My first campaign as a GM (and its set in Eberron) [Archive] - Wizards Community

My first campaign as a GM (and its set in Eberron) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Dhakaani Heir
10-14-05, 08:47 PM I'm a relativly new to roleplaying and I'm beginning work on my first campaign (and its set in Eberron :D) and I'd like some input/tips. The campaign is also something of an introduction to Eberron for the players.

Since I'm new and not sure I actually like high level campaigns its going to be set between levels 1 and 8. In the first adventure the party come to the attention of their patron, a wizard who works for the twelve(or similar organisation).

It begins in lower Sharn where the party meet a contact, a former war comrade of one of the PCs. He gives them a lead on a treasure thats just sitting below the city. It turns out to be too good to be true as a tribe of sewer dwellers protect the artifact as their treasure. A party of adventurers have already tried and failed, dying in the process. On the body of the lead adventurer they find a contract with an uppercity antiquity dealer for the recovery of said artifact and since the contacts fence falls through I'm hoping the party can be convinced to contact the dealer. Anyway he turns out to be the local member incharge of aquasitions for the twelve (or similar organisation). Impressed he then hires the party as relic hunters.

Any suggestions here- I want the party to follow the basic outline but not feel their being forced to do what I say.

What follows is a series of adventures across Eberron as the party battle locals as well as rival adventurers in search of artifacts. In the end I'm planning a twist - someone frames the party for the the theft of the very artifacts they've been hunting as well as the disapearrance of their patron!

Unbeknownst to the PCs this is a set up by the patron himself - he is a bearer of a Aberrant mark and considers the present Sharn as an insult to the all those bearers of Aberrant marks who perished in the War of the Mark (basic nutcase with a grudge). He's going to use the artifacts as part of an eldritch machine to distrupt Sharns manifest zone causing the city to be Eberron.

Eberron imo opinion is a setting that avoids clichés by using common sense and integrating fantasy elements in a logical way, magic been applied to solve societies problems, abilities of creatures to have varying alignments and so on. Well why would the forces of Breland allow and insane 10th level wizard get away with this - the answer might be that they don't know what the bad-guys up to but I had an idea that they know exactly whats going on. After the PCs have been questioned by the Sharn watch I'm thinking of having the PCs approached by the Dark Lanterns who've been following the bad guys movements for months but haven't had the proof to arrest him - he is a prominent member of society so they can't just make him dissapear.

Anyway they want to use the PCs in a plan to stop him once and for all. Using the PCs as bait there going to draw him out only something goes wrong leaving the PCs to save the day on their own. I haven't worked out how yet - it has to be some way that gets the party to the secret hideout, with no back-up and racing against the clock (figuratively) to stop him before he can activate his plan. Suggestions needed for this part

Well what do you all think?
Straylight
10-15-05, 08:46 AM I think your players are going to have a lot of fun, frankly.

Instead of having the Dark Lanterns step in and provide the kicker that will take the campaign to its climax (that feels a little too much like railroading, and players tend not to like that), perhaps leave a trail of clues that the PCs can slowly uncover and piece together that will hint at what their patron is really doing.

The jobs seem honest enough at first; usual adventurer fare. An ancient staff, a Dhakani relic, a tablet that once channeled Gatekeeper magics... but then the jobs slowly start to get weirder: Arcanix's collective research on Syrania, a planar Orrery, a book of rituals that could be used to permanently sever a manifest zone from Eberron, if not a whole plane.

Eventually the PCs are going to wonder exactly what all these items are being used for, particularly as they start to assemble the puzzle. Perhaps they have seen other clues as well. Maps of Sharn in the Wizard's enclave, or reports of tower quakes or soarsled failures as the Wizard tests his device.

The PCs should become creeped out enough by the possibilities that they should decide to poke around a bit, which will eventually lead to them uncovering the Wizard's plan. They will have just enough time to defeat the insane mage and deactivate or destory his arcane contraption before he brings the City of Towers crashing down into the Hilt.

