Gladatorial Combat

[Ranis]

So, I'm going to throw my large group of PC's into gladiatorial combat, like with the old Roman Coliseum. I was thinking 5 or so rounds, each allowing a day to rest.

I know what round 5 is going to be, but I need some help on some more...creative measures of making some interesting and challenging combats for the Arena.

Here's my party. They are all level 8 and are due for some equipment upgrades very soon, so they're a bit shorthanded magic item-wise, but that's okay-how well they work together makes up for it.

Clericzilla frontliner.
Rogue who doesn't like to be in combat.
Generic Druid w/Ape animal companion.
Cleric/Fighter "healbot," going to take Radiant Servant of Pelor prestige class.
Berserker homebrew base class, essentially Barbarian.
Generic Sorcerer.
Paladin/Bard/Fortune's Friend. (He has the feat that allows Paladins to multiclass from Eberron.)
Greatspear-o-Matic Fighter.

Here's the restrictions: No outsiders, no demons, no devils. Abberrations are cool. Nothing from any other plane except the material and the base elemental planes, with the exception of Tieflings and Aasimar. Any denizen from an elemental plane must be exactly that-an elemental. This means no salamanders or the like.

The gladiatorial arena is a giant circle 400 feet in diameter, and has a Wall of Force cast around it, incasing the arena like a dome. The apex of the ceiling is exactly 150 feet tall and extends the same radius underneath the arena, closing off burrowing or any kind of subterranean means of escape.

So, any ideas or anything to kickstart my imagination would be appreciated.

[shadowmage]

Well if I can get my friend to approve and post it on our new review/discussion boards at www.daggersden.net I have a CR 7 Advanced Praying Mantis of Legend that should prove to be of a good challenge to throw against them. Would be good to also find out how he stands up against a group and if he should be a higher CR or not. I will bug my friend and get him to approve the post.

[Wehrkind]

Don't forget the Roman's didn't just have people fight lions and stuff. They often set up elaborate battles, one time flooding the area for a sea battle. With magic, this ought to be quite easy, so think of the possibilities of "recreating" battles from the city's history "Here we reinact our founders' slaying of the vicious barbarians that once held this city! (Enter high level/equipped npcs) And here they come now!" If you know any mythology of the area, you can do that. Perhaps a local hero killed a sea serpent or hydra. Make a watery arena, give the pcs a boat, and toss the appropriate monster in.

Just remember: The Colliseum: It's not just for Christian eating lions anymore!

[Person_Man]

If you set up a Gladiatorial combat, its required by nerd law that you find a clip of the Kirk vs. Spock fighting music from the "Amok Time" episode and play it in the background.

[Jasdoif]

Complete Warrior has a little section in it on gladiatorial combat. I don't have access to it here to give you specifics, but I recall it has ideas for how to make the setting more interesting then just another fight.

[skywalker]

Create an opposing team. If you don't have the time for that, then Hydra are way cool for arena battles. Those multiple vicious heads and burrowing action really get the crowd going.

My group actually did about 4 rounds of arena battle. They were way cool.

[SpiderBrigade]

...burrowing action?

[bosssmiley]

If you set up a Gladiatorial combat, its required by nerd law that you find a clip of the Kirk vs. Spock fighting music from the "Amok Time" episode and play it in the background.

"Let Klaw Plakh begin already!"

You might want to look out Dragon #305, the Gladiator special. That had a dandy fame system that gave minor bonuses in the ring depending on your reputation as a white hat/heel fighter.

[Tellah]

If you set up a Gladiatorial combat, its required by nerd law that you find a clip of the Kirk vs. Spock fighting music from the "Amok Time" episode and play it in the background.

Listen to this man. His word is science and truth.

In my games, every town, village and city has a fighting tournament or gladiatorial ring or fight club. Not because it makes a lick of sense, mind you, but because the players always ask for it.

1. Sell loot.
2. Find the local temple and get some healing.
3. Fight club.

[Tweekinator]

You could always try having them survive something like a swarm of flesh-eating hornets or the arena being flooded with fiendish dire shark infested waters for a certain amount of time.

