The characters have met up in a small village (3 characters lived there 1 travelled from its home in the nearby mountains ont he way to the city), the character from the mountains was sewnt out to earn its fortune and had heard about a tournament at the big city nearby. So eventurally they head off to the city to enter the tournament. Anyway here is the crux of the matter.
I have a few encounters for them on the way to the city and i know what the structure of the tournament is going to be like and which npcs will win which rounds. There is seperate events for each character class until you have a winner from each class to enter the final event, the final event sees the player character group against the npc group. Might even just quit that bit and have them split into two groups before they see the emporer for the next stage of the campaign. Yeah, so anyway what i was wanting was a little help on the tournament. I only need to think up events for the player characters classes which are 1 warlord, 1 Ranger (ranged), 1 Fighter and 1 Warlock (demonic... but shhh its a secret). So there is a pretty mixed group i am not really willing to give them any NPC's as they have been playing since 1st ed d&d so they should know what they are missing out on and shouldn't need the extra help. Also need to think up a few encounters that can happen in the city. I have a few in mind but they are all tied up with the noble houses that fund the tournament. Oh and the Fighter will most likely end up in prison at some point due to the way the character is being portrayed.
So any thoughts? I will answer questions if all is not clear.
Fighter? I don't remember what it was called, a mischianza I think, but a large field would be set aside and contestants would be assigned to one of two sides, who would pick a team name, so to speak, such as "the Knights of Fire Mountain". Each side would have a leader who would declare what it was they were fighting for, such as "for the honor of the ladies of Fire Mountain, the most beautiful in all creation". The other side would declare its name and its reason for fighting, and then they'd go at it. It was for subdual, not actual injury, although that sometimes happened. The battle raged on until one team left the field or was wiped out. The British actually did one in the US during the Revolution in Pennsylvania, I believe. ANyway, your fighter's goal would be to make sure his side wins.
The warlock could be in a contest that tests intelligence. Perhaps a duel using non-attack spells. It's a test of his ability to identify a spell as its being cast and to come up with a defense. It can also get the player to thinking of new ways to use a spell list. Barring that, they can also enter a potion brewing contest, maybe one that, when the vial is smashed, conjures up the most believeable illusion. (The last thing you want is a demon-summoning contest!)
Now, how is that fighter being portrayed that makes you sure he's going to end up in jail?
I like the idea about the warlock contest. Hadn't thought of that will have to look over the character and see iof it will work.
The fighter one may not work as it is supposed to be one entrant for each round. Sort of like a face off for the most part. It may be able to work if they control a team of 'plebs' i.e. non pc class characters. Or as they were referred to in AD&D level 0 characters.
I had an idea for the warlord one though. One pc and an Npc enter an arena where there is a monster of slightly higher level then them and they have to work together to beat it. Then once it is dead they fight off against each other with no rest. The winner is the one that is still conscious as it would not be a too the death match. What you think?
If he's got a horse, give him a shot at jousting. The Lists were a crowd favorite for one on one combat. Two horses charge at each other, a rail between them. The riders aim their lances at each other's shield (if this guy aims for the face, he's made some serious enemies!). Hit with a spear's chance (I'm betting he didn't take a spear proficiency feat, too bad for him 'cause the other guy did!), and the lance for the lists is designed to break apart. Any damage would come mostly from falling off the horse if you're unseated, although you might take a couple of points from the impact of the lance. I'd say 1 or 2 from the lance hit, 1d3 from the fall. If neither lister is unseated, squires will have other lances ready for a second or even a third pass. I'm not sure what you'd use to see if you remain seated. Maybe an Athletics check DC20 on hit.
Here's something not usually covered in the old movies. After being unseated, you weren't necessarily out of the game. If you regained your feet, you drew your sword and tried to unseat your still mounted opponent. Then it was a fight to a finish. You beat the crap out of each other (real swords, not break-aparts, like the lances), doing your best to convince the other to give up by bludgeoning him to pieces. In the words of Shakespeare, "Cursed be he that first cries 'Hold'!"
Should your player get savage enough, the opponent might be an uppity lord who doesn't like being beaten, or who, although having won, didn't like the beating he got. He sends a couple of his "undesirables" after the fighter to teach him a lesson about pummeling. At some inconvenient point, the constables show up, believe whatever story the lackeys hand them, and cart his allegedly "unaligned" butt off to jail.
If he doesn't have a horse, in the spirit of the tournament a lord loans him one. Should the horse get injured fairly, no big deal. Should the player drive the horse too hard, well, there's another lord upset with him.
The definition of unaligned he is going for is that he is undecided on what he wants to be. To be honest all the characters are teetering on the side of evil bar the warlord. When they actrually find the city and there are consequences for their actiions however it will be a bit of a shock to them. They won't be able to handle the average city guard at level 1.
