Hello everyone!
Long story short: I happen to own, and love, Red Dragon Inn 1 & 2 from Slugfest Games. For those who don't know - Red Dragon Inn is a card game where players use special decks that represent characters who have just come back from a successful adventure and then attempt to drink and spend each other under the table. Last player standing wins.
Check them out here for more details if your interested. I highly recommend them!
Anyway. What I want to do is this: The players of my game all choose a RDI character that best approximates their character. We then spend the evening playing RDI as a means to get their characters to unwind.
Here is the rub - I want to include an NPC. Partly so I can play too but also because I want this NPC to be important. Ideally, the idea would be that if the party can beat the NPC, they give up something good - a clue, a favour, a treasure, whatever.
The problem I have is that RDI works best as a free for all. How can I keep my players from simply 'ganging up' on the NPC to ensure a win? I could create a scenario where someone gets a grand prize for winning but an individual prize then puts 1 party member ahead of the rest in terms of wealth by level and the like.
Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated, and thank-you in advance!