d100 Puppet Shows

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Ask any young person in the civilised world what is the greatest most far reaching form of arts? Its not the world wide wall scrawl or the yelling in the street or gossiping with Auntie Meg. Its not slandering bards serving the rich for real coins. Its puppets. Every town square these days has a puppet theatre and there is a puppeteers guild even Even many a village has puppets the poorest being shadow puppets or made from turnips on sticks. Traveling puppet men appear at any fair or gathering. Supposed to be for the children but many adults enjoy a show and the creepier puppet men know adult puppets forbidden to children and women or decent people. People pay puppeteers in at least food and drink in the most miserable places and they can be hired to put on shows at a fair or a market or might be permitted to busk. Some work with pickpockets but its risky. Some take money to promote a local shop or merchant for goodwill publicity or some other sponsor. some sponsors might even pay to have short breaks in shows with a sketch about some promotion. 

d12 Some Local Puppeteers
1 Angelique Moonchilde performs sweet faerie tales, romances and adventures, Has many mechanical contrivances and a marvellous folding stage with animated scenery. She likes stick puppets with animated mouths. Really she should be an engineer but she likes stories. Kids all lover her and keep an eye out for her

2 Nick the Knife, juggles blades and has a puppet pig named Crackers who roasts everyone and says wicked coarse things. Some of his joes fly over kids heads. Nick is also a professional thief on the side and likes true crime, adventure and folk stories. He likes to move around the crowds with crackers and pick pockets if caught he blames Crackers and says it was a harmless bit o fun. Nic and crackers get lots of part invitations by common folk where nick will eat for two men

3 Sadie Mercury used to be a hat maker and went a bit mad and now travels with her creepy marionettes and shadow puppets. She likes horror, faerie and history stories. She s secretly a cleric of a unpopular hag based religion of the hearth, contacting spirits and getting revenge

4 Cameron Carthune has a small stage for his sewn stick and glove puppets. He likes comedy, scandals and wonder than has some nice scenery and props and does very good voices even mimicking famous locals. He has sometimes conflicted with the law and the public love him. Some former victims of his critiques now pay him so he is well dressed and has many flashy show costumes

5 Varnar Blood loves crime, scandal and bloody horror that makes some wet themselves with fear but he is also funny with vicious wit and pessimism, Commoners like his shabby stick puppet shows where everything is made of garbage. He knows lots about crime guilds and specialty gangs and criminal services but he has to charge

6 Proffessor Clank dresses as a mechanical man golem and sits next to a small podium with stick puppets. These represent various mechanical beings of law having philosophical debates. Shows show beings as comically inept at simple solutions. Mostly comedy, wonder and religion. Possibly heretical put knows lawful dogma and the scriptures and was a religious legal clerk. A few wizards and scholars freak out at the occult mysteries of cosmic order are mocked cleverly in front of a market 

7 Meg Farndlebug presents comedy, faerie and folk stories and she can drink vast amounts of booze, She often does seasonal agricultural  labour and makes money off other workers and the farmers. Her simple stick puppets with hideous dried carved turnip and apple heads are a bit nightmarish but funny too. Mostly does folk, humour and 

8 Madame Mara mistresses of the puppets also sell potions to women on the side, some midwifery and divination and discount healing. Her dancing marionettes and pyrotechnics are famous. She fled a few towns caused of witchcraft by the physicians guild and the high church. She likes folk, history and adventure stories. She is fascinated by adventurers and gossip about them and often has pets that are really brownies or other faerie folk with her gifts from faerie and spirit folk 

9 Pappy Finebeard a dwarf sailor from far away washed on shore and has become a puppeteer with his craft skills telling tales of history, adventure and horror that he personally lived through. Many have a nautical theme due to his avoidance of mountains for centuries. He knows many exotic styles of woodcarving and has an impressive folding stage with mechanical scenery changes

10 Brother Ironfudge a wandering preacher using puppets to proselytise. The stories are religious, adventure and folk-oriented and the puppets are painted paper mache varnish and  cloth costumes. Often he will lead the audience in prayer and song in the act, Lots of work features martyrs and religious heroes or of martyrs who suffered bravley vs evil 

