I'm a big fan of Eberron and my campaign idea is, as you probably gleaned from the title of this post, loosely based on the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - the idea is that the PCs are working for one of the Five Nations, most likely Breland. Since the adventure which is coming out for Eberron, Seekers of the Ashen Crown, involves the King's Dark Lanterns this all gels together.
Now, I'm brainstorming some ideas for the campaign - so far my idea is to have the Heroic tier feature low-level goons like the Emerald Claw, maybe the traditional "Find the ancient relics before they do" scenario. In true noir fashion one of the PCs confidants will turn traitor at the end of Heroic and reveal some kind of build up relating to either the Daelkyr or the Lords of Dust (not sure which at this point).
At this point is where I get stuck, because I don't want Paragon to be a rehash of Heroic with exploration. Same with Epic; I want there to be some kind of world-shaking event like a Rakshasa rajah is freed or corruption spreads from the Daelkyr's influence, but it has to be enough to last for 10 levels and that's what makes things hard.
Any suggestions on how to keep the tone of an LXG-type campaign without it getting stale or seeming like the same thing just on a harder difficulty? I think the overall idea is really cool, the actual execution just trips me up.
Sblocked for those who haven't yet read the trilogy
The party started out fighting the children of Khyber (aka low-level grunts). They assumed the ultimate bad-guy was some sort of mage or cleric dedicated to the Dragon Below. At the same time, they have the dolgaunt Hruucan as a pretty awesome nemesis in his own right (as was Vennet d'Lyrandar).
As they move up a tier, they discover that the "Human Cleric" is actually a freaking dragon! The dolgaunt, Hruucan, whom they thought dead, returns as an undead horror who is really hell-bent on revenge. This tier leads them on a chase across Droaam (filled with subplots like Robrand, Ekhaas, and Chain) and into a confrontation with Dahmir. While Dahmir (the BBEG) escapes, Hruucan (the miniboss) is finally defeated. So, they walk away with both satisfaction and unfinished business.
This confrontation brings together items previously found (like Aram/Wrath) and items newly found (the Stones and Grieving Tree) and reveals that the Prophecy foretold their party's actions.
As this tier wraps up, they discover that things are even worse than they'd imagined. Dahmir works for the ultimate BBEG, a Daelkyr, and is close to striking a mightly blow in his favor.
The final tier involves chasing and confronting the Lord of Silence (the Daelkyr), the Dragon Dahmir, and many another obstacle. Along the way (from "heroic to epic") there are aerial combats, epic battlefields, passages of the Prophecy fulfilled... you name it.
This is a great novel series, and a great roadmap for a campaign.
The party started out fighting the children of Khyber (aka low-level grunts). They assumed the ultimate bad-guy was some sort of mage or cleric dedicated to the Dragon Below. At the same time, they have the dolgaunt Hruucan as a pretty awesome nemesis in his own right (as was Vennet d'Lyrandar).
As they move up a tier, they discover that the "Human Cleric" is actually a freaking dragon! The dolgaunt, Hruucan, whom they thought dead, returns as an undead horror who is really hell-bent on revenge. This tier leads them on a chase across Droaam (filled with subplots like Robrand, Ekhaas, and Chain) and into a confrontation with Dahmir. While Dahmir (the BBEG) escapes, Hruucan (the miniboss) is finally defeated. So, they walk away with both satisfaction and unfinished business.
This confrontation brings together items previously found (like Aram/Wrath) and items newly found (the Stones and Grieving Tree) and reveals that the Prophecy foretold their party's actions.
As this tier wraps up, they discover that things are even worse than they'd imagined. Dahmir works for the ultimate BBEG, a Daelkyr, and is close to striking a mightly blow in his favor.
The final tier involves chasing and confronting the Lord of Silence (the Daelkyr), the Dragon Dahmir, and many another obstacle. Along the way (from "heroic to epic") there are aerial combats, epic battlefields, passages of the Prophecy fulfilled... you name it.
This is a great novel series, and a great roadmap for a campaign.
Looks like I'll be adding three books to my reading list. That sounds amazing and very much like what I want to have my campaign flow like. Thank you for the advice and suggestion :D
I almost feel bad that I ruined the novels' story for you, but it will be worth it if it adds to your campaign.
