Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 saragon42 Feb 17, 2009 15:16:02	So after a couple years of struggling, I've finally gotten my group to agree to an Eberron game. We'll be using 4th Edition rules - I've put together a conversion document that's about 50+ pages long, because I'm crazy - and it's a six-person party. All well and good. What's bugging me is how to start the game off. I made one rule for myself when I started trying to think of ideas for a first adventure: There will be no taverns. No mysterious strangers in dark corners, no bar fights, none of that. Nonetheless, a disparate collection of strangers needs a patron to bring them together, and who meets the following criteria: Has an important task that needs to be completed with their assistance. Able to pay for a party of adventurers to complete that task. Unable or unwilling to hire more experienced adventurers or a more cohesive party. Ideally, there should be one more bullet point on that list: The first adventure should somehow tie into the overall campaign arc. As I don't have one of those yet, I may have to pass on that for now. So that's what's got me stumped. I have a vague idea for the Morgrave Outreach Association being forced to hire adventurers "on the fly" from a town an expedition is passing through, but that's only a rough outline and I'm not sure how to develop that. Any suggestions?
#2 skrapsan Feb 17, 2009 16:00:56	There is a great short adventure at the end of the 3.5ed Campaign setting. Really fits your wishes. And if you arent planning on running it, then it makes for good inspiration.
#3 saragon42 Feb 17, 2009 16:50:32	There is a great short adventure at the end of the 3.5ed Campaign setting. Really fits your wishes. And if you arent planning on running it, then it makes for good inspiration. I'm familiar with it, but I'm not 100% comfortable using it, in large part because it's set in Sharn. I've already run these players through an urban one-shot set in Sharn (3E) and I don't want to retread old ground yet. Additionally, my players have expressed no real interest in being members of the dragonmarked houses of Khorvaire, and I'd like to play up the economic power of the Twelve and get them interacting with it properly. The first session or two is exactly the wrong time for that - this will be my first full campaign to DM, and we're running it online, so a lot of distractions will happen. Besides, I'm not sure some of my players haven't read that bit already. Still, it's something to consider - I do plan on stealing one of the battle encounters in that mini-adventure (the one with the pipes spewing water) eventually.
#4 xi_mao Feb 17, 2009 20:07:21	So...here's an idea... House Cannith-South is transporting a prototype for a Magical Invention that is being proposed as an upgrade for House Sivis' Sending Stones communication network via Lightning Rail to Zilargo. Instead of hiring House Deneith Guards to watch the cargo, someone from middle management in Cannith-South hired a group of Adventurers (The Players) to cut costs, figuring that transport via Lightning Rail is a safe method of transportation and the prototype really just needs babysitters. The following work well for story hooks: One or more of the players are being bribed by Cannith East/West to steal the prototype and bring it to them to have it reverse engineered. One or more of the players are being bribed by House Sivis to fake a train robbery and report the prototype stolen so that House Sivis can reverse engineer the device and produce a similar device for half the cost. One or more of the players are being bribed by House Deneith to take a fall during a fake train robbery to reinforce the idea that their services are the only reliable service for protection in Khorvaire. The Lightning Rail is attacked mid journey by a Band of Goblinoid raiders from Darguun. (I've done this particular hook before, and if you're interested as to HOW they accomplish this I can post it here or PM you the details.) And here's an Idea based on your Morgrave Outreach Association expedition: The expedition in question is the remnants of an expedition that was exploring a Goblin Ruin in Eastern Breland/An abandoned Draconic Observatory Near the Eldeen Reaches/ The Mournlands (Ie fill in the exact locale) who were attacked by natives/A rival expedition/The Emerald Claw. They know that which ever group attacked them must be close to finding the site in question, but the people hiring managed to escape with the only map to the site. Now they're simply hiring any willing adventurer to ensure that whatever secrets lay buried in the site do not fall into the wrong hands.
