Back in August I took part in RPG a Day where I responded to a writing prompt that
related to Role Play Games. While I talked about several different topics and
games one of the articles I wrote had got me asked a couple of questions. In
the article the article on villains I talked about DJ Vinechild who was one of
the few true villains I used in X Crawl.
In
that article I described DJ Vinechild’s week-long celebration that was built
around the X Crawl and some of the events that she’d set up as a part of that.
A couple of people asked about the outside the dungeon events. Most of the
questions revolved around how my group enjoyed them, what sort of things I
planned, and if I thought they were a good addition to X Crawl.
I’ve
already answered those questions, but I thought it might be nice to put
something here in case someone had a question and just didn’t ask it or they
did and I somehow missed it. This article is going to be about planning,
running, and the benefits of running events outside of the crawl.
A little
bit of background for those who didn’t read the original article that you can
find here in case you want to go and check it out too. Napa Valley Crawl is run
by DJ Vinechild. She is a serial killer. She picks a certain type of crawler
and eliminates that member from each team in her crawl. She doesn’t care who
else she kills, but she wants to make sure that one specific person on each
team dies. When I ran the game I randomly determined she was after the party’s
healer. She did this by setting up monsters, traps, and combatants to
specifically target that one person. She even rigged a charity Date a Crawler
auction to get the member of each team “won” by someone she planted in the
crowd to give them a bottle of perfume that would be scent matched with the
same things she laced on the food of most of beast monsters from level 2. Those
are the basics, there are a few more bits and bobs but I don’t want to just
repeat the previous article.
Nappa
Valley Crawl was the first time I really went for outside of the crawl action.
I’d had a few interactions backstage and one or two other bits. Occasionally,
I’d put together popular news stories that were floating around about members
of the team. I had a recurring team that was the rivals to my players that
would show up periodically. I even roleplayed an interview at one point.
However, I’d never really planned anything large scale to take place outside of
the crawl.
Planning
the encounters was a matter of setting up what I wanted to happen and hiding it
in a couple of other events that would mask the important ones. The biggest
thing to hide was between level one and two I needed to get a bottle of cologne
or perfume to one of the party members. To do this I wanted to plan a number of
events to blend that one in.
I
started by deciding what events should take place. I picked one event for the
day before each level. The first event was a large opening ceremony wine
festival that happened before level one. Between level one and two I had the
charity bachelor/bachelorette auction and the date would take part the night
before the level. The final event was a concert that happened before level
three. I also planned several smaller events that could happen in tandem with
some of the bigger ones. These included the group’s monk being invited to a
night out with a couple of politicians, an adventures guild meeting, and a
local talk show appearance. I didn’t use all of the smaller events, but I had
them planned in case I needed them.
Then
for each large event I added the general point of the night and then hid at
least one Easter egg other little secret inside of one it. For the opening
ceremony I decided to have the event include a large trade show like series of
booths where different vineyards would show off their products and have free
samples available. My players were the Sons of Bacchus and I wanted to give
them a reason to walk around and see new things. I also wanted to reward them
for looking around. One of the booths I had set up was a small booth in the
back section of smaller vendors. The booth was run by an artisanal vintner with
a jolly attitude and purple eyes. The group would only find him if they
specifically went through the smaller vendors. They were rewarded for their
visit because he served the best wine they’d ever tasted and it gave them a +1
bonus to hit in the first level because he was Bacchus. I like including the
gods in my events. Going to the larger booths would have gotten them showered
with swag, fame, and sponsorship opportunities. My group split and did both.
Some of them took to the large booths and a couple members walked the smaller
stalls.
I
think having a large event outside of the crawl is a great way to give your
players a chance to roleplay something other than the in front of the cameras
heroes they usually play. It gives them a chance to play their characters when
they’re not “on”. The moment when they can drop Kayfabe and be the person
behind the mask. It’s also a way to introduce them to new characters and
situations. While at the celebration I also introduced them to a couple of
reporters, the scouts for a division 2 sponsor, and DJ Outrageous Fortunes, the
DJ for a future crawl. This was my way of seeding events and plot hooks to
come.
Did my
group enjoy them? Yes, we still tell stories about X Crawl and while a lot of
those stories come from inside the crawl itself, there were several out of the
crawl stories too. The one player who found the smaller booth still talks about
it. He still brings up meeting Bacchus. The jokes about the teams monk arriving
at level three in a stretch limo, still wearing his clothes from last night,
smelling of sweat, smoke, and alcohol while literally stumbling out of the limo
onto the ground at the rest of the teams feet is a fantastic story. From a different
crawl, but the race to find a high level cleric to cast remove poison on the
teams paladin after he contracted alcohol poisoning the night before comes up
quite often. Sure we’ll remember having a ceiling dropped on the gnome, or the
rogue getting swallowed three times by the same t-rex in a single fight for a
long time these stories will live on too.
Do I
think they’re worth it? Also yes. They let me add new details to the world,
give the teams something to look forward to outside of the crawl, and hint at
future events.
Terry
Pratchett had quote that I think applies to this sort of thing. Actually, it
applies to lots of stuff, but it works here to. It’s not exact but, “Big things
are made up of little things. That makes the little things pretty important.”
If you
want to have a big event outside of X Crawl, the players won’t remember the
huge event, but the small moments that made it up. Focus on those and the
larger event will be memorable.
A
couple of things to remember when preparing one of these. Treat it almost like
a level. Pick a large overarching theme for the event. A charity auction, a
festival, a grand ball, or a political event. Prepare several smaller encounters
that the group can experience during the event. Meet a reporter, bump into a
legendary crawler, find a small problem they might be able to solve, or
character they can help. Give them small rewards for taking part. These can
include minor pluses, an extra point of mojo to start the next level, a contact
for the future, or an in with a potential sponsor. Drop memorable characters on
them. A radio DJ that likes to share local music history with team Jammer, a
child from the local hospital who’s here for a charity photo shoot and asks the
character to solo an orc for him requiring the character to call out the kill
before making it, or an actual god.
I hope
these help. I’d love to hear if you’ve ever used an out of crawl encounter or
if you’ll use one in the future. Drop a comment below or on any of the social
media links where you saw this. I really do want to know.
Until
next time, stay safe and be well.