Definitely read The Dragon Below series. It's the best I've ever read of this genre, and one of my favorites of any genre. Don Bassingthwaite can flat out write.
He's also continuing the tales of these characters in a new series set in Darguun. The first novel of this second trilogy is entitled Doom of Kings.
Which leads into another problem. Comic book characters are not especially dynamic, in comparison to D&D characters. The reason that volume II of LXG seems so much more epic than volume I is that in volume I the characters are roughly equal to the threat whereas in volume II they are totally out of their 'league' - effectively, they'd bested a Heroic-tier threat only to find an Epic-tier one following right after, skipping Paragon altogether. In D&D you can't really do that if you want your heroes to face the challenge head-on. You have to give them a threat that would totally overwhelm them if they faced it directly, but which they could conceivably tackle obliquely. Then, of course, you run into the problem of what to do at epic tier...
I'm probably risking being booed off the boards again for saying this, but for Heroic tier you're probably best off emulating the movie, and having the traitor turning out to be the PCs' boss, who then escapes when confronted at the end of Heroic tier to become the figurehead for an Epic-level threat. Paragon tier is spent tracking him down and bringing him to justice, and Epic tier focuses on ending the threat he's conjured up.
... who then escapes when confronted at the end of Heroic tier to become the figurehead for an Epic-level threat. Paragon tier is spent tracking him down and bringing him to justice, and Epic tier focuses on ending the threat he's conjured up.
This part is extremely similar to what I recommended earlier, and to the novel series I used as an example.
I personally liked the movie. ALOT.
You can have a Cpt. Nemo like Lhaazarite Prince (Artificer pirate) with a highly advanced elemental galleon to boot.
I even played a Mina 4e character once, dhampyr and all. :P
LXG the movie or the comic books? The movie had a lot of what Eberron's going for. "Steampunk", noir action.
The movie, since I haven't read the comic books. Lots of good advice here; I realize that the whole "cool" factor of the LXG was that it was made up of characters from various novels - obviously I can't do that with this campaign, but I think I can take a lot of the ideas from it. To be honest I just like the idea of the PCs all working for one agency and the concept behind LXG sounds like it fits the bill; in any system other than 4e (due to the fact it has levels) I would have the PCs be well-known individuals to sort of capture the true LXG feel, but realistically that can't be done in D&D without a lot of suspension of disbelief, although... PC classes are supposed to be rare in Eberron...
I want to thank tallric_kruush for pointing me in the direction of the Dragon Below trilogy; I ordered all three of them off Amazon just now as a birthday gift to myself :D
I would have the PCs be well-known individuals to sort of capture the true LXG feel, but realistically that can't be done in D&D without a lot of suspension of disbelief, although... PC classes are supposed to be rare in Eberron...
Well, you CAN do it. Say that instead of trying to fill three tiers with exciting stuff, you started off at level 11, with your PCs all being established adventurers who've had their exploits chronicled (and presumably embellished) extensively in the broadsheets - let the players come up with their own outlandish legends for themselves and have them write down the edited highlights. Then, once the team gets together, explain how they've all heard of each other but have never met before, and read off some of the things they've provided as they're introduced to each other.
If I had players that actually had read any of the Eberron books, I'd have them actually recreate their favorite characters from them and say that those books appeared in the Chronicle as serial fiction, which may or may not have any truth to them. Unfortunately, only myself and my wife read the books in my group...
*imagines a group consisting of Geth, Diran Bastiaan, Gaven, Thorn, and Abraxis Wren*
I want to thank tallric_kruush for pointing me in the direction of the Dragon Below trilogy; I ordered all three of them off Amazon just now as a birthday gift to myself :D
Excellent! I know you'll like these books. This series is probably the best I've ever read in this genre, with Keith Baker's The Dreaming Dark trilogy likewise being an excellent read.
*imagines a group consisting of Geth, Diran Bastiaan, Gaven, Thorn, and Abraxis Wren*
That's a nice group, there. Geth's my favorite, but I'm glad to see someone else loved Abraxis Wren. I don't see him mentioned often, but I really liked him a lot.