Campaign Diection - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Campaign Diection

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
mystrich
May 24, 2008 20:38:11 I plan on running several of the published adventures for my group (with a few of my own thrown in over, or levels edited and adventures placed in other spots), and it's mostly going to be a Sharn-based detective style adventure. Although, I'm hoping for suggestions on how to either get a few dungeon crawls or something other than crime solving, and/or suggestions on how to avoid every mission being "X was murdered/robbed/stolen, go find the murderer/thief/object" format.
If you think of anyway to incorporate higher organizations/clever plot twists, that would also be helpful.
#2
Edymnion
May 24, 2008 20:45:59 Hmmm... can't think of anything off the top of my head, but have you considered watching some of the police shows? I don't mean like cops, but maybe CSI? That would be a good place to harvest ideas from, as they give you clues and plot twists all wrapped up in a nice little package.

If you wanna expand beyond that, I recommend trying to find the Alien Nation DVD set. Its pretty cheap (like $20-$30 for the entire series), is a great series just to watch for fun, and has a lot of weird stuff that would go better in Eberron than normal CSI. Basic plot is that a quarter million alien slaves crashland on Earth and get absorbed by Los Angeles as citizens. The show revolves around two police detectives, a human and an alien.

It has a lot of race relation stuff in it (which could be good if you have a changeling in the party), but there's also a lot of exploring the alien culture, along with shadow organizations and the like you could cherry pick from.
#3
snarky_monkey
May 25, 2008 21:49:14 I know Whisper of the Vampire's blade screams intrigue, with the whole Dark Lanterns and rogue agent idea. You could really expand on using the Master Vampire, who "turned" the rogue agent, into more of a plot point and a link to exploring the more abandoned and seedy lower levels of Sharn to investigate their whereabouts and plans.
#4
mystrich
May 25, 2008 22:36:17
I know Whisper of the Vampire's blade screams intrigue, with the whole Dark Lanterns and rogue agent idea. You could really expand on using the Master Vampire, who "turned" the rogue agent, into more of a plot point and a link to exploring the more abandoned and seedy lower levels of Sharn to investigate their whereabouts and plans.

I guess I should have listed them when I said, "Most published"
The Forgotten Forge Series (With Whispers moved to a more likely spot and bumped in level)
The Victor/Hell's Heart Series from Dungeon
A Warforged Murder Mystery from Dungeon I can't think of the name
Voyage of the Golden Dragon
The idea of Queen with Burning Eyes
The Last Breaths of Ashenport from the Wizards site
Maybe the new adventure involving the mummy, but I need to finish reading it

A few I have to rewrite I know, but they're workable (so many theme-fitting level 7 adventures), but I do want to also steer away from murders in between. And I was the an "epic" ending, to fit the theme of Eberron. Anywhere from level 15-20, as long as the PCs are able to accomplish something important, rather than "You live the rest of your lives as great detectives. The End"
#5
ChaoticGood
May 25, 2008 22:42:30 Wow, Edy, that's such a great idea. Now I want to write some scenarios for this concept...

If you go the Alien Nation route, there are a lot of episodes that highlight the Newcomers' fear of being discovered by the Overlords (the aliens who owned the slave ship that crashed on Earth). You could run a lot of these plots with very little tweaking, replacing the Newcomers with a refugee Kalashtar population in Sharn and the Overlords with Inspired agents infiltrating Breland.

As an added bonus, there's a good reason for the Inspired to infiltrate Breland. As a monarchy nearing the brink of democratic revolution, the Inspired could be trying to set themselves up to seize important positions in Breland once the revolution occurs. (For that matter, they may be there to instigate the revolution... leading to encounters with Red Owl and her band.)
#6
wraithstrike
May 25, 2008 23:11:23
I plan on running several of the published adventures for my group (with a few of my own thrown in over, or levels edited and adventures placed in other spots), and it's mostly going to be a Sharn-based detective style adventure. Although, I'm hoping for suggestions on how to either get a few dungeon crawls or something other than crime solving, and/or suggestions on how to avoid every mission being "X was murdered/robbed/stolen, go find the murderer/thief/object" format.
If you think of anyway to incorporate higher organizations/clever plot twists, that would also be helpful.

