Quest XII Denizen Instructions

In Smythkepe's quests, the "denizens" are the people playing roles (parts). In order to make sure each denizen understood what was going on in the Quest and what his or her particular role was to be, we gave each a page of General Notes (which applied to all the denizens) and a page of specific notes for his or her own station. This year, we used the camp's "Fort" (Seamas called it a "Palisade") to set up a small town.

The theme of this year's MSKD was the Siege of Malta. Most activities for the entire weekend was broken into Ottoman vs Maltese, with War Points awarded for the victorious. Even Quest was worth a War Point, so Seamas and I worked the theme into this year's design.

First, the General Notes:


GENERAL NOTES FOR TOWNSPEOPLE

The teams of questers entering the town are escaped prisoners of war. There are Maltese teams escaped from the besieging Turks, and there are Ottoman teams escaped from the defending Knights. They do not know which forces control this stretch of coastline or this small town.

Frankly, neither do you!

The Turks are at the end of their resources, and will break off the siege in just a week, on September 8th - but of course you don't know that today. Although your town is obviously Christian, you should avoid offending Ottoman visitors until you are certain that the town will not be shortly invested or occupied by Turkish forces. (Just for safety's sake, the taverns have sold out of anything alcoholic.)

The town itself is a small coastal outpost with a lighthouse. The west side of town is the seafront side. The town guard has been sent out to patrol the roads, leaving the town defenseless. Hurrah!

[Seamas drew a marvelously scaled map here, which I am unable to reproduce as of this writing.]

Miscellaneous notes:

• Please don't help the questers solve any of the puzzles or quizzes.
• Moira calls her tavern the "Sable Falcon" but everybody else calls it the "Black Bird."
• The lighthouse also holds the town library (although few people can read).
  

Bruce

I have referred in the past to the "Brandr factor." This is the theory that, no matter how thoroughly you predict and prepare for the ways a Quest team can react to an element in your quest design, someone will do something totally unexpected. When we think we have nearly completed a quest design, Seamas and I will sit back and ask ourselves, "What Would Brandyr Do?"

This year, however, I found myself thinking, "What Would Bruce Do...and How Can I Trip Them Up?"

"Bruce" is a perinneal Quest team, captained by Kat the Strange, that usually does very well in our quests. They don't always win, but they certainly know how to play. (Note to self: perhaps they could be persuaded to guest-design a quest one year and give Seamas and me a much needed rest?) Kat herself has collected more bits of screwball knowledge than I would know what to do with, and the rest of the team is just as bright and just as eclectic. This year, Bruce did not leave the Quest village with the most gold. Bruce did not get the most correct answers on the Librarian's Occupations list. They did OK in those areas, but they excelled because Bruce knew heraldry, knew history and geography, knew kindness and charity to the less fortunate. As Bridget told Seamas, they not only knew the answers to all the Peddler's questions, they knew a song about each one!

Gentle Reader, I had to look up the answers to most of those questions!

So should other teams lose heart from the successes of Bruce? NO! In fact, knowledge of previous quests may be a liability to the team who thinks that because they remember something from a previous quest, they know what is going on in this one. Each Quest is different, and arrogance in a pilgrim is never kindly rewarded. Each of our quests is designed to be winnable by any team that gets into the spirit of Quest and really tries. We are, at heart, a group of people who believe in chivalry, learning, and fun. As the song goes, "...that's what it's all about!"

Another One Down

There is nothing like the adrenaline rush that comes from the successful completion of a much anticipated, and somewhat dreaded, event. No, I don't mean "event" as in this past weekend's MSKD; I mean another successful Quest. Seamas and I worked together again this year, but for some reason, our ideas didn't gel easily or quickly, so our last minute preparations were even more frantic than usual. I don't remember ever being so worried about a Quest before, including last year when I soloed for the first time. Still, everyone involved - denizens, pilgrims, and spectators alike - had a great time.

