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.

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 níðingr.
A champion may fight in another person's place when the table wants that option.

State the accusation and the stakes in public.
Let witnesses, leaders, or a 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.

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.

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.

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.