GRIMDARK GLADIATORS - Discussion

[sparkletwist]

GRIMDARK GLADIATORS
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war... STREAMED TO YOU LIVE 24/7!

Grimdark Gladiators is a game in which players take the part of gladiatorial managers in a decadent and corrupt futuristic (and yet, oddly anachronistic) society that resembles a sci-fantasy Greco-Roman civilization.
It is is inspired by the "Grimderp" genre (that is, grimdark that is so grim and dark it is absurd and silly) much more than anything serious, and should be considered quite tongue-in-cheek.

The Game thread is here.
The Introduction/Rules/Rosters thread is here.

Please post comments, suggestions, gladiator ideas, and such in this thread.

[SA]

Er. Ma. Gerd. This is guhlouriousssss.

My gladiators are going to be All Style, No Survivability. Sheer suicidal spectacle.

[Steerpike]

Very awesome!  Count me in.

Ideas for gladiatorial teams, just off the cuff:

- Effete elegent alien sadomasochist amazons who specialize in weird weapons and take a lot of gruesome trophies.

- Vatgrown pit-slaves genetically engineered for maximum brutality (lots of extra limbs, augmentations, implants, grafts, etc).

- Orks (or their equivalent).

- A team of condemned criminals hoping to earn their freedom by fighting.  Like Suicide Squad only gladiatorial.

Question: will their be mactches against animals (alien beasts or whatever)?

[SA]

Here's all the names I came up with so far in IRC:

The Pain Jockeys, Brutilator, Frenulus, Psychomotor, Brainwreck, Wisdom Tooth, Mr. Kissing, Tussie Mussie, Dogpound, Captain Wax, Kaiser Miser, Soft Mama, Roteye, Deadthing, Daddy & the Autoboys, Pin & Needle, A.W.O.L, Thumper, Peace Addington, Bandwagon, Wastenot, Eyesore, Frenzy, Gorepool, Mastadon, The Good Doctor Zechariah, Ten Blessings, Moot, Borealis, A Tender Lady, Carionetta, Chester Melancholy, Axewound, Blister, Totus Floreo, The Bad Seed, Hard Candy, Technobabble, Sweet Spot, Jackanape, Urchin, Uctthuzibbea, Tiny Screaming Thing, Sturm/Drang, Deathbed, That Bastard, Strange Eons, Vanquished, Warcrime, Fusillade, We Three Kings, The Fustigator.

As you can see, I'm totally pumped.

[sparkletwist]

Excellent names and team concepts. :D

Orks (or their equivalent)

Like you did with Underdeep, I am going to express an aesthetic preference towards filing off serial numbers-- the idea of space orks (especially with the k spelling) is kind of a 40K thing in my mind. So let's call them Greenskins. (But they can certainly be a toothy and somewhat dim-witted race with a penchant for wanton slaughter. That fits right in!)

mactches against animals (alien beasts or whatever)?

Definitely! PvP is far from the only option.

[Rhamnousia]

SA, I'm obliged to add Dead Dreamer and the Hatewhales.

[SA]

Red Matter, Toothsome, Gnawbones, Double Decker, Rapekid, Nappo & the Whistler, Cryptid, Modus, Protobiont, Meateater, Squeezes Gently, Precursor, Ergo Sum, Baby Chew, Ravenoid, The Elders of Axxxxa, Firemarshall, Beastly-Beastly, Mezzo Piano, Unknown Quantity, The Duke of Aldebaran, White Masque, Cattleclysm, Scrivener Thoob, Antiman, Grapnel, Weep, Hushnow, Morsel, The Diluvian, Dead Dreamer, The Hatewhales, Cannonbull, Gristle, Lachryma, Psych Viper, Short Fuse, Glass Giant, Gloombox, Grimstone, Tammy Ache, Slime, Madcap, Booster, Breachload, Lazerblade, Blight Knight, Ghoulash, Voidking, Carcino, Mickey Bonesaw, The Execution Cube.

[Nomadic]

Like I said in IRC I very well may play and if I do at least one of my gladiators is going to be a huge guy with spiked gauntlets that punches the shit out of everything. I was thinking of calling him Iron Fist. Other names I've thought up for characters include:

Quicksilver, The Undertaker, Phaedros, Lord Violence, Sibilance, The Verdant Prison, Skandor, Iodire the Gutripper, Deathstalker

[Rhamnousia]

I'm probably not going to use this idea, but if we're going for maximum weirdness here, you could have a promoter whose team is made up entirely of other-dimensional versions of themselves.

Right off the bat, the system looks promising. The whole Active Stat thing interests me a lot and I'm curious if there'd be a reason not to choose the gladiator's strongest stat. Like would there be a mechanical difference between a move utilizing Brutality versus the same move utilizing Weird?

Basic equipment is obviously covered by the four stats, but will there be any chance of managers getting their hands on special gear to give their fighters an edge?

[sparkletwist]

The whole Active Stat thing interests me a lot and I'm curious if there'd be a reason not to choose the gladiator's strongest stat. Like would there be a mechanical difference between a move utilizing Brutality versus the same move utilizing Weird?

Yes, and that's where it becomes interesting tactically. There will be moves that, as a side effect, set the AS to be a certain stat. If your gladiator is weak in that stat, you're stuck with it until it can change again-- so you have to consider carefully if and when to use these moves, or if you even want them in your repertoire at all.

Basic equipment is obviously covered by the four stats, but will there be any chance of managers getting their hands on special gear to give their fighters an edge?

Yes, I plan on having a simple equipment system to hopefully give some synergy and tactical depth with the moves.

[Rhamnousia]

Yes, and that's where it becomes interesting tactically. There will be moves that, as a side effect, set the AS to be a certain stat. If your gladiator is weak in that stat, you're stuck with it until it can change again-- so you have to consider carefully if and when to use these moves, or if you even want them in your repertoire at all.

Awesome! I can't wait to see what some possible moves will be.

As to whatever the game's economy turns out looking like, there should definitely be some sort of betting option. Especially if you can bet even bet against your own fighters in matches where you're hopelessly outclassed.

[HippopotamusDundee]

Character Concepts

-A huge and powerful member of the People, the strange ape-men from the far strange jungle-worlds of the Edge
-A cowled and hooded stranger from a harsh desert-world, who fights with a bow, a great long whip and a short stabbing spear and drinks the blood he spills
-A cold and cruel noble; a former executioner for a petty planet-fiefdom, he let his sadism get the better of him and was banished for making 'art' of the governor's favourite concubine
-A squat and bandy-legged elder, a consummate survivor whose dirty tactics and devious mind make his long-knife and ageing bones more than a match for younger fresher gladiators  

[Ghostman]

Borg drones. All 100% identical. Totally replaceable. Exist solely to perfom their designated functions. No personalities, no identities, no souls. Resistance is futile.

[sparkletwist]

I've posted a bunch of stuff!

[Rhamnousia]

It looks amazing!