Last week, your team faced off against three others in a battle royal elimination round that marked the commencement of the Grunt League Tournament. Initially allied with you were the Blades of the West, who had developed a healthy case of bad blood after several humiliating and controversial defeats against the lesser Arrows squad. Your foes were the dwarven zealots of the Light Below and the rugged brutes and warmages of the Brute Squad. The battle was fairly even – the casters of the Brute Squad did their jobs well in disrupting your own magic, and the hardy dwarves used their magic both to heal allies and to improve their prowess. In the end, they were no match for Mae’s guile, Jumpy Jaz’s power, and the combined might of your spell-slingers. Read more… »
Last week, your team squared off in a match against some beasts of the planes, madly cackling fiendish hyenas and noble celestial lions. For all their sneaking and raw power, you still defeated them handily and left a pile of carcasses for the planar buzzards. Hamali fell in the fighting, rent asunder by one of the lions. As one of the team’s consistently least popular members, no one much seemed to mind, neither among the fans or her teammates.
Kudos to all for stepping it up to accept the challenge (and making this tournament much more interesting than if I simply made all the opponents myself). This weekend I will be out of town, and the following Friday is a holiday, so it looks like we’ll have plenty of time to get prepared for it. When the time comes however, we’ll begin the tournament, pitting Darrows’ Arrows against the Cult of the Blooded Hand, Aijounonai, the Ragtaggers, and a team or two of the DM’s design.
During the week in which your team is the opponent, you will control your usual character (Mae, Seven and Squarn), as well as the opposition team, so you will be more or less DM for the night. I will let you know in advance what gear they will be expected to use, and it will be more or less comparable to the Arrows’ gear (i.e. I won’t put the Ragtaggers in hide armor with daggers and give the Arrows mithral breastplates and spiked chains – or vice versa).
It’s your task over the next few weeks to draw up stats for your team members and run ‘em by me. Read more… »
Grunt League Tournament – DM’s Challenge, Phase I
Posted on 2008 under Prematch Commentary | 3 Comments18 Jun
The Grunt League Tournament is a contest designed to showcase the skills of Hell’s Theatre’s up and coming talents. To enter, a team must pay the entry fee of 25,000gp, and put a team who meets the Grunt League criteria. This is primarily an entry level competition, so gladiators with significant experience are ineligible. Judges from Hell’s Theatre will inspect applying teams for eligibility, using spells and instruments to rate and rank each team. Any teams attempting to subvert these inspections will be conscripted to the the Theatre’s Fodder Team and the entry fee will be forfeit.
Once in the Tournament, teams will be matched up by Lord Overseer himself, and will hold weekly matches until a winner emerges. In the event that an odd number of teams exists for a given week, a bye will be given to the highest rated team. All Tournament matches will be to the death; victory shall be determined by the team who first manages to kill every member of the opposing team. (The corpses of slain combatants remain the property of the original owner. Reasonable efforts will be made to return remains in a swift and complete fashion.)
The winning team’s owner will be awarded 500,000 gold pieces, and their team is automatically considered eligible for the Warrior League Tournament, with the entry fee waived. Additionally, the winning gladiators are each awarded magic items selected by Lord Overseer whose total price will meet or exceed 75,000 gold pieces. The second place team’s owner wins 50,000gp, and the third and fourth ranking teams’ owners each win 30,000gp.
This past week was an unusual occurrence in your lives as slaves at the Arena. Rather than the traditional match, you were pitted against the Barbed Arrows squad on your own team to determine which squad was the more worthy for entry into the Grunt League Tournament, coming up now in but a few weeks time. The confidence placed in your squad turns out to have been well-placed, as the Piercers soundly routed the Barbed Arrows. The only one to even fall was Squarn, caught by surprise in the halfling lass’s unexpected fireball.
The Barbed Arrows’ losses were prodigious, costing the lives of Sir Arius Eckenbrad and the treacherous Troglodyte. Jilly survived through the mercy of Gabbers, who stabilized his fellow small-folk and caster, and Arilon through merely accepting the situation as it stood and having the good sense to surrender. Read more… »