Trouble with Two Headed Trolls

The trouble with two headed trolls……
The King has called for all good men to gather and push back the invading Infidels, yet while the forces have rallied to the cause, they now find their way blocked by a larger force of infidels. All hope is not lost however; as word has reached camp that there may be a path through the forest known only to the locals. This path not only allows passage around the infidels, but leads directly to their unprotected baggage train. There is only one little problem, according to the locals, the path is haunted….
You find yourself in a camp of fellow adventurers. The locals have told you tales of odd creatures that roam the nearby woods, along with rumors of treasures that have been left behind by the victims of the woods. Legend has it that those treasures may be protected by deadly traps, both mundane and mystical.
As haunted woods are no place to venture into alone, it is time to gather a band of comrades to face the challenges that lie ahead. It is recommended that groups of 3 to 4 should be capable of handling most of the things you are likely to encounter. Some challenges might require the strength of arms of a stalwart warrior, while others are likely to demand feats of skill or a keen mind. Your fellow adventurers will also be taking to the woods to see if they might help find the way through.
Now to the details:
The site is 71 acres, with about 16 acres of woods. The event will be set in the wooded area. There will be a main village area as the starting point for the encounters to follow. Only period pavilions or tents will be set up in the village area. It is recommended that each group arrange space in one of the pavilions to have a base to work out of. For those who do not have period tentage, there will another ‘plastic camp’ set up outside of the area where the encounters are set up.
There is not a particular time period or place we are basing this event around, rather the expectation is to ‘be somebody medieval-ish’, be it a Viking, Crusader or a Rider of Rohan. While there is not a ‘10 foot rule’, please avoid the mundane so as to not detract from the setting. Likewise, avoid the more extreme fantasy element, i.e. no fairy wings. While there are likely to be some sort of mythical encounters, the adventurers are human.
The event is going to require a good bit of staging to live up to its potential. For there to be sufficient challenges each group of adventurers, we are asking each group to devise some sort of encounter or challenge. As indicated above, this encounter can be martial, some sort of skills challenge or some kind of mental challenge or combine elements of the former. Some challenges might be solvable by one member of the party, while others require the team to work together. There will be sample challenges provided as examples, but teams should exercise their creativity to devise something entertaining and challenging for the other teams to figure out. In general, challenges should be doable, if difficult, and should be repeatable, since it will have to be set up for each group to attempt it. Each team needs to provide whatever resources are needed to provide the encounter, be those props and/or personnel needed to run the encounter (i.e. if your encounter is bandits have taken a local hostage, then you need to supply the bandits and the hostage). If the encounter is some sort of puzzle, then it needs to be resettable. There is flexibility in designing an encounter, so for example softer weapons than rattan are acceptable and encouraged where appropriate. The force level for any martial encounters will be lighter than normally expected for SCA combat in order to allow more folks to take part. That said, there should be some consideration towards for those who ‘dress the part’. We will be practicing at the upcoming events for folks to calibrate in preparation for the event to help ensure that people understand the expectations on calibration.
Schedule- Friday will be a working/staging event. As early on Friday as practicable, we are going to restrict modern vehicular traffic into the village area in order to help get the proper ambiance going. By Friday evening we will begin setting the stage for the adventures the following days. Some NPC’s will already be roaming the village and may be dropping hints or clues for the adventures to follow on Saturday. There will be some kind of tavern fare going in the kitchen, though it may be just a hearty stew and fresh bread. Saturday will start with a morning repast of some sort. Over breakfast we will go over the format for the days encounters. Following breakfast, some NPC’s will head out to man some of the encounters, after which we slip loose the parties! There is no particular schedule on the day, more a rolling set of encounters. It is anticipated that periodically word will arrive at the tavern that some dire event has occurred that calls for a group of adventurers to undertake. How often this happens will depend entirely on how many folks we have to work with.
