I am running Dragons of Icespire peak, and I was just wondering. What do people do there for fun? Like I get drinking, maybe a bard would show up, but there are smaller events. Is there a holiday that everyone would be celebrating? If so, how? Fireworks? Feasting? Are there any specific celebrations on the Sword Coast?
I know I could probably Google something and it would be fine, but I wanted to see what the community had to say first.
The sad answer would be that there isn’t anything else to do for fun. Mainly because of the dragon terrorizing the area.
The better answer is I’d imagine they’d have some sort of game with a simple ball like catch, other then that I guess they could bird watch or talk about life, take walks in the snow and do their respective job. Maybe they have some sort of gathering for hunters to tell stories of the magical beats they’ve seen, cus we know there’s a bunch of those. On the darker side maybe there’s an underground fighting ring where peasants bet on which fighter may win, and the only thing else I can think of is cards.
Hope this helps with stuff. I’ve tried to keep everything within reason of what entertainment a small town may have but the fighting ring is a bit out there but may be a fun thing for you’re party to discover and maybe even shut down.
Phandalin is a podunk mining settlement situated in the middle of the wilderness. Their idea of fun generally boils down to "not dying", but people generally do have feasts and card games when they're not actively being terrorized by something.
When I ran this module. I made the dragon visit Phandelin shortly after their arrival at the inn. I made the dragon look for Harbin Wester, who had sent adventurers that never returned. I made the inn keeper tell everyone to stay quiet and everyone shut the blinds. I also put a makeshift graveyard/body piles near the entrance of the town of people who were recovered from dragon and orc attacks. When the Dragon arrived, I made him cast icy breath to turn an entire house into ice frost, freezing everyone inside to death.
As others have said, everyone is terrorized in Phandelin right now. Most people would be staying indoors or would have left town. Harbin is useless trying to secure himself and take advantage of any economic opportunities he can for himself and his brother. I also made him try to take credit for anything good happening in town. Meanwhile I made Halia Thornton the real puppet master pulling the strings behind the scene. I made her the one who gets all the information from scribes about the happenings around the Sword Coast.
That's a good point, the Orc and Dragon attacks are going to make people anxious and afraid. The party just encountered Cryovain and successfully repelled him. So now that the rumors have proved true I should probably develop that some more.
Plus there is gambling, game playing, heck maybe I'll throw in a drinking contest and see if anyone bites. Kids play catch, tag, hide and seek etc.
Kids playing games - sure ( at least when there are no attacks), as for festivals - yes there are - look up the calendar of harpoons for the Faerun/ sword coast calendar and at least some of the major festivals. Then what clerics/temples/shrines are you including? Each will have its own feast days. Finally the town may well have its own “founding day” celebrations.
I ran an introductory festival culminating in an adventurer’s decathlon. Giving players XP and prizes based on their placement. It was a fun way to teach the new players the mechanics without risking a TPK.
the result was that the citizens found the players to be worthy protectors who could fight the young white dragon terrorizing the region.
I am leaning to either add a dragon attack or have some kind of carnival or feast. Still thinking about it. They should be on the way to the Tower of Storms in the next session. I am sure I can think of something.
Bothergoblin - find some goblins, bother them. Seems only fair, since they tend to bother us.
Bear wrestling - this is a traditional passtime in town. However, it turned out to have an unsustainable level of attrition, so the bear was eventually substituted with Hurzk - a local orc. The name stuck, however. Hurzk is nice enough to convincingly growl like a bear while wrestling hopefuls into submission.
Tunnel Run - there's a short track down in the mines that competitors run, blindfolded. Only occasionally does anyone fall into a bottomless pit, never to be seen again.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
This is great, a bunch of working-class people the salt of the earth, bored AF. I picture the mine run to be something to be accomplished with copious amounts of alcohol.
This is great, a bunch of working-class people the salt of the earth, bored AF. I picture the mine run to be something to be accomplished with copious amounts of alcohol.
None of the activities are to be attempted while sober. Nor, for that matter, is living in Phandalin =)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
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I am running Dragons of Icespire peak, and I was just wondering. What do people do there for fun? Like I get drinking, maybe a bard would show up, but there are smaller events. Is there a holiday that everyone would be celebrating? If so, how? Fireworks? Feasting? Are there any specific celebrations on the Sword Coast?
I know I could probably Google something and it would be fine, but I wanted to see what the community had to say first.
The sad answer would be that there isn’t anything else to do for fun. Mainly because of the dragon terrorizing the area.
The better answer is I’d imagine they’d have some sort of game with a simple ball like catch, other then that I guess they could bird watch or talk about life, take walks in the snow and do their respective job. Maybe they have some sort of gathering for hunters to tell stories of the magical beats they’ve seen, cus we know there’s a bunch of those. On the darker side maybe there’s an underground fighting ring where peasants bet on which fighter may win, and the only thing else I can think of is cards.
Hope this helps with stuff. I’ve tried to keep everything within reason of what entertainment a small town may have but the fighting ring is a bit out there but may be a fun thing for you’re party to discover and maybe even shut down.
Phandalin is a podunk mining settlement situated in the middle of the wilderness. Their idea of fun generally boils down to "not dying", but people generally do have feasts and card games when they're not actively being terrorized by something.
When I ran this module. I made the dragon visit Phandelin shortly after their arrival at the inn. I made the dragon look for Harbin Wester, who had sent adventurers that never returned. I made the inn keeper tell everyone to stay quiet and everyone shut the blinds. I also put a makeshift graveyard/body piles near the entrance of the town of people who were recovered from dragon and orc attacks. When the Dragon arrived, I made him cast icy breath to turn an entire house into ice frost, freezing everyone inside to death.
As others have said, everyone is terrorized in Phandelin right now. Most people would be staying indoors or would have left town. Harbin is useless trying to secure himself and take advantage of any economic opportunities he can for himself and his brother. I also made him try to take credit for anything good happening in town. Meanwhile I made Halia Thornton the real puppet master pulling the strings behind the scene. I made her the one who gets all the information from scribes about the happenings around the Sword Coast.
That's a good point, the Orc and Dragon attacks are going to make people anxious and afraid. The party just encountered Cryovain and successfully repelled him. So now that the rumors have proved true I should probably develop that some more.
Plus there is gambling, game playing, heck maybe I'll throw in a drinking contest and see if anyone bites. Kids play catch, tag, hide and seek etc.
Thanks for the input.
Kids playing games - sure ( at least when there are no attacks), as for festivals - yes there are - look up the calendar of harpoons for the Faerun/ sword coast calendar and at least some of the major festivals. Then what clerics/temples/shrines are you including? Each will have its own feast days. Finally the town may well have its own “founding day” celebrations.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I ran an introductory festival culminating in an adventurer’s decathlon. Giving players XP and prizes based on their placement. It was a fun way to teach the new players the mechanics without risking a TPK.
the result was that the citizens found the players to be worthy protectors who could fight the young white dragon terrorizing the region.
I am leaning to either add a dragon attack or have some kind of carnival or feast. Still thinking about it. They should be on the way to the Tower of Storms in the next session. I am sure I can think of something.
Small town events they do for fun
or profit:Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
This is great, a bunch of working-class people the salt of the earth, bored AF. I picture the mine run to be something to be accomplished with copious amounts of alcohol.
None of the activities are to be attempted while sober. Nor, for that matter, is living in Phandalin =)
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.