Seamas and I had fun with it, too. He did a fantastic job putting together and painting the signs (they were made from wood salvaged from a fence we'd torn down in our backyard years ago). He also really, as always, got into the details of fleshing out our rough ideas. I think he was proudest of his map, though. From a single site visit, he was able to use the photos and a few measurements he took to create an accurate map and plan exactly what to put where to take best advantage of the available space...and the available shade at that time of day. That's quite a feat!

Me, I had a blast researching Tablero de Jesus and creating a variant that could be played reasonably quickly. I am tickled at how many people enjoyed the game and want to get together to play again soon. Making the boards and pouches for prizes was also a good way to wind down at the end of a mundanely busy day. We nearly went too far with the Barber's station, though. It's probably just as well that I couldn't find a mannequin limb in time and had to use a crock for the pasta and jello mix instead. But the mix turned out well! I was going for "Yuck!" and was pleasantly surprised to discover I had achieved "Ewwwww!" Even I, knowing what it was, didn't want to stick my hand in it! I initially resisted the idea of requiring the teams to sculpt a falcon from simulated horse flop. However, others liked the idea so much that I had to go along with it. It didn't take much research to find a good homemade playdough recipe, but coloring it brown was another matter altogether!

I will be posting Quest-related stuff over the next few days, including the Librarian's Occupations list. Seamas wants to try to format it as a form so folks can take it as a quiz, then see their scores. I told him he has until the end of the week.

Brown

Tonight, I learned that I can make a very good brown from 2 parts red, 1 part green, and 1 part yellow food coloring. I am having entirely too much fun with this!

Quest Denizen Instructions

(Gentle Reader, this post will make much more sense if you have already read the Quest Overview and the Premise and Pilgrim Instructions.)

Quest Denizens not only get to role-play, they also have to improvise. Below is the text from my original notes of the information given to each denizen. I’ve again included my hindsight notes in brackets, but I’ve omitted the names of the people playing the various roles. At the end of each section are my notes of the items needed for each denizen/station.

Dunstan:
In 959 AD, Dunstan was appointed to be Archbishop of Canterbury. He traveled to Rome the next year to receive the pallium from Pope John XII [Again, this part is historical fact. The next part is where the fun begins!]. On his way back to England, Dunstan stopped in Venice, where he discovered the citizens were celebrating Carnival.
Dunstan may admit he was out “enjoying Carnival” – do not admit to visiting a tavern. The next morning, his cape was missing, along with the scroll given him by the Pope.
(Teams will return pouches and all items collected during quest to Dunstan. Please make sure pouch contains notecard with team name, and keep all items returned with team’s pouch for scoring. Small items & scroll can be put in pouch.)
[Serious oops! I utterly failed to let Dunstan see the cape I’d made ahead of time. He had no idea how to describe it for the teams…]
Needs:
1 true cape token – give to team who brings true cape (w/ pocket)
2 false cape tokens – give to team(s) who bring imposter cape


Pawnbroker:
Chatty and willing to deal to sell her wares. Has fake cape priced out of teams’ reach (15 gold), but is willing to come down (bargain with them, but don’t accept less than 7 gold) for a good sob story (story must include the waif). Also has several scrolls and other items for sale. These items may be sold if the team wants them.
Display only one cape at a time. Display only one fake scroll at a time. If asked how long you’ve had cape or scroll, don’t name a specific time. Say something like, “they were acquired recently.” The idea is to give the impression these items may have been stolen. [Poor gal was located too close to the teams’ starting-off point…she got mobbed. She still did well, though. Not only did she manage to sell a fake scroll to four of the five teams, she sold several of the other red herring items as well!]
Needs:
Imposter cape #1 & #2
Fake scrolls
other items for pawn
notecards for pricing


