Eberron – Shards of Secrets Lost

I have recently started an Eberron campaign and intend to run Seekers of the Ashen Crown for the group, however the adventure starts at 2nd level, so instead of asking the players to make 2nd level characters I put together a short adventure designed to run in 6 hours that would take them from 1st to 2nd level and give the PCs a chance to get to know each other.

Encounter 5 in this adventure was specific to our group, so when I do the encounter write-ups for this I shall attempt to include alternate ways of passing the doorway.

ADVENTURE OUTLINE…

XP Budget: 4000XP (1000XP each for 4PCs)

Region Name: Sharn

Shards of Secrets Lost

A bar fight in the Drunken Goblin draws our heroes into debt, a beautiful stranger offers to cover the debt for them, but only in exchange for a favour.

Adventure Summary: The PCs have all arrived in Sharn, the city of towers, for their own reasons and are enjoying a quiet drink in the Drunken Goblin tavern. They spy an ex-cyrian soldier enters the tavern and questions the barkeep. He is directed towards a brutish man sat drinking heavily with his companions. The encounter quickly turns to violence as the brutish man whips the bottle he is drinking from across the face of the cyrian. The PCs are dragged into a fight as the whole bar erupts into a mass melee.

After the fight the PCs are confronted by the barkeep asking them to pay for the damage they have caused. Fortunately for the PCs a beautiful woman agrees to front the fee for them, in exchange for a minor favour from them.

The woman introduces herself as Julienne d’Tharashk and informs the PCs she is searching for an item of supposed power. She believes the item is in the underbelly of Sharn, it was last known to be in the possession of a group of changeling spies and thieves known as the Chameleons. This group had a base in the depths of Sharn for many years before they were expunged by the Church of the Silver Flame. The shard is believed to still be in that base.

The PCs are given information as to the location of the old base, but not its exact location, they must use their own means to locate it. When they are finally drawing near to the base they are ambushed by a group of changelings who shout a cryptic message as they engage the PCs.

Once they defeat the changelings they finally reach the secret base only to discover the door is protected by some sort of enchantment and that they require a full changeling to bypass it. Fortunately, one of the PCs reveals himself to be a changeling.

Once they bypass the door they discover the base is still guarded, by a group of constructs.

After the constructs the find a half-buried doorway which they must clear, upon clearing it they find that the doorway has a puzzle-type locking mechanism.

Inside the doorway the do not discover the item they are looking for, they do however discover information which suggests the item was taken away before the Silver Flame attacked the base here.

On their way out of the base they are confronted by more changelings who wish for the PCs to hand over the documents they have just discovered.

Once they are finished with the changelings they can finally return to Julienne who sends them on their way thanking them for their help. She however calls them back later when she finds out further information regarding the item she seeks.

Introduction: The PCs have all arrived in Sharn, the city of towers, for their own reasons and are enjoying a quiet drink in the Drunken Goblin tavern. They spy an ex-cyrian soldier enters the tavern and questions the barkeep. He is directed towards a brutish man sat drinking heavily with his companions. The encounter quickly turns to violence as the brutish man whips the bottle he is drinking from across the face of the cyrian. The PCs are dragged into a fight as the whole bar erupts into a mass melee.

Encounter 1 (600 XP): Combat. The PCs are caught up in the melee at the Drunken Goblin. They must protect themselves from the brawlers and then deal with the watch when they turn up (Encounter 2). After the fight the watch show up and question the PCs about the brawl, they do not arrest the PCs as they did not instigate the brawl, however the tavern keeper demands reparations be paid for the damage caused. As the PCs were involved in the fight the watch agree and the PCs are asked to pay a fee of several hundred gold pieces. Luckily for the PCs a dragon-marked woman intervenes and offers to pay the fee for the PCs but they must be willing to run an errand for her.

Encounter 2 (0 XP): Role Playing. The woman introduces herself as Lady Julienne d’Tharashk, a minor member of the House of Finding. Her house has recently come upon some information and she is looking for someone to attempt to locate an item for her. The item is one of the shards of Liryana’tani (Crown of Remembrance) which was sundered by the goblins of Dhakaani many years ago.

Her information suggests the shard was discovered by a group of changelings from a secret society called the Chameleons, this group was based in Sharn and attempted to subvert power from the leaders of the city. The church of the Silver Flame viewed this as an affront to the decent people of Sharn and expunged the organization.

