D&D 5E Prepping for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight -- The Witchlight Carnival

[RealAlHazred]

So, I'm a huge fan of the Feywild and faeries in general in RPGs. And hags are among my favorite villains. And The Wild Beyond the Witchlight has some really good ideas in it, and I'm looking forward to running it at my FLGS on Wednesdays from 7PM to 9PM, like I ran all of the hardcovers starting from the 4th edition days through to Quarantine. Just to get that all out of the way.

But I'm reading the attractions of the Witchlight Carnival, and I feel like some of them are just phoned in. Boiling down an attraction to "make a CON check" feels like "roll-playing" instead of "role-playing". And, sure, sometimes your players are ready to move on and abstracting things a lot just helps move the action forward.

But I feel like the attractions need punching up, and I'm hoping EN World can help with that.

For those unfamiliar, the first chapter of the module is the Witchlight Carnival, a faerie carnival that does a meandering circuit of other planes and worlds. While there, the party gets a lot of exposition on what's happening in the Realms of the Faeries, but they also participate in the kinds of things carnivals have. What has EN World done to punch up this chapter? Any recommendations? I'll put some of my own ideas in here as well.

 

[RealAlHazred]

So there are six minor attractions given, each of which is a single characteristic roll. But the point is for the carnival-goers to have fun.

• Almiraj Ring Toss: Dexterity check. I'm not sure how to give this more interactivity without actually having somebody try to toss a ring onto a Coke bottle, which I don't want to do. I can't be sure how much space I'll have in the hobby shop, with other players at other tables.
• Catch the Dragon by the Tail: Wisdom (Perception) check. The faerie dragon is giggling while the contestant is blindfolded, so I'm thinking the faerie dragon "cheats" by using minor illusion to make multiple giggles come from all over. So the contestant could try to get the faerie dragon in a conversation, and get them talking; I'll need to flesh out the faerie dragon to know their favorite topics of conversation. Chatting with other attendees beforehand can give PCs clues on what the dragon likes to talk about.
• Gnome Poetry Contest: Charisma (Performance) check. I'm going to preprint a number of rhymes of various kinds. This one I'm willing to forego the roll entirely if a player extemporaneously comes up with something clever and good.
• Goblin Wrestling: Strength (Athletics) check. Except, the goblins are absolutely going to cheat, so it would be fine for the player characters to do so as well. The trick is to cheat entertainingly.
• Guess the Number of Feathers on the Cockatrice: Intelligence check. This is another one I'm not sure how to punch up in play. Obviously, the cockatrices will be very happy to peck/petrify anybody who gets to close. Perhaps the players could use treats to try to make them more cooperative.
• Outstare the Cyclops: Constitution check. This is another one where the psychology of the opponent should come into play. Distracting the cyclops shouldn't be impossible. Maybe they see the cyclops earlier on the fairgrounds, getting startled by a high-pitched whistle from some tchotchke from one of the stalls; they can buy one and another PC can use it during the contest.

Also, this is a good place to add additional minor attractions. I'm thinking of adding a fortune-teller of some kind. Madame Eva would probably be a good one, if any of the players had played Curse of Strahd previously. If not, then I'm wondering if I can come up with a D&Desque mechanical fortune teller, like "Zoltan the Genie" or something. I wouldn't put a real genie in any case; if I were, it would actually be a Witchlight Hand in costume and magical disguise.

Other standbys of carnivals are dunking booths and ring-the-bell strength challenges. For a dunking booth, I could see some sort of balance-beam suspended over a tank; you have to get from one side to the other without falling in. Relatively easy, but there are baskets of tomatoes available, and carnival-goers are encouraged to throw tomatoes at the contestant. So, it's sort of a popularity contest -- can you convince the other carnival-goers not to throw tomatoes at you? While balancing on a beam, that's only suspended over the tank, not fixed in place?

The ring-the-bell strength challenge seems like it's impossible to punch up from a straight "Strength check" roll.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Wow, I completely forgot about the eating contest. Another mainstay of carnivals. I'll have to think what they're eating. Of course, Faeries and food have implications/complications, so I'm thinking of making it pomegranates, or pomegranate pie; pomegranate seeds are what Persephone ate that meant she was stuck in the underworld, and it's the classic mythology inspiration for the "eating faerie food" tales.

