|
Hello everyone
In a homegame im mastering my players are in a city that is about to celebrate a tournament.
The players are 3 to 5 (im not completely sure because everybody is ill here)
Now the question... im not sure if make a deathmatch, a 2v2 tournament and some justs, or maybe the three.
Deathmatch: The problem here is to put arround 20 npcs in a small arena, how will be the turns used? if we have 20 turns per round it wil be a pain... how can i make it intresting and agile?
2v2 tournament: Thats easy, no problem here in the encounters BUT there are new players and some of the old left so the current party level is two... should i make it very hard to win due to
the realism that a lvl 2 player isnt enough powerfull to win (maybe let the to past some rounds but make the finals really hard)
o should i just make encounters at that level?
Just: I was thinking on make
like the real ones. 3 points if the hit go to the head, 2 if hit in the chest, 1 if hit in the shield and a critical hit will trhow the oponent to the ground, making it a insta win
the one who makes 10 points o trhows the oponent to the ground is the winner
how do you think? any crit/advice/idea will be welcomed
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You can do non-combative type of tournament, like a knife throwing or archery competition.
You can also do a tournament with multiple kinds of contests, to facilitate PCs with different abilities.
For the deathmatch, you could do some of the npc v npc fights ahead of time, so you don't have to do it on the spot. Or you could just approximate and pull fighters out when it feels appropriate.
For the question of how hard it should be for the PCs to win, it depends. How far reaching is the tournament? Do you have people from all parts of the country participating or just the local region?
What is the narrative purpose of the tournament? Do you want to establish the PCs as relative badasses? If so, make them stop most of the competition, with a handful of small challenges.
Are you using it to introduce a rival the PCs will have to face again in the future? If so, you could do as above, but have one NPC that is actually equivalent or even better than the PCs, sort of like The Karate Kid.
I ran an Aztec Ball Court match that was pretty fun.
It was PCs vs a team of monks of the same size. No weapons allowed, but spells were. Charm Person REALLY helped.
Performance combat from Ultimate Combat. Duels could also be interesting. You could also let them gamble on themselves.
For a joust you might want custom "Jousting" armor (Rent-able for a fee, or loaned from a patron with no champions), this could convert lance damage to non lethal, then just do ride checks and attacks as per normal.
For a tournament, I would suggest that 2v2 (to knockout) with the performance rules might work best, a scrum would be confusing and hard to manage. Set a ladder, then just roll performance for a few select teams to determine what wins (the whip twins, vs the archer brothers. The orc and gnome team vs the human knights). Slot the players into the ladder, if they pay attention give them circumstance bonuses against their upcoming foes (be creative, the whip sisters are terrified of insects...., the orc has rage issues if insulted..., the Knights LOVE their swords and couldn't live without them...).
And yes, let them have a go at one another, if you feel the players themselves can handle it, otherwise maybe set teams under patrons banners, so that teams under one banner cannot fight (Pair with the highest score auto advances, making showboating far more important than a fast win).
The enemy champions should be at the PC's average with glaring tactical vulnerabilities, or penalties to performance checks. Have some "black knights" enigmas, immune to performance penalties, and tourney winners years running, let the players not fighting find the secrets about them to turn them from juggernauts (CR+5) into regular foes (otherwise, let them kick butt and become the parties new temporary foes =p ). Some fights should be easy (CR0/-1), some should be a match (CR1/+2), only the last should have any serious risk of death (CR+3), failure should always be an option, but death should be very improbable, so players have little fear of performing even as a squishy caster.
A tournament is a chance to showcase champions, give grand speeches, and make the PC's feel like celebrities for a day. Out of tournament actions could play a big part (Get drunk, suffer -1's to battle), (Visit some ladies for kisses and gain +1 to perform), (get in a brawl before and enter with reduced hp).
Limit gambling, and do not let champs bet on themselves, it can get out of hand quickly and ruin wbl, a little gambling can be a lot of fun.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Combat isn't really that interesting past a certain point and if you make an entire session combat heavy it really drags. Think less fighting tournament and maybe more Olympic games and you'll be able to think of lots of funny games.
Here's a few suggestions, give players limited tokens which they can trade in for different events.
Simple events are
Archery (highest attack = closest to bullseye)
Fencing (first to three hits)
Wrestling (first person to succeed in pinning opponent)
More interesting events can be
Gladiator: Two opponents stand on poles and must use a padded staff to knock their opponent off the other log. Attack rolls vs touch ac but each time someone is hit they're allowed a reflex save to save themselves from falling off.
Dodgeball: Each round everyone rolls a stealth roll, then on their turn they roll perception to try and spot other people in the area. Once they notice someone they can attempt a ranged attack with a ball vs flat foot ac. One shot out.
General rule: One contest for every ability (str, dex, con, int, etc) or give each player a chance to shine.
This is going to sound cheesy, but my players loved it.
A pie eating contest. All I did was have them roll their Con, and that was how many pies they ate in the allotted time. I rolled a D20 seven times for the other contestants. Absolutely no skill at all, just the luck of a single roll, but they all liked it.
Deadalready raises a good point, as most tournaments have more than one single event.
Maybe something like a keg or caber toss, hammer throw... Other feats of strength kinds of competition.
Riddle or silly poem contests for those party members or players who are quicker of wits than blade.
|
If it helps at all non-lethal versions of standard weapons are perfectly rules-legal (as per the 'dojo' room in Ultimate Campaign), so for something like a joust you can just have them using non-lethal lances.
I'd second the up-thread suggestion for using Performance Combat: once you get your head round it, it's actually great fun (especially if you really play-up the crowds' reactions in role-play terms).
An elimination-style tournament with differing events may be a good idea, as it allows you to quickly skip the PCs through the first few rounds with simple skill or ability checks, whittle away the chaff from the wheat in terms of NPCs, and end up with a few interesting NPC contestants left to take on your PCs (without making the PCs look 'weak' even if they ultimately lose, or making the whole thing seem like a push-over if they ultimately win).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You can also do a drinking contest by doing Con checks or Fortitude saves (vs poison?), possibly exacting penalties on other checks based on drunkenness.
Unless you have a Drunken Master ki specialist!