Howdy y'all!
So i got to thinkin', (a dangerous thing) what if I asked all you fine people to help me build my Arena? By my Arena I mean the Arena from my (Sowde Da'aro's) back story. A place where an adventure or party of adventurers, can go and fight and win gold and/or magic and not die.
Basicly I need help fleshing it out with a set of rules and things to do and fight.
The presedent is, in many (viedo) games ive played namely FF10, Dregonquest VIII, and others I cant remember, they had Arenas, why not PF?
I'd love to hear your ideas.
Performance combat might be up your alley. Something akin to the dwarven proving grounds from Dragon Age Origins comes to mind also. I would make the fights about honor with the gold/magic as a bonus. Winning political favor and honor, positions of power, etc.
Here is a cool dynamic arena map from WOTC map-a-week archive, a lot of different environments and hazards, might be a good starting point instead of your standard empty sand filled area.
I don't know video games at all but I've designed "arenas" before. I'm also NO GOOD w/maps, so I've none to give. All that being said, let's begin.
When designing an arena I try to start w/a couple basics: what, where and why. Let's take the last first.
3 reasons always leap to mind for these places: Gold, Gods and Glory. When this was 3.5 I made one for all 3.
Gold: I had a town, built literally on top of a ruin that made up an underground "undercity". There was a seedy tavern whose cellar had access to several ruin chambers. These 3 cysts were open to one another and made up a "fight club" of sorts where the heroes could go and smack each other around in full view of the thieves guild and a crowd - they could make bets, collect purses, etc. The main chamber was a hall of pillars with the twin antechambers being used as seating. There was only one rule - keep the fight IN the hall, so the pillars could be used, alcoves with relief statuary in the upper walls, very dark and gothic. It was just simply called The Pit and (predictably) one of the characters participated in a fight where he was framed for his opponent's murder...
Gods: in 3.5 there was a god called Kord, god of strength, competition and such. So in a romanesque city a cleric of Kord opened a gladiatorial arena like an ampitheatre in classic style and architecture. The Kordome as it was called was actually several buildings; the main oval-shaped arena complete with movable sets, gates leading down into underground chambers for releasing monsters and such, and even complex plumbing to flood the place for water-battles. Then there were several adjoining outbuildings: a gladiatorial school, a vestry and sanctum for the clergy and the main priest and like any good sports arena vendors hocking food, services and trinkets on game days. The idea behind the place was that it hosted Kordite festivals, games to entertain the masses (which ALSO included a service to the god) and finally they had competitions of great importance like major honor duels between high-level characters and such.
Glory: Never worked it into play but I have a KOTBL clone in my homebrew which is the walled town of Mistwatch. The town is larger than the fort in the module but the idea's the same: last bastion of civilization and such... anyway, the town includes a large outer bailey which is in fact a field and proving ground for the soldiers and hopefuls. Jousting, swordplay and other games are held here on feast days or in matters of import among martial or classed individuals. The outer bailey is a massive area just inside the fort's main gate and is surrounded by seating, a few sheds and minor outbuildings and then the Castelan's stables and the fort's barraks. The area is large enough that commoners can crowd in during the faires and market days when their favorite regional barons, knights and such meet to prove their merit on the field of honor (think of your local Rennaisance Festival) and still get around and past to the shops and vendors in the markt square on the far side of the green.
Others I could conceive of off the top of my head would be like Hogwart's quiddich field with towers and floating terrain/goals. Either the players/battlers ride flying beasts, soaring brooms or just fly with their own magic and wings. Another cool idea would be terrifying but also awesome: a section of a necropolis or graveyard in which the negative energies of undeath are so potent that there is no end to the animate dead. In order to control this flood of evil not only have high walls and protections been put in place but someone has to go in there every once in a while and bring the smite. You could have all kinds of weird environmental effects like random fogs, darkness, or spontaneous graves or something as the blight withers the place, not to mention miles of tombstones, obelisks and scattered mausoleums and shrines to add to the milieu.
So now that I've thrown some stuff out there, what kind of character do you have and what would suit his background?
If you want to know some about me just click on my name.
I was thinkin of having a cadra of wizards clerics and a few druids (for the animals). The wizards could shape the battlefield. Clerics make sure people dont die, or bring em back to life.
Any other thoughts on what rules are needed?
Rules like gravity? No, I think you're covered there. Rules for the "fighting pit"? Well, that's easy enough, there's lots of examples to choose from. 2 men enter, one man leaves (wait, your guys don't die). Bloodsport?
So if there's no death but its a "fighting pit" then you need the rules to decide who wins. Knockout's pretty obvious, but you're a rogue3/fighter12/invisible blade5; knocking you out COULD take hours. First blood then; imagine how hard it would be to get through all of Sowde's armor, magical protections, battle-sharpened speed and reflexes, not to mention DR and magically enhanced natural AC, all just to get a single drop of blood.
You'll also need rules like: could a wizard20 walk into the arena, cast time stop, then suck the both of you into his pocket dimension, then kill you there and leave you so you're not resurrected? My point is - what's a "legal move?" The clerics/wizards/druids would need to referee and possibly pat down new contestants for contraband.
Finally you were asking in your original post for things to do and fight. Think like Harry Potter's Tri-Cup Tournament. It would be REALLY boring to watch 2 fighter20's fight each other with all the clerics on hand; just 2 guys dancing about and slogging all across the pit that ultimately can't be killed or even seriously injured - snooze. No, if you're talking 20th level you should make the challenges reflect this: pocket dimensions containing whole monster/trap/puzzle infested labyrinths, or a warforged factory on top of an active lava flow (you were the CHOSEN ONE Annakin!). For things to face - what about hyper-intellegent and ancient immortals or dragons who are simply SO BORED they gate themselves in from time to time just to unleash some diabolical riddle on Sowde, while he's ALSO having to destroy an endless horde of the being's minions; the match is over when Sowde or another gladiator guesses the answer in the midst of combat.
Well I rarely fight anymore, I'm just the owner and operater I picture this arena for all classes and levels. After all I started as a level 2 rogue in my first arena fight.
And the clerics wont contenually cast cure spells, but maybe a ranged CLW if they fall unconscince.
And yeah contestents would need to be "patted down".
I thought that as a reward for an animal if they survived X number of games the get Awakened by the druid.
I could go 50/50 on druids even being involved. On the one hand they have to willingly endanger animals (nature) in a city setting but on the other hand you could argue that by doing so they're proving the superiority of animals (nature) over man. I suppose they're just summoning, but still.
Maybe it'd be cooler to have those wizards be summoners or have summoning stones in the arena to just spontaneously spit out a CR appropriate monster randomly.
Yeah, I like the idea of unique rewards beyond money and fame. Not just for the animals, but like for the contestants too. Unique magic items, bestowed powers, forbidden lore, that kind of thing. Give warriors an incentive to KEEP coming back but also a way to weed out the weak.
You might consider a multi-layer arena. The gladiators or adventuring teams enter the arena on the ground floor and have to navigate their way to the uppermost tier of the arena before they are permitted to escape. Only one fighter or adventuring team is permitted to survive--the winner having established themselves by making it up the Final Stair, the arena operators slam shut the exit doors and whoever is left alive in the arena is trapped and left to die of starvation, thirst, or are later hunted down by teams of liquidators until all the bodies are accounted for.
Or left to prey on future adventurers...
This arena needs a ref. What would be the best class and level?
Im thinkin this arena to have the capeableity to suport all classes and levels from 1-20.
Monsters could be summoned to the arena, but I was also thinkin of a plot device where the Pcs have to go out to find and capture rare and dangerous animals to fight, kinda like in FF10.