A Random Assortment Of Ideas On Tourneys: Master Paul De Gorey
Organising a tourney and haven't decided on how to run it? Bored with using the same old style every time? Then brows through this random compendium of ideas and chose what ever takes your fancy....
1) BASIC IDEAS: because a little thought can produce wonderful results.
On your own mate - Each contestant fights for themselves. Allows individual flair and prowess to be displayed; people can impress the onlookers, do great acts of chivalry without being overlooked, gain great renown... but didn't we do all that at the last few tourneys ... ?
'N' man melee teams - Instead of individuals fight as a team, so 'N' can be any number from two upwards (wow logic!)... Allows strategy, combined weapons tactics and leadership to be displayed as well as giving useful war practice. A four man melee tourney is a popular tradition of the Double Wars in Nordmark.
Sides - The contestants are divided into sides (generally two but you can have more if you want to drive the person running things insane!) and then run fights between the sides. Gives rise to lots of interesting variations which will be discussed later..
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Round Robin. Simple, everyone fights everyone else in turn! Simple that is except for the poor person running the list who has to ensure nobody fights two fights in a row or stands around for hours waiting their turn! Gives the contestants lots of fighting but takes forever if lots of contestants are involved.
Single, Double whatever Elimination. Start off as above but as soon as a contestant has lost once, twice or whatever they are out. Not too bad to run especially if you write everyone's name on a card then pick the bouts at random. Gives everyone a guaranteed minimum number of fights without lasting forever.
Challenges - People simply challenge who ever they want to fight. Saves having a list but can be tricky to score unless you are organised (like what I ain't). Works well when divided into sides. Great fun if you encourage people to make entertaining challenges. Allows for tactics in the challenges; do you challenge the Duke and gain renown for bravery while being hammered into the ground like a tent peg or do you challenge the new chap with the hangover and then hammered HIM into the ground...?
Melee - everyone fights everyone else at the same time. Can be done in teams or as a circle of treachery where you all start in a ring and the last person standing wins!
WITH WHAT?
(There are more thing between heaven and earth than long sword and shield...)
Whatever - Let the contestants decide what they want to fight with. Easy eh? Provided they don't all opt for sword and shield you can get an interesting mix of fights. However people can be very boring...
Matched Weapons - Both contestants use weapons of equal size, weight, intimidation, lunacy etc. You can have sword and shield as one of the possible pairings, in which case expect people to use their own, otherwise you will need to produce an interesting collection of pairs of weapons. Works well with challenges "I challenge you to fight with pole axes..." . To work ALL contestants will need a pair of gauntlets.
Specific Weapons. Can be very specific, as in "Short Sword and Buckler", in which case you'd better make sure you have a supply of said equipment or fairly general as in "pole weapons". As an example Seven Deans ran very successful "no shield to hide behind" tourneys for many years to encourage two handed weapon use. You can change weapons styles during the tourney i.e. have the first round two handed weapons, the next single sword and so on.
In a list field - mark out an area and get on with it. For big tourneys run several fields to allow everyone the chance to fight without standing around for ever. Go back to one for the finals though, or no one will realise who has won! (Note - The term 'List' can be confusing. Sometimes its the place the fighting is happening in at others its the bit of paper with the running order on!)
At a Barrier - a barrier is a waist (or so) high obstacle that the contestants fight over. Works well for pole arms as it stops the contestants running out of bounds every two minutes and gives the audience a clear view of what is happening.
Scenario - mark out an area and call it a bridge; if you 'fall off' you lose! Mark out another area and call it a boat or an island, fight over a castle wall, whatever. Works well for melee tourneys and adds interest to others. You can even have 'themed' tourneys, round one fight through the wood, next defeat the giant, etc.
Who Cares? - go out have fun, fight some interesting people, win renown, have drink afterwards... what more could anyone ask?
By Elimination - see 'Single, Double whatever Elimination' above. These work themselves out!
By Points - simplest is one point for victory ('Round Robins' and the like). For random challenges you can have one point for fighting one extra for winning or you can award extra points for beating harder opponents; three for a Knight, four for an Earl or whatever. Highest points at the end win.
