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Stabber
2012-06-10, 08:08 PM
So i've had this idea rolling around in my head after hearing all this hype about fantasy football/baseball/cricket/beer pong leagues. i was thinking that it would be fun for this thread to run a fantasy gladiator league....each player would be able to have a house with a starting amount of gold, and would have to buy weapons and armor as well as training their gladiators.....as it gets more advanced we could probally establish trading of VIP gladiators and trainers ect.
Im gonna need some help so just let me know about your ideas....hopefully this could take off if we get enough people!
Thanks- Stabber

Boci
2012-06-10, 08:29 PM
What game system would this use, or would it be free form?

Stabber
2012-06-10, 08:35 PM
it would definitively depend on the type of game that people want to run.....i usually play dnd3.0 or 3.5 but i could see a free form system or somthing else that ive never heard of being used

The Bandicoot
2012-06-11, 04:01 PM
I think this is an interesting idea. But if we did 3.5 we'd have to figure out a way to buy character levels(Maybe a set ammount of XP you use to buy characters?) Either way, I'd like to help on this.

deuxhero
2012-06-11, 04:46 PM
Lucasarts made a video game about that. It's awesome and should be checked out. It has great gameplay and a lot of intresting story bits.

Thanks to healers, no one ever dies during official games.
There is a team of undead created from funeral rite games. They obey the rules of the arena but no one knows why.
The games are one thing that facilitates peaceful contact between not!Rome, not!Norselands, not!Mongolia and not!Egypt.

Asheram
2012-06-11, 05:06 PM
That does remind me. Are there better rules for competitions and such, think gladiator games, horse races, sports (blood bowl?) in 3.5 that it's a pure diceroll?

Rallicus
2012-06-11, 05:34 PM
You lost me at Fantasy Beer Pong. :smallconfused:

Stabber
2012-06-11, 05:43 PM
I think this is an interesting idea. But if we did 3.5 we'd have to figure out a way to buy character levels(Maybe a set ammount of XP you use to buy characters?) Either way, I'd like to help on this.
I think that you're on the right track there, but 3.5 does have slightly complicated rules, so maybe we should com up with some alternatives for certain situations.


Lucasarts made a video game about that. It's awesome and should be checked out. It has great gameplay and a lot of intresting story bits.

Thanks to healers, no one ever dies during official games.
There is a team of undead created from funeral rite games. They obey the rules of the arena but no one knows why.
The games are one thing that facilitates peaceful contact between not!Rome, not!Norselands, not!Mongolia and not!Egypt.
The healers thing makes sense, but their needs to be a penatly for losing games, and i like the idea about different ethnicities in game, we can work on that


That does remind me. Are there better rules for competitions and such, think gladiator games, horse races, sports (blood bowl?) in 3.5 that it's a pure diceroll?
Im not sure, but we could definetly ad those into this as things move along ( especially gorse races, but maybe with a deadly twist-:smalltongue:

Asheram
2012-06-11, 05:51 PM
Im not sure, but we could definetly ad those into this as things move along ( especially gorse races, but maybe with a deadly twist-:smalltongue:

Hehe. It's nice. :) But I was hoping if anyone knew if it existed in the D&D ruleset from a DM standpoint. ((Planning on letting the players watch some sport events and wager money on it.))

The Bandicoot
2012-06-11, 09:42 PM
Just another random idea I had. Tier points. Each level of a class costs points dependant on what 'tier' they are. (So Tier 1's would cost the most points and so on and so forth)

I personally don't like the tier system much, but it could work.

awa
2012-06-11, 10:26 PM
i loved gladius i just really wish they made a sequel

deuxhero
2012-06-12, 12:28 PM
That does remind me. Are there better rules for competitions and such, think gladiator games, horse races, sports (blood bowl?) in 3.5 that it's a pure diceroll?

PF has rules for "performance combat" (SRD (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/performance-combat)) that require minimal modification (quick check says a few references to "combat maneuver" are all) to convert to 3.5.

Stabber
2012-06-15, 06:01 PM
Those rules are great! thanks a load for shoing me that

Doorhandle
2012-06-16, 06:30 AM
Also, I suggest you use the critical-hit table from dark heresy. Just 'cuz

Slipperychicken
2012-06-18, 02:51 PM
Hehe. It's nice. :) But I was hoping if anyone knew if it existed in the D&D ruleset from a DM standpoint. ((Planning on letting the players watch some sport events and wager money on it.))

