Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Napoleon98 05-08-06, 03:30 AM	Hey all, I have a hardcore need for advice. I have palyed dnd for a looooong time, and as it stands I know the most about the rules out of everyone I play with, even the DM. We go off topic a lot and into hypothetical and sometimes real debates as to what the rules for something are, and everyone turns to me. That is why they want me to DM. I don't think I'd be all that good at it since I am somewhat lacking in the spontaneous coming up with something area,and I lack the patience and foresight to plan out a really long campaign, and just flat out don't want to run a prerendered campagin. I would like to write a cmapaign so I can run it, and want to do so in the Eberron setting. Like I said, I knwo most of the rules, and have a fmailiarity with almost everything in any book, though I still need to read the Eberron setting front to back and the DM guide to fill in the holes. I own the following books: DMG,MM,PhB,EBC,Races of Eberron, Psionic Handbook, Compelte Psionic, Weapons of Legacy, Arms and Equiptment, FrC,Spell Compendium, and probably a few more. I can also borrow pretty much every FR book from my DM, and some other non-setting specific books: BoVD,Compelte Divine/adventurer/fighter(if we can find it). Basically, any advice on how to come up with some cool ideas(or jsut any you have :P ) and how to proceed with it would be great. I would like to include a little bit of everything in it:psionics,intrigue,plot twists, good fights, etc. And find a nice balance between actual combat and RP. My DM doesn't focus that much on RP actually, so maybe a little more there... But yea, so any and all advice for jsut DMing in general, or how to make a good Eberron cmpaign would be great! Thanks in advance :)
MojoMonkeyMan 05-08-06, 11:06 AM	You could just take one of the adventure paths from Dungeon magazine and adapt it for Eberron. You could also start with the forgoten forge in the ECS followed by the three other modules. That's the easy thing if you just want to get started. It also provides a good framework for how to build a campaign. I write my campaigns like this: I start with what i think would be a good set of scenes and adventures for low-mid level (4-8 lvl) characters. I want action, intrigue, suspense, humor, etc., and i want it to last at least 5-8 sessions of play and it has to end with something really Huge, heroic and earth shattering, which sets the stage for the second half of the campaign. Then, I figure out how to get them to this point. Why do they adventure together? What kind of resources do they have? How can I make them bond into a coherent group despite their being individuals with different needs and desires? I also try to encourage my players to create the character they really want to play - despite the needs of the "traditional" party. I ask them to work at home on their characters and they can call or e-mail me with any ideas over a two week period. As we discuss their characters, i am able to add bits into the campaign that highlight their character's uniqueness. Everyone gets to stand out this way and the players are more connected to the campaign world. Once I establish the reason they are together, i create suspense and, ultimately, action. I think action is necessary in the first session for people to learn to coordinate their characters, devise strategies, and build a bond of commaraderie (especially ones built in relative secret). I also like to ensure that the action incorporates opportunity for role-play. I don't like to use the battle mat on the first session. I want it to be more 2nd edition style with everyone describing what they are doing and how they look doing it. The battle mat become more useful later when combat is complex. Specifically, that first session is one of the most important for the campaign. Half of it is spent getting to know each others' characters (appearace, personality, goals), establishing pecking order (who is the voice of the party), introducing them to relevant NPC's, and creating a sense of mystery. Then the next hour or two is comprised of off and on action mixed with suspense and humor. Essentially, small tests of their abilities culminating in a show down with the first Bad GUY. The bad guy gets away and they chase. The next session writes itself. They chase the bad guy and encounter local color. There is a thread running now called Set Pieces - take a peak at that. From here on my goal is to move them slowly toward the mid-level climax. They find evidence of crimes, are hired by patrons, read something mysterious in the paper, overhear rumors, etc. They have a lot of choices with what they can do, but there is always a theme of "Your BEST (and most obvious) choice lies along THIS path --->" I drop a lot of breadcrumbs knowing that some will be gobbled up by the birds, but there will still be enough for the PC's to find the path. I have found that something obvious to me, is not necessarily so obvious to them. I would suggest that you remain flexible, but not with your overarching goals. Be flexible with how many ways they can reach those goals. Don't rely on 1 NPC or a DC 25 search check of an abandoned building to clue them in on something important. Make sure there is a network of information sources built into your campaign. You want this to flow naturally, like you intended it all along. This should get you started. The second half of the campaign will naturally flow out of the first based on your BIG mid-level Climax. You don't have to know everything up front. Your players will tell you what they want, and you will figure out what you want. Find a compromise that lets everyone have fun. If you get stuck, insert premade modules or adventures tailored to your world, especially if you are pressed for time. I look forward to hearing more. Feel free to Message me with further questions.
