How to keep an action/exploration campaign interesting?

[wayne62682]

I'm mulling over ideas for an Eberron campaign I plan on running for my group in the coming months. They would probably get the most fun out of a fast-paced action campaign a la Indiana Jones or The Mummy (and of course I plan to ask them to make sure ).

I have a basic premise for the campaign, with the Heroic tier mainly being exploration as the PCs will be treasure seekers employed by Morgrave University, and tasked by their patron to retrieve various artifacts from across Khorvaire (and probably at least once to Xen'drik). There's a more to the campaign plot than this, but this is the basic idea for almost all of the Heroic tier.

Here's the basic outline for the campaign, in case it might help with suggestions:

[sblock]
HEROIC: The PCs are treasure seekers employed by Morgrave University, tasked by their patron to find and recover some valuable artifacts from across Khorvaire for study. Unknown to them, their patron is really part of the Cult of the Dragon Below, and the artifacts are needed to revive an imprisoned Rakshasa Rajah from the Age of Demons. Along the way the PCs battle the Order of the Emerald Claw, who they are told want the items themselves for their own evil schemes; when their patron betrays them the PCs have to form an uneasy alliance with the Emerald Claw.

PARAGON: The PCs have attracted the attention of the Lords of Dust (who were backing their now dead ex-patron) who dispatch agents to find and kill them. At this point the PCs need to try and uncover exactly what the artifacts are used for and how to stop it from happening. Paragon is a little vague right now but I envision exotic locales and even the Draconic Prophecy coming into play.

At some point the Lords of Dust ambush/gain the artifacts and as the paragon tier comes to a close, the demon lord is resurrected.

EPIC: The PCs must contend with an enraged Rakshasa demon prince and his four commanders (familiar trope, no?) who seek to return Eberron to the Age of Demons, as well as his minions. They need to find out his weakness and finally can take the fight to him, defeating first his lieutenants and them engaging in a final decisive battle with the demon prince himself.

Epic is still kind of vague, too, but would probably be the most "video game" like of the tiers, complete with four fiends, each with their own fortress, and a floating castle in the sky.
[/sblock]

The problem I'm running into during my brainstorming sessions is how to keep these adventures from being the same exact thing. What I mean is I want all of the common "tropes" of an Indiana Jones movie - going to at least one strange locale to get information on something (e.g. the location of the crypt where the treasure is), searching for the location itself, dealing with traps and unnatural things inside the dungeon, and possibly some surprise twist at the end with a rival group (e.g. Emerald Claw). However, since almost all of the early adventures are going to be exploratory/dungeon delves I want to avoid having them all seem like the same thing.

I don't know how to achieve this while still having all of the common experiences. There seems to only be so much that can be done with this type of adventure, and while the locale might be different I'm sure it will bore my players if every Heroic adventure follows the pattern of: 1) I need you to get this item from X; 2) The map/key/macguffin you need to find the location was stolen/is lost and is located somewhere in Y; 3) Someone in Y needs you to do Z/needs to be beaten up before he'll help you/give you the macguffin; 4) Now you need to actually find X; 5) Traps and monsters and treasure, oh my!; 6) Here's your item, where's our money? And yet this is typically the kind of pacing that most action/adventure/exploration seem to follow.

What advice can you give me to avoid making things repetitious?

 

[karlindel]

I think you underestimate how different the adventure can become when the locale changes, particularly given the differences between the nations in Khorvaire. Things can get particularly interesting if actions taken in one nation affect how they get treated in others.

Here are a few other ideas for adding interesting twists to a mission:

Have the item not be where they are going. The patron got information on something that he thinks is caused by the item he's looking for, but is actually caused by something different. Later, have them run into similar clues on a different mission, and have them find the item on that mission instead.

Someone else is also looking for the item and makes things harder for the party. This can include threatening or killing witnesses, dropping false clues, framing the PCs for a crime, using diplomatic channels to close up research avenues, etc.

Have the information be accessible in different ways, this is an excellent way to showcase differences in the nations. In Aundair they might get information from magical divination spells, in the Talenta Plains it comes from a halfling tribe's oral history, in Valenar they need to win it through single combat, in Karrnath they have to deal with an undead or use speak with dead, etc.

Vary the amount of local support the PCs get. On some missions red tape abounds and the town watch is suspicious of them, in others they're glad for any help they can get/something interesting to do.

Sometimes, make the journey important. Lightning Rails and Airships are great places for fight scenes. Perhaps the PCs have little trouble getting the item, but get attacked as they are bringing it back home.

 

[Brandigan]

A lot of great ideas there! I'd also suggest developing story lines and NPCs over the adventures to add more depth. That alone will keep the players more
involved. Maybe have a session devoted to the rescue of a familiar NPC. There's a lot of things you can stir into the pot to keep it fresh. Good luck!