New Campaign: what can I do with this ugly party? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

New Campaign: what can I do with this ugly party?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
stevelabny
Sep 09, 2008 23:53:11 Ok, so I've been hoping to run an Eberron campaign for years now and its finally here. I have 5 players, and these are the characters they've sent in:

House Cannith Bard: will later have a Warforged Samurai cohort; is directly related to Merrix and Aaren;

Aundarian Human Wizard: attended Arcanix; also a lawyer; family owns Aundarian vineyard that makes ceremonial wine for the Silver Flame.

Shifter Druid: from Eldeen Reaches; wants to be a Moonspeaker; maybe a Gatekeeper or Warden too

House Deneith Wizard: wants to be an Elemental Binder; combining elemetal companion from prestige class with wizard's familiar so will have fire elemental familiar; wants to be an 'anonymous' crusader for the poor and oppressed

Warforged Dragon Shaman: originally one of the few Karnnathi warforged; downed in battle and "repaired" by minor noble from Sharn (why?); traveled with new master to Argonessen (why?) and eventually abandoned him. Returning to Khorvaire to acquire wealth, fame and power with the intention of uniting warforged into warforged nation.....

so:

4 full casters, no true front-liner and no rogue. However, there should be enough sidekicks running aroound to slow things down and fight. Plus, two wizards to step on each other's toes, and the high-CHA warforged dragon shaman to overlap with the bard/warforged pair. Any ideas on how to avoid characters crashing together and giving everyone a chance to shine?

I already have some ideas for the campaign involving a world tour, and starting with a search for the bard's eventual cohort. both wizards and the warforged dragon shaman should be interested in helping out, and the shifter player seems least likely to not follow the plot hooks or the party.

For starters:

I want to set the Aurum up as the baddies. I am trying to build an "Aurum assassin" who takes out certain NPCs to carefully set up chains of succession to key positions. Nothing as obvious as killing a king or even a general, but simple things like offing the second scribe right before the first retires, so that the third scribe (who can be easily bought) now has access all the kingdon's secrets.

I have an image of a magic coin, or other innocous device that will slowly do damage and then eat a hole through you, leaving only a very clean circular wound. Are there any "death coins" in any of the magic item collections, or are there any better themed murder weapons?

For the future:

What is a good "character goal' for a binder? I'm think that he'll have to help bind an elemental to an airship at some point, but we need something more than that.

The moonspeaker also needs some spice. Moonspeakers are usually just about the betterment of the shifters, but we need to find a speaker-related storyline. If the character also went Gatekeeper, it would be easy. "Are you the gatekeeper? I am the keymaster"

How crazy would it be to let the warforged dragon shaman with delusions of grandeur actually suceed. Finding out that some warforged (led by Bulwark?) have been spreading rumors of this Lord of Blades, but its really a prophecy or prediction of his arrival...and then when the PC shows up they reveal HE is the Lord of Blades.

Okay, enough for now, please comment away!
#2
rekko
Sep 10, 2008 8:16:24 Aaren d'Cannith, the father of the warforged, dreams of freedom for his creation. While in self burdened exile in Karrnath's battlefields he decides to repair a Warforged. He travels to Argonnessen with his new comrade, which is the Dragon Shaman Warforged PC. There, Aaren decides to start the construction of a new creation forge, it will take a while before it could work. Since Aaren dreams of freedom for the warforged, he sends his comrade, the PC, back to Khorvaire with the quest to create a warforged nation. Without knowing, his friend King Boranel gave rights to warforged in Breland and freed his friend Bulwark who now seek meaning for his life and those of the other warforged and thus creating the legend of the Lord of Blades and starting the warforged nation in the Mourlands.

Back on Argonnessen, Aaren makes friend with a rogue silver dragon. He then convinces the dragon to fly to Khorvaire and deliver a letter to his younger brother, a Cannith Bard, an other PC. The letter can contain things like "I'm ok, I'm working on something big, I want you to find a warforged that looks like this (the warforged dragon shaman), don't tell Merrix" This letter could be the reason why the Cannith Bard PC is looking for a Samurai Warforged. The description of the Dragon Shaman Warforged is vague and the Cannith Bard is looking for the wrong warforged. It is important that the Bard doesn't know the message is delivered by a dragon, it is important that the Bard doesn't know Aaren is on Argonnessen. Only reveal that the warforged he is looking for is the other PC after a few adventures.

