You’re about to launch an Eberron campaign, but there’s one problem: where do you begin? Do you start in the towers of Sharn? Do you dive into the Mournland? Is your campaign driven more by pulp adventure or noir intrigue?
Eberron: Rising from the Last War provides you with a number of tools that can help shape a campaign. Chapter 1 of Rising introduces Group Patrons, which can give a group of adventurers a shared origin and purpose. Are you spies working for one of the Five Nations? Agents of an enigmatic immortal? For games beginning in the city of Sharn, chapter 3 provides an interesting option with the Home Base table, which helps ground the group by giving people a tie to a common location. Are you professional adventurers who share stories and drinks in the Drunken Dragon of Clifftop? Or are you using the rundown Coldflame Keep as a base of operations?
Here are a few starting points for your campaign for you to consider!
Callestan: The Mean Streets of Sharn
You live in one of the most dangerous districts in Sharn. The Watch has abandoned Callestan, and the criminal Boromar Clan is the closest thing to law in this crumbling community. It may be dangerous and squalid, but for you it’s home. Perhaps you’re an orphan who’s never known any other life. Maybe you work for the Boromars. Perhaps you’re a folk hero or an acolyte trying to bring hope to the hopeless. Maybe you’re a fugitive from the law, or you’re pursuing mystical research forbidden by your family or guild.
Callestan is an excellent foundation for a gritty noir campaign. If you use the crime syndicate group patron, you could be working for the Boromar Clan defending your territory from the monstrous gangs of Daask. Or you might be stealing from the rich and powerful of Sharn to help your poor community! As the Sharn Watch avoids Callestan, it’s also a place where any evil could strike. A mind flayer’s cult could be feeding on the fears and brains of the people. The Order of the Emerald Claw could be conducting horrific necromantic experiments on the populace. Whether as an inquisitive agency or just as bold adventurers protecting your home, you could be determined to get to the bottom of these mysteries.
If you’re not using a group patron, it can be useful for the adventurers to establish a shared goal. Are you working together to protect the community? To drive Daask out of Callestan? Do you want to open up a tavern together? Or are you just trying to get enough gold to pay off your debts (consider the Debts table in the introduction of Rising From The Last War) so you can get out of Callestan?
In addition to the material in Rising from the Last War, you can find more information about Callestan in chapter 6 of Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron.
Clifftop: Professional Adventurers
Once you may have been mercenaries, scholars, or soldiers. But the war is over and the world is full of mysteries and opportunities. There are golden temples in the jungles of Xen’drik. There’s a tomb in the Demon Wastes said to hold the sword of Dol Arrah. The lost subterranean realms of the dwarves hold many wonders—if you’re prepared to face the hideous aberrations that have claimed these halls. This is just a taste of the action-packed expeditions awaiting a member of an adventurers’ guild!
Rising from the Last War presents the Adventurers’ Guild as a group patron, and the Clifftop Adventurer’s Guild is one of the most celebrated alliances of adventurers in the city of Sharn. The district of Clifftop is largely devoted to professional adventurers, with a wide range of shops, exotic collectors, and fine taverns where you can share stories with your comrades in arms.
Clifftop is a good option for a group that wants to focus on high adventure and pulp action. Clifftop is the base of operations, but as a professional adventurer you go where the action is—jobs will take you across Khorvaire and beyond it. This does mean you won’t invest as heavily in the local community as you might in Callestan or Hope, but you’ll see the wildest things Eberron has to offer.
The district of Clifftop is described in more detail in chapter 6 of Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron.
Hope: The Shard Rush
You’re on the wild frontier. You’ve got a stake in a mining town in Q’barra, on the very edge of the known world. It’s up to you to make the law in this place, holding it together with courage, steel, and a steady wand. A fortune awaits you in the jungles—along with lizardfolk, unknown monsters, and tombs and monuments raised by demons. Welcome to Hope.
Hope is a lawless region in the jungles of Q’barra. It’s rich in dragonshards, and this has drawn a flood of people hoping to make their fortunes—Cyran refugees, former soldiers, professional miners and more. Have you come here in search of gold, or are you chasing redemption?
