Goal: Design a large collection of booths, vendors, encounters, and story seeds which can be picked through for anyone running a game at a Tribunal.
This thread will serve as the discussion thread, with one in the "Post a Day" area for the actual content to keep things clean and usable. Here is the content thread. In an effort to make things as widely useful as possible, I would suggest no or minimal house ruled submissions. Any such would need to be clearly marked.
Not sure if others play this way, but having Magi from a different Tribunal setup booths is fairly common in the Saga I have played in. There are several Covenants which make much of their living supplying other Covenants with things and them trying to get some sales into surrounding Tribunals helps them. It also means that encounters are less restricted, since you can have some with background that could be used even if their write-up makes them more specific to a different Tribunal from the one a given game is in.
A good source would be anything weird or exotic created in your own games that you do not think will be found in most others.
So some ideas for Booths:
Booth selling cheap and common use Enchanted Items. This would be things like "Light" and the Covenant items from the Covenants book. They could be newly produced, excess from failed Covenants, inheritance of dead Magi, samples for commission work, or some combination of those.
Booth with odds and ends that were obtained from a failed Covenant or dead Magi. This could be anything from enchanted lab equipment to strange items with a very niche use. If you have some strange items that were created for your Saga then you have a basis to write up one of these.
Verditius with a booth showing off lots of items they have produced. They will be showing off their skills and seeking to take commissions for future work. Should generally follow a theme based on what the given Verditius is good at.
A writing implements & 'Traditional Gifts' booth. The Order has a few gifts traditionally given when a Magus Gauntlets. Things like quills, a pen knife, etc. It is a given that someone will produce higher quality versions. Or they might have exotic items like reed (rather than pen feather) quills imported for Egypt. Would also likely have some high quality (not exotic) inks and ink bottles.
Booths selling 'Lab Equipment'. This could be anything from quality glass ware, varies apparatus, or ingredients. Most likely display and takes commission. Could serve as a source for "Superior Equipment" and/or "Superior Tools" Lab Virtues.
'Resonance Materials' Booth. Specifically they would be selling varies high quality items for making books, such as seen in the box in Covenants p.87. Most would likely only carry one class (and possibly only one type), such as a booth selling a range of exotic inks (or just high quality cuttlefish ink for Aquam).
'Enchanting Material' Booth. These would have a class (possibly only one type) of material useful for a S/M bonus when enchanting. Generally they should be higher quality and better looking than what could easily be acquired. So while most Magi could get 'Sea Shells' fairly easily, a booth might be selling very large and pretty ones. Maybe another has boughs of wood from a tree struck by lightning.
Varies book sellers. These could range from a Covenant selling older books they no longer need because they Magi have surpassed them, a Covenant selling new copies of works they have, to a specialist book seller with examples of some of their nicer text and list of what they offer to take commission. Lab text might be mixed in or there could be a booth dealing exclusively in them. There might even be a pure mundane bookseller who got permission from the host to sell 'normal' books.
"Vain Project" Booths. While generally people think of "Vain Summae", this could be anything a Magus is exceptionally proud they created and are trying to get spread around. They do not have to even be selling it (there or by commission) but just showing it off. Generally should be poor quality or (very) weird.
Magical Artworks. Created with magic or enchanted. This can cover any of the traditional types of art, as well as things clothing. There are several Magi written up throughout the line which would have a booth like this and so could serve as a good jumping off point. For sale and/or by commission.
Exotic Vis and Items of Virtue. Offering one (or a few) of the items found in RoP:M.
The Redcap Vis Bank. This would be representatives from the local Redcaps, able to store and dispense Vis as well as note transfers from accounts. While this of course depends on how heavily a Saga leans into the Redcaps Vis banking, at the very least there will be a Redcap or three plying their hand at trading Vis.
The Vis Shark. Someone willing to loan Vis out at a bad rate. Since Vis is not money, it is not even usury.
"Swaps". These could be anything from Vis (avoid that Redcap rate) to books/text to enchanted items to nearly anything Magi use. Generally used and they could be seeking trade rather than sale. Could be anything a Covenant has too much of or no longer needs.
