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Swallowtail Festival Games
Alright as it stands there isn't much detail on the things going on during the festival. At this point it covers the opening speech, lunch, and evening dedication ceremony and bonfire. That's really not much of a festival. Where are all the games and other things happening? What are the pc's to do during the day to occupy the time? I've come up with some games and such to keep them occupied. It also provides for a way to give some more background info.
The Devil Hunt
Do you have what it takes to bring down the infamous Sandpoint Devil and keep him from menacing the surrounding area? Take a shot and see. This is an archery range setup on the beach down by the Lighthouse. Two large targets, with silhouettes of a scary looking winged horse on them, are set up 50 yards away from a firing line. The bull’s-eye is about where a horse's heart would be. There are bigger concentric circles around the bull’s-eye.
One copper piece per play. Using the longbows provided, fire two arrows at the target, scoring the best one. Hitting a bull’s-eye wins a small pie. Hitting anything else wins progressively cheaper trinkets for each band outside the bull’s-eye, with nothing for a miss. Hitting AC 20 gets a bull’s-eye, each band out side that is AC 18, AC 16, AC 14, and AC 12.
This game is being run by Jodar Provolost (CG male human Expert 1/Ranger 3), an older balding Varisian with black hair, a big thick black mustache, and a noticeable big belly. He is a mediocre carpenter, but is considered one of the best hunters in Sandpoint. He is friendly, but has lots of bad jokes, and particularly likes telling his (untrue) stories of his encounters with the Sandpoint Devil. The pies have been provided by Alma Avertin from Sandpoint Savories. They aren't her best work, but they are good enough for what they are.
Sheriff Hemlock has asked Jodar to quietly make note of anyone who scores a bull’s-eye, or gets both shots in either of the center two circles, so that he can later approach them about joining the militia. Jodar asks anyone who wins his or her name and then announces quite loudly "Attention! Insert name has done Sandpoint a great service. He or she has slain the Sandpoint Devil! Here's your pie!"
The Goblin Toss
Three Goblins have found their way into your house and are tearing the place up! Grab them and toss them into the fireplace before they can destroy everything. This game is a simple bean bag toss setup in the middle of the Sandpoint Market square. A board is setup with lines of three holes. The board is 10 feet from a throw line. The closest hole is the largest and the farthest hole is the smallest. There are buckets of beanbags sewn to look like Goblins by each of the three stations. Each bean bag has a Goblin name printed on it.
One copper piece per play. Take three Goblins and try to toss them into a fireplace. Kids have to try and hit the biggest and closest hole, which is AC 10. Women use the medium sized hole, which is AC 12, and adult men use the smallest and furthest hole, which is AC 15. The bean bags have a range increment of 10' and there is no non-proficient penalty. Get all three in and win a small bag of venison jerky. Anything less gives a cheap trinket. Something Swallowtail related most likely. Nothing for not getting any in the fireplace.
This game is being run by Daverin Hosk of Goblin Squash Stables. He's getting perverse pleasure out of the idea of tossing Goblins in the fire. It's for this reason that he has written a Goblin name on each beanbag, just so he can desecrate some Goblin's memory even more. It's well known his hatred of Goblin's and nobody is surprised to see this game. Chod Bevuk of the Sandpoint Meat Market has provided the venison jerky for the prize. It is quite tasty and next to Ameiko's salmon, it is the talk of the event. Unfortunately there's been lots of young children asking their parents if the jerky is really made of Goblin meat from the Goblins they threw in the fireplace, like Daverin says it is. Some adults have heard the rumor and actually believe that it is Goblin meat!
The Lighthouse Smash
Who needs a Lighthouse without a light? The old Lighthouse has become an eyesore; let's knock it down so we can use the stone to build something new. This game is set up at the end of Junker's Way next to the Lighthouse. It has a table with nine square stones stacked on it in a pyramid shape. Three on the bottom, two in the middle, and one on top. There is a firing line 20' from the tables. Using the mini-catapult, try to knock down the stack of stones within three shots.