The Chameleons base was located in the depths of Sharn, Julienne has some information on where it may be located, however the information is out of date and incomplete.

In exchange for the PCs acquiring this item Julienne agrees to pay their debt, however if they do not hold to their bargain the house of finders will come looking for the PCs in order to collect the debt.

Encounter 3 (300 XP): Complexity 3 Level 1 Skill Challenge. The PCs take the information they have and attempt to decipher it and locate the old chameleon base of operations.

Regardless of whether the PCs are successful or not they attract the attentions of the remaining chameleons who avoided the Silver Flame attack and they are attacked before they reach the old base.

If the PCs are successful in this skill challenge they reach the doors of the base before they are attacked.

If the PCs fail in this skill challenge they are ambushed before they reach the base of operations in terrain which is much more favourable to the changelings.

Encounter 4 (600 XP): Combat. The PCs must combat the changelings in order to continue with their quest.

Encounter 5 (0 XP): Role-Playing. Once the changelings are dealt with and they reach the door, they discover that the doorway appears to be impassible, with some searching they discover that it is only possible to pass the door if they are in the presence of a changeling. Fortunately the PCs have a changeling in their group, much to their surprise.

Encounter 6 (700 XP): Combat. As soon as the PCs enter through the doorway they spy several constructs that animate, defenders of the base which are apparently still active. Once the combat is over the PCs have the opportunity to investigate the chamber further discovering evidence of the Silver Flame attack many years ago. During their investigations they also discover a doorway that appears to have been blocked by falling rubble during the fight.

Encounter 7 (500 XP): Complexity 5 Level 1 Skill Challenge/Puzzle. The PCs must dig through the rubble to unearth the doorway at which point they discover that the doorway is sealed through a complex locking mechanism. The PCs must attempt to decipher the locking mechanism to enter the complex.

Encounter 8 (0 XP): Role-Playing. The PCs discover various pieces of documentation suggesting the shard was moved elsewhere before the Silver Flame attack, though where is not disclosed. The PCs have time to discuss what this may mean before continuing.

Encounter 9 (900 XP): Combat. As the PCs attempt to leave the chameleon base they are attacked by another group of changelings, one who presume the PCs have the shard. When the PCs deny it they attack refusing to believe the PCs.

Conclusion (400 Minor Quest XP): These changelings finally dispatched the PCs can now return to Julienne and report what they have found. Julienne thanks them and promises to honour her bargain even though the PCs did not recover the shard. She informs the PCs that if they wish to continue in the search for the Shard she will contact them again when she has more information.

Major NPCs Encountered/Mentioned: Julienne d’Tharashk.

Amarath – Elements and the World

The world of Amarath has long been ravaged by war, however in more recent years it is the elements of the world which have caused the most trouble.

There has been an organization on Amarath that has long studied the composition of the world and they are known as The Church of the Ten Elements, though they are not in fact a church.

The Church of the Ten Elements (CTE) is more akin to a large university, however due to the lack of gods on Amarath and the scale of the organization they have adopted the title of church. The CTE are dedicated to the study of the universe and its composition. They have ten separate wings of their organization each of which deals with one of the ten elements the world is comprised of.

The CTE believes that the essence of the world can be divided into ten distinct forms; Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Growth, Decay, Order, Chaos, Light and Darkness. Since the catastrophe that caused the Maelstrom they say that this belief has been proved correct, indeed the Maelstorms which spawn often produce effects related to one of those elements.

The Maelstrom and Maelstorms have produced a variety of effects in those that have come into close contact with them. Indeed certain races did not exist until recently and are now relatively commonplace in storm wracked areas.  There have been many reports of humanoid races developing new traits and features after they have come into close proximity to a Maelstorm.

Before 1st Level (cont)…..

I’ve spent a little more time today and looked through my work the other day (found here) and have produced a class sheet for the “Hero in Training” designed to be used for characters before 1st Level. This work has not been playtested at all, however if you do use it and find some errors shoot me an e-mail (or a tweet) and I’ll revise it for you.

