At sundown the black-cloaked unholy priests of Harmakhis move like shadows through the bustle of Old South Road, march like constables through the threatening silence of Cutpurse Row, and strut like houris down the center of Hedonist Street. Their handbells ring a haunting melody as their lips move silently. Their voices travel magically over the stagnant air, and whisper unpleasantly in the ears of all passers-by:
"In celebration our Overlord's recent victory over the Orcs of the Purple Claw, and in order to temporarily assuage the insatiable appetite of our Dark Lord Harmakhis, the Patriarch, in his infernal wisdom and unholy generosity, is sponsoring a tournament Sine missione, or to the death, two days from this hour. Agents wishing to enter their Gladiators in this banquet of blood need merely paint the fighter's ethnic origin, background, and combat experience onto the Libellus on the Three Temples' wall."
This is a play-by-post, one-off combat game of Gladiatorial Combat set in the City State of the Invincible Overlord and using the venerable Melee rules. Gladiators should be built with 24 points as per typical starting Melee characters,
and they will be accepted into the combat on a first-come first-serve basis. They may be equipped with any armor or weapons as per the Melee rules at the link
provided above. To avoid the confusion, we will be using the Dex adjustments for armor found at the end of that document: -1 Large Shield, -2 Leather Armor, -3
Chain Armor, -5 Plate Armor. Additionally, Plate Armor only protects 4 hits, not 5 (this is to clarify typos on the site provided above).
Simply post your character's stats, his or her ethnicity and background, and the first eight posters will form the two teams. If there are fewer than eight players, those who are interested may run more than one character.
Remember this is a competitive Wargame -- at least half the characters will die.
We will use the following representation of the City State stadium:
................................ .................#.#............ ..............*.*.#.#........... .............*.*.*.*.*.......... ..........*.*.*.*.*.*.*......... .........*.*.*.*.*.*.*.......... ......*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*......... .....*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*........ ..*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*......... .*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*............ ..*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*............. ...*.*.*.*.*.*.*................ ..*.*.*.*.*.*.*................. ...*.*.*.*.*.................... ....#.#.*.*..................... .....#.#........................ ................................
Each asterisk (*) in the map above represents a hex. Each number (#) represents an entry hex. The two teams will set up at opposing entry hexes and fight to the death. If we can manage to post a turn per day, we can finish the game within a week after it begins.
