How American Football is similar to D&D...

[John Crichton]

This thread was inspired by something radferth posted in the most recent Are Clerics Broken? thread.

Said by radferth:
In (US) football terms, magi are the quarterbacks, fighters are the running backs, and clerics are the offensive line. Having a good line may be the most important factor, but if there were an NFL roleplaying game, folks wouldn't be clamoring to play linemen. In terms of party compostion and overall sucess, cleric may well be unbalanced, but in any given combat, they are if anything slightly underpowered (along with other classes who have lots of non-combat abilities like rogues and rangers).

My basic response was:

I'm not sure I'd put any class as a lineman. I think that is the role of most NPC's, to be support to the party. If the cleric was a football position I would liken it to the Tight End. He's tough, he can protect the QB & RB, add support to the Linemen and also double as an effective receiver. So the cleric can fill a bunch of positions if this was football except the QB (which oddly works with the assumption that the mage fills that role).

I'd like to continue by saying that I can see rogues as cornerbacks. Cornerbacks are primarily there to stop the other team's receivers from catching the ball. Rogues are important to keeping the party alive via their ability to find/remove traps (stop receivers/runningbacks who get past the D-line). And can negate the effectiveness of the enemy (other team) with their sneak attack ability (counteract a fast Wide Out). This of course requires the help of a teammate most of the time (flank).

So a quick recap:

QB = Mage
RB = Fighter
TE = Cleric
CB = Rogue

I can also see the following which I can elaborate on later (real life has summoned me):

LB = Barbarian
WR = Sorcerer
FB = Ranger
S = Bard
TE (pass catching rather than blocker) = Druid
Coach? = Paladin

Those are all the core classes broken down a bit into football terms. Does anyone else think D&D and football are alike?

I know some of these are a bit off, I have to give it more thought but I wanted to get some responses from other D&D/Football fans.

[edit: I forgot US football is different than International football so I changed the subject to add American ]

 

[Bagpuss]

So who's the Goalie?

[Edit: Darn his edit has removed the old "international-misunderstanding" joke from my above comment.]

 

[dpdx]

Interesting mix of imagination, but having been a D&D player and Football Fan both for most of my life, I don't think there's an easy correlation between classes and positions on the field:

For one thing, Football doesn't have spells or turning attempts, nor is the goal in football to kill/subdue/negotiate with everyone on the opposing side, like it sometimes is in D&D.

IOW, in D&D, if my Rogue makes it to the other end of the catacomb, I don't get "points," and it doesn't mean that the githzerai has to go to the other end of the catacomb and await my kickoff. It also doesn't mean that the other characters in my party are necessarily safe from the enemy "team."

They just don't relate, except perhaps to specific parties where the leadership, roles and responsibilities are clearly defined. That is, perhaps your PC is like the quarterback of your party. Great, but not necessarily interesting.

 

[Bagpuss]

Interesting mix of imagination, but having been a D&D player and Football Fan both for most of my life, I don't think there's an easy correlation between classes and positions on the field:

For one thing, Football doesn't have spells or turning attempts, nor is the goal in football to kill/subdue/negotiate with everyone on the opposing side, like it sometimes is in D&D.

I beg to differ, "American" Football may lack turning attempts but as any young football will tell you the "Cryuff turn" is difficult to master and may take many attempts before you can do it reliably under pressure.

And if anyone has seen Roy Keane play will know that the goal is often to kill/subdue the opposing side.

 

[Wormwood]

The Monk is the Kicker.

Inadequate armor. Unpronouncable names. Sounds about right.

 

[dpdx]

Okay, easy, soccer fan...

We'll put it into Bagpuss terms for a while. First, I'm pretty sure from the description of the positions that the thread starter meant gridiron, not association football.

Second, even if there were Cruyff turns in gridiron, they would not cause the enemy to flee in fear. Rather, the enemy would then chase after you, trying to recover.

Thirdly, the analogy still holds. There's no goalie in every encounter in DnD. If my rogue moves the stone into the netting at the end of the catacomb, it means nothing in DnD.

 

[Bagpuss]

If my rogue moves the stone into the netting at the end of the catacomb, it means nothing in DnD.

Ah so you admit there is netting at the end of the catacomb!!!

 

[Kai Lord]

There are no wizards in football. The Quarterback is pure Ranger. He is responsible for leading the team through difficult terrain by using a combination of having the wisdom to counter defensive formations and making devastating ranged attacks.

Many quarterbacks also "step it up" againsts certain teams or players as well. Ranger all the way.

 

[Maerdwyn]

The biggest problem with this comparison is that your typical party in a D&D game can't simply turn things over to another party to handle while monsters decide to attack.