Football!

[quozaxx]

I have mentioned that my super school (Teen Champions) will be starting enrollment for the football.

 

In fact, my newest player's character has a Martial Arts form of football. This made me wonder.  If one school of super powered teens played a game of football against another super powered school - what would the additional rules be?

 

One player has an inter-dimensional type of stretching.  What's to stop him from simply grabbing the ball and placing it over the goal line in one Phase - each and every time he plays?

 

I don't want the players to feel too constricted from the rules, but I also would like to make it semi fair. 

[massey]

Perhaps the ball would be considered "out of bounds" if it were teleported.  Of course the offense is going to have to worry about a speedster on defense intercepting the ball between when the center snaps it and QB stretchyman catches it.

[bubba smith]

too much use of super-powers will get the offending player suspended

[Christopher R Taylor]

hang a dummy over a grinding machine in the middle!

 

Seriously, I've never played a set of RPG rules yet that simulated sports well, and I suspect one that can do that really easily and smoothly has the most ideal combat system.

[Pegasus40218]

You also have to consider how the protective gear and ball would have to be modified.  Perhaps gear modifications could put certain restrictions (suppress extra-dimensional movement/powers to address the initial example) on the players.  The ball itself might need to have some form of resistant protection to avoid needing to be replaced after every play.

[quozaxx]

I like the idea of a ball being "out of bounds" when considering extra-dimensional or teleportation. 

 

Also, flying upwards too high should also be considered "out of bounds".  How wide is a standard football field?

[IndianaJoe3]

I can't imagine any rule changes that could prevent any conventional sport from being turned into a farce by superpowers. I think it might be better to invent a new sport designed to take advantage of them.

[massey]

I like the idea of a ball being "out of bounds" when considering extra-dimensional or teleportation. 

 

Also, flying upwards too high should also be considered "out of bounds".  How wide is a standard football field?

 

53 yards

[Greywind]

I like the idea of a ball being "out of bounds" when considering extra-dimensional or teleportation. 

 

Also, flying upwards too high should also be considered "out of bounds".  How wide is a standard football field?

 

American Football?

 

Canadian Football?

 

or

 

International Soccer (football to the rest of the world)?

[massey]

I would recommend going with some sort of modified football rules.  Chances are, most schools are not going to have 11 superpowered kids whose abilities just happen to work well with the rules and positions of the game.

 

If certain powers are disallowed though, and everyone is within roughly the same number of character points, and you accept a certain amount of unpredictability in the game, I think it could work.

 

7 players:  because of a lack of numbers, you play with a limited set of positions

 

3 offensive linemen

QB

3 skill positions

 

Offense must have 4 men on the line of scrimmage

 

Limited powers:  certain powers are "unfair" or make it impossible to properly referee

 

No desolidification while carrying the ball or blitzing the QB

Superstrength makes a player automatically an ineligible receiver/ball carrier

No noncombat or megamovement

No outright "attack" powers (you can't Optic Blast the ball carrier)

Teleportation / invisibility is considered leaving the field (no longer eligible receiver, out of bounds at first point of teleport)

Cannot fly higher than the crossbar of the goalpost

Force Walls are Pass Interference

Anything that causes the ball to explode is a 15 yard penalty on the responsible team (watch out for your super field goal kickers)

 

General changes to the game:  gotta make the game a little harder, given the more powerful nature of the players

 

First downs are at the 25 and 50 yard lines.  10 yards is too easy to get.

Extra points are automatic, or you can go for the 2 pt conversion.  Started 4 years ago after Clark Jr kicked the last football into orbit, ending a game in the 2nd quarter (opposing team was very mad, as it had been a close game).

No kickoffs (see above).  Teams start on their own 10 yard line.

Referees must have at least 20 Def.

 

Champions rules:  how to actually run it

 

Each play begins on Segment 12, with all players counting as having a held action.  Players roll-off to see who goes first.  Because of the nature of football (predetermined plays, known playbooks, known rules, set positions on field), Players must beat opponent's Dex roll by 3 points to get the usual effect of winning a roll-off (get your full action before they do -- unless one fails his dex roll, in which case the other gets the benefit as normal).  Otherwise they are considered to happen mostly simultaneously (this allows CBs to stay with receivers better).  If a pass player wins the roll-off by 3 or more, he can continue to hold action until any point in the other player's phase (effectively, this means a WR or CB who wins a roll-off by 3 or more can force his opponent to act first).

The Center snapping the ball to the QB is a half-phase action.

QB receiving the ball is a half-phase action.

OL and DL use Str contests against one another, winner is able to move the other back 2 hexes -- roll to hit (linemen normally 1/2 DCV because of stance), roll Body -- alternatively, DL may attempt "swim move" past OL with some type of dodge or other maneuver, and move on

No grab maneuvers (holding)

No legsweep (clipping)

QB must make Perception rolls to see appropriate receiver (or can just hand ball to RB) -- either is half-phase action.

Throwing is obviously a half-phase action (meaning if he's going to throw on segment 12, it's to a predetermined receiver and done without Per roll).

Per roll by QB is required before the QB knows status of skill position players' Dex roll-offs.  In gameplay, it may be best to wait until QB has acted before rolling for skill players.

When throwing the ball, QB can roll to hit a hex (DCV 3) and just "throw it up for anyone".  Everyone with movement to get there can move to that hex at attempt to catch (must roll vs OCV of 3 because of easy throw).  Catching is done similar to Missile Deflection, except you must hit a target OCV instead of the QB's natural OCV.  If two catchers are opposed, highest OCV hit comes away with the ball.

