Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jpasimio 05-19-07, 04:57 PM	I have been Dm'ing XE since Faction Adventure #3. I run two separate groups, one Blackwheel and one Cabal of Shadows. I really enjoy the world of Eberron and I really enjoy the adventures that were written. Here is some stuff I don't like: I understand that a lot of the limitations are in place for convention purposes. (GP limit on magic items, for example) But finding awesome magic items is one of the main motivations for playing. My players have no motivation to look for anything any more since they know that they will not get to keep anything. Even the event treasure is useless to them since we only play one session at a time. The story rewards seem cool, but then again they also seem kind of useless. Some of them unlock prestige classes, what are the odds that I want that prestige class? One of the Blackwheel rewards gives a bonus when doing MAADs. Guess what, next adventure... no MAADs. Since the level bump, my players have leveled up to level 5. This is after 2 adventures and 2 DM marks. This means that when they played the Expedition adventure, they were a level behind. I understand that he encounters can be scaled for lower levels, but how were they even supposed to get to 6th level? They level up sooo slooowly. The questions at the end of the adventure are always answered with the best answer (as I play with an exceptional group) and they still haven't made it to level 6. Leveling up is another huge motivation for playing. This means they can reach the next level every 2 months or so. Also, each adventure pretty much has two endings, a good one and a bad one. It's like playing a video game. Except video games are written about the main characters where these adventures are written for a generic hero to fill in the role. It seems like amazing events are happening around the PCs, but instead of them influencing them, they are merely witness to it. I really enjoy the story, and I can see that there is a huge plot forming. There are just so many of the core perks of playing RPGs that have been removed. And after playing 5 games you get a reward, a miniature and some campaign cards. (By the way, 2 of my players are registered for the rewards program, yet they get no rewards points. Attempts to contact RPGA have been unanswered for months.) Grumble Grumble Grumble.
Skerrit 05-19-07, 09:31 PM	I understand that a lot of the limitations are in place for convention purposes. (GP limit on magic items, for example) But finding awesome magic items is one of the main motivations for playing. My players have no motivation to look for anything any more since they know that they will not get to keep anything. Even the event treasure is useless to them since we only play one session at a time. The story rewards seem cool, but then again they also seem kind of useless. Some of them unlock prestige classes, what are the odds that I want that prestige class? One of the Blackwheel rewards gives a bonus when doing MAADs. Guess what, next adventure... no MAADs. Since the level bump, my players have leveled up to level 5. This is after 2 adventures and 2 DM marks. This means that when they played the Expedition adventure, they were a level behind. I understand that he encounters can be scaled for lower levels, but how were they even supposed to get to 6th level? They level up sooo slooowly. The questions at the end of the adventure are always answered with the best answer (as I play with an exceptional group) and they still haven't made it to level 6. Leveling up is another huge motivation for playing. This means they can reach the next level every 2 months or so. Also, each adventure pretty much has two endings, a good one and a bad one. It's like playing a video game. Except video games are written about the main characters where these adventures are written for a generic hero to fill in the role. It seems like amazing events are happening around the PCs, but instead of them influencing them, they are merely witness to it. I really enjoy the story, and I can see that there is a huge plot forming. There are just so many of the core perks of playing RPGs that have been removed. And after playing 5 games you get a reward, a miniature and some campaign cards. (By the way, 2 of my players are registered for the rewards program, yet they get no rewards points. Attempts to contact RPGA have been unanswered for months.) Let me try to address these in order: 1) Treasure: The way treasure is given out is dictated by the D&D campaigns model, and we don't really have the authority to change that. However, there are some advantages to the way money is given out. Maybe you think that you found a cool item that got to keep in a different model, but someone else might think it sucks that you got the cool item and they got nothing. At least this way you all get the same money (its the effectively the same way LG splits gp). As for Story Rewards, I think you just need to see a few more, some are better than others. Not every reward is great for every PC. 2) Slow leveling: That does seem alittle slow to me. Did one of your mods go poorly? It's possible that you were just short of 6, though I know it was possible to be level 6. I do admit that we have reavaluated how much xp people were getting and we have increased it a bit in the upcoming mods so that you can level a little faster. It should be possible to level 7 or 8 by Gen Con. 3) Mod Endings: Not all mods have only two endings, though its possible these did. Of course, when DMing a mod, you can always adjust the ending based on what your PCs did. Mods are really only a guideline, and a writer can never anticipate everything players might do. Now of course, some times mods are only going to have two options. The PCs recovered the grand poohbah, or the PCs did not recover the grand poohbah. There really isn't a second option. 4) Reward mailings: Ya, I got screwed on that one too. I guess there was some issue with reward point reporting or mailing or something but lots of people didn't get anything the last mailing. I recommend you keep emailing every RPGA email you can find for HQ. Hopefully it can be sorted out for your group. Note the Factionmasters don't actually have any control or power over the rewards mailings. Effectively we're just players/DMs like you when it comes to those mailings.
