Sorceress Meets SO's Mom and Pop

[roguerouge]

Here's the situation in my 1 PC campaign that I'm brainstorming for:

The PC (a female bard) left her home town months ago having defeated the local ogre with a ragtag group of experts, commoners, warriors, and an aristocrat. (Yes, it was DCC 0!) They're returning to town for the first time in months, having done some adventuring and sailed the seas as a privateer/merchant.

I'm asking for RP/Plot help on an iconic fantasy scenario (the hero returns to the hometown from her travels) and an iconic modern scenario, namely the first awkward dinner in which the boyfriend and girlfriend have their families eat dinner together and get to know one another. Hopefully, hilarity will ensue.

That's where I need your help. The Bard's adventure here is to help her bumbling brother navigate the difficulties of the dinner table and solidify this relationship. And to do so while not getting in trouble with her mom.

How can we make it difficult for her? What topics of conversation should I bring up? What are some good "town events" to seed? How would parents test this warrior and would-be sorceress?

She left with:

HER BROTHER (a warrior with 18s in STR and CON, but I/W/Cha stats of 11/9/8). He's been tasked by their mom to keep an eye out for his sister the PC, due to her impulsiveness. She was told to keep an eye out for him, 'cause he tends to be weak-willed and easily manipulated.

The PC's BEST FRIEND, an expert who wanted to be a wizard, had trained for it, and had the familiar all picked out only to discover that she's a sorceress, or will be once she gets her associate's degree. She's coping with the change in expectations, while her new boyfriend, THE BROTHER, is excited about the likely costume changes involving buckles.

An ARISTOCRAT (now deceased) and his PREGNANT BRIDE (a serving wench) via shotgun wedding. The home town knows of both things, as the aristocrat died a hero.

She's picked up a stick-in-the-mud Pelorite cleric and a pseudodragon. She's got a goblin crew on her ship, but she's unlikely to bring them to town.

Parents: PC and brother's are normal sheepherder and wife, but wife's side grandparents were bard adventurers. No information's been given on the Best Friend's family.

The adventures: saved a town from plague, broke up a pirate ring centered in a haunted house, drew the attention of the goddess of good fortune, salvaged a wreck, gave a lot of bardic performances, and sold a lot of trade goods.

Oh, and they got arrested twice, but the charges didn't stick.

 

[Gilladian]

Well, if the PC's brother and best friend are both from the same town, it is likely that the parents already know each other, possibly quite well. So there are three possible routes to go with the families:

1) they know each other, get along well, and are pleased with the potential marriage. In this case, its more a problem of the unwise brother not blurting out things the parents would rather not know - like "oh, but Dad, I don't need the birds and the bees lecture...".

2) the families know each other but there is some feud/argument between them (perhaps it came up while the PCs were gone as one family blamed the other for some difficulty brought on by the party's actions). So not only is the marriage frowned on, but someone may be openly trying to sabotage the relationship.

3) the families know OF each other, but don't know each other very well. Perhaps they are of significantly different social statuses, or different religions or cultural groups. This could cause all sorts of minor problems, as one group doesn't follow the norms of the other.

Once you pick your options, you can start to see some of the likely problems develop from there.