Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ravenstein 08-05-07, 09:02 PM	Eberron's been on the shelves for a good 2 or 3 years now. I love it. I was estatic when they annouced its release. I love the semi-steampunk air it has to it. Its been great fun. I've run two mini, low-level campaigns, and one larger campaign that got into pretty high levels. Problem is, my gaming group enjoys long, far-reaching games, that eventually get epic. We're planning on starting a new campaign soon that has only spellcasting classes as the class you can play (cleric, wizard, druid, etc.) They've already stated they wanna go epic. I really want to avoid planar hopping and possible transferring into another realm in order to accomidate an epic campaign. A few things I was looking to the community to give some advice one; 1) anyone ever run an all spellcasting adventure? 2) what are some good things to do for an epic campaign in Eberron aside from catistrophic, world-ending cataclysmic events? We have a true neutral, self-centered cleric of death and domination that doesn't believe in the gods or other religions. A warforged wizard who is planning on seeking out the secrets of the world of Eberron (Primal Scholar and Cataclysm Mage), a changling beguiler (plans to do Recaster), and a Shifter Druid/Moonspeaker. We're all pretty excited to see where this takes us. We don't have any real plans, we're just going to GM on the fly depending on what the players decide to do with their lives. They are starting out as students at Morgrave University and going from there. I did plan to use the Blood of Vol as their main enemy (the Silver Flame as Nazis has been a fun foil in our past Eberron-based games but we're done picking on them :P). Any thoughts on an epic Eberron game based on all casters?
Kensan_Oni 08-05-07, 09:15 PM	Well, the obvious quest would to be finding the spell that let the Giants move the moons. That has to be an epic level style quest. There is also adventuring in the land of Dragons. Or there is stopping the manipulations of a freed demon lord... ... and there are lots of epic level threats in Eberron. It's just that when you reach that level of play, usually even national scale events aren't really a concern for you anymore. You are at that point looking upward and beyond. The big problem with casters is that they are information gatherer extremes. It'll be hard to keep any plot secret after exposure.
Charles Phipps 08-05-07, 09:18 PM	2) what are some good things to do for an epic campaign in Eberron aside from catistrophic, world-ending cataclysmic events? Some general ones that come to mind are... Ten Epic Ebberon adventures 1. An ancient Dhakaani warlord awakens from his enchanted slumber during the Daelkyr Wars. The player characters must stop him from reaching the five Dhakaani temples spread across Eberron where he can awaken his ancient and ubber-powerful followers. 2. A giant civilization wizard has been secretly manipulating the history of Eberron ever since the days of the Elves revolt. An Epic magician, he's the only key to stop the beginning of another revolt. The player characters must defeat his many apprentices before finally defeating him as he makes an effort to use Eldrich machines to restore the ancient civilization. 3. The players must descend into Khyber itself for their next adventure and encounter the ludricously powerful monsters ruled by incredibly powerful Dark Fair Folk. 4. The player characters must recover a relic from the Forbidden City in Deepest Darkest Xen'drick. The relic results in the mutation of locals to become Paragons of their species. Furthermore, it randomly generates incredibly powerful monsters. 5. The player characters discover that the Lords of Dust have been draining the life energy from the humans of Eberron by diverting the majority of their connection to their monstrous Rajah master. By defeating the Lords of Dust enclave and destroying the crystal, all people of Eberron start developing once more. (i.e. Magicians start rising above 13th level amongst other warriors as it becomes a high level world) 6. The player characters are sent into the Demon Wastes to make contact with a lost Galifar City. There, they discover that its ruled over by a Priest-King of the Shadow whom has been mummified with Dhaakani magic to survive the millenium. 7. The player characters discover a Time Travel device that takes them back to the age of Karrn the Conqueror when everyone was more like Numenoreans. Can they find out how to get back to their regular era and also prevent the evil warlord from wiping out countless lives without changing history too much? 8. Erandis D'Vol discovers a Secret Tome of Necromancy that allows her to transfer the life energy of the innocent into her directly. The player characters must now oppose an Erandis whose 23rd level or even higher with her minions even stronger. Can they destroy the monstrous Lich before she uses her new awesome might to turn Karrnath into an undead hellhole.... Err....moreso than it already is. 9. Aaren D'Cannith emerges from his self-imposed Exile. Having spent the past 40 years building Super-Warforged, the player characters must learn some way to destroy his Warforged factories before he conquers all of Khovaire. 10. The aging warrior Galoris was the greatest soldier that Cyre ever knew. Making a pact with Mordain Fleshweaver, he's created a vast number of clones of himself to set out the war to begin again.
