| Post/Author/DateTime | Post |
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| #1degausserJan 18, 2010 3:28:09 | Okay, so I have some questions, and I was wondering if anyone out there could help me out. |
| #2jtrowellJan 18, 2010 6:33:18 | The cause of the Mournland : Whatever fits your campain.
It is one of the few things where there is no official/canon explanation, so the DM can choose for himself.
Note also that Eberron novels are not canon. About the big political players, don't forget the Dragonmarked Houses. If you want to add "secret players", you have the influence of the Aurum and the Dreaming Dark that can be as important (or not) as needed. And because everything is better with Dragons, don't forget the Chamber ;)
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| #3Bly2729Jan 18, 2010 6:35:50 | That heaping of lore is there to provide you with as much inspiration as needed to come up with a good story, not be a weight around your neck. There is so much history because PCs in Eberron are very much a product of their unique backgrounds. The Eberron books are good reads in and of themselves and digging into the lore is fun. But anything that doesn't fit your needs as a DM running a game should be excised. Your best bet would be to pick up some Eberron books to satisfy your cravings. Pick up some 3rd edition stuff as it will likely be on sale. The campaign guide is a good start, and Five Nations will have more on the politics and major players if that's the direction you want to go in. |
| #4meshonJan 18, 2010 10:07:32 | I too was totally excited to run an Eberron campaign and then dismayed at the amount of homework I thought I would have to do to get it "right." Now that we've started playing though I have found two things that help. 1) One piece at a time. I keep the 4E campaign guide handy while we play and use the knowledge DCs that are included throughout to let players make skill checks whenever they ask a general question about geography. It does take a little extra time for me to flip to the proper page, but as the players learn, so do I. I have also stopped worrying if my ideas will fit in Eberron. Of course they will. Your campaign will make its own canon. 2) It's the Players' World Too. As we play, a couple of the players in my game have surprised me with their knowledge of the setting. They are starting to learn about the world of Eberron and now supply many of their own world-appropriate plot hooks. If a player says something like "Bren ir'Gadden seems awfully interested in the Draconic Prophecy, do you think he might be working for the Chamber?" then I make it so. When you have spare time, read bits and pieces of the books that interest you, but don't feel like you have to know it all ahead of time. The main thing to keep in mind is the flavour of Eberron: all the details of geography and secret cabals just get included when it works in your game. Hope that helps. cheers, Meshon |
| #5HellcowJan 18, 2010 11:54:12 | One thing I'd add: Don't try to include everything, especially in your first campaign. For example, Eberron has quite a few influential conspiracies in the wings... The Aurum, the Dreaming Dark, the Lords of Dust, the Chamber, all the way to groups like the Trust and the Dragonmarked Houses. If you want, you can put together a really complicated story involving all of these - the Aurum and the Emerald Claw are secretly being manipulated by the Dreaming Dark, which is unwittingly serving the goals of the Lords of Dust in their war against the Chamber. Personally, I wouldn't. In The Dreaming Dark novel series, you get some cameos from other groups (Alina the Aurum Concordian, a cult of the Dragon Below) - but overall, the story focuses on one major villain. In building your campaign, I'd pick a solid introductory antagonist, and perhaps a more hidden opponent behind them... the Emerald Claw is being manipulated by the Dreaming Dark. And then I'd add in a few other significant forces: House Cannith, the King's Citadel, and Lord of Blades will all have a part to play. but for this campaign I'm not even going to worry about the Lords of Dust; I'll save them for the next story arc. So all I'm saying is don't feel like you have to master every last piece. Master enough to have a story you like. And hey, in Eberron, you're practically encouraged to deviate from canon if it fits the needs of your story. So if one of your players says "But that's not how X happened", you're not wrong - you've just changed how it happened in YOUR Eberron. |