An important note, the Warforged Dragon Shaman PC should not know the real name of Aaren. He might know his as Father, a name he gave to the one who repaired him. This is a cool nickname since Aaren is the Father of all warforged. However, the Warforged Dragon Shaman could have seen the Greater Mark of Making or the Siberys Mark of Making on Aaren. These two clues, the nickname Father and the Mark of Making on both Aaren and the Cannith Bard could lead the PCs to make the connection between the Cannith Bard PC and the Warforged Dragon Shaman PC.

The Deneith Wizard could be an excoriate of the House, since wizards aren't the traditional career a Deneith would be taking. However, the PC would be influence by his family's deeds, and thus wants to protect the poor and oppressed. The Warforged people are certainly a good fit for this category. Remeber the "No War, No Warforged" signs in the Eberron books. Humans see warforged as jobs stealers, rich people see warforged as cheep labor, yes they might have rights in Breland, but in reality they aren't respected, and in other countries they don't have rights at all. Maybe by meeting with the Warforged Dragon Shaman he will want to join in his quest of a warforged nation.

Being an excoriate, the Deneith will need to find himself some friends. It so happens to remember a merchant family for which he used to work, as a security agent with some Kundarak Dwarf and a Medani Half-Elf. His job was to keep the family vineyard's safe during the war. He created a good relationship with the parents of the Aundarian Human Wizard PC. In fact, the Deneith Wizard could have inspired the Aundarian Wizard to become a Wizard in the first place, back then when he was working for his parents. This could be a happy reunion of two old friends. Moreover, the family is probably rich since they sell their wine to the Church of the Silver Flame, and can be a good source of money. Moreover, the Church of the Silver Flame could also be a money source. And the PC also has an opened door to a relation with Medani and Kundarak.

The Aundarian Wizard could want to travel with the Deneith Wizard because he thinks he can learn new things (not only new spells) from him and his experience. So that makes 4 out of 5 PCs travelling together for a common purpose. Here's how to add the Shifter to the Party:

Before the Deneith Wizard decided to get the help of the Aundarian Wizard's family he was wandering almost helplessly in the Eldeen Reaches. Trying to figure out what to do with his life. His mind was quite mixed up, being an excoriate is hard for a loyal serving Deneith heir. In the Reaches, he meets with the Shifter PC, that decide to feed him, and protect him from the wilderness. They eventually become friends, and the druidic teachings of the Shifter helps the Deneith Wizard get back on track. (more like random wise words thrown at the Deneith to put his mind together, philosophical words of encouragement) Then, the Deneith thank the Shifter and goes to the Aundarian Wizard's family (with or without the Shifter)

How all 5 PCs reunite in one place is a hard one, and it depends on what will be their first mission.

Maybe the Cannith Bard could be a in the Aundair section of House Cannith. However, I don't see why the Warforged Dragon Shaman would be there.

Or you could start in Breland or Sharn. A good place for both the Cannith Bard and the Warforged Dragon Shaman, since humans have rights there. Also a good place for the Deneith, Shifter and Aundarian, since they could be heading to Morgrave for some knowledge on Arcane, Planes, Moons, or random other thing. Or they could be in Sharn to sell some wine for the family for a Cannith celebration (where they could meet the Cannith Bard, and the Warforged, or they meet the Warforged later, or the Cannith Bard already knows the Warforged)

I'd go with the Cannith celebration because you can have your Aurum assassin kill someone during the festivities.

I hope it helps.

Rekko
#3
nerdicus
Sep 10, 2008 15:12:22 Your dragon shaman will be a great tank. The DS in my group is insane for taking damage. He has the most HP, the highest AC, can heal a huge amount per round( at higher levels anyways, but even at low levels it makes a difference) So don't worry about not having the tank, because you do, he is just hiding in a dragons scales. :D

Otherwise the plot ideas sound great!
#4
Gilo
Sep 10, 2008 18:11:30
I want to set the Aurum up as the baddies.

