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Carousing

Carousing is a default downtime activity for many characters. Between adventures, who doesn't want to relax with a few drinks and a group of friends at a tavern?

Resources

Carousing covers a workweek of fine food, strong drink, and socializing. A character can attempt to carouse among lower-, middle-, or upper-class folk. A character can carouse with the lower class for 10 gp to cover expenses, or 50 gp for the middle class. Carousing with the upper class requires 250 gp for the workweek and access to the local nobility.

A character with the noble background can mingle with the upper class, but other characters can do so only if you judge that the character has made sufficient contacts. Alternatively, a character might use a disguise kit and the Deception skill to pass as a noble visiting from a distant city.

Resolution

After a workweek of carousing, a character stands to make contacts within the selected social class. The character makes a Charisma (Persuasion) check using the Carousing table.

Check Total   Result
1—5
   Character has made a hostile contact.
6—10   Character has made no new contacts.
11—15   Character has made an allied contact.
16—20   Character has made two allied contacts.
21+   Character has made three allied contacts.


Contacts are NPCs who now share a bond with the character. Each one either owes the character a favor or has some reason to bear a grudge. A hostile contact works against the character, placing obstacles but stopping short of committing a crime or a violent act. Allied contacts are friends who will render aid to the character, but not at the risk of their lives.

Lower-class contacts include criminals, laborers, mercenaries, the town guard, and any other folk who normally frequent the cheapest taverns in town.

Middle-class contacts include guild members, spellcasters, town officials, and other folk who frequent well-kept establishments.

Upper-class contacts are nobles and their personal servants. Carousing with such folk covers formal banquets, state dinners, and the like.


Complications

Characters who carouse risk bar brawls, accumulating a cloud of nasty rumors, and building a bad reputation around town. As a rule of thumb, a character has a 10 percent chance of triggering a complication for each workweek of carousing.

Lower-Class Carousing Complications

1d8   
Complication
*Might involve a rival
1A pickpocket lifts 1d10 × 5 gp from you.*
2A bar brawl leaves you with a scar.*
3You have fuzzy memories of doing something very, very illegal, but can't remember exactly what.
4You are banned from a tavern after some obnoxious behavior.*
5After a few drinks, you swore in the town square to pursue a dangerous quest.
6Surprise! You're married.
7Streaking naked through the streets seemed like a great idea at the time.
8Everyone is calling you by some weird, embarrassing nickname, like Puddle Drinker or Bench Slayer, and no one will say why.*


Middle-Class Carousing Complications

1d8   
 Complication
*Might involve a rival
1You accidentally insulted a guild master, and only a public apology will let you do business with the guild again.*
2You swore to complete some quest on behalf of a temple or a guild.
3A social gaffe has made you the talk of the town.*
4A particularly obnoxious person has taken an intense romantic interest in you.*
5You have made a foe out of a local spellcaster.*
6You have been recruited to help run a local festival, play, or similar event.
7You made a drunken toast that scandalized the locals.
8You spent an additional 100 gp trying to impress people.

Upper-Class Carousing Complications

1d8Complication
*Might involve a rival
1A pushy noble family wants to marry off one of their scions to you.*
2You tripped and fell during a dance, and people can't stop talking about it.
3You have agreed to take on a noble's debts.
4You have been challenged to a joust by a knight.*
5You have made a foe out of a local noble.*
6A boring noble insists you visit each day and listen to long, tedious theories of magic.
7You have become the target of a variety of embarrassing rumors.*
8You spent an additional 500 gp trying to impress people.



Alternate Table

 d100 + LevelResult
01-10You are jailed for 1d4 days at the end of the downtime period on charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. You can pay a fine of 10 gp to avoid jail time, or you can try to resist arrest.
11-20You regain consciousness in a strange place with no memory of how you got there, and you have been robbed of 3d6 × 5 gp.
21-30You make an enemy. This person, business, or organization is now hostile to you. The DM determines the offended party. You decide how you offended them.
31-40You are caught up in a whirlwind romance. Roll a d20. On a 1–5, the romance ends badly. On a 6–10, the romance ends amicably. On an 11–20, the romance is ongoing. You determine the identity of the love interest, subject to your DM's approval. If the romance ends badly, you might gain a new flaw. If it ends well or is ongoing, your new love interest might represent a new bond.
41-80You earn modest winnings from gambling and recuperate your lifestyle expenses for the time spent carousing.
81-90You earn modest winnings from gambling. You recuperate your lifestyle expenses for the time spent carousing and gain 1d20 × 4 gp.
91-100You make a small fortune gambling. You recuperate your lifestyle expenses for the time spent carousing and gain 4d6 × 10 gp. Your carousing becomes the stuff of local legend.