Revised Levelling table:

While trying to put together a proper class sheet for this I came across some errors in where and when I had chosen to give out certain abilities (like gaining 2 at will powers and 1 encounter power quite quickly after each other). As such, I have produced a revised table for growth:

Level	Experience	Powers	Feats	Weapons	Armor	Class Features
0.0	-1000	None	None	None	Cloth	None
0.1	-900	None	None	Simple by class	Light by class	None
0.2	-800	None	None	Simple by class	Light by class	One
0.3	-700	1/0/0	None	Military by class	Light by class	One
0.4	-600	1/0/0	None	Military by class	Heavy by class	One
0.5	-500	1/1/0	None	Military by class	Heavy by class	One
0.6	-400	1/1/0	1	Military by class	Heavy by class	Two
0.7	-300	2/1/0	1	Military by class	Heavy by class	Two
0.8	-200	2/1/0	1	Military by class	Heavy by class	Three
0.9	-100	2/1/0	1	Military by class	Heavy by class	All
1.0	0	2/1/1	1	All by class	All by class	All

Hero in Training

CLASS TRAITS

Role: Dependant on Class. The role you will fall into will primarily be determined by your Class Choice (see below)

Power Source: Martial then by class. Initially you will be a martial class as all your training will be relevant to weapons.

Key Abilities: Dependant on 1^st level class.

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth.

Weapon Proficiencies: None

Bonus to Defense: None

Hit Points at Level 0: Constitution score

Hit Points per 0.1 Level Gained: 1

Healing Surges per Day: 1 + Constitution modifier

Trained Skills: 1 from the class skills list of your Class Choice.

Class Features: Class Choice, Weapon Training, Class Training, Armor Training, Power Training, Feat Training.

Class Choice: At level 0 you must chose a class you wish to begin training in, this will affect what abilities you gain at specific points. You are considered to be a member of that class for the purposes of feats from level 0.

Weapon Training: As you spend time fighting and training you become gradually familiar with a larger array of weapons. At level 0.1 you become proficient with all simple weapons associated with your class. At level 0.3 you also become proficient with all martial weapons associated with your class.

Armor Training: As you spend more time in heavier armor you become more proficient at combat wearing them. At level 0.1 you become proficient with all light armor associated with your class. At level 0.4 you become proficient with all heavy armor associated with your class.

Class Training: As you spend time in training working toward your desired class you discover new talents and tricks for use on your foes. At levels 0.2, 0.6 and 0.8 you can choose one class feature associated with your class. At level 0.9 you become trained in all class features associated with your class.

Power Training: As you progress toward becoming a true hero you develop new combat tricks to exploit your foe, new spells to utilize, new ways to channel your primal nature etc. To represent this you can choose powers associated with your class at certain points in your progression.

At level 0.3 you gain one 1^st level at-will attack power associated with your class.

At level 0.5 you gain the use of one 1^st level encounter attack power associated with your class.

At level 0.7 you gain a second 1^st level at-will attack power associated with your class.

Feat Training: At level 0 you do not begin with a feat, unless one is granted by your race (eg. Human). You gain your first feat at level 0.6.

Racial Features/Powers: This class presumes that you are giving players full access to power/features granted by race at level 0.

Other: As you progress you gain access to certain abilities; however all of these are limited by your class choice. For example, if you choose a class that only has access to one 1^st level at-will attack power then you would not gain a second 1^st level at-will attack power at level 0.7.

Reaching 1^st Level: If there are any abilities for your class you have not acquired by level 1, such as the bonus to defense, then you gain those abilities at 1^st level.

Before 1st Level….

EDIT this is still a work in progress, please comment below if you feel there are changes need to be made.

@exedore6 mentioned that he would like to see some rules laid down for 0 level characters. Characters that are either not heroic, or are simply not-yet heroic. So here are my thoughts on the issue:

I have to say I do not like 0-level characters, I have never felt compelled to play one, nor have I ever felt the need to run a D&D game featuring them.  To me D&D is a game of heroic actions, be they in combat or outside of it. I can understand the desire to flesh out a character before they become heroic, but for me that can be done easily with a role-playing session it does not require a codified set of rules to do so.

However, just because I do not see the need for these rules does not mean they should not be available, @exedore6 asked for them so I shall attempt to oblige. During the course of this design exercise I shall try to justify my choices as I go along.

1) Level Based.

