Rules
- Position (Dark souls; HP alternative)
- Respawning (Darksouls, Death wound alternative)
- variant rules (grim hollow)
- Grivious wounds (Grim Hollow)
- Battlefield Actions Additional Combat Rules
- sport match rules
Position (Dark souls; HP alternative)
Position not only represents an abstraction of health and stamina, but also enables players to affect dice rolls and to use key abilities, adding a strategic layer to any combat action. Each character’s Base Position is equal to their current level, plus their Constitution modifier, and the maximum value of the dice in their position pool. If a character’s Position is reduced to zero, the character is killed.
At 1st level a character’s Base Position is equal to:
Constitution modifier + Maximum value of their Origin’s Position dice + Current Level
For example, a Knight with Constitution 15 (+2) and a Brute Origin (1d10 Position) at 1st level has a base Position pool of 13 (2+10+1).
At every level after 1st, when they level up characters increase their Base Position as shown below:
Current Base Position + Constitution Modifier
If your character starts at level one, then when you level up, you increase your Base Position by simply adding your modifier. If your game is starting at a higher level, then you include your level (as seen in Origins’ ‘Position at Higher Levels’). This little boost is to reflect the lack of improved equipment you’ll have been able to equip yet. It’s not a lot but it might just help.
When the Knight reaches 2nd level, the character’s player adds their +2 Constitution modifier to their existing base position.
As a result, Base Position is increased to 15.
During combat, characters will increase their Position by rolling a number of Position dice (determined by their Origin and level) to generate additional temporary position.
Uninjured and fully rested, the Knight’s current Position would be 15 (equal to their Base Position). When the Knight enters combat with a Hollow, the Knight’s player rolls 2d10 (level x Position Dice) resulting in 11, and adds this to their current Position giving them a total of 26 Position for the coming conflict.
Position Pool In and Out of Combat
Position is vital for a character in combat but also plays a key role in other dangerous situations such as stumbling into a trap, being poisoned, or falling for a height, amongst many other dangerous events in the world of DARK SOULS.
Out of combat, all damaging effects are deducted from the character’s current Position.
In combat, however, things are a little different. Once the GM has announced that a combat is about to begin, and initiative has been
determined, characters gain additional temporary position. Be this a surge of adrenaline, or an experienced fighter understanding the
battlefield, this temporary boost is vital for survival. This additional temporary position is calculated when a character first
acts in combat, and is added to the character’s current Position. Being surprised in combat, is therefore really rather dangerous.
Temporary Position = Origin Position dice x Level
Once the combat has ended, a character’s Position reverts to either their Base Position value, or stays at the current Position value, whichever is lowest. The healing powers of the Estus Flask, and some magic items or spells can restore position, as can taking a Long rest at a bonfire.
If the Knight suffers 3 points of damage in the fight with the Hollow, after the fight ends, their Position (currently 26) reverts
back to 15 (equal to their Base Position). Alternatively, if the Knight had fared worse and suffered 13 damage from the Hollow’s bombs, after the fight ends, their Position would remain at 13 until healed or rested.
Using Position
Position can be expended to represent that little extra effort. Do you want to burn your enemies with a Great Chaos Fireball? Or did you miss the vital blow that might have turned the fight in your favour? Perhaps the enemy only just manage to survive when a little more damage might have killed them? This is where strategic use of Position is critical to your character’s survival. Some abilities, or spells, can only be triggered using Position by spending the specified amount from a character’s Position total. These costs are noted in the description of the spell or ability, where appropriate. Alternatively, Position can be spent to modify dice rolls, to increase damage, or to attempt difficult and impressive actions. But beware, Position may only be used once per activation so careful timing is key.
Spending Position
Some restrictions:
You can only ever spend Position on yourself.
You may only spend Position once per turn.
You cannot trigger critical effects by spending Position.
Common Uses
Increase the result of a dice roll by +1 per Position
There is no limit on how much Position you can spend on an attack roll, so, you could roll a 1 and, if you had sufficient Position, hit a creature with an AC 20 but in doing, leave yourself much more vulnerable to your enemy’s attacks.
Increase your melee or ranged attack damage roll by 5 points, as a minimum
You can increase damage by however much you wish, spend Position on a 1 to 1 basis, but you must always spend a minimum of 5 Position to do so, unless using a weapon’s special ability.
Increase your movement
Gain +5 feet of movement per Position spent. Maximum movement that may be gained in this way is equal to your Base Speed value.
