Jousting Tourney

[Embri]

Preamble


This idea came about during a conversation between myself and Shee Mon, when she was talking about a medieval thread over on Gameware. The text below describes the mechanics for a Jousting Tournament. The primary purposes of such an event would be to provide entertainment during the postponement of the Olympics, help combat inflation, be a good excuse for more medals and trophies, and of course, it would be fun! Comments, suggestions and questions are welcome.


Basic Mecanics
A round of Jousting takes place between either a generic opponent (run by the admin/mod) or two Dojodians. Either way, the set up is the same. Early rounds are likely to feature NPC opponents to provide the Jousters an opportunity to become familiar with the system and acquire some extra cash for some secondary weapons/items.

There are a small set of established actions, and each competitor chooses a routine (Three actions in sequence) and PM's it to the Joust account (run by an admin/mod). When both contestants are in, both contestant's actions are posted, and they can then RP it out, if they wish.

All Jousters get a set number of HIt Points they can take before being knocked out - for example, 20 or so. (All of the numbers will have to be tested and adjusted)

Each Joust lasts for three passes - the character with the most Hit Points remaining at the end of the round wins. Ties go into a further three rounds.


Working the Economy
First, we have everyone pay to enter, either as a Jouster, a Sponsor or a Squire. Basically this is a team event, though a rich Jouster could go alone (the typical Black Knight...) A Jouster may have part of his or her entrance fee paid by the Sponsor, who is hoping their Jouster will win, giving them a share in the prizes. A Squire is like a Sponsor, only they actually assist during the match and have a much smaller financial commitment than a Sponsor. No Jouster may have more than one Sponsor and one Squire, though they may have neither or only one of the two if they wish.

Set up would require a new Board owned store (so the money goes out of the economy), A new account to send the Joust actions to, and a new currency (non-tradeable with the others, preferably) for purchasing equipment. A board section would also be useful, for posting each match/providing training areas.

Things that would need to be made:
Prizes - Medals, of course... Jouster, Squire and Sponsor 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, as well as Participation versions for everyone else.
Other prizes - Special weapons. Title of Knight or Lady of Psychotopia... x number of months of free store stocks/ item requests.... Bag of Pocky... I wouldn't mind throwing in an art commission item or two as well.
Graphics - I'd like to do pictures of all the mounts and equipment, so that the Jousters could put them in their sigs, unless there's an easier way to make it show up.

Jousters
These are the combatants. They actually fight mounted in the arena. Jousters are in charge of choosing their strategies for battle.

Sponsors
A purely financial backer, Sponsors help fund the Jousters with the hope that they will win. Somewhat akin to owning a racehorse. Some sponsors may also act as tacticians, offering advice to their Jouster, but that depends on the individuals involved. A Sponsor, if they wish to participate, must front half the entry fee.

Squires
A squire is in charge of caring for the Jouster's equipment and mount, and normally offers a small sum to their Jouster as a sign of support. In turn, they can earn a share of the prizes if their Jouster wins. Should anything break during a joust, it is the Squire's job to bring new items to their Jouster. Should a Jouster be unavailable (for posting) the Squire is expected to be the backup. Squires are required to pledge 10% of the entry fee.


Sample Equipment:
to Gold conversion: 50 = 1 Gold
The entry fee for the tourney should not be cheap. I was considering a sum in the area of 10,000 . Sponsors could of course help reduce this cost to the Jouster.

There is a cap on the total amount of gold which can be spent to provide equality among Jousters. Once a Jouster (and their Sponsor/Squire) submits their entry fee, they will be given a sum of non-exchangable currency to purchase equipment/mount/weapons with from a Board owned store just for that purpose.

A potential list/price guide
Maximum Gold allowed to be Spent: 200 (for example) 100 Gold for a mount, 100 for equipment.

Light Armor - 10 Gold. Reduces damage taken by 1
Medium Armor - 30 Gold. Reduces damage taken by 2
Heavy Armor - 60 Gold. Reduces damage taken by 3

Light Lance - 10 Gold. Does 5 points of damage
Medium Lance - 30 Gold. Does 8 points of damage
Heavy Lance - 60 Gold. Does 10 points of damage

Extra Damage Points - 5 Gold. Increases your Damage Points by 1.

