Goblin Gladiators Campaign 2

[Wildman]

Your clan was recently conquered by humans. Massacred is really the better term. To your knowledge, the six of you are the only survivors. You were taken prisoner by the humans. You have been kept in capticity for 15 long months, forced to train to become better warriors. Whenever you lose your last hit point, the human healers sweep in and save your life. It seems you are destined to simply fight for the rest of your lives. One nondescript day, Grant, the only name ever given for the human that oversees your training, explains that you will take part in gladitorial contests. You will be pitted against all manner of creature and will forced to fight. As you win, you will gain more prestige and get invitations to tougher events. Eventually, you will be able to fight for your freedom.

Welcome to the second campaign of Goblin Gladiators! I'm counting Campaign 1 as a success, so I'm gonna have another go. Let's get to the rules, some of which have changed:

Rules
Goblin Gladiators is a discrete strategy game based on the rules of Descent: Journeys in the Dark. Players will post their goblin's actions in the thread, and I'll create the enemy actions before I read them. Once I've got actions for all characters, they get carried out and a new turn begins. First team to complete their objective wins. Simple.

Every character in the game has the following statistics: Hit Points, Fatigue, Attack, Defense, Initative, and Speed.
Hit Points (HP) - Current health. When it reaches 0, you die. Most gladiator battles have high level clerics on hand to ressurect dead combatants, so you will be back in action for the next battle.
Fatigue (Ftg) - A kind of energy resource. 1 Fatigue can be used to gain a movement point, or get a 50% chance to deal an extra damage.
Attack (Atk) - Your base damage when attacking with a melee or ranged weapon. Attack less target's defense is damage dealt.
Defense (Def) - Subtracted from opponent's attack value when attacked.
Initative (Ini) - Determines when you act in a given round, with higher initative going first.
Speed (Spd) - The number of movement points a character gets when they take a move action (movement points are used for more than just moving).

On a given turn, each character will take two of the following four actions:
Move - character gains movement points equal to speed stat. Can be taken with both actions.
Attack - character attacks with equipped weapon. Can be take with both actions.
Order - Place one of the following orders: Rest, Aim, Dodge, Guard. Can not be taken with both actions.
Ability - use a non-passive ability. Can be taken with both actions.
Nomenclature note: moving twice is called "running", attacking twice is called "battling", moving once and attacking once is called "advancing".
The two actions you take must be decided up front, but can then be carried out in any order. Movement points can be split up (eg, moving some, attacking, then finishing movement is ok).

Uses for movement points:
~Move 1 space. Every 2nd diagonal movement takes 2 movement points.
~Drink equipped potion.
~Pick up/drop items on ground (eg, dropping a sword to pick up an axe is 1 movement point).
~Re-equip items (you get one free re-equip at the start of your turn, but must spend a movement point to re-equip mid turn).
~Hand items to an adjacent ally. If you receive items in this manner, you may equip what you receive as you receive it.
In general, whenever you get an item, you can immediately equip it for free. To take an item out of your pack and equip it costs a movement point.

Orders
Rest - If you have a rest order at the start of your turn, you recover all fatigue (and lose your rest order). If you take damage, you lose your rest order.
Aim - You get +1 damage on all future attacks. If you take damage or move, you lose the aim order.
Dodge - You get +1 defense until the start of your next turn. If you move, you lose the order.
Guard - You can make an interrupt attack after your turn ends but before your next turn begins.

