Boat Race:
This was originally run on Lake Banini, in Pamaltela. The holy man of Banini (See Tales of the Reaching Moon #11, I believe) was made into a wind sufer dude/ hippie guru guy. Laid back, odd, friendly wise-but-cryptic.
All the clans/tribes/etc. around a lake/loch/etc. get together each year for a big boat race. The race itself lasts a while, but is only a fraction of the time of the gathering. For more racing, add a large number of teams and have elimination rounds. Or age groupings. The day before the race, the teams arrive with much fanfare, each trying to outdo the others in flash and style (or grim intimidation, whatever works for you). Lots of partying that night by fans and supporters. Teams get ready. The next day begins with rituals (like the Olympics). Then there is the race(s). In my game, boats were mostly standardized and had similar numbers of paddlers. Performance was based on a home made function, with Strength, Con, Size, and Boating as inputs (I fudged the resultsanyway). Magic was *not* allowed, and a set of judges was actively looking fo r it. The winning team(s) got some sort of trophy, a fancy paddle in our game. Losers were sad, and some went home, but most folks stayed on for another big get together (with enough place awards and age/type of craft categories, lots of clans would have something to celebrate). Tribal business was sometimes informally carried on, but "official" work was traditionally banned.
PCs should be travelling outsiders who run into a team on its way to the contest, or arrive while the lake is being prepared. The locals will let them compete as their own team, with a borrowed boat. They are not likely to win without cheating. Cheaters are dealt with either comically (pelted with rotten vegetables and mud and told to leave) orviolently (sacrificed as atonement to the Athletic Gods).
In our running, the holy man ran the show as a sort of marshal, leading
the ceremonies, waving the starting flags, presenting the awards. His
"committee" of helpers had some old spare boats to lend out. The PCs
entered their one of these boats, lost badly, but didnt swamp it or
doing something else stupid. They had a good time at the parties. This
allowed them to get a quick look at lots of locals in a friendly
atmosphere. If the
clans are nastier rivals, well.... The players had a good time, too,
which is really the whole point, right?
Of course this boat race festival is a subset of the much larger
"athletic gathering" class of scenarios. These include the Olympics,
Highland games, soccer/football tournaments,Trollball, Shield Push,
Garhound contest, cricket. For example:
Olympics - city states or provinces compete in a large, long meeting of games. The games are infused with religious significance.
Highland games - clans get together for various events. Perhaps an interclan contest follows. Socializing abounds for these often isolated folks
Pelota - games played in Central American cities, in courts, with the losers executed. Run the PCs as prisoners of war.
Football - loyal fans converge on a village suckered into playing host to the competition. Among the teams is X, a group whose clan has just been allowed back into competition after incidents of hooliganism. When X loses, all hell breaks loose.
And athletic competitions are only a part of the "Competitive Gathering" class. Here is one competitive gathering I learned about recently on TV: The locals have a Red team and the Blue team, each with large numbers of followers. Each year, the teams and their fans converge on a competition place where the fans can watch. On three consecutive nights, the teams (who have dozens of members) dress up in fabulous costumes. One person dresses as a bull. Another is a song leader. The teams go into the competition place and put on elaborate singing and dancing performances for 3 hours straight. Some of the team members have instruments, others just sing and dance. The competitions are judged by a panel, who declares the winning team. The winners get a trophy. These folks go all out with amazing costumes and pyrotechnics strapped to their bodies. The competition takes place in the Amazon jungle region of Brazil, near the confluence of the Rio Negro and the Amazon itself, I believe.
This competition is adaptable to Praxian tribes, I think (the Bull imagery), to Doraddi, to lots of folks (Aldryami, too). Placing it in a Jungle or some other wilderness is cool, since the PCs (outsiders again work best) will probably be stunned by the hordes streaming out of the woods. Have the competition place be unoccupied but kept magically clear of weeds, etc. when between competitions. Have the PCs stumble on to it first. They can watch or join a team (or teams if they split up).
Thanks for reading. Please send all "this is really stupid and heres why" messages to: Hal Bowman hal_bowman_at_hotmail.com
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #28
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