If a player thinks of a particularly interesting or ingenious use of Position, then the GM should feel free to dictate a cost and allow the Unkindled to perform the action described by the player.
In summary, Position represents a combination of health and stamina but instead of being a pool that decreases only when a player
character takes damage, in DARK SOULS: The Roleplaying Game¸ you can spend Position to trigger abilities, cast spells, modify your dice rolls, and even increase your damage.
BUT
Be careful! Don’t ever forget that Position still counts as a representation of your health. Once it hits zero, you die! Spending Position can grant you impressive advantages in combat, often turning the tide in your favour, but doing so will make dying that much quicker and easier. Use it cautiously…
Respawning (Darksouls, Death wound alternative)
When a player character is reduced to 0 Position, they are
dead. In the world of DARK SOULS: The Roleplaying
Game however, this is not the end. Instead, the player character will
reawaken, sometime later, at the site of the last bonfire they visited.
When a player character dies, they lose all their collected souls, but,
when they awaken, are restored to full Base Position, and all their
abilities are once again ready to use.
Determining the nearest bonfire is based on the area the player
characters are currently exploring. If player characters have not visited
or rested at a bonfire, it can still be used as the closest bonfire for
purposes of awakening after being killed.
If more than half of a party of player characters are killed, they have
failed. Instead, the player character will reawaken, sometime later, at
the nearest bonfire to where they died.
As noted previously, when a character dies, they respawn at the nearest
bonfire. They lose all collected souls, but are otherwise returned to
full Position, and all their abilities are ready to use once again.
When a player character respawns is up to them, though they cannot
rejoin the battle that killed them if it continues. If a player character
wishes to rejoin a battle after dying and respawning, the creature
they are engaged with regains all Position, though the character and
their allies do not.
They may, however, explore separately from their main party until
the fight is completed, or alternatively, simply wait at the bonfire.
Whenever a player character is killed and respawns, a part of them
dies or is lost. Memories of their past selves fade, to be replaced only
be emptiness. The unkindled do not die, but they do diminish.
When a player character respawns, they must succeed on a DC 18
Wisdom save or should they fail, they must roll on the Hollowing
Effect table.
1 Empty. There is nothing left of you to be consumed. You, whatever that means, are gone now. You are a mindless thing. You must create a new character.
2 Flesh Withers. Your skin tightens on your bones, mummifying even as you watch. Lose 2 from your Charisma Score.
3 Darkness Falls. What is left of you? Almost nothing now. Reduce one Attribute by 2.
4 Dismal. Any joy or laughter you used to retain is entirely gone. Reduce your starting Charisma Score by -1.
5 Atrophy. Your muscles are starting to fail you, weakening. Reduce your starting Strength Score by -1.
6 It’s Getting Dark. The world is darker than it was. Reduce your passive Perception total by -1.
7 Indifference. Death does not care about you; why should it? You are merely one more thing cursed to resist your natural end. No changes occur.
8 Murmur. You have returned but something has lodged in your mind from beyond. A voice is in your head now, whispering strange thoughts.
9 Fortune. You have the eerie sense that you have already lived this life in some way. Next time you die, you make your Wisdom saving throw to avoid hollowing with advantage.
10 Morbidity. Your focus is increasingly on your failing mind, the loss of your senses, and the gradual erosion of self. Reduce any skill of your choice by -1.
11 Humanity’s Absence. You have become cold, callous, and unmoved by human suffering. Reduce your Wisdom Score by -1.
12 Dulled Senses. You are slower to react to threats as they present themselves. Reduce your Initiative by -1.
13 Miracle of the Grave. Perhaps you are less than you once were, but this time, upon returning to life, you feel alive. Gain +2 to any single attribute.
14 Death’s Blessing. You have returned tougher, hardier. Add an extra +1d6 to your starting Base Position.
15 Toughening Bone. Your bones have hardened, and they protrude through the skin strangely, granting you +1 AC.
16 Immune. Death has cleansed you of some of the frailties of human life. You are immune to Poison and to the Poisoned effect.
17 At Last. You thought this death would be your final demise. You braced yourself for this conclusion to your being, but instead you found yourself returned. You make your next skill check or combat roll at disadvantage.
18 Death’s Kin. You are a member of the dead, you carry the burden of the grave with you and it scares those who look upon you. Gain +1 whenever making any Charisma (Intimidation) checks.
