DELVE: The Arena -- Monthly Expansion (Patreon)
Content
Steel strikes steel, beaks break bone, and over it all the cheers of the dwarves can be heard as we celebrate our first inagural tournament in The Arena.
This expansion is all about gladitorial combat using generative fighter profiles to act out tournaments where you have no idea who's going to win.
What does that mean?
Well, once you've got your Hold to a certain point, you'll be able to build an Arena and stock it with Dwarvish Gladiators, mercenary warriors from distant lands, captured prisoners, horrible beasts, and arena dangers. Each fighter gets a Fighter Profile that has their weapons and armours and species bonuses as well as 13 Actions that they undertake when the corresponding cards are drawn. This way, you have no direct control over the fighters and can revel in the show as much as your adoring crowd.
For a great video example, check out Kruggsmash's Splatterface tournaments done in Dwarf Fortress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNTMOh1fAXw
The Arena has three purposes in DELVE:
1) It generates income as you earn money just by hosting the fights. The more dangerous they are, the more customers will arrive. You can also place bets and hope your own dwarvish gladiators win the prize money.
2) Gladiators who survive the tournaments gain great bonuses in Combat.
3) It's a fun way to take a break from the main gameplay loop and try something new.
The Arena isn't due out until the end of the month and I've still got a lot of writing and designing to do but what I'd love to do is run a Tournament right here on Patreon as a way to show off the mechanics and have some fun together.
So, leave a comment below detailing a Gladiator you'd like to put forward. Tell me their name, what manner of thing they are (dwarf pirate, human knight, elvish wizard, goblin knife juggler, frogperson acrobat, orc face eater, whatever you want) and any backstory/ motivation you'd like to give them and I'll deal with all the mechanical things :)
An example would be:
Name: Dandelion The Swift
Pronouns: Male
Species: Gnome
Despite his soft and gentle name this gnomish thief comes to us from The Golden Cage prison in the far off Elvish queendom of Ersia. Quick on his feet and deadly with a blade this thief wields two daggers that he has used to separate a dozen nobles from their money and their lives.
He fights for a royal pardon.
I'd like to run a tournament of 12 contestants, if we get more than that I'll run a poll so you can decide who gets included :)