To the Death!

Author: MHP

Violence is a popular form for entertainment in the Old World. Peoples’ craving for experiencing violence and willingness to pay money for it while staying at a safe distance themselves has sprouted off organized fights usually referred to as pit fights. To the Death! tries to describe the pits and what goes in and around them.

Some History | The Fighting Grounds | The System
Combatants | The Fights
Gambling | Rewards
Other Countries | Humanoid Pit Fighters | Legal Matters
Careers

Some History:

It is believed to have started in the imperial year 91 IC when the noble Gustavus von der Hauptberg wanted to commemorate his recently dead father with a staged combat between a few of his slaves. The fight was everything but deadly but it thought such a good idea that similar events started occurring increasingly more often during funerals. The fights became more and more copious and elaborate but in time they also became more dangerous and soon deadly. This change is said to have come from the increasingly popular belief that the blood of the living could strengthen the spirits of the dead or even revive them back to life.

Historians are unsure when the first commercial fight was set up but they do know that at first the only ones to fight were condemned criminals, slaves or prisoners of war. At first the fights were also performed outside on open fields but because of the danger posed by the combatants and the start of using dangerous animals and monsters to fight, the fights instead were performed in specially made pits. Hence the names ‘Pit’, ‘Pit Fights’ and ‘Pit Fighter’ for the arenas, the fights that occur there and the fighters themselves respectively.

Today there are pits all over the Old World but the sport has changed over the years from how it was at first. There are 4 major changes of note. Firstly, the fights are not as brutal as they once were as the government has laid out some rules that must be withheld. Secondly, the popularity of the pit fights has lead to great amounts of money to change hands at every fight. This includes entrance fees, gambling and the buying and selling of warriors amongst other things. Thirdly, the fortunes and fame the successful Pit fighters are exposed to have drawn many people into professional careers in the pit. Finally, the many rules set by the government have opened up a new dimension; illegal pit fights.

The Fighting Grounds:

Basically there are two types of pits, the legal ones and the illegal ones.

The nobility, almost without exception, owns the legal pits. Pits vary greatly in size but they all operate in a similar manner. First of all, as well as obtaining a suitable pit, the owner must also be licensed to operate it. This license costs 100 GCs and must be renewed annually. The owner of a pit then hires a Handler to run the pit, set up the fights, get fighters, animals and monsters and all other day-to-day operations. A Handler that runs a pit is usually referred to as Pitmaster. The Pitmaster then hires the other staff of the pit, the Ringmaster, other Handlers (only in the larger pits), Bookies, Guards (use Bodyguard profile), Ring servants (use Servant profile but they have 75% Animal care and 0% Etiquette and Heraldry), Scribes, Physicians and last but not the least the Pit fighters themselves as well as others. Some pits, usually the larger ones, also employ Clowns and/or Raconteurs to serve in between fights.

The illegal pits are those that operate without a license. Frequently various types of prohibited types of fights go on in those arenas and they are more brutal. Located somewhere hidden the arenas are usually much smaller and fewer people can attend, although they often are more packed together on the stands.

When a pit is to be opened, it is advertised around the local community several days in advance, even mentioning some of the fights that will be fought. The larger and wealthier pits can afford to have posters put up but others have Town criers in their services (which the larger ones also do). Rarely do pits open more than twice a week and once a week is usually the norm. Illegal pits on the other hand are opened whenever they have enough fighters to make an interesting evening. A fee of 2/- up to several GCs is paid upon entering the pit area. This differs between individual pits and depends upon where people are located, the length of the show and the reputation or nature of the combatants as well as other factors such as whether the pit is legal or not. The authorities take about 10-20% of the entry fee to put in their coffers. A typical pit can comfortably contain from 250-750 people and have an arena of some 150-500 square yards. Not many are smaller than that but many of the big pits in larger urban areas are much larger. For example The Crater in Altdorf can contain 5500 people comfortably seated and Mananns’ Pothole in Marienburg is split into three sections with three separate pits (one of which is always filled with water), where a total of 5000 people can watch, and onlookers can move freely between the sections. Usually the fights take place during the evening but sometimes pits are open all day with almost constant action. The latter is usually only during special occasions, festivals or similar.

