Need Advice: Epic Eberron PvP [Archive] - Wizards Community

Need Advice: Epic Eberron PvP [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
naturax
09-27-07, 12:35 PM I have this fantastic situation that I want to play out with a bunch of other gamers via PbP but it's not a convential setup for a D&D game so I need some advice on how to run it. It's not epic in the sense of 20+ levels for the PCs but rather it's Epic in the sense of a grand, world-changing story.

Here's the situation: Set in Eberron but with major tweaks that I've made to make things more to my liking. For example, all of the Creation Forges were in Cyre and they were all destroyed during the Mourning. I won't go in to all of the details here, but there is an extremely detailed and complicated backstory that explaines why various parties are all trying to find the original Creation Forge that House Cannith copied in order to create their version of the Creation Forge right now.

The players (each who have slightly different goals):
The Lord of Blades (reclaim the ability to produce more warforged)
The Aerenal Elves (discover how the original Forges relate to the Prophesy)
The Hags of Droaam (trying to discover the secret of Forges for their own interests)
House Cannith (trying to make sure no one else gets their technology)
(maybe) The Sentinel Marshals (trying to enforce the Thronehold Accords)

So the adventure is basically small elite teams sent by each of these major powers to run around the jungles of Xen'drik and find the original forge (or a slight variation on that goal). This isn't the typical "all the PCs have a character in the same party and they do things together" kind of game so I figure there are a couple of ways I can run this:

1. Put two or three players in each team where they each have their own PC that is a member of that team, put each team in its own game thread and run a huge game for all the different teams at the same time with overlapping threads. Game play will focus on the teams stepping on each others toes. This would be Ambitious and I'm wondering if that sort of thing is even possible.
2. Pick one of the teams (like Droaam or Cannith or something) and have four or five PCs each play their own member of the team and I'll NPC all the other teams. Gameplay will focus on just that one team as they are the only protagonists. This would be interesting, but maybe not as much as letting players control the various teams.
3. (my favourite) Give each PC control of an entire team. So one PC will be Cannith and can stat and control the entire team, one PC for Droaam, etc. Each player gets their own thread so that they dont' know what the other teams are up to and they compete directly against the other teams to accomplish their goals.

Now what I like about Door #3 is that I'd run it such that there are common goals that everyone has to accomplish which will force the players to interact with each other. (I do NOT want to run a game where I'm running seperate threads for each player and they never interact with each other. I think PCs should entertain each other and I don't want to do THAT much work.) For example, it turns out that all the teams have to go through the same mountain pass guarded by a giant tribe. You can wait and ambush another team, but then you'll be weak enough for another team to take you out. Do you negotiate with the giants? Sneak around? Join forces with another team and then betray them? I'd use D&D3.5 rules to deal with all of the PvP resolution and I feel there are enough options here to make the game go. What do you think?

Another example: Only one team needs to defeat the guardians of the forge. Do you want to race ahead, do that and leave? Or tail another team and let them do the messy work?

So what I really need is feedback from you, other experienced players and DMs. Can a game like this work? What version is viable? Is there another way to run this game that would be fun? I like that I get to take advantage of PbP for this kind of game as it wouldn't work with everyone sitting around the same table. Please shower me with comments!

Here's what I picture Droaam's team might look like, just so everyone has an idea of what scale I'm talking about. Every faction involved is sending their Best and Brightest, but it's still Eberron.

Troll Cleric5
Harpy Bard6
Ogremage (actually Ogre Sorcerer8 with blue skin)
Minotaur Ranger6
Nerdicus
09-27-07, 02:28 PM Being fairly well versed in the PbP style of gaming I would suggest that you let each player control the team leader for one of the groups. Make each group small, 3-4 at the most, and make it clear to each player that they are the leader of their team.

Then allow for each team to hear about the other teams goings-on through informants. That way each player gets to know what the other is doing, and knows that their exploits are equally as known.

Or, if the players are mature enough, you could have each player leading one of the teams, and having the team-members played by the other players. This way everyone gets to be the leader of a team, and each team is filled with all the players.
naturax
09-27-07, 02:44 PM Being fairly well versed in the PbP style of gaming I would suggest that you let each player control the team leader for one of the groups. Make each group small, 3-4 at the most, and make it clear to each player that they are the leader of their team.

Then allow for each team to hear about the other teams goings-on through informants. That way each player gets to know what the other is doing, and knows that their exploits are equally as known.

Players just hearing about each other's exploits isn't good enough for me because I don't want to be the only other real person they interact with. I need the game to focus on the players interacting with each other, even if that means the game is a fixed number of encounters intead of a fluid adventure.

Or, if the players are mature enough, you could have each player leading one of the teams, and having the team-members played by the other players. This way everyone gets to be the leader of a team, and each team is filled with all the players.

Now THAT is a really clever idea! There'd have to be a lot of trust, but it would give everyone a LOT to do. However, what happens when one team ambushes another? Then you have all 5 players playing on both sides of a conflict. Have you ever run anything in that style before?

Also, thanks for your input!
Nerdicus
09-27-07, 03:51 PM I have had the intentions of doing something like this, but haven't yet done so. But it shouldn't be too hard.