I don't know how you are setting it up, but looking into doing 1v1 fights may fit in nicely. Perhaps setting your Clericzilla up against an Ogre barbarian or other suitable challenge.

[skywalker]

Spidey, every Hydra I have faced could burrow. I suppose my regular DM has a penchant for burrowing Hydra. I admit that I never read an MM description of Hydra too closely, every one I have faced could burrow. It was an astoundingly stupid idea to say something about burrowing Hydra, although I still think they are really cool, and all Hydra are rather impressive arena monsters, burrowing or not...

[dyslexicfaser]

Depending on the level of magic sophistication, you can do all sorts of fun things. Someone mentioned flooding the area with water - how about giving every competitor a ring of flight and having a large-scale aerial battle? Or set up a round with an AMF in place.

What about, if you're into 1v1 or 2v2 games, pitting the party against one another? Or a fight where the winner is determined by how many crowd-pleasing moves they pull off.

And as a previous poster said, hydra are always a crowd pleaser.

[Iku Rex]

Ranis, which books do you have access to?

[SpiderBrigade]

Spidey, every Hydra I have faced could burrow. I suppose my regular DM has a penchant for burrowing Hydra. I admit that I never read an MM description of Hydra too closely, every one I have faced could burrow. It was an astoundingly stupid idea to say something about burrowing Hydra, although I still think they are really cool, and all Hydra are rather impressive arena monsters, burrowing or not...

Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, I was just curious A burrowing hydra is a really cool idea, I agree. And it would be extra-good in an arena match, assuming the PCs don't also have burrowing. All kinds of tense hit-and-run kind of tactics.

Of course, if the PCs DO burrow, the spectators will be rally disappointed when the whole match takes place underground...

[JellyPooga]

I'm feeling sorry for the "rogue who doesn't like combat" in this scenario.

Couldn't you throw in a couple of rats or dogs for him/her to kill while everyone else is off fighting burrowing hydras or sea-serpents or whatever?

More seriously though, if s/he's that combat unoriented, you might want to consider something for them to do in this scene, otherwise they might find it a bit tedious as they run away lots...

Maybe have some kind of time activated trap that would seriously hinder the more combat oriented characters in whatever they're doing unless the Rogue can disarm it.

edit:Maybe there's a pool in the centre of the arena with a gribbly sea-monster in it. The PC's can fight it from dry land (advantage: PC's) but the time delay trap floods the whole arena, forcing the PC's to swim and fight, whilst the monster gets more freedom (advantage: monster)

[Toric]

I think an endurance test would be nifty. Send waves of weak monsters against the party and challenge the gladiators to survive so many rounds against the infinite army. Defeating each wave entirely gives you so many rounds of rest before the next wave appears, with some waves coming in while the PC's are mopping up the previous ones if they take too long in their fighting (over 8 rounds?). Every six or so waves are replaced by a stronger "general." It'll be a real opportunity for the casters (cleric-zilla in particular) to think about using their spells tactically for the long haul.

An all-out aerial griffonback fight would be exciting too, but it would heavily favor the characters who had ranks in Ride.

[Dr._Weird]

Don't just make it a boring "two opponents charge and each other at hit each other until one falls down in a generic flat sandy arena" fight. Put terrain, teams of monsters, weapons they can pick up, whatever you can think of to spice it up. Oh, and I suggest having some sort of political intrigue or whatever going on at the same time for the rogue who doesn't like combat.

[Quietus]

I like the idea of waves of monsters, and all you'd need for that is some Wizards to cast Summon Monster spells. If you have a habit of placing really high level wizards around, you could have three or four of them going "Okay, now summon monster one." Give them three rounds, then "summon monster two". Three more rounds, next level, repeat until you hit the limit you want them to be at. This also means that the wizards can dismiss the monsters so that there's no death, if you wish.


Another option that I like is to pit them against a single Ranger or Druid, but they have a pile of animals on their side that are loyal to them. Or even do the standard "players vs lion" gladitorial thing, but use a Lion based off of my homebrew "legendary" template. Only downside to this is that I don't have a CR for this beast - but it'd be a pretty brutal fight nonetheless.