A QB can also attempt to throw it to a player (a "bullet pass") by hitting an artificially higher DCV (the benefit being it is much harder for a defender to intercept).  QB announces what DCV he will hit, and rolls.  If he hits, the ball goes to his receiver and the receiver must catch vs an OCV of 3 (hits him in the hands).  If the QB misses, he failed to gauge where the receiver would be.  He misses the receiver's hex by the amount he failed his roll by.  If a player in the area still has a held action, they can attempt to move to where the ball is going and attempt a catch.  A missed throw requires the player catching the ball to hit the DCV originally targeted plus the margin of failure of the QB's throw.

A defender in the path of the flight of the ball may attempt an interception, by making a missile deflection roll vs the QB's OCV.

A defender adjacent to the receiver may either deflect the football (adds +3 to the needed target DCV for the QB to hit), or attempt an interception (the receiver can then play defense and attempt to deflect as well, if necessary, though his only adds +2 because he's usually not in the right position for that).

 

Presence attacks are 1/2 effect -- everyone knows they're there to play football.

 

Routine tasks (Center - QB exchange, handing off the ball, simple passes) may receive a +1 to +3 bonus at GM discretion to represent the fact that normal kids with 10 Dex's play this game successfully.

 

Example of passing:  'cuz I know people didn't understand my description of the rules

 

Segment 12, Center snaps the ball, play begins.

-We'll ignore the linemen slamming into one another because that'll just complicate matters.  Suffice it to say, the OL manages to prevent anyone from getting to the QB.

-QB receives the ball.  1/2 phase action, rolls to hit an OCV of zero (if he is adjacent to the Center, because that's all the Center needed to hit an adjacent hex), or 3 (if he's in the shotgun).  QB succeeds.  He now has a half phase action remaining.

-QB is not going to immediately throw a quick slant pass, so he needs to make a Per roll.  He looks at his two receivers and rolls.  Int 13, 12- Per, QB rolls a 9.  Success.  He can now see how the receivers match up with the DBs.

-WR #1 and DB #1 roll off.  WR has a 23 Dex.  DB has a 26 Dex.  Both are rolling 14-.  WR rolls a 12 (made by 2), DB rolls an 11 (made by 3).  They are within 3, so they basically move together.  Each player moves 1 hex at a time until their movement is done (alternatively, they move the same percentage of their movement).

-WR #2 and DB #2 roll off.  WR has a 24 Dex.  DB has a 25.  Both need 14-.  WR2 rolls a 9.  DB2 rolls a 12.  WR2 won by 3.  WR2 is able to force CB2 to act.  CB2 has 15" of Running.   He moves backwards 8" because he doesn't know what WR2 will do.  WR2 (15" Running) then moves right past him his full 15".

 

Segment 3 (for our purposes, everyone is Spd 5)  Everyone is acting in Dex order now.

-Dex 25, DB2 holds action.

-Dex 24, WR2 holds action.

-Dex 20, QB has seen on Segment 12 that WR2 has juked CB2.  He wants to throw the ball to WR2.  He makes a PER roll, which causes WR2 and DB2 to roll off.

-WR2 rolls a 12 (made by 2).  DB2 rolls an 8 (made by 6).  DB2 can now hold to see what WR2 does, or act.  He chooses to hold.  WR2 is now 18" from QB.  WR2 runs an extra 8" down the field and spends a half action readying himself to catch.

-Because WR2 is now 26" away (and at -6 for range), QB decides to throw at WR2's hex.  DCV 3 for a nonadjacent hex, DCV 9 because of range.  QB (OCV 7) throws the ball 50 yards downfield.  Needs a 9 to hit.  Declares his throw.  Waits to roll because a defender might do something to increase the number he needs.

-CB2 uses his held action.  CB2 uses half his action to move to intercept the ball.  Normally CB2 doesn't have enough movement to reach the target hex, but CB2 has 12" of Superleap.  The GM rules that CB2 can therefore catch the ball in the air.  Because this is a lob pass (at a hex), CB2 must only hit an OCV of 3.  With his 25 Dex, CB2 rolls a 14, hitting an OCV of 5, and easily catching the ball.  He lands 6" from his starting hex, holding the ball.

 

----

 

I'm sure there's a lot that can be done to clean this up.  I was basically making it up as I typed it.

[Lawnmower Boy]

I think Massey gets at the core of it by pointing out that the first set of rules you need are for fielding a smaller team. How big is your superacademy? I can't think of any that are conceptually large enough to field a single-sex football team with a full roster, even taking two classes. 

 

Moving on,  power disallowances strike me as a bad idea as making many power sets all but useless. Characters built on 250 points ought to be able to counter each other within the rules. (Desolid and other Extra-dimensional powers, for example, cannot carry the ball through the plane of the goal line or the uprights for touchdown/field goal/extra point, nor ground the ball in the end zone for a touchback or rouge. The ball has to go solid, and that's when the opposing team has to have a plan to take control of the ball and run it out.  I'm a bit on the fence with respect to the brick/speedster QB, but that goes to the problem of contact, anyway. This would work better with flag football, although I know that's not "real" football. If you are going to go with full-contact, my suspicion is that you're going to have to relax the rules on contact in order to allow the "brawlers" to counter the bricks. Perhaps not so far as to allow Stab Girl to stab people with her stabbing stuff, but certainly to allow Entangles, Trips, Martial Throws. 

 

 

Heretical, I know, but the easiest way around this is to make the Teen Super Academy play a non-contact sport --not something made up, mind you. Baseball should do perfectly well.

[quozaxx]

American Football?

 

Canadian Football?

 

or

 

International Soccer (football to the rest of the world)?

American Football