My players keep bringing up a good point (they're using it to sow discontent against Bartleby Lotheed so I'm not discouraging them):
Why has no one done anything about County Meratt being such a wretched hive of scum and villainy? Gul Guisarne is supposed to be an inquisitor of Abadar who strikes fear into the hearts of men and can magically sense lies... yet...
1. Wanted criminals with LARGE prices on their heads manage to exist for years under his nose in the Beggarwood
2. A local Baron is transformed into an arachnid monstrosity who feeds on human beings for A DECADE and nothing is done
3. The servants of said Baron ply their trade as outlaws to sate his lust for tribute and flesh for A DECADE and nothing is done
4. A local pilgrimage site to GUL GUISARNE'S OWN DEITY is a lethal death-pit with a shattered bridge and a massive beast and... you get where I'm going.
The point is, it's hard to sell the Seneschal (and chief of secret police) or the Count Lotheed as threats to the players (or anyone) when neither of those men seem to have the power to deal with even a handful of low-level bandits whom the PCs cowed in six seconds of combat. I get that for Story Reasons, the PCs need to be the ones to solve Meratt's problems, but some of those problems have been going on for so long it strains plausibility that no one in the County (let alone the party's supposedly fearsome and powerful adversaries) has done anything about it.
Anyone else run into this problem? Suggestions? Thoughts?
- Sorry for the long post. I ended up writting more than I thought I would, mostly because writting helped me think out my answers. -
I also think these are some great points, that I haven't poured a terrible amount of thought into until you brought these up. My thoughts loop back to Martella's mention in her initial briefing to the players (should they think to ask about the county) "the county is perhaps not as well maintained as the locals would prefer, but Father was a competent administrator if nothing else.” This line always made me think that the county used to be better but is still relatively nice, especially considering this is a world of monsters and magic. We know that many other "safe" areas, counties, ect. have monsters also, though most people don't go traipsing through the wilderness looking for adventure.
That said, in my game, I put it down to money and resources. We already know that Gul stays on as senechal out of a strange loyalty to the family and to Bartelby's father. I just assume that Bartelby has been much less prudent with county funds, diverting much of it to reinforcing the palace of birdsong, throwing parties, and conducting magical research. One example of this is his solution to the Swan Maiden - he stops funding offerings (though some citizens still leave their own) and instead leaves an ooze behind to take care of things, despite that short-sided "solution" threatening to cause its own batch of problems. This leads to my direct answers.
1) Bartelby is probably the person who put these bounties on the criminal's heads, as he is the one to whom the bounty is redeemed. My guess is that with all the people in beggarwood (that they can't lawfully just murder), whenever Gul and his men come to the forest, the people hide the four hoods. We even see mention of Gul conducting raids. Also, since their stat-blocks are based on the merry-men, their robin-hood like mystic put Bartelby/Gul in the fairy-tale role of the Sherrif of Nottingham in my game (giving me plenty to draw on). Bartelby just isn't willing to try to commit the resources to purge the woods or to fund the rebuilding of Jambis or a humanitarian building project for new towne, stachys, and pensaris to be able to take in all these homeless/refugee's. His hope instead is that some of the poor in beggarwood will instead turn them in for the comparatively-low price on their heads, though this hasn't happened because they love the hoods. In my game, I actually added the night swan as the leader of the four hoods, mechanically to make the encounter more level-appropriate, and thematically to make her seem more like a hero of the people (whom my players tried to capture alive and delivered to Martella after taking the Palace. Now, she's in prison constantly spouting Galtean rhetoric and anti-monarchy sentiments. What happens to her in the future is left mostly to the PC's efforts or lack thereof to develop her).
2,3,4) With the above being about costs, it's easy to extend that further. Jambis is too expensive to reclaim, and with no noble clamoring for it to be done, Bartelby sees no reason to spend the time, money, and risk to his resources to solve the issue. Similarly, the bridge is very, very expensive to rebuild, and traffic through Lotheedar is unimpeded. If anything, it improves traffic through Lotheedar, as it is now the only highway route through the county from Cassomir to Oppara, with a canal and full facilities there. It makes little financial sense to spend hard-earned county money on a public works project that doesn't directly improve the lives of most of the county, with the only people truly affected being stachys, new towne, and jambis, all of whom have very little value or political clout (with Onora Piscum attending things like the Tanager Jubilee to make sure Stachys isn't completely forgotten about). Also, the canyon is an unofficial pilgrimage site, and the bridge doesn't aid in the pilgrimage, as pilgrims still climb down into the ravine.
