Bear Jam: The Elections of Urstown
When Autumn comes, the bears of Urstown get hard at work on harvesting for the coming hibernation. Every four autumns, their lives get a little more colorful as the populus city of 300 gets together and votes for their new mayor. Being a bear mayor is a remarkably powerless position, as no lord would dare lord over the beasts, and bears have no interest in listening to other bears. But, the bear mayor wins a golden salmon-headed necklace, which draws the ire and admiration of her fellows. This time, there are quite a few factions vying for the spot, and only two days left!
The Hook
Lord Lemony John of Audenbury has put out a request for all diplomatically skilled adventurers to enter the town and sway the election in favour of his chosen bear, who he seems to believe will give him the ability to manipulate Urstown into forming an alliance with his lordship. He knows that there are currently six bears with have a following, and a chance to Which is his chosen bear?
| Roll | Bear | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bearzo | Bearzo provides unparralled battle might. |
| 2 | Greta | Reports say she is the most agreeable bear. |
| 3 | Richington Bear | Richington has reached out for support! |
| 4 | Toby the Rare | It is said his gold hoard rivals that of a dragon. |
| 5 | Barry Longlegs | A former vagabond who has seen more of the human world than any other bear. |
| 6 | The odd one | It's worth a shot? |
The boring stuff
All bears use the Black Bear statblock from B/X, or whichever system you use. The only exception being The Odd One, who is a grizzly bear. The town functions basically as a point crawl, with each point being one of the domains of the bears above. The basic structure is pretty simple: Each bear has some sort of want, and if you give them that want, you'll get their factions votes. Your players will either win when they convince three of the other bears, OR you could roll a d6 against however many bears they've convinced. Either way, the reward is some amount of gold, and a gift from the winning bear.
Urstown
Each red mark represents an extra hour from town, so The Odd One is about three hours from town, while Greta is only one.
The town basically consists of just the inn and town hall. The inn is ran by a grumpy old bear named Syke, who is more grey than black at this point. It only has about three rooms, though they are large enough for a few bears each. A hearty meal of potatos and venision is served daily.
The town hall is not a building at all, but a wide open area behind the inn. In the center is a stone table, where a heavy and ornate wooden box sits under it. There is also a stone pillar which holds the Salmon Necklace since the previous mayor, Old Papa, died in the middle of his term.
Greta Bear
Wants: Land cleared to grow the towns cubs.
Greta is a descendant of a long line of "Mama" bears. These bears provide an invaluable service: They manage the cub farms. Every year, the bears of Urstown enter her farms and plant the seeds for a new bear. A few months later, a few cubs should sprout out of the land, head first. Greta then takes care of the cub through its first winter, before it joins greater bear society. Because of this function, greta commands a healthy sized faction interested in further proliferation.
Only about 2-3 bears fully grow every year. Bear farming is a hard task, and the rates have went down over the years. Greta believes that if the land of the Big Hill is cleared, more bears should grow.
The Big Hill is just that, a big hill. Greta has the tools, but not the time as she takes care of the only cub from this years harvest, Jimmy. It's a hard days work at least, cutting down stumps and pulling up shrubs. There's a 50% chance that a Giant Rattler (OSE) is living in a bush. If there is, though, there is also a corpse that possesses a Bear-headed diamond brooch, worth 50 gold coins.
The Odd One
Wants: ???
The truth is, the Odd One is just a grizzly bear. It just so happens to live in a cave within town limits. Like any other normal bear, it wants to eat in the summer, sleep in the winter, and keep its territory clear of rival bears. Why it doesn't regard the bears of Urstown as enemies is unknown.
However, The Odd One still commands a faction, though indirectly. Indeed, he is Lord to the Cult of the Cave, a small collection of young bears who worship him. They pretend to not be able to speak, except when they sacrifice a deer to their god. The cult wants to return the town to what they see as 'natural'. Though the main group is only a small handful of bears, they can sway a significant number of townsbears with devious methods.