11 Lorga Plum a psychotic who killed and ate a puppeteer and assumed his tools and life after spying on them for months. His true crime, horror and  shows with crude carved turnips in rags on sticks are oddly prophetic and detailed events happing every night. Prefers big cities but occasionally travels

12

d12 Puppeteers Pals 
1 Child servant and pickpocket the puppeteer adopted

2 Shaggy clever dog who can guard and do a d4 tricks

3 Monkey who can do d4 tricks and is surprisingly clever

4 A drooling idiot happy to serve the puppeteer in return for food and love

5 A small pony or donkey that pulls a cart

6 A goat that can carry a pack and is secretly intelligent and can speak but pretends to be dumb. It reports to a network of similar goats plotting to help humans battle chaos cults

7 Imp familiar can become a small animal d4 1=goat 2=cat 3=hare 4=toad 

8 Ancestor spirits animate dolls' faces and advise the puppeteer but nobody else can see

9 Spirit of former loved one nobody else can see d4 1=parent 2=child 3=lover 4=sibling

10 An attractive youth servant is an apprentice puppeteer and partner

11 Puppeteer is married and their partner helps them and carries a pack and may also perform music for the show and have another skill

12 A slimy squinty mean spirited assistant who is really a spy for some d4 1=evil dark lord 2=evil wizard 3=evil high priest 4=chaos demon cult 

d12 Puppeteer secrets
1 Spying for a faction d4 1=foriegners 2=species 3=cult 4=crime guild 

2 Addicted to something d4 1=cheap booze 2=faerie dust 3=black lotus 4=sswamp weed

3 Has made a foolish pact and d3 or more puppets are forms of imps who do mischief each night and look for targets that later hells agents can target for selling your spirit

4 Realy a powerful spellcaster up to some mission d4 1=spy 2=get treasure maps of a murder maze distributed 3=find children to turn into goblins 4=investigating a secret cult

5 Is a fae changeling now and serves faerie land in secret. Advocates being polite and submissive to faerie and how wonderous their world is, May even charm people and give them to faerie who covet mortal slaves since their goblins revolted

6 Has been touched by the outer void with an evil cursed puppet relic that is a fragment of a mischievous god. The owner seems a shadow of themselves more dark-eyed and gloomy and wears more black. Stories have sad or nihilist endings 

7 One poppet is used by evil to spy for some magical faction d4 1=witches 2=mystical assassins 3=demon 4=alien spirit

8 Some of the puppets are really small humanoids who live in a carpet bag with lots of costumes

9 Puppets are really magical and used to cast d4 1=charm person 2=curse 3=hypnotism 4=suggestion once per day (or something else)

10 Supernatural beings often invisible or in human form enjoy the shows and help the puppeteer. If its an evil puppeteer the fae folk are the negative kind

11 Keep meeting ghosts and learning unusual lore from them

12 Puppets have been connected to beings of the dreamlands and nightmare world. Those who see them may have dreams possible with some moral test to nudge the dreamer's behaviour. Or they might just scare people or inspire them 

d10 Quick Types
1 Folk Fables

2 Scandal

3 Comedy

4 Crime

5 Religious

6 History

7 Faerie

8 Wonderous

9 Horror

10 Adventure

d100 Puppet Shows
01 Story of how an animal got its abilities and what virtues they teach us

02 How a crafty creature outwitted a tribe of grumpy dummies 

03 How a young hero was aided by a talking animal and killed a giant or troll

04 How a crafty ruler outwitted an enemy bully

05 How a young pauper got a magical servant and how their good choices led to the servant revealing a secret about the hero 

06 Tale of someone who went too far and had a tricky time fleeing past three challenges to escape

07 Greedy/thieving/cruel/selfish child goes too far and is punished cruelly

08 Commoner tricks a monster d4 1=child 2=priest 3=idiot 4=maiden tricks a d4 1=dragon 2=troll 3=trolls 4=goblins

09 How a foolish youth met a mighty creature and returned home a hero

10 How a naughty child was captured by demihumans  or goblins and escaped
11 Story or a royal traitor who tried to kill a ruler but failed

12 Story of a knight who ran away with the woman he was guarding for his king

13 Story of a filthy corrupt priest who was caught and executed horribly. Then is judged after death and tormented by the seven demons of the pit

