PDA

View Full Version : A Whole New Ball Game [Sports!][Crossroads]



Admiral Squish
2015-01-27, 10:30 PM
So, this started with some speculation on how one would represent different kinds of sports. I recalled the game Goatball from RoS... and then things got complicated. So, I'll be using this thread (and definitely updating it with something more nicely-formatted when I get the time) to ponder on the rules for sports for the setting and beyond. I'd love to make something for Lacrosse eventually, the old-timey version sounds pretty epic.

To start with, we've got the Caribbean ball game known as Batey.

Batey
The game of batey is a popular team sport among the native Taino people. Many variations and local versions are scattered throughout the islands of the Caribbean, but in recent years the dominant form of the sport comes from Kaya Salina. To play batey, you require three things. The first is a ball, known as a batu. The second is players. The last is the field, called the Batey.

A batu is a solid rubber sphere, about 8-10 inches in diameter, weighing 9-12 pounds. It is considered to be a tiny object, and while in play, the batu has two important values: direction and momentum. The batu's direction is represented with a value between 1 and 8, and indicates the direction the ball is moving. The values begin with 1 in the square directly south of the batu, counting up as you move clockwise around the batu's space. However, direction is pointless without momentum. As long as the batu has momentum, it moves in its direction, losing one momentum with every 5 feet of movement, and coming to a stop when it reaches 0. The batu's movement provokes attacks of opportunity like a creature. A batu gains momentum though attacks. When the batu is stuck by an attack that would deal bludgeoning damage, the batu reduces that damage to 0. If the batu has momentum 0 when attacked, it gains momentum equal to the damage prevented, and a direction of the attacker's choice. If the batu has momentum when attacked, compare the damage prevented to its current momentum. If the damage prevented is greater than the momentum, it loses its current momentum and gains momentum equal to the damage prevented, and gains a direction of the attacker's choice. If the momentum is greater, the batu maintains its current momentum, but gains a random direction (roll 1d8 to determine a random direction). A batu has a base AC of 12, and adds its current momentum to its AC. If the batu enter's a player's space, it deals nonlethal damage equal to 1d6+its current momentum to the player, then reduces its momentum to 0 and provokes an attack of opportunity.

The players are arranged into two teams of 12 players each. Only 6 players from each team are allowed on the batey at a time. This includes unconscious players, so teams try to switch out players regularly. Players can be male or female, but males are much more common. Players try to hit the batu with their bodies, using their back, chest, elbows, head, hips, knees, shoulders, and thighs, but never their hands. Players use unarmed strikes to hit the batu, taking a -2 penalty to avoid using their hands.Players have a few options when it comes to handling the batu in play. The most common is simply to strike the ball and overcome its momentum with sheer power. A player can also reduce the batu's momentum by absorbing it, after they've hit the ball but before rolling damage. The player can absorb as much momentum as they like in this way, before rolling damage normally, but each point of momentum absorbed deals one point of nonlethal damage to the player. A player can also try a body-block in place of an attack of opportunity, moving into the batu's path, which is resolved as though the batu entered the player's space. When attacking the batu, a player can choose to hold back, rolling damage normally, but choosing how much of that damage they deal to the batu.

The batey can be rectangular or circular and of varying sizes, but for official play, the batey must be rectangular, measuring 60 feet by 45 feet, the edges marked by large stones spaced slightly apart, which are sometimes enchanted to light up in the presence of cheating or magic. A batey serves as both ball court and public plaza, and is often used for ceremonies when not used for the game. A line is drawn down the middle of the arena, each team having 30x45 area. Both teams try to put the ball into the other team's area to give them the opportunity to fault. When a team faults, points are awarded to the opposing team. A team is considered to fault when a player touches the ball with their hands (rolls a natural 1 on an unarmed strike), allows the batu to come to a stop on their side (batu has momentum 0 at the end of a player's turn), or knocks the ball out of the batey (ball leaves the batey after they hit it). A game of batey ends when one side reaches a certain number of points, which is 6 for official play.

