|
This weekend I'll be running my very first Pathfinder campaign (I've run games before just not Pathfinder) and could use a bit of help with my first adventure. I've come up with the second half of the adventure but the beginning eludes me, or at the very least the details of it. Here's what I have so far.
At some point in the fair some svirfneblin will crash the party and abduct some high ranking noble's daughter. I'm thinking a good time for this would be during a jousting competition or maybe a grand melee. The PCs follow the svirfneblin into the sewers in an attempt to rescue the noble's daughter.
Eventually they make their way to some underground caverns the svirfneblin use as a home. However they go about it they eventually rescue the daughter and make it back to the city as minor heroes. The noble thanks them for their service and becomes a benefactor, possibly organizing them into a brand new "adventuring" guild.
There's another concern as well, at least one of the PCs is entirely skill-based and will probably be looking for political intrigues and social challenges. I've never really run a game where someone was looking for political power so how can this be handled in-game? The player of that character has also never gone for political intrigue before he's just been re-reading the A Song of Ice and Fire novels and wants to do a Petyr Baelish character up. Any tips to get him (or other players) more involved in the political intrigue, social challenge portions?
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
|
This is not exactly an answer to the question asked but ...
You could have a Harrow reading done at some point which could have some effect on the action. Assign an event or effect to key cards and if any of the characters draw them, the effect occurs at some point and is alluded to in the reading.
Ex. A character drawing the "Bear" gets a surge of strength in a contest of strength. (DM chooses when).
A character drawing the "Crows" has his pocket picked (or attempted picking).
|
A small list of some things I've seen at the Ohio Ren Fest before.
Jacob's Ladder - rope ladder at about a 30 degree angle (or so, not 100% on the angle) with only one rope connecting at the top and bottom. MAJOR agility/balancing action calling for acrobatics rolls for each of the 6 rungs. I'd say DC 25 or 30 at least. Hardly ever see anyone make it to the top.
Ring Toss - Obvious and old, but still a neat simple game. Basically, ranged attack on the targets with a ring. Maybe use AC 20 or so to represent the difficulty?.
Kaber Toss - If you're feeling like adding some Highland type fun to the Fair. Strength Check vs a DC maybe?. Not too sure how to create mechanics for tossing a telephone pole! lol
I'd say a hedge maze, but rp'ing those can be a total nightmare/disaster.
Archery contest - Both stationary targets and moving ones so the elves don't get bored. (lol)
Catching a greased pig - This may have come about during the medieval period, if not, go with it for some comic relief! Acrobatics, Handle Animal type rolls and such.
Insult Contest - For the high CHA folks! This could even be totally roleplayed by the players if you don't think it could get out of control and become personal.
As for the Skill based politico, throw some interactions with the nobility and or aristocrats in attendance at him/her. Anything from introductions to attempting to schmooze their way into the upper crust. Or, if this pc is a rakish type, major Diplomacy, Bluff and Sense Deception rolls here to see how far he/she can get with one of the nobles!
Just a few ideas off the top of my head! Hope something helps ya!
Every general community gathering has someone on a soapbox, pontificating about how corrupt the system is. You can throw your political PC a bone there, with some wrongdoings to investigate and corruption in high places to ferret out.
There's a pdf, originally by Natural 20 Press but rereleased by Enworld, called 'Tournaments, Fairs, and Taverns'. It has rules for a bunch of carnival games and is fairly well regarded.
http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/e/enPublishing/ogl/otherD20/v5748btpy8ev8
S
Races were a big part od such games -- footraces, and if the town is big enough to attract neighboring nobles/landed gentry, also horse races. Don't forget games of the ball -- it's theorized, though there isn't enough evidence for historians to confirm or refut the theory -- that the term "football" for games such as rugby, soccer, Gaelic Football, Eaton-on-the-wall, and even modern descendants like American, Canadian, and Aussie Rules Football, came not from the fact that the ball was or wasn't kicked, but from the fact that they were played on foot, not on horseback. Try concocting your own ball-on-foot game, or just wing it... try something like Austus, a short-lived game played in Australia in WWII that combined elements of AUSTralian and US football, and was played by US troops stationed their andtheir gracious Aussie hosts. or that game played in Ireland that involves seeing how many throws it takes to get a ball around a set course through the countryside. Or capture-the-flag, which isn't medieval but sure is fun. If the town is near a forest and there are rangers around, have axe-throwing competitions, along with the archery, and woodchopping and logrolling competitions. How about tug-of-war? or a steeplechase? Don't forget a dance, think Men Without Hats... ESsss Aaaa Ffff Eeee Tttt Yyyy.... In fact, the dance would be an awesome point for the heavies to show up.
|
|
Wow! Awesome suggestions guys, I think I have more than enough ideas to flesh out the fair portion of the adventure. In fact most of these ideas might spill over into future fairs the city puts on, I'm really jazzed up about this now.
One last question: how long in general would a fair last? A couple of days, weeks, or months? I have no good clues other than a fair that lasted months would have a good deal of expense tied to it, probably much more than the community could put together.
you could do dance/singing contests for the bards or even a "group skit" event made of many skill checks like the fighter holding a chair over his head and the rogue balancing on it.