The new James Bond - Quantum of Solace (and the previous one Casino Royale) seem like a good source for Aurum activities, conspiracies.
#5
four_stragglers
Sep 10, 2008 19:08:15 I don't see how you are lacking in close combat you have a druid (broken class in 3.5) and a Dragon Shaman. Both outclass the fighter at mid to high levels at close combat.
#6
Arcane_Guyver
Sep 11, 2008 2:49:47 Well, the only problem I see here is two wizards in the same party. If one decides to go specialist, there shouldn't be much of a problem at all. The druid & dragon shaman can both tank well (hell, even a properly built bard can tank for short periods), and all three can heal & buff, two who can use CLW wands. The only thing you're really missing is DPS, which isn't all that important in a party with multiple members who can toss SoDs.
#7
rauric
Sep 11, 2008 6:17:04 Have the druid go to the CO 3.5 forums and ask how to "buff up" his druid. Then you will be ok. ;)
#8
goblin_pride
Sep 13, 2008 8:34:13 You guys are alot nicer* than I am. I'd just scrap the party, give them a few points of a common background and have them generate new PCs.

*I could just be bitter that I never got to play my half-fiend goblin. The other players thought I was bad enough playing straight goblins, this one would've really blown their minds.
#9
Gilo
Sep 14, 2008 12:05:40 You can go with a generic common background, something like:

The PCs have been kidnapped sometime during the last few years (during the war or after) by goblin slave traders and are part of one chain-gang chopping boulders somewhere in a Darguun slave camp. The harsh conditions and the need to survive/escape will be there initial glue. later you can base a hook on some debt to one of the PC/NPC that organized the escape.

Its a bit crude - but they deserve it
#10
goblin_pride
Sep 14, 2008 17:34:48
The PCs have been kidnapped sometime during the last few years (during the war or after) by goblin slave traders and are part of one chain-gang chopping boulders somewhere in a Darguun slave camp. The harsh conditions and the need to survive/escape will be there initial glue. later you can base a hook on some debt to one of the PC/NPC that organized the escape.

Even the dumbest goblin knows that wizards make miserable slaves. It's all the thinking and not enough of the sweaty work that makes them so wretched. You'd be better off dropping them into a shallow grave or punting them off to an enemy that you don't mind really torquing off. I hear Llesh Haruuc pays for corpses for the Breland border, but you'll probably have to trek them across to the Sterngate pass to get any kind of coin out of them.
#11
Gilo
Sep 25, 2008 8:16:37
[i] Even the dumbest goblin knows that wizards make miserable slaves. It's all the thinking and not enough of the sweaty work that makes them so wretched. You'd be better off dropping them into a shallow grave or punting them off to an enemy that you don't mind really torquing off.

fine, we'll send them to the Gnoll camp for some personal time with the tantekurash ("spirit breaker").
#12
goblin_pride
Sep 25, 2008 22:27:23
fine, we'll send them to the Gnoll camp for some personal time with the tantekurash ("spirit breaker").

I like where you're going with that.
#13
shady314
Sep 28, 2008 4:12:06 ? So much worrying about how they'll do in combat. 1) If you need to pull your punches do so until you find the right balance to challenge them without TPKing them. As others have said though they"ll actually be fine unless your players are new in which case they'll probably suck no matter what party they compose until they've gotten practice. 2) Maybe this is a sign they're wanting to play a more socially/politically focused game? in which case you can avoid a lot of combat all together. Have you discussed this sort of thing with them?
#14
shady314
Sep 28, 2008 4:57:38
Ok, so I've been hoping to run an Eberron campaign for years now and its finally here. I have 5 players, and these are the characters they've sent in:

House Cannith Bard: will later have a Warforged Samurai cohort; is directly related to Merrix and Aaren;

It's nice to see someone bucking the trend. Not everyone has to be an artificer from Cannith. Do they make musical instruments and/or compose?

Aundarian Human Wizard: attended Arcanix; also a lawyer; family owns Aundarian vineyard that makes ceremonial wine for the Silver Flame.

Love that too.

Shifter Druid: from Eldeen Reaches; wants to be a Moonspeaker; maybe a Gatekeeper or Warden too

I like the MoonSpeaker class.

House Deneith Wizard: wants to be an Elemental Binder; combining elemetal companion from prestige class with wizard's familiar so will have fire elemental familiar; wants to be an 'anonymous' crusader for the poor and oppressed

Everyone's bucking the steretype.

