barakaka
2016-07-10, 01:22 PM
I'm beginning my first campaign today, and would like to have a pool of ideas for challenging level 6+ characters.
The PCs
The party consists of a new player and 3 seasoned vets. The newby is a Petal (MMII) Dragonfire Adept, and the others are a custom monster class Blue Dragon with the Wyrm of War archtype, a Elan Psion focused on the Astral Construct power, and a Gish riding a lion. Two of the veterans have a heavier hand as far as optimization goes.
I've got ideas as far as 3 campaign arcs go: I'd like them to play around with the dragonmarked guilds first, head to Xendrik and uncover giant magic, and head to the Mournland to fight the Lord of Blades. Much later on, I intend for them to get tangled up in a fight between the dragons of Argonessen and the Quori.
Short-term Plan
They start in Sharn today, and I'm set to run them through a modified Forgotten Forge module found in the ECS. Once that module finishes, I've got another 1-off planned where they fight K'shegla, a Sahuagin prince/cultist, and after that, I'll run them through the rest of the Eberron modules.
Counters for Specific PC Abilities
Flight
I wanted familiars and homonculi to be used for spying purposes against the PCs, but the petal can easily catch a flying Expeditious Messenger or Final Messenger (both in ECS).
Tanglefoot Bag (d20srd)
-2attk, -4dex, dc15 reflex ->unable to fly, dissolves in 2d4 rounds
dc15 concentration to cast
you can attack it off with slashing 15hp, or strength check dc17
universal solvent burns it off immediately
move half speed otherwise, and even after breaking it off
Web spell (d20srd)
dc25 escape artist or immobile
if success, make another check per 5ft movement
burning the web does 2d4 to each creature in it
Wind wall spell (d20srd)
small creatures can't fly through
breath weapons don't pass through
Breath Weapons
Eberron is known for masses of low level, NPC classed enemies. Breath weapons put a huge damper on the length of an encounter now, and don't deplete PC resources.
Wind wall spell (d20srd)
small creatures can't fly through
breath weapons don't pass through
Grappling
when you pin a creature, you can shut its mouth (just like alligator wrestling!)
medium and larger creatures auto-succeed on grapples against tiny creatures
I intend for this to be a play area and brainstorm session for you guys to develop some cool mini-arcs or 1-off sessions that can challenge all 4 people, while not wiping the noob off the face of the plane. I'm open for anything, a trip to Darguun, a run-in with the Blood of Vol and the Emerald Claw, a fight with age-old Karrnathi Skeletons. I just want to stay as close to the Eberron flavour and style as possible. I'm cool with jamming content from other settings into NPCs with PC class levels, they're special after all. A lot of the content provided in the books is great for any level, but some of it falls short for high level, focused players.
Edit - If this picks up steam, I may start a new thread chronicling the adventure and weird and wacky events you guys and I come up with.
Edit - I have a spreadsheet with all NPC characters alluded to in the Eberron books, but I need a post count of 10 to provide the link...
The PCs
The party consists of a new player and 3 seasoned vets. The newby is a Petal (MMII) Dragonfire Adept, and the others are a custom monster class Blue Dragon with the Wyrm of War archtype, a Elan Psion focused on the Astral Construct power, and a Gish riding a lion. Two of the veterans have a heavier hand as far as optimization goes.
I've got ideas as far as 3 campaign arcs go: I'd like them to play around with the dragonmarked guilds first, head to Xendrik and uncover giant magic, and head to the Mournland to fight the Lord of Blades. Much later on, I intend for them to get tangled up in a fight between the dragons of Argonessen and the Quori.
Short-term Plan
They start in Sharn today, and I'm set to run them through a modified Forgotten Forge module found in the ECS. Once that module finishes, I've got another 1-off planned where they fight K'shegla, a Sahuagin prince/cultist, and after that, I'll run them through the rest of the Eberron modules.
Counters for Specific PC Abilities
Flight
I wanted familiars and homonculi to be used for spying purposes against the PCs, but the petal can easily catch a flying Expeditious Messenger or Final Messenger (both in ECS).
Tanglefoot Bag (d20srd)
-2attk, -4dex, dc15 reflex ->unable to fly, dissolves in 2d4 rounds
dc15 concentration to cast
you can attack it off with slashing 15hp, or strength check dc17
universal solvent burns it off immediately
move half speed otherwise, and even after breaking it off
Web spell (d20srd)
dc25 escape artist or immobile
if success, make another check per 5ft movement
burning the web does 2d4 to each creature in it
Wind wall spell (d20srd)
small creatures can't fly through
breath weapons don't pass through
Breath Weapons
Eberron is known for masses of low level, NPC classed enemies. Breath weapons put a huge damper on the length of an encounter now, and don't deplete PC resources.
Wind wall spell (d20srd)
small creatures can't fly through
breath weapons don't pass through
Grappling
when you pin a creature, you can shut its mouth (just like alligator wrestling!)
medium and larger creatures auto-succeed on grapples against tiny creatures
I intend for this to be a play area and brainstorm session for you guys to develop some cool mini-arcs or 1-off sessions that can challenge all 4 people, while not wiping the noob off the face of the plane. I'm open for anything, a trip to Darguun, a run-in with the Blood of Vol and the Emerald Claw, a fight with age-old Karrnathi Skeletons. I just want to stay as close to the Eberron flavour and style as possible. I'm cool with jamming content from other settings into NPCs with PC class levels, they're special after all. A lot of the content provided in the books is great for any level, but some of it falls short for high level, focused players.
Edit - If this picks up steam, I may start a new thread chronicling the adventure and weird and wacky events you guys and I come up with.
Edit - I have a spreadsheet with all NPC characters alluded to in the Eberron books, but I need a post count of 10 to provide the link...