Jpasimio 05-20-07, 03:18 AM	Thanks for the response. My complaints were not intended for the factionmasters. You guys are doing a great job. I also understand the logic behind why most things are the way they are. I'm just shaking my fist at the powers that be hoping that some changes can be made.
lseelba 05-20-07, 04:23 AM	Thanks for the response. My complaints were not intended for the factionmasters. You guys are doing a great job. I also understand the logic behind why most things are the way they are. I'm just shaking my fist at the powers that be hoping that some changes can be made. I don't know the intricacies of the leveling system, but I ran all four Blackwheel mods that were available recently and the people who played in them leveled up to 6.
Timlagor 05-20-07, 06:45 AM	My BW character made 6th on lseelba's games. My Covenant character made 5th on 3 of them so may or may not be able to make 6th -I played both DM Marks which may give less xp. Codex Charater is still 4th after 2 (one of each).
echoota 05-20-07, 10:37 AM	One way of getting around some of these issues, at least for a little while, is to use the DM marks. There are three that are available for every module cycle and so in those you could make a trilogy of adventures where you'd be free to even hand out artifacts to use during the trilogy if you wanted to. They couldn't be used in standard modules, but you could at least give them some some payoff within those three DM marks.
Ishorn 05-21-07, 02:46 PM	My frustation is that in my group the DM has stated that monetary is treasure is party treasure. So the party votes on what magic items to buy for the group. The BDF and Ranger get mega items and my cleric has to beg for a masterwork mace.
quizboy 05-21-07, 05:42 PM	Jpasimio, I understand some of your frustration. I hope we can help some: First, some of the Story Objects are great, and some are like you said (luck of the draw if it will apply to you). One example of a *great* story object (for a Cabal game that has expired) is the snivelling sycophant. It's a 3hp, 10pt buy human that reappears each mod. I've seen lots of fun happen with these snivelling sycophants, and it's been a blast. Don't give up on Story Objects... There are good ones out there. (others give extra gold, discounts on services, etc. ) Second, echoota is right, you can address some of these issues in your DM's Marks. Write your own or run a published mod (or one out of dungeon magazine). In those, you can put in more items or even some of the items the characters have gained in previous games; it's up to you. This means that you can keep the players interested and looking for that next item in your DM's Marks. (Just be careful not to make them overpowered.) Lastly, the fact that your players are leveling so slowly and aren't getting rewards for the games that they are playing concerns me. I'd suggest that you ask your players to verify that their games that they've played are correctly reported for their characters. (Character tracker->faction->player name to verify games played by that character). I've had a similar problem in that I have player credit for playing in a game, so I get the rewards, but my character didn't get credit for playing in the game (so no xp!). That would explain why the characters are leveling so slowly and some aren't getting rewards. I hope that isn't the issue, but if it is, there are ways to fix it. First, send an email to rpgasanctioning@wizards.com; it may take a while, but it can be fixed. Second, make use of the Adventure Journals mandatory (if you don't already). This will allow your players to keep track of all their games and they'll have the documentation to prove it. It's extra paperwork, but it'll save you. Finally, be persistent. Keep checking the tracker to make sure requested updates occur. Good luck! --Steven
Timlagor 05-21-07, 06:52 PM	My frustation is that in my group the DM has stated that monetary is treasure is party treasure. So the party votes on what magic items to buy for the group. The BDF and Ranger get mega items and my cleric has to beg for a masterwork mace. I'm slightly confused by this. Are you saying that they're counting your EV as "party treasure" and not letting you spend it yourself? the GM isn't entitled to do that and you shouldn't allow it. If you're talking about Event Treasure then that's a rather different matter. (I'll leave aside why anyone would want a masterwork mace)
Ishorn 05-23-07, 01:04 PM	I'm slightly confused by this. Are you saying that they're counting your EV as "party treasure" and not letting you spend it yourself? the GM isn't entitled to do that and you shouldn't allow it. If you're talking about Event Treasure then that's a rather different matter. (I'll leave aside why anyone would want a masterwork mace) I was being sarcastic about the masterwork mace. The DM has the party pool all the treasure we have including the money we have after character creation and then we will vote on what to spend the monetary treasure on magical items for the group. He started doing this when we started MoH and continued this through EXs adventures we have played in. Is this common for most D&D campaign groups or is this something this DM has decided is good for our group?