With this, I mentally paint the poor-maintenance in the county as a result of bartelby's apathy and unwillingness to dedicate funds he could use personally for things he doesn't see as cost-effective, which does kinda go in line with some of abadar's teachings. Perhaps Gul vies this as some measure of prudence, and while he may disagree with some of his patron's decisions, it is not his place or station to raise his voice in protest. Also, with all of the Lotheed family secrets being kept at the palace, in my game, I made it Gul's top priority to guard the tower and keep all the secrets from wandering out into town. He oversees this personally as much as possible, though he places guards there when he leaves, guards that occasionally fail (and possibly die) which explains how the duchess veleto lotheed escapes both during the jubilee and later in the book. If you manage a secret police and guard monsters locked in the tower, rumors of one of the reclusive barons turning into a monster or some of his men turned bandits seem like relatively-low priorities, especially on a budget, and that easily seems like the thing most in demand of attention.
I hope some of the ideas seemed useful at least. Most of the activities under the "Side" category are already cheap or free. You could also use some of them as jumping off points. Mine was a county fair, not just a stachys festival, so I wanted it to feel lived in, too big to do everything, and filled with rewarding activities. One of my players actually refuses to track anything less than gp, feeling it's below his station and a waste of weight, so when things cost less than 1gp, he just tells them to keep the change.
While your absolutely right that peasants won't have gp to throw around at a festival, the stuff I included were aimed at the wealthier merchantile, adventurous, and noble class in an effort to earn money, especially since that's what the economy of Meratt was originally built on back when it was a luxurious stop on the road from Cassomir to Oppara. Mechanically, this was just an excuse to put in high enough costing things that I could offer potential rewards good enough to entice my players. If the prizes were all worth approximately or less than 1gp, then they would have quickly been bored by the festival, which I'd intended to take one full session.
That being said, we both have different goals. If I had 1 hour only to design a festival and had already done this legwork, and I wanted the festival to be primarily for people of Stachys, I would probably just divide the entry costs by 100 (turning 1gp to 1cp) and lower the prizes by a proportionate amount (a golden horseshoe becomes a set of new horseshoes, a warhorse becomes a mule or a toy horse, a set of ornately designed arrows becomes a set of durable arrows, etc.). Or many of the games could become free with no prizes, just fun, though I don't know why peasants would work booths at a festival if they weren't earning money. Still, a lot of the activities can be quick-and-dirtied into solid filler, if that's all your looking for.
Separately, my current group consists of American Military members stationed overseas, and when I wrote the festival we were all missing the summertime county-fairs from home. This was a way to have a great big, fun, county-fair, that felt appropriate for the time period but also had fun things from home. Through role-playing, it was a great way to bring joy to a bunch of semi-homesick airmen, and I think it turned out phenomenally on our end.
I think GM PDK's spreadsheet will be more useful to you, but I made a github webpage for my players that shows them the current state of their game, the people they know, and what they've learned about them so-far. Your welcome to use any resources from there in your own games if youd like, or if you happen to be a web-developer, your welcome to use my git code as a baseline.
I decided to make a harvest festival at about the halfway point in part 2 of Scion Songbird Saboteur for a few reasons:
1) The party absolutely loved the Tanager Jubilee and I wanted to give them something similar.
2) It feels thematically appropriate for there to be a harvest festival right after the harvest and tax collecting portion, as it is what feudal and medieval systems did to appease the peasantry after the taxman came around to levy the harvests.
3) It gives an opportunity to sprinkle in the nobility again, as while there were plenty of opportunities during the Tanager Jubilee, my party at least has tended to visit one noble until they got their attitude to friendly, and then ignore them afterward. This means in our specific case, my party made fast friends with Baron Okerra and haven't seen him again, and meanwhile, they haven't even spoken to Bartleby Lotheed and only spoke with Baroness Voinum once.
4) It creates an opportunity for further foreshadowing by introducing nobles and gossip from future content.
For simplicity, I’m bracketing these within spoiler tags.
Changes:
The week of the harvest, if the PC's help with the harvest, their persona phase that week is forgone, story wise as their agents are forced to help with the harvest also, and mechanics wise so I can sprinkle in personal-development opportunities into the harvest festival without excessively unbalancing the festival rewards. Also, I changed helping with the harvest from taking three days with the tax levy at the end, to the levy taking up the most of the fourth day and the fifth day being spent helping ready for the harvest festival.
