Cooking Contest Idea (help please?) - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Cooking Contest Idea (help please?)

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
undrave
Apr 01, 2009 0:14:31 So I've had this idea bubbling in my head for a while and with me back in the DM seat next thursday without any clear plans for the future of the campaign (that's for another thread though) I decided to use it to fill out the session.

The idea is the PCs (level 3 right now) would arrive into a town to find themselves amidst some sort of poultry related festival (any names for something that's a chicken but not a chicken would be welcomed) where the townspeople are celebrating the major source of income in the town, poultry farming. Amongst the celebration there's a cooking contest being organized where the contestant have to use either poultry or eggs in their receipe, with the price being a reflavored Onyx Dog (Onyx Dire Chicken!!!:P ).

The way I intended to do this was some sort of skill challenge but I quickly realized it would actually work better as MULTIPLE smaller skill challenges.

Basically I'll ask the PCs to tell me what they want to do to prepare and stuff and make them roll skills, noting down successes and failiures. Each mini-skill challenge that's sucessful would give the PCs an edge in the contest (like getting the best ingredient, finding a rare mushroom, learning a great receipe, learning what the judges like best etc) that would result in a +2 bonus they can use during the actual contest.

The actual contest will be a simple series of 3 WIS roll by a representative of the party who will be able to allocate the cumulated +2s to whichever roll they want and those rolls will basically represent the scores they get from the judges.

I also intend to have a combat encounter or two in a cave if they go look for mushrooms there.

Now where I need help is coming up with the DCs and stuff for the mini-challenges because I don't have a lot of experiences with the skill challenges.

I also need some suggestions on how to decide how the PCs end up ranking in the contest. Do I roll for 'contestants' or do I set DCs for each judge to represent a score on a scale of 1-10? Do I average or add out the results?

I could improvise on the spot thursday but I don't want to be completly unprepared.

I think this could add some light hearted role playing fun to my campaign. I feel like I've been coaxing my players into combat encounters after another with not enough role playing so far.
#2
strand0
Aug 16, 2009 8:17:56
... themselves amidst some sort of poultry related festival (any names for something that's a chicken but not a chicken would be welcomed) ...

Fledgling
Hatchling
Coopfest
Freerange
#3
Grimbus
Aug 16, 2009 10:28:15 You could set DC for each judge - each contestant that achieves the DC gets a vote from that particular judge.

However, you might have personal modifiers for each judge which would give a contestant bonuses. For example one judge may be open to bribery, so every contestant who have given 5sp gets plus five. Another judge might vote for th emost charismatic and another might ot like mushrooms, so anyone who feeds him a dish with mushrooms gets a -3 to the DC.

This way players who do their homework by gossiping with the locals can achieve a higher bonus than the others.

As for the other contestants, you could roll if you want, or you could pre-determine which of the contestants are going through to the second and third round and leave the rolling to the last round should the players get that far. There might be a local team and one from the other town who are great rivals and want the honour of winning the cup. They might even pay the players to sabotage each others efforts.

You could have some more exotic teams turn up for the contest - A minotaur chef, or a gaggle of goblins to keep everyone amused.
#4
jailbreaker
Aug 31, 2009 9:37:08
Edit: Wait, that was 5 months ago, and got bumped 2 weeks ago?
#5
undrave
Sep 01, 2009 1:17:36

Edit: Wait, that was 5 months ago, and got bumped 2 weeks ago?

Funny thing is I only played two session of that game since and that challenge isn't done yet ^^;

I cut the intimidation path but I didn't think about opening the bribery path (stupid I know!).

I interspaced the gathering and stuff with some battles, one easy, one that nearly ended up in a TPK and one against a custom solo I completely and utterly failed at XD oh and they beat up some eagles to get their eggs hehehe.

So I still got the contest proper left so that's good.
#6
Book5
Sep 14, 2009 0:26:47
Thread claimed for blood sweat and tears! subscribing now!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 undrave Apr 01, 2009 0:14:31	So I've had this idea bubbling in my head for a while and with me back in the DM seat next thursday without any clear plans for the future of the campaign (that's for another thread though) I decided to use it to fill out the session. The idea is the PCs (level 3 right now) would arrive into a town to find themselves amidst some sort of poultry related festival (any names for something that's a chicken but not a chicken would be welcomed) where the townspeople are celebrating the major source of income in the town, poultry farming. Amongst the celebration there's a cooking contest being organized where the contestant have to use either poultry or eggs in their receipe, with the price being a reflavored Onyx Dog (Onyx Dire Chicken!!!:P ). The way I intended to do this was some sort of skill challenge but I quickly realized it would actually work better as MULTIPLE smaller skill challenges. Basically I'll ask the PCs to tell me what they want to do to prepare and stuff and make them roll skills, noting down successes and failiures. Each mini-skill challenge that's sucessful would give the PCs an edge in the contest (like getting the best ingredient, finding a rare mushroom, learning a great receipe, learning what the judges like best etc) that would result in a +2 bonus they can use during the actual contest. The actual contest will be a simple series of 3 WIS roll by a representative of the party who will be able to allocate the cumulated +2s to whichever roll they want and those rolls will basically represent the scores they get from the judges. I also intend to have a combat encounter or two in a cave if they go look for mushrooms there. Now where I need help is coming up with the DCs and stuff for the mini-challenges because I don't have a lot of experiences with the skill challenges. I also need some suggestions on how to decide how the PCs end up ranking in the contest. Do I roll for 'contestants' or do I set DCs for each judge to represent a score on a scale of 1-10? Do I average or add out the results? I could improvise on the spot thursday but I don't want to be completly unprepared. I think this could add some light hearted role playing fun to my campaign. I feel like I've been coaxing my players into combat encounters after another with not enough role playing so far.
#2 strand0 Aug 16, 2009 8:17:56	... themselves amidst some sort of poultry related festival (any names for something that's a chicken but not a chicken would be welcomed) ... Fledgling Hatchling Coopfest Freerange
#3 Grimbus Aug 16, 2009 10:28:15	You could set DC for each judge - each contestant that achieves the DC gets a vote from that particular judge. However, you might have personal modifiers for each judge which would give a contestant bonuses. For example one judge may be open to bribery, so every contestant who have given 5sp gets plus five. Another judge might vote for th emost charismatic and another might ot like mushrooms, so anyone who feeds him a dish with mushrooms gets a -3 to the DC. This way players who do their homework by gossiping with the locals can achieve a higher bonus than the others. As for the other contestants, you could roll if you want, or you could pre-determine which of the contestants are going through to the second and third round and leave the rolling to the last round should the players get that far. There might be a local team and one from the other town who are great rivals and want the honour of winning the cup. They might even pay the players to sabotage each others efforts. You could have some more exotic teams turn up for the contest - A minotaur chef, or a gaggle of goblins to keep everyone amused.
#4 jailbreaker Aug 31, 2009 9:37:08	Edit: Wait, that was 5 months ago, and got bumped 2 weeks ago?
#5 undrave Sep 01, 2009 1:17:36	Edit: Wait, that was 5 months ago, and got bumped 2 weeks ago? Funny thing is I only played two session of that game since and that challenge isn't done yet ^^; I cut the intimidation path but I didn't think about opening the bribery path (stupid I know!). I interspaced the gathering and stuff with some battles, one easy, one that nearly ended up in a TPK and one against a custom solo I completely and utterly failed at XD oh and they beat up some eagles to get their eggs hehehe. So I still got the contest proper left so that's good.
#6 Book5 Sep 14, 2009 0:26:47	Thread claimed for blood sweat and tears! subscribing now!