#5 saragon42 Feb 18, 2009 9:36:10	So...here's an idea... House Cannith-South is transporting a prototype for a Magical Invention that is being proposed as an upgrade for House Sivis' Sending Stones communication network via Lightning Rail to Zilargo. Instead of hiring House Deneith Guards to watch the cargo, someone from middle management in Cannith-South hired a group of Adventurers (The Players) to cut costs, figuring that transport via Lightning Rail is a safe method of transportation and the prototype really just needs babysitters. This I like - not so much the MacGuffin being transported, but that adventurers come cheaper than House Deneith guards and of course it'll be safe. That's nice. The following work well for story hooks: One or more of the players are being bribed by Cannith East/West to steal the prototype and bring it to them to have it reverse engineered. One or more of the players are being bribed by House Sivis to fake a train robbery and report the prototype stolen so that House Sivis can reverse engineer the device and produce a similar device for half the cost. One or more of the players are being bribed by House Deneith to take a fall during a fake train robbery to reinforce the idea that their services are the only reliable service for protection in Khorvaire. Not inherently bad, but I'm going to avoid anything that causes intra-party tensions in the first adventure. Later - maybe. But I need to form them into a cohesive group before treachery has any emotional impact. The Lightning Rail is attacked mid journey by a Band of Goblinoid raiders from Darguun. (I've done this particular hook before, and if you're interested as to HOW they accomplish this I can post it here or PM you the details.) And here's an Idea based on your Morgrave Outreach Association expedition: The expedition in question is the remnants of an expedition that was exploring a Goblin Ruin in Eastern Breland/An abandoned Draconic Observatory Near the Eldeen Reaches/ The Mournlands (Ie fill in the exact locale) who were attacked by natives/A rival expedition/The Emerald Claw. They know that which ever group attacked them must be close to finding the site in question, but the people hiring managed to escape with the only map to the site. Now they're simply hiring any willing adventurer to ensure that whatever secrets lay buried in the site do not fall into the wrong hands. I'll play with this a bit too. Thanks for your help!
#6 Ventus_Frago Feb 18, 2009 9:56:25	The first 3.5 campaign in Eberron I ran used the modules that start out in the back of the ECS and continued. They work great for giving players the feeling of seeing all different parts of Eberron without tying yourself into the city. The background my characters used was they were recent graduates of Morgrave university and we're set on exploring the world as part of the Wayfinders guild. Their sponsor was their professor at the University. A key question your characters need to ask themselves is how they participated in the war. What were there roles. Nothing is easier to believe then ex-soldiers getting together to talk about their war stories together and its pretty easy to jump right into an adventure.
#7 ChrisTheS Feb 18, 2009 10:27:51	I'm a big fan of the 'catastrophe' motivator - the band of heroes is thrown together on the spur of the moment to deal with the catastrophe and is either hired by someone connected with it or continues to work together to investigate it due to convenience. It often produces a nice atmosphere of conflict at the start which settles down into cameraderie as the campaign goes on. For instance, the current game I'm running has a hobgoblin mercenary who was supposed to be providing extra security at the Kundarak bank, and an elven ninja was attempting to rob said bank: due to unforeseen circumstances (involving the Day of Mourning, since this game started half an hour before it happened) they ended up fighting on the same side against a weird shadow creature right before the platform they were standing on collapsed into the bowels of Sharn. Now the hobgoblin is trying to track down the person who robbed the vault (before the elf got there) and the elf is attempting to find the thing that was stolen so that she can steal it in turn, but since their short-term goals match they're still working together.
#8 Gilo Feb 18, 2009 14:22:31	For instance, the current game I'm running has a hobgoblin mercenary who was supposed to be providing extra security at the Kundarak bank, and an elven ninja was attempting to rob said bank: due to unforeseen circumstances (involving the Day of Mourning, since this game started half an hour before it happened) they ended up fighting on the same side against a weird shadow creature right before the platform they were standing on collapsed into the bowels of Sharn. Now the hobgoblin is trying to track down the person who robbed the vault (before the elf got there) and the elf is attempting to find the thing that was stolen so that she can steal it in turn, but since their short-term goals match they're still working together. could be interesting if the bank robbers will escape the Mourning through the Kundarak vault network and exist in Sharn.
#9 ChrisTheS Feb 20, 2009 10:43:23	Always a possibility, but in this case they were actually in Sharn - the concept of this game is that the Mourning caused temporary lapses in the integrity of manifest zones all over the world, causing weirdness to start happening everywhere that there's a strong planar presence (really, it's just an excuse for me to use my Dreamblade minis in a D&D game).
