Advanced Rules: NPC Services

Services - Introduction

NPC Services is every influence not coming from a player character. Wether you buy a greatsword or a powerstone, or copy a spell from another wizard's spellbook into your own, you make use of an NPC service. But that's not all: mighty wizards of Gladius can cast spells on you to strengthen your prowess in the arena, mercenaries offer their sword arm or holy symbol for a fee, animal trainers take care of your mount, and even your allies fall into this category. Most of these things can be purchase at the Gladius Market, but if you are looking for illegal items, you need to go to the Blackmarket.

Services - The Marketplace of Gladius

At the Gladius Market you can buy every item listed in the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Expanded Psionic Handbook. The dominant currency in Gladius is the Gold Piece (gp), and it's variations - silver piece (sp), copper piece (cp), and platinum piece (pp) but there are also other things to pay with, not made from coins. These items are worth their full price in gold and can be used instead of coins at no disadvantage. Likewise, gems and pieces of art in any form, are worth their full price in gold and need not be sold for half price.
Items and Equipment:
If you want to buy weapons or armor you should visit one of the many smiths near Market Square. Exotic smiths from the Far East sell weapons that were unknown until lately (see DMG,p145: Asian Weapons). On the Market you will also find miscellaneous items available in Gladius. Not specifically mentioned but also available are material components necessary to cast spells, gems in any form and value, aswell as any mundane item that could normally be found in a metropolis. Common sense applies.


In a city such as Gladius there is magic everywhere. Powerful magic Arms and Armor can be purchased for the market price, or are you more interested in Potions, Rings, and Rods? Perhaps some Scrolls, Staffs, or Wands? Then go to one of the Magic Stores around Gladius Market Square. The broadest category is made up by the various Wondrous Items. Even Intelligent or Cursed Items are available here. And finally there are the mysterious Psionic Items; weapons, armor, universal items, but also tattoos, powerstones, dorjes, and psicrowns - imported from distant lands to the south.


If you wish you can order these items made from special materials, which has recently been expended by Mundane Crystal and Deepcrystal (bottom of the linked page).
Mounts and other Allies:
You can purchase certain allies which ranges from a simple untrained dog to an advanced customized elite Iron Golem. A list of available allies on the Gladius Market can be found here.

Services - Restrictions

Yes. Allies and expendable magic items must not exceed a certain powerlevel which depends on your ECL. The reason for this is that the gladiator should be the main actor in the fight, not his ally or his CL 10 scroll at level 3. The following section lists all restrictions.
Allies and Companions:
The maximum power of all your active allies combined must not exceed your maxCA. Diplomacy allies are furthermore restricted by your maxCD. This rule is always in effect! See Rules: Allies I for more information on caps for allies, maxCA and maxCD.
Scrolls and Powerstones:
The Caster level or Manifesterlevel (CL/ML) of these items is restricted to your CL+2. You may buy higher CL/ML scrolls and powerstones at the Blackmarket. Please note that there is also a cap of 50xECL² on all your Scrolls, Stones, Tattoos and Potions combined.
Tattoos and Potions:
These items may have a CL/ML no higher than your ECL (although you can circumvent this restriction in the Blackmarket). Any spell that can legally be made into a potion or tattoo can be purchased; recall that spells with a range of "personal" cannot be made into potions, and tattoos of powers with a range of "personal" cost double the normal amount. Please note that there is also a cap of 50xECL² on all your Scrolls, Stones, Tattoos and Potions combined.
Wands and Dorjes:
Like tattoos and potions, these may have a CL or ML no higher than your ECL (which can, again, be circumvented in the Blackmarket). They can contain any spell or power available in the SRD. Note that wands or dorjes that use metamagic or metapsionics, and augmented dorjes, are priced according to their increased level (1 power level per 2 PP increase, in the case of psionics) rather than their actual level. Wands and dorjes are not included in the cap on expendables.
Other Magic Items:
You may only buy magic items specifically listed in the Dungeon Masters Guide or the Psionic Handbook. See the Gladius Market above for more information. You may customize magic items in the Blackmarket.

Services - NPC Services of Gladius

There are different kinds of services which a character can make use of. Of course they all cost hard-earned money.
Animal Trainers: Most bought animals are already trained but you can opt to buy an untrained version of this animal. Exotic beast always come untrained. Since not every gladiator has the necessary skill to train or rear an animal or a magical beast even, he can hire a professional trainer to do this job for him. Animals, Magical Beasts, and similar allies acquired on quests can be trained by a trainer which takes a week per trick (this does not count against a character's Free Activities). Likewise, you can change its standard feats or relocate its skill points by paying a trainer.