| #6degausserJan 18, 2010 14:46:23 | Okay, so as I was reading, an idea formed in my head about a possible campaign (happens all the time, damn imagination!) So, here is my idea for a campaign, tell me what you guys think. Campaign premise: the cause of the Mourningland is discovered, and threatens to reignite the last war, or bring a greater destruction to the contenant. Very early on in the campaign, the PCs will clear out a dungeon that leads to a small, long-forgotten Canith manufatury. Inside, they will find a book of hypothetical Arcana that none of them can get their heads around (DC 35 arcana check, really high level theoretical stuff.) They turn it into they guy who wanted them to explore the manufactury. The guy who hired them is murdered shortly thereafter, and the book stolen. The guy's affiliation (I'm thinking he's going to be a member of the Karrnath military) hires the PCs to help track down the killer and figure out what happened. They will track him accros the kingdom and beyond, and lead to some big-time adventures. Behind the scenes: Cyre was destroyed because of a magical experiment they were performing in secret. They were going to use several rituals designed to magically interact with each other to open a permenant gateway between their world and an area of the Astral Sea (an area with pure, undiluted, magical energy) This would, essentially, give them unlimited magical power to maintain their magical infrastructure, letting them not only more easily maintain their facilities, but also would let them free up all their 'maintenance wizards' for battle. Of course, the rituals failed and released a tide of uncontrolled magical energy that destroyed much of their kingdom. Now, they had contracted some of the magical rituals to several of the houses under highest secrecy. The book that the Pcs find is one part of the massive ritual attempt. The Emerald Claw has recently discovered this plan, and has begun collecting the reminants of the rituals, hoping that they can perfect what Cyre could not, and then use their newfound power to possibly conquor a kingdom, or make their own! |
| #7ellorinJan 18, 2010 15:01:16 | Okay, so as I was reading, an idea formed in my head about a possible campaign (happens all the time, damn imagination!) So, here is my idea for a campaign, tell me what you guys think. I like it. Your version of the cause of the Day of Mourning makes lots of sense. I take it that House Cannith was also involved in all of this? |
| #8degausserJan 18, 2010 15:44:57 | Like I said, Cyre subcontracted out some of the work to house Cannith. |
| #9yakmanJan 18, 2010 15:51:43 | It's a great idea that you can build a whole campaign (or series of campaigns) around. Some thoughts: -bringing this energy into Eberron from the Astral would require an enormous amount of infrastructure (similar to the lightning rails? some sort of arcane power grid?). That means House Cannith was deeeep in the Cyran plot. Who amongst the three Cannith successors was involved? Are one or more of them allied with the Order of the Emerald Claw? -House Phiarlan's leaders escaped the devastation. Were they clued in on it? Do they have a stake in the new plot? Or were they hired to disrupt the original plan--replacing critical documents with false ones riddled with tiny errors--by the Order... or some other group? -this Arcane Power Grid must still have some relics within the Mournland. Is the Lord of Blades trying to rebuild it for his own purposes? Is he trying to use it to create a series of Creation Forges? Or to ascend into godhood? -The Order of the Emerald Claw... is Vol involved? Kaius? Some other, darker power? -How are your PCs' backstories related to this massive, and horrifyingly failed, project? |
| #10degausserJan 18, 2010 16:02:11 | It's a great idea that you can build a whole campaign (or series of campaigns) around. See, I didn't know that Phiarlan was based in Cyre prior to it's destruction, or about the three possible successors to House Cannith. I'll have to research that. As for Phiarlan, as the house of super-spies, it seems to me that they would have known if anyone would have. Maybe they found out about it, their own mages figured it was more than likely to fail, and they scedattled. They might even be a third player, trying to steal the book as well, so they can destroy it so that the day of mourning doesn't happen again. As for needing an 'arcane power grid' to deceminate magical energy, yes, they would have needed one, but I figure that they tried an experiment first, to see if the portal would work, and that destroyed them. If the portal had worked, then they would set disseminating the energy. |
| #11yakmanJan 18, 2010 23:07:43 | As for needing an 'arcane power grid' to deceminate magical energy, yes, they would have needed one, but I figure that they tried an experiment first, to see if the portal would work, and that destroyed them. If the portal had worked, then they would set disseminating the energy. Here's a thought. With a weapon that important, with a scale that vast, it's possible that at least some of the infrastructure was already being built when the prototype went hay wire. It's more than possible--it's likely as the Cyrans would to roll out the weapon quickly once they were certain it would work. I can imagine that the Lord of Blades has sent out some of his captains to up shop at one of the vast, half-finished transformer stations... an epic fight amidst a swinging forest of arcane powerlines, snaking down like vines from towering spires twisted with the Mournland's bizarre energies... |
