1. Locations

The Red Ring

Infrastructure

The civilized nations of Khorvaire might frown on blood sport, but the Storm Lords have no such scruples. An astonishing array of events occurs in this arena of crimson stone, as gladiators do battle with savage giants, fantastic beasts, and each other. Not every battle is fought to the death, but in combat with the creatures of Xen’drik, anything can happen.

Adventurers can try to make their fortunes in the Red Ring or by gambling on the outcome of matches. Alternatively, they could be hired to capture beasts to fight in the ring, or they might be drawn into corruption that threatens the life of a friend.


Once the city’s leading entertainment venue and source of gambling revenue, the Red Ring has fallen in prominence in recent years. Rancorous internal politics at the arena and expanding egos on the Blood Council have put the ring at increasing odds with certain powerful interests in Stormreach, but it remains a popular and profitable enterprise and continues to receive the support of the Storm Lords. If that support were to wane any further, however, the Red Ring could find itself in jeopardy.

Adventures

The Red Ring is the perfect backdrop for a gladiatorial adventure or a campaign focused not only on the arena, but also the double-dealing that goes on between the stablemasters and the Blood Council. Not all the PCs need to be gladiators in order to use this scenario. The PCs might be hired by a stablemaster to help ruin their rivals in the ring. The PCs can even start their own stable, with one of them as stablemaster, one as (or more) bloodbound, and others becoming behind-the-scenes schemers and saboteurs against other stables.

HOOKS

The most obvious and direct hook has the PCs joining a stable or starting one of their own, but you can use any of the following situations to tie PCs to the Ring.

Bookie’s Angle

The gambling surrounding the Red Ring’s fights yields mountains of gold for the Blood Council, as well as gangs such as the Golden Lions, and the Storm Lords. The PCs, or people they are closely connected to, end up owing a sizable gambling debt and need to figure out a way to make it right. Alternatively, the PCs are brought in by some faction to start their own stable to fix fights or otherwise influence the betting.

Stable War

The PCs are swept up in a war among feuding stables. They are most likely hired as free agents to sabotage matches and waylay or murder top-tier bloodbound belonging to other stables.

Slave Trade

Stormreach is a city founded by pirates, a city that exists outside the Code of Galifar. It is one of the few foreign markets for the slavers of Darguun. Most people find the concept of slavery distasteful, and few of the regular inhabitants of Stormreach own slaves. The majority of Stormreach’s inhabitants are willing to set aside their distaste for slavery when it comes to the Red Ring. Few people worry whether the gladiators are fighting of their own free will; they come to the ring to be entertained. The only high-placed person involved with the Red Ring who truly wants slavery abolished in Stormreach is Kolos (page 102), but he is outnumbered and hated by the other stablemasters because of his views.

The PCs could enter this conflict on any side. A former slave PC might want to free others. Someone the characters know might be pressed into slavery and sold to a stable. Many of the slaves purchased from Darguun are descended from Cyrans who were taken during the conquest, and a PC could discover that a gladiator is his cousin. Enemies of Kolos could hire the PCs to foil the minotaur’s maneuvers against slavery, to ruin his stable, or to slay him. (Killing Kolos is a dangerous gambit and is best done in the ring, where his death will raise no suspicions.)

Rules of the Ring

The ring has only two rules: No poison can be used by the bloodbound, and no enchantment magic can be employed. The competing bloodbound’s stables decide the rules for each specific match in advance under the purview of the Blood Council.

Many fights are one-on-one matches, but some are team matches. A bloodbound is allowed any weapons and armor his stable can provide. Sometimes a bloodbound is restricted to nonmagical or even substandard equipment for the sake of the viewers’ entertainment. (The crowd loves it when the bloodbound are released into the ring unarmed and must snatch up random weapons strewn about the ground and walls.)

Matches are fought until one bloodbound can’t continue. Mercy is rarely exercised, but permitted. Kolos is the only champion of the ring who regularly spares his foes without earning the rancor of the crowd.