Outside of official play, sometimes stone armor is used to protect the players at the cost of speed and accuracy. Batey armor has a rating of 1 to 10. Any nonlethal damage dealt to a player wearing batey armor is reduced by their armor's rating, but the player takes a penalty to unarmed strikes equal to the rating. Batey armor with a rating of 6 or higher is treated as medium armor.

Admiral Squish
2015-01-27, 10:32 PM
Yeah, I know it's rather over-complicated at the moment... I'm still trying to figure out how to simplify it a bit.

Mith
2015-01-28, 12:18 AM
What other sports will we be doing? I can think of Lacross, that hoop-ball game, and that's about it. The other games that come to mind are feats of strength/prowess that are easily run without need of a actual system in place (ex: archery, javalin, wrestling, boxing, etc.)

Admiral Squish
2015-01-28, 09:48 AM
Well, there's plenty of options. Chunkey's gotta happen. Pasuckuakohowog sounds like fun. Snow Snake could be interesting, too. We could take a shot at european sports of the time, too, like Cricket, or historical versions of some modern games, like soccer, rugby, or hockey. Apparently they were even MORE violent back in the day, which could be fun.

Steckie
2015-02-01, 02:07 PM
Sorry it too me a while to comment here, it's been a busy week.

If the ball moves in 1 of 8 directions, doesn't that mean that it moves 'faster' if it crosses a square diagonally? Or is this a time where we can just handwave it away to keep the rules a bit easier?

Also, maybe we should add a Batey Player build to the rules so that people can quickly set up a game? Maybe even make 2: a Batey Player and a Superior Batey Player?

Other than that i think the rules look pretty decent.
Should we try to set up a test game?

Admiral Squish
2015-02-02, 09:40 AM
Don't worry about it, it happens to the bets of us.

Well, it's per 5 feet of movement, and it's movement's supposed to be handled like a creature, so I'd assume you'd deduct momentum at the usual 1.5x rate for diagonal movement.

I could see making stat-blocks for a batey enthusiast and a batey professional. I'd have liked to do the latter with warrior levels, though.

A testing game could be fun. For speed, we could just have one or two people run the game, each controlling a team, or we could get a whole thing going with a recruitment thread an' stuff.

There are still some things I'm probably going to try to change about the rules. Honestly, I'd like to be able to free up layers to direct the ball in any direction they want, not just one of the eight primary directions. Maybe just say players within 5 feet of the batu's path can try to intercept, rather than making it move like a creature. But then there's problems with that, too, like, if you eliminate momentum how do you make it so the ball can come to a stop, or, what happens when a player misses the roll to target another player?

Steckie
2015-02-02, 05:03 PM
There are still some things I'm probably going to try to change about the rules. Honestly, I'd like to be able to free up layers to direct the ball in any direction they want, not just one of the eight primary directions. Maybe just say players within 5 feet of the batu's path can try to intercept, rather than making it move like a creature. But then there's problems with that, too, like, if you eliminate momentum how do you make it so the ball can come to a stop, or, what happens when a player misses the roll to target another player?

There's another thing to consider: vertical movement.
In a game like Batey it would be possible to hit the ball up in the air, meaning it will use some of the momentum it has to move upwards instead of forward. Or the player could hit the ball so that it moves upwards and then hit it again, unless we state in the rules that a player can only hit the ball once or they lose the point.

Admiral Squish
2015-02-03, 09:11 AM
Yeah, vertical movement's one of those things that's troubling me. Do you calculate the movement in 3D, how do you determine when it starts to descend again, how would you differentiate between low angle and high angle, can players even threaten over their heads when not using their hands?

I think I have a way to keep the ball moving while still allowing the players to act: The ball moves at the end of each player's turn. So, say we have players 1-12. Player 1 hits the ball, and at the end of his turn, the ball moves as directed, straight into player 8, who hits it with an AoO, and does the whole determining direction/momentum thing. But the ball stays where it is. Now it's player 2's turn. He acts, and at the end of his turn, the ball moves. So, even if player 2 has nothing to do with the ball, it doesn't move until the end of his turn.
This is supposed to keep the game from turning into AoO pinball with stationary players.