Smallish Virtue animals. These could be a breeder or just a Covenant that suddenly stumbled into too many of them. Maybe the Hermetic Cats had several litters and now they have a host of kittens they need to place. Maybe they stumbled upon a whole murder of crows of virtue. Or they raise carp of virtue for Vis and are selling their excess (at above Vis value for live ones).
Food Sellers. These can run the gambit from a mundane serving traditional fair foods, exotic food (or just common but prepared with exotic/magic means), to beverages. The raw source of the food might be Warped and cause it to have unusual flavor or properties.
Some ideas for encounters:
Familiar getting into trouble. A familiar is off being naughty and causing a scene. When will the spray bottle be invented to say "bad familiar".
Lost apprentice. A younger apprentice has wandered off while their Master was busy haggling at one of the booths. Maybe they like the look of the PCs (or their familiar).
Flambeau conducting Dimicatio. While not at every Tribunal, any with a high number of Flambeau will often see a contest or small tournament.
Magi debating (if not outright arguing) some point. This could range from a point of Hermetic Theory, why a spell is good or bad, to how best to cook peacock tongue.
PC/NPC Magi. If there are any Magi in your Saga that you think would make an interesting encounter or just provide background, then a simple encounter write-up would prove useful. We don't need a character sheet.
Hopefully some of you will be willing to contribute since the biggest issue with something like this is it is often too much work for a single person to handle in a reasonable time.
We do this too, and we actually do a sort of mini version of what you're talking about here for them where each player creates a vendor and their stock and we do a sort of "show and tell" for the player characters. Use the same mechanics for the Verditius contest, npc familiars, vis sources etc. It's a good way to spread the work.
Anyway my point is if you like I could dig up the stuff I have from those, which ought to be of some use for a project like this? Here's an example of the kind of thing I mean (most of it isn't as tidy as this though, and is in offline docs so would need some pulling together): Magic Item and Spell Catalogue - Google Docs
Actually things like that are exactly the type of contributions needed for a project like this. I know many of the submissions will actually not be as fully fleshed out and detailed as these are, but even small blurbs will contribute to the depth of available options that can be used in a game.
My hope is that with enough contributions it will allow people to pick and choose across multiple Tribunals. Pick out a few descriptions and encounters for flavor, plus some fleshed out traders that the PCs might be interested in. I personally have always enjoyed Tribunals and the events surrounding them. I know they are a lot of work, so by group working the project I hope to allow more people to play through them.
This does not fit the bill precisely, but there may be sufficient overlap to make it relevant. The following link is my incomplete notes from playing the Midsummer Fair in the Greater Alps. Some of the NPCs could show up on a tribunal market. Others are there for tournaments, be they Flambeau melees or certamen.
I should mention that the book about Quendalon's Quest made quite a show in our story. One PC really needed the book for his own life goal. A different PC, avaricious about books, bought it a substantial price, just to treasure it and never share it.
Since 'Change the Nature of Vis' has been removed from 5e, there might be a Vis exchange -- turn in your pawns of Herbam Vis to get (probably fewer) pawns of Rego Vis instead, that sort of thing. Realistically, this should probably be an auction / market with bids ('X pawns of Herbam, to buy Y pawns of Rego! Going once!') and defined lot sizes ('Current bid is 13 Herbam to the magus in the back with the weird hat, for this Rook of Rego! Do I hear 14?' -- furious scuffling as everyone in the back claims to have the weirdest hat...) instead of a simple fixed-rate / no-haggle vendor.
Lab texts for particular spells seems like a good staple. Tracti and Summae on Arts might run into the established players (especially Mercere) in the book market. While it might be unlikely, folks might sell copies of their notes on stabilized discoveries towards a particular breakthrough (like Hermetic Magic in Arabic or Adamic) -- or those might be buried in the odds & ends of various clearance / estate / salvage sales. Books on Finesse, Magic Theory, Concentration, and Penetration -- they are not magical per se, but important magic-adjacent topics. Maps and local-knowledge (and language) guidebooks might be useful for expedition-prone magi.
Lock-box storage, including secure long term storage.
Dealers in Realia.
The Hermetic code seems to allow a market in buying & selling apprentices between magi -- but there would probably never be an organized auction block because Bonisagus mages could render it moot and unprofitable.
A hire-a-guide / message-runner / courier / porter / rickshaw booth might be popular.
