Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lost_Hybrid 01-17-08, 06:08 PM	I'm going to be running a game for my friends soon, and I'm going to have gladiatorial games theme for the setting. The PCs will be fighting in the games, first as slaves, then as free men (traditional gladiator story arc, yeah, I know). Rather than work with the existing core classes, which while functional for adventuring are somewhat horrifically unbalanced on the floor of the arena, I'm going to cobble together some new classes, based partly on my own knowledge of the games via historical research, and the slightly more approachable and fun video game GLADIUS (it's a cute little tactics RPG joint from Lucasarts, smoke it if you dig that sort of thing). Since I haven't set up the DM's screen in a few years, I'm a bit rusty at working the system to my advantage. What I'm posting here for is to ask some questions: #1. What pitfalls should I try to avoid, and what watchwords should I stick to, for the purposes of making these new classes fun and entertaining for my players (and myself), where the combats are primarily going to take place in an open, well-lit arena where everyone can see each other? #2. Has anyone done something similar to this before? I'd be interested in reading the notes of a DM or player who went through a gladiator-style game. #3. In addition to the new classes, I'm also going to add new magic and a new 'entertainment' based system. The 'entertainment' will represent how the spectators feel about the fights going on below them, whether or not they like the PCs or their opponents, and for what reasons (Stone Cold Steve Austin had fans when he was a heel and when he was a face, after all). Has anyone done that before, and if so, how was it handled? Would it just be simpler to ad hoc? #4. The PCs are not going to know what's going on until they're sucked out of their comfortable lives and dumped in the slave pits. I was thinking of running this game as d20 Modern, then springing the change when they hit 5th level. To that end, I'm thinking that the various gladiatorial classes will operate like 15-level prestige classes. That's really only a serious issue for the spell-casting classes, of which there will be five, in my current conceptualization. As with traditional D&D, being a spellcaster in my game will make you fragile compared to the other classes, but you will still be a capable factor in a fight from the word go. To this end, I'm wondering -- what suggestions would you all offer for helping to balance a class with miserable stats from the start but a geometric growth of power after a few levels? I'm afraid my PCs might shy away from the spellcasting classes because they seem weak.
ZiggZagg 01-17-08, 07:08 PM	First of all, check out the Complete Warrior and Heroes of battle. I believe both of them have information on Gladiator fights, including rules for wowing the crowd. Now, as for rebalancing the classes, you don't need to redo them so much as keep an eye on them. For instance, what guard in their right mind is going to leave a spellcaster have their spell component pouch in their cell? Keep a limit on the ability of spellcasters to regain and cast spells, and make sure that it isn't just strictly open battle field, and you should be able to run the gladiator fights like normal encounters without that much revamping on your end.