Underneath the audience stands are corridors and chambers serving various roles. The area there is basically split into 4 sections. First of all there are living chambers, kitchen and mess hall where the fighters and employees of the pit can rest and eat. Secondly there is the infirmary where the wounded are treated and sometimes allowed to recover. Thirdly there are the cells where slaves, prisoners and dangerous creatures can be kept. And finally there are the preparation areas, where fighters prepare to enter the pit and animals are made ready. Then there are the offices and the commercial areas, including the booth. These are almost always somewhere upstairs, the commercial areas near where people enter the pit and the offices there at the back.

The System:

As mentioned before, when pit fighting was a new sport the participants were slaves, convicts and prisoners of war. Slaves were valuable to their owner and to lose a fit and healthy slave was simply a disaster for most. Therefore, either their owner or someone the owner hired, usually called a Handler, would take good care of the slave, see to it that he gets what he needs, bartering for easy fights for him and whatever needed to be done to increase his survival chances while yet fighting in the pit, earning his master money. The convicts or pow’s were not as valuable but they were often bought from the authorities into slavery. That only happened to the most offending criminals of course.

As the sport evolved, the role of the Handlers increased. Today there are effectively three kinds of Handlers. First of all it is those that are hired to administrate a pit, the Pitmasters. These take care of all day-to-day running of the pit, hire employees, communicate with the owner, the authorities as well as other Handlers and they have a final say in any matter regarding the pit (excluding the owner). Secondly there are those that have a steady work in a specific pit. Many pits employ pit fighters of their own that only fight in their pit and these Handlers take care of them as well as some minor administrative duties in the pit. Pit fighters and Handlers that work in a single pit do not get the reward, that goes to the pits’ coffers, but they rather have a steady income from the pit and those that do well get bonuses. Thirdly there are the travelling Handlers. Those gather Pit fighters around them and together they travel between pits to fight in. That way the pit fighter only has to fight and let the Handler take care of all the other business. Then they split the reward.

Combatants:

There are lots of different people that come and fight in a pit, for many different reasons. Some of those are mentioned here below but there are of course many others. When someone wants to fight or is forced to do so, they must first be approved by the Ringmaster (and often Pitmaster, especially when dealing with certain dangerous monsters) and have a fight scheduled for them. Scheduling a fight usually costs 2-10 GCs, depending on the time the fight will occur and the type of opponent fought as well as it differs between individual pits. After having scheduled a fight there is no backing out unless paying at least two or three times the scheduling fee and doing so also often causes lots of ill will to be directed at the quitter, not only by the administrators of the pit but also the crowd as the Ringmaster frequently announces those that back out.

Amateurs - These are people that for reasons of their own enter the pit willingly but not enough for that to become a professional career. The reasons they have are usually the craving for fame and/or fortune. Occasionally someone is forced to fight in the pit, for example to pay a debt but then that always occurs in an illegal arena.

Criminals - Criminals were once frequently forced to fight in the pit but today it is not so. When they do enter the arena it is usually for one of four different reasons. Firstly, some are sentenced to fight in the pit. This is a rare verdict to be passed in the courts of law nowadays. Secondly, a prisoner might request to fight in the pit to reduce his sentence or to gather money for a fine. Note that requests of this nature are often declined. Thirdly, a criminal sentenced to death is sometimes sent to the pit instead of executed. There he either fights until he dies or sometimes he is pardoned of the death penalty if he fights well enough and lives the rest of his life in prison (or in very rare cases as a professional pit fighter). Finally, it can happen that a certain prison simply can’t receive more inmates. This results in any newcomers to be sent to the pit instead. Note that even criminals are not made to fight to the death unless their sentence was the death penalty.

Prisoners of War - Recently the imperial powers that be passed a law that prohibits the use of PoWs in the pits, unless they request it themselves in a similar way as the criminals can do. There also aren’t many PoWs in the prisons as the Empire hasn’t really been at war for some time (excluding with chaos and goblinoids where no prisoners are taken). This, of course, might change if a war breaks out again.

Professionals - These are the Pit fighters and they are described in the WFRP rulebook.

