"Generic DIY Gladiator Cards..yeah, that's right.." Topic

I just picked up a certain set of gladiator rules that are (to say the least) card driven. That's a little different from what I'm used to in a gladiator combat game, which have, in my experience, consisted of: Move figures within range of each other, look up stuff on a CRT, rolls some dice, apply some wounds, see if someone falls down.

The card idea is a nice gimmick, but it's a very expensive gimmick all the same. I bridled at spending 15 dollars (retail, less mail order) for a rather flimsy deck of just 36 cards. The cards are broken into 12 gladiator types and 24 actions (actions are broken into regular and "super" actions). So I decided to make a DIY card deck for, erm, GENERIC GLADIATOR FIGHTING.. yeah, that's right. All for personal use of course. These are just the "Gladiator type cards" The action cards are actually the easier ones to make as the format is highly repetitive.

I built these in MS Publisher in about an hour and a half.

You can see the results above. For more information, go here: link

Thanks for your time and interest,

V/R

Walt

Very nice cards! I did something similar for Ludus Gladiatorius from EM4. The gladiator cards I set up to print on quarter-sheet perfed card stock, and had them laminated, so I could use grease pencil or dry-erase pen to mark off hits and such. The action cards I formatted for perfed business card stock. They're available (with Doug from EM4's permission) on the LG Yahoo Group.

Doug

Very nicely done, thanks,
Ed

Walt, When you are done can you send me the set. Thanks

Scott…

I am looking for a simple gladiator game so I can introduce my grandkids age 5-10 to miniatures gaming. I have a large collection of 75mm pre-painted plastic German made figures.

I thought maybe some sort of card play combat would be simple. i do not understand how the cards here work.

Any suggestions for simple level combat, thanks.

Here are some of the figures.

i do not understand how the cards here work.

That's because they are designed for Jugula, the gladiator game from Studio Tomahawk.

Isn't this a massive copyright violation?

Making a set of cards for your own use maybe, but posting them so everyone can download them? That's not cool.

Isn't this a massive copyright violation?

I don't know enough about the game in question to say. If the cards basically ARE the game (like in a collectible card game they would be), then yes – this is very much uncool.

If, on the other hand, the gladiator stats and the action lists are published in the rules, then anybody could make their own cards, and the ones available from the company are merely a convenience. Sort of like the rune dice for Saga (which is from the same company, I think) … you can buy theirs, or you can make your own.

Doug

You know what's *actually* "uncool"? Assuming I'm distributing ANYTHING. I made these for my use, as I stated both here and in my blog post. If you think I'm stealing intellectual property, allow me to clarify. I PURCHASED two decks. I made more for my own purposes, and I rather liked what I did and wanted to share my humble efforts at graphic design. If you have a problem with that, too bad. I'm not selling this, I'm not giving it away. I just didn't want to pay 60 dollars in card costs for a four person gladiator fight, much like I didn't feel like spending extra dollars on specialized SAGA dice (which, ultimately, really are a high priced gimmick, much as I enjoy SAGA).

If removing the image above will keep me from being called a thief, I'll gladly ask Bill to help me out.

Walt O'Hara

Bobgnar:

I run a gaming camp for kids every August, and we usually run gladiator games on the first day because they're so easy to teach and run. The cards above are optimized for a commercial rule set. That design literally can't be played without cards (which I found out after I bought the rules and gave them a read through). IF you are going for a certain kind of narrative I associate with gladiator games, you might want to look at a game that emphasizes fighting, rather than the one being cited above. I would suggest MUNERA SINE MISSIONE, which isn't card based, but is very easy to pick up. MUNERA was written by Alan Saunders and is free. I have an epub of it up on the Digital rules section of my blog, here: link I run the game with gladiator figures, a hex map, a handful of Roman numeral dice and the rules on my Ipad. It's easy.

However, if you really want to go for the card approach-- Lloyd Krasner made a game called GLADIUS which is available here: link Gladius is also free but you'll have to take the DIY approach to making cards, like I do. Personally, I find Gladius a little repetitive and boring, and you'll have to work to adapt it to miniatures, but you can't beat the price.

Speaking of Lego minifigs, and I know we were-- I was recently at the Lego Brickfair in Chantilly, VA. You need to check out the specialized minifig accessories vendor BRICKWARRIOR. They make a specialized line of Gladiator minifig accessories that are amazing and offered at a decent price. See here: link

link

Walt

Walt, I asked a question.

Nobody called you a thief.

No need to over-react.

If I stated I was making these for my own purposes.. then why bother asking? Did you not understand what I wrote?

Bob – I am fond of Ludus Gladiatorius, and it's really simple, but even that might be too much for a 5 year old. You might consider Song of Blades and Heroes.

Doug

Walt, you posted a link to your cards on a public forum.
As soon as you did that anyone can download them.
So now they are not just for your own use; you are giving them away. Which is very nice of you, but I was concerned that the copyright holder might come after you.
Which is why I asked the question.

No I absolutely did not. I published links to 3 pictures of a work in progress-- not the PUB files or PDFs. I would challenge anyone to make a workable card deck from what I've posted. The pictures I posted were of 12 cards from a set of 36. If you know anything about the game in question, you already know the game is unplayable without the other cards.

I've noted your judgement on the matter, and I'm highly offended by it.

V/R

Walt

Well, I'm sorry you are offended.

About what I expected.

Walt, thanks much for all the good information I'll track down those leads. By the way the figures I posted our playmobile, I didn't know they were Lego gladiators I'll have to look for those. I have a large collection of Lego Pirates and natives. My ancient stuff is all playmobile.

I think my grandkids are more interested in the actual combat in the arena, they don't want to manage a stable of gladiators :-)

Bob:

I kind of suspected that was the case. :-) Any one of the suggestions made so far will do nicely.

I fear I can't tell Playmobil from Lego these days. When I went to the BrickFair (or to describe it more accurately, when I escorted my son to the BrickFair) I was surprised to discover there actually are hobbies geekier than playing games with little metal men!

V/R

Walt

There is a huge add on market for Legos. I get ads for them all the time, all sorts of world war two vehicles, helmets, uniforms, weapons it's a whole Nother world.

There was one of those Lego fairs in the Ann Arbor last year, I went with my grandkids, unbelievable the source of stuff they have.

Back in the early 2000's, I put on a very large naval battle with the Lego ships and pirates and soldiers it was mostly for kids with their parents. We used about a 6 x 12' area and had 20 ships on the table as they got shot apart we took off the pieces.

Terrement; epub is one of 2-3 standard formats for reading digital books using computers, electronic readers like kindle, nook etc, iPad or Android tablets, or smart phones. Epub is probably the most popular after pdf, but takes up much less space. So the answer is pretty broad.. You need a devise to read an epub ON, but some form of app to read it WITH.

I use iBooks on my IPad. You can sync the files using iTunes, or just click a download link and when it says open with… Use iBooks. On Android I use Aldiko, which lacks cloud sync, which can be annoying. Otherwise the google books app.

Don't take my word for it though.. Google e-reader apps for your OS and you'll find lots of suggestions, many of them free.

Bobnar,
You might be interested in my Habet, Hoc Habet! card driven rules that were published in Battlegames and in Henry's Wargame Compendium, but using English instead of Latin.

If you are interested, but can't access the magazine/book, email me at arthur1815 AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk and I'll explain it to you.