Gladiator V - The Onset

[Theben]

/me walks down the long corridor, and onto the balcony overlooking the gathered throng. Resounding cheers greet his arrival.

"Citizens!" he cries."The time has come to select a new master of weapons, worthy of the title Champion of Gladiators!"

The cheers grow even louder.

"As you know, I have held this title for the last year. But now I must relinquish it to another. The warriors below all vie for this honor: indeed, 3 of them have held it in the past, and all but one are veterans of the arena." The cheers increase to a deafening roar.

"And now, to introduce the gladiators before you, I proudly give you Jamski-Chan, son of Jamski-San. Jamski, take it away.

(what do you mean, we can't find him? He what? Never mind, I'll do it myself!)

"Err, sorry folks, apparently Jamski-Chan has taken a quest to the land of NeverEnding Nights, certainly to... uh... hone his skills for next year's contest! So let me introduce you to:

The Ram- He competed in last year's tournament only to fall behind early. But he says he's been training hard so you guys better watch out! He wants to thank his mom, his wife, and Jupiter for this second opportunity.

Bob the barbarian- Kind of small for a barbarian, but quick and wily. Many an opponent has underestimated him once and one time only. He hails from the frigid land of Suomi, near the Hell's Sink. They invade and pillage neighboring lands on a regular basis, so although he is the sole newcomer to this year's contest, he may be more than a match for the veterans.

Sir Chaunkalot- (hmmm, this guy looks familiar. Is he related to that Chaunk guy from last year?) A member of King Owlfur's court, Sir Chaunkalot is a knight well reknown for his fighting skills. He has temporarily taken a break from his quest- the Quest for the Holy Quail- for reasons unknown.

Spacius Maximus- After losing last year's contest, things got even worse for Spaced when he was disqualified from the Olympic Games in Athens when he tested positive for crack use. Once released from the Betty Freya clinic, he wrote a scroll about his addiction entitled, The Sword and the Rock, which rocketed to #1 on the best-seller list and has stayed there for 15 weeks now. Now testing clean, he means to make amends for the past by redeeming himself in the games.

Hercules Romani- Taking his wit on the road, Hercules has been hitting the lecture circuit with his seminar, How to Swing your Sword without Really Trying. A darling of the merchants and nobles, he now wants to return to his favorite pasttime- carving people into small pieces.

And now our past champions:

Skanky- The 1st champion of the games. Rumors had flown about after the second competition when it was thought Spacius had killed Skanky, but apparently he had just passed out from too much drink. Skanky has eschewed his traditional balanced arms/armor approach for something completely different this year, foregoing armor altogether in favor of multiple weapon usage. More rumors have circulated that he has gone far east to study the bare-handed fighting styles known as the Drunken Fists of Fury and another odd concept called... algebra.

The Doctor- The champion of the third games and clearly the most fearsome opponent ever faced in the arena. The Doctor has been supposedly decapitated twice now and yet lives. Rumors abound that he has ascended to something akin to divine status and cannot truly die. However, his awesome rapier wit has been muted as of late and he has been seen wielding his Spinning Shield once more. Whatever is the truth, we expect to see a good deal of carnage from this man.

Lord Drogue of Antonie- The winner of the second contest, he has been silent for almost 2 years now. Has time hardened his resolve? Or have his skills gone stale in the passing days? He returns to us to prove that he alone is worthy of being called Champion...

These eight warriors stand before you to fight for your devotion. Good luck to all, and may the contest begin!"

The audience goes wild: stamping their feet, pounding the benches, yelling at the top of their lungs. Theben smiles, and waits...

[Theben]

And for you yutzes who've forgotten, here's the rules recap:

:
1. Each contestant must distribute 20 points between weapon and armour values which remain constant throughout the contest (e.g. weapon 11, armour 9). These values are public knowledge.

2. Each match is divided up into combat rounds, which are further divided into 3 segments.

3. In each round you must distribute 100 points amongst the 3 segments, each of which requires values for attack, defense and power.
e.g.:
1st A11 D11 P11
2nd A12 D8 P15
3rd A15 D2 P15
The total of all 9 values must equal 100, and the total of the 3 values in any one segment must not exceed 50.

4. These ADP values are modified by the contestants choice of weapon and armour values. Half the armour value is added to each defense, half the weapon value is added to each attack, the weapon value is added to each power and the opponents armour value is subtracted from each power.

5. In each segment the modified attack and defense values are compared. If, in any round, your attack is greater than your opponents defense then you hit them, and so damage equal to the power for that segment.

6. Ties between attack and defense values result in 50% damage rounded down. 0 attack 0 defense ties are possible.

7. In the initial portion of the competition, each contestant will face every other contestant for one match consisting of two combat rounds.

8. In each match, each contestant will begin with 100 HP from which damage is subtracted. A contestant who loses all of these is considered incapacitated and cannot continue with the match (no more segments take place), but is presumed to recover for their other matches, which remain unaffected.

9. If both contestants are incapacitated then the match is considered a draw, and each contestant recieves 1 point.

10. If one contestant is incapacitated then the other is considered the winner and recieves 4 points.

11. If neither contestant is incapacitated, then the one inflicting the most damage in the whole match is considered the winner, and recieves 3 points. If both contestants inflict the same amount of damage then the match is considered a tie and each contestant receives 1 point.

12. The four contestants who receive the most points in this way will proceed to the second portion of the competition, the Semis.

