[Eberron] HELP! Need some quick adventure ideas

[Jürgen Hubert]

OK, here is my situation:

Tomorrow afternoon I will be running an Eberron adventure, and I have no idea yet what I should run.

Here is the current situation: The party pludered some ancient hobgoblin graves in the Seawall Mountains and fled to Zilargo with some serious loot. The gnomes don't want to have a diplomatic incident with Daargun, and thus put them into the next (non elemental-powered) ship to Sharn to get rid of them. That's okay with them, since they wanted to look for a place to sell their loot anyway.

The problem is, since I live in a different city than my players (I will be going home to my family for the weekend and DM on Saturday) and communication is thus fairly limited, I don't really know exactly which players (and characters) will show up.

The only characters I know for sure who will show up are:

A human ranger-ish character (don't worry about the precise game stats, we will be using GURPS anyway).
A human cleric of Kol Korran, the god of Wealth.

There will also possibly (but this isn't certain) be:

- A human ninja (I groaned about this character concept when I first heard of it, but I came up with some ideas for a kalashtar-led clan that originally came from Sarlona and hid in Cyre before it blew up)
- A changeling investigative and general never-do-well with godlike skills in fast-talking. He wasn't there for the last adventure, so he doesn't have a share of the loot, but he would certainly be useful in selling it.


To make matters worse, the player who used to play a shifter fighter wants to create a new character which is supposed to be a "duellist" of some sort, and there will probably be another player who wants to join the campaign... and about whose character I know nothing at all yet.

So my first problem is:

- How do I get these characters (some of which are unknown to me at the moment) together as a party so that they trust another? Some incident during the sea voyage might be helpful, but I'm not sure what... and if anyone has any other ideas, I am all ears.

- What do they do afterwards? There are almost too many adventure possibilities in Sharn, and at the moment it is very hard to predict what they will do - so preparing several small adventures is probably better than a single big one.

Please, post anything that comes to your mind! I'm getting desperate here...

 

[Bront]

- How do I get these characters (some of which are unknown to me at the moment) together as a party so that they trust another? Some incident during the sea voyage might be helpful, but I'm not sure what... and if anyone has any other ideas, I am all ears.

- What do they do afterwards? There are almost too many adventure possibilities in Sharn, and at the moment it is very hard to predict what they will do - so preparing several small adventures is probably better than a single big one.

An incident on the ship, perhaps either a pirate attack of some kind or some kind of sea monster, would be a good idea. It would put the party at the forefront and give the players a reason to trust each other.

Also, don't be afraid to play with new PCs backgrounds a bit to stick them in the way of the PCs. Perhaps one of them may be trying to catch up with them over something ("The mask you grabbed is in fact a map to another tomb" or something). Or perhaps they have contacts to help sell the treasure (which helps them get a bit, and works them into the story at the same time)

Afterward, having someone steal a chunk of the loot is always a good hook. You can even make it related to the ship being attacked earlier. Or perhaps the connection they make to sell this stuff gets them caught in some other plot when they are seen assossiating with said contact.

Or, one way to work both in, is to have the ship attacked and sunk, and in the evacuation, the PCs are forced to flee togeather (only ones left to fill a life boat), or perhaps they all (miraculously) wash up on shore togeather.

 

[Gospog]

I'm with Bront on the ship attack. Check out the cover of the Sharn book for inspiration!

When they get to Sharn, they learn the hard way that the attackers of their ship were just "tax collectors" for a local organized crime family. Everyone else (NPCs) finds this out as well, and no one will speak to them , as thjey are now "marked for death" (or at least a good beating).

So now the only support the PCs have is each other, and they are frequently attacked as a group. Sounds like a reason to stick together to me!

They can make it out of this if they can just get to a high enough crime boss to pay off. If they try to pay the stooges attacking them, they will just keep the gold for themselves and kill the PCs.

So: how to get to "The Boss" whil the whole city is avoiding them or attacking them?

Have fun!

-Tom

 

[shilsen]

I started one of my two currently-running Eberron games with PCs on their way to Sharn being attacked by sahuagin.