Something that could be interesting would be letting the Players control DM-generated contestants as they fight to the death/KO/etc, rather than just watch you roll dice in front of them. Obviously, a player would only control a gladiator which her PC bet on, and maybe a team-fight could have the whole party involved in the match. I imagine it would create a "minigame" feel to the event, give the more competitive players an outlet other than pvp, and might just get some players hooked on it.

Stabber
2012-06-19, 07:33 PM
So is anyone intrested in Co-running the thread? if we get one or two more people we should be able to start! i just need some help with running games and off-shoot threads

The Bandicoot
2012-06-19, 08:59 PM
Like I said I'm more than happy to help. Let's just lay down some ground rules.

I'm thinking a max of 100gp per gladiator for gear. They're fighters not high-end mercenaries.

As for levels and classes I think a total of.... Ten levels to spend however you wish.

Stabber
2012-06-19, 09:08 PM
Thanks man....i agree with hte 10 levels and i think 100gp per fighter is good for now.....if more people join and this becomes big, then maybe as certain schools/players become in-game/world celberitis than the money should increase.
And then how much should we have for staff of school ( trainers, assistants, ect?)

The Bandicoot
2012-06-19, 11:09 PM
Well I'll be honest I have no clue in hell....that'll have to be someone elses department.

playswithfire
2012-06-20, 11:12 PM
This rambles a bit, so feel free to ignore, but here's a possible premise and mechanics:
You are all minor nobles with a gladiator school and 20,000 gp to staff it. Gladiator competitions are held every week and bouts will be 1-on-1, 1-on-2, 2-on-2, or battle royale (each player can enter any number of gladiators) as determined by the players whose gladiators are competing. In between, the gladiators receive training and healing as needed. You, as the noblemen, can also wager on all bouts, not just the ones they have entered gladiators in.

CompetitionsCombat takes place using standard rules for whatever system is used. When all members of a side have been reduced to below 0 hit points, the match ends and the fate of the losing side are decided by the crowd. To determine the will of the crowd, roll a d20 and, if the roll is less than or equal to the number of rounds the match lasted, they live; otherwise, they die.
Winning gladiator(s) each gain a point for winning and additional point for the extent by which they were outnumbered. They also divide up a number of additional points equal to the difference between their highest level and the highest level of their opponents, if positive.
Losing gladiators that the crowd wishes to live lose a number of points equal to their level, but these can be healed by a healer. Losing gladiators that the crowd wishes death on are just dead.

Costs, etc
{table=head]person|initial|weekly
gladiator | 100 x points | -
doctore | 100 x points | 50 x pupil trained
healer | 200 x level* | 50*
[/table]
Gladiators are purchased in terms of a version of experience points. Being level N required N^2 points. So a 16 point gladiator is level 4 and at 32 point gladiator is level 5, with 7 points of extra experience. The maximum point gladiator that can be purchased is 100, though they can gain more points through training and competition.

Your doctore is purchased in the same manner as a gladiator, since they are current or former gladiators. Your doctore can also fight in competitions, but can not train others in the week following a competition in which they fought. A doctore can only train characters of a lower level than he is, giving them an additional number of points equal to MIN(doctore level/2,character level) in a week's training. At any time, you can promote a new gladiator to be your doctore or hire a new one, but you can only have one at a time; your former doctore becomes a gladiator.

Healers are needed to treat gladiators that lose bouts but are not executed by the will of the crowd. You can either keep one or more healers on staff or find healers as needed.

The maximum amount of gold that can be spent on equipment for a gladiator is 500gp+250gp*MAX(0,wins-losses). Probably need to add something for undefeated characters or current win streak.

* a healer on staff is paid as listed and heal a number of points a week equal to their level. Alternatively, outside healers can paid 100gp/point of healing needed

Stabber
2012-06-22, 10:36 PM
Thanks a bunch all of you guys! Im thinking that we have enough intrest now to start playing.....maybe. So the position that are needed right now are
1. somebody(/bodies) to be in co-charge of running games
2. somebody in charge of setting up thread for running games ect.
3. somebody to help me finish up game rules

Everyone should just pm and whoover else ends up helping the name of your school and a description or picture of your logo, and we'll let you know what happens next, or if a school sheet comes out or what!
Thanks-Stabber

Mayhem
2012-06-24, 01:40 AM
This is a pretty damn epic idea! I think this could get pretty popular. I've been excited so I spent most of the day coming up with a rule engine for it, should you want more streamlined and custom rules for the game.
So, do you see the game using magic at all? What about archers? They both present problems to spectators, unless magical barriers are in place. Additionally they change the feel of the game.

