Black Box 4/BlackBox.cdr/gameadve/mel_100.arj/MELEE.DOC

Text File | 1991-06-14 | 11KB | 177 lines

                                 MELEE

     First, the burning questions: "What is Melee?" and "Where did it come
from?" and "How did you get here?"  And the answers
     Melee, in the early 2000s, shortly after the turn of the century, was
originally known as the "Sport of Felons." By the late 1990s, American
society had realized that rehabilitation of hardened criminals--murderers,
sociopaths, rapists and child molesters--was a waste of time, effort and
money. By that time so many people had become victims of serious crime that
"criminals' rights" was almost an extinct term. Then capitalism stepped
into the picture, offering a solution, which benefitted everyone, to the
problem of overcrowded jails.
     Gladiatorial combat, as a spectator sport, was reintroduced after
eighteen hundred years of dormancy. Convicts who volunteered to enter the
arena stood a chance to win, if they could survive long enough to enjoy it,
assignment to the relative freedom of "The Island", a man-made, floating
isle of 230 acres, anchored several miles off the coast of New Hampshire.
There, the felons only authority was that which they implemented
themselves. There was no escape, but also, there was no government or
supervision.
     It was only a short time before Melee became bigger business for
bookies than horse racing, dog racing, and organized sport combined. From
there it was only a short time before everyone realized there was too much
money in Melee to limit participation to criminals; limited openings
were made for those of the general public who thought they could live long
enough to collect fame and fortune.
     It was the perfect answer to a society where life had become so
controlled, so safe, that only death sports could satisfy the public's need
for excitement. For those tired of the pseudo-violence of television's
mediocre programming and bored by the limited "combat" of traditional
sports, Melee was made to order. In 1997, those who drew other's blood were
executed. A decade later, in 2007, they were worshipped.
     Now, in the year 2112, Melee is run by the U.S. Government and the
Warriors' Guild.

     To a man (or woman), Gladiators are members of the Warriors' Guild,
a very limited society which has accumulated the knowledge of the ages with
regard to the martial arts. There are only two ways to get into the Guild,
aside from being convicted of a heinous crime. These are by birth, since
any child born to a Warrior becomes a charge of the Guild until his or her
eighteenth birthday (unless they fail the aptitude tests administered at
the age of fifteen, at which point the failures are refused further
training and put out into the dreariness of the commoners' world), or by
selection via a bi-annual lottery.
     The Guild has complete authority over combat contests, television
rights, and combat payoffs. It keeps fights honest, and ensures compliance
with Blood Match protocols. Higher ranked gladiators who fail to meet such
challenges are stripped of their title and fame, and cast out into the
streets, there to survive as best they can amid the certain public derision
their cowardice has earned them.
     You have been accepted into the Guild. With the membership will come
responsibilities, dues, and other costs. Also come the benefits, among
which can be listed: fame - for the skilled, wealth - for the victorious,
excitement, and the thrill of besting an opponent on the hot sands of the
Arena, in front of hundreds of thousands of screaming, adoring worshippers.
     This is no sport for the stupid, or the clumsy. Every attribute you
possess will need to be maximized if you hope to be victorious in the
Arena. You will need Strength to wield your weapons and carry your armor;
Agility and Dexterity to maneuver in the Arena; Intelligence, so you can
profit from your training faster than your competitors; Charisma, as it can
be the difference between the crowds giving your opponent the "thumbs up"
or the "thumbs down" if he ever gets you down on the sand, and defenseless.
     You will need to develop Weapons Skill, and Blocking, Parrying, and
Countering Skills. You will have to select a Weapon Proficiency, and then
learn to excel with your chosen weapon. You will have to select a terrain
proficiency, such as the Beam, or the Mud Pit, or The Cage, since not all
combats take place on the Arena Sands.
     You will have to decide what you want out of your armor - protection,
or lightness and speed. You will have to decide how much time you spend
training, and how much you spend fighting on the sands, and how much gold
you spend in hiring the weapon and armor smiths to improve your equipment,
as compared to how much you spend on advanced training and enhancement. And
all along you have to retain sight of the goal: to be the best in the
nation.
     In Melee, if you fight your way to the top of your own Arena, you will
get a chance to journey to other Arenas, there to fight the Warriors of
other Guilds, in other cities. And throughout your journeys, you will
acquire fame as long as you keep winning, and you will become recognized
for your exploits. And, if you're good enough to become the best of the
best, you may even make it into the national Hall of Fame, compiled of the
most famous Warriors to ever grace the Arena. Then, even after you've aged
and retired (or died) your name will live on, a Hero to a people for whom
life's only excitement was watching you triumph in the most lethal sport
ever invented.