13. A tie for fourth place will be resolved at the discretion of the GM.

14. The second portion will consist of a knockout competition of matches, with combat similar to the round-robin but instead it is to the death. Winners of the Semis advance to the final.

"Now, the initial matches of the competition will come in three sections, and each contestant will be facing two opponents in the first and second sections, but three in the third. If you look at your programme you'll see a table showing how this works, where the entries marked 'a' indicate a pair who will face each other in the first section, and those marked 'b' and 'c' indicate pairs who will face each other in the second and third sections respectively."

       
1 !abcccba
2 a!abcccb
3 ba!abccc
4 cba!abcc
5 ccba!abc
6 cccba!ab
7 bcccba!a
8 abcccba!

1. gjramsey 'The Ram'- W15 A5
2. Kassiopeia 'Bob'- W14 A6
3. Chaunk 'Sir Chaunkalot'- W0 A20
4. Spaced Cowboy 'Spacius Maximus'- W13 A7 
5. DrSpike 'The Doctor'- W0 A20
6. Skanky- W20 A0
7. Ljube-Lvetko 'Hercules Romani'- W12 A8
8. Drogue 'Lord Drogue of Antonie'- W19 A1

Gladiator -poly- 2 "The Competition"

Gladiator -poly- 2 "The Competition" Part Deux

Gladiator III - Let the Battle Commence!

Gladiator III - Let the Battles Continue!

Gladiator IV - The fights begin!

Gladiator IV - The fights proceed!

[Spaced Cowboy]

Ha-Ha, I laughed so hard I amost dropped my crack pipe...er I mean...drugs are bad mkay!

[Kassiopeia]

What was so wrong with my own description that you had to supply your own regardless?

Edit: oh, and a newbie question - does that table mean then that I fight gjramsey first and Chaunk second in the first section?

[Spaced Cowboy]

Kassi, yes that is who you fight.

[DrSpike]

Nice intro.

[Theben]

Originally posted by Kassiopeia
What was so wrong with my own description that you had to supply your own regardless?

Nothing, I just added to it. If you make the semis I'll use more of your description.

Edit: oh, and a newbie question - does that table mean then that I fight gjramsey first and Chaunk second in the first section?

Yes, that is correct.

I am accepting PM's for orders now.

[Kassiopeia]

More newbie questions.

Now, if the battle lasts for two rounds, need I supply the orders for the two rounds before the battle or do we get to see the results of the first rounds before planning the second round?

Also, I don't see anywhere in the rules an explanation as to what the power number really does. Your opponent's armour rating is subtracted from it, yes, but does it affect attack too? And if so, how?

[DrSpike]

It is all there in the rules, but it's tricky at first. You fight 3 "rounds" when you send your orders. You then fight another set of 3 with new orders after observing the outcome from the first set of orders.

Power determines the damage you do (if you hit), when appropriately modified. Your effective power is power for the round + weapon stat - opponents armour stat. Thus since both players' weapons and armour stats sum to 20 the effective power bonus is the same for both players regardless of stats.

[Spaced Cowboy]

My shizzle is bizzle. {sent}

[gjramsey]

nice beginning

and the Ram trips over his on feet and sends hi to Mom as he stumbles into the arena.

[Theben]

Originally posted by Kassiopeia
Now, if the battle lasts for two rounds, need I supply the orders for the two rounds before the battle or do we get to see the results of the first rounds before planning the second round?

You see the results of the first round before you send orders for the second.

Also, I don't see anywhere in the rules an explanation as to what the power number really does. Your opponent's armour rating is subtracted from it, yes, but does it affect attack too? And if so, how?

Note the bold below:

EXAMPLE: Player 1 selects a weapon rating of 12 and an armor of 8, for 20 total. Player B selects a weapon 9 and armor 11. They then fight each other.

Player A selects 3 sets of orders:

12 08 10 = 30
05 20 00 = 25
20 05 20 = 45

for a total of 100.

Player B has selected:

05 15 10 = 30
20 00 20 = 40
05 20 05 = 30

for 100.

No one line can equal more than 50.

These are in turn modified by their weapons and armor, and so look like this when complete:

Player A            Player B
att def pow      att  def   pow
18  12  22       9.5  20.5  19 
11  24  12       24.5 05.5  29
26  09  32       9.5  25.5  14

So for the 1st swing, (18-20.5) is negative, so player misses, as does player B, since (9.5-12) is also negative.
2nd swing both opponents hit each other (11-5.5=positive #, also 24.5-24). Player A does very little; his total is (0+12-11)=1 hit point of damage. Player B hit for (20+9-8)=21 h.p.'s.
3rd and final swing Player A hits again (26-25.5) as does Player B (9.5-9). Player A does 21 damage (20+12-11) and Player B does 6 (5+9-8). The round ends with Player A down 27 hp's, and Player B down 22. The lost hit points will have no effect on points used for ADP in future combats; ADP always equals 100.

[Theben]

So with your weapon of 14 and armor of 6, Kassi, you'd add +7 to ALL attacks and +3 to ALL defense, and add +14 to all power and subtract -6 from your opponents power, should he hit you.

[Theben]

Have valid orders from gjramsey, while Spaced either is having drug-induced flashbacks or attended one of Ljube's seminar's about giving 110%.

[Kassiopeia]

Thanks a bundle. Orders sent.