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I kind of put myself in a bind, thinking I had a brilliant plan made up on the fly for my PCs in our CotCT AP. And by brilliant I mean that I recalled something about a future adventure involving a play and remembering how much I liked the opera house sequence in Final Fantasy 3(6 if you must) and I decided to steal the basic idea.
Basically...
Anyway, next session, they'll be their with their friends and dates, and they'll eventually find out that someone is plotting the murder of an actress. The actress happens to be playing a character that is murdered on-stage. The PC's have to figure out a way to save her without disrupting the show, which will already be in motion when they find out. The stage-hand and/or actor that gets them involved will facilitate the PCs attempts to save the actress while not disrupting the show, whether this means having to go onstage in an actor's place or manuevering backstage and on the catwalks above. Hilarity ensues.
I've got the characters, the motivations, the consequences, etc. worked out. The problem is, I need the play.
So, what sort of play would be popular with the upper class of Korvosa? It's likely to be a tragedy, what with the one character's onstage death, but not necessarily so. Embellished historical play about St. Alika? Shakespeare in Golarion clothing? Just trying to bounce some ideas around to get the right spark of inspiration, since I'm going to need to right out close to a full act of this play.
Oh yes, they'll have to memorize their lines. (it is for my sake that it won't involve singing parts for the PCs)
I kind of put myself in a bind, thinking I had a brilliant plan made up on the fly for my PCs in our CotCT AP. And by brilliant I mean that I recalled something about Council of Thieves involving having to participate in a play and remembering how much I liked the opera house sequence in Final Fantasy 3(6 if you must) and I decided to steal the basic idea.
Basically...** spoiler omitted **
I've got the characters, the motivations, the consequences, etc. worked out. The problem is, I need the play.
So, what sort of play would be popular with the upper class of Korvosa? It's likely to be a tragedy, what with the one character's onstage death, but not necessarily so. Embellished historical play about St. Alika? Shakespeare in Golarion clothing? Just trying to bounce some ideas around to get the right spark of inspiration, since I'm going to need to right out close to a full act of this play.
Oh yes, they'll have to memorize their lines. (it is for my sake that it won't involve singing parts for the PCs)
Hmmm ... I'm guessing you want a scene where the actress kills herself on stage, or is killed on stage, yes? In Shakespeare I can only remember two ladies dying on stage (Queen Gertrude from Hamlet and Juliet from Romeo and Juliet). All the rest tend to die offstage and then be talked about or shown dead.
I can understand not wanting your players to sing <g> but I'd look to the Operas and delete the music. More ladies bite it in opera than in any other play form. Madame Butterfly might work well for you -- nice and exotic, Tian Xia costuming, and the lady killing herself onstage.
That's off the top of my head, will think more :) Sounds like fun!
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A Korvosan "Madam Butterfly"? Awesome! Lt. Pinkerton could be from Andoran, and Cio-Cio-San would definitely be from Tian-Min.
Or you could do my favorite opera: "Il trovatore," Azucena and Manrico would be Varisians, and Leonora and Count DiLuna would be Chelaxians. That one would have a lot of pyrotechnics in it. Think "Stride la vampa" but with REAL FIRE!
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mmmm I am picturing a combination of styles.
First is something Shakespearean and fantastic such as Midsummer Night. Something with classic dialogue but using the First Realm as the setting with its beauty and chaos.
Secondly I am thinking of the "play" in Interview with the Vampire. Check out the movie if you want, a good depiction. In essence the vampire actors portray themselves as Death and bring out a victim on stage. She knows she is doomed and this macabre play ensues where she pleads for her life and is seduced into accepting her own death on stage before the audience.
Combined these two themes could be quite amusing and horrific, and certainly shocking. Perhaps a moral play with a villain who brings out his real life victim to the stage. He tortures the actress with knowledge of her impending doom. She pleads for help, but the audience believes it is part of the play. Only the PCs know she really will be killed and only they can stop this perverted, decadent murder from taking place before hundreds of unknowing witnesses.
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I found this link for you. Import the choice bits into your game.
You owe me a suggestion in the future Mikaze.
Secondly I am thinking of the "play" in Interview with the Vampire. Check out the movie if you want, a good depiction. In essence the vampire actors portray themselves as Death and bring out a victim on stage.
If you go this route, name the opera 'Ravenloft'.
Strahd makes it to Korvosa, SWEET !
: )
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Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy might serve as a model (it features a play within a play where the revengers dramatically slay their enemies). For Shakespeare Othello might be a better model than R&J. "Good night Desdomona!"
