So it's time for the Tribunal meeting of 1221 for the new covenant of Commarque (http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/commarque-saga) and I'm faced with the same quandary I have when running a mundane tournament: how to simulate the successes and failures of many competitors without playing out every tilt. I find this particularly true for this first Tribunal meeting, as I want to focus more on the political aspects and spectacle, saving more fine-grained competition for later years when the magi are more experienced and more likely to compete for the top prizes. (I don't see them having any hope of giving Fudarus a run for their money/vis.)
Do folks have thoughts about how to extrapolate the results of the tourney as a whole, or ideas about what to focus on (e.g., I could just guestimate where the younger covenants are going to fall and then roll out in more detail a conflict with their magi to decide our covenant's final position)?
(On a related note, do we have guidance about precisely when the Tribunal meetings are actually held during the year? For some reason, I haven't been able to find that (other than The Order of Hermes noting the Hermetic year starts in March), so I was running with the idea it is held on the summer solstice.)
I appreciate any ideas on this score, or indeed, interesting ideas for a Normandy Tribunal meeting in general.
As for the general question, I don’t know. I know that the way we tried to expedite the mundane tournament rather than just playing combat out with the scuffling rules seemed to take just as long and lead to my almost slaying that poor guy.
Here is my two cents. I previously suggested that we treat being part of the Normandy Tribunal as a done deal, and people didn’t want to do that. If we are really going to leave it up in the air which Tribunal we are part of, either the Normandy or the Provincial, then Bob is right. the participation in events at the tribunal ties us down. Teams that are not part of the Tribunal have to pay 5 pawns per person on the team. If we are not in the Normandy Tribunal and were awarded prizes and then decided that we were part of the Provincial Tribunal after all, we owe 25 pawns of vis to the Normandy Tribunal. I think that issue can keep us from fielding a team. If we thought we would do well in tourney, that would be one thing, but we are young and weak.
I know I am curious about what the hosts choice of magic contest will be, but I guess I will find out tomorrow.
Relevant scores with 1 or 2 stressdice added, ranking according to result. That keeps alot of the game mechanics in but without needing much time to do it.
Depends on how specific or thorough you want it of course.