Festival Summary:
The festival covers two days (the remaining two days of the week) and the people of Stachys, Pensaris, Voinaris, and New Towne walk/caravan to Lotheedar during the first day, swelling the countryside with a carnival market and atmosphere. The first afternoon there are opportunities to play carnival games, mingle with a few nobles, watch performances, register for the open competitions, and go shopping. That evening there's the main event including the harvest pageant and the bonfire. The nobles get to spend the night in the guest cottages (just like during the tanager jubilee) while the peasants traveling from outside of Lotheedar will stay in a mix between inns, boarding houses, and staying under the stars or in their caravans with bedrolls they brought with them. The following day is more games and the competitions themselves, with the harvest festival wrapping up that evening for the peasants while the nobility have a dinner party together and a final evening in the guest cottages before breakfast delivered to their rooms in the morning, leaving the nobles to get themselves home (sending them home at the beginning of the week, just as with the Tanager Jubilee).
Day 1 Festival::
While it is assumed the party will take a carriage to Lotheedar, the roads are so choked with travelers that while it's safe and free from encounters, the PC's don't arrive in Lotheedar until the late afternoon despite any best efforts to the contrary. This gives them all four hours to enjoy the festivities before the Harvest Pageant, and while they may choose to stay together, they will likely want to split up to cover more ground. Each major activity takes 1 hour, while each minor activity takes 10 minutes (consisting of waiting in line for their turn as well as attempting the activity). In addition to registering for the competitions, playing games, and shopping the markets (details for all of these below), they can also watch performers juggle and jape, attend (or get married at) a Shelyn Wedding at Lauchlein's Lakeside stone circle, watch plays being performed at various half-stages around the festival such as "Three Pennies for Wishing" or "Deonica", or see a puppet show of "The Half-orc of Aroden's View."
They may run into Baroness Voinum watching a performance of "Taldaris and the Grogrissant" filling in the party a little about Taldaris, or they may be ambushed by Dame Crabbe in the market while she escorts Sepsina around the various stalls while buying one of every type of foodie treat she can find, while Lucretzia Marthane can be found perusing poetry and for sale by throughout the festival, each of these providing one influence opportunity. Finally, they can also take part in an age-old tradition of leaving offerings at Lauchlein lake in hand-carved wooden swan boats (and hearing all about the legend of the Swan Maiden and how Count Bartleby stopped leaving offerings) which they can carve themselves over the course of an hour or buy for 10gp (does not include offering). While leaving the offering, they'll run into Baron Okerra staring wistfully over the lake and gain 3 automatic successes if they leave an offering, and they'll also get a DC20 perception check to notice the polluted mess at the northern hook of the lake left behind by the Ocher Jelly while also realizing its out of place.
Throughout the afternoon, Shelyn is represented as one of the pillars of Taldan Faith in the many art performances and the lakeside wedding.
Harvest Pageant:
The harvest pageant is put on by the townsfolk and some of the Druids of the Wildwood Lodge, with Marquess Tanasha Starborne in attendance with the druids while Grand Duke Panivar Lotheed overseas the pageant with the Duchess Valeto Lotheed at his arm. Beer kegs are opened, and hard apple cider is poured, and drink is passed around for free to all in attendance while various drinking songs are sung and competitions made. The peasantry participates in barley pulls and apple bobs and build various small firepits near the giant central bonfire. The druids coax various fey creatures and animals from the nearby wood (many of whom they brought from the Verduran Forest) to whom the villagers give offerings of goodberry's to eat (which the druids sell for 5gp each), after which some Atomies put on a duel performance for the children while the fey "bless" the harvest and the land, before burning a wooden effigy of a witch at the stake kicking off the bonfire and dance (accompanied by satyr pipers, making it difficult to resist dancing). Finally, a fireworks display is part of the bonfire celebration, consisting of a combination of prestidigitation and pyrotechnics spells. During this time, the PC's get 3 Influence rounds with any of the NPC's, though they get a -2 penalty socializing with Baroness Voinum or any of the Lotheeds if they're caught dancing, while they get a +2 bonus socializing with the Marquess, Baron Okkera, Onora Piscum, or Dame Crabbe if they choose to dance.
