If Soccer were a skill, what would it be like?

[MarkB]

To be a Soccer Player, you'd need:

- Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Soccer Ball -> So you don't take the -4 nonproficiency penalty when trying to kick the ball anywhere. Most defense players don't bother with this. The soccer ball is a ranged thrown weapon that deals 1d3 nonlethal damage, with a range increment of 10 feet.

- Players known for their mighty kicks favor Brutal Throw.

- To notice an allied player free to receive the ball, you need Spot.

- To evade defenders, you need Bluff (Garrincha had maxxed out Bluff and Improved Feint).

- To score a goal, you need to hit a ranged touch attack against the goal itself (AC 3, being a Huge target with 0 Dexterity, modified by range). To catch the ball, a goalie must succeed on a melee touch attack opposed by the striker's ranged touch attack.

Of course, this is all House Rules material.

Good summary. Note that the goalkeeper must Ready an action in order to intercept the ball, though even if he has not done so, his presence in the goal mouth still grants the goal a +4 cover bonus to AC.

 

[jmucchiello]

Six second rounds is no way to simulate a 90 minute game. It will require just as much stamina to roll-play a 90 minute combat as would to just go outside and run around with a soccer ball for 90 minutes.

Don't try to play this with minis either since the movement rules in d20 are ill-suited to simultaneous movement.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

It's actually Perform (Football), with a second related skill: Profession (Footballer).

 

[SteelDraco]

We played, at one point, an Aztec game with d20 rules. It didn't work out too badly. We used, essentially, combat mechanics, with some extra bits for throwing and catching the ball. Most of it seems pretty similar to Klaus's suggestions, though what we played had a smaller goal (more like a sideways basketball hoop than a soccer goal, so I believe it was a Tiny target).

Some of the players played our characters, and the rest of the players were the opposing team - the DM had written up stats for opposing players, who were mostly monks, as I recall. We had quite a bit of fun with it.

 

[Klaus]

We played, at one point, an Aztec game with d20 rules. It didn't work out too badly. We used, essentially, combat mechanics, with some extra bits for throwing and catching the ball. Most of it seems pretty similar to Klaus's suggestions, though what we played had a smaller goal (more like a sideways basketball hoop than a soccer goal, so I believe it was a Tiny target).

Some of the players played our characters, and the rest of the players were the opposing team - the DM had written up stats for opposing players, who were mostly monks, as I recall. We had quite a bit of fun with it.

Indeed, if you go with the Mesoamerican sport, the goal is a Tiny target (AC 10 - 5 Dex +2 size, for a total AC of 7), modified by range.

 

[WayneLigon]

I'd go with Profession: Footballer, since that will get you a profesional level knowledge of the rules, the various pracctices, knowledge of the other teams and players, etc. The game itself I'd just abstract to five or six d20 rolls per side, adjusted with on-the-fly modifiers based on experience, general physical status, etc. Set an arbitrary DC, then see by how much each side's roll exceeds or fails by and compare them.