Edymnion 08-05-07, 09:35 PM	Beyond the obvious things such as the Dreaming Dark, the Rajahs, the Dragons of Argonessa, don't forget that other NPC villians like the Lord of Blades and Erandis d'Vol are not supposed to be static. They are supposed to grow in power just like the PCs. Just because the PCs go epic doesn't mean they surpass these characters, it just means that Vol has discovered a way to ramp her power up (maybe the ages old magical device to harness energy from the BoV worshippers has finally been finished, and channels that power into her), or that the Lord of Blades has been steadily improving on perfection, becoming more and more powerful. Or that the reoccurring villian you made up has been keeping up with the party. The Cult of the Dragon Below could have found a way to release Khyber, the seals on the gates to Xoriat could fail, perhaps the Mourning tore a delicate balance and the battles on Shavarath will spill over into Eberron the next time it becomes coterminus. Steal from Godzilla, have a Kaiju creature awake in the depths of Shargon's Teeth and attack Sharn (can you say Tarrasque?). How about an epic Eldritch Giant Lich Sorcerer in the heart of Xen'Drik? The abberant marks return full force, and Heirs of Khyber once more walk the land, with 9th level spell abberant dragonmarks. Or go something even worse. Who was it that was supposed to have destroyed many worlds before coming to Eberron? Whoever they are, what if they aren't the true threat? What if they're just running from something worse, and using Scorched Earth in the process? They are fleeing something far more devistating, and destroy worlds behind them as an attempt to slow the true threat down.
Rechan 08-05-07, 09:58 PM	Here's something that I feel is often neglected. Almost always, adventurers are sent to stop something from happening, or to destroy someone. What about an adventure where the PCs make something better? You have a PC who wants to learn the secrets of Eberron. But what goals do the others have? Does the Shifter want to purge lycanthropes of Evil, and thus allow them to flourish again? Does the Cleric want to change Dolurrh itself, so that the spirits of the dead do not waste away, but can remain, allowing them to flourish in their just rewards? How about traveling to the Demon Wastes and destroying the Lair of the Keeper, freeing all the souls therein? Discovering what caused the Mournland, and then, finding a way to reverse it, they must travel to the heart of the Mournland to use it? They could wipe the LoD out of the Demon Wastes and clean it up for the core races to return. Epic PCs could very well Turn the Wheel themselves, destroying the Nightmare Quori completely and reverting them back to their pre-DD days. They could delve into Khyber and banish the Daelkyr back to Xoriat and seal their crazy butts in the Madness Realm forever. They could drag an imprisoned Rajah all the way to one of Eberron's moons and let it sit in slumber for eternity, never to influence Eberron or the LoD again. Don't just stop catastrophic events, but make some happen. If your PCs want to improve the Status quo, they can.
Edymnion 08-06-07, 08:40 AM	What about an adventure where the PCs make something better?Eh, probably for the same reason nobody goes to see a two hour movie about somebody building a house, construction just isn't as fun as destruction.
DragoonDarkfire 08-06-07, 01:36 PM	Plus the fact is that most people in Eberron (including PC's) are veterans of war and as such mostly apathetic to the troubles of others. Really to me the only thing that would make a group of people actually jump out to oppose something is if the problem actually presented itself. For instance, in order to cure the mourning the PC's would first need to figure out what caused it. But how? Do they go to Metrol and look for themselves? What if nothing is there? What if the PC's have a completely different idea than the DM and spend hours fighting a force that had nothing to do with the mourning? Now if the PC's discover that a force is going to cause a SECOND Mourning then you'd have a much more solid campaign to start off. The PC's actually understand what's at steak and need to figure out who's behind it and how to stop it. Of course that's just me, but I feel as though this approach is a bit more... Eberrony for me.
Rechan 08-06-07, 04:26 PM	Eh, probably for the same reason nobody goes to see a two hour movie about somebody building a house, construction just isn't as fun as destruction. Except that that's boring and lacks true threat. Going into the Mournlands to reverse it is not building a house. Improving the world holds just as much of a challenge and is just as risky as stopping another threat entirely. It just takes the ending even further. Instead of shoving a freed Daelkyr back into Khyber, you find a way to banish him from the Material plane for eternity, etc etc. For instance, in order to cure the mourning the PC's would first need to figure out what caused it. But how? Do they go to Metrol and look for themselves? What if nothing is there? What if the PC's have a completely different idea than the DM and spend hours fighting a force that had nothing to do with the mourning? That's one of the setting's secrets. I am certain that DMs have found ways to give this information to their PCs. There are a multitude of causes. It could have been the Dragons, who felt the war needed to end immediately. The PCs could have learned this when they went to the Continent of Dragons at some point. It could have been a secret weapon by x nation, which they discover while delving into one of their war facilities in an earlier adventure. So on and so forth.
eehamburg 08-06-07, 04:58 PM	Or it could be the gaseous emission of the Lord of Blades .... who knows?
