Burden Of The Crown
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Objectives

There are no teams. Every characters is out to make himself king. So, snatch the crown, crown yourself king, then fight your way back to your Hallow to claim the throne.

Victory Conditions

The characters begin the Match facing each other across the crown. He who takes the crown is immediately crowned king. If the king is slain, the character who landed the killing blow immediately becomes the new king. If a crowned king can successfully fight his way back to his Hallow and activate it, he immediately wins the Match.

Here’s the Twist!

1. The crown begins on the ground, at the center of the map, with all characters standing only 15 feet away from it.

2. The crown can be claimed by anyone and it instantly appears atop the head of the first character to pick it up. The wearer immediately becomes the king and all other characters and creatures become his Subjects. Picking up the crown is a move action that provokes Attacks of Opportunity.

3. If a king is knocked unconscious, slain or declared a casualty by the GM, the crown instantly transfers to the slayer’s head and the slayer immediately becomes the new king. The slayer of a king is the character personally responsible for the strike that brings the king below 0 hp or that knocks him unconscious. Whether or not a fallen king qualifies as having lost his crown is at the discretion of the GM.

4. The king’s crown causes a magical effect that makes it difficult for the crown-bearer to hide from others or disguise the fact that he is king.

5. The crown bestows several magical abilities to the king: he can force his subjects to kneel before him, cause them to see illusions, transfer their life force to him or give them a magical shove that slides them across the map. (see Match Events)

6. The crown itself cannot be hidden through any means and it can only be removed when the wearer has been knocked unconsciousness or reduced to below 0 hp.

7. The crown is dimensionally anchored, so it is unaffected by any spell that would otherwise shift it outside of this Plane. The crown also dimensionally anchors any who wear it.

Match Events

The King’s Crown: The crown is a golden circlet that glows with a pale inner light. It automatically resizes itself to fit the head of any who pick it up. The crown inflicts the following Burdens upon any who wear it:

◆◆ Irremovable: The crown cannot be removed from the king’s brow until and unless the king is slain, knocked unconscious or declared a casualty, at which point the crown falls to the ground landing in the square of the fallen casualty.

◆◆ Glowing: The crown glows with a pale radiance at an intensity equal to that of a torch. Thus, those who wear the crown receive no concealment benefits from darkness or blur or any other such spells or conditions and they also suffer a -10 penalty to any Stealth rolls. Any spells such as darkness that are cast directly on the wearer are instantly dispelled by the pale light. The light is too dim to have any effect on undead or dark-dwelling creatures vulnerable to light.

◆◆ Anchored: The crown is dimensionally anchored and thus cannot be moved from this Plane. Anyone who wears the crown is also bound by the dimensional anchors effect.

The Royal Commands:

In addition to its Burdens, the crown bestows upon the king the ability to issue Royal Commands to his subjects. Once per round, the king can inflict his choice of one of the following effects on any one character in the Match:

Drain Life: As a standard action, the crown drains a number of hit points equal to the Match Level (no save) from a single subject and bestows half of that amount (rounded down) to the king.

Push: As a swift action, the crown can shove a single subject 10’ in any direction, no save. The subject must be within line of sight and can be no more than 60’ away from the king in order to target him. This effect does not cause the Pushed opponent to suffer from Attacks of Opportunity. If a Pushed character is shoved into a solid object, he takes damage equal to the Match Level. Reflex save (DC of 10 + Match Level) for half damage.

Decoy: As a swift action, the crown can cause a perfect illusion of the king to head off in any direction chosen by the king, as per the “Decoy Plate” Map Element The Decoy illusion lasts for only one round, existing only from the turn that it is generated to the same turn in the following round.

Kneel! As a standard action, the crown-bearer may command a single one of his subjects who is within line of sight to Kneel before his king. The subject must then use a free action to kneel and he must stay kneeling for the entirety of the king’s turn (but not the round), during which time the subject may not speak, make Attacks of Opportunity or take any immediate actions. Also, the wearer of the crown can move through a square occupied by a kneeling character as if he were a friendly. Kneeling in this manner does not affect the victim’s Armor Class.

Match Rules

Face-Off Law: The Match begins with the players in a modified Face- Off over the crown. Each player starts the Match standing only 15’ from the crown, but he also starts on the opposite side of the crown from his
Hallow. Thus, whoever takes the crown first must then somehow get around the other characters in the Match in order to reach his Hallow. Claiming the Hallow Throne: When a king reaches his Hallow with the crown, he must then activate his Hallow in order to win the Match. This means that he must stay alive for one full round after entering his Hallow in order to win, since activating a Hallow takes a move action.

Two-Footed: In order to activate the Hallow and be awarded victory, a character must have two feet firmly planted on his Hallow at the end of his turn and he must keep them there until the start of his turn on the
following round.

Dimensionally Anchored: The crown is dimensionally anchored, so it cannot be moved from this Plane and anyone wearing it is also bound by the dimensional anchor effect. Irremovable: The crown cannot be removed from the king’s head until and unless the king is slain, knocked unconscious, or declared a casualty.

A New King: Whenever a king is slain, the crown instantly transfers to the slayer’s head and the slayer immediately becomes the new king, with all of a king’s powers and burdens.

Tied Matches: If a Match ends without anyone reaching his Hallow with the crown, then the Match enters Sudden Death and each wearer of the crown from then on gets 5 rounds to get the crown to his Hallow
before he is slain and the crown is randomly given to one of the remaining characters, until someone makes it to his Hallow and activates it.

Match Setup

Match Length Minimum Team Members Maximum Teams Map Points
15, 20 2 4 0

The GM chooses a square near the center of the map on which to place a token representing the crown.

◆◆ The Conflict Advantage roll is not needed for this Match.

◆◆ Each character’s token is placed 15’ away from the crown, but on the opposite side of the crown from his Hallow. So, a direct line should be able to be drawn from the character through the crown to the character’s Hallow

Law Suggestions (optional)

Radiance: The map is illuminated completely, leaving no shadows to hide in.

Cries of the Gods: A fierce wind hinders flight, hampers the movements of small creatures and greatly reduces the effectiveness of missile fire.

Variants

Heroic King: Once a king activates the Hallow, the crown
bestows upon him the following spells as if cast by a 12th-level wizard:
haste, greater heroism and shield. It also instantly casts crushing despair on
any character who gazes upon the king. After activating the Hallow, the
king needs to survive for two full rounds to win the Match.

King Slayer: The king no longer strives to bring the crown to his Hallow. Instead, the winner of the Match is whichever character is wearing the crown at the end of the Match.

The King and I: Teams are allowed. Players form into even teams of two – no more, no less. The teams aren’t striving to bring the crown to their Hallow. Instead, the winner of the Match is whichever team manages to hold onto the crown for the greatest number of rounds. However, a TPK’s team cannot win the Match. At least one member of the team must survive the Match in order to win. Team members start out the Match standing in adjacent squares, both of them 15’ away from the crown.

Burdened: The crown is a heavy burden, causing the wearer’s movement to be halved (minimum of 5’). This slowing is in addition to any other effects that might be impairing movement, such as a slow spell, difficult terrain or encumbrance.

Guarded Hallows: Each contender for the throne is provided 50 Map Points. Thus, each contender may place Map Elements in their Map End.

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