Ogreball

=Ogreball=

History
Millenia ago, two tribes of ogres were fighting over a greater pangolin. One tribe claimed rightful ownership having chased the beast for leagues while the other claimed it for finally capturing the beast. Both tribes were rather drunk, and a peaceful solution was not forthcoming. They fought over it for hours, stealing it and brawling over it. Eventually they sat down, exhausted. Having had a great time, they butchered and roasted the pangolin, ate it together, and agreed to meet again next year to do the thing all over again.

Centuries later all ogre tribes swore an oath of loyalty to the Summer Queens and as part of the oath were forbidden from going to war against each other. It was immediately after this that ogreball was reclassified from ritual combat to a sport.

Setup
Teams are supposed to be even in talent, not necessarily number. Playing with fewer members than your opponents is a good way of insulting them and winning such a match grants incredible bragging rights. Not all athletes need to be ogres, or even fae. The majority of such players are ogres because most other beings consider the game stupid. Humans wandering through the nevernever are occasionally roped into ogreball games against their will.

Ogreball is played on a large field that is more or less clear of obstacles. A large gong is set on each end of the field. To one side of the midpoint are set giant kegs of ale which are used for drinking and penalty shots.

Before play, a greater pangolin must be captured alive. Greater pangolins weigh between 30 and 60 kilograms and curl into a ball when threatened by mortal danger, such as an ogreball game. Greater pangolins are not sapient, and in fact, rather dumb.

Each team member brings a flask for drinking alcohol. The flask must be large enough that the player can fit his fist into it. This flask is used for both pregame drinking and taking penalty shots.

Each team has 2 clubbers. Clubbers are the only players allowed to carry weapons.. Only blunt weapons are permitted after the decapitation frenzy of 1329.

Protective gear is for wimps and cowards and is not acceptable in an ogreball game.

The only reason iron isn’t prohibited by the rules is it was so unthinkable no one thought to ban it. Bringing it to an ogreball game is a good way to get your head bitten off.

There are no benches in ogreball. However, if a new potential member shows up, tradition allows him to join the losing team mid-game.

Gameplay
Before the game proper begins, there is a pregame session which consists of drinking. Members from both teams fill their flasks with ale, drink them, and refill. Every drink consumed scores a point. The pregame drinking can score almost as many points as gameplay itself, sometimes more. On rare occasions ogreball games end with the pregame drinking, as all players are too inebriated to compete further.

At the start of play the ball is placed in the middle of the field and both teams start at their gongs on opposite ends of the field. They count to three, both clubbers ring their team's gong, and everyone rushes toward the ball and tries to bring it back to their gong. Once the ball is near a team's gong one of that team's clubbers may touch the ball with any body part, usually a hand, and strike the gong. Each strike of the gong scores a point. The gong should resonate a bit before being struck again, so each strike is clear. The other team tries to steal the ball and bring it back to their gong, where they can ring their gong for points.

The game lasts until any of the following have been accomplished. 1) One of the teams is incapacitated due to injuries or inebriation. Any player able to walk upright is not considered inebriated. 2) One team scores sufficient points that the other team gives up. 3) The greater pangolin dies from injuries. 4) Everyone gets into a brawl over the rules and the greater pangolin runs off while nobody’s looking. (1 in 3 ogreball games end this way.)

Whichever team has the most points by the end of the game is the winner and gets the pangolin as a trophy. The winner also has bragging rights over the losers’ tribe until their next game of ogreball.

Penalties and Rules Violations
Should a rules violation occur, one player cries “foul” and states his case. The defender stops to defend himself, and other players may join in. They debate until the issue has been resolved. Gameplay is not paused during this time, which encourages players to resolve their differences quickly.

A rules violation occurs when any of the rules on this list are broken. Additionally, there are many, many rules to ogreball and each tribe has its own variations. None of the regulations are written down. Add in the fact that drunkenness is mandatory and no ogre is entirely sure of the rules of the game he is playing. Memories are previous games are blurred due to drinking and head injuries. Rules arguments are decided by shouting loudly, intimidation, and group consensus. Brawling, while not officially endorsed, is usually the means of settling extreme debates.

Any player who breaks a rule faces a penalty. By default, the offending player fills his flask with ale and drinks it. The offended player may instead choose a free punch to the offending player’s gut.

The player carrying the ball may attack whoever he wishes. No one else may attack any player except the one carrying the ball. Wrestling, tackling, and shoving are not considered attacks but punching and whacking with clubs are. Killing another player, even if he is carrying the ball, is considered a rules violation and subject to a standard penalty.

Spectator Participation
No one really watches ogreball games except for the occasional troupe of pixies. Anyone who does watch a game stays far back from the violence.

=Ogreball in Game Terms=

Ogreball is a unique challenge to throw at your players. Depending on the level of the characters there will probably be one fewer ogre than players.

