Sageem smiled with satisfaction as he seated himself in the place of honor. It had been nearly six months since the Emperor had resided as Master of the Game.

Today was special and the crowd could sense it. They roared with approval as the Imperial banner was raised in the Emperor's box.

Sageem turned to his guest for the day, an elderly ambassador from Kal Dez.

"This is the glory of the Empire!" he boasted, "You can go home and tell that decrepit fool you call a King - that my people savor the sight of blood and combat!"

The Ambassador shifted uncomfortably in his seat and directed his gaze to the arena floor.

The gate on the north tunnel began to rattle as it was slowly raised revealing a large Graven warrior brandishing a short-sword and wearing a simple leather loin cloth. The crowd exploded in a frenzy as the warrior marched to his ready position.

This was no mere slave who had been summoned to meet his death in the arena on this blistering morn. No, this was Tagula, the crowd's favorite champion. So for, he had survived 47 battles to the death; a tie with the standing record. The Emperor had already announced that Tagula would be set free if he proved victorious today.

The Grevan slave, lowest of the low, would stand alone as the most favored before the gods.

As Tagula anxiously readied his sword, all eyes shifted to the south tunnel. Who had been chosen to face him? The crowd roared with surprise as a pair of large Sturm-wolves padded out onto the field.

The wolves cautiously looked up at the frenzied crowd and snarled their disapproval. It was obvious the poor animals had been maddened, more than likely prodded with hot irons in their cages. Spotting the lone Graven they tensed and sniffed at the air. Growling in unison they slowly began to close the distance with Tagula.

Tagula raised his sword skyward and said a silent prayer to his nameless god.

Sageem chuckled as the Ambassador leaned over the railing to get a better look.

"Poor Tagula!" the Emperor said with feigned remorse, "My money is on the Sturm-wolves."

Introduction

After fifteen years of construction the Grod Mondre, "The Grand Arena" is finally completed. Even as the workers put the finishing touches on the arena's decorative masonry, Arena-Fighters practice their deadly art on the game-field.

Grod Mondre is the largest arena ever attempted. Two legions and 2,500 slaves worked under the scrutiny of Imperial Engineers to ensure the arena would be completed in time for the sacred festival of Grongerfest The horns are sounding announcing the start of the inaugural festivities. You are officially invited to take part.

Grod Mondre is a campaign setting simulating Arena Combat in the Regean Empire. My intent was not to present a detailed, stand alone combat system. Rather, I have chosen to present a setting in a generic format that allows the Game Master to use the combat-system of his favorite role- playing game, This generic approach permits players to use their favorite characters and allows Game Masters to incorporate Arena Combat into any existing campaign.

Some purists may accuse Grod Mondre of being a simple hack-n-slash campaign. However, besides allowing players to take on the role of arena-fighters, the real focus is on allowing players to become managers by investing their money and building their own stables.

Rules are included for gambling, trading fighters, fixing fights etc. While two or more players hack it out in the arena, fellow gamers can busy themselves with upkeep on their stables.

The GM's Role

I should point out something from the start. This system was designed to mesh with any FRPG system. This means there are no system-specific roles or stats presented. The GM will have to do a little preparatory work before running a Grod Mondre campaign. Be sure to bone up on the combat system of the system you are using - if there are no rules for fumbles, dropped weapons, disengaging, etc., you may want to come up with your own house rules. The GM will also have to came up with the stats for NPC stable fighters. I have simply indicated how many low-level, medium level and high level fighters each stable has.

With that in mind, let's continue.

The Arena-Fighter
New Stats
Awards / Titles
Stables
The Games
Grod Mondre Tables
Grod Mondre Gambling Tables
Counters
The Six Stables