19 Absent Minded. Your mind wanders, no longer able to focus on the things that you took joy in. Reduce your starting Intelligence Score by -1.
20 Forgotten. Some memory, some fragile recollection of your past or current life has gone. Between you and the GM, decide what this memory is and what effect its loss has on you.
variant rules (grim hollow)
Stabilisation
When a character at 0 hit points regains hit
points, they instantly become conscious and heal
as per usual. However, they are still incapacitated
until the end of their next turn.
Concentration Checks
Whenever you fail a concentration check, you
gain the dazed condition until the end of your
next turn.
Bleeding
Bleeding creatures cannot regain hit points
from spells or abilities. A bleeding creature can
only regain hit points by consuming hit dice or
completing a long rest.
Dazed
If you are concentrating on a spell and become
dazed, you lose concentration on that spell and
it immediately fails. While dazed, you cannot
concentrate on spells.
Grivious wounds (Grim Hollow)
A consistent theme throughout dark fantasy and related stories is the consequences of actions.
While the roleplay ramifications of a party's decision can be highlighted through story outcomes, combat ramifications can be a little
harder to implement. Grievous Wounds are an effective method of adding grit and realism to combat encounters, bringing the consequences of a difficult fight to the forefront of storytelling.
Implementing Grievous Wounds
Whenever a player character is reduced to 0 hit points, they roll 2d6 and subtract from the result the number of existing Grievous Wounds they have. They then apply the modified result from the Grievous Wound Table. If a player rolls the same result as one they already have a wound for, they skip this result and select the next lowest result they do not have as a wound. Results with a *
next to them can be taken more than once.
Upon completing a long rest, and if the character or someone helping them succeeds at a DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check, a player can remove all effects from Grievous Wounds, but not Permanent Wounds. See the next section for Permanent Wounds.
2D6 Grievous Wound
2 or less Permanent Wound. You have sustained a serious wound that is most likely permanent. Roll on the Permanent Wound Table and apply the result.
3 Internal Bleeding*. You have suffered an internal hemorrhage and bruising. Your hit point maximum is halved.
4 Concussion. You have received a minor concussion and struggle to focus on complicated tasks. You gain the dazed condition.
5 Laceration. You have taken a deep injury which you are bleeding from. You gain the bleeding condition.
6 Deep Wound*. You have taken a blow that under different circumstances would kill most humanoids. When you are reduced to 0 hit points, you start with an additional failed death saving throw.
7 Battered*. Your muscles ache and you have had the wind knocked out of you. You gain a level of exhaustion.
8 Sprained Wrist*. You have badly sprained your wrist, unable to use it effectively. You are unable to hold objects in one of your hands and you cannot take actions that require that arm.
9 Damaged Eardrum. You have suffered a blow to the head and your hearing has been impaired. You gain the deafened condition.
10 System Shock. You have suffered a
severe nervous system shock. You have
disadvantage in Dexterity checks to
determine initiative.
11 Sprained Ankle*. You have badly sprained
your ankle, unable to use it effectively.
Your speed on foot is halved and you
cannot take the dash action. If you
receive this result a second time your
speed on foot becomes 0.
12 Close Call*. You narrowly miss an
otherwise dangerous blow. Instead of
being reduced to 0 hit points, you fall to
1 hit point instead, and become prone.
Permanent Wounds
Permanent wounds are injuries that were not
lethal but left the recipient maimed. They
represent a serious impediment that requires
creativity to overcome, especially at lower levels.
The effects of a permanent wound are irreversible
unless the recipient is targeted with the regenerate
spell, upon which one permanent wound
is removed
1D6 Permanent Wound
1 Fatal Wound. Through an unrecoverable
injury you have been fatally wounded.
You are now dead.
2 Lost Arm*. You have suffered a serious
injury to your arm or have lost it entirely.
You are unable to hold objects in one of
your arms and you cannot take actions
that require two arms.
3 Lost Leg*. You have suffered a serious
injury to your leg or have lost it entirely.
Your speed on foot is halved and you
cannot take the dash action. If you
receive this result again your speed on
foot becomes 0.
4 Lost Eye*. You have lost the use of a
good eye. You have disadvantage on
Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence
(Investigation) checks that rely on sight.
If you receive this result again, you gain
the blinded condition.
5 Scarred Lungs. Undertaking vigorous
activities causes you to break out in a
coughing fit. If you take an action, you
cannot take a bonus action until your
next turn. If you take a bonus action
you cannot take an action until your
next turn.
