How to make a fighting ring that's engaging for non-combatants?

[SangoProduction]

So, one of the characters has shown extreme interest in the local underground fight club.
The other players are looking to go along with it, but without an interest in actually participating. Said other players are also exceptionally passive and basically just do the thing they think they are being lead toward.

I don't really just want to do one on one combats while everyone just sits around doing nothing. Even the theatrics of show-fights can get a little tedious in D&D.

I want there to be something that the characters can do that either they aren't at a detriment for waiting until the fight's over...or a way that they can "help" the fights, without explicitly joining.

I do somewhat enjoy the idea of "The other team's cheating! We need to help!" and them needing to do nonsense such that they can assist, "against the rules."
But that does sort of rely on the passive players catching on that they are being told "Hey, do something sneaky to help out," and not "Hey, you're not allowed to do that." So I probably don't want that being the only thing that's available to be done.

Maybe it can be something sorta time-sensitive, so it's either "Do it without the fighter, or don't do it at all," so that they do it while the fighter does her thing, rather than waiting. Not quite sure what I could do with that.

Perhaps something nefarious behind the scene about someone trying to rig the matches in some way.

[Firebug]

Betting.
Social interaction with the audience.
'Legal' fixing of the fights, ie someone can pay gold/whatever to give one of the combatants a buff, but its out in the open not hidden. Like: "Mistress Snooty has chipped in 15 silver! Bring in the feral cats!" and then a half dozen HD 1 cats are added to the fight. Or "Mr Fixit has thrown down the gauntlet with 5 gold! Lets upgrade the weapons!" And then increase all damage dice by 1 step.

[Adamantrue]

I might offer for other players to run some of the NPC opponents, with an incentive attached for their normal character if they win (XP bonus or some minor treasure). It takes some of the control out of your hands, but can keep people engaged & let they play with different toys.

The right kind of players could have a job similar to a sports commentator, having to take the matter-of-fact results of dice rolls and trying to make the results "sound" thrilling.

PCs that still resign themselves to the audience might still get recognized as companions to the participant by audience members, and may have to field questions so that informed wagers can be made. They may also get good info about upcoming contestants, so the cage fighter can plan ahead.

[SangoProduction]

I'll try and implement some of these. Thanks.

[noob]

You can pay or convince(for example in exchange of a part of the bets benefits) a bard to inspire or buff your ally with music.
"it is efficient cheering and you would not forbid people from cheering just because it changes the outcome of the fight or because the person cheering is saying the words of creation?"

[SangoProduction]

Hrmm. Interesting. I wouldn't have considered specifically bards.

[RexDart]

Weird "stipulation" matches (a la "luchas de apuestas" in lucha libre) might be a way of engaging the other players. Like "Combatants are unarmed, but may bring any one piece of outside equipment into the ring!"

Stipulations might also be a way to entice other players to participate, if the "lucha de apuesta" removes some objection the character might have. (Like maybe "non-lethal damage only" if the objection is related to violent "death matches," for instance.)

[Psyren]

The other option besides coming up with side-activities for the other players to do, is to abstract what the spotlight player is doing. e.g. instead of going through a full-blown combat with initiative and rounds and whatnot, just have each "match" consist of 1-3 pivotal rolls, and blow through the entire bracket in a fraction of the time for one regular combat.

[H_H_F_F]

IMO, you can let the fighter have her cool moment. If you're not forcing yourself to stick to combat rules where they aren't helpful, you can make ring combat fun, exciting, and proper length. Gove the other players the opportunity to hype up their friend to the audience (betting with a bit of trash talk is great in that regard), and let everyone enjoy her success.

[Silly Name]

I recently ran a session that was 80% a tournament, with jousts, archery range and freestyle wrestling for the commoners, as well as a smaller wizard exhibition. Players were welcome to compete in any or all of those - only one player didn't compete in any.

They loved betting on the outcomes of each match, which helped keep them engaged and cheering for "their guy" even if they were simply spectating. I also ran some small social interactions on the side - a noblewoman with a love for betting struck up a conversation with the fighter, a young mage looking for help in delivering a love letter enlisted the help of the sorcerer (the player who didn't sign up for anything else), various spectators talked, joked and engaged the players who weren't currently in any competition, bards and jesters to provide some color…

I gave each challenger a small quirk, nothing resembling a full personality but just enough to have something the players could pick on: the older knight looking for a challenge, the bumbling prince, a good-looking and short-tempered cavalier, etc. They loved the older knight and immediately hated the cavalier, so that was fun.

I did simplify the various matches: the joust and archery tournament were run using the rules in Complete Warrior, and the wrestling matches were best-of-three grapple checks. Didn't got to use any rule for the wizards, but I would have probably followed Complete Warrior still and made them play Evoker Chess.

Using magic to influence a match was obviously forbidden and would have resulted in disqualification if caught cheating, and the players didn't even attempt it (the stakes weren't that high), but if one of your players is a stealthy caster they could try to subtly influence a match. A bard may also get away with using their bardic music as long as they don't make it too overt, and similarly a Marshal could try to position themselves so that their ally is within the range of their auras.

[H_H_F_F]

Everything.

This is how it's done, 100%.

[Clementx]

You need to create aspects of the event that other characters can engage with. There is so much you can do. For instance:

-deal with conspirators influencing the fight. Observant characters can discover the plans just before or during the match, because of strange bets or actions by bystanders. There can be another stealthy battle under the ring or in the rafters between rogues, or a silent magical duel as each side influences the fight and distracts the other.

-suddenly the party needs the fighter to take a dive because of a threatening bookie. The party needs to secure the loss against a cruel opponent, without getting their friend maimed. They have to fast talk officials to salvage their bets or get calls to end the fight prematurely. Or maybe sabotage the opponent planning on using poison during the fight that can't end until blood is drawn.