What kind of implied world feeling should the game have? Maybe based around powerful city-states, kind of like Dark Sun? Maybe our real world locations could have an impact on which in-game city our starting Ludis is.
I quite like the idea of a DarkSun-esque world actually.

I also think the default currency be silver, for roman flavour. Of course, player/player exchanges of gladiators will no doubt be in gold haha.

Do we want to deal with upkeep costs, discipline, and so on? Or do we just roll some stuff before a match to see the effects of training, random events, etc? Resolving advancement by matches greatly simplifies book-keeping and allows for people to take breaks, but lacks the simulation of weekly upkeep.

How about we come up with different cities to hold matches in? I think it'd be pretty interesting, can set the default crowd attitude, money earned, sold gladiator quality and type, venue size, crowd weapon etc favourites, and the like. Could even influence how blood thirsty the crowd is- remote locations might spare gladiators more often due to low supply but high demand.

This is what I have so far( done before seeing other people's posts mostly):


Attributes
=================
Might Physical strength and toughness
Agility Speed, co-ordination
Resolve Mental and physical toughness and drive
Cunning Common sense, intelligence, perception
Presence Force of personality, will, physical bearing

Armour
=================
- None Ag/Cu
- Light Ag/Cu
- Medium Ag/Re
- Heavy Mi/Re or none?

Weapons
=================
-Light (L) 1-handed only
-Medium (M) Can be used 1-handed or 2-handed *small races must use them 2-handed
-Heavy (H) 2-handed only *small races cannot use these

Type Weapons Attributes Critical Effect
-Sword dagger(L), gladius(M), greatsword(H) Mi, Ag Weakened
-Axe handaxe(L), battleaxe(M), Labrys Axe(H) Mi, Re Tripped
-Mace Morningstar(M), Mace(L), Hercules' Club(H) Mi, Re Knocked back
-Flail Light Flail(M), Heavy Flail(H) Mi, Ag Tripped
-Polearm Javelin(L), Spear(M), Trident(M), Longspear(H) Ag, Cu Slowed
-Bow Longbow(H), Shortbow(M)*Aways 2-handed Ag, Cu Weakened

Hercules' club: Large, studded club named after the legendary warrior because of its size
Labrys Axe: also known as a greataxe.

Race
=================
Name Attributes Traits Cost/rarity
-Goliath +2 Mi, -1 Cu Athletic, Tough high/uncommon
-Thri-Kreen +1 Ag, +1 Mi, +1 Cu Fast, Leaping high/rare
-Dwarf +1 Mi, +1 Re Slow, Tough, Axepert medium/common
-Human +1 Re, +1 Any Adaptable medium/common
-Goblin +1 Ag, +1 Cu Small, Stealthy, Intimidating low/uncommon
-Minotaur +1 Mi, +1 Cu Horned, Perceptive medium/uncommon
-Elf +1 Ag, +1 Pr Fast, Acrobatic medium/uncommon
-Revenant +1 Re, +1 Pr Slow, Undead high/rare

-Goliath is half-giant, I just think half-giant sounds lame. Alternatively they might be ogeres.
-Revenants might be ghouls, zombies, vampires, or whatever. Undead trait I imagine would mitigate
Penalties for losing limbs during a fight, and other effects that living creatures are susceptible to.
-Goblin is based on the dark sun halfling. The word goblin is simply more provocative.
-The human trait adaptable might be a floating skill bonus they can change before a fight?
These are just some races I immediately thought of. Some others I think would be interesting are; dray, aaracokra,
mul, genasi, half-elf, shifter, wilden

Skills
=================
Main Attribute: This is the attribute usually associated with the skill. However in some circumstances,
The Referee may allow another attribute be used in its place. Eg: a minotaur wishes to useguile to take
advantage of pillared terrain features, using athletics with cunning.