pedr 05-23-07, 01:24 PM	I was being sarcastic about the masterwork mace. The DM has the party pool all the treasure we have including the money we have after character creation and then we will vote on what to spend the monetary treasure on magical items for the group. He started doing this when we started MoH and continued this through EXs adventures we have played in. Is this common for most D&D campaign groups or is this something this DM has decided is good for our group?This is extremely abnormal. In most RPGA campaigns each PC is an island. In D&D Campaigns like XE you equip your character using your EV. Technically you should write that up on an equipment sheet (can't remember it's name, download one from the XE homepage, although it's branded 'Mark of Heroes'). You can buy whatever you like from your EV which the CS gives you access to. This happens before you arrive at the game, and is fixed for the whole event you're playing at. Any cash left over from your EV, plus the Coin on Hand you have based on level/charisma/skill ranks is coin you're assumed to have in your PCs pocket at the moment that the opening boxed-text is read. It's your PC's and whatever you do with it is up to you. You can't spend this cash before the GM starts to read the module introduction (technically, though some GM's will hand-wave that). This means that in some adventures you will not have any opportunity to spend any of that money at all (You can imagine an adventure which starts, for instance, on an air-ship and there's no-where on board to buy your masterwork mace!) So it's a gamble to leave cash from your EV as Coin on Hand in the hope that you can pool it with other characters to buy something that none of you could afford individually. Sometimes it's a good idea, but it is a risk. Your GM cannot force your character to leave some EV unspent, nor can he force your character to co-operate with other characters in pooling money. Now, social pressures might prevail, but it's not standard, it's not recommended and it's not really in line with the way RPGA campaigns operate. I'd seriously recommend taking more control over what your character spends - and doing so at the equip your character stage, rather than in-game, in-character, in Stormreach.
Ishorn 05-23-07, 02:40 PM	Thanks for the information and advice. I thought this was strange. The DM is wanting the rest of the party to max out the BDF Warforge and Elven Ranger. I will bring this up next time we meet. I had enough gold to buy a +1 mace for one of my characters and a +1 ring of protection for another of my characters and I was nixed so that we could buy magical weapons and armor for the fighter and the Ranger. These two players only play fighters and elven rangers in the faction adventures or MoH adventures so they get the best gear.
Timlagor 05-23-07, 03:11 PM	In addition to which the GM has no business taking any part whatsoever in the decisions your characters make (except through the proper portayal of NPCs who will naturally have their own agendas)
dreamwolf 05-23-07, 06:13 PM	Sometimes it pays to have the party work together on purchases and plan out spending, but it certainly shouldn't be to the disadvantage of any individual. My group often discuss spending plans so that the artificer can "buy" things for the creation price and distribute them to his fellow PCs, and have them buy some of the things he needs in exchange. This saves the party money, and I don't really have an issue with it. However, no player (let alone a DM) should pressure you, or even suggest, to give up some of your EV to pump up another player. The game is supposed to be a shared story, where everyone has moments to shine and take center stage, not where half of the party is there to play backup to the other half.
lseelba 05-24-07, 12:16 AM	I was being sarcastic about the masterwork mace. The DM has the party pool all the treasure we have including the money we have after character creation and then we will vote on what to spend the monetary treasure on magical items for the group. He started doing this when we started MoH and continued this through EXs adventures we have played in. Is this common for most D&D campaign groups or is this something this DM has decided is good for our group? This is fine for a home game...I guess, since the DM is always right XD However, if he's doing this for Xen'drik Expeditions...you all are not really playing Xen'drik Expeditions. You're playing a home game using the XE mods. Have you all read the campaign standards?