Hope provides an opportunity to incorporate the tropes of the Western genre into an Eberron campaign. The people may use wands and crossbows instead of guns, but you’ve got a lawless land with teeming with greedy miners, deadly bandits, and ancient secrets. You could be a wandering group of adventurers or bounty hunters. But if you really want to capture the flavor, consider giving the characters a stake in a particular community. As a paladin—or any character with the soldier background—you might be the town sheriff, doing your best to maintain the law and keep people safe. A cleric, druid, or any acolyte could be the town preacher. As a warlock or sorcerer you might be a dashing wandslinger; but are you a folk hero beloved by the townsfolk, or a charlatan who’s always looking for a way to turn a profit? In such a campaign, you’re responsible for the long term prosperity of the town. That means dealing with bandits and coming to terms with the local lizardfolk… but also learning the story behind the ruins in the region, and dealing with whatever ancient darkness may be stirring in the jungles.
The Last War: Duty and Adventure
One way to begin an Eberron campaign is to step back in time and start your adventures during the Last War. You aren’t just a party of adventurers; you’re a squad of soldiers, and the fate of your nation is in your hands.
The group patrons in Rising from The Last War includes the military unit, and provides ideas about how characters could fill particular roles—the commander, the medic, the scout. You’re a capable squad, and your adventures will be specific missions. While you might find yourself battling enemy soldiers, you could just as easily end up exploring dungeons. A Dhakaani ruin lies in contested territory… has it been claimed by the enemy? And if not, what might lie within? Perhaps you’ll have to work together with enemy forces when you’re both targeted by aberrations that have crawled out of Khyber!
In developing a Last War campaign, a crucial question is which nation you’re serving and which front your own. Are you fighting Karrnathi undead, or serving alongside them? An especially interesting option is to be soldiers serving the nation of Cyre—the kingdom destroyed by the Mourning. Your first few adventures can take place during the war, but then you could jump forward and past the Mourning. Now the kingdom you fought for is a haunted ruin, and your people are scattered across Khorvaire. Will you fight to protect the survivors? Will you help Prince Oargev found a new Cyre—an option suggested in Rising from the Last War as part of the head of state group patron? Or will you simply focus on your own survival?
Starting a campaign during the Last War and then jumping forward in time is also an interesting way to develop recurring allies and villains, or to foreshadow important events. During the war, you might have to deal with the immediate consequences when an explosion breaks the seals on an ancient tomb; but it will be years until you discover what was actually released in that careless moment of violence. The squadmate who saves your life early on may need your help in the future; while the Karrnathi commander whose undead hound your early missions could turn up later leading forces of the Emerald Claw.
The Mournland: Exploring the Madness
Tomorrow, you’re heading into Eston. Four years ago, this was the seat of House Cannith. There’s no telling what arcane treasures are sealed away in its vaults… and no knowing what horrors you’ll face. You’ve heard stories of living spells, of flocks of clockwork birds with razored wings. Tomorrow, you’ll learn the truth of those rumors; hopefully you’ll survive the day.
The Mourning turned the nation of Cyre into a strange and hostile wasteland. Its effects were unpredictable; every expedition beyond the mists discovers new terrors. Sensible people shun this deadly land. But your group charges in where others fear to tread. What is it that draws you to this warped land? If you’re part of an adventurers’ guild, you could be driven purely by profit. Cyre was the wealthiest of the Five Nations, and all of its treasures are there for the taking. If your group is funded by a university, you could be researchers determined to catalogue the effects of the Mourning and ultimately to determine its cause and if it can be reversed. You might be Cyrans serving Prince Oargev, helping to recover the greatest treasures of your nation. Or you could be part of a military unit, sent into the Mournland to secure strategic objectives vital to your nation. Beyond the strange monsters created by the disaster, you may face the warforged followers of the Lords of Blades, amoral salvagers, agents of other nations… or ancient fiends with their own agendas in this ruined land.
