How it works
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Arena Trials are pivotal challenges housed within Fate’s Gauntlet, designed to test the mettle of those aspiring to gain membership or advance within the Great Guilds. These trials offer a rigorous path for characters to develop their abilities, acquire significant enhancements or suffer setbacks, and ultimately define their destinies within the guilds.
Game Master Guidance
GMs this is where you can use these trials to deepen player engagement, offering substantial rewards and consequences that meaningfully impact character development and the broader narrative. Encourage players to embrace the challenges of the The Arena within the Arena Trials, using them as opportunities to truly define their characters’ legacies within Fate’s Gauntlet, which is located at the bottom of the Arena Trials. Typically The Arena was designed by House Crono-Mog-Roshuth the better to test The Fighters Guild Members, however, since the Arena is so adaptable, there was an inner Guild agreement (and a contract) made, so that the other guild members can also take part, the better to enhance themselves (the proverbial character sheet). Also as an added bit of convenience, Fate’s Gauntlet is also available at the Quest Page too.
Implementing Trials
Trials should be seamlessly integrated into campaigns, either as essential narrative milestones crucial for guild advancement or as optional side quests offering unique benefits. Successful completion of a trial results in the character gaining permanent enhancements to their abilities, symbolizing their growth and prowess. Failure, however, results in permanent deficits, reflecting the trials’ rigors and the character’s need for further development.
Customizing Trials
Guild Masters (GMs) are encouraged to tailor trials to reflect the themes of their ongoing campaigns or to resonate with specific character backstories, ensuring that each trial feels both personal and impactful.
Trial Dynamics
Guild Rivalries and Alliances: Utilize trials to foster rivalries or forge alliances, influencing guild standings and reputations across the game world of Ertha, or your own.
Special Events: Incorporate trials during in-game festivals or significant events to add layers of excitement and time-bound challenges.
Narrative Integration
Each trial should serve as a narrative unto itself, offering deep insights into the history and ethos of the guilds and the broader cultural and political landscapes of the game world. You might want to spice things up, by adding some NPCs into the mix, offering their services for assistance, under a Guild Contract which makes it impossible for a character to withdrawal, and forcing them to finish what they started, for better or worse.
Advanced Mechanics
Difficulty Scaling: Trials should scale in difficulty based on the characters’ abilities and past accomplishments, maintaining a challenging yet fair progression.
Dynamic Environments: Introduce environmental elements that change the conditions of trials in real time, requiring adaptive strategies and quick thinking.
Enhancing Role-Playing
Backstory Elements: Integrate elements of a character’s backstory into the trials, such as personal vendettas or long-held dreams, which can significantly influence the trial’s course and outcome.
Role-Specific Challenges: Design specific challenges that cater to particular roles within the guilds, enhancing the relevance and engagement of trials.
Trial Outcomes
Success: Characters receive a permanent increase in abilities relevant to the trial, enhancing their role within the guild and game world.
Failure: Characters suffer a permanent decrease in certain abilities, necessitating quests for redemption and recovery.
Withdrawal: Characters face no change in abilities but acquire a tarnished reputation, which they must strive to overcome through further role-play and achievements.
Long-Term Development
Legacy and Mentorship: Successful trial completes can take on mentorship roles, guiding newer members and influencing future guild strategies and developments.
Guild Histories: Maintain detailed records of trial outcomes to influence future narratives and preserve the evolving history of the guilds.
