Ideas for adventures in Eberron!

[WadeWay33]

I’m picking up the book next week and I don’t really know the setting. I’m also not the most creative, so if anyone has any cool or unusual ideas for Eberron adventures or campaigns, post them here!

[cullynthedwarf]

Step one, go to book store
Step two, demand money back
Step three, get real book like Wheel of Time.
Step four, enjoy

Sorry, I despise Ebberon as it is the source material for one of the biggest abominations in the Game... The Warforged. Unless the whole party is playing them they are more work for your already over worked DM. And the worst part is, they are unkillable. A found robot body can be repaired and brought back to working order. A body of a human only can be brought back through necromancy.

Sorry I can't help you.

[WadeWay33]

Step one, go to book store
Step two, demand money back
Step three, get real book like Wheel of Time.
Step four, enjoy

Sorry, I despise Ebberon as it is the source material for one of the biggest abominations in the Game... The Warforged. Unless the whole party is playing them they are more work for your already over worked DM. And the worst part is, they are unkillable. A found robot body can be repaired and brought back to working order. A body of a human only can be brought back through necromancy.

Sorry I can't help you.

I'm not a huge fan of the Warforged either, but I manage it when I can. I had a few players that used them in the FG setting. The player(s) I had that picked them did most of the work themselves, and did a lot of good RP. I usually have that when a Warforged dies, its damaged beyond repair of normal artifice. They had to go on a long quest to find someone who could have fixed it, since I ruled that necromancy did not work on it because it was a construct.

But I really like Eberron as a setting, so if anyone else can help, it would be greatly appreciated! :smallsmile:

[cullynthedwarf]

Eberron it self was OK, just so many war forged.

It comes down to the party is kept awake by the Forged puttering around. Most traps have to be rethought since an entire group (poison) just plain doesn't work on them. And again mostly unkillable. They go offline not die except in extreme cases.

[Azuresun]

Eberron it self was OK, just so many war forged.

It comes down to the party is kept awake by the Forged puttering around. Most traps have to be rethought since an entire group (poison) just plain doesn't work on them. And again mostly unkillable. They go offline not die except in extreme cases.

{Scrubbed} Oh and in 5e, they have resistance to poison, like halflings, dragonborn and tieflings can have. And they die like anyone else--you can rebuild the body just like you can stitch up a human body, ending up with....an intact dead body.

{Scrubbed}

[Azuresun]

So with that needless unpleasantness out the way--


I’m picking up the book next week and I don’t really know the setting. I’m also not the most creative, so if anyone has any cool or unusual ideas for Eberron adventures or campaigns, post them here!

One influence that Eberron does very much wear on its sleeve is the "pulp adventure" stories of the 1920's and 30's, and it's well worth mining that genre for ideas--both for specific stories you can adapt, and the general feel. The war has ended, leaving deep scars on the land, as well as a lot of people who either want to settle old grudges or just forget the whole sorry mess and create a new life for themselves. Every person will have been affected by the war in some way, even if they weren't a combatant. The political map has been redrawn, and conspiracies are plotting to re-ignite the war, or impose their vision on the world. New frontiers of exploration are opening up, with the prospect of priceless treasures and high adventure to be found (or just getting squished by a boulder trap in an ancient temple). Hidden power struggles and feuds between different conspiracies are going on just under the surface, and everyone has a hidden agenda.

So for some broad suggestions--

--You're on an expedition to Xen'Drik. Can you cross the sea in one piece, survive a perilous trek into the jungle, along with angry dark elves and giants, negotiate the traps and tricks of the ruin and recover the priceless artifact? But even if you do....what sort of magic does this relic contain, and how could it upset the balance of power back home? What about the rival expedition from the Emerald Claw or Aurum who are racing you there? Can you really trust your sponsor?

--A body falls from a bridge high above in the city of Sharn, clutching a scrap of paper in one hand. Little do you know the web of intrigue and mystery this will plunge you into, in a noir-esque story of corruption, the scars of war and the machinations of the dragonmarked houses and their plans to re-create the magical disaster that destroyed the land of Cyre! Oh, and you should have known that dame was trouble as soon as you laid eye on her....

--Agents of the warforged demagogue known as the Lord of Blades are building an army of construct soldiers that they're preparing to unleash upon the human kingdoms. But even if you can venture into the blighted wastes of the Mournland and successfully sabotage the creation forge, what will you do when it turns out their sponsor was the benevolent-seeming Queen of Aundair, creating a threat so that she can weaken her rivals and claim rulership of all Khorvaire?

--On the maiden voyage of the biggest and grandest skyship yet, a vengeful assassin seeks to murder the inventor of the ship. Can you stop them? Do you want to, when you realise the weapons the inventor unleashed during the War inflicted a terrible doom upon the assassin's home town? Should the past be buried and forgotten, or should this man be held accountable even at the risk of angering House Cannith?

In general, I suggest using the factions in the game, because they're awesome. You can come up with a fairly standard adventuring plot....then add in agents of one or more factions who are interested in it for some reason, then the plot can almost write itself as they try to recruit or oppose the PC's. Also, newspapers are a great device to either report on the latest plot hooks, or the misadventures of the PC's.

