Gladiator matches?

[Xyk]

I believe I am taking a risk in putting my PCs in a gladiator match early on. The first thing they do (level 3) is fight in a gladiator match as a team (they are good friends before-hand and have fought together before) against a group of similiar teams, winner goes on a heroic quest that grants them fame beyond their dreams (if they survive).

How is everyone's experience with gladiator matches? Especially free-for-alls. I really like the idea, and read the article in complete warrior about gladiator matches.
Also, how much gold does everyone think should be a reward for this quest?
They should progress to 7th level or so.

[Crow]

When I did this, I awarded the gold suggested based on the "encounter level" of the match.

I found free-for-alls were less well-received than team matches. Also, rather than matching them up to similar teams, match them up with opponents using exotic techiniques and weaponry, and maybe some combat options that never get used in order to make it more interesting.

Things that worked well for me;

Exotic Weapons: Especially the ones that no sane player would ever use. Orc double-axes, dire flails, nets and trident combos. It's fun for you and the players will find it interesting.

Naked Dudes vs. Armored Dudes: Very awesome. Pitting a horde of naked combatants with crude equipment up against well-trained an equipped foes is quite enjoyable, especially when they take one of the heavily-armed guys down.

No Backup: Similar to the Naked Dudes, these guys are nimble, quick, and have a ranged weapon of some sorts. They have to try their damnedest to stay the hell away and pick the opponents off at range, because if they get caught in melee, they're done for.

Useless Feats: These are the guys that have Bull Rush, Improved Trip, Improved Overrun or Improved Disarm. (Ok, ok, maybe they aren't all useless) These guys will Bull Rush their opponent for no other reason than that the crowd loves to see one guy get plowed over by another. Make sure to describe the crowd roaring in approval when one of these guys knocks back one of your players 10 feet!

Play the Crowd: Treat the crowd as an NPC. Make sure to give flavorful descriptions of the cheers and jeers they toss out, and describe how the crowd reacts to the things the players are doing. A killing blow will garner huge waves of cheerful roars, while a close call will be sounded with a huge breath of astonishment.

Hope some of this helps.

[Xyk]

When I did this, I awarded the gold suggested based on the "encounter level" of the match.



I actually meant the quest, it was an unrelated question.

I do appreciate these sugestions, exotic weapons will work in spendidly and will indeed be more fun. It will be mostly elite commoners as it were. These guys will be arrogant, ambitious, and think all exotic weapons are better than all others. Nets will make people laugh. There will be a few actual challenges for the players, people who deserve the quest almost as much as the PCs.

[Crow]

Don't deride the poor old net! I had an opponent get one of my players trapped in a net once (it's a ranged touch attack or something). He annihilated him after that with his trident. The net can be crippling at low levels!

[FinalJustice]

You can always throw some chained animals in the arena for extra fun. Suddenly that improved bull rush doesn't seem useless when a guy is pushing you towards a hungry tiger with a nasty grapple modifier.

[Chronos]

Also don't forget the wild animal (or animal-like beast) encounters. Everyone knows about the Romans feeding Christians to the lions, but they also staged fights which were more fair, where the humans had a decent chance of winning. There were even staged animal "fights" where both man and beast escaped largely unscathed, and were more like what we would think of as circuses, to show of the exotic creatures from faraway lands.

Which raises another possibility: If your players are good at working the crowd, rather than just defeating the enemies, the arena bigshots might arrange some show fights for them, where they're assured of winning (stage weapons and animals trained to play dead, for instance). Remember, the primary purpose of gladiatorial matches is entertainment.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

You may want to give a boost to whichever side plays the crowd better, similar to bardic music but with better fluff. Your players are going to be performing for a crowd, if they preform well they should get a benefit. Of course, if they insult the crowd, their enemies might be the ones benefiting. It probably needs work, but that's my idea.

[FinalJustice]

Well, if you want to keep it simple, just do the basic +2 / -2 on atack, saves and skills based on which side the crowd is to. If they are doing waaay to good, raise it to +4, if too bad, drop it to -4 due to the crowd overall negative reaction, tossing stuff against them, etc...

[Fuzzy_Juan]

remember, this is DnD..not the roman colleseum...who needs chained monsters when the wizard has placed strategic walls of fire, explosive runes, evards black tentacles and other magical mishaps around the arena...animals are fun...but things of wonder can be just as good.

[Ganurath]

remember, this is DnD..not the roman colleseum...who needs chained monsters when the wizard has placed strategic walls of fire, explosive runes, evards black tentacles and other magical mishaps around the arena...animals are fun...but things of wonder can be just as good.Nah, this is about entertainment. The Arena Arcanist is going to be an illusionist that adds special effects: A clash of swords creates a shower of sparks, a glancing wound draws forths a spray of blood, and it's all clearly visible on the illusionary projection screens for the folks in the back.

As for the gladiatorial combat itself, there's a section on it in Complete Warrior with advice on stuff like playing the crowd, different styles of matches, and unique matchups. My advice: a round where it's team versus team, a round where it's team versus big monster, a round where it's team versus monster pack, some specialized enviroment rounds of similiar matchups designed to make those matchup types more interesting, and the most important series of matches of all: The Duels. The first day should be a series of matches where each player goes 1v1 against an opponent of similiar class to demonstrate their abilities and gain crowd favor. Of course, all matches have clerics of Kord (or the campaign's equivolent deity) standing by.