Also one can always insert a hanging scene where the harness has been sabotaged. (Making it look more like an accident than a deliberate crime)
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Thanks all! I'm mining operas now for trappings and a bit more inspiration and I've already swiped a few NPCs from Method to His Madness. :)
While I love the idea of the First World bleeding into reality via theater, I won't be able to use it for this session since the NPCs' nature and goals are purely mundane. I do need to keep that in mind though, especially considering that the Midsummer Night's Dream story was one of my favorite Sandman issues.
You owe me a suggestion in the future Mikaze.
Be forewarned that I tend to make Rube Goldberg devices to solve problems that should only require a Gordian Knot-style solution!
If you aren't planning to run it in the future for that group of players, the storyline of Paizo's adventure "Hangman's Noose" would make a really cool play. It would allow for an interesting twist to your idea, too - the PCs might know an actor is supposed to really die when their character is killed, but not know which actor is the intended victim.
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Be forewarned that I tend to make Rube Goldberg devices to solve problems that should only require a Gordian Knot-style solution!
There are other ways to solving problems ?
Intriguing.
I must set up a investigatory panel to look into the feasibility of the possibility of looking into this.
COnsidering the Crimson Throne; maybe a play or opera version of Masque of the Red Death.
(Side note; Neil Gaiman is easily one of my top 3 favorite writers. Maybe top.)
I'm thinking "The Magic Flute" could have some fun possibilities.
However, I think the best bet is to come up with your own play or opera with elements from some of the classics, then add some suitably magic touch.
For example, a Wand of Silent Image would be well within the special effects budget of a big opera house. As the dramatic moment of the play, the villain produces the wand and zots the heroine with an illusory lightning bolt and said actress swoons and plays along, possibly after a last dying aria.
For the assassination, just swap in a real Wand of Lightning Bolts with the same command word and appearance. What amazing special effects! But what happened to the famous Lightning-Struck Aria?
Have fun with it.
So, what sort of play would be popular with the upper class of Korvosa? It's likely to be a tragedy, what with the one character's onstage death, but not necessarily so.
Not historical, but a movie reference would be "Interview with a Vampire". Vampires pretending to be Humans pretending to be Vampires, meanwhile committing real acts of murder in front of a live audience.
*shrug* Not much into plays, good luck! :)
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It came and went and swimmingly so! It just didn't go exactly as planned. A lot of stuff changed on the fly since two players wouldn't be able to make it, which made the play approach a bit less appealling, so it went back to an opera. I nixed the original idea to hand out the scripts, have them memorize their lines, and then go out without them since it wouldn't have been reflective of their characters. That and a sudden crunch for time meant I needed to drop a lot of the more elaborate details, and we barely finished in time as it was.
Curse of the Crimson Throne spoilers below:
Quick rundown of the opera plot:
Anywho, the play covers the life of Alika during the precarious early years of Korvosa, with great noble Chelish heroes and tricky, clever Varisian scoundrels. There's also an ongoing plot in the foreground concerning Alika's two love interests, the Chelish soldier she's in love with, and the Varisian trader she was betrothed to.
The climax of the opera takes place after Alika has had her vision warning of the last great Shoanti attack meant to burn Fort Korvosa to the ground. During the chaos, her two love interests come to blows, and she tries to break up the fight. During all this, a lone Shoanti warrior stalks out of the shadows, cutting her down from behind. As he slinks away, the two men are shocked out of their fight, and a grim reaper-esque figure comees to claim her soul only to be struck down by an angel descending from the heavens, who then carries Alika bodily into the great beyond. (yes, the cosmology is blatantly off on purpose)
The PC's get involved:
Boggs, the human fighter, after multiple attempts to get Cressida Kroft to go out with him, wrote an anonymous letter to her warning that Blackjack was supposedly going to appear at Marbledome to show up the nobility again. He goes to visit her again, asks her if she's doing anything that night, which illicits yet another "gods' sake, Boggs"(I'm serious, it's damn near on its way to becoming a catchphrase in our campaign). She's relieved to have an excuse, not only did an anonymous tip come in to warn about the outlaw Blackjack turning up, she also had to oversee security at the theatre personally since the queen and multiple VIPs, including foreign diplomats, would be present(largely for PR), and she had to make sure everything went off without a hitch. Boggs recommends she goes undercover as an audience member, along with him so he could help her out. Kroft facepalms, tells him "no" yet again, and sends him on his moping way. Boggs almost cries to guilt trip her into it. Seriously. So he goes home, picking up a fancy dress and suit along the way, and tells his loyal half-orc sidekick that it's time she got aclimated to "Hoigh socoiety loike a foine laidy in service to tha crown should".