I am just throwing out ideas here; hope some of this is useful or interesting enough to build upon.
There is some excellent stuff in there; from now on it is my head-canon that each and every faire includes dedicated Menagerie area. Even if no creature-sellers show up, the folks who plan the faire must think in terms of the sanitary requirements & have a spot designated. The dedicated Arena is a good idea; but the idea of the Ale tent / Winery / Refectory is genius.
I know we all spend time contemplating now magic & magi change mythic Europe, and thinking in terms of 'what would be at a Tribunal Faire to interest Magi?' is perfectly natural; but it seems likely that there would also be booths dedicated to 'stuff which is important to a covenant' -- herds of ordinary livestock, dried herbs (both tasty and medicinal), bushels of grain (no maize of course), fresh and dried fruit, & etc.
Grogs would certainly be present, if only to do the heavy lifting & menial labor; but they do present special problems too -- there are always thieves, for example. And lost children. Do they have money to spend? If so, there are attractions to spend it on! Enjoying time at a faire is difficult when Gifted folk are involved; so there are probably steps taken -- ways to formally resolve disputes, for example. Grogs from a covenant would probably prefer to be set up near the magi from their own covenant, if they had to be near magi at all -- and each covenant would want to have a magus nearby to prevent their grogs from being taken advantage of.
Perhaps the faire would have two separate fairways; on for grog-oriented / operated booths, the other for magus-oriented / operated booths -- nothing but personal preference prevents someone from wandering freely on either.
A stall of divination, where people use non-hermetic means to try and gather information about the future. Sniffed at by many as superstition, others seek it out as a possible insight into the Limit of Time.
Possible methods of operation:
A covenant has an aura that Warps to a pattern, and has many covenfolk with Premonitions or Visions, and has decided to try and make money out of it.
A covenant has excellent tutors and libraries on Artes Liberales, and there's a companion who's an astrologer (see Art & Academe) using astrological inceptions to try and answer questions. This would make an excellent side hustle for a companion, or for very well-educated covenants.
This is a cover for a mystery cult teaching Divination (and possibly other virtues, like Premonitions) and they are sizing up magi as potential recruits.
The Gem dealer
Magi often want expensive gems in their Talismans and enchanted items, but how often do you get to a city large enough to have merchants specialising in this? Here they will have the finest stones from across the world.
Possibilities:
This is a mundane merchant from a big city who has been invited here by house Mercere and is under their protection.
The stall does not have a wagon nearby, but a strange bronze badger large enough to fit several people inside. The magi from this covenant go on adventures underneath the earth to try and find the freshest gems possible, while trying to avoid hazards.
The gems have secretly been enhanced by Solomonic Alchemy (see The Cradle & The Crescent) and were bought from arab traders.
The Money Lenders
This stall can arrange for silver and gold in many forms of coinage to be delivered to your covenant, and are open to offers of vis, books or enchanted items. They are also interested in any investment opportunities a young covenant may have.
The magi behind this covenant magically created far more than they can spend, and are terrified of being accused of interfering with the mundanes. They want you to take the risk for them, and will take what they can get in exchange.
This is a covenant making its money from moneylending, as in Covenants. Don't fall behind on repayments, or their certamen specialist will make your life difficult.
This is the Jerbiton league "The Ponderers of Weight and Distance" (HoH: Societates p51) trying to influence economies.
I like finding excuses to work Mystery Cults, Jerbiton leagues and the like into the game.
My head-canon view of medieval Europe says that's an anachronism
I thought that way, to some extent. On one hand, the grogs have an important role waiting on their own magi, so I cannot see them making a separate camp. However, I would expect food stalls and brewers going two ways; some targeting the Gifted and other targeting the mundane.
Thus I am also not sure about the mundane market for ordinary provisions, livestock, and grain. The grogs can deal with that alright at any mundane market, without all the Gifted people around. Does it make sense to trade this at an Hermetic fair?
On a different cord, Hibernia offers some distinct possibilities, with any number of faeries and hedge wizards engaging in the trade. Maybe a faerie brewer? Maybe one modelled on the publican in Mythic Places?
