Blood Pit

Blood Pit, also known as Blood Pit Arena, is a closed-end, computer-moderated, play-by-mail game of gladiatorial arena dueling. It began in the late 1980s under the name Enter the Blood Pit, and Emprise Game Systems bought and revised it, later moving it to play-by-email. Unicorn Games ran it in the United Kingdom by 1991, and in 1993 White Wolf Publishing purchased the game from Emprise. Each player chose and prepared a group of five fighters drawn from six race choices, equipped them from a list of 28 weapons plus armor, helmets and shields, trained them in skills such as dodge, parry and feint, and assigned tactics before the fights. Players then chose combat options through the fights and received detailed turn reports with color commentary. Reviewers in gaming magazines of the early 1990s praised its excitement and noted its high complexity, and the game used four arenas.