Voharius, the elven cleric of Sarenrae, takes a fellow member of the clergy along, a noblewoman who can explain all the details of the fine arts and all the nobility who are present. That went more smoothly.
Half-elf/half-Varisian Dorinvil and gnomish semi-pyromaniac sorcerer Sarzelket decided to "pick up some elven chicks!" Running mostly on bravado and bluster, they head to where the local elves hang out, try to work some charm over on the locals with the help of Majenko(who earlier was giving them horrifying and biologically incompatible romantic advise to the mammalian humanoids). The two women, the more mature Layla and the somewhat not-all-there, constantly-spewing-non-sequitours Jolistina, chat with them a bit. Dorinvil works enough charm to convince Layla to go see a show with him. Layla decides getting out to the theatre would be good for her cousin Jolistina. Therefore, Sarz picks up the crazy one. "New experience!" he says. Dorinvil and Sarz chip some money together to get a romantic carraige ride set up, but any mood Dorinvil had in mind was broken by Jolistina's out of the blue and sometimes morbid rambling conversation, Sarz being all to willing to join in, and Layla's distracted worrying over her cousin. He also notices that Jolistina is somewhat jittery, like she's been on something. Layla admits that she's mainly coming along because she thinks it would be good for her cousin. It turns out she used to work at the theatre, and supposedly enjoyed it. Jolistina also has an annoying(to Sarz) habit of mentioning her present-tense boyfriend. Layla wrinkles her face at the mention of him.
They all eventually meet up at the theatre, are greeted by Anson Jeggare, who regales them details about the theatre and expresses pride in how much money they lose on it every year. (That's how you know it's real art!) Bogg's "date" draws more than a few awkward glances.
They're escorted to their box, where they can see some of the nobles they met earlier at the attempted execution of Trinia Sabor, along with the queen and several very important looking people in the largest central box.
The opera starts. Jolistina is constantly up and down, gawking at the spectacle, and weirding even Sarz out. Boggs and his sidekick, Jenna, are confused by all the words being in "some funny language". Voharius' friend, Quinta, points out the minutae of the art of opera, assuring them there would be some bits in Common(or old Taldane at least) and explaining the plot as it goes along. Dorinvil is moderately but quietly pissed off that the actress playing Alika is obviously a Chelish woman overly made-up to look like something somewhat resembling a Varisian. Quinta points out that Alika is being played by Anasta Mina, the current big start of the theatric field in Korvosa. As soon as Anasta hits her first high note in the intro, Sarz can't keep his nature under control and ghost sounds glass breaking, causing a bit of confusion among the audience and drawing a very irate look from Voharius.
Cressida bursts into the box a bit later, an escort of guards behind her, sending Sarz into a mild panic and perking Boggs right up. She whispers to the four adventurers to follow her back out into the hall, informing them that something dire has come up. Sarz immediately assumes he's in trouble, and assures her he hasn't done anything. This throws Cressida for a loop, and she's wondering what he suspects she suspects him of, mild confusion consumes the entire group for a moment with fierce whispering going back and forth, bit of a comedy of errors going on for a bit. Cressida tells them all to shut it and points out the young actress standing behind her. Apparently the girl, Vasa, overheard two men speaking earlier about putting a hit out on Anasta Mina, during the show. "Make it look like part of the show" she says she heard one of them say. She was afraid to bring it up with the manager, as she and most of the actors are deathly afraid of the unpleasant fellow. And the importance of the show going perfectly was beaten into all of their heads for quite some time, so she avoided telling the other actors and stagehands, and went to the guard instead. Cressida doesn't want any murders on her watch, but she also doesn't to cause an embarrassment for the queen and Korvosa. She requests the adventurers' aid. Voharius asks Quinta to stay with the other women to keep an eye on things.
They go backstage, Dorinvil and Sarz claiming that they're all inspectors(just out of Voharius' earshot). Things get complicated fast as they all split up and link back up during the course of the next hour. Voharius detects evil and gets four hits after moving around backstage: the manager(Touran Palastus), a rather foppish actor, and two stagehands.
After a bit of talking with Vasa and other actors, they learn that Touran has a bit of a reputation as a tyrant, which has driven a number of actors out of the trade or out of Korvosa. Vasa remembers one elven girl that seemed a little bent beforehand go even crazier, eventually leaving and possibly stealing a few of the theatre's costumes.