DwarfPcfan 08-06-07, 06:21 PM	11- Vol finally complete the ritual to become an epic demi-lich and plans to tract the Keeper himself to his lair and steal his divinity! 12-The Lord of Blades finally succeeds in unlocking the secrets of the Cyre Creation forge and begins a long process of creating epic warforged warriors in a murderous war of conquest 13-Kaius III returns from exile and plans to take back his kingdom from his grand-father, the hard way 14-A massive giant city rises from the ocean as global climates, natural phenomena and creature all go haywire. What could this mean, and who might know what to do ? 15- Time stops for everyone else but the Pcs on eberron. Scribbing through Morgrave texts the find rumors of an epic artefact called the Weave of Time. Can the pcs repair it's frayed threads before the whole existence itself freezes over. 16- The generals of Savarath decide to settle their battles once and for all. To accomplish this they choose Eberron's greatest champions as their heralds in a no hold back, apocalyptic duel to the death accross the continent 17- One of Eberrons moon's crashes to earth, causing an apocalyptic wave of fire to rage Across Khorvaire. Worse, the flames seem alive... 18- The faerie courts of Thelanis launch a wild hunt led by a powerful Leshay huntmaster 19-Merix d'Cannith completes research on an Iron colossus 20-The keeper of the Siver Flame has been murdered inside Flamekeep and the only clue lies in a steady trail of ichor leading to flamekeep's heart 21-The dragon's of Argonessen decide their continent is not large enough anymore and start seaking new lands to expand and build new lairs. 22- People everywhere lose the ability to dream. The twelve hire the Pcs to kind out why 23- A gigantic Scarab rises from Xendrik and begins to rampage across the world in a unstoppable feeding frenzy. The only clue to the creatures origin is an obscure prophecy by the great druid Olian about "the devourer of Worlds" 24- A Daelkyr Lord succeeds in reopening the gates to Xoriat 25- Mordain decides that human's are too plain looking...
Belabras 08-06-07, 06:39 PM	16. The Daughters of Sora Kell (part 1 (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20041018a), part 2 (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20041025a)), having consolidated their rule of Droaam, move on to the next stage of their plan: conquest. Armies of War Trolls and advanced Medusa pour out of the monstrous nation and into the neighboring countries. Can the PCs help turn the tide?
Errant 08-06-07, 08:29 PM	27. Travellers between Zilspar and Sharn are increasingly attacked by monstrous aberrations. Investigations reveal that the gatekeepers' seal at the center of nearby Yarkuun Draal is breaking down and the Daelkyr lord imprisoned there is exerting ever greater influence on the area. Can the seal be repaired before the Daelkyr breaks free completely? Is it already too late? 28. In Q'barra, the unholy black wyrm Rhashaak attacks Newthrone, then lizardman messengers demand tribute and subservience for their draconic god. Has Rhashaak ascended? Can Q'barra be protected from his growing malevolence? There's a bunch of sites around Khorvaire that are barely, but ominously described. Just because the denizens haven't posed an obvious threat to surrounding lands previously doesn't mean the can't, or that their threats are less than epic in scale. [Re-numbered adventure hooks to allow for Charles' Phipps' first suggestions. Dwarfpcfan & Belabras, care to do the same? I'm sure we could build this thread into a sizeable list of potentially epic Eberron adventure ideas. :) ]
Charles Phipps 08-06-07, 09:45 PM	29. The Seven Holy Fighting Cities of Sarlona come back into Alignment with the world as they've routinely taken the greatest warriors of Eberron into their ranks to enjoy immortality and enjoyment of tremendous pleasures. The player characters are invited to join the ranks of the suitably epic heroes. What happens when they discover its a plot by the Quori to keep the world incapable of resistance against their reign? If they reveal it, who will join them and who has already been brainwashed into an invincible army for their dark masters?
Edymnion 08-06-07, 10:39 PM	Except that that's boring and lacks true threat. Going into the Mournlands to reverse it is not building a house. Improving the world holds just as much of a challenge and is just as risky as stopping another threat entirely. It just takes the ending even further. Instead of shoving a freed Daelkyr back into Khyber, you find a way to banish him from the Material plane for eternity, etc etc.See, that still involves a good old fashioned fight. The only differance is that you keep him from coming back. *Wheel of Time Spoiler* I mean, look at the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. Saidin is tainted, we have it that way through most of the books. When Rand finally does cleanse the taint, its really cool, but ultimately boiled down to him sitting there apparently doing nothing while a huge rolling battle went on around him. The results were good, but beyond some cool flavor text, the event itself was so boring that he had to make a big knock down drag out fight going on around him to keep the readers interest. Players want to be challenged. They want to figure out how to do something, do it, and be rewarded for it (doesn't have to be a mechanical reward). While a world improving event is all well and good for the world it improves, unless there is a benefit for the PC, the player likely won't do it. Or, more acurately, they likely won't sacrifice anything major and permanent to do it. Unless they get to have a big old fashioned fight to go along with it. You know, same reason you typically don't see high level characters going around casting Wish/Miracle to end hunger and poverty by feeding and clothing and housing everyone in the world. While a good deed that would make the world a better place, its a massive drain on the PC that the player doesn't feel is justified for how little they would get in return.
OctaviusIII 08-06-07, 10:54 PM	Our last epic campaign saw the world remade and the players being transformed into CR 40 demigod protectors of Eberron. (I had to miss that session :(). Still, though, this actually applies to the "make the world better" discussion. There needs to be some impetus to do something beyond simply doing it. We were kickstarted on our epic quest at around level 1 or 2 by other quests that happened to place us on our track towards the Remaking, and there was certainly no shortage of battles on the way.
