====== Hólmganga ======

A hólmganga is a formal duel used to settle a serious dispute. It belongs to a world where honor, law, reputation, and violence overlap.

The campaign has not yet needed one, but these rules are available if a future adventure calls for a structured duel instead of ordinary combat.

===== Why a Hólmganga? =====

A hólmganga may answer a grave insult, accusation, property dispute, debt, or public challenge. It should not be used for every disagreement. Calling for one risks reputation, injury, legal consequences, and possibly death.

  * The duel usually happens several days after the challenge.
  * If the challenged person refuses to appear, the challenger may be judged right.
  * If the challenger refuses to appear, they may be branded a [[culture:nidingr|níðingr]].
  * A champion may fight in another person's place when the table wants that option.

===== Running a Hólmganga =====

  - State the accusation and the stakes in public.
  - Let witnesses, leaders, or a [[culture:gothi|goði]] recite the agreed rules.
  - Mark a small arena: a roped field, island, hide, cloak, or hazel-stave boundary.
  - Resolve the duel under the standard rules unless both sides agreed otherwise.

===== Standard Game Rules =====

  * **Initiative:** The challenger strikes first, then the challenged. They alternate turns.
  * **Shields:** Each fighter receives three shields.
  * **Shield Damage:** Each shield has 4d4 hit points. A successful attack hits the shield unless the attack is a natural 20.
  * **Weapons:** Fighters begin with agreed weapons, often axes or swords. If a weapon breaks, switch to seax, dagger, or fists as agreed.
  * **Armor:** Armor is allowed unless the public terms forbid it.
  * **Forfeit:** A fighter may clearly surrender to end the duel.
  * **Victory:** Choose first blood, incapacitation, surrender, or death before the duel begins.

===== Results =====

The result should change the social situation. A victor may win compensation, property, public vindication, or merely the right to stop being accused. A loser may owe payment, apology, exile, or another agreed consequence.

===== Educational Note =====

Use hólmganga to show that violence can be bound by law, witnesses, and public expectation. It is not a tavern brawl. It is a dangerous legal ritual that everyone present will remember.

===== Sources =====

  * Hurstwic history articles: http://www.hurstwic.com/history/text/history.htm
  * Jackson Crawford: https://jacksonwcrawford.com/