Sample Legendary Animal
Legendary Lion
Huge Animal
Hit dice : 13d8 +130 (234 HP)
Initiative : +9
Speed : 50 feet
Armor class : 26 (-2 size, +9 dex, +9 natural)
Base attack/grapple : +13/+41
Attack : Claw +31 melee (1d8+20)
Full Attack : 2 claws +31 melee (1d8+20), and bite +26 melee (1d8+10)
Special attacks : Pounce, Improved Grab, Rake 1d8+10
Special qualities : Low-light vision, Scent
Saves : Fortitude +20 [8 base], Reflex +19 [8 base], Will +13 [8 base]
Abilities : Strength 50, Dexterity 28, Constitution 30, Intelligence 2, Wisdom 17, Charisma 10
Skills : Balance +13 [0 ranks], Hide +13 [8 ranks], Listen +7 [2 ranks], Move Silently +17 [4 ranks], Spot +7 [2 ranks]
Feats : Alertness, Run, Multiattack(bonus), Improved Natural Attack (Claw, Bite, both bonus)Lightning Reflexes, Greater Fortitude, Iron Will

*Legendary Lions have a +4 racial bonus on Balance, Hide, and Move Silently checks (already factored into the above). In grassy areas, the Hide bonus increases to +12.

[skywalker]

That is a mean lion.

As for the Hydra in an arena battle, it was damned scary. The start of the fight was: "The curtain swings back, and you see two dwarfs flanking a hydra." We were all expecting little things like humans and dwarfs with PC levels, or maybe lions or some such, certainly not a hydra. And then: "It burrows into the ground, leaving a gaping hole where it was a moment before." Then the inevitable two turns of waiting, waiting, waiting... then it came up directly underneath our entire party. It was one of our DM's finest hours. Scary, very scary.

[Quietus]

That is a mean lion.

As for the Hydra in an arena battle, it was damned scary. The start of the fight was: "The curtain swings back, and you see two dwarfs flanking a hydra." We were all expecting little things like humans and dwarfs with PC levels, or maybe lions or some such, certainly not a hydra. And then: "It burrows into the ground, leaving a gaping hole where it was a moment before." Then the inevitable two turns of waiting, waiting, waiting... then it came up directly underneath our entire party. It was one of our DM's finest hours. Scary, very scary.

I can imagine. And yes, it is a mean lion; the DM for the Epic game I'm in has a thing for giving us overpowered stuff, and the party Druid has that lion, Awakened, with class levels, as his animal companion. Sorta. It decided not to fight Tiamat with us, go figure. The Druid feels kinda snubbed, and I can't blame him. The DM asked me to create the Legendary template for him, because he couldn't find a Legendary Lion anywhere, and couldn't find the Legendary Template, either. I can post the template if anyone's interested - but again, as I mentioned, I don't have a CR value for it.

[Runolfr]

Each round of this tournament should have its own unique twist, and you might want to come up with a unifying theme. This being a spectator sport, every event needs to provide pleasing eye candy, so I would avoid burrowing monsters or swimming monsters; you need the threats to be visible to the crowd, at least when they're in action.

Are the competitors all volunteers / employees? Or are some of them essentially slaves (or convicted murderers, or otherwise expendable)? Voluntary contestants are likely to demonstrate quality over quantity, while forced arena fodder will likely show the reverse (although unintelligent monsters could break that pattern).

A quick look at SRD monsters finds the following that look interesting.

Behir (CR 8): Put in a pair to get a CR 10 fight.
Bulette (CR 7): Again, a pair would likely be needed. While a burrower, it surfaces to fight.
Chimera (CR 7)
Cryohydra (CR 6-10): 5 to 9 heads
Dragon Turtle (CR 9): Not bad if you want an aquatic monster that can fight well on the surface.
Elemental, Huge or Greater (CR 7-9): Good if you want an element-themed event.
Ettin (CR 6): Probably at least four to give a good one-fight challenge.
Giant (CR 7-10): One fire giant is CR 10, and the other evil giants would work well in either groups or with some class levels.
Golem (CR 7 or 10): Flesh and Clay golems are in the right CR range, but they'd be rather expensive for arena use.
Gorgon (CR 8): You decide whether the stoning breath weapon would be a crowd pleaser.
Hydra (CR 6-10): CR depends on the number of heads.
Monstrous Vermin (CR 6-10): CR depends on type and size, ranging from Huge to Colossal. These would probably be crowd pleasers just because they're so easy to see from the cheap seats.
Ooze, Black Pudding (CR 7): You decide if the Blob is a crowd pleaser.
Pyrohydra (CR 6-10): CR depends on the number of heads. A fire-breathing hydra is probably a crowd pleaser, and I guess there's nothing wrong with having a stereotypical arena monster for at least one round.
Remorhaz (CR 7): Nice if you have an arctic-themed round (using magic to alter the temperature inside thd arena). They tend to be solitary, so upping the HD might be the best route to get the CR up.
Shambling Mound (CR 6): A group of these would be good in a swamp-themed event.
Tendriculos (CR 6): Another plant monster. Combine with Shamblers for a plant-themed round of fighting (which might surprise contestants).

That's a good starting point for monsters that will work pretty well against adventurers who are on foot. I've avoided flyers, who won't be at their best in the enclosed airspace of the arena.

Naturally, humanoids with an appropriate number of class levels will also work very well as opponents. With appropriate control spells (like Dominate Monster), you can mix and match to create a theme or just try to pose an interesting challenge (both a Cryohydra and a Pyrohydra, for instance).

[Runolfr]

Your combat-averse rogue might find a good role in doing espionage for the party. If the arena managers like to keep the monsters or theme for the upcoming rounds secret, the rogue might gainfully use his/her abilities to sneak into the arena's bestiary and/or barracks to try to find out what's ahead and give the group an edge in preparation. You could set up some intrigue scenarios as opponents try to disinform the party so they will enter the arena unprepared.

[F.H. Zebedee]

May I suggest the cliche saboteur to screw over the party, and have the noncombat rogue's job be to trail him and destroy his traps and such?

[Druid_lord]

A ship battle with dire shark infested waters might be fun, they did have gladitorial ship'n' shark battles. Or ye can use other aquatic nasties. The rouge could have fun sabotaging the enemy ship, while the others fight the crew.

[Zel]

I think this is the music mentioned above. If I'm wrong then I deserve a slap.

Go Kirk go!! It's illogical that you get your ass kicked!

[Athelian]

Why don't you continue with the Roman-esque feel you are following and throw in African type animals? I believe the Lion was mentioned already, but how about the Rhinoceroses? Or an Elephant?

Elephant...

Why not add in a little Persian taste and have a pair of warriors mounted atop the Elephant? One to hurl a few spears and the other to guide the Elephant?

Just a humble writer's suggestions.

[Iku Rex]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyhhFzE5O5U

[Tallis]

Build walkways over the arena floor, hav ethe combat take place on them. For more fun flood the area underneath with shark infested water or better yet fire elemental infested lava.
In a typical sandy arena earth elements could be killer, strikng from anywhere.

BTW anyone else find it ironic that the cleric is the frontliner and the cleric/fighter is the healbot?

[Tallis]

Or gnomes riding iron golems!

[Arang]

To give the non-combat rogue something to do, have him/her fetch things while the other provide cover, for example by putting wood walkways over a large pool of water and have some sort of scary monster pop out and attack every few rounds. The PCs cannot get at it until they get the rings/potions/muffins that allow them to breathe underwater, and those are conveniently placed on top of a pillar/ladder/bottom of a hole/in the middle of lots of whirly sharp blades/anywhere else where the rogue is the only one who can get to. Use a similar setup for flying monsters or just send the party out with no weapons and needing to fetch them.

I've always though a battle atop a huge and ridiculously complex set of wooden walkways, ladders, ropes and turning wheels is a cool idea. It could be hard to pull off accurately, though, since quickly erecting maddening arrays of models of bridgelike combat areas is a rare talent.

You could put them in a maze that changes every few rounds. Throw in some illusions, traps and hidden doors to give it that extra little touch.

Or, if you want to be really mean, fill the normal-looking arena with invisible walls made of razor blades.