Use the relative greyness of the setting. This is a place where an elf can be a bloodthirsty glory-hound with dreams of subjugating human lands to win glory in the eyes of their ancestors, while the orc can be a paladin wandering the land to keep agents of the fiendish lords from terrorising humans. A friendly, smiling gnome can be a ruthless war profiteer while the hobgoblin warlord can be a beacon of inspiration to people who have been second-class citizens for too long, reclaiming the legacy that was stolen from them so long ago.

Have the PC's travel around a lot. It's relatively easy with the skyships and lightning rail, and there's a lot of cool locations to explore. Again, think of a pulp adventure where Indiana Jones is zipping around between Berlin, Cairo and Shanghai in the course of an adventure, with a red pen tracing lines across a map.

Oh! One other thing to note is that if you run an Eberron game, you are contractually obliged to have the PC's get into a fight on top of an out-of-control lightning rail. :smalltongue:

Does that help?

[cullynthedwarf]

{Scrubbed}

This is warforged as it was written in its first publication of Eberron, so forgive me if this crap show has soured any future publications of the wannabe droids

Racial Traits
Living Construct Subtype (Ex): Warforged are constructs with the living construct subtype. A living construct is a created being given sentience and free will through powerful and complex creation enchantments. Warforged are living constructs that combine aspects of both constructs and living creatures, as detailed below.
Features: As a living construct, a warforged has the following features.
A warforged derives its Hit Dice, base attack bonus progression, saving throws, and skill points from the class it selects.
Traits: A warforged possesses the following traits.
Unlike other constructs, a warforged has a Constitution score.
Unlike other constructs, a warforged does not have low-light vision or darkvision.
Unlike other constructs, a warforged is not immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities.
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, and energy drain.
A warforged cannot heal lethal damage naturally.
Unlike other constructs, warforged are subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects.
As living constructs, warforged can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a warforged can be healed by a cure light wounds spell or a repair light damage spell, for example, and a warforged is vulnerable to disable construct and harm. However, spells from the healing subschool and supernatural abilities that cure hit point damage or ability damage provide only half their normal effect to a warforged.
The unusual physical construction of warforged makes them vulnerable to certain spells and effects that normally don't affect living creatures. A warforged takes damage from heat metal and chill metal as if he were wearing metal armor. Likewise, a warforged is affected by repell metal or stone as if he were wearing metal armor. A warforged is repelled by repell wood. The iron in the body of a warforged makes him vulnerable to rusting grasp. The creature takes 2d6 points of damage from the spell (Reflex half; save DC 14 + caster's ability modifier). A warforged takes the same damage from a rust monster's touch (Reflex DC 17 half). Spells such as stone to flesh, stone shape, warp wood, and wood shape affect objects only, and thus cannot be used on the stone and wood parts of a warforged.
A warforged responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points. A warforged with 0 hit points is disabled, just like a living creature. He can only take a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When his hit points are less than 0 and greater than —10, a warforged is inert. He is unconscious and helpless, and he cannot perform any actions. However, an inert warforged does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to him, as with a living creature that is stable.
As a living construct, a warforged can be raised or resurrected.
A warforged does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but he can still benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items such as hero's feast or potions.
Although living constructs do not need to sleep, a warforged wizard must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells.
+2 Constitution, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: Warforged are resilient and powerful, but their difficulty in relating to other creatures makes them seem aloof or even hostile.
Medium: As Medium constructs, warforged have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Warforged base land speed is 30 feet.
Composite Plating: The plating used to build a warforged provides a +2 armor bonus. This plating is not natural armor and does not stack with other effects that give an armor bonus (other than natural armor). This composite plating occupies the same space on the body as a suit of armor or a robe, and thus a warforged cannot wear armor or magic robes. Warforged can be enchanted just as armor can be. The character must be present for the entire time it takes to enchant him. Composite plating also provides a warforged with a 5% arcane spell failure chance, similar to the penalty for wearing light armor. Any class ability that allows a warforged to ignore the arcane spell failure chance for light armor lets him ignore this penalty as well.
Light Fortification (Ex): When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a warforged, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.
A warforged has a natural weapon in the form of a slam attack that deals 1d4 points of damage.
Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: None.
Favored Class: Fighter. A multiclass warforged's fighter class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

Yeah we come along way from then but like all groups you can't forget where you came from.

[Comaward]

I’m picking up the book next week and I don’t really know the setting. I’m also not the most creative, so if anyone has any cool or unusual ideas for Eberron adventures or campaigns, post them here!

Here are four specific ideas for adventures that might happen in Eberron:

AUNDAIR
The PCs are relaxing at the local Golden Dragon Inn when an Aundairan Wizard arrives and asks to speak with them.
Turns out, the alchemists at one of the local floating towers accidentally created a number of intelligent oozes.
The Wizard needs the PCs to ascend to the tower and kill the oozes before they can escape, or worse self-evolve and gain the ability to cast spells...

