We played through a ballroom session and did some learnificating.
I think you should have perhaps 4 love interests per character
Id say perhaps 2 hours with 4 dances is plenty in a game, perhaps 8 for a longer session
Give every player a dance card and have a d4+CHA bonus requests early
I also use encounters per character each hour and make players roll them
Players ended up getting caught up with ball guests from encounters and had to skip dances.
They ended out people staring at them and seething nobles they have had issues with before. Lots of people watch and judge you here and suspicious activities.
Id say perhaps 2 hours with 4 dances is plenty in a game, perhaps 8 for a longer session
Give every player a dance card and have a d4+CHA bonus requests early
I also use encounters per character each hour and make players roll them
Players ended up getting caught up with ball guests from encounters and had to skip dances.
They ended out people staring at them and seething nobles they have had issues with before. Lots of people watch and judge you here and suspicious activities.
Dance Customs
Dancing with the same person twice is flirtatious and gets gossip going
You can refuse a dance if your card is full at that time, or you dont dance at all
You're expected to share yourself around and be a good sport
Older courtly dances are arms apart, with lines of partners
Modern scandalous dancing holds bodies together, and the church may object
Perhaps some married or engaged persons will dance, but mostly it is a form of speed dating and is intended to lead to courtship and marriage
Dont waste people's time dancing with your siblings or relatives
You can chat with whom you dance with or try and chat with other dancers on the floor but a bit more broken. Enough to gossip or threaten or insult or flirt.
The older courtly dances have couples break into lines and you end up holding hands with same sex for parts of the dance. So you might get some conversation or vibes from these partners. But other places let anyone dance with anyone and just judge your clothes and dancing and manners.
Showboating with your amazing solo can embarrass your dancing partner.
Id pre roll lots of guests to interact with. Maybe I need a d100
Some of the players' encounters flowed into each other
Gamelog for my Ravenloft Hawksmire game
So tonight we had as characters:
Newly titled Halfling Ratrump in hoot high pumps and a a foot high feathered hat on his 1000gp gem encrusted outfit. Has his pet Grimalkin, snake and piglet in gem encrusted prams with own attendant and legal heirs. Also had his personal spliff roller for marsh weed.
Alan, the halfling bard dressed in high heels and nipple covers as Ratrumps herald. Has been on tour of the Island.
GlumpGlump the musical 8 foot tall goliath zelot barbarian. Wears a bejewelled loincloth and a huge ruff. Ratrump insist he is his personal eunuch. Glump Glump got a sparkly pillow so Ratrump could ride him. He carries three rancid heads on his belt he insists on terrifying guards with.
"Didnt we bury them heads," asked Threekay the dwarf cleric.
"These are new ones" replied GlumpGlump.
Anel the dark elf cleric of light with her white orchid spider wearing a gold hat. Whe wears a spectacular yellow orange red holy symbol of light number with coat tails and lots of lots of buttons. She is Ratrumps' spiritual advisor who mostly looks disappointed. She just was given a church and the old priest then ran away.
Threekay in blue robes of his church with a huge ruff. He is Ratrumps' Confessor who gets to roll his eyes lots. He has been building a church in Chumwater and is usually the sensible one.
They spent the afternoon seeing what mayors they should see and used Augry to help choose who. Apparently, the werewolves are not impressed. The mayor of CHumwater the party home base, was coming with them. They had a fancy new carraige and a driver. Went to palace and moved to back of line. Parked in courtyard and entered via the red carpet with guards and footmen everywhere. They got in line as a group to be presented to Lady Chrysopasia the Domain Lord. Some mean old toffs sneered at party vulgarity and GlumpGlump wanted to attack a snooty old woman on a palenquin.
Chrysopasia met party cleaning up after butchering a deer in front of them fresh from a hunt. Alan as the herald sung and danced announcing Ratrump and his enterage. She was quite friendly and commented she was glad to see them in the flesh. She told GlumpGlump to save a dance for her. She said she wanted a meeting with party in her private chambers later. She was pretty nice and welcomed them.
