The Ring of Claws

The Ring of Claws is the pinnacle of Tahosian spectacle, a bloodsport steeped in divine ritual and cultural tradition. Held annually in the grand coliseum of Tec'Tahos, this event draws adventurers, warriors, and champions from across Tansia and beyond to prove their mettle. The competition is more than entertainment—it’s a trial of survival, wit, and strength that offers unmatched glory and divine recognition.
Participants are thrust into an escalating gauntlet of challenges, fighting fearsome beasts, rival teams, and the ever-changing environment of the enchanted arena. Each encounter tests the party’s ability to adapt and endure, culminating in a climactic battle against a creature of legendary power. The ultimate reward? The Title of Master of Claws, a grand treasure of gold, and a legendary artifact imbued with the blessings of the Living Gods. However, this artifact’s power is fleeting, lasting only a year before returning to the Ring to be claimed by the next champion.
This year, whatever your motivation, you have entered yourselves to compete. As the crowd roars and the arena shifts beneath your feet, you must navigate the trials of combat, strategy, and sacrifice—all while contending with rival factions and the arena’s ruthless tribulations. Will your group rise to the challenge and etch their names into Tahosian legend, or will they fall, forgotten among the sands of the arena?

High-Stakes Arena Adventure

• Politics: Low-Medium
• Roleplaying: Medium-High
• Tactics: High
• Self-Direction: Medium
• Magic: High
• Lethality: Medium-High

You will be participants in the legendary Ring of Claws, a holy bloodsport held in honor of the Living Gods. Your team must prove itself worthy in the eyes of Banzala, Takanda, Quetzali, Xalaxos, and Tahos, battling fearsome creatures and navigating the arena's shifting, treacherous terrain. Competing against two other teams, your victory will depend on your strength, strategy, and adaptability.
The rules are simple but ruthless:

• Survive five bouts of combat, each growing deadlier as cumulative tribulations take their toll.
• Outlast your rivals, who will face their own trials while you control the monsters opposing them.
• Win the favor of the gods and the crowd to claim the ultimate prize.

Combat

The Ring of Claws is a dynamic battlefield, filled with hazards, shifting terrain, and cunning creatures. Combat is both tactical and theatrical, with every strike and maneuver scrutinized by the gods and audience. Battles escalate with cumulative tribulations, ensuring each encounter becomes more challenging than the last.

Roleplay

Before and between trials, you’ll have opportunities to interact with rival teams, arena staff, and influential NPCs. Negotiate alliances, sabotage rivals, or earn noble favour to turn the odds. How you present yourself in the arena and to the crowd may influence their support—or disdain.

Theme and Tone

The Ring of Claws is brutal and unforgiving. Expect graphic combat and intense rivalries. This is a test of endurance and strategy. Failures and setbacks will shape the narrative as much as triumphs. Victory demands ingenuity, endurance, and sometimes, painful sacrifice. The Ring of Claws is not for the faint of heart. It’s a crucible where only the strongest, smartest, and most resourceful can emerge victorious. Will your team rise to the challenge, or will your names be forgotten among the bones of the fallen?

Characters

• Race: All core races plus the following: Tabaxi, Lizardfolk, Yuan-Ti, Tortle, Orc, Minotaur, Kobold, Kenku, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Duergar, Bugbear. All races will be using the most up to date versions (ie: Kobolds from Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, not Volo's Guide to Monsters).
• Alignment: Any alignment is acceptable, as long as you can remain a cohesive team player.
• Class: All classes allowed, with an emphasis on combat adaptability.
• Backgrounds: Any official WotC sourcebook is allowed. Characters with ties to Tansia may gain unique narrative opportunities.
• Level: 8
• Hit Points: Average Hit Points
• Starting Equipment: Standard starting equipment for Level 8 with one rare magic item and two uncommon items, and 1500 gold to spend around the city.
• Stats Creation: Standard array.

House Rules

• Bans/Restrictions: Sentinel/Lucky feat
• Flanking: Two allies must be on opposite sides of an enemy, both within melee range. Both allies gain a +2 bonus to melee attack rolls against the flanked enemy.
• High Ground: The attacker must be positioned at least 10 feet higher than their target. The attacker gains a +2 bonus to ranged attack rolls ranged against targets on lower ground.
• No Ammo Tracking: Non-magical ammunition isn’t tracked unless it’s rare or specialized (e.g., silvered or explosive arrows).
• Encumbrance Lite: Ignore encumbrance rules unless a character is carrying something obviously ridiculous (e.g., dragging a dragon’s head).
• Max Damage on Crits: Instead of rolling twice, the first set of damage dice is maxed, and the second is rolled normally.
• Potion Drinking as a Bonus Action: Drinking a potion only requires a bonus action, while feeding it to someone else still requires an action.

Running the Adventure

1. Arrival at Tec’Tahos: Explore the bustling capital around the arena and meet key NPCs. Establish relationships with rival teams and prepare for the gauntlet.
2. The Gauntlet Begins: Enter the arena and face five escalating combat encounters. Choose tribulations, manage resources, and outwit your competitors.
3. Final Trial: Survive until the the 5th encounter challenge: a deadly battle while cumulative tribulations create chaos.
4. Victory and Consequences: Claim the Title of Master of Claws, the legendary artifact, and eternal glory—or face the bitter taste of defeat.

