If you're like most fantasy gainers, you've got a fair-sized collection of gaming miniatures, each one lovingly painted to give it its own personality. But how many times have you actually used some of your favorites? Maybe only once? Here's a suggestion to let you get more out of the miniatures you own (and to help you rationalize buying that new figure you saw at the game shop, but that has no place in your current campaign). On the outskirts of a bustling center of commerce is the Arena of Blood, owned by Antipolos Uzano, the wealthiest man in the city (He is even wealthier than the princes living there!) Uzano is a sporting man who keeps a stable of slaves, beasts, and mercenaries who provide entertainment in gladiatorial contests in the arena. D'zano also handles the gambling that is done on these contests. if two nobles wish to place sizable bets with each other, D'zano holds their money and pays the winner, minus a 2% handling fee. A cruel and demanding businessman, he is utterly fair and scrupulously honest. Three times a week, D'zano puts on the best show in town, pitting his fighters'/beasts against any stable that can give them a fair match. He will also let two, three, or more nobles or merchants throw their stables against each other while Uzano gives his fighters a rest and collects the admission from the townspeople. There is a waiting list of nobles and merchants trying to win wealth and glory with their stables of fighters in D'zano's arena. PREPARING THE COMBATANTS Okay, gang, here's your chance to pit Ral Partha's Golden Dragon against Grenadier's Red Dragon, Citadel's Goblins against Alnavco's Wizards, and for entertainment, bring out Dark Horse's Orc Seductress to do her dance. (Hey! Dzano, doesn't want people watching the halftime sbow--he wants them flocking to the concession stands.) In short, match your miniatures against those of your friends in the Arena of Blood. Now that's entertainment! This can be played simply as a battle game between two or more players, with opportunities to role-play the owners of fighting stables and the fighters as well. player-characters from previous campaigns who amassed a small fortune can be used as employers, building their own stables now that they've retired from adventuring. The Arena can also be dropped into a fantasy campaign to give player-characters a chance to pick up extra cash as mercenaries. (They will have to work for someone other than D'zano. He doesn't let his "investments" wander around exploring ruins and getting into street fights.) A player character in an existing campaign uses his own stats. To prepare other combatants, use the following guidelines with whatever game system you prefer: 1. Make it an even match. D'zano doesn't like one-sided slaughters. They bore the customers. 2. Humanoids: STRENGTH-Roll up as per the rules system you prefer and add 1d6 (or more for a real brawler). DEXTERITY/AGILITY/INTELLIGENCE/etc. Same as STRENGTH. CHARISMA-No bonuses. A pretty smile doesn't mean a damn thing here. WEAPONS SKILLS-All gladiators are competent with at least two weapons (wizards excepted). Agree beforehand on a base skill level and add 1d20 for each combatant. 3. Beasts: STRENGTH/ DEXTERITY/ AGILITY-Base as per system + 1d20 (fair-sized specimen), or 2d2O (large specimen), or 3d2O (notify the opponents' next of kin). INTELLIGENCE/ETC. As per system. No bonuses unless it is a beast that fights with its mind; then use the bonuses listed for the other characteristics. TREASURE CLASS-None to be found. Each combatant gets a salary plus a bonus for winning. See Money Table for guidelines. THE ARENA The arena is 80 meters wide and 120 meters long. (I told you D'zano was wealthy) its walls are 40 meters high with steel nets across the tops to contain flying combatants. In game scale, 1" = 5 meters. Sometimes the arena is clear, but often rocks, trees, shrubs, even ponds and streams are magically introduced. Shrubhery is provided by Knights of St. Nnnik, Inc. (Check the model railroad section of your bobby shop for terrain ideas.) ARENA RULES 1. An opponent who surrenders may not be killed. 2. The owner of a combatant may concede a match by setting off flash powder. This allows an owner to save a valuable investment when death in imminent, however, the crowd hates it. 3. No combatant may attack anyone in the stands. D'zano uses magic wards to keep combatants' missiles in the arena (insurance company regulations). 4. Wizards may use only one conjured creature at a time. However, any number of illusions are permitted. (Wizards in the stands with a magic lens will determine if a creature is summoned or an illusion.) NO DEMONS ALLOWED! 5. Magic items permitted by prior agreement or on AMATEUR NIGHT or WIZARDS' NIGHT Limits on allowable items by prior agreement. 6. Violation of any rule means the perpetrator's torture will be the warmup act the following night. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS ONE-ON-ONE: Several contests featuring top fighters or fighters vs. wizards, one-on-one. Newcomers are used as warmup acts. WIZARD NIGHT: Same as above, but with wizards. Two magic items per wizard allowed. AMATEUR NIGHT: D'zano's advertising manager dreamed this one up to sell advertising space in the program to wizards and magic shops. Combatants (one-on-one or melee) are each given one untested magic item developed by a wizard who hopes to sell copies. The first time an item is used, roll percentile dice with a 40% chance of malfunction. See MALFUNCTION TABLE. This is the easiest night for a newcomer to get into the arena. JUNGLE NIGHT: Beasts are pitted against each other or against humanoids in interesting variations: A bear vs. two lions, an elephant vs. a jabberwock, dire wolves vs. a minotaur, etc. MELEE NIGHT: Very popular, but it brings in the riffraff. Six or more warriors, wizards, and /or beasts on each team fight to the finish. There is no limit on the number of teams. DRAGON NIGHT: A real crowd pleaser! Two dragons/cold drakes, with or without riders, duel it out. The bigger the beasts, the bigger the crowd! These are standard entertainment, but D'zano is always looking for new ideas. Let your imagination run wild. SALARY Novice: 5 GP + 1d6 GP bonus Veteran (five or more victories): 10 GP + 2d6 bonus Crowd Pleaser (10 or more victories): 20 GP + 1d20 bonus Anyone who wins spectacularly or otherwise gives the crowd a good show should get a bigger bonus. BUYING COMBATANTS Humanoid: Salary/bonus as above, plus room, board, and training Beast, common: 1d10 x 2 GP base Beast, uncommon: 2d10 x 5 GP base Dragon, medium: 5,000 GP base Dragon, large: 10,000 GP base Dragon, humongous: 20,000 GP base MAGIC ITEM MALFUNCTION TABLE Rol1 1d10 to determinc malfunction. 1. Item turns into a bouquet of flowers. 2. A magic weapon wilts like a dead flower; any other item turns into a sticky goo. 3. User sprouts horns, can butt for 1d6-2 damage, but will have to pay to have the horns magically removed later. 4. Item turns into a covey of quail. Everyone including user in a 3" radius must pass an IQ roll to prevent being startled and losing a turn. 5. Sparks fly, but nothing happens. 6. item explodes, doing 1d6 + 1 damage in a 1" radius. 7. Item does twice what it should have done. (Double damage; two creatures summoned instead of one; both user and victim are blinded, etc.) 8. Nothing happens. 9. User turns into a donkey. Cheer up! It's not the first time someone made an ass of himself in the arena. 10. A falcon appears, summoned to do users bidding for five rounds. Note: A creature summoned by accident counts against the summoned creature limit. Combatant has one turn to banish creatures in excess of the limit before rules are violated. The covey of quail do not count against the limit as they are non-combatants. Donkeys that run to an exit will not be harmed. Back to Table of Contents -- Game News #3 To Game News List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Dana Lombardy. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com