Not really; selling horses who are 'Unaffected by the Gift' means shoveling a certain amount of horse-poop. Even in the dark ages, stables were built downwind of homes because of the aromatic drawbacks of doing it the other way around. If a faire is likely to have more-than-one creature-seller, the folks who plan the faire will very likely want to place them together -- if nothing else, to minimize the routes and distances that animal poop is hauled past stalls which may not appreciate it.
Thus I am also not sure about the mundane market for ordinary provisions, livestock, and grain. The grogs can deal with that alright at any mundane market, without all the Gifted people around. Does it make sense to trade this at an Hermetic fair?
I have a few takes on this: 1} covenants can be very isolated and insular; taking care of all their essential business at a Hermetic Faire means reducing (potentially unwanted) interactions with locals. 2} Mages will bring a certain number of grogs with them for mundane tasks, but each of those grogs will have family and friends who want a break from the daily tedium that the excitement of a faire brings -- preventing grogs from attending might be bad for covenant morale; bringing them might improve morale. 3} Grogs interacting with grogs is how recipes change hands; you want better (or at least different) fare at table, bring your cooks to hob nob with other cooks.
Something else which might be an activity at a faire -- parties. Each covenant might throw a party on one of the evenings of the faire; this is a way to show off wealth, to make political or commercial contacts, or to enhance the reputation of the covenant. Such parties will always have a public venue, with specially invited guest allowed access to a more exotic private venue. Of course, the biggest and most lavish parties draw the greatest number of important guests -- those who organize the faire might require covenants to get permission / an approved time-slot. The most prestigious covenants are the center-piece of each night, and the organizers might want the biggest & best on separate nights -- with a few minor covenants alongside just to provide a little variety.
Hedgies & faeries are an interesting idea. Hedgies might have some join-or-die friction from some of the order; and will likely be condescended to by most of the others -- but maybe house Ex Miscellanea would sponsor / protect them, with an eye towards recruiting some of them. Fae could be a lot of trouble -- and exactly what qualifies as 'molesting the faeries'? They can often look very human, but their thought processes, priorities, and mindset can be incomprehensibly alien. If the host covenant has good relations with the local faeries, it might work....
Not a stall as such, but Archmage challenges. Sure, you could just do it quietly outside the tribunal (and some challenges, such as Urgen's, aren't really conducive to a tribunal (at least unless someone deliberately challenges him shortly before the tribunal in an attempt to shortcut the "track him down" component of the challenge), but doing it in front of your peers is so much more prestigious. As long as you win.
Games of chance and opportunities to gamble seem like naturals for a fair, though clearly with an arcane or Hermetic flavor and appropriate rules.
I suspect other entertainments may find their way to these fairs: dances, May poles, pubs, beer tents. These kinds of events often had a natural "shake up the gene pool" effect with opportunities for trysts and tumbles if not downright match-making or wooing happening. I get that many of the post-longevity treatment magi aren't adding to the gene pool anymore, but I would imagine a fair to be a good breeding ground, so to speak, for this kind of thing, even among grogs.
As a child, I remember going to the local county fair and there was always a tent with the Unusual and Unbelievable ala Ripley's Believe it Or Not. (Looking back from my perspective today, it seems horrific but was a common trope of the fair/circus circuits.) This would manifest quite differently among the Order but there might be a less "savory" sideshow or two. Not really sure of the historical background of this phenomenon, but the notion of a jester or a fool seems to have been common. Jugglers, bear-baiting, etc.
I could also see the development of a kind of jobs board or grog trading post where covenants are trading, bartering, and placing surplus grogs. It seems possible that an autumn or winter covenant may have reached the natural capacity of its community and need to place grogs and other skilled laborers with reliable covenants.
So many interesting possibilities that spring into stories seeds!
I can see the attraction, and in a geographically small tribunal like Hibernia it may even be feasible. Carrying livestock and grain to feed a covenant across the larger tribunals like Rhine and Iberia is non-trivial. While some covenants might want to do so, are there enough of them to make a market of sufficient volume?
Now, this raises a different and interesting question, namely the fair cycles. We know of some canonical ones:
The tribunal, every seven years.
The Grand Tribunal every 33 years.
The Gathering of Twelve Years, Bjornar only.
The annual Midsummer Fair in the Greater Alps.
The Verditius Contest every 18 years.