How about a "coolest use of a cantrip" contest...can you use ray of frost to chill a beer?
You have to remember that fairs back then operated a lot like trade shows do now. Yes, there are games and amusements, gewgays and pretties for sale and whatnot, but there's also a lot of trade going on from merchants from around the land coming to one central spot to trade their goods, likely in summer when the weather is fair and there's no need for folk to tend crops (as opposed to spring planting and fall harvest).
Not only will they pick an area with good fields and so forth to set up, but also one where the local lord is not getting silly with taxes and tariffs. Merchants are here to make money and a smart lord will realize that they'll bring more money to his town in terms of business than he can extract in taxes. Yes, there'll be a fee for the land use of the village green or royal pasture or whatever, but he's competing with other towns and cities for effectively the convention business.
That, however, is backdrop. What you need also are period bits of color. Have someone selling fair rings. What's a fair ring, pray tell? Basically, it's a cheap ring stamped or engraved with the name and date of the fair, basically a souvenir for people to get for themselves or buy for their sweethearts back home. From the lyrics of "Johny's So Long at the Fair," check this: "He said that he'd buy me a beautiful fair ring/A gay bit of lace that the lassies are wearing/He said that he'd buy me a bunch of blue ribbons/To tie up my bonny brown hair."
Modern Ren Faires still sell trinkets and such like this. I'd also make some of them magical. Certainly not all, but the trinket sellers would realize that if they salted in a few cheap magic items with all the overpriced grot, they'd sell a lot more as people were basically doing a lottery to see if they'd get a feather token.
I'd also have someone selling fancy gingerbread, stuff made in the shape of knights or dragons or just pretty hearts and stuff. It gives the fair a much more medieval flavor.
Wow! Awesome suggestions guys, I think I have more than enough ideas to flesh out the fair portion of the adventure. In fact most of these ideas might spill over into future fairs the city puts on, I'm really jazzed up about this now.
One last question: how long in general would a fair last? A couple of days, weeks, or months? I have no good clues other than a fair that lasted months would have a good deal of expense tied to it, probably much more than the community could put together.
Taking modern county fairs as an example, since they ARE descended from such fairs, I'd say go with 3-7 days. One of the things to remember is that such fairs were more than just social and entertainment events, they were also big deals economically, since most of them were (and often still are) held at harvest time, when local farmers would sell their surplus crops and produce. a big component of the fair would be sort of an extended market day, with a lot more options than normal -- a lot of the trade caravans would schedule their routes to coincide with fair schedules, for instance.
Your fair will be a big deal, and not just because of the contests. Most of the economy is agrarian, so you have a high farmer to artisan ratio. Farming has always been, but back then especially was, hard, dreary work that lasted "Can to can't" (can see/can't see, from first light until dark). Social interaction outside your own farmstead was infrequent at best. Fairs were a time to see old friends, for the young people to socialize and for boys and girls to notice each other. It was where everyone caught up on the latest news, showed off the fruits of their labors, etc. Contests that your PC's will not be involved in, but might watch, would include the judging of livestock, biggest pumpkin, baking contests, EATING contests, etc.
You have to remember that fairs back then operated a lot like trade shows do now. Yes, there are games and amusements, gewgays and pretties for sale and whatnot, but there's also a lot of trade going on from merchants from around the land coming to one central spot to trade their goods, likely in summer when the weather is fair and there's no need for folk to tend crops (as opposed to spring planting and fall harvest).
There are a couple of problems with that timing:
1. There is PLENTY of work to do in summer, including weeding (one of the most backbreaking components of the whole process), guarding against pests, etc.
2. Farmers didn't have anything to offer in trade in summer. Summers could be lean times. The real time of ease came AFTER harvest, when they had reaped the rewards of their labor, and the crops had all been put away, converted to alcohol or flour or cheese or cured or dried or stored in the root cellar. Did you know that to this day, many modern farmers have all their loans and mortgages set up for one annual payment?
|
|
@Vorpal_Bunny
"Coolest Use of a Cantrip" sounds really fun but unfortunately for the time being there's no PC spellcasters. One of them plans to multiclass into a wizard but that's not for another level. Maybe my next fair!
@Kevin Andrew Murphy
If it's a time for merchants to gather and rake in profits then I'm thinking it's also a good time for some social intrigue/thievery. Should give my more politically minded PC something to think about other than just hob-nobbing with the elite. Or maybe the other rogue on the team, we'll see.
I'm also definitely going to use fair rings and that song. Making a note of it now so I don't forget!
@MultiClassClown
I was thinking around 4 days for the "exciting", PC-related contests so a few days of the fair will have already passed before the game begins. A problem arises when you say that fairs are traditionally held in the Fall since this fair is being held at the start of Spring. Maybe I'll fix that discrepancy by having fewer agrarian peoples and more artisan persons. The fair will also be celebrating the passing of Winter and anniversary of the founding of the city.