Voharius and Boggs approach the manager and bring the matter up with him directly, away from the rest of the cast and crew. Touran, who was played as a sort of mishmash of Cecil B. Demille and Fritz Lang, but with an even worse attitude, almost explodes in rage. They calm him down, and each try to get details about the opera. They learn how Alika dies onstage, with four actors being close enough to do the deed. They also find out that the actor that showed as evil in Voharius' eyes is going to be playing the Shoanti Assassin(the guy was real sensitive about his appearance, keeping a wig over his shaven head). Boggs informs the manager that he's going to needs "a script and a raizuh". He barges into the wardrobe, where the make-up crew take care of him(Oh, we'll make a ssssavage out of you!).
Touran tells the actor being replaced that he's out of the show tonight, the actor throws a fit and storms out. Voharius worries that they guessed wrong, and lets Dorinvil and Sarz know. Boggs is out of touch for almost an hour as he's being made up.
Voharius and Dorinvil check over the props, they all check out okay. Voharius asks the propmaster to show him under the stage, into the basement, where the grim reaper will be raised onto the stage during the climax. The propmaster, a relatively recently arrived dwarf from far up north, tells him all about how old the basement is and how far it goes. "Goes on long ways! Maybe as far as Vaults! You know, old tunnels and such!" Voharius can't find anything suspicious, but eventually comes back down to hide, lying in wait just in case.
Dorinvil and Sarz head up to the catwalks that extend from backstage to over the stage, but which are kept out of sight by curtains extending over the stage itself. It is from here than many lighting effects are handled, as well as the harness and pulleys and such used to lower the "angel" during the climax. The stagehand that pegged as evil earlier seems to be focused on his work, but he seems a bit jittery. Dorinvil spots a suspicious packet of something tucked under the man's shirt. The man is actually Touran's pesh dealer, but they never actually learn that detail. Sarz and Dorinvil head back down and confront the other stagehand that lit up as evil. This guy seems even more focused on his work, but comes across as somewhat nervous, constantly looking back and forth between his work and Anasta whenever she can be seen. The two "inspectors" inform him that they're keeping an eye on things, to make sure proper safety standards are being followed.
And so it goes. The climax comes up. Both evil stagehands wind up working the catwalks. Dorinvil and Sarz join them. The one they approached earlier is sweating bullets now. The actor playing the angel comes up, completely amiable. Dorinvil and Sarz take over the duty of putting the man in his harness and preparing to lower him to the stage. Dorinvil also give the man his ring of featherfall, just in case. Sarz replaces the potentially dangerous prop flaming sword with an illusion of his own. The actor is impressed.
Under the stage, Voharius is still hiding as the dwarf propmaster leads the reaper's actor to the platform. The dwarf leaves him to change as he checks somethings up top. Suddenly, from out of the shadows, the actor is knocked out from behind. Voharius can barely see what's happening, but he rushes forward in time to see a man dressed completely in black reaching for the reaper costume. The elven cleric demands the man's surrender, the assassin apologizes and informs him that he's a professional.
The climax of the opera begins. The two love interests get into their scrap. Alika's desperate song to get the men to cease their fight echoes throughout the entire theatre.
With the music blaring overhead, Voharius and the assassin duel it out. Voharius takes a slight hit, fighting off the effect of the poison on the blade, but fights the man off. "I'm a professional but I'm not stupid." The assassin excuses himself, and runs for it, further into the basement. Voharius chases after him, but loses sight of him, coming across some obviously recently moved furniture and props hiding a old trap door that obviously leads to a long unused access tunnels. Voharius rushes back to check on the actor. He's brought back to conciousness, but the man is far too upset to go onstage. Voharius tries to calm him down and reassure him.
Oh how he tries.
Eventually, he gives up, and with a groan asks what the man's lines are and how they should be sung. Elf's gotta sing a baritone dirge. Not looking forward to this at all, he quickly dresses himself.
It's time for Boggs to go out on stage. At this point he's been shaven bald, made up with more warpaint than any real Shoanti has ever worn, and is ready to do his part. He manages to convincingly stalk out of the shadows, striking Anasta three times in the back with the prop knife, each blow drawing for a cry more melodious than any actual death cry should be. The Shoanti assassin is supposed to give out a savage howl at this point. Boggs sells it a little hard. A few ladies in the front row seem a bit faint. Boggs makes his perception check and sees Cressida in the distance, her jaw having dropped in disbelief.
As Boggs flees back into the shadows/backstage(to several pats on the back from his "fellow" actors, Voharius is raised up onto the stage by the propmaster. It's time for him to sing his dirge(which happened to rip off a melody from Phantom of the Opera(I went with easy)).