Of course, the unstable machine might malfunction if it is damaged or if a part is removed or incomplete. It might tear a hole to Syrania, create a new manifest zone, or it might simply tear itself apart in a cascade of crumbling machinery and bursts of raw, uncontrolled magic, the heroes forced to flee for their own safety before they are trapped forever in what havoc the machine's destruction wreaks.

And of course there is the wizard himself... Was he trapped and killed in the debris when the machine sundered itself, or did he miraculously escape the cataclysm..?
Dhakaani Heir
10-15-05, 09:52 AM I know what your saying about railroading its my big fear. I've had players say "obvious GM railroading lets go do something else" during the Forgotten Forge :eek:. I think I'll try the suggestion of dropping clues but don't know where to start (how many clues are too many? how should they be placed?)
- the Lanterns are kind of a safety net for me.
DoveArrow
10-15-05, 11:13 AM Clues are things that take a little bit of finesse to work out just how many are enough. My feeling is there should be three or four clues per 'encounter'. So for example, if the PCs have an encounter in an ancient temple devoted to the Keeper, there should be three or four clues located there.

Now the clues don't all have to refer to the same thing. So for example, you don't want to have a book that says the artifact is evil, a mural depicting what evil thing it can do, and a guardian stating that the PCs should leave it alone because, you guessed it, it's evil. However, they may all point to a similar conclusion. So for example, the PCs might find an ancient temple in Undersharn, guarded by rancid beetle zombies, and feral rats. As they travel through the temple, they see depictions of aberrant marked priests worshipping the Shadow. Then, perhaps the item that they're searching for is on top of a pedestal that depicts an aberrant marked priest using it to shoot beams of light that burn his enemies, or something. If the PCs do their homework, they'll realize that the temple was used during the War of the Mark by Tarkanan's followers. They may also learn that Tarkanan and his followers were responsible for destroying Sharn before. Is it possible that their patron is planning on doing the same? Some things to think about. :)
Dhakaani Heir
10-15-05, 11:54 AM I tought I'd post some of my plans for the campaign

The 6 adventures in between will be a variety of relic hunts across Eberron getting to know the world. The theme of the relic hunts is that each of the locations has a traumatic past that ended in a violent and sudden cataclysm. Each of the items is a minor magical item that has more historical value than monetary. These items absorbed the suffering of those around them and using his Dragonmark of Inflict Wounds and the residual energy of Fallen he going to destroy the city!

The campaign will run like this

1. The Set up/ first adventure

2. One I have planned is a trip into a ruined Dhakaani Fortress in Eastern Breland hidden in the mountains and full of minor aberrations. Featuring an aged gatekeeper and some Kech Volaar competing for the prize. The prize is Eberron Dragonshard - the shard is actually a manual of planes but without the key is useless it was personally given to the last commander by the emperor of Dhakaan to protect

3. That city between Thrane and Karnaath that was wiped out and left empty is next dodging border guards and getting the magical key to the now smashed gates is the easy parts - getting trapped in the memory of the last days of the siege and getting out is the hard part. The key itself is far older than the city bearing Xendrik glyphs which indicate the key is a device that unlocks things even secrets...

4. Then I'm planning a break in the adventuring and involving the PCs in Sharn. This adventure depends on what kind of PCs I get but it'll be an above ground clearing an innocent of charges kind of thing. Someone stole something from Mosgrave university - a museum piece, killed a curateor and framed a PCs associate. In clearing the innocent person the party find clues about a sinister aberrant marked cabal.

5. So I’m also considering a trip to the Mourneland. To a "retreat" in former Cyre. Basically an Asylum where the inmates didn't die but got mutated. The Warden and staff survived too and now rule the inmates with an iron fist. The PCs can chose which side to ally themselves with in order to get their hands on two items requested by the boss - the first the asylums prized symbol of Aureon and a book of notes written by a former inmate (a wizard who was driven made by his study of Manifest zones). The problem each faction has one item each. Either that or try and wipe out the crazy mutants living in the ruins

6. Unsure what to put here - I remember that Karnath was forced to accept the help of the Blood of Vol because it was decimated by a plague. Well this time the PCs get sent deep into the Karnathi wilderness to a former research facility - the researchers were experimenting with items belong to Lord Tarkanans wife - the lady of plague when they tripped her final curse and started the plague. The research on boosting aberrant marks is the objective

