What sort of plots do you run? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

What sort of plots do you run?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
JohnLynch
Jun 20, 2008 7:28:58 So I was wondering what sort of plots people run here in Eberron and how they differ from other games?

I'm finding myself leaning towards political intrigue which is something I wasn't considering whatsoever with my homebrew world. So I'm glad to see the setting is bringing out other sort of plots from me.
#2
Nived
Jun 20, 2008 9:16:06 I lean more towards the pulp action side of Eberron. Its an easy choice when I know that every single person in my gaming group had all the Indiana Jones movies and The Mummy movies on DVD. Big locations, big villains, big actions.

That's not to say I never use politics, or that every adventure I run is off in some temple ruin, my group are still avid role players and many times securing connections to powerful people or organizations is just as satisfying for them as plundering forgotten treasure.

I'm very player centric, I try to listen to them and their personal character goals, always try to keep them the center of the story. My grand plot can wait an adventure or two while we track down the bastard commander that purposefully ordered the Warforged's unit on a suicide mission just before the Treaty of Thronehold was signed. I like my adventures big, right on the cusp of being over the top, just before they get ridiculous... but I never want it to overshadow the heroes.

I also subscribe to the old campaign building method of having the low level adventures seem unconnected only to reveal how each episode has built towards something. I like saying "You didn't think I was going anywhere with that did you?" However I'm not one to wait till the end of the campaign with the 'big reveal', it can be confusing and unsatisfying. Generally I try to make the connections known in the mid levels so the entirety of what could be considered high level the players know what's going on and have reason to care.

Right now I'm focusing on my first 4th edition game which will begin Saturday. We're starting all new, 1st level, fresh start, fresh setting. Stormreach this time (previous campaigns of mine have been based out of rural Breland, Rekkenmark in Karrnath, and out of Whitestone in Q'Barra). After reading City of Stormreach I've fallen for The Scar that Abides, and his long, drawn out, best served cold revenge. The Scar being freed from Khyber will, with any luck, be the capstone of this campaign, but I'm getting way ahead of myself, that's a year or more into the future... but its something to keep in mind. His cult will make an appearance in the first adventure... though nothing but the ritualistic scaring will immediately set them apart from any other Cult of the Dragon Below. I don't plan on using the term "The Scar that Abides" for some time.
#3
herogoeth
Jun 20, 2008 12:10:46 I’ve run a few long term Eberron campaigns, and played in a few as well. I’ve been able to participate in Eberron conversions of both The Shackled City and The Age of Worms Adventure Paths by Paizo Publishing. I've both played and DM'd the Forgotten Forge and Shadows of The Last War, and I've run Voyage of The Golden Dragon.

In one campaign, the plot tied to unraveling a cataclysmic event foretold in the Draconic Prophecy, and soaring throughout the continent of Khorvaire, across the thunder sea to Xen'Drik, and eventually to the shores of Argonesson to keep the cataclysm from coming to pass.

Another campaign painted the Dragonmarked houses as truly dark and half-malicious forces of manipulation and deceit. The campaign involved the PC's starting out as members of the Morgrave Digger's Union, who's adventuring success slowly became noticed by some of the dragonmarked houses. A few contending dragonmarked nobles attempted to become the Patrons of the Adventurers, eventually forming a coalition that used the PC's as their primary tool to achieve "goals that would further the interests of the represented dragonmarked houses and ensure general prosperity in all of Khorvaire. Eventually the PC's uncovered a plot that this Dragonmarked Coalition was working with The Aurum in a plan to remove the monarchies of the Five Nations and put the Dragonmarked Houses in true control of a new Galifarian Empire. This was fun.

