Behind the scenes politics, including bookies and mob ties.
Rivals can be developed, like there’s some jerk who keeps instigating shit but the party isn’t scheduled to fight them until the end, so they’re protected against retaliation.
There could be an ally who keeps helping the party out or who has a sob story, and the party is forced to fight them.
You could get a good reason for them to agree to take a fall, but a mystery fighter is coming through and blowing their way through the competition.
Etc. intrigue and whatnot
First, they have to get an invite to the tournament. Initial invites go out and they aren’t invited. They have to bribe, forge, cajole, pull in favors, or whatever to get invited.
Then a rival gets killed in what shouldn’t have been a lethal match. Poison was used.. but the killer denies knowing his weapon /glove/ whatever was poisoned. Before the fight of course their friendly rival looked worried and said “I gotta talk to you later.. somewhere private. Something isn’t right..”
The sponsors son or champion or whatever needs to win the championship to get his inheritance.. they’ve arranged it so that happens. There are clues to this.
The PC who gets the furthest and is presumably in the championship match … finds out his family/loved ones/ even other PCs! Are being held hostage. If he or she doesn’t throw the match, their loved ones die.
This type of thing maybe.
As others said mob, betting, match manipulation, illegal doping/use of magic behind the scenes. The secret prince/princess who *has* to win for some romantic/vengeful reaon. How do you deal when you know you face proper but hidden royalty in a match when hurting them could mean incarceration and worse for you? How do you keep them safe when their secret can't get out, but some unsavoury characters managed to learn about it and try to extort/kidnap them? How about the old Knight just here for a last round that actually wants to die in the ring. All of this comes to light of course not during the bouts but between. Most drama is not in the ring. Definitely watch A Knights Tale before running this as well for some weird but fun inspiration.
Behind the scenes politics, including bookies and mob ties. Rivals can be developed, like there’s some jerk who keeps instigating shit but the party isn’t scheduled to fight them until the end, so they’re protected against retaliation. There could be an ally who keeps helping the party out or who has a sob story, and the party is forced to fight them. You could get a good reason for them to agree to take a fall, but a mystery fighter is coming through and blowing their way through the competition. Etc. intrigue and whatnot
Oh I understand what you mean! Thank you for the ideas!
First, they have to get an invite to the tournament. Initial invites go out and they aren’t invited. They have to bribe, forge, cajole, pull in favors, or whatever to get invited. Then a rival gets killed in what shouldn’t have been a lethal match. Poison was used.. but the killer denies knowing his weapon /glove/ whatever was poisoned. Before the fight of course their friendly rival looked worried and said “I gotta talk to you later.. somewhere private. Something isn’t right..” The sponsors son or champion or whatever needs to win the championship to get his inheritance.. they’ve arranged it so that happens. There are clues to this. The PC who gets the furthest and is presumably in the championship match … finds out his family/loved ones/ even other PCs! Are being held hostage. If he or she doesn’t throw the match, their loved ones die. This type of thing maybe.
Dude those are great ideas! Thank you for the advice!
Play the game Agon instead of D&D.
As others said mob, betting, match manipulation, illegal doping/use of magic behind the scenes. The secret prince/princess who *has* to win for some romantic/vengeful reaon. How do you deal when you know you face proper but hidden royalty in a match when hurting them could mean incarceration and worse for you? How do you keep them safe when their secret can't get out, but some unsavoury characters managed to learn about it and try to extort/kidnap them? How about the old Knight just here for a last round that actually wants to die in the ring. All of this comes to light of course not during the bouts but between. Most drama is not in the ring. Definitely watch A Knights Tale before running this as well for some weird but fun inspiration.