I will start soon an Eberron campaign. For once, I would really like to focus the adventures on the characters, instead of running published adventures as such. Sure I intend on plundering materials, but I would really like to come as close as possible to a novel experience.
So obviously I'm not looking into extensive dungeon crawls. Novels don't have dungeon crawls. 
Eberron is very well suited for intrigue, with lots of action and probably lots of misteries and twists.
Because I would like to build this campaign for my players, I organize a character creation session where hopefully we will be able to design a coherent group, and not a bunch of 6 unrelated characters. A bit along the lines of DMG2, I will try to have them create links between their characters, and maybe throw on the table a couple of goals they would like to achieve. Then I give myself about 2 months to start my campaign. You will notice that I don't plan on working on anything before I know what their characters are. Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe that it will allow me to put all my energy and ressources on what they would like, instead of designing a whole campaign arc and realize that they don't like to go this way.
But ... because there is a but ... I would like to have your opinion on how to design this campaign. I'm hesitating between two approaches, considering I would already know what characters they created and what are the several connections they have with the setting.
- I design multiple small story arcs for each individual characters that becomes intertwined along the different sessions. (a bit like a TV serie show)
- I design a main story line where I try to include as many characters as possible and I just spice it up with some side stories which are more related to only one character.
The point number 2 is more what I've seen so far when running campaigns. Anyone ever achieved something similar to the number 1 ? With what degree of success ? And how successful were you in using existing published adventures to meet your needs ?
My group has of course various tastes, but I know that none of them are big fans of dungeon delves. They would like the idea to recover ancient artifacts or whatever with a good story linked to it (and so to the setting). But they would get bored if it takes 10 encounters (with no story development) to get there. They would love much more to spend some time trying to locate the place, while NPCs are working against them.
It might be worth mentioning that we play only twice a month, and that we normally spend 2-3 months playing one game before switching to another one. So the scope is to have some material for about 6 sessions. I want those 6 sessions to be meaningful in terms of story development.
Thanks for your input. 
It's been my humble experience over the last ten years that no matter how much you plan and anticpate what your players may do, any major story-arcs will be a trainwreck within three to five sessions unless you steam-roll them or they are willing to acomodate your finite directions.
And this isn't a bad thing (or I'm just a bad DM, probably the latter ;) ).
It's probably better to work small and then slowly build up. Give your players a sandbox to work with, so to say. Let them feel in control and actually grant them that control. After you've gone through the first four or five adventures you should have a feel for the general party dynamic and how they work. After that point, let the various hints you've been using in your game thus far start building up towards something, a larger plot arc that culminates in whatever you want.
So my advice is give them the world to explore and let them. They all have things to do, politics and intrigue to involve themselves within.
Just my 2 cents Australian :P (oh and best of luck on your new campaign)
I too am about to start an Eberron Campaign, so I feel your pain. It's not that DM's like us are bad DM's, but its that the world of Eberron is full of so many awesome organizations and hooks and intrigue. My suggestion to you for starters is to select two organizations and one government to focus your campaign around. Once you've done that, you may then be able to decide why you did such a thing.
The "Love Triangle" you select can aid you in your week-to-week tv series stlye campaign with the same feel of a long drawn out quest that possesses side-treks. The government can provide quests to adventurers week to week and one or both organizations can be the resistances. They can hire mercenary goblins or summon demons/devils (whichever your brain storms with).
This is what I feel my Eberron game will have the feel of. I think I may very well use the Adventure in the back of the Eberron Campaign Guide as a starter. This adventure will take place the four years before the start of the campaign and when it actually begins, I can tie the characters together again, as though they now have something in common.
But rather than thinking so much about how to start and plan it, You have something that most DM's who run campaigns don't have. That is... you know when it should finish... Six months. You've got 12 games to plan. Think of your ending first!
This shouldn't cause a railroading feel, but should instead provide you with options throughout each week to instead guide your party to the goal you already have set. Give them plenty of choices, but you can monitor each choice you give and decide how you will mold them to point back to your ending.
What do you think so far?
Thanks for your answers. It's funny you mention having already an ending in mind, because it's been something else I wanted to do. Until now, I always had big plans, with tons of sessions, etc, but it died while running it.