6 Hideous Scar. You have been horribly and
visibly scared. You have disadvantage on
Charisma (Performance) and Charisma
(Persuasion) checks. Additionally,
indifferent NPC’s may prefer not to
converse with you.
Battlefield Actions Additional Combat Rules
Why Use Battlefield Actions:
Battlefield Actions strive to make combat encounters feel diverse, dynamic, and grand. They shift the players’ objective from “deal the most damage to the monster” to a completely different goal, keeping fights more interesting and ever-changing to play and making enemies feel more threatening, more of a “boss” encounter.
You should use Battlefield Actions if:
- You and your players are well versed in the normal combat mechanics and are ready to add a new mechanic.
- You find fights skew towards static encounters where movement plays a very small role in combat, and most turns can be summarized as a race to inflict damage and little else.
- You are having a hard time challenging your players.
- You or your players have expressed boredom when it comes to fights, finding them too slow, repetitive, or samey.
- You are looking for a way to make a “boss fight” feel more climactic than other battles.
How Battlefield Actions Work:
Battlefield actions consist of two phases:
- A Tell, where the Battlefield Action starts. The Tell does not inflict any damage. Instead, it is a hint for the player as to what the Battlefield Action will do once it’s resolved and how to stop it.
- A Resolution, when the Battlefield Action ends. If the players have not neutralized or mitigated the Battlefield Action, the actual effect of this action will resolve in this phase.
- All Battlefield Actions can be either neutralized or mitigated. The point of the Tell phase is for the players to figure out how to neutralize or mitigate the action before it reaches the Resolution stage. If the players don’t manage to neutralize or mitigate a Battlefield Action, the Battlefield Action simply triggers.
In combat, Battlefield Actions start their Tell phase at the end of a monster’s turn and arrive at their Resolution stage at the beginning of that monster’s next turn. The players have the whole Initiative order to deal with the Battlefield Action.
For example:
At the end of the enemy’s turn, they conjure two summoning circles on either side of the battlefield. The circles glow brightly with magical energy, and motes of this arcane light coalesce to form the outline of another creature. If a player steps close to them, they dim somewhat. This is the Tell phase of this Battlefield Action.
At least one creature must step on the circles to stop the summoning. When they stand on them, the circles dim and stop gathering energy.
At the beginning of the monster’s next turn, if no creature is standing on the summoning circles, two minions are summoned to assist the boss. If a creature is standing on each circle, the Battlefield Action has been neutralized and fails. This is the Resolution phase of this Battlefield Action.
To summarize:
- The end of the monster’s turn starts the Tell phase of the Battlefield Action.
- Players must figure out a way to neutralize or mitigate the action before the monster’s next turn starts.
- The beginning of the monster’s next turn starts the Resolution phase of the Battlefield Action.
Depending on the player’s action, the Battlefield Action triggers, is mitigated, or is neutralized.
We recommend giving your monster at least two Battlefield Actions so that the Battlefield Action changes each round.
Battlefield Actions have not been designed to be given to anything other than “boss” enemies. Likewise, Battlefield Actions are not supposed to be given to two different monsters in the same combat encounter.
Damage By CR and Saving Throws:
Since many Battlefield Actions deal damage, and this system is intended for you to attach to existing monsters or new ones you make, the damage a Battlefield Action deals depends on the monster’s CR.
COMING SOON - as a quick fix: choose the strongest attack from the monster and make the battlefield action deal that damage.
If a Battlefield Action calls for the players to make a saving throw, choose what ability that monster is using to perform the Battlefield Action and follow the regular DC calculation formula:
8 + key ability modifier + Proficiency Bonus
Proficiency Bonuses can be found next to CR in all monster stat blocks and are dependent on a monster’s CR.
Battlefield Actions
Here you’ll find a list of some Battlefield Actions that you can use. Because the damage dealt and the DCs involved in this Battlefield Actions depend on the monster’s abilities and CR, any of these Battlefield Actions can work for any monster.
You can therefore concentrate on how you want a monster’s actions to feel, and the effects you want that monster to create on the battlefield, rather than whether or not the damage or difficulty feels correct for the fight at hand.
