I have been preparing to run CotCT for about a year during my group's unfortunately long hiatus. The one point I haven't squared in my head or notes yet is how to handle Blood Pig. My entire table would find that scene highly entertaining, save for one player who is wholly against animal violence. We'll call her Jane.
I would prefer not to cut the scene out completely for the sake of the rest of the table--that is, for the Blood Bowl-esque entertainment value as well as to highlight the insanity of Korvosa's self-titled Emperor. I am also sensitive to Jane's abject discomfort with animal cruelty. So I've been looking for a way to alter the nature of the sport such that she would be comfortable and entertained along with the rest of the group.
I've thought of reskinning the piglets as some less offensive creature (e.g., imps whose stingers and wings have already been plucked by Jabbers) but I am not certain this would be agreeable to Jane's sensibilities either. I have spoken with her about the separation between player and character but she would not want to be at the table even to witness NPCs torturing animals. Does the community here have any other ideas about how Blood Pig could be run as a narrative tool to "exposit" Swastel's inhumanity without making an activist squeamish?
Thank you!
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Ah, I was recently brain-storming this for my own group. Yeah, that does suck when you don't want to end up peer-pressuring a player into it. Inversely, everyone missing out on a neat minigame because one person objects sucks too. We play online, so I was able to poll the players in advance on some possible tweaks in our chatroom. Like any sensitive subject matter, it's best to discuss this with players in advance, rather than avoid spoilers.
My favorite idea - and the one everybody agreed their characters could be talked into - was having them play with summoned pigs. Summoned creatures return to their home plane when reduced to zero HP. (If anything this is cruel to the wolverines to taunt them with food, but odds are the players can free them on the way out) You can even depict the pigs as fiendish, since the summoner is evil. Maybe there's a little more malice than panic in their random actions. Naturally, have the Emperor comment the game was more entertaining before they ran out of real pigs. Then he can throw a tantrum over running out of charges on the wand.
My other idea, which still rubbed a player or two the wrong way, was having real pigs, but nothing in the pits, just an entrance to an exciting new life in the sewers. I have to imagine pigs and otyughs would get along great. Might need to re-title the sport due to the lack of blood.
Like any sensitive subject matter, it's best to discuss this with players in advance, rather than avoid spoilers.
Absolutely. As a conversation starter, I told her there's a sport called Blood Pig in an optional scene and she firmly but affectionately instructed me to stop talking.
I haven't brought up the idea of any fiendish surrogates yet; I wanted to be sure that was the best I could come up with first. Emptying the goal pits of their hungry wolverines could work but this solution feels like it humanizes the Emperor unless the piglets are transported to the Elemental Plane of Water or something. I like the idea of making the creatures malicious ankle biters rather than babies fighting for survival.
And now I'm starting to think of the sport taking off in goblin communities who use venomous centipedes and the like instead of pigs. There's replay value here.
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How does she feel about butchered animals? Would recently butchered pig chunks like heads be similarly problematic? The cruelty is over by that point but the results still gross. It would reduce the complexities of handling the live pig as well.
Or, considering the vicious ankle biter angle, goblins dressed as pigs? Then they can fight back a little.
How does she feel about butchered animals? Would recently butchered pig chunks like heads be similarly problematic? The cruelty is over by that point but the results still gross. It would reduce the complexities of handling the live pig as well.
Or, considering the vicious ankle biter angle, goblins dressed as pigs? Then they can fight back a little.
I was going to suggest the same, goblins (dressed as pigs or not).
In my COTCT, Escape from old Korvosa is like Escape from New York, with Piltz being a scuzzy version of the Duke. Piltz uses the arena to discourage those who try to oppose him, judges future mercenaries or others to straight up entertain him and his loyal followers.
That said, I turned the map into a straight up lowered battle arena. Created some terrain for it, complete with holding tank for the bigger ticket items..a lion, a huge ogre, an owl bear etc. Whatever stroke Piltz's sick fancy of the moment.
Rule of thumb is.. you either battle, provided a gift or intrigue him enough with an act to gain his audience.
My group tried to use the guise of a artist seeking to work with Piltz! When Piltz failed to be impressed by the work, he sought the audiences opinion. The audience gave them a thumbs down. Forcing them to fight ( often the case here).
I've been thinking about ways to replace the animals, and absolutely endorse the idea of summoned pigs.
My first idea, on the other hand, actually was humans. And while slam-dunking children into wolverine pits might not be a good fix, shrunken mooks might (could be explained as an outcome of the Rod of Wonder). This would be criminals in Pilts' employ who fell from grace (bit more goofy version).
Alternatively, he is rather fond of using his guillotine, so why not just play with the heads of his victims?
Goblins in piggy morph suits is a phenomenal image and would bring even more levity to the scene. Using the heads from the guillotine is a stroke of brilliance as well. I love when I can tie together character and event details to make the world feel more like it's breathing. While child violence is off the table for pretty much my whole group, violence against adult humans is more palatable for Jane by far than violence against animals. And the heads would be all the more disturbing if they were struggling and biting as the piglets are written. Thanks to all for the input. This has been quite helpful!