Also, I did not know that farmers still use one annual payment for loans and mortgages. Neat!
@MultiClassClownI was thinking around 4 days for the "exciting", PC-related contests so a few days of the fair will have already passed before the game begins. A problem arises when you say that fairs are traditionally held in the Fall since this fair is being held at the start of Spring. Maybe I'll fix that discrepancy by having fewer agrarian peoples and more artisan persons. The fair will also be celebrating the passing of Winter and anniversary of the founding of the city.
Well, you can still have a festival in the spring, that was and still is a common practice, but it won't have quite the same atmosphere as a fair -- there'll be more celebrating and less commerce going on at that time of year. Agrarian societies tend to schedule their celebrations around the seasons, and especially around the solstices and equinoxes. HOW they observed each varied, both from season to season and society to society.
Spring Equinox celebrations tend to be about renewal and rebirth, resurrection and new life. It's a time for venerating fertility deities in particular, and for asking for favor in the upcoming planting.
Summer Solstice celebrations are about the triumph of the sun, warmth and light, and they tended to be evening celebrations, relishing the length of the day. Spring and summer celebrations will both tend to feature things like flower garlands.
Fall celebrations/fairs are all about the harvest, celebrating the bounty and giving thanks. Practically speaking, because that's also when the workers in an agrarian society tend to be the wealthiest in terms of goods to trade, they also tend to be the most "Commercialized" in the older sense of the word.
Winter Solstice celebrations were about the deepest darkest night, but also about the fact that the worst is now past and spring is on the way. Yule logs, bonfires, these elements of such celebrations were about keeping the light alive through winter's deepest dark. There's a sense of defiance in the revelry of such celebrations. Other societies or more religious elements of a society might observe winter solstice with overnight vigils and prayer services.
Probably more than you wanted to know, but I hope it helps.
and the crops had all been put away, converted to alcohol or flour or cheese or cured or dried or stored in the root cellar.
Except converting all your wheat to flour does two things:
1) eliminates seed-crop
2) Flour does *not* keep anywhere nearly as long as wheat berries do. Pop the wheat into secure containers and grind flour as you need it. This is absolute direct first-hand personal experience talking. We buy whole wheat in bulk and store it. Since we have our own grainmill, we don't have to worry about making the trip to the miller worth the trouble - ie; taking 25, 50, 100# of wheat to be milled - but the principle is the same. Flour has a much-reduced shelf-life as compared to wheat berries and is ground only as it is needed.
Otherwise, :thumbsup:
Agrarian life is hard - that's why the Sabbath was an important day in Hebrew society. Yes, it was a day of worship, but it was a day of *rest* as well - and with good reason.
and the crops had all been put away, converted to alcohol or flour or cheese or cured or dried or stored in the root cellar.
Except converting all your wheat to flour does two things:
1) eliminates seed-crop
2) Flour does *not* keep anywhere nearly as long as wheat berries do. Pop the wheat into secure containers and grind flour as you need it. This is absolute direct first-hand personal experience talking. We buy whole wheat in bulk and store it. Since we have our own grainmill, we don't have to worry about making the trip to the miller worth the trouble - ie; taking 25, 50, 100# of wheat to be milled - but the principle is the same. Flour has a much-reduced shelf-life as compared to wheat berries and is ground only as it is needed.Otherwise, :thumbsup:
Agrarian life is hard - that's why the Sabbath was an important day in Hebrew society. Yes, it was a day of worship, but it was a day of *rest* as well - and with good reason.
Thanks for the clarification. I am sorry if I didn't make it clear that I don't mean convert ALL of the wheat into other forms, and I certainly understand the need to keep a seed stock saved for the following season. My point was, the growing season is NOT a time of leisure. What little leisure there is is usually right after the harvest is gathered and stored.
|
|
Just wanted to update you guys in thanks for all your help since we ran the game last night.
I ended up running 2 archery contests, one for elves and one for non-elves. There was a footrace and caber toss as well, the dwarves were mighty proud of those events. There was a pig let loose but no one managed to catch it. There are two events still remaining, the ongoing one is the best minstrel. Think of it as a competition where performers and the like travel about trying to win the crowd's favour to become the new champion with the one holding the title at the end of the fair being the winner. The other event is a joust, which almost no one seems interested in so that's when the svirfneblin will pop up.
We went a bit later than I would have liked but most people were having fun. The dwarven barbarian was awesome in the competitions, he won the footrace (barely) and the traditional dwarven caber toss (convincingly). The elven fighter won an archery contest against her bitter rival then defeated him in the war of words after. The halfling rogue won points for participating in everything so far but he hasn't placed favourably in any contest, though he has made friends with some roguish types in the city and made some good chili. Finally the human rogue spent most of his time currying favour or searching for the "champion" minstrel. The orc paladin was pretty content just watching and reporting back to his people on the results, though he was strapped for cash and eventually was shamed by some dwarves.
I've heard good reports for the fair so far so thanks again for all the help everyone. You helped me out quite a bit, I couldn't have done the festival without your ideas.