Name Main attribute
-Athletics Mi
-Brawl Mi
-Acrobatics Ag
-Stealth Ag
-Endurance Re
-Heal Re
-Perception Cu
-Insight Cu
-Showmanship Pr
-Intimidate Pr

Possibly also have these skills: Melee, Ranged, Riding, Beast empathy? In that case, throwing would probably use athletics

Missio
=================
The fate of a defeated but living gladiator is determined by the editor and the crowd, which is simulated with the
missio roll. The gladiator adds all relevent modifiers below to the roll. If the roll equals or exceeds 10, the
gladiator lives.
-drawing firstblood +1
-crowd appeal during game +1
-dismembering an opponent +1
-kill +1/kill
-exotic race/fighting style combo +1
-time fighting +1/round
-odds were against +1
-odds were for -1
-crowd in bad mood -2
-crowd in good mood +1
-still standing -2
-cannot stand +1
-sadistic editor -2
-merciful editor +1
-pleased editor +2
-displeased editor -2
-main daily event +1
-first daily event -1
+1d20

Fight Types
=================
Exhibition: Non-lethal
Blood match: Lethal

-1-on-1
-2-on-2
-Teams (5v5)
-Brothers-in-arms (2v5)
-Battle Royale

Cities
=================
Capital: Low arena deaths. Missio 8/20 to live
Frontier: High arena deaths. Missio 15/20 to live
Standard City: Moderate arena deaths. Missio 10/20 to live
Remote/Poor City: Low arena deaths. Missio 8/20 to live

Gladiator Prices
=================
Weak (Attributes total below X)
Strong (Attributes total total above Y)
Veteran( level 2+)
Fresh( level 1)
Flawed( more flaws than traits)
Promising( more traits than flaws)

Traits
=================
Roll 1d6:
1 None
2 1 trait
3 1 flaw
4 2 traits, 1 flaw
5 2 flaws, 1 trait
6 1 trait, 1 flaw

Heavy weapons expertise small bonus to heavy weapons
Medium weapons expertise small bonus to medium weapons
Light weapons expertise small bonus to light weapons
Marksman small bonus to ranged weapons
Shieldsman small bonus to shield
Athlete athletics bonus
Thug intimidate bonus
Thief stealth bonus
Tough HP bonus
Fast speed bonus
Ambidextrous bonus when using 2 weapons
Defensive AC bonus
Impressive showmanship bonus
Acrobatic
Adaptible Maybe a small skill bonus that may be changed before a match?

Flaws
=================
Slow speed and initiative penalty
Short-sighted ranged attack penalty
Reckless AC penalty
Annoying showmanship penalty

Staff
=================
Doctore: Train gladiators and keep them disciplined. Ex-gladiator doctore are more expensive.
Medicus: Treats defeated gladiators.


Put me down on the list of Referees, running a game would be pretty fun.

Stabber
2012-06-24, 12:40 PM
Jeez.......you put alot of thought into this. Thanks alot, thats really awesome.
I agree with the rules and most of your thoughts. However, I dont like the location + starting city as the forum occupants tend to be fairly scattered. Also, the races are great, though we may want to add a few here and there, as some people no doubt will want something different. In battles we will also need to make sure that either the races are a fair match, or that their are different catagories for battles depending on race.

Hazzardevil
2012-06-24, 04:22 PM
This looks very interesting.
How about during combat, if you do something impressive you can gain renown or some other stat with a name along the same lines. With enough renown, if you start doing badly in an arena fight you will receive something that could give you an advantage during combat, this could stop curb-stomps during fights and keep things semi-random.

Mayhem
2012-06-24, 06:14 PM
Jeez.......you put alot of thought into this. Thanks alot, thats really awesome.
I agree with the rules and most of your thoughts. However, I dont like the location + starting city as the forum occupants tend to be fairly scattered. Also, the races are great, though we may want to add a few here and there, as some people no doubt will want something different. In battles we will also need to make sure that either the races are a fair match, or that their are different catagories for battles depending on race.
Thanks! These are all rough ideas at this stage. I'll respond to your points individually:

Location =/= Starting city? I agree, that was a pretty lame idea. Better let that sort of thing grow organically.
More variety of races? Definitely, I didn't want to spend much time on one section while my muse was coming in.
Balance mixed race match-ups? Yeah, probably classes too like the roman games. Quick ideas: Some races count as their level+X for mixed matches. But yeah in general I'd say keep thri-kreen fighting thri-kreen, etc. Roughly equal races might could be in the same league.


@Hazzardevil, that's a cool idea. Maybe you can get a drama point or something once you have enough renown, and its effects get stronger and gain more choices the higher the gladiator's renown?

