You see it as soon as you pass the gates into Far’soro. 

Every business has banners in the window or above their stand, each with the name of some stranger. Maybe this is how Far’soro gangs mark their turf ? Down the main road, people suddenly explode in cheers. They’re crowding around a bison who’s dressed in chain mail and a tunic so pink, it’s hard to look directly at him. 

The stranger is screaming in someone’s face. It’s a shorter man, a smirking rat who’s… dressed like a colorful garbage-picker. As you edge around the still-growing crowd, you see the knife behind the rat’s back. Right in front of your eyes, the argument breaks down, and the senseless tragedy of urban gang violence plays out before your eyes. The two beat each other senseless, each one trading blows that send the other reeling. The bison roars in agony. It escalates. Knives flash. Spells ignite in the square. This is a duel to the death. 

The crowd backs up to make room for the flamboyant criminals to kill each other, and you see their faces. This carnage delights the crowd; they are enraptured. After flaunting with a gesture emulated by at least fifty beasts in the crowd, the bison casts a spell that completely engulfs the rat in flames. When the victim collapses, the flames go out. He’s somehow unburned. The poor soul must have succumbed to smoke inhalation instead… 

The crowd bursts into another pop of cheering! A third stranger raises the murderer’s right arm. The crowd chants. 

“SHL! SHL! SHL!” 

Fake Fighting, Real Crowds 

The SHL is a combination fighter’s guild, mage’s coterie, and theater troupe. Its story is an ongoing improvised drama about a league of colorful characters all fighting for the chance to call themselves the SHL Champion. Side stories and distractions on the road to glory entertain the crowd; the characters settle every personal dispute in this alternate reality with over-the-top adventure-violence. 

Combatants terrorize each other in matches that happen anywhere, but mainly within designated rings around the city. These rings are in bars, bethel basements, and arenas with hundreds of seats. Once a year, the most worthy combatants battle in the ring of the Far’soro Grand Arena. 

And it’s all fake. 

Behind the scenes, the SHL is a drama-withina-drama. A combatant spends every ounce of their might in every performance, all to make the crowd remember their name. The match results are fixed, but every win gathers a combatant precious credibility in the eyes of the crowd. While the Champion might be predetermined, no one gets a shot at the belt unless the crowd believes it’s plausible for them to be there. The road to fame and glory is paved with politics, backbiting, and uneasy alliances. 

Kayfabe: Choosing to Believe 

Combatants, Contenders, Champion 

Every hopeful combatant registers with the Storied Histories League organization in Far’soro. The League itself is a character in the drama, as matches are booked as part of the ongoing story. However, this is the actual organization that the real people behind the characters belong to. A combatant works through an agent, or a manager. Once their manager gets them recognized by the League, they can start performing in matches. 

The SHL organization predetermines the outcome of every match, but each fighter puts on the most compelling performance they can. Losing a match isn’t career failure! Combatants who lose in a way that helps their opponent look good are popular behind the scenes and get booked for matches just as often as one on a winning streak. In the end, the object of the game is to make an impression. In time, wins are inevitable for a recognizable name. 

Both in the fiction and out of it, combatants want to become the SHL Champion, as the title brings immense prestige to one’s career. The Champion earns the right to wear the SHL Championship Belt, and becomes more famous than the bey. 

Not that anyone should ever tell him that. 

Zig-Zag, Criss-Cross, Dead-End Stories 

It takes time for a combatant to gain enough fame for the League to consider putting them in a title match. Storylines define a combatant as they participate in the web of ongoing narratives. In the rules of the SHL’s universe, every disagreement devolves into one combatant challenging the other to a match to determine who gets the last word. Friendships form, and betrayals break them. Cheaters cheat and heroes win the day, except when they don’t. 

Gimmicks

Every combatant has a gimmick. While usually a larger-than-life version of themselves, a gimmick can also be a supernatural or comedic character. Whatever the crowd reacts to is a good gimmick. A beloved murine rat combatant called Garbage Lord once held the SHL championship belt for over two years. The important thing is to be a compelling entertainer, not to embody a heroic winner. 

Heels and Faces 

Judges 

Managers 

If a delver wants to moonlight as an SHL combatant, the first order of business is to find a manager. Managers are the combatant’s representatives with the owners and commissioners of the League itself. They know people behind the scenes and can get their combatant booked in high-profile matches. With luck, they can even get them into matches they’re actually booked to win. 

Delvers can become managers as well. The skill set is a bit different from a combatant’s; this is a job for Gladhands, Pathposts, and Hidden Eyes. Managers sweet-talk bar owners and eventually convince arenas to sell tickets to their combatant’s headlining show. They can even play their own part in the public performance as the combatant’s hype-man or henchman. 

In the background of the SHL’s drama, the politics of booking are their own game to play. Doing favors for a venue operator helps a combatant win their respect and get a match in their Friday night show. This is where the delver’s crew comes in. A combatant might only have a match every month or two. They spend the rest of their time delving and scoping out opportunities to raise their public profile. 

The SHL commissioners love to book celebrity delvers, or anyone else interesting and charismatic, as guest combatants. A celebrity from outside the world of the League is prime fodder for a good storyline. It’s easier to find a manager for a guest combatant with some clout to offer. If the guest really impresses the crowd, they can even transition to a more consistent role in the story 

League Structure 

The Storied Histories League has several divisions, each with its own championship belt. This breaks up the show to keep things fresh and separates the League’s many characters to make more room in the spotlight. 

