Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Arithian 06-09-07, 02:58 AM	Morning All! It’s currently about 2:30am as I am sitting here typing and working on my upcoming Campaign. I was evaluating each of my players and the type of gaming experience they each like based on a recent survey conducted with them which I will post to this Thread. I don’t remember where I got the survey from, but anyone deserving credit for its creation I duly give. With that being said I went through each player’s survey and created a concise template for each of them, highlighting the elements of an enjoyable roleplaying experience for each of them. It at that time occurred to me that perhaps I could be so privileged as to receive the input of those on the boards in helping me make this a most memorable experience for all of my players. Oddly enough they each share a fondness for the same Game Style, while they each begin to differ in how it happens and how they accomplish their said characters agendas and goals. Being the extremely extensive world that Eberron is I was wondering if each of you would take a bit of your valuable time and read my players profiles, and afterwards offer some advice and wisdom that will assist me in creating a rich roleplaying environment for each of them. I will first list the Template upon which they were surveyed followed by there respective profiles. Thanks in advance for all of your help; I look forward to the wealth of knowledge that will be offered. GAME STYLE Rate each of these three pairs according to which side the campaign you will swing most towards. You get 4 points to put into each pair. I.E. "Cinematic (1), Realistic (3)", which would mean "mostly realistic." Cinematic ____ vs. Realistic ____ "Cinematic" is not just whether characters can die, but whether what they do is governed by laws of physics and common sense. Hong Kong Action Theatre is cinematic; Braveheart & Gladiator is realistic. Hack ____ vs. Thesp ____ Hack is not just the kind that goes with "& Slash", but also the depth of characterization. So the actors in Friends or Seinfeld are Hacks, even though their characters never slay anyone. Thesp is for characters which are realistic, have different personality traits, etc. Schtick ____ vs. Drama ____ This is laughs vs. tears, fooling around vs. taking things seriously. Seinfeld is schticky, BattleStar Galactica is dramatic. WHAT HAPPENS Rate from 1 to 4 the overall themes you prefer in a campaign. "1" is "hardly ever appears", while "4" is "happens just about every session." Action & Fights ____ These needn't be to the death... Jackie Chan beats lots of people up, but hardly anyone dies. Building ____ This is as in city management computer games, or as in a long TV series... the characters are building something which will last longer than them. Character ____ A focus on personality and relationships. Character Power ____ A focus on the characters improving in their abilities. Destroying ____ The opposite of building, obviously - the characters are going to bring something down. Exploration ____ Discovering new things, a sense of wonder or awe. This is a broad theme, and could include everything from a Call of Cthulu game to a medieval fantasy game where the characters are mapping/exploring the far reaches of an empire or the world as they know it. HOW IT'S DONE Note which of the following character abilities you most enjoy having a character use in a campaign. Ideally, at least four of the twelve should be significant. This gives the GM an idea of what sort of things they should give you a chance to experience in a campaign. Athletics ____ , Combat ____, Communication ____, Detection ____, Gadgeteering ____, Intrusion ____, Magic ____, Persuading ____, Scholarship ____, Wilderness ____…etc. (If what you most prefer is not listed feel free to add it.) FAVOURITES Note here you favorite, - Fiction book - Non-fiction book - Movie - TV series This will give the GM an idea of what sort of setting you'll enjoy roleplaying in. PS: Important note below on how to gain XP. Experience; is gained by, 1) Showing up on time 2) Roleplaying – don't tell us what's on your character sheet, show us! 3) Bravery – something personally challenging to your character. This could include not fighting, depending on your character... 