The Tournament of Ages! (3.x)

[RavKal]

So next session, instead of running a campaign or having any specific DM, me and a bunch of friends are going to get together and have a tournament, just roll up a couple ECL 20's apiece and tear each other apart for funzies.

So what I ask of you, dear forum-goers, is this:
1. What rules should there be?
2. Any map ideas.
3. Any suggestions/tips, etc.

I already know that we'll probably split magic and non-magic, so the wizard doesn't wreck the fighter and such, but we have decided to have an "agreement policy"- anyone can fight anyone provided both are willing.

That said, I know my druid is going to end up being a 1 v 3+, since it's a druid. Other situations can be handled similarly.

[Keld Denar]

Biggest things you need to establish are banned/restricted classes/PrCs/spells/feats/etc. IE, no Planar Shepherd, no Celerity, no Gate.

Then you need to establish prebuff time. How much of it, if any. Restricted to what class of spells, hours/level? 10 min/level? Anything that lasts longer than a 20 minutes? Etc. This is very important, as a caster with 15 buffs running is a much different fight than one with 0 buffs running.

Then there is starting distance, planar travel restrictions, terrain, and arena size. Can a character fly up 1/2 a mile and rain death and destruction from afar, or is there a 20' ceiling so an enlarged character with reach can hit you anywhere.

Lots of stuff to decide. Coolest thing would be if you could design some kind of terrain diarama with a grid on it, similar to a warhammer table, and go from there.

[Prometheus]

I recommend an alternate competition to the simple gladiator stadium: The Great Hunt.

The field is very large and is covered with roaming monsters large and small, sneaky or aggressive, and of all different varieties. The players earns points for every monster that they hunt (I suggest using the amount of XP that would be earned, theoretically someone with a lower ECL could enter and get more points per kill). In the field you have traps, natural hazards, NPCs, and worthwhile magic items to cater to a variety of players. In addition, there are some monsters are just worth extra and monsters that can be captured alive for extra points.

Players that die respawn at the starting place after a number of rounds of penalty-waiting. Players that want to refresh hp, spells, or uses/day can also return to that spot (it is sufficiently large enough to permit a safe-zone). This allows Players to defeat competitors in PvP as well, but it works to their mutual detriment so it is best reserved for when opportunity presents itself. Similarly Players works with other competitors and split the points (but ultimately have to turn against each other if one hopes to win). When the leading player has so many points that he/she would win even if the second player gets all the remaining monsters, the game ends (or if the time limit runs out). It isn't quite as competitive as directly going at it, but it can be a much more strategic game.

I actually have an outline of a field planned for ECL 8 level characters if you wanted an example (I would send it as a PM in case I decide to run it here).

[Atsu333]

Ey, another player in the group. I really like Prometheus' idea, but that would pretty much require a DM, because that's the kind of thing that you'd put the whole group in at once. But I really do like the idea of a group that can either work together or fight each other. It puts some mistrust in the players, which can have some interesting results.

In terms of Keld's post, we're working on compiling a broken spell list. And we don't need to worry bout PrCs, the rest of the group doesn't optimize, and we both know not to be that big of a jerk to the others.

Oh, and we've already banned Unearthed Arcana as a whole, and the Vow of Poverty.

[RavKal]

Oh, and we've already banned Unearthed Arcana as a whole, and the Vow of Poverty.

Actually, I was going to allow VoP since it becomes less powerful at higher levels, due to everyone else having a multitude of magic items.

But yeah, certain spells will be banned, and any supercheese is out.

I like the hunt idea, sounds pretty neat. I think it'd work good if we could rig up a series of random-generation tables for it though, so it wouldn't be too hard to DM, the idea is that this shouldn't take too much preparation.

Yeah, we're going way beyond the standard circular arena (though that location will be an option) we will also have city-esque places for rogues and the likes, and wide open plains for when the druid summons multiple huge monsters.