1v1 Me!.. in D&D 3.5

[supersonic29]

So a tabletop group I'm affiliated with has a routine of challenges weekly wherein the current "winner" challenges someone to some sort of one on one game, the challenged party gets to pick the game. D&D is by far the game system I know the most, so I got to thinking, how would you challenge someone to D&D in this context?

tl;dr How would you format a one off 1v1 in D&D 3.5? Is there an official way, or a popular way?

[Flickerdart]

The Test of Spite was a very popular battleground back in the day, with defined procedures and a ban list.

[Snowbluff]

I concur. I've done some ToS type stuff.

[supersonic29]

Been reading through some of the ToS material, if you wanted just the arena and not the dungeon that comes afterward would anything be thrown off by picking a lower character level for the players? Somehow I feel that I would be most versed in 3.5 in particular in the group I'm with and that by 13th level Id be stomping a little too much for someone less savvy jumping in. To a degree thats the point of picking your game, but I don't want to remove the sport either

[Flickerdart]

Been reading through some of the ToS material, if you wanted just the arena and not the dungeon that comes afterward would anything be thrown off by picking a lower character level for the players? Somehow I feel that I would be most versed in 3.5 in particular in the group I'm with and that by 13th level Id be stomping a little too much for someone less savvy jumping in. To a degree thats the point of picking your game, but I don't want to remove the sport either

Arena battles are no place for anybody who doesn't have the system mastery to build a 13th level character.

[supersonic29]

Arena battles are no place for anybody who doesn't have the system mastery to build a 13th level character.

Maybe true, though I also considered for this one off challenge that could be a long character creation phase.

[sonofzeal]

Level 1 is actually fun, although a bit "Rock Paper Scissors". An experienced player is going to be an almost insurmountable opponent to newbies past lvl 5 or so, unless they get to build their characters with total foreknowledge of yours.

I'd say lvl 3 is a nice compromise - you'll have an edge, character building isn't too involved, and it's reasonably fair. Or lvl 5 maybe if your friends expect you to have a sizable advantage. A lot depends on your character building skill though, and number of books available. If you can name over a dozen full-casting PrCs off the top of your head, and know more than one way to cast spells in an AMF, you're going to have a big advantage. If you're a relatively casual 3.5 player yourself, and everyone's just going from the PHB, you could go as high as level 10 and still be fair.

[supersonic29]

An experienced player is going to be an almost insurmountable opponent to newbies past lvl 5 or so

Alright, so lets say level 5 would probably be good, people like numbers like 10 and 5.

With level 5 chosen and all other ToS rules still applying, I'll just have to figure what I might build for that, which will be fun to mull over. I'm feeling maybe something that has a stupid high initiative and then pools everything into a big bonus damagey, true strikey swing that attempts to just one shot my opponent, glass cannon style. It's a little BM but it sounds damn efficient.

Edit: Also wanted to thank you guys for the helpful info before completely U-turning the subject on how to win said 1v1 arena

[ace rooster]

level 6 is regarded as a 'sweet spot' of the system (hence E6), as it avoids the problems of higher level spells but players have enough to play with. Level 5 penalises spontaneous casters and is one level before the full BAB characters really get the benefit. I would suggest 1v1 arena battles are not the way to go though. It rewards good building, rather than good playing. Even then bad match ups will be common (see funny effects like a character hitting themself for 16000 damage). I would suggest you both run through a quick linear adventure, tomb of horrors style. Player than achieves most objectives wins. It will require a neutral DM, who would end up doing a lot of work for it, but could be great fun.

[sonofzeal]

I've always been a fan, for lvl 5 Core-only duels, of a Halfling Druid with Produce Flame. A rideable Animal Companion can keep you out of range of most things, your AC is good, and Produce Flame is a "thrown" ranged touch attack so a Halfling gets +1 size, +1 dex, and +1 thrown to the attack roll against touch AC. You shouldn't be missing, you can probably burn through their HP before they can pin you down long enough to do anything, and you've got enough other tools to be robust against any plans against you (Summons can really mess over someone's day).

[emeraldstreak]

I would suggest starting at level 1 and getting used to the process of refining character builds first.