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Chaos Warrior Performance

Orc Pit Fighting

by Avian

When an orc wants something that another orc has (a title, a flash magic item or any such thing) he will usually challenge the other orc to a pit fight. If the challenged orc does not want to elf out and simply give the thing away he will respond by punching the challenger in the face as hard as he can. If the challenger manages to remain upright the challenge is considered to be accepted; if he falls he is not worthy and must leave in shame.
This game is about such a pit fight between to nearly equal opponents.

For two players.


What do you need?

Starting the game

The fight starts with the two opponents facing each other nose to nose and comparing the size of their fangs. In game terms this is simulated by each player rolling a D3. If one player rolled higher than the other then his fangs are noticeably longer and he will be the spectators favorite for the first round. If both roll the same then they have fangs of near equal length and nobody is the favorite. Then the first round starts.
At the beginning of each round both players get dealt 5 cards face down and if one is the favorite then he will get one additional card. In the first round the one with the longest fangs will be the favorite, in later rounds the least wounded one will be the favorite. If both are equally wounded then the one with the highest Flair will be the favorite (he's sucking up to the spectators more). More on Flair later - at the start of the first round no-one will have any Flair anyway so it doesn't matter.

What each card can be used to depends on which type of card it is.

During the game all of the cards may be exchanged for others except for clubs which may only be played to start a combat.
The object of the game is to knock out the other player. You are knocked out if you take 5 points of damage and you get one point of damage when you lose a combat. There may be any number of combats per round, there does not have to be one but most likely there will at least be one or two.
If there is a favorite then he will start by playing one of his cards. If there is no favorite roll a D6 to determine who goes first.

All cards are played out face up, no matter where they are played to. Each player has a hand of cards, an Out pile and a Flair pile. In addition there is a Deck and a Discard pile. An area of the table is named the Pit, which is where combat will take place. At the start of the game all piles are empty except for the deck. If the deck runs out the discard pile is shuffled and becomes the new deck. In the unlikely event that that is empty too both the Out piles (except the two topmost cards in each) are shuffled together and becomes the new deck.
Cards played to the Pit may not be picked up later, but will be discarded once the combat is over.
The game is always either in a Combat state or a Non Combat state and a round always start in a Non Combat state. If will continue to remain in this state until one of the players start a combat by playing a club card and if no-one gets any clubs there will be no combat.
Before each combat starts players will most likely play cards (either hearts, diamonds or spades) so that they may replace their less good cards with better ones. This is called "circling" and will continue until one player is satisfied with the cards he's got and decides to attack or until one player only has clubs, in which case he has no other choice but to attack.



If it is your turn, the game is in Non Combat and you only have one card left you may discard it and the round is over.


The different cards

Each suit of cards is divided into three parts: All (all the cards in the suit), Picture cards (Jack, King and Queen) and Ace.


Only the players who have chosen to Attack or Counterattack may play clubs during combat.

Non Combat



Only the Defender may play spades, except that two flush spades may be played as a clubs card if you have chosen to Attack or Counterattack.

Non Combat




Non Combat



Non Combat



A combat starts with one player playing a clubs card to the Pit and announcing that he is attacking the other player. The other player must then declare if he will Defend himself or Counterattack.




Brutality segment

Each player in turn plays out a clubs/spades card to the Pit until both have passed, hoping to get the highest Combat Value. All cards played must be flush, except aces, so you can for example start with playing a ten, then a nine, then a Jack and so on. If you pass then you may not put down any more cards in the same segment.
The Combat Value is the value of the highest card plus 1 per for each of the other card you have played.
Example: You play out a nine, eight and seven and you then have a Combat Value of 9+1+1=11.
Values from ten and up are good while those lower will only win you the combat if you are lucky.

Reinforcements segment

This segment will only be used if the Combat Values are equal after both players have passed during the Brutality segment. The players may put down hearts cards in turn, starting with the Attacker until both have passed. The one who has put down the single highest card (here a King is worth more than a Queen, for example and an Ace is worth most) gets +1 Combat Value, the other gets nothing.


Dirty Tricks segment


Result segment

The player who was attacked rolls a D6 and then the Attacker does the same. The one who got the highest Combat Value may add the difference to his dice roll, but this difference may never be larger than a certain limit.

If one player gets more than the other as a result then he has won the combat and the other player takes a point of damage.
All cards in the Pit are discarded regardless of the result.

If the result is a draw then the combat may drag on over more combat rounds. If none of the players have any cards left the combat is over without a winner and a new round of the game will begin. If you have at least one card left then you must place one card face down in the Pit, the suit of the card signifying what they wish to do. Once both players have put down cards (if they have any) both cards are turned at the same time.

If both put down the same suit of cards and that suit is not clubs, or if one of the players put down diamonds then the combat is over without a winner.

A combat may drag on for several rounds but more than two is not likely as one or both players will most likely run out of cards. No matter how long a combat is, the loser only gets 1 point of damage.


After combat is over

If one of the players has run out of cards then the round is over and the other player must discard all of his remaining cards (which can be quite annoying if you have the ace of hearts but haven't had the time to play it).
If both players have more cards then the Defender chooses who's turn it is. If there is no Defender then the winner decides. If there is no winner either, you roll a dice to see who goes first. If you get the chance to choose you will probably choose to go first, as there is rarely any reason to let the other player do it.


End of the round

The round continues until there is a Non Combat turn where one player has no cards left or has only one card left and decides to discard it.


End of the game

The game ends as soon as one player has taken 5 points of damage. You may not play the ace of hearts in such a situation.


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