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Have you watched Spartacus: Blood and Sand, because that's pretty good as far as gladiator stories go.
As for specific types of combats, perhaps you could fill the arena with water and stage a famous naval battle. Or fill it with lava and crumbling platforms.
Perhaps a dungeon is set up in the arena and the gladiators have to run through while arcane eyes follow to broadcast it on a "Jumbotron."
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Chariots!
Helpful info...
Eques (“horseman”): The Eques usually fought against another gladiator of the same type. They probably began their matches on horseback, but they ended in hand-to-hand combat. These were the only gladiators who wore regular tunics rather than any type of body armor, though they wore bronze helmets with two feathers and padded shin-protectors; they carried round shields and often fought with long swords.
Hoplomachus (“heavy-weapons fighter”): The Hoplomachus, named after the Greek Hoplite warrior, fought with a long spear as well as a short sword or dagger; he wore a visored helmet with crest and long greaves over both legs to protect them since he carried only a small shield, usually round, though both gladiators wear early types of crested helmets without visors.
Murmillo (“fish”): The Murmillo, named for a Greek saltwater fish, wore a large visored helmet with a high crest; these helmets became increasingly enhanced with relief decorations, as for example the head of Hercules, military trophies, and the Gorgon, Mars Ultor, and decorative vessels. The Murmillo was protected by a large, slightly curved, rectangular shield, so he needed only one short shin-guard (ocrea) to protect his left leg. He fought with a short stabbing sword (gladius). The wreaths on a tombstone from Ephesus indicate that this Murmillo won many combats.
Provocator (“attacker”): The Provocator was the most heavily armed gladiator; he was the only gladiator who wore a pectoral covering the vulnerable upper chest. He also wore a padded arm-protector and one greave on his left leg; he carried a large rectangular shield and stabbing sword. His large, distinctive visored helmet had no crest and extended over his shoulders. The extent of his armor made the Provocator slower and less agile than other gladiators, which may explain why he tended to be paired with another gladiator of the same type in combat.
Retiarius (“netman”): The Retiarius was the quickest and most mobile of gladiators; as the only type of gladiator who wore no helmet, he had much more range of vision than his opponents. However, since he wore practically no defensive armor, he was also more vulnerable to serious wounds; his only body protection was a padded arm-protector (manica) on his left arm often topped with a high metal shoulder protector (galerus). His weapons were a large net with which he attempted to entangle his opponent, a long trident, and a small dagger.
- Secutor (“pursuer”): The Secutor was typically paired with a Retiarius. His egg-shaped helmet with round eye-holes had no crest or reliefs to snag on the net of the Retiarius but also gave him little range of vision. He wore a short shin protector (ocrea) on one leg and an arm protector; he carried a large rectangular shield and stabbing sword. The wreaths on this tombstone of a Secutor indicate his many victories.
Thraex (“Thracian”): The Thraex gladiator was loosely based on the Thracians, former enemies of Rome. His most distinctive feature was his weapon, a short sword (sica) whose blade was either curved or kinked. His visored helmet with wide brim resembled that of a Murmillo except that it was topped with the head of a griffin. Because the Thraex carried a short rectangular shield, he wore an arm-protector and long shin protectors (ocreae) on both legs.
Bestiarius (“animal-fighter”) was a special type of gladiator trained to handle and fight all sorts of animals. The bestiarii were the lowest ranking gladiators; they did not become as popular or individually well known as other types of gladiators.
Training: The manager of a gladiatorial troupe was called a lanista; he provided lengthy and demanding training in schools (ludi) especially designed for this purpose and usually located near the great amphitheaters. Pompeii, for example, had both a small training area surrounded by gladiatorial barracks near the theater, while there was a large exercise-ground (palaestra) right next to the amphitheater.
A DAY AT THE ARENA
The lunch break was devoted to executions of criminals who had committed particularly heinous crimes—murder, arson, sacrilege. The public nature of the execution made it degrading as well as painful and was intended to serve as a deterrent to others. One form of execution in the arena was damnatio ad bestias, in which the condemned were cast into the arena with violent animals or were made to participate in “dramatic” reenactments of mythological tales in which the “stars” really died. Criminals could also be forced to fight in the arena with no previous training; in such bouts death was a foregone conclusion, since the “victor” had to face further opponents until he died (such combatants were not, of course, professional gladiators). In extraordinary circumstances, criminals might be forced to stage an elaborate naval battle (naumachia). Although these were usually fought on lakes, some scholars think they might also have been staged in the Colosseum.
In the afternoon came the high point of the games—individual gladiatorial combats. These were usually matches between gladiators with different types of armor and fighting styles, supervised by a referee carrying a long staff (summa rudis).