Throughout the Pageant, Cayden Cailen is represented heavily in the non-druidic festivities and the free beer passed around the bonfires along with the jubilant singing of the peasantry.
Day 2 Competition:
The bulk of the day consists of competing in the competitions or watching the competitions, as detailed below. With non-participants permitted to either watch the competitions (and get a social round with an available NPC), leave an offering at Lauchlein Lake (or investigate it without the crowds), scout out the Palace of Songbird, or participate in any of the carnival games, though most of the performances have been packed up by now. The spirit of justice, honor, and competition are representative of Aroden and Taldor's history.
Dinner Party:
While Abbadar is represented in this portion of the festivities, it was mostly covered in the earlier tax levy. Instead, the church of Abbadar puts on lengthy presentations on the blessings of Abaddar and civilization, the virtues of hard work and the blessings of building up society. These are put on in the streets while the festival is packed up and coin earned are tallied and then a formal church service is given at the Grand Bank in Lotheedar. Instead of attending these, the nobles go to a dinner party at the Palace of Birdsong while the final total profit from the levies and the festival are tallied. This also gives the PC's an opportunity to meet the accountant and moneychanger, Zenobius Caal, whom can extend a loan of up to 5000gp to Stachys in exchange for 25% interest every month until the principal is paid off entirely. This party is a mascarade with food paraded before the attendees and card games of "coppers from heaven" during the meal (like at the end of the Tanager Jubilee). Instead of social rounds, the Grand Duke Panivar Lotheed IV organizes a light and lively debate amongst the nobility, with each participant given an assigned position to defend in a verbal duel (offering the chance to teach players how verbal duels work). The debate is detailed below in the competition section. Following dinner and the debate, the Grand Duke retires to bed, leaving the Duchess Veleto Lotheed to behind to join the rest of the nobility in dancing (or playing cards) with a single social round before the Count returns Veleto Lotheed to Panivar's room and announces the Dance of the Phalanx as the finale to the evening. The following morning, breakfast is delivered to the noble's rooms so they may get themselves ready and leave on their own.
Festival Market:
The market has a base value of 1,700gp, purchase limit of 8,000gp, spellcasting 5th, 3d6 minor magic items, and 2d4 medium magic items. Due to the visit of Wildwood Lodge and Wispil merchants, a wide variety of Darkwood, Darkleaf Cloth, and Greenwood items are for sale (including armor, shields, and weapons) are easily available along with 5 sets of rosewood and leaf armor. They also have a +1 living steel heavy shield, a +1 living steel chain shirt, and a +1 living steel chainmail set. Finally, they're also selling (divine) scrolls of: (1st level) detect magic, purify food and drink, alter winds, ant haul, calm animals, detect animals or plants, dream feast, endure elements, entangle, faerie fire, feather step, goodberry, longstrider, magic fang, obscuring mist, (2nd level) barkskin, campfire wall, fog cloud, resist energy, wood shape, (3rd level) burrow, cloak of winds, hide campsite, plant growth, remove disease, and stone shape.
Several other merchants have capitalized on the druidic and fey presence, selling cold iron weapons to the populace, with normal cold iron weapons and ammunition being readily available, and 2 daggers, 3 shortswords, 5 longswords, 1 scythe, and 3 random other weapons (GM's choice) of masterwork quality made from cold iron.
The Church of Abadar capitalizes on the market by selling a nearly limitless amount of holy water and cure light wounds potions and any scroll with the healing subtype of 5th level or lower along with (divine) scrolls of aligning weapon (lawful), detect chaos, magic circle against chaos, order's wrath, and dispel chaos.
If New Towne has been returned to Jambis, they are selling spider-silk items for half-price, including rope, hammocks, and nets. They also have 2 spider silk bodysuits for sale.
There are various poets, art sales, food stands of various carnival kinds, souvenirs, handmade jewelry, and other kinds of carnival-style vendors, filling the entire market with the smells of roasted nuts, fried fish, and candied apples.
Festival Games - Each game costs 1gp per attempt, max one prize per person, CR1 for grand prize:
Horseshoe Toss:
- Throw successive shoes onto the farrier's peg without missing. Win by hitting an AC15 three times in a row (horseshoe counts as an improvised weapon) from 5 feet to win the small prize (carved wooden horse). If a player wins, they can gamble their prize for a golden horseshoe (worth 50gp) by hitting an AC17 five times in a row from 10 feet. If they win the golden horseshoe, they can attempt to "shoot the ferry" by gambling their prize for the grand prize of 1 war-trained heavy horse (only one available to be won) by hitting an AC 20 from 25 feet away by getting the horseshoe to "ring" around the mast of the iron model boat on the top of the stand.