As for what to do in Sharn, I've dropped the concept of pre-planned adventures and am letting the PCs find their own way, and it's working out great. As you said in the first post, there are a "almost too many adventure possibilities in Sharn, and at the moment it is very hard to predict what they will do", so my suggestion is to not try to predict what they will do. Just drop a bunch of options in their laps and let them go where they will.

Since they are arriving in Sharn by ship and are non-Brelish (right?), there are a few things that can happen. Here are some general notes for their arrival, for example:

* Ship arrives in the Hilt and turns north to Sharn. Describe the city as they get closer. As they move closer to the cliffs, the angle cuts off the sight of the base of the towers, though the tops can still be seen. Ahead, more ships and smaller craft appear, most moving around a boat town at the edge of the docks consisting of rafts, houseboats & other craft connected by a web piers, gangplanks and rope bridges. Docks lie behind it. This is Ship's Towers, one of the two waterfront districts. To the east and behind Ship's Towers seems to be a slum area, consisting of a cliff face with cave openings in it and small hovels around them (Mud Caves). As the ship continues, a small swarm (couple dozen) of flying creatures swarm around the ship, flying around the crow's nest and swooping down to feed on fish disturbed by its passing. Seem to be tiny dragons, a little like a pseudodragon, iridescent white in color. Sailors say they are called spiretop dragons.

* Ship continues around and past Ship's Towers and north to a larger dock section (Grayflood). Slows down and two smaller boats come out to guide it into dock. A seedy waterfront section lies behind the docks and wharves. Ahead, passengers can see already docked ships. Cranes protrude over the cliffs overhead, lowering platforms held by what seem to be glowing ropes and then raising freight. Once ship comes up near dock, will find small group waiting for them, a couple carrying weapons. PCs will be allowed to disembark. Will be stopped when dismbarking by the waiting group, first by some (from the Wharf Watch) asking what items they are transporting and asking for identification. When they discover the PCs are foreigners, will tell others in the group (from the Guardians of the Gate). Will ask the PCs about their business in the city and tell them the Guardians will help as needed (HQ is in Black Arch district, lower Tavick's).

* PCs continue into Grayflood. Meet youngsters clamoring to guide them into city (will ask for 5 silvers but can be haggled down to 1). Will also see skycoaches in area. Guide will suggest taking skycoach. If taking skycoach (2 sp each to Dura, 1 sp more per mile), will fly wherever asked to. If not, will go on foot and be led through Grayflood into Sharn's Welcome (red light district). Will see sailors of all descriptions, inns, taverns, bordellos, all of very poor quality.

* Guide will ask if they have specific interests and if not, will sugest they head up to Dura. After all, that's where "adventurers go". Will lead them from Sharn's Welcome up cliff stairs to Precarious (warehouse district). Will ask if they want to go to an inn, in which case will take them up to Underlook (inn district). Will point out that to the east is The Bazaar (marketplace) and north-east is Hareth's Folly (weird-looking tavern district). Straight up from Underlook is Overlook (apartments), while above The Bazaar is Redstone (shops). North of Redstone are Hope's Peak (temple district) and further north is Clifftop (adventurer's district).

Once they are in Dura, esp. if they plan to sell things, have them move around the Bazaar area, visit the Clifftop district, etc. The Drunken Dragon Inn and the Clifftop Adventurer's Guild are two good places to hear about potential jobs.

Maybe while moving around, have them get embroiled in a fight between members of the Clifftop and Deathsgate guilds. Instant allies and enemies, depending on whom they help. Or if they're cheap and are walking all the way, run into Boromar halflings fighting a Daask gnoll squad in Lower Dura.

In short, since Sharn has so many possibilities, drop as many of them on the PCs as you can, and let them work out what they want to end up doing.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

The old 'extra passanger' plotline?

Something sleeps in the cargo hold. It'd be a real pity if it woke up midway through the voyage and started terrorising? First move is to trash the engine room. So they'll have to deal with it before they can get to Sharn?

That sort of thing gives a decent excuse for the PCs to work together.

