Hostile Hostels: The Slums
Posted in Hostile Hostels on January 22nd, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Tags: Businesses, Urban
In the town of Amberdine there exists a peculiar little tavern known as The Slums. At first glance, it certainly appears to live up to its name; the building looks rundown, more than one window is boarded up, and it is covered with graffiti.
Things start to fail a bit upon closer inspection, though. The boards nailed to the window are too well-maintained; the paint too perfectly cracked. Even the graffiti seems less edgy, using clever half-curses to avoid the outright obscenities one would expect to find. Perhaps most damning of all– The Slums is located centrally in one of the more affluent quarters of Amberdine.
The Slums is actually something of a dinner theater. Wealthy patrons pay for the privilege of seeing a vicious bar-fight three times a night. The proprietor, Angus Greedly, allows anyone to eat for free in the central area as long as they get involved when the fight breaks out. They’re given cheap food, and much of it ends up getting wasted over the course of the brawl, but the many beggars of Amberdine gladly participate.
The actual customers are allowed to sit on the second floor, giving them a fine vantage point of the fight and much-needed distance to protect them. Angus hires several bouncers to guard the staircase, preventing the riff-raff below from trying to get upstairs. The food upstairs is some of the best you can find in the city, and Angus employs both a halfling and an elf as the main chefs.
The lower portion of the tavern is set up to encourage a good fight. There are several low-hanging chandeliers, stacks of (empty) crates and barrels, lots of wooden mugs and dishes to be thrown, etc. Angus makes a point to buy the most shoddily-crafted furniture he can for the first floor, not just because he has to replace them so often, but also because they tend to break apart more spectacularly when used as weapons.
Some of the wealthy diners will drop a bit of coin to the floor below, to bring the fight closer to them. It is also not uncommon for particularly entertaining participants to be given tips and gifts from the customers. Angus even pays a few people who have proven both to be wily and entertaining combatants, and to be good at getting a fight started.
Fighter using a dead hollowed-out goblin as a bag to hold his magic biscuits?
Wizard hurling bottles of poop and eggs instead of fireballs?
Frenzied berzerker being slowly and agonizingly drowned by a giant clam?
Time for a Madness Check.
Random Items being Important
epending on the kind of game that you are running, you may wish to plan escape routes.
Here’s what I mean: have the character come across a single-use item of magic that is all but useless, say a magical broach of protection from feathers. Whatever player ends up with this trinket you mark carefully. After many gaming sessions and many years you should have a couple of aces for every character – really stupid and improbable defences or exceptions that will certainly be forgotten by the players on a day-to-day basis.
When it comes time for the coup de grace roll in the life or death situation, make sure that you set up the out. “The mighty chieftain spins around with his war-spear and cries a mighty battle cry to Aarok of the sky. His face a half-mockery of man and bird as he plunges his bird-spear into [your character’s] chest.”
Then you turn to the open dice roll to determine if the character lives or “dies”. If the result is death, be immediate in announcing that the mighty war-spear of the chieftain – a strangely fashioned weapon – pierces the chest of the character and that the character of 10 years of play has been unequivocally killed. The group will be silent, and after a few moments of reflection you know that one of the players in the group may ask the inevitable question “what is it made of?”
If they don’t, continue to resolve the battle as normal. Organically, and in stages let the revelation occur that the spear is made from the feathers of a Roc or giant eagle and let the winds blow where they may.
You now have many options. The players could call you on the construction of the weapon and declare that the character is immune to the blow –trumping your determination and giving the players no end of satisfaction. The rest of the party could be defeated and taken captive in an “impossible” situation where the “dead” character could remarkably recover to save them. Whatever the outcome – you have planted an ace in the hole and can heighten the gaming experience through manipulation of a situation that on the surface appears beyond prejudice.
I am anxious in sharing this trick of the trade as I know that it could be horribly over-used and abused. Characters should play the game and the dice should be left to their job in many cases. After a few years of experience a GM should be able to bend the story where appropriate. Like any magician’s trick it takes slight of hand and practice to execute. Doing this kind of thing poorly will quickly ruin your campaign.
Here’s what I mean: have the character come across a single-use item of magic that is all but useless, say a magical broach of protection from feathers. Whatever player ends up with this trinket you mark carefully. After many gaming sessions and many years you should have a couple of aces for every character – really stupid and improbable defences or exceptions that will certainly be forgotten by the players on a day-to-day basis.
When it comes time for the coup de grace roll in the life or death situation, make sure that you set up the out. “The mighty chieftain spins around with his war-spear and cries a mighty battle cry to Aarok of the sky. His face a half-mockery of man and bird as he plunges his bird-spear into [your character’s] chest.”
Then you turn to the open dice roll to determine if the character lives or “dies”. If the result is death, be immediate in announcing that the mighty war-spear of the chieftain – a strangely fashioned weapon – pierces the chest of the character and that the character of 10 years of play has been unequivocally killed. The group will be silent, and after a few moments of reflection you know that one of the players in the group may ask the inevitable question “what is it made of?”
If they don’t, continue to resolve the battle as normal. Organically, and in stages let the revelation occur that the spear is made from the feathers of a Roc or giant eagle and let the winds blow where they may.
You now have many options. The players could call you on the construction of the weapon and declare that the character is immune to the blow –trumping your determination and giving the players no end of satisfaction. The rest of the party could be defeated and taken captive in an “impossible” situation where the “dead” character could remarkably recover to save them. Whatever the outcome – you have planted an ace in the hole and can heighten the gaming experience through manipulation of a situation that on the surface appears beyond prejudice.
I am anxious in sharing this trick of the trade as I know that it could be horribly over-used and abused. Characters should play the game and the dice should be left to their job in many cases. After a few years of experience a GM should be able to bend the story where appropriate. Like any magician’s trick it takes slight of hand and practice to execute. Doing this kind of thing poorly will quickly ruin your campaign.
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