```col-mdflexGrow=2.5===# Outline## What the Players Learn Player characters spending an evening at [[landmark/the-aerie|The Aerie]] or [[landmark/the-golden-ducat|The Golden Ducat]], or stopping to listen to the gossip in any shop in [[settlement/the-heights|The Heights]] or tavern in the North and South Corridors, are likely to hear individuals arguing over who is going to win the upcoming horse race to decide the winner of the Duke's Challenge Cup. Anyone inquiring about the race is likely to get an incredulous look, but will probably learn at least some of the following information: - The Challenge Cup is an annual 5 mile horse race over a relatively open timber course.- Anyone can enter, provided they can ante up the 100 GP entry fee.- First prize is 1000 GP, and gives the winner possession of the golden, jewel-encrusted cup for a year.- The race has always been almost an exclusive province of the nobility, but for the past three years [[person/heidel-varrasch|Heidel Varrasch]], the coarse, crude master of the Drayer's Guild, has won the race easily.- [[person/paul-de-la-riis|Paul de la Riis]], the Young Stallion who has a long-standing hatred of [[person/heidel-varrasch|Heidel Varrasch]], has vowed to win this year's race at any cost.Player characters can become involved in the frenzied activities leading up to race day in a number of ways:1. By volunteering to help [[person/paul-de-la-riis|Paul de la Riis]] locate a steed capable of bringing him home a victor.2. By investigating (either for oneself, or as an agent for the Stallions) the rumors heard around the corridor that some of the gypsies on [[settlement/trade-island|Trade Island]] have an extremely fast horse in their possession.3. By locating another individual interested in wagering on the outcome of the event.4. By entering the race.## GM's Notes The winner of the Challenge Cup traditionally enjoys great renown in the city for his horsemanship, and greatly increased prestige (which in the right hands can be molded into political patronage of the financial wherewithal to organize an expedition). [[person/heidel-varrasch|Heidel Varrasch]], the defending champion, will again ride the same mount - the dark brown stallion Demon. [[person/paul-de-la-riis|Paul de la Riis]], on the other hand, whose own horse Snowcap has finished second the past year, has been searching for a new and better mount to ride in this year's cup. He (and at his father's insistence, Thomas) are planning to take a trip up to the northern plains, to examine the wares of the nomadic horse traders who ply their trade there. Such an expedition may well be fraught with dangers of the wilderness. Consequently, a number of other young nobles (some Stallions, some not) and yeomen have been recruited to also make the trip. Any player of noble blood would be welcome to join the expedition, unless he has been involved in some activity that has angered the Stallions. There is a 20% chance that Paul will be able to find a new horse that is 1d12 1d12 points better than Snowcap (see below for explanation of how to calculate a horse's ability), and another 25% chance of a horse 1d3 1d3 points better. Although other members of the expedition are also likely to be purchasing horses, Paul will always outbid all other potential buyers for the "best" horse available.Meanwhile, within the city's limits, there lurks a literal "dark horse" with a legitimate chance of winning the cup - if its owners can somehow manage to get it entered in the race. One of the [[ethnicity/wandering-folk|Wandering Folk]] clans inhabiting the small tent cities on the southern end of [[settlement/trade-island|Trade Island]] has acquired a recently broken wild mare from the plains, which they call Firebringer for its fiery chestnut coat. Firebringer's owner, [[person/daruko-ken-ursa|Daruko Ken-Ursa]], has heard the talk about the Cup and believes his horse could win - unfortunately, he and his clan do not have anything approaching the 100 GP to risk on the entry fee. Daruko has been hitching all sorts of schemes (many of which are of dubious legality) for raising this money. Consequently, if anyone from outside [[settlement/trade-island|Trade Island]] questions the clan about buying the horse, their response will be threefold:- first, they will try to relieve the interested party of his money without making any binding deal concerning the horse (by pickpocketing, some sort of ruse, etc.).- If this fails, they will try to make a deal of offering the party a share of the winnings if he will put up their entry fee (this would be a honorable deal).- Third, if both courses fail, they will offer to sell the horse, starting the bargaining by asking for 1000 GP - the total prize - and [[article/haggling|Haggling]] no lower than 300-500 GP (this bottom line will dip as race time gets closer).Given the reputation of gypsies everywhere, it should come as no surprise that there is a 10% chance that the family acquired this horse illegally, and that its real owner will be one of the crowd of race observers (and likely to approach the players after the race to demand the return of his property).## Horses and Riders The race is run over an approximately triangular course that lies in the midst of rolling terrain. The course, particularly on its second leg, does contain a number of obstacles - a stream bed, broken ground, hedgerows - that must be negotiated. A miniature diagram of the course is provided below.> **Horse ratings** for its three prime requisites:- Speed: roll 5d6- Agility: roll 4d6- Stamina: roll 4d6- If the horse is considered to be of Superb quality, add an additional 1d8 to each of these requisites.- If of Excellent quality, add 1d4 to each requisite.- Conversely, Mediocre, and Poor horses receive penalties of 1d4 and 1d10, respectively, to base requisite values.Now factor in the rider to adjust the horse's ratings: > **Rider Characteristics:** - A rider with expertise in Horsemanship will add 7 points to his horse's effective Agility level.