7. The obligatory trip to Xendrik is also a must. Towards the end of the Quori invasion the Quori attacked a giant city. By forcing a manifest zone to occur they were able to destroy a damn at the end of the valley the flooding the valley and killing all the giants. at the centre of the settlement was a tower built by Giant magic - the top of which is still above water and much of which is still unflooded. The Giant and Qouri leaders killed each other in the final moments and the patron wants the PCs to recover items from the bodies including a certain psy-shard

8. The Big finale
Endless_Helix
10-15-05, 06:07 PM Sounds like someone's players are going to have a bunch of artifact hunting fun coming their way :D

The comments below are for if you want to make it a continuing story. If you dont; what you've got is fine.

Remember that Eberron is also about the concept of Magic as economy. So, Mad Wizard Bill, with an aberrant mark, has a grudge against sharn. This does not mean that he can afford to destroy it. In general, he would probably start a cult bent on unearthing the lady of the plague's corpse, building an eldritch machine to bring her back to life, and then destroy sharn with plagues beyond belief.

Now, to hire adventurers to get 7 artifacts is several times more expensive than using the cult for smash and grabs;even most nobles couldn't afford this in rapid fire succession. This means that someone with money is funding him. Who would be likely to find out about this?
- House Phiarlan
- House Thurrani
- House Medani
- Royal Eyes
- Dark Lanterns
- The Dreaming Dark

Of those, I would say that two would encourage it. The Royal Eyes of Aundaire would love to give Boranel a black eye and a national disaster to deal with. The Dreaming Dark would love to slowly and benevolently wrap another coil around Khorvaire by helping to supply workers, materials, and loans to rebuild Sharn. If you want immediate repercussions after the finale, the Royal Eyes work much better. The Dreaming Dark would be a hook into a horror orientated storyline.

