Knightmare.com

My brother and I were discussing the emerging possibility of KM coming back, and what it would need to keep the attention of today's fickle TV audiences. One of the key requirements is to up the speed of the gameplay a bit, and an idea Ruzl hit on was turning the show into a 2-team game.

The idea is to have two quests in progress at the same time e.g. one searching for the Crown (Ruzl called it the 'Hat Of Glory'... always a committed devotee of the Greater Game, that boy...), the other searching for the Sword. It would be sort of a half-race, and whichever team makes the faster progress gets a bonus spell at the end of each level. If both teams manage to complete the quest, the one who finishes first is the winner, while the one who took longer joins the ranks of those end-of-season teams whose quest couldn't be completed.

We also suggested that the life-force clock should be made more central to the gameplay. That idea is that food can only be obtained in the final chamber of the level, and the clock should have a genuine, fixed time limit from the moment the level begins e.g. fifteen minutes. Therefore, the dungeoneer would have to complete the level within the set time, or their life-force clock would genuinely run out, and their quest would end there.

In a sense, the game would take on a sort of resemblance to The Krypton Factor, with more than one team competing at once, and so the cameras will be switching between the two teams on a frequent basis. How the Dungeon Master would handle this, we haven't figured out yet - maybe he hosts one team, while the assistant advises the other. (This would at least make the assistant in the Great Hall a darn sight more useful than previously.)

The extra competition would motivate faster gameplay, as the teams would have to play against each other as well as the dungeon characters.

Any thoughts?

I've also thought about such a multiple quest KM but ultimately don't think it would be workable. KM was such a successful, well-loved show because it had a superb format and the last thing we want to do is mess with it. The pace of the show varied over its life for a number of reasons and there are plenty of existing dials to play with without introducing brand new gameplay mechanics. I'd rather it didn't come back than become a sexy, fast paced affair!

However, in the spirit of a harmless hypothetical discussion:

If the teams are presented with different challenges it doubles the writing on the show and wouldn't be a fair race. It also doubles the cost per episode as twice as much has to be filmed. If the teams have the same challenges it may become a bit repetitive.

Also, switching between teams may mean some of the real-time tension is lost when teams negotiate challenges.

I like the idea of a life force being more than a hurry up. The original sequence was far too short though - teams would have died in clue rooms between taking the food and answering the third riddle!

My own imaginings involve a competitive causeway, with only one dungeoneer surviving. This wouldn't need cut aways as both contestants would be in the same room. Not sure how it would be used though - perhaps as the very first room to see who earns the right to tackle the dungeon proper!

In short though, I hope ths doesn't happen

Yeah, respect to Ruzl for thinking of it, but no; I like getting to know one team.

Rewatching it with my 16 year old on Challenge atm, and he doesn't find it slow (although he is normally online at the same time; all my lot watch TV like that!)

audience wouldn't know which team was which.
And while we're watching one team we are missing the other. KM isn't a race.

Life force should service a real purpose to speed things along but then goblins fill that role too.

But two teams????? nah, wrong show mate.