Habet

Habet is about running a gladiator school in Pompeii in 73 BC. You were once sold onto the sand and won your freedom; now you buy men who stand where you once did. Each wants the freedom you received, and the sand remains their likely end.

Run your school

You begin with a small school and little money. Buy men, then arm, feed, train and treat them. Each one is like the man you used to be, and some know it.

Towns hire your men. Set your price, choose who goes, and watch from the stands; if a fight goes wrong, you can take up a blade yourself. Men who return are worth more, while those who do not are cheaper to feed.

Record their endings

Every man has an ending: death, sale or freedom. Those who die have their names put on the wall; when a man is sold, the chronicle records the price. A man can earn a wooden sword, but whether he receives it is up to you. The school has no set ending and runs until it falls.

Watch the war

In 73 BC, 70 gladiators escape from a school at Capua with kitchen knives. By summer, they are camped on the mountain visible from your yard. You never meet them, but you see prices shift and towns grow nervous as your men look toward the mountain.

Choose your mercy

You decide what kind of lanista to be. Some free their best men and die poor; others execute a man in front of the yard so they never have to do it twice. The chronicle records your choices without judging them.