Other rules/notes:
~Every player character (and most other characters) can equip one weapon item, one armor item, one other item, and one potion item.
~Whenever an attack is ineffectual due to the target's armor, there is a 25% chance of a 1 damage (ignoring armor) lucky strike.
~Characters can carry up to 2 items at a time in their pack.
~Line of Sight (LoS) - to attack something, you must have line of sight (LoS) to your target. To determine if you have LoS, trace a line from the center of your square to the center of your target's square. If the line passes through a non-empty square, LoS is impeded. Exact corner-clipping of a square is allowed.
~Attack of Opportunity (AoO) - If you retreat from an enemy, they may get a free attack on you. However, the conditions for an AoO are rare. You must be adjacent to an opponent with a melee weapon equipped, and that opponent can't be adjacent to any of your allies. For example, if two goblins are next to a dwarf with an axe, the first of the two goblins can retreat safely, as the dwarf's attention is divided. However, when the second goblin retreats, (s)he will take an AoO.
~If a character has +1 (x%) multiple times, they will stack up front. For example, if they have a +1 (50%) from a stat uptick and their weapon gives +1 (75%), this will be treated as +1, +1 (25%) (the rolls will not be independent). The exception to this is fatigue. When spending fatigue to increase damage, each point of fatigue spent gives in independent 50% chance of inflicting 1 extra damage.
~A character can battle (attack twice) and still move by spending fatigue.
~Weapons come in 3 varieties: melee, ranged, and magic. You must be adjacent to target an enemy with a melee weapon. Magic weapons always ignore armor. Many ranged weapons have a pierce value. Pierce reduces a target's Def (excess pierce is wasted).
~After odd-numbered battles, you will be able to select a stat upgrade for one of the 6 abilities. There will be some restrictions that I'll explain when we get there (eg, only 2 of the 6 goblins will be able to increase their HP at once)
~After even-numbered battles, you will be able to select a new ability. There are 28 abilities in the game, and a random set of 10 will be available to choose from. Each ability is only available to one goblin.
~Every combination of 2 abilities has a synergy bonus, which functions just like a stat upgrade. So yeah, when you pick your 4th ability after battle #8, you will also get 3 stat upgrades because of the new synergies.
~There are 11 available achievements (I may add some more before we start), and each one will earn you a stat upgrade. Every goblin can earn every achievement, but an individual goblin can't earn the same achievement twice, even if they meet the requirements on two separate occasions. They will be awarded at the end of a battle, not during.
~When counting range for a ranged or magic attack, the "count 2 spaces for ever 2nd diagonal" rule still applies, just as it does for movement.
Fog of War (FoW) - If no goblins have LoS to a particular space, they don't know what goes on there. Spaces that can't be seen will be shaded to let players know. For the purposes of the FoW, characters (even enemies) do not block LoS.
~All characters can move through friendlies but not enemies.


Updates will be M-F. Like the last installment, there will be (admittedly not great) pictures. The focus will be more on the strategy.

Other notes to vets:
~There is no delaying initiative. Instead, use a guard order to delay your action somewhat.
~There are no classes and no item restrictions.
~The LoS rule replaces cover and is intended to slightly nerf the archer/spellcaster as I felt they were slightly OP compared to melee.
~No goblin starts with the ability to heal. Potions are the only way to regain HP.
~I don't plan on maintaining an online spreadsheet for this campaign, but if a player wants to keep one, that is quite alright with me.
~The gear won't scale too much for this campaign, as it is way easier to pump HP, Def, and Atk through stat upgrades.

Sign-ups
I'll leave sign-ups open for a little while, probably through the end of the week. If you would like to play, simply post your character's name, gender, and color. If more than 6 players sign up, I'll randomly determine the 6 participants.

Edit: Thread name, rules tweaks, etc.

[narie666]

I soooooooo wanted to play this one, i enjoyed the first campaign very much (yeah, i'm lurking a lot ) But i'm going on vacation for three weeks starting this coming thursday, so it won't really work. (Wildman, if you think it can work, i am so in ) Ah well, i'll just hope you'll make a third campaign one day. Have fun with this one, i'll read it when i get back

[SharesLoot]

Little Feet, the youngest daughter of Big Strides, is of a strong cobalt blue color (#0040BF). She was only 15 when the humans came and destroyed her village. Her mother, who was a seasoned warrior and former gladiator, fought valiantly and killed several dozen attackers before succumbing to her wounds. The rest of her family met the same fate. Little Feet has sworn to avenge the deaths of her parents, siblings, and clanmates. Her hatred for her captors fuels her will to live, and she will do anything to excel during training and in the arena. She will fight, she will win, she will regain her freedom, and then she will kill, dismember and burn every filthy human who was remotely involved in the attack on her village.