Fagin & Cutpurse(s):
Fagin and Cutpurse(s) travel together. Fagin attempts to recruit team’s children for the Carnival parade. While the team is distracted, the Cutpurse attempts to steal the team’s gold pouch. If caught, the Cutpurse must stop and return any stolen pouch and its entire contents. If Cutpurse is successful, take 2 gold and leave pouch with Magistrate. Note that the Children’s Parade is another opportunity to steal pouches. [These three did a fantastic job of preparation. They had planned ahead and had their costumes coordinated in such a way that one or two of them could distract the crowd while the third made off with the team’s pouch. The boys had even done a remarkable job of hiding their excitement by not mentioning to anyone beforehand that they had parts in the quest. I was really proud of them and felt awful that I had unintentionally sabotaged them by mentioning thieves earlier.]
Teams may take Fagin and Cutpurse(s) to the Magistrate. If this happens, pay Magistrate 5 gold penalty & 3 gold to avoid jail time.
Needs:
token for successful recruitment of children (neg. points)
gold for Magistrate bribes


Magistrate:
The Magistrate is as crooked as they come. “Justice is blind…and somewhat hard of hearing…” The Magistrate is blind, and selectively pretends to not hear well. May be bribed by Fagin or Bravi for reduced penalties. If team tries to bribe for more strict penalties, Magistrate becomes offended and accuses team of trying to bribe him. Keeper of the Lost & Found. Doesn’t know anything about any item of Dunstan’s. [I tried to leave the Magistrate plenty of leeway in how he handled teams, because I simply could not predict what they would do. He improvised really well.]
Penalties:
Theft by Cutpurse or Bravi – 5 gold & 3 days jail
Attempted bribery by team – 2 gold
Needs:
pavilion
table
chair


Bravi:
Roving wanderers lookin’ for trouble and a bit of gold. If you beat team, take pouch from team. Take 2 gold and leave pouch with Magistrate. May take bribe to leave team alone. If team fights particularly well, may take only 1 gold. [Yes, this was the obligatory fighting station. These two had a lot of fun sneaking up on teams. I wish I had been able to watch them, because I’m sure they played this part with flair. The only thing I really should have done differently here was have the Bravi take more gold from the pouches.]
If taken to Magistrate, pay 5 gold penalty & 3 gold to avoid jail time.
Needs:
boffer swords
token to give if beaten in fight
gold for Magistrate bribe


Town Herald:
Makes announcements regarding Carnival Parade (Moira will tell you when to announce what). Bad-tempered fellow. Was given a scroll by a young waif, but was too busy to bother with reading it at the time. Still has the scroll. Won’t read it to team, but will allow them to see scroll if they prove they represent Dunstan by asking questions regarding Dunstan’s life. [Loved the way he started making random announcements about whatever crossed his mind. This made it easier to improvise later when the “Brandr factor” kicked in.]
Needs:
5 true scrolls – give if team answers 3 questions correctly
5 fake scrolls – give if team answers less than 3 questions correctly
list of questions


Gondolier:
Stationed at Tavern. Carried Dunstan as a fare the night before. Thinks he came from the Tavern. Does not remember seeing a cape. (May argue with Tavern Keeper over whether Dunstan had cape or not.)
Request team perform a song or poem about a beverage of their choice. [It was very important that the person playing the Gondolier be someone with a bardic background. What was really fun here, though, was the way some teams performed more than one piece. One team went so far as to have every member perform something.]
Needs:
penalty token – give if no performance or not original
tokens marked with 1, 2, or 3 – give to score quality of performance (1 – wrote something, 2 – made an effort, 3 – really good)


Tavern Keeper:
Wants 2 gold bribe for information. Served Dunstan the night before. Says Dunstan was “somewhat in his cups” when he left. Definitely left with his cape. Offers to roll dice with teams for return of bribe. Roll die only once. White – return bribe to team. Black – keep bribe. Yellow – return half of bribe to team. [I wanted to somehow arrange a tavern brawl here, but I ran out of time before I could come up with a workable idea.]
Needs:
water
table(s)
cups
boats game
gold