BRELAND
While aboard a Lightning Rail bound for Sharn, the PCs are awakened by the train coming under by attack by a group of Brelish soldiers turned bandits, and their fire breathing clockwork dragon...

ELDEEN REACHES
Oalian the Awakened Greatpine hires the PCs to look into a disturbing report: barbed devils and orcs wearing cloaks made of raven-feathers have been spotted in the forest, suggesting that the Carrion Tribes have found a way out of the Demon Wastes.
If true, it spells disaster for the Eldeen Reaches...

VALENAR
When an expedition from House Tharashk returns from the jungles of Q’barra bearing burn marks and shrieking about “the Burning Shadows!”, the House Lyrandor representative hires the PCs to help investigate further.
What the PCs discover in the reptile-infested swamps is a clan of Fire Giants attended by squads of Drow, which has landed on the southern coast of Q’barra. They intend to revive the ancient, long-dead Sulat Empire of Giants by conquering and enslaving the Valenar...

[WadeWay33]

So with that needless unpleasantness out the way--



One influence that Eberron does very much wear on its sleeve is the "pulp adventure" stories of the 1920's and 30's, and it's well worth mining that genre for ideas--both for specific stories you can adapt, and the general feel. The war has ended, leaving deep scars on the land, as well as a lot of people who either want to settle old grudges or just forget the whole sorry mess and create a new life for themselves. Every person will have been affected by the war in some way, even if they weren't a combatant. The political map has been redrawn, and conspiracies are plotting to re-ignite the war, or impose their vision on the world. New frontiers of exploration are opening up, with the prospect of priceless treasures and high adventure to be found (or just getting squished by a boulder trap in an ancient temple). Hidden power struggles and feuds between different conspiracies are going on just under the surface, and everyone has a hidden agenda.

So for some broad suggestions--

--You're on an expedition to Xen'Drik. Can you cross the sea in one piece, survive a perilous trek into the jungle, along with angry dark elves and giants, negotiate the traps and tricks of the ruin and recover the priceless artifact? But even if you do....what sort of magic does this relic contain, and how could it upset the balance of power back home? What about the rival expedition from the Emerald Claw or Aurum who are racing you there? Can you really trust your sponsor?

--A body falls from a bridge high above in the city of Sharn, clutching a scrap of paper in one hand. Little do you know the web of intrigue and mystery this will plunge you into, in a noir-esque story of corruption, the scars of war and the machinations of the dragonmarked houses and their plans to re-create the magical disaster that destroyed the land of Cyre! Oh, and you should have known that dame was trouble as soon as you laid eye on her....

--Agents of the warforged demagogue known as the Lord of Blades are building an army of construct soldiers that they're preparing to unleash upon the human kingdoms. But even if you can venture into the blighted wastes of the Mournland and successfully sabotage the creation forge, what will you do when it turns out their sponsor was the benevolent-seeming Queen of Aundair, creating a threat so that she can weaken her rivals and claim rulership of all Khorvaire?

--On the maiden voyage of the biggest and grandest skyship yet, a vengeful assassin seeks to murder the inventor of the ship. Can you stop them? Do you want to, when you realise the weapons the inventor unleashed during the War inflicted a terrible doom upon the assassin's home town? Should the past be buried and forgotten, or should this man be held accountable even at the risk of angering House Cannith?

In general, I suggest using the factions in the game, because they're awesome. You can come up with a fairly standard adventuring plot....then add in agents of one or more factions who are interested in it for some reason, then the plot can almost write itself as they try to recruit or oppose the PC's. Also, newspapers are a great device to either report on the latest plot hooks, or the misadventures of the PC's.

Use the relative greyness of the setting. This is a place where an elf can be a bloodthirsty glory-hound with dreams of subjugating human lands to win glory in the eyes of their ancestors, while the orc can be a paladin wandering the land to keep agents of the fiendish lords from terrorising humans. A friendly, smiling gnome can be a ruthless war profiteer while the hobgoblin warlord can be a beacon of inspiration to people who have been second-class citizens for too long, reclaiming the legacy that was stolen from them so long ago.

Have the PC's travel around a lot. It's relatively easy with the skyships and lightning rail, and there's a lot of cool locations to explore. Again, think of a pulp adventure where Indiana Jones is zipping around between Berlin, Cairo and Shanghai in the course of an adventure, with a red pen tracing lines across a map.

Oh! One other thing to note is that if you run an Eberron game, you are contractually obliged to have the PC's get into a fight on top of an out-of-control lightning rail. :smalltongue:

Does that help?

Tremendously, thank you!

