Yeah I've encountered those things as well. Even in Reavers of Harkenwold, which a lot of folks consider the best adventure arc in 4e, there's a sidequest that's basically "If you want us noble woods-dwelling elves to help you, please go kill that bunch of goblins, our hated enemy." I changed that entire section to have a group of nomadic shifters instead of elves, and they want you to help them restore a sacred site of theirs that had been desecrated (no combat involved). But other times I've replaced "orcs" or "goblins" etc with dolgrims, wights, or even "bandits" of all types.
But yeah in general, I've found the majority of pre-written adventures (even Eberron ones) to be either unusable or only worth stealing a few NPCs or concepts. It's really satisfying though when you can make them work with just a couple of changes.
Also I'd be remiss if I didn't plug the fan-made Tiefling Treatise, which has its own take on the Venomous Demesne. It names the four houses as: Kashkar, Sirran, Xuth'tel, and Zelvoth.
I had a kobold pre-generated character for a Graywall two-shot I put together (like a one-shot, but two sessions). This was back before Frontiers was even announced, so these days I’d probably go back and alter the adventure to incorporate the new stuff about Kethelrax, the Khaar’paal, etc. Anyway, the character’s name was Haskriskaa, and she was a transmutation wizard. The player who chose this character had two questions to answer, each with two options: who is your warlord, and what is your clan?
For the first question, if they picked Tzaryan Rrac, then they had a secondary goal of collecting relics for the oni warlord. If they picked Kethelrax, then their secondary goal was to proclaim the supremacy of the kobold species and herald the coming of the kobold reckoning!
As for the second question (note: homebrew clan names): if the player chose Turasjir as their clan, a family of bookmakers and calligraphers, then Haskriskaa is well-connected among literate residents of Graywall, particularly in Little Graywall. If the player chose Edarokir as their clan, a family which I didn’t really flesh out, then Haskriskaa’s strange dedication to the discipline of transmutation magic alienated her from her kin, eventually leading to her disownment; so now she seeks to forge her own identity, forming a “clan” of her own choosing.
This is making me want to dust off that adventure and run it again!
Starilaskur, Breland! I’ve had to get creative with fleshing out this city, since not a lot has been written about it. The temple itself, too; in fact I’ve got the beginnings of a DMsGuild supplement that I’d love to make a reality some day, if I get the time.
Oh cool, yeah I can see a fun red herring situation where some translation from Abyssal results in something like “Prince of Frost,” perhaps leading the party to Taer Syraen, only to find it’s an entirely different Prince of Frost they’re after!
As for this community: I was mainly interested in creating a landing zone for folks who might be leaving reddit but want to have a similar environment for discussing Eberron. The discord is great, but its format makes it hard to keep up with the discussion if you aren’t on it every day. I’m aiming for a chill, welcoming environment here.
As for me: I'm running a game for one player, and her character has been training as a paladin at the Martial Temple of Dol Arrah and is about to swear her oath (Ancients). She's about to be tasked with investigating a burrowing creature that's menacing the countryside—only to find that it's a rare and endangered form of ankheg, and a representative of House Vadalis wants to capture it unharmed!
Yeah I've encountered those things as well. Even in Reavers of Harkenwold, which a lot of folks consider the best adventure arc in 4e, there's a sidequest that's basically "If you want us noble woods-dwelling elves to help you, please go kill that bunch of goblins, our hated enemy." I changed that entire section to have a group of nomadic shifters instead of elves, and they want you to help them restore a sacred site of theirs that had been desecrated (no combat involved). But other times I've replaced "orcs" or "goblins" etc with dolgrims, wights, or even "bandits" of all types.
But yeah in general, I've found the majority of pre-written adventures (even Eberron ones) to be either unusable or only worth stealing a few NPCs or concepts. It's really satisfying though when you can make them work with just a couple of changes.
Also I'd be remiss if I didn't plug the fan-made Tiefling Treatise, which has its own take on the Venomous Demesne. It names the four houses as: Kashkar, Sirran, Xuth'tel, and Zelvoth.
Atur is a super interesting city. KB goes into more detail on Atur in this article: https://keith-baker.com/ifaq-atur/
I had a kobold pre-generated character for a Graywall two-shot I put together (like a one-shot, but two sessions). This was back before Frontiers was even announced, so these days I’d probably go back and alter the adventure to incorporate the new stuff about Kethelrax, the Khaar’paal, etc. Anyway, the character’s name was Haskriskaa, and she was a transmutation wizard. The player who chose this character had two questions to answer, each with two options: who is your warlord, and what is your clan?
For the first question, if they picked Tzaryan Rrac, then they had a secondary goal of collecting relics for the oni warlord. If they picked Kethelrax, then their secondary goal was to proclaim the supremacy of the kobold species and herald the coming of the kobold reckoning!
As for the second question (note: homebrew clan names): if the player chose Turasjir as their clan, a family of bookmakers and calligraphers, then Haskriskaa is well-connected among literate residents of Graywall, particularly in Little Graywall. If the player chose Edarokir as their clan, a family which I didn’t really flesh out, then Haskriskaa’s strange dedication to the discipline of transmutation magic alienated her from her kin, eventually leading to her disownment; so now she seeks to forge her own identity, forming a “clan” of her own choosing.
This is making me want to dust off that adventure and run it again!
Starilaskur, Breland! I’ve had to get creative with fleshing out this city, since not a lot has been written about it. The temple itself, too; in fact I’ve got the beginnings of a DMsGuild supplement that I’d love to make a reality some day, if I get the time.
Oh cool, yeah I can see a fun red herring situation where some translation from Abyssal results in something like “Prince of Frost,” perhaps leading the party to Taer Syraen, only to find it’s an entirely different Prince of Frost they’re after!
As for this community: I was mainly interested in creating a landing zone for folks who might be leaving reddit but want to have a similar environment for discussing Eberron. The discord is great, but its format makes it hard to keep up with the discussion if you aren’t on it every day. I’m aiming for a chill, welcoming environment here.
That's awesome! Congrats on finishing a campaign. Does your campaign feature the archfey Prince of Frost?
As for me: I'm running a game for one player, and her character has been training as a paladin at the Martial Temple of Dol Arrah and is about to swear her oath (Ancients). She's about to be tasked with investigating a burrowing creature that's menacing the countryside—only to find that it's a rare and endangered form of ankheg, and a representative of House Vadalis wants to capture it unharmed!