Dude rolls a 1 on his Perform.
The actor playing the angel tells Dorinvil and Sarz he better hurry in and save the poor actor dying onstage. They quickly lower him, and the angel strikes down the reaper. Voharius is all too glad to fall limp and be lowered back under the stage. Sarz confront the nervous stagehand, asking him what he's so nervous about. The stagehand nearly loses it, denying any wrong doing. Sarz says "You know what? Color Spray." The light flash from behind the upper curtains is assumed to be a special effect representing the light of the heavens. After his song is over, the angel takes Alika into his arms and Dorinvil and Sarz properly handle the equipment to ensure he rises smoothly. As soon as Anasta is on the catwalk, the angelic role slips off completely and she goes into full prima-donna mode. "Gods! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT MAN! DID YOU HEAR HIM MANGLE THAT SONG?!" Dorinvil and Sarz begin to wonder why anyone would ever wish harm upon the actress.
Voharius takes the reaper costume off in a hurry, completely embarrassed, shoving it into the frightened actor's hands and declaring that he wants nothing more to do with theater, and heads back upstairs. Dorinvil and Sarz come down with their now-tied-up prisoner, after having confiscated the drugs on the other stagehand("Tha's not mine..."). Anasta and Touran clash, yelling starts all around as the applause continues outside. Cressida comes backstage to ensure that everything is alright. Voharius is targeted by Anasta's wrath for his poor singing. Dorinvil and Sarz are complaining about how ungrateful the actress is turning out to be, Dorinvil takes it further and tears into Anasta for being a "fake Varisian", Boggs is living large, the bickering continues until Cressida yells for everyone to "SHUT THE #@$! UP, GET OUT THERE AND BOW TO THE AUDIENCE AS IS PROPER, AND DO NOT MAKE CAUSE A SCENE IN FRONT OF THE QUEEN." The actors and manager wisely shut it, and the main cast goes out to bow before the cheering audience. Boggs goes out with them unasked.
Dorinvil and Voharius interrogate the stagehand, finding out that the plot was merely borne out of him being spurned by the actress and mistreated. "Oh gods, that's what this is about?!" Voharius, Dorinvil, and Sarz are eager to get back to their dates and be done with the fiasco, particularly the reddened Voharius. Boggs comes back from the stage holding a rose from the audience. Guy's still in a loincloth and warpaint at this point.
Cressida thanks them for their work, informing them each that she owes them a favor. Boggs is hushed up before he can make his request. They head back to the audience box, the applause is still going. Quinta is relieved to see them back. Layla is wiping a few tears away, Jolistina is idly humming melodies from the play, and Jenna the half-orc is sobbing. Until she sees the now bald Boggs, at which she screams. "Oi think it looks good meself..."
So it goes. Boggs misses out on the cast party(read: bar hopping) but heads back with the others to Three Ring Tavern to brag about their night, each telling their version of the story to their dates and other patrons. Voharius neglects to mention his performance. Dorinvil and Sarz embellish a bit. Boggs gets tanked to goes on about the wonders of the theatrical life.
Eventually Dorinvil and Sarz see their dates home early. After giving them a ride back, the two elven women part ways with them, Layla thanking Dorinvil for the show and helping get her cousin out for a bit. Jolistina does the whole "It was really nice..." thing, actually bothering to let Sarz down easy by her standards. "But you're no Rolth..." she says as she wonders off into the neighborhood.
Sarz rolls that name over in his head for a good minute until he realizes where he's heard it before. She's long gone by then.
He tells Dorinvil, Dorinvil's shocked. They get back to the tavern and tell the others, they're shocked. "You like 'em crazy don't ya!" Boggs says. And so it went, mixed celebrations and worries over the crazy girl, and then later some trebuchets go off and some ship sinks. Minor detail.
So it didn't go exactly as planned, and I didn't get to use even half the ideas I mined from this thread. Still, thanks for all the suggestions guys!
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I know it's a late reply, but I saw this and immediately thought of the work that was obliquely referrenced in the first RotRL module.
** spoiler omitted **
I like referrencing earlier local color. Also if you remember Drokus used his connections in Magnimar to ensure that the same plays which were being preformed there were being preformed in Sandpoint.
Just to let ya know, I almost ran with this, but too much was already in motion to back out. ;)
Sweet, Carmen done Korvosan ... that sounded like an absolute blast after the fact, though I can guess the chaos it must have been to run. Rather like being backstage on opening night, in fact ::laughing:: Congrats on it working out so well!
I wish this was under Curse of the Crimson Throne so that I could find it later.