Blood Brawlers Brainstorming
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Ok guys help me out…....I have huge plans for the Blood Brawlers but as of yet no one really seems to want to be a regular competitor.
So help me out......Give me what you would like to see in the Cities sanctioned fight club.
Want to keep to donation wise to aid the slums and possibly the rest of the city.
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I see two interlinked issues:
With the focus on unarmed/no-skill-use it is utterly biased to high-str high-hp people.
I'm not sayings that bad IC, it's clearly in line with the notion of brawling.Once competitors are past L3 or so, so it takes several hits to drop someone unarmed, then the statistical odds will start showing up,and winners are likely easily predictable based on STR.
That can have a tendency to keep people away - why bother if youre going to fail, and never, ever, imporve your standing.
Grant a point for taking part, and three points for a win.
Add some randomness - let each competitor roll a dice:
1-12 unarmed, no armor
12-15 they get a knife
16-17 they get a club
18-19 they get studded leather and a knife - or two knives
20 they get choice of any two of: knife, small shield,knife, leather armor
Thats rolling independent of each other - so you might have someoen with nothing going against someone with two knives -
Also lizardman did pretty much the same thing not very long ago was fantastic and tons of fun,but some players like to do new things with new characters and avoid repeating similar plot lines,could be as simple as being to soon after lizzy.
But this said you do have 19 names on your lists can't be doing to badly.
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The best part about Lizzy's thing was you didn't win with mechanics alone. You had to entertain the crowd too. You got as many points for style as you did for winning.
Also, the no armor rule was awesome because Dexterity builds could go toe-to-toe with Strength builds and be kind of on an even playing field. The builds that, to some degree, rely on Dexterity (monks, rogues) would have more AC while the builds that, to some degree, rely on Strength (fighters) would have more HP.
Also also cage fighters got more points depending on what weapon they used. A guy who went into the cage with a dagger was way more badass than a guy who went into the cage with a greatsword, so, even if he lost, he would get points for his badass-ery.
Anything that creates more variety than a dude in fullplate with a tower shield steamrolling every bard, monk, and rogue he crosses is awesome. Anything that makes the fights more interesting than two dudes beating on each other in silence to see who has the best build is also awesome.
I think your idea of having people fight unarmed is cool, but I also think the no feats/no skills thing makes for kind of dull combat. I think it would be more exciting to see if the dude who took Taunt can Taunt his opponent down before his opponent can hit him with a Stunning Fist, or if one dude can Knockdown his opponent before his opponent can sap his Strength with a Called Shot.
Also also also, as someone else posted, I've already been there and done that with Lizzy. I'm trying not to repeat myself.
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As with any plot on CoA: if you want it to fill up with people, then you have to try and make them feel "this is something I cannot afford to miss out on". It also cannot hurt to keep shaking things up every so often to make people think "this is the best time for me to get involved".
I got my break with Vigor and Vidar's rivalry, which I tried to blow completely out of proportion with "Light versus Dark". The most important item in that poster is not the rules or the prize money, but that I'm spelling it out for everyone that this gold is going into nothing but bloodstones if the bad guys win and getting wasted on some sissy charity cause if the good guys win. It becomes more than a fight-night, there's honour at stake, it promises to be a very public shaming of the loser - and as it turned out, once a DM had taken interest, the winner of this clash had a very prominent effect on the slums people too. Why did a DM take interest? Because Vigor and Vidar spread the word, because people felt like they ought to get involved - or at least were curious enough to try and turn up and see what happens.
An "outside" example of how to catch people's interest was the Hunt-Off between Malar and Nobanion - where the losing diety would have allegedly left the Hullack forever. I don't know if it was a DM or a player initiated event, but I thought it was ingenious - there is just so much on the line that supporters of either side cannot help but try and get involved, thereby giving momentum to the entire thing.
Finally, I would say that controversy is your friend in this field. For instance, if you're more concerned about the well-being of the slummers than anything else, would you go so far as to steal Lord Wyvernspur's prized stallion and make it the top prize for a night if it meant more wealth reaped for the slums?