Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Subversive 01-01-07, 11:55 PM	OK, just like the title says, I'm trying to think of different ways that magic users can challenge each other to who is the better magician. I'll get the ball rolling with an obvious one: An Alter Shape duel. Ths wizards must come up with the perfect creature or monster to defeat their opponent. Think Disney's Sword in the Stone. -Steve
PhaedrusXY 01-01-07, 11:58 PM	I saw a thread about wizard's familiars dueling it out, while the wizards waged huge bets on them. I thought the idea was hilarious.
Subversive 01-02-07, 12:02 AM	I saw a thread about wizard's familiars dueling it out, while the wizards waged huge bets on them. I thought the idea was hilarious. That's great! ...though dangerous with the potential for XP loss. -Steve
Chippy_the_Devourer 01-02-07, 03:35 AM	That's great! ...though dangerous with the potential for XP loss. -Steve Anything worth doing has an XP loss.
Potato Weasel 01-02-07, 09:21 AM	well, you could give the familiars padded gloves and whatnot, or they both just go for nonlethal.. but no fair druid/wizards trying to bring in companion familiars! And a weasel is gonna have it rough against quasits and other planar familiars.. How about go at it american gladiators style? with the huge cue tip pole (exotic weapon, 1d4/1d4 cannot deal lethal damage) on top of two raised platforms? Aside from that, they both have to deal with a specific creature/situation, an audience judges. (say, stop a raging monster, one blasts away, the other charms it and has it hand out daisies)
EvilSqueegee 01-02-07, 09:28 AM	Head-to-head magical battles, says I. If you're a trickster, manipulator mage? Toss a charm person, follow it up with a suggestion (or at high-levels, a geas) to forfite the duel, or deliberately fail at casting a critical spell. If you're a nukefest? ...well, the **** you waiting for, man? Aiming is optional, but blowing up is fricken' MANDATORY. Summoners... muahaha. First to fall loses the duel. Oh, did I mention that I snagged Improved Counterspell last level?
Subversive 01-02-07, 09:56 PM	Not bad, but I'm thinking more of a test of cleverness. Something that Mages can use to challenge each other on an intellectual level. I like the idea of summoned monsters. Maybe some sort of summoned monster chess? -Steve
Neo_Leviathan 01-02-07, 11:23 PM	One idea that I used (though now slightly modified) The wizards play a hand of Poker. The winner keeps their entire hand, the losers keep whatever in their hand was a 'poker hand' (ie, two pair, 3 of a kind, etc etc), and discard the rest. If they didn't have a valid hand, they keep their highest value card. They then have a one on one battle with he cards that they have, as though the cards they've got were from the Deck of Illusions. So you've got a little luck, a little cheating, and a spectator-impressive battle with fantastical creatures, all rolled into one.
Roscoe_Greenbottle 01-02-07, 11:26 PM	see who can summon the fluffiest bunny or the cuttest puppy
BeefotronX 01-02-07, 11:42 PM	Summoners' Rugby A contest between two mages. Playing field: A rectangular court 50 feet wide and 100 feet long. At either end of the court is a 20 foot diameter circle, drawn in the ground, one for each contestant. To win: The contestant must successfully get a summoned monster inside the other contestant's circle. Variant: Some forms of the contest require getting two or more monsters into the circle at once. Summoning: The most popular form of the contest gives each contestant a wand of some type of summon monster, to allow the contestants to spend their own ability on other spells. Impromptu contests are more likely to depend on the contestants' own ability to summon monsters. Rounds: The game is over immediately if a contestant gets a summoned monster inside the other's circle. It is not necessarily over if the contestants run out of summon spells. When that happens, an additional round is played, and even more rounds might be played after that until a predetermined maximum is reached. The maximum number of rounds for a game is generally between one and four, or unlimited. Most games that depend on the contestants' own ability span a single round. If they span multiple rounds, each round is spaced a day apart to allow the contestants to rest. Those that have the luxury of providing wands to the contestants may have multiple rounds in one day. Generally, at each successive round something is progressively changed to ensure a dynamic game. The simplest course is to simply enlarge the contestants' circles by 10 feet in diameter at the beginning of each additional round. When wands are given to the contestants, generally they start with summon monster I wands, and receive a wand of the next level on the next round. Particularly wealthy patrons might prefer to have contestants start with high level wands and get lower level wands at each round. Items provided to the contestants 1. Wand of a summon monster spell. 