urban festival session - advice?

[birdchili]

heya dm-type folks,

I'm in the early stages of an urban-based campaign (pcs are now mid-level 2), but the party have been largely adventuring in very dungeon-like settings so far. Furthermore, the campaign has had a nasty, dark tone until now.

The next session is going to be during the highsun festival in the city. I'm hoping that it's going to play out as a low/no combat session, with a "happier" vibe and less of a big quest feel. I'm hoping the give the players a bit more of a feel for the city, develop some characters I've introduced, and hopefully have them up to their eyeballs in options/plot hooks to pursue by the end of the session. I also want to make sure the players feel like they're *doing* something rather than just witnessing the festival.

That said, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed wrt how to plan for a session like this... I'm going to make sure I have some conversations/events planned with some of my npcs, and will probably arrange for some festival things that my players can get involved in... I haven't given my players a city map yet (I don't have one they can see made up), but plan to have a handout by next session... I'm worried that they'll just look at the map and it'll be "ok... we go <here>"... what happens... "ok... we go <there>"... etc... which doesn't strike me as a compelling session.

Any advice on how to make a session like this "flow" nicely? How much and what would you plan?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

http://enworld.rpgshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=32635&

You can buy this in PDF form on RPGnow.com

This is a very, very good product. I highly reccomend it.

 

[jgsugden]

#1: Don't eliminate combat from a session. Even the most hardcore RPGers love a little hack and slash as part of the game. The PCs might apprehend pickpockets, participate in a melee, deal with an escape attraction, foil a kidnapping, etc ... I find it best to make sure that no more than 90 minutes of role playing ever passes without a combat of some sort ...

#2: When not fighting, keep the dice rolling. I think every player should roll a d20 at least once every 30 minutes. The thrill of the roll keeps things interesting. Skill checks, attribute checks, gambling, etc .... all make good opportunities. If all else fails: Ask the players to roll a d20 and tell you the result ... and don't tell them a reason, regardless of what they roll. It keeps them on their toes. If you have trouble pulling off such a deception, ask them to roll, bury your nose in a random page of the DMG (which remains hidden from the players) and then carry on without any othr comments on the roles.

#3: Pay attention to your PCs. Give them what they want. If you have a superstrong fighter, add a competition of strength to the festival. If you have an illusionist in the party, put a bard in the festival that is wowing the populace with petty illusions (that your wizard can outclass ... thereby earning himself an enemy in the form of the NE bard). If you have a cleric who is into role playing, give him a chance to speak to the people and try to convert a few. If you have a rogue with a high pick pocket skill ... well ... just make sure he sees a few key oppotunities to challenge his skills.

#4: Don't run it as a location based adventure. Run it as an event based adventure. String together a series of unfortunate events that the PCs are there to witness/stop. As an example, the PCs might be approached by a nervoud merchant who thinks one of the PCs is a member of the evl guild that plans to kidnap the princess at the festival. When he asks the PCs if they need any more sleep poison for their task, an assassin takes him out and the PCs have to catch the assassin. Then the PCs have to unravel the mystery of who is doing what and how they intend to do it to save the princess (who is too stubborn to leave the festival, even when notified of the danger).

 

[lordbasl]

#1: Don't eliminate combat from a session. Even the most hardcore RPGers love a little hack and slash as part of the game. The PCs might apprehend pickpockets, participate in a melee, deal with an escape attraction, foil a kidnapping, etc ... I find it best to make sure that no more than 90 minutes of role playing ever passes without a combat of some sort ...

#2: When not fighting, keep the dice rolling. I think every player should roll a d20 at least once every 30 minutes. The thrill of the roll keeps things interesting. Skill checks, attribute checks, gambling, etc .... all make good opportunities. If all else fails: Ask the players to roll a d20 and tell you the result ... and don't tell them a reason, regardless of what they roll. It keeps them on their toes. If you have trouble pulling off such a deception, ask them to roll, bury your nose in a random page of the DMG (which remains hidden from the players) and then carry on without any othr comments on the roles.

#3: Pay attention to your PCs. Give them what they want. If you have a superstrong fighter, add a competition of strength to the festival. If you have an illusionist in the party, put a bard in the festival that is wowing the populace with petty illusions (that your wizard can outclass ... thereby earning himself an enemy in the form of the NE bard). If you have a cleric who is into role playing, give him a chance to speak to the people and try to convert a few. If you have a rogue with a high pick pocket skill ... well ... just make sure he sees a few key oppotunities to challenge his skills.

#4: Don't run it as a location based adventure. Run it as an event based adventure. String together a series of unfortunate events that the PCs are there to witness/stop. As an example, the PCs might be approached by a nervoud merchant who thinks one of the PCs is a member of the evl guild that plans to kidnap the princess at the festival. When he asks the PCs if they need any more sleep poison for their task, an assassin takes him out and the PCs have to catch the assassin. Then the PCs have to unravel the mystery of who is doing what and how they intend to do it to save the princess (who is too stubborn to leave the festival, even when notified of the danger).

Very good distillation of my own experience with festival adventures.

As a DM I love running this kind of adventure - I try to run at least one every game year, and not for the same holiday. A couple of game years ago I ran an adventure combining the local Yearend winter solstice / holiday season with the 20th annaversary of the local King's coronation. The fighters had tourneys to fight in. There was a Magefair for the arcane casters . . . the rogues could intrigue with the local underground or foreign spies . . . and the clerics had an ecumenical council to argue over.

Then for everyone there was the Great Dare. Think of "follow-the-leader" with risky stunts and no magic allowed. Sample stunt: Using anything one can find in a small area along a 60' high castle wall, get over the wall, alive. There was enough scrap wood and rope to build a small catapult. Too bad nobody had Tumble skill or Proskill Siege Engineer. Everyone got to sling dice doing class functions, and the doppelganger assassination attempt on the entire higher nobility supplied a suitably sanguinary ending for the adventure.

 

[birdchili]

For festival contests... any thoughts on setting this up so that it's still fun for the players, but not allowing them to think they're the best bards/fighters/rangers/etc... in town?

My setting is a ~20,000 population fortified city with a bit of a "frontier" angle - it's in the middle of some very dangerous geography - the people who live here are risk-takers, who braved a monster-infested wilderness to migrate here in search of (usually) great opportunities and wealth. It's not a safe place to live, particularly... and having my players able to emerge victorious in a bunch of competitions would break the illusion a bit.

 

[Warehouse23]

* As for competitions, I would not include any which can be determined by a single roll of the d20. String things out a bit. Add witty dialogue between PCs and NPCs depending on how the event is going.

* Add noise from the crowd (won't it surprise the party rogue, who has been trying to keep a low profile, when the crowd starts chanting his name! How did they find out?)

* There is a long tradition in movies of important plot discussions (not to mention seductions, hirings, etc.) taking place in the midst of a duel or a competition of some kind. Try running an event where the better a PC does in a competition against a potential mate/employer/competitor/etc. the more useful information they can extract. Maybe even consider pitting the more charasmatic party members in a competition of arms/strength/skill where the test to determine success is not an attack/strenth/dex roll, but rather a gather information/charisma/diplomacy roll (both to impress the other competitors and the crowd)

edit: Also, it's often nice to have a little comic relief at a festival. Nothing is quite as amusing as a mellon throwing contest....