Animal Trainer	Cost
Basic Animals	50 gp (per trick)
Basic Animals	100 gp (for skill changes)
Giant Eagle	200 gp (per trick)
Griffon	250 gp (per trick)
Hippogriff	200 gp (per trick)
Giant Owl	200 gp (per trick)
Pegasus	200 gp (per trick)
Spider Eater	500 gp (per trick)
Exotic Mounts	1000 gp (for skill changes)
Exception: Training a light horse for Combat Riding costs only 50 gp total.

Copying Spellbooks: Most wizards who want to learn new spells and scribe them into their own spellbook seek out other wizards and copy the spells into their spellbooks ...for a fee. A wizard charges 50 gp x the spell's level for letting you copy one of his spells. Alternatively, a character may buy a scroll and copy the spell from there but this is only worthwhile in case of a 1^st level spell.
Spellcasting Service: Another much sought service are the arcane, divine, and psionic spells and powers that NPC spellcasters cast or manifest on the character. The basic cost for spellcasting service is 10 gp x the Spell's level x the Casterlevel the spell should have. If the spell has a material component, you must pay the additional cost. If the spell incurs an XP cost, you must pay an additional 5 gp per XP. There is one important restriction though: the spellcasting you pay for must not have a higher Caster level or Manifester level than your ECL! The Blackmarket (also see below) offers a backdoor here; you can pay credits to purchase higher CL spells or powers at a rate of 1° per CL above your ECL.

Example: a CL 16 Greater Magic weapon costs 640 gp (10x4x16) and a CL 8 extended mage armor costs 160 gp (10x2x8), same as a CL 16 mage armor (10x1x16). A symbol of death costs 6280 gp (10x8x16 +5000) because of the material component, and a Planar Ally spell costs 10,210 gp (10x6x16 +1250 +500x16)

You may not buy any spells that affect the arena (like Wall of Stone). The spell must not have a target of 'personal' and no duration of 'concentration'.

Example: You can use NPC spellcasting to prebuff with a Deeper Darkness Spell (day/lvl), or Continual Flame (permanent) on one of your objects. You can also buy a Blur (min/lvl) or Haste (rnd/lvl) spell but they would run out long before you enter the arena. You could request a Create Water (instantanous) if it would be to any use to you or you could Raise Dead your deceased companion (instantaneous) but you may not order Dissolving Weapon (instantaneous but personal) nor could you buy a Forbiddance (permanent but affecting arena).

The Permanency spell and Incarnate power can make certain spells permanent on you. You have to pay for both the permanency/incarnate spellcasting service (10x5xCL +5 gp per XP), plus the spell you want to render permanent (10x5xCL) including any material component and xp cost, if any. The minimum caster level requirement must be met and the maximum caster level is 20. A spell made permanent can be dispelled either by dispelling the Permanency Spell itself, or the companion spell (for that reason it is important that you note down the Caster level of the spell, or of both spells if the CL isn't the same). You can only make those spells permanent that are listed in the spell/power description. Permanent symbol spells that are discharged reactivate after 10 minutes.

Example: A permanent CL 10 Enlarge Person costs 3600 gp (10x5x10 +2500, plus 10x1x10), whereas a CL 11 Greater Magic Fang costs 8380 gp (10x5x11 +7500, plus 10x3x11). A permanent CL 15 Symbol of Death costs 26950 gp (10x5x15 +20000 {XP} +5000 {material component}, plus 10x8x15). You may not buy a permanent See Invisibility (Target: personal) unless you can cast it yourself but in this case the See invisibility spell has your caster level, the permanency spell, however, the caster level of the NPC Spellcaster. You may not make Magic Vestment permanent because it is not in the list.

Special Note: You may not use the Spellcasting Service to aid you in crafting magic or psionic items.
Miscellaneous Services: In a city such as Gladius there is almost no limit to the services available. You need someone to groom your horses, or perhaps you need the knowledge of a sage? No problem. The table below (or DMG,p105) provides you with some examples of services available in Gladius along with the prices per day. If you want to call on a service not in that list write a PM to the GM (TelinArtho) and ask for guidelines and permission. None of the hirelings below may participate in an arena fight (although you can bring them with you on a Quest, and with the permission of the Campaignlord even on a Campaign).

