Eberron: My players think they can rule the known world

[arscott]

A few hundred first level warriors with longbows can wipe out a 10th level party if they've got a decent amount of ground between them and the party.

Being a world power is never about what level you are.

But don't be so quick to say no, either. If your players honestly want to be world powers, let them. But make it clear that it's not something that automatically happens when you hit level 10. They have to buy a castle instead of +4 adamantine breastplate, and take leadership instead of Whirlwind attack. They have to spend their time hanging out with royalty instead of slaying dragons. And they need to realize that in certain cases, 10 levels in barbarian or sorcerer isn't as good as two levels in aristocrat.

 

[Mark Hope]

But don't be so quick to say no, either. If your players honestly want to be world powers, let them. But make it clear that it's not something that automatically happens when you hit level 10. They have to buy a castle instead of +4 adamantine breastplate, and take leadership instead of Whirlwind attack. They have to spend their time hanging out with royalty instead of slaying dragons. And they need to realize that in certain cases, 10 levels in barbarian or sorcerer isn't as good as two levels in aristocrat.

I'd tend to agree with this - if your players want their characters to become movers & shakers on the international scene, why not let them have a shot at it? There's no reason to oppose such a move on general principle. I have seen a couple of groups in my own games move into positions of political and military power. One group (at around 11th or 12th level) established their own principality, wrote a constitution and pretty much retired from adventuring to run the place. Another group (15th-20th level) became something of a rogue state. They set up base in an ancient fortress and basically cavorted about the globe carrying out their own geo-political agendas, backed up by awesome magical and military might. When you can hurl meteor swarms and earthquakes at your enemies' home cities, your demands suddenly carry a lot more weight. The group made plenty of foes (and lost even more allies) through this behaviour, and were under more or less constant attack from various antagonistic forces, but they were masters of their own destinies and it made for a thrilling and dynamic campaign.

 

[Crothian]

10th level can't stop or win against an army.....

 

[Darrin Drader]

10th level can't stop or win against an army.....

"Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, and why we died. All that matters is that today, two stood against many. Valor pleases you, so grant me this one request. Grant me revenge!

And if you do not listen, the HELL with you!"

 

[Kristivas]

10th level can't stop or win against an army.....

Against a standard middle-ages army, some 10th level guys would wipe the floor with them, but this is Eberron!

House Cannith-created warmachines start rolling onto the field. Battalions of Warforged, each led by an Artificer Sergeant, make up the front lines of infantry. Elemental-bound ships ready large explosive to be dropped down. Lines of archers, coming from the south-east and south-west, prepare their arrows. All of these backed by a thousand men, either marching in formation or on horse-back...

.....And why is there a 27-foot tall golem thing following this army to battle, with whirling blades where hands should be?!?!

This is probably what the party would see if they tried to forcefully take over a country in Eberron in my campaign. Now, if they started small and bought land and went from there, it would be ok. But, could you challenge level 10 PCs who's ego's are bigger than their bastard swords? Hell yes you can. Don't let em get a big head. If they try to conquer the world, knock them down several hundred pegs.

I would be pleased to hear that they tried such a feat and got totally beat, captured, stripped of all possessions and belongings, and dropped off in the Demon Wastes naked as punishment, with 1 wineskin between them.

 

[LostSoul]

I would be pleased to hear that they tried such a feat and got totally beat, captured, stripped of all possessions and belongings, and dropped off in the Demon Wastes naked as punishment, with 1 wineskin between them.

I'd be happy to hear this, too.

As long as it was followed with "...and we had a great time!"

 

[Crothian]

Against a standard middle-ages army, some 10th level guys would wipe the floor with them, but this is Eberron!

right...a Tenth level group can't defeat an army

 

[Remathilis]

Good. Let them. Let them plot and scheme to take out a king or leader, find the magic or items needs to do so, make thier bold proclamations of power, and prepare to march on the capital...

then let the Order of the Emerald Claw, with its legions of the dead, wipe the floor with the weakened victor...

... just like Vol predicted...

(or, you can use the dragons of Argonnessen, the Lords of Dust, the Daekyr, etc).

 

[Enamel_32]

According to the ebberon campaign setting book, there's a few daelkyr (cr20) trapped somewhere, though the location eludes me... If their plane aligns with the material plane, they'll be free.

 

[Chimera]

The group thinks they are a world power now.

I had a group like this in a world where they were near the highest level HUMANS around.

What it translated to was that they thought they could do anything they want with ease and that nothing could or should challenge them anymore. They were quite irate when they found otherwise. The game didn't last long after that.

Beware that your players don't have the same syndrome.