Warforged Dragon Shaman: originally one of the few Karnnathi warforged; downed in battle and "repaired" by minor noble from Sharn (why?); traveled with new master to Argonessen (why?) and eventually abandoned him. Returning to Khorvaire to acquire wealth, fame and power with the intention of uniting warforged into warforged nation.....

Personally whenever a player tells me Argonnessen I tell them "You mean Seren."
Minor noble repairs him why? Because he's an adventurer and wants a warforged companion. Or he's a firm believer in warforged rights.
Went to Seren with a dragonmarked contingent to do some exotic trading and sightseeing. Adventurer remember. Abandoned him because he grew tired of the forged's delusions of grandeur or just never liked his company as much as he expected. The novelty wore off. Or perhaps unknown to the warforged he was sold to some Seren barbarian.

4 full casters, no true front-liner and no rogue. However, there should be enough sidekicks running aroound to slow things down and fight. Plus, two wizards to step on each other's toes, and the high-CHA warforged dragon shaman to overlap with the bard/warforged pair. Any ideas on how to avoid characters crashing together and giving everyone a chance to shine?

Let them combine their matching strengths to pull off feats a single person could not. Let their characters achieve individual milestones. Characters can shine in ways other than being the only one that can do something. Anyways it sounds like they want very different things from their classes so I think it will be fine. The bard and shaman are more than their cha stat. If the bard plays to a sold out arena and the warforged forms a cult of personality around himself they both involve charisma but one player would love one and the other wouldn't give an S.

I already have some ideas for the campaign involving a world tour, and starting with a search for the bard's eventual cohort. both wizards and the warforged dragon shaman should be interested in helping out, and the shifter player seems least likely to not follow the plot hooks or the party.

Good you've already identified your troublemaker player. :D

I want to set the Aurum up as the baddies. I am trying to build an "Aurum assassin" who takes out certain NPCs to carefully set up chains of succession to key positions. Nothing as obvious as killing a king or even a general, but simple things like offing the second scribe right before the first retires, so that the third scribe (who can be easily bought) now has access all the kingdon's secrets.

That's still fairly obvious but I get the point. Do you ever watch Numb3rs? There is an episode where the culprit is found to be using what are dubbed "shooting chains" whereby the killing of one gang member inspires a reprisal which in turn spurs more reprisals etc. My memory is hazy but over time he "inspires" something like a hundred deaths by only actually shooting a dozen or so people and making it seem gang related. Sounds like the kind of thing you're aiming for. The ep is called "The OG"

I have an image of a magic coin, or other innocous device that will slowly do damage and then eat a hole through you, leaving only a very clean circular wound. Are there any "death coins" in any of the magic item collections, or are there any better themed murder weapons?

Is he tying people down and then finishing them off with the coin? Or is it just a calling card? Does it prevent itself from being removed since obviously people are going to try to yank something off when it starts making a hole in them.

I think that's an excellent weapon for an Aurum assassin. Places the coin on them which attaches itself somehow and slowly kills them. I'd make them a charged magic item. Each coin good for one use. Once it finishes killing its victim it's just a gold coin.

For the future:
What is a good "character goal' for a binder? I'm think that he'll have to help bind an elemental to an airship at some point, but we need something more than that.

Well becoming a binder can be an accomplishment all on it's own. Have him actually gain his familiar in game as opposed to just suddenly being able to summon one. He must open a portal to the plane of fire and either bargain or force a fire elemental to serve him until he dies or 100 years whichever comes first. It could even be part of becoming a binder.

The moonspeaker also needs some spice. Moonspeakers are usually just about the betterment of the shifters, but we need to find a speaker-related storyline. If the character also went Gatekeeper, it would be easy. "Are you the gatekeeper? I am the keymaster"

But players are hardly typical. Perhaps he could work at bettering ALL shifters through his shining heroic example. Maybe he needs to see the world to better understand his communities place. Maybe to gain each level of MoonSpeaker he must see the proper moon (perhaps also at the proper time) from a new location each time (Level up) and while there's no set distance moving only a few miles doesn't cut it. You'll have to find out from the player what really motivates his shifter then you'll know what screws to turn.

There's the traditional massacre of the community though. Or the less gory killing of someone important in the community. Father? Mentor? Aurum assassin's handiwork?

How crazy would it be to let the warforged dragon shaman with delusions of grandeur actually suceed. Finding out that some warforged (led by Bulwark?) have been spreading rumors of this Lord of Blades, but its really a prophecy or prediction of his arrival...and then when the PC shows up they reveal HE is the Lord of Blades.