Naudachu 05-08-06, 01:54 PM	Wow, that's really great advice. Its too bad that will be lost in the messageboard migration. Maybe you can repost it, since I'm sure a lot of people will find it helpful. As far as my suggestions. Start with what drew you to the Eberron setting. Write down the ideas that excited you and start brainstorming from there. I think the main hurdle to brainstorming is getting stuck on bad ideas. If you press on with bad ideas, they almost always lead you to good ones. In other words don't sabotage yourself. Nobody's going to see what you've written down. And you can always throw it out or delete it. Another idea to really meld the PCs into the story is to meet with each one individually and run a short session one on one exploring part of their backstory. Then when you start the campaign everybody has a better idea of their character and why they are there. This way it will probably be easier on you to tie them together. Thirdly, cannibalize everything you can get your hands on. I find myself going through old 2nd and 1st edition modules (you can usually find them cheap in the used bin) and lifting maps, traps, etc. This saves you time and it gives you a better understanding of how to build your own in the future. Well, good luck and let us know how it goes.
DoveArrow 05-08-06, 04:14 PM	I'm the kind of DM that likes to overprepare (mainly because I'm not very good at on-the-fly DMing). Months before a game, I take the time to write out full fledged modules, complete with room descriptions, monster stat blocks, developments, etc. The first is that it gives me the chance to introduce the flavorful elements of a particular campaign setting that I may not be terribly familiar with. For example, if I want to introduce my players to a particular area in Sharn, like Wroann's Gate, I can write out what information is likely to be relevant to my players, such as what the place looks like, how much lightning rail tickets are, how they can find that information out, etc. Also, if I'm running an encounter that deals with environmental factors, such as smoky conditions, or a dust storm, I can have the rules for those situations readily at hand without having to thumb through the Dungeon Master's Guide. Finally, I like it because now I have enough material that I can sometimes lift an encounter from one game, rework it just a little bit, and create an entirely new encounter in another game. Yeah, it may sound like overkill, but seriously, if you give yourself enough time and you plan it well enough, you can create fantastic and memorable encounters that will stick with the players for a long time.
Mind Flayer Monk 05-09-06, 01:50 AM	Wow great posts-especially MojoMonkey Just one thing thats worked well for me, "break something" By break something I mean take something thats existing in Eberron and have the PCs be somehow involved in its downfall, for example House Jorasco or Sharn or the Wardens of the Wood or basically anything in the realm and then piece your adventures around the fallout of that. It is a great way to introduce all the elements of the game at an even pace. You can slowly show the effects of this event on Eberron-you can then have it rebuilt or have something new take its place or have some other group make a power struggle for it. Start slow and dont introduce too many new elements, have the players find these elements. Stay away from Sharn unless your players have already read some Eberron. Its sensory overload. And most importantly, your main goal is to build a campaign where the players have an emotional connection to the setting. Thats why I like "breaking something", it automatically connects the PCs to a major event in the game world giving them a "connection".
