The Quintessential Barbarian

The Quintessential Barbarian cover

Author	Robert Schwalb
Series	Quintessential Series
Publisher	Mongoose Publishing
Publish date	2003
Pages	128
ISBN	1-903980-92-5
OGL Section 15	qbbn

The material below is open game content

Designing Contests

Designing contests is relatively simple as each follow an identical formula. When designing a new contest consult the following steps to ensure a balanced game of skill and ability. In the following paragraphs are details for each step.

1. Establish contestants
2. Determine locale
3. Establish objective
4. Determine severity
5. Determine intervals
6. Establish Prize
7. Begin the trial

Establish contestants: Prior to developing a new 'game', one must consider how many contestants shall participate and what exactly are their levels and abilities. For most contestants, the tables presented in the system reference document covering characters ought to be suitable to determine the exact nature of the participants. Many times the contest will be between just two opponents, rivals perhaps, who endeavour to establish who is the greater warrior. In these situations, the Games Master will fully develop the antagonist for the player character. However, if many contestants are required, their statistics should be built around the player's, ranging no more than 1d4 levels lower or higher than the character who plays.

Determine locale: Location of the contest is the next step in the construction of the event. Places can affect the very rules of the event such as fighting on a hillside confering a +1 height advantage to attackers. One should also consider the weather when designing contest locations. A heavy windstorm will prevent ranged contests. Likewise, walking along a bed of burning coals will have little effect in the rain. Consult the system reference document for details on weather and the environment and the effects of each on combat.

Establish Objective: Each contest must have an object to attain or an adversary to overcome. The objective ought to be attainable for characters equal to the level of the player character participant. Thus, if the contestants must face an adversary, the CRs of an appropriate Encounter Level must equate to the power level of the contestants. On the other hand, many contests simply require characters to hold out the longest, play the best game of chess or drink the largest amount of alcohol. If an objective requires seeking and defeating a monster, it is no longer a contest, for it then becomes a standard adventure encounter.

Determine Severity: Each contest has a severity rating ranging from Minor to Lethal. One must note that what is lethal to a 1st level character is hardly even minor for a 20th level character. When determining the severity level of the contest, consider the participants. Striking a subject with a torch in the tender nether regions may be lethal for lower-level characters, but highlevel characters probably have the stamina to resist a torch. The table below is a general rule of thumb for determining severity.

FIXME: Small wording changes by AlexSchroeder to for table formatting.

Severity Guidelines for Maximum Potential Damage

Average Level	Minor	Light	Moderate	Serious	Critical	Lethal
1-3	2 or less	3-5	6-8	9-11	12-14	15 or higher
4-6	6 or less	7-13	14-20	21-26	27-34	35 or higher
7-9	10 or less	11-22	23-34	35-45	46-58	59 or higher
10-12	14 or less	15-31	32-48	49-64	65-82	83 or higher
13-15	18 or less	19-40	41-62	63-83	84-106	107 or higher
16-18	22 or less	23-48	49-76	77-101	102-124	125 or higher
19-20	25 or less	26-54	55-85	86-113	114-139	140 or higher

Determine Intervals: An interval, for the purposes of designing contests, is the rate at which the contestants affect, or are affected by, the objective. Such cases include the rate at which lighting strikes a character tied to a metal rod, the rate at which the character drinks alcohol, or the rounds between arm wrestling contests. The interval is the period between these rates. This inclusion allows higher-level characters with unusual abilities such as fast healing or spellcasting abilities to prepare themselves for future rounds.

Establish Prize: The prize is the ultimate goal of the contest. It is what the characters hope to achieve by competing against others. The prize is sometimes fame or a title, but wealth may be factor. To determine the potential treasure gained from a contest, one simply uses the following formula. Wealth to be gained equals average character level times total community resources divided by 1,000. The result is the treasure earned from the contest. There is no minimum prize. A contest only has a prize when a community or lord sponsors it.

For example, Dellington has a population of 1,500 people, thus qualifying as a Small Town. They are hosting a contest of which there is a monetary reward. The gold piece limit of the town is 800gp. After determining their resources as described in the system reference document, the total resources are 60,000 gp. The participants in the contest are on average 8th level. Applying the above formula (60,000 x 8 = 480,000; 480,000/1,000) results in a prize of 480 gp. Games Masters should feel free to make ad hoc adjustments based upon the severity of the contest and the effects of winning the competition on the currentstoryline. Finally, the head of the community divides the prize money between the winner and runners-up.

Begin the Trial: Having established the mechanics, the contest is ready to commence. Characters make the requisite dice rolls and saving throws, and when the dust settles, one will stand above the rest as champion of the day. In the following pages are specific contests designed using the preceding formula. Each of the following contests are designed to be waged in a small town of 1,500 people, a gold piece limit of 800 gp and 60,000 gp in available resources.

Editing ©2008 Alex Schröder