RPG Scenario - The Fancy Party

You wouldn't know it, but I have always had a secret enjoyment of Pride & Prejudice. The BBC mini-series (with Colin Firth!) is the best version and closest to the novel. I'm told there actually is a Jane Austen-inspired RPG, which maybe I'll take a look at sometime, but today I wanted to briefly touch on a scenario structure I have yet to try, but definitely want to employ in my games in the future: the dinner party.

Now this often includes the connotation of high society, hobnobbing with the nobility—but it doesn’t have to be. This could just as easily be a feast in a Northern Viking hall. Where music and dancing are featured, while people eat and take and find side nooks for private conversation deep into the night. And the mead flows as thick as the stories of great deeds. 

Then of course you can have the balls or dinner parties we all think of—or the masquerade parties, where you may not be able to tell to whom you are speaking. 

There’s plenty of interesting mechanical and GM ideas to make these social encounters really interesting. In fact, I feel as though this type of event is almost like a boss battle in terms of a social encounter if you build it up enough. I would certainly consider awarding XP or other appropriate rewards for creative play and accomplishing your goals during these situations.

Perhaps the best article I’ve come across on this topic is from the Alexandrian. This boils the process of designing these scenarios into four basic steps: 1) creating a location with multiple areas to congregate. 2) Make a list of characters attending. 3) Come up with some events for the event, and finally 4) create topics of conversation. 

Another recent article that I think provides some great ideas is from the Kobold Press blog. This article offers some great random tables of things that could happen during an event, along with some lair actions for a royal ballroom that could be repurposed for any large social environment, or could inspire custom ideas. These elements combined with Justin Alexander’s advice could help us create events for the party, or come up with topics of conversation.

I’m working on a battle tutorial and intro scenario for my mercenary company campaign idea. I think a good capstone if the characters do well in the battle would be a victory feast as a social event. I’ll provide my write up of that scenario as an example of these techniques and potentially revisit this topic once I’ve tried running a party myself with any new thoughts. I’m also working on a wedding for my Ptolus campaign’a first session. I’ll do the same for that scenario too.