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When
I was asked to referee an AD&D "grudge-match"
between
old rivals at the Western Oregon Wargamers, I knew I needed
to
have something both special and carefully planned...
The
following are the rules used for the 3-run 1st edition AD&D
tournament I hosted for the "Western Oregon Wargamers"
As
well as the war gamer group, they have a pretty strong contingent
of around 30 experienced role-players who play a variety of
games
including AD&D, Bloodbowl, GURPS, etc., but mainly 1st and
3rd
edition AD&D.
This
was the 5th tournament I have run during my DM'ing career
but in the past I have used a traditional experience point award
system. In this case however, I was assuming the role of arbiter
between long time co-players/adventurers/gaming rivals who wished
to find
some neutral, relatively authoritative GM to lay them out
a playing field they could compete on. They had... in their
obvious
wisdom... chosen me... cough!...............
Sorry, something was caught in my throat...
I
needed to have a track-able, credible system for adjudicating
the
"experience point credit" system to insure fairness
as this campaign
was geared to be a competition as well as a fun time for all.
The EXP awards
needed to be handled a bit differently. I wanted some level
advancement
to occur in a compressed time-frame.
To
address this, I created a system where I tracked
experience points on-the-go in the normal manner but then converted
them into "Experience Point Credits". (These
"credits" and the procedure
for their use are described below).
Although
it wasn't entirely to be every man against the other, I had
been clued that alliances were already beginning to form and
some
participants had an ax to grind with others during this get-together...
I couldn't wait! I wished to use this player dynamic to create
experience credit earning opportunities for some characters
by being
chaotic (I.E.: the thief stealing an item from treasure) while
others
must work to keep the group functioning as a team if they were
to
survive the stuff I had put up against them.
I
used some original creatures and other supplementary materials
from
the archives of our club web site as much as possible in order
to keep
the players guessing.
Finally
I wanted to add some spice to the assignment of character classes.
A variety of character types would be best so I immediately
ruled-out letting the players choose their own classes or rolling
their own characters. Ideas of random rolls or card-cuts were
rejected as too casual. Instead I thought of an auction.
Below
is my initial handout for the
players followed by
some specific requests for advice:
The
Handout:
A
summary of the format follows:
1.
Pre-generated characters with pre-assigned class, level, spells
and items will be used. These will be distributed at the character
auction. You will then have 1 week to get to know them. See
my email
address below for questions during that week.
2.
Characters will be assigned to each player by auction one week
prior to the start of the tournament. Each player will begin
with the
same number of experience point "credits". Credits
are used to
either win the bid for a character during the auction or redeemable
for increased character levels at the start of the tournament.
Here
is an example of how the bidding and experience point credits
will work:
I.E.:
All
players roll a D10. High die wins. A tie is decided by roll-off.
High die chooses the first character to be auctioned and is
entitled
to either:
a)
bid 1 credit. Then the next person clockwise may bid 2 or pass
and
so-on around the table. If 2 or more bid 5 (the maximum available
at
start) decision is made by roll-off.
Or:
b)
make no bid and pass to the person to his/her left. They may
now
choose to bid 1 or pass. If they pass, the next person clockwise
(left) may bid or pass. If no one bids on the character it moves
to the
side for later.
Thereafter
always moving clockwise from the original die winner,
anyone who has not yet bought a character will have the same
privilege to select from those remaining, the next character
for
auction and either bid 1 or pass. This is done until only one
player
and character are left. Any characters auctioned early but not
sold
will be re-auctioned. Any still not sold will be available for
a cost
of 1 credit as there will be exactly as many characters as players.
Example:
We
begin the auction. I want the Fighter/Magic User. Like
everyone else, I start with 5 credits. George on my left also
wants
the MU. I won the opening die roll so I choose the Magic User
to bid
on 1st and get to make the opening bid of 1 credit (I could
make it 2
if I wanted!). George is sitting on my left so he goes next.
He
raises it to 2. We then continue clockwise through the players
but no
one else wants to bid 3 on the MU. It comes back around to me
and I
do bid 3 credits. George decides not to go higher and everyone
else
already dropped out.
I
have spent 3 credits to get the Fighter/Magic user and still
have 2
credits left. During the tournament, I can also earn experience
point
"Credits" and for every three I accumulate, I will
be raised 1 level of
experience in 1 class. Thus I can save any extra credits from
the
auction or otherwise until I have the three needed to raise
a level
(a limited number of multi-class characters will be available
for
auction).
Note:
A minimum of 1 credit must be paid to buy a character,
even if there are no other bidders.
3.
A list of general rules and procedures will be printed and
provided to all players at the character auction however in
short;
1st edition rules will be used with certain modifications.
Some of them are:
A.
Modified time frame: 6 second melee rounds will be used.
This strangely enough is a house-rule I adopted
myself way back in 1990 and have used ever since in my 1st edition
campaign. I got a lot of mileage out of this with my buddies
when WOTC did the same in 3rd edition!
Details
will be provided and those who have played in Tony Harrison's
games will have already played under my system.
B.
Experience point "credits" will be awarded during
the tournament
and will also determine the point leader (or winner) of the
tournament. All experience point "credits" whether
earned during
play, used during the auction or saved from the auction will
count
towards victory and/or end-of-game player ranking.
C.
A timer will be used and each player will have exactly 1 minute
to
verbalize and complete their turn. The only exception will be
in the
case of a request to the GM for a ruling, or in the event of
extenuating circumstance as determined by the GM. I.E.: A complicated
explanation/description by GM or player is required.
D.
The GM's rulings will be final. One minute rebuttals will be
allowed in
regard to a ruling contested by a player but that will be timed
also and the
GM's final ruling will stand.
