Looking for Tournament Ideas

[william]

Hi all,

I'll be MiC for a small event in November. We'll have a small group of fighters with a wide skill range - from top level fighters (including His Majesty) to very new fighters. I'm looking for tournament ideas that allow everybody to have fun. I'd especially like a tourney where the new fighters don't feel like cannon fodder but can have some personal success moments. So what way of setting up the tournament would provide something for everybody?

All input will be highly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Will

[Steinolf]

The most fun I've ever had was a 5 on 5 tournament. The Knights are all paired with a new fighter (autherizations where done that morning) the rest of the team was done by drawing names from a hat.

Steinolf

[Skutai]

Have everyone write down, in whatever order they like, a list of all the weapon forms they're authorized in. In his first bout each fighter will use the first weapon form on his list, second bout - second weapon form, etc...

A new fighter with, say, only weapon and shield would use that throughout the day. An experienced fighter could use spear his first bout, great weapon his second, weapon and shield his third, and so on. It can yield some interesting match ups.

This is sort of a rock-paper-scissors style tournament. The Tuchux did a more chaotic version of this at Pennsic and it was very fun to watch.

[Wil]

We call these 'squire's tourneys', I think other placces call them William Marshall tourneys (could be wrong here).

Set a time limit for thirty, forty five or sixty minutes. All fighters wander around the eric, issuing challenges to whoever they wish. Winner keeps roaming, loser pops over to a table, reports who they are & who they lost to, and wades back in. They'll usually award three prizes for this; most fights, most wins, and conduct on the field ('Chivalry' prize).

This is a great tourney format for a number of reasons. The newbs don't get knocked out in two fights, but are free to fight as much or as little as they want to. Fighting is usually very clean and fast, there are no 'chess matches' when you are on a time limit and nobody is going to rhino when there's another 50 or 60 bouts waiting to be fought. Autocrats seem to like it as well, since you can have all your fighters exhausted and the-hell-outta-the-way in an hour, rather that running four hours of pickups, chatting in armour etc. They'll usually run these after important tournaments, so everyone gets their fighting fill.

I've only fought in two, but I loved them both and really look forward to the next time I get to play in one of these tournaments.

~Wil

[jester]

Baton combat:
Standard swords with no marked edges. Encourage the fighters to make the swords bright. Small number of fighters so go with a round robin format (everyone fights everyone). Each bout lasts until the marshal in charge decides that it is done (rule of thumb: if one fighter gets five hits ahead of the other or falls down or is driven out of the list then the fight is over) or until one fighter aknowledges that he has been bested. Telling blows are aknowledged (Well struck my lord) but not acted out. Poll the fighters at the end of the day to see who they think fought best.