Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wik" data-source="post: 5213378" data-attributes="member: 40177">"Let us call thee devil..."“O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil.”  - Shakespeare, "Othello"The town of Yorik has fallen upon some hard times.  The crops barely grow, and fluctuations in the trade roads mean there are fewer buyers.  And after a particularly bad winter, displeasure with the current government runs high.  The lord mayor, a mule-headed and perpetually sour man, has decided to mount a campaign to win the hearts and minds of the populace – he’s going to throw a party. Unfortunately, he didn’t pay enough attention to his caterers, and now the party is getting a little out of hand...GeneralLet us call thee devil is a D&D encounter / mini-adventure for characters of any level.  It presumes the fourth edition rules, but can really be used for any edition.  Unless the characters choose to escalate things (not recommended) it is an entirely combat-less series of encounters.  Furthermore, it lacks a true “plot”, instead consisting of a series of interconnected encounters that the PCs can approach as they best see fit.  It is a very light-hearted adventure, and could make a very fun drinking game.  Rules for turning this adventure into a drinking game are not provided, but it suggested everyone has to take a shot each time the GM blinks.  This will greatly improve the play experience.The Heavenly StationThe town of Yorik was once little more than a simple riverside village.  It became noteworthy three hundred years ago as the birthplace of Saint Richard, a relatively minor entry in the expansive roll of Saints in a predominant Lawful Good religion.  Saint Richard was known for keeping his word in all things, his honesty, and his innately good soul – and the fact that he was born in a tavern.And of course, that tavern still stands, three hundred years after Richard was born.  In fact, it has become the site of a local miracle of sorts – every year on the anniversary of Richard’s birth, the tavern is supposedly visited by angels.  These angels are seldom seen, but enthusiastic patrons always point towards flickering candles or frosted windowpanes as the work of unseen cherubs.  And there always seems to be a gentle mist collected in the rafters on these so-called angelic visitations. Numerous owners, in the hope of cashing in on its small claim to fame, have changed the name to “The Heavenly Station”.The Heavenly Station has been owned by a very religious family known as the Harts.  This family is so devoted to Saint Richard that the eldest son of every generation bears the Saint’s name.  Some even say that the Saint is reborn in the form of the Hart’s current patriarch, Richard Hart (the third in his lineage to bear the name).  The Harts have run their tavern much as they imagine their beloved Saint would – honestly, and with a good deal of restraint.  Such is their stern oversight that there has been a strict “no drunks” policy in the bar for years – which tends to be a poor rule for a tavern.Party at Yorik - and everyone's invited!Things have not been going well in Yorik as of late.  The current mayor, a man ironically referred to as “The Summer Son of Yorik” (ironically named because of his icy disposition, and his always sour frown) has become the focus of much of the town’s ire.  While the mayor is not to blame for the failing crops or the particular hard winter (that is now just coming to an end), they do blame him for the decline in trade to the town – possibly due to his wintry manners.When faced with such pleasure, the lord mayor has decided to do what most politicians would do in a similar situation:  create a diversion.  And the upcoming celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of Saint Richard’s birth is the perfect opportunity for this.  The Lord Mayor has spread criers far and wide, announcing the particular celebrations Yorik has to offer.Of course, Richard Hart was overjoyed to see more patrons honour the birth of Saint Richard (and, as a by-product, increase his dwindling patronage), and he gave his word that his tavern would be the site of the festivities – what better place, after all, than the birthplace of the saint in question?  But the Lord Mayor (hallowed be his name) knew of Richard Hart’s straight-laced ways, and so needed a new caterer – someone who could create a bit of a party and would stick out in the minds of the public.  The Lord Mayor searched high and low, mostly low, until he came across the perfect oddball – the brewer Feruzz.The Guzzling GobboFeruzz is a bugbear who runs a brewery.  Because, as everyone knows, bugbears love booze... almost as much as they love their eyebrows.  Feruzz is a brewer whose experimentations in distillery cost his tribe many bugbear lives, and even more bugbear eyebrows, when his poorly constructed stills exploded.    As such, he was exiled from his tribe, along with a contingent of particularly stupid goblins.Feruzz made his way in the human world by selling his patented “brain shrinker brew” – a particularly strong form of beer that is known to cause episodes of blindness, alcohol-induced stupidity, grateful sobbing, and “spontaneous short-term religious conversion”.  Always the showman, Feruzz has styled himself as a “Civilized” bugbear wearing the height of fashion (he always wears a shiny blue shirt as well as a black suit).  He runs a brewery called “The Guzzling Gobbo” on the outskirts of town that is staffed by many small-minded goblins.  