4) Constructivism – contributing to the story moving forward in an interesting way. This is also a player award, for hosting the game, bringing music or other props, etc. 5) Journal Keeping – a record of what happened, usually as your character saw it. Stan the Cyran Knight Stan’s Chronicle should have equal measures of Cinema and Realism, a touch of Hack (depth of characterization, or rather lack thereof) but mostly Thesp, a touch of Shtick but mostly Drama. The types of things happening in the game that Stan will enjoy and should be allowed to shine in are the following. From Greatest to Least enjoyable. Exploration and Destroying Action, Fighting, and Character; (Character meaning a focus on personality and relationships.) Lastly he is interested in Building stuff; about 50/50, (i.e. the characters are building something that will last longer than themselves) and his Characters Power. He chose 2 out of 4 on these, so there should be some element of them in his Chronicle but not too much. How he wants to accomplish these things: He wants to accomplish his goals through: Combat Communication Magic And the Wilderness His Favorites: Fiction Book: Lord of the Rings and the Riftwar Saga Movie: Lord of the Rings Celeste the Gatekeeper Druid Celeste’s Chronicle should have equal measures of Cinema and Realism, a touch of Hack (depth of characterization, or rather lack thereof) but mostly Thesp, a touch of Shtick but mostly Drama. The types of things happening in the game that Celeste will enjoy and should be allowed to shine in are the following. From Greatest to Least enjoyable. Character Power and Exploration Action and Fighting Lastly she is interested in Building stuff (i.e. the characters are building something that will last longer than themselves), Character, and Destroying; about 50/50 on each, she chose 2 out of 4 on these, so there should be some element of them in her Chronicle but not too much. How she wants to accomplish these things: She wants to accomplish her goals through: Combat Magic And the Wilderness Her Favorites: Fiction Book: Magic Ship and Jane Eyre Movie: Braveheart and Aeon Flux Delaney the (Rogue) Explorer Delaney’s Chronicle should have equal measures of Cinema and Realism, NO Hack (depth of characterization, or rather lack thereof) and all Thesp, a touch of Shtick but mostly Drama. The types of things happening in the game that Delaney will enjoy and should be allowed to shine in are the following. From Greatest to Least enjoyable. Exploration, Character, and Building Action, Fighting, and Character Power Lastly he is interested in Destroying stuff; (i.e. the characters are bringing something down.) How he wants to accomplish these things: He wants to accomplish his goals through: (He actually gave me an order of least to greatest on how he would want to accomplish his goals. They are listed below however from Greatest to Least.) Persuasion Communication Combat And Athletics His Favorites: Fiction Book: The Fall of Lucifer Non Fiction Book: The Bible Movie: Lord of the Rings TV Series: Heroes
Shady314 06-09-07, 03:46 AM	What do YOU like? What the DM enjoys is just as important. Especially what specifically in Eberron do you like? Do you prefer the EC or Rakshasa's as villains etc. Are you starting them off at lvl 1 or higher? Do you like the Dhakaani empire and Darguun or is it Xendrik that most intrigues you? Q'barra? Once we know that we can brainstorm a few things up to help you. You're going to spend a lot of time setting this up for other people to enjoy. You have to get enjoyment out of it too or you won't give it 100%.
Rechan 06-09-07, 04:35 AM	Character Power ____ A focus on the characters improving in their abilities. I don't understand this. How does one focus on improving your abilities? Your abilities improve as you level. Are you focusing on training? Gaining XP for the sake of gaining XP? Also, why don't you fill out the template? Or change the template to reflect a DM's tastes, and fill it out for us to respond to.
