Gladiator X: There will be blood

[EPW]

Semi-Finals: Round 2


"Ah, sorry for the delay, but one of our esteemed gladiators went missing after the last round. Luckily, after a long search we finally found a re...I mean we found him!" Two guards were holding a man wearing sunglasses and a fake beard who was yelling incoherently in Spanish.
"That's Ludd all right! I know he looks a little shorter, but as you can see he's just as large and has a beard! We couldn't find his armor though, apparently someone stole it. As you can see, he has been provided with replacement garments." He was wearing armor that looked suspiciously like Felchum's.
"Anyways, we have a different fight to see before we see Ludd again! Presenting: The infallible, the one and only, Theben the Thumper!" Theben entered the arena to loud applause.
"And now: He is known as Mr. KO, the Texas brawler, Spacius Maximus!" Spacius entered to equally loud cheers.

[b]Theben vs. Spacius Maximus[/b]

The two gladiators entered the ring no worse for wear. The previous round had not effected their stamina at all! Both fighters took their usual cautious stance: Theben only managed a weak jab that was easily avoided.([b]1:Miss![/b]) Spacius bided his time and did not counter attack. ([b]1:Miss![/b]) Suddenly, Theben lunged forward and skillfully pierces Spacius in the kidney!([b]2:Hit!(16)[/b]) But Theben exposed his own side in the attack and Spacius took advantage: swiping Theben across the side with a mighty blow!([b]2:Hit!(25)[/b]) But Theben was not deterred, and attacked again, but Spacius was ready and blocked the blow with his shield!([b]3:Miss![/b]) Spacius, feeling the effects of his punctured kidney, decided to wait until the next round to finish off his opponent.([b]3:Miss![/b])

[b]Theben: 79 HP Spacius Maximus: 83 HP[/b]

The crowd was pleased with such an exciting fight, but their mood quickly soured when they saw "Ludd" being dragged towards the arena. However, when "Ludd" briefly managed to overpower his captors, knocking one over and grappling with the other, he won many over. Some of them even placed bets that he would survive through 4 rounds!
Finally, the guards managed to force "Ludd" into the ring, and he turned to face his opponent: The mighty Doctor.

[b]The Doctor vs. Ludd/snoopy369[/b]

The Doctor smiled knowingly at his opponent, not believing his luck. He quickly analyzed his opponent's new set of armor and then quickly attacked. Ludd cowered back in fright and raised his arms to block the blow: He managed to protect his vitals but his forearms were severely lacerated by The Doctor's rapier.([b]1:Hit!(18)[/b]) The pain, however, ignited Ludd's fury and he grabbed The Doctor by the shoulders and shook him!([b]1:Hit!(10)[/b]) The Doctor's neck severly twisted and it took him a moment to recover. Then in anger he swung his rapier with great prowess and struck Ludd in the collar bone!([b]2:Hit!(24)[/b]) Remarkably, Ludd stood his ground and punched The Doctor in the face!([b]2:Hit!(10)[/b]) "¡Esto ha sido una gran victoria para la gente Venezolana!" Ludd shouted. The Doctor smirked and rubbed his jaw, but didn't attack.([b]3:Miss![/b]) Ludd seemed to have forgotten about the fight and continued to yell hysterically to the crowd.([b]3:Tie!(0)[/b])

[b]The Doctor: 69 HP  Ludd/snoopy369: 18 HP[/b]

[MJW]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Well, then, post my surprise come-from-behind victory over Spike!

[snoopy369]

I hit him for 20 points, and I AINT'NT DEAD. That's a victory in my book.

[DrSpike]

You have an odd book.

The Ludd/Snoopy entity shall fall before my sword like the many before, as shall whoever gets lucky in the other semi.

[EPW]

I have created a history table for Gladiator:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?postid=5404956#post5404956

Also, I propose in future games we add a rudimentary betting system to make things more interesting for the spectators. Everyone starts out with a fixed amount of money and bets on the matches. Odds would be fixed to make things simpler. IE winner gets twice the bet back, 4x back if you guess a knockout, etc. Whoever has the most money at the end wins.

