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View Full Version : Planning ahead for my first (possible) time DMing, Eberron campaign lvl 10



Runa
2008-02-09, 03:15 AM
Hey all.

Well, I have for some time now considered offering to DM for our group, which tends to rotate who DMs fairly often,

I put it off previously, because I'm intimidated by all the number-crunching (though from what I can tell, if you screw up you can always fudge/ad-lib, and it turns out fine... least it does in our group anyway), but I think I'd actually really like coming up with multi-branch stories on the spot, I'm a story/character-centric player, and it would be a fun challenge. So, whenever the heck into the indefinite future Rob's and Ryan's campaigns are done, I'm going to offer my services. ;)

And I have to be frank, Eberron sounds a lot more interesting than FR, which is what our past campaigns have mostly been based out of (though Ryan's said his campaign will borrow a little from Eberron flavor-wise). So, I bought the main setting book, but now I'm wanting advice on the following:

1.) Tips for DMing an Eberron-flavored (lvl 10, 'cause low lvls don't seem to be as much fun in our group) campaign (well, campaigns in general, but especially that kind!).

Currently these are my ideas for how to handle it:

*bring my laptop (our current place for gaming has wireless net, allowing for instant access to d20SRD websites and so on),

*make sure I have backup copies of/actually look at the character sheets of my PCs in a folder (would help me tailor the adventure/any rewards based on what their equipment is and what they need or based on their character's background and so on; plus, on occasion someone might forget their sheet, so it's always good to have a backup!),

*get Rules Compendium (go ahead and laugh at my wanting a "useless" book but I learned more about combat rules from that than PHB, and if I ever need something from a DMG or PHB, I've got two friends with copies of DMG, and we've also got three PHBs between us. Plus, it's thinner and easier to use as a quick reference for most things in my experience, and had a couple of neat house rules the developers mentioned they use that I might want to try),

*make sure I know exactly what the party's like BEFORE I pick where to set it or the plot (our group does show certain trends - like me and Ralph liking to be high CHA characters for instance - but the truth is there's no predicting what our group will try to do for characters, aside from the fact Alan ALWAYS seems to go Druid/Barb whenever we do Gestalt games, and we usually tend to lean towards a Neutral or Good party)

Aside from that, I have no clue. ^^;; I'm not a complete masochist, so it's not going to be a Gestalt game, but I do want to put together a fun and interesting lvl 10 campaign (I know lvl 10 would appeal to my group more than low-level; we just started playing our first Epic lvl campaign and are having a blast, for one).

2.) Which books to get.


Like I said - I have access to DMG, PHB, and a few others, and have my own copy of the main Eberron setting book. I flipped through the Faiths book, which looks to have useful material, and I'll probably get the Races book and Forge of War, both for my own idea-fodder, and for my PCs to work with during character creation (at least one that I talked to thought Warforged sounded kinda cool). Our group seems to like theme builds and working with supplements and variants and the like (for example, in our last campaign I was a Pal of Freedom//Bard, and in this one I'm a Rogue//Swashbuckler, and I'm not even the most complicated constructor!), so buying up the kinds of books that are really good for that might be a good idea. But, I don't wanna waste money, you know? So yeah...

Any suggestions? :smallsmile: I know it's far in the future, but this is the kind of thing that I'd probably want to have prepped for pretty well beforehand.

-Runa

Nebo_
2008-02-09, 03:23 AM
If it's your first time DMing, I would advise against a level 10 game, depending on how much your group optimises.

CASTLEMIKE
2008-02-09, 03:32 AM
Watch out for the Dragon Marked Heir PRCs with the Favored in House feat for favors.

Articiers I house rule that if an Artificer cannot apply a meta effect to one of his infustions he can not take the feat before L6 when he gets meta magic spell trigger which helps address some of the wand abuse potential.

At L10 a PC could be a member of House Orien X - 5, DMH - 5 who might want to earn a slice of some of that House Orien teleporting fees during down time.

IMO all small cities and larger should have House Orien Astral Beacons which double the range and increase the rolls for safe arrival for a House Orien Greater Dragon Marked heir including Stormreach and Pylas Talaerar.