Arithian 06-09-07, 01:19 PM	What do YOU like? What the DM enjoys is just as important. You know thats so crazy, I hadnt really considered it.:embarrass . You know I had thought about it in sort of an abstract way but not directly. Thank you for that, I will answer this question further below the rest of this post with my GM Profile. Especially what specifically in Eberron do you like? Do you prefer the EC or Rakshasa's as villains etc. Will be answered in my GM Profile below. Are you starting them off at lvl 1 or higher? Do you like the Dhakaani empire and Darguun or is it Xendrik that most intrigues you? Q'barra? Once we know that we can brainstorm a few things up to help you. They are starting at different lvls for the purposes of the story. The Druid Is a 300 year old Elven (My Elves live as long as 1200 years before needing the ways of Transition to continue living) 4th lvl Aspirant of the Gatekeeper Sect with a Hunting Party; the Hunting Party is being roleplayed by my Assistant GM, it consists of 3 Shifters; a Longstride Scout (NPC Class), a Gorebrute Barbarian, and a Wildhunt Ranger, each of which are 2nd lvl. The Knight Is not yet a Knight he is a 1st lvl Gentleman(Aristocrat)/ 2nd lvl Warrior. I did his character this way because he is still in traning as a Squire. His uncle who was squiring him has recently passed and he is soon to become the charge of the Druid above. The Rogue Is more of an Explorer Archetype (he is building toward the Extreme Explorer PrC) with pseduo roguish tendencies he is 3rd lvl. It should be noted that the (Rogue) Explorer was not one of the original players, and as such is currently more of a main Supporting Character, the True Protagonists and who the story or main Chronicle is revolving around currently rests with the Knight (currently Squire) and the Druid. Depending on how the Player of the (Rogue) Explorer gels with the rest of the group he may too take on a more central role. It should also be noted that I really do like his character concept and am hoping he will be a good fit. As a main supporting character he is already from a story perspective finding his way into main the chronicle. His role if need be could be satisfied through the hiring of an NPC, but I would prefer the alternative of the PC himself as opposed to the latter. (Hope he works out:) ) You're going to spend a lot of time setting this up for other people to enjoy. You have to get enjoyment out of it too or you won't give it 100%. Duly noted, and thanks again for the advice. Character Power ____ A focus on the characters improving in their abilities. I don't understand this. How does one focus on improving your abilities? Your abilities improve as you level. Are you focusing on training? Gaining XP for the sake of gaining XP? This is more about how their lvls of power translate in game, PC power motivates each of them, but on different levels of gratification. For instance, the Druid has Character Power in her survey ranked at 4 for lvl of importance to her concerning gaming and character enjoyment, while the Knight and the Rogue ranked Character Power for themselves at a rank of 2. For them other things on the list ranked higher, things which may not necessarily translate into Character Power. If this still does not make the concept clear perhaps I should consider redifining that portion of the survey. Also, why don't you fill out the template? Or change the template to reflect a DM's tastes, and fill it out for us to respond to. Duly noted and done. Please see below. Arithian the GM Arithian’s Chronicle should have equal measures of Cinema and Realism, a touch of Hack (depth of characterization, or rather lack thereof) but mostly Thesp, and equal measures of Shtick and Drama. The types of things happening in the game that Arithian will enjoy and should be allowed to shine in are the following. From Greatest to Least enjoyable. Epic and Cohesive Storytelling (I added this in because this is really what its all about for me) Exploration, Destroying, and Building Character and Character Power Lastly Action and Fighting; about 50/50, I chose 2 out of 4 on these, so there should be some element of them in his Chronicle but not too much. How he wants to accomplish these things: He wants to accomplish his goals through: Wilderness, Scholarship, Persuading, and Magic Communication and Intrusion Detection, Combat, and Athletics And finally, just above a smidgen of Gageteering His Favorites: Fiction book: Riftwar Saga, DragonLance, Sharn City of Towers (KB Novel Series) Non-fiction book: The Bible, Books on Wealth Building and understanding the rules of money. Movie: The Matrix (the first one), 300, Braveheart, Gladiator, Conan (the first one), Sense and Sensibility, Tristan and Isolde, Excalibur (it’s a classic; the one w/Patrick Stewart) and Dune (all of them) TV series: SG-SG1, and Atlantis, Heroes, Jericho, Friday Night Lights, Smallville, The Unit, and The Apprentice. What I Really Like in Eberron: The DragonMarked Houses The Chamber The Aurum The Universities The Aerenal, and the Deathless The Eldeen Reaches Zilargo (Korranberg specifically I think) Sarlona, and Xendrik Sharn, with a touch of some of the other major cities The Observatories The Draconic Prophecy The Gloaming, The Twilight Demesne, The Towering Wood and the Guardian Trees The Faiths of Eberron; specifically the Druidic Sects, the Silver Flame, The Dark Six, and The Sovereign Host, perhaps the Lords of Dust (not sure yet though. I have only really heard others talking about them I haven’t really read anything about them myself.) Artifice Airships, Lighting Rail, Falling Towers, Chasing a potential villain off the side of a tower in one of the Upper Districts of Sharn and fighting on the way down Cyre and its restoration; this includes a portion of the Mournland as well, I intend to allow the PC's to partly or completely restore it in my campaign, though I am not 100% sure yet on which.