In order to find the missing body/clue/etc they may have to go into the basement/attic/factory/dungeon.
#7
ornito
May 26, 2008 0:29:24 The simplest way to make an investigation campaign have a bit of a change is to make the PCs into the criminals. Give them something important to steal or maybe someone to kill and they have to use their knowledge of investigations to keep it secret. Afterwards maybe they find out that their employer wasn't who they thought he was and they've actually been working for a vampiric demi-lich mindflayer or something else of equal obvious evil. They could find this out just about the time their former employers new henchmen kick in the door to eliminate the loose ends the PCs have become. Now they have to uncover evidence or acquire items or intelligence which will stop their rival's evil scheme all the while dodging attacks from the villain and apprehension by the law.

As for getting the epic feel to a campaign I think the key is starting early. A friend of mine ran a campaign where the BBEG had a weapon which legends told could destroy everything except one suit of armor. This DM had actually gotten a list of every piece of plate armor and had multiple adventures to retrieve each of these individual pieces. Finally they had them all, just as the BBEG was ready to destroy countries and enslave their people. The plan was the group's fighter would suit up and lead the attack. So they're assembling it and it comes down to the last piece and the one to place it is a halfling who's home town was destroyed by the BBEG. Literally months of campaign are coming together and the player of the halfling announces right before placing the piece that he pulls out a hammer and breaks the piece. Jaws dropped. The halfling somehow teleported out and left the party wondering what just happened. Turns out BBEG kidnapped the halfling's sister at level 3 and for 20 levels of adventure the player never once let on to what was happening and what he had been asked to do. Even though it sucks for the rest of the party such a turn of events is to true to life and shocking that they all remembered it as one of the most fun sessions ever.
#8
mystrich
May 30, 2008 0:00:08 Any other suggestions? I was looking through several adventures, and so have gotten a few ideas, but want help deciding which goes where (or with adaption).

The Sunless Citadel: I would run this as someone (probably an NPC that the PCs would have gotten close to) gets hit with a debilitating disease. Especially bad in Eberron, given the lack of powerful magic. I plan on either setting this in Darguun to keep the goblins, and replace the dragon with a dragon-like creature like a wyvern or something.

