What if Balon Swann won the archery tournament?

[Skeeve]

I am running the tournament of the Hand for my group, and several of them are archers, and entered the contest against the likes of Anguy, Swann, and Xho. For the non-archers, I gave them Swann and Xho so they could participate. I ran Anguy.

Well the PCs fell behind, and it was down to the big 3 (as per the book). Xho was eliminated, but in the final round, Swann had an obscene number of 6's on his roll, while Anguy didn't. Swann ended up taking the tournament. This is the first deviation since we started playing in the realm of the actual story. While this is a minor incident, and not too bad since Swann is an honorable (while naive) man, he *did* walk away with 10k gold dragons.

So just for fun, anyone care to venture what he would do with the money, so I can see how it plays into our campaign? I'm not sure if he would hoard it like the Hound did, and I doubt he would blow it all on wine & women like Anguy did. I also doubt that it would corrupt him into playing his own Game of Thrones with his older brother.
Would it be in his character to be charitable? Or donate it to House Swann? Or return it to the realm?

If he was charitable and gave it to the masses, then would they be less likely to attack Joff in Clash (especially since Swann was present)?

If he sent a large portion home to House Swann, I could always task the home house to deliver it. That in itself could be interesting with the way things are shaping up in Westeros at this point, not to mention the temptation or pitfalls on the journey.

Returning it to the realm would essentially be a non-effect, except to garner points with the small council and (especially) Eddard Stark, which are unnecessary since he is elevated to Kingsguard in Clash.

Another option?

What do you think? Any butterfly effects?

[KristoffStafk]

So just for fun, anyone care to venture what he would do with the money, so I can see how it plays into our campaign? I'm not sure if he would hoard it like the Hound did, and I doubt he would blow it all on wine & women like Anguy did. I also doubt that it would corrupt him into playing his own Game of Thrones with his older brother.
Would it be in his character to be charitable? Or donate it to House Swann? Or return it to the realm?

There's every indication that Ser Balon is a man of good heart. That being said, I think he would put most of it into his house.

If he was charitable and gave it to the masses, then would they be less likely to attack Joff in Clash (especially since Swann was present)?

If that were the case? I doubt it. There was a span of several months there, and Joff is a horrible monster. Maybe Ser Balon being there would mitigate some of the violence, but not noticeably.

If he sent a large portion home to House Swann, I could always task the home house to deliver it. That in itself could be interesting with the way things are shaping up in Westeros at this point, not to mention the temptation or pitfalls on the journey.

Agreed.

Returning it to the realm would essentially be a non-effect, except to garner points with the small council and (especially) Eddard Stark, which are unnecessary since he is elevated to Kingsguard in Clash.

Agreed.

Another option?

Not off the top of my head. Maybe a nice new suit of armor?

What do you think? Any butterfly effects?

... nope. Don't really see this as having any far-reaching effects.

[coldwind]

Entirely up to you, really.

Anguy still put in a good showing, so Ned is still likely to take note of him - particularly because he's technically unaffiliated with anyone at this point, so he might still be sent along with Lord Beric and get unwittingly ambushed by the Mountain - not much change in the Brotherhood Without Banners stuff.

Lord Guliann Swann (Ser Balon's father), was apparently quite burned out by Robert's Rebellion, but it seems more like a cunning plot to keep out of the (at this point in the narrative) soon-to-be War of the Five Kings. One son aligns with Renly, and Ser Balon with Joffrey. It's possible Ser Balon has some of his father's cleverness, and would still position himself in close with the ruling Lannisters.

The potential gotcha then, is whether Ned might ask Ser Balon to lead (or at least participate) in the party to arrest the Mountain. Lord Beric outranks Ser Balon, so maybe not leading, but as a capable knight (and one to Ned's awareness not yet under Lannister influence and more so as a Stormlander likely under Baratheon sway) a reasonable addition.

That potentially adds another knight - and a good one - to the Brotherhood Without Banners, and removes a capable knight that helps against the rioters in King's Landing, and removes possibly the only "truly chivalrous" knight from the Kingsguard. A replacement Kingsguard is easy - there are tons of knights in the realm would could serve - but not being around during the riot? That could easily lead to unpleasantness for any of the royal party: King Joffrey, Queen Cersei, Prince Tommen, Tyrion, Sansa, and others. I don't have the books with me, so I don't recall if Ser Balon explicitly saved any of them, or was just one of the knights cutting through the rioters on route back to the Red Keep.

So, yeah. It could change nothing... or it could change everything. That's the fun of 'what if-'

[Skeeve]

Very insightful!

Thanks for the feedback. I agree about the What If's. I know a lot of Narrators like to stay as far away from the storyline as possible, and I understand that. However, It's a unique feeling to wade into the story, and wonder where the first major plot deviation will develop, and try to determine the butterfly effects of it.

I guess it is no surprise that I have several 'What If?' TPBs in my library.