NthDegree256 08-06-07, 11:05 PM	See, that still involves a good old fashioned fight. The only differance is that you keep him from coming back. Players want to be challenged. They want to figure out how to do something, do it, and be rewarded for it (doesn't have to be a mechanical reward). While a world improving event is all well and good for the world it improves, unless there is a benefit for the PC, the player likely won't do it. Or, more acurately, they likely won't sacrifice anything major and permanent to do it. Unless they get to have a big old fashioned fight to go along with it. You know, same reason you typically don't see high level characters going around casting Wish/Miracle to end hunger and poverty by feeding and clothing and housing everyone in the world. While a good deed that would make the world a better place, its a massive drain on the PC that the player doesn't feel is justified for how little they would get in return. I think you're just misinterpreting Rechan's point, Edy. As I read it, he's not saying "go do something that doesn't involve fighting!", he's rather saying "instead of sitting around idly waiting for some random epic-level threat to jump out of the woodwork, why not go actively hunt down the causes to some ongoing problems?" I.e., he's not saying "go root around in the Mournlands, make an epic DC 60 Search check to find the tainted rock or whatever that's causing it, and throw it away." He's saying "go investigate the Mournlands, climb down the Glowing Chasm or smash through the Glass Plateau, and uncover the source of corruption that - oh, by the way! - happens to have spawned a CR 27 abomination to defend it!" Or "go clean out whatever is lurking in the Keeper's Lair, smash the Khyber dragonshards, and then research a spell to ensure the place stays cleansed; oh, hrm, we can do it but the spell will need about 20 balor wings as a material component. Time to go to Fernia!" In other words, go solve some existing problems instead of/in addition to letting the DM come up with new threats.
Rechan 08-06-07, 11:12 PM	In other words, go solve some existing problems instead of/in addition to letting the DM come up with new threats. Bingo. Rather than waiting for the DM to throw plot hooks at you, you tell the DM what you are interested in and would like to accomplish in general, and he makes the specifics and sets up the appropriate challenges. There are two different gaming styles at play. First, you have a themed campaign. All, or most of your adventures, point in one specific direction, one inevitable goal. The opposite of this is a campaign where your PCs just encounter adventures that are loosely, if at all connected. So it is more like playing whack-a-mole with any evil plot that comes along, rather in-character years building towards a climax. The other style is pro-active players versus passive players. You have two scenarios. 1) The DM decides that the campaign will eventually lead up to a direct confrontation with the Lord of Blades, and so he sets up all or most of the adventures to lead the party in that direction, to establish their hatred of the LoB, or make them enemies of him, and draw them to the final confrontation. 2) You make a character who, from day one, wants to overthrow the Lord of Blades and take his place, or offer a much better alternative for Warforged, but he can't as long as the LoB is in the way. But not being powerful enough at this stage, he has to build up to it - in the mean time, he can Work towards this goal. In both instances, the LoB is the campaign's BBEG, and all or most of the plots center around this. It's just that in the second, the players decide where they want the campaign to go, the character(s) are actively working towards it, rather than just reacting to the plots that the DM sets up. This way you can have players thinking "Hm, how can I undermine the LoB's efforts", looking for plot hooks, rather than waiting for them to be dropped into their laps. A PC could decide to hunt down agents of the LoB, rather than have them become exposed in whatever plot he's doing or wait until they attack him. But in general, it's also looking beyond to the utmost that an Epic character can do. An Epic Gatekeeper would have resources and powers well beyond the Gatekeepers that sealed the Daelkyr away - why WOULDN'T the Epic Gatekeeper try to put the Daelkyr threat down for good, instead of just tossing them back into Khyber where they've always been? I'm going to take a second and draw a parallel. LotR and Eberron. Like the Daelkyr and Rajahs in Eberron, Sauron was forced into a dormant state. Thus, like the Daelkyr and Rajah, he laid in wait, ready to rebuild his forces. He does so, is released, and now he's a force to be reckoned with. The whole movie (the campaign): stop Sauron. At the end of Lord of the Rings, Sauron was destroyed, Mt. Doom is obliterated, his orc armies and ringwraiths and his evil wizard friend are wiped off the face of Middle Earth, never to return again. Yet I feel that were this an adventure in typical D&D, Sauron would just lost all his armies and power and been forced into becoming dormant once more. The Rajahs and Daelkyr were forced into their prisons because it was the only options their enemies had. But the PCs are here to save the day, and they can do better than that - they're freaking EPIC PCs. They should be able to do more than put their finger in the dam. So finding a way to completely tear the Big Bad's influence from Eberron, ensuring they can never raise their head again, seems like an Epic campaign to me. Not the 23rd level equivalent of "The orcs are raiding the town, save us".
Dragonlord20000 08-06-07, 11:54 PM	6- The generals of Savarath decide to settle their battles once and for all. To accomplish this they choose Eberron's greatest champions as their heralds in a no hold back, apocalyptic duel to the death accross the continent 15- Mordain decides that human's are too plain looking... The first one is my new favorite theoretical campaign idea. The second just makes me laugh. Cookie for you :cookie:.