Now I could also place it on Argonessan with a real dragon, but the level gap for what I want it connected to (the idea of a dragon trying to bring Xoriat back to start another war and restart the prophesy) is at least 7 levels (might edit both to be higher though, fixing this). As I can't think of how to fit Argonessan in other wise, but feel this could be/be part of the epic adventure I wanted to end with.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 mystrich May 24, 2008 20:38:11	I plan on running several of the published adventures for my group (with a few of my own thrown in over, or levels edited and adventures placed in other spots), and it's mostly going to be a Sharn-based detective style adventure. Although, I'm hoping for suggestions on how to either get a few dungeon crawls or something other than crime solving, and/or suggestions on how to avoid every mission being "X was murdered/robbed/stolen, go find the murderer/thief/object" format. If you think of anyway to incorporate higher organizations/clever plot twists, that would also be helpful.
#2 Edymnion May 24, 2008 20:45:59	Hmmm... can't think of anything off the top of my head, but have you considered watching some of the police shows? I don't mean like cops, but maybe CSI? That would be a good place to harvest ideas from, as they give you clues and plot twists all wrapped up in a nice little package. If you wanna expand beyond that, I recommend trying to find the Alien Nation DVD set. Its pretty cheap (like $20-$30 for the entire series), is a great series just to watch for fun, and has a lot of weird stuff that would go better in Eberron than normal CSI. Basic plot is that a quarter million alien slaves crashland on Earth and get absorbed by Los Angeles as citizens. The show revolves around two police detectives, a human and an alien. It has a lot of race relation stuff in it (which could be good if you have a changeling in the party), but there's also a lot of exploring the alien culture, along with shadow organizations and the like you could cherry pick from.
#3 snarky_monkey May 25, 2008 21:49:14	I know Whisper of the Vampire's blade screams intrigue, with the whole Dark Lanterns and rogue agent idea. You could really expand on using the Master Vampire, who "turned" the rogue agent, into more of a plot point and a link to exploring the more abandoned and seedy lower levels of Sharn to investigate their whereabouts and plans.
#4 mystrich May 25, 2008 22:36:17	I know Whisper of the Vampire's blade screams intrigue, with the whole Dark Lanterns and rogue agent idea. You could really expand on using the Master Vampire, who "turned" the rogue agent, into more of a plot point and a link to exploring the more abandoned and seedy lower levels of Sharn to investigate their whereabouts and plans. I guess I should have listed them when I said, "Most published" The Forgotten Forge Series (With Whispers moved to a more likely spot and bumped in level) The Victor/Hell's Heart Series from Dungeon A Warforged Murder Mystery from Dungeon I can't think of the name Voyage of the Golden Dragon The idea of Queen with Burning Eyes The Last Breaths of Ashenport from the Wizards site Maybe the new adventure involving the mummy, but I need to finish reading it A few I have to rewrite I know, but they're workable (so many theme-fitting level 7 adventures), but I do want to also steer away from murders in between. And I was the an "epic" ending, to fit the theme of Eberron. Anywhere from level 15-20, as long as the PCs are able to accomplish something important, rather than "You live the rest of your lives as great detectives. The End"
#5 ChaoticGood May 25, 2008 22:42:30	Wow, Edy, that's such a great idea. Now I want to write some scenarios for this concept... If you go the Alien Nation route, there are a lot of episodes that highlight the Newcomers' fear of being discovered by the Overlords (the aliens who owned the slave ship that crashed on Earth). You could run a lot of these plots with very little tweaking, replacing the Newcomers with a refugee Kalashtar population in Sharn and the Overlords with Inspired agents infiltrating Breland. As an added bonus, there's a good reason for the Inspired to infiltrate Breland. As a monarchy nearing the brink of democratic revolution, the Inspired could be trying to set themselves up to seize important positions in Breland once the revolution occurs. (For that matter, they may be there to instigate the revolution... leading to encounters with Red Owl and her band.)
#6 wraithstrike May 25, 2008 23:11:23	I plan on running several of the published adventures for my group (with a few of my own thrown in over, or levels edited and adventures placed in other spots), and it's mostly going to be a Sharn-based detective style adventure. Although, I'm hoping for suggestions on how to either get a few dungeon crawls or something other than crime solving, and/or suggestions on how to avoid every mission being "X was murdered/robbed/stolen, go find the murderer/thief/object" format. If you think of anyway to incorporate higher organizations/clever plot twists, that would also be helpful. In order to find the missing body/clue/etc they may have to go into the basement/attic/factory/dungeon.
#7 ornito May 26, 2008 0:29:24	The simplest way to make an investigation campaign have a bit of a change is to make the PCs into the criminals. Give them something important to steal or maybe someone to kill and they have to use their knowledge of investigations to keep it secret. Afterwards maybe they find out that their employer wasn't who they thought he was and they've actually been working for a vampiric demi-lich mindflayer or something else of equal obvious evil. They could find this out just about the time their former employers new henchmen kick in the door to eliminate the loose ends the PCs have become. Now they have to uncover evidence or acquire items or intelligence which will stop their rival's evil scheme all the while dodging attacks from the villain and apprehension by the law. As for getting the epic feel to a campaign I think the key is starting early. A friend of mine ran a campaign where the BBEG had a weapon which legends told could destroy everything except one suit of armor. This DM had actually gotten a list of every piece of plate armor and had multiple adventures to retrieve each of these individual pieces. Finally they had them all, just as the BBEG was ready to destroy countries and enslave their people. The plan was the group's fighter would suit up and lead the attack. So they're assembling it and it comes down to the last piece and the one to place it is a halfling who's home town was destroyed by the BBEG. Literally months of campaign are coming together and the player of the halfling announces right before placing the piece that he pulls out a hammer and breaks the piece. Jaws dropped. The halfling somehow teleported out and left the party wondering what just happened. Turns out BBEG kidnapped the halfling's sister at level 3 and for 20 levels of adventure the player never once let on to what was happening and what he had been asked to do. Even though it sucks for the rest of the party such a turn of events is to true to life and shocking that they all remembered it as one of the most fun sessions ever.
#8 mystrich May 30, 2008 0:00:08	Any other suggestions? I was looking through several adventures, and so have gotten a few ideas, but want help deciding which goes where (or with adaption). The Sunless Citadel: I would run this as someone (probably an NPC that the PCs would have gotten close to) gets hit with a debilitating disease. Especially bad in Eberron, given the lack of powerful magic. I plan on either setting this in Darguun to keep the goblins, and replace the dragon with a dragon-like creature like a wyvern or something. Now I could also place it on Argonessan with a real dragon, but the level gap for what I want it connected to (the idea of a dragon trying to bring Xoriat back to start another war and restart the prophesy) is at least 7 levels (might edit both to be higher though, fixing this). As I can't think of how to fit Argonessan in other wise, but feel this could be/be part of the epic adventure I wanted to end with.