D&D 5E First Eberron campaign!

[pukunui]

Hi all,

I’m am running my first ever campaign in Eberron! It's an episodic campaign, and I’m still in the process of compiling a list of possible adventures I can run over the course of the campaign. I'm trying to stick to shorter ones that can be run in 1-3 sessions.

There are a few levels where I've got way more options than others, so I may have to take some of the lower level ones and adjust them for higher levels to spread things out a bit more.


Adventures I have run so far:

1. "Fired & Forgotten" (Across Eberron's Convergence Manifesto #1)
2. "The Murkmire Malevolence" (Keys from the Golden Vault)
3. "Trust No One" (Keith Baker et al, DMs Guild, Fear Reveals Truth #2)
4. "Forgotten Relics" (Eberron: Rising from the Last War)
5. "Reach for the Stars" (Keys from the Golden Vault)
6. "The Stygian Dolurrhi Gambit" (Keys from the Golden Vault)
7. Pudding Faire (DMs Guild)
8. "Prisoner 13" (Keys from the Golden Vault)
9. "Wedding Bells" (Dungeon #89)
10. "Dino World" (DMs Guild)
11. "Tockworth's Clockworks" (Keys from the Golden Vault)

Next: "Masterwork Imbroglio" (Keys from the Golden Vault)


Here’s an updated list of what else I might run:

Spoiler

5th level

• "Masterpiece Imbroglio" (Golden Vault)
• "Isle of the Abbey" (Saltmarsh)
• "Murder in Oakbridge" (Dungeon #129)
• "Riding the Rail" (Dungeon #143)
• "Eberron Gothic: Curse of the Thornwood" (Stuart Broz, DMs Guild)
• "Dragonshard Sundown" (Alex Clippinger, DMs Guild)

6th level

• Grasp of the Emerald Claw
• "Axe from the Grave" (Golden Vault)
• "Sins of the Elders" (Radiant Citadel)
• "Scarlet Moon Hall" (Princes)
• "The Temple of Howling Hatred" (Princes)
• "The Last Breaths of Ashenport" (Dungeon #152)
• "The Last Word" (DDAL Oracle of War #6)

7th level

• Voyage of the Golden Dragon
• Escape from Riedra (Across Eberron, DMs Guild)
• "Steel Shadows" (Dungeon #115)
• "Vidorant‘s Vault" (Golden Vault)
• "City of Blood" (Dungeon #154)
• "The Final Enemy" (Saltmarsh)
• "Heart of the Forbidden Forge" (Dungeon #167)
• "Crypt of Crimson Stars" (Dungeon #123, Shards of Eberron #1)
• "Temple of the Scorpion God" (Dungeon #124, Shards of Eberron #2)
• "The Temple of the Crushing Wave" (Princes)
• The Standing Stone

8th level

• "Shard of the Accursed" (Golden Vault)
• "Heart of Ashes" (Golden Vault)
• "Trail of Destruction" (Radiant Citadel)
• "Pit of the Fire Lord" (Dungeon #125, Shards of Eberron #3)
• "The Temple of Black Earth" (Princes)
• "Banners of Breland" (Peter Lapp, DMs Guild)

9th level

• "In the Mists of Manivarsha" (Radiant Citadel)
• "Affair on the Concordant Express" (Golden Vault)
• "The Temple of Eternal Flame" (Princes)
• "No Way Out But Through" (K Meza, DMs Guild)

10th level

• "Party at Paliset Hall" (Golden Vault)
• "Between Tangled Roots" (Radiant Citadel)
• "The Deathless Skies of Cyre" (Amber Litke & Sadie Lowry, DMs Guild)

11th level

• "Fire and Darkness" (Golden Vault)
• "Shadow of the Sun" (Radiant Citadel)
• "The Styes" (Saltmarsh)
• "The Howling Caves" (Princes)
• "My Undying Heart" (DDAL Oracle of War #11)

12th level

• "The Nightsea’s Succor" (Radiant Citadel)
• "The Plunging Torrents" (Princes)
• "The Black Geode" (Princes)

13th level

• "Buried Dynasty" (Radiant Citadel)
• "The Weeping Colossus" (Princes)

14th level

• "Orchids of the Invisible Mountain" (Radiant Citadel)

I know there’s also the Eyes of the Lich Queen, but it’s for levels 5–10, so it doesn’t really fit my plan (unless I tune it up for higher levels).

If anyone has any recommendations for must-play adventures to add to this list, please post them here! I’m happy to hear about any adventures written for Eberron or that should be fairly easy to convert.

