From the woes and weals of Dragonmarked Prophecy to political intrigue broiling into war, here are five Eberron Campaign ideas.
One of my favorite things about the new Eberron book is the variety of campaign styles it offers up. It has everything from Noir-soaked intrigues and “Inquisitives” to pulpy expeditions to forgotten ruins, archaeological digs, and ancient ruins brimming with danger beyond mortal ken. All of which to say, Eberron has a lot to offer for DMs looking to run a campaign with style. Here are a few you could take for a spin!
Forget It Man, It’s Sharntown – Noir, Intrigue, and Inquisitives
One of the biggest draws of Eberron is its influences from noir stories, like Sam Spade or Dick Tracy. If you want a good mystery or crime story where hard-boiled detectives who are maybe on the wrong side of the law one time too many end up embroiled in schemes, crimes, and of course, murders – then this is the genre for you. You’re in luck with this genre, too, because Eberron: Forge of the Artificer has a whole chapter on running things for Sharn Inquisitives.
Try this campaign style if you want to explore the grit and the grime of big cities like Sharn, with a fantasy lens.
The Last War – Or Was It
A close second to the noir-fueled Inquisitive campaign style is the spy thriller genre. This is one that is rife in Eberron, but you have to do a little work to unearth it. One of the defining features of the many intrigues of Eberron is that there is an uneasy peace; a peace brought about in part by a magical disaster, the Day of Mourning.
But tensions between Eberron’s five kingdoms are simmering. Ever. And a good spy campaign could involve trying to thwart people fanning the flames of war. Or trying to stop pre-emptive strikes that would turn a cold war hot. If you like films like “Torn Curtain” or “Foreign Correspondent” where things like treaties and defectors and secret plans are the motivation for adventure, Eberron is the perfect place to run this kind of campaign.
Expeditions To The Unknown
On the pulpier side of things is the Mograve Expeditions campaign mode. Taking inspiration from things like the Indiana Jones franchise, or the Tomb Raider series, this genre is all about exploration and digging through dangerous ruins and forgotten sites to try and uncover the secrets of the past.
In Forge of the Artificer, there’s a writeup on “Morgrave Expeditions” based out of Sharn’s Morgrave University, which is itself one of the largest institutions of higher learning in Khorvaire. Originally founded as a “beacon of knowledge” the university has sort of defacto become a treasure hunter’s haven. Of all the campaign styles in the book, this one is probably my favorite, and well worth checking out.
Artifice Gone Awry
Steampunk and Magepunk are two of the big influences on the aesthetics of Eberron. This means that there are plenty of opportunities to play with technology gone awry. Artificers being the big new class, this is a chance to rope them in. But a good campaign, Eberron or otherwise, could revolve around an exciting new magic or technology and the impacts it has on everyone’s life. Sinister or not! Movies like Frankenstein, Minority Report, and maybe Enemy of the State are great examples of how this campaign might look.
Dragonmarked Intrigue
The last of the campaign modes in Forge of the Artificer revolves around the intrigues of the Dragonmarked Houses. Drawing inspiration from things like the struggles of Renaissance powerhouses like the Medici family, a Dragonmarked Intrigue campaign is all about merchant dynasties growing in power, while families struggle to hang on in a changing world.
The thing I like about this campaign structure is that it offers up both cooperative and competitive styles of play between the different houses. If you want a guide to intrigue, this is a good place to start!
Happy adventuring!
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