#10 robert4818 Feb 20, 2009 18:17:04	I recently just opened an eberron campaign. The opening went like this: The players were on one of the large mechanical lifts heading to the docks. While they are heading down, another platform is heading up. They see 4 shifter rogues sliding down the ropes to the platform below. The passengers headed up on the other platform scream for help. If the players wait for the lifts to be even, some of the passengers will die. On the other hand, to make it over to the other platform the players must make a jump check to jump to reach the ropes, and an agility check to slide down and land on their feet. One of the passengers will become the patron of the group.
#11 saragon42 Feb 24, 2009 9:58:39	All right. I've settled on the Morgrave Outreach Association plot hook - it'll be a touch railroady, but I've warned my players that the first session will be a bit of that as we get adjusted to everything, so I don't think that'll be a problem. They're headed to investigate the Dragon's Crown. The plot so far: Here's the basic plot I've got so far. A Morgrave University researcher arrives in Starilaskur with a badly wounded MOA member in tow; the wounded man is quickly taken to the House Jorasco enclave, and the researcher heads to the local MOA guildhall to ask for assistance. Seems a small team of Morgrave scholars is trying to study the Dragon's Crown in the middle of Breland's farm country, but their small group of escorts almost immediately ran into trouble when they went to scout the area - two are dead and the third, rushed back on the lightning rail, is in no shape to assist (though it looks like he'll survive.) The guildhall master hasn't got any registered MOA members available, so he sends out a call for adventurers in the city willing to assist Morgrave in this matter. That's where the PCs show up, of course - they'll actually start in the Morgrave office, being briefed on their opportunity/mission. They'll also have a chance to question the wounded man, though he won't have a whole lot of useful information (he could tell his attackers were humanoid, but that's pretty much it.) They'll then rush back to Nowhere via the lightning rail. I've used Xi_Mao's suggestion of the lightning rail for the first combat encounter - a misguided attempt by the Swords of Liberty (from the Five Nations book) to kill a Brelish noble and generally cause mayhem, striking at both the Brelish Crown and a dragonmarked house that works closely with the king. The PCs will help put that down easily enough, and that will - if they manage the following interrogation skill challenge well enough - give them contacts in both House Orien and Breland's garrison. If they don't do well on the skill challenge, they'll still get a purse of gold for their trouble but no further assistance later.
#12 robert4818 Feb 24, 2009 19:03:57	There are a number of things you can do for the Dragon's Crown. My personal interpretation would be something along the lines of some sort of manifest zone for various planes as the moon associated with each reaches full. The exact nature of the expression of that manifestation could easily be left up to you, and allow you the freedom to change it as needs arise. An appropriate ending might culminate with those humanoids trying (or successfully) to bring in a being from one of those other planes on midnight of the full moon. The PC's could then either fight to interrupt the ritual, or could end up fighting whatever denzien was brought through. You could even have the monster be something normally far beyond a 1st level parties capabilities. (say normally 10th level) but either weakened by summoning, or not able to fully manifest its power as it has not fully crossed the line between planes.
#13 saragon42 Feb 25, 2009 15:24:20	My personal interpretation would be something along the lines of some sort of manifest zone for various planes as the moon associated with each reaches full. The exact nature of the expression of that manifestation could easily be left up to you, and allow you the freedom to change it as needs arise. I like this idea - a lot better than what I was coming up with. Perhaps a relic from the Dhakaani empire, somewhat akin to an orrery of the planes but more of an interplanar observatory. (That is to say, it creates a connection to a plane at a full moon, but which plane can't be controlled like an orrery.) An appropriate ending might culminate with those humanoids trying (or successfully) to bring in a being from one of those other planes on midnight of the full moon. The PC's could then either fight to interrupt the ritual, or could end up fighting whatever denzien was brought through. You could even have the monster be something normally far beyond a 1st level parties capabilities. (say normally 10th level) but either weakened by summoning, or not able to fully manifest its power as it has not fully crossed the line between planes. While it won't exactly be something weakened like you suggest, there are enough first and second level shadow monsters in the DDI Compendium that a group of shadows from Mabar is quite feasible. Which means I now know where I want to end up - I've just got to figure out how to get there. I'm now thinking that they'll have a long-term skill challenge as they travel to the Dragon's Crown, asking questions and gathering information about it; that'll continue as they reach the Crown and help examine it. If there's a portal like what's described above tied to the Crown, there may not really be a cult there; there could, however, be bandits nearby using the Crown's reputation to hide their hideout. The occasional carcass that shows up in the center of the Dragon's Crown might just be an unlucky soul caught there when something unpleasant came through the portal (or lured there, depending on what showed up.) I'll play with that a bit and see what works out.