I have opted to go for a level based system for 0-level character where they slowly progress to achiving their full capabilites over getting everything at once. The reason for this is that if you wish to play out the adventures of Joe normal before he becomes Joe Awesome then you are probably intending on making it a long run thing, as such a gradual power gain will work better story-wise.

2) One or More?

Before we can progress to far we need to deciede whether we are going to have one generic class or multiples. I think I am going to go with a single classed version intially and see how that works out, if things become to complicated with a single class then we may have to expand to multiple classes.

3) Starting Power-Level

This is a follow on from above, because we are using a level based system we need to deciede what we are giving our non-hero to begin with. I have opted to go for giving Joe normal the minimum possible; Ranged and Melee basic attacks, no weapon proficiencies, no feats, no powers, nothing except racial abilities.

As such the first line of our level table will look something like:

Level	Experience	Powers	Feats	Weapons	Armor	Class Features
0.0	-1000	None	None	None	Cloth	No

I have assigned an xp value of -1000 to level 0.0, this means it will take a total of 1000 xp to progress from level 0.0 to level 1.0

4) Max level

To aid us in determining at what stage we will gain powers, feats, armor and weapon proficiencies we first need to determine how many steps there will be before we acquire level 1. I have opted to presume there will be 10 steps. This allows me to fill out our table’s top level so we end up with:

Level	Experience	Powers	Feats	Weapons	Armor	Class Features
0.0	-1000	None	None	None	Cloth	No
1.0	0	2/1/1	1	All by class	All by class	All

5) How big a gap?

We need to deciede how much XP it will take to progress from one level to the next. As I feel that constant progress should be made from one step to the next I am going to go with a linear progression, making each step 100XP.

6) Filling in the details.

So we have 10 levels that are going to progress in 100xp increments we need to deciede at what stages the character is going to learn their abilities.

I feel that any PC should develop familiarity with weapons and armour before they develop anything further, so the first thing on my list will be simple weapon proficiencies (and all relevant implement proficiencies) and light armor proficiency.

After that I feel that the PC should develop some specific training toward thier intend class. The first step toward this will be gaining one of the class features associated with that class. This class feature should be one that is integral to the class. For defenders it should be the marking ability; for strikers it should be the damage boost ability (sneak attack, hunters quarry etc); for leaders it should be their healing ability, but at a limit of once per encounter; and for controllers it should be one of their utility abilities (Cantrips for the wizard, sending/distract for the telepathic psion).

Next comes further familiarity with their class, this time in the form of an At-will power, along with further weapon familiraity if the class has it.

Further along the line comes more gradual gains, mixing powers, feats, proficiencies and class features, giving us a finalised table looking something like:

Level	Experience	Powers	Feats	Weapons	Armor	Class Features
0.0	-1000	None	None	None	Cloth	None
0.1	-900	None	None	Simple by class	Light by class	None
0.2	-800	None	None	Simple by class	Light by class	One
0.3	-700	1/0/0	None	Military by class	Light by class	One
0.4	-600	1/1/0	None	Military by class	Light by class	One
0.5	-500	2/1/0	None	Military by class	Heavy by class	One
0.6	-400	2/1/0	None	Military by class	Heavy by class	Two
0.7	-300	2/1/0	1	Military by class	Heavy by class	Two
0.8	-200	2/1/0	1	Military by class	Heavy by class	Three
0.9	-100	2/1/0	1	Military by class	Heavy by class	All
1.0	0	2/1/1	1	All by class	All by class	All

7) Other details

I have intentionally ignored certain details so far an focused on class based combat abilities. Now I want to think about the fine details.

When does a 0-level PC get its racial abilities?

A 0 level PC begins with racial abilites.

How does this work with extra power choices?

These PCs begin with the power granted by their race, however they must stay within the normal limitations (human wannabe fighters can only take a fighter at-will)

How many HP does a 0-level character have?

A 0-level character is untrained in combat and only have hit points equal to their constitution score.

How many surges does a 0-level character have?

1+constitution modifier, and they gain 1 more per 0.1 of a level until they reach what they would normally have at 1st level.

What skills does a 0-level character have trained?

A 0-level character begins with 1 trained skill either based on prospective class, or background, plus they gain 1 trained skill every 0.2 levels until they reach their maximum (or reach level 1 at which point they can train in all skills they are entilted to).

Bar Fight!

