DM needs advice on AoW timeline

[Menexenus]

SPOILER ALERT: DON'T READ THIS THREAD IF YOU ARE A PLAYER IN AN AGE OF WORMS CAMPAIGN.


Hello all. Here's my situation. I'm running the Age of Worms in the Greyhawk campaign setting. In order to add an extra measure of realism, I've been using the Greyhawk calendar. And, when the PCs met Auric back in Diamond Lake, I established that the Champion's Games take place during Richfest (a week-long festival in the middle of summer). At the time, this was months away, so I didn't think anything of it. But leave it to the PCs to mess up your timeline - they spent almost 2 months crafting magic items! (They didn't even make it to Greyhawk until the 3rd of Richfest, even though I had talked up the glory and importance of the Champions' Games.)

So here's my situation. They just attacked (but were unable to finish) the doppelganger lair in the Hall of Harsh Reflections. I ruled that the Greater Doppelganger bad guy got away. Next, they should be following a clue that would lead them to Zyrxog's lair. But the problem is that it is currently the morning of the 6th of Richfest. Time is running out on the PCs' ability to participate in the Champions' Games!

So here are my options:

A) Skip Zyrxog (for now) and enlist the party in an accelerated Champions' Games (lasting only 2 days instead of all week).

B) Insert the party into the catacombs beneath the Arena during the games (somehow), but skip the gladiator fight portion of the Champions' Games entirely.

C) Have the party continue to pursue Zyrxog and skip the Champions' Games (and its consequences) altogether, substituting an unrelated module for 9-10 level.

D) Have the party continue to pursue Zyrxog and say that the Champions' Games took place without them (including its consequences). Helping to fight the thousands of undead created in the Arena should help to substitute for a 9-10 level module. However, I don't know if it's realistic to suppose that the city of Greyhawk would survive such an incursion.

E) Just give up on my campaign's timeline and say that the Champions' Games take place at some other time.

What would you fellow DMs recommend as the best course of action? Do you see any other possibilities? FYI, right now I'm leaning towards B. If you agree that this is the best course of action under the circumstances, do you have any advice on how to get them underneath the arena without detection?

Thanks.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Why not extend the Games' timeline, so that no matter when they are going on, the PCs get to participate?

 

[Menexenus]

Why not extend the Games' timeline, so that no matter when they are going on, the PCs get to participate?

I realize that that's what I was supposed to do. But I wanted there to be a bit more reality than that to my world. I wanted the Champions' Games to take place at a particular time every year. When I originally set the date (and revealed that date to my players), I had no reason to believe that they wouldn't be able to get there in time. But, as I explained, the players spent 2 months crafting magic items, and now my timeline is all shot to hell.

I could just give up on the realism of my world and say that, no matter what they PCs do, they get to participate in the Champions' Games. But that is very distasteful to me. YMMV.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

No timeline survives contact with the PCs.

I only recommend putting events on a timeline if you want to induce tie pressure on the PCs ... in which case they'd better both know about the timeline, and have some motivation to meet it.

Champions Game participation should be tremendously fun for the party ... I wouldn't deprive them of it just to meet an arbitrary timeline.

 

[FunkBGR]

IME -

The Champion Games are "better" than the Hall of Harsh Reflections, and felt more tied to the story than Hall did.

Barring that - why not give your player's a choice between them, in game. Wouldn't be too hard to tweak Zyrxog and his minions to abduct some entrants to the games or something.

OR

Use the "Scaling the Encounter" sidebars to put Champion Games under Hall of Harsh Reflections, and run the Hall after that. Takes some fiddling, but you could definitely pull it off.

 

[howandwhy99]

Cholera epidemic. The games are postponed for an indefinite period of time. With some teams out sick and others leaving town because of travel plans new openings for the PCs exist as well as a chance to make some cash$$$.

Seriously, I applaud your desire for realism, but you're going to get screwed over if you place major campaign / adventure path events on the game calendar. This will not really apply again though until the higher level scenarios.

Also, if you're going for realism, as a DM you need a timeline of events for "when nothing else interferes". As its the PCs job to make waves (be important) the players are really the ones controlling the timeline. This is part of the reason traditional "storylines" don't work.

I remember an old aphorism a college friend told me about DMing, "If you're here to tell a story, you're doing it wrong." That was old then.

 

[Aeric]

I second the suggestion to have something happen which forces the games to be delayed. On top of that, I would throw something in there to add some impetus to the PCs' involvement in them. Make it personal. Have a loved one kidnapped by a crime lord who wants to bet a fortune on the PCs winning (or even losing!) the tournament. Fortune and glory are all well and good, but if the PCs have other things to do, there's no guarantee that they'll take the bait. Heck, some players I've gamed with will refuse to bite simply because they know they're supposed to!

 

[Agamon]

Don't put off the games. If the players know when they start, that would totally kill the versimilitude. Get them to the games and do that mind flayer dude later. If you play him by the book (in all his 8th level sorcerer glory), then it's probably a good idea to put it off anyway.

 

[Erik Mona]

It's so awesome that you can make magic items in third edition!

On a more serious note, I suggest extending the games or playing the mindflayer part slightly out of order, perhaps lessening the challenges for "The Champion's Belt" accordingly.

But get them in the games as soon as possible!

--Erik

 

[Menexenus]

Thanks for the "cholera epidemic" idea to delay the Games. That might work...

As I'm reading ahead about the Games, they seem a little strange. Can anyone explain to me why the games have no limit on party size? Some of the NPC parties only have 2 members! That seems pretty stupid to me. Is there anything stopping a small army from entering the contest as a "party". Has anyone done anything to flesh out the rules of this event to make it seem more reasonable/believable? I was thinking of stipulating that the Champions Games consist of teams of 4 (and if a group has more than 4, they need to tag in and out, kind of like a wrestling match).

Also, what is the explanation for the fact that there are no higher level parties entering the contest? One thing I thought of is that the prize might be too small for a higher level party to bother with. But if the Champions Belt is as prestigious as I've been making it out to be, it seems that some adventuring parties might enter the Games just for the honor. Did any other DMs bother explaining why there are no higher level parties in the Games?

Thanks.