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One of my players, a flamboyant bard named Maximilian, insisted on auditioning for "The Harpy's Curse" the day after the Swallowtail Festival in Burnt Offerings. He got a part - one that required him to wear a donkey suit - and I decided that all the PCs would be invited to attend the play after returning from the boar hunt, with seats in Aldern Foxglove's balcony box.
I have a soft spot in my heart for the early Final Fantasy video games (I through VI, specifically), so a fight in the opera house was inevitable. Here's how I ran it:
A Night At The Opera
In an attempt to draw the attention of Sheriff Hemlock and his men away from the glassworks long enough for Tsuto and Nualia's forces to take control of the building, the would-be warlord Tsuto directs a group of Licktoad tribe goblins to stir up mayhem during the local production of "The Harpy's Curse". The actual stage of the theater is roughly 60 feet wide and 40 feet deep, and south of the center stage lies a 10x20 orchestra pit; the main room of the playhouse itself comprises a floor level measuring some 60 feet by 90 feet, with second-story balconies boasting curtained-off box seats for affluent theatergoers. The balconies reach outward 10 feet off the east and west edges of the playhouse. Running overhead, a series of rafters allows access to various areas of the loft, allowing stagehands to lower and raise aerial props using pulleys and sandbags.
The six goblins enter the theater through the backdoor on the northwest side of the playhouse a few minutes after the first act of "The Harpy's Curse" begins, using a ladder to scale to the rafters and wreak havoc from above (they kick the ladder over once they're all in the rafters). The goblins are armed with fireworks pilfered from a lost shipment of goods they came across in a nearby swamp.
Each goblin carries a personal armament of 3 smoke bombs, 2 firecracker strips, and a roman candle. Using fireworks as offensive weapons is difficult, especially for a goblin; it requires a ranged touch attack at a -2 penalty, and on a roll of natural 1, the firework backfires and harms the wielder. The goblins choose their fireworks at random each round. Two of the goblin (select randomly) have potions of feather fall, and will drink them and drop to the ground to menace theatergoers after a few smoke bombs have been tossed.
Smoke bombs detonate in a 10-foot radius and force anyone in the affected area to make a DC 16 Fortitude save or spend 1 round coughing and choking, taking no other actions; additionally, all creatures within the area of effect gain 20% concealment for 1 round. Firecracker strips explode and deal 2d4 points of damage, half fire and half piercing. Roman candles deal 1d6 points of damage per hit. Lighting a roman candle is a full-round action, but when it detonates in the following round, it can be fired five times in rapid succession at an additional -2 penalty which is cumulative with the -2 inherent in using fireworks as weapons.
A player can recognize which ropes to cut to heft themselves to the rafters using the pulleys and sandbags with an Intelligence check of 16, or a Knowledge (engineering) check of 13 if they have ranks. Cutting a line requires an attack that deals piercing or slashing damage; a sandbagged rope has an AC of 12. Balancing on the rafters is tricky, and on any turn in which a PC moves any distance across a rafter (or tries to stand still on one), he or she must make a DC 13 Acrobatics check or fall 30 feet to the ground below (if they're lucky enough to be over the balcony box seats when they slip, it's only a ten-foot fall).
Play Notes: This encounter was a lot of fun to run. The bard, Maximilian, was stuck on stage for the first few rounds, and dove into the orchestra pit, taking cover beneath the house harpsichord. The goblins spotted him and one shot a few rounds of roman candles out at him, catching his donkey suit on fire. The gobs then downed their potions and dropped to the stage level to take out the irritating bard (he rolled a natural 1 on his perform check during the opera, so I think the goblins were offended by his poor singing more than anything else!). He wriggled out of the suit and ran backstage to retrieve his combat gear.
The remaining party members - Cress the rogue (swashbuckler), Harland the sorcerer, and Mirrus the ranger - were in the balcony with Aldern, who was incapacitated early on by fireworks and unable to help during the fight. Cress climbed the curtains in the box seats up to the rafters and tussled with a few goblins up top, nearly losing his footing on several occasions.
At one point, Cress was dangling from the rafters by his fingertips; one of the goblins crept menacingly across the rafters to his position, impaling his hand with a dogslicer. A few seconds later, Harland used mage hand to ignite the goblin's fireworks with cinders from the burning sheet music in the orchestra pit, reducing the goblin to little more than a shower of green fleshy chunks. Unfortunately, the blast also hit Cress, knocking him off the rafters to the balcony and rendering him unconscious.
Mirrus, meanwhile, made use of his goblinoid favored enemy fetish, sniping at the little green freaks with his longbow. A few goblins jumped from the rafters to his position on the balcony, flanking and forcing him into melee with nothing but a dagger (Mirrus usually favors the kukri, but damaged his weapon during the boar hunt thanks to the Critical Fumble Deck).