Keep watch over items of power. Any item of power that could be considered an edged weapon is forbidden, and any character who wishes to carry an item of power that could be considered a club must be one of the team’s two clubbers. So that wizard with a staff either has to lay the staff aside or sign on to be a clubber.

Ogres have inhuman or supernatural strength and toughness. Since the ogreball is heavy and the play is brutal, ogres would seem to have the advantage. Player characters will need to make up for this by being just as strong or tough, or by being faster or more clever than the ogres.

The greater pangolin has the following stats:


 * Greater Pangolin** (Feet In The Water)

__High Concept:__ Supernaturally-Powered Pangolin Trouble Aspect: Ogreball Ball Other Aspects: Tough And Spiny, Truly Dumb, Curl Up __Skills:__ Great: Endurance Good: Survival, Athletics Fair: Might, Fists, Alertness Average: Conviction, Discipline, Investigation, Stealth __Stunts:__ Shrug It Off (Endurance): Use Endurance for physical defense. Curl Up (Endurance): Full defense actions provide +4 defense instead of +2. Armoured Hide (Endurance): +1 physical armour while making full defense actions. __Powers:__ Echoes Of The Beast (Pangolin) [-1] Damage Shield [-2] (Attackers who miss with unarmed attacks take margin of failure as stress) Supernatural Toughness [-4] The Catch (unknown) [+0] __Total Refresh Cost:__ -10 __Refresh Total:__ -4

During the game, the Greater Pangolin will take full defence actions until it gets left alone for a round, at which point it will attempt to run off the field. Carrying the pangolin has a difficulty of Good, and it has a weapon rating of 2 if used as a thrown weapon. Remember that the Tough And Spiny aspect of the pangolin can be invoked or compelled to harm the carrier.

The pregame begins by drinking. The ogres will probably have a collection of mortal cups available for use. Every drink consumed grants the player's team scores a point, requires the drinker to make an endurance roll, and gives him a -1 to all further drinking attempts. (a player who's had 3 drinks is now rolling endurance -3 to resist the next one) Treat each drink as at attack with roll of 1. Players whose endurance roll is below that take mental stress. Players may drink as many glasses as they wish, but they all must drink at least 1. Any consequences taken can be tagged during gameplay. Pregame drinking is part of the same scene as the rest of the game, and no stress is cleared until the game is over.

During play, the field is 3 zones long. Midfield is where the ball is situated to begin with. The other two zones are your side and your opponent's side. Treat a game as you would combat, with alertness determining initiative. Some games may take place on larger fields, at the GM's discretion.

Picking up the pangolin is a supplemental action. Taking the pangolin from another character requires a maneuver. A character who is taken out automatically drops the pangolin. Remember that moving the pangolin requires a Might roll of Good.

If the pangolin is moved close enough that a clubber may touch it while banging the gong he may do so up to 3 times per turn, each hit being a supplemental action. This essentially eliminates one of the team members from the fight in exchange for points.

Battle-focused characters will likely try to control the ball directly, going into the fray and trading blood for glory. Magical characters can use spells as they wish to affect the game, but unless they're carrying the ball they can only attack someone who is. Social characters will either trash talk as a social attack or try to makes rules calls against other players, forcing them to take penalty drinks or simply tying them up in rules arguments. Remember, play does //not// stop for rules debates, and each player gets a single roll to inflict social stress each round, though they are still subject to alertness-based initiative. Rules debates inflict social stress, and the only real way to leave the conflict is to take a penalty drink, and they maintain any penalties from the pregame drinking.

Here's a list of common actions in the game and the skills that they usually go with. Uses of magic are not listed, but should not be too difficult to figure out. Carrying/passing the ball: might (it takes a might roll of +3 or higher to even move the ball, it's that heavy) Running up and down the field/dodging between opponents: athletics Attacking the ball carrier: weapons (for clubbers), fists (everyone) Remembering rules of ogreball for declarations: lore (supplemental action) Making up rules of ogreball and passing them off as legitimate: deceit (ogres do not do this, but they fall for it) Arguing rules of ogreball: presence, intimidation, deceit, possibly rapport (scholarship is useful for making well-reasoned arguments, which have no place in an ogreball match) Trash talk: intimidation, possibly performance for an annoying dance or insult comedy Leading your team: presence Crafting strategies: scholarship Spotting flaws in opponents' strategies: investigation Noticing helpful terrain features: awareness, survival

Remember to modify rules declarations for ogreball by the plausibility of that rule. "All humans automatically win" is unlikely to work. "Leaving the field of play requires a penalty drink for cowardice" is almost certain to be accepted. "No roughing the coxswain during the feast of animus" is one of those little rules you might be be able to convince the ogres exists somewhere, especially if you would rather start a long argument.