Dragon Week!

Conan_Lybarian
Conan_Lybarian

A few of my players have some vacation time, and I threw out the idea of a 5 day marathon of game. We talked about some one shots or a super dungeon, but then it struck me. Name me a better marathon than SHARK WEEK! So, I present to you Dragon Week! Kidnap your players, drop them in a different pocket plane every "episode", and slay some dragons just for the hell of it! I'll be putting notes in parentheses as I'm still working out the finer points, but let me know if you have any questions or ideas!

          

(The image loads as a splash screen and stays at the top of the at-the-moment DM-only wiki page)

(The players find themselves in a black space with blinding lights beaming down on them. As their vision clears, they see that they are surrounded by hundreds of floating portals. Through the misty arcane pools, they see all manner of people and creatures watching them in anticipation. A deep reptilian voice suddenly fills the space)

"Welcome to the greatest display of entertainment in all the Astral Sea!

Every year, we choose several arguably lucky parties to participate in DRAGON WEEK!

This series of challenges will test their grit, their stamina, their will, and most importantly, their prowess!

The challenges include returning fan favorites

Eat, Pray, Chum (Fighting a Dragon turtle/water dragon either by staying atop the wreckage of a destroyed fleet of ships or below after grabbing the "powerups" for underwater combat)

Sand Storm (Fighting a brass dragon in a gold filled hoard cave as it fills with sand )

Dragon Island (Running through the jungle, being hunted by vicious kobolds ands feral wyrmlings)

I was Prey: Surviving the Rage (Takes place just after a Red Dragon has destroyed a major city, and they have to bring it down and defeat it classic hero style)

And by special request, we'll be adding a new one to the mix:

In the Mind's Eye (Defeating a Mind Flayer Dragon in its Underdark lair)

As always, any surviving parties will have to duke it out in one final showdown (I'm either going to let the party roll percentiles after each round to see if any others actually survive, or just smudge it and drum roll them winning, depending on how my players are feeling) before claiming the GRAND PRIZE (TBD)!

So grab your Rat-on-a-Stick, settle down in front of your scrying portals, and get ready for the best DRAGON WEEK ever!"

 

Comments

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    Nice!

    "Welcome to the greatest display of entertainment in all the Astral Sea!"

    What if that had an actual in game consequence/role?

    Similar to the Hunger Games thing where patrons could send the contestants gifts in the game to help them.  Then maybe the Characters could try to do something really entertaining to gain favor with the crowd and have them award that Character with something.  Maybe there is some reward every few rounds that is given to the Character (or Monster) that is most favored by the watching crowd at that point.

    Or maybe some of the watchers are betting on either the Characters...or the Dragon...or even "Fantasy Football" style on some of the Characters, but against other Characters...even though they are on the same team...or some spread (3 survive, 2 die, Dragon dies).  So then there is another level of competition going on between the bettors that induces them to send "powerups" to the Characters or to the Dragon to try to tilt the outcome in favor of their bets.

    Thanks for sharing this idea!

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240 edited July 2020

    Thanks for the ideas @thaen! That would be a super cool vibe. I especially like the idea of the spectators being part of a "Fantasy Fantasy League". The more I think about it.... I totally want to run or start some sort of Fantasy Fantasy League!

    Sending power ups in this style would also make the fights a little more dynamic, as I'm going to have to nerf the dragons right now due to their level.

    Edit: There are TOTALLY sites for creating custom Leagues out of anything. Dragon Week is gonna rock.
    Post edited by Conan_Lybarian on

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    I was making the suggestion with the idea that the "watchers" would be NPCs and be a "lever" you as the GM could pull to ramp up excitement/pressure, and as you said, and not have to nerf the dragons.

    But it sounds like you might be considering having real watchers and real bettors in a real betting pool...with real money?  Am I understanding that right? 

    Assuming yes...

    Would these battles be something you would broadcast live?  So the bettors could send "gifts" of help to their preferred side (or individual) in real time and affect the outcome of the battle?  (And add to the betting pool...)

    Would you be making your rolls public, so the fight was fair and there was no fudging?  Alternatively, you (the GM) and the Players (as a group, or individually) could have separate lists of the exact same "dice roll values" that you could select from, as you choose actions, to remove the randomness and make it more of a strategic battle.  "Do I use all of my high rolls up front to try to end it early, or do I save some to make needed saves and healing rolls later?  Or for particular chained/concerted combos?"

    Would the full stats of the Characters and the Monsters be available beforehand?  Along with the possible gifts that could be sent?

     

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240 edited July 2020

    So I was originally thinking of just a little in game mechanic for the event. I was playing around with a Creat-your-own league generator, and realized A) I dont have enough time to go whole ham on it right now or in time. And B) my players probably wouldn't get as into as myself in a short amount of time. All you're suggestions are totally going to be worked into this new project that I realize I'm now working on lol

    I'm thinking of making it in-game canon that it's a "Sport" that they can now follow and do their own Fantasy Leagues. 

