more to being a barbarian than the rage though. They have a lot of wilderness skills, which can be explained by a history of acting as a scout. They don't have the fighting prowess of a fighter or ranger, but the rage doesn't have to be explained as being any different than the rage of a human. Warforged have emotions, just like anyone else, and some people can learn to direct strong emotions in a useful manner. It doesn't need to be explained...the only difference is that when the rage ends, the warforged won't be tired.
DanFor
12-12-05, 04:50 PM Start small. Use the mini-adventure in the back of the campaign book and use bits of info from the Sharn sourcebook that you find useful. You can develop the world as your campaign progresses. Don't be concerned that your version of Eberron doesn't fit perfectly into every sourcebook available. There are always new books coming out, so that would be impossible anyway.

As for the warforged barbarian, he/she/it could be one of the newer warforged that House Cannith has been producing illegally. The Cannith makers could be "dumping" some of these newer models into remote areas like the Demon Wastes or Mournland in order to get rid of the evidence of their activities.
Arz
12-13-05, 01:42 PM I think the big difference in running Eberon VS generic fantasy is the way you present the story. Take the adventure in the camapign settign for example:

After coming upon a murder and doing battle in the streets a Cannith member tracks the party down and hires them to follow up on leads. Even if your players are not interested, this suggests a level of intrigue not often found in staple fantasy. Spice it up with world spanning travel to unique locations and you are gettign the Eberon flavor.

The first chapter of the Campaign Setting has a list of ten things that make Eberon unique. They are all excellent suggestions when taken together with the plot hook section of the book for Dm's. Additonally I thought the Explorer's Handbook had a lot of good suggestions for newer Dm's who might be unsure what to do. More experienced DM's always need to be reminded of thier roots, so its not a bad read.
Serow Darkstar
12-13-05, 09:03 PM I just found out recently that I may have another player as well, though we aren't sure. I was wondering what kinds of adjustments would be needed to the adventure in the back of the ECS to adjust for a five person party?
FW190F
12-15-05, 01:22 PM I just found out recently that I may have another player as well, though we aren't sure. I was wondering what kinds of adjustments would be needed to the adventure in the back of the ECS to adjust for a five person party?
I am currently running the ECS module with five player :human sorcerer, human scout, human artificer, elf swashbuckler, human paladin. 28 pts build.

Spoiler

The first 4 hour session ended after the group defeated the swarm.

What I did to increase the challenge is the following add a level to the first opponent. That resulted in the swashbuckler going in the negative.

Added one extra minion in the sewer and also modified slightly the ambush to increase it's difficulty.

I added a few HP to the swarm and I am planning to increase by one HD the defender and the final opponent and perhaps add a third roddent(all three modification depends on the status of the group at that point. Don't forget that my group doesn't have a cleric so I have to be careful.)
Kinger
12-15-05, 01:37 PM The Forgotten Forge is notoriously hard on PCs. Cutter at the start isn't so bad, and neither is the little ambush in the sewers (as written, it's not particularly hard at all, as the only ones affected by the sewer spewings are the shifter assailants).

The trouble begins when the PCs get down the shaft to the caves. The swarm serves as a major problem for those unpreprepared. Give those with Knowledge: Nature a chance to figure out how to avoid them (ie: Just stay out of reach for a while and the swarm will disperse). If the PCs actually brought fire (as was suggested to them by Lady E. if they pay attention), the swarm isn't so bad. Alchemist's fire, etc. works quite well as long as the PCs can hit the broad side of a barn.

The Rats, however, are BIG problems. There's little way of defeating them other than overcoming their huge AC and withstanding their nasty bite. Note that their bite deals 2d6 damage (half of which is acid), which is often enough to send a first-level character to negatives. I wouldn't think adding more would be necessary, as just 1 was sufficient challenge for my group of 3 PCs.

