Looking for some DM advice, reward items and events.

[SMac8988]

Hello all. It's good to be back at the fourms, I've taken a small break in DMing and am aiming to come back into it strong. My current group and I are discussing starting a new campaign and possibly trying to stream it on twitch, yay!

But with that looming on the horizon I am looking toward the fourms for a bit of advice, suggestion and all the other good stuff this place often brings.

I'm looking got a bit of advice on two, decent sized, aspects to my introduction.

(Michael and Justin if you've gotten this far turn back or your going to ruin it for yourself)

So firstly, I am planning on introducing the big bad of the story st some point during this start event. My plan is, for several different reasons, each of the soon to be party members will come into a small, forest town in the midst of a celebration. Between celebrating the beginning of the spring, there will also be a wedding of the Barons son in the coming days, so the week long celebration is being turned into a massive event for the wedding.

I am thinking of running some games for the party to get pulled into, I'm torn between getting them on the same team or seperate. Like archery challenges, maybe some balance test, and animal hunt stuff along those lines. I am in some need of advice on this portion, any suggestion on events to test the party excluding straight up combat.

The second big this is, I want the prize to be something the big bad is after. But something that wouldn't sway the entire progress of a level 1 game. The big bad is going to be a necromancer whom hired a group to compete in these games to get the prize for him, and when they fail will assault the town with skeletons and the like.

I was thinking maybe a amulet, that when equipped gives the wearer like 5 temp hit points at dusk. But also binds the souls of those that die around it into the necklace. If the party just keeps it on they will slowly build up soiled bound into this necklace, eventually becoming an component in turning the necromancer into a lich. But this was only my first idea.

So ya.....HELPLPPPP

[Emay Ecks]

One thing to consider when doing competitions in D&D is who is supposed to be participating in it. From the sounds of it, this event should be for normal townspeople and should feature things normal people are capable of doing. It's also fun to have a contest for each ability score, so that every party member has a chance to shine. Out of the contests you've already suggested, I like an archery contest (It would be easy to set up, and represents a valuable skill for a forest town). You can run it by simply making attacks against an AC XX target, and whoever hits most wins (crits worth extra).A hunt sounds good, too (and a great way to do some lvl 1 combat. The party finds a bear and brings back the best catch).

For other contests you can use:
-An eating/drinking competition (have party members make repeated con saves to see how well they do).
-A dancing/performance competition. This could be as easy as a single performance check, or having the party use their spells and abilities in creative ways.
-A cooking competition (party may not be able to actively participate, but you could have them act as judges. Maybe some shady chefs try to bribe the party).
-A test of great strength. This could range from a rock/log throwing contest, to arm wrestling, or a footrace while carrying a heavy load.
-A game of hide and seek (this could be great for party members with high wisdom (perception/survival) and high dexterity (stealth))
-A game of trivia. You can have characters make intelligence checks on various subjects, while also using the opportunity to drop knowledge about your setting to the players.

For the reward, I like the idea you already have. It's a very low powered magic item, that's just fine for a first level party. I know in my settings, magic isn't commonplace, and I'm not sure if a small forest town would knowingly give a magic item as a prize. If you want the prize to just be "an amulet" and not have the town know that it's actually a magic item, I think that works well. This depends a lot on your setting and how common/cheap magic is.

[SMac8988]

Love all the event suggestions!!! The hide and seek one is 100% going in it.

I normally run normal amount of magic, but nothing crazy low level. My thought would be an identify would clue them in, and the town would have no idea even what it is. I'm thinking of having like a small sunken tomb the town hired some adventures previously to clear out and the necklace came from there. It's gonna a be gold and shiny so assumed value, plus some gold and drink.