Tuesday, May 29, 2018

The Tournament - an old school adventure site

On the horizon, the characters sight a picturesque castle of the old style; tall, elegant, and graceful, surrounded by a stout wall. It stands on a rocky hill overlooking the plain.

Should they draw closer, they encounter mounds of broken swords, shattered lances, rusting armor and helmets—some with the heads still inside. The sound of men shrieking and arms clashing echoes over the castle walls. Flocks of crows roam the plain.

Once they reach the outer wall, they find fresh corpses and more arms and armor heaped against the wall, as if it were tossed over like so much trash.


If the player characters linger a while, another body will be tossed from the castle wall. If they catch sight of the men on the wall, they will notice two manic looking warriors, wearing fine clothes covered in gore.

Should they investigate the main gate, they will find a heavy iron portcullis, closed and unmanned. Through the bars, they can see garishly colored tents and flags, laid out haphazardly. There appears to be two armored fighting men, locked in a duel to the death. Their slain horses lay in the middle of the field. The roar of a cheering crowd echoes through the gate house.

Characters entering over the wall or levering up the gate are unopposed.

The Tournament is an adventure location suitable for old school characters of any level, though it will probably present minimal challenge to characters over level 5. The elements are all pretty vanilla D&D. There's portable treasure worth 7000XP floating around the castle, and enough armor and weapons lying around to arm a fortress.

Bisley Staples
 
If you want to grab a map, you could do worse than this small fortress from Dyson Logos.

BACKGROUND FOR THE GM
A curse has taken hold of the castle. Its lord, a bloodthirsty champion in his youth, insulted an Elven king, who cursed him with a tournament that never ends.

Fighters that enter the castle wearing arms and armor must save vs. magic, or be forced to join the tournament (as per the Geas spell). Characters of other classes are not affected.
Upon being Geased, even the most honorless scoundrel will feel a swell of martial pride, and the urgent desire to defend it, even at the cost of his life.

The spectators and officiates are all Elves (poorly) disguised as human courtiers. Watching humans slaughter one another is like the combination of a bloodsport and a LARP. They don’t particularly hate the humans that are fighting and dying for their amusement, this is just what they’re doing for a hobby lately.

How did they get here?
-The characters may stumble across The Tournament while hex crawling
-They hear of a bereaved noblewoman, who offers a reward for information about her missing husband’s fate
-They hear rumors of a castle that draws in warriors and knights by the dozen, who are never seen again.
-They see an elven messenger deliver notice of a grand tournament, with a fabulous prize
-They’re hired as tax collectors, sent by the local Baron to investigate why Lord Garen has paid no tribute

WAR BANDS INSIDE THE CASTLE
Take a deck of regular playing cards and draw 10. This will represent the warriors and men-at-arms inside the castle when the players arrive. Unless noted otherwise, all are affected by the curse.

Keep the cards handy for reference, and draw from them at random when you need to decide who’s about, who comes running to a commotion, and so on.

Each card represents:
King - a 4th level fighter
Queen - a 2rd level fighter
Jack - a knight errant (fighter level 1d6). Roll for a random magic item.
Ace - a 0 level squire, unaffected by the curse, trying to shake his master loose from the trance.
Joker - A ghoul disguised as a knight, enjoying the feast set out for it

Other cards are counted as the indicated number of 0 level fighters. They’re organized roughly into “teams” by suite. They behave a little like rowdy sports fans—they’ll scrap with each other, but they’ll unite if threatened by fans of the other team.

Each suite corresponds to a team that the warriors have created to organize the tournament. They fight for their individual glory, but the team is a convenience of the moment. They make camp at opposite ends of the tournament grounds, sharpening their blades and mending armor by night, fighting to the death by day.

Clubs: “The Wolf Brothers”
They wear no armor, and only enough clothing to satisfy modesty (they are still knights, after all). They paint themselves with ash and howl a weird battle cry night and day (characters who spend the night here will be unable to rest or prepare spells, as long as Wolf Brothers are still present).

Hearts: “The Order of Blood”
Red everything, torn and filthy. Pretensions of honor but actually deceitful. Seek to ambush and slay Knights of the Lily (below).

Spades: “The Gray Company”
Armor caked with mud and ash. Stoic warrior monks. When not competing in the Tournament, they compose bad poetry bemoaning the horrors of battle.

Diamonds: “Knights of the Lily”
Try to present themselves as clean, dignified champions. Doesn’t work out so well after weeks or months in the mud and blood of the Tournament. Offer mercy to defeated opponents.

THE CURSE
Warriors under the sway of the curse all believe they're in the midst of an epic tournament, with the fate of kingdoms at stake. Each believes with manic fervor that he will be the one to win and take home the prize.

They pay little mind to player characters, being far too busy with preparations and battles to make small talk or explain what’s going on.

If pestered excessively, insulted, or attacked, they will fight with a morale of 7.

Nearby warriors of matching suite will join any fray in 1d4 rounds (draw a card or two from the set of 10 to see who shows up). Warriors of a different suite may take the opportunity to stage an ambush (perhaps inadvertently coming to the rescue of the PC's). Any fight that breaks out on the tournament grounds could turn into a bloodbath as different war bands join the fray.

Female player characters will draw the attention of any warrior they interact with. The warrior will beg for a token of her favor, and her blessing for the coming battle. If denied vigorously, he’ll go off to pout. In 1d4 turns, he’ll start a fight that may cascade into a bloodbath. If indulged, he will act as her escort, prepared to defend her to the death, until he takes her token into the next round of the tournament.

Should she grant a token to another knight, the two will immediately fight to the death. The survivor will attempt to act as "the lady's champion".

THE ELVES
This whole mess is the elves’ fault.