Two copper pieces to play. You get three shots. It takes a total of three hits to knock down all the stones. Hitting higher ACs counts as more hits, so that it is possible to knock them down with one hit. Hitting AC 12 counts as one hit, Hitting AC 16 counts as two hits, and hitting AC 20 counts as three hits. The catapults have a range of 50', so there is no range penalty, but there is the normal non-proficient penalty of -4 if someone does not have proficiency with siege weapons. Knocking down all the stones wins a small toy catapult; it amounts to being a slingshot. Anything less provides some other cheap trinkets. No prize if nothing is knocked down.
This game is being run by Aesrick Battlehorn. He's been working on the mini catapult and toy catapults during his spare time all year, in preparation for the festival. The mini catapult is quite a work of art. He's carved it to look like a stone giant with its arm throwing the stone. He suspects that he'll be able to sell it in Magnimar for quite a bit after the festival. It's about 2 foot tall, but functions just as a real catapult, albeit with less range and much less damage. He's worked very hard at keeping it a secret all year, so that he can surprise everyone with it.
He's got a soft spot for the kids and helps the kids aim it so that they can win the toy catapults, negates the non-proficient penalty; much to the consternation of mothers. According to many mother's complaints, "They are just the right size for young boys to shoot an eye out with!" This complaining doesn't stop those same mothers from handing over the two coppers for their sons to play. There is no shortage of boys crying because they've been hit in the head by a flying stone.
Dragon Races
There's been talk of starting Dragon farming in Sandpoint, so we've gotta find out which ones are the fastest so that we have the best dragons! Pick yourself a dragon and pit it in a Dragon Race against your friends.
The final game is located in the Sandpoint Market Square on the south side by the docks just at the beginning of Market Street. It has two double lane tracks set up next to each other with a three-foot wide gap between the two tracks. The tracks are 30' feet long. Near the starting line there is a large cage with 12 lizards in it. Each one has a set of twig and cloth wings attached to their backs. Each one is painted a different color so that they look like little dragons. Without touching the lizards, goad your lizard down the track. Get him to cross the finish line before your opponents and win a prize!
One copper piece to play. Once they have four people with a dragon picked, place them in the starting lanes. At the sound of the whistle, the gates are lifted and you goad your dragon down the track without touching them. To do this, each person racing makes an initiative check and players attempt to goad their lizard in initiative order. The lizards are notoriously difficult to deal with, so you must make a DC 14 Handle Animal check to get them to move. The lizards move 5' on a succesful check. On a failure they do not move. On a failure by 10 or more, the lizard actually moves backwards. The first lizard to cross the finish line wins. The winner gets a big cheap medal that says "1st Place Swallowtail Dragon Races" and 2 Copper Pieces. All other places get nothing and the others get nothing.
This game is run by Gressel Tenniwar. He's running it on the orders of Jubrayl Vhiski, but nobody knows this. Jubrayl is using it to run a gambling scheme betting on the races. Nobody knows it but 9 of the 12 lizards were secretly well fed the night before and they are tired and are even more difficult to move. These 9 are DC 16 to move. The other three are quite hungry and haven't eaten in about a week. These are at normal DC 14. In fact if some raw meat or other small rodent like thing is held in front of them they will be DC 12 to move.
Jubrayl and his men know which three are the hungry ones and use this to fix the betting. Jubrayl has also ordered that one of his men should always try to be in the race each time, so that they can pick one of the hungry lizards in order to hedge the bets even more, but not make a big deal if any group of four really want to race each other. The GM should pick the nine that are well fed. Anyone that watches more than 5 races with one of the hungry lizards can make a DC 20 Sense Motive check to notice that some of the lizards seem more motivated than others. Jubrayl and his men will disappear if it looks like anyone has caught onto their scheme. Gressel will claim ignorance and one of his barmaids will back him up when he claims they are all well fed.
That's what I've come up with at this point, have you done anything similar? What do you think of these?
I remember some Dungeon adventure or other that had a few games during a wedding celebration. I think it involved a harpy.
Anyway, the adventure had a lot of great opportunities for PCs to interact with townsfolk. Here are some of the possibilities.
Catch the greased pig A pig is let loose in a large pen, smeared liberally with grease. It's kind of a free for all, with participants trying to grapple the piglet. It has a +10 bonus on grapple checks due to the grease. After the first failed grapple check with a contender, it has a +8. After the second, +6, etc. The chase continues until the pig is caught. If the bonus ever reaches +0, the pig is smeared with a new coat.
