Summer Event: Brawler's Bash - Discussion

[umbraja]

Welcome to the Games

Event RP | Contest | Volunteer | Discussion | OOC | Profiles | Vendors Row

Welcome to this year's SDRP Summer Games Discussion Thread where you can submit ideas, ask questions, and pat us on the back for all our hard work while we wait for the main event to kick off. If you want to give us a hand, head on over to the Volunteer thread to submit an application. Don't forget to keep an eye on the Event RP so you can get in on the action when it opens up. Once open you'll be able post there for some mingling and friendly competition either as part of the audience or joining the fighters in the arena.

See the Event RP thread for details but the basic setting/premise of this year's Games is a Romanesque gladiatorial match held by the Old Gods in the Beimini Colosseum within the quirky and eclectic world of Aelzwyr, a pocket dimension between worlds where lost things tend to collect. Characters from anywhere can come and watch as part of the audience or join the fight by submitting an application at the Recruiter's Table.

Right below here you can see the discussion process we went through to get where we are now. It's been a long time in coming but we're almost up!  

[Watervoir]

This sounds fun.

The traditional back and forth seems more fun to me, but it could take a while as its speed would depend on the availability of the players. Written fights are more efficient, but they might only work best when given more personality (and in turn, more fight style) to work with. All that said, I'd vote for back-and-forth because I love the character/fight dynamics that occur during them.

I like small, underground stuff and grand Olympics/Gladiators stuff best, so my vote would be one of them. Licensed sporting events can rely on knowledge base that not everyone may have, and in turn creativity might take a heavy beating.

Team-based games could be fun--I'd be all for that if there are enough participants. Teams also slash down on the length of the tournament, which might be a good thing. It's good to start small.

Locations? How about an array of alternate dimensions in which the setting changes each round? It would encourage creativity in using the elements of the environment to your advantage, and besides that, a change in scenery is always refreshing. If not, then I'm against official rings of any sort. I find them too restricting in both space and creativity.

PCs fighting each other FTW!!!

Rules? Eh, no vehicles. Those could get pretty wild. Everything else, I'm game. Cheap shots could be a risky manoeuvre in a tournament that tests combat writing abilities.

And that's my two cents for the time being. I want to know what other people think too!! This is an exciting idea. I might not participate though since I've got a lot on my plate already, but I'd LOVE to see how this turns out.  

[SirBayer]

Mechanics: Solo writing. It'd be pretty neat. Might require a judge of some sort though. Still, it makes things... not cleaner, but more ideal. In my mind.
Scale: Grand. Big. Don't wanna be hiding and fighting.
Type: Freestyle, no question.
Teams: Variety, says I. Do some 1v1, do some 3v3, do some 5v5, etc.
Location: An open-ground battlefield would have some potential, but I'm more inclined to vote for a Coliseum type structure. Changeable interior, ideally. The crowds could add some interesting writing.
Opponents: PvP for the most part. NPCs introduced as strictly necessary. Environment is free game.
Rules: I agree, scratch vehicles, but I'd love to see a wide variety of things. This also kind of raises the question of power level, so to speak. I'd say we either do Mundane Human sort of power, or Super Saiyan Bullshit, and nothing in between.  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

The solo writing idea is interesting, but either way is fine by me.

Go big or go home, I says. It's our first event in awhile, so we should be injecting plenty of GRANDIOSITY to get our people PUMPED. Which, I think, naturally leads to freestyle. No restrictions on fighting style means no restrictions on writing style- and creativity.

Teams. I'm a fan of one-on-ones, largely because I fear we will lack the numbers.

The setting should be any place that will encourage a great spectacle and provide a variety of arenas. Opponents should be PCs. NPCs would only be required in uneven brackets- that is, when a participant would normally get a 'by,' they instead test their mettle against the host or another authority.

For Rules of Engagement, I think the following set would work best: melee weaponry only, no magic, and over-the-top physical attributes & skill. At least, for one-on-ones. If we have enough for team play, then war games all the way!  

[Ivaylo_Sai]

- Decide Game mechanics: I like the concept of the solo writing but I'm not sure how well that would go over for pulling in new people as it's pretty non standard. We can try, just not sure it will work.
- Decide Tournament scale: Grand Affair with a huge Coliseum thing, Roman style, judges in the Emperor's box and unwashed masses in the stands.
- Decide Tournament type: so as not to limit ourselves I'm thinking a mixed edition. Each round be a different sort of event.
- Decide Tournament teams: written solo but maybe a few with multiple character teams.
- Decide Tournament location: Coliseum, old Roman style with underground chambers for raising stuff up. Maybe even fill it with water for one round like they did way back in the way back when.
- Decide Tournament opponents: PvP
- Decide Tournament rules: main rules: keep it PG-13 (duh), technical writing counts, make it interesting (don't auto-win), be respectful of other players' skills. . . probably a few more. . . round rules: each round would say what is/isn't allowed for the fight so we can have a few with magic, weapons, vehicles, so forth but also a few without. We'd also have brackets for characters with/without certain advantages so we don't have a demi-god fighting a regular guy.  