This time I would like to reduce the scope of my campaign. Not that I don't want it to be boring. But I would like that after 6 sessions, the players hae a feel of accomplishment. They did what they were supposed to do. The only thing I couldn't know now is how they did it.
I did my first session with character creation. Here is what I have so far. Note that my players have never played in Eberron, so I have still many sweet secrets from the campaign that I can use.
- A dragonborn barbarian from Argonnessen. He doesn't know anything about the continent, except that he was living in a dragonborn tribe worshipping a dragon. I would put that somewhere in the Vast. Type of dragon still to be determined. My player's idea is that the dragon has been somehow poisoned. It's a slow type of poison, and an expedition is sent to Khorvaire to find an antidote. Why on Khorvaire ? Some clues lead to think that the poison came from Khorvaire. So an expedition led by a dragonborn sorceress left to Khorvaire ... to be caught in the Last War. Their party has been attacked by a group (to be determined) and saved by Valenar elves (2 other PCs were in this Valenar elf rescuing group ; see below). The dragonbrons have been almost exterminated, save for the sorceress and the barabrian PC. They realize that their mission is a failure. They head back to Argonnessen to find out that their tribe and the dragon is gone. Being homeless, they decide to go back to Khorvaire. But not far from the coast, the ship sinks and the barbarian swims to the coast. The sorceress is missing. He arrives in Sharn, where he thinks he might build up a new life.
- A human psion from Cyre was working as a spy for his government. He was sent to Sharn in order to become a close advisor of a ministry charged of re-supplying the troops during the war and manipulate his mind. He made a good job, as many convoys have been ambushed by either Cyran troops or even by Valenar elves. But then came the day of the Mourning. His homeland being wiped out, he doesn't know what to do. He quits his duty and starts to drink, more and more often, desperate about his situation. All the people he was fighting died on that fateful day. One night, as he started to pick up a fight, one dragonborn helped him (the other PC). They were sent to prison for a couple of days, where they had the opportunity to share their personnal stories. Both of them feeling homeless, they stick together in Sharn.
- A Valenar elf avenger. His mother follows the undying court and passed her faith on him, but he also kind of follows the spirits of the past. He fought during the war as a mercenary for Cyre. He took part in the fight to help the dragonborn PC during the last war. He is jealous of his brother because he was given an ancestor he would have rather followed. On top of that, his brother is a clumpsy elf. He can't ride properly, he can't fight decently. He seems more interested with magic. Both went their own way during the last part of the war. Coming back home, he found out that their father had been murdered by a Thuranni elf. His brother came back from war as well, and despite their animosity, they decided to fight alongside to take revenge on him. But his brother has become really weird now. He hardly seems to remember anything from his past, and he has become a powerfull artificer.
- A Valenar elf artificer. The brother of the previous PC. Or at least he thinks he is. Because in reality, this character is a changeling artificer who worked for the Eyes of Aundair. For reasons I don't know yet, he was heading towards Cyre and was about to reach its border the day of the Mourning. He took the appearance of a dead Valenar elf because he had to flee (reasons unknown yet). That's why coming back "home" with the other members of his Valenar tribe, he found out that he had a brother. He follows his brother for the moment, but I still don't know exactly what secret agenda he has got.
- A kalashtar assassin. That's a weird combination. This kalashtar is trying to use the powers of darkness against the Dreaming Dark. He's the kind of kalashtar to think that by fighting evil on Eberron, he's fighting the Dreaming Dark on Dal-Quor. But a recent assassination against a dremaing dark agent in Sharn put him on the path of House Thuranni. One of their killer was stalking the same prey, and lost it to the PC. The Thuranni elf was extremely disappointed, and now tries to find out who that kalshtar is. The kalashtar knows he just got some troubles with House Thuranni. Which is why, one day in Sharn, he's been introduced to a group of Valenar elves who were looking for a Thuranni assassin...
- The last member of the group should be a longtooth shifter swordmage. Again a weird combination.
His details are rather vague, but up to now it seems that he was learning his skills in Arcanix. He was there with a valenar elf who was trying to become an artificer (the elf that later will be posed by the changeling). Unfortunatly for him, his teacher is a silver flame zealot who thinks that shifter should have all been purged 200 years ago. During a lecture, his dragonmark manifests. Only the Valenar elf and the teacher take notice. For the silbver flame zealot, this is too much of an aberration. He decides to take action and deal swiftly with the shifter. The Valenar elf learns somehow that the teacher is preparing something against the shifter, something nasty. So he warns him and organise his escape. He heads towards Sharn.