Quite a few Battlefield Actions are resolved by breaking a boss’ concentration. The point of Battlefield Actions isn’t to stop your players from dealing damage, but to shift their focus away from only doing that while remaining static for the entire fight. We recommend mixing Battlefield Actions that force players to move, hold their actions, or otherwise not attack as they normally would with Battlefield Actions that must be neutralized or minimized by breaking Concentration. Too many of the former might make Battlefield Actions feel like an obstacle to the players' fun rather than a mechanic to make battles grander and more dynamic.
Unless otherwise specified, the damage type of a Battlefield Action is up to the GM and dependent upon the monster. A giant holding a metal club will deal Bludgeoning damage when performing the Cleave Battlefield Action, whereas a fiend performing the same action with a flaming whip will deal Fire damage. Use damage types to make Battlefield Actions feel unique to the monster using them.
Every Battlefield Action is presented in the same format: first the Tell, then the condition to mitigate or neutralize, and then the Resolution.
For ease of reading, the creature performing the Battlefield Action will be referred to as “the boss.”
Summoning Minions:
Tell: Two 10-foot-radius summoning circles appear on the battlefield as the faint outline of a monster starts to coalesce within them.
Neutralization: If a creature steps on the circles, the minion cannot be summoned.
Resolution: If not neutralized, two minions are summoned to the battlefield to assist the boss.
Cleave:
Tell: The boss raises its weapon, readying a devastating attack against anyone in front of it. Whenever a creature deals damage to the boss, the boss faces in the direction of the creature that attacked it, changing the area affected by their Cleave.
Mitigation: The players might choose to have a particularly hardy character hold their attack until right before the boss’ turn to make sure the boss hits them, or have a ranged combatant hit the boss last while all other characters move away from the Cleave’s area of effect. They might also have a rogue character hit,disengage, and run away from the boss, allowing the boss to target the rogue while they remain out of the area of effect
Resolution: If not mitigated, the boss Cleaves a 15-foot Cone area in the direction the boss is facing. Every creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking full damage on a failure and half damage on a success.
Ray:
Tell: The boss begins to coalesce all magic around it into a ball of energy on its palm. Whenever a creature deals damage to the boss, the boss faces in the direction of the creature that attacked it, changing the area that will be affected by the ray.
Mitigation: A particularly hardy character can hold their attack until right before the boss’ turn to make sure the boss hits them. Players must also be aware of their positioning so as not to be caught in the area of effect of the ray.
Resolution: If not mitigated, the boss releases a 5-foot-wide, 60-foot-long ray in the direction the boss is facing. Every creature in that path must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking full damage on a failure and half damage on a success.
Enchanting Ballad:
Tell: The boss enters a state of deep concentration and starts to sing a haunting melody. As more and more of the song reaches the ears of creatures who can hear it, they drift away from themselves, developing a slowly growing sense of understanding and camaraderie with the boss.
Neutralization: The players must break the boss’ Concentration on the song as one would break Concentration on a spell. Alternatively, the players can use the spell Silence to ensure the boss cannot sing its melody.
Resolution: If not mitigated, the creature with the lowest Wisdom ability score that can hear the song has the Charmed condition until the song ends and repeats the save at the end of each of its turns.
Watchful Eye:
Tell: The boss opens their eyes, and a dreadful magical energy gathers like a pinprick of light deep inside of their pupil. When their gaze falls on a creature, it feels an impending sense of dread grow within itself.
Neutralization: The players must hide from the boss so as to not be seen when the Battlefield Action reaches its Resolution phase. They can use the environment to block line of sight, take the Hide action, or even cast spells like Darkness to obscure the boss’ vision.
Resolution: If not neutralized, all creatures the boss can see have the Frightened condition. They can make a Wisdom saving throw to free themselves from this effect at the end of each of their turns.
Perfect Illusion:
Tell: The boss creates three illusory copies of itself on the battlefield. These illusory copies start to gather magical energy on their palms, getting ready to unleash an attack.
Neutralization: The illusory copies share the same ability scores and AC as the boss, but only have 1 Hit Point. The players must deal damage to these illusory copies to destroy them before the boss’ next turn.
Resolution: If not neutralized, each illusory copy will make an attack against a creature. The attack is one that the boss has as part of its stat block rather than being one based on the damage stated in the Battlefield Actions rules.
Tactical Retreat:
Tell: The boss starts to concentrate on a spell as its form slowly starts to dematerialize in front of the party’s very eyes.
Neutralization: The players must break the boss’ Concentration as one would break Concentration on a spell.
Resolution: If not neutralized, the boss is teleported away to a location of its choice, escaping the battle to live another day.
