Behind the Scenes: Good Old Fashioned Entrepreneurial Recovery, Part 3

Behind the Scenes:  A Look into Event Holding

By Steven Matulewicz

Event: Good Old Fashioned Entrepreneurial Recovery (The Dragon’s Den)
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2015.
Subject: Event Production (Article 3 of 3)

So…. We were as ready as we would ever be.  Time to see if we could walk the walk.

Phase 5: last minute panic

One of the things we had been relying on had been trying to use pre-existing dungeon pieces for Terrain.  We had been trying to track down the various people and places that had Dungeons.

Turns out, most of the ones we had hoped to use were in disrepair.  In the end, we had the “boat anchors”, which were used for the Bedlam boat event, and some dungeon triangles, which I had not used before.

So in the days leading up to the quest, we also discovered that while we wanted to start unloading and building day of at 8pm, we had accidentally reserved the room for 9am.  So when we got in at 9, we did not have enough time to put together the dungeon triangles.  Also, the Boat Anchor Walls we had thought out really needed more support in order to hold up a wall successfully (the weight of the walls could not be held up by the rope tension alone).

We are VERY thankful that the PCs in the first run were willing to come in and help us with the walls.  Our delay was only 30 minutes.

Phase 6:  The Event.

I think the easiest way I can describe what we did is to mimic the Walkthrough, and explain the nuances of each run.  Again, one goal was to give each group similar experiences, but not so similar that one group would not influence or need to influence the next group.  Anything found or used on any given quest was not needed on any of the others.

Room 1: the Entrance.

When people arrived, the start and end of the quest was outside.  We brought easy- up tents to make sure people had either shade, or protection from rain.  The Baby Dragon was there to prep them in more detail what was going on.  During the signups, we asked them what weapon styles they were bringing in.  This list had a dual purpose.  One was so we could make sure people got their stuff back, since weapons were stealable.  The second was so that we could alter some of the rooms, to make sure that we didn’t put out monsters that no one on site could kill.  Remember: multiple win scenarios for any encounter.

Room 2:  “The Spider Room”

 The point of the Spider Room is transition.   We sent people in the side entrance to Riley Hall, both because it was traditionally different that going in via the main door, but also it allowed us to set up a space to move them from the Mundane-ish world to the one we were setting up.  We added a skeleton, torn clothes and some old weapons to this room, to indicate failed adventurers… and for a bit of mood.  We also had a stereo system going with some mood music.  Again, anything you can add to a transition/ Immersion scenario helps: sight, sound, touch  even smell and taste.

We made it so this room was magically accessible, to get in and out of the dungeon (i.e. the Baby Dragon had enough magic that it could allow the PCs access to the out.  And the bathrooms.)  This gives people an anchor point in the quest, but with some obstacles (spiderwebs are annoying that way).  It was up to the group how fast or how slow the party moved.  We wanted that, if people were left behind, it was more a matter of PC choice, rather than because the time was up.  If they wanted to quit, if people got there late, getting in or out of the quest was not an issue from a plot perspective.

We dimmed the lights.    I could have made it completely dark…. But that would have created a few other costume issues.  Also, I decided after the first two rooms to put the lights up for safety (the string for the center wall could not be moved easily, so running around in the dark actually became a problem).

Room 3:  The Statue Room.

This was a room with 10 statues.  Little to no loot, because anyone adventuring really could get this far.  Each Statue had a puzzle to solve.  There were three lit gateways.  PCs had to solve the puzzle, which produced a piece, then they had to assemble them in one of the gateways.  The trick was, once the puzzle piece was obtained, shortly after, the statue would come to life and try to get the piece back.  Once the puzzle was assembled in one of the gateways, the lights on the gateway went off, and this opened a corridor to the next area.

There were multiple Win scenarios for this room.  There were 10 statues, enabling an average of 2 people per statue.  The group had to work together to succeed (i.e. try to enagage as many people as you can in a given scenario).  However, there was also a “fighter” solution.  Each statue was affected by a different weapon combination.  The weapons that affected them were drawn at random and were based on the LIST from Room 1.  One possibility was, if you knew what weapons affected which, you could destroy a statue while it was immobile.  But we expected it was more likely people would try to kill them while they were active, or try to assemble the puzzle before they activated.

A long time ago, I discussed what I called “the illusion of choice”.  It is important that the PCs feel their decisions will affect the outcome.  And most of the time they do.  However it is not always possible money-wise, space wise, or scenario- wise, to accommodate different solutions.  “illusion of Choice” is an EH option where you need to set up a room/ space beforehand, but you still want the PCs to feel their choice is changing the story.  Again, this really is about immersion.  The more engaged someone is in a scenario, the more invested they are, and that allows for possible Moments.

The Gates we had were not a “true” Illusion of Choice, in that they had to choose one and that would take them to the next scenario.  It did not matter which they chose, only that they would choose. But the reason for the 3 gates was a subtle way to tell the PCs that there WERE going to be differences for each group.  For each following group, less Gates were lit.  So the last scenario didn’t have a choice of gates.

It is also important to note that Riley at this point was split in half by a plastic wall, held up by the “boat anchors”.  Originally we were going to open a different part of the wall,, wherever the gate was.  Because of all the problems putting up the walls, there really was only one way through.  So in the end, it was just a mechanism.  Decide how to solve the puzzle, choose a gate, if you have a choice, and go.

