Duels
Duelling is a reasonably common way of resolving any dispute about who is
right. This is often used to settle personal arguments but can also be
used to elect people to positions, decide on the proper course of action
and so on and so forth.
The art of duelling developed so that feuds between gods wouldn't rumble on for centuries without either side making headway, or escalate to become all-out wars. It is worth noting that war between the gods has broken out once already, demonstrating that the duelling system does not entirely solve the problem of conflict, but few systems would and duelling has the advantage of being respected by all manner of entities, from gods to mice.
During the Iron Rule, the New Gods kept the tradition of duelling to solve disputes alive, and indeed many proved to be keen duellists. Occasionally, Old Gods would fight Duels using New Gods as their champions, since they could not leave their prisons to fight the duel themselves.
There's a couple of points that need to be made before we get into the nitty gritty of the system and dynamics:
- Refusing a stupid duel is no dishonour. If somebody challenges you to a
duel which is blatently stupid you have the absolute right to refuse
(what is "blatently stupid" is determined by player consensus and GM
judgement call).
- Challenger gets choice of duel. It is for the challenger to decide if
it is the Duel of Riddles, the Contest of Thrones or something else.
- Challenged party gets choice of "weapons". The Challenged party gets to
decide the precise form that the duel will take, and the general venue.
- Cheating is bad, trickery is not cheating. This is where we get into
the murkey grey area but basically it goes like this. If somebody
challenges you to a duel with swords you have the absolute right to
choose to fight in a place where metal perishes, but bring along a wooden
sword yourself and thereby (if your opponent hasn't realised this) beat
them. You are not within your rights to choose to have the duel in a
place where six of your mates can jump your opponent and beat him up. You
could, however choose a venue for the duel which is noted for certain
hazards of which you are aware and your opponent is not. Basically as
long as nothing involved in the duel is actively biased then
you're probably on okay territory.
Those Duels In Full
Duel of Thrones
The protagonists take mortals or mortal institutions and pit them against
one another, usually towards some predefined goal. Only indirect
assistance is permitted, but frankly indirect assistance is usually
enough. This duel is a Mundane action.
Duel of Forms
Yer basic shapeshifting contest. The classic for this one is
"pursue/evade" but it can also be a race, a fight or any number of
things. THis duel is a Legendary action.
Trial of War
Simply, its a fight. The choice of weapons is up to the challenged party
and it can be anything from wrestling naked to leading entire armies. It
does, however, have to be a fight. Chess and riddles are not viable
"weapons" in this case. This duel is usually a Mundane action, and as such is not normally to the death: the fight tends to continue until one of the duellists is no longer able to fight, or until a pre-determined condition is met - for example, when one of the duellists has the rose they are wearing on their duelling-costume cut off.
Trial by Thunder
A nice big impressive one this. The challenged party picks a target, the
challenger has to wreck it. Then they change ends.
It is considered a gross breach of etiquette to choose a target the
destruction of which will cause damage to either side, this is supposed
to be a test of power, not of ruthlessness. This duel could be a mundane,
epic or legendary action depending on what people choose.
Duel of Words
It's a riddling contest. We all know how riddling contests work. I ask
you one, you ask me one. Challenged party asks first. This duel is a
Mundane action.
Duel of Hearts
This is basically trial-by-seduction. The challenged party gets to choose
whether the contest will be for the hearts of mortals, beasts, monsters
spirits or gods. Each party in the duel then chooses somebody in the
appropriate category for their opponent to attempt to seduce. The
duellists then have a year and a day to win the love of their respective
targets, without coercion, cheating or buggering about.
Mechanics
Duels work fairly simply. Each duel has a default action type, aside from the Duel of Hearts (since whilst there are those who are dead impressed by folk doing Legendary feats to get their attention, there are others who consider it showing-off - in this case it's really best to judge things based on what you know about the person or thing you are trying to seduce). Each player turnsheets an action of that type to fight the duel. The duel is then worked out like any other contested action. Of course it's not as simple as that, because there is the Trickery option. If you choose to use Trickery in a duel, you think of an appropriately Mythic way to "cheat without cheating" on the duel such that your action is bumped up a level or, at the very least, such that you get a bonus for being cool.
