The Grindstone Tournament
Server: Balmung
Location: Fesca's Wash in Central Thanalan. 20x,25y
Time: Saturdays 8:00 pm EST
Ten Years of Grindstone Celebrated on October 7, 2023!!
This event uses /yell and /random. Please have these features enabled.
The Grindstone an open fighting tournament held every Saturday. The event is open to everyone -- spectator or competitor. We ask those who attend to be respectful of our fighters. If you are not, you will be asked to leave.In order to participate in the Grindstone, you need only be on location in Central Thanalan at Fesca's Wash.This event usually runs for about 4 hours every week.
The Rules
No Killing. The Grindstone is open to everyone. While a painless experience is not guaranteed, no one should fear for their life. Anyone who kills their opponent will be killed. Graves come in pairs. Additionally, all combat at the Grindstone must be observed by an Overseer. Picking your own fight between rounds or with a spectator will be considered intent to kill, and you will be dealt with accordingly.
No Magic, No Technology, No Alchemy. While these methods are widely used across Eorzea, the Grindstone is a place to demonstrate your martial skill. Battlemages, technical specialists, and anyone dabbling in poisons and subterfuge are encouraged to test their abilities elsewhere.
Non-Lethal Ammunition Only. All bows and firearms must use non-lethal ammunition. Throwing knives are permitted due to their lower velocity.
No Animals. Also, no living weapons or armor.
Everyone Fights Healthy. If you show up injured, you will not be fighting. If you refuse healing between rounds, you will not be fighting. If, despite the best efforts of the Grindstone's healers, you are somehow still injured, you will not be fighting.
Breaking any of the above will render you ineligible to participate in the Grindstone until further notice.
Guidelines
Defenders determine damage. When you are hit, you get to decide exactly how much of your opponent's attack lands on you. This is important because no fight ends in one hit! For example, if your opponent tries to break your back on the first hit, you're free to decide the severity of your injury, and continue fighting. Remember: you will be healed after your fight.
Don't oversell damage. There's always drama in combat but please don't try to force a gigantic moment by deciding someone's attack pierced your heart, or their blunt arrows or rubber bullets actually shot clean through your helmet and exploded your head. You can't make people break the first rule by claiming their innocent attack actually murdered you.
Don't undersell damage. If someone lands a hit on you, don't do them a disservice by posting something about their attack doing nothing to you. The Grindstone is primarily a writing exercise, so don't feel like you have to save face by refusing to take a hit. For one thing, it's fun to write ways out of a fight that doesn't go your way, and secondly, it's very unfun to fight someone who just decides they didn't lose, or just walks off because they're bored. It takes two to Grindstone!
Have fun. The whole point is to meet new people and try things you can't normally do in other situations! There's no safer place in Eorzea to get run through than the Grindstone!
Mechanics
The Grindstone is Balmung's premiere fighting tournament, having existed since the arrival of FFXIV:ARR. Combat is a step above simple sparring; People can and will be injured during matches. It is only thanks to a dedicated, volunteer team of healers that players can fight without worrying about surviving through metagaming.Participating in the Grindstone is easy: Show up between 7:30 PM and 8:00 PM EST at Fesca's Wash in Central Thanalan on a Saturday night, and get in line with everyone else.The event begins at 8:00 PM EST. We'll /yell for everyone to get in line, then after going over the rules, the Arbiter will pair everyone off with an opponent. Matches are one-off fights with those victorious moving ahead and fighting someone else in the next round. This repeats until only one person is left standing to become that week's champion.Combat is broken down into a few simple steps:
This event utilizes the /random feature!
Both opponents roll initiative. The highest roll wins and attacks first.
The attacking player writes their post in a custom emote using /em. After posting, they roll the die.
The defending player rolls their die to defend. If the defender rolls higher than the attack, they have successfully avoided damage. A lower roll means they have been struck. In the event of a tie, reroll both attack and defense. Regardless, after determining the result, the defender then posts their /emote to show the effect.
Switch roles and repeat. The defender is now on the offensive and the attacker is defending.
First person to win three contests wins the match.
ICly, the third hit you take should be the one that causes you to pass out / be knocked out / surrender. Remember that it isn't "first to three" in character. We just fudge it so everyone just so happens to not be able or willing to go on after the third hit lands.OOCly: Roleplay usually starts around 7:00 to 7:30 PM EST. People want to fight! And talk about fighting!*Seriously, don't disrupt a scheduled event by going off on your own accord and picking a "real" fight. It's distracting to the event as a whole and it's disrespectful to those working to provide an environment for others who want to roleplay. Undermining the event will result in some ugly godmoding nonsense that really nobody wants to have to do.