Encounters- At this point we have no idea how many adventuring parties are going to be formed. Consequently, we have no idea how many encounters will be out there for our adventurers to undertake that are going to be run by fellow adventurers. In order to make sure there are at least some things for our adventurers to do, there will be some random encounters that will be staged in the areas around the camp. Some will require NPC’s to run the encounter, so pretty much everyone at the event should expect to be drafted at some point to help fill in a role in order to keep those encounters going. There will also be some NPC’s that will be scattered around the camp to add flavor, and potentially help, to the adventure. There is a growing list of NPC’s to choose from, but if you have a particular role you would like to play, please speak up sooner rather than later, so we know which ones are covered. On that note, if you pitch in to take on an NPC role, you won’t be stuck with it all day. We’ll mix and match as needed to keep things lively. If it hasn’t become obvious, this is not your typical spectator event, everyone is in on the action
Instructions- During an encounter, you may be given instructions by a NPC or the person running the encounter. If so, you are to do your best to carry out the instructions [as flamboyantly as possible when appropriate]. Doing so will add a bit of spice to the encounter.
Settings/Staging- The site allows us to stage encounters over a variety of terrain, but we are still going to have to define areas to properly stage some of the encounters. As such, there will ropes, tape, etc. to mark off the encounter areas. This will most commonly be done to define the obstacles and/or the approach paths available. If there are restrictions on how to approach the encounter, there will be some instructions describing what you see, i.e. “the two ropes on the ground mark a fast flowing river that extends miles in each direction, you appear to be at the narrowest crossing that you can see”. In other words, if you are to cross the river, this is where it will need to take place. If you have any questions about the staging for an encounter, please clarify them before attempting them. Some encounters may have ‘interpreters’ to describe what you are seeing. While not specifically part of the challenge, they can help set the stage. They may also be there to describe the consequences of your attempt…….
Timing- Some encounters may have a time element in that you only have so long to solve them. If time is of the essence, it will be made clear during the encounter and usually marked in some obvious way, i.e. a large hourglass. For some encounters there will be a specified reset period that will also be marked, i.e. if a fountain fills with some magical water, it takes so long to refill after it has been emptied. Again this should be marked in some obvious way.
Rewards- While the primary reward for attempting the encounters will be getting a good story to tell, most stations will have some type of token to collect for those who successfully resolve the encounter. Depending on the encounter, there may be different types of tokens depending on the actions performed. To the bold goes the gold……
Death and other Sordid things- Odd are quite good that some of you are not going to survive………However, not to worry! Time heals all wounds, and for the rest there are clerics, or witches, etc….Should an encounter prove a bit too deadly, there will be a variety of options to help restore the party to its previous lively self. Some may require seeking out a specific remedy, while for others any old priest may do. If you find yourself having to do a bit of restoration, just ‘role’ with it .
Feast and Rations- As mentioned above there will be some food on the hearth in the tavern Friday night and Saturday morning to get things going, but as of the moment, I don’t have anything lined up for lunch Saturday or for the feast Saturday night. As we get this thing going, and we have a better head count, we’ll need to get things sorted out for the feast Saturday night. I’m anticipating something simple and filling so that we can get to the real entertainment, which will be the recounting of the days’ adventures. The current plan is to have the trestle tables set up in a large U so that we can have folks share the tales of their encounters, and perhaps show off any treasures collected. I’m open to suggestions and volunteers to help with the logistics of making sure everyone’s belly is full.
One last thing- As you have hopefully gathered by now, I’m pulling this format out of my ….. It is part quest, part D&D, part Larp, part whatever you want to call it, ultimately it is a chance to have some fun out in the woods with your friends while enjoying some good company, tasty food, stories by campfire and a chance to test yourself on some actual challenges, instead of simply being another keyboard warrior. I think the format has a lot of potential, but it is going to require some buy in from folks to make it come together. While I’ve tried to think through the logistics to make a workable format, in order for it work, I’ll need folks to commit early enough that we can iron out the challenges and not be rushing at the last minute to get things set up. The holidays are in full swing, but March will be here before you know it, so we are going to have to get hopping if we want the event to go well. I look forward to hearing from folks as to whether they are willing to commit to the idea so we can see if this format can get traction. Regards, Dave/Alexis