[Azuresun]

And when it comes to Warforged and people who try to claim "magic robots aren't fantasy!", there is a certain story about an intelligent person of metal, teaming up with other oddballs and misfits in a fantasy world, and going on a quest to defeat an evil mage. And it predates Lord of the Rings. :smallbiggrin:

https://i.imgur.com/idew8Zam.jpg

[Dork_Forge]

{Scrub the post, scrub the quote}

This is warforged as it was written in its first publication of Eberron, so forgive me if this crap show has soured any future publications of the wannabe droids

Racial Traits
Living Construct Subtype (Ex): Warforged are constructs with the living construct subtype. A living construct is a created being given sentience and free will through powerful and complex creation enchantments. Warforged are living constructs that combine aspects of both constructs and living creatures, as detailed below.
Features: As a living construct, a warforged has the following features.
A warforged derives its Hit Dice, base attack bonus progression, saving throws, and skill points from the class it selects.
Traits: A warforged possesses the following traits.
Unlike other constructs, a warforged has a Constitution score.
Unlike other constructs, a warforged does not have low-light vision or darkvision.
Unlike other constructs, a warforged is not immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities.
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, and energy drain.
A warforged cannot heal lethal damage naturally.
Unlike other constructs, warforged are subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects.
As living constructs, warforged can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a warforged can be healed by a cure light wounds spell or a repair light damage spell, for example, and a warforged is vulnerable to disable construct and harm. However, spells from the healing subschool and supernatural abilities that cure hit point damage or ability damage provide only half their normal effect to a warforged.
The unusual physical construction of warforged makes them vulnerable to certain spells and effects that normally don't affect living creatures. A warforged takes damage from heat metal and chill metal as if he were wearing metal armor. Likewise, a warforged is affected by repell metal or stone as if he were wearing metal armor. A warforged is repelled by repell wood. The iron in the body of a warforged makes him vulnerable to rusting grasp. The creature takes 2d6 points of damage from the spell (Reflex half; save DC 14 + caster's ability modifier). A warforged takes the same damage from a rust monster's touch (Reflex DC 17 half). Spells such as stone to flesh, stone shape, warp wood, and wood shape affect objects only, and thus cannot be used on the stone and wood parts of a warforged.
A warforged responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points. A warforged with 0 hit points is disabled, just like a living creature. He can only take a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When his hit points are less than 0 and greater than —10, a warforged is inert. He is unconscious and helpless, and he cannot perform any actions. However, an inert warforged does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to him, as with a living creature that is stable.
As a living construct, a warforged can be raised or resurrected.
A warforged does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but he can still benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items such as hero's feast or potions.
Although living constructs do not need to sleep, a warforged wizard must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells.
+2 Constitution, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: Warforged are resilient and powerful, but their difficulty in relating to other creatures makes them seem aloof or even hostile.
Medium: As Medium constructs, warforged have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Warforged base land speed is 30 feet.
Composite Plating: The plating used to build a warforged provides a +2 armor bonus. This plating is not natural armor and does not stack with other effects that give an armor bonus (other than natural armor). This composite plating occupies the same space on the body as a suit of armor or a robe, and thus a warforged cannot wear armor or magic robes. Warforged can be enchanted just as armor can be. The character must be present for the entire time it takes to enchant him. Composite plating also provides a warforged with a 5% arcane spell failure chance, similar to the penalty for wearing light armor. Any class ability that allows a warforged to ignore the arcane spell failure chance for light armor lets him ignore this penalty as well.
Light Fortification (Ex): When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a warforged, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.
A warforged has a natural weapon in the form of a slam attack that deals 1d4 points of damage.
Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: None.
Favored Class: Fighter. A multiclass warforged's fighter class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

Yeah we come along way from then but like all groups you can't forget where you came from.

It's understandable it left a bad taste, but if you didn't like the setting then you'd have been better off just not posting as you're not helping OP and just spreading said bitterness.

to OP: I love the idea of having to foil a criminal underground that now has a bunch of War realted magitech to play with and sell to the highest bidder. You can go from busting into an underground warehouse to fighting on a lightning rail to infiltrating an auction.

[Evaar]

Thaliost doesn’t get the spotlight enough. This is an Aundairan city that gets conquered back and forth between them and Thrane and then after the Treaty of Thronehold ends up belonging to Thrane. Sorry, you’re in a theocracy now. What’s it like there? It can’t possibly be peaceful, right? Who keeps the peace and how? Is there a resistance movement? Are there criminal elements co-opting any resistance movements? Are there external forces like the Emerald Claw fomenting unrest so they can weaken both sides and grab a foothold for themselves? Do the people feel abandoned by Aundair? Do the Royal Eyes currently operate in the city? I feel like you could set a whole campaign there.

I also had a concept of a group of Cyran survivors secretly working for Oargev to 1) secure Cyre’s resources being rapidly claimed by the other nations and 2) hunt down “war criminals” who contributed to Cyre’s fall (in Oargev’s view, anyway). To the first point, Eberron has international banks. Cyre’s royal family undoubtedly had money in those banks. Cyre as a nation undoubtedly had money in those banks. Who gets that money? Does Oargev control it all now? Did he secretly become the single wealthiest person in Khorvaire? Are creditors coming for him to repay loans made to Cyre?