If you want to give some implications as to what is going to happen, having certain organizations give aid can subtley push the suspicion on the patron. IE if all the hired help barely speaks common, and often tries to convert the party away from "the blasphemy of magic and into the loving light and harmony of the Inspired, who are the purest ones," could mean that Riedra is involved.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dhakaani Heir 10-14-05, 08:47 PM	I'm a relativly new to roleplaying and I'm beginning work on my first campaign (and its set in Eberron :D) and I'd like some input/tips. The campaign is also something of an introduction to Eberron for the players. Since I'm new and not sure I actually like high level campaigns its going to be set between levels 1 and 8. In the first adventure the party come to the attention of their patron, a wizard who works for the twelve(or similar organisation). It begins in lower Sharn where the party meet a contact, a former war comrade of one of the PCs. He gives them a lead on a treasure thats just sitting below the city. It turns out to be too good to be true as a tribe of sewer dwellers protect the artifact as their treasure. A party of adventurers have already tried and failed, dying in the process. On the body of the lead adventurer they find a contract with an uppercity antiquity dealer for the recovery of said artifact and since the contacts fence falls through I'm hoping the party can be convinced to contact the dealer. Anyway he turns out to be the local member incharge of aquasitions for the twelve (or similar organisation). Impressed he then hires the party as relic hunters. Any suggestions here- I want the party to follow the basic outline but not feel their being forced to do what I say. What follows is a series of adventures across Eberron as the party battle locals as well as rival adventurers in search of artifacts. In the end I'm planning a twist - someone frames the party for the the theft of the very artifacts they've been hunting as well as the disapearrance of their patron! Unbeknownst to the PCs this is a set up by the patron himself - he is a bearer of a Aberrant mark and considers the present Sharn as an insult to the all those bearers of Aberrant marks who perished in the War of the Mark (basic nutcase with a grudge). He's going to use the artifacts as part of an eldritch machine to distrupt Sharns manifest zone causing the city to be Eberron. Eberron imo opinion is a setting that avoids clichés by using common sense and integrating fantasy elements in a logical way, magic been applied to solve societies problems, abilities of creatures to have varying alignments and so on. Well why would the forces of Breland allow and insane 10th level wizard get away with this - the answer might be that they don't know what the bad-guys up to but I had an idea that they know exactly whats going on. After the PCs have been questioned by the Sharn watch I'm thinking of having the PCs approached by the Dark Lanterns who've been following the bad guys movements for months but haven't had the proof to arrest him - he is a prominent member of society so they can't just make him dissapear. Anyway they want to use the PCs in a plan to stop him once and for all. Using the PCs as bait there going to draw him out only something goes wrong leaving the PCs to save the day on their own. I haven't worked out how yet - it has to be some way that gets the party to the secret hideout, with no back-up and racing against the clock (figuratively) to stop him before he can activate his plan. Suggestions needed for this part Well what do you all think?
Straylight 10-15-05, 08:46 AM	I think your players are going to have a lot of fun, frankly. Instead of having the Dark Lanterns step in and provide the kicker that will take the campaign to its climax (that feels a little too much like railroading, and players tend not to like that), perhaps leave a trail of clues that the PCs can slowly uncover and piece together that will hint at what their patron is really doing. The jobs seem honest enough at first; usual adventurer fare. An ancient staff, a Dhakani relic, a tablet that once channeled Gatekeeper magics... but then the jobs slowly start to get weirder: Arcanix's collective research on Syrania, a planar Orrery, a book of rituals that could be used to permanently sever a manifest zone from Eberron, if not a whole plane. Eventually the PCs are going to wonder exactly what all these items are being used for, particularly as they start to assemble the puzzle. Perhaps they have seen other clues as well. Maps of Sharn in the Wizard's enclave, or reports of tower quakes or soarsled failures as the Wizard tests his device. The PCs should become creeped out enough by the possibilities that they should decide to poke around a bit, which will eventually lead to them uncovering the Wizard's plan. They will have just enough time to defeat the insane mage and deactivate or destory his arcane contraption before he brings the City of Towers crashing down into the Hilt. Of course, the unstable machine might malfunction if it is damaged or if a part is removed or incomplete. It might tear a hole to Syrania, create a new manifest zone, or it might simply tear itself apart in a cascade of crumbling machinery and bursts of raw, uncontrolled magic, the heroes forced to flee for their own safety before they are trapped forever in what havoc the machine's destruction wreaks. And of course there is the wizard himself... Was he trapped and killed in the debris when the machine sundered itself, or did he miraculously escape the cataclysm..?
Dhakaani Heir 10-15-05, 09:52 AM	I know what your saying about railroading its my big fear. I've had players say "obvious GM railroading lets go do something else" during the Forgotten Forge :eek:. I think I'll try the suggestion of dropping clues but don't know where to start (how many clues are too many? how should they be placed?) - the Lanterns are kind of a safety net for me.