Crazy but in a good way.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 stevelabny Sep 09, 2008 23:53:11	Ok, so I've been hoping to run an Eberron campaign for years now and its finally here. I have 5 players, and these are the characters they've sent in: House Cannith Bard: will later have a Warforged Samurai cohort; is directly related to Merrix and Aaren; Aundarian Human Wizard: attended Arcanix; also a lawyer; family owns Aundarian vineyard that makes ceremonial wine for the Silver Flame. Shifter Druid: from Eldeen Reaches; wants to be a Moonspeaker; maybe a Gatekeeper or Warden too House Deneith Wizard: wants to be an Elemental Binder; combining elemetal companion from prestige class with wizard's familiar so will have fire elemental familiar; wants to be an 'anonymous' crusader for the poor and oppressed Warforged Dragon Shaman: originally one of the few Karnnathi warforged; downed in battle and "repaired" by minor noble from Sharn (why?); traveled with new master to Argonessen (why?) and eventually abandoned him. Returning to Khorvaire to acquire wealth, fame and power with the intention of uniting warforged into warforged nation..... so: 4 full casters, no true front-liner and no rogue. However, there should be enough sidekicks running aroound to slow things down and fight. Plus, two wizards to step on each other's toes, and the high-CHA warforged dragon shaman to overlap with the bard/warforged pair. Any ideas on how to avoid characters crashing together and giving everyone a chance to shine? I already have some ideas for the campaign involving a world tour, and starting with a search for the bard's eventual cohort. both wizards and the warforged dragon shaman should be interested in helping out, and the shifter player seems least likely to not follow the plot hooks or the party. For starters: I want to set the Aurum up as the baddies. I am trying to build an "Aurum assassin" who takes out certain NPCs to carefully set up chains of succession to key positions. Nothing as obvious as killing a king or even a general, but simple things like offing the second scribe right before the first retires, so that the third scribe (who can be easily bought) now has access all the kingdon's secrets. I have an image of a magic coin, or other innocous device that will slowly do damage and then eat a hole through you, leaving only a very clean circular wound. Are there any "death coins" in any of the magic item collections, or are there any better themed murder weapons? For the future: What is a good "character goal' for a binder? I'm think that he'll have to help bind an elemental to an airship at some point, but we need something more than that. The moonspeaker also needs some spice. Moonspeakers are usually just about the betterment of the shifters, but we need to find a speaker-related storyline. If the character also went Gatekeeper, it would be easy. "Are you the gatekeeper? I am the keymaster" How crazy would it be to let the warforged dragon shaman with delusions of grandeur actually suceed. Finding out that some warforged (led by Bulwark?) have been spreading rumors of this Lord of Blades, but its really a prophecy or prediction of his arrival...and then when the PC shows up they reveal HE is the Lord of Blades. Okay, enough for now, please comment away!
#2 rekko Sep 10, 2008 8:16:24	Aaren d'Cannith, the father of the warforged, dreams of freedom for his creation. While in self burdened exile in Karrnath's battlefields he decides to repair a Warforged. He travels to Argonnessen with his new comrade, which is the Dragon Shaman Warforged PC. There, Aaren decides to start the construction of a new creation forge, it will take a while before it could work. Since Aaren dreams of freedom for the warforged, he sends his comrade, the PC, back to Khorvaire with the quest to create a warforged nation. Without knowing, his friend King Boranel gave rights to warforged in Breland and freed his friend Bulwark who now seek meaning for his life and those of the other warforged and thus creating the legend of the Lord of Blades and starting the warforged nation in the Mourlands. Back on Argonnessen, Aaren makes friend with a rogue silver dragon. He then convinces the dragon to fly to Khorvaire and deliver a letter to his younger brother, a Cannith Bard, an other PC. The letter can contain things like "I'm ok, I'm working on something big, I want you to find a warforged that looks like this (the warforged dragon shaman), don't tell Merrix" This letter could be the reason why the Cannith Bard PC is looking for a Samurai Warforged. The description of the Dragon Shaman Warforged is vague and the Cannith Bard is looking for the wrong warforged. It is important that the Bard doesn't know the message is delivered by a dragon, it is important that the Bard doesn't know Aaren is on Argonnessen. Only reveal that the warforged he is looking for is the other PC after a few adventures. An important note, the