Ideas/Suggestions for and Elven Circus

[Ringmaster]

I'm starting a new campaign off with the PCs attached to an elven circus (think Cirque du Soleil, not Ringling Brothers). I'm looking for ideas for:

Circus size and organization
Interesting NPC personalities
Acts/Performers
Adventure hooks (though those seem to fall out of interesting NPCs)
Other nifty thoughts - History, Costume, etc.

My goal is to provide my players with both structure (The PCs belong to an organization) and freedom ("The circus doesn't leave for another week, what do you want to do?").

The world is a homebrew setting. The elves in the region where the campaign begins are pretty typical - individualistic, egalitarian - though this particular region has a patriarchal history. There are no dwarves (anymore). Halflings run the gamut from primitive nomad tribes to caravan masters - but all live a gypsy existence with no fixed home. Gnomes are also typical, as are humans. Half-breeds of any sort are exceedingly rare and are not limited to being half-human/half-race-X.

Eventually I expect the PCs will run away from the circus (willingly or unwillingly), but while they are there I want their experiences to be memorable and help forge them into a team.

Thanks in advance.

 

[waiata]

Neat.

I saw Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas a few years back (Mystere) and their costumes alone are inspiring for D&D.

You could have them follow the type of touring schedule they have; staying in one place for 3-4 weeks at a time then you could put them on the backburner for the campaign since players always like to be on the move.

I will be seeing CdS again in May for Alegria, do you have any requests?

 

[Tonguez]

I once did a campaign with the PCs as members of a travelling Circus - headed by a Gnome Alchemist with a herd of Giant Carnivorous Hamster, it also featured a magical Singing Rock (a Rock - it sang), a Human Knifethrowing Rogue named Mendoza La Tigre, an Oni Secretary named Mrs Halkum (Adept/Expert), an Elven Ranger Horsemaster and animal trainer named Sharea, an Ogre Strongman-Labourer named Tobias and a Half-elf griffon rider acrobat whose name I forget.

They travelled the country and this allowed them to get caught up in all manner of adventures (ie 'Next Stop - Homlett!').

They started by trapping animals and training them, they at one point had to give shelter to a young runaway who was also destined to become a Demon-Goddess, they visted the Floating City of Iskandrya, fought off an alien invasion (Gnomish fireworks are great!), and spent time as Prisoners of the Lost Kngdom of Mahuluhulu. They also did a few more mundane things but who wants to hear about that!

 

[Ringmaster]

Great ideas, thanks!

waiata: Staying in each place for about a month seems right. Long enough them to see the area and get into some trouble (and catch up if they get left behind). Alegria - cool! It would be great if you could tell me about the acts and costumes after you see it. Thanks!

Tonguez: That sounds fun. Were all the characters you described PCs? I didn't intend for the circus to be the campaign, but a rather a way for the very different PCs to have a connection to one another and begin adventuring together... though what you describe sounds like a pretty neat idea. Hmmm...


Thanks again, keep the ideas coming.

 

[Shadowdancer]

I ran a campaign like this in 2E using kits from the Complete Bards Handbook. It was like Cirque du Soleil -- no animal acts.

One of the PCs was a Gypsy. She had a fortune telling booth, also sold minor charms, talismans, and love potions -- they weren't magical, but people thought they were. She also danced.

Another PC was an Acrobat, and did a high-wire act as well as some tumbling.

Another PC was a knife-thrower. The Gypsy was his assistant.

All of the PCs -- in fact, all of the troupe members -- played various musical instruments, and provided music for other acts when they weren't performing.

For NPCs, there was an illusionist who cast spells to dazzle the audience as well as used the Prestidigitation spell to do a stage magic act.

A half-Ogre strongman who would bend bars and lift heavy objects.

A half-Drow Elf who would dance, incorporating her innate spell-like abilities (faerie fire, levitation, dancing lights, etc) into her act.

An Oriental-style character who did flashy swordmanship/martial arts displays.

Had some others I can't remember right now -- various singers and storytellers.

The way I ran it, the circus would perform every night while in town, but not ever act was done every night except for the last night in town. That way, people would come back for more than one show to see different acts. (Each night's acts were posted in advance) The last night was a big send-off show in which all the acts were done.

During the day, the performers would go into town (the circus was set up outside of town) and perform on street corners, either perfomring with musical instruments, or juggling and tumbling, to make some extra money and to help promote the show. They got into lots of adventures that way.