The tournament events in Normandy
Flambeau gatherings and tournaments.
While most of these have very specific purposes other than trade, I think it is safe to assume that they will all attract a fair with market and entertainment around them. I am sure that many magi attending their House event will take the opportunity to trade on behalf of their covenant.
Except for the Greater Alps and Normandy, there is no mention of fairs which are frequent enough and local enough to cover the needs for every-day provisions. And one may wonder if the Hermetic population suffices to sustain more.
On the other hand, mundane fairs canonically attract Hermetic trade. I cannot remember the reference, probably C&G, possibly Heirs to Merlin. It is not clear, I think, if Hermetic trade takes place in an open side fair, or if Hermetic magi meet in secret, possibly facilitated by the redcaps bringing a large tent for the purpose. This should probably depend on how open the Order is in the particular saga.
City & Guild page 98 does indeed say "There are Redcaps at all the largest fairs, taking the opportunity to pass on messages, and to trade in gossip as well as vis" (and has a further paragraph on it).
More stalls:
The Company of Merchant Adventurers: these magi and their companions offer goods they have brought from across the cities of mythic Europe, and seek orders for more exotic goods. Perhaps you would like to invest in their next expedition east?
The covenant relies on trade, but they have an extensive network of suppliers who can get them goods covenants might want.
They really want to make a big expedition into Mythic Arabia or Mythic Africa, and want a stack of support to make it happen. This could also be a chance for player characters to get involved in an epic journey if they want to spend a few years away from the covenant.
The covenant are from the Normandy Tribunal, and have stolen goods meant for a rival covenant. They are trying to sell their takings far from Normandy. Alternatively they may be covering for a pirate covenant, like Waddenzee.
The Masons and engineers
This tent has a group of grogs who claim to be expert stonemasons and engineers, and can help with any large construction project you have. They can also help if you need to reinforce your covenant against sieges.
The home covenant has a mighty castle and plenty of artillery, and rents their experts out to make money as the upkeep on their fortifications is quite expensive.
While the grogs could build things for you, an annoying Terram specialist keeps interrupting to ask you if you're sure you wouldn't rather rent one of his casting tablets of Creo Terram rituals and just build what you want. Why, he's got enough designs to make almost a covenant in a box!
The covenant these grogs come from is very militaristic, and some of the grogs want to flee to another covenant where it might be safer. They could be willing to teach skills like Profession: Stonemason and Profession: Engineer to covenants that take them in.
The covenant has a sideline in selling Perdo Terram wands to create tunnels to undermine things, and point out how useful training in profession: sapper would be to your grogs.
One of the masons mentions the idea of building the tallest tower conceivable - a magus has conceived of the Hermetic Tower from Hermetic Projects and has planted the idea in this companion's mind, and wants to gauge support for such a crazy idea.
The Tremere stall
This tent, in a fetching shade of charcoal, is manned by young Tremere eager to try and spread the Tremere way of doing things. They are keen to work on others projects, and offer to sell you copies of Tremere-authored tractatus. They love to ask you about interesting magic auras or sites in this area.
The Tremere are deliberately using this to expose their junior magi to the hard work of persuading other people of the Tremere way, and a senior magus is hidden in the tent to intervene if anyone gets trapped in a terrible deal.
The Tremere here have been sent to try and prove their worth by meddling in a Tribunal and finding the best investment opportunity they can (see the "Public Financier" story ideas in Against the Dark).
Coeris has a plan that involves expansion in this Tribunal. To do that, they will need to find a covenant site they can defend, and it would be ideal if they could find local Gifted apprentices to take and train up in Tremere thought who would also know the local languages and customs.
This tribunal stall has been given the right to sell the Transylvanian Tribunal's excess magical animals that would make good familiars, and have been given a stiff sales target. They will not rest until every magus without a familiar has heard their sales pitch, and been persuaded that a Bulgarian ferret could be their ideal companion.
Mivwd from the other topic as it makes more sense here:
The Sachsenspiegel (Sachsenspiegel - Wikipedia) was published in the span of a typical saga, so having Jerbitons (or Tremere) be the hidden instigators of this important book on HRE Law is something that could be added for authenticity in a saga; Redcaps let Covenants in the Rhine and Greater Alps know about the book and offer the opportunity to order a copy of what is touted as a very high quality Summa on Civil and Canon Law available in Low German or Latin (and maybe an announcement as the (Grand) Tribunal of 1228). Then they can just book of a monastery's worth of scribes and distribute the books in the early 1230s.