Also, in order to give the Statues time to change for the next scenario, we needed to put a countdown/ delay on the gate opening.  A 20 second delay was ok in my book, and having someone counting down to an unknown outcome adds tension.

Room 4: the Goblin Room

So if this is a volcano that blows every 3 hours, why are there goblin villages INSIDE the dungeon?  Actually, this was something that could be discovered.  The Baby Dragon’s parents, who originally set up this cave,  worked with the Goblins and GAVE them the spells necessary to have Resurrection Circles.  The Goblins essentially kept out the riff-raff, and gave the Dragons a source of food. 

This scenario set up the rest of the adventure.  Each Tribe was essentially the same ( a chief, a shaman, a bunch of goblins, a cook and prisoner).   However the “Win” scenario was different for each.  For each group, a different NPC type would lead them to the Dragon.  Each group, the scenario for killing the Dragon was different.  We tried to cater the scenario to the group, anticipate what would make them want to essentially hire a guide for the rest of the journey.

This room, and the next few rooms, PCs moved through faster than originally anticipated.  This is because, without the Terrain/ dungeon pieces, we could not create more difficult bottleneck/ fighting scenarios.    The advantage was that the scene changes could move as quick as the PCs.  In the end, I liked the accidental outcome.  It fed into our goal of “no downtime”.  But this means our calculations of the speed of each room was now off. 

While this room was running, the build Team prepared the next section.  We moved the anchor walls in Room 1, which at that time framed the room, out to a corridor distance from the wall.

Room 5: the Corridor.

This room was designed to give people a fight while we prepped the rest of the room.  They were compressed into a corridor width that went along the outside of the room.  Up until this point, fighting was ramping up.  This space was meant to engage everyone in full combat.

Again, this section went much quicker than expected, but the advantage to the new situation was that we could simulate a corridor collapse.  They got to the end and had to perform a ritual.  That ritual (virgin blood being spilled) allowed them into the next scenario, while at the same time pushing them back down the corridor they were supposedly in.  A change of direction, with fighting, to add confusion.

While this is going on, we pulled down the half wall in the center.  The collapse allowed us to move the boat anchors back against the wall, eliminating them interfering with the next room.

Room 6:  The Bat Room: Lava Room.

This room was designed to be a point battle.  Tap lights on the floor had to all be lit to advance.  Any items stolen or lost in previous rooms would end up in this room.  Unfortunately, this room was far more sparce than intended, again due to lack of dungeon pieces. 

We had had giant bats running around this event.  Their goal was to steal as much stuff as possible.  Again, keep in mind that the Dragons designed this maze to keep people out, and to help them horde.  The bats are there both as a distraction and to add challenge to the pcs.

This room was the Bat’s home, and they don’t like light.  So their goal, along with some other monsters who live there, was to keep the lights off.

Once they lights were lit, we flooded half the room with lava.  This was a makeshift red tarp.    Some elementals came out and goaded the PCs into playing their game, being chuck the fireballs into their “buckets.  The trick was you needed to be able to hold the red fire balls to throw them back.

This room also gave the NPCs some time to get into the Dragon costume.  It takes 9 people to man the whole thing, so we needed to make sure that they had enough of a rest to be ready. 

The build crew both set up the lava, and when the game was done, helped the lava recede/ get put away.  They also helped get the Dragon properly costumed.

Once the Fire Imps had their game played, the lava receded.

Room 7: The dragon.

From the opposite end of the hall the PCs came in, the Dragon made its way down the steps.  It was 30’ long, had a 15’ wing span, four 6’ claws, and it was completely mobile.

…and we had a string for the separating wall in the way.  The NPCs were careful, but I had hoped to allow them to move at a slightly faster speed.  Heck a good team can run with that costume.

The other thing was, I had designed the costume sections to be worn with faceless masks.  That way the people looked like bumps in the dragon costume.  For safety and because we could not retract the rope, I opted for people to not have faceless masks.  I think in the end the fighting was better, but the immersion was slightly detracted.

Room 8, the Horde Room

This room was the goal.  We wanted people to get in this room and be overloaded with Loot Lust.  The build team monitored and updated this room, which was also the prep room to get the Dragon together.  Again, what people consider Treasure can actually vary widely.   We tried to make sure that not only was there enough stuff for everyone to come away with items, that most people will come away with items they feel was worth the quest.   Again, I want to thank everyone who made donations to this: it was spectacular.

“Room” 9:  Downtime.

We had set up 30 minutes between scenarios to make sure NPCs got food, and that there was time to reset the dungeon.  It was important to us, especially with the 12 hour day of non- stop activity for the NPCs, to make sure they had rest, had food, and had the proper food for the various dietary restrictions to be able to be ready for the next scenario.

Conclusion:

This event went so very well from my EH perspective.  Despite all the problems, despite the last minute issues, we had a great team that could think on its feet and was able to roll with whatever the PCs, the site or the staff would have issue with.  I feel the amount of attention we made to moving from room to room, making sure we had a dedicated build team, and everyone knowing their function, led to us being able to give people an amazing experience.