The Hallowcrawl, The Midnight Brawl

GM guide for this adventure. The full guide is hidden below as a spoiler.

What is going on here (GM only)

The Promissory sets the rules for The Hallowcrawl, and the coin ban is the oldest of them. Sirvane Oloseth, who runs auctions at The Platinum Carapace, wants it gone. He plans to license every stall and stage in the square for a monthly fee and to sell the best stage nights to Sprigs families at auction. He hopes this will win the approval of Damas Underflame. He cannot simply end a rule the whole Spindle loves, so he needs a reason. A bloody brawl in the Hallowcrawl would give him one.

Tonight is the night. Mellika Onn, called Fizz, puts on her puppet show on the central stage at midnight, and it draws the biggest crowd of the week. Kelphin Ryn plays the fiddle before her. Sirvane Oloseth has paid Tandrel Skive, called Bluejaw, to start the fight. Tandrel Skive and 2 hired bruisers (Tough) will throw a fistful of coins into the crowd at the front of the stage, shout "Thief", and swing at anyone near. In the crush they will knock over the poles of glowing beetles and let the incense pits catch the stall awnings.

Dallis Quin works for the Promissory under false names. For two weeks she has been buying favors owed in the Hallowcrawl, trading food and beds for promises. Tonight she calls some of them in. She needs people near the stage at midnight who will join the shouting. She writes every favor in a small leather book with a mark Sirvane Oloseth will recognize.

The people and what they want

• Sela Ruebright, a bard who grew up in the Hallowcrawl. She wants it to stay a free place where anyone can perform. She protects it with talk and song, not with force.

• Mellika Onn, called Fizz, the puppeteer. She wants her show to go well and the street children safe.

• Kelphin Ryn, called Kel, a young fiddler. He wants to be noticed. He has no idea what is planned.

• Tandrel Skive, called Bluejaw, a bruiser for hire. He finishes paid jobs, hates being lied to, and watches over Kelphin Ryn.

• Dallis Quin, a Promissory informant using a false name tonight. She wants a quiet job and clean hands.

• Sirvane Oloseth, an auctioneer who brokers deals for Damas Underflame. He wants the ban gone and his name kept out of it.

• Lysha Virelle, a perfumer and Sela Ruebright's friend. She comes to watch the midnight show.

How It Can Unfold

1. A turn on the stage. The Hallowcrawl, 1379-04-12, 20:00. Sela Ruebright offers a turn after the juggler. A DC 12 Charisma (Performance) check earns a hot meal, a cup of sapwine and a bed in the costume loft behind her stall. A DC 15 result also earns a promise from a stall keeper. A spell, a trick or a strong story can stand in for a song.

2. A friendly stranger. The Hallowcrawl, 21:00. Dallis Quin, using a false name, offers anyone who looks hungry or tired a meal and a bed now for "one small favor before the night is out". A DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check sees she is lying about her name and her reasons. Someone who works the Slough knows her face on a DC 12 Intelligence check. If the player character takes the deal, she calls it in at 23:30. The favor is to stand at the front of the central stage at midnight and shout "Thief" when coins hit the floor.

3. Coin in the crowd. The Hallowcrawl, 22:00. Two strangers stand near the back stalls where the Promissory keeps its quiet business. A DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check spots the heavy purses under their coats, which is coin carried into the center. Tandrel Skive is with them, chewing blue gland and watching the stage. Sela Ruebright has never seen him nervous before.

4. The upper edge. The Hallowcrawl, 22:30. Private deals happen on the walkway at the top of the square. Sirvane Oloseth meets Dallis Quin and Tandrel Skive there. Getting close enough to hear takes a DC 13 Dexterity (Stealth) check. The player character hears the plan, the midnight signal and Sirvane Oloseth's name for the new rule. A character from the Sprigs or the stage has met him and knows him at once.

5. Stopping it. The Hallowcrawl, before midnight. There is more than one way.

• Tandrel Skive can be talked out of it with a DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) check. Pointing out that Kelphin Ryn will be at the front of the crush gives Advantage. A lie gets a punch. If he walks off, the two bruisers lose their nerve on a DC 12 Charisma (Intimidation) check.

• Lifting a purse takes a DC 14 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. A bruiser with no coin has no signal.

• The story can be told from the stage. A DC 15 Charisma (Performance) check, with Sela Ruebright's help giving Advantage, turns the crowd's eyes on the strangers. The Cudgel guards at the entrance lamps walk them out.

• Dallis Quin's favor book can be taken with a DC 15 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, or traded to her for a favor. It proves who paid.

1. The brawl. The Hallowcrawl, central stage, 1379-04-13, 00:00. If nothing stopped it, the coins fly. Tandrel Skive counts as a Tough (100 XP), and he fights from his own sheet. Encounter math. One level 3 character has Moderate 225 and High 400. Tandrel Skive and 2 Tough are 300 XP, past Moderate for one. With Sela Ruebright fighting beside the player character, two level 3 characters have Moderate 450, so it plays Moderate. If Tandrel Skive was turned, 2 Tough is 200 XP, Moderate for one. Each round in the crush, everyone near the stage makes a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or is knocked Prone. A beetle pole falls in round 2 and an awning catches fire in round 3. The Cudgel lamp guards blow a horn, and 4 Guard arrive 2d4 rounds later. The bruisers run when hurt below half. Tandrel Skive stops at once if Kelphin Ryn is hurt.

2. The morning. The Bentroot Exchange, 1379-04-13, 07:00. Promissory clerks post the day's notices here. If the brawl happened, a notice closes the Hallowcrawl for ten days. With the favor book, or with Tandrel Skive willing to talk, a DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) check makes the clerks take the notice down and send the matter to the city court. Sirvane Oloseth denies everything.

If the Players Do Nothing

• 1379-04-13, 00:10. The brawl starts. Two stalls burn. Kelphin Ryn breaks his arm, and three people are hurt in the crush.

• 01:00. The Cudgel clears the square.

• 07:00. A notice at The Bentroot Exchange closes the Hallowcrawl for ten days.

• 1379-04-23. The Hallowcrawl opens again. Coin is allowed, stalls and stages cost 5 gp a month, and the midnight stage is sold at The Platinum Carapace.

• 1379-05-01. Sela Ruebright cannot pay her fee. Mellika Onn moves her show to Gutspar Alley.

Endings

• Good. The brawl never happens, nobody is hurt, and the plan is known in the Spindle.

• Mixed. The brawl is stopped or kept small, but the plan stays secret, or people are hurt.

• Bad. The square burns and the coin ban falls.

Rewards

• The Hallowcrawl pays in favors. Sela Ruebright, Mellika Onn and the stall keepers each owe the player character one favor.

• The bruisers' purses hold 36 gp.

• Lysha Virelle gives a bottle of Perfume and her thanks.

• Sela Ruebright gives a Costume from her mother's old stock.

• Sela Ruebright sends the player character to the story night at Skelk’s Hollow, where performers are paid.

• Sela Ruebright becomes a contact who knows every performer in the Spindle.

• Heroic Inspiration if the brawl is stopped without anyone hurt.

After the Adventure

• The auctioneer remembers. Sirvane Oloseth never forgets a slight. A week later a Promissory clerk starts asking where the player character sleeps.

• The lost mother. Dallis Quin's favor book is the newest of many. The Promissory keeps older favor books going back years, and Mellika Onn wants to know if her mother's name is in one.

• The stolen fiddle. Tandrel Skive asks for help to return the fiddle Kelphin Ryn stole from Nera Collinspire before her friends at The Reach find out.