I need time to digest this and cross reference it against the checklist I'd started developing for Delos/Theban tribunal's Tribunal gathering... and I think I also did a partial look at the Tribunal Faire in an issue of Sub Rosa, but that was a while back.
I do think there's some serious complications to buying items that were crafted by previous, possibly dead magi of the tribunal, especially if they're not dead, just comprehending a Twilight...but then I guess that's the risk you take...
"Owner of that favourite item you bought at an estate sale returns from prolonged twilight and wants their things back" is a great story seed. "Magical estate sale" is a good booth idea to set up the hook too. Auctioning off the effects of some old crazy magus whose heirs have no interest.
Wow I get sick for a week and this thing blew up. With all the ideas people have I feel it would be best if we continued using this thread for any discussion and created one in the 'Post a Day' for actual contributions. If we build it up enough it make actually even be a good PDF resource.
Will make the thread for finished submissions and also link it in the first post.
One of the Vendors I have been thinking about while recovering was beverages. Specifically ones that dealt with "Magic" beverages. Our Covenant actually does a great deal of this in our Saga so I have some experience with it. There is a whole range of options that could be build up from this.
Options include:
Magical raw material (plants of Virtue, Warped, Vis baring [extracted or not]): The grapes used in wine, the grains in beer, the honey for mead. All of these could meet any of these. What changes in the flavor, texture, and effects could they play.
Magical processing: Made wholly through magic (Craft Magic) or with magically assisted means. Pure Crafting Magic seems unlikely to get high quality (high difficulty) and so would most likely be more of a novelty. However skilled craftsmen using magical assistance can reach superior or exceptional quality easier, especially if a lot of focus is devoted to it. This can also include more exotic processing, such as some degree of distillation. While not common, varies versions have been known and written about by alchemist. Modern pot stills trace their roots back over 2,500 years ago with 4th and later century writings detailing versions. There are also such things as "Heart of Wine" by fractional freezing to extract water.
Magical aging: While it is generally thought that people of the time did not intentionally age spirits, the affects of it are a side effect of the means of storage at the time. This could be from the containers used (wood from trees of virtue or warped trees) and/or the location stored (kept in a high aura for long enough to warp).
I am thinking about writing up a couple of different ones, allowing them to be swapped in and out fairly easily so that you can give individual Fairs their own 'flavor'.
So things like:
A booth selling mead made from the honey produced by bees of Virtue. Most had the Vis extracted, which while it unbelievably delicious and bursting over the senses seems to have something missing which causes many to keep drinking it trying to figure out what. They might have a bottle or two which still contains a pawn, which lacks that "missing something" and causes those who consume it to enter an extremely relaxed state.
Including of course a write-up of those manning the booth.
One booth that is very Saga depending [because, well, is something that happen on my Saga and not in any book] that I want to share:
A Bellum booth, probably directed by a Verditius more motivated by money than art. The booth is a good place to find lab text on Aeger Bellum and "advanced versions" [with sound, smell and even touch], Finesse Tractatus or even Summaes, but also for getting the Bellum Figurines, a set of small figures that function as Minor Enchantments of Aeger Bellum based on the figure, you can even paint them and the Illusion will appear with the colors on the figure.
This is based on the idea that Bellum seems pretty fun and common on the Order to start riots on a previous Tribunal, so I decide that probably -in their shenanigans- there are magi interested on collecting and playing Bellum even after apprenticeship.
This enchantment is so small that the Verditius can create them without any Vis, and so the price is smaller rounding the 2 Pawns for a basic version. Deluxe editions exist, with enchantments for being preserved even in disaster, the five senses activated, etc.
Also, this enchantment is very appreciated by the RedCaps because it lets them play Bellum.
One hook for the next Tribunal in my saga is that some RedCap or Jerbiton (deciding for now) want to use this figurine for something more than a "Finesse contest" and is building rules for a Wargame and trying to convince the Verditius to work with him in creating this new market, players can see this like a good investment, or as a new hobby to be involved in.