Magic show Vernutt Parooh has drawn a small crowd with some minor illusions. A PC illusionist or bard might be able to outdo him.
Can't quite remember the other options, but another issue of Dungeon had rules for footraces and caber tossing.
These events are really, really cool!!!
Too bad I didn't see this thread until today... as I just re-ran Burnt Offerings in the past 2 weeks. :(
Ohhh Moonbeam did you really played it again? Your campaign journal is like a bible for my AP preparation... I have translated to italian the first two parts and integrated with some wonderful ideas found around on the messageboard like this one about festival games...
But you can't imagine how many times I though what you could have done if you went playing it again... and so please please write somewhere (at the end of your story hour as you did for your first campaign for example) what you added to this new game sessions...
This will be like a wonderful christmas gift for me and probably for all the community...
Ah, Sneaky, you're always so kind to me. ;) Thank you. ;)
I don't want to highjack this thread, so I will reply in more detail in my campaign journal.
We used these in my ROTR campaign and the players loved them. Especially Sandpoint Devil and Goblin Toss. Now they are looking forward to more festivals and events in other towns.
I really like this thread, and I have been getting ready to run this with new players, and wanted to remark that I found GM Mastery's Holiday Essentials by Johnn Four useful in this aspect. Initially I only bought this as part of a bundle and ignored it. Then a friend passed me his printed copy of Burnt Offerings and asked if I wanted to run it. I read about the festival and decided to read Holiday Essentials. Great stuff. That's it... my notes for festivals are on note pads, but maybe I'll type them in later.
I'm glad you like them. I designed them so that your average 1st level commoner would have a hard time winning the games with one try, but your average first level pc types would have a better chance.
I've worked the background info into additional minor sidequests and later encounters. My characters discovered the fixed dragon races (all the betting going on got them suspicious) and the ruccus they caused pretty much ended the dragon races for the day. They are now on Jubrayl's bad side and his minions are trying to make their lives more challenging. They've also aggreed to accompany Aesrick to Magnimar when he goes to sell the catapult, once he takes care of some business in Sandpoint, which will conveniently happen right about the same time they go there in the Skinsaw Murders. I really tried to have the games forshadow some things to come, but not be obvious about it. Fortunately for them the devil hunt didn't inspire them to hunt down the Sandpoint Devil, at least it hasn't yet done so.
Let us know how they work out for you.
My players had a great time with the festival games. I have 8 players and everyone played at least one game. The rouge decided not to play the Devil hunt game after having two others score a bullseye, and having their name called out. One character was sure there was something fishy going on with the races, but failed his rolls so didn't quite know what was going on. He played it up and had everyone laughing. They loved the goblin toss and the cleric added fuel to the proverbial fire by exclaiming how tasty goblin was around some children.
I only saw this thread about two weeks ago and decided to include the games in my 4e ROTRL campaign I started on monday.
My players had an absolute ball with all the games. They were so much fun that one of my players girlfriend who was watching at the time joined into the dragon races as the ringer and the chase the pig game.
During the dragon races, one player noticed the side betting and also took a piece of that action to no avail. Another player decided he wasn't good enough at it so spent his time playing musical instruments to distract other characters (thus giving -2 on skill checks) and finally one character got so frustrated with his dragon that he sneakily slipped a dagger between its ribs and tried to pretend it was sleeping. Of course he got caught out, was banned and had to pay 5gp for a replacement. So in summary I managed to get an act of greed, envy and wrath from 1 simple game, love it.
Then the chase the pig game turned into a brawl as I allowed grabbing the pig to be a minor action so everyone started charging, bull rushing, tripping etc each other in their efforts to get the pig. I also decided that the grease would keep allowing the pig to slip out of the catchers hands and shift 2 squares till enough had been wiped off to keep hold of it (essentially after 4 successfull attempts). I also said the pen was extremely muddy with obstacles and anything faster than a move required a skill check. The aforementioned girlfriend had great fun knocking over her boyfriend in the mud repeatedly.