One of the toughest things for PbP combat is maps. I personally like using Dungeon forge for making maps, but it doesn't include a simple graph template for it and so adding your X Y axis for reference can be tough. Some people like making simple maps using the keyboard to make simple maps, I have yet to figure out this method but it seems to be the easiest. I tried to do a quick expamle but it turned out to be harder then I thought. :)

AL = Alanah
AN = Andar
AR = Argis
DE = Dereck
S# = Skeleton #X

X| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8|X
---------------------------
A| | | | | | | | |A
B| |S5| | | | | | |B
C| |AL|AR| |DE| | | |C
D| | | | | | | | |D
E| | |AN| | | | | |E
F| | | | | | | | |F
G| | | | | | | | |G
H| | | | | | | | |H
I| | | | | | | | |I
J| | | | | | | | |J
---------------------------
X| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8|X

NAME INIT AC HP/HP
-------------------------------
Dereck 17 19 24/26 +2 AC Shield of Faith
Andar 16 12 22/24
Skeleton 1 15 15 dead
Skeleton 2 15 15 dead
Skeleton 3 15 15 dead
Skeleton 4 15 15 dead
Skeleton 5 15 15 ??/??
Skeleton 6 15 15 dead
Argis 9 16 19/24 +1 AC Magic Vestment
Alanah 5 19 30/30 +1 AC Magic Vestment

Here is an example I pulled from one of the games I played in( it has since died out).

aside from that, I am interested in seeing where your game goes. Which site are you going to use? I suggest RPOL. If you do use that, be sure to send me a link to it so I can watch the game unfold!

Edit: On RPOL there is a way to make everything line up all nicely. And I don't know how to do that. :)
naturax
09-27-07, 04:09 PM I have had the intentions of doing something like this, but haven't yet done so. But it shouldn't be too hard.

One of the toughest things for PbP combat is maps. ...

aside from that, I am interested in seeing where your game goes. Which site are you going to use? I suggest RPOL. If you do use that, be sure to send me a link to it so I can watch the game unfold!

Edit: On RPOL there is a way to make everything line up all nicely. And I don't know how to do that. :)

Hi Nerdicus, thanks again for your input! I'm not too worried about the maps right now, first thing's first: I need to figure out how the actual game is going to get played out. Though when the time comes for intense tactical combat I'm going to have to figure something out.

