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MyGURPS - Party House

Party House

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We love the expanded Wealth rules in Out of Strife, Prosperity as they don't just expand House holdings, but add so many new rules and options to the game itself. In particular, the right holdings can turn Tournaments from a potential loss into a wonderful source of Influence (and Population). The combination requires a chunk of Wealth to set up, so the Westerlands is probably the best location choice.

This allows for a "Party House" campaign concept, where a given House become beloved by the land simply due to the amazing tourneys and festivals they throw! If the individual characters excel at winning certain contests, it helps mitigate Wealth lost to prizes, but any loss is well worth the Influence gained.

Important: See SIFRP Tournaments for expanded tournament rules.

Wealth Holdings Required

In approximate order of priority:

Tournament Field (p. 34)

Requires at least a Hamlet community or Tower defense holding.

Taking this with both improvements costs 1 Land and 20 Wealth but is worth it. To save 5 Wealth, leave off Market Days until later, but Competition Culture is key. Note our house rule that Competition Culture's bonus scales (+2 for local to +4 for grand).

Tournament Master (p. 27)

Requires Power 21+.

Thanks to Tournament Field this costs just 8 Wealth (and you can skip Herald).

With the two holdings above, tourneys cost you -2 Wealth (and -1 per award) to throw, and you gain a whopping +4 to +6 Influence for throwing one! However, the discounts can at most halve the cost of a tournament; see SIFRP Tournaments.

Court (p. 14)

Requires Influence 31+.

For a total of 10 Wealth, Beautiful People let you convert Influence to Wealth, which completes the circle — use tournaments to turn Wealth into Influence, then convert Influence back into Wealth.

Festivals (p. 14)

No requirements.

Thanks to Tournament Field, Annual Festivals is free, so take that right away. Once you've added Court, you want to upgrade to Monthly Festivals (for 8 Wealth) which mitigates Population loss and lets you convert Influence directly to Population. Every tournament can now grow your populace, turning hamlets into cities over time.

Optionally, adding Martial Festivals (for 5 Wealth) allows you to skimp on troops a bit, since your Peasant Levies will be a bit more effective. If so, consider Street Gangs (p. 26) as well.

Master of the Hunt (p. 23)

Requires Land 31+.

Optional. Very on-brand and allows you to host a hunt during those months when you have to use your House Action to manage resources (instead of throwing a tourney). A standard hunt is usually a minor Wealth loss, but adds Glory to improve any characteristic. May be worth adding Great Hunt, even though hosting one requires a House Action (thus preventing a tourney), as the Influence gain plus 3 Glory is pretty great.

Character Roles

The same character types and niches apply here as for any SIFRP game, but there are a few tournament-specific roles which really fit this campaign. Most characters would combine a few.

Where "Intrigue abilities" are recommended, this means some mix of Deception and Persuasion (for Influence skill) along with Awareness, Cunning, Status, and Will (for Influence effect, Intrigue Defense, and Composure).

  • Host: The noble who acts as the face of the tourney. Needs high Status (Tournaments); Persuasion and other Intrigue abilities fit well. Note that hosting a hunt (see Master of the Hunt above) uses Status (Reputation) instead.
  • Jouster: Needs Animal Handling (Ride), Athletics (Strength), Endurance, and Fighting (Spears). Add Deception if you cheat.
  • Melee Fighter: Needs Fighting (most specialties fit), but also Endurance for Health and Agility, Athletics, and Awareness both for damage and Combat Defense.
  • Sharpshooter: For archery and/or thrown weapon contests. Needs Marksmanship (Bows or Thrown).
  • Equestrian: Needs Animal Handling (Ride). The jouster can fill this role, but if so you'll need to schedule the events far apart to avoid fatigue.
  • Athlete: For any of the wide range of possible athletic contests. Needs Athletics (most specialties are useful here).
  • Maester: A fitting role for any House, of course. Take the usual abilities (especially Knowledge), but also some Intrigue abilities for the "Maester's Conclave" (see SIFRP, p. 170).
  • Hunter: If the house has Master of the Hunt (see above), someone has to lead and hopefully win it. Needs Marksmanship (any), Survival (Hunt and/or Track), and optionally Stealth (Sneak). Actually throwing the hunt requires Status (Reputation).
  • Circulator: Wanders through the crowd — mainly listening, but also some light conversation and carousing — picking up rumors and intel. Needs Knowledge (Streetwise), Intrigue abilities (especially Awareness), and optionally Stealth (Blend In).
  • Gambler: Bet on your House champion . . . or work with them to take a fall! Needs Cunning (and Thievery if you cheat).
  • Thief: Probably a bad idea for an actual noble, as getting caught would destroy your reputation, but fits a smallfolk character. Needs Stealth (Blend In) and Thievery (Steal).

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