Errant 08-07-07, 01:03 AM	But in general, it's also looking beyond to the utmost that an Epic character can do. An Epic Gatekeeper would have resources and powers well beyond the Gatekeepers that sealed the Daelkyr away - why WOULDN'T the Epic Gatekeeper try to put the Daelkyr threat down for good, instead of just tossing them back into Khyber where they've always been? I actually lean toward the idea that the Gatekeepers that imprisoned the Daelkyr *were* epic level. Well, not all of them, but at least a few. Though their efforts were not enough to save it, they acted at the height of their civilization and they were able to save their race/world. This is why the gatekeeper seals are so precious: the knowledge and power required to make/repair them has been lost to the modern world, or almost so. At least that's the way it is in my Eberron...
Ebrion 08-07-07, 06:45 AM	Best epic threat ever: Cthulhu
realdm 08-07-07, 10:42 AM	I think that to get to a great epic campaign you have two choices; 1. make the character progress from 1st to 20+ 2. set 3-4 adventures with very powerful characters in a specific event of the past (I did it with the fall of house vol) remember if you use n. 2, link it to your main campaign. as for epic moments of my saga, here some , hoping they can inspire you: 1. the group gets to the final showdown with the lords of dusts, two characters per player, one group is outside, flying on the crimson ship (one of the pc is the new captain), trying to stop the demons from release the power of an hidden mark, the other group rush in the palace to confront Durastoran Wyrmbreaker (dragon 336) and a few other archdemons. 2. the group is lured in the riedran capital to meet the inspired lord, obviously is a trap, they get to escape (still on the crimson ship) since the plane shifting powers for today are expired. the scene is " a la matrix", with the ship followed by storms of nightmares 3.the daelkyr trapped underneath sharn which is finally fred, the fights develops among the rooftops and the island above the city, which at the end is almost destroyed. the point with epic level adventure is that, in my opinion, you cant make too many of them. to make a great epic level thing, youve got to unleash epic events (the final adventure of the first part - a year and a half of gaming- of my saga involved the end of the modern era (the era of the marks) the birth of an allmighty 15th mark). use epic locations, such as the hobgoblin mount rushmore in breland (sorry, dont have the manuals), sharn or thronehold. and dont be scared of playing it over power. ok it may doesnt make sense that 10 18-20 lvl caracter end up destroying ashtakala.. but why not.. it was a hell of a lot of fun, it was incredibly hard, it was violent, it was full of action surges and it was epic.. imagine the adventure, then imagine it 10 thousand times more over the top.. here is your epic eberron.
Rekko 08-07-07, 04:25 PM	Well, I think that Eberron isn't really intended for planar travel, but I'll still try to incorporate planar travel to suggestions of epic gaming. The key to solving the epic threat lies in the memory of a recurring villain you slain some times ago. You need to travel to Dolurrh, since it's remote, to resurrect your nemesis and make him cooperate to eliminate this epic threat. Beware of the Maruts and Nalfeshnee that will hunt you down for interfeering in Dolurrh. Xoriat is becoming coterminous once again. Eberron's forces aren't nearly enough to repel this second Xoriat invasion. You need all the help you can get to prevent the world to be destroyed for the artistic pleasure of the Daelkyr. You need to travel to Shavarath and unite the three armies so they can fight for the survival of the world. Some stupid fanatic of the Silver Flame leaped into the Silver Flame in Flamekeep to recover Kloinjer, Tira Miron's blade that ended the battle between the rajah and the couatl. This fanatic found the sword, grasped the hilt and pulled it out of the ensnared demon. The blade melted, all that was left was the hilt and pommel that looked like a burned rod. The Flame became pitch black, the Rajah awakens from slumber. However, he has no body, he is trapped in the Khyber shard that was the pommel of Kloinjer. The rod takes possession of the fanatic who is on a mission from this Rajah to free the other remaining rajahs and build his fiendish army back to what it was in the Age of Demons. Dragons are no match to face this incoming threat and turn themselves to the Prophecy and the lesser races. It is now not to the Dragons to defeat the Fiends, but to the Dragonmarked, the chosen and their eldritch machines. The Dead Grey Mist is spreading a bit further every year. Find a solution, or we are all doomed. Rekko
Charles Phipps 08-07-07, 04:43 PM	Well, I think that Eberron isn't really intended for planar travel Keith Baker would disagree. You know, the guy who put all the Manifest Zones and stuff in his game.
Rekko 08-07-07, 05:42 PM	I think the manifest zone were more intended for planar invasion, like Xoriat and Dal Quor pouring into Eberron, than PCs going to the planes. Why would they go there?
Rechan 08-07-07, 06:06 PM	I think the manifest zone were more intended for planar invasion, like Xoriat and Dal Quor pouring into Eberron, than PCs going to the planes. Why would they go there? Why wouldn't they?
