Eberron NPCs.

[Alexander123]

I notice that NPCs in Eberron are very low level. Can anyone tell me why this is? For those who have played Eberron campaigns how do you deal with it? What is going to prevent high level individuals from overthrowing the weak NPCs who quite often hold important positions?

 

[MarkB]

One of the founding principles of Eberron is that PCs (and occasionally their antagonists) are unique in their capability to gain levels quickly. Most people could fight in wars for months or years without gaining a single level, so the vast majority of the population are low-level, and even those who are reasonably powerful will be unlikely to have PC class levels.

So generally speaking, there aren't any higher-level rivals around to challenge those in authority. And even if they did, in any civilised land political power is derived through influence, connections and leadership, not from class levels. A pretender to the throne might be five levels higher than the king and able to physically beat him to a pulp in a straight fight, but in the political arena the king may still outmatch him.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I notice that NPCs in Eberron are very low level.

Most characters in most settings are very low-level. Even Forgotten Realms.

Can anyone tell me why this is?

A bit of a can of worms. When Eberron details first came out, the fans started talking about it like it was the anti-Forgotten Realms. I don't believe WotC ever said this, but I suspect it was part of their marketing strategy.

In Eberron, the GM has to avoid putting a pit fiend (a high-CR creature with damage reduction, specific regeneration and teleport without error at will) into the setting for fear of massive destruction - at least not just at any time. Said monster would be a major villain, a counterweight for the She-Pope or something along those lines, and the GM has to think about this beforehand. (Also, a pit fiend is not a suitable challenge for a party of, say, 12th-level heroes.)

Contrast to FR, where the high-level good-aligned NPCs are so powerful that the GM needs to invent excuses for why they're not dealing with whatever villainous doings are afoot. The novels only make this worse - Khelben, for instance, has a spy network so extensive he can tell when a single drow is entering Waterdeep. (His Gather Information score isn't that good either!) Of course, at least some novels buck the trend... apparently Drizzt avoids any area (except where Alusair is) that has epic-level wizards. You can drop a pit fiend into the setting and the common adventurer won't even notice; they're too busy dealing with the latest Zhent plot. (Oh wait, it was a false flag operation, actually a Red Wizard plot, but they're being manipulated by the Cult of the Dragon... You get the point.)

For those who have played Eberron campaigns how do you deal with it?

Use appropriately-leveled NPCs. The Lord of Blades is 12th-level and a terror. There just aren't many good-aligned NPCs to challenge him, and they're probably crawling through some hellhole in Xendrik anyway, or dealing with a plot in a far safer place than the Mournland.

What is going to prevent high level individuals from overthrowing the weak NPCs who quite often hold important positions?

Even in FR, the king of a kingdom isn't necessarily a 10th-level fighter/3rd-level wizard. They might be a low-level aristocrat. They're probably being manipulated anyway.

But in Eberron it's going to be really hard for famous Evil Lord #337, ex-Pal10/Blackguard 10 to openly rule any place. (Even King Kaius III, who is really Kaius I, has to pretend he's his own grandson in order to rule his kingdom.)

 

[CAFRedblade]

Eberron was designed like that on purpose. It's scaled upwards a little in Fourth, with some key NPC's hitting the 10-15 levels, but overall it's a low level campaign world. I work it along the idea that Khorvaire is a Heroic tier, Xen'Drik and Sarlona are Paragon and Argonnessen and Kyber are Epic Tiers. (in regards to 4ed) With some fluctuation intermixed.

PC's are exceptions to the world, and are required to step in when an uppity NPC grows too powerful for the region to contain.

This is a world of Dragons that watch everything for signs and portents. The few times were the safety of the world came into question they stepped in and wrought destruction down upon the overt threat.
Xen'Drik of course was the result.

 

[Cyronax]

Everything in this thread I echo.

BUT there is one interesting high-level villains who seem to have an inordinate dearth of influence: Mordain the Fleshweaver. Mordain is 18th level in 3.X and 21st level in 4E.

I see this another great strength of Eberron. It is a massive toolbox that never had the 'weight of its own lore' to fight against -- ala Forgotten Realms. To be fair, the original Forgotten Realms graybox was great, but it was soon eclipsed by the 1990's splat.

Yes, he's a major power in Droamm

 

[TarionzCousin]

I notice that NPCs in Eberron are very low level. Can anyone tell me why this is?

Because they're inept. If they just applied themselves to adventuring more, they could hit the double-digits. But no; they choose to focus on worthless things like being in city government or making goods to sell.

Stupid NPC's. How do they expect to ever slay dragons if they spend all of their time working to earn a living?!?

 

[Mort]

Many of the out of game reasons are mentioned above.

An in-game reason:

A war that lasted 100 years and spanned the entire continent just recently (mostly) resolved. Many if not most "high level" individuals were casualties in this war.

 

[Cyronax]

Many of the out of game reasons are mentioned above.

An in-game reason:

A war that lasted 100 years and spanned the entire continent just recently (mostly) resolved. Many if not most "high level" individuals were casualties in this war.

On the flip side, I always saw the high-level characters as usually being more canny, cunning, and lucky then low-level fodder.

What if the high-level people who do exist, got there *during* the war, because they were smart enough to stay in the background. Doesn't mean they didn't have their own factions they supported, but they served as powers behind the throne.

Look to the Blood of Vol, King Kaius, the Twelve, the various dragonmarked grandees (who are high heroic to paragon tier if memory serves), and others.

 

[amerigoV]

A war that lasted 100 years and spanned the entire continent just recently (mostly) resolved. Many if not most "high level" individuals were casualties in this war.

There was a huge blow out party for all the high level NPCs late in the War. The Mournlands was a result. They, of course, skipped town to avoid the bill.