War Games 101

War Games

A plot focused way to introduce dueling. Think of it as an arc and a tournament hybrid with an added mini game system.

Introduction:

In going over the current style of their dueling tournaments, which is nice and classic, War Games will offer a new way to utilize dueling while also introducing a more plot based driving force. This should also be more approachable to players who might find the traditional dueling format either intimidating or disinteresting.

While historically Hollow has run plenty of arcs for areas that wanted to engage in war, this usually requires someone’s character to have or invent a vested reason to get involved. With War Games, this is super easy to navigate around and makes that particular problem altogether not necessary.

The Games Overview

1. The Strategic Location

This is the place in-game where a decisive battle will take place that will dramatically influence the overall course of the war. The leaders of each side will oocly agree on the location and the stakes that go along with winning or losing the battle at this location.

The location will be announced ahead of time to give the teams time to prepare gambits, schedule skirmishes, and set up the battle.

Example Strategic Location:

A crossroads with an outpost that can see far in multiple directions.

Whoever controls this can defend it and keep an eye on enemy movements from further away. It is also on a crossroads, able to be reinforced from multiple directions, and able to direct supply caravans to different battlefronts.

2. Gambits

Leading up to the battle over the strategic location, both sides employ a number of people to attempt to sabotage the enemy. Each gambit will have at least one player working for each side; the side of the saboteur, and the side defending against sabotage. During the rp, dice will be rolled by someone from each side. The team with the higher dice roll is successful in their gambit and wins a point for their team.

Example Gambits:

1. Victor, a Larketian agent, attempts to infiltrate Cenril and uncover the magic that protects Cenril’s bridge from being destroyed. Zelda is among the mage’s that guard this secret and revitalize the magic every few years.
2. Lydia is a Cenrilian agent tasked with poisoning the Larketian food supply. Xavier is overseeing the supplies and works for Larket.

For a full walkthrough go here.

3. Skirmishes

The fighting kicks off with a small skirmish. Each side will be represented by one champion representing not only their character, but a unit of soldiers that the character commands. The winner will be decided using traditional dueling rules including judges, and will earn a point for his team.

Example:

1. Hans fights for Cenril, commanding a group of cult-like mercenaries. If he loses, these mercenaries are wiped out in the battle.
2. Darius fights for Larket leading their cavalry. If he loses, Larket loses their cavalry in the battle.

For a full walkthrough go here.

4. Final Battle

After all the gambits and skirmishes take place, the Battle for the Strategic Location begins. The winner has been decided beforehand, based on the number of points won in the preceding RPs. This will take place as a sort of free-for-all with anyone who would like to join being present. During this battle, the consequences of the skirmishes and gambits will make themselves known in the environment. At the end, the stakes agreed to by the leaders will be made apparent.

In this final battle all agreed upon stakes will now be collected as the reward for winning.

Uncertain Outcome

Most of the plot will hinge on how well teams use games, team work, and the outcome of duels. This adds an element of excitement and encourages collaboration when building a team. It also allows for there to be less stress on working a story to the “set ending”. The chips will fall where they fall and each team/area will be able to agree on their own stakes for games, matches, and the overall ending.

Point system

• Each location and gambit win will be worth 2 points.
• A skirmish win will be worth 5.
• The team/area with the most accumulative points at the end is named the winner.

Stakes

The stakes depend on who leads which team and what was discussed among the two leaders.

Rules

Play nice. Starting arguments, intentionally breaking these rules, or otherwise being rude and refusing to show good sportsmanship may result in the admin team stepping in to enact punishment.

NPC use:

Established rules for NPC use will be suspended.

Area leaders will provide a list of usable NPCs important to the war effort that may be used by others looking to join without involving their PC in the war plot lines or to fill gaps in an area’s ranks.

These NPCs may be used with the permission of the area leader by anyone.

The idea is that fighting with a character that isn’t your own might help encourage people who want to try something new without worrying about the ego of an established character or not being able to fit narratively with the story. Or for people who are already comfortable dueling but want to try to flex on a character with a different set of skills!

Keeping it moving:

Unlike the traditional style of dueling tournaments, if you are unable to make the date set for your game, duel, or area battle you will lose by default unless there is another PC willing to step in and NPC for your team. This is to keep the plot moving forward and to erase the time issue that arises when events need to be rescheduled too often.

As always, IRL comes first and this is not to penalize anyone, but with the less rigid NPC rules it will be easier to complete battles in the unfortunate event one player has to step away.

Joining the final fight:

Area leaders hosting the War Games will need to agree upon two possible locations for the final fight. They will host the final RP, with the option of moving the final two posts to a secondary location to cut down on screen clutter from the other players if they wish to have a final confrontation between each other.

All final battles will be chaos posting, with the exception of area leaders and their chosen “team captains” who are allowed to come to an agreement on posting order between themselves.

All players will be invited to join in the final battle, to npc soldiers or to have your character caught up in battle, to heal those fallen, or even to have them watching from a tree.

While everyone is invited to join, there will be rules to how we conduct ourselves.

1. Do not go overboard. The area leaders who have agreed to host the War Games will have already set forth the stakes that they are comfortable with and they will be clearly stated before the final battle.

Example: You are a member of the winning team and you write that your character brings 10 dragons into the losing area and lights the entire countryside on fire, in which afterwards he jumps into the fray and murders the leading general of the opposing team's army. DO NOT DO THIS. Your post will be ignored and it will be erased from all logs.

2. Respect the writing that led to the final battle. If your team lost, you are encouraged to write your final defense as strongly as possible but you must honor the stakes your team’s leadership agreed to at the start of all games.