January 2007 TOA Information

[LocoColt04]

I was thinking of possibly splitting the information into various topics; however, unlike the inaugural Tournament of Heroes, this installation of the Tournament of Arms has less required reading than those prior. Therefore, please use your browser's find function to jump to any section of the information as listed below -- though reading ALL of it will certainly be to your benefit.

• Anything regarding characters can be found in the separate character application thread. Read through all of the information below prior to creating your characters (or altering existing ones).
• [[Section One]] - Tournament Bracket Setup
• [[Section Two]] - Tournament Background
• [[Section Three]] - The "Kill Post"
• [[Section Four]] - Tournament Fight Environments
• [[Section Five]] - Rules specific to this TOA
• [[Section Six]] - Other Requests

If there are any imperative questions or things that need clarification, ask them here. If you ask me a question which has already been explained and you're just too lazy to read the information yourself, your post will be deleted.

If you have ANY questions regarding how the TOA is judged, read the existing sticky. If anything is unclear, send me a PM. This thread is not for that discussion.

This thread will be closed upon the start of the tournament, where the other judges and I will continue to post updates and tournament standings.



[[Section One]] - Tournament Bracket Setup
During the explanation of the setup, I will use the variables CHAR1 for your first character, CHAR2 for your second character, and BOTH for when both characters are fighting side-by-side.

Assuming there are 16 valid applications (that is my cutoff), the tournament will last for four rounds, as follows:
Round 1: BOTH
Round 2: CHAR1
Round 3: CHAR2
Round 4: BOTH

If there are not 16 valid applications, then the first eight valid applicants will be allowed, and anyone who applied after the fact will regretfully be turned away. I'm sorry, but I'm not willing to work out the complications of another 12-man tournament. Anywho, that will run as follows:
Round 1: CHAR1
Round 2: CHAR2
Round 3: BOTH

During the rounds when BOTH fight, it is important to not only split them up and handle both of them separately, but also to put them together and test various joint attacks or spells or defensive stances whatever else you can come up with. Flexibility is key, and one of the interesting ideas in this tournament is seeing how well you, as the writer, can handle two characters at the same time, and what strategies you will employ.

The bracket will be randomized as it is with every tournament.

THE TOURNAMENT IS EXPECTED TO RUN THROUGH APRIL. Do not apply if school or anything else will get in your way. There's a slight chance it could bleed into a bit of May, but it should certainly be over before the end of the semester. The first round is scheduled to start at the beginning of February. More details will be provided just prior to the start of the tournament.


[[Section Two]] - Tournament Background
I was going to make some long, fancy roleplay intro for this section, but I'll leave that up to your imaginations. Here are the cold, hard facts:

As writers, you know us as judges. As characters, we are only known as gods. (i.e Do NOT refer to us as judges -- refer to us as aliens, gods, mystic beings, unknown voices -- anything but judges.) As characters, you never see us, you only hear us. Booming voices overhead, speaking of instructions, answering questions, and doing whatever the hell we want. We are an alien race who has mastered the power of space and time, able to create rifts wherever and whenever we wish. It is because of this power that we are known as gods, and it is because of this power that we have put together this little tournament.

Think of the tournament as the Roman Colosseum. We (the unseen judges) are doing this for our own entertainment, although unlike the Romans, your characters will not fight to the death.


[[Section Three]] - The "Kill Post"
On that note, I am reinstating "kill posts" for this tournament, in which the winner of every fight is allowed a single victory post to finish off the fight -- it may be done by gracefully accepting your opponent's plea of forfeit or by brutally injuring them until you are commanded to stop -- but no lethal injuries or otherwise incapacitating finishers will be allowed. The path your characters choose should be based upon their personalities rather than your own personal choice. It is out of respect for your fellow writers that you are forbidden to actually kill their characters, though, so keep that respect in mind should you choose to greatly injure them. Kill posts are OPTIONAL, and do not have to be utilized.


[[Section Four]] - Tournament Fight Environments
Environments for EVERY individual fight will be randomized. Every applicant has the OPTION of creating an "ideal" environment that would be advantageous for his or her characters. It should be noted, however, that even with the creation of an environment, there is no guarantee that you (the applicant) will actually get to fight in that environment. If the number of environments supplied does not match the number of rounds in the tournament, the judges will either create the rest themselves or seek the help of other writers not participating.

