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Wraithy
2008-01-10, 04:35 PM
To those in my group: OUT! Now
I'm an almost inexperienced DM (1 session under my belt a year ago, and I made some big mistakes).
But I've learned from the mistakes and in a few months I'll be DM'ing a campaign I've called Eberron: The Age of Skies (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69051)
The thread on the Homebrew forums is mainly for help with mechanical problems.
I have no idea where to take the adventure story-wise. I had planned to make the BBEG a member of the council that rules Sharn in the campaign, and that he would be somehow responsible (or in league with those responsible) for the expansion of the mist. But I have no idea how to get my players there, or any explanation for anything I haven't specified in the Homebrew thread. I have a good idea for the start of the campaign:
The PCs have just come into port at the Hub, from there I allow them to go anywhere. So I really need to have 3 or 4 different courses of action which I can fit in regardless of what choices the players make.
My problem with DM'ing last time was that I led the players through the adventure, and only planned for one course of action, so I need to be able to react to anything unexpected without having to tell my players to wait while I come up with more story. Any help would be wonderful.

Tormsskull
2008-01-10, 04:46 PM
I'm not a fan of Eberron, but I'd be glad to help with a few suggestions or plot ideas if I had some more information from you. Could you give some more details or perhaps links to the other threads you are talking about?

Wraithy
2008-01-10, 05:23 PM
The only link is the first one, I haven't really written down anything else. though if you'd like to know anything specifically?

mostlyharmful
2008-01-10, 06:01 PM
I find it useful to write out a timeline for the BBEG imagining that the PCs don't exist, marking out what they do, how long it takes and how they do it. Work out what NPCs they need to interact with and when, maybe where they'll have fun/downtime between major bits of plot. Then stat up their responses to delays/inconveniences. It makes it feel a lot more real when the actions of your PCs affect the plans of a BBEG but don't automatically ruin them.

for your Mournland Rising campaign, maybe try something along the lines of a cultic figure that is trying to change the fate of the world. I love BBEGs that aren't evil. Have them trying to build up a great big divine rite that uses all the power of the desperation of Sharn to push back the Mist. Only trouble being they've got to let down the shield to make it work. Then you've got the tragic figure of the guy that wants to save the world from itself, by retreating back behind closed walls and waiting for it to go away the population has driven itself into a corner, and Cleric McSaviour can right whats gone wrong by stupid huge pointless gesture X. Start with politicing nobles that want to try the plan and a rioting undercity that hears about the toffs trying to turn the shield off. Then try to have "our Heros" discover a substantial side effect or shortfall of the Rite, something like 50%+ of sharns population will die (all of it from the lower levels) or the Rite will suck out the life force of the lower levels and turn them into monsters to fuel it. Something unacceptable for the lower residents but fine with the top levels. You could have them find an abbandoned research facility (complete with abandoned failures/mutants/???) or have all those the ruling elite deem useful or valuable being evacuated (clerics and cops).

After that it's a fairly non-standerd run upwards out of the dungeon to prevent the dubious cleric from commiting mass genocide to buy a few more decades of survival for the city.