Gwaednerth
2017-11-26, 11:00 PM
I'm working on a sort of sandbox-ish fey-heavy game at the moment, and this is one of the encounters I've come up with. This encounter is intended as a way for the players to gain information and possibly other help in their fey adventures, however, it could easily be inserted into any adventure.
For whatever reason the heroes need something from the Lady of Beasts, ruler of one of the many Fey Courts. However, only those worthy of her attention may ask for her boons. Ensue The Ball of Faces, a baffling and deadly encounter.
Initially, this ball appears to be nothing more than a magnificent masquerade ball held in a large forest clearing. At the entrance to the clearing, the players are offered a selection of masks of incredible craftsmanship, each depicting a different fantastical beast. Upon entering the clearing, everything changes. The dancers, previously indistinct humanoid shapes, now take on the appearance of beasts. Some fly through the air, others slither, still others leap through the trees. To become worthy, the players must discover– by cunning, diplomacy, and lightfootedness– which of the dancers is the Lady of Beasts. However, there is a twist. Fey games are deadly, and no reward is without risk. Assassins lurk among the revellers and the heroes must avoid them or fend them off without disrupting the ball.
Mechanics-wise, this is basically a very complex skill and roleplay encounter, perhaps with some stealthy combat. Each round, the participants must make a perform check (DC as appropriate for their level). Too many failures and the players disrupt the ball, make fools of themselves, and have no chance of impressing the Lady of Beasts until the next full moon when another ball will be held. However, it doesn't all boil down to one skill. Each mask provides special bonuses and some provide other skills that can be used in place of perform (dance). For example, a veela mask might simply provide a bonus to perform (dance), while a dryad mask might allow knowledge (nature) to be substituted. Meanwhile, a cockatrice mask might allow the wearer to momentarily trip up another dancer but provide no skill bonuses. Any aggressive action like an attack roll requires a stealth or sleight of hand roll. A failure counts as two failures for the purposes of disrupting the ball. Meanwhile, the players must engage in conversation to deduce who is the Lady of Beasts (using bluff, diplomacy, and sense motive, or skills that replace those skills as the result of a mask). A natural one on a diplomacy or bluff might result in a faux pas so bad as to count towards disrupting the ball. Perception can also be a useful skill, as it can be used to identify which dancers are actually assassins and deny the assassins the advantage of surprise.
The encounter ends when the players either fail enough checks to be thrown out for disrupting the ball, get taken down to 0 hit points by the assassins, or correctly identify the Lady of Beasts. In the first case, the heroes merely wake up lost in the woods. In the second, they wake up in the woods with only 1HD of hit points and an inconvenient Geas placed upon them. Finally, if they succeed, they can ask a boon of the Lady of Beasts. Any reasonable boon is granted, but more substantial boons require negotiation and possibly even a side quest.
For whatever reason the heroes need something from the Lady of Beasts, ruler of one of the many Fey Courts. However, only those worthy of her attention may ask for her boons. Ensue The Ball of Faces, a baffling and deadly encounter.
Initially, this ball appears to be nothing more than a magnificent masquerade ball held in a large forest clearing. At the entrance to the clearing, the players are offered a selection of masks of incredible craftsmanship, each depicting a different fantastical beast. Upon entering the clearing, everything changes. The dancers, previously indistinct humanoid shapes, now take on the appearance of beasts. Some fly through the air, others slither, still others leap through the trees. To become worthy, the players must discover– by cunning, diplomacy, and lightfootedness– which of the dancers is the Lady of Beasts. However, there is a twist. Fey games are deadly, and no reward is without risk. Assassins lurk among the revellers and the heroes must avoid them or fend them off without disrupting the ball.
Mechanics-wise, this is basically a very complex skill and roleplay encounter, perhaps with some stealthy combat. Each round, the participants must make a perform check (DC as appropriate for their level). Too many failures and the players disrupt the ball, make fools of themselves, and have no chance of impressing the Lady of Beasts until the next full moon when another ball will be held. However, it doesn't all boil down to one skill. Each mask provides special bonuses and some provide other skills that can be used in place of perform (dance). For example, a veela mask might simply provide a bonus to perform (dance), while a dryad mask might allow knowledge (nature) to be substituted. Meanwhile, a cockatrice mask might allow the wearer to momentarily trip up another dancer but provide no skill bonuses. Any aggressive action like an attack roll requires a stealth or sleight of hand roll. A failure counts as two failures for the purposes of disrupting the ball. Meanwhile, the players must engage in conversation to deduce who is the Lady of Beasts (using bluff, diplomacy, and sense motive, or skills that replace those skills as the result of a mask). A natural one on a diplomacy or bluff might result in a faux pas so bad as to count towards disrupting the ball. Perception can also be a useful skill, as it can be used to identify which dancers are actually assassins and deny the assassins the advantage of surprise.
The encounter ends when the players either fail enough checks to be thrown out for disrupting the ball, get taken down to 0 hit points by the assassins, or correctly identify the Lady of Beasts. In the first case, the heroes merely wake up lost in the woods. In the second, they wake up in the woods with only 1HD of hit points and an inconvenient Geas placed upon them. Finally, if they succeed, they can ask a boon of the Lady of Beasts. Any reasonable boon is granted, but more substantial boons require negotiation and possibly even a side quest.