Post/Author/DateTime	Post
metalmayhem80110 12-16-07, 08:55 PM	Ok, as the title of this thread suggests, there is going to be an upcoming arena in my game. I'm going to type in a little bit of the backstory leading up to this, and the characters before I say anything about the arena though. If you want to skip it, just scroll down to the first bolded word. Well, currently my party is 4-5th level. What has been happening is that they've been managed to get trapped into a hell-like dimmension. They're trying to get out, which is rather difficult. The only way known to do it is to collect 10 shards that were spread throughout this dimmension. (Yes, cheesey, I know... But bare with me...) They've collected 2 of these shards so far. What they're about to find out is that each shard has different powers that it can bestow to each user. But each shard has a personality of it's own that is going to be trying to manipulate it's user. Through a series of events that I didn't expect to happen, they've managed to find a shard that was supposed to come into play later. The shard is radiating evil energies, and is essentially pure evil itself. It's already talked one of the party members into killing a different one (I enjoyed every second of that :P). The party is about to stop an illegal slave ring happening in a city. The leader of this slave ring is going to be a very social person, (a bard for build refrence). He isn't going to be bad on his own, but the orcs that he'll be rallying are going to be scary :D. He is going to have a different shard, so that will bring the party to 3 shards (They started with one that hasn't revealed its personally/powers yet). A neat idea, at least one that I thought was a good idea, was to have a reward in an arena event be a shard. I was thinking about making it a large event, and even chancing some PvP. (Just to see if they'll really fight each other to the death). I was just want this to be more than a regular arena. I've been racking my brain trying to think of something else happening behind the arena. I was actually hoping to have 2 or 3 things going on at once aside from the Arena fights, that way there is a lot going on. The other thing I've been working on, is what kind of combatants would be really cool t be in the arena? Just some really cool NPCs that have nice abilities, but arn't optimized through the roof. The PC's A VoP spiker monk who is fairly optimized. He can be rather scary when he chooses to be. A Barbarian samurai sort of thing (Alignment has been changed, so this is allowed). He also has managed to get a pet that can heal, but it's a out of combat ability only. A warlock that is average. Just straight warlock. There are some other people that show up occasionally, but don't really distinguish themselves. They're more of "Special Appearance" characters. The Main Questions- 1) What ideas do you have for NPC's that would be fun to fight. I don't want to use the NPC classes that will end up getting stomped... I want exoctic characters that the PC's all have about a 50% chance on, but there is still the chance of risk. 2) What other neat plot ideas do you have besides the arena itself? Maybe 1 other thing that is really important, and than a few things that are completely optional to do. (I mean I don't want 4 plot things going on that are all incredibly important at once). 3) Any ideas on how the party can get rez'ed if somethign *should* happen? Do you think that the arena can charge pre-rez'es? -Thanks
Loftower 12-16-07, 09:25 PM	I’d at least work the possibility that the PCs used arena combat as a cover to allow them to remain close to the prize shard while they tried to figure out how to steal it. I would expect my PCs to come up with this on their own, especially if PvP fights to the death might be an option in competition. A 50% chance is too risky, unless they are only going to have one fight. The PCs should have a 90% or higher chance of success or something will get them killed. Duels to the death are not very profitable – audiences want stars vs. stars, not random encounters. Because of this, it is in the arena’s best interest to keep the most entertaining combatants alive, and resurrect them if an accident happens. (A non-lethal fight might have a referee call the match at 25% hit points or something.) I would make them “win” the right to fight in non-lethal competition and as they move up the ranks they win a resurrection guarantee. Losing bouts – and possibly activating their accidental death policy – would cause them to fall in their standings and possibly lose privileges. This way, they could have a nemesis in the arena who “always beats them” but doesn’t kill them. These foes could become very interesting as the arena bouts progress. Also, my players would have their PCs watch bouts if they could, to scout the competition. I would be ready to narrate some NPC vs. NPC bouts (and roll the dice for live-action results). Other side issues: Another arena combatant may be trying to recover the shard because it had taken over his ego in the past – a Gollum-like psychological addiction. Other arena combatants could be nice folks outside the ring, maybe even some people that they’ve worked with in the past. Beast vs. human matches are also popular. I would have them in the arena if it seemed reasonable for the arena to have the beasts. A successful fight might not be good entertainment. The point is that the people need to be entertained. No one, other than the combatants, really cares who wins otherwise. A combatant who is too successful might get stuck in overpowered bouts. Bookies tend to be very powerful figures in competitions. A “fix” could be a reward for throwing a bout, or something to handicap a combatant to make them less likely to win. This could be something as straightforward as a week poison to the PC immediately before the bout, or as subtle as a PC getting in trouble because he won a bout against someone who took a dive (or got the drugstore handicap).
metalmayhem80110 12-16-07, 09:34 PM	Do'h, I can't believe I forgot to mention this. The ressurections would only be there to keep the PC's good aligned. For some unknown reason (To the players at least) when anybody dies in this plane, they stand back up. What is really happening is that the PC's good aligned corpse is still there, just a counterpart to their spirit takes of their body. (I know the good aligned corpse thing is kind of weird, but it is really helpful for when people do a detect evil near the party :P) I'd reveal more, but that is probably more than I already should've said on the boards... (The campaign is supposed to end up evil, that is why I'm pushing for a high mortality rate :P)
metalmayhem80110 12-18-07, 02:33 AM	:bump: Oooops, well now that this is bumped I guess we might as well talk about it :P I was thinking about introducing a NPC who also was looking for the shards, and already had one or two. I'd have him set up to join the party if they invited him to, or have him turn into a rival. That just sounds kind of cool, normally DMPC's are kind of forced upon you. This would give the players the choice of taking one.
Saiato 12-18-07, 08:10 AM	Perhaps one of the events could involve the use of a Mirror of Opposition (DMG, Pg. 262, Column 2, 2nd entry).
metalmayhem80110 12-18-07, 10:58 PM	Perhaps one of the events could involve the use of a Mirror of Opposition (DMG, Pg. 262, Column 2, 2nd entry). Hmmm, I'll check it out. It doesn't really ring any bells offhand though.
Necroramo 12-19-07, 12:12 AM	I just had an idea for a totemist 2/barbarian 4/spinemeld warrior 1. Basically he does the pounce version of barbarian, sprouts totem'd Girallon arms, and pounces for 6 attacks while in a rage, then continues to keep fighting like that
metalmayhem80110 12-19-07, 01:44 AM	I just had an idea for a totemist 2/barbarian 4/spinemeld warrior 1. Basically he does the pounce version of barbarian, sprouts totem'd Girallon arms, and pounces for 6 attacks while in a rage, then continues to keep fighting like that Lol yeah, that is a pretty high kill percentage though.... 6 Attacks (even dealing like 5 points each) can mess PC's up in a turn. I don't want them that dead that fast :P