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You 'll also need to explain the other aspects of the game that
you've chosen to incorporate. Although details for each are explained
in greater detail later, below are the different potential points
to hit before sending the adventurers out:
1.
Their goal is to reach the highest level for their character that
they can before time is up
2. For each action they complete, they are to fill in one square
of the graph paper. For every ten squares (starting a new line for
each level) they progress to the next level. All players begin at
level 1.
3. They can earn experience points even faster by completing missions.
Mission details are explained on envelopes that must be sought out
throughout the playing area. After completing a mission, they are
allowed to take out the appropriate reward from within the envelope
on top of earning the experience points detailed on the envelope
itself (the experience points for their graph paper.)
4.
Characters will be roaming around interacting with them. If they
kill an enemy, they get to loot whatever items the enemy has on
them and earn an experience point. If they are killed by the enemy,
the enemy gets to choose one item from the player's possessions
(i.e. a weapon, coin, etc.) to take from them as a penalty.
5.
In order to fight, they must roll their two dice. Their attack is
the sum of the two dice PLUS their level number. For example, if
they roll a three and a five and they are at a level two, their
total hit was a 3 + 5 + 2 = 10. They have a health total of 30.
The roaming character (as described below) will have a varied amount
of health, depending on the character. Each person (the player and
the roaming character) takes turns rolling their dice. The first
player to reach the OTHER person's health total wins.
6.
As they find and/or loot different items on their journeys, they
can sell their items for coins from the local trader. Likewise,
the trader will have items for sale that will help the players in
their missions and combat.
7. Just like in the game, they will also have the ability to create
their own potions. Ingredients can be found all throughout the play
area and collected in a number of different ways. Potions help them
in combat. If they wish to create potions, they can visit the apothecary.
Missions
What
you'll need to incorporate this aspect: Envelopes, dice and rewards
for the game (i.e. gold coins, plastic gems, etc.)
Throughout
the playing area, place several different envelopes, each with different
items contained within them items, depending on the type of mission
that you create. The envelopes are NEVER to leave their permanent
location. On the outside of the envelope will be their mission goal.
If they complete the mission, they are allowed to take their reward
from inside the envelope (whatever you've chosen as the reward.)
These missions will keep the action going for the activity as the
players search them out and actively attempt to complete them.
Each
mission has at least three components: The details of the mission
itself written on the outside of the envelope, the amount of experience
points the mission is worth (anywhere from 5 to 10 depending on
how difficult it is) and the reward (items inside the envelope that
they can take once they've completed the mission.)
I
created several different types of missions. Some of the missions
involved searching for different items (images that I printed out
and hid throughout the play area) - once they found the image and
returned to the envelope, they put the image inside and collected
a few coins as a reward (I made sure that there were enough coins
inside so that each player had a chance to complete the mission.)
A
second type of mission was a dice rolling type. For example, I explained
that a wizard from Whiterun (a city in the game) is guarding a ruby
that is worth a lot of gold coins. The only way to defeat the wizard
is to roll a triple with three dice in a single roll (i.e. roll
all 2's in a single roll, or all 6's, etc.) They keep rolling until
they either give up and move on or they get their roll and win.
A
third type was a combination of the two. On the outside of the envelope
I detailed that they must search out three different assassins and
defeat them (I named the assassins so that they knew who they were
looking for.) At different places throughout the playing area I
taped up three small pieces of paper, each with a different assassin
name. On each was also the type of roll that was required to beat
them. Types of rolls might include rolling two doubles in a row,
rolling a single die 6 times without rolling a 1, rolling the die
4 times without rolling an odd number, etc. Once they found and
beat the three assassins, they returned to the mission envelope
for their points and reward.
A
fourth type, for those of you who enjoy the cleverer side of things,
was a simple based puzzle. I asked a question that must be answered.
Once it's answered, the mission is considered completed. A sample
puzzle included "Who killed Gar? Was it Wenhilm, Mayer or Frok?"
Then, on separate small pieces of paper hidden throughout the playing
area, I placed two clues to help them answer the question. One said
"Wenhilm is innocent" and the other said "Frok didn't
kill Gar." If a player found both of these clues, then they
knew the answer, returned to the envelope and got their reward.
Shop
Vendors
Station
a volunteer at a table who will be your shop vendor. This person
will have all of the weapons, coins and other items that the players
might need for game play. Make sure to have a clearly marked list
of all items you have available and their selling and buying price.