Dunk the Witch:
- With a "Witch" sitting on a post threatening to curse those that miss and pass by, the seller sells hard trucco balls to pitch at the target board for 1gp each or 6 for 5gp. These improvised weapons need to hit an AC20 and deal at least 3 points of damage (1d4 + Str) to hit the target hard enough to open the trap door under the stand and make the witch fall into the pool (and subsequently "melting"). Then they reset the game. The prize for dunking the witch is a miniature hand-sized pewter cauldron with a lid (worth 30gp, weight 1lb) containing a potion of cure light wounds. This cauldron has a hardness of 20 and protects its contents from spells like shatter, and can be used to store new potions made with the brew potion feat. The cauldron also happens to be perfectly carved for use with the cauldron hex (but only for making potions).
Lucky Key:
- The player is handed a key and must choose which of the four small chests to try to open with it (roll 1d4 to determine correct answer). If they chose the correct chest, it opens and contains a small toy doll (worth 1gp). They can keep the prize or risk it for a new key and 6 chests (1d6 determine), with the correct key opening it with a miniature statue of Taldaris (worth 20gp) or they can risk it for 12 chests (1d12 determine) with the correct chest opening for the grand prize of a masterwork silver skeleton key (worth 125gp) that works like the skeleton key item except its slightly softer metal means it acts at a +12 instead of +10 to open locks.
Swan Pond:
- The player is handed a hand-net and must use it to "catch" a wooden duck with a number written on the bottom in a single swing. There are 8 swans in the "pond" and the player gets one swing only. To grab the duck, they must hit an AC15 with the improvised melee weapon, and then make a DC15 reflex save to not drop the swan while retreiving it. If they retrieve it, roll 1d8. On 1-7, they grabbed the "ugly duckling" and need to return it to the pond, but they can try again (rerolling the if the same number on that attempt series is rolled) to get the right one. If they get the right one, they caught the "Swan" and win a pet duckling, or they can risk it. If they risk it, they need to pick a real swan duckling out of a group of ducklings and catch it without grabbing the wrong one (Knowledge Nature DC20, Perception DC20, Acrobatics DC20, Handle Animal DC20 in succession). If they pick the right one, they win the grand prize (only one) of a Swan Maiden's Cloak - (Value 2400gp, this cloak of a Swan Maiden has been enchanted to work with most humanoids instead of swan maidens exclusively. Fashionable and covered in white swan feathers, this cloak grants the ability to turn into a trumpeter swan as beast shape 1 once per day for up to 8 hours. If worn by a creature with the change shape or wild shape special ability, or by a caster casting beast shape, plant shape, form of the dragon, or elemental body spells, they can use the cloak as a focus component to raise the caster level of the transformation by 2. Using the cloak as a focus component renders it magically inert for 24 hours, during which it cannot be used as a focus component.
Shooting the Moon:
- The play is handed a light crossbow (cannot use their own) and must shoot a target through 3 rings with a single durable bolt with the target having an AC of 15 and each ring adding 1 to the AC. If they hit it, they move on to the next target through 5 rings, 8 rings, and 10 rings. If they hit all of those, they win a decorative "lion bolt" made from brass with a lion-shaped point (counts as a masterwork durable blunt bolt) or they can risk it to try and shoot the moon (an apple painted white) through 15 rings (AC35 total). The player must also split the moon as opposed to knocking it off the pedestal, meaning they must deal at least 5 points of damage on the hit. If they succeed, they win the grand prize (only 1 total), of a Cloak of the Night Sky
Contests - Must register during the first day, each attempt is 1gp (except the joust, which is nobles only and 25gp). In all contests, magic of any kind is prohibited and will result in disqualification. The champions also gain a cumulative +1 on influence checks for the rest of the festival for each victory. If a player wins at least one contest, they also gain one point of heroism for their persona. The contests themselves take place during day 2 in the following order:
Archery Contest:
(CR3):
Registration is done by shooting a target with a bow or crossbow bolt (can use own equipment, borrowed equipment is a normal shortbow). The target is 50 feet away and has an AC of 15. If they hit the target successfully, they get a token to the archery contest.
