I will state one of them bellow:
EVERLASTING FLAMES
Players are divided into two teams, red and blue. Ideally, all PCs would be on the same team against a team of mostly skirmisher opponents.
The arena would be split in half, and each team has a 'base'. On blue team's base there are several (10, likely) unlit blue torches and a source of red fire. On red team's base, ten unlit red torches along with a source of blue fire.
The game is quite simple, and resembles a lot the game 'capture the flag'. Players must invade the opponent base with some type of lantern or other handheld inflammable device, light it into the opposite team's fire source (with a minor action), return and light one of the torches of their own base with it (again as a minor action), in which point the light of the lanterns they're carrying burns out. Then, they must once again go to the other side, light the lantern again, come back and light another torch, and so on. At the end of a pre-set number of round (most likely 5 or 6), whichever team has more lit torches wins.
Some other points help to make this even funnier and more D&D-compatible:
- Opponents can attack, and in fact even kill, anyone of the other team. While this sounds like a unfair tatic, I should remind you that it's very difficult for a party to kill six or seven enemies within 5 rounds without using all PCs, and if they try, they're probably wasting precious time with which the opposing team will likely be able to light two or three torches. This, however, helps making this game more fun for controllers and defenders, whose attacks can slow or even immobilize an enemy, winning themselves precious seconds.
- Leaders will be invaluable, since they likely can grant the party a few extra squares of movement in some rounds - a tatical warlord would be the best friend to have around in this type of game.
- Lots of squares are covered in spider webs, which can immobilize creatures that enter or start their turn in them. This makes sure that forced movement is a worthy technique - throwing an opponent in a web will surely slow his team down.
- Critical hits or other 'wow!' moments make the crowd cheer, granting the character's team a +1 bonus to speed for one turn.
- Some wild beasts roam the field, attacking whomever is closest to them in the beginning of their turn. With a hit, they drop the character prone, and even worse, blows out his lantern, so he has to go back and light it again to continue the game.
- For extra gigs: I will try this one to see the face of my players when I do it. Two round within the game, I will make all fires and torches switch colors, which means all points the players' team scored will now be assigned to the opposing team and vice-versa. This will obviously cause an outrage. Then, two rounds later, just before the last round starts, I will switch them back. The players will be working against themselves for two full rounds, unknowingly! This shall really spice things up!
-------------------------------------
A DM running this game can use one, all, or none of the points above to make the game as simple or as complex as he whishes to. I'm planning on making the next session a long sucession of arena games, with this being the ultimate one.
Anyone who wants can steal this idea to their own Dark Sun campaign - which surely will be in no shortage of opportunities for arena fights. I designed this for a team of first level characters, but it can be set for any level! Just increase the monster's difficulty and add in some other obstacles to account for their extra movement options.
And you, can you come up with a gladiatorial game of your own? Think of one, write the rules down and post'em here, so we can all share ideas and hopefully make each other's game even more memorable!
Bloodsand Arena (2010 Free RPG Day Adventure): It provides a rule on how to involve the crowd as an influencing mechanism that can persuade players to use certain powers or skills above others.
Dragon Magazine 368, reprinted in Dragon Magazine Annual 2009 (specifically the articles "Fight! Battles in the Gladiatorial Arena" and "We Who Are About to Die...D&D Gladiators"): Info on how to adapt D&D's party-vs-bunch-of-monsters encounter scheme to one-vs-one duels; game types (like death race or capture the flag); how milestones interact with a day of multiple fights; defines "fame" and the fame check, and its benefits; terrain descriptions for battlefields, including arenas; integrating the crowd as a skill challenge, which may affect the game through various creative ways, including an "Angry Mob" monster stat block; traps and hazards; five gladiator stat blocks to throw at your PCs; heroic to epic tier feats, as well as a new category of feat, the Arena Fighting feat; a paragon path; magic items; multiclass feats that grant you usage of bolas and nets and whips, with plenty of further feats each granting a power related to that weapon.
"We Who Are About To Die..."
"Battles In The Arena"
I mention that it's not Dark Sun-specific, though. It's not really a problem except for things like "Arkhosian High Style" intended for the PoL "noble savage" dragonborn archetype. But an excellent idea-mine, especially Part 1 for reasons that one is a gladiator, and of course Part 2 for games.
I'm struggling figuring out how to award points in a team king of the hill game. I figure there can be a stack of boxes and whichever team has a creature on the top gets points at a regular interval. Just not sure what that interval is...
I'm struggling figuring out how to award points in a team king of the hill game. I figure there can be a stack of boxes and whichever team has a creature on the top gets points at a regular interval. Just not sure what that interval is...
Any character that starts its turn on the top box gets a point or something along those lines.
Any character that starts its turn on the top box gets a point or something along those lines.
I concur. "Starts its turn" essentially means "spent a whole initiative pass there" and that'll be quite an accomplishment, if either team has any controllers whatsoever. You might expect a soccer game result though - "The Players win in double overtime, 1 to 0."
It could also be the requirement for a victory. (get 3 roaring cheers to win) Being booed and having rotten fruit thrown at you could also do something fun, but provide a minor penalty. You could really go crazy with gladiator games, as they could be very different every time. From serious bloody combat to goofy games like "scarab catch" or "outrun the angry so-ut".
I guess that would be an Athletics skill challenge... with some sanguine consequences?
Ullamaliztli
Or for a more entertaining display - Watch the "Road to El Dorado" to see how Gods play.
Fill the stadium with water and reinact naval battles.
Davids vs. Golith: Several Halflings vs. a Half-Giant.
Hungry, Hungry Halflings: starving Halfings are used against criminals and slaves; the Halflings are trained to eat their opponents alive.
Fill the Arena with silt waist high and release baby-slit-horrors on criminals etc.
Slay the Dragon: capture a large reptile and use magic to make it into a replica of the Dragon, then have Gladiators attempt to slay it.
Elf-Mounts: tie Elves to mounts and make them fight each other for a hilarious match as Elves don't know how to control a mount animal.
Magic vs. the Sword: Give a condemned Magic-User or Cleric the proper spell components to cast a few key spells against Gladiators who are charged with killing them.
Kank-BBQs: Put criminals or Gladiators in the arena with Kanks and or Thri-Kreen and cook Kank meat around them and watch them go nuts.
We Are One: Tie dwarfs to a Half-Giant so they they may be able to use a weapon with their hands. Then have the dwarves fight another Half-Giant tied up in that manor. It's not the Half-Giants who are fighing: it the Dwarves fighting eachother while being tied to the Half-Giant.
Fill the stadium with water and reinact naval battles.
Um....
Fill the stadium with water and reinact naval battles.
Um....
LOL! I was going to point out the same thing!
using a combination of skill challenges and combat arena battles are going to be great!!
my group is debating on having a campaign based on that, travel from city to city.
Bush leagues = heroic
Minor leagues = Paragon
Major Leagues = Epic
(sorta like Blood of hero's each city has a home team and the merchant houses have controlling interest) or something like that.
Joe
It is an ancient Aztec game, the OP most likely was tying it to Draj, since Draj is tied to the Aztec culture.
Yeah. The consequences for losing could be quite severe.
It is an ancient Aztec game, the OP most likely was tying it to Draj, since Draj is tied to the Aztec culture.
Yeah. The consequences for losing could be quite severe.
Don't you mean, "Quite sever"? As in your head?
It is an ancient Aztec game, the OP most likely was tying it to Draj, since Draj is tied to the Aztec culture.
Yeah. The consequences for losing could be quite severe.
If I remember correctly, the consequences for winning are very similar in the end.