Available Services	Price per day
Alchemist	1 gp
Animal tender/Groom1	15 cp
Architect/Engineer	5 sp
Barrister	1 gp
Clerk	4 sp
Cook	1 sp
Entertainer/Performer	4 sp
Laborer	1 sp
Limner	6 sp
Maid	1 sp
Mason/Craftsperson2	3 sp
Mercenary (guard)3	2 sp
Mercenary (cavalary)3	4 sp
Mercenary (leader)3	6 sp
Porter	2 sp
Sage4	2 gp
Scribe	3 sp
Smith2	4 sp
Teamster	3 sp
Valet/Lackey	2 sp
1: An animal tender cannot teach any tricks although he is considered to have 4 ranks in Handle animal (+0 Cha). 2: All Craftsmen and Smiths have 4 ranks in their relevant skill (+1 Int, +2 tool). If you want to hire a better craftsperson, double the price per rank above 4. For these NPCs the normal rules for crafting apply (time and cost, PHB,p70) 3: Mercenary Hirelings may not fight in the arena but you can bring them with you on a quest. They can act as guards or perform other duties. The Guard (War1), Cavalerist (War1), and Leader (War2) can be found in the Mercenaries Guild. 4: The listed sages have 4 ranks in their field of knowledge (+2 Int) and may roll once per day against the DC set by the GM (or Questlord/Campaignlord). If you want to consult a better sage, double the price per rank above 4.

Services - The Gladius Blackmarket

There are strict rules and limitations to certain magic items aswell as spells cast by NPCs on the gladiator. For most magic items, only those specifically printed in the DMG may be bought or crafted; scrolls and powerstones may have a maximum casterlevel of your ECL, and tattoos may always only be bought at minimum manifesterlevel. NPC Spellcasting Service is likewise restricted: you may only buy spells with a CL up to your ECL. All these items and spells are available at the Gladius Market Square.


The Gladius Blackmarket offers a way to circumvent these limitations, be it a spell with a higher CL than allowed, or perhaps a custom magic item? Here you will find what you are looking for (of course, it still has to be Core).


The Blackmarket however comes not without a price! For every custom magic item or spell you need to pay credits. The credit cost is in addition to the normal gold price you have to pay. In case of the Blackmarket, the number of credits you have reflect the connections you have, or the numbers of favors the shady beings of Gladius owe you. Sometimes it is a bribe, sometimes you can use your influence to get a license for a custom item - the roleplaying reasons are countless, and even lawful good characters can find a reason why they get their hands on an illegal item.


The reason for the Blackmarket is that custom items and spells are encouragement to earn credits (by moderating fights or quests, or writing a story) and a reward for those who already do. After all, not everyone wants to play an exotic monster so here is another way to spend your credits.

Services - Custom Items

First you need to go to the Blackmarket thread. At the top you will find a list with available items and their cost in credits. Check your credit account in the Pitlord List on how many credits you currently have, and you know what you can afford. If you have enough credits (and of course gold too!) to purchase the requested custom item, you post a request for that item in the Blackmarket along with the gold price and credit cost, and that's it.


After you have bought the item and enlisted it on your character sheet, write the credit cost behind the item in parenthesis by using the ° symbol. Done.
Crafting Items and Requirements: If a character wants to craft a custom magic item himself, he has to fulfill prerequisites just like most magic items have prerequisites, be it a spell or a certain alignment or something else. The magic items listed in the DMG serve hereby as a guideline. For example, +5 Perform Dance Shoes might require you to have 5 ranks in Perform Dance.

Services - Custom Spells

Services - All about Traps

Traps are in important part of the D&D system hence the Core Coliseum has rules to include them. Any trap from DMG p.70-74 can either be bought with money or self-crafted by using the Craft (Trapmaking) skill. If you are using a trap from DMG p.70-74 it must be used in it’s UNMODIFIED version. Reason: They have weak features to reduce CR, but they also come at a hefty price for CR 1 traps The balance is sufficient. If self-crafted, the cost is only half of the marketprice but you have to pass the craft DC with a Take10; the Craft DC is either DC 20 (CR 1-3), DC 25 (CR 4-6), or DC 30 (CR 7-10). Using the 'Proximity Trigger' or 'Automatic Reset' feature increases the DC by another +5 for each. All traps must be assembled by using the rules 'Designing a Trap' on DMG p74-75 (or just see below) with some exceptions and restrictions. Traps are divided into mechanical and magical traps. Magical traps need both the trapmaking skill and craft wondrous item feat. Custom made traps do not require credits or approval, but if they are illegal, as audited by the pitlord before the fight, it cannot be used during that fight, and you may be assessed other penalties at the pitlords discretion.
Designing a Trap
Mechanical Traps have a base CR of 0; magical ones have a base CR of 1.
Required Trap Features: Search DC, Disable DC, Reflex DC or Attack Bonus, Reset Type and Trigger Type
Optional Features: Damage or Spell Effect, Multiple Targets, Pit Spikes, Touch Attack, Poison
All of these items can be found in the Traps section of the SRD.