Warforged Dragon Shaman PC should not know the real name of Aaren. He might know his as Father, a name he gave to the one who repaired him. This is a cool nickname since Aaren is the Father of all warforged. However, the Warforged Dragon Shaman could have seen the Greater Mark of Making or the Siberys Mark of Making on Aaren. These two clues, the nickname Father and the Mark of Making on both Aaren and the Cannith Bard could lead the PCs to make the connection between the Cannith Bard PC and the Warforged Dragon Shaman PC. The Deneith Wizard could be an excoriate of the House, since wizards aren't the traditional career a Deneith would be taking. However, the PC would be influence by his family's deeds, and thus wants to protect the poor and oppressed. The Warforged people are certainly a good fit for this category. Remeber the "No War, No Warforged" signs in the Eberron books. Humans see warforged as jobs stealers, rich people see warforged as cheep labor, yes they might have rights in Breland, but in reality they aren't respected, and in other countries they don't have rights at all. Maybe by meeting with the Warforged Dragon Shaman he will want to join in his quest of a warforged nation. Being an excoriate, the Deneith will need to find himself some friends. It so happens to remember a merchant family for which he used to work, as a security agent with some Kundarak Dwarf and a Medani Half-Elf. His job was to keep the family vineyard's safe during the war. He created a good relationship with the parents of the Aundarian Human Wizard PC. In fact, the Deneith Wizard could have inspired the Aundarian Wizard to become a Wizard in the first place, back then when he was working for his parents. This could be a happy reunion of two old friends. Moreover, the family is probably rich since they sell their wine to the Church of the Silver Flame, and can be a good source of money. Moreover, the Church of the Silver Flame could also be a money source. And the PC also has an opened door to a relation with Medani and Kundarak. The Aundarian Wizard could want to travel with the Deneith Wizard because he thinks he can learn new things (not only new spells) from him and his experience. So that makes 4 out of 5 PCs travelling together for a common purpose. Here's how to add the Shifter to the Party: Before the Deneith Wizard decided to get the help of the Aundarian Wizard's family he was wandering almost helplessly in the Eldeen Reaches. Trying to figure out what to do with his life. His mind was quite mixed up, being an excoriate is hard for a loyal serving Deneith heir. In the Reaches, he meets with the Shifter PC, that decide to feed him, and protect him from the wilderness. They eventually become friends, and the druidic teachings of the Shifter helps the Deneith Wizard get back on track. (more like random wise words thrown at the Deneith to put his mind together, philosophical words of encouragement) Then, the Deneith thank the Shifter and goes to the Aundarian Wizard's family (with or without the Shifter) How all 5 PCs reunite in one place is a hard one, and it depends on what will be their first mission. Maybe the Cannith Bard could be a in the Aundair section of House Cannith. However, I don't see why the Warforged Dragon Shaman would be there. Or you could start in Breland or Sharn. A good place for both the Cannith Bard and the Warforged Dragon Shaman, since humans have rights there. Also a good place for the Deneith, Shifter and Aundarian, since they could be heading to Morgrave for some knowledge on Arcane, Planes, Moons, or random other thing. Or they could be in Sharn to sell some wine for the family for a Cannith celebration (where they could meet the Cannith Bard, and the Warforged, or they meet the Warforged later, or the Cannith Bard already knows the Warforged) I'd go with the Cannith celebration because you can have your Aurum assassin kill someone during the festivities. I hope it helps. Rekko
#3 nerdicus Sep 10, 2008 15:12:22	Your dragon shaman will be a great tank. The DS in my group is insane for taking damage. He has the most HP, the highest AC, can heal a huge amount per round( at higher levels anyways, but even at low levels it makes a difference) So don't worry about not having the tank, because you do, he is just hiding in a dragons scales. :D Otherwise the plot ideas sound great!
#4 Gilo Sep 10, 2008 18:11:30	I want to set the Aurum up as the baddies. The new James Bond - Quantum of Solace (and the previous one Casino Royale) seem like a good source for Aurum activities, conspiracies.
#5 four_stragglers Sep 10, 2008 19:08:15	I don't see how you are lacking in close combat you have a druid (broken class in 3.5) and a Dragon Shaman. Both outclass the fighter at mid to high levels at close combat.
