Johannes replied to me: > >> Now Tribunus will want to have a way out. > > > > Find a 'genuine fake Tribunus' and make plans for two switches, > > before and after the battle. The gladiator makes the kill, the > > slave becomes the fall guy. This could actually make the plot > > easier, since the real gladiator doesn't have to deceive the > > audience quite as long. > > > Making an exchange during the fight does not seem practical.
I assumed that there is a social event before, during and after the fight. The gladiator victim would be presented at the party before, with a chance for everybody to look him over. Then the two 'contestants' go into their locker rooms for arms and armor, come out in gladiator gear (full-face helmet?), fight, and then they go back for changing. The noble comes out for the rest of the party, the gladiator is disposed. > The > plan could be to put the killer Tribunus in a cell, then have him > exchanged for a different one, who gets blood smears and copies of any > wounds Tribunus might have sustained. We're talking about a real gladiator vs. a wannabe noble. Is there a question that the gladiator can win easily if both get sharps? > > Find a real or fake magistrate who will step in just after the > > fight and 'detain' the gladiator for 'questioning'. > > > > The most likely reaction of the sponsors of the game will anyway be to > capture the gladiator and detain him for the time being. Good doubles are > expensive, and propably handing over the killer to group II could be part > of damage control. So it could be a question of competing jurisdictions, various magistrates vs. the right of the slave owner. > > Upstairs/downstairs. Get the other PCs a job in the kitchen > > or the stables, as extra staff for the event. > > > > Given gladiator doubles are common there, there is still some danger, that > the kitchen staff figures, they are runnaway doubles. How many fights per evening? I thought one or two, not lots. So it would be known that there is 'a slave who looks like the gladiator X vs. the son of senator Y' -- another guy who looks like gladiator Z might be taken for a coincidence, or maybe a real gladiator called in to coach the slave. Do the slaves know that they're going to die, or do they think they have a fair chance? How much effort goes into that end of the deception? If they KNOW they're going to be slaughtered, the villa will be a pressure cooker on the verge of a desperate slave rebellion. If the conspiracy isn't that dumb, they'll promise the slaves freedom and a small plot of land in the provinces. Make sure that merely wounded victims get that, and try to conceal the fatality rate. Slaves go in, every now and then one sends messages back to the tune of 'nice house in Hispania, and a couple of servants to help with the crippled leg', but they are not seen again. For a morbid comparison, think of the deception around the holocaust. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