| #12OgiwanJan 19, 2010 9:53:03 | That is a pretty nice idea. Fits in the world. Thing is, if you don't like the idea of Cannith being splintered, you just need to change a few details. Pick one of the current branch heads (or make your own!) and make them top dog and the others underlings. |
| #13meshonJan 19, 2010 10:46:26 | And hey, in Eberron, you're practically encouraged to deviate from canon if it fits the needs of your story. So if one of your players says "But that's not how X happened", you're not wrong - you've just changed how it happened in YOUR Eberron. Good to remember. In a recent adventure in Sharn I let it be known that the Tyrants were a made up of monsters from Droaam. Ooops! According to City of Towers, the gang I'm thinking of is called Daask. Did I get it wrong? Not necessarily. Maybe the Tyrants are led by a beholder. On the other hand, the Tyrants in City of Towers are shapeshifters so perhaps they have been impersonating Daask for some reason, or they are allied. My "mistake" offers some interesting ideas. The advice is good: make it your Eberron and enjoy the place you create with your players! cheers, Meshon |
| #14ellorinJan 19, 2010 11:15:54 | And hey, in Eberron, you're practically encouraged to deviate from canon if it fits the needs of your story. So if one of your players says "But that's not how X happened", you're not wrong - you've just changed how it happened in YOUR Eberron. Well said. Don't forget that changelings are not uncommon in Droaam, where the Six are worshipped openly. Who knows, you may have been right from the beginning. |
| #15tricksterpippinJan 25, 2010 19:53:52 | That sounds like an awesome campaign, I may have to run a similar game!! Although I've never particularly liked the Emerald Claw, I personally would have to involve Queen Aurala and her subplot to reignite the last war and reestablish Galifar. Thanks again for the ideas... Oh brain is starting to hurt with ideas... |
| #16awesomecoreJan 26, 2010 10:14:48 | Start the characters at first level so that the geography of the campaign is small and the setting is very personal. Then increase the scope of your game as the characters gain levels. You don't need to worry about the whole world and how it fits together, just the place where the PCs start. |
| #17PJammaGodJan 26, 2010 21:22:02 | Awesomecore really hits the nail on the head in regards to advice. Start small, start focussed and build up a rapour with your players. Get to know how they interact, what roles they fill and what style of play they are aiming for (I've learned that mine really like the melodramatic Pulp). Each campaign will be unique, even if it's the same players at the same table from another game (and even in the same Campaign Setting). After that, Eberron is your oyster. There is literally continents filled with ideas, plot-hooks and tasty tid-bits (the Quabalran vampire in Xen'drik is a nice easter-egg). Best of luck Mate! |
| #18aradraugfeaFeb 06, 2010 12:42:43 | Okay, so as I was reading, an idea formed in my head about a possible campaign (happens all the time, damn imagination!) So, here is my idea for a campaign, tell me what you guys think. I have some similar stuff planned for mine, actually, so of course it sounds good to me. In my game, the Mourning was still a magical WMD, but it was one of those pivotal moments in the Draconic Prophecy, a moment nudged by the Lords of Dust to lead to a better situation for them later on down the road. About 4-7 years down the road. (Hint Hint) The PCs, as a group, are similarly important figures. They are a group that, if in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, can foil the goals of the Lords of Dust, putting things back on a 'pre Mourning' path. Heroic tier is going to have only the smallest hints of this. A job will occassionally come in from an agent of the Chamber that never reveals themselves as such, slowly exposing them to the prophecy, feeling them out, seeing if they're actually the people mentioned. Paragon tier, they'll start to catch on about the prophecy having something to do with them, vague references to people a lot like them. By Epic tier, they've figured out that the mourning was a turning point, and they're heading towards another. It's their job to make sure it turns the 'right' way. It's like Keith said. I'm taking basically 2 groups here. Chamber (as allies) Lords of Dust (as villains), and weaving everything around that. I'm not too concerned about what the established canon is on pivotal events, as long as the game world itself makes sense for me. Of course, there will be side events. The Aurum will make an appearance, the Dragonmarked Houses will be a presence, and the Lord of Blades might even make an appearance, but it's all ultimately about the Lords of Dust. |
| #19DoctorBadWolfFeb 09, 2010 18:35:02 | Okay, so as I was reading, an idea formed in my head about a possible campaign (happens all the time, damn imagination!) So, here is my idea for a campaign, tell me what you guys think. intrigue, conspiracy, mystery...very Eberron. i like it. :D |