DwarfPcfan 08-07-07, 06:36 PM	The first one is my new favorite theoretical campaign idea. The second just makes me laugh. Cookie for you :cookie:. Yayy! I get a cookie :D Here's a few more for fun 30- a colossal dragon of rainbow paterned colors flies to Sharn's highest tower and annouces his candidacy for the post of Mayor in next year's election 31- The every being that has ever died on a battle field rises from it's grave and began's a endless march toward a secluded island in the Sea of Rage. for what purpose? and who could animate so many undead? 32- Twelve researchers uncover a heart sized gem and annouced their discovery. Only once they reach Karnath's capital, the capitals of every nation on the continent disapears, leaving only a massive hole where the city used to be. As a new War begins across the continent. The Pcs have no choice but to find the lost capitals, pacify entire armies and restore order to the now sundered continent 33- The sisters of Droam are brutally replaced by an exiled Storm Giant warlock from Xendrik. Once firmly in control, he begin's making overtures to every nation in the world except Sarlona, even Aerenal. He offers martial support but more importantly the Secrets of giant magic to any ready to offer him recognition as a sovereign nation. The Pcs are sent to persuade the Giant to withhold the secrets of elder giant Magic by an agent of the Chamber 34-The Djinni caliph of Lammania invites powerful mortals of every stripe to join him for a party at his grand palace whereupon he announces his intention to start an elaborate game that in all respects ressembles a living chess tournament. Who ever wins is granted a fabulous prize, a single wish granted by the Caliph himself who's magical powers are rumored by scholars to be on par with the Rakshasa Rajah's themselves 35- Innevitable's of all stripes swarm Aundair's capital led by a single unique golden inevitable, destroying everything in their path as they search for a single escapee from Dolurrh. What individual could be powerful enough to necessitate an entire army of inevitables to recapture? and for that matter do the Pcs want to stop the inevitables or does wisdom dictate that they help the inevitables recapture this individual as quickly as possible? 36-An Ixical (is that how it's spelled?) rises from the Frostfell and begins rearanging weather patterns to cause an Ice Age. As the childs of Winter and the Ashbound gather to prevent any intervention, can the Pcs stop the elemental abomination 37-The dragons of Argonessen launch a full scale attack on Aerenal. The pcs are sent by Dragonmarked interests to find out why and put an end to the onslaught. Horryfying however is evidence that Tarneidal and Valanar have usurprisingly decided to side with the Dragons willingly. 38-The pcs go to bed only to wake up naked in the fartest reaches of the Shadow plane. Worst, cross planar magic becomes innacessible. Can the pcs find their way home and why have they been disposited so far from home? 39-The keeper of the Flame annouces her intention to begin a pilgrimige in the demon wastes of all places. the pcs are hired by the coucil of Cardinals to escort and protect the keeper to her destination. 40-An emessary from the undying court slays Vol once and for all and chooses the pcs, who have never had any dealings with the Blood, as the houses new leaders with indications to cleanse then hierarchy of evil and to prepare it for a cosmic event of epic proportions where "only the dead can be life's last hope" Have fun!:cool:
Rekko 08-07-07, 07:15 PM	I'm not saying "don't go to other planes", rather I'm curious to find out some reasons why they should travel to other planes since I can't seem to find some myself with the exception of going to Dolurrh to rescue a soul for resurection. Please fill me in.
Charles Phipps 08-07-07, 07:19 PM	I'm not saying "don't go to other planes", rather I'm curious to find out some reasons why they should travel to other planes since I can't seem to find some myself with the exception of going to Dolurrh to rescue a soul for resurection. Please fill me in. Well, we know that Daine and company went to :censored: with the Quori on their home turf.
Rechan 08-07-07, 07:56 PM	I'm not saying "don't go to other planes", rather I'm curious to find out some reasons why they should travel to other planes since I can't seem to find some myself with the exception of going to Dolurrh to rescue a soul for resurection. Please fill me in. The same reason you would go anywhere in Eberron. To get something, to chase someone, or to explore. Maybe they must travel into the depths of Xoriat to find the secert on how to kill a Daelkyr. Or there is an artifact weapon held by a general in the Plane of War that they must get. Vol's phylactery might be buried under thirty tons of ice in the Plains of Risia.
