Combat Sport Variant?

Got a great idea and/or proposal for BloodBowl?

Moderator: TFF Mods

Post Reply
Stix
Rookie
Rookie
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:35 am

Combat Sport Variant?

Post by Stix »

We've seen plenty of Blood Bowl variants over the years covering a number of sports, such as various codes of football (i.e. soccer, Aussie rules and American), basketball, ice hockey, car racing (more specifically deathrollers) and even baseball (although I haven't found a copy of those rules), but I wonder if/how a variant based on a combat sport such as boxing, wrestling or MMA would work.

I've had a quick look at Mordheim's Pit Fighter rules, and I'm thinking we could at least take something from that (obviously anything we use would need to fit in with Blood Bowl mechanics), although I just don't know how this sort of variant would work. Has anyone got any ideas? Maybe someone's already done something like this themselves that they could share? Either way, any contribution is appreciated.

PS: I've attached the Pit Fighter rules for those who want to look at them.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Reason: ''
User avatar
JaM
Legend
Legend
Posts: 2580
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 7:38 pm
Location: The Netherlands.

Re: Combat Sport Variant?

Post by JaM »

What, like Ratogre Bowl..? :)

Reason: ''
Image
Stix
Rookie
Rookie
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:35 am

Re: Combat Sport Variant?

Post by Stix »

JaM wrote:What, like Ratogre Bowl..? :)
Didn't think of that :lol:
I was thinking of using a much smaller arena (like the Mordheim pit), halving the players' MA and probably fighting either until one suffers a casualty or loses a certain number of AV-based hit points, but I wasn't sure whether it would be better to come up with more realistic fighting mechanics or just go with blocking and blitzing like Rat Ogre Bowl. I guess if you mark out a square or something in the middle of the pitch and picked a player each it could work as a sort of ROB-esque sideshow thing.

Reason: ''
User avatar
JaM
Legend
Legend
Posts: 2580
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 7:38 pm
Location: The Netherlands.

Re: Combat Sport Variant?

Post by JaM »

Hitpoints might work.
Maybe using str + 2d6 to determine AV break?
Each coach gets a certain amount of money, and use it to buy a player/players (tag team?) and upgrades.

Orcs are brawlers, maybe Elfs are more... eastern fighting style? And who are the boxing types, who's doing K-1, MMA, etc. etc.

...

A hex-field is nice for this, Rat Ogre Bowl is probably better on a hexfield too. :)

Reason: ''
Image
Stix
Rookie
Rookie
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:35 am

Re: Combat Sport Variant?

Post by Stix »

For the hit point system I was thinking that each fighter could have a number of HP equal to his AV, and every time one's knocked down or fouled (which could be a legal, MMA-style way of finishing the fight) he loses 1 HP, but you don't make an armour break roll for knockdowns until he has 0 HP left. Basically, the only way to finish a fight would be to beat them down until you can break the armour, then score a KO or casualty on the injury roll.

As for the different fighting styles I really have no idea if/how we could make those work in terms of game mechanics, but an imaginative player wanting to describe their attacks could certainly use them as a kind of fluff thing.

With the arena I see no reason why the hex board couldn't be used, since it allows for better movement and it won't hinder any measurements because of the lack of passing. On top of that, it reminds me very much of the hexagonal rings and cages I've seen in some pro wrestling and MMA companies.

Finally, I was also wondering if there should be some limit on bout length, perhaps by allowing a certain number of turns or rounds consisting of several turns, and from there whoever gets closest to winning the fight wins by a judges' decision.

Reason: ''
User avatar
JaM
Legend
Legend
Posts: 2580
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 7:38 pm
Location: The Netherlands.

Re: Combat Sport Variant?

Post by JaM »

Judges decision: a d6 (or something similar) + number of HP lost. Both players roll a die, winner wins the match. Could mean someone is getting hit, a lot, but because the judges are on his hand he can still win the fight. Like IRL :).

Dont see a lot of moving about, something with a blitz-action comes to mind. Passing? What can you possibly throw, legal or otherwise?
Or will it be a fight for a ball, 'Salute of the Jugger'- style..?

Somehow I can see some potential here. Let's keep this rolling, who knows what we can cook up..! :D

Reason: ''
Image
Stix
Rookie
Rookie
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:35 am

Re: Combat Sport Variant?

Post by Stix »

JaM wrote:Judges decision: a d6 (or something similar) + number of HP lost. Both players roll a die, winner wins the match. Could mean someone is getting hit, a lot, but because the judges are on his hand he can still win the fight. Like IRL :).
I like the idea of dice-based judging, and I agree the judges have had some absolute shockers in real life - look at Sanchez-Pearson at UFC Fight Night 42 :P - but I think some of the results from one D6 roll could be a little too ridiculous. Maybe if you did three separate decisions and went with the majority (like having three judges) that could balance it out more - it also means you could have anything from a unanimous decision win to a split draw! Also, what would you call a good fight length? I'm thinking rounds of 5-8 turns each, healing a bit at every break, or a single round of 16-20.

My point about the hex grid was that it wouldn't be a problem because there's no ball to pass (unless you can somehow use Throw Teammate to toss your opponent across the ring!). I also said earlier about halving fighters' MA (probably rounding up) to go with the smaller area and lack of long-distance movement.

Another thought of mine was to scrap my idea of not having AV rolls while he still has HP left over. Looking back that'd probably make it too hard to break the armour.

Also, I agree that we might be on to something here! It'll be interesting to see what we end up with :D

Reason: ''
Post Reply