Waif:
The one true innocent in this Quest. Found Dunstan’s cape next to a canal and wears it for the Children’s Carnival. Also found a scroll, but couldn’t read. Took it to the Herald, but he wouldn’t read it for her. Will give cape to team in return for replacement. “Money won’t keep me warm.” Do not offer cape to team – they must ask for it. [I think she forgot to mention the scroll to the teams at first. When I realized the Herald wasn’t getting mobbed, I asked her to go around and mention it to all the teams.]
Needs:
True cape

Children’s Parade:
Begins approx. 1 hour after beginning of Quest. Round up as many masked children as possible. Children who were recruited by the Fagin may also participate. The Waif also participates. Mainly a diversion, but also puts the Waif with the true cape into play. [Partly due to the lack of stationary stations, teams were beginning to get frustrated, so we started the parade about 15 minutes early. We started with a parade, and ended with a mob. It was a bit overwhelming, but our Waif handled it well.]


Next…the true text of the two scrolls and the answers to the Town Herald’s questions.

Quest Premise and Pilgrim Instructions

(Gentle Reader, if the title of this post means nothing to you, do please go back and read the Quest Overview.)

When Seamas designs a Quest, he usually gives each team a page of text which includes the premise for the quest, the rules, and the task the pilgrims must accomplish. This year, I decided that “listening” should be one of the skills the successful team should posess, so I read the instructions instead. Below is the text from my original notes of the information the pilgrims heard. At the end are my notes of the items needed for each team. I’ve also included my hindsight notes in brackets [ ].

In 959 AD, Dunstan was appointed to be Archbishop of Canterbury. He travelled to Rome the next year to receive the pallium from Pope John XII [The previous is historical fact. Next is pure fiction and where the fun begins!]. On his way back to England, Dunstan stopped in Venice, where he discovered the citizens were celebrating Carnival. That evening, Dunstan celebrated Carnival, too. The next morning, he discovered his cape was missing, along with a scroll given him by the Pope. Your task is to find Dunstan and return his cape and scroll to him.

Team instructions and info:

• Quest is limited to 2 hours. Pay heed to the Town Herald, for he is your timekeeper for all quest-related events.
• Use your time wisely. Some items are unique and available only to the first team to aquire them. [This backfired a bit in that the pilgrims’ enthusiasm led them to mob some of the denizens. I should have stated that only one team at a time should approach a station or denizen.]
• All gold and tokens must be kept in pouch. Pouch must be kept on belt hook. If pouch is lost, see the Magistrate, who is responsible for the Lost and Found.
• Thieves may also be taken to the Magistrate for judgment. [I shouldn’t have mentioned theives. Teams reacted by protecting their pouches too closely, which frustrated the Cutpurses.]
• Teams may not fight each other for any reason. Boffer weapon rules apply – no blows to head or below belt, no thrusting.
• Only designated member(s) of team may carry weapons and fight. If team member is injured or killed in fight, weapon may not be passed to another team member. [I caught a bit of flack for not allowing anyone under 18 to carry a boffer and fight, but there wasn’t much I could do - I had to comply with Kingdom. The only other choice was to remove fighting entirely.]
• Indulgances and Pardons must be used if necessary to heal injured team members.
• The Venetian Underworld knows the value of gold. Use what gold you must, but only what you must. [Shouldn’t have mentioned this, either. Some teams reacted by lying about how much gold they had in a couple of cases. This was not something pilgrims were supposed to do.]
• In the “spirit” of Carnival, each team should compose an original song or poem of at least two verses (or stanzas) about a beverage of your choice.
• When you believe you have completed your three-fold task, or when time is up, please give Dunstan your pouch, boffer weapons, and all items you have collected during this quest.
• In addition to the Magistrate, there is also a Tavern and a Pawn Shop. You are also invited to watch the Carnival Parade when it occurs. [Though I was trying to keep this Quest as simple as I could, I should have had more stations with set locations. The Pawn Shop got mobbed right off the bat…]

[I should also have clearly defined the Quest area. Though I did state that none of the Quest was in the woods, a couple of teams wandered way down the field and into an unattended pavillion.]