Rekko 08-07-07, 08:10 PM	Ok, you got me. This made me think. Do you think there will be an Eberron Planar Handbook someday? Further epic plot ideas: The Syrania manifest zone in Sharn disappears. The City of Towers is slowly collapsing. Rescue the people or the city. The Mark of Death reappears on both Erandis and new found distant Vol heirs. The lich and her relatives, the Emerald Claw and the Blood of Vol are planning to invade Aerenal and convert the Undying Court to undeath. You used some spells to overcome death for a pretty good selfless reason (clone or resurection). A Marut appears before you. You happen to talk him why you did so, and he decides he shall not bring you back to Dolurrh with him. Instead, you have to serve him for one task: Destroy Vol, or Destroy the Undying Court.... they have been on Eberron long enough. Dragons become tamed beasts and let humanoids ride them. A good drow fighting with two scimitars become the leader of the dragon flight, a black panther as his symbol. The PCs need to fight them off of Eberron or the world as we know it shall be Forgotten Realms meet Dragon Lance :P
DragoonDarkfire 08-07-07, 08:36 PM	Dragons become tamed beasts and let humanoids ride them. A good drow fighting with two scimitars become the leader of the dragon flight, a black panther as his symbol. The PCs need to fight them off of Eberron or the world as we know it shall be Forgotten Realms meet Dragon Lance :P ahem. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Demangel 08-07-07, 10:36 PM	I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the mourning or the mournland... (if they did I missed it). #30 (I think thats the next in sequence so far) Balance of Terror: A powerful mage/artificer/LOBster/whatever has found the secret of the Day of mourning, they know what happened, and have figured out how to perfect it to fit their own whims. His aim is to rule all of Khorvaire (Ala Doctor Evil) by way of using his threats to repeat the Mourning all over the continent... He starts with a small display of his power, and wipes a small but important location of the map... Of course his meddling backfires, and instead of stopping the effect persists, and begins to expand... As it slowly begins to devour the continent, the PC's must find a way to stop it before the whole world is ruined... (A few) Possible solutions: 1: The Pc's have to find a way to time travel back into time before the bad guy makes his demonstration. Make it an epic quest to find the material needed for the eldritch machine or ritual that can send them back, and an epic climactic confrontation with the end boss... Maybe even have it that they run into themselves several times during the adventure in the past and discover they themselves caused the problem the first time round, and have to stop both themselves (from making the same mistake again) as well as the end boss. 2: The Pc's (as a magic centric party), need to discover the secret of the mourning that the bad guy found, because recent research shows that it may be possible to reverse the mournings effects after all and dissipate it if one can fully comprehend what caused it... BE careful with this though because if the PC's succeed they will have the secret equal to knowing how to make an atom bomb in a medieval period... they may misuse this power... Seriously. 3: The effects cannot be reversed, but they can be stopped from expanding... The how is the quest... #31: Jules Verne/HG wells themed: (similar to 20 thousand leagues under the sea - From the Earth to the moon) The Ring of Siberys... It shines for all the world to see high above the sky... To this day few can truly comprehend it, that is until an enterprising artificer has found a way to modify an airship to be able to fly higher than any other... He has already made a preliminary exploration of the upper atmosphere, and has concluded that great dangers exist up there... Monsters and magic unlike anything ever encountered before... but the riches one could gain from harvesting the Dragon Shards directly from the ring could make everyone involved rich enough to make even the richest coin lord blush with humility. As it is impossible for melee types to be effective in the vacum of space at least not without powerful magic, powerful mages are needed to make it possible for the ship and crew to be safe, and operate out there in the great unknown... Feel free to twist the situation however you want, maybe the artificer is like Captain nemo, and while honorable and noble, is not quite the good guy either... Maybe Have his cause be noble, but his methods barbaric and cruel... Maybe place a strange race of creatures up there that call the rings home, and maybe have them decide the beings from the world below are enemies due to some misunderstanding between the party of the beings... Have them attack the world below by hailing down large chunks of the rings down at the planet causing horrible destruction below... The PC's have to set things right somehow... Maybe have the ship somehow become out of control (elemental somehow comes loose...) and the PC's have to find a way to get back to the world below, with limited supplies (nothing a little magic can't help make, IE food and drink enough to keep from starving), and a sense of urgency (the ship while orbiting, is slowly drifting out of orbit and will soon either crash, or fly off into space forever lost and adrift.). This might be a fun time to introduce the alien race if you wanted to... Make the PC's seek their help. Of course the entire endeavor needs to be in almost total vain to prevent from allowing it to too drastically change the world, the dragon shard economy, or it's political balance... IE nobody will ever want to try THAT again for a LONG time... Lets burn this ship to the ground, and destroy the records so nobody tries that again in our lifetime. #32: Rippoff from the Final Countdown (movie set in the 80s): The Pc's are aboard an experimental Airship designed to be used in war with all the latest innovations including magic empowered cannons (shoot a super charged version of the fireball spell, or several others). Basically, make the ship something that could be considered a super weapon in and of itself. The PC's have been invited aboard as VIP's (use whatever hook fits) to help judge the ships capabilities, and assist in the operation of the high powered magic it uses to operate. Durring the maiden voyage, the ship enters some kind of freakish magic storm which sucks the ship back 100 years to the days just prior to the LAst war... Armed with this amazing ship and their knowledge of modern magic, and the events of the war, they could alter history... Indeed that should be what either a PC, or the captain of the ship or some other antagonist decides to do... Of course this cannot be allowed, and not only must the PC's somehow stop (or be stopped) before they can go too far, but they end up being sucked into the situation of the time by some event they cannot avoid. The PC's should feel confidant that the ship or their own might would be enough to take on the combined militaries of the 5 kingdoms at the time and come out on top (like in the movie I'm referencing), and face a serious moral choice... Of course this could all be a plot by a LOD operative of some kind... It could be the storm that brought them to this period was thier doing, and they want the PC's caught up in the events because they in reality somehow cause them to happen. The PC's could then be tasked with beating the demon or whatever it is... Really, have them come to the past for whatever reason sounds the most fun, maybe they have been summoned by a good aligned power to stop something from happening that would PREVENT the war... Knowing that if the war doesn't happen a greater evil will occur than even a 100 year war which includes the day of mourning...