From the reception to dinner most of the party performed like posh nobs with table manners as per the Mayor's briefings. Except GlubGlub who slurped and pigged out. When he stood up he had tucked a tablecloth for a 100 seat table in his loincloth. Anel tried to burn him free and it sort of didn't end in disaster. Allan made a raucous laugh and got some looks but explained he was imitating some boorish cretin and it worked. Anel perspired while watching the crowds dancing but dried iff with fire.
The hunter of the year prize was given and GlubGlub yelled he could do better. People got rowdy and halberd-wielding footmen appeared. The party calmed the barbarian maniac down. Then The enoblement occured and Her ladyship knobled Ratrump and he made the vassal lord oath to the domain. Glubglub tried again to butt in but people kept him at bay. I threatened to skip to the TPK and start a new game next session.
Ratrump met a cool pretty guy in the smoking room and danced with him. Then a shy debutant and skilled gossip asked for a dance. Then to another dance with a smoker who was a bit of a borechap. He got an invited to a thrill seeking noble hunting lodge. He stole show at one point when he bribed the band and did a solo dance. While doing it he spied an assassin, danced with him, stole his dagger and informed the target. All in a snappy musical number. Others saw assassin taken to dungeon.
Allan was more concerned with the guests and saw a man who mocked Chrysopasia get escorted to the dungeon. Allan sneaked outside down a drainpipe and peeked in the dungeon to see them whipped and thrown out of the grounds naked.
Anel saw some creep drug a woman and take her to the balcony for air. Anel spied through the curtains and he sprouted fangs so she turned and burned him badly. The creature crawled dowm the wall and resisted a hold person spell. She sent her spider to spy on the vampire thrall.
GlupGlup danced with a old orc grandma and she spoke of her swineherd and vast tracts of wasteland. She was from the Pig orc tribe but also partly from the vanished necromancer orc clan. Other orcs were impressed by Glump and got him into drinking kegs until Chrysopasia came for a dance. She swung the 8 foot tall barbarian and spun him in the air with ease. He was pretty impressed. How tall is she? Six foot two. Others treated GlumGlump with awkward approval after all his etiquette fumbles earlier.
Threekay saw some grump and went to see why he was spyng on party. He wore a black outfit with green fire patterns like those village cultists the party massacred. Threkay danced with him the two men muttering abuse. He also danced with a nice dwarf maid with a luscious purple beard. Later, a rich-looking older dwarf woman made it clear she would see him for gems or jewellery.
The party had a private meeting with her Ladyship in her study dressed in her hunting outfit again. She gave them the bill for all the murders of townsfolk and the fiery massacre of a police station and freak show tent by Anel the LG priestess of light in a moments of panic. When her calm spell didn't work as well as she hoped she had to burn tho guards to death and incinerate their corpses. The party gasped a bit at a nearly 10k bill but they would be safe from reprisals. She welcomed them to the island and for them to grow in power to be better challenges. Ratrump felt like she wanted to hunt them when they were more of a threat. She mentioned a relative had helped them gain a dark gift to the domain and GlubGlub wondered if she meant that dragon in the swamp who let them go if they drank one of three dark chalices. Sometimes he was clever.
After the ball, Anel slipped off to hunt vampires and party grabbed weapons from the carriage and followed her. She had a bit of a death wish from all this responsibility and meeting the domain ruler. They caught up with her scouting the house with her spider. Ratrump squeezed through window bars while the rest followed GlumpGlump with a silence spell to run through doors. Found crypt with a open stone sarcophagus with the burned vamp thrall from the ball. There was aother fancy coffin and Ratrump opened it partly and got ready to stab anything moving. Anel fireballed the coffins almost frying Ratrump. The thrall died and the senior sub vamp arose to get stabbed by Ratrump. The party finished them and three more thralls arived who got blasted by Allan with a harsh chord. Threekay did swing his holy flail a bit but was unlucky outside of some petty healing.
Killed them all and found a stash of silver and a book with letters of the vampire revolution. Was a fun and silly session. Made contacts, future engagements and some possible dates.



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