This melodramatic background aside, she is a cheerful and fun-loving goblin

I just noticed that Wildman had a blue "little hands" goblin once, which is still referenced in his signature. I must have been inspired by that when I invented my character, but I wasn't aware of it until now... well, it shouldn't matter.

By the way (I'm writing the following in all my game threads):
From today until 5 October, I will be away travelling, and I won't have internet access most of the time. I'll try to post, but if I don't, at least you know nothing happened to me.

[alopex]

I would like to participate this. I lurked the first campaign and it seemed very interesting.

Stabs In The Back #008000 male

"What? Back is a perfect place to stab your enemy; usually they can't strike you back. Or in the back."

[Haragorn]

There were people lurking, but Shares still had to control half the group?

Thinks Ogres Are Not That Scary - #FFFF00

[Theonewhoisodd]

Falsifies Evidence - Male - #FFBF00

[Wildman]

Here are the base stats for all of the goblins:
HP - 5
Ftg - 3
Atk - 1
Def - 0
Ini - 6
Spd - 4

Also, a rules note I forgot to include above:
When counting range for a ranged or magic attack, the "count 2 spaces for every 2nd diagonal" still applies. This gives ranged attacks a roughly circular target-able area, which is much nicer than a giant square.

Rules change:
I've decided that the Aim order isn't powerful enough - why give up an attack to get +1 when you could just attack again at full power? So, I've decided that Aim orders are permanent - you will continue to get +1 on all attacks until you take damage or move. I'm still not convinced this is worth using, so I may tweak it more.

Some more on LoS:
Note: LoS is a complicated. I don't mind admitting it took me a while to understand completely and I'm a math guy. So don't get frustrated if it doesn't click right away. Hopefully the following will help.
~Pretty much everything blocks your LoS, including enemy and allied characters.
~You can hide your archers behind your melee units because of this. Your archers can then move out from behind you, attack, and then move back. If you are clever, you can battle and use fatigue to move to get both of your attacks.

Here is LoS explained with a picture:

The black spaces are walls that are blocking LoS. The goblin on G5 can see the green squares but not the red squares. Remember, center of square to center of target square, and exact corner clipping of a wall is ok.
Edit: I'm not gonna bother to fix the picture, but astute observers will notice a green square that should be red: I12.

These LoS rules can lead to a couple of awkward cases. These will be discussed below:
First, it is possible for an enemy that you can't see to block your LoS to an enemy that you would otherwise be able to see. For example:

The goblin in D2 can't see the dwarf in B3 because of the wall in C3. Also, the goblin can't see the dwarf in A3 because of the dwarf in B3. This is kind of silly, so this is the first exception: characters (not obstacles such as walls) that you do not have LoS to can not block your LoS to other figures. Applying this exception, our scenario becomes:

Much better.

Now, for our second awkward case:

We've got some walls here, and our goblin in A8 can shoot through them. This could also apply if they weren't walls, but rather characters. This can lead to a target-able space (in this case D3) that is surrounded by non-target-able spaces. This is kinda silly. So, in the case where two obstacles are diagonally adjacent, you can only shoot between them along the perfect diagonal (in our example, shooting down and right). Applying this exception, our scenario becomes:

Again, much better.

That's it for now. If I come up with any other rules tweaks, I'll be sure to post them.