Slaves - Slavery has been prohibited in the Empire for some time now so using slaves in pit fights is obviously forbidden too. But there is a black market for slaves and they are frequently used in illegal pit fights. As before, the slaves used in pits have often had their tongue removed to prevent them from tell on their masters.

Women - It has recently become illegal for women to enter the arena. Nevertheless, some do just that in the illegal pits. On those rare occasions the entry fee is often raised as those fights are popular with the people.

Animals and Monsters - Nowadays it is illegal to use animals and monsters in the pits as they would not stop after their opponent is down and would go for the kill. But in the illegal arenas they are often used.

The Fights:

Just before a fight starts it is announced by the Ringmaster, who gives a short description of the combatants and what they will be doing. The Ringmaster also has the role of a referee, although frequently his only ruling is to determine and pronounce the victor. How the fight is fought and what rules apply varies greatly, especially if it is an illegal fight.

First of all the arena differs. Usually the combatants just fight in the open arena with nothing else to worry about. But sometimes something special is set up, almost without exception in an illegal arena. Amongst others, these include having spiked walls, burning fires along the ground, dangerous animals that only reach certain part of the arena and cages that the combatants fight in (often spiked). It was also popular to fill the arena with water and let the combatants fight that way but those fights are all but gone now as the water did too much damage to the arena, both to the walls and the ground.

In legal fights a combatant can at any time give a signal to the Ringmaster that he wants to concede, except in the case of a criminal that has been condemned to death. In illegal fights any such signals are more often than not ignored. If no sign is given then the fight usually lasts until one combatant has been rendered immobile. Occasionally there are fights with rounds and specific time limits but they are infrequent. Imperial law prohibits fighting to the death, except in extreme cases. When there is a fight to the death, the loser is poked with a hot iron brand to make sure he is genuinely dead. So there is no escape by faking death.

Staged fights are being used in increased numbers in the legal arenas. This is done to reduce the possibility of someone getting too badly injured or dead. But all it has done is to increase the popularity of the illegal arenas, as people want the real thing.

Sometimes a certain arena hosts a pit-fighting tournament. This is usually done during some kind of festivals but can really occur at any time. How these tournaments are set up varies greatly but the one on one elimination arrangement is the most popular. Tournaments attract Pit fighters from far away as the prizes can be enormous, not to mention the fame that can be acquired.

Animals and monsters were banned in the arenas following the law that prohibited mortal combat. It was simply thought too dangerous, as animals wouldn’t stop when their opponent concedes. They are sometimes used in animal vs. animal combats but those are not so popular with the people.

It has become increasingly popular to have heretics and others sentenced to death under religious law placed in the pit. Those are then slaughtered with no chance of survival, always being unarmed and outnumbered and often tied to poles. Sometimes mutants are also put in the arena with the same chance as the heretics. Mutants that have mutations that somehow can be used offensively or defensively are never placed in the pit.

Which weapons and armour can be used differs between fights. Sometimes both combatants are restricted by what they can use. Additionally their own arsenal always restricts them, if they don’t own a weapon (or have access to one from someone else) then they cannot use that weapon. In the illegal arenas there usually is only one rule regarding this just like anything else, there are no rules.

The crowd is a big factor in every fight. Being a popular Pit fighter is essential as the Pitmasters will want them to remain so and thus they often get easy (but seemingly hard) fights. Popular Pit fighters also don’t have to fight as often and they do get more paid, especially from the crowd. In illegal fights, a Pit fighter’s life often depends on whether he is popular or not. The crowd often decides on the fate of a defeated combatant, whether he should live or die. The most common advice a new Pit fighter is given before he enters the arena is simply: “Win the crowd!”

Gambling:

Gambling is an irremovable part of the pit fights. Enormous amounts of money change hands at the booth, or so the booking offices at the pits are called. Charged with running the booth is the Bookie and to his assistance are numerous guards. In fact, the booth is the best-guarded place in the pit.

As soon as a fight is scheduled it is reported to the Bookie and he decides on the odds to give each combatant. Usually the betting is only on who will win but most Bookies are flexible when it comes down to special requests regarding betting and they are very quick to evaluate the odds.

Most booths have rules that limit how much or how little can be betted on any single fight, but these rules are frequently broken. If a bookie is requested to break these rules, he usually will do so but he also will modify the odds a little bit in favour of the pit.

