Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.
In this column, we take some of the lands from Magic: The Gathering and turn them into something you can use for your fantasy games.
The stats given in each entry assumes that you’re using Pathfinder for your games, but they can easily be converted over into any fantasy system. This week we dig into the bloodstained glory of the Arena.
Arena
It should rightly be known as THE Arena, as it is the first arena, the one upon which all others have been mere copies. Unlike most, it does not sit on the ground or in a city, but floats in a pocket dimension of its own, usually thousands of feet in the air, but every single thing about the Arena is malleable. That is because it is the site of battles that would kill normal mortals through the sheer sight. It is where gods and the champions of gods fight it out to establish who is the stronger. It is here that the gods decide who rules for the next period, and how the world will end. It is here that legends say that gods and heroes will meet their final fates.
Lay of the Land
In its natural form, the Arena is a flat, black, stone disc that has a single enormous golden rune engraved on the surface. It is a mile across, and floats 3,000 feet in the air, invisible to anyone not standing on it. It is very rarely in its natural form, as anyone strong-willed and powerful enough (usually gods, but anyone over level 18, and with a Wisdom or Charisma higher than 18, can reform the land). Powerful mortals and heroes can affect the entire 1-mile stone disc, transforming it into any terrain they wish, but cannot change the size of the disc nor where it flies (nor can they cause it to crash). Gods have no restrictions on it, being able to enlarge it or shrink it as much as they like and be able to move it to any height. Any attempts to crash it are countered by other gods however, as part of the ancient pact that created the Arena.
Dangers
The dangers from the Arena come from the fact that it is possible to change it so much, with the more powerful creature or deity always getting to decide the layout of the land. But the main danger comes from the fact that the gods do not allow anyone onto the Arena unless they are there to fight. As such, anyone who finds themselves transported to the Arena should prepare themselves for the fight of their lives.
While powerful heroes and titanic creatures are the usual participants of these fights, it is not uncommon for certain gods to take a special delight in tormenting or toying with weaker creatures. As such, anyone could find themselves moved here, as could any creature. In those cases, it is mostly a fair fight – as that extends the entertainment – but that is not a given, and depends entirely upon the deity in question.
Kim Frandsen
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