The Mourning is a dungeon the size of a nation. It holds untold treasures, but the greatest prize of all is the secret of what caused the disaster. A Mournland campaign could begin with quick expeditions, darting in and leaving before night falls. But in time, you will need to progress deeper and deeper. Can you find a way to heal this wounded land? Or will you uncover a scheme to spread the devastation across Khorvaire?
These are just a few of the possibilities for an Eberron campaign. You could be daring sky pirates challenging the air superiority of House Lyrandar, or a team of elite house agents dealing with deadly threats. You could be spies serving on the front line of the cold war between the Five Nations, or templars of the Silver Flame battling a vast and hidden demonic conspiracy. Whatever you decide, Eberron and adventure await!
This adventure continues in Eberron: Rising from the Last War. Begin your journey by ordering it now in the D&D Beyond Marketplace.
Want More Eberron?
Keith Baker has just released Exploring Eberron, a brand-new, 248-page expansion to Eberron: Rising from the Last War on the DMs Guild! Created by lead designer Keith Baker and additional designers Will Brolley, Laura Hirsbrunner, and Wayne Chang, this book hit Mithral Best Seller on the DMs Guild on its first day of release! It's available in PDF and hardcover print-on-demand formats—though since it isn't an official Wizards of the Coast product release, there are no plans to support it on D&D Beyond.
In this book, Keith takes players and Dungeon Masters on a thrilling dive into the world of Eberron. Encounter the monstrous folk of Droaam, the goblinoid Heirs of Dhakaan, the Mror dwarves and their Realm Below, and the sahuagin and merfolk dwelling beneath the waves. Embrace faiths of altruism, pragmatism, and darkness. Browse the tomes of Dolurrh’s Vault of Memories, seek the Amaranthine Cities of Irian and Mabar, meditate with the githzerai monks of Kythri, and much more.
Eberron is different from any D&D setting you've played in before, filled with everyday magic, tensions after a near-apocalyptic war, and invaders from the Plane of Dreams. If you read this article and played either Forgotten Relics (the starter adventure from Eberron: Rising from the Last War) or the Encounter of the Week: Around Khorvaire in Fifty Days series, and want to go even deeper into Eberron, then Exploring Eberron is for you! Just don't bump into any alien symbionts while you're checking out.
Keith Baker is best known as the creator of the Eberron setting for Dungeons & Dragons and the storytelling card game Gloom. In addition to creating content for Wizards of the Coast, Paizo Publishing, Green Ronin, Atlas Games, and more, he's creating board games and RPGs through his own company Twogether Studios. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Jenn and a demanding fur family. You can find Keith online as @hellcowkeith on Twitter and at keith-baker.com and twogetherstudios.com.
Thanks for the advice on a campaign start Keith. I expected as much from a COWboy like you. (sorry, couldn't help that pun!)
Nice! But for real, can I ask you a question...?
Project Raptor? Eh? Soon, yeah? :D
I am relatively new to D&D, I started DM'ing about 2 years ago, but I have worked so hard to learn how to be a good DM and make better games. This book will give me so many ideas, I don't know if I'll run an Eberron game anytime soon, I have to many going on at the moment, but I know I will use this setting eventually. Thanks for writing this, it will help a lot in the future.
Thanks, Keith. I can't wait to get my hands on the book.
I have been DMing for a few years now but just once i would like to join a successful group to complete 1 campaign with a meaningful character and not be the DM. small town living *sigh*
What’s Project Raptor?
I'm gonna start my campaign at Graywall, considering that more than half of the party is part of a monstrous race.
I am definitely intrigued by a western-style campaign set in Eberron and I'll probably adapt that idea
Any advice?
My two most competent players have both dm'd a couple of times, one faced us with 3 bandit captains against the other and i at level 1, and the other forgets it is our story, not his and also gave the first one infinite knowledge, killing him outright.
2019 the Year of Eberron; congrats Keith and the awesome D&D team!!
For whoever was asking, Keith is putting out his own book, codenamed 'Project Raptor,' on the DMsguild (tentatively scheduled for December, iirc) which explores parts of Eberron he's not really touched on before.
