Thoughts Needed on Cimmerian "Highland" Games

[Supplement Four]

My players in this new campaign have never played D&D 3E+. I need to break 'em in.

I'm thinking of doing that slowly, over a couple of short gaming sessions. I plan on building background, maybe stumbling upon some good role playing situations, having them get to know their Clan brothers and sisters, family, Clan's and local history, maybe a little about Crom, during the first session. 1-3 hours. And, I'm going to focus on rolling up stats, introducing them to the Barbarian class (they know some of Conan, but they're not fanatical like I am....which is what you want in a Conan GM, right?), and spending some time on how to use skills.

I want to show them how to Take 10, Take 20. Show them how INT bonus points are different from Class points. Tell them about skill synergy and aiding another and re-rolling failures.

And, I want them comfortable with Ability checks. I might even explain pushing an ability from the Fiercest book.

What I thought I'd do is do this "in game", in story format. I'm going to open up with the boys, aged 12-14, knee deep in the shallows of the nearby wet country, collecting bog iron. They've been sired by the village blacksmith, who also happens to be the village elder.

But, the boys are excited this day. They're all chatting away. Because today...today starts the Games!

So, I figured I'd pick a selection of skills to give to the players. One list will show the bonuses they get for their race and class. The second list will be some skills that I think they can develop naturally, as a part of their personalities (Sense Motive and Bluff comes to mind.), or as part of their environment (with their da being the town blacksmith, that will open up Craft or Profession).

The third list will be the longest, and it will focus on physical skills like Climb and Swim and Balance and Jump.

What I'm going to do is establish that, every year--every Spring--the village celebrates festival.

I want to set up an obstacle course for the player to run through. The game purpose of this is to show the players how skills are used. I'll have a DC check, and I'll have opposed throws. I'll do Ability checks. I'll show them how the system works.

But, rather than just doing this blandly, I thought this little thing could be our first encounter--the kids competing against each other in the games.

Lifting. Throwing. Running. Climbing. Things like that.

I'm going to role play through this instead of doing it "outside" of the game.

I like the background it can put on a character.

I need to think of something small--a token--that will be given to the winner, too. I'm thinking that maybe a Cimmerian dagger--their da's, that was handed to him by his father when he won the games back as he was turning into a man.

Later on, though, I've got a set-up where one of the players can earn that nifty Cimmerian steel sword that father has been working on. So, the thought of another weapon as prize for these games is less appealing to me.

Do you have any thoughts on what the prize could be?



Also, I'm looking for ideas for the obstacle course. I know I can easily make up my own, or check the net for what normally occurs at a Highland Games festival (like throwing telephone poles). But, it never hurts to ask here. There's some creative GMs who roam these parts.

I'm going to take all the physical skills, have the players assign whatever points, if any, they'd like to, to them. Then, I'm going to describe this festival and have the players play through a competition, allowing them to learn the Conan RPG skill system as we're doing it.

In later sessions, I'll focus on learing combat and hunting and the like.


So...thoughts on some nifty, creative things I could use in these games, focusing on the physical skills?

If you've got thoughts on this, I'd like to hear 'em.

I'm already thinking of a run, followed by a climb up a tree, and a jump from one close tree to another, scamper down, run again, climb up the side of a hill, jump across a small crack of a chasm, run to the ledge, then jump into the stream, swim back to the village, then up, out of the water for a run to the finish.

Something like that.

Thoughts?

 

[VincentDarlage]

Do you have any thoughts on what the prize could be?

Cattle. A new nickname (many RL primitive heroes were known by nicknames based on heroic exploits of their youth). Of course, you could give increases to their Reputation. Furs. The hero's portion of a meal given in the characters' honour. Perhaps all the losers must pledge to perform one favor for the winner (such as help in a time of war). Perhaps the losers must pledge an Allegiance to the winner for a year.

 

[Supplement Four]

You're on the right track, Vincent. That's where I was thinking as well. But, remember, the Ras Croi is the initiation into the Warrior training of the Blue Fox Clan. These boys are only 12 years old. They're not yet ready to own property.

So...

What I've come up with is this:



Ras Croi (Raws - Kroy) - A very physical, endurance race held during the Beltain (Festival on May 1st - First day of Summer) for 12 year old boys, when the clan has participants. The entire clan lines the race path, cheering, urging the young warriors on. Judging the runners are Clan Elders and all Warriors. A democratic vote is cast with Elder votes counting double, and by simple majority a runner, judged on his performance, becomes a Graiis (Gry-is). Graiis are basically warriors-in-training. Cadets. A Cimmerian specialized-warrior-school, where the graiis are trained, for three years, where, at around age 15, become full fledged warriors of the clan.

Those who run the Ras Croi, but are not selected as Graiis, have no saddled with no shame, though that emotion inevitably finds its way into the hearts of the 12 year olds who must run the race again the following year.

There are occasions when the Ras Croi is run by only one participant, due to only one clan member being of sufficient age, but the judging remains the same.