Cheating

Though the punishments for cheating are severe, the activity is nonetheless common. Unscrupulous stablemasters frequently sabotage equipment and poison competitors.

Specialty Matches

Standard one-on-one and team battles are popular, but to keep the crowds coming week after week, the Blood Council creates all manner of exotic specialty matches.

Beast Match

A real crowd pleaser. One bloodbound enters the ring to face some horrible monstrosity that is usually at least Huge in size. Slayers and Crimson Champions are expected to do so unarmored, and on occasion, unarmed. In a new, popular variant, two bloodbound battle each other while various monsters are released into the ring to savage them.

Last Man Standing Match

These meatgrinders always sell out, even though the admission fees are tripled to cover the massive losses the stables take. Most stables contribute several bloodbound to these free-for-all melees in which over twenty gladiators enter the ring, one walks out, and the rest get carried out.

Death Vat Battle

Bloodbound battle over tremendous vats of alchemical acid or brackish polluted brine with tentacled monsters lurking within (chuuls, giant squids, and such creatures). They must navigate a matrix of metal poles, shaky gangplanks, and hanging chains as they fight, requiring a successful DC 15 Balance or Climb check every round that they move at full speed or that they attack in combat. A foe can shake a chain or stomp on a plank to dislodge his enemy (opposed Strength check). If the attacker wins the check, the defender must make an immediate DC 20 Balance, Climb, or Jump check or fall to his doom. Opponents can sunder a plank, pole, or chain as well (hardness 10, hp 15, break DC 25), forcing a foe standing on or clinging to it to make a DC 15 Reflex save or plummet into the huge vat below.

Chain Match

In this one-on-one match, both bloodbound wear spiked rusty gauntlets on their left hands tied together by a 10-foot length of chain. The ring floor is scattered with pits of poison-coated spikes, walls of fire, and other hazards. Every round, each bloodbound can make a grapple check as a free action on his turn. Succeeding on the grapple check allows the bloodbound to either jerk the loser about violently, negating the foe’s Dexterity bonus to AC and giving him a –2 penalty on Reflex saves for 1 round, or he can drag his foe along as he moves, taking a standard action to forcibly move the enemy 10 feet in any direction. Failing on the grapple check imposes a –2 penalty on all the bloodbound’s attack rolls for the round. No rules prevent a bloodbound from sundering the chain (hardness 10, hp 15, break DC 25).

Hail of Death Match

Hail of death was the first new format developed by Malketh since ascending to his father’s position. It is currently wildly popular. Spectators in the front rows of the arena can purchase overpriced crossbows and ammunition from the ring vendors. (No one can bring his own weapons to these bouts.) Spectators use these purchased crossbows to fire upon the bloodbound combatants as they fight. These matches are huge moneymakers, both because of the crossbow fees and the sellout crowds, who love being involved in the matches.

Razor Chariot Match

In this match, pairs of dire tigers pull huge chariots about the arena. The chariots are covered in blades, and huge razored saws extend from each wheel’s hub. Deneith mercenaries who are armed to the teeth ride the chariots, attacking all bloodbound in the arena. The tigers occasionally savage spectators who get too close, as well.

Events

Aside from matches, behind-the-scenes meetings, and much-anticipated championship title bouts, these events could unfold in an adventure set around the Red Ring.

Feast of Blood

At the outset of the Annual Games and its preceding special championship matches, the Blood Council hosts a giant feast in the arena. Hundreds of stable workers, masters, bloodbound, and the invited elite of Stormreach gorge themselves on delicacies and wine on the sandy floor of the ring. These feasts are gala affairs with no expense spared. Singers, acrobats, and displays of strength and martial skill by bloodbound delight the guests. These feasts are important to anyone connected to the Red Ring. One of these events provides the perfect opportunity to bend the Blood Council’s ear and beseech its members’ aid in arranging bouts. A feast of blood is also an ideal occasion to make allies and enemies in arena politics, not to mention a chance to slip poison into a bloodbound’s goblet. Interested parties can also garner blackmail evidence for a philandering stablemaster, Storm Lord, or other highly placed dignitary who lets his scruples fall by the wayside.

