Starting a Paragon Eberron Campaign

[Novem5er]

Hey, folks! It looks like my 4e Forgotten Realms campaign is winding down, and with the release of the 4e Eberron books, I'm looking to give that a whirl. My 4e FR campaign was pretty good, but it spanned levels 1 - 8 with a lot of wandering the countryside, doing little quests, and killing low level humanoids. There were a few great highlights (Graefmotte from Dungeon and my Dark Side of the Moon adventure... Thanks Rechan and Fallen S.).

However, I'm looking for something a little more fresh. I've read several of the Eberron novels and I feel that I "get" the world much better than FR. Most of my players are onboard, with 1 stipulation... they DON'T want to start back at level 1. Specifically, they want to start their new characters at level 11.

So, Paragon Tier, here we come!

We've already decided that we're going to be an Adventurer's Guild based out of Sharn. We'll have all sorts of different backgrounds and the ability to switch out characters between adventures (that's the guild part of it). This is a popular thing with my group, as one of my players had litterally 5 different characters over the 8 levels we played

The idea is that they will be like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and will hire themselves out for adventuring dirty work, as long as it doesn't cross the "moral code" of the group (yet to be finalized). I've promised them a strong story filled with villains, double-crosses, ancient relics, and all sorts of high-level Eberron goodness.

My question to the board is... well... HELP!

That's more of an exclamation than a question, isn't it? Basically, I'm looking for Paragon Tier adventures ideas with a strong Eberron story. I'm also looking at any "pit falls" that an unprepared DM might run into at these levels (rituals, player powers, etc). Also, anything "cool" that can only be done at Paragon levels.

I'm well versed in Eberron and 4e gameplay, but my experience is completely limited to the Heroic tier. I want to make this a great campaign, so I thought I'd ask here for advice. Thanks ahead of time!

 

[Glyfair]

I'm also looking at any "pit falls" that an unprepared DM might run into at these levels (rituals, player powers, etc). Also, anything "cool" that can only be done at Paragon levels.

Right now I am running an Eberron Paragon side trek. I was running a campaign set in 998.

I decided to time warp back about 1,000 years to the Eldreen Reaches with an all Primal/Druid mini-campaign (I figure about 3 levels worth) to set up some of the backstory of the current game.

The biggest pitfall I have seen is that combats take forever. Part of that is my group, I admit. Part of it, though, is the lack of familiarity with their characters. They didn't have 10 levels to get used to their abilities, and they spend a lot of time sorting through their options.

One thought I had for a more roleplaying strong campaign is to make sure that everyone in the group comes up with at least one "secret agenda" tied in some way to the politics of the world. With all the political groups out there (the countries, dragonmarked houses, religions, universities, "sheets", etc.) you can easily have a lot of intrigue even while keeping away from direct player vs. player goals.

One campaign I started that never quite got off the ground was a group of troubleshooters for the Twelve. Everyone had to belong to a dragonmarked house. That would have given an automatic reason to work together, but also allow a bit of friction between the different houses.

 

[Novem5er]

Glyfair, thanks for sharing! I think a flashback (waaay back) mini-campaign is cool. I don't think my group has the attention span for something like that, yet, but I could see doing something like that in the future.

I agree with you that combat is going to be a problem. With everyone starting so high, they are going to have plenty of options that they've literally never used before. Thankfully, people are making characters now and we won't be playing for a few weeks (gives them time to run through scenarios in their heads), but ALSO we've been running 4e combat differently anyways to speed things up.

See, since all my players aren't elite gaming strategists, we've ALWAYS found 4e combat to be too slow. Each combat used to take about 40 minutes too long for us to finish, and I had a hard time just making all the baddies run away or drop dead when half of them were barely bloodied.

So now we rewrote the rules.

All monsters have 50% HP but do 1/2 their level in bonus damage. The monsters die twice as fast, but they are dishing out just enough extra damage that just a few hits really pile up. My new Level 11 Ogre does 2d10 + 10 damage per hit (thanks new Monster Builder Beta!) however he only has 71 HP. I still don't think I'm adding enough extra damage to make up for the lost HP, but our level 8 combats have been exciting nail biters ever since we made the change...

... which is exactly the kind of high action I want in Eberron.

I love the idea about a secret agenda. Though I stressed everyone to make a detailed background for their character, I was wary about stressing "secrets" too much. I want the group to work together, not be constantly paranoid about each other... Still, I want some good backstories that can pull the rest of the group into new adventures.

Maybe I will have everyone make a "secret" but it has to be one that can come back to haunt the character, without making the character betray the whole party.

 

[Glyfair]

I love the idea about a secret agenda. Though I stressed everyone to make a detailed background for their character, I was wary about stressing "secrets" too much. I want the group to work together, not be constantly paranoid about each other... Still, I want some good backstories that can pull the rest of the group into new adventures.

Maybe I will have everyone make a "secret" but it has to be one that can come back to haunt the character, without making the character betray the whole party.

I would deliberately keep it something that not accelerate to the players wanting PvP combat.

For example, two different players might be under orders to investigate certain areas of the ruins. If time is an issue, they might not have time to investigate both areas and thus we have some interparty conflict, without any major friction.

 

[hbarsquared]

My only piece of advice is to not go too overboard.

Double-crosses are great, but one huge, unexpected double cross amidst several NPCs that the characters know to trust is going to go a lot further than everyone the characters meet stabbing them in the back.

 

[Novem5er]

I definitely want the players to have their own motivations, which might sometimes conflict with another's. I just hate to have players fighting with each other, even when it makes for good story.

Good tips on the double-cross! There has to be some stability and trust in the world, in order to make the villains stand-out.

Does anyone have any advice for just running Paragon campaigns (Eberron or not)? I'm not so concerned with making the game "Eberron", but I'm concerned about not making the adventures "paragon" enough.... not cool enough, not high powered enough, or being unprepared for Paragon level PCs.

 

[Megahedron]

I recently started a game with some of my friends, and I knew I would have to do something over the top to keep some interested. So what I decided was that they would have different characters in different points in time, and what they do can affect the future time periods.

 

[Grymar]

I can't help with mechanics since I'm still stuck on 3.5/PF, but as far as story ideas and double-crosses...

Double-crosses can be frequent, but don't always make the party the victim. Have them watch their contacts get double-crossed, poisoned, and betrayed. Or, have the party themselves be set as the double-crossers. What matters most is that there are legit reasons for it. Having an underling who stabs you in the back to get the loot is cheap, but if he does it because his little sister is being held by House Cannith who is forcing him to recover the schema to get her back...that's cool.

Eberron is about shades of gray, so build on that. On of my favorite NPCs ever was a guy they found living in the cellar of a slaughterhouse. He was a paladin who had been turned into a vampire against his will. He was obviously a fallen paladin now (and lawful evil), but he still tried to do the right thing, in his own ruthless way. He lived in the slaughterhouse so he couldn't smell the blood of the people of Sharn. Eventually, through means the party never investigated, he became a minor lord and one of their best contacts.

I also liked doing a newspaper before every session. Sprinkle tidbits about the world, drop new campaign ideas, and build on the effects of the party's efforts.