"For games beginning in the city of Sharn, chapter 3 provides an interesting option with the Home Base table,"
The Home Base table is on Chapter 4 ;-p
I've been devouring this book and it's been sparking so many ideas. I got the Dreaming Dark trilogy and I plan to begin reading it as soon as I finish. I'm thinking a campaign that starts as a short intro story set just prior to the Mourning that connects the PCs before jumping ahead to after the end of the Last War with the PCs settled down in Sharn might be something to explore.
Something I realised just now. As an avid writer, I could really use some of the stuff that takes place in the DnD campaigns I play through in a story. Possibly even publish something of the sort. Of course, I won't copy the story word for word, as the adventure belongs to the DM, but I can definitely use a lot of stuff that appears in DnD for my own story. For example, an Eberron campaign set in Clifftop may be the foundation for a story about a five man band of some sort that are part of a faction and explore the war torn land, fighting monsters and investigating ruins for pay from some guild master. For fun, I could even make it some sort of magician's guild like the one in Fairytale (it's an anime).
I just started an Eberron campaign with this book. I don't particularly love the starting adventure so I didn't use it. I just went through the many Sharn random encounter tables and connected it to the characters, had them get involved in a noble's money going missing during a House Kundarak money transportation, and had the players go down the same trail as the transport to see what happened. I came up with the dungeon on the spot, and improvised most of the first couple of sessions. It went really well and my players and I, all of us have been playing just for 5e, we all love Eberron already. I love my characters backgrounds. We have a Warforged Artificer, the last warforged made in Cyre before the Mourning. (DM secret, the artificer who made him, an NPC named Gerrith d'Cannith, put his mind in the subconsciousness of this Warforged, ready to take control of his body as soon as he sleeps, which warforged normally can't, or until he dies and wakes up again.) We also have a Firbolg Monk, and a House Cannith Wizard. The Firbolg monk comes from an island near Xen'drik and some of his people were forced to serve in the Last War by the people of Cyre. The wizard is the niece of Jorlanna d'Cannith, and they ordered her to become an artificer, she disobeyed them and became a wizard instead, so she was banished from Aundair by House Cannith West.
The campaign is going to be themed around the Mourning and what caused it, I'm having it be Lady Illmarrow, the leader of the Emerald Claw who caused the Mourning to prevent Rak Tulkhesh from gaining power from the escalation of the Last War, while simultaneously gaining more souls to become the Mistress of Death. I hope that this makes sense, and am really excited to introduce part of the Draconic Prophesy with vague hints that make no sense out of context to the players. I already have it written out, with the theme that the Draconic Prophesy isn't "this will happen no matter what", more of "if this happens, this will happen, if this happens, this will happen and everyone might die."
That is what I was inspired to make from this book, I'm so excited to do the next session, they just finished the dungeon, and I'm ready to show them how terrible the Last War was, no one won, but almost everyone lost.
I'm the same way, I love writing our campaigns, but am terrible at executing them, I think the best way for me to get these ideas out of my head would be to write a book, just so I can continue with my current plan in the game.
If you are having issues executing the campaign, try writing things down encounter by encounter. Say you want to have the group try and track down an artefact. The artefact in question is in some sort of temple, and the temple is in a jungle.
First, write down the basics. The goal, the incentive, that stuff. Then, write down the combat and social encounters they will face. Essentially, this builds a skeleton for the mission, that you can then follow. Between the missions, insert social encounters/some down time, and use these notes to build a timeline of sorts, but with more detail. All that's left is to follow the timeline in order. If the players derail the timeline in some way, just edit it to include the consequences of their actions, or make a new timeline from that point forward.
Hope this makes sense, and hope this helps solve the problem.
With what you just described I'd describe them as knowledgeable but not competent.. my advice you can try to find players on the internet to fill your game. I run a Discord server with my wife because we live in a small town. We have two players in Europe, and the rest here in the US in a few different time zones. We play a few games together, I'm the only current DM but we're working to get more up soon for a "shared world game". I also run a normal campaign, Descent into Avernus.
that was the code name for the new "Exploring Eberron" Book that Baker plans to release on DMs Guild
Please do an article like this on Mythic Odysseys of Theros? This was a great article