things to put in a traveling fair/circus/thingy

[big teej]

greetings playgrounders,

my group is working on returning to town after slaying a dragon. this is meant to be a very low key (but very fun) session. and part of what I've decided to throw in to help eat time is a circus/fair/thingy

and I'm trolling for ideas of what they would have.

so far
I've got....

archery contest (as well as thrown weapon versions)
dump-tank (roll to hit vs tiny target)
wrestling (yep, time to learn the grapple rules)
arm wrestling (opposed strength checks, )
'ring on the bottle' (try to throw a ring around a bottle top)
"plumb the barrel" (drinking contest)
weight guessing (self explanatory)

after these things, I"m kinda out of ideas..

so any contributions would be awesome (as well as suggestions of how to make them work if necessary)

the session is sunday night so I need it by then.
thanks a bunch playground.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Con artists. Con artists, con artists. They give your players a chance to lose money (and maybe win some, if they can out-con your NPCs).

Aaaand, not to put too fine a point on it, give them something to do beyond rolling dice.

[big teej]

Con artists. Con artists, con artists. They give your players a chance to lose money (and maybe win some, if they can out-con your NPCs).

Aaaand, not to put too fine a point on it, give them something to do beyond rolling dice.

if I was dexterous enough to run a shell game I totally would.

and I am, there's plenty of non-dice stuff to do.

but I'm honestly putting this in for people who DO just kinda want to roll dice. and to help eat up time in between character audits and loot division and stuff.

[RaginChangeling]

You gotta have an amazing exotic beast or golem and take it one of two ways,

Either its an animal/mindless and breaks out and wreaks havok,

Or its sapient and being held against its will. Good/Evil to preference.


Personally I'd go with some crazy monster from an obscure splatbook that always looked awesome, you just never got a chance to use.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Well, there are *plenty* of cons you can come up with NPCs could run... if you're stuck for ideas, just read the "Get Rich Quick" schemes a ways down on the forums.

[JonestheSpy]

A carousel is a must - you can stick with muscle power if you're in a strictly medieval-tech setting. Having one of the horses be a magically imprisoned nightmare/pegasus/etc is always fun.

A tank with a giant squid.

A riddle guessing game (lots of sources for good riddles on the interwebs).

Fortune teller (with real ability or just very good at sizing up their customers and making logical guesses - saying "I see great danger!" is pretty easy if you're talking to an adventurer).

Two booths on opposite sides of a walkway. The Clue Booth is selling little scrolls that read "Get a Life". The Life Booth is selling little scrolls that read "Get a Clue".

[big teej]

loving these ideas, keep it up!

[thompur]

Pick Pockets of various levels of skill.

[Savannah]

A fake "dungeon" for the kiddies to go through and vanquish the "dragon" at the end (really a guy in a suit, of course). Naturally, one or more of the players will get sick/break a leg/mysteriously run away and need a replacement on short notice....

I totally stole this from somewhere, but I can't remember where.

[Seonor]

A magician show. Not with real magic, but done with tricks, mirror and smoke. Basicly tricks like sawing someone in half, pull a rabbit out of a hat or card tricks, that sort of thing. The important part is that that the performer is swearing that he neither uses magic himself or uses magic items in any way. If one of the characters in your party is a magic user, have him invited o stage to confirm that, in fact, there is no magic on the stage. If you want to have fun with that give them prices for figuring out how the "magician" does his tricks.

[big teej]

A fake "dungeon" for the kiddies to go through and vanquish the "dragon" at the end (really a guy in a suit, of course). Naturally, one or more of the players will get sick/break a leg/mysteriously run away and need a replacement on short notice....

I totally stole this from somewhere, but I can't remember where.

well I'm totally stealing it from you:smallwink:

[Coidzor]

Floorshow of Monks trying to hit one another and missing repeatedly and then a challenge for anyone who thinks they can hit them with their bare hands to come up and try their luck for a wager?

[Squiggles]

I'd toss in a copious amount of Dwarven and Gnomish carnies and introduce elemental powered rides ala an Air Elemental powered moon bounce.

You could take the Gypsy Seer and replace it with something a little less mundane (think the Octopi that predict election results/bowl games).

Maybe go American Gladiator style and setup an area to test your tumbling skills and reflexes to win some dopey prizes.

The sky is the limit, even with keeping it low to no magic.

[Coidzor]

Most Extreme Elimination Challenge while being commented upon/jeered by a bard with bardic music that does the opposite of inspire competence?

