For RPG content, I went into my special suggestion box and took out Rugby (thanks to my gaming buddy Sly for that one). And now you know why I started Sports Week yesterday. Sports and RPGs... The gamer stereotype would have them be exclusive, but that's hardly true, is it?
Sports as game element
Sports can provide an amusing interlude within, or at the start of, a greater story. It's a way for characters to interact with each other, others, and their game world's culture. Unlike, say, a royal reception, a sporting event will add both skill tests and a sense of opposition. There is something to WIN, just like in combat, and so similar suspense can be generated (though the stakes are likely not life and death). Since characters are not likely to have sports-based skills, it may be fun to make them use related skills as they try to adapt to the game. Is swinging a baseball bat the same as swinging a sword? Can you use Stealth to steal a base? Can I have a throwing bonus if I use my sleight of hand? That's up to the GM, but if we're talking about a fun pick-up game (inside the campaign, I mean), then by all means, he or she should allow most equivalent skills.
In games where characters have different powers - and I've tested this out successfully - a sporting event gives everyone the opportunity to try those powers out. I got this from the DCHeroes adventure module When a Stranger Calls, which starts with the Justice League (or your own heroes) playing basketball with all-out powers. When you think the characters have ironed out their abilities, call the emergency in. Sure, you could achieve the same thing with a Danger Room/training arena combat encounter, but since not all abilities have combat applications, and there's bound to be plenty of (more meaningful) combat in the adventure itself, a sports challenge will be fun and original.
Sports as adventure
Let's stretch that one scene out to an entire adventure now. If your world has sports, a whole adventure could take place in and around a sporting event. Solve the murder by infiltrating the Olympic team, or charm the king with your jousting prowess, or rise in the hoverball rankings so that you can get close enough to hoverball enthusiast and crime kingpin Mr. Bigbad. If a character in the group has a sports hobby (an easy and organic way in), his friends might protect him from a plot to cheat him. Fantasy worlds will of course have fantasy games, and these are fun to create and explore in their own right. Maybe wizards have their own version of curling, superhero worlds might take extreme sports to a whole new extreme, and cyberpunk/post-apocalyptic societies could force the players to survive their deadly version of rugby (in Rollerball or Running Man fashion).
Sports as campaign
In the above examples, we're essentially talking about a change of pace. But what if the whole campaign is based on sports? Ridiculous? Game companies seem to think so as I can't name a single sports-related RPG. Blood Bowl is still just a board/war game, right? And yet, sports have a lot in common with most RPGs: Teamwork, opponents (some recurring), battles, leveling. A sports RPG is easy to set up. Continuing subplots might involve the management, fans, and teammates in trouble, while the team basically heads towards the pennant in the face of overwhelming opposition. If there's a problem, it's that most sports have the same basic terrain game in and game out, so they lack the variety RPG combat/challenges can have.
Obviously, a pure sports RPG can't just follow the national league model. Well, it can, but let's be more ambitious and dramatic. Maybe the characters CAN use tricks and powers. Maybe these games are played on an interstellar or even interdimensional scale, allowing for crazy environments, opponents and rules tweaks, perhaps for the sake of reality itself. Whoever wins the Cup gets prosperity for their planet as opposed to being gobbled up by an Elder God. Or you could keep it more grounded in reality as a team of "globetrotter" athletes went around challenging the best of the best in every sport on Earth. Think Challengers of the Unknown of the sports world.
As actual sources, one might think of Shaolin Soccer or the manga/anime Eyeshield 21, but I'd also like to give a shout-out to game designer and my personal man-crush Chad Underkoffler for one of his "Campaigns in a Box" back when Pyramid magazine was online, LUDIcrous. Basically, the game evolved as the rounds advanced as teams would alternate in changing the rules to each round. I used this crazy little sport in a one-shot, and it was great fun. Steve Jackson Games needs to publish a book of Pyramids' Campaigns in a Box. Like, right now.
Sports rules
And if you ARE going to run a sports game, you really need rules that respect the genre. Not only do you need sports-related skills (perhaps as generic as throwing, running, hitting, etc.), but you need to pay homage to sports movie clichés. Like the underdogs. You need the underdogs. How can the Mighty Ducks or Bad News Bears win a game? By substituting WILLpower for physical skills, of course! It's all about HEART! (Or so I learned from that Deep Space 9 episode where they play baseball against Vulcans.) You should have a way to simulate that slow-motion climax is all I'm saying.