Sabre's not so bad if you have someone similar in your party (ie: an adamantine Warforged Fighter) who can take hits for you, but he's still nasty. Remind your PCs of the cover they can take approaching him (all the stalagmites on the floor), so they don't get plunked by flaming crossbow bolts.
cmanos
12-15-05, 02:22 PM I just found out recently that I may have another player as well, though we aren't sure. I was wondering what kinds of adjustments would be needed to the adventure in the back of the ECS to adjust for a five person party?

I ran it with six players. They walked through the Bloody Bridge and the fight in the sewer pretty easily. The beetles gave them a run for their money, killing 2 characters, because they didn't heed the warning about fire. The shot the iron deenders like fish in a barrel and I rolled for crap for Sabre. I really didn't feel like running the fight with the horrid rats so I had Sabre kill them on his way in. I wouldn't change anything if I were you.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Serow Darkstar 12-11-05, 07:50 AM	I'm looking at starting to run the Eberron adventures with my gaming group, and I'm looking for advice. I have the following Eberron books: Eberron Campaign Setting Races of Eberron Sharn: City of Towers Shadows of the Last War Whispers of the Vampire's Blade Grasp of the Emerald Claw I know the basic adventure plan: Read the whole thing, Re-Read before each session what you're going to be going through that session. But, I'm still a bit... Loose with the Eberron way of things. Can anyone give me some good advice on what sections of the books I should go over in the most detail? What's most important in the book, fluff wise? Crunch is easy, it's the way things work in Eberron I want to have the best grasp of. Essentially, for someone running these adventures (Starting with the one in the ECS itself), what's most important to me? The characters so far are a Warforged Barbarian, a Warforged Artificer, maybe a Changeling Rogue, and another undecieded character. Are there any issues I should be aware of with these characters? Also, the player whose character is the Warforged Barbarian is having a little bit of trouble justifying the class. He got interested in the combination because of the nature of the Warforged and their ties to civilization, and trying to escape those ties. But, he's wondering, if the character's first level really makes sense to have as Barbarian? Any ideas in this area would help, too.
jpwyrm 12-11-05, 09:11 AM	Hi there! Well, as you'll probably see on this same board, Whispers of the Vampire's Blade is somewhat a problem if your group isn't REALLY tied together and well prepared. You could consider adding some hint about undead here and there in your game. As for the WF barbarian, the guy could have been created with a special mechanism that temporarily boost his physical strengh and endurance. This can justifies the Rage ability. As for the wild part, that is more background stuff and I think if your player can come up with something decent, it could be ok. Oh and by the way, this barbarian won't be fatigued after his rage, remember that WF are imune to that. And for the vampire thing again, since you got an artificer in your party, someone (cleric or artificer NPC) could let him know sometime in the adventure that "Bane" is a +1 enhancing bonus that artificers can give to their companion's weapon. Even if not silver, a two-handed sword +2 (+3 if already magic) that adds 2d6 pts of damage to undead weild by a raging Warforge should trouble the rogue spy in WoVB :devil: Hope that helped
Ibbins 12-12-05, 04:29 PM	The Barbarian Warforged may have been forged shortly before his creation forge was shut down, so he has the strength but not the training, forcing him to survive by instinct rather than tactics.
Gurv 12-12-05, 04:39 PM	The Barbarian Warforged may have been forged shortly before his creation forge was shut down, so he has the strength but not the training, forcing him to survive by instinct rather than tactics. Not a bad idea. There is a lot more to being a barbarian than the rage though. They have a lot of wilderness skills, which can be explained by a history of acting as a scout. They don't have the fighting prowess of a fighter or ranger, but the rage doesn't have to be explained as being any different than the rage of a human. Warforged have emotions, just like anyone else, and some people can learn to direct strong emotions in a useful manner. It doesn't need to be explained...the only difference is that when the rage ends, the warforged won't be tired.
