In one of the campaigns I am running, I want to have a 16 man tournament for my players. There are 6 of them, so I will need 15-10 NPCs. The winner gets 10,000 gold pieces.
I plan on doing this tournament when the players are level 7. I will put all the names in a hat, draw them, so when it comes to combat it is random with who faces who. Then, with the winners, I will do it again, and so-on, and so-on, until there is 1 left standing.
Anyway, since I have to make so many NPCs, and I like to do the typical race/class combination, are there any character classes I should avoid? Something that would be OP or unbeatable for any of the players to handle? I wouldn't want to accidentally throw a nearly unbeatable NPC into the mix.
Thanks in advance for any information regarding this.
Personally, I wouldn't randomize it. I would handpick matchups I thought would be interesting, and probably terrain features or special rules for the match that would be interesting. If these favor the player, you can have them show off their particular strengths to beat an enemy that otherwise should have been too strong. Plus, casters can prepare spells strategically.
You don't have to have the same goal, but the trouble of not doing that is that "OP" will be a factor of matchups. If your support bard is randomly matched against a barbarian and has no good spells for it, they don't have many choices. A Horde Breaker ranger fighting any single enemy has several class features they can't bring to bear in that fight, while a fighter will be much better equipped. But that greatsword fighter will be useless against someone with Misty Step and powerful ranged attacks. For a monk? No problem.
What's the party?
Macv12 wrote:
Watch out for Monks. In a one-on-one PC fight a single failed save against Stunning Fist can pretty much decide the fight.
I really like Macv's suggestion of varied terrains and matachups, especially if you use it to raise the difficulty. Early fights can be geared to give players the home advantage, then shift the bias to their opponents in later rounds.
Oooh, this sounds like fun! =D If it were me as the DM, I'd probably try a little bit less to make a wicked cool powerful NPC... or maybe make half of them with less effort. Like idk, what's wrong with a Tiefling Barbarian, just for the funnies? <3 At least Barbarians have an Intimidate skill, so they'd have that one going for them! Also, do you have access to a Player's Compendium? Those have some really neato races that are very unique, and can cause much fun if permitted on both sides (NPC's and Players). If not, that's cool, just wanted to mention it to broaden your options. Also, why not have a 2nd place prize (3k?) and a 3 place prize (1k?) for example? Just throwing out ideas. =D if they had a more developed Mystic, would you allow those? It would be delightful to see how OP'd they really are or are not...
Would love to know how this pans out - please keep us posted on the tournament and how the events thereof go down! =^.^=
I know, a shemeless plug is bad form, but if you're interested, I've got some pieces of homebrew that could make those NPC gladiators quite challenging.
Slit518 wrote:
Verdandy wrote:
To get some role-playing as well as action, try the method used in The Quick And The Dead, the 1995 film starring Sharon Stone.
Instead of a random draw (either at the start or again after each round), and instead of seeding (like in tennis), in the film each registered fighter could challlenge any other (on a first come/first served basis). A challenge cannot be refused.
This would reward players who research their potential opponents, while still allowing the DM to have exciting match-ups by having NPCs do the challenging.
This contrast between role-playing and fighting, and the opportunity to use non-combat skills outside the arena to give an advantage in it, will actually make the fighting more exciting. : )
Verdandy wrote:
Is this tournament fair and above-board?
An old BBEG could try to ... manipulate ... the match-ups - so he could study the PCs' capabilities, or try to accomplish their destruction at somebody else's hands.
You could even create an obvious mismatch between two NPCs, and drop a plot hook that (unscrupulous?) people are betting on the outcomes.
Some slickster type might be setting up a March Madness style bracket competition.
BRJN wrote:
- A Fighter could make a good challenge for the Barbs. Build him for defense so he can survive waiting out their Rage. There was a 3e ability "Study Foe" that gave a one-round bonus to to-hit and AC based on how long you DID study your opponent. They pound on him until tired, then he gets one BIG BANG back at them.
- An Abjuration Wizard could provide a surprise - they can prepare a lot of free THP every morning, so not just going down on the first blow.
- Make sure to tell everybody that the house has a Cleric / Paladin with Spare the Dying on hand, so the PCs know they won't automatically KILL the other fellow. (Including each other.)
- An Assassin with Stealth and Alert feat would be to avoid - he's supposed to one-hit KO people. Not a lot of fun for your fate to be determined by one and only one die roll.
- A Ranger with animals / beasts as his Favored Enemy and specilizing in single-target, would challenge the Druid: your natural nemesis.
- In my experience, Warlocks aren't good at long-duration combat. If their foe doesn't go down quickly (say to upcast Fireballs) they probably lose. YMMV.
You don't have to mass-produce the NPCs who fight each other in Round One ! Just narrate the result, with the guys you DID make winning their round.
For a 1-on-1 fight, I would build an equal-level character NPC. So L7. I haven't figured out how CR compares to character level yet.
ArialBlack wrote:
Have you considered teams of contestants? a party of 5 vs a party of 5? Its more work for you, but the players will enjoy always being involved in each encounter (let them play some NPCs, or do NPC vs NPC fights off screen). They should also appreciate not battling one another, and not being forced into an alpha damage concept to just nuke the enemy round 1. There is room for a traditional party.
Something else to avoid (or only pull on the other NPCs): "True Assassin" as described in the thread.
This is a character with Fighter2 / Rogue(Assassin)3 / other levels. It tries to get Sneak Attack for huge Critical damage, then uses Action Surge to repeat - if the target is still standing.
That said, I have an AL-legal Rogue1/Monk2 who has been alot of fun to play. I "sandpaper" my enemies with many small blows plus a Sneak Attack salted in there too. Multiattack means I almost never complete-whiff. His speed allows him to get in and out. His AC allows him to calculated-risk to take an Attack of Opportunity or two. This should make a neat opponent in the tournament.
There will be no team combat. As I was thinking of doing another tournament, I thought about teams, and it reminded me of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II with The Black Pitts and Black Pitts II, where your party is captured and forced to fight in an arena for the crowd's amusement.
These are the contestants I were thinking of adding to the brawl, those in bold being a definate -
- Berserker Barbarian
- College of Valor Bard
- Life Domain Cleric
- Arctic Druid
- Champion Fighter
- Way of the Fist Monk
- Oath of Vengeance Paladin
- Hunter Ranger
- Assassin Rogue
- Stormborn Sorcerer
- Pact of the Blade The Great Old One Warlock
- AbjurationWizard
- Variant Human Vampire
- Troll
- Ogre
I have 6 players. There is a possibility of 1 to 6 of them joining. So I will need 15-10 NPCs.
Next up, is planning the races.
I can see myself going mostly human, some elves, some dwarves, maybe an orc or a goblin. Perhaps I should delve into gnomes and halflings as well for the tournament. Hmmm...
Halfling grapple-optimized Barbarian who loves to Prone - for the humor value - you got laid flat on your back by a pipsqueak !
If I'm facing the Vampire, I want a Scroll of Daylight. Pleeeease?
The Warlock should be a Tiefling. Granted it's such a cliche, but play up his Thaumaturgy and try to Intimidate the PC.
Give the Champion Fighter a Whip (and a Net?). Try to persuade the PCs that he's really a Gladiator.
I do like that you have a variety of classes here.
How much is a ringside ticket? 
BRJN wrote:
BRJN wrote:
Macv12 wrote:
Slit518 wrote: