Daelrog's Wargaming Blog (v 2.0)!

Inspiration

Inspiration to undergo any project is sometimes the most difficult thing. What got me interested to write my onw arena? Why did I even bother checking them out?

I remember way back when when I first joined I checked out a few of the old arenas. However, back then I was only interested in 40k so the arenas didn't really lure me. I thought it was cool, it just wasn't my game. It wasn't until my sudden passion for Vampires (kinky, I know) (this was shortly before the new book came out that everyone hates) and Fantasy opened its doors to me.

The first Arena of Death I entered was still my favorite, the 2008 Summer Arena held by SteamTankDriver, and assisted by DavidVC.. ahem, I mean DavidWC04 and Tekore. The writing, the setting, the mood was just write. It got me hooked, and since then I knew that it would be my most active place on the forum. (Also want to give a shout out to Pheonix who gave me his spot for that arena).

After that, I began entering more arenas, and started picking up on things I liked and didn't like (losing) in them. I proclaimed that I wanted to do an arena, but that I would wait until I entered a contestant for every army book. It was SteamTankDriver and DavidWC04 who convinced me to take it on earlier, and so I did. Novemeber 6, 2008 I posted up the sign up.

Concept (Gaming)
Some arenas have slight quirks that were different form one another. Some had a few extra or less banned items. Some allowed some magic, others none. I had something slightly more radical in mind. I wanted an arena with almost no holds barred save for a few things.
1) No greater daemons.
2) No monstrous mounts
3) No special characters
4) Must be legal in a game of Warhammer

Spoiler Alert!

I did this for several reasos. First, it fit the fluff of the greatest warriors bent to the will of a higher power at work. Greater daemons were a little too strong, and really wouldn't partake in the storyline I had. Monstrous mounts, as cool as they are, underminded the idea of an arena, of a 1v1 battle. The other two rules I think are self explanatory. Post here or PM me if they are not.
The reason I wanted no holds bar were for a few reasons. First off, I knew I wanted a boss at the end. I wanted characters to have a fighting chance. If I had made a point limit, I doubt the boss fight would have been as close as it was, and not nearly as intense.
I also wanted the chance to write for some different characters. Daemon Princes, Treemen Ancients, Vampire Lords, etc. Most of these do not belong in a regular arena, so I wanted to give them a chance, and wanted to be the one who had some fun with them (yes, I know, I know. Mind out of the gutters!). Also, I wanted to see who really was the best fighting character. In a regular game of Warhammer, your opponent doesn't get to tell you that a certain item is banned.

Concept (Storyline)

Spoiler Continues

The girl with the blue eyes. The main figurehead over the entire Arena. She was compared to the Red Queen in Resident Evil (not a good movie at all, but I've seen plenty worse, especially in its genre). No, my inspiration for her mostly came from things like Alice in Wonderland and Goldie Locks. She was the inquisitive child that we've all become so familiar with in Western stories. I took that theme, and stretched it further. If a child can be interested in a flower, or a butterfly, why not fighting? Why not the twisted fate of those destined to die in battle? I think it was her interactions with ArchonFarseerGuy's Black Bart that brought out her true character the best.
I surrounded her with other strangley familiar charaters such as the Laughing Fox, the Man with the Lute, the Lord of Change Krytachrkl, and the Marionette. Like the little girl, all of these characters can be seen throughout writing if you only look cosely enough. I merely took certain archetypes that complimented each other and I gave them my own spin. The same body with a different outfit so to speak.
I knew certain things ahead a time. I already knew the Man with the Lute's relationship to a certain character right off the bat given that member's build, and habit of winning. I also knew the end game pretty much. It was really just the middle that was up for grabs.
I didn't want this to be a typical 'Arena'. With such powerful character at play, I thought it silly for all sixteen to be slapped in one stadium. No, instead I chose to make the world and beyond my arena. It gave me the chance to work with a number of different settings, something that is hard to do in a normal arena. It also allowed me to make a more fluid storyline. It's still very possible in a one setting arena, just harder.

Spoiler Ends

Arena Characters
Black Bart by AFG : Black Bart, one of my favorite characters in the arena (Yes, I had favorites. That's why DavidWC04 and AFG rolled the dice for the matches.) Though taken as a slight spin from Sheriff Bart from Blazing Saddles, I took the character in a different direction. He was truly the anchor character in my arena. (Every Arena has one or two anchor characters if you read through the lines.) He was the one with the deepest connection to the little girl, and really mellowed out many of the wild personalities in the Arena.

Benge, the Shadow King by RobtheGure : Benge, the favorite to win the arena right off the bat. His intro was one of the more interesting ones, and harder ones to right. It's difficlt to write for insane characters. Chaos (the term, not the religion) is needed, and to those of us with sanity, we want to put structure and order to everything. Benge was even trickier as not only was his mind gone, but also his body.

The Dark Lord of the Beasts by mpdscott : This was a different play at a Vampire. It was more akin to a Beast of Chaos than a vampire. Sophistication and savagery incarnate, an interesting juxtaposition, but not the oxymoron people would think it is. Probably the biggest underdog of the arena due to extra points in fluffy upgrades with no bearing, he still had a lot of character to get into. It was fun for me to go into the Strigoiesque side of the army I love, as opposed to my normal aptitude for Carsteins.

Standing Corpse by Attila the Hun Jr : Standing Corpse was another character that had a different feel than its actual race. A Dark Elf playing more like a Wight King in writing. As I read Attila's fluff one word sprung to mind; Rephallim. I played with that notion and I think it worked well. Writing for him went both directions. I think he was one of the easiest to write up for the intro, but proably was the hardest first round fight for me to write. He was a character written to take down big hordes and monsters, not champions. Still though, it helped me see the difference between the two styles.

Grixis, Prince of Thralls by Lore_Colten : One of the harder arena characters to write for. A mix of Orc, Vampire, Spawn, and human as far as his actions and attitude from previous arenas suggested. This limited me, but it let me focus on a few key elements. I think the funnest part of the character was its constant mutations, and I expanded it. I think it worked for a Vampire Orc.

Falantor by Avatar of Khaine : A Treeman. One of the things I wanted. Time is usually against me when it comes to writing given my schedule, but time within a story has always been good to me. Time is a great way to evoke stronger emotions, and that's what I did with Falantor. An Ancient without his forest? No problem. The real trck was trying to cover a more caring side before the battles began, giving the readers at least a few good guys to root for.

Balloch the Unknown by xanaq : A fighter, not a lover. Pure, undistilled action. The only shame was that I never really managed to get too deep into the character. Armor was a little too thick with everything else going around. However, he managed to do what a Khornate Lord should, and that was to kick ass. Really, the easiest charaters to write fights for are the ones who are just all-round warriors. It let's them work in a variety of situations as opposed to specialists (like most of my characters).

Kibbles by Arklite : I hate that name. So, I shortened it to Kibb for the most part. Kibb actually turned out to be perhaps the most dynamic characte write for in regards to humor vs drama vs action. He fit into each quite well. It was pointed out to me that I seemed to pick on him throughout the tournament, and I can't deny it. It wasn't anything personal. He was the human in a crowd of immortal beasts and monsters. His was a coming of age story, and I think he measured up to that.

Brahthor Khaalin by Deadstar_MRC : Wonderful character, annoying name. Honestly, don't make the spelling harder than it has to! Be nice to the host! Brahthor was a balst to write for. I started him off as the questing hero of the arena, but turned that to the bitter and arrogant enemy when it needed to be done. Complemented by an interesting backstory by Deadstar, gave me further encouragement as I knew my writing would be affecting future arenas for him.

Kruk the Raging by andre : Orcs work well in an arena setting. They love to fight, and that’s what arena’s are all about. Orcs range from murderous, unstoppable beasts to outlandish fops and everything in between. Give a quirk or two and you have an Orc character. andre immediately helped out my storyline with the addition of Kruk’s staff which contained the stolen souls of High Elf mages. Mix that with another characters intro, and you got the whole arena centered around something subtle yet ever present. Look at the progression of the fights and you’ll see why it worked out so well. Kruk did well in a fight as well as out of one, making him a good addition to the arena.