Shady314 06-10-07, 05:03 AM	So are you just looking for general advice on running a game or what? Did you have any campaign ideas you needed fleshed out? Pointed in the direction of some published adventures? It also seems like the adventure arc introduced at the back of the ECS (With tweaks) would be perfect for your group.
Rechan 06-10-07, 05:30 AM	I'm just going to state that I think it's a bad idea to have the characters set at different levels.
Shady314 06-10-07, 05:33 AM	I'm just going to state that I think it's a bad idea to have the characters set at different levels. Yeah and what's with the PC's having NPC classes? If he's new to DnD and or/DMing that could be a serious headache.
Rechan 06-10-07, 05:47 AM	Okay, after looking over all of this stuff... It looks like, for the most part, that what your guys want are: Exploration, Destruction and Building. Heck, one of your PCs is based on exploration. You, the GM, want something epic and cohesive. I'm going to suggest to you to do some serious reading up on the Lords of Dust. If you want to talk about Epic Badguys, these are it - their plots are along the lines of "Crash a moon into the surface of Eberron/unearthe a khyber shard the size of a city to the surface/release one of the imprisoned Rajahs"). Keith did a writeup of them in a later issue of Dragon some time ago. The PCs being bounced back and forth between the Chamber and a few LoD agents, basically having to run to the ends of the earth to Get The Pieces of the Dingus. Also, the Aurum make a great target. The Aurum are Khorvaire based (But could be doing excavation in Stormreach). Undermining and Destroying the Aurum in its entirely could be a really great way to leave a lasting effect on Eberron, given that these guys pretty much are willing to do great injustice and evil simply out of greed and power. They are a mortal threat that can be dealt with on a more basic level than any great supernatural evil. It just takes a lot of cunning and work. A third suggestion I have for you is: the Frontier. Your PCs want to make something that will last beyond them? Carving out a chunk of Dangerous Wilderness, making it hospitable, getting the resources to put together a fort/town/colony, and protect it is some serious work. Have some government agent come to them and say "Yes, we need you to help us establish a colony/town here. This could be in Q'barra, Xen'Drik, or the Wastes. Check out the third adventure seed on page 163, about the town of Desolate where Aundair wants to move their Cyrian refugees. The book Powers of Faerun is a great resource here. I know it's Forgotten Realms, but really the book is more general but uses FR examples; it details how to let PCs advance in rank in the military, the church, how to run a merchant empire or a thieves guild, and yes, the Frontier. Finally (and this more builds on the last point), working to help Cyre re-establish itself. Destablize the Mournland. Find a new place for Cyre refugees and carve it out of the map. Discover what caused the M and get revenge upon the cause.
