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Message: <blockquote data-quote="inkmonkeys" data-source="post: 4996358" data-attributes="member: 15524">If you want to have a grand (nonlethal) melee that's more than just battle, you could work in the politics of victory. One faction wants to make sure that a family member from the eastern provinces wins to make them feel welcome. The royal prince wants to win to show how noble he is, and his lickspittles want to let him win. One local cousin is motivated by his father, who is upset with the king and wants to show it by having his son (the cousin) beat the pants off the prince in a permitted venue. And then there are the landless nobles who are betting money they don't have on the fight and want to make sure they win. And winning the PCs over to one faction or another, at least for the duration of the melee, can turn the tide. Especially if they betray someone at the last minute.So work in some hints during the pre-battle feast, where one local cousin says that the eastern cousins would be happy and generous if they won, someone else hints that it would dishonor the kingdom if the prince was not victorious, and another offers a share of the winnings if the prince is the second-to-last man standing but not the victor. It gives the PCs a chance to be important, and also to declare allegiances: their decisions will impact who trusts them and who holds a grudge for a while.Also, unrelated to the grand melee: falconry and horse breeding. Two more noble activities.</blockquote>

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