#6 Arcane_Guyver Sep 11, 2008 2:49:47	Well, the only problem I see here is two wizards in the same party. If one decides to go specialist, there shouldn't be much of a problem at all. The druid & dragon shaman can both tank well (hell, even a properly built bard can tank for short periods), and all three can heal & buff, two who can use CLW wands. The only thing you're really missing is DPS, which isn't all that important in a party with multiple members who can toss SoDs.
#7 rauric Sep 11, 2008 6:17:04	Have the druid go to the CO 3.5 forums and ask how to "buff up" his druid. Then you will be ok. ;)
#8 goblin_pride Sep 13, 2008 8:34:13	You guys are alot nicer* than I am. I'd just scrap the party, give them a few points of a common background and have them generate new PCs. *I could just be bitter that I never got to play my half-fiend goblin. The other players thought I was bad enough playing straight goblins, this one would've really blown their minds.
#9 Gilo Sep 14, 2008 12:05:40	You can go with a generic common background, something like: The PCs have been kidnapped sometime during the last few years (during the war or after) by goblin slave traders and are part of one chain-gang chopping boulders somewhere in a Darguun slave camp. The harsh conditions and the need to survive/escape will be there initial glue. later you can base a hook on some debt to one of the PC/NPC that organized the escape. Its a bit crude - but they deserve it
#10 goblin_pride Sep 14, 2008 17:34:48	The PCs have been kidnapped sometime during the last few years (during the war or after) by goblin slave traders and are part of one chain-gang chopping boulders somewhere in a Darguun slave camp. The harsh conditions and the need to survive/escape will be there initial glue. later you can base a hook on some debt to one of the PC/NPC that organized the escape. Even the dumbest goblin knows that wizards make miserable slaves. It's all the thinking and not enough of the sweaty work that makes them so wretched. You'd be better off dropping them into a shallow grave or punting them off to an enemy that you don't mind really torquing off. I hear Llesh Haruuc pays for corpses for the Breland border, but you'll probably have to trek them across to the Sterngate pass to get any kind of coin out of them.
#11 Gilo Sep 25, 2008 8:16:37	[i] Even the dumbest goblin knows that wizards make miserable slaves. It's all the thinking and not enough of the sweaty work that makes them so wretched. You'd be better off dropping them into a shallow grave or punting them off to an enemy that you don't mind really torquing off. fine, we'll send them to the Gnoll camp for some personal time with the tantekurash ("spirit breaker").
#12 goblin_pride Sep 25, 2008 22:27:23	fine, we'll send them to the Gnoll camp for some personal time with the tantekurash ("spirit breaker"). I like where you're going with that.
#13 shady314 Sep 28, 2008 4:12:06	? So much worrying about how they'll do in combat. 1) If you need to pull your punches do so until you find the right balance to challenge them without TPKing them. As others have said though they"ll actually be fine unless your players are new in which case they'll probably suck no matter what party they compose until they've gotten practice. 2) Maybe this is a sign they're wanting to play a more socially/politically focused game? in which case you can avoid a lot of combat all together. Have you discussed this sort of thing with them?
#14 shady314 Sep 28, 2008 4:57:38	Ok, so I've been hoping to run an Eberron campaign for years now and its finally here. I have 5 players, and these are the characters they've sent in: House Cannith Bard: will later have a Warforged Samurai cohort; is directly related to Merrix and Aaren; It's nice to see someone bucking the trend. Not everyone has to be an artificer from Cannith. Do they make musical instruments and/or compose? Aundarian Human Wizard: attended Arcanix; also a lawyer; family owns Aundarian vineyard that makes ceremonial wine for the Silver Flame. Love that too. Shifter Druid: from Eldeen Reaches; wants to be a Moonspeaker; maybe a Gatekeeper or Warden too I like the MoonSpeaker class. House Deneith Wizard: wants to be an Elemental Binder; combining elemetal companion from prestige class with wizard's familiar so will have fire elemental familiar; wants to be an 'anonymous' crusader for the poor and oppressed Everyone's bucking the steretype. Warforged Dragon Shaman: originally one of the few Karnnathi warforged; downed in battle and "repaired" by minor noble from Sharn (why?); traveled with new master to Argonessen (why?) and eventually abandoned him. Returning to Khorvaire to acquire wealth, fame and power with the intention of uniting warforged into warforged nation..... Personally whenever a player tells me Argonnessen I tell them "You mean Seren." Minor noble repairs him why? Because he's an adventurer and wants a warforged companion. Or he's a firm believer in warforged rights. Went to Seren with a dragonmarked contingent to do some exotic trading and sightseeing. Adventurer remember. Abandoned him because he grew tired of the forged's delusions of grandeur or just never liked his company as much as he expected. The novelty wore off. Or perhaps unknown to the warforged he was sold to some Seren barbarian. 