I'd consider getting some of the supplements on line used like Amazon or Ebay. Five Nations has been about a $1 plus shipping (+$4) recently on Amazon. Dragonmarked was interesting. Explorer's Handbook and Secrets of Xendrik have some adventure ideals. My favorite is Sharn City of Towers
Wizard's has some free ECS adventures and side treks.

Zincorium
2008-02-09, 03:42 AM
I'm in agreement with Nebo on that, and here's why:

Passwall
Overland flight
Teleport
Mordenkainen's Private sanctum
Commune
Plane Shift
Scrying

And this is just in the PHB. Is your adventure proof against all of these? Chances are, no, because that's really really hard to do.

As well, starting off lower level gives the players a chance to work their way into the character they want to play at 10th, the only real reason to accelerate it that far is if you're not going to be playing more than a few sessions.


For the other stuff:

Laptops - double edged sword. Don't do anything except DM with it. Turn off instant messaging, email notification, and for the love of all that is gaming do not play WoW (I only state this because I've seen it happen, and it's not pretty).

Books - If the players don't have the books their stuff comes from and neither do you, think carefully before buying. If it's something that you'll use a lot anyway, it's fine, but books are expensive, and even if you've got the money you should make sure you've got what will help before you get what won't.

Knowing the party - GOOD. Very good. Just remember to be flexible, because what the party is like can legitimately change over time (speaking as someone who's seen a party go from neutral good to chaotic evil through mechanations of plot).

Hario
2008-02-09, 03:51 AM
DMing an eberron game that starts at 10 is like starting a FR game at 25. 10-15 are the cream of the crop characters in Eberron, the highest in the setting is lvl 18 I believe, of course you can expand it, but your characters will be extrodinarily more powerful than 90% of the npcs.

Be very careful if a PC plays an artificer, rules on item creation is very fixed in its applications, veering off that can and will make an artificer arguably more overpowered than it already is (+20 UMD item for example). Of course even some of the standard rules should be modded if an artificer abuses them.

Nerd-o-rama
2008-02-09, 03:53 AM
Man, I need to do some online shopping. Apparently the big pre-4e selloff has started.

Anyway, I'd start at a lower level if you're new. It's easier to manage, and Eberron's designed with lower levels in mind. Not that there aren't challenges well into the epic levels available, but the best-detailed ones are all aimed at characters below level 10.

Be sure to gear the adventure toward your players and their characters. Eberron has a lot of options for playstyle: dungeon-crawling, globetrotting adventure, intrigue, investigation, exploration, and pretty much anything more esoteric you can fit in there. (This applies to any setting, mind, it's just that Eberron emphasizes its diversity within its published materials.) Find out what kind of game your players want, and what kind of game they've built their characters toward (if they've already done so), and plan accordingly.

You've got some good ideas so far, as well. Again though, I recommend lower levels. I find starting at level 5 or 6 to be the most fun: high enough that you're heroes, low enough that you can't pillage everything.

Books for Eberron, specifically:

Sharn: City of Towers...but only if you're going to run a Sharn-centric campaign.
The Forge of War and Five Nations...but mostly for the flavor text. They have a lot of neat campaign background, but not a lot of crunch. Races of Eberron is similar, but the crunch is simply poorly edited.
Magic of Eberron and Faiths of Eberron (but please, no Planar Shepherd PrC. You'll thank me for this advice).

For other books, I like Complete books (except Psionic and Champion, though they both have their good points), the DMG2 and PHB2, and maybe one extra Monster Manual (3, probably, as it's basically Monsters of Eberron).

Learnedguy
2008-02-09, 06:12 AM
But the absolutely most important part of Eberron is A, A fight on the Lightning rail Train or B, A fight on an airship.

If it's on a train, make sure to bring it up to the roofs, where there's the potential danger of falling of. Your fighter PC will love you.

And if it's on an airship, well, everything that goes up...most come down:smallwink:

Actually, you need both of these.

...

...And a warforged Titan.

Nerd-o-rama
2008-02-09, 10:05 AM
Those are all covered by the published Eberron adventure modules, particularly Whisper of the Vampire's Blade. Honestly, I'm getting to feel they're clichés by now...but I play and talk about Eberron rather a lot, so your experience may differ.

Learnedguy
2008-02-09, 03:01 PM
Those are all covered by the published Eberron adventure modules, particularly Whisper of the Vampire's Blade. Honestly, I'm getting to feel they're clichés by now...but I play and talk about Eberron rather a lot, so your experience may differ.