Special Weapon - Stun Grenade (1 use) Negates your opponent's next action. 20 Gold.
Special Weapon - Tall Shield (1 round) Prevents the rider from being hit by High blows. 10 Gold.
Special Weapon - Wide Shield (1 round) Prevents the rider from being hit by Low blows. 10 Gold.
Special Weapon - Weapon Enchantment (1 round) Increases the damage done by your lance by 5 points. 5 Gold
Special Weapon - Charm of Protection (1 round) Decreases the damage taken by 5 points. 5 Gold


((Any other ideas for special weapons?))
Items have been priced so that no one can buy the best of everything on purpose, and damage reduction/lance damage must never cancel each other out or we'll have unhittable Jousters.

JOUSTING ACTIONS

Possible Actions - Block, Hit High, Hit Low, Parry, Counter, Use Special Weapon

Block - Reduces the amount of damage taken by 1/2.

Hit High - Attack with your lance at the opponent's head.

Hit Low - Attack with your lance at the opponent's body.

Parry - If attacked, prevents all damage. If not attacked, throws the user out of balance, causing 5 points of damage. Special Weapons cannot be Parried.

Counter - If attacked, causes 1.5x as much damage to the opponent as was done to the user. If not attacked, throws the user out of balance, causing 5 points of damage. Special Weapons cannot be Parried.


Use Special Weapon - Use one of your special weapons. Only ONE special weapon can be used per round.

A sample combat:
(This assumes the two jousters have sent in their three actions already to the Jousting PM account, and I'm GM'ing.)

Embri: First Round, Turn 1 - Jouster A vs. Jouster B!
Actions - Jouster A Hit High, Jouster B Parry.

A: I charge down the field to spear B!
B: I parry A!

Embri: (reports damage) First Round, Turn 2 - Jouster A - Counter, Jouster B - Hit Low

A: I counter B's attack!
B: I hit, but get hit back!

Embri: (reports damage) First Round, FINAL TURN - Jouster A - Hit Low, Jouster B - Hit High

A: I spear B on my lance
B: So do I!

Embri: Now, the results! The winner, with 5 Damage Points remaining, is Jouster A!

Mounts

From the native, ferocious Mutant Battle Chicken, to Worgs, Griffons and of course, Warhorses, there are many mounts to choose from. Jousters may have only ONE mount. Any mount costs 100 gold, which includes any necessary saddles and bridles or other riding gear, and all Jousters must be mounted. All fall into one of three groups:

Power (no problem facing fast attackers, but has a hard time hitting agile mounts)
Worg
Mutant Chicken
Drake

Speed (Runs right over agile mounts, but does poorly when faced with brute power)
Feline
Warhorse
Raptor

Agility (easily avoids power mounts, but does poorly when faced with speed)
Pegasus
Hippogriff
Griffon

Agility > Power > Speed > Agility

How Mounts affect Combat
If a Jouster's mount has an advantage over her or his opponent's mount, they will receive a small combat damage bonus (probably +1 or +2).

Mounts are more for RPing possibilities than anything else, and a good excuse for me to whip up some nice graphics.

Well, there you go. That's all I've got so far. I seek your council and wisdom, Admins and Mods of Blackstar!

[LordPsycho]

I've already approved this in concept, but I asked her to post the idea here before going forward, to get every one else's opinion

[Danikat]

I like the idea.

It looks like it could be fun, encorage yet more activity and help with the inflation issues.

[3kul]

Looks awesome! I can't think of anything to expand upon your idea there Embri, it's pretty much perfect as is. Can't wait to see it all in action!

[3kul]

*bump*

A month later and I still think that this is a great idea, but it seems to have been largely overlooked by those who can access this part of the area. Vote already you quiet/lazy people!

[Vromoth]

So like, I can still totally join olympics?

I think it's a good idea, note that I say good. So I'll vote for it to be done or what ever.

[Embri]

Ugh, no lady, the Olympics are closed. *rolls eyes*

As for the jousting tourney, we definitely need something less sissy around here! Some good old fashioned fighting. Yeah!

[UncleAsriel]

This would be a great idea! I'd even volunteer, if I didn't have so much stuff to do


Still, a great plan!