     The Equipment:
     In the following paragraphs, the equipment in Melee is
described for the uninitiated. Each item of equipment has numerous facets
by which it can be compared to like pieces. Aside from cost (or value), the
most important global variable is Quality. The wise Warrior will always
strive to improve the quality of his equipment, even though at times it's
an expensive proposition. Few things are more disheartening, or potentially
fatal, than having one's weapon shatter beneath the blow of a superior
weapon. Likewise, high quality armor tends to get damaged much less than
armor that has never been enhanced.
     Equipment Abbreviations - When you go to purchase a weapon, you will
be shown a table which contains valuable information about each piece of
equipment. The information displayed can go a long way toward helping you,
the Warrior-trainee, in selecting the weapon, armor, shield, or helm that
best suits you. A little deduction will help a lot in figuring out what the
abbreviations mean, but for those to whom deduction does not easily come,
the following list of abbreviations are provided.

   Weapons: Cost = Weapon Cost                 Spd = Weapon Speed
              IM = Weapon Initiative Modifier  *Also considered are:
              PM = Weapon Parry Modifier       *Weapon Balance
              HM = To Hit Modifier             *Weapon Damage Modifier
              Wt = Weapon Weight               *Weapon Quality and Shape

     Armor: Cost = Armor Cost        Qual = Armor Quality
              BC = Body Cover Value    AC = Arm Cover Value
              LC = Leg Cover Value     Wt = Armor Weight

   Shields: Cost = Shield Cost   Qual = Shield Quality Value
              SS = Shield Shape    SB = Shield Bonus
              SC = Shield Cover    Wt = Shield Weight

     Helms: Cost = Helm Cost     Qual = Helm Quality
              HS = Helm Shape      HB = Helm Bonus
              HC = Helm Cover      Wt = Helm Weight

     With perseverance, many of the qualities inherent in a piece of
equipment can be improved, ofttimes to the point where a weakness can be
completely neutralized. The result can be a piece of equipment whose
qualities are almost unrecognizable in comparison to its off-the-shelf
values. Your only limits are your imagination.... and time.... (few people
want to go into the Arena while their armor, or weapon, is in the shop
being enhanced, eh? Luckily, you can own more than one set....)

     The Weapons - Everything that the ancients ever learned about the art
of weaponsmithing has been revived now that there is again a call for
weapons of exquisite  quality.
    Among Melee aficionados, weapons are described in absolute variables
and relative variables. Absolute variables are those which can be
referenced by a common measurement. These include Weight, and Cost/Value.
The relative variables are much more important to the Warrior who is
fighting for his life in the Arena. The relative variables are those whose
value is relative to a hypothetical "average" weapon. If a weapon is less
effective than this hypothetical average weapon, then it is assigned a
negative value, and conversely, if the weapon is above average in a
particular area, then it receives a positive rating. The relative variables
are weapon speed, initiative modifier, damage modifier, quality, balance,
parry modifier, and the to-hit modifier.
     In order to clear this up for the novice, we'll examine a two-handed
sword. At purchase, the sword can be assumed to do more damage than a long
sword, due to its greater weight and leverage, but it will also be slower.
It's lack of speed will also probably give it a negative rating in the area
of balance, initiative, and to-hit advantages. It is up to the Warrior to
determine what he wants out of his weapon.
     It should be noted that the wonders of modern day technology, can more
than compensate for the inherent weaknesses of a particular weapon of
average quality... if the Warrior can afford to commission the best smiths
in the land. Indeed, with enough time and money spent on a weapon, one
might be able to hone a two-handed sword to the point where it is superior
in all ways to an average quality long sword.

     The Armor - Armor is rated based upon a number of qualities. Most
important among these are overall quality, fit, shape (armor must be
continually repaired in order to remain serviceable), weight, body/shoulder
protection, arm protection, and leg protection.

     The Helm - Head protection is imperative, and a wise Warrior will
protect his head as soon as he can afford to buy a helm. Helms are rated
based on their quality, shape (they can oft-times take a beating!), weight,
and how well they protect the head.

     The Shield - For the Warrior who chooses a one-handed weapon, a shield
is a wise investment. Shields are rated simply on their quality (which
determines how long the shield holds together before its hacked to pieces),
weight, and how much they protect (usually a function of size, although
weight can play a part of this). It is often said that a good sword is
something that can be passed down through the generations, from father to
son; but a man can count himself lucky if his shield lasts through a single
drawn-out battle.