Finally, I doubt this could become a campaign because it’s largely an international legal drama, but what if Oargev got an offer from the Daughters of Sora Kell - annex Droaam as part of Cyre, reform the government as a council of themselves, him, and three other individuals to be selected by him, then demand recognition as a full nation again. Cyre was denied recognition because it has no clear land or populace or functioning government, Droaam has all of that but was denied recognition because it’s a nation of monsters and lacks the legitimacy they’d gain by being part of Cyre. The Cyran refugees relocate to Droaam and build a new city, and then it’s a matter of everyone assimilating and adjusting to the new normal. I think this works best if the Daughters are actually not villains, but instead operate on a different moral spectrum. If you can figure out how to make that a campaign, let me know.

[Fable Wright]

{Scrub the post, scrub the quote}

This is warforged as it was written in its first publication of Eberron, so forgive me if this crap show has soured any future publications of the wannabe droids

{Scrubbed}

I agree that Warforged clashed thematically with pretty much any traditional fantasy setting. This was intentional. Warforged were a new thing to sell a setting that had advanced from Medieval Stasis. It's got nations, not demesnes held by kings. It has technology based on magic, instead of hand-waving magic as a completely separate thing from everyday life. What sells that more than men of steel making their way in the world?

And while we're on that subject, to the OP:

The Warforged race are a bounty of adventure hooks. Let's count them:

—They don't need to pay rent. They don't need to eat. They don't need to sleep. Many of them don't know what to do with themselves. So you know what? Many manufacturing jobs are hiring them, leading to a lot of displaced and angry workers who are now out of a job, who literally can't compete with Warforged on price needs. Racial violence against them is a thing, and that paves the way for civil rights leaders. Do you want a Warforged MLK who's advocating for nonviolent protest against the way they're treated in Sharn? If so, do you have plot hooks on your hands, with the PCs opposing or supporting them or just watching as they're enlisted by the Boromar Clan, who offers protection if the Warforged become a second pillar of the clan. Or when they're being disproportionately attacked by the Daask—and why is that? Or when the leader just barely survives an attack on his life by a Tarkanan assassin, who turns out to be hired by none other than Merrix d'Cannith himself, who wants to see what happens when the Warforged community has a martyr on their hands.

—They don't at present have a communal identity. The oldest of them are 30 years old, and they can't reproduce. They have no elders, no lore to fall back upon. They simply don't know who they are. Some turn to the Lord of Blades, who violently advocates for a new Warforged state in the one no-man's-land left on the continent—the Mournland. Some are traveling to Xen'drik, seeking to learn more about the ancient and powerful docents that seemed custom designed for Warforged despite predating them by millenia, to try and discover some clue to their future in the ancient past. Some don't know what to do with themselves, and stick together in all-Warforged mercenary formations—perfect disposable agents for some cold war or false flag operations.

—In secret? There are ancient proto-warforged in Xen'drik, designed to house a Quori spirit, which they hoped would let them survive the turning of the age. Right now, the Inspired who rule Sarlona don't have any connection to the Warforged... but what if they did? What if the Inspired found that Warforged made better hosts than humans? It would be just about time for them to start their plans to plunge all of Khorvaire into civil war again, to ensure that a valiant band of (possessed) Warforged Heroes could rally people from across all five nations and put an end to the violence. A new, reforged nation of Galifar, free of violence and bloodshed. Forever. It would be the same utopia that still exists in Sarlona, after all. No one can even dream of turning against the Inspired.

—Warforged and the Church. Oh boy, this is a big one. Presently, none of the religions know what to make of the Warforged. Are they simple constructs? Do they even have a soul? What religion or dogma would have to change, if they were people? But then, there's an entire population of people who currently don't have faith, and could maintain memories of the Church's teachings, well, forever. They're potentially amazing converts, but any branch of the Silver Flame, or Blood of Vol, or whoever may wind up adopting these poor wayward souls? In addition to the potential surge of converts, you've now got a schism in the faith. And hoo boy, those can get ugly. Especially in Thaliost.

[T.G. Oskar]

One influence that Eberron does very much wear on its sleeve is the "pulp adventure" stories of the 1920's and 30's, and it's well worth mining that genre for ideas--both for specific stories you can adapt, and the general feel. The war has ended, leaving deep scars on the land, as well as a lot of people who either want to settle old grudges or just forget the whole sorry mess and create a new life for themselves. Every person will have been affected by the war in some way, even if they weren't a combatant. The political map has been redrawn, and conspiracies are plotting to re-ignite the war, or impose their vision on the world. New frontiers of exploration are opening up, with the prospect of priceless treasures and high adventure to be found (or just getting squished by a boulder trap in an ancient temple). Hidden power struggles and feuds between different conspiracies are going on just under the surface, and everyone has a hidden agenda.

So for some broad suggestions--

--You're on an expedition to Xen'Drik. Can you cross the sea in one piece, survive a perilous trek into the jungle, along with angry dark elves and giants, negotiate the traps and tricks of the ruin and recover the priceless artifact? But even if you do....what sort of magic does this relic contain, and how could it upset the balance of power back home? What about the rival expedition from the Emerald Claw or Aurum who are racing you there? Can you really trust your sponsor?