Good candidates might be:

Vampire!
Zombie spawning mummy - woo it's Imotep.
The classic Dangerous Beastie.
That statue was really a golem/arcane warmachine, switch set to 'kill'. Can they lure it into a position where they can topple it overboard.

Or, someone else has stolen something they shouldn't have done. Perhaps an enterprising wizard looted a Sahuagin tomb and has some of the spoils on board. They want to retrieve them before the boat arrives. Possibly it's one of the PCs hobgoblin items. It was stolen long ago, but as soon as it gets near sea water, the sahuagin can detect it?

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I like the sahuagin attack idea. This could be combined with a "shipwreck scenario" where the PCs have to survive on an isolated island until they figure out some way of getting away (any good ideas for such a locale?).

That could could occupy them until they get to know each other - and then they can arrive in Sharn and get into some trouble there for the rest of the session, leaving me the session afterwards to come up with some really good ideas (which also fit the characters) for adventures there...

And hey, cliffhangers are in the best tradition of the pulp genre, aren't they?

Keep the ideas coming, everyone!

 

[OurManMute]

Perhaps the loot from the hobgoblins is a lot more serious than they bargained for, and various groups are after it. So the ship is attacked (and conveniently the new characters were on the same ship, sent away as undesirables by the gnomes) by parties unknown, definitely armed. Fighting them off will already create a bond with the new PCs. People continue to stalk them even after they've reached Sharn, until the party realizes that the only people not out to get them are their travel companions (solidifying their position as new party members).

Now you just have to make up what exactly they brought back from the hobgoblin graves, and why everyone is out to get it. Should be easy

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Shipwreck scenario sounds like fun... isolated island could certainly work, but... not very familiar with Eberron, so not sure how this would fit in:

Instead of an island, a much larger ghost ship. Possibly all that remains of someones arcane/magical experiment. Could contain some interesting and dangerous stuff to interact with. They'd probably be able to canibalise bits of it to fix up their own ship?

 

[Klaus]

Remember that bringing loot to Sharn without having a Letter of Marque (Khorvaire) is contraband. At the very least the authorities will be confiscating the goods.

The party's best bet to sell the loot would be to brave Droaam and sell stuff at the nation's capital, or at least in Graywall.

 

[Rel]

I like the sahuagin attack idea. This could be combined with a "shipwreck scenario" where the PCs have to survive on an isolated island until they figure out some way of getting away (any good ideas for such a locale?).

That could could occupy them until they get to know each other - and then they can arrive in Sharn and get into some trouble there for the rest of the session, leaving me the session afterwards to come up with some really good ideas (which also fit the characters) for adventures there...

I think this is the way I'd go. It's easy to get everyone together like this and what I'd do in particular is:

- The new party members are floating on some wreckage and the sharks (and maybe Sahaugin) are circling.

- The captain of the ship asks the existing party members to take a boat over to fend off the sharks, etc. and bring over the survivors. Run a few rounds of combat on this. Then suddenly, the sharks, etc. depart in haste.

- That's when the Kraken attacks the existing ship. Maybe the PC's can rescue their treasure from the cargo hold or maybe not. I'd give them at least as chance at it, all the while the Kraken is attacking crew members/breaking the ship apart.

- Ship goes down and the PC's now make for an island in Shargon's Teeth (I think that's what the islands are called that are south of Sharn between there and Xen'Drik). On that island you can put whatever you like but one possibility is...

- An enclave of Hobgoblins who've been hiding out on this island for generations ever since their empire was crushed on the mainland. (I might lean toward this idea but honestly Dinosaurs are never a bad idea ).

- And then, just to throw a kink into things, a passing Llyrandar airship taking an expedition ot Xen'Drik passes overhead. The PC's (hopefully) signal them and they land BUT they don't want to derail their expedition. SO, the PC's can either come along on the journey to Xen'Drik or wait until the ship returns to Sharn or sends another rescue vessel.

- That puts you in the position of letting the PC's choose the course of the adventure but you know what you're running next time already (either Xen'Drik or another session on the island while they await rescue).