I soooooooo wanted to play this one, i enjoyed the first campaign very much (yeah, i'm lurking a lot ) But i'm going on vacation for three weeks starting this coming thursday, so it won't really work. (Wildman, if you think it can work, i am so in ) Ah well, i'll just hope you'll make a third campaign one day. Have fun with this one, i'll read it when i get back

Make sure you check back when you get back from vaca. Might be an opening. I'll be including you if I have to roll for players. If you are selected, I'll assume you want to defer your spot until campaign 3, thereby getting an auto-spot there and I'll roll for someone else here. Sounds fair enough to me.

[Wildman]

Don't mind me, just bumpin' mah game up.

[thatguy]

Oh ill sign up.
that-other-goblin

[Wildman]

Because my work schedule has changed, I'll be making the updates in the afternoon instead of the mornings. I hope to post the first battle's details Monday afternoon.

[YoungAndBeautiful]

Since there is a 6th spot still open, would it be ok if I signed up as a temp replacement for narie666, rendering control of the char to her when she returns from her vacation?

If so, I would propose that she pick the chars name, gender and color. (I'm going to write her a PM.)

Until she does, I'll be:
Name: Temp (short for Temporary Replacement)
Color Pastel pink #FFBFFF
Gender: none of your business (think Vasuuvius from OOTS)

If that is not ok with the GM, just ignore this post completely.

[Wildman]

Since there is a 6th spot still open, would it be ok if I signed up as a temp replacement for narie666, rendering control of the char to her when she returns from her vacation?
...
If that is not ok with the GM, just ignore this post completely.

Good with me.

[PicksUpSticks]

I would like to apply as well, if you would have me

Jumps-to-Conclusions

[Zyb]

Dang, I would also like to join this game as it seems all the others are very far along, and I've been wanting to play in one for a while. Oh well, lets hope I get randomly selected!

Name:Smells-Like-An-Orc
Color: #008000
Gender: Male

His whole life, Smells has carried a stanky aura about him. No amount of enchantments or bathing seems to get rid of it. It saved his life, however, when orcish raiders attacked his village and slaughtered his entire clan... except Smells, who was mistaken for a very small orc. He ran away from his orcish captors many times, but they were able to follow his stench and assumed he was just dumb and wandered off. Eventually he managed to escape permanently when a party of adventurers slew the orcs. He joined a new clan, only to see them all slaughtered except for himself and five others. Sick of seeing all those around him die, Smells has taken an oath to not let his fellow prisoners fall before he does.

[narie666]

Ok, since it seems you got enough players for this time, i'm gonna thank Y&B, and wanna reserve my spot for the 3rd campaign. Or did i misunderstand wildman? Anyway, if i am accepted after all into the 2nd with Y&B as my temp, i'm gonna roll with his name, and my gender is gonna be 'confused', all his other info as posted by Y&B is correct , well, i'll be checking my email in some days again, have fun

[kurik]

Didn't lurk the first game, so I'm a total noob, but I can't pass up a arena fight.

FightsDirty #400040 male

[YoungAndBeautiful]

[offtopic]

Dang, I would also like to join this game as it seems all the others are very far along, and I've been wanting to play in one for a while.

There are at least two games with an open spot atm:
The Forsaken
The Clan of the Connected Mesh

Just FYI....

[/offtopic]

So, I will wait and see if I get lucky for narie666.
(BTW, I am a "her" not a "him". And you are welcome.)

[SlamsWithSticks]

I'd like to join. (Would be my first and best game)

Runs for Cover #800000

Male youngling.

[Theonewhoisodd]

(BTW, I am a "her" not a "him".

I thought that was obvious actually...

[YoungAndBeautiful]

(BTW, I am a "her" not a "him".

I thought that was obvious actually...

Well, not to narie666, it seems:

Anyway, if i am accepted after all into the 2nd with Y&B as my temp, i'm gonna roll with his name, and my gender is gonna be 'confused', all his other info as posted by Y&B is correct

[Wildman]

Ok, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna roll for Y&B but not narie666. If she gets it, then they will control the character together as described. If she doesn't get it, then narie666 can have a spot in Campaign 3.

