Fantasy Sports and gambling games

[Captain Tagon]

Blood Bowl was the first thing that popped into my head as well.

I've always wanted to play an RPG where the party were members of a Blood Bolw team actually. Hrmm...

 

[Tonguez]

I've always wanted to play an RPG where the party were members of a Blood Bolw team actually. Hrmm...

That would be - interesting

IMC I often start the PCs at 'Festivals' and in one instance the half-orc PC and a human PC 'met' whilst playing 'Kuru' - a game which involves four teams rushing a 15 foot center post, climbing it and 'stealing' one of five balls (the kuru) and then attempting to pass it back to their home base whilst the other teams attempt to take it off them by any means possible

 

[Baron Opal]

Trollball.

Five trolls on a side, a trollkin (goblin, basically) is the ball. The goal only counts if the ball is alive when it crosses the line. You can have clubs, but armor really only slows you down. Magic is forbidden. The giant punts cheaters.

It's a blast.

 

[Phlebas]

one of the storylines in my game involved corruption at 'hoops' (3 man team game, sort of violent peyote) where the pc's entered a team, and had a very lucky run to the quarter finals long after the mystery was solved

the other was a murder at a chariot race which interrupted the serious betting going on

games are good and fun and not too difficult to integrate into most stoylines

 

[CruelSummerLord]

Technically, this isn't D&D, but rather the Fighting Fantasy Gamebook system, which explains the differences in the orcs here...

One popular game is "Orc Knees", a twisted version of volleyball. Two teams of seven players each are organized, chosen from a reserve squad of twenty. They line up on opposite sides of a length of rope or netting that serves as the equivalent of the volleyball net. One team starts the game by punting a ball, which can be anything from an inflated pig's or ogre's bladder to a cabbage, a melon, or a dwarf head, over the net, and then the opposing team members try to knock the ball back over the net by either using their knees, their heads, or their fists. Teams score points by either hitting the ball onto their opponents' side of the playing field, or if their opponents hit the ball outside the playing field.

The catch is that the first team to reach seven points is allowed to kill and eat one of the opposing team members (in this setting, orcs can eat almost anything, including wood, rocks and dirt-their funeral rites largely consist of eating the corpses of their dead), which continues until there is only one team left. Playing Orc Knees can be very dangerous, but star players still command very high salaries because of that very fact...

And, in some cases, there's not even any need to innovate. Some of the North American First Nations, for example, played lacrosse well before European arrival-who says different cultures or races couldn't do the same in your setting? Other players have suggested rugby, and hockey might make another fine example-if humanoids are the ones playing it, for example, there might not be any restrictions on play, and so slashing, cross-checking, roughing, tripping, and fistfights might all be part of the game...just as they are in real life, heheh.

Finally, every kind of game from Mah Jongg to Texas Hold'Em poker could reasonably be played-just give them fancy names, such as Dance Of the Dragons, or Rookroost Double-Down, and there you go. Your players will know the rules right away, and it shouldn't be too hard to come up with mechanics, if necessary.

If you have an actual deck of cards, you could just as easily play the equivalent of blackjack, whist, poker, rummy, or pretty much any other game you like right at the gaming table, and apply the results in-game, if your PCs decide to gamble.

 

[Herobizkit]

IMC, I tried to create a team game that I never got to try. I copied a rough analogue of Blitzball from Final Fantasy X, but added the following:

- the game's origins came from desert-dwelling lizardmen, who are Large humanoids (with DR) and a standard PC race.
- The game is played with a razor-sharp Chakram instead of a ball. The act of catching the disk itself can damage you, and that's the point.
- The game has five players to a team; two forwards, two defense, and one "goalie". The idea is to give the disk to one of the forwards, who in turn, tries to get close enough to the goal to fling it past the goalie and get a point.
- The goalie (usually) has Deflect Missiles as a bonus feat; it's the easiest way I came up with to resolve shots on goal.
- The defense are mounted on (giant mount of choice), with lances/spears.
- Only the forwards are permitted to carry and score with the disk.
- Play is stopped only when:
a) the disk is out of bounds;
b) there has been no shot on goal after 5 rounds, in which case, game resumes play with disk in opponent's control;
c) a player is killed (but only after a goal or a blocked shot on goal occurs, kinda like a delayed penalty in hockey)
d) the game time expires (60 rounds, or to a score of 10, whichever comes first)

I never got to try it in-game... I think I made it too complicated for a one-time thing.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Well, I figure I may as well post what I have for comment. I've made notes in italics where I'm considering different ways of handling things - feel free to suggest better ways to do things, but keep in mind, I want to keep the rules of the game as close as I can to the rules of D&D.

Gerra in my campaign world is an Aztec-ish island, and this is (very) loosely based on the games they are said to have played (no sacrifice at the end, and the ball can be handled by hand being two obviou differences!)

Pokto
A Gerran Game of Sport

The game is played on a field of grass twenty feet wide by 80 feet long. Teams of five on each side attempt to throw a nine inch diameter solid rubber ball through a eighteen inch diameter hoop mounted perpendicularly on a wall at the end of the court. The last fifteen feet of the court on either side are marked off and the attacking player is not allowed to set foot in that section while carrying the ball – often attacking players leap over the final line and try to toss the ball through the hoop (getting a better angle).

