Come One Come All, You're Invited to the Pirate's Ball!!

[pennywit]

My group is just at the start of Tempest Rising. They're actually 8th level instead of 7th level, so I may tweak things accordingly.

I intend to run the Regatta mostly as-is, but the competitors will include captains they have met over the course of their adventures, both friend and foe.

Just to make things fun and increase the chances for interaction and possible social disaster, I'd like to open the Regatta with a social event -- the Pirate's Ball, hosted at Kerdak Bonefist's keep in Port Peril, for captains and officers who will be competing in the Regatta.

Broadly, I think the whole thing would be conducted under parlay, meaning that while Kerdak isn't going to take away anybody's weapons, it's also going to be the height of bad manners to kill a competing captain without the host's permission.

Attendees would include:

Party Attendees:

* Several of the pirate lords, including Kerdak Bonefist, the Master of Gales, Tessa Fairwind, Jolis Raffles, and others.

* Isabella "Inkskin" Locke, who in my campaign is a showboating captain who's got a bunch of sahuagin allies.

* Barnabas Harrigan. 'Nuff said

* Varossa Lanteri, whom I won't spoil because she's in Plunder & Peril. Suffice it to say the has a grudge against the PCs.

* Merrill Pegsworthy

* A slaver captain (to be decided) hailing from the Rampore Isles.

* Cap'n Bloodwine, a dread ghoul captain who's been an offscreen presence for much of the AP. He's hunting for the person who stole his buried treasure. (Spoiler: It was the PCs)

* That hobgoblin captain (can't remember his name) from the Sea Wolves encounters in the second module.

Anyway, I'm at a loss for what would be some events/intrigue to throw in here. Any ideas?

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

Well obviously it would be the height of rudeness not to bring a very fancy gift for the host, however if they show up their fellow captains too much with a gift then they might sabotage the party for the rest of the night due to sheer pettiness.

So the Gift presentation should definitely be a big part of things.

The Hurricane King of course wants to see a courtly dance, however none of these scurvy landlubbers are likely to know one, so players can either make Perform or Bluff checks to try and fake one.

There should be something at stake, perhaps something that could give an advantage in the upcoming race? Maybe a set of magical sails that can withstand the hurricane winds.

Maybe one of the Captains knows they'll never earn Kerdaks favor and plans to heist the magical sails, and the players might get wind of the theft (perhaps the sails get swapped during the night), and they need to figure out who stole it, and find some way to prove it to Kerdak before the night ends and the winner gets a set of fake sails (or maybe they don't want to do that and then try and steal the sails from the thieves).

If players are interested or comfortable with sex and romance, then definitely throw a lot of that in during the night.

Tall Tales contest for Bluff and Perform challenges.

Maybe someone spreads rumors about the sins the players have actually committed against fellow captains, and the players need to spread counter rumors in order to dilute the truth.

Lots of possibilities for something like this.

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

Oh! Maybe someone uses this opportunity to challenge a player to a duel over one sleight or another, and the players can use Performance combat to determine the truth.

[pennywit]

DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:

Oh! Maybe someone uses this opportunity to challenge a player to a duel over one sleight or another, and the players can use Performance combat to determine the truth.

This has ... potential. Particularly if Bloodwine figures out who stole his treasure.

[pennywit]

Should a troll show up and declare he's building his own kingdom?

(kidding, kidding).

But thanks for these ideas. They're great.

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

pennywit wrote:

Should a troll show up and declare he's building his own kingdom?

(kidding, kidding).

But thanks for these ideas. They're great.

... Hahahaha... wait, but what if that's a secretly awesome idea?

[pennywit]

Cap'n Bloodwine, incidentally, was a fun creation. I figured that if there were ghouls around, it made sense that maybe a ghoul ship used Bonewrack Island as a base. Hence, Cap'n Bloodwine. The players took his treasure from the island, and they took out a slaving ring that supplied Cap'n Bloodwine and his crew with food/recruits.

The players are actually pretty scared of him ... and they don't even know some of the goodies I'm preparing. Like, say, catapults that launch jars filled with ghoul fever-infected botflies at their ship ...

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

I love and support Cap'n Bloodwine in all of his ghoulish endeavours.

[pennywit]

I wonder if there's an ambassador to the Shackles from Cheliax? Or an emissary of some sort? That could make things fun ...

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

Now you're cooking with propane.

A Chelish ambassador, a Sargavan ambassador. Depending on when your game is set in the timeline a Ravounel ambassador and maybe even a Mediogalti ambassador.

[pennywit]

One of my competing captains, I think, is going to be a rich arcanist who bribed a pirate lord to sponsor him. He will use Summon Boat and Skeleton Crew to make his ship go. My only reason for this competing captain is that I find those spells fun and flavorful.

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

Can’t think of a better reason than that really.

[pennywit]

I've figured out his motivation -- basically a high-level arcanist who buys his way into the Regatta so that he can prove his conjured boat and crew are superior to anything pirates can come up with. Looking to Kaiba (as played in YuGiOh: The Abridged Series) for inspiration.