By Token - why keep count? If you win you get something; count them yourself at the end!
By Acclaim - winner is decided by the sponsor, audience, ladies present... Judging can be to any criterion they decide chivalry, prowess, gallantry, best newcomer or whatever (I once got a prize at a tourney for having a nice bum...). Doesn't have to be for outright victory; for example the Knights present could each give a prize to the person they thought fought best.
The contestants - there is nothing wrong with running a simple bash for the shear hell of it. Works well as a warm up or end of a training session. Don't mess about with grovelling, heraldry etc. get on with it and let people have FUN!
The Audience- some times refereed to as the "Gallery". The purpose of the tourney is to entertain. First make sure the audience gets a good view - you can't enjoy what you can't see! Secondly make it interesting and exciting for them, different weapons styles, number of people fighting at one time, heraldry, colour, splendour, challenges etc. Make it understandable, announce who is fighting whom, who is winning and what is happening. Make it interesting for the contestants too (fun is contagious) and encourage them to relate to the audience. Some contestants may wish to fight for a special person in the audience (their lady, the person whose champion they are, etc.) give them the opportunity to do this (it also helps if they tell you...hint).
As a Demonstration - as above but more so. You are trying to sell the Society so GRAB peoples attention. Decorate the tourney field. Ensure the armour is good, authentic and colourful. Start with a melee; these look spectacular and make lots of noise to attract attention! Explain what we are doing, how it relates to historic tournament styles and how the system works (just watching people hit each other with sticks can be very confusing). Make sure you can be heard. PLAN what you are going to do and make it spectacular! Play to the audience, but don't make it too long... Have some leaflets ready to hand out at the end...
For a Prize - the tourney is to decide who wins something, Crown, local Champion, the hand of the princess (do all princesses have detachable hands I wonder?) or what ever. The idea is to obtain a winner, in the time allocated with a tournament that was enjoyable, fair and will grant the winner applause from the audience. So work out how to run your list honestly and efficiently while still making it interesting to the onlookers (see above for ideas!). Also make sure you have enough marshals, people to run the list, water bearers, seats for the sponsors, etc. to fit in with your plans before you start.
some more specific ideas that have worked in the past.
THE PAS DE ARMS - devised by people who wanted a period tournament style that emphasised chivalry and prowess above the vain glory of simple victory. Fought between too sides the "Tenans", who issue the challenge and hold the field, and the "Venans", who come to meet them (the sides do not have to be equal). Challenges are made and bouts fought as the fighters see fit (at the barriers, with matched weapons, for a number of counted blows or strikes, as melees etc.). Prizes (if any) are given by acclaim. This style should involve as many period elements such as good armour, banners and heraldry as possible. Great to watch if played correctly but can be slow if the sides are too large.
SCENARIO - a variation on the Pas de Arms popular in the Middle Ages. The side issuing the challenge sets the scene; they are, for example, enchanted and can only be freed by the actions of gallant knights or will play the roles of Knights at King Arthur's court thereby adding lots of pageantry and spectacle. Insula Draconis ran a successful one at Sean De Leer's wedding where we played the part of 'evil vices' (suitably attired in brightly coloured robes and masks over our armour) who had to be overcome before the festivities could take place.
BEAR PIT - Basically start a line, have fights, winner stays on each time to meet next in line. Continue until everyone is knackered, feast is about to start or it gets dark. Variations involve having several lists each with its own line so people get some choice of who they fight (you can join any line after you lose) or an entry fee (such as the Fat Guy's Beer Pit where everyone brings beer to be given to the victor). Victory is by points and boy do you need a scorer! Keep an eye on things to avoid exhaustion, dehydration and the like. If necessary 'encourage' people to rest a little and have a drink before they rejoin the line...
RANSOM - Fought as a grand melee. Head or body shots and disarming your opponent count as 'Capture' they are then held prisoner and can ransom themselves free by agreement with their captors. Some tourneys also allow escape (if unguarded) and rescue as options. Ransom can be anything from "give you a beer" to "my Squire will polish your armour all next week".