The field size can vary, but I think 1 x 4 is a good ratio. I want people to have to run into each other, and I don't want them to be able to double move all the way down the field. Larger fields can support larger teams.

The ball can only be advanced by running with the ball or by passing it – and passes must be on a bounce. Each score is worth one point, and the match lasts until one side scores seven points. After each score, the ball is tossed into the center of the ring again by the presiding referee, typically one of the Gerran Princes. They usually put some spin on the ball to make the bounce interesting.

I'm not sure I want passing involved, but it gives the more ranged-combat focused characters a way to contribute effectively

Players typically play wearing padded armor. This provides no AC bonus, but damage is converted to non-lethal. On a critical hit while blocking or tackling, damage is lethal. Balls leaving play are put back in play at the point they left the field of play.

MOVING
Characters move as normal. Tumbling past defenders is an oft-used tactic and is an opposed check versus the opponents melee attack roll. Jumping over prone opponents is another tactic, as is Overrunning.

I'm kind of thinking that since everyone is unarmed, everyone can make AoO's on someone passing by them. Keeps things interesting.

BLOCKING
Merely getting in the way of an opponent can prevent AoO’s, but sometimes more is needed. In such cases, a Bull Rush can be executed to block out someone, pushing them back.

PASSING
The rubber ball used in Pokto can be passed, using a melee touch attack roll to get the ball into the right square so that the person there may make a catch. Catching the ball requires a melee attack roll (DC 10).

Modifiers
+5 to DC for bounce passes (DC 15 overall)
-2 per range increment
+4 if passing over someone either in next square or square by target, negated by Precise Shot.
+10 to DC to spin-pass, and double range increment penalty. The ball can be spun so as to cause it to bounce one square to either side for each ten feet of distance.

SCORING
Hitting the target and scoring is a difficult task, AC 18 (Ranged touch attack). The AC increases by angle as well – exact DC’s for each square are marked on the playing field map. In order to make it to the last three rows of squares, one must jump – DC 5/10/15 to reach the first/second/third row. A DC 30 result into the last row allows a +2 bonus on the attack roll. If a character jumps to the third row, they run the risk of running into the stone wall and taking 2d6 lethal damage. This can be avoided by making a Tumble Check against a DC 15.

I've got a map created that has the attack roll needed to score marked right on it, so everyone would know exactly what AC they'd need to hit to score from there. Near mid-field the AC of the goal is 44; close in its as low as 18.

DEFENDING
Merely being in an intervening square raises the DC of both passing and catching by 4. Attacks can be made to knockdown an opponent or to push them back. If someone carrying the ball is knocked down, the ball goes over to the other side.

TACKLING
Tackling uses the Trip rules, per the PHB Combat section. A person being tackled who has the unarmed attack feat can "straight arm" the tackler as his attack of opportunity.

If a character has the ball and are tackled, they must make a Fortitude save where the DC is equal to the Trip attack result. If they fail, the fumble the ball. The ball is deflected in a random direction (roll 1d8 for direction and then 1d4 for distance in squares).

Maybe I should offer the option of trying to strip the ball - tackling can either go for the tackle, or the strip.

STEALS
If an intervening defender makes a reflex save equal to the attack roll of the passer, they intercept the pass. If they are intervening next to the passer, they can deflect the ball with a reflex save equal to the attack roll of the passer. The ball is deflected in a random direction (roll 1d8 for direction and then 1d4 for distance in squares).

Maybe a Reflex save to deflect and then another to intercept? I like the idea of the ball bouncing around loose...

Conclusion
One key thing I haven't decided on is how long this game goes on - I don't have a sense of how long it would play out, or how easy it would be to score. No playtesting has been done. I'd like the game to take an hour or two in real time.

Thoughts?

 

[RangerWickett]

Way back in 2002, E.N. Publishing (actually called Natural 20 Press at the time) released a book called Tournaments, Fairs, & Taverns. And for four years it was the highest-selling book not by Monte Cook on RPGNow. The book details twenty games, and provides mechanics to let you spin them off into your own versions. It was made for 3e, but most of the rules are really easy to convert:

http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=16544&it=1&filters=0_0_0&manufacturers_id=87

There are plenty of reviews if you'd like to get more information. I used the rules for things ranging from poker tournaments to a real 'fantasy football' to trying to outrun an oncoming firestorm.

 

[scourger]

I made a Football d20 game to kick off my Judge Dredd campaign with a Judge's Bowl: Cadets (PCs) vs. Judges (NPCs). All non-lethal just for fun to start off. I used a big cardboad sewing cutting table guide for the football field and colored in all the turf, side lines, endzones and yard numbers. It looked really good. That was the cool part.

The uncool part was that it took us a whole night to play one kick off return. The d20 system is just too cumbersome and time-consuming. 22 players/combatants takes a long time to go through.

A better system is presented in Battle Ball. Basically each player has a die value. Low dice are good battlers because low numbers win physical contact. High dice are good runners because movement is a number of squares equal to the roll. Any time 2 players from opposing teams are adjacent, the mover stops and they fight. The loser is out of the game. The ball starts mid-field. Two scores and it's over. One tie-breaking score if necessary. It makes a great, fast game. I think it's a fantastic little system. I won a game against a buddy using my d20 runners to run downfield with the ball and some incredile low rolls to take out his low-dice blockers. I can see importing it to use with all those figures I have to mix & match with assigned die values.