Annual Games

These yearly exhibition championships are the only chance a nonbloodbound has to enter the arena and feel the thundering roar of the crowd. Many entrants are adventurers seeking the glory of the ring or more experience in heated battle. Others are hopefuls looking for entrance to a stable. A large number of them are nothing more than deluded spectators tired of being on the outside looking in. Competing in the games is a chance to settle a score with an enemy who might be otherwise untouchable outside the arena. Joining the games also allows PCs to impress an important person of the city (Storm Lord, dragonmarked scion, or other official) who might be a huge fan of the ring. By winning in the games, the PCs might gain a powerful sponsor who can supply the party with information, items, or other aid.

Slave Auctions

Every month, slave ships arrive in Stormreach from Darguun, laden with living cargo packed like beasts in 4-foot-square pens, underfed and dirty. The slaves are marched to the Red Ring to be bought by interested stablemasters. These auctions are a gathering of the elite of the ring. Handlers, stablemasters, slaver kingpins, and other interested parties attend and vie for the hardiest among the new stock. PCs might persuade rival stables’ handlers to refrain from bidding on choice slaves, or they might gather intelligence to aid Kolos’s abolitionist movement. They might even lean on the slavers or try to start a revolt.

After the auction is concluded, the unwanted who are not purchased are not returned to the ships. Instead, they become the stars of a special event called the Slaughter. This event is simple in format and can be viewed by invitation only. The unwanted slaves are left in the ring while a few seasoned bloodbound are released into the arena to butcher them. Anyone suspected of lacking fealty to his stable and the blood sport in general might be forced to take part in the Slaughter to prove his devotion.

Complications

 
 
 
 
 
 
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man standing match).
 
#### Deadly Marksman
 
A rival stable hires a particularly lethal assassin to view
a hail of death match and target the PCs.
 
#### Bloodbound Enmity
 
Another bloodbound of higher standing nurses a
grudge due to some action taken by the PCs (or perhaps due to some slander spread by their rivals). This
bloodbound does his best to humiliate the PCs and
might challenge one or more of them to a match.
 
#### Blood Council Blacklist
 
Malketh or Ralzina decides to give the PCs a particularly hard time, forcing them to fight bouts
under dismally disadvantageous circumstances or
refusing to grant them shots against higher-ranking
bloodbound.
 
#### Outside Influence
 
A crime syndicate or corrupt member of the Guard
or a militia leans hard on a PC or one of his bloodbound allies, roughing up that person and promising worse unless he takes a fall in
his next match so
that certain interested parties can cash in on a highstakes gamble.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Any of the following difficulties might plague the PCs at any time.

Traitor in the Ranks

Someone in the PCs’ stable is actually secretly working for the stable’s rivals. The traitor might report the PCs’ strategies and plans to the rivals, sabotage their equipment, poison them, or even turn on them in the ring during a particularly chaotic match (such as a last man standing match).

Deadly Marksman

A rival stable hires a particularly lethal assassin to view a hail of death match and target the PCs.

Bloodbound Enmity

Another bloodbound of higher standing nurses a grudge due to some action taken by the PCs (or perhaps due to some slander spread by their rivals). This bloodbound does his best to humiliate the PCs and might challenge one or more of them to a match.

Blood Council Blacklist

Malketh or Ralzina decides to give the PCs a particularly hard time, forcing them to fight bouts under dismally disadvantageous circumstances or refusing to grant them shots against higher-ranking bloodbound.

Outside Influence

A crime syndicate or corrupt member of the Guard or a militia leans hard on a PC or one of his bloodbound allies, roughing up that person and promising worse unless he takes a fall in his next match so that certain interested parties can cash in on a highstakes gamble.