--A body falls from a bridge high above in the city of Sharn, clutching a scrap of paper in one hand. Little do you know the web of intrigue and mystery this will plunge you into, in a noir-esque story of corruption, the scars of war and the machinations of the dragonmarked houses and their plans to re-create the magical disaster that destroyed the land of Cyre! Oh, and you should have known that dame was trouble as soon as you laid eye on her....

--Agents of the warforged demagogue known as the Lord of Blades are building an army of construct soldiers that they're preparing to unleash upon the human kingdoms. But even if you can venture into the blighted wastes of the Mournland and successfully sabotage the creation forge, what will you do when it turns out their sponsor was the benevolent-seeming Queen of Aundair, creating a threat so that she can weaken her rivals and claim rulership of all Khorvaire?

--On the maiden voyage of the biggest and grandest skyship yet, a vengeful assassin seeks to murder the inventor of the ship. Can you stop them? Do you want to, when you realise the weapons the inventor unleashed during the War inflicted a terrible doom upon the assassin's home town? Should the past be buried and forgotten, or should this man be held accountable even at the risk of angering House Cannith?

In general, I suggest using the factions in the game, because they're awesome. You can come up with a fairly standard adventuring plot....then add in agents of one or more factions who are interested in it for some reason, then the plot can almost write itself as they try to recruit or oppose the PC's. Also, newspapers are a great device to either report on the latest plot hooks, or the misadventures of the PC's.

Use the relative greyness of the setting. This is a place where an elf can be a bloodthirsty glory-hound with dreams of subjugating human lands to win glory in the eyes of their ancestors, while the orc can be a paladin wandering the land to keep agents of the fiendish lords from terrorising humans. A friendly, smiling gnome can be a ruthless war profiteer while the hobgoblin warlord can be a beacon of inspiration to people who have been second-class citizens for too long, reclaiming the legacy that was stolen from them so long ago.

Have the PC's travel around a lot. It's relatively easy with the skyships and lightning rail, and there's a lot of cool locations to explore. Again, think of a pulp adventure where Indiana Jones is zipping around between Berlin, Cairo and Shanghai in the course of an adventure, with a red pen tracing lines across a map.

Good advice.

I'd say, though, that you can play more traditional stories in Eberron without affecting the feeling of the setting. Aundair, in particular, leads to a lot of intrigue (IIRC, the Aurum is established there, and there's that thing with queen Aurala...), but you can contain the stories in between Aundair and probably Thrane and keep the magitek fluff to a minimum (maybe as color?) while doing more traditional high fantasy adventures. You could also make a gritty war campaign if you embrace the Last War (though the current book doesn't say a lot, if you manage to get a copy, digital or otherwise, of The Forge of War from previous editions, you get a magnificent explanation of the Last War and what happened during that very, VERY long war).

That said, there's one thing that should appear in the book and is key to Eberron, beyond the factions (specifically the Dragonmarked Houses, but there's also the Aurum, the Twelve, the Chamber) and the specific content (Changelings, Shifters, Kalashtar, Warforged, Artificer, Dragonmarks, etc.) - recurring villains. An Eberron campaign thrives when you have a recurring villain that has a personal stake against the party, and manages to survive despite all odds. Make a memorable one, and the campaign will feel alive, and will give you tools to work the setting in a believable way.


Oh! One other thing to note is that if you run an Eberron game, you are contractually obliged to have the PC's get into a fight on top of an out-of-control lightning rail. :smalltongue:

Bonus points if the lightning rail is out of control because an Emerald Claw boarding party arrived. Each and every one of the games I do in Eberron is contractually obligated to have the Order of the Emerald Claw appear just once. They're just that...well, predictable.

Also: airships being destroyed, the Traveler messing with you, nobody expects the Thranian inquisition, etc.

[Pirate ninja]

The Modly Roger:
This thread was begun by a poster seeking suggestions on running a game in Eberron, and continued posts attacking Eberron as a setting will undermine that purpose. Please discontinue the line of discussion about whether Eberron/warforged is a good setting or addition to the game.

[HappyDaze]

Step one, go to book store
Step two, demand money back
Step three, get real book like Wheel of Time.
Step four, enjoy

Sorry, I despise Ebberon as it is the source material for one of the biggest abominations in the Game... The Warforged. Unless the whole party is playing them they are more work for your already over worked DM. And the worst part is, they are unkillable. A found robot body can be repaired and brought back to working order. A body of a human only can be brought back through necromancy.

Sorry I can't help you.

Don't want Warforged? Well, it doesn't hurt the setting in the least to say that all of the Warforged went inert (i.e., died) when the Mourning happened.

EDIT: Oops, I didn't see the red text. I was trying to be helpful by suggesting how to easily remove Warforged and still have most of Eberron (and its history) to explore if that's what you want to do.