    I'll share the link or screen shots when I get back into it, but I'm doing 3 generic attributes: Body, Mind, Soul. Each are ranked 1-5, each Contestant (still need a better title) has a different spread of strengths, and the rules will essentially be like a modified 3 Dragon Ante. Roll the Team's total scores as a bonus added to a D20 (or I might do each one adds to 1D6 per Contestant) for each category against each other, then total the points. That way it only takes a couple minutes to see how your Team did in your League. It would make it easy to track the "points" for each members of your team, and decide who won each round too.
    Post edited by Conan_Lybarian on

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    Sounds pretty cool!  I'll be interested to see what you end up doing with it!

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998

    I want in on the betting- can you allow outsiders in for this "wager"?

    Just trying to help out.

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998

    I have always liked the term combatant instead of contestant....

     

    Just trying to help out.

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    @thean I am unfortunately woefully unprepared for anything but a half-assed skype stream. So I could make it public, but it wouldn't be nearly as polished as I wish it could be.

    But that said, I'm now thinking of starting a sperate West Marshes style campaign and making it public for anyone to join. All the Combatants (thank you @Gamingmegaverse!) will be added as NPCs. Each NPC will have their stats and descriptions, so you get a general idea of who they are and their strengths. I actually spent a couple hours rolling up matches between teams themselves and it worked out really well. I'll even post a picture of my numbers later. One resulted in a win of rounds by one team, but more points for the other. It helped show that a Fantasy team of random Combatants would still pay off even if a team loses. How would you guys feel if it runs as matches between teams?  Then there would be special events like Dragon Take Down or Escape the Catastrophe?

    Then every week or on some standard schedule, I would post a description of the fight, with the break down in points for each team and Combatant.

    I still have some work to do if theres going to be a draft, sending or spending to give power ups to your team or players, and a betting system. I'd even be willing to throw an actual prize in for bettors/winners. Maybe a free month of Ascendant or do some sort of customization for their page/campaign. I'm actually more and more axcited for this!

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    And btw @GamingMegaverse, the campaign is public but this stuff is a surprise for the players, so its hidden for now. But if you wanna bet some virtual something after you see the spreads and stats after the first round, I'm totally down ;-)

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240 edited July 2020

    Quick bump- I made the page public. Check out the splash screen flare and tell me what you think laugh

    Still need to work out targeting mobile to make it more stable on a small screen, but full effect on actual screen.

    https://shadesoffear.obsidianportal.com/wikis/dragon-week

    Post edited by Conan_Lybarian on

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    HAHAHA!!!  I'm not sure how I feel about this...it's so cute...until I realize what it's actually constructed from...but it's still so cute...  That's quite a mind twist!

    https://shadesoffear.obsidianportal.com/items/meaty-bear

    I definitely wouldn't worry about "production value".  Start off rough with just a standard half-assed Skype or Twitch stream, and if people like it, the production value won't keep them away.  Hit up @Kallak or @Jynx001 if you have questions on the Twitch stuff.  They were both individually streaming on Twitch for a bit.

    "How would you guys feel if it runs as matches between teams?"

    I'm not 100% sure I understand.  These would be teams of actual Players that were fighting each other directly, as opposed to a team going against a Dragon (for example)?

    My personal preference would be only team vs monster, and no team vs team.  If you don't have to make someone the "loser" publicly, then there are more positive feelings to go around and promote the event.

     

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240

    The Meaty Bears are a real thing!! When I found them I changed up my plan for that session that day to my players fighting at a butcher and in a giant meat locker, just to face these monstrosities lol

    The Teams are all NPCs. No actual players/people. Unless some groups want to go in for that- but I imagine that would be a logistical nightmare. And yes, definitely Teams vs. Dragons and other events. For those events I think it would be cool to have live people. Those I'd be willing to figure out streaming something if there's any actual interest.

    But I'm thinking of creating these Teams, then rolling and posting their stats for the matches. Think of it as a fantasy football league page. You join, you pick your line ups, then see how your players did that week. A West Marshes style works perfect for this as it allows posting wikis and adventure logs, or forums of Player's (actual people) picks, and multiple ways to track their ongoing points totals.

  • weasel0
    weasel0
    Posts: 435

    It's a fantasy fantasy league. 

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240 edited July 2020

    @weasel0 That's literally what I've decided to call it! 

    https://fantasyfantasyleague.obsidianportal.com/

    Post edited by Conan_Lybarian on

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998

    So our games were on Twitch for over 5 years- happy to give you pointers- the streamer now has a family and has withdrawn from streaming, but at our height we averaged 250 viewers- not big, but not nothing either....

    Let me know how and where to "wager"- would love to have some NPC influence in this, that would be fun.

    Seriously, production value is for the people that can afford it- I still watch regularly a few folks that are just fun and get into their gaming...

    Just trying to help out.

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998

    Please give me a date- that splash page is amazing, and deserves to be shared!!!

    Just trying to help out.

  • Conan_Lybarian
    Conan_Lybarian
    Posts: 240 edited July 2020

    Thanks @GamingMegaverse! I enabled social media buttons to make it easier to share. We should be doing the first session of Dragon Week this Friday. My plan is to run the session, post the usual session write up, then put the stats and performance of the other teams both there and over on the FFL page. That way there's a general feel of what I'm thinking for mechanics. Still getting the wager/reward/gift mechanic worked out, but I've got a couple ideas I'm kicking around. Might need to start a yet another thread lol

    Post edited by Conan_Lybarian on

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