Reset Type

• No Reset: One-shot trap; used up like expendable.
• Repair: Must be repaired before it can be re-used; this costs 1/5 of the trap's market price and can only be done between cycles.
• Manual: Available after 3FC
• Automatic: Available for next fight.

Trigger Type

• Location: Incorporals and Flyers with perfect or good maneuverability (incl flying mounts) auto-avoid the trap
• Touch: Incorporals and Flyers with perfect or good maneuverability (incl flying mounts) auto-avoid the trap
• Proximity: Affects any creature.

Marketprice of a Trap Use DMG p. 75 or the SRD ( here)

Traps Rules and Clarifications
To prevent unbalanced effects there are a number of limits on how you can design a trap. Furthermore, some clarifications are necessary.

• Traps count as allies. Use its CR to determine your Coefficient of Allies (CA). No trap may be higher than your ECL-4 (ECL 3-5 gladiators are limited to CR 1 traps). If you don't get to use the trap (because you're the attacker) you suffer no penalties to your rewards. You must have your trap as a defender pre-buffed in order to utilize one if you have the Defender Package – traps.
• You may not gain a spell trap with a higher CL than your ECL even by paying credits.
• You may include only one spell per trap.
• You may not create multi-traps (traps with several effects).
• The target faces the trap for only 1 round (so water-filling rooms and other "onset delay" traps are useless)
• Traps with non-linear damage are not allowed.
• Search and Disable DCs must be equal.
• You may only lower the CR of the trap of CR 6 (or greater) by one. Using weak features will still reduce the price normally. The trap still needs to be of legal CR for your character despite the weak features to reduce the price. Traps that would end up being CR 0 or less because of weak features are not allowed. Traps below CR 6 cannot have their CR reduced by weakness, but still benefit from being cheaper. (Example: an ECL 7 gladiator devises a trap that does 6d6 damage (CR 3). He lowers the Search and Disable Device DCs to 15. This would ordinarily reduce the CR to 1 by the RAW, but our house rules prevent this reduction. However, the price is still lowered by 1000 gp (to a minimum of CR3 x 100 = 300 gp). The gladiatior would not be allowed to reduce the trap's Reflex save to 15, because then the trap's effective CR would be 0.)
• No magical trap or effect can cause the surrender or disappearance of your opponent. Reasoning: The trap goes off BEFORE you enter arena. Thus there isn’t anything to disqualify him for.
• You are the last bastion responsible for the accuracy of the trap. If, after pairings are rolled, your trap is found to be illegal, it cannot be fixed to be made legal or used for the upcoming fight. In that case, you do not suffer any ally xp/gp penalties. You cannot retroactively use another ally instead either. Other penalties may apply.

How to use Traps
Traps can be used with the Defender Skill Package "Set Trap" (see Rules of Gladius: Skills). If you end up as Attacker, your trap is not triggered and does not count against your Rewards. It is sufficient to have the trap listed in the "At Home" section of your sheet although if you want to use it, it must be mentioned in the pre-buff section (and which one in case you have multiple traps). And of course, you need to pass the 'task' mentioned in the Skill Package.


If your opponent does not find the trap (either due to an insufficient Search value or not having the Trapfinding class feature for traps with a DC of 20 or higher), it goes off and affects your opponent. The pitlord must inform you of the trap results before you submit tactics. The pitlord also needs to make the opponent aware that he’s been trapped and the effects of the trap upon his character before tactics are submitted. If your opponent however finds the trap (search DC) he can either disable it with a Take 10 vs the Disable Device DC of the trap, or the sum of his Balance+Climb+Jump+Swim is equal to or higher than the Disable DC+10.


If the trap went off, it depends on the trap's Reset Type on when you can use it again. If you have “No Reset”, it is treated as consumable and exhausted. As traps become more popular and are used in the arena, a summary of traps will appear here.

Traps Currently Used/Approved In Arena

To review the custom traps that have been approved for use in the arena already or to get an approval for a new custom trap, see the Traps thread.