SNOWBALL - This starts with individual opponents and ends up as a melee! First round is bouts between two fighters. They join together as a team of two for the second bout with the winner of the first bout being the leader. Third bout they joint together to make teams of four with the victor's leader in charge and so on until you only have two teams when you fight the melee! Great fun and everyone gets lots of fighting!
St. POLYCARP - developed in Myrkfaelinn as an escape from an endless series of "Double Elimination" events. The tournament is fought between two sides of equal numbers and equal ability - the latter being particularly important. Each side first determines a ranking amongst its members by having them do three random challenge fights within their own side. This gives you four 'pools' of fighters in each team who have won 3, 2, 1 and 0 fights respectively who then order themselves within each pool. The Tourney proper now starts. the number one ranked fighters from each side fight, then the number twos and so on. Whichever side wins the most of these bouts wins the tourney. This tourney style guarantees everyone four fights and if the teams were correctly picked, as being of equal strength, then the outcome of the whole thing will depend on the last few bouts, between the least experiences fighters, who will feel really great being cheered on by everyone because their bout is the important one.
ROSES - A very romantic style, often sponsored by Drei Eichen, wherein each contestant has a lady to fight for and every time he wins his opponent gives her a rose; so no need to keep score. If you run it by challenges, like Duke Elfin and I did at last year's Double Wars, you don't need to organise a running order either. (There is no law against making things simple for oneself!)
MELEE CAPTAINS - How does one hold a tournament to chose a "Champion" of a group while still allowing people from outside to take part? This is Sir Michael de Lacy's elegant solution for this year's 'Champion of the Isles' tourney. First make a list of all the combatants eligible to become the "Champion", then pick two of them to be "Captains" for the first round; every one else (eligible and others) now become "soldiers". The captains then take turns to chose from the available soldiers until everyone is divided into two teams. The captains now take their teams aside and allocate weapons and tactics; all the soldiers are allowed to do at this point is tell the captain what weapon styles they are authorised in. Once the sides are organised fight a melee - last side with people left wins! Now repeat the process with further pairs of "Captains" until all of those eligible have had a chance to be Captain. In this manner everyone gets to fight every round and the champion is decided by leadership, tactical ability and skill at arms! How do you win? Well - you get one point for surviving a round and five points for being the Captain of a winning team. Total the points at the end and the highest wins or, in the event of a tie, run another round where all the evenly matched people captain a team against each other with the winning captain being the champion!
Master Paul de Gorey
Just a few notes I would like to add to Master Paul's excellent article;
Variations you can add to any tourney to make things more interesting include;
Limited use of Weapon Styles: Fighters must use a different weapon style in each round of the tournament (makes for interesting tactical choices on the part of the fighter - do you save your best style for last, or start off strong?) Choice can also be by random draw, although this can be a bit messy if not everyone is authorized in most weapon styles. To be really cruel, have each fighter draw individually for their weapons - then you can watch a spear vs dagger and buckler match!
Retained Wounds: In this system, all wounds are carried over into the following rounds - this has the advantage of encouraging defensive fighting and good technique. Sacraficing a leg for a head does not look like such a good idea if you will have to start the next fight hobbling! Double kills count as a loss for both fighters.
Bouts of Counted Blows: This is probably the most realistic type of fight for our period, as it approxomates the type of foot tournament fought in the later middle ages when the armour was good enough to prevent most injuries on the tourney field. The combatants decide upon a set number of blows to be struck during the bout (usually an odd number between 1 and 9 to prevent ties) and then commence fighting (usually, but not neccesarily with matched weapons). Once a blow is struck on any legal target, the combatants part, the marshals note who struck the blow, and the fight resumes. When the requisite number of blows have been struck, the fighter with the highest number of hits is ajudged the winner. Note than in this type of combat, blows are simply acknowledged, not acted out - no one 'dies' and the bout ends with the opponents shaking hands and leaving the list. These types of combat lend themselves to elaborate challenges, as was done in the fifteenth century. A fighter might challenge an opponent to '3 blows with the spear, 5 blows with the sword and 7 blows with the pollaxe' (although make sure there is sufficient time for such an encounter if you are fighting in a tourney).
Earl Michael de Lacy