[Legend]

Trained animals, which of course escape and rampage around unless stopped, preferably in a non-lethal manner.

[Geigan]

Animal exhibits of "exotics." Besides the wealth of animals that you can find in D&D(without even delving into magical beasts), you could also take some animals that they'd normally never see ingame and give them weird names. Describe an animal like the anteater as something like the "whiptongue" or elephants as "grey boars" and then elaborate and see how long it takes them to get it. It can be a fun test of your description skills.

Aside from this you could also have mini gladiatorial matches with the animals. I would doubt to-the-death since these things are exotic and they really don't grow on trees. But a wrestling match between the party tough guy and some sort of leopard would be amusing at least. If he loses you could also rub his face in it by having the strongman show em up. The strongman might even be "cheating" as him winning is a part of the show and he and the animal are trained for the act.


Most Extreme Elimination Challenge while being commented upon/jeered by a bard with bardic music that does the opposite of inspire competence?
this^

[Coidzor]

Ooo, bear wrestling! :smallbiggrin:

[Amnestic]

Ooo, bear wrestling! :smallbiggrin:

Bear wrestling while riding a bear with a bear riding on your shoulders.

[Coidzor]

Bear wrestling while riding a bear with a bear riding on your shoulders.

Wrestling a bear riding a bear riding a bear while riding another bear and being ridden by a bear?! :smallbiggrin: awesome.

...

...

Dear Pelor...

BUMPER BEARS!

[Geigan]

Wrestling a bear riding a bear riding a bear while riding another bear and being ridden by a bear?! :smallbiggrin: awesome.

...

...

Dear Pelor...

BUMPER BEARS!

We must bring this idea to bear.

[big teej]

oh my gosh what have I done!!

the knowledge of this monstrosity I have created is just unbearable!!!

my mind can bearly comprehend it!

[Geigan]

oh my gosh what have I done!!

the knowledge of this monstrosity I have created is just unbearable!!!

my mind can bearly comprehend it!

Just bear with us it'll be alright.

I'm sure you'll bearly even remember this in years to come.

[Toliudar]

Anyway...

I think that the fortune-teller is also potentially a great bridge from your last adventure to the next one. No one better to drop hints about gold in the mountains, a ring of slavers, whatever. Couch it in strange, oblique references, and you're golden.

[big teej]

Anyway...

I think that the fortune-teller is also potentially a great bridge from your last adventure to the next one. No one better to drop hints about gold in the mountains, a ring of slavers, whatever. Couch it in strange, oblique references, and you're golden.

I actually really like this idea....

given what the next plot arc is.

[SuperFish]

1st level Wizard/Sorcerer/Adept with Ray of Frost making snowcones.

[big teej]

I'm putting the circus thingy together right now.

if anyone else has any ideas up for consideration post them now, I'm going to work on everything mentioned so far, and then check the thread after that, update my list, and that'll probably be it.


so let thine mind be as unto a million transient nodes of thought, swirling through a cosmic vortex of invention.

and come up with more ideas for a dnd circus/fair/gypsy caravan thingy

[Greenish]

They had a collection of optimized builds based around circus theme somewhere. Knife throwers, stage technicians, beast masters and the like.

[evisiron]

A "Freaks of Nature show" (ripped from the Simpsons but perfect for the setting):

"Behold, an owlbear born with the body of an owl! The three headed dog cursed with only one head! The colossal centipede shrunk to the size of a regular centipede!"

[[CLASSIFIED]]

• A bearded (or dwarf) lady
• A Ms. insert place name here contest
• A booth on composting run by a bunch of clerics, replacing mundane worms with something more exciting
• Karaoke
• Fortune teller similar to the Oracle of Sunken Valley in OOTS
• A crazed alchemist that claims to be selling the secret to eternal life and infinite gold.
• Beer

[Coidzor]

;10948697']• A bearded (or dwarf) lady

A beardless "dwarf." The human kind not the dwarven kind.

And maybe there's some kind of beer games. Or there's a tug of war in which every round everyone has to be drinking so it's a test of strength, endurance, and fort saves against drunkenness. And the drinks get progressively stronger.

Elves are, of course, banned from playing due to too many dying from the game. :smallamused:

[Eldan]

A "Freaks of Nature show" (ripped from the Simpsons but perfect for the setting):

"Behold, an owlbear born with the body of an owl! The three headed dog cursed with only one head! The colossal centipede shrunk to the size of a regular centipede!"

The Yeth Hound unable to inspire fear! The tiny sphinx with the head of a cat!