And there should probably be a number of cup-and-balls guys. Ooh, or maybe instead, it's a "Find the Gem" guy, who has three cards from a deck of many things (Gem, Fool, and Death), and you have to watch his hands as he moves them around face-down. Of course, they're either reproductions or real cards without the rest of the deck; without the rest of the deck there the cards don't actually do anything. But it should be disconcerting to a seasoned D&D player to see the cards there, especially if they turn over Death.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Are you going to include the Lost Things prelude, that features the PCs as kids (as alluded to in the background)? It's available on DMs Guild for free and has a bit more carnival stuff.

It, along with the Domains of Delight info, really should have been in the core book, IMO, and it's frustrating that they aren't in there.

Also, as mentioned in the other thread, I would check out Heckna, which has more carnival stuff, although it's definitely got an eeeeeeeevil clown vibe to it. (Acid pie to the face!) Heckna is PWYW in digital form, which kind of surprises me, but that's good news for Witchlight DMs.

 

[Remathilis]

Are you going to include the Lost Things prelude, that features the PCs as kids (as alluded to in the background)? It's available on DMs Guild for free and has a bit more carnival stuff.

It, along with the Domains of Delight info, really should have been in the core book, IMO, and it's frustrating that they aren't in there.

Also, as mentioned in the other thread, I would check out Heckna, which has more carnival stuff, although it's definitely got an eeeeeeeevil clown vibe to it. (Acid pie to the face!)

You hit all three suggestions I would add for a WBW game. The other would be if you want to add a little bit more elements to the backstory, check out the Carnival section of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, which discusses the OTHER Carnival Witch and Light used to run...

 

[Umbran]

It, along with the Domains of Delight info, really should have been in the core book, IMO, and it's frustrating that they aren't in there.

It is thematically appropriate, sure. But entirely unnecessary to run the adventure. I can understand why they chose not to include entirely tangential information in the adventure.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It is thematically appropriate, sure. But entirely unnecessary to run the adventure. I can understand why they chose not to include entirely tangential information in the adventure.

If I had faith that WotC would include something like the Domains of Delight info in a future Manual of the Planes book, it would be one thing. But WotC seems (surprisingly to me) disinterested in such a product and Witchlight may well be the only fey book for the 5E era. (I don't think we're likely to ever get a Van Richten's equivalent for the Feywild in 5E.)

I'd rather have it in a physical book, but it's better that it's out there in digital form (as both a PDF and D&D Beyond product) than not, of course.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Yeah, I agree with Umbran; I like it, but it's not necessary for the module to include it.

Lost Things, on the other hand, is great and should have been included. It's a much stronger hook than the warlock one, IMO, and dripping with RP potential. One of my motives for expanding the Carnival is because I'll be using the attractions twice, so I want to make sure I have a good number of decent ones to change things up.

As far as the Carnival in Van Richten's...

Spoiler

I plan to move the final confrontation to it from the Palace. The Palace didn't grab me when I read it, and Isode's Carnival already has a hook to Zybilna.

Right now, I'm more focused on the Witchlight. I want to make sure it's solid before pulling the trigger.

 

[RealAlHazred]

WotC seems (surprisingly to me) disinterested in such a product

Wizard has realized that the business model let's them profit off of the labors of dedicated fans. Why not let the DMs Guild do the heavy lifting? This is the same model Chaosium is using for Call of Cthulhu -- produce the core books and let the fans write scenarios.

(I don't think we're likely to ever get a Van Richten's equivalent for the Feywild in 5E.)

You have to write it! If it gets enough traction on the DMs Guild, OBS will make a POD option available. They don't leave money on the table!

 

[billd91]

The ring-the-bell strength challenge seems like it's impossible to punch up from a straight "Strength check" roll.

You could index the results "Weakling" "Puny Gnome" "Mighty Goblin" "Powerful Bugbear" "OGRE STRENGTH" or something like that by the results of the Strength check. Fail the base DC by more than 5 or so, you get Weakling. Fail by less: Puny Gnome. Barely succeed: Might Goblin. Succeed by 5: Powerful Bugbear. etc. In this case, a "successful" check isn't ringing the bell. That's for a success x number above the base DC. The base DC is to not look weak.