- There were many rituals in the arena. When a gladiator had been wounded and wished to concede defeat, he would hold up an index finger. At this point the crowd would indicate with gestures whether they wished the defeated gladiator to be killed or spared. The sponsor of the games decided whether or not to give the defeated gladiator a reprieve (missio). If the gladiator was to be killed, he was expected to accept the final blow in a ritualized fashion, without crying out or flinching. A ritual for removing the bodies of dead gladiators, with a man impersonating Dis Pater (Hades) hitting the body with a hammer to make sure he was really dead and then a slave dragging the body with a hook through a gate called the Porta Libitinensis.
Different terrain types (hills, trees/jungle gym, water w/boats).
Force them to use different types of armor and weapons, including some crazy combinations (everyone gets bolas and ponies and you play Mongols Hunting, who cares if you're not proficient).
Have some back-alley intrigue going on (meet in a tavern with representatives of someone who wants them to throw a game, make sure that so-and-so Other Enemy gets out alive but defeated). A metaplot with some other school(s) of gladiators trying to outdo your guys, poison them so they do badly in a fight, fix fights, etc., etc., etc. can give you a lot of ideas for something (and a chance for occasional non-arena fights, tavern brawls, missions where they have to sneak somewhere without making lots of noise.)
Try and get popular with the crowd (so if you lose they don't turn thumbs down on you) or have popular sponsors buy raise dead spells for you...
Blind helmets -- everyone gets a helm with no eyeholes and they have to use their senses to locate the enemies and attack them. Great fun for the audience, maybe less so for the participants.
Trying to get the Emperor engaged enough that he grants them their freedom/comes down to fight them in the arena/transfers his sponsorship to their shop/whatever.
Wow Whipsire, that's some serious scholarship on the issue! Got a source that you can give me so I can read more on the subject, because I'd love to!
Tonyz, I hadn't even considered that raise dead was an option, you just blew my mind!
Capture the flag might be a good arena game.
Or perhaps a twisted basketball where you have teams trying to kill each other and then shoot the decapitated head of your opponent to a net or hoop or goal.
For an even more twisted version of that, make it so there's only one team and they have to fight a hydra and the catch is they're not allowed to kill it on penalty of death. They have to cut off a certain number of heads (possibly equal to the number of heads it originally had) and shoot them through the hoop/kick it in the goal/etc... to end the match.
So, mixing in fantasy with history you have to ask: is magic allowed? Is this all taking place at one arena or multiple arenas? You might have a tiny area the story begins in but as the story progresses, the gladiators gain the honor of fighting in larger arenas. Really, Spartacus is the best source material especially with the social intrigue. An underground fight to the death one night... Planned fights with grand events surrounding them the next. Also, as mentioned, you can throw more in like dungeons and the like. The idea makes me want to play a Barbarian akin to Ostog the Unslain. This is definately a game where martial classes shine (obviously) but there could be room for lots in interesting characters and builds, but it is definately a Fighter's paradise.
Have you seen the movie or read the Stephen King short storey "The Running Man"?
Some good ideas could be worked from that - RC above touched on it with the "Jumbo Tron" idea.
YES! That is exactly what I had in mind actually. Great story and a great movie, for totally different reasons however. So many fantastic Ah-nold quotes in that.
Okay, i just re-read the second part of this post, and can't help how awesome it is. Thanks for the GREAT idea, Robert.Capture the flag might be a good arena game.
Or perhaps a twisted basketball where you have teams trying to kill each other and then shoot the decapitated head of your opponent to a net or hoop or goal.
For an even more twisted version of that, make it so there's only one team and they have to fight a hydra and the catch is they're not allowed to kill it on penalty of death. They have to cut off a certain number of heads (possibly equal to the number of heads it originally had) and shoot them through the hoop/kick it in the goal/etc... to end the match.
Thanks, I really apprececiate that. I actually considered deleting the post and keeping the idea for myself, but being an idea hog is a dick move.
I spent like an hour last night thinking of rules for the human on human (or other races, obviously) version. It would start with a ritual sacrifice, decapitated and rolled down a stairwell, Mayan style (they did human sacrifice right? Or did Apocolypto lie to me?), at which point each team would dive for the head ball and try to shoot it through the hoop (I envisioned it like basketball). Only after the first point is the scored are the teams given edged weapons to go at each other. Only one person is allowed to be killed on each team at a time and they can't kill again until their already dispatched victim's head is tossed through the hoop, this way it prevents them from just killing all at once making it longer and more exciting for the crowd. The match ends when one team is all dead.
Also, just as a disclaimer, I think that actually doing that would be repulsive and wrong. But for an evil culture in a fantasy game, awesome.