Structure of the Trial

Sacred Rules

The Ring of Claws operates under a strict set of rules enforced by the arena’s magical wards and the watchful eyes of the Avatar of Banzala. These rules ensure that the competition is fair (within the framework of divine challenge) and that all participants must rely on their skill, strategy, and endurance to claim victory.

1. No Interference Between Teams: Teams are prohibited from directly interfering with each other’s trials outside of the monster control phase. Attempting to sabotage a rival team outside of designated combat results in immediate disqualification.
2. The Choice of Tribulations is Final: Once a Tribulation is chosen and its offering is burned, the decision cannot be reversed. Failing to choose a Tribulation results in the arena selecting one at random and imposing a penalty on the team.
3. No Escape: Combatants cannot flee the arena. Magical wards prevent teleportation or planar travel beyond the boundaries of the battlefield.
4. Death is Sacred: While resurrection magic is permitted within the Ring, doing so draws the eye of Banzala himself. Each time a creature is restored to life within the arena, the gods impose a Tribulation penalty—combatants return with 1 level of exhaustion. Banzala permits resurrection—but always demands a toll.
5. Honor the Gods: Any behavior deemed disrespectful to the Living Gods or the audience results in disqualification. Examples include mocking divine rituals, refusing to engage in combat, or deliberately stalling the trial.

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Shifting Arena

The Ring of Claws arena is a marvel of ancient engineering, a colossal coliseum whose enchanted stonework creates a dynamic battlefield. The arena shifts into one one a number of randomly-generated terrain configurations at the start of every encounter. No two encounters are the same as the arena shifts to challenge combatants with new hazards, terrain, and opportunities for strategic play.

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Encounters, & Rivals

• The trial consists of five encounters, each escalating in difficulty.
• During each encounter, teams face a randomized encounter, shaped by the arena’s enchantments and any Tribulations chosen.
• Between encounter, teams have a 1-hour rest period to recover and prepare for the next trial while rival teams face their trials.

Players as Monsters

When rival teams face their trials, players take control of the monsters. Each player controls one or more creatures from the encounter, using the monster stat blocks and abilities provided by the DM. Players aim to exploit the rival team’s weaknesses and leverage the arena’s hazards.
The DM plays the rival adventurers. Rival teams are designed to challenge the party’s creativity and cunning when controlling monsters.
Players can prioritize certain targets or use the environment to maximize the monsters’ effectiveness. Cooperation and creative tactics among players are rewarded, as they must adapt their strategies to the monsters they control.

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Audience Interaction

The crowd’s favor can influence the trial. Combatants who impress the audience may receive minor boons, while those who falter may be cursed with minor hindrance. The crowd’s approval plays a significant role in the trial. Audience reactions are shaped by:

• Heroic Acts: Saving allies, defeating enemies with flair, or overcoming significant challenges.
• Strategic Ingenuity: Clever use of terrain, spells, or Tribulation effects to turn the tide of battle.
• Theatrics: Impressive combat techniques, dramatic speeches, or bold actions.

Benefits of gaining Favor:

• Inspiration granted to a party member.

Consequences of Losing Favor:

• The DM imposes disadvantage on one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw of their choice on the player.

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Tribulations

Tribulations are the ultimate test of strategy, endurance, and adaptability in the Ring of Claws. They are cumulative challenges chosen by the party during short rest periods between combat encounter. Once chosen, these effects remain active for the rest of the gauntlet, growing in complexity and intensity as the trials progress.

Tribulation Types

Tribulations fall into three main categories, each affecting the trials in unique ways:

• Arena Effects: The arena itself becomes an active adversary, introducing hazards that reshape the battlefield and force strategic positioning. These effects punish poor movement, reckless tactics, or failure to adapt to the terrain.
• Curses: Curses directly debilitate the party, targeting their physical and magical capabilities. These afflictions grow more dangerous as multiple curses stack, challenging the party’s ability to sustain themselves through the gauntlet.
• Favours: Favours enhance the enemies faced in the arena, making them more formidable and unpredictable. These effects often boost enemy abilities, introduce reinforcements, or create new layers of danger.

Choosing Tribulations

Between encounters, the party is presented with three Tribulations displayed on enchanted stone tables. Each Tribulation has a description carved into its surface, hinting at its nature. The party must burn an offering tied to one of the Tribulations, symbolizing their acceptance of its challenge. The other two are discarded.

• Strategic Choice: The party must weigh the risks and benefits of each Tribulation. Should they accept a terrain-based challenge to avoid empowering their enemies? Can they endure a crippling curse if it avoids introducing regenerating monsters? The decision is final and cannot be undone once the offering is burned.
• Cumulative Effects: Tribulations stack with each encounter. By the final trial, up to five active Tribulations are in play, creating a chaotic and relentless battlefield. Arena hazards, curses, and empowered foes will all converge to push the party to their limits.

The party must adapt their approach to combat based on the Tribulations they’ve chosen. For example: In a hazard-filled arena, positioning and mobility become critical. Against regenerating enemies, the party might focus on sustained damage or ways to stop the healing. With sapped strength, spellcasters may take center stage while melee fighters adopt a defensive role. The choice is yours!

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Victory and Loss Conditions

To win, a team must survive all five encounters and outperform their competitors by:

• Defeating the most creatures or dealing the most damage.
• Surviving the effects of cumulative Tribulations.
• Earning the favor of the audience and/or the gods through ingenuity or heroism.

A team is disqualified if:

• All members are incapacitated or dead during an encounter.
• They violate the arena’s sacred rules.

Plot type

Adventure