[Azuresun]

That said, there's one thing that should appear in the book and is key to Eberron, beyond the factions (specifically the Dragonmarked Houses, but there's also the Aurum, the Twelve, the Chamber) and the specific content (Changelings, Shifters, Kalashtar, Warforged, Artificer, Dragonmarks, etc.) - recurring villains. An Eberron campaign thrives when you have a recurring villain that has a personal stake against the party, and manages to survive despite all odds. Make a memorable one, and the campaign will feel alive, and will give you tools to work the setting in a believable way.

Agreed, though it's better to only have the villains appear personally in circumstances where attacking them is off the table, unless you're okay with them dying early.

[Bobthewizard]

I like this DMs Guild AL series of adventures set in Sharn, the capital of Breland, a city of mile high towers, air taxis, and elevators. You can make it feel like you're playing in Blade Runner instead of D&D. I made up about 30 extra NPCs that the characters knew (friends, bartenders, store clerks, bosses, coworkers, House rivals and allies, etc.) so they had people to interact with that weren't trying to kill them. I told them to start with all of the PCs as lifelong friends living in the same apartment complex in middle Dura. My players decided to all be sisters living together with their mom so we didn't have any warforged PCs. We started 2 years after the war ended so they had to work that into their background. They had part-time jobs - one was a courier for Orien, one drove air taxis, one worked private security, and one made money in the gladiator pits.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/278867/Embers-of-the-Last-War-BUNDLE

[Brookshw]

Agreeing with the pulp comments above and want to mention that, while Eberron's far from a traditional D&D setting, it's always reminded me a bit of Final Fantasy. With that in mind my approach to, and options for, adventures in Eberron have greatly opened up.

[ImperiousLeader]

I’m picking up the book next week and I don’t really know the setting. I’m also not the most creative, so if anyone has any cool or unusual ideas for Eberron adventures or campaigns, post them here!

Pulp and Noir are the peanut butter and chocolate that make Eberron sing. Watch any combination of Raiders of the Lost Arc, Casablanca, Maltese Falcon, The Rocketeer, Blade Runner, and Firefly, these are great places for inspirations. There are lists of other works that can help inspire.

But let's just take Firefly. Your PCs (most of them) are Cyran refugees. Their nation/home is gone. But they've gotten their hands on an Airship (you'll need either a PC or an NPC that is a half-elf of House Lyrandar), and now, it's just get a job, keep on flying. You take a lot of elements from the show. Have a Macguffin/Magical Artifact fall into their hands, and powerful people want it. Rob a Lightning Train. Steal from the wealthy and corrupt to support other Cyran refugees.

[HappyDaze]

I like this DMs Guild AL series of adventures set in Sharn, the capital of Breland, a city of mile high towers, air taxis, and elevators.
Sharn is the largest city in Breland (and Khorvaire), but it is not the capital; Wroat is the capital of Breland.

[NoxMiasma]

Eberron has a lot of variety and options for a campaign. Here's a few ideas


Chroniclers in Sharn: The characters are an investigative and fact-checking team for one of the many chronicles (newspapers) present in Sharn. This comes with some inbuilt party roles - is one of them the writer, illustrator, or grifter - and can spin out to a number of different campaign premises. Maybe what starts as some problems with the Boromer Clan turns into a desperate attempt to drive off a rakshasa, who stole the face of the second-in-command a decade ago, and his plots are coming to fruition...
Xen'drik Frontier: base the campaign around a small frontier town, where the players can contribute to the world. One of them might be the Sherriff, another might help fund the tavern, or a third could have ties to dragonshard prospectors who first got the place started. Xen'drik has that creepy imprisoned Evil, and the lizardfolk know ways to keep it at bay, but the players are ignorant outlanders who keep digging up the sealing dragonshards
Mournland Retrieval Service: The Mounland, which once was Cyre before the Mourning ravaged it, is a dungeon the size of a country, filled with danger and wonder. The players are commissioned by the Prince of Cyre, or other interested parties, to retrieve heirlooms and artefacts, braving the living spells, tainted lands and possibly, the forces of Erandis Vol, who seek something in the center of the capital, or the Lord of Blades, a mysterious revolutionary warforged
Gatekeepers: The Gatekeepers are an ancient orcish Druidic order, charged with prevention the madness of Khyber and Xoriat from escaping its bonds. The players are orcs, half-orcs and allies, who must traverse the mountains and reach the site of an ancient ritual, for Xoriat draws near and the daelkyr are waiting
A campaign set in Droaam, nation of monsters. Perhaps the PCs are natives attempting to gain power and the safety it brings in Droaam's clan-based struggles, or they could be outsiders, searching the land for a runaway criminal, ancient artefact, or just for information on this unusual nation. A goblinoid PC might even be a secret spy for the Heirs of Dhakhan

[T.G. Oskar]

Eberron has a lot of variety and options for a campaign. Here's a few ideas

A campaign set in Droaam, nation of monsters. Perhaps the PCs are natives attempting to gain power and the safety it brings in Droaam's clan-based struggles, or they could be outsiders, searching the land for a runaway criminal, ancient artefact, or just for information on this unusual nation. A goblinoid PC might even be a secret spy for the Heirs of Dhakhan

Oh yeah...Darguun. That's a fun place.

