Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 nowiwantmydmg Aug 17, 2009 11:04:06	As the title says I want to begin my first ever Eberron campaign. I have just about finished reading most of the new Eberron Campaign Guide, but find myself unsure of how/where to begin. There is almost too much detail and too many possibilities that it is hard to choose how to go about it. So for a very flashy, intrique laden , very "eberron" game: how should I go about shaping/starting my campaign?
#2 pgmason Aug 17, 2009 11:31:53	I get your point about the amount of stuff going on. It can be overwhelming. I'd be inclined to pick a few elements which will play a part in the campaign, at least for the heroic tier, and pretty much ignore the rest. I've just started my campaign (actually my first D&D campaign as DM) and I'm using the published 4e Eberron adventures - 'Mark of Prophecy' in the back of the EPG, and then 'Seekers of the Ashen Crown'. The first one ties the players into the draconic prophecy (which will be sometihng in the background throughout the campaign, but probably won't play a major part until they're higher level) while the latter introduces some politics and intrigue, and incorporates some of the uniquely Eberron stuff, like non-evil goblinoids. Both have the Emerald Claw and creatures from Khyber such as Dolgaunts as antagonists, which ties them together somewhat. Stuff I'm ignoring for the moment, but may come back to later includes the Lords of Dust, Lord of Blades, Xen'drik, The Aurum etc, and I'm not doing too much with The Dreaming Dark or the Dragonmarked houses at the moment, but it may come in later. Whatever kind of party you've got and whatever kind of campaign you're planning to run, I think a great starting point is to have them all on the border of Cyre on the day of mourning. It will give them a common experience, and some sort of flashback can be very cinematic.
#3 polt Aug 17, 2009 14:00:35	Start small. Eberron is basically like a big bomb, with a million fuses. There's the Dreaming Dark, the Lord of Dust, the Aurum, Vol and so on. Keep it clean, try not to push all the cool stuff in Eberron into everything, but be picky. Decide what you think would be the most fun, and go with that. But start small. Try not to throw a million Eberroncentric exposition into your game. It's supposed to be a roleplaying game, not a history lesson.
#4 skrapsan Aug 17, 2009 15:37:00	Here is how I do it. 1. Find a cool bad guy to be your main villain for 30th lvl climax battle. I chose Demogorgon because I enjoy saying his name. And then I turned him into a demonic overlord/lord of dust thingie. 2. Choose cool plot turn to happen around lvl 10/11. 3. Find two more factions that can be competing villains. 4. Flesh out a place and 4-6 plot hooks (reuse the ones not used later in campaign). 5. Write down cool ideas for later references. so basically I find it simpler to create a campaign if I know at least the general direction. But as pgmason and polt said. Start small, in a town or in a geographically limited area and then expand outwards. A simple rule of thumb I tend to use is: Heroic Tier: Valleys and areas of the current country. Paragon Tier: The country, or maybe one or two depending on the theme. Epic Tier: Entire continent and maybe the entire world. Again, depending on the theme. hope it helps.
#5 Nived Aug 17, 2009 19:05:24	Well... what excites you? Like you have discovered the world of Eberron needs heroes, there are hundreds, thousands, of possible plots and schemes at play that can end the world in a heartbeat... but no one expects the party to foil the plots of the Lords of Dust while freeing Riedra, while rooting out corruption in the Church of the Silver Flame, bringing down Lady Vol, blowing the lid off Kaius' true condition, reunifying Galifar, stopping an extraplanar invasion from Dal Quor, Xoriat, Khyber, Mabar, Lhamania, Fernia, Risia, and heck for kicks Dianvi, all while stopping the Lord of Blades mad genocidal campaign of destruction, uncover the truth behind the shadow schism, bankrupt the Aurum, end Khorvairian hunger, find a home for all the orphans of the last war, beat Marrix d'Cannith at a game of chess, bring down the Daughters of Sora Kell, strike it rich in Xen'drik, find out how the Prophecy Ends, smack a Daelkyr, play vollyball with a beholder, play vollyball with a beholder,, bring back the 13th moon, fly an airship into Argonessen crash the Pit of Five Sorrows and kill Tiamat... Well, not all at once anyway. Find what excites you, what sets your imagination on fire, make sure your players could be interested in it, find your theme (Indiana Jones Pulp or Maltese Falcon Nior?) find your villains, and save the world. Or rather imperil world and let your players save it.
#6 obiwaynekenobi Aug 17, 2009 20:08:38	Heh I am having this exact problem. I'm going for a "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" flavor campaign, with the PCs being local celebrities in particular areas who are brought together to aid the world in crisis. I'm going to be running flavor-customized versions of Khyber's Harvest, then Seekers of the Ashen Crown (slightly more difficult to account for starting at 3rd level), and after that I'm not sure where I'm going to go. Involving the Daelkyr makes sense since Show Khyber's Harvest introduces Belashyrra, the Lord of Eyes
#7 Nibelung_ajr Aug 28, 2009 0:53:15	I agree with Skrapsan. (They need to correct tags. Fast. I ended reading both spoilers) Just get one thing you want to show, and work over it. The majority of Eberron big bads are skillful Magnificent Bastards. Vol is alive and hidden for more than 2 millenia. The Lord of Blades gathered a great army in such short time. Kaius hide his condition for almost a century, and is a central political image (opposing to Vol, who is totally hidden). Any profecy master (Dragons, Daelkyr, Lord of Dust, etc) is patient and smart enough by standart. Myself, i'll focus my new campaign on the mourning. Indirectly. I will put the PCs under the wing of Royal Eyes, and they will work thinking that they will recover the Eldeen Reaches to Aundair. Later, this will have a directly conection with the day of mourning, that i will not spoil there because of my players. So, until I finish this storyline (maybe about lvl 15~18), i'll show the emerald claw, the druids sects, and any information about the Dhakaani Empire only as a special cameo, even when they should be nominal antagonists for most of heroic tier. I suggest you to do the same. Get your plot done, and ignore whatever whould be others awesome plots. Other adventurers will take care of this problems, while your group take care of yours.  You can show a little leg on other issues just to show that the problem exist, but focus on your primary target.
#8 kesh Aug 28, 2009 11:12:02	I'm planning to start my group as hired Inquisitives, working for a somewhat shady benefactor. As the Heroic tier progresses, they'll learn more about him and eventually come to blows (probably "inheriting" the buisness once he's defeated). That'll move them into Paragon tier, where they find out he was being manipulated by a larger organization...
#9 storminmormon Sep 12, 2009 19:34:28	Eberron is fun but just like any world can be as complex as you want it.  I'm starting off with the Mark of Prophecy, going to throw in a Lord of Dust and link them to Dagon(for call of Cthulu kookiness), going to involve Lady Vol and the Emerald Claw, and throw in some dragons to watch the whole thing. Some things to remember about Eberron that will help you plot.  The Draconic Prophecy isn't always a good thing, evil can win.  Your sponsor, may in fact be your enemy.  These are things you can just add in the beginning, with no intention to use them until later.  There are a lot of big bad's in Eberron, so you don't have to settle for one that is kinda ok.