14 Story of a young scholar tempted by free tuition fees at the black library operated by hell. They learn wizardry and then necromancy and demonology before becoming a pawn of evil and then killed after destroying all they love

15 Tale of a cruel prince turning to dark advisors who are really demon cultist hoping to destroy the kingdom

16 Story of a mayor who killed all the beggars and was eaten by wererats in his bed

17 Tale of a curious noble who was seduced into a cult by sex before becoming a monster and a demon slave

18 Story of an evil bastard who betrayed the family and realm to 1=goblinoids 2=orcs 3=abhumans 4=a cult

19 Story of rival families killing each other that was finished off by d4 1=ogres 2=vampires 3=dragon 4=giant frogs 

20 Miser does three mean acts then is tormented by d4 1=harpies 2=vultures 3=giant rats 4=giant owls 

21 Thre idiot brothers meet d4 1=ogre 2=vampire 3=mummy 4=golem. They finally d4 1=are killed 2=win by prayer 3=beaten by angry mob 4=marry orcs

22 The village idiot competition, a classic with various twists d4 1=murder mystery 2=romance 3=best idiot defeats monster 4=idots survive when everybody else flees an attack while idiots hold fast and live

23 A cunning trickster escapes a trap and then horribly punishes the trapper

24 An impoverished child steals some food from a magical creature to save sick mother

25 Two idiots cause havoc with workers who beat the idiots and torment them

26 The brutish asylum keeper parades his idiots who say wise and kind things, the idiot keeper beats them up and locks them up for heresy and vagrancy

27 An idiot wants to steal a jug or wine and starts a fight and is punished

28 Perform a famous sledging match between two gods abusing each other with vile accusations

29 The love god and the trickster god stir up troubles with the gods  fore a bet

30 Three idiots loe a maiden and lie to make them more attractive. She instead she d4 1=becomes a cloistered nun 2=beat the idiots and chased them humiliating them 3=she meets a prince and his men beat the idiots 4=everyone dances as they die of the plague
31 Story of a maid who joined a cult and fornicated with demons and killed her master

32 Ballad of the local murder fiend d4 1=strangler 2=butcher 3=slasher 4=corpse robber

33 Story of cannibal cult and their popular meat pies

34 Crime family drama of love and betrayal and factional violence. Everybody who doesn't die gets killed by new faction

35 Story of a cad who gambles, drinks, has several wives and is a letcher and a pervert who is caught cheating and is killed by new "friends"

36 Story of a woman who runs away with a bard and he sells her to slavery abroad for drug money. Eventually, she escapes and gets home to have family imprison her. Bards who knew her sung her story and a mob feed her and she flees to a far away pirate town and married a cannibal chief 

37 Tale of a kidnapper who years later is met by former victims who turn out to be now undead who ate him

38 Story of man who stole a dowry and fled by sea and later the ghost of his jilted bride tore out his eyeballs, tongue and genitals but let him live as a begger

39 Story of a king who tortured people who would not marry him give him money. Eventually the tormented dead drove him to flee his castle into a camp of his victims survivors

40 The execution of Gregory Knorgt tells of his brutal murder of shopkeepers and tavern staff by this deranged murder hobo. The execution goes into grisly detail with dramatic timing

41 A foolish but good youth keeps honest and is rewarded in the next life 

42 A suffering pilgrim finds a dead monster and eats it to live and adopts the beast as their crest

43 A hard-working pilgrim is beset by demons and faeries as supernatural beings to with him for a wager. He stoically resists and the spirits give him gold and magic items

44 A saint performs some wonder then is tortured and killed but lives beyond with the gods

45 A saint leads an army to its doom and all the martyrs are rewarded in heaven

46 Story of a holy ruler who was betrayed and a golden age was ended

47 Story of how the cosmos made and the first humans came to be

48 Story of the war of the gods and how one did a heroic deed or suffered

49 Story of a heretic or cult leader who was caught and executed

50 Story of the important bringer of holy texts, prophecies and divine knowledge who was important to the church
51 War between two mighty noble houses and one who survived with a dirty trick