Following my best of brawlin’ post last week I bring you all a sample bar fight encounter, designed to fill in and occupy and short gap you have in town and need a little filler content.

Encounter: Bar Fight!

Encounter Level 3 (750 XP)

Setup

4 Angry Drunks (A)

2 Drunken Brawlers (D)

1 Professional Brawler (P)

The PCs enter the Drunken Goblin tavern and attempt to sit down for a quiet drink; it does not take long before they are dragged into someone else’s fight however.

When the PCs enter the tavern read:

You enter the Drunken Goblin tavern to be greeted by a boisterous rabble singing, badly, at the top of their voices. The barmaids are running drinks across to various parts of the bar.

You usher yourselves in and find an empty table in one corner of the bar. You have not been sat long when a large brutish man walks over from the bar and says to you all “This here is my table, you need to pay me for using it.” As he speaks you notice several of the drunks eyeing you all as if expecting something to break out.

Before you have chance to respond the brutish man reaches down picking up an empty chair and bringing it back as it to assault you with.

The majority of the bar patrons have seen this sort of fight break out before and are fully aware of the danger staying in the bar entails, most scamper away before anyone has chance to bring a weapon to bear.

The PCs should be allowed to position themselves however they like in the bar, then the brawlers should be set up in favourable positions around them.

Features of the Area

The Drunken Goblin tavern has the following features:

Illumination: There are lanterns spaced around the inside of the tavern, along with two hanging chandeliers leaving the whole interior brightly lit.

Stairs: Two stairways lead to the upper levels, traveling up the stairs is considered to be difficult terrain, but there is no penalty for traveling down.

Walkways: These ledges are 15 feet from the ground. They circle the main bar area and allow ranged PCs to fire down without penalty. Several rooms are off these walkways, but the doors to them are locked.

Chandeliers (not marked on the map): The two main chandeliers hang down to around 10 feet above the main bar area; as a move action a PC can jump from a walkway, swing on a chandelier and drop off to a square anywhere in the bar area, with a DC 15 acrobatics check. Doing so provokes from enemies on the walkways, but not in the lower bar area.

Tables: The tables are flimsy and easy to turn over (DC 5 athletics) however, they are so badly constructed that even when overturned they do not provide cover to a PC hiding behind them.

Chairs: The chairs do not impede movement, but can be used as improvised weapons.

Bar (represented by a bookcase): The main bar area is flanked on one side by a 20 feet long, 5 feet wide bar, the bar provides cover to anyone stood behind it, and superior cover to anyone who drops prone behind it.

Tactics

The brawlers draw weapons and initiate combat immediately.

Angry Drunks: The angry drunks space out a little, to avoid area attacks, but keep close enough together to take advantage of their strength in numbers ability.

The angry drunks move in to engage the same PC (or PCs) as the professional brawler, trying to grant the more powerful professional combat advantage if possible.

Drunken Brawlers: The drunken brawlers float around the edge of the combat, focusing on ranged attackers and spell casters, if engaged by more than one PC they fall back and try to separate their attackers.

Professional Brawler: The professional brawler picks the biggest and toughest looking PC, (probably a defender) and focuses on them until he knocks them unconscious. He spends his action point when he bloodies his foe, and attempts to bring them down as quickly as possible.

Scaling the Encounter

Make the following adjustments to the combat based on the number of PCs present.

Four PCs: Remove one of the drunken brawlers.

Six PCs: Add one more drunken brawler.

Ending the Encounter

If the PCs are all knocked out by the brawlers they are dragged out onto the street and robbed of a small amount of coins before they are chased off by the local watch.

If the brawlers are been dealt with the PCs can either leave the tavern or attempt to make amends with the tavern keeper. This could lead onto a skill challenge representing the work the PCs do, or the negotiation for how much reparations will cost. This could lead on to another quest under the employ of the tavern keeper.

Experience Points

The PCs receive 150 experience points each for defeating the brawlers.

Statistic Blocks.

The statistic blocks for the brawlers can be found here

Combat Map

Best of Brawlin’

Many are the times a seasoned adventurer has wandered into a tavern and gone to get himself a drink only to spill the drink of another, surlier customer in the bar facilitating a bar fight.

Many more are the times a PC has been wandering down a street and been accosted by a drunk.

So now, here for you viewing pleasure are a few brawlers, from minion to solo, for use in your 4e games: