Gladiator IV - The fights begin!

[J Bytheway]

Thanks. Looks like I did manage to play BGII for long enough after all .

[J Bytheway]

"So, and that's the end of the first portion of this exciting Gladiator contest, and now we need to gather the results and see who has a chance for the title. Skanky, what's your take on this?"

"My take? Well, I'll take shome more drink, pleashe... *Hic*"

"Ah, I guess there were too many defensive rounds and his alcohol intake was a little too high. We'll have to go to our reserve ex-gladiator commentator, Drogue, to reveal the final standings in reverse order."

"Thanks, and it's certainly been an interesting finish to the round robin. Coming in in last place, The Ram, whose earlier performance left a little to be desired, has managed a convincing victory against Smasher, rendering him unable to finish the bout. Perhaps this improvement will prove to him that he has promise and serve as an incentive for him to continue his gladitorial career.

"Smasher himself came in seventh, with a win, a tie (the brutal double-KO against Theben) and a KO under his belt. Perhaps he is dissapointed by this, but I believe if he refines his style somewhat, he could get further next time.

"Spacius won three of his mathces, but got no KOs and came in sixth place with 9 points. He was knocked flat by the Doctor this time, but both his other matches, against Theben and Hercules Romani were decided only by a hair.

"In fifth place, Hercules Romani, who seems to have stuck pretty firmly to defensive play, with the occasional suprise attack, including his impressive performance against the Doctor in the last collection of matches. Unfortunately for him, he managed to win only one of his final matches, which was not enough to take him into the top four.

"In fourth place, our first semi-finalist, who will face the leader, is Chaunk. Chaunk, the mysterious newcomer, has analysed his opponents well, and with skill and luck has made it through the round-robin largely intact. Though he achieved no KOs (but did come close against Theben), his tactical play gained him four wins and a tie.

"In joint second place, and fighting each other in the other semi-final, both with 15 points, Theben and the Doctor, both veterans of the arena. The Doctor started slow, but his fabled Rapier Wit has served him well once more, gaining him more KOs than any other player. These two also faced one another in a semi-final last time around, where Theben was defeated by the Doctor, but in their match this time around Theben was victorious - which performance will be repeated this time?

"And our victor this time, with his trusty katana, is Jamski-San, who will face Chaunk in the semi-finals. Jamski-San defeated all of his last three opponents, and is clearly on-form, but has he done too much, too fast, or will he have enough left to carry him through the remainder of the contest? Stick around and find out!"

"Thankyou Drogue, and, for those of you who are interested in the details, here is the table of final results from the round-robin:"

[The final results (including those matches in which nothing happens this round because one contestant is incapacitated):]

		W	Ar	Damage	HP Left		Play	Win	Draw	KO
1		10	10	0	51		1	1	0	1
Jamski-San	10	10	0	51					
Vs		10	10	0	51					
									
4		20	0	0	0		1	0	0	0
The Doctor	20	0	0	0					
		20	0	0	0					
									
1		10	10	28	98		1	1	0	0
Jamski-San	10	10	28	96					
Vs		10	10	0	91					
									
5		7	13	0	63		1	0	0	0
The Ram		7	13	2	35					
		7	13	5	35					
									
1		10	10	33	86		1	1	0	0
Jamski-San	10	10	0	86					
Vs		10	10	0	86					
									
6		9	11	14	62		1	0	0	0
Chaunk		9	11	0	62					
		9	11	0	62					
									
2		16	4	0	84		1	1	0	0
Hercules Romani	16	4	19	78					
Vs		16	4	19	68					
									
5		7	13	8	100		1	0	0	0
The Ram		7	13	6	81					
		7	13	10	62					
									
2		16	4	0	100		1	0	1	0
Hercules Romani	16	4	0	100					
Vs		16	4	0	100					
									
6		9	11	0	100		1	0	1	0
Chaunk		9	11	0	100					
		9	11	0	100					
									
2		16	4	0	100		1	0	0	0
Hercules Romani	16	4	0	100					
Vs		16	4	0	88					
									
7		15	5	0	89		1	1	0	0
Spacius Maximus	15	5	0	89					
		15	5	12	89					
									
3		9	11	0	65		1	0	0	0
Theben		9	11	0	65					
Vs		9	11	10	45					
									
6		9	11	0	74		1	1	0	0
Chaunk		9	11	0	74					
		9	11	20	64					
									
3		9	11	0	76		1	1	0	0
Theben		9	11	21	65					
Vs		9	11	0	51					
									
7		15	5	0	71		1	0	0	0
Spacius Maximus	15	5	11	50					
		15	5	14	50					
									
3		9	11	25	8		1	0	1	0
Theben		9	11	35	0					
Vs		9	11	0	0					
									
8		20	0	44	35		1	0	1	0
Smasher		20	0	44	0					
		20	0	0	0					
									
4		20	0	33	40		1	1	0	1
The Doctor	20	0	32	20					
Vs		20	0	0	20					
									
7		15	5	15	32		1	0	0	0
Spacius Maximus	15	5	20	0					
		15	5	0	0					
									
4		20	0	0	10		1	1	0	1
The Doctor	20	0	0	10					
Vs		20	0	0	10					
									
8		20	0	0	0		1	0	0	0
Smasher		20	0	0	0					
		20	0	0	0					
									
5		7	13	37	17		1	1	0	1
The Ram		7	13	27	17					
Vs		7	13	0	17					
									
8		20	0	39	19		1	0	0	0
Smasher		20	0	0	0					
		20	0	0	0					

#	Name		We	Ar	Pl	Wo	Ti	KO	Lo	Pt
1	Jamski-San	10	10	7	5	0	1	2	16
2	Hercules Romani	16	4	7	3	2	1	2	12
3	Theben		9	11	7	4	2	1	1	15
4	The Doctor	20	0	7	4	0	3	3	15
5	The Ram		7	13	7	1	0	1	6	4
6	Chaunk		9	11	7	4	1	0	2	13
7	Spacius Maximus	15	5	7	3	0	0	4	9
8	Smasher		20	0	7	1	1	1	5	5

"The semi-finals will be beginning soon, as soon as the gladiators have had a chance to recover from these violent final stages and prepare themselves for the combat to come."

[OK, I don't think we have any notably defensive players in the semis, so I suggest 120HP for both, but if any of the players involved object then we can stick with 100HP for their match.

Before we begin the semis I'll give everyone a day to look over everything and double-check my results to avoid mistakes. Speak now or forever hold your peace .

We will have both semi-finals simultaneously (and I'm not an engineer, but I do talk to them a lot).

If the semi-finalists could tell me a little about their gladiators to aid me with my storytelling then I'd appreciate it - things like Jamski-San using a Katana and a bamboo shield. I can only take the whole chicken thing so far...

Is there anything I've forgotten?]

[J Bytheway]

Well, I'm going to bed. I hope that when I arise I won't discover that I've made too many grevious errors...

[Skanky Burns]

Hey, I can still talk even when completely drunk. It may be louder than normal and not very coherent, but it is still there.
Nice write-up.

[Theben]

The orders you have for me vs. Smasher are fine, but against Chaunk and Spacius are completely messed up. I don't know where you even got those numbers, but you could be looking at a three-way tie for 4th if I didn't beat Spacius.

EDIT: The numbers for Spacius are fine, but Chaunk's are still messed up. I'd still like you to check them, please.

[Theben]

It looks like you used my orders against Smasher against Chaunk also. If his orders are correct, it doesn't affect the outcome, but he wouldn't have hit me on the 1st 2 swings.

[Jamski]

Nice. I actually achieved something (after a poor start too)



Ok... now for the real "meat" of the contest.

/me San bows deeply and respectfully to his defeated enemies, to Drogue and Skanky in the crowd, and most deeply of all to his future opponent, Chaunk*

Ah, now we fight to the death

(I have to say Chaunk is the most awkward of the possible semifinalists I hoped to face. W9 A11 is a pain to calculate)

-Jam

[DrSpike]

Regarding the hitpoints 120 looks a lot for a match with a -1 power bonus, but only slightly. 120 seems fine for myself and Theben.

Nice to see my strategies finally proved their worth. Theben you get your wish.

[DrSpike]

As to the Doctor's backstory, he was a famed scientist, until one day he discovered that his talent lay not only in cerebral pursuits but also in bloody ones. He found he could use his wit to make people lash out at the wrong times when he was well prepared. His blistering counterattacks have left many a gladiator incapacitated, or even dead.

[Theben]

I was thinking that, considering the brutality in the round-robin vs. low armor opponents, 120 might still be too low. And 120 for Jamski/Chaunk seems high, espec given their regular fighting styles.

So I vote for either 120/150 or 100/120, the 1st being Jamski/Chaunk and the second me & the Doc.

Theben you get your wish.

Now to see if I get my other wish...

[Theben]

Originally posted by Jamski

(I have to say Chaunk is the most awkward of the possible semifinalists I hoped to face. W9 A11 is a pain to calculate)

-Jam

The same weapon/armor combo as me, bub.

Remember, it's +4.5, +5.5, +9, -11. Nuff said.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Theben

Now to see if I get my other wish...

Sorry, you're all out of wishes.

[Ljube]

My defeat in the last round wouldn't have mattered had I played this game right from the beginning. The first round was a disaster, for I didn't even know all the rules.

Originally posted by J Bytheway

Finally, naming no names, I feel obliged to say that some of the orders for this round were bizarre but plausible, and some were downright silly.

I believe my orders for that round fell into the silly category.

But I will return !!!!!

[Theben]

Originally posted by ljcvetko
My defeat in the last round wouldn't have mattered had I played this game right from the beginning. The first round was a disaster, for I didn't even know all the rules.

I believe my orders for that round fell into the silly category.

But I will return !!!!!

Well at the same time, I didn't take you seriously in the 1st round, and went for a KO against you instead of making sure to win. Last game my 1st round orders were also terrible, and I figured you guys would have similar problems. Next time I won't take you as lightly.

In fact I think you guys got a better description of game mechanics before the game started than we did last time, which IMO is why the new crowd performed better, overall, than we did last time; at least a big factor.

[Theben]

Originally posted by DrSpike


Sorry, you're all out of wishes.

Oh. Well, I was wishing that you'd make it to the finals. Too bad, how sad...