As the party enters Festeros, they notice all the townsfolk are wearing what appear to be ear muffs. If the party stops someone, they will remove a muff and ask “WHAT?!” Lowering their voice they will apologize and tell the party that it is the annual Game of Thrones, where townsfolk compete to overthrow the King. “They’re in the royal chambers, can’t you hear that awful screeching?”
Walking closer to the king’s home palace, though much smaller than most palaces, they will in fact hear the screeching of what sounds like metal being scraped on stone. Long stretches of screech then a sudden stop, followed by a few moments of quiet, then the screeching begins again.
DM’s Decision: If the party isn’t snooping much, they can be greeted by a King’s servant, Big Fingers, who will escort them into the primary chambers.
Entering the building and following the sounds of screeching (hello darkness my old friend), the party reaches a large chamber (the one the townsperson mentioned). It is a great hall that opens into two floors, the left and right side of which have a balcony. In the center of the room on the stone floor is a geometrical carving, highlighted by white paint. On top of the painting, the source of the screeching is revealed.
Three brutish-looking men stand off to the sides breathing heavily, and sweating tremendous amounts. As the party watches, they hear the king yell from the left balcony, “Middle to A1!” On the carving, one of the giant thrones begins to move from the center of the carving to an exterior line. The giant throne screeches something awful moving across the stone, but apparently moving under its own power.
The brutes look to the other balcony as a fair blonde maiden shrieks out, “C3 to Middle!” One of the brutes moves to a throne in the corner, lowers his shoulder and begins pushing the throne toward the middle. He stumbles partway through, exhausted. “I can’t m’lady, these thrones are too heavy.” The other brutes chime in in agreement.
“Do you concede?” Yells the king. “It would appear so,” the woman replies. “So be it. Take them away!”
Guards emerge and scoop up the brutes, dragging them off behind two large doors to their fate. The king chuckles and waves his hand, moving the thrones to their respective sides of the floor.
What’s In A Game
By this point, the king will notice the party standing to the side and hoist himself off the balcony to greet them. Landing with a superhero landing, he trots over and introduces himself as Bobert Crannister, first of his name. The hulking man gives a polite bow, exposing his massively broad shoulders.
Bobert offers the party a tour and a meal and will show them around the small, but functional palace.
On the tour he walks them down a hallway lined with enormous portraits of all the kings and queens that came before him. Each more muscular than the last, each in an athletic stance, pushing against one of the gigantic thrones. Some names of the others, or you can make up the most ridiculous names you can think of.
- Tannis Paratheon
- Brindle Stockwood
- Nance Prayder
- Tara Greysad
- Pransa Indistinct
Finishing the tour, the king explains:
Each year, we play the Game of Thrones. Many compete, many lose. Those who can wield the thrones and best the king in our game, become king or queen themselves. So it has been for eons, and so it shall be until our sun fades. I am in my eighteenth year and am one day away from retaining my crown. When I was a lad, I moved these chairs all on my own, and no one has bested me since.
Bobert Crannister, first of his name
The king also explains that he is able to move the pieces on his own through his Divine Right, given to him by the gods, and given to each king or queen upon their victory. He purely channels them and they move the pieces. He notes he also has to use Divine Left, Divine Diagonal, and Divine Up or Down for the other moves.
As the king scampers off to take on his next competitor, the party hears a “psst” from around the corner. A small boy pokes his head out, and motions for the party over. He introduces himself as Pan Fuzzy and explains that he would like to compete in the Game of Thrones, but doesn’t have a group to assist him in moving the thrones themselves. He asks if the party will assist him, outlining his plans for why he should be king and how it would benefit the people. It’s a compelling case and at this point, the party can:
- Help Pan in the games
- Play the game themselves for a chance to become king/queen
- Murderhobo everyone and take the crown by force
- Leave
Live Or Die…There Might Be Middle Ground
However they end up back in the hall with the thrones, they will be announced as the next challenger for the crown. A member of the party or the boy take their seat in the balcony, and look down at the pieces. The setup is three thrones per side, the challenger taking the first placement, then alternating turns after.
The goal is to get three thrones in a row. After all three thrones are placed initially, the thrones may be moved along the horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines presented above.
The rules are equivalent to the game “Achi” which notes:
The objective is to place all 3 of your tokens in a row. Players take turns placing the tokens on the board. If neither player has achieved 3 in a row after all tokens are on the board, they take turns moving a token along one of the lines until a winner is determined.
There is also a variation with four thrones, if you’d prefer. Same rules, just an additional piece.
As the challenger calls out moves and placements, the party will have to run to each piece and move it appropriately. This can be done with a Strength check, with each round getting more intense. DC starts at 10 and increases by 1 every round. If the check fails, the turn is forfeit and it becomes the king’s turn. Each game the DC resets to 10.
The king and challenger play best of three and the winner becomes the new king.
Whatever the outcome, the guards will take the loser away “to be dealt with.” If the party investigates, they find out that being “dealt with,” just means they get a little gift bag with two throne paperweights, some nuts, and an “I am not the king” T-shirt.
If the party wins or helps the boy win, they will be granted the following rewards:
- Scroll of Divine Right: the user of the scroll is capable of moving one object 20 feet to the right, regardless of weight. This is a one-use scroll.
- Throne Paperweights (2): Each of these can be used as a paperweight, or to deal 1d6 + STR bludgeoning damage. The paperweight will deteriorate with each hit, doing 1d6, 1d6, 1d4, 1d4, 1d2, 1d2, 1, 1 damage over the uses.
- Vial of Bobert: A vial of sweat from the former king that when consumed gives the creature +2 STR for 1 hour.
