Help me put together a party for a Xendrik adventure

[JPL]

I'm working up a one-shot using the "Jungle Secrets" adventure (it's the Secrets of Xendrik web enhancement). I'm looking at 6 PCs, all 10 level or the equivalent.

Still thinking about the specific mission statement for the party, but at this point, I'm leaning towards "professional explorers"...guys who go out into the bad parts of Xendrik on a regular basis looking for fortune and glory.

Got any good character concepts?

We'll need the traditional Stabby, Sneaky, Blasty, and Healy guys, but #5 and #6 are up for grabs...might make one of those a dragonmark heir, just to emphasize the Eberron setting (but which house?).

If I had "Complete Adventurer" I'd make Sneaky a scout . . . since I don't, I might make him a wilderness rogue (maybe with levels of Extreme Explorer)....

 

[Anti-Sean]

might make one of those a dragonmark heir, just to emphasize the Eberron setting (but which house?).

House Lyrandar (2004) is the one true Dragonmarked House, etc. etc. Make the Lyrandar Heir a Windwright Captain, and your party has their very own airship!

Although you might not want to give the players in a one-shot a shiny toy like that. House Tharashk is a good choice for a Xen'Drik explorer. I don't recall much of the crunchy bits, but I love the Indiana Jones-ish flavor of the Thunder Rift Guide PrC.

An artificer would be useful in either character slot 5 or 6, particularly if you have a warforged in the party.

 

[Stormborn]

Cannith Artificer for #5, always has a good reason to go looking for ancient tech in Xen'drik. For #6 how about a Warlock - lots of demonic stuff in Eberron to help the flavor and can augment both ranged combat and spell casting.

 

[Anti-Sean]

How many Eberron tropes do you want to include? Do you want to cram as much of it in as possible, or just use a few elements here and there?

A Shifter Barb2/Rgr3/Weretouched Master 5 (grab the latest errata, it'd been gone over a few times) could make a fun, fun, fun Stabby character.

 

[Schmoe]

Big game hunter - Ranger/Archivist

 

[JPL]

How many Eberron tropes do you want to include? Do you want to cram as much of it in as possible, or just use a few elements here and there?

Good question, and I'm not sure of the answer. I guess I'm trying to balance a desire to give the guys something distinctly Eberronian vs. not wanting to confuse the guys who don't know Eberron.

One I've been kinda kicking around is a half-giant duskblade (practitioner of the lost warrior-mage traditions of High Xendrik).

Another is a warforged sorcerer, an experimental build incorporating Siberys dragonshards from Xendrik. Dragon magazine recently had a nice article about sorcerers tied to the "Three Dragons."

 

[Anti-Sean]

Hmm... as far as a healbot goes, I'd suggest a cleric of the Silver Flame - a bit easier to paint that religion with a broad brush than the Sovereign Host, and it seems a bit more 'iconic' of the setting, if you will. You could go for the over the top, zealous crusader, or an embittered priest, soured on his/her own past deeds or the actions of their church, spending time in Xen'Drik as a sort of self-imposed exile.

Some of the other pulpy background character elements you may want to hit, aside from the good ol' 'character with a shady past/on the run from the law':

A noble in disguise, slumming/on the run from assassins/avoiding a betrothal
Grim veteran of the Last War
Dandy/stuffy/naive Morgrave scholar on their first field expedition
An outcast looking to carve out a new life for themselves in Stormreach (your half-giant?)

Depending on the players, a changeling could be loads of fun, or a time-bomb of intraplayer strife waiting to happen.

 

[SteelDraco]

For the Eberron one-shot I did, I had the following group.

Human Wizard, dragonmarked of House Medani
Warforged Fighter/Juggernaught, the wizard's bodyguard
Human Artificer, relic-hunter
Kalashtar Psychic Warrior
Shifter Ranger/Rogue, a bounty hunter for House Tharashk
Half-Orc Druid, of the Gatekeeper sect

The PCs were all supposed to be chasing the BBEG through the jungle before he found an Eldritch Machine that let him turn all the residents of Stormreach into meenlocks. Everybody had a different stake in the adventure - the druid and the ranger both wanted the bad guy dead, the wizard and the warforged had received prophecies about his plans, and the artificer and the psychic warrior were after stolen items that the bad guy needed to run the machine.

It ended up working out really well. The baddie was a cleric of the Dragon Below, and the fight played out pretty well. Everybody got into their characters based on the backstories I gave them, and seemed to have a lot of fun.

 

[Remathilis]

A good, Balanced Group of Explorers

1.) Shifter Druid7/Moonspeaker3 (Strong Caster/Summoner)
2.) Elf Wizard7/Primal Scholar3 (Magic, Baby!)
3.) Warforged Ranger5/Eldeen Ranger5 (Warrior/Sneak)
4.) Human Cleric5/Sovereign Speaker5 (Healer/Divine Caster)
5.) Halfling Rogue5/Extreme Explorer5 (Traps, Stealth)
6.) Dwarf Artificer8/Fighter2 (Misc, Combat, backup traps)

 

[arscott]

Are you willing to allow psionics? A Kalashtar Seer (psionic diviner type) might be a cool addition.