This is a work in progress. FR setting. Waterdeep. Magisters are basically the mage referees. A wall of force, raised by the magisters and made permanent for the games, protects the crowd from errant spells and such. Some of these I took from Dungeon #128. Please let me know if there's something I missed. Give me your ideas. Any feedback is appreciated.
General Rules:
·All laws of Waterdeep apply within the Field of Triumph and the Coenoby. They shall be strictly enforced by the acting magisters.
·All decisions made by any magisters are final.
* = in most cases will result in legal action.
Prohibited in the Arena (immediate disqualification):
1. No poison*.
2. No potions or scrolls.
3. No utility items (tanglefoot bags, alchemist fire, smoke sticks, thunderstones, caltrops, etc.).
4. No concealment effects or spells (invisibility, hiding, etc.).
5. No incorporeality or gaseous forms.
6. Gladiators may fly or levitate no higher than 40’ within the arena.
7. Burrowing beneath the arena is forbidden.
8. No curative, regenerative, or resurrection spells allowed during matches. Cleric medics will tend to fallen foes at the cost of the sponsor. Curative magic may be employed only after the match is decided.
9. Summoning spells are permitted, though gating is prohibited*.
10. Tampering with the force wall is prohibited*.
11. Attacking or enspelling a magister or cleric medic is prohibited*.
12. No firearms of any kind are permitted within the Field of Triumph*.
13. Undead are prohibited, as is the spell animate dead*.
Team Rules:
1. Each team member must sign the Untimely Death contract and be sponsored by a citizen of Waterdeep.
2. Mounts are permitted at the expense of the gladiator. All rules that apply to gladiators apply to mounts equally.
3. Magical items and equipment must be registered and approved by the magisters. Any items deemed “unsportsmanlike” will be denied entry into the Field of Triumph and held by the team’s sponsor.
4. No more than two melee weapons and/or one bow or crossbow.
5. Gladiators may carry as many quivers possible up to the point of encumbrance. Varied ammunition is permitted, though subject to the scrutiny of the magisters.
6. Gladiators may carry as many throwing weapons he/she is capable of carrying up to the point of encumbrance.
7. One item of power per body part. One wand. One staff. One rod. Two rings. No swapping during matches.
Combat Rules:
1. Teams have exactly one minute before the match to prepare spells and ready weapons.
2. A match persists until one team is victorious, either through the death or the surrender of the opposing team.
3. A gladiator is disqualified should he/she die, fall unconscious, become petrified, polymorphed, feebleminded, or driven insane.
4. Gladiators may yield by dropping weapons, kneeling, and raising both arms.
5. Any team member attacking a disqualified gladiator will be immediately disqualified*.
6. A disqualified gladiator must exit the arena immediately. Failure to do so will result in the disqualification of the entire team.
7. If a team wins, any disqualified gladiators on that team may return to fight in the next match.
8. Teams can replace fallen or disqualified members with their standbys for the next match.
9. Winning gladiators have no right to the spoils of the fallen. A defeated gladiator keeps his gear, or in the case of death, ownership of gear reverts to his team or manager.
10. A gladiator whose weapon breaks may select any weapon from the wall racks ringing the arena (mundane weapon from the PHB).
I worried about the rules for the arena a lot. Turns out I didn't need to. It was just a plain old fun adventure, which my players played straight up. Also we did A LOT of betting. I had them roll diplomacy to see who they could meet, they even met a lowly type who would allow them to bet against themselves. This was a great adventure.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Prohibited in the Arena (immediate disqualification):[...]
3. No utility items (tanglefoot bags, alchemist fire, smoke sticks, thunderstones, caltrops, etc.).
Number 3 removes a lot of interesting options. I'd uphold the ban on Smokesticks and similar conceilment items - the audience wants to see whats going on. Otherwise, i'd make these items fair game.
4. No concealment effects or spells (invisibility, hiding, etc.).
Short-term invisibility (2 turns or less) is an interesting special effect, and i'd allow it... it probably sends the crowds gasping if a fighter just disappears, to cruelly exploit the enemies vulnerable spots moments later.
What about Blur and other effects that grant a miss chance, but don't result in a very boring "Black Box" scenario?
8. No curative, regenerative, or resurrection spells allowed during matches. Cleric medics will tend to fallen foes at the cost of the sponsor. Curative magic may be employed only after the match is decided.
I'd allow prepared curative spells. A lot of groups can't properly function without their healbot, and have come to base their tactics on readily-available healing. Forbidding healing items serves much the same purpose (keeping matches at an interesting length) without being quite so limiting.
Just my $0.02...
2. No potions or scrolls.
3. No utility items (tanglefoot bags, alchemist fire, smoke sticks, thunderstones, caltrops, etc.).
4. No concealment effects or spells (invisibility, hiding, etc.).
8. No curative, regenerative, or resurrection spells allowed during matches. Cleric medics will tend to fallen foes at the cost of the sponsor. Curative magic may be employed only after the match is decided.
12. No firearms of any kind are permitted within the Field of Triumph*.
Just a few quibles. Rule #2 is assumed to be allowed from the description of the other teams' tactics; unless you want to completely rework the opposing teams, you should allow it (not all teams have spellcasters). Rule #3 is probably not needed; the items will be of limited use in comparison to the spells that the teams have access to (and smokesticks should fall under #4). Rule #8 is a bit restrictive, but I can see it as a way to keep the matches short. Rule #12 is probably not needed for the safety of the spectators (the walls of force around the areana will be enough), so unless there is a ban on firearms in Waterdeep you should allow them to be used.