These light hearted moments contrasted perfectly with the flashback scenes I also played, with the party going back to the night chopper was chased down and unmasked. I had one characters background be the intended 25th victim till Casp Avertin saved him with his life. The rest of the players then took on the roles of a young Belor Hemlock, Das Korvut, Nisk Tander and Ezakien Tobyn to chase chopper back to the isle, overcoming his guard dogs before finding the results. I'd also started the flashback with the character and his younger brother admiring the comatose form of Nualia before Ezakien chased him off only to have chopper set upon them in his alley with the obvious results. (All these ideas also came from these fantastic forums, I just had to stitch it together, oh and the 4e conversion, thats also courtesy of these forums via Scott Betts excellent work)
So after all that long winded explanation Delthos I can't thank you enough for giving me so much stuff to work with and contribute to the most memorable introduction to a campaign my group has had in my 28 years of D&D.
I know this is an old thread, but I thought I might throw a game I came up with that I'm planning on using on my next time running RotRL onto this list for anyone who is still looking.
Ogre Stomp
“Step on up, boys! No girl likes a noodle-armed weakling. Let’s see your strength!”
The staple game of every good carnival: a strength tester, and it costs a whopping 5 SP per play. A weight is placed on one end of a board set over a pivot and in a groove on a split log that runs some 10 feet up to a bell with three differen’t colors brightly painted along the groove noting degrees of success. Characters are given a wooden mallet to strike the board and try to ring the bell. A Strength check is made (at a -2 penalty if the PC isn’t proficient with martial weapons) with results as followed:
0 or under - the bell doesn’t move an inch! Everyone has a good laugh, or a good giggle in the case of the girls. A PC scoring this low takes a -5 circumstance penalty on all intimidate checks made against Sandpoint citizens for the duration of the Swallowtail Festival. “Why don’t you leave this game to the real men, boy?”
1 to 7 - the bell moves partway up the red stripe. Most seem rather disappointed and the PC is awarded a cheap trinket. Any PC scoring in this section takes a -2 penalty to all intimidate checks made against Sandpoint citizens for the duration of the Swallowtail festival. “My grandmother scored higher than that and she’s been 6 feet deep for 8 years!”
8 to 15 - the bell rises midway up the blue stripe; an average result. There is some half hearted clapping and the PC is awarded a ribbon. A PC can present this ribbon to any Sandpoint citizen to finds them attractive to gain a +2 circumstance bonus on diplomacy checks to influence them. “You’re strong enough to lift a mug and that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?”
16 to 21 - the bell climbs up the green section and dings the bell. The PC earns some well deserved respect from Sandpoints citizens, granting him or her a +2 circumstance bonus on intimidate checks. They are also awarded with a cute stuffed toy crafted by Rynshin Povalli (NG female half-elf expert 5) of “Vernah’s Fine Clothing”. Passing this to an eligable mate will grant a +5 circumstance bonus on diplomacy checks made to influence them. “That’s the spirit, friend, show the boys and lasses how it’s done!”
22 or higher - the bell breaks off! A PC earns the same prize as below with healthy round of applause from the audience and a string of curses from the man running the game who then must spend an hour repairing it. Any PC scoring this high should earn a +5 circumstance bonus on intimidate checks made against citizens of Sandpoint. “The goal is to ring the bell, not break the bell!"
In addition, Das Korvut (LN male human expert /fighter 1) the mutton-chop-sporting drunken smith of the “Red Dog Smithy”, will accept a bribe of at least another 5 SP to put on a heavier or lighter weight for specific contestants, granting either a -2 or +2 circumstance modifer, respectively. Despite the morning hour he is already knee deep in mugs and will hurl insults and hearty pats on the back for each paying player based on their degree of success.
Ogre Stomp seems like a nice addition to the other ones in the thread, but may I ask why the high price tag?
It was a cost added by the crafting and moving of the large and heavy contraption as well as likely needing to repair it several times throughout the day. I also tend to run heavier wealth games, starting at lower levels, so the cost would pretty much be negliable anyway.
Makes sense I suppose. Only reason I was asking was when I started my game, I did use the ones mentioned in the first post all of which are a cp or 2 to play. I had a couple players who had spent every cp they had, so they were making Perception checks to find lost change on the ground to find money to play or buy something to eat.