Shady314 06-10-07, 06:02 AM	What I was thinking was definitely start off in Sharn. It's just such a good starting point it's almost impossible not to start off there. Using the adventure at the back of the ECS is a good idea. Have everyone include in their character bios how they have come to be a student at or work for Morgrave Univeristy. Then you can tweak the adventure at the back of the book to be a hunt for a lost Cannith facility or change it around into something else. Some ruin of the war of the Mark perhaps. Keep the schema as the ultimate goal though since it ultimately brings them to Xendrik and Xulo. Tweak the first fight into a chase scene using feather fall tokens(get them some feather tokens somehow. Party gifts/awards at a big University function?) and such. Knowledge local checks can let you know which Sharn bridges have permanent feather falls on them. Start it off grand. The adventure as is already involves Cannith so there's DM houses for ya. But Elaydren's ultimate employer rather than Cannith East could be the Aurum. Or she could be an unwiting pawn of the LoD. Ultimately your PCs can build up their university as they build up themselves. Join the Wayfinders. Claim some distant territory or ruins for themselves. Maybe get some places named after them. Since you want it epic and cohesive you just need to make sure each adventure is just part of the overall adventure of the characters lives. Each session just picks up where the PCs left off. Or after a little downtime and so long as their previous actions and consequences are referenced and affect them it will be cohesive. The epic will come at the end when whatever ultimate goal you decide on for them is either attained or fallen short of. There are plenty of bad guys that can be epic. Epic will mostly come at the end when the characters look back and see how they've changed Eberron.
Arithian 06-10-07, 05:24 PM	So are you just looking for general advice on running a game or what? Did you have any campaign ideas you needed fleshed out? Pointed in the direction of some published adventures? It also seems like the adventure arc introduced at the back of the ECS (With tweaks) would be perfect for your group. I'm just going to state that I think it's a bad idea to have the characters set at different levels. Ok heres the method behind the seeming madness. What is the general direction of the Campaign as it is? Why the different Levels? Why the NPC Classes? Starting with the Levels, my reasoning behind this was multi-faceted, ranging from things presented in each player’s survey, personal requests by the players for a particular Campaign type, to my own personal reasons. Firstly two of these players where players from a previous campaign group that I chose to end for various reasons; one player moved to another state, two of the players were inconsistent, one wanted to make a new character, and another didn’t feel they were advancing fast enough. In addition to that the group didn’t generally seem interested in the campaign story that I was running; which coincidentally was the story arc from the ECS, followed by the adventures published by WotC. So after ending that campaign group, I asked the two most consistent players if they would like to start a new campaign; just the two of them, no one else. They said sure, but there was some general concern about starting back at 1st level again in addition to this one of them wanted to start his character as a child. Well learning from my first mistake as a GM with them I was looking around on the web for articles on how to be a better GM. I stumbled across the Survey which I posted earlier; anyway I found the Survey and thought it would be a great way to get a better idea of what the players were looking for in a campaign without giving anything away. My conclusion was this. I had recently had an experience playing WoD: (Vampire the Masquerade) I really liked the storytelling concept on things and decided to adopt some of the storytelling structure elements into my new campaign. The two things that I decided to take where Preludes, and Chronicles; I didn’t read much on these items just their general ideas. Anyway I decided that each player would have a Prelude, which would allow them to experience "In Game" their characters history and establish themselves as individuals apart from the other. Their Preludes would end by bringing the two players together. Two separate story arcs converging on the same place. It went something like this. Stan the Cyran Knight: Stan’s Prelude Story Arc was this. He wanted to play a Knight but he wanted to start off as a child, so here’s what I did for him. I created a timeline that highlighted events in his life until the start of his Prelude. Scene 1 (The Cyran Front) His Prelude begins on a Cyran Front during the Last War pushing back an Aundairian Offensive where he is serving as his uncles shield bearer (squire). I had war music playing and described a cold winter morning, the Knights and Calvary of Cyre in a perfect line battle formation across the field, their proud stallions stamping the ground while they stood in place and snorting proud powerful bursts of winter frost. The