Make sure that the amount the vendor will buy the item for (how
many gold coins) is LESS THAN the amount they will resell it for.
The actual items they will have to sell is up to you - simple images
printed from your computer will work. Words on small pieces of paper
will work at the most basic.
Weapons
and armor will be mostly what your players will be interested in
buying. Be sure to have a few different weapons handy. On some put
a +1 on the back, others a +2 and still others a +3. The higher
the + number, the more it will cost to buy. When a player owns that
weapon, they get to add that number to EACH roll during combat.
Do the same with the armor pieces, but they are MINUS points for
their opponent's rolls!
Roaming
Characters
These
are a lot of fun and really make the Skyrim world breathe with life.
The exact number of them you choose to use is up to you based on
your own ability to create the characters and the number of volunteers
you can 'round up.' I gave my oldest son a stack of six different
characters that he could rotate through, each on a separate sheet
of paper. I included images of the character (optional), the name
of the character and their total health. He would then roam around
the playing area while the players were trying to complete their
missions. If he touched a player (i.e. tagged them), the player
was considered under attack and had to stop whatever else they were
doing. My son rolled first with his two dice, then the player. They
each took turns rolling their dice until their total sum for all
rolls equaled the other person's health. For each roll, the player
had a chance to use up a health potion (detailed below) to increase
his total health for the battle or a poison, which would add a 'pip'
to his current roll (i.e. if he rolled a seven, then it would turn
into an eight.) If my older son playing the roaming character won
the battle, he got to look inside the player's character envelope
(where they kept all of the small pieces of paper they were collecting
for the game) and take ONE item from the inventory. If my son lost
(which he typically did for the sake of making sure the players
enjoyed themselves) then he gave them a couple items (in his pocket
was a stack of small pieces of paper and coins.) After the battle,
my son would rotate the sheets of paper, showing himself to be someone
new…and began searching out a new player to attack.
My
youngest son played 'wild game.' He had a similar stack of character
sheets, but he represented the animal life of Skyrim. He didn't
attack anyone. The players CHOSE whether or not they wanted to attack
him. In order to attack him, they had to catch him first by tagging
him. Once tagged, the combat began in the same way as the roaming
characters above. If the creature won, he picked an item out of
the player's inventory. If the player won, my son would reach into
his pocket and give him a couple items.
Potions
In
the game of Skyrim, the players get to collect all sorts of different
ingredients that they get to use to make potions which will help
them in their combat. I particularly enjoyed this aspect of the
game so I was sure not to leave it out of the experience I was planning.
To incorporate this aspect of the game, it will take some prep time,
but it's worth it. I printed out different images and words of different
ingredients from the game (i.e. blue dartwings, red mountain flowers,
etc.) I hid these all throughout the playing area (like an Easter
egg hunt.) If a player happened to find one, they got to keep it
for themselves. The roaming characters were constantly replenishing
the area with new ingredients. I made A LOT of these.
At
any time, a player could go to the apothecary and combine their
ingredients to make different potions. I made a small chart showing
what they needed to mix together to make a health potion or a poison.
If they had the ingredients to make the potion or poison, they handed
the pieces of paper to the volunteer sitting at the apothecary table
and the volunteer handed them a small piece of paper (either a health
potion or a poison.) Health potions can be used in battle ONCE as
a boost of health. Poisons can be used ONCE on a roll for a one
time boost during battle. The exact amount of the boost of health
or strength of poison (+1, +2, +3, -1, -2, -3) is up to you. Create
different kinds of potions and poisons for the players to create.
These come in very handy for the players.
When
Does It End?
A
beautiful aspect of this activity is that you can basically end
it after however long you'd like. If you find your crowd beginning
to wane in interest, sound off the five minute mark allowing everyone
to finish whatever they are doing. If, however, you are finding
that they are enjoying themselves even more than you previously
anticipated, then you have the freedom to keep the fun going as
long as you've provided missions for. As mentioned in the beginning,
I originally had this activity slated for 45 minutes but they begged
to keep it going as long as they could. It only ended after 90 minutes
because by that time they had all completed every mission, bought
every item and defeated every enemy. If I had planned more for them
to do, they would have easily kept going.
Have
fun with it and don't get overwhelmed with the details. If you aren't
familiar with the game, pull in someone that is to explain the different
aspects so that you can wrap your brain around the activity. This
activity is for ANY Skyrim fan and you're sure to be a hit with
your party guests!
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