Anyone given any thought to how tactical this should be? All perfect grids like 4e, or more loose with 'combat zones' and more vague rounds? I prefer being more vague because it's faster- but they need solid and concise rules otherwise each game will be ruled quite differently.
Here's an idea in spoiler:

Based on 'melee zones' with each being roughly 10 meters in diameter, where anyone within can attack anyone else within. Anyone outside must spend a move action to get in. Fast gladiators would be able to leave and enter easily, while slow would have a hard time.
Other distances are based on how many moves to get there, possibly based on terrain. Some terrains would limit ranged attacks too- pillars would block some sight, etc.


I had an idea for grand tournaments: Amateur would have very low deaths, pays low too, and a semi-finals or better placement would be required to enter Pro.
Pro preliminary bouts would be lethal, finals would be moderately lethal, and semis would be low lethality. Removes the weakest, but allows the strong to return for grudge rematches.
Of course, whoever starts a tournament is free to set the rules.
Likely they'd be 5v5 or something, with like 3 heavies(or shieldmen) and 2 lights per team. Though, a sixth-man as a striker would be interesting: Big strong weapon like a greatsword or poleaxe.

Here's some additions to my other post rules:

Atrribute scores
=================
Roll 2d6 for each attribute in order, consulting the following table to find the value:
{table="head;width=100"]2D6|Score
1|1
2|2
3|2
4|2
5|3
6|3
7|3
8|4
9|4
10|5
11|5
12|6
[/table]
Next, add the racial attribute bonus to the attribute values. The character's attributes are complete.

Some cities tend to produce people of a certain attribute lean.
Examples:
North: Might roll 3d6 drop lowest. Agility roll 3d6 drop highest.
- these people gorge themselves on meat and entertain themselves with wrestling and athletic competitions
Capital City: Presence roll 3d6 drop lowest. Might 3d6 drop highest.
- these people are pampered city folk.
Metropolitan City: Re-roll lowest score, take highest. Re-roll highest score, take new score regardless.
-Metropolitan centers are mixing pots of peoples from all around the world.
South City: Resolve roll 3d6 drop lowest. Cunning roll 3d6 drop highest.
- These people live in harsh environments eeking out miserable existances. Those that survive are determined
and hard working.
East City: Agility roll 3d6 drop lowest. Presence 3d6 drop highest.

Starting your Lannista career
=================
You begin with 1 average doctore, 1 healer, and 3 random gladiators. You gain a small amount of money. During this creation process, you may spend some of your starting money to gain a better starting doctore, healer, gladiators, and ludis.

Equipment materials
=================
Perhaps we could divide weapons into primitive or metal, like 4e dark sun? Would be interesting, and a chance of weapon breakage for primitive materials adds another tactical dimension. Could also further divide them into common and masterwork quality.

Classes
=================
How should they be done? Should a class just be HP and skill group bonuses, with the meat of the character in weapons focus?

Jukebox Hero
2012-06-28, 12:51 AM
Ok. Imo, the best way to create gladiators would to be to have the DM create a whole bunch of fighters, barbarians, rangers, rogues, (mariners from Dragonlance, Gladiators from Dark Sun too?) etc. stats would be generated randomly. The gladiators would be auctioned off, starting at a bidding price dependent on pointbuy/level. maybe...2 x pointbuy x level per gladiator (rounded to the nearest 10)? This can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. Since everyone has different posting times, gladiators could remain on the market for....7 days?

Also, I'm willing to jump on board with the management crew.

EDIT: And let's not forget the option of throwing animals (and/or dire animals) at the gladiators too. I'm thinking that this should have sort of a Dark Sun feel to it.

2nd Edit (sorry mods): For a system, I suggest DnD 3.5 E6. It'll keep any one gladiator from getting so far ahead that he's unkillable, but still make him more powerful than most any other one out there.

Jukebox Hero
2012-06-28, 01:00 AM
Ok. I'm sorry about the double post, but a triple EDIT seemed excessive. So here's a suggestion for the battles. For the sake of time/efficiency/simplicity, we should probably just have a DM-type individual/impartial participant make the rolls on the forum and type up an appropriately epic combat log, thus making battles a bit more exciting than throwing dice at each other. If noone is willing to do this, then it'd probably be simplest to have one person roll all the dice, and announce the winner.