command is given and the charge begins, moments later the battle is in earnest. We roleplayed out the entire battle. Did I fail to mention that this just happened to be the 24th of Olarune? Well on that day all that anyone knows was that an arcane blast of energy destroyed a nation and "Dead Gray Mists" spread across the land.: weep: Well after the battle as the Cyran's shouted cries of victory that the day had been won the Mourning takes place. Scene 2 (Escaping the Mists) The next scene was "Escaping the Mists" I described the Mists as a Tsunami like wave decimating everything in its path. They watched in horror as the first of their comrades fell to the Mist consumed and twisted by it. Anyway long story short the PC and his uncle begin their race from the Mists, as they are doing so the PC feels a burst of extreme heat upon his neck (I may have said his whole body, can’t remember) and shortly thereafter all is still upon the battle field. Only the PC is able to move along with his Uncle. Stan notices at this time that the Mists as well, though not completely stopped have slowed down a great deal. He also notices in the distance a cloaked figure only able to be discerned as cloaked in black who seemed watch on as the seen unfolded. This is all taking place in sort of a "freeze frame" "slow motion" moment. Stan and his uncle begin to ride as fast as they can away from the Mists, as they approach the boarder of Cyre time seems to catch up with them and the Dead Gray Mists come crashing at them once more. They cross the Cyran boarder just in the nick of time as the Dead Gray Mists slam seemingly into a wall of force at the Cyran boarder. Cut to Scene 3. Scene 3: (You'll never forget that day) Stan wakes up in front of his uncles’ fireplace having fallen asleep. He will never forget that day, the day that the Mourning took all that he knew from him. As he wakes up he remembers his day’s chores and his training regimen with his uncle. (We roleplayed this accordingly). Stan at this time finds out from his uncle that he has been having a troubling dream, one of darkness and a challenge that was calling out to him. Stan’s uncle feels that he must go and face the hidden darkness, this adversary. His journey takes them to the Eldeen Reaches; more specifically to the Gloaming. It is here that his uncle faces the darkness that was calling out to him; (an awakened Shadow Mastiff, and his twisted Satyr servant) and fails. As his uncle falls all fades to blackness. Cut to new character. Celeste the Gatekeeper Druid: Meanwhile in the Eldeen Reaches an old Gatekeeper Druid has a vision as she is studying signs and portents in the rings of Siberys. She sees a child; an adolescent boy, darkness and shadow, and the Gloaming. But I get ahead of myself let us take a step back in time first. Celeste, a young elven child has just been chosen to go and train with the Gatekeeper Druid Sect (There was more to it than this but that was the crux of the matter.) Celeste begins her training, she learns the basics of druidry, and moves on to study the teachings of the Prophet Vvarrack and the tenets and rites of the Gatekeeper faith. A dark horse; (a young colt at the time) jet black in color has come to her, her teacher says she (Celeste) called to it while she slept and that it had answered her. Celeste had showed a great deal of promise beyond her years in the ways of druidry, and all watched her closely. You see before Celeste had been born her parents had suffered through a season of bad crop, but on the night that Celeste was born their land became fertile and gave forth a crop. Her parents told no one of this yet they pondered it in their hearts for many years, even Celeste does not know of this great miracle that took place at her birth. Also on that night a symbol appeared upon her family's doorstep in the likeness of a beautiful tree with many branches. Unbeknownst to them the Gatekeepers took note as well, yet they did not act immediately. Prophecy would tell when the time was right. Anyway Celeste has completed her training and received the Oratoch; "The Invitation of the Aspirant" she accepts. She takes the rites of the Aspirant, and receives her tattooing and the traditional garbs of the Gatekeeper. She is then charged to go into the wilderness until she should return with those suitable to her charge; she is to form a hunting party and she shall be their leader. She returns successfully and is given a village that she will watch over and give council. It is at this time that the old druid spoken of in the beginning has the vision of the boy. They call to Celeste and her hunting party to retrieve the boy. She goes. Fast forward. As the boy; (Stan) is watching everything fade to black little does he know that a Keeper of the Forest and its most ancient ways has just walked up (Celeste and her Hunting Party) and now faces the very adversary that felled his uncle. Celeste was successful in her mission, and when Stan next wakes up he will find himself in Greenheart with Celeste. We will talk about the Rogue Explorer Delaney another time. OK....things to understand. I wanted to create certain dynamics. I wanted to there to be respect