[Spaced Cowboy]

Interesting (on the betting thing). My money is on the guy not dipping into his stash.

Now I can safely throw the match to make monies for my bros.

[Krill]

Actually, I would love that betting idea, especially if it allowed for players to throw matches.

edit for appalling spelling.

[EPW]

Proposed Betting Rules

All spectators start out with $100 - (Matches Played * 10). Someone who joins after the 3rd match would start with $70. ($ is of course the symbol for "poliis", not dollars.) Gladiators may also bet, but they start out with only $25 dollars. However, they can also win money by winning matches. These are the types of bets:

1. Predict the Winner - Receive double your bet
2. Predict a draw - Receive triple your bet
3. Predict the Winner by KO - Receive quadruple your bet

There is an optional fourth betting type of bet that you can use in addition to any of the previous:

4. Guess the Sum of the HP remaining between the two gladiators at the end of the match.* - Break even if you are within 10 HP, Receive double if you are within 5 HP, Receive quadruple if you are exactly right.

*This is modified in fights to the death matches by guessing the final HP of the winner; and you must guess the correct winner as well.

Additional betting rules:
-Minimum bets are $5, maximum bets during the Round Robbin are $25.
-During the Semi-Finals and the Finals, there is no restriction on the amount of poliis you can wager.
-All bets must be posted publicly in the forums before the start of the first round.
-You can't make multiple types of bets on the same match(you can't bet on the winner AND bet that it will be a tie for instance.) with the exception of bet type #4.
-If you are rolling in the dough, you can gift money to less fortunate betters
-In the event that a gladiator goes missing or concedes before the end of a match, all type #4 bets are nullified.

Additional rules for Gladiators:
-You cannot bet on your own matches, nor have someone else bet for you.
-You cannot rig any of the matches
-If you do not qualify into the semis, your money is distributed among the surviving gladiators. Likewise, the winner of a semifinal or final bout gets their opponents gold.

Winnings:
Win by KO:$30
Win: $20
draw: $10

Semi Final Qualifier: $25
Semi Final Win: $50
Final Win: $100

[snoopy369]

I say predict a winner, double your bet, no draw. Let that be like double 0 on the roulette wheel - the house wins on a draw.

Also, having odds would be nice, if that's doable. (Spike vs Snoopy, 8:1 odds on Snoopy, 5:8 odds on Spike, for example.)

[EPW]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Also, having odds would be nice, if that's doable. (Spike vs Snoopy, 8:1 odds on Snoopy, 5:8 odds on Spike, for example.)

Would the GM just make them up ?

[EPW]

I thought about the odds a bit more and came up with this:
The House gives $50 + $2 * (# of points earned by each gladiator) to the pot of each each player. If DrSpike was fighting Snoopy, and Snoopy had 5 points to the Doctors 10, the total in the pot before betting would be $70 for the doctor and $60 for snoopy. The base chance of winning would be %54 for Dr. and 46% for snoopy, rounded to the nearest 5%=>55% for the Dr. and 45% for Snoopy. This translates into 9:11odds for the Doctor...and 11:9 for Snoopy. Betting $5 on Snoopy and winning would return $5 + 6$ = 11$, while a winning bet on DrSpike would give $5 + $4 = $9.
As players bet, they add to the pot and the odds change correspondingly.

[DrSpike]

I like the betting idea, but you'll have to make the odds pretty extreme, or everyone will just bet on me.

[snoopy369]

First off, odds NEVER pay even for bets on both players. The house needs to make money net on a bet for both sides.

Second, yes, I'd say you set the odds as GM. You need to set the odds such that there's a strong incentive to bet on major underdogs. To some extent you set the odds based on the bets you expect and the bets you've received...

[EPW]

Please send in your orders........

[DrSpike]

Sent.