If you can manage to bump your action up a level, you trump your opponent
flat. If you just keep to the same level but get a bonus of some kind
(by, say, doing things that bring your Natures into play, or just
convincing the GMs that you've put the groundwork in) you could still lose if the other player scrapes together more bonuses or trumps your action, but it is still more likely that you will win.
Stupid Duels
It's worth giving some criteria to allow you to judge for yourself whether a duel is stupid. The bottom line is that the duelling system is there to settle arguments between gods, whether this be over Estates, courses of action, personal issues or other bones of contention. It's not there to let strong gods randomly challenge and kick about weak gods.
Below are some examples of duels which are completely appropriate, more-or-less reasonable, barmy, and unnecessary.
Completely Appropriate
These are the sort of things where, not only is it acceptable to settle such a dispute with a duel, it's considered the Done Thing to settle things with a duel rather than constantly be at each others' throats. Other gods may become tired of your long-running feud if it gets this far and you still don't get around to duelling over it.
"I have strong evidence that you killed my wife, and yet you refuse to admit your guilt! I hereby challenge you..."
"We have fought over-long for this trinket. We must decide its ownership once and for all, through the Contest of..."
"Scoundrel! Dog! You abuse the Rights of your Estate and shirk your Duties! I will take the Estate from you, that I may undo the damage you have done - we will meet in the Duel of..."
"You, as Warlord of the Gods, have repeatedly failed to marshall the Divine Armies against the forces of the Black Ruby Tiger. I, as Watchman of the Gods, say that they will destroy all we hold dear if we do not go to war. We must decide the policy of heaven once and for all, through the Duel of..."
"You have meddled in my affairs for the last time, dog! Prepare to defend yourself..."
More-or-Less Reasonable
If you propose a duel based on reasons like the ones below no eyebrows will be raised.
"My wife was murdered, and you claim ignorance of this crime. I believe you know more than you are telling, though alas I cannot find any evidence to prove you wrong. We will fight a duel, and if we win you will tell me the truth, if I fail I will accept that you are blameless..."
"I would have great use for that treasure which you keep, yet you persist in refusing to lend it me. Let us fight for it in the Duel of..."
"I would make a much better choice for Watchman of the Gods than you, let's duel for it..."
"As Watchman of the Gods, I believe that our forces need hammers and flails to defeat the forces of the Black Ruby Tiger. You, as Warlord of the Gods, have ordained swords and spears. We will clearly not find agreement on this issue - let us duel so that we may lay the matter to rest..."
"You have insulted me, though I consider myself your better. We shall fight the duel of..."
Barmy
If you propose a duel based on criteria like these, you run the risk of becoming a complete laughing-stock.
"My wife was killed, and even though there's been hard proof discovered that you are innocent and Gorblak the Traitor did the deed, I still want to smack you up regardless..."
"Let's fight for that bauble. No, I don't really have a use for it, I'm just going to challenge you to a duel each year, each time for one of your precious treasurers, until I've got all your stuff..."
"Let's duel for your Estate. Yeah, I know I lost last time, I reckon I'll win this time round..."
"Erm, you know when you convened the War-Council of the Gods and I approved your war-plans against the Black Ruby Tiger? I've changed my mind, put up your dukes..."
"Let's have a fight. No reason, I just want to prove to everyone that you're my bitch..."
Unnecessary
There's no point calling a duel in situations where tradition and the laws of the gods puts you firmly in the right.
"We fought a duel to establish that you killed my wife, and yet you persist in declaring your innocence. I see that I shall have to teach you another lesson..." (The other bloke lost the duel, so the society of the gods sees him as guilty. He can claim his innocence all he likes, but it won't help him - anyone who actually believes him won't be able to do anything without aiding and abetting someone who's a proven criminal. In general, folk who ignore the results of duels are considered honourless curs and could become ostracised from divine society.)
"You are trying to obstruct me when I have the Right of free passage through your realm, and you have no Duty to stop me. I challenge you to..." (There's never any excuse for trying to foil someone's Rights, save the fulfillment of one's Duty, and quite often you can count on the aid of the other gods in stopping people doing this.)
"You have sworn me fealty and yet have openly defied my orders. I challenge you..." (People who owe you fealty and break your orders are in the wrong. You are free to slap them down as you see fit.)