- A rider with basic Horsemanship skills adds 2 points to this rating.- If the rider would be classified as very small or thin, add 6 points to his horse's Stamina if somewhat below average in size, add 3 points.- Conversely, a larger than average man will cost the horse 3 points in stamina, and a very burly man a penalty of 6 points.Once these statistics have been determined, the horseman should calculate their effective ratings on each segment of the course, as follows:> **1st leg** (turns 1-13) = 2 X Speed + Stamina (adjusted by rider + quality bonuses)> **2nd leg** (turns 14-26) = Speed + Agility + Stamina * (adjusted by rider + quality bonuses)> **3rd leg** (remainder of race) = Speed + 2 X Stamina *(adjusted by rider + quality bonuses)Player-characters using their own or recently purchased horses should roll up their animal's requisites in the manner outlined here. Statistics for some of the horses likely to comprise the contenders in the field are presented below:| Horse | Quality | Rider | Speed | Agility | Stamina ||---|---|---|---|---|---|| Demon | Superb | [[person/heidel-varrasch|Heidel Varrasch]] | 33 | 25(30)<sup>1</sup> | 27(21) || Snowcap | Superb | [[person/paul-de-la-riis|Paul de la Riis]] | 24 | 18(23)<sup>2</sup> | 31 || Firebringer | Excellent | Kooli Barzen | 32 | 18 | 20(26)<sup>3</sup> || Bold Queen | Excellent | [[person/stella-tainley|Stella Tainley]] | 25 | 27(32)<sup>1</sup> | 19(22) || Thunderclap | Good | [[person/gunter-geronde|Gunter Geronde]] | 24 | 16(18) | 20(23) || Fog Bank | Good | Sir Falstaff | 22 | 17(19) | 21(18) || Spitting Image | Excellent | [[person/kronen-varrasch|Kronen Varrasch]] | 31 | 20(22) | 20(14) || Sea and Spray | Excellent | Melior (elf) Gildenwood | 22 | 21(26) | 23(26) || Azkharbundi | Good | Sir [[person/tenley-tainley|Tenley Tainley]] | 21 | 18(23) | 19 |<sup>1</sup> Automatically makes all Agility saving rolls.<sup>2</sup> Only if [[person/paul-de-la-riis|Paul de la Riis]] is the rider. If Paul finds a new mount, Snowcap will be ridden in the race (though not with Paul's blessing) by [[person/thomas-de-la-riis|Thomas de la Riis]] and have an adjusted Agility rating of 20.<sup>3</sup> Receives the +6 Stamina Bonus only if Kooli Barzen is the rider. If the horse is purchased by another, make appropriate adjustments to both Stamina and Agility.## Simulating the Race During each turn, the player rolls a d10, and checks the column in the results chart below corresponding his current effective rating. The result indicates the number of squares that he may move his piece. Once the race has begun, the leader always rolls and moves first, then the second-place horse, and so on through the entire field. A horse cannot end its turn on the same space as another horse, or atop a marked obstacle that must be hurdled or jumped. The entire course is 400 squares long and should take about 10 game minutes to complete.| d10 | <31 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-65 | 66-70 | 71-75 | 76-80 | 81-85 | 86-90 | 91+ | |:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|| 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 || 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 || 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 || 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 || 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 || 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 || 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 || 8 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 || 9 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 18 || 10 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 20 |![[racecourse.jpg]]The table below describes the course obstacles with distance from the start and an indication of:- A number (indicating the number of squares from the starting line that the obstacle is located).- A letter (indicating whether the obstacle requires jumping - J - or is crossable - C), and a second negative number, if applicable, reflecting the difficulty of the obstacle in terms of its minus) to the saving roll described below.| Location | Distance | Event | Modifier ||---|---|---|---|| 1 | 80 | Jump | -1 || 2 | 135 | Crossing | 0 || 3 | 170 | Jump | -4 (12 CON if fall) || 4 | 205-220 | Pass | Must go single file || 5 | 265 | Crossing | 0 || 6 | 290 | Crossing | -3 || 7 | 330 | Jump | -1 |On any turn in which his horse passes over an obstacle, the player must make an Agility saving roll (on 2d12) to determine whether the horse has cleared this obstacle successfully. On a missed roll, the horse falls and the rider is unseated. Both horse and rider must then make Stamina saving rolls. If successful, they are uninjured, and the rider may remount and continue the race (receiving a movement rate of 0 for the turn in which he remounts), if one or the other is unsuccessful, they are out of the race. Fallen horses and riders represent additional obstacles in the paths of onrushing horses and require a second Agility roll to avoid them. A player has the option to reduce his chances of taking a costly spill by maneuvering around fallen horses/riders at a slower speed. For every 2 points of movement a player foregoes in the turn that he crosses an obstacle, 1 point is subtracted from his saving roll die result.``````col-md**Start / Locations** - [[landmark/the-aerie]]- [[landmark/the-golden-ducat|The Golden Ducat]]- The racecourse outside the city **Key Participants** - [[person/paul-de-la-riis|Paul de la Riis]]- [[person/heidel-varrasch|Heidel Varrasch]]- [[person/daruko-ken-ursa|Daruko Ken-Ursa]]---### World Anvil Metadata**Id:** 4924eb75-83a0-4ee1-8224-6f0f24a4dbf9<br>**Entity Type:** Article / plot<br>**Category:** Haven Encounters and Scenarios<br>**Tags:** FCoH-plot```