Monday 27 July 2020

Carousing in the Tundra



So my tribal players are about to head to a great mammoth clan gathering which will last a week where leaders and shaman meet and foreign tribe guests state grievances and there are lots of feasts. The players tribe will be bringing seed bread buns and some magic loot and trinkets they found exploring ruins and such. I guess I'm a bit inspired by Norse gatherings with religious legal and social significance.

Festival Itinerary of Seven days 
1 Gathering where people set up camps, meet and start to trade
2 Market day then the little feast and welcome speeches 
3 Holy day with long ceremonies then the wise ones meet on occult matters
Legal grievances from within tribe dealt with then foreign tribe delegates 
5 People engage in contests than a small feast
6 People trade while leaders meet and the great feast
7 Everyone gathers goods, unpack and go separate ways chanting

Other projects for this setting....
Statting up centaur variations
Statting up Atlantean cursed evil wizard types

Any of these entries suggesting a quest or scene could be played as they happened if plying as encounters at event. If you using the tables to cover what happened over a longer time period they could indicate an adventure that happened "off-screen" in that time

Types
01 Feasting
02 Contests
03 Barter
04 Craft
05 Conflict
06 Friendship
07 Romance
08 Adventure
09 Dream Quest
10 Supernatural

d100 Carousing in the Tundra
01 Offered a strange gift of mystery meat 1=from magic animal heals d3HP +1CHA for hour 2=from a rare animal you've never tried 3=human flesh 4=something disgusting
02 Og offers some bog grog he brewed in a log, mildly alcoholic but needs flavour
03 Catch feral child-stealing scraps and raised partly by some animals, all amazed
04 Bard sings tribal lineage & the song of tribal hero who made a pact with the tribal totem animal
05 Odd hunter brings a strange creature to eat claims it's the best eating. Both have d3 minor cosmetic mutation 
06 Someone suggests a cruel horrible and spectacle and argues how great it will be
07 Blacked out on strange potions, gain infamy for hilarious drugged-out antics

08 A famous hero is toasted by all and recants their amazing battle with all at feast
09 Someone at feast took great offence and tried to stab you, then left bitterly
10 Invited to meet important leaders informally
11 
A boasting contest of great deeds and battles spreading the fame of all
12 A hunting contest who single-handed brings in best beast alone wins
13 A target shooting contest 
14 Obstacle race with a climb a swim and bypass a dangerous creature
15 Craftsmen present greatest works to the tribe to admire for fame
16 A wrestling contest is proposed
17 A challenge to collect a trinket like a scale or a feather from a monster's lair
18 Spent lots of time playing knuckle bones
19 Teams chase a small animal, goblin or hogskin bag of peas around field for a day
20 Teams move a giant boulder the furthest
21 Trader from the sea d6 1=cowrie shells 2=salt 3=dried fish 4=shark teeth 5=pearl 6=dry seaweed
22 
Trader in underworld fungus d4 1=heald d4HP 2=detect magic 1Turn 3=delicious dried rations 4=grants a spirit vision, if users saves just vomit for d3, fail save meet an otherworldly spirit, try to do in a safe place, not a hell cursed graveyard
23 
Trader in flint and some exotic stones pieces d4 1=obsidian 2=crystal 3=basalt 4=jade
24 Trader in d4 colours of ochre for artwork and body paint
25 Trader in exotic furs, fine cloaks, mittens and boots
26 Trader in carving and bone tusks and some spear tips, medallions and figurines
27 Trader has strange dried animal parts, petrified bones, and huge scales
28 Trader has strange greenstone artefacts of carved strange gods and spirits
29 Trader in exotic trinkets and charms and some pieces of d4 1=amber 2=jet 3=opal 4=copper coin
30 Trader in stories knows locations of strange secret places of forbidden ancient ruins, caves into the underland and other strange things
31 Craftsman has some scraps of copper and others come to watch him make "coins" sharp pieces of metal for cutting or scraping and symbols of status
32 Witness an old wizard complete enchanting a stone axe over many days with assistants
33 Hear story of a mysterious non-human craftsman in mountains
34 A flintnapper showing new style of spearhead they learned while captured by orcs
35 Meet a famous tattoo artist and many trying to get on his job list
36 Craftsmen trying to barter for a small "starstone" iron meteorite from an old shaman
37 Stranger selling d4 strange cursed evil weapons of the ancients
38 Hunter selling scruffy dirty tiny humanoid in a sack who has an exotic craft skill
39 Hear of an impressive weapon or crafted item lost recently d4 1=in a spring 2=inside a beast 3=fell in a sinkhole 4=stolen by someone 
40 A tribal leader requires someone to locate a secretive craftsperson who lives as a hermit for a commission
41 A fight breaks out over who owns an item or wins a contest or bad trade
42 A visiting foreigner makes accusations of evil conduct in public about a tribe member
43 A mysterious wizard makes some threat about the future then vanished in smoke
44 Two tribe members battle for the love of a third person 
45 Several families in long term feud try and stir up trouble against rivals with lies
46 Two men battle a death duel over some matter of honour and pride
47 Some other tribes are declared enemies and unwelcome in area
48 Someone tried to murder a tribal delegate
49 Someone was struck by a curse and experts are called in to find who
50 Someone was found murdered in morning
51 Meet a crafty hunter who travels far and wide

