Dretch Rugby how?

[Harlot]

Hi
I'm planning a now campaign.

Just for kicks ang giggles I'd like my players to only be able to cross a dungeon cave if they defeat the Dretch occupying it by playing some sort of sports match, maybe rugby, but could be soccer, football, basketball or something else. Using a head as ball, so not so bouncy, which is why I thought rugby.
Anyhow, I'm not really sure how to make the game mechanics work - like I guess it could be a lot of opposed athletics checks, reflex saves etc., and it could work with an added and dramatic narrative.


Something along the lines of INITIATIVE for who starts
opposed athletics checks/strenght checks for tackles
dex save for avoining tackles?
And finally another athletics check to make the TRY/touchdown/goal.



(And obviously the Dretch cheating constantly and making Fetid Cloud to win)

However I'm not sure it will work - to much rolling, not enough roleplaying - might get very boring.

I'd be grateful for any ideas as to how to pull it off and make it amusing for the players.

Thank you in advance
/Harlot

[Laserlight]

I attempted something like this for a MesoAmerican Ball Game, and my attempt didn't really work. Each player "attacked" the ball to hit it over the line to the opposing team; the receiving side had to use reactions and set up a return shot. A receiver could dive (go prone) to save a shot. The procedure was something like volleyball.
In retrospect, I think I should have made movement much more important. Each player should have a reason to move every round, whether it's to set up a shot or to evade the giant iron ball that caroms back and forth across the court and will squash you if you're not paying attention.

[Tanarii]

However I'm not sure it will work - to much rolling, not enough roleplaying - might get very boring.

Does combat get boring because there's too much rolling and not enough roleplaying? If so, after how many rounds?

Make your 'game' that many rounds long. Make it an . Make it like an old school skill challenge. The side with the successes in the round results in that side scoring a point. Let there be actions that take away the other sides successes, or give them disadvantage, or let your side get advantage, on top of counting as a success for your side.

Regardless, IMO instead of doing it initiative based, you might want to consider role playing out the round, then making all the checks at the end of each round. Unless you want it to be 'live-action' game exactly like combat, but with not doing damage to each other. Because that's what it sounds like your initial idea is. Combat but with a ball instead of with a sword & magic.

[Harlot]

Make it like an old school skill challenge. The side with the successes in the round results in that side scoring a point. Let there be actions that take away the other sides successes, or give them disadvantage, or let your side get advantage, on top of counting as a success for your side.

Regardless, IMO instead of doing it initiative based, you might want to consider role playing out the round, then making all the checks at the end of each round.

Could you possibly elaborate? - I don't understand what you mean by an oldschool skill challenge?

I honestly want to understand, sorry for being slow here

- thank you so much!

[Bohandas]

Hi
I'm planning a now campaign.

Just for kicks ang giggles I'd like my players to only be able to cross a dungeon cave if they defeat the Dretch occupying it by playing some sort of sports match, maybe rugby, but could be soccer, football, basketball or something else. Using a head as ball, so not so bouncy, which is why I thought rugby.

...

(And obviously the Dretch cheating constantly

Why not have it be "football" but wheher that means gridiron, soccer, or rugby changes according to what benefits the demon

[Rysto]

Does combat get boring because there's too much rolling and not enough roleplaying? If so, after how many rounds?

Replace "roleplaying" with "decision making" and then I think that better gets at what he's trying to avoid. If the players are just going to be rolling skill checks without having much (or any) input into what their character is doing and how that helps their team to win, that gets boring. Combat can have lots of rolling, but the players have a wide variety of powers to choose from, and can move around the battle, and in general get to make a bunch of tactical decisions. Rolling dice helps to make those decisions more interesting by introducing uncertainty and risk, but if the player doesn't get to make a meaningful choice in the first place, that's not interesting.

[ClintACK]

You need to describe things enough that your players can come up with creative things to do -- including things that will surprise you. And you need to ramp it up -- like play the first "half" straight, giving them time to get the hang of things and then in the second "half" the Dretches can cheat progressively more -- stink clouds, too-many-Dretches-on-the-field... unnecessary roughness. Do the lights suddenly go out? Did that Dretch just bite me? Maybe the game ends with a free-for-all melee at midfield around a Minor Illusion of the ball while the invisible Rogue sneaks the real ball into the end zone for the win?

The trick to keeping it interesting is:
1) Letting your Players' cool ideas work...
2) ... once each.
3) Ramping up the challenge as they get good at it.
4) Not taking it too seriously.

Say they decide the Wizard will Dimension Door into the end zone with the ball -- cool, it works. Describe how the Paladin and the Barbarian dramatically hold off the frantic Dretches while the Wizard casts, and the howls of Dretch frustration and agony while they return to their starting positions. Give them their moment-of-cool-victory. But then the "Ref" comes out and announces that the ball is now Dimensionally Anchored, and can't be teleported anymore.

Mechanically, don't treat it like combat rounds -- instead get all the players to say what they intend to do in a round, and then adjudicate the whole round before getting their next actions. In a game like Rugby, everything is going off in parallel.

Let the big front-liners make opposed athletics checks to shove the Dretches, and the casters use spells to make distractions or obstacles or whatever. Let the ball-carrier make a skill check to evade a tackle -- and make them describe it ("I feint left and then dodge right!" (Make a Deception check.) or "I shove the Dretch to one side and push past it." (Make an Athletics check.)). Let their roll determine just how well they carry it off.

But mostly, Dretch Rugby isn't going to succeed or fail on mechanics -- it's going to succeed or fail on making it ridiculously fun.

[mgshamster]

Could you possibly elaborate? - I don't understand what you mean by an oldschool skill challenge?

I honestly want to understand, sorry for being slow here

- thank you so much!

You make an ability check by rolling under your ability score, and the higher the roll the better. However, if you go above your stat, you fail the check.

No modifiers.

That's an old school skill check.

[Tanarii]

Could you possibly elaborate? - I don't understand what you mean by an oldschool skill challenge? Old school as in last edition lol The idea is a certain number of successes = success. Or in this case, whichever side has the more.

Otoh in retrospect it's probably not a good idea. Really I'd just run it as free form roleplaying (which as was pointed out to me above, really is just decision making) of the game, letting players make decisions on strategy and tactics as it proceeds. Occasionally call for appropriate ability checks or opposed rolls at critical junctures or situations, but I wouldn't overdo it. Any could be appropriate. Str, Dex and Con are obvious, but Int and Wis for tactical plans, and Cha for bluffs work too. Obviously Athletics would be a useful skill. I can even see an Int (Athletics) check to implement a clever strategy properly.

[Socratov]

I'd go with rugby (for the clean interceptions, but mobility inherent) and challenge the paty to score a try and a conversion. Doing that you get a letter (ultimately forming a word). However, the Dtertch will get to start with the ball and form the same word (make it something really insulting and belitteling, and you could have the Dretch cheat with the length of the words). The teams are the party vs. the Dretch and enough clones of him to create a team equally numbered ot the party.

To score you need the ball and run it over the line.
To get the ball you need to intercept it: this can be done by first running up to the one holding the ball (opposed athlethics check), then you can either stel athe ball through sleight of hands (opposed check) or by tackling (grappling)

When you steal you can run to the end line (opposed athlethics check to not get intercepted).

When you successfully grapple a scrum is formed (opposed str checks where you tally up all 5 check results of each team to see wether or not you push the other team away from the ball.

The referee is of course another clone of the dretch.

Oh and once you score a try, you can convert (to make the letter stick) by kicing: to generate enough power in your kick you need to make a str check, to make sure you kick it between the poles you need to make a dex check (which you can make harder as the party kicks the head away from the middle.

DC's should be set that everyone should be able to meet them, but don't make it too easy.

Oh, and no forwards passing!

[Harlot]

Thank you all for helping me out and all your ideas.

I think I'll do something along these lines:
Rugby: because it's quite simple - to get a try, run towards the tryline with ball in hand - no checks really required (yeah, yeah there's conversions and field goals and scrums etc, but this'll be ' Rugby made simple!')

A BIG field of play which means loads of movement and running around for all of the players - and so that you can't just DASH from one end to the other.

Teams won't be even: there'll be a ton of Dretch on the field (the reason the group would accept to play in the first place instead of just fighting off the Dretch is that survival is not guaranteed in a battle with that many foes )

Dretch will be cheating - but I LOVE the idea of the Dretch cheating gradually more as they get more desperate towards the end of the game.

Mechanics: I like the idea of it being about decision making - stating what you do, do it, and se if it works, with checks when needed for feinting, tackles (tackles of Opportunity) etc. Basically just fun and a way to use your imagination nonlethally on a battlefield.

I think it'll work very well if the amount of checks is kept rather low and the imagination runs wild. Also to minimise rolling I'll just assume they can all throw, catch and hit with a ball (a severed head methinks) and assume that i'f you succesfully tackle the person who carries the ball, it's turned over.

Once again this community has proven to be a great help - Thanx!
/Harlot