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[Drop-In Adventure] The Festival of the White Stag - A GM guided storyedit
SCENE 1: The Festival of the White Stag
The cobbled roads leading to Oakhart were supposed to be the final stretch before a long, well-deserved break. Your party of four has battled plenty of bandits and crawled through enough damp dungeons to have earned a proper holiday.
You traveled all this way for the legendary Festival of the White Stag: a promised week with grand feasts, the ceremonial planting of saplings, and a magical candle-lit procession deep into the forest. Arriving a few days early, you expected the bustling, joyous energy of a town preparing for its famous annual celebration.
Instead, the streets and town square are eerily quiet. A few townsfolk sweep their walkways or carry around goods like it were any other slow Sunday. There are no banners, no roasting meats, no songs. And there, nailed to the door of the local tavern, is a freshly painted sign: Festival of the White Stag - CANCELED BY MAYOR'S ORDER.
What should you do next?
Drop-In Adventure?
No pressure to join a whole thread, just decide one action! Pick one of the four pre-made adventurers below, and imagine their next step. Write how they react & what they attempt to do.
The GM (me!) posts the latest scene in the comments below.
You pick a pre-made character from the ones listed, and refer to the character's "all about" to assume their role.
Reply to the latest scene to announce which character you are writing for. Reply to that describing how that character reacts and what they attempt next. Get creative! This is a thread to have fun with writing and storytelling.
Once all four characters are replied for, the GM will roll a die to decide each character's success. Based on the outcome, the next scene will be written and published in a new comment. New participants can then reply with the next action.
No game rules apply, other than the character-specific pointers and element of luck-by-dice. Check the character "all about" each time, it may be updated based on story input.
Your adventurers
You are a party of well-traveled friends. Adventurers who seek out new experiences while earning some coin by solving problems for whoever offers a quest.
Ellis Everdew - Druid, all/they. Ellis is a humanoid dragon. Green scales, big yellow eyes. They're a nature enthusiast and know all about the healing or harming properties of the plants and critters of the land. Ellis is a morning-person, tea sipper and keen observer.
Duncard the Bold - Fighter, he/him. Duncard is big bearded brawler. What he lacks in intelligence, he makes up for in hacking and slashing. Duncard is a drinker: whenever he can get his hands on a cup of ale or a horn of mead, he will. Not rarely leading to poorly informed decisions.
Tink Trotter - Inventor, she/they. Tink is a quick-witted pointy-eared halfling. Always yapping the ears off whoever happens to be in her company. Tink is knowledgeable and uses magic, gadgets and compelling arguments to ensure the party's success.
Silas Vesper - Rogue, he/him. Silas is a slender, ash-skinned tiefling with swept-back horns and a tail that twitches whenever he is annoyed. He is the party's pragmatist, lock-picker, and resident cynic. Silas is a night-owl who prefers the shadows to sunlight.
Quest
NPCs
Places
The cobbled roads leading to Oakhart were supposed to be the final stretch before a long, well-deserved break. Your party of four has battled plenty of bandits and crawled through enough damp dungeons to have earned a proper holiday.
You traveled all this way for the legendary Festival of the White Stag: a promised week with grand feasts, the ceremonial planting of saplings, and a magical candle-lit procession deep into the forest. Arriving a few days early, you expected the bustling, joyous energy of a town preparing for its famous annual celebration.
Instead, the streets and town square are eerily quiet. A few townsfolk sweep their walkways or carry around goods like it were any other slow Sunday. There are no banners, no roasting meats, no songs. And there, nailed to the door of the local tavern, is a freshly painted sign: Festival of the White Stag - CANCELED BY MAYOR'S ORDER.
What should you do next?
Drop-In Adventure?
No pressure to join a whole thread, just decide one action! Pick one of the four pre-made adventurers below, and imagine their next step. Write how they react & what they attempt to do.
Detailed how-to-play
The GM (me!) posts the latest scene in the comments below.
You pick a pre-made character from the ones listed, and refer to the character's "all about" to assume their role.
Reply to the latest scene to announce which character you are writing for. Reply to that describing how that character reacts and what they attempt next. Get creative! This is a thread to have fun with writing and storytelling.
Once all four characters are replied for, the GM will roll a die to decide each character's success. Based on the outcome, the next scene will be written and published in a new comment. New participants can then reply with the next action.
No game rules apply, other than the character-specific pointers and element of luck-by-dice. Check the character "all about" each time, it may be updated based on story input.
Your adventurers
You are a party of well-traveled friends. Adventurers who seek out new experiences while earning some coin by solving problems for whoever offers a quest.
Ellis Everdew - Druid, all/they. Ellis is a humanoid dragon. Green scales, big yellow eyes. They're a nature enthusiast and know all about the healing or harming properties of the plants and critters of the land. Ellis is a morning-person, tea sipper and keen observer.