So I have still a few gaps to be filled in. But I see already a lot of story potential here. I'll post when I have some more info and some idea for the final goal of this first part of the campaign.
Edit : Most stories have been updated.
Dude, nice. All their stories are developed enough for you to run with them, but raw enough for you to work with them.
Can't wait to hear what your do with those spaces that need filled. Keep me posted.
- The dragonborn barbarian from Argonnessen. His tribe was led by a gold dragon fro, the Vast who was also a member of the Chamber. He was poisoned most probably by another dragon from the chamber. That will allow me to showcase that dragons don't work always together, but have their own agenda. I still have to decide why the dragon sent a small band of his tribe to Khorvaire to find an elixir. I'd rather imagine that the character doesn't know the complete truth about his expedition. But the dragonborn sorceress who led them knew. And she is probably still alive. Maybe she had to find another dragon hidden on Khorvaire to seek help from him. Any idea would be appreciated.
- The human psion from Cyre. I have to say that I'm not extremely inspired by this character. The character is kind of hooked to the dragonborn PC for the moment, but that's it. Of course he could see again some faces he met while he was advising the Brelish minister. It would be funny to play his new "status" compared to what he used to be.
- The Valenar elf avenger. Why has the Thuranni elf been hired to assassinate him ? Unless it wasnn't a Thuranni assassin. I'm thinking about this almost exterminated line of Phiarlane elves : the Paelion line. Maybe they are trying to uncover some secrets which led to their extermination, and while doing some dirty work, put the blame on Thuranni elves. They look alike anyway. They are elves with the mark of Shadow. I might go down the route of the Emerald Claw being responsible for the schism. So the Paelions are investigating and the father of this character must have been somehow involved.
- The Valenar elf artificer (alias the changeling artificer). I had a great idea for him. I could be fun if people are trying to kidnap him because he knows something important. But it's the Valenar elf artificer who knew something important. Here, the changeling doesn't have a clue of what's going on. And unraveling this secret could be pure fun. I might link this to the reason why his father died (see above).
On top of that, the character explained me that another spy from Aundair only known as the Shadow compromised all his previous contacts and diguises. Apparently the Shadow is after him. Here also I have many possibilities. Either it could be one dragon (the one who poisoned the gold dragon from the dragonborn character tribe), or it could be a lord of the dust agent (like a succubus). The player also told me that having failed a last mission, he was "grounded" by the Eyes. But hearing about a shifter who developed a dragonmark, he thought that there was his chance to gain back Queen Aurala appreciation. Se he escaped Aundair to seek this shifter. And that's when he's been Ambushed close to Cyre by a Thuranni elf who let go the info that the Shadow was after huim and that he won't find the shifter. The changeling managed to run away (on his horse) towards Cyre border. And then came the Mourning... - The kalashtar assassin. I don't have much ideas for him yet. I think I should really play the fact that he chosed a weird path (the shadow path). But I don't see yet how to give this a solid story.
- The longtooth shifter swordmage. I'm still waiting to know wether his dragonmark is aberrant or not. If it is, I want to use the Tarkanan and see what comes out of it. Also I want to play on the Silver Flame church. Right now he only knows one zealot who wants him dead. But it would be great to end up in a situation where a silver flame faithful truly helps him when he's most in need. That might give him this mixed feeling about the religion, while now he probably just sees it all black.
Any great idea out there is very much appreciated. My main problem right now is to find what is the first couple of ideas that I want to use for my first adventure. I cannot use them all at once. But the first one I will chose will set the initial tone of the campaign. I have to keep in mind that that players told me that they would enjoy the geo-politic situation of Khorvaire, see what makes Eberron special (halflins on dinosaurs, warforged, dragonmarks). One of them said also that the corruption in Breland could be a good starting point, and Thronehold would be a grat place for political intrigues. Indeed it is. I still have to see how to get all these elements together.
So here are some ideas I've had concerning the characters.The human psion from Cyre. I have to say that I'm not extremely inspired by this character. The character is kind of hooked to the dragonborn PC for the moment, but that's it. Of course he could see again some faces he met while he was advising the Brelish minister. It would be funny to play his new "status" compared to what he used to be.