Ar Grais (Are Grys) - is the winner of the Ras Croi, and he is awarded with a special position among the Graiis, serving as a psuedo chieftain among the other warriors-in-training. Throughout the training period of the next three years, the Ar Grais acts as Captain-Leader-Commander among the other boys. He is also bestowed with the right to eating first among the other Graiis, sitting closest to the fire, and having the other Graiis follow his commands. This builds leadership and respect for authority among the boys, preparing them for life as adults among their clansmen.

The Grai-mada-ra (Gry-modda-raw) - is a necklace of station worn by the Ar Grais. It is made from the forelegs of the Cimmerian Blue Fox, and it is a sacred artifact among the Blue Fox Clan. Since clan members are forbidden from killing the blue fox, bones for the necklaces (as there may be more than one Ar Grais--a year or more apart--depending on the ages of the Graiis) are collected only when a Blue Fox is found dead in the wild. When such a dead fox is found, the villiage oracle is called to the site to collect as much of the dead fox as can be salvaged.



Deasghnath (Dee-as-ga-nath) - is the final rite of the Graiis, where the young warrior, aged about 15, must make a kill on his own. The type of kill is up to the warrior, and typically results in a feared animal being taken down and returned to the villiage. But sometimes, Clan enemies or targets of a Blood Fued are used to fulfill the Deasghnath. A warrior has some input into the esteem he will recieve after undergoing the deasghnath by the target he chooses to kill. It is not unusual to see a warrior return with the heads of three wolves, but this warrior does not find his place beside that of the warrior who returns to the villiage with the head of a member from an enemy clan.



Mantle - This is a large, warm, cloak, big enough to protect the warrior in winter and when sleeping in the wild. It can be made into a hammock or a wilderness shelter. Once a warrior completes the deasghnath, he becomes a young member of the clan's protectors: its warriors. Every person in the Clan contributes to the creation of the warrior's Mantle, from those hunters who provide the fur, to those who clean and skin the dead animals, to those who actually stitch the cloak into one piece. Young and old, every clansmen's hand touches the mantle and contributes to its creation, after which, it is presented to the warrior in a ceremony in front of the entire clan.

 

[VincentDarlage]

You could make a prestige class (one to three levels), and make winning the contest one of the pre-reqs. He could choose to take the prestige class later, or not, but the winner is the only one who can make the choice. No one else can take it.

Instead of Knowledge (local) as a background skill, you could give your players Knowledge (Ras Croi), and make it like I made Knowledge (Mystery: religion) or Knowledge (fencing), with ranks in it conferring certain bonuses - and if one wins the thing, the skill becomes a class skill. For everyone else it is cross-class.

 

[Supplement Four]

You could make a prestige class (one to three levels), and make winning the contest one of the pre-reqs. He could choose to take the prestige class later, or not, but the winner is the only one who can make the choice. No one else can take it.

That's a very neat idea.

This started out as an exercise to teach my players the Conan skills system. The Ras Croi will be run the first game session, and the characters will not be complete. They will have some skills, no feats, and stats. Bare minimum characters with stats and some skills only. Next game session, we add feats.

I didn't want to get too tied down on this first game session, which I expect will run 2-3 hours only (universe background, teach all about skills, then run the Ras Croi), putting so much into it...but I also wanted to make it so much more than just out of game-ish "here, pick your skills" mechanical type of thing. I wanted to turn it into a background event for the characters.

I'm going to slowing introduce NPCs, too.

I want there to be some uncertainty in the Ras Croi, so one of the players has a twin brother, Brannoc. I'm going to run him as an NPC during the race.

They'll meet their father, Finn, too, the master smith and villiage elder. And, Olav, the one-armed outsider that comes every year or so with a small curiosity (like a one-act circus) that the villiager welcome to relieve them of their dreary lives. He's one of the few outsiders truly welcomed into the town, even though strangers do make their way to Seven Stones more often than not to trade for Finn's weapons.

I've got many more NPCs to introduce to the players (which I plan on doing over a few game sessions--as the characters have known these people their whole lives).

Instead of Knowledge (local), you could give your players Knowledge (Ras Croi), and make it like I made Knowledge (Mystery: religion) or Knowledge (fencing), with ranks in it conferring certain bonuses - and if one wins the thing, the skill becomes a class skill. For everyone else it is cross-class.

That's another fantastic idea.

 

[VincentDarlage]

Well, if they haven't chosen feats - you could make up a Ras Croi feat for the winner, maybe one that combines Run and Endurance, for example. Kind of a superfeat for the winner only.

 

[VincentDarlage]

You could give skill modifiers... if a character wins a climbing contest, he gets +1 or +2 (depending whether he comes in first or second... maybe even a -1 for the one who comes in last) to his Climb skill, or if he wins a long jump, the modifier applies to his Jump skill, or if he wins a scavanger hunt, he gets the bonus to his Search skill. You get the idea.