Note: I am currently playing through the Oracle of War campaign, so most of those adventures are off limits.


Thanks!

 

[pukunui]

I should add that I will be running this campaign for a party of gnomes.

We’ll have an artificer, a paladin, a ranger, a dragonmarked (Sivis) bard, and possibly a fighter or barbarian.

 

[Warforged DK]

Seekers of the Ashen Crown is fantastic! It's a lvl 2-5 adventure; focusing on a Dakhaani relic.
May not work great for Zil Gnomes, but maybe so if they want to depose a warlard and install a new govt that owes Zilargo some favors (not included in the AP, but strongly hinted at)

 

[pukunui]

Seekers of the Ashen Crown is fantastic! It's a lvl 2-5 adventure; focusing on a Dakhaani relic.

Good to know. Thanks! Could it be run as a single-level adventure or perhaps with other adventures interspersed? Or maybe even adapted for a higher level?

I was also wondering if Eyes of the Lich Queen could be adapted for a higher level.

I’d like to avoid Sharn as much as possible, as I’d like this to be more of a globe-trotting “red lines on a map” Indiana Jones style campaign. That’s why I haven’t included any of the Sharn-based AL adventure series, although I might have to go back and see if there’s one or two that could plug some of the gaps.

Not sure yet if I should use XP or milestones for this one.

 

[Leatherhead]

Something you might not have considered:
The Mourning After, from Dread Metrol: Into the Mists. Levels 1-4.

 

[pukunui]

Something you might not have considered:
The Mourning After, from Dread Metrol: Into the Mists. Levels 1-4.

I didn’t include that one on my list because of its length. I might look at it again and see if it works as a level 3 only adventure.

My youngest daughter, who is 11, will be joining us for her first D&D campaign, so I also need to be mindful of that. Is Dread Metrol particularly scary or gross in any way?

 

[Leatherhead]

Is Dread Metrol particularly scary or gross in any way?

Yes. Might be for the best if you swerve on it then.

 

[pukunui]

I wasn’t that keen on Keith Baker’s Curtain Call, but the follow-up, Trust No One, sees the PCs working for an agent of the Trust. Could be worth throwing in for a group of all gnomes. I’ll add it to the list.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Danger at Dunwater (Ghosts of Saltmarsh)

This is an interesting choice, I haven't run it, but by all accounts it's difficult to make work. You are right that it doesn't need the other adventures in the series though. Sinister Secret was the only pre-written adventure I did drop into my Eberron campaign, which was largely homebrew.

But lets limit my comments to adventures I have run:

The Curious Tale of Wysteria Vale (CM)

This one caused me trouble. "entering the paintings" simply didn't occur to my players, and after some frustration turned into a full-on brawl with a beholder and a bunch of stone golems, almost leading to TPK.

The Canopic Being (CM)

You need to seriously buff the main boss for this, they are a pushover.

Alkazaar‘s Appendix (CM)

This one will be a cakewalk at level 15. I would suggest moving it down to 13 or 14. My players where frustrated that they didn't get to permanently kill the main boss. It draws quite heavily on FR law, so the backstory will need some rewriting. I added a rival party of treasure hunters for the full Indiana Jones experience.

Shadow of the Sun (RC)

This worked quite well, but you will probably have to rebalance the final fight to allow for number of party members, or cap the number of available flying mounts at 4. Six manticores can almost win on their own! Come to think, since your PCs are gnomes, you could stick two on each. I sketched out a "what would Picard do?" alternative path that lead to a courtroom drama, but in the end my party sided with Team Chaotic.

Orchids of the Invisible Mountain (RC)

Running this one at the moment. It's going well so far, but my party seriously distrust "Sugar Man". The thri-kreen NPCs are fun.

The only additional one I can think of to suggest at the moment is The Styles (GoS).

 

[pukunui]

@Paul Farquhar: Thanks for the feedback. To be honest, I haven‘t even read Danger at Dunwater, but I’ve heard it’s one that can be resolved without combat, and I thought it might potentially fit in well with all the heists and mysteries and stuff.

I’m basically just trying to string together a bunch of shorter adventures together into an episodic campaign, with the core being the old 3.5e adventures and the Golden Vault adventures, plus whatever else catches my fancy.

As for The Styes, I’ve got that on my handwritten list. I must have forgotten to put it on the list here. I’ll add it now. (I’ve both played it and run it and it is enjoyable! Another fun one in a similar vein might be the Last Breaths of Ashenport.)