Fighting has become big in the Barony. All one needs to do to realize this is to look at the number of Kings the Swamp has had within its borders in recent years. Mudthaw has become the premier event in the Southern Region to kick off the Tourney circuit. However, there are many people who attend Mudthaw and never watch the fighting. With as large a list of fighters as Mudthaw attracts it can be confusing to the casual observer what is happening.
It is the Mistress of Lists' (MoL) job to keep track of the fighting and also to let the Marshall in charge know when semi-final and final rounds are being fought. The MoL and the Marshall work together to keep the tourney moving and hopefully done before the feast. Sometimes there are special prizes for novice (authorized less than 1 year), Best Death, Most Chivalrous or some other special prize as determined by the autocrat.
To run a tourney takes more than the MoL and the Knight Marshall. Heralds call the bouts and many Marshalls help move the Tourney along. Runners to go to the field from the MoL table are helpful so that wins and losses are accurately recorded. And of course, Water Bearers to refill the water jug for the fighters.
If you are bored at Mudthaw (which I hope you are not!) feel free to stop by and offer assistance. Even an hour of your time will help the Tourney along and make it fun for everyone!
This years' Mudthaw will have a double elimination tourney and then a 3 or 5 man Melee Tourney. Unless there are large number of teams, the Melee Tourney will be a Round Robin. Following is a detailed description of these two types of tourneys.
In a round Robin tourney each person or team plays all the other people or teams. The one with the most number of wins is the winner. If there is a ties all persons/teams in the tie play each other until one wins.
The perfect number for a double elimination tourney is 16 or any multiple of 16. The names are written down the center of a sheet of paper.First round bouts are fought between 1st and 2nd names, 3rd and 4th, etc. Winners advance to the right on the list. Losers move to the left of the list. When round 1 is over, round 2 begins.
The losers list fights first. Fighters are again paired off. The winners advance left to round 3, the losers are out. The winners list round 2 now fights. The winners advance right to round 3, the losers go to the bottom of the losers list round 3.
Round 3 begins with the losers list They fight, and the winners advance to round 4, the losers are out of the competition. The winners list fights with winners advancing to round 4 and losers going to the bottom of the losers list for round 4.
Round 4 begins with the losers list. They fight winners advanced to round 5, losers are out. Now there are two ways to finish the winners lists. A) Winners list fight - there will be only one bout. Winner advances to the finals. Loser goes to the bottom of round 5 losers list. B) Finalists from winners list rest and the bout is not fought until the semi-finals for the losers list is fought.
Round 5 losers list fights. Winners advance, losers are out. With A) above go on to round 6 and then the finals.
The finals can be fought in two ways. 1) Best 2 out of 3 - they start even. 2) Until someone is killed twice, the fighter coming from the losers list retains his one death. Most finals are fought by method 1.
As I mentioned, 16 is the optimum number for this type of tourney. To make the fighting more even you insert a bye. A bye is handled one of three ways. They can all be wins - all be losses - all fought with the win/loss being recorded for the participant only. Most tourneys are fought with the last method.
The tourney may sound a little complicated but feel free to stop by and see it in action. Stop at the List table and check it out. Just please stand to the side or in back so the front is clear for info going in and out.
All pictures and text
Copyright 2003
Originally appeared in
The Mudpuppy
Newsletter of The Barony of Settmour Swamp
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