Feruzz refers to himself as “Feruzz the Bugbeer” – like most goblinoids (and tired adventure writers), he thinks puns are funny.Feruzz was approached by The Lord Mayor (the Sainted Son of Yorik) to provide alcohol for this little shindig.  And Feruzz’s brain shrinker brew is destined to be a big success.  Feruzz hasn’t been getting much clientele lately (something to do with people not trusting a bugbear lacking eyebrows), so he’s decided – out of the kindness of his black goblin heart – to provide the beer as the “official” drink of the party.  And his goblin lackeys will be the official servers of this lovely concoction.The TwistNow, there’s a twist to all of this.  Every year on the anniversary of Saint Richard’s birth, angels do visit the site.  But they don’t do it out of honour for this great human saint. Nope.  They come to play dodgeball. In fact, the beloved Saint was destined for sainthood only because he was hit in the head by a stray bolt from a Cherub’s bow.  Turns out the captain of the “Lucky Arrows” was aiming for a field goal and missed.  Turned out well for Saint Richard, though.Those on the mortal realm are unable to witness the angelic frolics, only occasionally catching the barest hint of an angel’s presence as the winged rascals flit about on some angelic plane.  This angelic plane is usually beyond human perception – rational minds do not allow the existence of angels, and are immune to the angelic effects.  Irrational minds, however (such as, say, a newborn child... or a tavern patron wearing the medieval equivalent of a lampshade on his head) are fair game.Most years, the stoic and devout Richard Hart limits the drinking at his establishment, which curtails angelic sightings (or at least keeps them to a minimum).  But this year, everyone will be drinking heavily – and are thus able to be hit by angelic slings and arrows...  to hilarious effect.The PCs in all of thisSo, what do the PCs do?  The answer is simple:  whatever the hell you want them to do.  This encounter works well if the PCs are just hanging out, pursuing their own interests in the adventure.  They could be convinced one of the major characters are hiding something.  They could try to get into a fight with angels (probably not a good idea).  Or they could try to figure out the rules of the game, and maybe get involved (this could be difficult – the game’s rules seem to be a combination of cricket, rugby, and calvinball).  If your group requires a bit more guidance, they could be trying to get information for another quest and simply have to endure the madness around them.  Or they could be hired as “security” for the event in question.  Or perhaps they’re entertainers.In short, this is an open-ended encounter, designed as a base for “winging it” and having a little bit of random, good ol’ fashioned, nonsensical fun.  The Heavenly StationThe Heavenly Station is a large tavern, built around an open hall with numerous tables.  It has many balconies overlooking the main hall, and the walls are lined with religious insignia.  It has also been dressed up with goblin-crafted decorations, though what these decorations are supposed to depict is hard to gather – the goblin craftsmen are not very good with scissors, and used far too much glitter and dried macaroni for good taste.The drunker patrons get, the more “heavenly” this tavern becomes – stained glass windows begin to animate, the tables become clouds, and the sounds of puking tavern patrons is replaced with the sound of a harp.  Playing Mozart or something.The Tavern is very busy, with more than a hundred townsfolk doing their best to forget the awful winter and usher in a new spring.  Goblin waiters, garishly costumed, rush around serving drinks and generally being a nuisance.  The Lord Mayor wanders around and does his best to ingratiate himself with his constituents, inevitably insulting people with backhand compliments.  Feruzz, meanwhile, does his best to speak of his great alcoholic concoctions, and bullies goblins around him into doing a better job serving (“the beatings will continue until morale improves!”). And Richard Hart, honour-bound by his original promise to host this party, wrings his hands and watches as immorality reigns.  The Angelic HostThere are two teams of Angels.  The so-called “Lucky Arrows” have held the title for several millennia, and are confident they will win again this year.  This all cherub team comes equipped with little golden bows that shoot adorable little arrows.  If such arrows hit a human being who hasn’t been drinking much, nothing happens (as the person is unaware of the angel’s presence).  But if the angel’s arrow hits an irrational person, crazy things start happening with that person’s emotions - he falls instantly in love, he becomes overjoyed, or he bursts into laughter.The opposing team aren’t nearly as well named as the Lucky Arrows.  The Springfield Slingers are also an all-cherub team, but equipped with slings instead of arrows.  When a sling stone hits a person, though, he isn’t overcome with a generally positive emotion... nope.  He just becomes very, very accident prone.  The angels on both sides flit about the house, shooting at one another and trying to move an angelic “ball” from one end of the house to the other.  They are completely uncaring about the people around them, though are perfectly aware that there are people in the tavern.  They will, in fact, use particularly large individuals as cover from incoming arrows and stones.  Neither arrows nor stones do any damage to a humanoid at all.  