I've been reading on this board for a few months now, so it's time for me to share some of my thoughts. I've decided to run Challenge of Champions from Dungeon #108 in Cauldron. During the Flood Festival. There won't be much advertisement, since Vhalantru doesn't want new adventurers to come to the city, but this is one great way for him to get information about the adventure parties close to Cauldron. In the Adventure Guild there will be a registration form which all my players will have to answer.
Party Name:
Name:
Class:
Completed Missions:
Most Dangerous Foe Killed:
I will have Vhalantru to open the games with a speech about how lucky Cauldron is to have so many adventurers. And he will be the one who will reward the winning party. A little time after the Challenge of Champions parties will be disbanded, killed or chased. Through Completed Missions Vhalantru will see how powerful a party is.
I ran an abbreviated version (five tests) of the Challenge of Champions in conjunction with the Flood Festival. There were a number of other competitions--100 yard dash, story-telling, archery, knife throwing, swordsmanship, pie eating, and magic, I believe--which were culminated by the Team Competition (CoC). I told my PCs that there were a number of local groups that got together and formed four-man teams, but that the serious challenge came from the Stormblades (who were the people's favorites).
The PCs and the Stormblades basically split the competitions leading up to the Team Challenge (with the exception that a group called the Rumblebellies won the pie-eating contest), so the CoC became important as the PCs wanted to beat the SB so badly. Came down to the last challenge, which they pulled off flawlessly, and had a great time role playing the Heroes' Feast, where the Lord Mayor, with Vhalantru in the background, gave the PCs their medallions and trophy while the SB stalked off out of the yard.