So in my game the players have entered a grand Brewmasters contest to earn a big prize, a reputation, and maybe a few enemies!
They Forged a Divine Brew scoring in excess of 9D in the process, I cannot remember the Obstacle I set, but many Fate and Persona dice were thrown at me to accomplish this feat.
What’s the best way to simulate a contest with judges?
Either a roll-off or a Dual of Wits as both sides try to convince the judges that theirs is the superior product (with some added bonus coming from the thing in question, advantage dice or a pool of borrowable dice or something).
I like the Dual of Wits idea myself, keeps things fresh and your players on their toes.
I’d also buy a half dozen nice beers and roleplay the tasting. Bonus FP for any player who brings along a beer for everyone.
Is it about the judges at all? Isn’t a contest between brewers?
In my head, it’d be a multi-participant Versus test. Each brewer in the competition rolls as many dice as he can muster. The judges are color, in this case.
Maybe certain types of brews are favored by judges, and if you brew towards them, you gain an advantage die. Maybe some judges dislike a certain brew and you’d get a +1 Ob.
Linked tests of Soothing Platitudes and Resources/Bribes could earn extra advantage dice.
But it seems like the roll has already been made, so those advantage dice are moot?
What was the original intent in creating the divine brew? Take a moment to consider if the contest actually falls under Let it Ride.
Frank
Yeah it might be a “let it ride” situation, but you also have other folks contesting for the same intent; to create a brew to win the Brewmasters title. I don’t want to cheapen this experience, as the players put a lot of effort into a booth, and marketing their “Bar of Wonders” to the city of Katapesh. Lots of people are going to be trying this brew out, so while they might not win the award, they might win popular choice with the townsfolk.
I’m using a lot of everyone’s ideas, good suggestions!
I’m thinking a Graduated test to see how the judge responds to the 9D Brew (Adding color to the contest) + Duel of Wits to increase their chances. The other contenders will have set results as well. This also get’s the players a chance to earn some tests.
They also personally know two of the judges, although I haven’t revealed this yet.
What would be the stakes for a Duel of Wits?
I can’t remember a single time in a crafting competition that I argued my way to victory.
I’ve done brewing competitions in the SCA where research was part of the competition. If you could justify a particular decision, you’d get more points than you would have if you hadn’t made the justification.
But what’s wrong with a versus test between the brewing skills in question? The rest of the brewers are irrelevant; just come up with a rival NPC (or better yet, tie it to a relationship or a complication from a failed Circles test) and have them be the effective competition.
That’s neat about the Research and in BW that would also be a linked test - a good one, indeed!
I like the idea about a rival. Have the PCs ever failed a Circles test? Make this guy pop up!
Hmmm… I might actually Let it Ride. They forged a “Divine Brew”. That’s awesome! They win the Brewmasters title…BUT!!! Have something else spin off this. A jealous rival poisons the batch they hand out to the crowd. Or the judges’ cups. Or steals their recipe. Or the Brewmaster title comes along with all sorts of baggage. Or …
I’d just grant them their intent, and keep the story clipping along!
Dean
Hmmm… I might actually Let it Ride. They forged a “Divine Brew”. That’s awesome! They win the Brewmasters title…BUT!!! Have something else spin off this. A jealous rival poisons the batch they hand out to the crowd. Or the judges’ cups. Or steals their recipe. Or the Brewmaster title comes along with all sorts of baggage. Or …I’d just grant them their intent, and keep the story clipping along!
Maybe the Brew is so divine that it causes the judges to pass over to the other side… and they die with huge smiles on their faces after gasping their praises…
Also you should find a couple of bottles of Samichlaus bier from Eggenburg breweries and make the players drink (make sure they have rides home)… http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/285/776
What if the King hears of this amazing brew, and since it was all consumed in the after-party of the PC’s victory, they have to make another batch to satisfy his demands… perhaps they are appointed royal brewers and he demands a keg every day…
Yeah, I’ll jump on the bandwagon and vote for Let It Ride. If you wanted it to be a contest, it should’ve been a versus test and you could tell them how many dice their competition are rolling so they can gauge the difficulty. If you’re really set on the DoW, maybe take that enmity clause idea from above and have that judge accuse the players of cheating… ?
Yeah, after re-reading the Let it Ride rules, I agree it fits. Martins Fabulous Wonder Brew stands at whopping 9 Successes, locked in for the contest.
Conditions may change as all the contestants try to garner favor with the judges, or back stab one another (which is what I’m really after).
I’d be careful with that even. The PCs succeeded with 9 successes. I’d say that should just win them the whole competition. Maybe they miss out on a bit of the competitive atmosphere you had been planning, but you can always work it back in. Deal with the after-effects of the roll, not the side-effects, is my advice. I’ve tried doing similar things to what you’re suggesting before, and always regretted it. Always better to just stay true to the dice.
I’d let it ride that their brew is the best. But the intent here isn’t to have the best brew, it’s to win the contest. And the other, jealous, brewers have started buying judges. Arguing that the brew broke guild rules. Are beginning to try and find out how it was made, so they can duplicate it. The obstacle isn’t the other awesome beers, it’s politics.
… and thus they argue for the establishment of beer purity laws!
This could make things very interesting.
OK, I’d buy that. My opinion is swayed. ^^
Ok the Contest is done, they won it with 9D!
One of the players did something so crazy it took his character out of the game (failed fort test on spell tax).
From here I moved past the skulduggery of the contest and sped things up to the winning part.
They made a crazy amount of Cash on Hand by selling 4 kegs of the brew to various Merchants and Nobles.
I might have given them too much, but then again they get to live like kings for a full lifestyle cycle.
Cool, good for them. The win should probably earn them some kind of awesome local reputation too.