by Jason "Aeston" Rosa
Ashenmarkian Live Uno
Suggestion by Nick Quadrini
Setup:
This war maneuver is for up to four teams. Each player on each team must choose one of the following weapon combinations and may break restriction in order to do so. Single Short, Mixed Florentine, Sword & Shield, Hand and a Half. No armor or spells are allowed in this tournament. Players may not switch weapon combos during this tournament.
This tournament requires four colors of bead necklaces (the mardi-gras type that we use for Luck of the Draw at QoH). Red, blue, green, and yellow. These colored necklaces must be distributed as evenly as possible, one per team member on each team.
Each team must have one member who is the commander. The commander does not fight in the tournament but gives commands to the other players. They do fight at the beginning of the tournament to determine the order of play.
Each team creates a line around one side of the tournament field. These lines are not queues, all players should be side-by-side facing the interior or the field. Next to each team is a sitting area where players will sit in a queue order. The player who sits first is at the beginning of the queue, and others sit down behind them as they move to the sitting area.
Play:
The commander of each team moves to the center of the field and fight against each other in a melee. The winning commander gets to decide which team makes the first move (it does not have to be their own). The order of teams afterwards is clockwise around the field. The commanders step back behind the lines.
From this point onward combat does not stop, the field is live though the only players that can participate in combat are those that have been released onto the field, or “played”.
The commander who goes first picks any of their team members to “play” by sending them into the middle of the field. Whenever a player enters the field they should loudly announce their color and weapon combo. Play then continues clockwise to the next team. A marshal starts a five-second count, by the end of which the next commander must choose a player to send onto the field. That player must have either the same colored necklace or the same weapon combo as the player who was sent by the previous team. As soon as that player is announced it is the turn of the next commander and a new five second count begins for them.
If it is a commander’s turn and they still have a player on the field during the entire five-second count, they may not send a second player onto the field. If their player dies during the five second count they have until the end of the count to send in another player. If a commander’s turn is skipped the next commander will then begin their five second count. When a commander is sending a player on the field they are always matching the color or the weapons of the last player that entered the field, regardless of what team they were on.
If a commander must send a person onto the field and they do not have a player that matches either the color or the weapon they must have people in their sitting area enter back into their standing line, one by one, until they have a player they can send in. This temporarily pauses the five-second count until it is completed.
When players die, multiple things occur.
A player who is killed returns to their team and stands back among the other members of their team. This player may be sent in again whenever their color or weapon combo comes up. A player who makes a kill also leaves the field. They retire to the sitting area of their team and sit in queue order.
The reverse rule: The reverse rule occurs whenever there is a simultaneous kill (be it two players killing one another or two players simultaneously landing a kill shot at the same time). All players who were involved in the kill (be it killers or killed) return to standing in their lines, no one sits down. Additionally, the order of play immediately reverses after the current five-second count. If it is clockwise it becomes counterclockwise and vise versa.
The uno rule: When a commander has only one player remaining and that player is sent onto the field, the commander must yell UNO! before that player either dies or makes a kill. If the player dies or makes a kill before the commander yells UNO the first five players in the sitting queue must enter back into the standing line.
A team wins the game the moment that their final player enters their sitting area.
Variant idea: The number of colors of necklaces should be reduced to equal the number of teams that are involved in the tournament, this will make the tournament move more quickly for a smaller number of teams.
Final thoughts: Of course this was fun to design and while I'm sure there are deficiencies that would be revealed through play testing, I am confident that it would be an enjoyable, competitive, and fast-paced tournament to engage in. Hopefully Ashenmark decides to run it at a future event!
Lastly, If you or someone you know might be feeling inspired to take on a gauntlet challenge of your own, reach out to any View Staff member, and we can help you get the process started!