Mind Flayer Monk 05-09-06, 01:54 AM	Thirdly, cannibalize everything you can get your hands on. I find myself going through old 2nd and 1st edition modules (you can usually find them cheap in the used bin) and lifting maps, traps, etc. I've cannibalized a few Call of Cthulu adventures with some excellent results as well
Logos7 05-09-06, 02:00 AM	I found the adventuer in the back of the book as well as the eberron adventuer's in the dragon mags to be a great source of inspiration (or just plain play) They all seem to have gotten that noir/adventuer feel Oh no we gotta save this guyy from a rampageing mad man genious who he spurned a job from and now is paying the price and his daughter is tied to a bell some where and it's getting preety close to bell time and Dear Dolurth the bad guy has a bunch of creepy henchmen and it's a carnival on top of all that Definately one of my favorites so far ,also shards of eberron is a nice 3 adventure drop I didn't find the ones that are sposed to come after the one in the book that great ;-| Logos
Glupinickname 05-09-06, 03:49 AM	My Eberron campaign mostly meandered about for a year and half 'cause I ran sessions irregulary. Ok, there's not much I could do about that. There's the exams and laziness and the fact that after a while you just get sick from all the rulebooks and just want to play the session without several hours of preparation. Now, you can hardly be more lazy than me, but just in case you start running games every two or three weeks instead of every weekend and still actually plan to have a *storyline* in you campaign, here's two advices I learned the hard way. And if I sound bitter, it's only because I've could have really used them two years ago. 1) Play fast, play hard - don't plan epic storyline that the players will need forever to complete. You might be next George R. R. Martin, but by the time players actually begin to unravel your brilliant story, they'll grow a beard and start using pension plans. Actually, pretty much like the readers of SoI&F. So keep the stories short and simple. PCs save someone. Villain gets ticked at them. You fight with Villain's goons. You fight with Villain's Evil Lieutenant. You fight with Villain in his Secret Underground Lair. PCs win. Hoorah! Teh Enb. You just made through 5 to 7 interesting session and both you and PCs actually have some sense of accomplishment afterwards. And it didn't last for two years! 2) Make up you damn mind!- At first, I was totally sceptical about Eberron Campaign Setting. Previews on the D&D site were so vague that my friend and me laughed loudly at seeing another FR clone. But when I heard of rumours of what was actually in the book - Ho boyo! Three months later, my copy of ECS sits in my lap and I'm desperately thinking: my god, where do I begin? Changelings. Lord of Blades. House Cannith. Children of Winter. Draconic Prophecy. Order of the Emerald Claw. Lightning Rail. Airships. Xen'drik. Karrnath. Sharn. House Phiarlan & House Thuranni. Now, I could have run with any of these ideas and make a great storyline. Instead, I wanted to include them all and ended up with a useless flesh golem that I couldn't reanimate. For the past 15 months I've been jumping from one idea to the other like a maniac. I would watch "You Only Live Twice" on TV. Ooooh, let's run an James Bond adventure. Then I catch the re-run of "Raiders of the Lost Arc" for the Xth time on TV. Nonono, let's run tomb-raiding adventure on Xen'drik! Then I start playing "Thief 2:The Metal Age" on my comp. Again, I... But you get the picture. So. Choose one, two or maybe three out of those many, many great ideas that Eberron offers. Make a short storyline about it and run it. Try to create some nice atmosphere: plothooks that will catch players imaginations, handouts, some nice pictures and appropriate music like Indiana Jones or Hellboy soundtrack. Description of monsters and NPCs that sound like something out of the trashy pulp novel might also be nice, if you like that sort of thing (I know I do). And you're ready to roll. Especially nice part of it is that you can actually center three or four adventures around only one Eberron organisaiton and introduce it proprely to the players. After they finish storyline, you can easly move on to some other cool thing, or maybe even not depending on the interests of players. And hopefully, one day you'll maybe even come to that great dungeon crawl to the Castle of Erandis Vol who's honorary guard is made out of ghosts of all of the past adventurers who actually managed to reach the castle and got immediatelly zapped into oblivion by her.
Napoleon98 05-09-06, 05:51 AM	Holy Crap that's a LOT of great advice! Thank's for all of your feedback, and I'm going to use it all(well as best I can, lol) and hope I can someday give advice this great to aspiring DM such as I am now :D