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Mr. Mask
2014-03-06, 08:04 PM
Furthering on the topic of fantasy sports, I'd like to branch out into boxing.

As a sport lacking a team (unless you count the trainers and cornermen), it doesn't immediately fit for a tabletop game (a cooperative game) nor for a fantasy game.

The reason for that latter point is if you add elves and giants to the game... they can't compete against each other in boxing, except in a highly cartoony version of the sport. Not that you get no overlap, some dwarves could be in the same weight class as some elves and goblins and etc..

All elves (so it seems) would have to be outboxers, all dwarves would have to be infighters, etc.. Feels more like cosplay, the outboxers wear pointed ears and infighters think beards are cool.



What are your thoughts? Do you think there is still potential for a fantasy boxing game? What about the concept would make it worth while? And are there ways around the problem of a group game with such a strong emphasis on duels?

Slipperychicken
2014-03-06, 10:32 PM
I think a lot of the strength in a fantasy beat'em'up will come from lighthearted over-the-top absurdity.

Also, in the context of violent D&D-inspired fantasy sports, you could have lots of possibilities beyond just 1v1 melee, you could have stuff like: team deathmatch team brawl, free-for-all, capture the flag, Quidditch (and many lulzy/ultraviolent variations on it), naval battles, airship combat, planar combats, chariot/wagon/airship racing (i.e. kill each other while riding vehicles at breakneck speeds through dangerous terrain), wizard's duels (and wizard team-fights), gladiatorial beast-fighting, competitive dungeon-crawling, town-burning, feats of strength, survival rounds (infinite enemies are spawned, and the team which survives the longest wins), and so on.

Beleriphon
2014-03-06, 11:44 PM
What are your thoughts? Do you think there is still potential for a fantasy boxing game? What about the concept would make it worth while? And are there ways around the problem of a group game with such a strong emphasis on duels?

I think a fantasy ultimate fighter is a better bet. That way it makes sense to have a dwarf fighting a giant or and elf fighting a troll.

Elricaltovilla
2014-03-07, 12:17 PM
I think a fantasy ultimate fighter is a better bet. That way it makes sense to have a dwarf fighting a giant or and elf fighting a troll.

I don't think it makes sense for anybody to try and go bareknuckle with a troll. Dat regeneration yo!

GungHo
2014-03-07, 02:22 PM
Can the cornermen buff the contestants?

Mewtarthio
2014-03-07, 03:55 PM
The reason for that latter point is if you add elves and giants to the game... they can't compete against each other in boxing, except in a highly cartoony version of the sport.

In most fantasy settings, training and experience make a huge difference, far bigger than it does in real life. A 20th level halfling Unarmed Swordsage will annihilate a 5th level half-orc of any class.

Mr. Mask
2014-03-07, 04:21 PM
Gungho: Kind of. Keeping the morale of your boxer high, making sure they don't lose sight of your strategy, helping them to recover ASAP between rounds, and the cutman dealing with cuts are all important jobs.


Mew: A cartoon version of boxing can work with that system. 200 pound elves punch like a grizzly bear. At that point, it doesn't feel like you're playing an elf--it feels like you're playing a bearian equivalent of Tarzan and Mogli, raised by elves and not realizing your identity.

Spiryt
2014-03-07, 04:28 PM
Haha, depends on level of verisimilitude I guess, in more 'realistic' games I actually imagine that dwarves could have a problem in landing a legal strike against human height target. :smallbiggrin: :smalltongue:

Gnomes and Halfling would obviously have to compete against each other, because no healthy human could really make 50 pounds limit, or whatever they weight at.


While in D&D:


In most fantasy settings, training and experience make a huge difference, far bigger than it does in real life. A 20th level halfling Unarmed Swordsage will annihilate a 5th level half-orc of any class.

Mr. Mask
2014-03-10, 05:51 PM
I remembered one story where they didn't have enough boxers for different weight classes, so they just had one weight class, and the heavier you were the heavier the boxing gloves you were given. This reduced the power of the heavy weights so flyweights could compete. It makes me wonder if an element of that can be used. Of course, if you gave all the heavyweights training gloves and all the halflings get brass knuckles, the resemblance to boxing becomes questionable. Still, to a lesser extent, this might be a helpful factor.

Partially, it's a matter of working out what creatures would be an interesting fight against what other creatures. A goblin against a dwarf could be interesting, could be possible. A dwarf against an elf seems reasonable. An ogre against a troll would also appear reasonable. Whether their weights actually match up to this is questionable--elves were known for being pretty light yet weren't lacking in strength of toughness in Lord of the Rings, so they would likely be overpowered in a boxing weightclass (I suspect their punches would be very sharp, too). A weightclass system that takes a creature's race/species into account is likely necessary.

warty goblin
2014-03-10, 07:15 PM
In a sport where the entire point is to bludgeon the other party into some degree of incapability through blows to the head, it seems to me that some races would have an unfair cranial advantage. It's pretty hard to figure a 110 pound elf dropping a 400 pound minotaur with a skull like a castle door who's all hopped up on fresh grass and acute testosterone poisoning. It's pretty easy to see the minotaur punch the elf so hard his head becomes an entirely new class of topological object.

They call that 'punching the taurus.'

Necroticplague
2014-03-10, 08:50 PM
I'd imagine they'd have to create entirely new weight classes to accommodate the increased difference in weights.. And possibly sub-categories based on special abilities (i.e:Super heavyweight regenerators, lightweight shapechangers). And a whole slew of extra rules to deal with the possibility of "illicit performance-enhancing magic". Is a human with Silithar Healing Blood cheating? What about an elf transformed into a human to compete in a heavier class?

Mr. Mask
2014-03-10, 11:05 PM
That's the way. If the trolls have super regeneration, split them up from the minotaurs--or give the minotaurs brassknuckles ("Don't worry, you'll regenerate!").

Elves would probably need to be classified as heavier than their actual weight.