#14 akumadaimyo Feb 25, 2009 17:32:44	You going to get the setting come April?
#15 saragon42 Feb 25, 2009 18:58:14	You going to get the setting come April? The current product listing shows June as the release date for the 4E Campaign Guide and Setting books, and July as the Player's Guide's release date; but yes, I'm planning on getting them. As much as I'm willing to houserule things, I simply don't have the same resources as Wizards of the Coast does to invent and playtest rules. Plus I'm curious to see what's emphasized in these books over the 3E books. (The 3E books will, of course, remain a marvelous repository of ideas.)
#16 AvonRekaes Feb 26, 2009 13:39:01	I'm not sure if you still need advice on getting the party together, but I share you're hatred of Taverns and Dark Mysterious Strangers. The way I usually do it is much more organic. I have a starting locale in mind, and I tell the players specifically where the campaign starts, and then I take a look at all the PCs and any backstories if they have them. I then tailor adventure hooks and player groupings together, and have everyone meet up. I might have a group of 5 PCs split into 3 parts to start (2 pairs and 1 solo) and run a short little segment of the session for each of them, then pausing and going onto the next grouping of PCs until everyone's reached the same point. (Somewhat like the Wild Arms series of console RPGs. You see each character's intro solo adventure until they get to the point in the story where they meet the other characters, and then go on to the next character's intro.) An example of campaigns I've ran: Game starts in Sharn. 1 PC is an Artificer, 1 is a gnome information broker, 1 is an excoriate from Lyrandar, 1 is a Sharn Inquisitive reporter, one's a street thug living in Fallen, and 1 is a priestess of the Silver Flame who's been nosing too much into church corruption. The artificer, excoriate, and gnome all said they own magic shops. So I tell them that they're shops are located on the same skybridge, clustered together amid other shops. They all know each other. That's group 1. The cleric of the Silver Flame has upset too many of the corrupt clergy, and gets transfered to the temple in Fallen, which despite Faela's prescence, doesn't have an official member of the clergy. She's basically sent there to get her out of the corrupt hierchy of Sharn's church. The thug from Fallen knows that the silver flame cathedral is sometimes the only refuge from the insane ravers. So the two of them meet up there. Group 2. The reporter is working her way up to important stories and she gets an assignment to investigate the disappearances in town lately. She's group 3. I tell the gnome and the artificer that the excoriate's shop hasn't opened for a week, and they start to get worried. The gnome mostly knows the excoriate because he owns him money. So they begin to investigate their friend's disappearance. The last they know, he went to go buy Dragonblood from a dealer in Callestan. The thug and the cleric hear from Faela that one of the people she's helped get out of Fallen has stopped writing back to her and she's gotten worried. They go to his last location and find only his angry ex-girlfriend who informs them that he's gone to Callestan to sell drugs for Dassk. The Inquisitive reporter follows a lead that says most of the disappearances occured in Callestan. So she heads over there and finds out that two or three of them have talked to the same person before they dissappeared. She locates this person and knocks on his door. When the door opens, she gets a crossbow-bolt to the face. Right as the cleric, thug, artificer, and gnome show up. All of them subdue the drug dealer and find out he's been selling junkies to Daask for gladitorial matches. The party then heads into Undersharn to break the excoriate out of his imprisonment. After they release him and try to escape, they're all attacked by a someone seemingly in control of the insane Ravers of Fallen (who were also taken to fight in the gladitorial matches). United, the party begins to investigate who's in control of the ravers. So... yeah. That's a lot of reading. However, I think it really adds to the game if the PCs aren't just "Adventuring Party 102", but real people. Build a story around them and bring them together naturally, and they'll really feel like a cohesive whole.