The last two remaining goblins were the ones down on the stage level, and they were trying to get up top to attack the group again by shooting the sandbagged rope pulleys with crossbows. One succeeded, launching himself toward the ranger and getting stabbed for his trouble; the other couldn't land the shot, and Maximilian emerged from backstage to skewer him with his rapier.
This encounter was about an hour long, suitably challenging, and fun for me as the GM as well as my players. Many times they lost actions due to smoke bombs, which gave a better sense of urgency to the encounter. They got creative with their actions, too, and I was really pleased with how they thought through each of their turns so carefully. If anyone else uses this, let me know how it turns out for you!
I'll be yoinking this as well.
I've only just got past this point in the campaign and my Bard player will be gratified to hear theres been an encore performance called for his excellent stage presence. Tsuto will have time to drop an anonymous note in an empty cooking pot at the rusty dragon for Ameiko to find, warning her to stay away from the opera. This should forewarn my players as the aforementioned bard is developing a romantic attachment to Ameiko and he'll be present when she discovers the note. Hopefully it'll reinforce the idea that the goblins are getting outside help with connections to the town.
thanks for the great scene PWU. This should be a great addition to my game
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I really like this and I plan to use it myself. However, knowing my player's they might be interest in just watching the play, so I figured I'd have to have a play written up for them in case they would like to watch the actual play sometime. So, I present to you, my telling of "The Harpy's Curse" :
Jormund Lomus is a young adventurer who is madly in love with the woman of his dreams, Kiera Ristov. The first act follows Jormund as he meets the Harpy Queen and is tied to her servitude. One day while on an expedition in the mountains, Jormund is very badly injured. He wakes up in a hellish cave being cared for by a flock of harpies. Their queen introduces herself as Vamira. She offers him a deal- she will spare his life if he vows eternal servitude to Vamira. He reluctantly agrees knowing he could not fight his way out in his current state. The next few days he is spent resting while Vamira sings her harpy songs to dominate Jormund's mind. After he has recovered, Vamira demands Jormund return to Keira and break off their love. This will sever any ties Jormund has left in the world and make him Vamira's slave forever. Jormund returns to Kiera and tells her they can no longer be together as he has found another. Keira is only partially deceived by his words but is heartbroken nonetheless. At the sight of her tears, Vamira's hold over Jormund breaks but he panics and flees to the woods.
At the start of the second act, Kiera, intent on discovering what caused Jormund's actions heads to the mountains to see if she can find an answer. Meanwhile, Jormund begins preparing to slay Vamira so he can be free of her contract. Kiera finds the harpy nest and confronts Vamira. Vamira, full of pride, quickly admits the truth about Jormund and their pact. Kiera begs for Jormund's freedom, even offering her life in return. Vamira takes the opportunity and offers Kiera a deal. She will spare her life, but instead will curse her to be a harpy in exchange for Jormund's freedom. Kiera's love for Jormund is so great and accepts the harpy's curse. Vamira then casts a curse on her and declares she will be a harpy by the sunrise. That night, Jormund slips into the the harpy's den under cover of darkness. He makes his way to Vamira and plunges his dagger deep into her heart. As the first rays of the rising sun pour into the cave, Jormund realizes the horror of his actions. The face on the slain harpy is not Vamira's but that of his love Kiera instead! Vamira shrieks with delight at the transpired events. She states that now Jormund is truly free to serve only her. In a rage, Jormund kills Vamira and all of the harpies in the cave. As he weeps over Kiera's body, Jormund takes his own life. He no longer has any ties or a reason to live.
This is awesome. I will definitely keep it in my back pocket in case my players are interested in the play! Even if they're not, I may well run it and have the PCs forced to respond from outside the playhouse.
Nice work, thanks for sharing!
Wow, I think this may be the most positive response I've received for any of my fan content to date! Thanks for the ego stroke, guys - maybe one of these days I can post a decent-quality map to go with this encounter!
Wow, I think this may be the most positive response I've received for any of my fan content to date! Thanks for the ego stroke, guys - maybe one of these days I can post a decent-quality map to go with this encounter!
Hehe, was a great idea, and i stole it from you. I didnt have a player on stage but:
The Goblins i put here had hidden away in some Storage space afther the raid, and had 3 "normal" and a Warchanter. The Warchanter jumped down on the Scene and performed one of their Goblin songs for the shocked audience before starting to kill and maim, and wreak havoc.
The Barbarian said afther finsihing watching the show (and help kill the Goblins) that Foxglove was right. Going to the Theater is great fun!
I made a map for it, basing it on the aprox size on the sandpoint map, but its drawn on paper, but ill see if i might get it uploaded and share it with u ppl.