I
highly suggest the use of note passing by players to the DM.
Once or
twice each session, I will meet with each player individually
so that no one
will know what transpires or if anything has!
Experience
point "credits" awarded during play will be based
primarily on
the following:
1.
Use of the character and their abilities. This includes spell
use as well
as combat, stealth and other character proficiencies.
2.
Creativity and use of believable yet unusual methods, tactics,
ideas. This
includes spell use as well as combat, stealth and other character
proficiencies.
3.
Quality of role playing: "Staying on the board". Playing
a consistent
character throughout the tournament. Creating a characterization
that fits the
alignment, class and race you are running. Creating a characterization
that is
interesting yet not annoying.
4.
Getting lucky! Hitting creatures for big points counts towards
your EXP
credit.
5.
Leadership skill displayed.
6.
Ability to fool other players. Use this one carefully and make
sure to write plenty of notes to the GM!
No
one will make points in every category and that should not even
be
a goal. Rather the winner will most likely be the individual
who does
well in 1-3 of the above and at least not too poorly in more
than one
of the above.
This
note to the players was also included:
The
list above is only intended as exemplary of the
factors that will be used by the GM to determine the EXP credits
awarded. Other factor will be considered as they arise.
Prior to the start of the auction and then before beginning
the
tournament there will be Q & A's. I may also be reached
to answer
question by way of my e-mail address at:
thrandorian@dungeonmastersguild.com.
I will answer any reasonable questions or address any comments
prior
to or during the tournament weeks. This is also another way
you may
send me clandestine messages between run dates.
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So......
This
initial handout was distributed to a group of around 12
interested players. I wanted to trim that number down to 6-8.
Therefore
I had no problem with making this a bit academic in nature,
to weed
out the weak-willies and uninspired. Those who were not willing
to do
a little homework would not be missed.
It
turned out I had 9 players. I made available the following characters:
Single Class Characters: {start at lvl 5}:
1) Magic User
1) Cleric
1) Thief
1) Fighter
1) Barbarian
1) Illusionist
1) Druid.
Multi-Class
& Special {starts at lvl 3/3}:
1) F/MU
1) Original class kit from our web site. (I
ended up choosing "The
Energy Warrior")
There
were only as many characters offered as players, so the last
to
pick had no choice and had to play whatever class/character
remained.
The single-class characters start at 5th level. The multi-
classed characters start at 3/3. In EXP point terms this is
equitable
and the auction should balance out any advantage as I assume
the
F/MU will be a popular choice. For every 3 credits they earn
or receive
at the start, they will be raised 1 level of experience in 1
class. Thus
the player who just takes a class left over after the auction
and pays
1 "credit" for his character, raises to 6th level
immediately (using
3 "EXP" credits) and has 1 EXP credits in the bank
towards another
level.
No
"training" or other delays will apply and increase
could even
come in the middle of a battle. Spellcasters will have a limited
number
of higher level spells available but in the event they rise
to a higher
spell level than the one they started, the newly acquired spells
will still
have to be learned and memorized before they can be used.
The
winner will be the individual who earns the greatest number
of "EXP Credits". This tally will include the original
5 distributed
prior to the auction so that although you will not be able to
raise
your character as high after spending those credits at the auction,
there is no EXP Credit penalty for spending them there (they
still go
towards ranking/victory).
Experience
points were tracked in the normal manner. I then
multiplied them by 10 (as I wanted to accelerate things for
this limited
3 run format). Taking each classes EXP table from the PHB, I
divided each
successive level (up through only 9th as I estimated that this
would be the
highest possible advancement for an "ace" player)
into three equal parts. Each
part represented an "Experience Point Credit" (for
lack of a better term).
These
"Credits" were awarded 1-2 times each session as two
or more
players accumulated enough EXP's to qualify. As soon as they
accumulated
three "credits" they were raised to the next level.
Additional
credits were tracked until each successive 3 were
subsequently redeemed for another level. Any original credits
not spent
during the character "auction" could also be turned
in for level
advancement so those who bid only one or two credits to get
their
character had 3-4 credits left over. Those who might pay more
to
get a specific class had less. Anyone choosing a multi-class
character
had to choose one class to level up in each time.
I
included individual "tasks" or "challenges"
throughout the scenario for
each and every character, specific to their class. They will
only know that
such tasks exist and what one or two of them are but some they
will not be
told of. They must always be alert for class specific opportunities.
A
few examples of the character-specific experience point "opportunities"
I used are:
Example
1: Thief is to steal one item from another player or from a
chest found. Getting caught will cause the others to mistrust
him/her
but success gains a predetermined experience point credit. A
deadly
trap must be detected and disarmed.
Example
2: Fighter must take the lead most times and show knowledge
of how to help organize the group as well as protect spell casters.
Doing so gets you an EXP credit midway through the scenario
and
possibly another at the end.
Example
3: A variety of circumstances are preset which only the spell
casters
can solve. The analytical ability of the spell casters to identify
and use an effective
spell will carry the group forward. In any case where the players
are stymied
and the run is stopped, I give the answer but no EXP credits
are
awarded. That opportunity is lost to the character (s). This
is a tournament
after all and
You
will need at least 3 of these for each character type and I
feel it is
always best for the DM to come up with original ideas that reflect
the
abilities of each group.
If
anyone has any advice they wish to share regarding ideas to
improve this tournament system please e-mail me at:
thrandorian@dungeonmastersguild.com
. I would appreciate it.
I
have already been asked to consider running these tournaments
2-3 times
each year. If this goes well I may. I also have an idea for
a team tournament
with two teams competing with the poor NPC citizens caught in
the middle!
Thanks.
Any suggestions are welcome,
T
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