If a humanoid actually tries to attack an angel (which will be hard – one has to be completely soused to actually see an angel for more than a few seconds at a time), the angels will focus their attacks on that individual, using “angel powers” to stun that poor soul into submission before resuming play.  A particularly drunk individual will be hit at least once during the party, if not more than once.  Whenever the action of the encounter is flagging, or you are short on ideas, just roll a die and roll with it:  1.     Patron is hit by an arrow, and breaks into bouts of laughter followed by “I love you, man” for several minutes.  2.    Patron is hit by a stone, and falls in the most comedic manner possible – most likely taking a goblin or two down with him.3.    Patron is hit by an arrow, and tries to dance with the nearest member of the opposite sex.  This person is, of course, in full view of the patron’s husband/wife.  And is also, most likely, more attractive than said husband/wife.  A very angry fight involving curse words and a rolling pin is 75% likely.   4.    Patron is hit by a stone, and anything he touches breaks – flagons of beer, his belt, doors, and windows.  Any time something breaks, Richard Hart will shout out “Won’t somebody think of the children!?”5.    Patron is hit by an arrow, and becomes jubilant.  He is able to see the angels, and starts to chase a particular angel around the room, trying to “grab that little bugger!”6.    Patron is hit by a stone, and is surrounded by an aura of poor luck – anything bad (that is generally non harmful) that can happen, will happen.  Playing the Encounter OutThe PCs will probably have a goal throughout this night-long party.  The goal of the GM is to make sure the party gets in the way of the PCs, while also allowing PCs to participate if they see fit.  Feel free to ad lib NPC conversations and events, while also incorporating long-standing NPCs as needed.  The GM should also focus on the three major NPCs, and their motivations.Feruzz is at the party for one reason: advertising.  Along with his moronic goblins (who should, of course, be played for laughs), he is doing his best to drum up business for his company.  He will try to give PCs free “concoctions” for them to carry on their travels.  However, remember he is still a bugbear, and will engage in all manner of under-handed schemes to get ahead.  When people start seeing angels, Feruzz gets concerned – his kind naturally fear angels.  He is quick to point out that his beer is not what’s causing this effect, even though it quickly becomes obvious that it is.  The Lord Mayor (the Hero of Yorik) is doing his best to sway public opinion back in his favour.  If the PCs seem to be appreciated by the crowds, he will attach himself to them.  If they are in poor standing, he will ridicule them.  He does his best to suggest the beer (which is much appreciated by the public) was his doing – without mentioning Feruzz, as the Mayor does not trust the Bugbear (he might even try to get the PCs to chase the brewmaster out of town).  He does his best to avoid Richard’s prattling on.  When people start sighting the angels, the Lord Mayor does his best to drum up publicity of the event, proclaiming that even the heavens approve of his party.Richard Hart is disapproving of the excesses in the tavern, and does his best to keep his tavern standing.  He is honour bound to keep his end of the bargain, but is trying to find a way to chase out all of the drunker patrons.  He could even approach the PCs for this task.  He particularly distrusts “that goblin swine” and would prefer it if Feruzz would just disappear.  To achieve this end, Richard does his best to chase down the Mayor in the hopes of arranging a deal.When people start sighting angels, Richard’s attitude changes – and he just might be tempted to start drinking heavily so he can have a sight of them himself.  When he realizes that the angels are engaged in Tomfoolery worse than the drunkards around him, he just might suffer a spontaneous religious conversion.  Or an aneurysm.  [sblock=ingredients list]Beer:  Obviously, the Brain Shinking Brew.  Which is brewed by the Bugbear of Small Minds, opposes the Honourable Man, is served in the heavenly station (and coincidentally allows the sight of a different form of Heavenly Station), and opens participants up to The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune.  It is also used as the "winter of our discontent".  Bugbear of Small Minds:  First, he's a bug bear.  He's also a bugBEER.  he creates a particularly potent brew (which can lead to some small minded-ness, natch), and he has an army of particularly stupid and small-minded goblins.  Winter of Our Discontent:  The party is essentially there to end built up discontent - ending the "winter of our discontent". Also, the Lord Mayor himself, with his perpetually grumpy manner, could be "winter of discontent" personified.  Finally, crazy angels are going to make things pretty happy, won't they?Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune:  Our angels are armed with slings and arrows, and when they hit, crazy things happen.  This whole encounter is a mixture of crazy and random things.Honourable Man:  Richard Hart is a very honourable man.  So is Saint Richard, who is at the cause of all this.  Of course, an honourable man has no place in a particulary frenzied party - and poor Richard is unravelling at the seams.Heavenly Station:  Yeah, it's the name of the bar.  It's also the angels who come around and mess with the place ("Station" in this case being the fact that the angels come to the same place every year).  Video Clues:  there are a few in this text.  I'll leave all of them for y'all to pick out.[/sblock]</blockquote>

Verification