All about Ellis
Personality: calm, kind, wise
Size: medium
Quirks: early riser, excessive bug-fascination
Abilities:
- brewing potions and poisons
- identifying nature
- perceptive
- transform into: venomous snake, crocodile, faerie dragon
- fire resistant
- speaks with animals
- healer
- celestial navigator
Size: medium
Quirks: early riser, excessive bug-fascination
Abilities:
- brewing potions and poisons
- identifying nature
- perceptive
- transform into: venomous snake, crocodile, faerie dragon
- fire resistant
- speaks with animals
- healer
- celestial navigator
Duncard the Bold - Fighter, he/him. Duncard is big bearded brawler. What he lacks in intelligence, he makes up for in hacking and slashing. Duncard is a drinker: whenever he can get his hands on a cup of ale or a horn of mead, he will. Not rarely leading to poorly informed decisions.
All about Duncard
Personality: overzealous, protective, tavern-hound
Size: large
Quirks: snores, avid cross-stitcher
Abilities:
- big battle axe with a sharp end and a blunt end
- intimidating, with a posture just short of a giant's
- can carry Tink on his shoulders
- fearless
- competent cook
- armored
- strong
- mending textiles
Size: large
Quirks: snores, avid cross-stitcher
Abilities:
- big battle axe with a sharp end and a blunt end
- intimidating, with a posture just short of a giant's
- can carry Tink on his shoulders
- fearless
- competent cook
- armored
- strong
- mending textiles
Tink Trotter - Inventor, she/they. Tink is a quick-witted pointy-eared halfling. Always yapping the ears off whoever happens to be in her company. Tink is knowledgeable and uses magic, gadgets and compelling arguments to ensure the party's success.
All about Tink
Personality: talkative, stubborn, clever
Size: smol
Quirks: forgets that she's smol
Abilities:
- set up traps
- night vision goggles
- agile climber
- cast illusions
- healing spells
- throw smoke-bombs
- explosives!
- persuade/convince
- history knowledge
- mending metalwork
Size: smol
Quirks: forgets that she's smol
Abilities:
- set up traps
- night vision goggles
- agile climber
- cast illusions
- healing spells
- throw smoke-bombs
- explosives!
- persuade/convince
- history knowledge
- mending metalwork
Silas Vesper - Rogue, he/him. Silas is a slender, ash-skinned tiefling with swept-back horns and a tail that twitches whenever he is annoyed. He is the party's pragmatist, lock-picker, and resident cynic. Silas is a night-owl who prefers the shadows to sunlight.
All about Silas
Personality: pragmatic, cynic, materialistic
Size: medium
Quirks: loves shinies, tendency for thievery, prefers peace & quiet
Abilities:
- stealthy sneaking
- knife throwing
- crossbow mastery
- night vision
- lock-picking
- deceptive
- agile movement
- pathfinder
Size: medium
Quirks: loves shinies, tendency for thievery, prefers peace & quiet
Abilities:
- stealthy sneaking
- knife throwing
- crossbow mastery
- night vision
- lock-picking
- deceptive
- agile movement
- pathfinder
Quest
A summarized collection of relevant adventure pointers throughout the story.
- The Festival of the White Stag was cancelled by mayor's order. The party wonders why...
NPCs
A list of characters that the party has met.
The party has yet to make first contact!
Places
A list of locations known to the party.
Oakhart
A town on the edge of a magical forest
- Tavern The Wooden Stag
- Temple Sanctum of the First Sapling
- Various shops (to be discovered)
The Glimmering Wilds
The vast magical forest north of Oakhart
A town on the edge of a magical forest
- Tavern The Wooden Stag
- Temple Sanctum of the First Sapling
- Various shops (to be discovered)
The Glimmering Wilds
The vast magical forest north of Oakhart
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SCENE 1: The Festival of the White Stag
The cobbled roads leading to Oakhart were supposed to be the final stretch before a long, well-deserved break. Your party of four has battled plenty of bandits and crawled through enough damp dungeons to have earned a proper holiday.
You traveled all this way for the legendary Festival of the White Stag: a promised week with grand feasts, the ceremonial planting of saplings, and a magical candle-lit procession deep into the forest. Arriving a few days early, you expected the bustling, joyous energy of a town preparing for its famous annual celebration.
Instead, the streets and town square are eerily quiet. A few townsfolk sweep their walkways or carry around goods like it were any other slow Sunday. There are no banners, no roasting meats, no songs. And there, nailed to the door of the local tavern, is a freshly painted sign: Festival of the White Stag - CANCELED BY MAYOR'S ORDER.
What should you do next?
Reply below to announce your character for this scene & write your part!
The cobbled roads leading to Oakhart were supposed to be the final stretch before a long, well-deserved break. Your party of four has battled plenty of bandits and crawled through enough damp dungeons to have earned a proper holiday.
You traveled all this way for the legendary Festival of the White Stag: a promised week with grand feasts, the ceremonial planting of saplings, and a magical candle-lit procession deep into the forest. Arriving a few days early, you expected the bustling, joyous energy of a town preparing for its famous annual celebration.
Instead, the streets and town square are eerily quiet. A few townsfolk sweep their walkways or carry around goods like it were any other slow Sunday. There are no banners, no roasting meats, no songs. And there, nailed to the door of the local tavern, is a freshly painted sign: Festival of the White Stag - CANCELED BY MAYOR'S ORDER.
What should you do next?
Reply below to announce your character for this scene & write your part!