Tiger Wrestling Mini-Game for Labyrinth Lord or B/X

They say that it takes putting out a food 8-10 times for a toddler before they will eat foods they are reluctant to try. Though my own lived experience with Stormchild has me doubting that as bullshit from time to time I find myself floating the same adventure hooks again and again in the campaign until the players take a stab at them.

One of the most outstanding hooks is an offer from Marlinko bon vivant and philosopher Jarek the Nagsmen to come wrestle tigers in his tiger pit for cash prizes. With Pickle the half ogre finally showing some interest—and a whole Marlinko city supplement coming into being—I finally got to dust off and expand a mini-game. (And yes this will appear in a playtested and polished form in the published adventure).

Tiger Wrestling Mini-Game

Jarek fields three tigers of varying strength. The tigers claws and teeth are filed down and blunted to give the wrestler a sporting chance though the tiger is still quite deadly. Jarek will have his beast-handlers step in and prevent the tiger from eating (over much) a dead contestant.

Contestants are barred from the use of magic (Detect Magic spells will be cast by Jarek's valet-mage). They are allowed to take leather jack (AC: 8) into the ring with them.

The Tigers

Old Slinky Panc (Hit Dice: 4, AC: 6, Hp: 13), Bounty for Win 300 gold.

Simka (Hit Dice: 5, AC: 6, Hp: 20), Bounty for Win 600 gold.

Pan Meow-Meow (Hit Dice: 6, AC: 6, Hp: 25), Bounty for Win 1000 gold.

Wraslin'

Each round the contestant can pick a maneuver from the list below. The GM selects (or rolls a d4) a maneuver for the tiger. Both maneuvers are crossed indexed for attack modifiers for the round: the contestant modifiers are on the left and the tiger on the right. Attack rolls are on the standard LL combat tables and are considered to be simultaneous during the round. A successful hits sends either party to the results table below the matrix.

	Pounce	Bat	Bite	Rear Claw Rake
Dodge	NA/-1	NA/-2	NA/-3	NA/-4
Punch	+1/+1	-1/+1	+1/0	+2/-1
Kick	-2/+2	-2/+2	-1/+1	+2/-2
Grapple	0/0	+1/0	-2/+2	+1/-2

Contestant Results

Dodge = contestant +2 to attack in next round if the contestant is not hit successfully this round.

Punch= 1d3 (plus STR modifier) stun damage on the tiger.

Kick = 1d3 (plus STR modifier) stun damage on the tiger.

Grapple = Tiger is in a hold and may not make a move in the next round other than to break free. The tiger must roll a d10 under its hit points to break out. If the tiger is successfully grappled for 2 additional rounds the contestant wins.

Tiger Results

Pounce = knocks contestant down, pinning him. He may not take an action until he breaks free on a roll of 4d6 under his STR. The tiger will attempt to bite him at +4 to hit for 1d4 damage each round he is pinned. (If the tiger successfully pins on a round that the contestant successfully grapples the two maneuvers cancel each other for no effect.)

Bat= contestant takes 1d3 damage from paws.

Bite = contestant takes 1d4+1 damage.

Rear Claw Rake = contestant takes 1d6 damage.