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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Meds" data-source="post: 293425" data-attributes="member: 3402">Some great advice so far.In my experience, a ball can be a incredibly fun.  It can also be rather challenging for the DM.Players have a tendancy to split up if they think they're safe and you give them enough options: e.g. one goes to dance with the Count, one to pick pockets, one to exchange verbal barbs with the jester etc.  You can quickly find yourself dividing your time between 5 players, and roleplaying 5 NPCs.  This can be great because the players have the freedom to develop their characters.  However, it can also be tough on the DM.If you haven't done much of this kind of encounter before, keep the options available to the PCs fairly limited to begin with.  Don't introduce all of your NPCs at once, and only introduce events one at a time when things are flagging.  If you're comfortable introduce another NPC or event."When in doubt, always have two men with guns burst in the door." -- Raymond Chandler I would really recommend keeping a couple of action encounters in your back pocket just in case you feel that things are getting out of hand.  If things go well and everyone's into their character then fine - enjoy, but if the monk's filing his nails in the corner, the cleric's itching for a fight, or you're in a terrible mess, then a bit of action puts you back onto safe ground.  It doesn't have to be a fight - just an event that reunites the group, e.g.  o the hostess starts to make a speech and faints, perhaps poisoned  o the shifty baron looks over his shoulder and slips through a secret door  o a surly rogue challenges the barbarian to a duel to first blood, which just provides a distraction for the heist upstairs in the study.Finally, I know of a few ball scenes in recent published products.  If you have access to any of them, you could milk them for atmosphere, NPCs and events.  o Madness in Freeport from Green Ronin has a great ball scene with very detailed NPCs   o Fortune Favors the Dead in Dungeon #80 has a real fun ball scene.  o The Last Dance by Atlas</blockquote>

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