among the PC's. Too often PC's don’t give honor where honor is due to one another, often times they spend more time trying to prove how much cooler they are than all the other PC's and how much they really don’t need anyone else. At least this has too often been my experience. I wanted there to be wonder again. I wanted there to be wonder and respect on a roleplaying level, the kind you have when a young boy meet an Elf for the first time. Many hundreds of years has she lived and many things has she seen. On that merit alone she is worthy of respect, I wanted to translate that into game play and I did it by making Celeste’s character much older and more learned than Stan’s, however because elves age the way they do she still looks young to Stan; she still however looks a bit older than Stan’s character. I wanted there to be a distinct difference in levels of power to create dependence on Stan’s side and a maternal instinct to protect a child who is unable to protect himself of Celeste’s side. The best way I saw to do this was in using NPC classes for Stan (They don’t quite have the same feel as PC classes and they give the illusion that one is not yet what he will be, thus the Player does not feel as though his character has yet arrived.) and a PC class for Celeste as well as the level differences. It will be very evident that Celeste is not only more powerful, but both older and wiser, Stan would find himself hard pressed to survive alone in the Reaches without her. In time Stan will come into his own but not yet. However even with all this being the case, because of the NPC lvls he is not useless and can still provide meaningful contribution to the group if he plays accordingly also the PC lvls gave a fluff flare that I thought was appropriate in regards to Stan’s character being a Knight in training. i.e. Gentleman (Aristocrat)/Warrior, which is probably where a Knight would start anyway, and is the closest representation of a Squire that I could find. That is the reasoning for the differing levels as well as the NPC levels. Any input thus far?
Rechan 06-10-07, 05:58 PM	I'm still going to state that it's a bad idea. It's going to unbalance things. And RP reasons are just not a reason to have NPc levels versus PC levels; the game was made for PC levels. Not to mention the fact that this very much unbalances your group. For one thing, 2 npc levels = 1 PC level. So you have a 2.5 level character in with a 3rd and 4th level character. He just does not have the skills or abilities to help stand with the other characters. Roleplaying is just not an excuse to be hamstrung statwise. D&D is a war game, plain and simple, no matter how much story you want to heap on it, it's a system built on the notion of "You go in and kill things for treasure and advancement"; that's why there's so little emphasis on non-combat XP awards and everything social is just handled with a few skill rolls. You could have accomplished the same thing making him a 1st level (rogue/bard/wahtever)/2nd level fighter. Hell, a bard makes a nice squire given how they can bolster their master, and have a few other frill skills. If you want a system that supports roleplaying and allows for more individual decisions to be made with character advancement, D&D really isn't the system you want, plain and simple. Something like HERO, WoD, or a multitude of other systems might be more appropriate, which can still be used with Eberron as the campaign setting. Trying to do what you're doing is going to be a serious strain on it, I think, like trying to farm with just a hoe, rather than using a plow. Sure, a hoe works great for gardening, but not for a larger project. D&D is fine up until a point; I'm not saying you can't run roleplaying and non-combat encounters, but for instance, trying to run a game that's just about politics and intrigue and is all social encounters would be a serious headache for the DM and system, whereas others would run it smoother. That sounds harsh and rude and isn't going to make me any friends here, but I have seen a lot of games fall apart because people make decisions on what to do with their character based on the RP, and lead to near TPKs because people didn't understand the reprecussions when it comes to the system. For instance the party's only arcane spellcaster, a sorcerer, taking rogue levels and leading to having no firepower to back up the party (and having chosen no spells that work with sneak attack damage), and the party's only cleric taking levels of paladin, seriously undercutting their healing/other divine resources. So when they came up against a CR that was equal with their level, they were flattened because they just didn't have the abilities to deal with it. Another example being making the fighter middle aged (undercutting Str, Dex and con) and giving him an 8 con and putting all his strong stats in Cha/Int. Sure, it may make more sense RP wise, but... you're going to die, fast. Killing a troll is hard when your only caster can pull of "Burning hands" and fighting something with poison really hurts when you have no one who can even toss down a "lesser restoration" - and having an NPC cast that costs 50gp per casting.