Rewards:

There are several different rewards that can be gained for fighting in the pit. Most of them go to the victorious fighter but their Handler or even their opponent (sometimes) gains some.

Prize - Each fight has a fixed amount of gold that is awarded to the victor of any fight. How large that amount is depends on how difficult the fight is but also on the Pitmaster as it is up to him how well he rewards the fighter. The norm is usually somewhere between 5-15 GCs in the legal arenas but about twice or even thrice that in the illegal ones, sometimes more. Occasionally, either for very difficult fights or if the Pitmaster has some special reasons to do so, the prize is higher. The prize rarely is lower.
In the legal arenas the victor also usually receives some symbol of his victory, a trophy of sorts. These trophies vary between pits and are also almost unknown in the illegal arenas.

Gratuity - As the fight is over, people show their appreciation (or disapproval) by throwing coins into the arena. How much this is really depends on how fun and exiting the fight was. As a general rule this is about 1/- per spectator but can be subject to modification of up to +/- 50%. Unfortunately, the gratuity is split between several parties so the Pit fighter won’t receive it all. Usually it has been 50% for the victorious Pit fighter, 25% for the Ringmaster (being part of the show) and 25% that go into the pits coffers. But this has been changing somewhat recently in the legal pits, the illegal ones still retaining that system. In the legal ones the combatants (being both alive after the fight as lethal combat is illegal, with a few exceptions) split their share evenly and everybody are required to pay 10% of their gratuity to the authorities. But then again the legal pits are usually much larger than the illegal ones so the gratuity is bigger.

Prestige - Perhaps the greatest reward of them all a Pit fighter earns is a good reputation. Prestige fighters usually have to fight as much, they get easier opponents (as the Pitmaster wants to keep them alive so they can attract more people at a later time) and the gratuity they get is bigger. They also get a generally better treatment and any other perks of being “famous”, admired and loved. In mortal combat, if a fighter with high prestige loses and the crowd is allowed to choose his fate, he stands a better chance if he has high prestige.

Gambling - Finally, Pit fighters have often been known to bet on themselves if they were entering mortal combat. The gambling was a win-win situation for them because if they lost the fight they wouldn’t have to worry about paying the debt. But this almost doesn’t happen anymore for two reasons. Firstly, Bookies don’t take bets anymore from those about to enter the pit. Secondly, as many fights are non-lethal now the fighters usually don’t want to take the chance. But it still does happen occasionally and then usually the fighter gets a third party to bet on their behalf, without the knowledge of the Bookie.

Other Countries:

Every country has its unique customs and laws. But which are those differences regarding the pits and everything that revolves around them? Here are some (very) short ideas of what differences there can be in each of the neighbouring countries of the Empire.

Humanoid Pit Fights:

What do the other races think about pit fighting in general? Which of them are allowed to fight in the pits? Here are a few ideas on that.

Dwarves - The bearded folk do not have the sport of pit fighting in their own realm. But in human lands they have no problem with it and in fact often participate themselves. Many of the most ferocious Pit fighters are dwarves. The dwarves usually do like a bit more defined rules than the humans do.

Elves - Loathing the idea of pit fighting, the elves won’t have anything to do with it, neither in their homelands nor in human lands. In all the history of the Empire, there has been only a single case reported where an elf entered the pit.

Gnomes - The gnomes have very similar views on pit fighting as the dwarves do (see above).

Halflings - Being a peaceful race, the halflings do not set up pit fights in the Moot and very rarely partake in human lands. Apart from occasional individual fearless enough, desperate enough or simply dumb enough to enter the pit, there are sometimes shows set up where halflings fight their own kin. These are (almost without exception) always non-lethal and seen more as a comic relief.

Half-Orcs - Once these were common in the pits but they have been banned, as they proved too dangerous to keep in populated human areas. Occasionally they appear in some of the lesser and remote urban areas, having been approved by the local authorities for a single fight but usually they appear in the illegal arenas.

Ogres - Like the half-orcs the ogres were once quite common in the arenas. But being so very strong they were banned, as there were too many cases where they accidentally killed their opponent. They are still occasionally allowed to fight just like the half-orcs, in the smaller and remote areas. Ogres often appear in illegal pits.