Don't give up on the Cyran Human. He could find connections to his brethren in New Cyre (also located in Breland). Perhaps they knew he was a spy and want to expose him or maybe they were old friends that did not know the other had survived the Mourning. Maybe you need him to elaborate more on his background to get your creative juices flowing.
The kalashtar assassin. I don't have much ideas for him yet. I think I should really play the fact that he chosed a weird path (the shadow path). But I don't see yet how to give this a solid story.
If you're crafting adventures around the PC's backgrounds, you can save those PC with less developed backgrounds for last or at least latter in the campaign. That'll give him more time to develop things (or maybe you). Also, are you asking them about the Last War, the way the ECG recommends? What have they done since the Day of Mourning, how did it impact their family and friends, etc.?
Any great idea out there is very much appreciated. My main problem right now is to find what is the first couple of ideas that I want to use for my first adventure. I cannot use them all at once. But the first one I will chose will set the initial tone of the campaign. I have to keep in mind that that players told me that they would enjoy the geo-politic situation of Khorvaire, see what makes Eberron special (halflins on dinosaurs, warforged, dragonmarks). One of them said also that the corruption in Breland could be a good starting point, and Thronehold would be a grat place for political intrigues. Indeed it is. I still have to see how to get all these elements together.
My plans are to start out with a rather straight forward goal (in my case it's obvious as they are escaping from a prison) sprinkled with lots of Eberron flava (suggestions about the prophecy, references to some of the Houses, religions and influential organizations). I think of that first adventure as their first major quest. Keep it short and sweet, just to test the waters. The individual PC stories are the minor quests that crop up during the adventure. It is tough tying the major quest to all the PC's, as you can only please "some of the people," but do they all want to be heroic (save the kidnaped heiress) or more materialistic (recover the valueable artifact). Try to play to their interests in these general terms. You can use any one of those major/minor quests to lead toward your Arc.
You may need to start a blog on your campaign, so we can follow along. Sounds great so far.
If the characters in your head won't respond the way your outline says they should respond, how can you expect players who are *not* in your head to respond the same way?
No, what you really want to do if you want this to be like a novel IMO is you *don't* have a gigantic write-up for what's going to happen from one adventure to the next. What I do in my writing is I plan out a big climactic set-piece and then let the characters figure out how to get there. For the most part, you want your planning to be from session to session. Now, if you're really trying to make this feel like a novel, you'll want to make sure it's paced correctly too. Try and work in a minor set-piece about halfway through, and maybe some other, smaller, ones a quarter and three-quarters of the way in as well. Also, don't disparage subplotting. Real novels can spend pages and pages on stuff that has little to nothing to do with the primary plot.
Ultimately, the biggest issue you're going to have with running a game like a novel is that with a novel you get to go back and rewrite the whole mess when you're done. Expect it to get messy, expect there to be loose ends that you may not be able to wrap up, even expect some plot discontinuity and retconning. Real, actual novel-writing can be really, really sloppy with the first draft. You simply cannot expect 6 people collaborating on a piece of literature - because, ultimately, that's what a good game is - to be as taut and to the point as a single person running through the same set of scenarios for the 6th or 7th time.
Don't give up on the Cyran Human. He could find connections to his brethren in New Cyre (also located in Breland). Perhaps they knew he was a spy and want to expose him or maybe they were old friends that did not know the other had survived the Mourning. Maybe you need him to elaborate more on his background to get your creative juices flowing.
I had a raw idea in my mind. I might want to include the Aurum to the story. So one Aurum member is the brother (or even sister) of a noble who is part of the Brelish Parliament. The character already met this Aurum member years ago, while advising the minister. Of course he doesn' know he's an Aurum member. He just knows he's a successful buisnessman. Today, the character is only the shadow of himslef. It could be interesting for him to meet this Aurum member, who could initially help him getting back into his saddle, but of course plans to use him for his own future plans. So the character could have the tough choice of either paying back his debt or walk away once he realize what kind of person this guy is. I still have to find out what the member could ask for...
If you're crafting adventures around the PC's backgrounds, you can save those PC with less developed backgrounds for last or at least latter in the campaign. That'll give him more time to develop things (or maybe you). Also, are you asking them about the Last War, the way the ECG recommends? What have they done since the Day of Mourning, how did it impact their family and friends, etc.?