I'm a huge fan of myth-weavers (http://www.myth-weavers.com) so that's where I'm going to run the game. I actually have a duplicate discussion thread about this game concept over there and I'd be thrilled if you'd go lend your voice to it. Please go check it out! (http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=22425) (you're quoted on it!)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
naturax 09-27-07, 12:35 PM	I have this fantastic situation that I want to play out with a bunch of other gamers via PbP but it's not a convential setup for a D&D game so I need some advice on how to run it. It's not epic in the sense of 20+ levels for the PCs but rather it's Epic in the sense of a grand, world-changing story. Here's the situation: Set in Eberron but with major tweaks that I've made to make things more to my liking. For example, all of the Creation Forges were in Cyre and they were all destroyed during the Mourning. I won't go in to all of the details here, but there is an extremely detailed and complicated backstory that explaines why various parties are all trying to find the original Creation Forge that House Cannith copied in order to create their version of the Creation Forge right now. The players (each who have slightly different goals): The Lord of Blades (reclaim the ability to produce more warforged) The Aerenal Elves (discover how the original Forges relate to the Prophesy) The Hags of Droaam (trying to discover the secret of Forges for their own interests) House Cannith (trying to make sure no one else gets their technology) (maybe) The Sentinel Marshals (trying to enforce the Thronehold Accords) So the adventure is basically small elite teams sent by each of these major powers to run around the jungles of Xen'drik and find the original forge (or a slight variation on that goal). This isn't the typical "all the PCs have a character in the same party and they do things together" kind of game so I figure there are a couple of ways I can run this: 1. Put two or three players in each team where they each have their own PC that is a member of that team, put each team in its own game thread and run a huge game for all the different teams at the same time with overlapping threads. Game play will focus on the teams stepping on each others toes. This would be Ambitious and I'm wondering if that sort of thing is even possible. 2. Pick one of the teams (like Droaam or Cannith or something) and have four or five PCs each play their own member of the team and I'll NPC all the other teams. Gameplay will focus on just that one team as they are the only protagonists. This would be interesting, but maybe not as much as letting players control the various teams. 3. (my favourite) Give each PC control of an entire team. So one PC will be Cannith and can stat and control the entire team, one PC for Droaam, etc. Each player gets their own thread so that they dont' know what the other teams are up to and they compete directly against the other teams to accomplish their goals. Now what I like about Door #3 is that I'd run it such that there are common goals that everyone has to accomplish which will force the players to interact with each other. (I do NOT want to run a game where I'm running seperate threads for each player and they never interact with each other. I think PCs should entertain each other and I don't want to do THAT much work.) For example, it turns out that all the teams have to go through the same mountain pass guarded by a giant tribe. You can wait and ambush another team, but then you'll be weak enough for another team to take you out. Do you negotiate with the giants? Sneak around? Join forces with another team and then betray them? I'd use D&D3.5 rules to deal with all of the PvP resolution and I feel there are enough options here to make the game go. What do you think? Another example: Only one team needs to defeat the guardians of the forge. Do you want to race ahead, do that and leave? Or tail another team and let them do the messy work? So what I really need is feedback from you, other experienced players and DMs. Can a game like this work? What version is viable? Is there another way to run this game that would be fun? I like that I get to take advantage of PbP for this kind of game as it wouldn't work with everyone sitting around the same table. Please shower me with comments! Here's what I picture Droaam's team might look like, just so everyone has an idea of what scale I'm talking about. Every faction involved is sending their Best and Brightest, but it's still Eberron. Troll Cleric5 Harpy Bard6 Ogremage (actually Ogre Sorcerer8 with blue skin) Minotaur Ranger6
Nerdicus 09-27-07, 02:28 PM	Being fairly well versed in the PbP style of gaming I would suggest that you let each player control the team leader for one of the groups. Make each group small, 3-4 at the most, and make it clear to each player that they are the leader of their team. Then allow for each team to hear about the other teams goings-on through informants. That way each player gets to know what the other is doing, and knows that their exploits are equally as known. Or, if the players are mature enough, you could have each player leading one of the teams, and having the team-members played by the other players. This way everyone gets to be the leader of a team, and each team is filled with all the players.
naturax 09-27-07, 02:44 PM	Being fairly well versed in the PbP style of gaming I would suggest that you let each player control the team leader for one of the groups. Make each group small, 3-4 at the most, and make it clear to each player that they are the leader of their team. Then allow for each team to hear about the other teams goings-on through informants. That way each player gets to know what the other is doing, and knows that their exploits are equally as known. Players just hearing about each other's exploits isn't good enough for me because I don't want to be the only other real person they interact with. I need the game to focus on the players interacting with each other, even if that means the game is a fixed number of encounters intead of a fluid adventure. Or, if the players are mature enough, you could have each player leading one of the teams, and having the team-members played by the other players. This way everyone gets to be the leader of a team, and each team is filled with all the players. Now THAT is a really clever idea! There'd have to be a lot of trust, but it would give everyone a LOT to do. However, what happens when one team ambushes another? Then you have all 5 players playing on both sides of a conflict. Have you ever run anything in that style before? Also, thanks for your input!
Nerdicus 09-27-07, 03:51 PM	I have had the intentions of doing something like this, but haven't yet done so. But it shouldn't be too hard. One of the toughest things for PbP combat is maps. I personally like using Dungeon forge for making maps, but it doesn't include a simple graph template for it and so adding your X Y axis for reference can be tough. Some people like making simple maps using the keyboard to make simple maps, I have yet to figure out this method but it seems to be the easiest. I tried to do a quick expamle but it turned out to be harder then I thought. :) AL = Alanah AN = Andar AR = Argis DE = Dereck S# = Skeleton #X X\| 1\| 2\| 3\| 4\| 5\| 6\| 7\| 8\|X --------------------------- A\| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \|A B\| \|S5\| \| \| \| \| \| \|B C\| \|AL\|AR\| \|DE\| \| \| \|C D\| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \|D E\| \| \|AN\| \| \| \| \| \|E F\| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \|F G\| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \|G H\| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \|H I\| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \|I J\| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \|J --------------------------- X\| 1\| 2\| 3\| 4\| 5\| 6\| 7\| 8\|X NAME INIT AC HP/HP ------------------------------- Dereck 17 19 24/26 +2 AC Shield of Faith Andar 16 12 22/24 Skeleton 1 15 15 dead Skeleton 2 15 15 dead Skeleton 3 15 15 dead Skeleton 4 15 15 dead Skeleton 5 15 15 ??/?? Skeleton 6 15 15 dead Argis 9 16 19/24 +1 AC Magic Vestment Alanah 5 19 30/30 +1 AC Magic Vestment Here is an example I pulled from one of the games I played in( it has since died out). aside from that, I am interested in seeing where your game goes. Which site are you going to use? I suggest RPOL. If you do use that, be sure to send me a link to it so I can watch the game unfold! Edit: On RPOL there is a way to make everything line up all nicely. And I don't know how to do that. :)
naturax 09-27-07, 04:09 PM	I have had the intentions of doing something like this, but haven't yet done so. But it shouldn't be too hard. One of the toughest things for PbP combat is maps. ... aside from that, I am interested in seeing where your game goes. Which site are you going to use? I suggest RPOL. If you do use that, be sure to send me a link to it so I can watch the game unfold! Edit: On RPOL there is a way to make everything line up all nicely. And I don't know how to do that. :) Hi Nerdicus, thanks again for your input! I'm not too worried about the maps right now, first thing's first: I need to figure out how the actual game is going to get played out. Though when the time comes for intense tactical combat I'm going to have to figure something out. I'm a huge fan of myth-weavers (http://www.myth-weavers.com) so that's where I'm going to run the game. I actually have a duplicate discussion thread about this game concept over there and I'd be thrilled if you'd go lend your voice to it. Please go check it out! (http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=22425) (you're quoted on it!)