There is a crowd of 20 spectators that spends the daylight hours watching the fights, making or taking bets on who will be slain in the next round. At night, they party in the castle like rockstars (which is why most of the valuables in the place are wrecked). At first glance, they appear to be normal nobles dressed up in a garish, almost ridiculous version of high class attire.

They mockingly mimic courtly manners and cheer enthusiastically at any fights that break out.

It takes only a few moments near one of them to notice their weirdly graceful features. Any character who has encountered elves before will recognize them for what they are.

Attacking an elf in sight of the tournament contestants will kick off mayhem—any nearby contestants will rally to defend the “noble lords and ladies”.

Elves fear any risk of a violent end to their long lives; they will flee danger if they can and fight only if they must, with no regard for the lives of their fellows. They will regroup in the castle to beg the King of the Elves to deal with the aggressors.

Each elf wears or carries 1d10x10gp in jewelry and treasure (mostly of human make, stolen from the castle).

THE ARMSMONGERS
There’s a small group of petty merchants digging through the refuse and gore of the tournament grounds. They’re scrounging up useable arms and weapons, and selling them back to the still living warriors.

They’re led by:
“Lord” Seth. Level 3 thief. Utterly pragmatic and amoral. Mockingly wears the real lord’s crown (worth 1000gp). Wants to see the tournament continue indefinitely to keep the gold flowing, and will kill to make sure of it.

The gang consists of five Normal Men with leather armor and assorted weapons (1d6 damage)
-Oribad: friendly and sardonic—loves the sight of nobility choking to death on their own blood
-Renner: timid and repentant—just here to scrounge up some money. Will help the players as long as it doesn’t put him at risk.
-Yannik: Ridiculously loyal to Lord Seth, will defend him to the death.
-Brennin: Working off a massive debt to Lord Seth
-Zeek: An annoying kid who loves knights and wants to be one. Hopes to steal some armor and a horse to begin his epic adventure.

They've gathered a horde of coins, gems, and valuables worth 2,000gp.

THE KING OF THE ELVES
His Most Serene Majesty King Oberil of the Seven Pointed Crown
Level 6 Elf
Choose spells at random and roll for a random magic item in his possession.

Oberil can’t recall why he laid the curse, but hasn’t grown tired of the show yet (he won’t any time soon). While more brave in combat than his subjects, he isn't about to lose his life over this game; if reduced to half his hitpoint total, he will attempt to flee.

Oberil isn't the king of all elves, though he might tell the PC's otherwise if there's any chance of buying it.

LORD GAREN
Level 3 Fighter
A once dashing and ruthless swordsman, now entering late middle age. He’s dressed in a ragged, greasy tunic with a bloody stain on the left hip.

The curse prevents him from leaving his chambers at the top of the tower. He’s fed rarely, and has wasted away and gone half mad. King Oberil is frequently with him, goading him to enjoy the mayhem below.

Garen can’t remember what specifically he did to insult King Oberil, but he can remember some details of the encounter. He is raving and somewhat unhinged, but becomes lucid if spoken to with the deference due to a lord.

THE GAMES BEGIN
Every hour of daylight, a new round of the tournament is announced. 2d4 random participants hack each other to bits on the tournament ground. NPC's have a 50% chance of being slain in the course of battle. Cursed player characters are compelled by the Geas to volunteer eagerly.

Frequently, King Oberil calls for bizarre tournament scenarios. For example--
-half of the contestants will be clad in armor, while the other half go "skins"
-each knight will wear a lady's hat, and the winner will be the one who captures them all
-one contestant will be heavily armored and mounted on horseback with a helmet that obscures his vision, while the rest wear no armor and try to bring down him down using pointed sticks.

The PRIZE
In the King's box at the tournament ground, there is a jewel studded trophy worth 4,000gp. Attempting to steal it will draw warriors eager to punish this "unsportsmanlike conduct" (draw two cards to see who shows up).

ENDING THE CURSE
The easiest way to end the curse for good is to discover the nature of the original insult that provoked the curse, and remind the Elven King of it. Now that time has healed his wounded pride, he looks back on it with a laugh, and ends the curse, departing with his entourage.

Other possibilities include:
-casting Dispel Magic or Remove Curse on the lord (which will invite creative retribution at some future date from the King of the Elves, for ruining his game).
-a single warrior is left alive, and awarded the prize
-Killing the King of the Elves (which will make the elves the sworn enemies of all PCs involved)
-find something more entertaining for the elves to do

Of course, player characters are also free to flee the place immediately, or geek the Armsmongers to steal their racket.

THE INSULT
The day the cursed Tournament began, Lord Garen stumbled upon a doppelgänger rifling through his things after infiltrating the castle.

Believing the creature had been sent to kill him and take his place on the throne, Garen slew it handily, and wiped his sword on his tunic.

Oberil was offended not by the death of his pet doppelganger, but by the staining of the fine tunic. He’d sent the doppelgänger to steal it as part of a party costume (Elves really enjoy cosplaying as humans, and creating the perfect costume is of the utmost importance for remaining popular with the fey court).

Look, immortality really is that boring. Hellboy 2 (2008)


If the curse is ended, the warriors left alive will wander off towards home in a daze, remembering their ordeal as a particularly vivid nightmare (possibly after massacring any elves that fail to flee if they learn of the curse). The survivors of the Lord’s retinue (20% of the warriors still alive) assume control of the castle, and do what they can to help the lord if he’s still alive.

This is one of those things that was outlined in some old campaign material and never saw action at the table. I decided to flesh it out with some ideas I used in my 200 word RPG entry. It was sort of inspired by those castle encounters in the Expert set and OD&D where knights are just waiting around to come out and joust the PCs or kick their ass.

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