All-Combat Division 

Spellslinger Division 

Bruiser Division 

Tag Team Division 

Delving Crew Division 

Rules Changes for SHL Encounters 

One Shy. The key to an exciting match is to barely miss. When actions are well-controlled, combatants can believably react as if thrashed by a war hammer or immolated by a fireball. A combatant’s action is one shy when the result of at least one attack roll is equal to the target’s AC minus 1, or when a saving throw or ability check made to resist their attack, spell, or ability is equal to the DC. An action that is one shy cannot be a botch. 

Botch. If an attack obviously harms a combatant, the crowd will respond—they’re smart enough to know when a match has gone wrong. No one wants to witness a grisly injury or death in the ring! They’re also keen to the fact that an arrow flying six feet wide accomplished nothing, no matter how well the target sells it. A combatant’s action is a botch if the result of at least one attack roll is 3 higher or lower than the target’s AC (unless the attack is a critical hit), or when a saving throw or ability check to resist their attack, spell, or ability is 3 higher or lower than its DC. 

Advantage & Disadvantage 

Dice Added to Results 

New Actions

Pull. As part of making an attack, you can make an Athletics check with the attack roll’s ability. You can reduce the result of the attack roll up to the maximum according to the Pull & Catch table. You can also reduce the save DC for a spell you cast by making an Athletics check with your spellcasting ability as part of the action to cast it. You can reduce the save DC up to the maximum according to the Pull & Catch table. 

Catch. As a reaction to being targeted by an attack or spell, you can make an Acrobatics check, with Dexterity if attempting to lower your AC, or with the same ability as the spell’s save. You can reduce your AC or saving throw result for resolving the attack or spell up to the maximum according to the Pull & Catch table. 

Tell. As an action, you make a big theatrical gesture to wow the crowd, while giving your opponent time to prepare for your next maneuver. Make a DC 15 Charisma (Performance) check. On a success, creatures that can see or hear you have advantage on ability checks and saving throws to resist your attacks, spells, and abilities until the end of your next turn. 

Example. Heartbreaker throws a vegetable cart from a roof onto his opponent, Rohit the Grocer. Heartbreaker rolls a 19 on the attack roll, and a 20 on the Pull check, which means he can reduce the attack roll by up to 5. He knows Rohit has AC 16, so he reduces the attack roll by 4 for a total of 15, making his action one shy. 

SHL Combat

Playing the Crowd 

Every match tells a story of two combatants fighting to subdue the other. To tell a compelling story, the fight must be: 

• Long enough to build tension 

• Evenly matched, to be a legitimate win for the victor 

• Plausible and without obvious danger or farce 

• Varied in its actions performed 

When spectators rate a match highly, you gather fans and become more famous. The momentum of a good match builds until an explosive finish to make the crowd roar. The rating of a match is measured in stars. Most matches start at 0 stars. 

During each turn, combatants decide whether to make an offensive action look like a hit or miss. This also applies to saving throws—a combatant who succeeds on the Strength save against the entangle spell is free to move, but can “struggle” in the vines to tell a better story. 

Pre-Match Appeal. Before rolling initiative, two combatants can appeal to the crowd with a rousing speech or demonstration of might. An appeal is a DC 15 Charisma (Performance) or Strength (Intimidation) check. If both checks are successful, the match gains 1 star. 

Hitting Marks. Well-executed actions rouse the crowd and raise a match’s rating, while botched maneuvers lower it. 

• If a combatant’s action is one shy, the match gains a star at the end of the round. 

• If a combatant scores a critical hit, the attack deals damage as normal, but the action is treated as if it was one shy. 

• If all combatants’ actions are one shy, the next Charisma check made to influence the crowd (such as with the Tell action or to turn an action into a combo) treats a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10. 

• If a combatant’s action is a botch and no combatants were one shy with their action, the match loses a star at the end of the round. 

• The GM can award a star despite the combatants’ failure to hit their marks. The idea is similar to Inspiration; if something awesome happens, the GM gives a star to represent the crowd’s reaction. 

• After the 4th round of combat ends, a combatant can end the match by attempting a high spot. They perform their signature action and resolve it normally, such as an attack with a legendary blade or casting an ultimate spell. If the action is one shy, the match gains a star as it ends. If a combatant attempting a high spot intends to lose, their opponent can use their reaction to “counterattack,” dramatically turning the effect back on the combatant and winning the match. This is only for theatrical effect and doesn’t change the action’s actual effect—careful with your finger of death. 

Keep it Fresh. A match can’t gain stars on a turn a combatant attacks with the same weapon, takes the same special action, or casts the same spell as on their previous turn. However, the GM can rule that the circumstances are different regardless of the action, such as after a polymorph or major shift in the match’s rhythm. 

Once per match, a combatant can perform a repeat action as a brutal combo. As part of the repeat action, make a DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check. On a success, the match can still gain stars that round despite the repeat action. 

Down, But Not Out. If a combatant is prevented from taking actions on their turn, the crowd expects them to get back in the fight before too long. After the end of a combatant’s second consecutive turn of being prevented from taking an action, their opponent can delay by using their action and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Performance) check to play to the crowd. On a failed check, and at the end of every one of the combatant’s turns after, the match loses 1 star. If a combatant falls unconscious, the match ends instead (see below). 

Down, and Out. A match ends if a combatant falls unconscious. This can be a dramatic finish, but if the one left standing wasn’t supposed to win, the SHL may hesitate to book them in the future. Unruly combatants intentionally “going into business for themselves” are disqualified by the commissioners from participating in the League. 

After the Match. Combatants gain pop for putting on good matches. Pop represents a lasting impression on people, who remember the names and faces of the combatants. A few will return for another show if they’re on the card and cheer as soon as they appear for their match. Eventually, pop earns a combatant fans, and then... glory.

As an SHL combatant gains pop, their public profile changes. Eventually, they can risk losing face by facing off against the champion of their division for the belt. For some examples of what this looks like, see the Fame table.