So go out there and play! Anyone else an armchair athlete with a cup full of dice?
Sports as game elementSports can provide an amusing interlude within, or at the start of, a greater story. It's a way for characters to interact with each other, others, and their game world's culture. Unlike, say, a royal reception, a sporting event will add both skill tests and a sense of opposition. There is something to WIN, just like in combat, and so similar suspense can be generated (though the stakes are likely not life and death). Since characters are not likely to have sports-based skills, it may be fun to make them use related skills as they try to adapt to the game. Is swinging a baseball bat the same as swinging a sword? Can you use Stealth to steal a base? Can I have a throwing bonus if I use my sleight of hand? That's up to the GM, but if we're talking about a fun pick-up game (inside the campaign, I mean), then by all means, he or she should allow most equivalent skills.
In games where characters have different powers - and I've tested this out successfully - a sporting event gives everyone the opportunity to try those powers out. I got this from the DCHeroes adventure module When a Stranger Calls, which starts with the Justice League (or your own heroes) playing basketball with all-out powers. When you think the characters have ironed out their abilities, call the emergency in. Sure, you could achieve the same thing with a Danger Room/training arena combat encounter, but since not all abilities have combat applications, and there's bound to be plenty of (more meaningful) combat in the adventure itself, a sports challenge will be fun and original.
Sports as adventure
Let's stretch that one scene out to an entire adventure now. If your world has sports, a whole adventure could take place in and around a sporting event. Solve the murder by infiltrating the Olympic team, or charm the king with your jousting prowess, or rise in the hoverball rankings so that you can get close enough to hoverball enthusiast and crime kingpin Mr. Bigbad. If a character in the group has a sports hobby (an easy and organic way in), his friends might protect him from a plot to cheat him. Fantasy worlds will of course have fantasy games, and these are fun to create and explore in their own right. Maybe wizards have their own version of curling, superhero worlds might take extreme sports to a whole new extreme, and cyberpunk/post-apocalyptic societies could force the players to survive their deadly version of rugby (in Rollerball or Running Man fashion).
Sports as campaign
In the above examples, we're essentially talking about a change of pace. But what if the whole campaign is based on sports? Ridiculous? Game companies seem to think so as I can't name a single sports-related RPG. Blood Bowl is still just a board/war game, right? And yet, sports have a lot in common with most RPGs: Teamwork, opponents (some recurring), battles, leveling. A sports RPG is easy to set up. Continuing subplots might involve the management, fans, and teammates in trouble, while the team basically heads towards the pennant in the face of overwhelming opposition. If there's a problem, it's that most sports have the same basic terrain game in and game out, so they lack the variety RPG combat/challenges can have.
Obviously, a pure sports RPG can't just follow the national league model. Well, it can, but let's be more ambitious and dramatic. Maybe the characters CAN use tricks and powers. Maybe these games are played on an interstellar or even interdimensional scale, allowing for crazy environments, opponents and rules tweaks, perhaps for the sake of reality itself. Whoever wins the Cup gets prosperity for their planet as opposed to being gobbled up by an Elder God. Or you could keep it more grounded in reality as a team of "globetrotter" athletes went around challenging the best of the best in every sport on Earth. Think Challengers of the Unknown of the sports world.
As actual sources, one might think of Shaolin Soccer or the manga/anime Eyeshield 21, but I'd also like to give a shout-out to game designer and my personal man-crush Chad Underkoffler for one of his "Campaigns in a Box" back when Pyramid magazine was online, LUDIcrous. Basically, the game evolved as the rounds advanced as teams would alternate in changing the rules to each round. I used this crazy little sport in a one-shot, and it was great fun. Steve Jackson Games needs to publish a book of Pyramids' Campaigns in a Box. Like, right now.
Sports rulesAnd if you ARE going to run a sports game, you really need rules that respect the genre. Not only do you need sports-related skills (perhaps as generic as throwing, running, hitting, etc.), but you need to pay homage to sports movie clichés. Like the underdogs. You need the underdogs. How can the Mighty Ducks or Bad News Bears win a game? By substituting WILLpower for physical skills, of course! It's all about HEART! (Or so I learned from that Deep Space 9 episode where they play baseball against Vulcans.) You should have a way to simulate that slow-motion climax is all I'm saying.
So go out there and play! Anyone else an armchair athlete with a cup full of dice?
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