The leader's given name is Blart, though he goes by 'Fang'(all of the members have original taken names such as these). Blart also has the spells of a level 2 cleric. Him included, they number four bears.
Toby the Rare
Wants: A rare and shiny treasure, or just a shit ton of gold.
Toby sleeps upon a pile of gold and treasure in a lavishly furnished cave. The cave also contains a number of simple traps, including trap holes and most uniquely, fire breathing golden bear statues. He fancy's himself as the descendant of a dragon, though when confronted on this he will never explain himself. If the party arrives in the morning, his attendant Slappy, a very small adult black bear, will can guide the party through the traps.
Toby has a secret: His gold hoard is fake. It's just shiny rocks that he paints with a magic item that he found years ago, a bucket of endless gold paint that makes rocks look like gold. Beside that, he has some cheap gems(no more than 50gp in total value), and a sword that glows around bears(and nothing else).
Bearzo
Wants: To attain a greater level of awareness, or the rights of the raccoon.
Bearzo once ate a swordsman, who had a legendary manual in his belongings. With interest, Bearzo ate the manual, consuming its knowledge and finding a new longing in life: Perfect awareness, through the art of the sword. Since then, he has fought in many human wars and has won many duels.
Bearzo doesn't want to become mayor, though his followers, a pack of raccoons that wield daggers like swords, want him to give raccoons equal standing within Urstown. The only way he will agree to vote for another bear is if they are promised rights, or if he is taught a valuable lesson on his path of awareness.
Bearzo is stated as any black bear, but with two longsword attacks rather than claws and a bite. If disarmed, he will refuse to even use these, seeing it as undignifying. The Raccoon followers are one group of blackbear, except with 6 dagger attacks that do a measly 2 damage. For each 3 health lost (or 1/6th of hp in another system), a raccoon will die and they will lose 1 attack.
Barry Longlegs
Wants: A church.
No bear knows more about the world of man than Barry. As a young bear, he traveled the world, looking to fill a hole in his heart that he felt since his earliest memories. Religion was the missing piece. Seeing the order and community built upon belief in greater beings, he realized that Urstown needed a god, as the bears never really had a central idea to gather around.
Of course, finding a god isn't an easy thing, so he decided to create his own. His god is the Great Bear, seen in the northern sky looking down upon the world from his Megrez throne. The Great Bear is a peaceful god, one who chooses to avoid war and violence unless provoked. Barry is having a hard time finding converts, with many bears seeing it as 'pointless' and 'That just sounds like any bear'. Because of this, Barry would like the guarantee of a church within town, allowing him some legitimacy and a spot to preach.
Day of Elections
On the fated day nearly all the bears of Urstown will come together at the town hall. There, they will each carve their own chips off wood out of a great true. They will then mark the chip with the symbol of the bear they choose to elect. Finally, all the bears place their chips in the ornate election box upon the stone table. Syke, the innkeeper, will count the votes and announce the winner; His word is final, and all bears will accept his count as true. He will bestow upon the new mayor the salmon necklace, and the elections will be complete. A feast is now held, of elk and honey. Salmon is off limits on the day of the election.
Should the party have helped the winning bear, a fitting prize is in order. This is on top of anything involving the hook.
Greta: Greta will allow the party to take Jimmy with them on adventures. It's important to note that they will not own Jimmy as a pet, and he will have the free right to return to Urstown whenever he chooses.
Bearzo: Surprise, it is a magnificently crafted +1 sword. Legend has it, the sword was forged to slay a great bear demon. Bearzo thinks it gives off an evil aura. He's correct, as it contains the soul of a bear demon hungers for flesh.
Toby the Rare: A small bucket of his golden paint. It will make anything look truly like gold, and even make small rocks look like gold coins.
Barry Longlegs: Barry's gift is a holy symbol that he found on his travels. It looks like some sort of bird, but its head is simply an eye with a red jewel in the middle.
The Odd One: Blart will offer an eight-inch-long dagger made of a claw from the Odd One. . Because of this, Barry would like the guarantee of a church within town, allowing him some legitimacy and a spot to preach.