Welcome to Stone Bridge's first annual Golf Tournament

[wolfpunk]

So I wanted to come up with a game that players could compete in, that didn't seem strange or unreal, and I realized golf is perfect. So I have hammered out some rules for determing distance and direction of a golf swing.

Determining Distance
Three clubs determine the distance the golf ball travels. Before each shot the player chooses which club to use.

Driver: Player chooses the number of dice to roll to determine distance. A player can roll 1d4, 2d4, or 3d4. Take the result of the dice rolled and multiply that by 20 yards to determine the distance the golf ball travels.

Wedge: Player chooses the number of dice to roll to determine distance. A player can roll 1d8, 2d8, or 3d8. Take the result of the dice rolled and multiply that by 5 yards.

Putter: Player chooses the number of dice to roll to determine distance. A player can roll 1d12, 2d12, or 3d12. Take the result of the dice and that is the distance the golf ball travels in yards.

For example: Jeb choice to hit the golf ball with his driver. He chooses to roll 3d4. He rolls a 3, 4, and a 2. His result is 180 (9 times 20) yards.

Each time a player rolls direction dice it is considered a stroke.


Determining Direction
Each time the player rolls to determine distance traveled when using a driver or wedge, they also roll 1d12 to determine the direction the golf ball travels. Then, if the result indicates that the golf ball travels to the left or right; roll the 1d4 and take the result of the dice and multiply that by 5 yards, the golf ball travels that many yards in the indicated direction. If the player is using a putter, roll 1d12 to determine the direction traveled, roll the 1d4 and the result is the number of yards the golf ball travels in that direction.

1: Left. Add 4 to the result of the 1d4 roll for distance.
2: Left. Add 3 to the result of the 1d4 roll for distance.
3: Left. Add 2 to the result of the 1d4 roll for distance.
4: Left. Add 1 to the result of the 1d4 roll for distance.
5: Left. Add 0 to the result of the 1d4 roll for distance.
6: Straight.
7: Straight.
8: Right. Add 0 to the result of the 1d4 roll for distance.
9: Right. Add 1 to the result of the 1d4 roll for distance.
10: Right. Add 2 to the result of the 1d4 roll for distance.
11: Right. Add 3 to the result of the 1d4 roll for distance.
12: Right. Add 4 to the result of the 1d4 roll for distance.

Thoughts?

 

[Lorehead]

The characters' ability scores, and possibly BAB, should influence the outcome.

 

[Kwitchit]

If you want d20 rules for sports, try the Goliath section of Races of Stone.

 

[wolfpunk]

Perhaps I should have clarified something that I hadn't really thought of until I read the two responses.

I wanted to create rules that DOESN"T only work with the d&d ruleset. So my idea doesn't use BAB, or Strength or Dexterity to determine how far the ball goes and in what direction.

That being, said, it would be easy to apply your strength bonus to the distance, and your dexterity bonus to the direction. I don't know that BAB really applies since hitting a golf ball is not like swinging a sword to hit an orc. Just my opinion though.

I have not read the Races of Stone rules for games by the way.

Edited for cause I left out a very important DOESN'T

 

[WhatGravitas]

I wanted to create rules that only work with the d&d ruleset. So my idea doesn't use BAB, or Strength or Dexterity to determine how far the ball goes and in what direction.

What about BAB, Strength, and Dexterity doesn't belong to the D&D ruleset?

However, the problem is that the n00b golfer hs as much control the distance as a Level 20 character with the PrC "Ultimate Master Golfer"

Perhaps you should involve skills. I think of the system above, but also with a skill Games (Golf) [Dex], and you make a check against DC 15. If you miss the DC, you might adjust the direction roll by 1 point and add or subtract 1 point to the distance roll for each point above the DC.
If you miss the DC by 5 or more, roll twice, and use the worse result.

Just quick thoughts... as a starting point.

 

[wolfpunk]

If we were to make a prestige class master golfer, the class would probably give you the ability to add or subtract distance to any shot you made and also alter the direction the ball travels to some degree.

You could make it skill based, but since it is a game and not a core part of a campaign, I don't want players to put points into perform golf swing and complain cause they only got to use it once or twice.

would I just have a driver, wedge, putter and swing skill? the first three affect distance, the last one affects direction?

Perhaps, we need to add craft golf ball and craft club as well, so that players can create masterwork golf equipment, not to mention profession caddy (ok the last one is a joke).

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Driver: Player chooses the number of dice to roll to determine distance. A player can roll 1d4, 2d4, or 3d4. Take the result of the dice rolled and multiply that by 20 yards to determine the distance the golf ball travels.

Wedge: Player chooses the number of dice to roll to determine distance. A player can roll 1d8, 2d8, or 3d8. Take the result of the dice rolled and multiply that by 5 yards.

Putter: Player chooses the number of dice to roll to determine distance. A player can roll 1d12, 2d12, or 3d12. Take the result of the dice and that is the distance the golf ball travels in yards.
* * *
Thoughts?

Just that nobody putts 360' (3d12), and putts of less than 3' can be and are missed often enough by professionals much less amatuers that you need to scale down to INCHES for close putts as well as feet.

 

[wolfpunk]

The putter goes a maximum of 3d12 yards which is only 36 yards which is not an unmakeable putt. It is not multiplied by 10 yards. The driver goes 3d4 times 20 yards maximum which is 240 yards, men in the pga tour drive it farther than that, but in an effort to make a hole fit on a single sheet of graph paper using a five yard per square scale, some reductions in distance had to be made.

Yes putts can be missed by inches, my system can have you miss a putt to the left or right by as little as a yard, but in an effort to keep it fun, if you putt straight and travel enough distance it goes in the hole. I don't want putts to take forever to make cause the dice don't quite cooperate.

I am not sure why this is happening, but people seem to be really motivated to point out the subtle nuances of golf. I am aware of them, I play golf, I just dont think that anybody wants to play a game where you have to track the movement of the ball down to the inch.

I want a simple system where a par three means you roll distance and direction roughly three times to complete the hole. A par five means you roll distance and direction roughly five times to complete the hole. If I want to frustrate players, I can take them to play a round of golf and tell them if they don't hit par their characters suffer a terrible fate. That however, is not my idea of fun.

 

[wolfpunk]

How about some special rules for equipment

Racial Masterwork Equipment
If using a monetary system for the price of equipment, treat a masterwork club as a masterwork greatsword for determining price. Treat masterwork golf balls as masterwork arrows for determining price. Tourney points may not be used to purchase masterwork equipment. A masterwork golf ball is not destroyed when used. Enhancement bonuses gained from masterwork clubs and golf balls stack.
In addition to masterwork quality equipment, both elves and dwarves have been known to produce masterwork equipment for the game of golf.
Elven masterwork clubs grant an additional +/- 1 enhancement bonus to both direction and distance rolls. Elven masterwork golf balls grant an additional +/- 2 enhancement bonus to direction rolls.
Dwarven masterwork clubs grant an additional +/- 2 enhancement bonus to distance rolls. Dwarven masterwork golf balls grant an additional +/- 1 enhancement bonus to both direction and distance rolls.