2. Amulet of inescapable location. This helps ensure that the referees can use divinations on the contestant. See invisibility and detect thoughts are usually enough to tell the difference between legal strategies and cheating. Of course, these items are usually unavailable in independent games, or in poor arenas. The only well-funded events in which the wands are omitted are generally sponsored by the Conjurers' Guild. The amulets are sometimes omitted in underground games where cheating is subtly encouraged. Rules 1. Each contestant must remain inside his own circle. 2. A contestant's familiar may leave the circle but may not cross the center line of the court. 3. A contestant must summon his monsters to appear on his own side of the court. 4. A contestant may do anything that does not directly affect the other contestant. 5.High level spells that may easily conceal the breaking of rules 1 through 3 (such as time stop) may be cause for immediate disqualification. What spells are prohibited depend on how well equipped the referee(s) are to detect these effects. 6. If both contestants run completely out of summons (unable to cast any more, and no summoned creatures are in play), the round ends. If it is the final round, whoever runs out last is declared the winner. If it is not the final round, then no winner is declared. Variants: Many underground forms of this contest are somewhat more lenient with rule #4. Hooks: - Someone challenges one of the PCs. - PCs with access to a good range of divination magic may be asked to referee a match. - The PCs may discover efforts to tamper with a tournament. - One contestant in a tournament is in fact a rogue with nothing but a good Use Magic Device skill and a few hidden magic items.
Subversive 01-03-07, 12:57 AM	Beef, I love it! Not only does it require you to intelligently choose the right type of summoned creature, but it requires you to choose the right spells to combat your opponent's creatures, and (if you really want to RP right) use your knowledge skills to know the abilities of the creatures your opponent has summoned! Great! Keep them coming! I want to see some more! -Steve
Subversive 01-03-07, 01:00 AM	Neo, interesting idea. I could certainly see that being used. There's a big chance element, but it also requires you to make use of the hand you're dealt. I'd like to see some more poker elements maybe, like bluffing. As it is right now, it's likely that the winner of the hand would win the contest just about every time, but there's still some good potential to develop a fun game. -Steve
BeefotronX 01-04-07, 01:19 AM	Hide and Seek A Contest between Two Mages Rules Contestants flip a coin to decide who goes first. A complete round consists of two sessions, one where Contestant A searches for Contestant B, and then vice versa. The seeker is the contestant with the task of seeking, and the hider is the contestant with the task of hiding. Optionally, the contestants may be assisted by a designated number of companions. The companions of the seeker must be blindfolded along with the seeker at the beginning, and the companions of the hider must go hide along with the hider, but scoring remains dependent on when the actual seeker finds the hider. The referee should be someone equipped with at least a few scrolls of sending Important Rules The hider and seeker are each given at least one scroll of sending. The referee should be able to cast sending. The seeker must be blindfolded and shall count aloud to sixty. During this time the hider is to find a good place to hide. This place may be anywhere within a predetermined area. While low-level mages prefer to confine the contest to a single town or estate, higher levels may choose an entire country, world, plane, or even the known multiverse. With scrying and summoning extraplanar creatures, this doesn't necessarily take as long as Monty Python's Olympic Hide-and-Seek. After the seeker finishes counting, he may go and seek out the hider. The hider's score shall equal the time that passes before he is found. While the hider may continue to search for a hiding place after the seeker is on the move, there is a time limit to doing so, generally 4 hours. The hider may use his scroll of sending to report his final hiding place to the referee. When he does so he may not leave the hiding place. If the hider has not reported his hiding place when the time limit expires, the referee must contact the hider through sending and require him to hide wherever he is at the moment. Both contestants may seek assistance from bystanders after the game has commenced. The hider is considered found as soon as the seeker recognizes the hider and reports it to the referee. A contestant's score for a round is the time that passes from when he takes a hiding place to when he is found.