The Festival of Merit - Running Call of the Netherdeep (Eventyr Games) 

Just wanted to thank you for this video -- I'm running Netherdeep right now and am using your suggested changes for the festival, and it's going very well!

great video, super helpful. thanks!

Hey there, just wondering if you continued this series anywhere else? I really enjoy your breakdowns of the sessions and would love to see more as i prepare this campaign for my group!

In my story, I had three disparate groups of heroes that somehow needed to work together by the end of Chapter 1. One group was 3 from the Menagerie Coast (Tides of Retribution), another was a duo of a Dwendalian and a Xhorhasian (Frozen Sick), and the last two were full-on Kryn supporters (Unwelcome Spirits) The ones from the Coast and the Frozen Sick adventure ended up teaming up quite naturally, competing against the Rivals. The Kryn pair needed some reason to join a group of five, but due to backstories it seemed implausible for it to occur naturally. So, I had the Kryn pair be hired by Durth Mirimm to represent the Kryn Dynasty in the Festival of Merit-- as a misguided attempt at diplomacy. Show your face, compete in the games, prove that the drow "have respect for local customs" so that the Kryn can tighten their grip on the town. Lore about Jigow shows that the local goblin and orc clans have some cultural clash and tension with the Kryn, so this was played up-- the Rivals (Jigowans) didn't approve of the duo knowing Durth Mirimm hired them, and the other five were friendly but didn't fully understand the political implications. It all came to a head in the Emerald Grotto, when the Rival party and the group of five PCs were the two teams selected to compete, but then Durth Mirimm announces that he wants to nominate a third group, to represent the Kryn, to also join (very "Harry's name was in the Goblet of Fire" level scandal). Not wanting a complete political disaster, the Elders obliged (cue outrage from onlookers). So Kryn pair competed as a third team, initially siding with the Rivals but then switching allegiance at the last minute, as they were instructed to help "whichever team seemed like they were going to win" to grab some glory-by-association for the Dynasty. Of course, it also came with a divine quest... and also gave the new party-of-seven a seed to go to Bazzoxan (the Kryn outpost) as well as tons of tension with the Rivals (you abandoned us!)