DoveArrow 10-15-05, 11:13 AM	Clues are things that take a little bit of finesse to work out just how many are enough. My feeling is there should be three or four clues per 'encounter'. So for example, if the PCs have an encounter in an ancient temple devoted to the Keeper, there should be three or four clues located there. Now the clues don't all have to refer to the same thing. So for example, you don't want to have a book that says the artifact is evil, a mural depicting what evil thing it can do, and a guardian stating that the PCs should leave it alone because, you guessed it, it's evil. However, they may all point to a similar conclusion. So for example, the PCs might find an ancient temple in Undersharn, guarded by rancid beetle zombies, and feral rats. As they travel through the temple, they see depictions of aberrant marked priests worshipping the Shadow. Then, perhaps the item that they're searching for is on top of a pedestal that depicts an aberrant marked priest using it to shoot beams of light that burn his enemies, or something. If the PCs do their homework, they'll realize that the temple was used during the War of the Mark by Tarkanan's followers. They may also learn that Tarkanan and his followers were responsible for destroying Sharn before. Is it possible that their patron is planning on doing the same? Some things to think about. :)
Dhakaani Heir 10-15-05, 11:54 AM	I tought I'd post some of my plans for the campaign The 6 adventures in between will be a variety of relic hunts across Eberron getting to know the world. The theme of the relic hunts is that each of the locations has a traumatic past that ended in a violent and sudden cataclysm. Each of the items is a minor magical item that has more historical value than monetary. These items absorbed the suffering of those around them and using his Dragonmark of Inflict Wounds and the residual energy of Fallen he going to destroy the city! The campaign will run like this 1. The Set up/ first adventure 2. One I have planned is a trip into a ruined Dhakaani Fortress in Eastern Breland hidden in the mountains and full of minor aberrations. Featuring an aged gatekeeper and some Kech Volaar competing for the prize. The prize is Eberron Dragonshard - the shard is actually a manual of planes but without the key is useless it was personally given to the last commander by the emperor of Dhakaan to protect 3. That city between Thrane and Karnaath that was wiped out and left empty is next dodging border guards and getting the magical key to the now smashed gates is the easy parts - getting trapped in the memory of the last days of the siege and getting out is the hard part. The key itself is far older than the city bearing Xendrik glyphs which indicate the key is a device that unlocks things even secrets... 4. Then I'm planning a break in the adventuring and involving the PCs in Sharn. This adventure depends on what kind of PCs I get but it'll be an above ground clearing an innocent of charges kind of thing. Someone stole something from Mosgrave university - a museum piece, killed a curateor and framed a PCs associate. In clearing the innocent person the party find clues about a sinister aberrant marked cabal. 5. So I’m also considering a trip to the Mourneland. To a "retreat" in former Cyre. Basically an Asylum where the inmates didn't die but got mutated. The Warden and staff survived too and now rule the inmates with an iron fist. The PCs can chose which side to ally themselves with in order to get their hands on two items requested by the boss - the first the asylums prized symbol of Aureon and a book of notes written by a former inmate (a wizard who was driven made by his study of Manifest zones). The problem each faction has one item each. Either that or try and wipe out the crazy mutants living in the ruins 6. Unsure what to put here - I remember that Karnath was forced to accept the help of the Blood of Vol because it was decimated by a plague. Well this time the PCs get sent deep into the Karnathi wilderness to a former research facility - the researchers were experimenting with items belong to Lord Tarkanans wife - the lady of plague when they tripped her final curse and started the plague. The research on boosting aberrant marks is the objective 7. The obligatory trip to Xendrik is also a must. Towards the end of the Quori invasion the Quori attacked a giant city. By forcing a manifest zone to occur they were able to destroy a damn at the end of the valley the flooding the valley and killing all the giants. at the centre of the settlement was a tower built by Giant magic - the top of which is still above water and much of which is still unflooded. The Giant and Qouri leaders killed each other in the final moments and the patron wants the PCs to recover items from the bodies including a certain psy-shard 8. The Big finale
Endless_Helix 10-15-05, 06:07 PM	Sounds like someone's players are going to have a bunch of artifact hunting fun coming their way :D The comments below are for if you want to make it a continuing story. If you dont; what you've got is fine. Remember that Eberron is also about the concept of Magic as economy. So, Mad Wizard Bill, with an aberrant mark, has a grudge against sharn. This does not mean that he can afford to destroy it. In general, he would probably start a cult bent on unearthing the lady of the plague's corpse, building an eldritch machine to bring her back to life, and then destroy sharn with plagues beyond belief. Now, to hire adventurers to get 7 artifacts is several times more expensive than using the cult for smash and grabs;even most nobles couldn't afford this in rapid fire succession. This means that someone with money is funding him. Who would be likely to find out about this? - House Phiarlan - House Thurrani - House Medani - Royal Eyes - Dark Lanterns - The Dreaming Dark Of those, I would say that two would encourage it. The Royal Eyes of Aundaire would love to give Boranel a black eye and a national disaster to deal with. The Dreaming Dark would love to slowly and benevolently wrap another coil around Khorvaire by helping to supply workers, materials, and loans to rebuild Sharn. If you want immediate repercussions after the finale, the Royal Eyes work much better. The Dreaming Dark would be a hook into a horror orientated storyline. If you want to give some implications as to what is going to happen, having certain organizations give aid can subtley push the suspicion on the patron. IE if all the hired help barely speaks common, and often tries to convert the party away from "the blasphemy of magic and into the loving light and harmony of the Inspired, who are the purest ones," could mean that Riedra is involved.