[umbraja]

Ok, so. . . Venom's not going to be able to do this which means it falls to me. Aaand here's my idea so far attempting to incorporate all y'all's suggestions:

Make it a semi-walk in RP hosted in Barton framed around the solo-written fight scenes (rather than go hit by hit each fighter writes a scene in which the two fight and the best scene wins) to give us a hybrid of the two. Have an intro describing a grand Roman Coliseum and huge event with lots of crowd and excitement. Then after the basic list of common sense rules just open it up for walk ins. Anyone can just walk in and be part of the crowd. This way we can get a lot of action going on and random posts to bump the thread. Also crowd reaction can be fun, especially in Roman theme where the crowd really did vote live or die in a lot of events. This will come into play later.

At the gate will be a sign up booth where people can go to sign up for the Games and that's our profile submission for actual participants. We would describe the booth in the intro post and include a basic character template as a sign up sheet for the fighters making clear that you only need it if you plan to fight then have them submit their profile in game by filling out the sign in sheet at the booth. It could be interesting and again lead to bumps. We'll need someone to man the sign in booth and probably require they quote that person for notification so they can be sure to see it.

Once we get a decent number of people registered for the Games then we announce the start of the first event and tell the participants what the event is and who they are paired against. This would work just like a real sporting event announcement. We'll need someone to be the announcer.

After the announcement the crowd will sit down and watch while the participants submit their fight scenes. When both of a pair get theirs in we'll announce a vote and have the crowd thumbs up or thumbs down - like a real Roman fight. Then the Master of the Games (GM) will declare the winner based on the crowd's vote and personal whims, again like a Roman fight.

There's a lot of fun interplay possible here and, in case you couldn't tell, I like the Roman theme. xd

Now then, to do this we'll need some help. First off we need to fill the following NPC slots (suggest better names if you have them):

• Recruiter (sign in table guy)
  
• Announcer
  
• Master of the Games (or judges panel)
  
• Fight Marshal (make sure the participants get their stuff done on time and behave. Might need more than one)
  
• Crowd Marshals (make sure the crowd doesn't get too rowdy, will need more than one)
  
• Maybe have a few royal people in the Emperor's box or something. . . possibly those be the judges.
  

Sooo. . . comments, questions? I need volunteers. VOLUNTEER!  

[lily564a]

I don't understand how one player can be expected to write a fight scene against another player's character, with out player2's involvement or any real basis of style or behavior for the opponent. Might as well have both players pit their characters against an NPC.  

[umbraja]

Your opponent is treated like an NPC, only a player created NPC. You use the profile they submited as a frame for the NPC you fight and write a scene where you fight and ultimately win against them. Both players do this so there is a scene of each character winning. It's not a turn based thing. You write the whole fight in one post. Both sides. All at once. The whole scene.


The first round would be the roughest but by the last few rounds reading what the players themselves have written should give you a good example of their character  

[Isa-sama]

Hm. Well if you need volunteers, I could go for the Recruiter or Announcer. Otherwise, I would have fun playing one (or a few) audience members.

If you're looking for judges, I suggest you use Crew members. However, if said Crew members are planning on participating in the fights, then I would keep them out of the judges panels completely.

I think you're going to need at least two Fight Marshals. Depending on how active this gets, each one could focus on a player and help them get their stuff done (almost like a coach if the player wanted one). Another bonus to having two Marshals would be to ensure that there is always someone available to help (or nag as the case may be). IRL can throw curve balls, and I don't want to see people get stuck because the Marshal isn't there.  

[Jikial]

I wouldn't mind being the announcer (an announcer) or a judge.

I can see the potential in this getting out of hand and everyone frolicking in the chaos and disarray.

Which, I'm sure, would be a great lesson for everyone on improvisational roleplaying.

Be prepared.  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

I'll take the sign-up booth.  

[Watervoir]

I'll probably jump in as one of the walk-in audience members if I'm not part of the staff. Anyway, I'll put my name in for the announcer gig, though there already seems to be some other volunteers for that position. I could do crowd marshal too if you'd like.  

[Isa-sama]

Seeing as people are interested in announcer and recruiter position, I have no problem taking up a judge role instead. Blackbird, seeing as you want the recruiter/sign-up booth person, I leave it to you.

Also, I suggest having 3 judges. That way, there will always be a definite winner. I like the idea of making the judges be royals (I am a fan of the Roman theme as well). mrgreen

I think Watervoir would make a good crowd marshall. Not to say she wouldn't be good as an announcer (I don't know who would make a better announcer, her or Jikial), but considering no one else has volunteered for crowd control, I would be more partial to having Watervoir in that role. Actually, I would like to hear from the two of you - how badly would you like to be announcer? Does someone want to step down from that volunteer position or will you be duking it out here for it?

We still need some roles filled in...

Ah! Almost forgot, I'm putting my vote in making this gladiator style. Swords, spears, axes, brute force...and okay, I may have been influenced after watching 300 and Sparticus, but you know what, I would have fun reading these kinds of fights.  

[lily564a]

How do we intend to match people with their first round opponents? I suggest we construct a number of NPC characters, all the players will first go up against and defeat one of them (picked ether by the player or at random), then we use that entry to judge their skill and match them to someone of a similar skill level. I know in the long run the weaker players are still going to loose but if everybody gets a 'fair fight' in the beginning they will have more fun than if they get blown out of the water immediately.  

[umbraja]

The sign up process can include a 'sparring match' against one of the marshals or something and would be like the tableau that has become popular around here. We would use the tableau to match strengths.

Is anyone going to sign up to be a fighter?