So, it is time to roll for players. Here are the results:

1. PicksUpSticks
2. SharesLoot
3. kurik
4. Zyb
5. Haragorn
6. Theonewhoisodd

Alopex, thatguy, Y&B (and narie), and SlamsWithStick, I'll PM the 4 of you if someone has to drop out or take an extended absence. Also, if you sign up for Campaign 3, I'll give you double odds (2 entries instead of 1).

Players, unless you notify me beforehand (or have a good excuse afterward), missing 3 consecutive days will get you replaced.

Moving on: I'll post the first battle later today. I'm at work right now, so it might not be until the afternoon but I'll get it up today.

[Wildman]

Just looking at character colors...

Jumps-to-Conclusions
Little Feet
FightsDirty
Smells-Like-An-Orc
Thinks Ogres Are Not That Scary
Falsifies Evidence

Enough difference for me (although J-t-C and FD may want to be a little more different). If anyone wants to amend their color, now is the time to do so. Also, I'm assuming everyone except Little Feet is male (some of you posted this some didn't).

[YoungAndBeautiful]

Congratulations to the lucky winners! Have fun with the game.

[SlamsWithSticks]

To bad I'm not in. Anyway, congratulations on all who are. Good luck with the game. I guess I'll lurk anyhow.

[Wildman]

Battle #1 - The Initiation

Your first test will be simple: simply slay the two elves and two drarves that stand in your way. The arena will consist of two 90-degree turns in opposite directions, as you can see on this map. Be warned, when you can't see around a corner, you won't know where the enemies are. In the future, you might not even know the quantity or type of enemy lurking around the corner. But since this is merely an introductory battle, you will know the number, type, and stats of your foes. Here is a list of the gear available to you and some key stats of the monsters you will be facing.

Gear Properties:
Weapons
Short Sword - Melee Weapon - Atk +1
Long Sword - Melee Weapon - Atk +2
Short Bow - Ranged Weapon - Pierce 1, Range 4 (listed as "p1r4")
Crossbow - Ranged Weapon - p2r4
Armor
Cloth - Def +1, Speed Cap 5
Leather - Def +2, Ini -2, Speed Cap 4
Hide - Def +2, Ini -4, Speed Cap 5
Potions
minor Healing Potion (mHP) - Restores 2 HP
minor Fatigue Potion (mFP) - Restores 2 Fatigue
minor Power Potion (mPP) - +1 Atk on next attack
minor Defense Potion (mDP) - +1 Def against next attack
[I Plan on repeating this every battle, adding new gear as we go.]

Gear List (available to goblins this battle):
Weapons - 3 Short Swords, 1 Long Sword, 1 Short Bow, 1 Crossbow
Armor - 2 sets of Leather, 1 set of Hide, 1 set of Cloth
Potions - 2 mHP, 2 mFP, 1 mPP, 1 mDP

Enemy Stats
Elf
HP: 4
Atk: 1p1r4 (Short Bow)
Def: 1 (Cloth)
Ini: 9
Spd: 5
Potion: mHP
Pack: Nothing

Dwarf
HP: 6
Atk: 2 (Short Sword)
Def: 2 (Leather)
Ini: 3 (normally 5)
Spd: 3
Potion: mPP
Pack: Nothing
[Sometimes I won't give you full enemy stats like this.]

OK goblins, now it is time for everyone to agree on how to dole out the gear. Once that is complete, I will show you your starting positions, which will be random within a certain area. The enemies will also start randomly. Good hunting.



Rules Notes:
There will be a fog of war. I'll be coloring squares you can't see in a grey-ish color so you'll know for sure what you can see and what you can't (based on LoS rules). You won't know what an enemy does if you can't see that enemy, but you will always know what character acts when. Enemies will have the same information restrictions. The only way to delay your action is to place a guard order. Whenever orders are placed on an enemy you can't see, you will be notified (eg, the elf takes a guard order and is ready to attack someone).