There a reason to why they are clichés <.<
Fighting on trains is awesome:smallyuk: !!

Anyway, I don't know. Had the OP´s party played any Eberron earlier? Because everyone deserves to fight on board an airship at least once in their lifetime:smallbiggrin:

Runa
2008-02-09, 07:10 PM
Wow, there's some really good advice in this thread. I'm glad I posted! :smallsmile:

First: thanks for the advice on doing it lower-level. When I decided to look into Eberron more, it was only like, two weeks ago, and was based on summaries in Wikipedia and various other websites, and on flipping through the main setting book itself. None of which really made the fact that Eberron is that much better for low-level campaigns really jump out at me. :smallwink: Low-level it is, then!


Man, I need to do some online shopping. Apparently the big pre-4e selloff has started.

I know! It made me slap my forehead (almost literally, even), when I realized I could have gotten the main setting book about ten bucks cheaper on Amazon, with free shipping to boot. Instead, I got it at Barnes & Noble (even with a B&N membership discount, it's still more than Amazon was selling it for), whose brick and mortar hasn't started discounting them like that yet (neither has Books-A-Million, from the looks of it). I've flipped through some of the other books in stores, but I learned pretty quick that they'll be cheaper online. :smallbiggrin: This might not be true a few months from now, though, heh.



Be sure to gear the adventure toward your players and their characters. Eberron has a lot of options for playstyle: dungeon-crawling, globetrotting adventure, intrigue, investigation, exploration, and pretty much anything more esoteric you can fit in there. (This applies to any setting, mind, it's just that Eberron emphasizes its diversity within its published materials.) Find out what kind of game your players want, and what kind of game they've built their characters toward (if they've already done so), and plan accordingly.

Our play style tends to vary (partly because our group makeup tends to fluctuate from semester to semester as people leave or join; our current group in particular is made up of half new members now), but we tend to have the most fun when doing original adventures (instead of pre-made ones), though we've done everything from dungeon crawls to exploration and investigation and heck, even played a group of traveling performers last time (who... explored and investigated. And summoned porpoises on top of the heads of goblins. It's a fun group :smallamused: ). So needless to say, it's good to see and hear that Eberron would give me so many options so easily right off the bat. :smallsmile:



You've got some good ideas so far, as well. Again though, I recommend lower levels. I find starting at level 5 or 6 to be the most fun: high enough that you're heroes, low enough that you can't pillage everything.

*snerk* I like the way you put that. :smallbiggrin:



Books for Eberron, specifically:

The Forge of War and Five Nations...but mostly for the flavor text. They have a lot of neat campaign background, but not a lot of crunch. Races of Eberron is similar, but the crunch is simply poorly edited.

Yeah, I think I liked the Races and Forge of War books mostly for the flavor and concepts and the way they expanded the setting, which sent all sorts of possibilities bubbling through my head. :smallsmile:



Magic of Eberron and Faiths of Eberron (but please, no Planar Shepherd PrC. You'll thank me for this advice).

I'll have to make a note of that one. I know certain members of the group DO tend to optimize a little (not to crazy levels, usually, but they still do it), so knowing a couple of things to avoid for balance reasons is always a good thing methinks! :smallwink:



For other books, I like Complete books (except Psionic and Champion, though they both have their good points), the DMG2 and PHB2, and maybe one extra Monster Manual (3, probably, as it's basically Monsters of Eberron).

Well, my group already has Complete Warrior and Complete Scoundrel (both of which I used to create the character I'm using in our current game under Rob's DMship, Warrior for the Swashbuckler class and Scoundrel for several feats) - they are definitely cool books to have. I also appreciate the tip on MM3... I'm not entirely sure we don't somewhere already have a PHB2 between us already come to think of it, though I don't think we have DMG2 yet, but Rob could already have it for all I know.



I'd consider getting some of the supplements on line used like Amazon or Ebay. Five Nations has been about a $1 plus shipping (+$4) recently on Amazon.

Wow, that is good. o.O I will definitely follow that advice!



Dragonmarked was interesting. Explorer's Handbook and Secrets of Xendrik have some adventure ideals. My favorite is Sharn City of Towers
Wizard's has some free ECS adventures and side treks.

