We recently visited the Maryland Renaissance Festival and it brought
back memories of how much I used to enjoy the playful immersion in
the renfest environment. My adventure gaming hobby stands at the
confluence of many inspirations during my youth. I’ve discussed the
role music, books, films, and even family vacations played in
fostering in me an appreciation of elements that would fuel my gaming
activities (“Early Fantasy Gaming Inspirations” and “Early Musical Influences on My Gaming”). Although I went to my first
renfest well after I’d discovered Dungeons & Dragons,
the experience enhanced my appreciation for roleplaying games,
history, music, and literature. Our recent trip back to the Maryland
Renaissance Festival reminded me how renfests still provide
inspiration for gaming. I also realized how closely renfests mirror
roleplaying games (or games in general) in that they provide an
immersive experience and a relatively “safe” space in which to
play.
To me a renfest has always been one big Dungeons & Dragons
setting come to life...perhaps even more so today with the
proliferation of geek-centered media, fan groups, and cosplay. Like
roleplaying games, refests provide two things anyone can enjoy if
they want to let down their guard a little: an immersive
medieval/renaissance experience and a relatively safe space in which
to play. Whether attending in garb or mundane modern clothing,
attendees can choose – even minute to minute – how much they
participate in a renfest’s interactive theater. On our recent visit
our immersion amounted to cheering for our favorite knight during all
three jousting shows, with plenty of applause and the obligatory
“Huzzah!” now and then. Some like to dress up to varying degrees
of detail and seriousness, from very basic tunics and hats to
die-hard cosplayers dressed as their favorite videogame or film
personalities (the guy costumed as Merlin from Excalibur had
the intense chrome skullcap and fur mantle...I’m surprised he
wasn’t going around muttering the Charm of Making). In the past
I’ve worn a “puff-and-slash” outfit similar to those of the
German Landsknechte. Some folks even adopt the mannerisms and
speech of their intended persona. All this just from attendees. Those
hired by the renfest to actually play roles work hard not only when
they’re “on stage” but when wandering the fair and interacting
in period character with the public. The immersive experience works
to a great degree because a renfest provides a relatively “safe”
space in which everyone can play.
The fair setting in fantasy roleplaying games – an immersive form
of entertainment – also provides a relatively safe space for
heroes. Whether massive harvest festivals or the weekly market
gathering, fairs need the stability provided by civilized locations
with some semblance of law. While not the bread and butter of most
fantasy roleplaying games, fairs provide a respite from wilderness
exploration and dungeon-delving. Fairs also offer a place to
resupply, rest and recuperate, and pursue “downtime” tasks like
magical research, martial training, and reconnecting with contacts.
Most encounters here are far less lethal than dungeons filled with
angry monsters and deadly traps around every corner. They can haggle
with merchants over the price of equipment they need. Thieves can
work the crowds and see what they can pilfer while avoiding the
notice of the local constabulary. Occasional tavern brawls or tests
or martial prowess (like jousts or melees) pose the most hazardous
threats of bodily harm.
That doesn’t mean fairs provide complete safety and a boring lack
of adventure potential. Civilization offers threats far more subtle
than those found in dungeons or on the questing trail. Danger and
adventure can lurk beneath the festive surface of even the most
innocent-looking fair. Has that merchant pawned off a valuable item
onto an unknowing character to evade the authorities? What happens
when the thief picks a pocket and discovers she’s purloined a
potent artifact instead? Do those ham-fisted adversaries in the brawl
or boastful knights in the joust harbor a vindictive grudge against
characters who defeated them? Do they run afoul of the authorities
charged with maintaining order at the fair? Here’s a chance for
gamemasters to integrate some sense of the “civilized” lands into
the action. Sure, the variety of goods and the diversity of
fair-goers can offer some atmosphere reinforcing the greater setting.
But the nature of threats in this seemingly “safe” environment
can provide inspiration for further encounters – or even entire
scenarios – in civilized lands and beyond.
Practical
Game Material
Of course all of this gamemasterly hand-waving means little without
some useful material to provide guidance and inspiration. Here’s a
sample framework for outlining the central elements of a fair along
with an example for quickly developing a fair setting for a generic
fantasy roleplaying game. It might not provide more than a quick
diversion, but, with character interaction and a few meaningful
encounters, might blossom into a full night’s scenario.
Premise: The fair’s name and a brief description, including
the location, time of year, and duration, can offer a quick summary
and teaser.
Keeping the Peace: Who maintains order at the fair? A sentence
or two can describe the constabulary and how stringently they apply
the law to fair-goers.
Notable Goods: While one should assume characters can find
nearly any mundane merchandise at a fair, list commodities
exceptional in quantity or quality for the market.
Events: Note any special events for which the fair is
renowned, such as tournaments, auctions, theatrical/musical
performances, political or religious ceremonies.
Factions: List a few groups who’s presence dominates
the fair (beyond the constabulary from “Keeping the Peace”),
exerting their influence to attain their furtive schemes.
Adventure Hooks: Offer a few brief hooks to draw characters
into extended encounters or intrigues centering on the fair.
Still, all well and good without some practicalities. So here’s a
sample fair following the guidelines outlined above, set near a town
from my Greydeep Marches setting sourcebook.
Thornhedge
Spring Market
The first week of spring brings canal boatmen, horse herders from the
Frigid Steppes, and local horticulturists to the fields outside the
town of Thornhedge to sell their wares to travelers from around the
Greydeep Marches.
Keeping the Peace: The town council calls up the Thornhedge
Provisional Militia to maintain order, usually patrolling in pairs
wearing leather jerkins and armed with iron-banded batons. They step
in to untangle physical altercations and resolve obvious public
safety issues, but avoid getting entangled in verbal arguments and
mercantile disagreements.
Notable Goods: Fine horses from the Frigid Steppes; seeds,
starter plants, and horticultural implements; diverse trade goods
(some illicitly smuggled) from the boatmen.
Events: Opening ceremonial blessing by Lady Craetagia, horse
races, contests of unarmed combat, greenhouse of horticultural
curiosities.
Factions: Growers Guild, a haughty merchant consortium
from Thornhedge that believes it has authority in all matters
agricultural; the simple barbarians from the Frozen Steppes who seek
to avoid trouble while selling their horses and buying novel goods to
take home; the cunning Straigthwater Canal boatmen import a variety
of mercantile goods both legitimate and illicit.
Adventure Hooks
Magic Beans: A shady dealer tries selling the characters beans
to grow magical healing herb bushes (for a fair price) before a
suspicious Sentinel Knight finds him and any associates and carts
them away for dealing in forbidden magical items.
Freedom: While touring the greenhouse of horticultural
curiosities a crowd of sentient boxwood creatures comes to life,
uproots themselves, and pleads for the characters to win their
freedom from the haughty Growers Guild.
Equine Treat: A pair of sly boatmen offer to pay the
characters handsomely if they visit the horse paddocks and feed the
frontrunner in the races a suspicious-looking carrot...intending to
repay any betrayal or failure with trouble from other boatmen.
A Dubious Claim: A standoffish elf from Silverfrost Forest
claims a distinctive item openly worn by a character was stolen from
his tent; he insists on its immediate return or he and his companions
challenge the characters to a formal duel in the elvish style.
Another
Approach
If you’re looking for another approach to fair settings, one filled
with contradictory quirkiness in a far more compact format, check out
S. John Ross’ game writing exercise “Workshop 002: The Summer of Love” and the resulting entries (including an anonymous one by
Yours Truly). It provides some excellent inspiration for a market
fair setting with some specific elements on which to expand.