52 Settlers conquering the old people with the old faith heroically

53 A royal child escaped a massacre and years later killed the tyrant who stole the kingdom

54 Scheming matriarch queen manipulates the fate of three kingdoms into one

55 King who fell to chaos through choosing evil courtiers and then crusaders came and destroyed the kingdom

56 Four children of a ruler battle for power and are supported by different factions

57 Tale of three generations who went from mighty warriors to fops and dandies who read books instead of soldier things

58 A great battle between kingdoms and their diplomatic failures for three days till they were all dead and a new usurper arrives to take over

59 Seige of a city tragically a trick or betrayal destroys them

60 How a king before the current dynasty drank blood and art brains and fornicated with demons. This warlock was drawn to study in the black library in hell where scholarships for souls started him on the path to evil. Finally, the good new king comes to kill them easily
61 Story of a youth being lured by a faerie and d4 1=never returning 2=returned old and drained 3=returned hundreds of years later where people spoke new language 4=made into a werewolf and used to hunt enemies and spy on humans

62 Story of child taken by goblins and escaped by the world tree to magical realms and met storage faerie people

63 Story of how the elder trolls once were the greatest race and fell to destruction by their failed breeding program resulting in the troll we know today having eaten them. At the end the troll king and queen go beneath the mountain to never return

64 Story of how giantland fell to the gods and many parts were brought into faerieland

65 How a man tricked a faerie into marrying him and bare children but then he discovered a terrible secret and she fled d4 1=actually she was a serpent woman changeling 2=the children became ogres who tormented people 3=she was a draconic changeling 4-she was a nighthag

66 Someone courts a faerie and is charmed but friends and family save them without starting a feud

67 Story of the faerie king and queen when they first entered their secret garden on earth where all trees came from

68 Story of peasant who left offerings to house spirits, goblins and faeries and when in trouble the creatues helped 

69 Someone is unfairly taxed and faerie help them with d4 1=waping time flow 2=working while you sleep 3=use magic 4=use zombie labour - oops evil elves

70 Child lost in the elfwood had three tests tp pass unharmed
71 Fabulous trip to the moon told by a wizard

72 Life on the elemental words by a famous wizard and his followers

73 A tour guide of the hells and underworld told by a priest shown by an angel

74 Various rulers and kingdoms of demihumans and  humanoids according to a famous generals scribe

75 Description of kingdoms under the earth as told by man kidnapped by evil dwarves

76 Fabulous Kingdoms under the Sea told by a lucky sailor saved by a mermaid

77 Strange foreign fabled lands and their strange ways told by a lost merchant  

78 Fabled city of djinn seen by a slave who escaped

79 Rich king tries to cheat to heaven riding an eagle but sees the first wall and plummets into the underworld and is tormented for hubris and greed

80 Land of dreams and the realm of nightmares as told by a dream traveller who hoped to conquer a bastion but fled instead
81 The horrible ghost haunts a location d4 1=headless horseman 2=laughing knight 3=sobbing widow 4=screaming sacrifice. Located in d4 1=old ruins 2=old kings road 3=old manour 4=graveyard 

82 Fiend that eats people in bed defeated by a hero

83 Crusader comes home wth evil idol and family killed in accidents

84 The great flesh colossus that crushed a town and was controlled by a cult

85 The vampire hunters lament

86 The witch trials and the terrible curse that followed

87 Bubears in the bedroom, a tale of children being eating in bed for being awake

88 Tale of a cult who took over a village but they were too foolish to see the signs

89 Tale of being trapped in the murder house

90 Story of the man who spied on a witch sabbat where devils and animals and naked witches danced
91 The murder hobos who came from the dungeon changed and twisted and started stabbing innocent villagers and the law had to kill them

92 Adventurous hero and special friends recover a relic over the seas past three obstacles 

93 Tale of the heroes who disappeared in the local dungeon

94 Adventure of the party trapped in the underland resorting to cannibalism to survive

95 Tale of a heroic quest where adventurers find a weapon, find a cavern and kill a monster

96 Adventurers who massacred a giant chieftain and guests recovering from a drunken feast

97 Adventurers were saved by goats from a murder cultist village

98 Adventure in the perilous dungeon of a naughty wizard 

99 Tale of the party rivals as heroic pure saviors

100 Description of the party's most recent invention with names and appearances slightly changed. Children in the audience will be first to point at the real adventurers