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Guild Fight

Who Would Win in a Fight?

I wrote this blurb in Creed Shadow Stalker, and the more I thought about it, the more I decided I should dedicate a post to the concept.

The summoners have really dominated the arena/fight club space. Everyone always wants to know "how would I fare against X?" Now they have a way to find out! The summoners make a handsome profit, spectators get to enjoy the show, and the combatants can learn whether they are as good as they think they are in a non-lethal environment. The summoners even have a menu where you can pick your opponent. This arena has been an effective tool for developing combat prowess among the population. They say practice makes perfect, but that's extremely difficult in a profession where failure is usually death. Here, you can try, try, and try again until you get it right.
-Creed, Shadow Stalker

Wouldn't it be cool to have an endless arena where the characters could face off against absolutely anything without breaking the immersion of the campaign?

Construct the Arena

Here's how to set it up in your campaign:

Summoners run an arena.
People pay a fee to face off against a set battle of creatures or creatures of their choosing.
The characters are each given a magic ring that stabilizes them should they be reduced to 0 hit points (they take that ring back after the combat and it only works within the arena should anyone get any funny ideas...).
The characters can keep paying to keep trying.

Future Adventures

That's all you need for the base structure. From there, you can take it in a ton of directions:

D6

There is a competition putting characters through a series of increasingly difficult fights culminating in a face off between the two highest ranking parties.
The arena is secretly used to find and eliminate threats to the political elite's power.
The summoners hire adventurers to find exotic creatures, so they can study them and add them to their "menu" of combatants.
Every Friday there is a friendly sparring competition between a mix of warriors and summons.
The characters can observe their competition from the stands and formulate strategies to counter their abilities.
The fight club is secret and characters have to find a way to join.

That's it! You've got an easy to use arena with whatever creatures you or the players want to fight against without breaking the immersion of the campaign.

If you want even more, grab the Coldforge Gauntlet.