Nature-heavy campaign - idea seeds wanted

[Herobizkit]

Well, the new year is almost upon us and I have been called to DM. I have opted to run a 4e Eberron campaign using the Gatekeepers as the PC "patron"... Druids in particular.

I've read a bit about the Gatekeepers, the Eldeen Reaches, and the Shadow marches... and their ultimate goal of protecting the world from unnatural threats.

I also took "Gatekeeper" literally, and thought that I might introduce some Stargate-style (or Planescape, if you will) setting-hopping.

I don't really have an overarching plot at the moment, but I don't exactly want this to devolve into a complete sandbox, either.

The young lads haven't watched any incarnation of Stargate, so that in itself is ripe for the plundering. I've always felt that SG:Atlantis was paced pretty much like a D&D adventure series.

Finally, I don't want to plan TOO far ahead, as the players may waffle on their character choices last minute. At the moment though, we have:

Eladrin Bladesinger, in search of her missing brother (he went missing in the Keep on the Shadowfell, and the Player knows this, but the character does not. KotS took place in the Forgotten Realms, so this alone would be a hook to go portal jumping)

Warforged Artificer, bred for weapons design, joined the Gatekeepers expecting to fashion myriad types of specialized weapons to deal with the unnatural menace.

Shifter Warden, history unknown, but ties in nicely with the theme of the Gatekeepers and was actually the inspiration to go with that faction as a design choice.

And at the moment, an NPC Changeling Hexblade to add some whackin' power.

It's a broad request, but any ideas on how to string out a plausible and fun story in a "13-episode season" would be swell!

 

[Rechan]

The Gatekeepers, among other things, maintain the 6 seals that keep the Daelkyr trapped in Khyber. So in that respect it is literal.

But I have three suggestions:

1) Obviously, Daelkyr shenanigans. Or at least, Cults to them. Do you have the 3e module "Speaker of Dreams"? It would fit fantastically in the Aundairian city of Passage. I'll actually have to look through Dungeon, but I'm sure there are some adventures that would match up with Eldeen/Shadow marches.

Another possibility would be the Tsochar, whose stats are in the BoVD 4e. They are Far Realms parasites that cross over, possessing bodies, and working to open a path for their mega-aberration. Yes, it's like the Dreaming Dark, but Far-Realmsy. These could be what's been playing in the Plane of Madness since the Daelkyr vacated.

Oh, and Fell Taints, both the MM2 and Dragon article. I love those little guys.

2) The Children of Winter. They have a serious Terrorist vibe, they're creepy, and their headquarters is in the Eldeen Reaches.

3) The Lords of Dust. Remember, the Demon Wastes is right there on the other side of the mountains from the Eldeen. This is a nice potential threat.

Furthermore, like the Daelkyr, the Rajah are trapped. While the Daelkyr are active in Khyber, the Rajah are slumbering, trapped in giant khyber dragonshards. Their magic and influence might be radiating out, effecting whatever community is nearby, especially if there is particular activity waking them up.

But what might be even more interesting is using the Lords of Dust as an ally against any serious Daelkyr activity. The Daelkyr want to warp everything in Eberron, which is no fun for the LoD, who want to make it in their image; the LoD are the Lawful to the Daelkyr's Chaos.

Do you have access to the 3e Eberron books?

 

[Rechan]

I don't have DDi so I can't tell about the content, but these are at least in your neck of the woods:

City in the Shadow Marches.

Daelkyr of Slime.

Living Spells

This Article is about the group who lives in the passage between the Eldeen and the Demon Wastes.

This adventure would fit well in the Shadow Marches, although I can't tell you about its quality.

 

[Herobizkit]

[MENTION=54846]Rechan[/MENTION], I'm becoming quite a fan of yours. *lol*

I do have access to the 3e and 4e Eberron books. I am not that familiar with the Eberron world at large, but neither are the players. I'm not concerned with running things as canon so much as the important features are touched upon and everyone has fun.

As an adventure seed, I thought I might have the players investigate an area of woods that has been "tainted" by the Shadowfell or something similar, caqusing the normal wildlife to become misshapen and aggressive. Getting a real "Phantasy Star II" vibe from this.

 

[Rechan]

As an adventure seed, I thought I might have the players investigate an area of woods that has been "tainted" by the Shadowfell or something similar, caqusing the normal wildlife to become misshapen and aggressive. Getting a real "Phantasy Star II" vibe from this.

Sounds like the Twilight Demesne (the Children of Winter's hangout). They could be trying to recreate another spot like it.

This is a tangent idea unrelated to the Gatekeepers' goal of Unnatural attackers, but what might be fun would be having a scenario where the PCs need to ally with the Ashbound or the Children of Winter for some reason in order to complete a mutual goal. This might then make the PCs friendly to the Ashbound/CoW.

Then down the road, those established NPCs are involved in a plot to attack House Vandalis (House V is based in the Eldeen). The Ashbound might be trying to convince the PC gatekeepers that this is Unnatural, and that Vandalis must be destroyed.

 

[Herobizkit]

This works wonderfully, actually. The players have been asking about some mystery/suspense-related plots, and I was wondering how I might do that in a largely wilderness setting. Given the different "houses" of druids et al, this seems very doable now.

 

[Herobizkit]

Over a hundred views and only [MENTION=54846]Rechan[/MENTION] has weighed in. Is it my breath?

I changed the thread title in hopes to bring in more ideas, but maybe I need to hit up the General forums...?

 

[Dice4Hire]

I'm not concerned with running things as canon so much as the important features are touched upon and everyone has fun.

You, sir, are either a blasphemer, or a good DM.

I'll go with good DM!!

 

[Dice4Hire]

I do not know much about E, but perhaps you could tie in a bit of primordial action? A cult devoted to an earth or water primordial could be a good way to into some baddies and keep the pressure up over multiple levels.

 

[Quickleaf]

This works wonderfully, actually. The players have been asking about some mystery/suspense-related plots, and I was wondering how I might do that in a largely wilderness setting. Given the different "houses" of druids et al, this seems very doable now.

There's a bit of a common thread with your proposed PCs and the Gatekeepers all being marginalized or a least outside the mainstream society. IFIRC the Gatekeepers are a waning Druid circle so that they barely have the numbers to maintain the old seals.

You could tie that into the mystery/plane-shifting side of things, with regions in the Marches phasing between Xoriat (Far Realms?) and Khovaire as a result of weakening seals. So the PCs would have a 3-part challenge:

(1) defend against local incursions and seal local gates, possibly sliding into the Xoriat side for short rescue missions

(2) pursue the mystery of what is causing the seals to fail, which could have some interesting conflicts within the Gatekeepers and among rival groups

(3) the ultimate goal is to stop the planeshifts into/with Xoriat, which would mostly be based in Xoriat, such as sabotaging alien hatcheries, stealing daelkyr magi-tech, etc.