We've even done that awful thing that you sometimes have nightmares about, an Eberron Avatar game (or as we call it, the us campaign). The premise is something like the movie Cool World, or Last Action Hero. Everyone plays themselves in a game where you are dragged into a fantasy mileu, and you play out what you imagine you would do in that situation, given the sudden realization of new abilities and the potential to forever leave your mark on a world that has only ever existed in your imagination. This is likely the most nerdy thing I have ever participated in, but begrudgingly, I have to admit that everyone involved had an unfairly riotous time, and some of our favorite gaming stories come from that campaign. I can only imagine it working with a close group of friends, but if you have no shame, and you really like Eberron, what the hell, why not?
#4
PJammaGod
Jun 21, 2008 2:15:46 I go for a sandbox approach when it comes to my Eberron campaign (it's the only one I usually do, just as a side-note). I pretty much give the players the world to play with, plenty of plot-hooks, adventure ideas and snags/snarls in their lives to make it interesting. In the past my players consisted of:
A Marcher druid (seeking to avenge the destruction of his clan at the hands of a rogue airship and it's warforged crew)
A grizzled former Karnnathi Warlord (and now Denieth Dragonmark heir)
A Maenad from Adar seeking to one-day make it to Sharn (he hasn't yet :P )
Dragonborn scholar/warlock from Argonessen seeking to explore the world and acquire as much arcane law as he can
A Thranite deserter of semi-celestial heritage who wants to do the right thing but is caught up with this group of no-goods (or at least morally leniet people)

That alone makes the game interesting and leaves me with plenty to do with my players. Of course the game changed recently (yay 4th Ed) so the druid has been replaced with an Arcanix trained mage of Aundair (she's a cold one), the warlord with an Elf rogue looking to make a quick bit of gold and the addition of a Cyran refugee turned warlock (he wants power and revenge).

The way I weave my storyline is somewhat episodic in nature and I could best describe as similar to the way the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series was constructed. There are independant adventures that the players can choose to follow (I never rail-road, merely use the occassional one-way sign on the street). There are also slowly evolving storylines based around several themes (abberrations, demons, Emerald Claw etc etc), which continue regardless of the players choices. The important thing being that the players if they choose certain quests can effect differences in the storyline and change of the overall outcome (they don't know this).

Right now for example they've accepted a side-quest to escort a Shifter Reacher to her lodge (she's from the Benevolent Order of Xandrar, go check out the Sharn Inquisitve article for my inspiration). However the entire lodge (ie everyone belonging to the group) had been murdered by cultists of the Dark Six. They want to use the local column-monoliths to empower a ressurrection spell to bring back their former leader (Irian is in-fact coterminous with Eberron during this time, dunno if the designers intended it or not but thematically it works great). This is both a side-quest and the beggining's of a greater campaign arc (the now returned leader is going to cause mischief across the length and breadth of Khorvaire). After this quest they will continue on their major quest to find a powerful magic item lost during the Last War that will help divine why the weather has recently been going all wrong (it's spring and the weather is still blustery autumn/winter). This is part of a much larger campaign arc that the players have been persuing on and off for sometime now (since the start of the campaign over a year ago).