DanFor 12-12-05, 04:50 PM	Start small. Use the mini-adventure in the back of the campaign book and use bits of info from the Sharn sourcebook that you find useful. You can develop the world as your campaign progresses. Don't be concerned that your version of Eberron doesn't fit perfectly into every sourcebook available. There are always new books coming out, so that would be impossible anyway. As for the warforged barbarian, he/she/it could be one of the newer warforged that House Cannith has been producing illegally. The Cannith makers could be "dumping" some of these newer models into remote areas like the Demon Wastes or Mournland in order to get rid of the evidence of their activities.
Arz 12-13-05, 01:42 PM	I think the big difference in running Eberon VS generic fantasy is the way you present the story. Take the adventure in the camapign settign for example: After coming upon a murder and doing battle in the streets a Cannith member tracks the party down and hires them to follow up on leads. Even if your players are not interested, this suggests a level of intrigue not often found in staple fantasy. Spice it up with world spanning travel to unique locations and you are gettign the Eberon flavor. The first chapter of the Campaign Setting has a list of ten things that make Eberon unique. They are all excellent suggestions when taken together with the plot hook section of the book for Dm's. Additonally I thought the Explorer's Handbook had a lot of good suggestions for newer Dm's who might be unsure what to do. More experienced DM's always need to be reminded of thier roots, so its not a bad read.
Serow Darkstar 12-13-05, 09:03 PM	I just found out recently that I may have another player as well, though we aren't sure. I was wondering what kinds of adjustments would be needed to the adventure in the back of the ECS to adjust for a five person party?
FW190F 12-15-05, 01:22 PM	I just found out recently that I may have another player as well, though we aren't sure. I was wondering what kinds of adjustments would be needed to the adventure in the back of the ECS to adjust for a five person party? I am currently running the ECS module with five player :human sorcerer, human scout, human artificer, elf swashbuckler, human paladin. 28 pts build. Spoiler The first 4 hour session ended after the group defeated the swarm. What I did to increase the challenge is the following add a level to the first opponent. That resulted in the swashbuckler going in the negative. Added one extra minion in the sewer and also modified slightly the ambush to increase it's difficulty. I added a few HP to the swarm and I am planning to increase by one HD the defender and the final opponent and perhaps add a third roddent(all three modification depends on the status of the group at that point. Don't forget that my group doesn't have a cleric so I have to be careful.)
Kinger 12-15-05, 01:37 PM	The Forgotten Forge is notoriously hard on PCs. Cutter at the start isn't so bad, and neither is the little ambush in the sewers (as written, it's not particularly hard at all, as the only ones affected by the sewer spewings are the shifter assailants). The trouble begins when the PCs get down the shaft to the caves. The swarm serves as a major problem for those unpreprepared. Give those with Knowledge: Nature a chance to figure out how to avoid them (ie: Just stay out of reach for a while and the swarm will disperse). If the PCs actually brought fire (as was suggested to them by Lady E. if they pay attention), the swarm isn't so bad. Alchemist's fire, etc. works quite well as long as the PCs can hit the broad side of a barn. The Rats, however, are BIG problems. There's little way of defeating them other than overcoming their huge AC and withstanding their nasty bite. Note that their bite deals 2d6 damage (half of which is acid), which is often enough to send a first-level character to negatives. I wouldn't think adding more would be necessary, as just 1 was sufficient challenge for my group of 3 PCs. Sabre's not so bad if you have someone similar in your party (ie: an adamantine Warforged Fighter) who can take hits for you, but he's still nasty. Remind your PCs of the cover they can take approaching him (all the stalagmites on the floor), so they don't get plunked by flaming crossbow bolts.
cmanos 12-15-05, 02:22 PM	I just found out recently that I may have another player as well, though we aren't sure. I was wondering what kinds of adjustments would be needed to the adventure in the back of the ECS to adjust for a five person party? I ran it with six players. They walked through the Bloody Bridge and the fight in the sewer pretty easily. The beetles gave them a run for their money, killing 2 characters, because they didn't heed the warning about fire. The shot the iron deenders like fish in a barrel and I rolled for crap for Sabre. I really didn't feel like running the fight with the horrid rats so I had Sabre kill them on his way in. I wouldn't change anything if I were you.