The contest itself consists of three rounds: a running target, a speed round, and a kings round. The participants are expected to bring their own equipment. In the first round, they get three shots shooting at a target being pulled by a rope by a halfling, and they must hit the moving target at least twice. The target has an AC of 15, 17, and 19 for each shot respectively (as it picks up speed and distance). If a contestant rolls a natural 1, they accidentally shoot the hafling and are disqualified. On the second round, an armored soldier rides at the contestant who needs to shoot the wooden shield (and not the knight) at least three times within three rounds taking as many shots as they can in the time limit. The shield only has an AC of 15, but to get the arrow or bolt to stick in the shield it must deal at least 5 damage. If a contestant rolls a natural 1, they accidentally shoot the soldier and are disqualified.
During the kings round, all remaining contestants shoot at targets, getting one shot to hit the target as it is moved to further ranges until only one archer remains. The targets have an AC of 20 and start at 50 feet and are moved back 50 feet each round. The best NPC (surprisingly) is Selli, Baron Okerra’s 10yo daughter who hits the target at every range until it’s brought to 200ft. and wins unless beaten by a PC. The prize is a set of 20 masterwork durable silver arrows (or 10 bolts if won via crossbow) with a cold iron tip decorated as a fanged lion’s with swan-feather stylized fletching’s. These arrows count as both silver and cold iron for the purpose of overcoming DR and the set is worth 1,000gp.
During the archery contest, Baron Okerra, Selli Okerra, Onora Piscum, Lucretzia Marthane, and Tanasha Starborne are all busy competing.
Falconry Contest:
(CR2):
Registration consists of successfully coaxing a falcon to attack a wooden mouse, requiring a DC15 handle animal check.
Contestants can use their own falcons (or other avian familiars/animal companions of small size or smaller) or they can borrow one for the competition. In the first round, archers fire “doves” into the air, which are really bird-shaped weights on the end of a crossbow bolt. The contestants then need to have their falcons grab the doves out of the air. This requires a DC15 handle animal check to get the falcon in the air followed by an AC15 attack roll by the falcon. For every 5 points the contestant beats the handle animal DC, the falcon gets a +2 on their attack roll. Finally, to grab the dove instead of just hitting it, the falcon must deal at least one point of damage. After five doves, those whose falcons caught at least 3 move on to the finals.
During the finals, the contestants all race to have their falcons grab the single dove fired into the air, adding competing initiative checks to the existing handle animal and attack rolls. There are five rounds, with each round firing a single dove worth one point (most points wins), and a tie being settled with a first-to-a-point-wins sudden death round. The best NPC present is, Count Bartelby using his owl, who rolls an initiative of 18 each round and catches the dove every round his owl gets there first (except round three and the second sudden death round, if it happens, when his owl fails to grab it). The prize is a silver owl trophy, worth 500gp.
During the falconry contest, Baroness Voinum, Titus Lotheed-Casava, and Count Bartelby are all competing.
The Holmgang Competition:
(Fight to First Blood) (CR3):
Registration consists of using a longsword (cannot use your own) to “cut the head off an opponent in one swing” which is really knocking a bucket off the head of a dummy. This is only an AC15, but also requires the contestant dealing at least 5 points of damage.
Contestants must use the longsword provided and cannot use armor of any kind, fighting in plain cloth only. They can use the provided heavy wooden shield, but it is not required. In order to make the contest more exciting and protect the contestants from accidental serious injury, the longswords are blunted, dealing no bonus damage on a critical hit, being unable to deal precision damage of any kind, and dealing 2 damage less on a hit (minimum 0 with 0 nonlethal). The contestants are randomly drawn into competing brackets (total of 8 competitors if 4 or less PC’s, and 16 competitors is more than 4 PC’s are competing). If playing with 16 competitors, each PC faces off against an unnamed NPC in the first round and then the brackets resume as normal. During each bracket, each competitor rolls opposing initiative checks and then alternate attacking and defending. Contestants are advised to fight defensively to boost their AC. During the Homlgang, if a contestant is fighting defensively, they can also choose to attempt to parry as an immediate action. This decision must be made before the attacker rolls their attack roll. If they attempt to parry, they take a -2 penalty to their AC but they can attempt to block an incoming attack by making an attack roll. If they roll higher than their attacker, the attack is blocked. The first contestant to deal damage to their opponent wins and moves up the bracket.