Very good point. I'll press him a bit more about details. I also had a vague idea. The reference is from Matrix. You know when this "rebel" meet the agent Smith to betray Neo if he can go back into the Matrix like everybody else. I could imagine a Kalashtar who is wondering if it was really that clever to flee Dal Quor. He's basically homesick... He could be a close friend of the character and could become a great ennemy, helping the Dreaming Dark to buy his ticket back to Dal Quor.
The individual PC stories are the minor quests that crop up during the adventure. It is tough tying the major quest to all the PC's, as you can only please "some of the people," but do they all want to be heroic (save the kidnaped heiress) or more materialistic (recover the valueable artifact). Try to play to their interests in these general terms. You can use any one of those major/minor quests to lead toward your Arc.
I plan on doing the opposite, I'm afraid : using directly their backgrounds as the major quest(s). But you're right on a couple of things. 1) I will not be able to tie all their backgrounds into one single major quest. 2) I don't know how they want to play their characters and what will be their motivations.
But my plan is to outline roughly the ideas (understand the secrets) behind a few parts of their backgrounds. I try to tie together one or two ideas. And I throw it at them and react depending on how they deal with it.
JohnnySlick, I found your comments highly interesting !!! Because this is exactly the angle from where I'm trying to prepare my campaign. You're talking about writing the outline but keeping it very simple and not going too specific. Well right now, I don't know yet where I want to start, and even less where I want to end. Right now, I'm creating some nice and sweet secrets in every player's background. As said above, if possible I try to tie those secrets with other player's secrets. But not too much, otherwise I'll have problems if one PC dies later on.
When I'll have all these secrets, I'll try then to find out what theme I want to explore first, and I'll pick maybe two secrets. As you advised, I'll design then a good climatic scene linked to these secrets. Once I have that, I'll work from session to session, preparing only what I need for those 4 hours. In my experience, combats take 1h30. So I'll try to have one planned but not more. The rest will be about the story (and probably including some skill challenges).
I had one last idea for the Valenar avenger character. His father is not a Valenar elf. He's a Phiarlan elf, and more exactly from the Paellion line. So when in 972 the line has been almost exterminated, he fled to the Valenar where he had a previous mission for the Dragonmarked House. He hid in a Valenar tribe, fell in love with one elf, and had 2 sons. Only recently, his secret has been discovered (I still have to find out how) and the Thuranni organised an ambush to assassinate him.
I thought : what if the Paellion line had been manipulated by the Dreaming Dark ? The Thuranni don't know this, but it's because of the DD that the Thuranni launched their terrible attack. Today, I imagine 2 last membres of this line hidden in Sharn. They still dream a lot. They dream about their ancestor asking them to come back to this world. So they are busy building an arcane device which will allow them to bring back their ancestors, or so they think. Because the truth is obviously that the Quori want to bring Dal Quor closer to Khorvaire. This arcane device will allow them to take roots in Sharn.
Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts.
The individual PC stories are the minor quests that crop up during the adventure. It is tough tying the major quest to all the PC's, as you can only please "some of the people," but do they all want to be heroic (save the kidnaped heiress) or more materialistic (recover the valueable artifact). Try to play to their interests in these general terms. You can use any one of those major/minor quests to lead toward your Arc.
I plan on doing the opposite, I'm afraid : using directly their backgrounds as the major quest(s). But you're right on a couple of things. 1) I will not be able to tie all their backgrounds into one single major quest. 2) I don't know how they want to play their characters and what will be their motivations.
But my plan is to outline roughly the ideas (understand the secrets) behind a few parts of their backgrounds. I try to tie together one or two ideas. And I throw it at them and react depending on how they deal with it.
I certainly don't have a problem tying the major quests to the backgrounds, but just don't make some of your players wait 4 or 5 levels before having the campaign story focus on them, unless you're sure those players really don't mind. That's why I recommend using the minor quests to focus on them along the way. Keep us posted on how things go.
It's a reason why I might try to throw at them from time to time hooks to other "secrets" from their background. I hope I can create a situation where they have many options available to them, and they have to decide what they what to do first (or in what order to deal with those informations). But I don't know if that's going to work that well...
I'll certainly keep you posted. But the first session is not due before next year. So I (hopefully) still have time for some narrative preparation.