Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Prescient 06-12-06, 02:09 PM	Is there an easy place to look for what kind of creatures would be present in certain countries around Khorvaire? I hate the library of books that D&D requires to play it and I don't look forward to spending my every waking hour setting up each weeks adventure. Thanks.
Sereno 06-12-06, 02:15 PM	Basically speaking, it's completely up to the DM what creatures to place in what region. It's pretty safe to go by terrain type, just from looking at the map. Khorvaire is a big place, and it's easy enough to find any kind of terrain you might need for a particular creature type. If you're looking for Encounter Tables, you won't find any (official) because the Eberron philosophy is basically against random encounters: Search Slow, Fight Fast An Eberron adventure typically involves slow periods of investigation and exposition broken up by intervals of furious action. Whenever action occurs, it should be intense and dramatic. The typical adventure sacrifices “wandering monster” encounters in favor of fewer, more challenging battles. This is especially true of urban adventures.
Prescient 06-12-06, 02:26 PM	Maybe you can give me some advice then. I like the way that quote describes the setting but so far here is what has happened. Firel (CN Male Valenar Elf Ranger 3) has come back from the Last War and was given a mission to track down bandits from House Vadalis who stole rare Valenar war mounts. The Vadalis thieves took a sea voyage from a privateer. Firel, anticipating that they will go to one of their holdings in Breland before taking the horses to Varna in the Reaches, braved the perilous travel through the southern end of the Mournlands. He has just emerged from the dead-grey mists off course and four days behind schedule. He doesn't know that the thieves landed in Wroat two days ago and are nearly to Shavalant. Firel is planning on becoming a Revanant Blade and, during his travels in the Reaches, an Eldeen Ranger. The main focus for the campaign is going to be the beginning of the Next War (Don't know how yet). I am also going to leak information to him about the relic swords that his ancestor Tahllian Vhask wielded. Much of the future campaign will be hunting down these artifacts. Any idea how I can transfer the game from the random encounter to political intrigue that would take place in places like Sharn and such? Basically how to make it a bonafide Eberron campaign. Thanks
KhanSemus 06-12-06, 09:41 PM	Perhaps the swords were brought to Khorvaire and one or more fell into the hands of the Royal Family of Cyre. You can have one in Metrol, in the Mournland, another in the hands of the Prince in Breland. Any of the Universities could have something to do with it. Put some sort of event in the way of the thieves to hold them up (another group of bandits, Droam raiders, forces of the law catching one of the thieves on other charges, ect).
Prescient 06-12-06, 11:04 PM	I was gonna have one of the swords still lost on Xendrik and another in the depths of whatever the city is called in Valenar that is only there for one night a year, or month. I do like the idea of the horse thieves getting caught for some other charges. I was thinking of making them Swords of Liberty rogues who posed as House Vadalis so they could not only get the best mounts around but also start trouble between Valenar and House Vadalis. Maybe somehow find a way to include Breland in all this, since that is the Swords' main goal. So far it is coming along nicely. I just need future goals for it. The swords are going to be a side plot, the first one starting in about five levels or so.
Sereno 06-13-06, 09:07 AM	Any idea how I can transfer the game from the random encounter to political intrigue that would take place in places like Sharn and such? Basically how to make it a bonafide Eberron campaign. OK. In general, artifact hunting is perfect for Eberron ... there's plenty of places for them to go and plenty of people already interested in them. Firel first has to track down his Vadalis thieves. Unfortunately for him, he's far behind and in the wrong place. Does it matter that they're in Wroat? Firel doesn't know that so they could have gone to Sharn, first, and left one of the stolen horses there. If I were Firel, I'd want to check Sharn because it's the biggest port on the planet ... be a shame not to use it. House Vadalis is not going to just give up the info. But, the house hires plenty of other workers. Firel should be able to locate one (a goblin stablehand could have seen the Valenar mount and been talking about it in a tavern). Let Firel get invovled (for a short while) in Sharn ... tracking down information. A good group to use might be Daask ... the monstrous theives guild ... because they've got ties to the Hobgoblins they might also be a good group to deal with other artifacts, too. Dealing with different groups in Sharn will be the first "Eberron kick" to your campaign. Following the clues he learns in Sharn, Firel could then start tracking the Vadalis thieves north. Make sure that they stay ahead of him, but it's not necessary for them to lose him. Instead of random encounters as he wanders around, give Firel choices of locations to investigate (through NPCs and other clues) and plan out encounters that make sense along the way. Give him ruins to explore, plenty NPCs (some good, some bad, some helpful, some misleading) to meet with. Don't be afraid to "red-line" some of his travel (like Indiana Jones) to get him from, say, Sharn to Wroat, he can take the lightning rail and encounter nothing important. He sees the countryside through the window, has a couple of meals in the dining car and arrives without incident ... unless, there happens to be a LR hijacking. :) But, plan it! If you've got any other specific questions, just ask and I'll do my best to help....
Prescient 06-14-06, 02:37 AM	Thanks for the info. I was going to go with haveing the Swords of Liberty being the ones who stole the horses in an attempt to frame House Vadalis and get the Valenar active in Breland and the Reaches (All part of an elaborate plot to start up the next war). However, I kind of like your idea better. That way I can start to let him get a feel for the world before I start off the big campaign. I decided that the next big war will start in New Cyre. Though unimportant to the rest of the world, New Cyre will be the catalyst for the last great war. They will try and take new lands from Breland, who will go to war with them, and New Cyre will gain aid from Karrnath. Breland will call for aid from Thrane, who are more than willing to attack the Karrnathi and destroy their undead minions. Once Thrane gets involved, Aundair will attempt to steal back Thaliost from Thrane, forcing the latter to fight on three fronts. Eventually even the new countries will get greedy and the battle will start anew. Other than that, and some high level adventures having to do with artifact hunting, I've got nothing. I don't even know how I am going to mix him into the war.
Sereno 06-14-06, 04:53 PM	Q: Is Firel the only PC in your game? Personally, I'd be focusing more on what Firel is going to be doing rather than how all of Khorvaire is going to be plunged back into the Next War ... especially if Firel isn't likely to have a major part to play. Tracking the thieves of the Valenar horses is a good way to get Firel to travel around and provide all sorts of plot hooks. If he's the egalitarian-type he might assist someone weathy/powerful and not realize it until he's being offered a "job" to handle some situations that are right up his alley.... If you can get Firel to accept a patron, all you need to do (at least for a little while) is find a few missions for him. There's plenty of good Eberron adventures in Dungeon magazine that are lots of fun. Fallen Angel and Steel Shadows by Keith Baker were great (my PCs loved them). Murder in Oakbridge and Chimes at Midnight are also excellent. My players are trying to solve the Murder, right now. Even if you don't run these adventures "as is" you should be able to get a lot of good ideas. Also, there's the For DMs: Adventure Seeds (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=275225) thread and the For DMs: Set Pieces (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=287428) thread to get the creative juices flowing. If you plan to have Firel spend any time in Sharn, I'd highly recommend getting the Sharn sourcebook ... I get good ideas no matter what page I open it up to! :)
Prescient 06-15-06, 01:51 PM	Yeah, he is the only PC. Thanks for the resources. I have the Sharn book and am going to be using it if he ever makes it there, which of course he will, what Eberron campaign would be complete without at least passing through the great city. Thanks for the help.
Sereno 06-15-06, 02:26 PM	No problem at all. If you run into any specific obstacles, post 'em. There's plenty of people here who will be glad to help, myself included....