Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sanctius 08-04-05, 04:22 PM	My group have been playing PnP for the last 5+ years for most members, and we are just now starting to try out eberron. Seems very promising from what I have read so far. I chose to the DM for this campaign as I always liked introducing my players to new areas and worlds they never set foot in before. And usually I dont have a problem knowing where to start etc. but with Eberron I am totally at a loss. Anyone have any recommendations on where to start, what kind of campaign I should introduce my players to as I really want the to enjoy themselves and ofcourse have a blast myself :) I was thinking of borrowing some of the Murder mysteries from this board and putting them in Sharn, but from what I have read on Sharn (dont have the Sharn book, so its kinda limited) I dont really know if thats a wise chose, the city just seems TOO big, they would never find the exit hehe :) So any advice from you guys would be really appreciated.
Master of shaarat'khesh 08-04-05, 04:31 PM	Sharn is huge but a great place to set up a "noir" type murder mystery campign. You should get it ( the Sharn Source Book) to know more about the layout and power players in the city but you could just as easily wing it if you'd prefer. There is also the rest of the continent and the cities of the other nations too. There isn't a lot of detailed info on any of them so it's pretty much up to you to fill in the blanks. If you're going for a campaign set around the "pulp" action adventure. you could adapt other modules or your own and go globe hopping to Xen'drik or Sarlona or all over Khorvaire itself. With the new transportation modes in Eberron you can avoid the redundant and tedious travel times and side-trek happenings that sometimes occur in a regular campaign. Khorvaire is huge and full of great areas to base a campaign in and around. The Mournlands are a terrific area to introduce new players to the effects the last war had on the people of Khorvaire. Any area around the Mournlands feels the tragedy and it serves as a great way to let the players see how Eberron is so different than other settings.
Sanctius 08-04-05, 04:39 PM	I was thinking something along the lines of starting in a mediocre sized town (20k-30k citizens) and get the PCs to interact with some of the different houses so they can see they have some effect in the world and also learn a bit about the politics in the world. And then maybe have them allign them with one(or more) of the houses and get them to do small jobs that requires them to travel outside the city limits. After a couple of jobs they would then be asked to report to the head office of the house in Sharn or some other big city and thereby moving them around. They can then choose to go there or go some other place, just so they have it in the back of their mind that its an option.
Master of shaarat'khesh 08-04-05, 04:44 PM	Yeah that works! I like it on a couple levels; first you can introduce them at your own pace to the ways and world of Eberron and second; It can really have an impact on them as to just how big Sharn is if they are small town locals who haven't ever been before. By giving them the option you also give the players the power to feel like the heroes as well, which is what Eberron is focused on; PC being the heroes. Good luck :)
Sanctius 08-04-05, 04:47 PM	hehe thanks, I have 1 question though. My group always have trouble meeting up, and the "you all know eachother before we start" approach really doesnt cut it for me, takes the fun out of it ;) What kind of advice would you give that isnt in general but more eberron aligned? :) Kinda tough question, but hope someone can help a bit.
Thrincold 08-04-05, 07:07 PM	Ah just do what I do, have them all start in a stereo-typical bar, have a bar fight, describe some cool crap that happens, then have them meet sharing a jail cell. First adventure is for free, working off debt to whomever you need them to from the fight. :) Its not subtle but makes em work together and bypasses that whole you grew up together tedium.
Naudachu 08-04-05, 07:35 PM	Well there are groups they could be a part of that would throw them together: Wayfarer's, bounty hunters for Tharashk, etc. Using the patron idea, they all know one person or are hired by one person and thrown together. You could use the plot from Reservoir Dogs, Ronin, etc. There's something about sharing in a dramatic experience that brings people together. Just get them together, and they'll find a reason to stay that way.
Cloud Divider 08-04-05, 07:51 PM	Anyone have any recommendations on where to start, what kind of campaign I should introduce my players to as I really want the to enjoy themselves and ofcourse have a blast myself :) It'll largely depend on what kind of campaign you want to run. If you want something noire-ish, Sharn's a phenomenal locale. If you're wanting something more in the vein of a Wild West Frontier, then Q'barra could be great. If you want pirates...well, there's lots of options. I was thinking of borrowing some of the Murder mysteries from this board and putting them in Sharn, but from what I have read on Sharn (dont have the Sharn book, so its kinda limited) I dont really know if thats a wise chose, the city just seems TOO big, they would never find the exit hehe :) Well, think of it this way. New York City is huge. Los Angeles is huge. Las Vegas is huge. Seattle is huge. I've set campaigns in all of those locations, and had buckets of fun. Don't take it too seriously that you need to know absolutely everything to run a game in The Big City. And unlike trying to run a game in Modern LA, you're unlikely to have a player that can use his own local knowledge to metagame in Sharn ("If we take the Orange train, and then the #42 Express Bus, we should be able to make it to X with a minimum amount of contact with the authorities..."). The important part is to go for the flavor. Only worry about the stuff that matters - if the players are heading to Overlook, bring up the fact that they run into a Kalashtar street-fair, which includes an interesting demonstration that's somewhere between ballet and martial arts. If they end up in a bad neighborhood, have a pack of halfling gang-bangers rough up a goblinoid merchant. Don't even worry about what streets or bridges you use to get from A to B - in the big picture, it really doesn't matter. Bring up names of Towers, Stores, or NPCs as you see fit, but don't feel obligated to bring them up