It's a fragemented and perhaps even mad storyline, but it's Eberron, there's enough pulp here to put Gunn's out of business .
#5
skrap-san
Jun 21, 2008 7:02:57 I tend to go for the pulp action myself. I ad a bit of intrigue, nothing really fancy, but just enough to not make it a "go there hit him over the head with a herring and all is fine again" quest. I like to think that I make up for it with a pulp heavy universe where dinosaurs roam at large, long dead gods resurrect and everyone wants a piece of what ever you are pursuing.
#6
davethebrave371
Jun 22, 2008 10:29:17 You know, I'd have to say a lot of it is pulp action and mystery. And of course, horror in the Mournland the two times they've gone. As a DM, I want it to be intriguey and noiry, but I subscribe to a fairly hands-off DMing, so the intrigue and noir aspects are only sort of a focus for only one or two of my six players. In fact, it is really laden with intrigue, but they haven't deigned to investigate (and in some cases, plumb haven't realized) the intrigue in the background. Not disappointed by this, by the way. D&D is about having fun, and everyone is having fun (so much fun that we're coming up on our 3rd anniversary of this Eberron game in September). So if they go onto the intrigue aspects full-bore, I'll be excited. But if not, I'm content as a cat in a tuna factory to just sit back and watch my kittens play. I interact with them everywhere they go as a million different characters, so it's not like I'm not constantly in the game, interacting with everyone. Fun is fun! But I'd have to say pulp and mystery is where my players go, intrigue and noir is where I like to go.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 JohnLynch Jun 20, 2008 7:28:58	So I was wondering what sort of plots people run here in Eberron and how they differ from other games? I'm finding myself leaning towards political intrigue which is something I wasn't considering whatsoever with my homebrew world. So I'm glad to see the setting is bringing out other sort of plots from me.
#2 Nived Jun 20, 2008 9:16:06	I lean more towards the pulp action side of Eberron. Its an easy choice when I know that every single person in my gaming group had all the Indiana Jones movies and The Mummy movies on DVD. Big locations, big villains, big actions. That's not to say I never use politics, or that every adventure I run is off in some temple ruin, my group are still avid role players and many times securing connections to powerful people or organizations is just as satisfying for them as plundering forgotten treasure. I'm very player centric, I try to listen to them and their personal character goals, always try to keep them the center of the story. My grand plot can wait an adventure or two while we track down the bastard commander that purposefully ordered the Warforged's unit on a suicide mission just before the Treaty of Thronehold was signed. I like my adventures big, right on the cusp of being over the top, just before they get ridiculous... but I never want it to overshadow the heroes. I also subscribe to the old campaign building method of having the low level adventures seem unconnected only to reveal how each episode has built towards something. I like saying "You didn't think I was going anywhere with that did you?" However I'm not one to wait till the end of the campaign with the 'big reveal', it can be confusing and unsatisfying. Generally I try to make the connections known in the mid levels so the entirety of what could be considered high level the players know what's going on and have reason to care. Right now I'm focusing on my first 4th edition game which will begin Saturday. We're starting all new, 1st level, fresh start, fresh setting. Stormreach this time (previous campaigns of mine have been based out of rural Breland, Rekkenmark in Karrnath, and out of Whitestone in Q'Barra). After reading City of Stormreach I've fallen for The Scar that Abides, and his long, drawn out, best served cold revenge. The Scar being freed from Khyber will, with any luck, be the capstone of this campaign, but I'm getting way ahead of myself, that's a year or more into the future... but its something to keep in mind. His cult will make an appearance in the first adventure... though nothing but the ritualistic scaring will immediately set them apart from any other Cult of the Dragon Below. I don't plan on using the term "The Scar that Abides" for some time.
#3 herogoeth Jun 20, 2008 12:10:46	I’ve run a few long term Eberron campaigns, and played in a few as well. I’ve been able to participate in Eberron conversions of both The Shackled City and The Age of Worms Adventure Paths by Paizo Publishing. I've both played and DM'd the Forgotten Forge and Shadows of The Last War, and I've run Voyage of The Golden Dragon. In one campaign, the plot tied to unraveling a cataclysmic event foretold in the Draconic Prophecy, and soaring throughout the continent of Khorvaire, across the thunder sea to Xen'Drik, and eventually to the shores of Argonesson to keep the cataclysm from coming to pass. Another campaign painted the Dragonmarked houses as truly dark and half-malicious forces of manipulation and deceit. The campaign involved the PC's starting out as members of the Morgrave Digger's Union, who's adventuring success slowly became noticed by some of the dragonmarked houses. A few contending dragonmarked nobles attempted to become the Patrons of the Adventurers, eventually forming a coalition that used the PC's as their primary tool to achieve "goals that would further the interests of the represented dragonmarked houses and ensure general prosperity in all of Khorvaire. Eventually the PC's uncovered a plot that this Dragonmarked Coalition