Team Receives:
pouch
pouch hook
15 coins
2 pardons
2 indulgances
notecard with team name


Next…Denizen Instructions…

Quest Overview

August is over, blessed be. I knew far in advance that many events, Mundane and otherwise, would occur in August. I also knew the scheduling of each of these events was entirely out of my control. Literally, there wasn’t a blessed thing I could do but try to be as prepared as possible as far in advance as possible. August is over, and there is no one happier about that fact than I am.

One of those events was my own shire’s event, Midsummer Knight’s Dream (MSKD). Yes, it was held Labor Day weekend. Yes, we know that doesn’t even remotely qualify as Midsummer. Why do we keep the name? That’s a good question, and the best answer I can offer is “tradition.” This event was originally held in early June, but various circumstances over the years eventually led us to Labor Day weekend. The day will come when I give a longer (better?) answer, but that day is not today.

During those years of transition, the traditional “Quest for the Shrine of St. Dunstan” was moved from our former winter event, “The Feast of St. Dunstan” (which wasn’t held anywhere near Dunstan’s feast day), to MSKD. Seamas became our most-of-the-time Questocrat, though lately he has been sharing that task with Dante in alternate years.

This year, however, the task of Quest Design fell to me. OK, yes, I did volunteer. Then panic set in. Sure, I’d participated in the design of numerous Quests over the years, but it had never before been my responsibility. Seamas is really good at designing Quests, but he also obsesses over his designs for months. The worst thing about Quest Design is, you can not play-test a Quest - the first time the game is played is when it’s for real. This year’s pilgrims came up with a few things I didn’t expect (Seamas and I call this the “Brandr factor”), but the denizens did a fantastic job of improvising.

To play a Quest, pilgrims join together and form teams. Teams usually consist of 6-8 people, and must include at least one child under the age of 12. There is always an element in the Quest that requires the presence of a child. The Quest denizens are given their roles and props, and are sent out to their stations. Some Quests are linear, which means one team at a time goes to each station in a particular order. Other Quests are non-linear, which means the teams are sent out to find the stations and accomplish a task within a certain time period. Smythkepe’s early Quests were linear, but they have become decidedly non-linear in recent years. This year’s quest was definitely non-linear.

Below is the text from the sign-up sheet:

Forget the canals, can you navigate the Venetian underworld?
A Quest for St. Dunstan

Instead of adding her two bits from the sidelines, this year our own THL Moira has rolled up her sleeves to bring you a Quest straight from the Canals of Venice during Carnivale. There is no doubt that this Quest will be fun for all – in the finest of Smythkepe traditions! Still, we had hoped she wouldn’t be quite as secretive as her predecessors…. Which reminds us: where are her predecessors? And what was that splash?

Choose your companions wisely, for the Quest is limited to 5 teams – no exceptions. Teams must include at least one child under the age of 12.

Tomorrow…this year’s Quest Premise and Pilgrim Instructions…

Questing

Each year, Smythkepe hosts a Quest at our summer event. Traditionally, this is formally known as the "Quest for the Shrine of St. Dunstan," though some years neither our patron saint nor his shrine is involved. Through a series of events too convoluted to relate tonight, I have the honor of organizing this year's Quest at MSKD.

At this point, I've nailed the premise and have most of the denizens' characters and stations somewhat defined. There are still some details that need to be worked out and props to be made, bought, or borrowed. Still, it's coming together, and panic has not yet set in. This is good.

If you'd like more information, feel free to check out the Quest page on Smythkepe's website. Click on the links for MSKD and then Quest.

And until it's over, that's all I'm going to say in these pages regarding this year's Quest. After it's over, I may be convinced to tell all...