On that last bit - that wouldn't be referring to premade adventures would it? 'Cause... our group tends to do better when the DM is honestly just making it up, partly because we often just don't fit in to the required party makeup for them and partly because they end up often being a bit restrictive for us. Which I don't mind, as coming up with an entertaining story for the group to play is actually just about 100% of the appeal of DMing for me. But ideas and concepts to play with, those I really like. ;)



I'm in agreement with Nebo on that, and here's why:

Passwall
Overland flight
Teleport
Mordenkainen's Private sanctum
Commune
Plane Shift
Scrying

And this is just in the PHB. Is your adventure proof against all of these? Chances are, no, because that's really really hard to do.

As well, starting off lower level gives the players a chance to work their way into the character they want to play at 10th, the only real reason to accelerate it that far is if you're not going to be playing more than a few sessions.

True I suppose... we often tend to change characters (and often DMs) every couple of months or sooner even though we only play one night a week though, which is why I was inclined to do it slightly higher; but still, we don't change characters as often when the particular campaign is fun enough so lower-level probably wouldn't be so bad so long as I do my best to make it entertaining for my PCs. :)



For the other stuff:

Laptops - double edged sword. Don't do anything except DM with it. Turn off instant messaging, email notification, and for the love of all that is gaming do not play WoW (I only state this because I've seen it happen, and it's not pretty).

Ahaha, it's a good thing I don't even play WoW... but, daaaaaamn, there is a DM out there who has actually tried playing an MMO while DMing a campaign?? Uh, suffice it to say that would not occur to me to do that.

I don't really have email notification though, and don't use instant messaging, so that shouldn't be a problem. :smallwink:



Books - If the players don't have the books their stuff comes from and neither do you, think carefully before buying. If it's something that you'll use a lot anyway, it's fine, but books are expensive, and even if you've got the money you should make sure you've got what will help before you get what won't.

True, that's why I don't own a DMG, since two friends of mine have it anyway and Rules Compendium is actually a much quicker reference for me for the important stuff (that is, obviously, the rules themselves which I have never managed to memorize, like ever :smallredface: ), though I do have a PHB since I'm always needing one anyway. That and looking up what was supposed to be added in them are also why I was flipping through some of the Eberron books in the store before I even so much as started this thread. :smallwink: I definitely saw some worthwhile material in Races and the Faiths books, I know that much.



Knowing the party - GOOD. Very good. Just remember to be flexible, because what the party is like can legitimately change over time (speaking as someone who's seen a party go from neutral good to chaotic evil through mechanations of plot).

Absolutely. :smallsmile: In fact, one of the problems that plagued our earliest campaigns was DMs forgetting what players had or could do or their alignments or backgrounds. Made campaigns a bit harder to handle. Then some of us kept forgetting character sheets, and it just occurred to me that the DM having extra copies might be a better way of doing it all around. :smallbiggrin:

-Runa

crimson77
2008-02-09, 07:15 PM
Any suggestions? :smallsmile: I know it's far in the future, but this is the kind of thing that I'd probably want to have prepped for pretty well beforehand.

Warning Evil DM content

One suggestion I would make, especially if the PCs are high level, is to get them where it hurts, money and equipment. Make them calculate where their items are and make sure they are not encumbered.

Attack their mounts when having large mobs of creatures attacking them. Often DMs forget about the mounts, wagons, and things that PCs have with them. It becomes a hard situation when your wagon has a broken wheel and no horse to pull it. Or having a mage cast fireball or man with oil and a torch set fire to a wagon full of supplies during a fight. The PCs now have to either save their equipment or fight off the bandits.

Attack familiars and animal companions as well.

Have low level thugs stage a drunken fight outside the Inn where the pcs are staying at night. The noise wakes them up, they go and restore the peace while thieves steal the things they leave behind.

Have pickpockets target the wealthy PCs and steal money and small pieces of equipment.

After the game has started, sell things out of the phb and dmg for a larger amount. Like in this town, the price of all equipment is 2 times the amount in the phb (but allow the pcs to barter it down to 1.5 times the amount). Also, never have store keepers buy things from the PCs for more than 1/2 the price of the item (this includes magical items).

Finally remember that 5% of all magical items given out are supposed to be cursed.