Legal Matters:

As stated repeatedly above, there is a lot of illegal goings on around pit fights. So what happens to those that are caught in the middle of illegal pit fighting?

The offenders are charged under Civil law and the sentence varies between a small fine (2-5 GCs) up to a few days in jail as well as paying a large fine (50-200 GCs). People coming to the pit just to watch the fights usually get off the hook but might be fined. The people working in the pit are usually incarcerated for a few days, usually for longer time the higher the position. As always, money can get you out of jail for crimes no more serious than this. The pit coffers are emptied into the communal coffers.

Pit fighters caught fighting in illegal arenas are incarcerated for a few days like the people that worked there but they are often also prohibited from fighting in other pits for some given time, or even permanently. This causes no problem if they continue fighting in illegal arenas but they might encounter some if they want to fight legally. This is hard to enforce and administrator of legal pits often deliberately overlook it although they might get in trouble if it slips out to the authorities.

The truth is though that if the watch discovers and storms an illegal pit, the Pitmaster is usually successful in bribing them to go away. In fact many, illegal pits have some sort of agreement with the watch of paying a certain amount of money to be left to operate in peace.

Careers:

Bookie (Basic Rogue Career)
The Bookie takes care of the booth, the gambling area of the pit. They need to be able to control the betting in an orderly manner as throngs of people gather around to make their bets. As well as possessing some public speaking skills to use on the crowd, they also must be able to evaluate the odds of combats and manage the vast amounts of money changing hands properly. Bookies frequently turn to embezzling, that being a relatively easy thing for them with all the money changing hands.

Skills - Evaluate, Gamble, 50% Embezzling, 50% Numismatics, 50% Read/Write, 25% Super Numerate.
Trappings - Dagger, Leather jerkin, A few pieces of chalk.
Career Exits - Gambler, Thief (Embezzler), Fence.

Handler (Advanced Career)
Today it has become customary that Pit fighters have someone to manage their affairs. The whole process of pit fighting has becoming more complicated with the increasing number of laws regarding it. More and more Pit fighters are teaming up with so called Handlers whose job it is to handle all the affairs of the Pit fighter outside the arena so he himself can concentrate on the fight. It is very common that a Handler handles the affairs of more than one fighter. They not only represent Pit fighters (although most are) but anyone that is willing to pay for their services, mainly actors so far.

Skills - Bribery, Evaluate, Gamble, Haggle, Heal Wounds, Read/Write.
Trappings - Dagger, Notebook, Writing equipment, d3 pairs of manacles, Rope.
Career Entries - Bawd, Fence, Pit Champion, Pit fighter, Slaver, Trader.
Career Exits - Merchant, Racketeer, Slaver.

Pit Champion (Advanced Career)
Pit fighters that live long enough and accumulate enough prestige are sometimes employed by a pit to serve as Pit champion. These are treated with great respect and can demand vast amounts of money for fighting. Still Pit champions frequently don’t fight much and rather live the good life, bathing in their own glory. Even more importantly, their job is also that of a figurehead for the pit they work in, attracting people from everywhere around. Only in very rare instances will non-humans become Pit champions.

Skills - Consume Alcohol, Disarm, Dodge blow, Specialist weapon (Fist, Flail, Parrying, Two handed, Net), Strike mighty blow, Strike to injure.
Trappings - Hand weapon, Flail, Two-handed weapon, Buckler, Net, Knuckle-dusters, Left-hand dagger.
Career Entries - Pit fighter.
Career Exits - Assassin, Bounty hunter, Giant slayer (only dwarves), Judicial champion, Handler, Mercenary captain, Outlaw chief.

Ringmaster (Advanced Career)
The Ringmaster manages everything that happens in the arena itself. He creates the fighting schedule, decides who gets to fight and who doesn’t, decides what kind of fight there will be, serves as a referee, announces the fights and everything else that falls under the arena.

Skills - Blather, Charm, Evaluate, Haggle, Read/Write, Public speaking, Speak additional language.
Trappings - Fancy clothes, Hand weapon, Writing equipment.
Career Entries - Bookie, Entertainer-Comic, Handler, Raconteur.
Career Exits - Demagogue, Handler, Racketeer, Slaver.