Song, dance, theatre and other performances are well loved pastimes throughout Outer World. Even the smallest and dreariest of settlements will have someone willing to dramatically weave a story or gather some friends to put on a play for the locals. Some shows include professional performers or a magic user to provide visual effects, others are strictly amateur affairs, but even the most mundane of efforts are generally treated as a good way to pass the time.
The list below outlines few of Outer World's most popular shows. It's been presented here as a table, since that's just how we do things here.
There are a lot of reasons to roll on this table, but here are a few in case you needed them:
- When creating a bustling settlement to see what show is being performed there for this particular adventure.
- To find out what performance a capricious Unshaped will demand the party put on in exchange for something they need.
- When deciding on what show is being menaced by some anti-theatrical entity, like a talking purple octopus or something like that.
Some Famous Performances (Roll or Choose)
1-2 - Dawn's Slumber: A sorrowful play recalling the last wishes and regrets of the Dawn Dragon in her final days. Highbrow versions focus on the somber and bittersweet performance of a single actor, though a popular variant eschews tasteful melancholy in favor of crafting as impressive a dragon prop as possible.
3-4 - Four Ballads: A quartet of songs that represent each of the four regions of the Outer World, usually accompanied by someone dressed up as Von Peebles, the famed cartographer. As these are performed with regional instruments, which of the four ballads sounds the best is often influenced by where one hears them being played.
5-6 - Wumble Eveready's Numerous Situations: A condensed and curated set of tall tales involving Wumble, a chib hero whose always outsmarting and outmaneuvering a blundering bully. Thanks to its slapstick nature, this production calls for physically fit actors - even at the expense of finding ones who are particularly good at their craft.
7-8 - Prospeti's Folly: The misadventure of Prospeti, a wealthy socialite who makes a series of comically bad choices but ends up no worse for wear by the end of it. This deeply critical jab at the upper crust is adjusted based on the location of the production: if the play is being performed on the Seven Sacred Isles, Prospeti is a samurai, if it is instead being shown in Shard, they are a patrician, and so forth. The wealthy often miss or ignore the satire and find the whole thing deeply relatable.
9-10 - The Shadow Queen's Paramour: The sorrowful story of the doomed (and some say entirely fictive) romance between Queen Nephel and The First Hero, Regulus. Far and away Outer World's most popular opera, it has numerous variations, including ones where Regulus is portrayed as a gutless fool and where folk hero Jacques Skybreeze (who scholars will tell you was not contemporary with the lead character of the production) shows up to win the queen's heart instead.
11-12 - Wimbuildy Bells: This simple but physically challenging ballet utilizes worn bells in its performance. The result is visually impressive and cacophonous, leading to overwhelming displays of emotion and early departures within the audience. The original intent of the work has been lost to time, and academics have made a regular habit out of arguing exactly how interpretive the dance is supposed to be.
13-14 - Acolyte's Equilibrium: A morality play crafted by the Church of the Sacred Chain featuring a wanderer being tempted by the assumed excesses of Bright and Darkness, only to finally find peace in the balance (which is conveniently located center stage). A thoroughly miserable production that's only gotten anywhere thanks to funding and insistence from the church itself.
15-16 - The Song of Aken: The heroic tale of Princess Aken's last stand against the tyrannical Iron King, leader of the Divine Rulers. This is done in classic Akenian style, most commonly involving dramatic narration, elaborate costumes, and extensive sets. The parts of Aken and the Iron King are highly sought out by Outer World Thespians. While several colloquial versions of the play exist, they are considered to be inferior to the original High Akenian script.
17-18 - Octia's Lament: A dramatized version of Sage Octia's quest to create an extensive history of Outer World and eventual decision to shred her final work. The format of this production is rather unique, involving an actor delivering several monologues as the sage with a number of costumed extras pantomiming the events she records. As no one is quite sure as to why Octia destroyed the scroll (or what happened to her afterwards) every performance is distinct, with the actor portraying Octia adlibbing a new motivation each time.
19-20 - Donothan the Otherworlder: A series of skits featuring a hapless Otherworlder named Donothan marveling loudly at how strange normal things are and constantly checking his wrist to bemoan how he is "late for work". The character is so popular that actors portraying Donothan will often stay in character for a while after their performance and interact with the audience. Reception from actual Otherworlders has been mixed.
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