Hivemind! I need your wisdom!
I'm running a side quest one-shot for a player in my group who's going to be missing the next few sessions due to work commitments. For reference, I'm running Rise of the Runelords, they've just completed the beginner box dungeon and driven off Black Fang, and the party is currently level 1.
The player in question is an Orc barbarian. The idea we had for him not being around for the next few sessions was that his brush with the dragon (by which I mean him raging and hitting for 28 damage in one turn) has given him a newfound confidence, and he's decided he's going to go back to his clan to undertake their rite of passage.
For the rite of passage itself I'm thinking of having the Warchief of his clan deny him the opportunity because he's too weak. Knowing this player he probably won't take no for an answer, so I'll have them give him tasks that are obviously designed to be too difficult, culminating in a kind of classic fight with either another tougher prospect, or just a much stronger clan member in a kind of "get beaten down to learn a lesson." deal
Looking for ideas for some suitably orcish trials, probably strength-based as befits a martial society.
I want to give him an opening for character development so I'm sort of looking to set him up to fail, but in a way that gives him motive to come back and try again at a later point.
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Something like a triathalon that involves running a 5 mile race and then felling an adult tree before a "boxing" match could work for part of it. Have him face off against a couple of other cousins from his tribe and the chieftains daughter for an individual rival.
A simple natural weapons and fists only brawl, last one standing wins. You could even make it a free-for-all and have ALL the opponents fighting with each other King of the Hill style once they finish the previous portion of the event. That way the opponents who do the first two sections quickly will have an advantage of arriving to the fighting ring first.
The trials shouldn't necessarily be violent but they probably should be physically difficult and exhausting, a series of tasks where they have to be careful not to fatigue themselves while ALSO racing against opponents might make for a really interesting dynamic of give/take as they know if they don't pace themselves they wont be able to use their Rage during the combat/boxing portion of the trial.
It would be a good opportunity for you to introduce the PC to one or more of the "older and wiser" members of their own clan as they'll be returning home victorious and likely more than a bit arrogant at their newly found confidence. You can help them relate better to their backstory by showcasing some of the things their clan leader have done or actively do to protect their community, something that's more interesting than chasing off Goblins and hunting, stories and scars from their own days as an adventurer.
I really like the idea that one of the trials could be a trial of patience where the PC has to endure an hours long ritualistic story about their clan ancestry and history, something like 12 strait hours of the clan storyteller/bard regaling the tale of some founding member of the tribe and their own trials. Give them a patience check of some sort every d4 hours, be it a Will to stay awake (You can slap yourself for a bonus!), a Fort to fight off Hunger, or whatever best suits your needs. Old warriors don't get old by rushing headlong into everything and I think a new PC (A new RPG Player to boot) could benefit from an exercise in learning this.
Just a few thoughts.
I love the trial of patience idea! That's such a cool way to do it, I'm definitely going to have to try and implement that. I like the use of a couple of different checks over a long period of time to test his ability to stay focussed
As it's an endurance task what rolls would you recommend for the race portion? Would you use a straight up strength or constitution check? Or would it be more akin to an acrobatics or survival check?
Felling a tree would be fairly straightforward strength check, and the boxing I'd just use unarmed combat as you suggested. Definitely using the chieftan's daughter idea as well. Not nearly enough female orc characters out there!