52 Meet a heroic warrior who has battles with strange monsters
53 Meet a cheery bard who is looking for inspirations of heroic deeds
54 Meet a wise person who offers to perform a divination
55 Meet someone who found a strange valley of foreboding ruins and monsters
56 Meet a tribal leaders family and get on well
57 Meet a strange foreign guest who might come with you a while
58 Meet a supernatural changeling in disguise among humans
59 Meet someone who lived as a slave with unusual foreign people and saw lots of strange things
60 Meet a demi-human visitor and learn a few useful phrases of speech
61 Someone stalks you offering you love, obsessive and jealous
62 Someone offers a marriage proposal to their children, offended if rejected
63 Have a brief exiting flying until their normal lover returns
64 Develop a horrible itch, after much laughter from peers you visit a healer
65 See an attractive stranger but family do best to keep you away
66 Tribal elder looking for a mate for a disadvantaged person d4 1=disabled 2=mutant 3=idiot 4=some taboo birthmark or feature shunned by tribe outsiders cant see
67 Meet an attractive person but they look after a cranky elderly relative or a child as part of the package
68 Met a charming person with terrible secret d4 1=lycanthropy 2=cannibalism 3=is an abhuman beastfolk hybrid and characteristics are just starting to show 3=mysteriously last lovers all died 4=actually a changeling and if discovered tribe will go crazy
69 Met a lover who is a spell caster and kinda did some crazy stuff you you sneaked away
70 Made out with a supernatural shapeshifter, they return to fairyland and either a hybrid monster child grows up resentful in fairyland under fey dilated time flow then hunt the parent who abandoned them....or the lovers family are disgusted and send a magical assassin 
71 Explored a deep dark cave possibly an entry to the underland lost kingdoms

72 Discovered a ruin populated by monsters with buried buildings intact connected by tunnels
73 Discover a huge broken statue buried head, which if exposed in a serpantman
74 Discovered a chasm with hundreds of animal bones where vultures, ghouls and hyenas live in cliff caves
75 Discover an ancient magical tree people have seen strange creatures climb up and vanish 
76 Discover a stone monolith with interesting markings as old as time
77 Discover the partial skeleton impeded in the rock of a gargantuan creature
78 Discovered the entrance to a lost world valley hidden by an illusion or fog
79 Discover an elemental node guarded by a d4 otherworldly elemental beasts 
80 Discover a magical creatures lair, could be source of wisdom or a fight
81 Dream visions of your totem animal and you living as beasts in the wilderness, if you don't have one you do now
82
 Dream visions of  an evil entering the land that will cause trouble in the future, an omen will warn you when the creature comes close
83
 Dream visions of a great spirit offering you a gift if you come to their spirit lodge for a ceremony, if yes gain a 0 level spell (or better)
84
 Dream visions of someone who is or will be important you have not seen, they are in peril 
85
 Dream visions of a dead ancestor tells you some unfinished business you need to deal with in return for knowledge of the ancestors
86
 Dream visions of an evil ruined temple where an evil cult worship a broken relic of the forbidden elder gods, hoping to awaken or release some ancient evil
87
 Dream visions of wilderness place where a great treasure resides for you to find, will come across the exact place on some travels and know where to find a mysterious hole
88
 Dream visions of what evil plot some enemy tribe is about to launch on the world 
89
 Dream visions of ancient dead wizards awakening from crypts and looking out over the world that has forgotten them and hunger 
90
 Dream visions of a mighty spirit tells you where an evil enemy of the tundra dwells on a mountain top and a great treasure they possess
91 Witness a magician contest with shape-changing, blasting rocks and other wonders
92 A shaman takes you to a secret meeting to warn you of some secret threat and offers a petty magic item like a potion

93 Hear of a strange tribe in a stone hut in mountains who can bring the dead back from the grave
94 Someone talked about the dead too much and a undead was attracted and had to be repelled just averting tragedy
95 Someone fell ill and experts look for supernatural causes like spirits or secret witches 

96 Receive a bundle of 2d6 +1 arrows or darts or sling stones from a leader
97 Given a wolf (or another animal) pelt cloak can turn into a wolf just like a druid once per day
98 Taken in secret by elders to meet a supernatural being like an elf, naga, sphynx or dragon to be told of some forthcoming threat and offers advice as needed
99 Got into a contest with a changeling and tricked it out of a magical +1 magic item, the changeling will seek revenge for humiliation 
100 Taken to a supernatural realm by great spirit or god where it d4 1=warns you of a future threat 2=fills you with ecstatic feelings of oneness 3=tells you where to find a relic 4=offers to make a pact with your people or bloodline 

3 comments:

  1. I love your work and use it all the time. However, regarding these carousing tables: do you use the OSR semi standard method of downtime carousing, eg. Roll a die depending upon the settlement size, multiply by 100 and gain that many XP, though if the roll is higher than the level, roll for a complication? Or do you see these more as 'encounters at the party' (and not in downtime)?

    ReplyDelete
  2. no i dont use osr downtime rules or use any xp rules

    So litterally i use to help fill in character time if a player absent or plyers volunteer to use during moments like winter phase in pendragon or in a city or resting a while.

    I often find to have time jump between adventures is good for setting development. You could use during training time if you use those rules. But could use as encounters in a festival or something too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you. The Winter Phase comparison is really useful, as is the fact that these tables can be 'where have you been' deciders. Ok, back to copy pasting your tables, and good luck!

    ReplyDelete

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