Both Baron Okerra and Titus Lotheed-Casava are participating in the holmgang, with the rest of the unnamed NPC’s using a shield and fighting defensively each round with an initiative bonus of +2, an AC of 16, and an attack bonus of +3. To determine the brackets, have each PC contending roll 1d6 and rerolling until no one has the same number. These are their numbers in the bracket, with Okerra being number 7 and Titus being number 8. In the first round, 1v5, 2v6, 3v7, and 4v8. The winner of 1v5 faces the winner of 4v8, and the same goes for the remaining two. The final two face off in the championship. If a PC doesn’t make it to the finals, Titus defeats Baron Okerra in a surprising upset. The winner receives a ring of protection +1 decorated with owl images in silver filigree.
Fishing Contest:
(CR2):
Registration consists of making a DC15 P: Fisherman check which can be attempted untrained to successfully “hook” a wooden “fish” from a “pond”.
Contestants get to make a total of 5 DC15 P: Fisherman checks which can be attempted untrained. If they beat the DC, they hook a fish that is as long in inches as the total number rolled on the check. After hooking a fish, they can choose to keep the fish (and forgoing future rolls) or throw the fish back. For every fish they throw back, they gain a +2 on subsequent rolls during the contest. Unless beaten, the winner is Baron Okerra with a 23-inch trout. The trophy is a lesser replenishing aquarium ball decorated with a gold leaf stand and containing a rare rainbow trout that changes color with its mood.
During the fishing contest, Baron Okerra, Baroness Voinum, and Onora Piscum are all competing.
Strength and Skill Contest:
(CR3):
Registration consists of throwing a 50-pound sack of flour over and behind the head of the contestant and over a bar 10 feet away. This requires a DC15 strength check followed by an AC15 ranged attack with an improvised weapon.
The contest itself is done in competition clothing only, no magical items, armor, or weapons may be worn or carried, though they would mostly just get in the way in this case. The contest is a series of skill checks as the contestants run an obstacle course, with the first to cross the finish line winning. When a contestant meets the DC they move forward, while if they miss the DC they get one point, with one additional point for every 5 by which they miss the DC. The course takes 30 minutes to run, with 1 minute being added for every point each contestant gets. Unless beaten, Lucretzia Marthane’s competitive spirit betrays her and she wins by crossing the finish line in 37 minutes 20 seconds. Any competitor with a natural land movement speed other than 30 gains a 5-point bonus/penalty for every ten feet faster/slower than 30.
The contest begins with a sprint through the sand (DC15 acrobatics) followed by a swim across Lake Stavian (3 DC15 swim). There they must drag a length of iron weights 1 mile (DC20 strength check and DC18 fortitude save) to the main competition area. Once there, they must toss the iron weights into a bucket by throwing them over the top of a barrier (AC15 ranged attack roll with improvised weapons, re-attempting until they succeed). They must then climb the barrier (DC20 climb) and carry the bucket of weights to the next station (DC20 strength check) where the must clamber through a series of tight crawlspaces and tubes (a DC15 and DC20 acrobatics check) before a sprint to the finish line (DC25 initiative check). The champion wins a pair of gloves of climbing and swimming. These gloves work just like the normal pair but only provide a +2 bonus to climbing and swimming instead of the normal +5 and is worth 625gp.
The winner receives a jewel-encrusted chalice During the strength and skill contest, Lucretzia Marthane, Titus Lotheed-Casava, Selli Okerra, Marquess Tanasha Starborne (doing surprisingly well at 40 minutes 42 seconds), and Onora Piscum all participate.
The Kellid Mud Wrestle:
(CR3):
Registration consists of standing on top of a wooden barrel next to a mud pit, drinking a shot of Kellid vodka, and spinning in a circle ten times without falling into the mud pit, requiring a DC12 fortitude save followed by a DC15 acrobatics check.
During the Kellid Wrestle, contestants compete in brackets (like in the Holmgang) attempting to knock their opponents down while standing in the mud pit. Each competitor must drink a shot of kellid vodka and make a DC 12 fortitude save, tripping if they fail, and then make a trip or bull rush combat maneuver against their opponent. If they beat their opponents CMD, their opponent then makes an acrobatic check with a DC equal to the combat maneuver attempting to knock them over or they fall. If they don’t fall, or both contestants fall, they drink another shot and repeat. With every shot, the fortitude saves increase by 2 and they take a cumulative -2 on acrobatics checks. After the match, they have a break to wash and sober up, removing the penalties before the next match.