was working with The Aurum in a plan to remove the monarchies of the Five Nations and put the Dragonmarked Houses in true control of a new Galifarian Empire. This was fun. We've even done that awful thing that you sometimes have nightmares about, an Eberron Avatar game (or as we call it, the us campaign). The premise is something like the movie Cool World, or Last Action Hero. Everyone plays themselves in a game where you are dragged into a fantasy mileu, and you play out what you imagine you would do in that situation, given the sudden realization of new abilities and the potential to forever leave your mark on a world that has only ever existed in your imagination. This is likely the most nerdy thing I have ever participated in, but begrudgingly, I have to admit that everyone involved had an unfairly riotous time, and some of our favorite gaming stories come from that campaign. I can only imagine it working with a close group of friends, but if you have no shame, and you really like Eberron, what the hell, why not?
#4 PJammaGod Jun 21, 2008 2:15:46	I go for a sandbox approach when it comes to my Eberron campaign (it's the only one I usually do, just as a side-note). I pretty much give the players the world to play with, plenty of plot-hooks, adventure ideas and snags/snarls in their lives to make it interesting. In the past my players consisted of: A Marcher druid (seeking to avenge the destruction of his clan at the hands of a rogue airship and it's warforged crew) A grizzled former Karnnathi Warlord (and now Denieth Dragonmark heir) A Maenad from Adar seeking to one-day make it to Sharn (he hasn't yet :P ) Dragonborn scholar/warlock from Argonessen seeking to explore the world and acquire as much arcane law as he can A Thranite deserter of semi-celestial heritage who wants to do the right thing but is caught up with this group of no-goods (or at least morally leniet people) That alone makes the game interesting and leaves me with plenty to do with my players. Of course the game changed recently (yay 4th Ed) so the druid has been replaced with an Arcanix trained mage of Aundair (she's a cold one), the warlord with an Elf rogue looking to make a quick bit of gold and the addition of a Cyran refugee turned warlock (he wants power and revenge). The way I weave my storyline is somewhat episodic in nature and I could best describe as similar to the way the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series was constructed. There are independant adventures that the players can choose to follow (I never rail-road, merely use the occassional one-way sign on the street). There are also slowly evolving storylines based around several themes (abberrations, demons, Emerald Claw etc etc), which continue regardless of the players choices. The important thing being that the players if they choose certain quests can effect differences in the storyline and change of the overall outcome (they don't know this). Right now for example they've accepted a side-quest to escort a Shifter Reacher to her lodge (she's from the Benevolent Order of Xandrar, go check out the Sharn Inquisitve article for my inspiration). However the entire lodge (ie everyone belonging to the group) had been murdered by cultists of the Dark Six. They want to use the local column-monoliths to empower a ressurrection spell to bring back their former leader (Irian is in-fact coterminous with Eberron during this time, dunno if the designers intended it or not but thematically it works great). This is both a side-quest and the beggining's of a greater campaign arc (the now returned leader is going to cause mischief across the length and breadth of Khorvaire). After this quest they will continue on their major quest to find a powerful magic item lost during the Last War that will help divine why the weather has recently been going all wrong (it's spring and the weather is still blustery autumn/winter). This is part of a much larger campaign arc that the players have been persuing on and off for sometime now (since the start of the campaign over a year ago). It's a fragemented and perhaps even mad storyline, but it's Eberron, there's enough pulp here to put Gunn's out of business .
#5 skrap-san Jun 21, 2008 7:02:57	I tend to go for the pulp action myself. I ad a bit of intrigue, nothing really fancy, but just enough to not make it a "go there hit him over the head with a herring and all is fine again" quest. I like to think that I make up for it with a pulp heavy universe where dinosaurs roam at large, long dead gods resurrect and everyone wants a piece of what ever you are pursuing.
#6 davethebrave371 Jun 22, 2008 10:29:17	You know, I'd have to say a lot of it is pulp action and mystery. And of course, horror in the Mournland the two times they've gone. As a DM, I want it to be intriguey and noiry, but I subscribe to a fairly hands-off DMing, so the intrigue and noir aspects are only sort of a focus for only one or two of my six players. In fact, it is really laden with intrigue, but they haven't deigned to investigate (and in some cases, plumb haven't realized) the intrigue in the background. Not disappointed by this, by the way. D&D is about having fun, and everyone is having fun (so much fun that we're coming up on our 3rd anniversary of this Eberron game in September). So if they go onto the intrigue aspects full-bore, I'll be excited. But if not, I'm content as a cat in a tuna factory to just sit back and watch my kittens play. I interact with them everywhere they go as a million different characters, so it's not like I'm not constantly in the game, interacting with everyone. Fun is fun! But I'd have to say pulp and mystery is where my players go, intrigue and noir is where I like to go.