Kharleth Skinflayer by GingerNinja : This was the biggest surprise to me. At first, I thought he’d be one of the hardest characters to write for. I was not looking forward to his fluff. However, as I scanned the character again I noticed that much of it was left open, allowing me to get in and to play with the character. Kharleth gave me the chance to really delve into my impression of the Druchii and I thank GingerNinja for that. Sometimes the best character to write for is the one you know nothing about at first rather than the one with a detailed background (like my characters ).

Krug by stayscrunchyinmilk : Krug was another challenging character. He had the right recipe for a warrior, the trick was to get it just right. So, I put Krug in his natural element, fighting. I kept him in the fight where he belonged, and added an extra connection to the Marionette to tie him into the story, and make him the perfect tool for increasing mystery of the plot.

Flying Ninja Skink of Doom by Pheonix : I love this character. I want to write for him again. Many other writers have used him as the underdog, the small lizard surrounded by big, bad warriors. He works well in that, but I much prefer his roll as the sage. Inspired greatly by the end of the Off-Seasonl # 2, I tried to develop his character. Not just some random lizardman with a silly name, he was a radical, an outcast, a wanderer whose knowledge and desire to fight the forces of Chaos kept him going.

Lord Zapagap by DavidWC04 : Imagine yourself in a room. All right, now imagine a seven-and-a-half-foot tall hairy, muscular, bloodlust warrior wearing nothing but a helmet. Oh, and he's trying to put a model together. Not only is this half of the members on the forums, but also one of the entrants. He stole the spotlight by making us all look the other way. He was a great asset because his outlandish exterior made it easy to see the lines between external and internal, and helped me build his character deeply. Love, hate, anger, frustration, sorrow, and regret all made its way into one of the funniest characters ever to enter the AoD forum.

Gorehack by Undead Bonzi : Phew. At least one person made a daemon prince. A blood red beast with horns, fiery eyes, and an ancient rivalry with one of the supporting characters. He made for a great character to get me over that last hump for the intros, and was the perfect character for the first fight. I believe he was the center of my best kodak moment in the entire arena.

Tzotzomatzin : If Black Bart was the anchor, Tzotzo was the chain right above, helping tie the story together. Tzotzo had been written well before, which made it easier, and was just great to have. Noble, loyal, free-willed, righteous, and an all-round fighter made it easy to write for. Also a vicious build that was designed for an regular arena, but could still compete in mine.


Challenges I Faced

Like any project, you encounter several challenges along the way. Each were surprising in their own way, and each one I tackled with varying amounts of success.

Interest - At first it was very hard to get enough members to join the arena. Whislt other arenas had to turn people down, mine actually couldn't find people. Why? Many people were turned off by the lack of standard rules. They saw it as a way just to make overpowered, cheap builds. This was true, but then again, everyone could do it. My assumption was that people would jump at the chance to try something they couldn't in a normal arena, but it turned out that people like the arenas the way they are. It took a lot of reaching out, but eventually sixteen people came and it worked out.

'Squeakers' - One member wished to include the goblin Squeakers McDiesalot. It was a build that had next to no chance against any of the other builds. Also, as the name implied, it was a character designed to be killed off. Due to this, I at first asked the member to try to modify the character. Not taking me up on that, I then pressured the member into changing their character until they did. This was a challenge I had not expected, to be faced with a character that seemed to have no place in the arena. The correct argument was made to me by several members that people should feel free to enter their characters. Other members had the correct argument that there should be some standard set. In hindsight, I believe I made the wrong choice by pressuring that member. Although I feel I had plenty reason to be annoyed, it was not my place (even as the iron fisted arena master) to make that call. For those of you making your own arenas, I suggest making whatever character standards you have clear before the arena to avoid this.

Originality - Something most of you don't know, RobtheGuru's arena and mine at one point shared almost the same focal point for a plot. Yep. As I read his fluff for his arena I caught on immediately to what was happening and I PMed him about it to make sure. After a few messages back and forth I changed my arena plot slightly. In order to have an arena, you have to be prepared for some changes in your original plot. An arena in the desert is going to be awfully strange if you get seven wood elfs, your idea of political subterfuge is questionable if all of semi-finalists are khornate champions, and that arena you were going to have in Cathay... two members just did the same thing right before you! Be ready to change things a bit.