The NPC’s in the bracket are Onora Piscum and Lucretzia Marthane, with Onora Piscum winning if she makes it to the finals against another NPC. The unnamed NPC’s have a fort bonus of +4, acrobatics of +3, and a CMD of 16. The champion receives a brass victory cup decorated in the kellid style with the kelish inscriptions “To the victor goes the spoils” written along the bottom. This cup is enchanted with the powers of both the Neverspill Goblet and the Goblet of Quenching (on command, without spilling the stored liquid), weighs 1lb and is worth 1,360gp.
The Joust:
(CR3):
Registration is a 25gp entry fee and is restricted to those of noble birth. It is conducted exactly as the joust at the tanager jubilee, and even has a side Trucco game with Dame Crabbe for the noble’s watching and not participating. The trucco game has a prize put up by Dame Crabbe: An old trucco belt to anyone that beats her. The Trucco belt counts as a belt of incredible dexterity +2 that also provides a +2-competence bonus to Trucco games. The Jousting second place trophy is a brass leaf (coated with gold leaf as a pun) worth 100gp, while the first place and tournament champion receives a +1 agile breastplate of jousting in Taldan green and blue with a lion embossed on the front and shoulders in gold leaf with space for military ranking (in case its won by a military commander). Like before, Baron Okerra wins unless defeated, with Titus taking second place. The same nobles are unavailable as during the tanager jubilee.
Dinner Debate:
(CR4):
The dinner debate is meant to be light and lively, so the Grand Duke assigned what he thought would be an easy topic: defend the merits of your town while showing why your town is superior. In the event of PC’s being assigned against each other, they’re specifically defending their own actions within the community. Brackets are assigned like in the Holmgang, except every noble (except Count Bartelby, Duke Panivar, and Duchess Veleto) participates using the rules for verbal duels as found within Ultimate Intrigue. The audience is the other nobles in the room, which have a strong bias towards baiting, a bias for flattery, bias against presence, and a strong bias against red herring. Anyone defeated in a verbal duel by a PC is impressed with their tenacity, granting one influence success. If their stats are not included within the text, assume they have a determination of 8 and a +4 on each tactic used. The winner of the debate wins a scroll of raise dead and the option to face him in a debate. This debate is about the value of taxes, with Count Bartelby arguing taxes should be raised. If they defeat Bartelby, he replaces the scroll of raise dead with a scroll of resurrection, and the winner has the option to face the Grand Duke (se book 6 for stats). Facing him, they must argue about the virtues of life and death, with the duke arguing in favor of life and the PC’s arguing in favor of nihilism. If they (somehow) manage to beat him, he replaces the scroll of resurrection with a scroll of true resurrection, though this encounter is meant more to foreshadow the grand duke better and show off how impressive and dangerous an opponent he is.
Did anyone else notice a fairy-tale feel to a lot of these characters? I caught it when my players started comparing Dame Crabbe to the Queen of Hearts while they were playing Trucco, and later, when they played Last Azlant together (I broke out real Harrow Cards during this part). Looking deeper (to stuff my players haven't seen yet), she's a bombastic gossip, wears pink, has a tangled hedge maze in her otherwise lush gardens, she pushes people around, and she even has a quiet Sespina in blue as her opposite, lost all the time (Alice). It's not an exact copy, but it pays out very well.
Looking more, we see robin hood (one of the rumors even mentions "robs from the rich and gives to the poor"), swan princess, and beauty and the beast (Baron Telus, with no beauty to save him). Baron Okerra also reminds me of the uncle from A Sword in the Stone (or really the book The Once and Future King), trying to find a tutor for his daughter. The depictions are a mix of modern and classic takes on these tales, always with a wonderful twist, and I like the Idea of playing some of these similarities up.
It helps all the more that the Tandak Plains and the county of Merat were once within the border of the Verduran Forest, AKA the Enchanted Forest, and there's plenty of opportunity for fey interactions (both as part of the main story and given in the encounters). Plus, this is a Princess story, trying to retake the palace (one player already compared it's description to snow whites summer palace, I've no idea why).
Now, my biggest problem is - I have no idea who Baroness Voinum might be...