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In addition to the posted rules you have, I would make a divine influence known to the participants, after all, Faerun gods have always had a lot of physical pull in the mortal realm.
The regional Deities for the Sword Coast are Bane, Beshaba, Chauntea, Lathander, Mask, Mystra, and Tempus. (Players Guide to Faerun, 15), and the Waterdeep Pantheon is anything from Faerun.
Of the group, Tempus has the most interest in the event, many pc's or npc's will go to him with their prayers prior to each round, and he will most likely have an avatar watching from the shadows somewhere.
In the Faiths and Pantheons book, “Tempus looks with favor upon those that acquit themselves honorably in battle without resorting to such craven tricks…” “Clerics of the war deity are charged to keep warfare a thing of rules, respected reputation, and professional behavior, minimizing uncontrolled bloodshed…” (Faiths and Pantheons, 71)
If you make the characters aware that he might be out there, it may only give you a roleplaying effect but you can feel free to have Tempus effect things if he feels someone is playing unjustly against the given rules of the tournament and the magisters don’t catch it. Honestly, I’d have most of the Magisters be Clerics of Tempus or of a warlike god anyway.
I would let them know that Helm, Tyr and Tempus are diligently watching the events and that any unfair or outlawed actions may bring forth their wrath in addition to being disqualified. Tempus may have much influence in the events that go on in the arena but Tyr will see that the rules are sound and Helm will enforce them.
We used Kord for ours, it’s a nice roleplaying effect when the church of Kord knows he’ll be somewhere near to watch the events.
the walls of force around the areana
Typo. Amusing, though.
Thanks a lot, folks. I've made some adjustments. A lot of what I put in there was for effect, and won't necessarily apply to the PCs.
I agree about concealment. My intent was to ensure that my PCs couldn’t use improved invisibility on themselves and hack away. What I am going to do is make it an unofficial rule of the games that invisibility spells are underhanded and frowned upon by the gladiators and the crowd. Team ranking will drop should anyone use invisibility... the crowd will boo... etc. That should do the trick.
I'm going to allow partial concealment (displacement, blur, etc.) and hiding (which will be impossible in most cases anyway). I'm also going to render the ninja's ghost step as one of those awe-inspiring vanish/brutal attack combos. That should wow the crowd.
Concerning potions and scrolls, I wanted to be clear so my PCs wouldn't decide to scour Waterdeep for the best potions and "juice up" before a match. I'd have to do the same thing with other gladiators, and I'd simply rather not. All buffs must come from a team spellcaster using spells, class abilities, or some multiple-use magical item allowed by the magisters.
I love the idea concerning Tempus. The possibilities with that are endless: a veteran gladiator loved by all who honorably defeats the PCs; a scarred and grizzled soldier who takes an interest in the PCs and seeks to train them; a muscled wanderer who informs the PCs about the "abandoned" temple of Tempus beneath the Field of Triumph. I'm definitely going to try that.
I'm just prepping for the Games now, and I have some thoughts about the potions and scrolls. I don't want to restrict the other teams with their magical use, but I too don't want my group to be purchasing a gazillion scrolls before every match. So I've decided that team managers can only bring in healing magic for the team every day and nothing else. Therefore they need to be fully prepared with extra stuff before they enter the games, and perhaps before they truly understand the format and how it's all going to work. They'll still have an opportunity to buy some stuff, but there won't be the volume to allow them to stock up on 14 potions of haste (for example) before the games.
Hopefully this will work out.
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I too don't want my group to be purchasing a gazillion scrolls before every match. So I've decided that team managers can only bring in healing magic for the team every day and nothing else. Therefore they need to be fully prepared with extra stuff before they enter the games, and perhaps before they truly understand the format and how it's all going to work.
That's good; it's just like handing in an 'army list' at the start of a wargames tournament. The judges have better things to do than adjudicate a gazillion last-minute tweaks.
Sponsors/managers can heal or raise gladiators between fights (at their own expense), but otherwise, you use the same gear throughout. If your wand runs out of charges; well, tough. Should have brought a fully-charged one, or held back a bit on using up the juice.
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Prohibited in the Arena (immediate disqualification):
1. No poison.
4. No concealment effects or spells (invisibility, hiding, etc.).
5. No incorporeality or gaseous forms.
6. Gladiators may fly or levitate no higher than 40’ within the arena.
7. Burrowing beneath the arena is forbidden.
9. Summoning spells are permitted, though gating is prohibited.
13. Undead are prohibited, as is the spell animate dead.
Will these rules also have to apply to any summoned/created creatures, too?
So no Huge scorpions/spiders, no air elementals, no level-draining your opposition and having them get up as undead.
No summoning a creature who's likely to use the above as standard tactics (umber hulks, imps, etc).
Which brings up the side-issue; how much control do other DMs allow a caster to have over his summoned minions? If you're using the variant rule of summoning named individuals each time, you could go over the rules with them the day before (assuming they're intelligent), but otherwise, the creature has no way of knowing it's usual tactics are out of bounds...