 

[Tonguez]

Tonguez: That sounds fun. Were all the characters you described PCs? I didn't intend for the circus to be the campaign, but a rather a way for the very different PCs to have a connection to one another and begin adventuring together... though what you describe sounds like a pretty neat idea. Hmmm...

The Gnome was my PC and the Hortense the Rock was a magic item who was such fun that he essentially became a second character (even though all he could do was sing). I was co-DM with friend of mine and when I had DM duties to perform Orbril would be off on the road as the 'One-Day Man'*

Mrs Halkum was also an NPC who mainly stayed behind the scenes but did act as DM mouthpeice when required. The others were all PCs.

*One-day Man is the person who travels out ahead of the main troupe and finds the next venue, deals with the 'authorities' and prepares the ground. Lots of Circus lore is attached to this man

 

[Ringmaster]

Shadowdancer: Lots of great ideas there - I'll definately lift a lot of them - like the bit about not doing all the acts every night - lucrative. A question: Did the PCs actually roleplay their performances or were the sessions more focused on their "downtime"?

Tonguez: One-day man. Very cool. I'm thinking of making my circus a rather large one - so there might be more than one One-day man, a group, or - the PCs. I have the same question for you about roleplaying performances.

Thanks again folks.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Shadowdancer: Lots of great ideas there - I'll definately lift a lot of them - like the bit about not doing all the acts every night - lucrative. A question: Did the PCs actually roleplay their performances or were the sessions more focused on their "downtime"?

They were focused on the downtime and the little street corner entertainments they would do during the day -- those would often lead to other adventures.

The nightly performances, we mainly glossed over pretty quickly with just some dice rolls as a gauge of how well the performance went, unless the players specifically said they wanted to try out something new or make some changes to their performance, or if I determined something out of the ordinary was happening.

Feel free to use any ideas you like. If you have the hold 2E Complete Bards Handbook, it has some good suggestions for running a group of entertainers -- attracting crowds, division of money, how many people needed, etc. Also, the various bard kits from that book will give you some good ideas for possible acts.

 

[Tonguez]

Tonguez: One-day man. Very cool. I'm thinking of making my circus a rather large one - so there might be more than one One-day man, a group, or - the PCs. I have the same question for you about roleplaying performances.

Thanks again folks.

The main show was played out - sort of once every four game sessions on when the 'adventure' part was done the PCs would come in and act out their peices basically trying to out do each other for our collective entertainment.

Actually having PCs as the 'Oneday man' could be fun - it allows all kinds of adventure possibilities too.

Orbril usually appears as an NPC in all the games I DM (even when unrelated to the Circus - he's my favourite character) so PCs might see him wave as he drives out of town, pass him on the road, or see him in a bar. Sometimes he even has one or two companions with him...

 

[Ringmaster]

Both of those sound like good options for the evening performances. Thanks again y'all.

Some context for the campaign - A major villain of the campaign will be the unseen vampire from The Sunless Citadel. The one "killed" with a green stake that took root and grew into the Gulthias tree. IMC said stake was from a grove of magical trees in the center of the kingdom. The ring of magical trees are one of several layers of protection for an artifact whose existence makes sure Bad Things don't happen.

Back to the circus. The Ringmaster:

-He may or may not be an agent of the ruler of the elven nation. He may or may not be an astonishing thief.

-He is a consumate performer (What sort I'm not sure). He is devoted to his circus and looks after its denizens as his own.

-He's chasing a prophecy. Currently I haven't decided his character - is he a good or evil sort? Nor do I know what prophecy he's chasing.

-He is pulling a Johnny Appleseed of sorts. Every where the circus stops on its route he plants a seed from the Magical Trees at the center of the kingdom.
** If I decide that he's a good guy he's trying to make a new ring of Magical Trees to protect his kingdom and contain Something Bad at the same time. He knows that it will take longer than even his long life to accomplish.
** If I decide that he's a bad guy he'll be planting seeds from the fruit of the Gulthias tree from The Sunless Citadel to make a new ring of Evil Magical Trees that will benefit him in one way or another.
** Alternatively, he could be unwittingly planting the seeds of the Gulthias fruit - it would be some time before he got back around to where he planted them (and around to the not at all happy settlments who dealt with rampant twig blights).

I intend my PCs to play through The Sunless Citadel and - should they destroy the rotten Gulthias tree - free the staked vampire (I need to figure out a way for him to be freed and not decimate the low-level party). The Ringmaster will be interested in this one way or another, because the vampire figures into the prophecy he's chasing.

Feedback? Ideas?