Started my RotRL game this weekend and I included these games during the festival. It was a great way to get the characters to interact with each other, or even to just to get a feel of how the others we role play their characters.
It was a big smash, one particular think I loved was that I had a player who is a Rogue who worked with Jubrayl Vhiski on the Dragon Races.
Overall it helped get 8 players integrated together before the big stuff hit the fan.
Some very nice ideas for the festival there. :)
I have a few ideas myself actually. One being:
The Cornugon Smash
Step right up folks and give this game a whirl! The object of the game is simple. In front of you is a pivot with one weighty rock laying on the lower side of it. The rock rests up against a narrow metal board with a bell fixed to the top of it. Now, the idea is to hit the raised side of the pivot (closest to you) to see how high you can make the rock fly!
On the metal backboard are markings to measure how far up the player has managed to launch the rock. Prizes will be awarded for hitting an AC of 10, 15 and 20 respectively. Reaching the very top requires an AC of 20, but if the player surpasses this score, he or she will be asked their name and will be rewarded with a Masterwork Earth Breaker for their "Smashing" performance. Note: There is only one of these weapons available to win.
The game costs 5 copper a go, but prizes include:
AC 10: 1 Bottle of Ale (courtesy of Two Knight's Brewery).
1 Thunderstone
1 Copper miniature Hammer designed to look like a tiny Earth Breaker.
AC 15: 1 Bottle of Rum (courtesy of Two Knight's Brewery).
1 Map of the event (which also serves as a map of Sandpoint).
1 Silver miniature hammer designed to look like a tiny Earth Breaker.
AC 20: 1 Bottle of Fine Red Wine (courtesy of Two Knight's Brewery).
1 Weekend all inclusive stay at The White Deer for two (courtesy of Garridan Viskalai's family).
1 Gold miniature hammer designed to look like a tiny Earth Breaker.
AC 21: 1 Masterwork Earth Breaker
Let's see how I fare:
Note: You may choose two prizes from the zone you scored your points in. Each AC represents a different zone.
I've also got a few ideas for adult games based in The Pixie's Kitten during the festivities. One of these include:
Don't be so sour!
One of Kaye Tesarani's workers start by pouring strong alcoholic spirit into the belly button of one of her topless colleagues and then places a slice of lemon halfway into her mouth.
The objective of the game is to suck the alcohol from her belly, pick up the slice of lemon (only using your teeth - NO HANDS ALLOWED!) and drop it into a bowl.
The more lemons you drop into the bowl, the more points you get. 1 lemon = 1 point.
You must make a Fortitude save (starting at DC 5, and then increasing by 2 every 2 points, up to DC 20 where it stays) after every drink (due to the potency of this alcohol) and if you fail this save just once, you take 1 Non Lethal Con damage from every drink there after. You get no more saves, and as soon as your Con drops to 10, you pass out. However, if someone throws water over you 4 hours later, you wake up with the fatigued condition until you drink enough water to sober yourself up.
If you end up in a fight whilst under the influence of this particularly potent spirit: You suffer -4 on attack rolls, but gain +2 on damage rolls, and even though you know which direction you want to walk in, you must roll 1D10 to see which direction you move in. How to determine the roll is as follows:
1 You remain standing still
2 You stumble forwards at half speed
3 You move diagonally right at half speed
4 You move diagonally left at half speed
5 You move right at half speed
6 You move left at half speed
7 You move diagonally back to the right at half speed
8 You move diagonally back to the left at half speed
9 You stumble backwards at half speed
10 You fall over
While drunk, you will always move at half speed due to stumbling, taking a -4 to Dex and Wis while the effects of this condition last.
Test:
Well, I'm just unlucky!
I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who posted a game in here. I used them in my campaign this past Thursday. Unfortunately, my players weren't very interested in them. I thought they were all very well written, though.
I've not been active on the forums in quite some time, but I got a bug to check things out recently. I'm truely surprised to see that people are continuing to use my work and add to it! I never realized the chorde this would strike with so many people! I'm happy that people like it and keep digging it up from the old stuff. Thanks everyone.