Traditional Tournament

[Harroghty]

So far I have had a few responses for a proposed tournament. This is going to involve some code I am testing to make jousting more dynamic.

The basic requirements:
-mundane plate or mail armor (people who want to participate but do not have this and cannot afford it should express interest anyway and we can make this happen)
-mundane weapons (lances provided, melee weapons brought)
-a plain ol' horse (no griffons, war elephants, etc.)

The event will consist of a joust and some melee events over multiple days (probably); combatants can participate in some or all events. There will be money prizes for individual events and the grand prize, won by the victor of the most events, will be a suit of plate armor and a horse (both unique, but bespoke).

Combatants:
Andreas
Alinor
Aramil
Cahir
Gerfried
Harroghty
Lylena
Nanril
Porter
Roblio
Skylar
Telarik
Xand

Needed:
-more combatants
-feedback on interest in doing level-limited melee events (to encourage max participation)

[Yemin]

I would be in favor of allowing seperate runs of the events for different levels.

The only thing that makes this unusual is that I feel that if this is done. More than general level should be taken into account.

To elaborate, I feel that within the Warrior class different milestones are possible and reached at different levels so a simple 10 level category, 10 - 20 compete, 21 - 30 compete doesn't quite work out because at level 30, almost all the skills you need to beat a level 50 character, 1 through fourth attack, bash, etc are open to you, whereas at level 20 / 21, not so much.

I'd be willing to look at the skills and compile a list of levels I feel is fair if your interested in taking this approach to it.

Other things like trainer availability and how high each skill can be trained will probably be considered but... ya.

[Skylar]

I feel a lvl 10-30 bracket would be very well received, and would certainly see me as a happy competitor. I would be hesitant to add too many brackets to the mix however, because the likelihood of brackets filling falls rapidly as the number of brackets increases.

With that said, I would ask for clarification. Rules specify weapons and armour as mundane only, does this mean competitors are allowed other magical equipment? Attire (bracers/cloaks etc), trinkets (rings, amulets, iouns, symbols of faith etc), or shields, to be specific. Or will competitors be only in the mundane armour and mundane weapon/shield?

[Alinor]

I'd like to add Alinor to the list of participants if that is possible, being only a squire. As for some type of level-based brackets, I don't have a real opinion. Sure, they might give lower level characters a chance at winning something but I don't know how 'realistic' it would be to divide participants in such a way. Either way, I'd like to be a part of it just for the fun and RP.

[Harroghty]

Sklyar: No magic at all. Well, I guess we can decide on holy symbols. Those are usually fine, but nothing else? How's that sound?

Alinor: you're added.

RE: lower levels. I think Skylar's right. Let's reserve the right to have under and over 30 brackets (so just two) provided there are enough competitors for that to be reasonable. Ideally, I think we announce this and wait so that people can train a little to prepare specifically for a non-standard contest. Therefore it might be best to wait until the day of to decide who's in which bracket?

[Yemin]

Agreed.

[Skylar]

Some holy symbols have useful bonuses, some do not. I don't imagine this posing a problem however, so I would agree that symbols aught to be fine.

If we have staggered levels, I'm in for <30. I don't plan to level beyond 30 unless/until I make knighthood so I don't believe I run the risk of slipping into the higher bracket.

[Alinor]

Sounds good!

[Andreas]

The sooner I know the time and date(s) this will be happening, the sooner I can make arrangements to have available computer time. My usual play times are between 2ish PM Central Standard Time to approximately 5 PM Central Standard Time then again from about 9ish PM Central Standard Time until 12 AM Central Standard Time. If this event takes place outside of my usual play times, then I'll need to make arrangements to be able to use the computer for it. But please don't hinge everything on my participation.

[Areia]

Ideally, I think we announce this and wait so that people can train a little to prepare specifically for a non-standard contest. Therefore it might be best to wait until the day of to decide who's in which bracket?

Perfect! I've actually been working on a new character concept over the last few days. Just got him up and running tonight. So I'll have to see how much time there will be from now until the event, but provided there's enough to get him guilded and trained up a little, Gerfried would be glad to participate.

Also, I like the two brackets idea. That'd be more than fine with me, and if I can get this PC to participate, he'll definitely be in the lower levels range.

[Larethiel]

As already spoken to Harrogthy in game, Aramil will make an attendance work permitting. I'm afraid though that my work will most likely not allow any participation.

[Hrosskell]

If I'm not too late to throw my name in the hat, I'd love to participate on Cahir.

[Harroghty]

No, not too late. Your name is in the hat.

Here's an update from my end: I am trying to code a solution to make the joust more exciting. In the past we've done a scoring system based upon damage done (because this can be inferred from the way damage is described). I would rather make it so that lances are broken and opponents are unhorsed; I think that would make it a lot more dramatic.

[Andreas]

Ooh, broken lances and unhorsed opponents would be awesome (and realistic) for a joust!

[Yemin]

Yup, would it be too much to also have a chance of damaging / breaking armor?

I just read the dread wyrm where a lance broke the outer helm of a knight but not the inner and thought that was pretty dramatic.

[Areia]

Gerfried will definitely be good to attend and participate if welcome.

Sounds awesome. Very excited to see how it goes.

[Lylena]

Yup, would it be too much to also have a chance of damaging / breaking armor?

I just read the dread wyrm where a lance broke the outer helm of a knight but not the inner and thought that was pretty dramatic.

I would weep the loss of a supplication or restrung piece of armor, despite how real it would be. But that's just me.

I imagine damage would default to standard rules of damage, that magical items don't deteriorate sort of thing. But I'm not a coder/builder either.

[Alitar]

Yup, would it be too much to also have a chance of damaging / breaking armor?

I just read the dread wyrm where a lance broke the outer helm of a knight but not the inner and thought that was pretty dramatic.

I would weep the loss of a supplication or restrung piece of armor, despite how real it would be. But that's just me.

I imagine damage would default to standard rules of damage, that magical items don't deteriorate sort of thing. But I'm not a coder/builder either.

If it was code rolled out only for this I wouldn't have an issue, but you're right. In theory we would apply new jousting code quite often and not always in non-magic gear.

[Harroghty]

I am looking only at the best way to include broken lances and dismounted opponents. Most D&D sources from the Complete Fighter to articles in Dragon to supplements like Surely You Joust point out that it's almost impossible to unhorse someone who isn't terrible at mount, and therefore suggest alternatives. The idea is to fix that with a soft coded solution, but not to reinvent the wheel.

[Yemin]

Ah, fair enough.

Thanks for the effort thus far.

Found this discussion on implementing jousting. Hope it's helpful:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_RPG ... ing_rules/

I'm more in favor of the bullrush idea myself, which is easily translated here to strength checks / lance attack rolls for the actual hit and mount checks to decide who gets the first chance to try and unseat.

Could be as simple as that to see, if they hit Opponents AC then opposed str checks are rolled to see if you stay in the mount or are unseated. A critical attack roll means you shatter your lance.

I think that accounts for everything, proficiency with lance, strength and accuracy as well as your skill in mounted combat.

Perhaps add a flat bonus to one of these checks if you have the mounted combat feat.