Likely opponents would be the local farm boys and tavern brawlers. "Shucks, Pa, he ain't much bigger than that hog we had to tie up fer the slaughter last year. I bet I could take 'im."
Just need to think of a few more. I have had a few ideas. The Warlock one is proving to be a pain in the rear. The thing i want to seer clear of is challenges that basically boil down to whoever goes first wins. Almost all the players chose imporived initiative as their beginning feat.
But yeah, if your fighter really doesn't want to joust, you could just hold a tournament with his favored weapon. Perhaps there is a bracket for each weapon type (sword, flail, 2-h sword, maces, dual wielding, etc) so he has to work his way to the top of his bracket. Then if you want you could toss in a 'battle of the champions' where it could be a fun free for all with the leaders of each weapon type battling it out.
Since Warlords are a leader type, it may be interesting to try to work him leading a challenge. Say there's a set group of NPC's ready to do something, like make their way through a small dungeon. Every Warlord leads the same group through the same challenge, and then the Warlord with the best results wins (least damage taken, most ingenious strategy, least heals, most buffs, etc). It would be a little difficult to work, but it could be interesting. Plus it has the added bonus of you not having to tell how others did, so you can just have him win/lose at your own discretion.
I can't really be any more help than Shiftkitty with the Warlock. I've never had a game that involved one, and I don't want to assume it's the same as WoW. Still, if I get any brilliant ideas, I'll be sure to let you know. Good luck reigning in the unruly group, if they want to work the evil path they're gonna have to be a little more subtle about it from the sound of it.
Assuming a good society, perhaps your warlock, while enjoying the tournament (or looking for trouble) is approached by another warlock, one who recognizes him for what he is, and invites him to an underground competition, one not necessarily sanctioned by the hosts of the tournament.
In a nearby cave, or else an abandoned barn, a group of like-minded individuals is going to summon a demon (a minor one, if you like) per participant, one at a time. Each participant is going to be judged on how fast and how completely he or she can subdue and/or dominate it. Of course, the summoned demon isn't going to be pleased with being called forth for the entertainment of mere mortals, so it's going to be pretty mad. Think of it as an infernal rodeo. On hand is a high level warlock who will not summon something he or she cannot immediately dispatch should the need arise, but aside from that, all bets are off. If the demon eats you, it eats you. Guess there's no "wait 'til next year" for you!
For a possible future storyline or hook, should the PC win the whole contest, a jealous rival from the contest may come gunning for him later.
*Just for yucks, you can thwart the "Everybody's Got Improved Initiative" problem by equipping your monsters and NPCs similarly. I wouldn;t do that for every encounter, but maybe just for the tournament. After all, competitors are competitors, and they inherently know that there's a great advantage in the first strike.
That in the city and across the kingdom Warlocks are Illegal. Causing hte player character to be forced to masqurade as a Wizard. Then one of the first challenges can be a prostigigation (or what ever that spell is called which does smell effects) contest where each wizard has to perform the most imaginative effect they can. Of course this will prove as a challenge to a Warlock and maybe have them hire the services of a down and out drunkard wizard to be casting the spell fromt he side line while the warlock goes through the motions in the arena.
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=aLzW7-TaSmYC&dq=The+Medieval+Tournament&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=5tZzL_l1aJ&sig=gSGuZHHEDo_pkDONRSWNpUIeJ58&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=resultThe Medieval Tournament
There are loads of resource materials out there. Some with direct documentation of the rules of specific tourneys written at the time.I can just imagine how magic would effect such rules
Thanks gregwr however i am running the game tomorrow. An done little prep. Heh. Got a night of cramming ahead of me. I may get the book for the future though. If not there is the wonder that is Wikipedia.
check the link again
the entire book is there. I didn't notice until after my first post or I would have mentioned it. 8)
Well, i managed it. I have bought myself another week through some cunning use of npcs to hold up the characters on their journey to the city. Mwuhahahahahahaha. Next session they are going to be entering the city itself. Should be interesting.
Now I know what was happening every time I had a hard time getting to a real world tournament (I used to do historical reenactment) It was the DM in the sky stalling for time with encounters cause he hadn't finished the adventure.:D Good on ya though for finding a good way to buy more time.
1.Team based combat for the warlord.
2.Cantrip test for the illegal Warlock.
3.Archery test for the ranger
4.Some sort of one on one combat for the fighter (unless he is in prison and hasn't escaped/been busted out)
I think that is round one done. Only need to do the ones for the Emi finals then the finals i think. It is only a small tourney because i ddin't want things being bogged down. plus one player is a whizz at maths and i didn't want them getting stinking rich on bets.