Goblins in Eberron are pretty cool. They're essentially a once-powerful empire, dominating all over Khorvaire, until humans arrived. Galifar, the oldest human kingdom, is actually younger than the Dhakaani Empire. Most of the artifacts that exist in Eberron are part of this ancient empire. And of course, they're essentially evil slavers who are trying to regain their ancient heritage, which is both troublesome and cool.

One thing I believe was a bad choice was to tie the 3.5 Samurai flavor with Galifar, ascribing "bushido" to an ancient Galifarian code. In my game, the Dhakaani Empire was basically a fantastical version of Japan; I figure that, with the focus on mobility and tactics, goblinoids would make far better samurai. One NPC that my players liked was a LE Hobgoblin Water Shugenja; built like a healer, but with some blasting abilities and a TON of pride in her heritage. The scene that defined her personality involved a situation where the team's patron (a House Cannith businessman who wanted to create firearms, and because of the party's actions, was wealthy enough to create his own airship) asked them to protect workers to scavenge the remnants of a destroyed airship. During the fights, some of the workers were harmed, and the party's face (a Kender bard/druid/Fochlucan lyrist; yeah, I did it, and it was pretty fun, and I don't regret it because the player really nails what it is to play a proper Kender) asked the NPC to heal the people. She did, under the condition to be paid, because she didn't believe they were worthy of her healing powers. Of course, that led the party's face to make a satirical song insulting her...which the player actually composed mid-game. (I think I still have both the song itself and the lyrics, which were meant to be sung as a limerick. Of course the player was handsomely rewarded with XP.) Having that NPC be a druid would have been a good cop-out, but not as significant as being a shugenja, and part of it was tying the Dhakaani Empire to old Asian empires and kingdoms.

While it's mostly re-fluffing, it shows one thing: old non-human ancient empires trying to return to their moment of glory can be a fun way to spin up the usual way you can play the game. I'd love to see the shugenja return in one way or another (maybe as a set of Druid Circles?), just to have all goblinoid NPCs appear as ninjas, samurai and shugenja (of course, all of those suitably altered to sound more Goblin) to fit that theme once more. OP, think about that when making adventures on Eberron.

[Throne12]

Thaliost doesn’t get the spotlight enough. This is an Aundairan city that gets conquered back and forth between them and Thrane and then after the Treaty of Thronehold ends up belonging to Thrane. Sorry, you’re in a theocracy now. What’s it like there? It can’t possibly be peaceful, right? Who keeps the peace and how? Is there a resistance movement? Are there criminal elements co-opting any resistance movements? Are there external forces like the Emerald Claw fomenting unrest so they can weaken both sides and grab a foothold for themselves? Do the people feel abandoned by Aundair? Do the Royal Eyes currently operate in the city? I feel like you could set a whole campaign there.

I also had a concept of a group of Cyran survivors secretly working for Oargev to 1) secure Cyre’s resources being rapidly claimed by the other nations and 2) hunt down “war criminals” who contributed to Cyre’s fall (in Oargev’s view, anyway). To the first point, Eberron has international banks. Cyre’s royal family undoubtedly had money in those banks. Cyre as a nation undoubtedly had money in those banks. Who gets that money? Does Oargev control it all now? Did he secretly become the single wealthiest person in Khorvaire? Are creditors coming for him to repay loans made to Cyre?

Finally, I doubt this could become a campaign because it’s largely an international legal drama, but what if Oargev got an offer from the Daughters of Sora Kell - annex Droaam as part of Cyre, reform the government as a council of themselves, him, and three other individuals to be selected by him, then demand recognition as a full nation again. Cyre was denied recognition because it has no clear land or populace or functioning government, Droaam has all of that but was denied recognition because it’s a nation of monsters and lacks the legitimacy they’d gain by being part of Cyre. The Cyran refugees relocate to Droaam and build a new city, and then it’s a matter of everyone assimilating and adjusting to the new normal. I think this works best if the Daughters are actually not villains, but instead operate on a different moral spectrum. If you can figure out how to make that a campaign, let me know.

Maybe a rich Cyran was out of the country. When the morning happen and he lost his papers/stamp/ID. He hires the party to recover his the item he needs to prove who he is to the bank to claim his money. Now you can use this as is or you can throw in a twist. Where the guy that hired you isnt who he say he is. And wants that money to fund something bad like buying a army, paying a assassin to kill someone important, ect. More layers you put on the better.

[DragonBaneDM]

I'm running an adventure tomorrow where a confused wyrmling has kidnapped a baby gnome who comes from House Sivis, thinking he'll be able to study her dragonmark. Nobody got a very good look at the crime, so everyone assumes it was some great evil dragon.

A gang of mercenary dragon hunters, including a deadly Valenar archer who wants to hunt dragons like her ancestors, are already on the case, but the party is right after them.

Fortunately or unfortunately, so is the wyrmling's "cousin", a polymorphed silver dragon who's trying to find him before the airship cruising mercenaries do.

The gnomeling and the baby dragon are just playing in the woods having the time of their lives, but all that's going to change tomorrow night!