Vornheim Ball Ideas for Zimran Ahmed

 Zimran says-

"I'm going to run a grand aristocrat ball in Vornheim. Lots of intrigue, and a good number of the guests may try to assassinate one another. Both a goblin band, and some elfs of Nornick will probably also try to raid the place halfway through.

Any tips on how to run it?"

 

I said-

 

"Figure out some rules for trying to get through crowds, rules for panicking guests, maybe rules for dancing?

Also some strange customs always make Vornheim shine, maybe there could be duels for who gets first dance or to dance with who they want..."

 

 

And I couldn't stop thinking about it, so here we are- with some expanded ideas and art! 

All art is by @SamuelThomasCu2 on twitter!

 

 

 

Duels- Duels could come up, a good way to make duels fun is to use the duel rules from page 143 or A Red and Pleasant Land. Maybe also a dance off?

Panic- Make panic manifest by using random initiative, no modifiers, and reroll each start of round.

Dancing- Have some of the players, if they ask, have the ability to learn how to dance from an instructor before the party? Maybe this could be a 1/6 skill. I would love to see specialists in dance! Maybe it could help with fighting in certain circumstances, like GoT- 

Crowds- Normal people for the most part, I assume you have stats, but if not, you could adjust these

 

Normal person stats,

HD 1

HP 6

Speed 120’

Armor 12

Morale 9

Attack : d4 

 

For a panicked swarm,  I guess you could then compound them to simulate crush? Like if a huge group pushes, people die, so maybe add things up somehow, or make rolls related to the amount of people pushing in one direction.

 

 

 

A quick guest table-

Roll a 1d12 (Note, This is easily expanded!)

1- King/Queen

2- Famed Actor

3- Philanthropist

4- Prince/Princess

5- A Disguised Wizard

6- Sir/Dame

7- Prince/Princess

8- Merchant

9- Prince/Princess

10- Famed Artist

11- Baron/Baroness

12- Advisor

13- Archduke/Archduchess

14- A Vampire

15- Count/Countess

16- Disguised Thief

17- Duke/Duchess

18- Tycoon

19- Disguised Creature

20- Margrave/Marquess

 

There is a great pair of d100 table for aristocrat names and other details in Vornheim on page 46 and 47, I recommend using that.

Best resource for new names is looking for historical people or using BehindTheName!

Insane Appetizers!

1 Devil-eel Roe Marbled Cheese

2 Blue Aspic with Cow Eyes

3 Angels on horseback- Made Out of Angel Meat and Horse-Oysters

4 Thousand Year Eggs

5 Blooming Onion, Keeps Regrowing

6  Just Shots of Alcohol- Completely Random Kinds on Tray

7 Baked Alaskan

8 Strangely Colored Crudités

9 Cockatrice Feet

10 Pickled Parrot Eggs

11 Some Kinda Bug, Liquefied in Shot Glasses

12 Chicken Fed Tons of Gold- the Schmaltz and Gizzard Glitter

13 Spider Dip

14 Cranberry Sauce and Killer Shrimp Meat

15 Wassail

16 Tangerines

17 Witch Fingers

18 Healing Berry Fruit Leather

19 Dancing Squid Salad

20 A Large Assortment of Dried and Crystallized Fruits

Other Ideas!

Include Dumbwaiter/Elevators!

 

Have a room for drug use?

 

Make some secret passages that the hosts use/know about, and perceptive players can see them do impossible movement though the party if they watch carefully.

Keep track of windows!

Courtyard garden! 

 

Kids section of the party?

Library is where the weird people go, you can use the books on Vornheim Page 48-49!

Page 53 of Vornheim Can be used to tie the various party-goers together.

Intellectuals playing a cerebral game in a secluded corner?

        I might add more if I have a brainwave~

Let me know what you think, if any of this is useful, or whatever else!

Thanks for the inspiration Zimran!