If we reach the maximum of 16 participants, there will be 15 different fights. If all 16 participants submit environments, TWO will not be used -- I will personally create the environment for the final fight, giving each team of characters some things to use to the other's disadvantage. (Utilization of said environment will be key in winning the final round.) If there are only eight participants, the same will apply, but with eight fewer fights.

Due to the judges' all-powerful state, they have the ability to literally transport characters into any space and time of their choice. These environments will not be illusions -- they will be the real thing, and your characters can suffer real damage. (Well, as real as it gets in a roleplay, anyway.)

There will be a separate thread for the creation of environments. Only those who apply to the tournament will be allowed to post in that thread (until we seek help from outside sources).

Outside of combat, there will be a common area for people to mingle with the other fighters and the spectators. The setup is like a giant colosseum... except it's a space station, so there are stars as far as the eye can see. The building is super-futuristic, with everything made from shiny metallic alloys and whatnot. Each pair of fighters share their own room in a housing area beneath the colosseum. Despite the fact that there is a colosseum, it isn't actually used for the fights (except for MAYBE in the last round... I'm not sure yet). The stadium features massive holographic monitors upon which the spectators can watch the fight.


[[Section Five]] - Rules specific to this TOA
No special alterations. Follow the general TOA rules in the announcement. I must stress the importance of the no-editing clause. As mentioned in the announcement, there is a 15 minute grace period for typo editing -- any edits outside of that time period will be considered as godmodding, and may result in disqualification.


[[Section Six]] - Other Requests
Though the tournament is not judged solely upon grammatical skill, I will say that capitalization and punctuation is required. If you cannot form a complete sentence, you WILL lose in the first round. Remember, the Tournament of Arms is a WRITING tournament, pitting the skill of one writer against another. Perfect grammar is by no means necessary, as one's creativity and concept of progressive storylines are more important, but a strong grasp of the English language and legible writing is certainly a must-have.

Also, I must stress the importance of your knowledge of the RPB rules, especially when considering the futuristic approach of this tournament. The extended TOA rules are also required reading, and they can be found as part of the announcements within this forum. Those rules include the illegality of all curative magic as well as items, which is something many of our newer RPBers tend to ignore. Characters who break the rules will be DENIED, and the applications will be refused until altered.

And finally, as an unfortunate side-note, Malevolence will NOT be allowed to participate in this tournament. In the previous four tournaments he has been a part of, he has advanced to the semifinals or finals and dropped off the face of the earth. I'm tired of the tournament being constantly interrupted by his lack of interest, so he'll have to sit this one out.

[LocoColt04]

For future reference, this thread will be closed and the brackets will be maintained here. Please check this thread for updates on round times, matches, etc.

Now that the bracket is made and the environments are randomized, let me sort out the specifics and then I'll get your threads up.

R1-1: Anomaly v. Itachi Uchiha -- Dural Way Station
R1-2: Great Writer Fuji v. Slim -- The Battleship Erutik Noth
R1-3: TheDarkDragoon v. Rai Blackthorne -- Yuril River Valley
R1-4: Musicmuse v. existingdark -- The Terca'nal Fault Line
R1-5: Kaitou v. Nekoness -- Holst Bhuia Bay
R1-6: Alucard v. Mariko -- The Blazing Nation's Arena
R1-7: Overdriven v. postalblowfish7 -- Celestial Eight
R1-8: psiko v. Seraith -- Pit of Khi'thir

R2-1: Crystal Moon Tarsus
R2-2: Urai Temple of Baiyy
R2-3: The Darkroom
R2-4: Poenari Castle (Ruins)

R3-1: The Equcia Icelands
R3-2: Harbinger's Sanctum

R4: SECRET LAWL


R1 begins 11 Feb 2007 and ends 28 Feb 2007.
R2 begins 03 Mar 2007 and ends 21 Mar 2007.
R3 begins 24 Mar 2007 and ends 14 Apr 2007.
R4 begins 17 Apr 2007 and ends 12 May 2007.