4 full casters, no true front-liner and no rogue. However, there should be enough sidekicks running aroound to slow things down and fight. Plus, two wizards to step on each other's toes, and the high-CHA warforged dragon shaman to overlap with the bard/warforged pair. Any ideas on how to avoid characters crashing together and giving everyone a chance to shine? Let them combine their matching strengths to pull off feats a single person could not. Let their characters achieve individual milestones. Characters can shine in ways other than being the only one that can do something. Anyways it sounds like they want very different things from their classes so I think it will be fine. The bard and shaman are more than their cha stat. If the bard plays to a sold out arena and the warforged forms a cult of personality around himself they both involve charisma but one player would love one and the other wouldn't give an S. I already have some ideas for the campaign involving a world tour, and starting with a search for the bard's eventual cohort. both wizards and the warforged dragon shaman should be interested in helping out, and the shifter player seems least likely to not follow the plot hooks or the party. Good you've already identified your troublemaker player. :D I want to set the Aurum up as the baddies. I am trying to build an "Aurum assassin" who takes out certain NPCs to carefully set up chains of succession to key positions. Nothing as obvious as killing a king or even a general, but simple things like offing the second scribe right before the first retires, so that the third scribe (who can be easily bought) now has access all the kingdon's secrets. That's still fairly obvious but I get the point. Do you ever watch Numb3rs? There is an episode where the culprit is found to be using what are dubbed "shooting chains" whereby the killing of one gang member inspires a reprisal which in turn spurs more reprisals etc. My memory is hazy but over time he "inspires" something like a hundred deaths by only actually shooting a dozen or so people and making it seem gang related. Sounds like the kind of thing you're aiming for. The ep is called "The OG" I have an image of a magic coin, or other innocous device that will slowly do damage and then eat a hole through you, leaving only a very clean circular wound. Are there any "death coins" in any of the magic item collections, or are there any better themed murder weapons? Is he tying people down and then finishing them off with the coin? Or is it just a calling card? Does it prevent itself from being removed since obviously people are going to try to yank something off when it starts making a hole in them. I think that's an excellent weapon for an Aurum assassin. Places the coin on them which attaches itself somehow and slowly kills them. I'd make them a charged magic item. Each coin good for one use. Once it finishes killing its victim it's just a gold coin. For the future: What is a good "character goal' for a binder? I'm think that he'll have to help bind an elemental to an airship at some point, but we need something more than that. Well becoming a binder can be an accomplishment all on it's own. Have him actually gain his familiar in game as opposed to just suddenly being able to summon one. He must open a portal to the plane of fire and either bargain or force a fire elemental to serve him until he dies or 100 years whichever comes first. It could even be part of becoming a binder. The moonspeaker also needs some spice. Moonspeakers are usually just about the betterment of the shifters, but we need to find a speaker-related storyline. If the character also went Gatekeeper, it would be easy. "Are you the gatekeeper? I am the keymaster" But players are hardly typical. Perhaps he could work at bettering ALL shifters through his shining heroic example. Maybe he needs to see the world to better understand his communities place. Maybe to gain each level of MoonSpeaker he must see the proper moon (perhaps also at the proper time) from a new location each time (Level up) and while there's no set distance moving only a few miles doesn't cut it. You'll have to find out from the player what really motivates his shifter then you'll know what screws to turn. There's the traditional massacre of the community though. Or the less gory killing of someone important in the community. Father? Mentor? Aurum assassin's handiwork? How crazy would it be to let the warforged dragon shaman with delusions of grandeur actually suceed. Finding out that some warforged (led by Bulwark?) have been spreading rumors of this Lord of Blades, but its really a prophecy or prediction of his arrival...and then when the PC shows up they reveal HE is the Lord of Blades. Crazy but in a good way.