D&D General Decision paralysis: how do you homebrew?

[Baron Opal II]

I guess part of the issue is that RHoD assumes it's set in an area not under the control of a larger nation, which isn't really possible in Khorvaire, which is completely carved up by the 5+ nations. There's no real "no man's land" outside of the Mournland.

Well, there's direct control and theoretical control.

The Adirondack State Park in New York is vast. You could easily have a thousand people living there without any governmental agency knowing about it. (And there probably are.) It's over 9000 square miles, so find a 100 mi. x 100 mi. part of Khorvaire where there aren't any towns on the map and there you go. That's more than a quarter of Ireland.

 

[pukunui]

Well, there's direct control and theoretical control.

The Adirondack State Park in New York is vast. You could easily have a thousand people living there without any governmental agency knowing about it. (And there probably are.) It's over 9000 square miles, so find a 100 mi. x 100 mi. part of Khorvaire where there aren't any towns on the map and there you go. That's more than a quarter of Ireland.

Fair enough. Elsir Vale is meant to be ~ 250 miles east-west by ~ 70 miles north-south, so it's not an insubstantial area. I do think the Eldeen Reaches is the best fit thematically. I would just need to determine whether to redraw the map of the area or rewrite the adventure to fit the existing map. There are some other considerations to make as well, such as the existence of the awakened tree that's also a 20th level druid.

If I were to try to adapt the adventure to the Eldeen Reaches of Eberron, where would be the best place to go for help? I tried asking Keith Baker himself via his blog but he didn't reply. I would expect he's too busy for this sort of request.

 

[Blue]

I usually go the other way - I homebrew settings with unique features, then figure out what stories we can create there that wouldn't work in a more traditional setting. I am not familiar with Red Hand of Doom. But think if you were going to turn it up to 11, what would the setting need to provide for you.

Will Eberron do that? Can you tie it into their limited gods, but also the Lords of Dust and all that? Or if you homebrew what do you need to take the premise up to the next level.

 

[pukunui]

I usually go the other way - I homebrew settings with unique features, then figure out what stories we can create there that wouldn't work in a more traditional setting. I am not familiar with Red Hand of Doom. But think if you were going to turn it up to 11, what would the setting need to provide for you.

Will Eberron do that? Can you tie it into their limited gods, but also the Lords of Dust and all that? Or if you homebrew what do you need to take the premise up to the next level.

Yes, I think Eberron would do nicely to turn RhoD up to 11. I was actually thinking that if I were to set it in the Eldeen Reaches, I could replace the hobgoblins who are wanting to summon Tiamat with fiends/barbarians from the Demon Wastes who want to free Rak Tulkhesh instead. That could really add value and mix things up for those players who've already played through RHoD back when it was the new hotness (c 2006).

 

[Krachek]

Allow you to create things that are not 100 decided.
You can’t create 100% of a world, not even 1% of it, so let you have some blank hole.

 

[Umbran]

The answer to all of the above questions is: I don't know and I can't decide!

So my question to you guys is: How do you guys make up your minds about this sort of stuff?!

I ask my players. "Do you guys want to play in Eberron, or would you prefer we make up a new world for this campaign?"

 

[pukunui]

I ask my players. "Do you guys want to play in Eberron, or would you prefer we make up a new world for this campaign?"

That works if you have a specific group in mind. I want to get this conversion set up so I can theoretically run it for either of my groups.

 

[MichaelSomething]

I say go for the curveball and use a noir-punk action-adventure world! With GUNS!!!

 

[Yora]

If I just wanted to run one specific adventure, I wouldn't bother creating a setting for it at all.
When running an adventure in 5th edition, I would just tell the players to pick whatever races and deities they want from those listed in the Player's Handbook. Those will do.
Maps, locations, and NPCs should already be provided by the adventure, and if things happen during play that requires adding new ones, I'd just keep them in the same style.

Homebrewing a setting makes sense when you really want to go explore the setting with the players. For reflavoring an adventure that already has its own flavor, I think it's really not necessary.

 

[Baron Opal II]

That works if you have a specific group in mind. I want to get this conversion set up so I can theoretically run it for either of my groups.

Okay, you've made the decision on Eberron, in the Eldeen Reaches. Great!

Looking at the map, the NE section (as opposed to SW) looks appropriately empty if you wish to avoid overwriting existing data. If Khorvaire is only Western Europe sized, you have plenty of room. (I note a lack of scale, and sort of recall there was some kerfluffle about that.)

Are there any mountains, rivers, or other such physical terrain that are important in the module?