Intros - Just as many intros as fights. Simple as that. Half of my posts were over before the fighting began. Intros are great, they give characters who get knocked out the first round (a little over half of all the characters) a chance to be explored. It lets us see the characters in a different light than simply fights to the death (not that it's not a very revealing situation). However, it is a challenge. I got it done through sheer will and stubborness, and am glad because of it. Next time though, the intros will be shorter, mixed together, or I will recruit help.

Raising the Stakes - I tried to give it my all from the first fight on. The problem with that is when trying to make each fight after that even better is stressful. I think I did pretty well for the most part, mostly because I found my groove half way through the fights. Still though, if you start off big, be ready to continue big.

Awkward Matches - Some matches were hard to make flow. Through some brainstorming and trial and error I got through it all, but not every pair fo characters were designed to fight each other. I think the lack of point limits made this increasingly so. Falantor, a treeman against Benge, a creature of pure shadow was one such fight. Kibb vs Standing Corpse also was tricky. The only other fight I found a little tricky was Skinja and Grixis. If it had gone the other way I could have easily gotten it done, but making the intellectual lose to the ravening beast is kind of like man bites dog. Interest subject, not easy to apply. Read the fights to see my solutions.

Time - I felt a little rushed by the end. Heading out to China gave me a deadline. Personal life is going to get in the way. If it doesn't, you need to re-evaluate what you're doing. Don't want to be mean about it, but really, other things have to take precedent over your Arenas. That is why having some other writers is always a good idea and something I will implement from now on.

Interest (again) - The hardest challenge I think is to keep someone interested even if their character dies. The best solution is good writing. Although I hate to lose, and I HATE IT SO MUCH MORE when the writing is great (I want my characters to be written well, MINE!) I still keep my interest. After all, this is a competition which usually about 10-14 people are contending to win it all. How many playoff games have you watched after your team loses in comparison to if they're still in it? I think I did an okay job at retaining interest, but there's always room for improvement. Maybe find a way for defeated members to do something? What? Heck if I know, but just throwin an idea out there.

Favorites - I'll admit it again. I had favorites for this arena. It wasn't really that bad, but there were a few cases that I was disappointed to see a character go early. Wasn't that I was rooting against anyone, just rooting for some characters more. Perhaps this is inevitable, but hopefully I go into future arenas with a little less bias, and a little more love for the roll of the dice. I still reccommend a separate person to roll for the matches. Writing is hard enough without that added responsibility. I only hope that my bias didn't come out too much in the writing *crosses fingers*.

Boss - In the end there was a boss. Although this is sometimes a good idea, it also takes away from the actual final between the two finalists. I'd like to see more arenas with both before I make my judgement, but for now I'm leaning towards no final bosses.

Unofficial Awards

Spoilers!

Best Fight - Bart vs Brahthor

Best Moment - Tztotzomatzin opening his eyes to see Gorehack bursting through the sand.

Best Intro - Tzotzomatzin (with the help of Skinja)

Funniest Moment - "By Sigmar! Put on some pants!"

Strangest Moment - Bart losing his final wound to Kibb's horse

Best Kill - Kharleth ripping Krug's face off.

Most Subtle Act - Using blue-colored words to subtlely hint the presence of Tzeentch. Look where I used it in before and during the arena.

Winner - Tzeentch! Tzeentch always wins!

Alternate Ending? - Okay, not an award, but I'll post this anyway. If Zapagap had opted to face the other boss and won, he would have won his Sweetie Pie's heart simply by using brute force to slay her other suitors and demand her hand in a very manly fashion. Thus the lesson would have been to put fate in your own hands.


Final Thoughts

This arena went better than I expected, despite the problems. I really enjoyed it, and I think the response was very positive. Of course, there is always room for improvement, and I will take the lessons gleamed from it, and also watch other writers closely to see what works, and what doesn't.
It was great practice, and I really look forward to my next arena coming this Summer.

For those of you who have nto been involved in the arenas, yet spent all this time reading this, or who just jumped to the end, check out that section of the forum. We really need new blood and ideas!

Right, just edited my whole synopsis of aTtLF. Holy smokes! 53 errors!

I scanned this. Interesting to see your thoughts on the work. I'll have to read it in detail when I'm not rushing through my pre-work circuit of web sites.

wow, nice summary!

I loved the arena, and i'm impressed by how much stuff you have on these blogs.