Ravenstein 08-08-07, 08:56 AM	I like the idea of "actively" seeking a goal, rather than the DM going, "OK tonight's adventure is..." It does seem like a more profound way of going about in your adventuring. In fact, that's mostly how I'm planning to run this future game I mentioned in the first post. It is up to the characters to give the DM ideas for what they want their characters to do. I've setup a few starter missions, but I haven't gone past maybe setting up 7th level stuff (they start at level 3). After that, I expect the players to be driving the story mostly through their life-goals. I've asked each player to set a major goal they want their character to obtain. I also asked them for maybe three minor goals just for reference as well. Our proposed cleric came back with seeking ultimate power and mastery over death itself (he's playing a "good Voldemorte" heh). Ultimately, I see a lot of these suggestions coming into play, and a few I had thought of myself. As much as I would like the group to actively "fix" something, like heal the Mourning, they just aren't that type of group. "Good" alignments are usually very loosely adhered to. Lawful Good just isn't something that gets played; lots of chaotic alignments. Going out and helping someone just isn't going to happen with my players (or most players I'd think, unless they have a naturally altruistic personality) as they tend to enjoy personal rewards. As for epic-level threats, I always felt planar hopping was a bit bogus. Unless you're running a planar game, the whole "let's see if we can go to Xoriat!" line of thinking never sat well with me. There's so much work to be done on the Material Plane, outside of the occassional jaunt I try to keep my players out of the planes as it tends to remove them from the action that matters back on the Material Plane. Eberron's a huge world in of itself and so varied, I tend to feel that the planes were thrown in as an after-thought just to sate the few that might wanna planar hop despite Eberron's vast array of locales. As much as Cthulhu is a great plot device, its another thing I try and avoid. Hell, there are enough threats out there where it not really necessary to go and throw him in there. Now a collousal daelkyar...that might be something. :P And whoever made the vague reference to Drizzt and anything else R.A. Salvatore...you must die. You must die a horrible painful death right now. :D All great suggestions. Thanks! Any more to be had?
Rekko 08-08-07, 01:42 PM	And whoever made the vague reference to Drizzt and anything else R.A. Salvatore...you must die. You must die a horrible painful death right now. :D Hey! Don't look at me like that ;) As far as I am concerned, if anything like it would happen I would have a similar expression: ahem. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO Rekko
Ravenstein 08-08-07, 02:05 PM	Heh hee. No hard feelings Rekko; Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance can suck it as far as I'm concerned. I'm jus' not a big fan of those settings. Heh hee. All too often I run my players into dual-wielding elves and uppty wizards with overly magic pipes, and crush a lofty knight's goals of riding a dragon...heh hee. It hates sate the hatred...especially since my players were all like, "Forgotten Realms is cool, Eberron sucks!" They have since seen the light. Heh hee. In an effort to change things up a bit, we're running a "standard" DnD game. The game went Epic and it was easier to throw in epic elements as we had established that anything pretty much goes; you can convince the GM its a good idea, we added it to the game. We're not so strict on the rules, whatever allows us to have fun. Our current game comes to a close next week. Without the group knowing, I added elements of Eberron to the game, at least dropping hints that they might be in Eberron. We had clerics and such worshipping St. Cuthbert and Heironeous, as well as references to other "standard" DnD material. But often I made allusions that there were no elves around, and they were having dreams of demons and devils fighting and a hound archon speaking about this struggle; the group mistook this as the Blood War. They had come across gnome tinkerers who had discovered "an ancient art of construct making". Our Dragon Shaman met his dragon spirit in the form of a copper dragon who told them, "he had been ordered to watch over the party as his associates were curious as to how their fate might play out in relation to the rest of the world" (i.e. the Dragon Prophecy). I then dropped them into an alternate plane in order to hunt down an artifact that they needed; Shavarath. I had a player ask, "WTF is Shavarath?!" I kept on with the game as the archons spoke of having to penetrate the Pit Fortress of Baator on this plane. The Archdevils were all quarreling as they had beat the demons and there was talk of The Battleground becoming cotermious with the Material Plane. What really threw them was that he met St. Cuthbert and Heironeous in Shavarath and they were nothing more than epic-level heroes. When asked about their relgion the two responded that it was merely "over-zealous hero worship". Finally, the one player who was all "WTF is going on?! This isn't sounding right!?" went home the other night and did his research. "Are we in Eberron?!" he yelled at me over the phone. Heh hee. Heh, I reveal to him that they were some 3000 years in the past before the Last War in a small region in Sarlonia. It kinda blew their minds. I told them it would pay off in the next game I plan to run in a few weeks (mentioned in the first post). So I guess it shows that even though Eberron doesn't spell out its epic levels outside of the small bit in the "Player's Guide to Eberron", you gotta get fairly inventive to take an Eberron game epic. Not hard, but like all the above listed ideas, the campaign requires you get inventive in order to keep your players engaged in a low-level campaign setting.