again (assuming it has no major significance beyond a single average tree in the forest). So any advice from you guys would be really appreciated. For your first session, you want to start the campaign with a BANG! You want to show them what's COOL about Eberron, and why it's so neat to play in (compared to other settings). You want ACTION, SUSPENSE, BIG EXCITEMENT! Think of your very first game session with a new setting as if you were writing the Pilot Episode of a new TV series. You want to include all the neat stuff you can to try and draw your audience in and convince them to tune in for the rest of the series. I REALLY disagree with the prior poster (using the "you begin in a bar" cliche"), because you've got so many better opportunities to play with. Don't start slow - start out In Media Res (in the middle of things). Don't worry about the details of how the characters are together or even how the PCs got to where they are - go with a simple premise ("You're all old war buddies")...you can expand on the details later, once the network picks you up for the other 16 episodes for the season. Maybe the players witness a murder...except they discover that the murderer's actually a changeling. Or maybe the victim was. Or either were merely under the effect of a Change Self spell. Have the murderer flee on the back of a running dinosaur (a vicious clawfoot chase through the crowded Sharn streets could be cool). Or maybe it's a flying dinosaur, and the PC's pursue on Skycoaches. Or maybe the PC's try to stunt-fly a Skycoach in hot pursuit of the raging clawfoot and barnstorm their way through bridges and passageways and the like... As you can see, it's pretty easy to take "mystery" and make it pretty actiony. If you run a mystery game for your first session, you'll want to be very cognizant of your players gaming style. Don't square-peg your players ("we like explosions!") into a round hole ("you're going to have to think your way through this one..."). Note - I'm NOT saying you can't run a mystery for your first game, but you'll have to pay VERY close attention to your pacing. Mysteries are still pretty tricky to run - you'll have to make sure you've got your clues lined up, so YOU know how to get the PC's from Victim to Motive to Murderer. You'll also want to get your redundancy taken care of - you'll want to ensure that there's multiple paths to get from start to finish, because inevitably players will miss (or misinterpret) clues, and you'll need to get them back on track. My PC's are currently working their way through a set of mysterious deaths - they're all tied together, but they've only now just figured out what they were killed for. They still don't know who the killer is... But perhaps they'll find out, since our next session opens with some "ninjas" crashing through a picture window... The last three-four sessions were all very heavy investigation, this will be the first combat in a long time. Hope that's been helpful. Feel free to PM me if you want more advice - I've got several posts in several threads on the subject.
Arden Blackleaf 08-04-05, 08:49 PM	For a good adventure. Run them through the Forgotten Forge in the back of the ECS. It introduces you to Eberron, plus it includes Warforged..
ryanroyce 08-04-05, 10:09 PM	Good introductory methods: * Prison: all the PCs are in a jail cell, accused of being the accomplices of a known criminal. They are eventually cleared of all charges, but they still get a few hours of nothing to do but talk to each other. ALT: they are guilty of the crimes and must execute their own jailbreak. Outside of a major city, a trial-by-dungeon is another option. * Decide how they're going to meet before they create characters. For instance, tell them "you all meet on an Orien train bound for Sharn. It's up to each of you to decide why." They can be a crewman, a paying passenger, someone owed a favor by an Orien heir, a stowaway, the conductor herself, or whatever. The train is a classic setting for a murder mystery, too. ;) * There are others, but its late and I have work in the morning... Ryan
ccerose 08-06-05, 01:18 AM	Raiders of the Lost Ark. I replaced the nazis with the Emerald Claw and made up my own artifact. The Emerald Claw believed that it was this artifact that gave power to the device the destroyed Cyre and in the process creating The Mournland. Encounters have consisted of bar room brawls, street fights set in a bazaar, dungeon crawls in old temples. They have traveled from one side of the continent to the other, by horse, train, and airship. My flow chart has several possibilities still to unfold, but it all culminates with the PCs infiltrating a religious ceremony to the Blood of Vol, and a fight to the finish wit scores of undead Emerald Claw fighters and their vampire leader. They'll either destroy the artifact in the battle, keep it for themselves, return it to be studied by government officials (the Aurum, unbeknownst to the PCs) who hired them at various adventures throughout the campaign.
Brastan 08-06-05, 03:07 AM	I have also recently begun doing prep work for a Sharn/Breland investigation mini-campaign. For a backing agency that fits well with mysteries and investigations you my want to look at House Medani. PG 235 of the ECS. The benefit of this House is its close tie to Breland which could lead to direct work from the crown. House Tharashk is just a bunch of bounty hunters. They need House Medani to figure out who it is they are supposed to be tracking in the first place. Remember characters do not have to possess the Dragon Mark of a give house to work for it. The Houses employ many non-marked non-family laborers. The average smithy with the Cannith gorgon on its sign will not be run by a marked member of the family or even one favored in the house. Forgotten Forge has always been good place to start. You might want to consider modifying it so the PCs come at it from an investigative end rather than as hired spelunkers. The opening body has already been found by a different group of adventures(who have been arrested). The PCs are contacted by the Watch through house Medani to investigate the murder. Step one is to track down the assailant which will result in a fight along the lines of the first bridge encounter. The assassin has the journal and the PCs recover it then along with evidence of more conspirators. Hopefully this will continue to drive the investigation. Continue tweaking. I trust your knowledge of your fellow gamers to know what will keep them interested.