Danse Macabre:
Tell: The boss begins to perform an enchanting dance. As the party watches its enchanting movements, they feel an increasing urge to join them.
Neutralization: The players must break the boss’ Concentration on the dance as one would break Concentration on a spell. Alternatively, the players can find a way to bring the boss’ speed to 0, such as by restraining it.
Resolution: If not neutralized, all creatures hostile to the boss are under the effects of the spell Irresistible Dance until the end of their next turn.
Eruption:
Tell: The boss punches the ground with all its might, and cracks begin to snake outwards from the impact. Energy shines through these cracks, brightest and strongest at the epicenter of the impact, and begins growing in power. The closer a creaturestands to the impact, the stronger this energy seems to be, and the more the ground cracks and trembles.
Mitigation: The players must move as far as possible from the impact to reduce the damage taken when the battlefield finally erupts.
Resolution: The ground erupts, consuming the battlefield in a blast of energy, its effects more or less lethal depending on how close a creature is to the impact. Creatures standing less than 20 feet away from the impact must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking full damage on a failure and half damage on a success. Creatures standing 25 feet or more away from the impact must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking half damage on a failure and no damage on a success.
Eye of the Hurricane:
Tell: The boss begins to generate a massive wind current in a vortex centered on itself. The wind picks up with surprising speed, and soon the characters feel themselves losing their footing—being pushed not only outwards, but upwards. The only zone where the wind doesn’t seem to grow in strength is directly next to the boss, at the center of this vortex.
Mitigation: The players must move as close as possible to the boss to reduce the damage taken when the vortex finally coalesces into a hurricane.
Resolution: The vortex turns into a hurricane, sweeping the battlefield in a deadly whirlwind. Its effects are more or less lethal, depending on how far away a creature is from the boss. Creatures standing more than 10 feet away from the boss must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking full damage and being pushed 30 feet away from the boss on a failure and taking half damage and being pushed 15 feet away from the boss on a success. Creatures standing 10 feet or less away from the boss must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking half damage and being pushed 15 feet away from the boss on a failure, and taking no damage on a success.
sport match rules
An Introduction
Welcome! This document is a set of rules that allows you to integrate sports rules into a combat encounter.
These rules are not system agnostic, as they use the 5e combat rules as a base to build on, but with tweaking they can be adapted to any system. These rules introduce brand new actions and reactions, so we strongly recommend letting your players familiarize themselves with them some time before the actual combat encounter so that it goes smoothly; consider sharing them the session before the sports match is set to take place.
The sport being played in question is left vague on purpose so that you can flavor it to something that will fit your setting. This sport could be played underwater, or floating through the sky, or involving advanced magitech, for example. We invite you to create a story behind the sport, as well as to think of how this sport affects and fits into your world. Useful questions to ask yourself when introducing something like a sport into your world are: How popular is this sport? Is this something that everybody is familiar with and most people enjoy at least watching? How did this sport come to be? Are there professional players of this sport? How are they treated by the general populace?
If your players enjoy their first sports match, consider making them a regular thing in your campaign. Maybe they can join a league and participate in matches at stadiums all across the nation they are traveling in in order to become the current champions. You can even create an entirely separate arc off of these rules.
Sport Rules
These are the general rules to play a sports match. We encourage you to add or change rules to suit the feel you want for the sport in your world. You could, for example, add underwater combat rules if the sport is played underwater, or make a team receive a point if they down a rival team member for more of a blood-sport feel, or add monsters to the field for a more gladiatorial arena vibe.
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The goal is to score as many points as possible within a set amount of time.
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A game lasts for 10 rounds. (For a longer match, consider 20 rounds.)
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A team scores a goal by shooting the ball into the enemy team’s goal.
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No player can enter the 15-foot-radius zone around the goal known as the Goal Zone except for the goalie.
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The sport has only one set position: goalie. A member of each team is designated as the goalie. This member cannot leave the Goal Zone, and their mission is to stop the ball when an enemy team player shoots it towards their goal.
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When a team scores, the defending goalie takes immediate control of the ball, all players go back to their starting positions, and the match continues. Time spent going back to previous positions doesn’t count as time spent in the match and initiative doesn’t change but continues as it was before the goal.
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If by the end of the 10 rounds the teams have the same score, the winner is decided by a penalty shoot-out. Each team gets to shoot three shots against the enemy team goalie. If both teams score the same number of points during the penalty shoot-out, the match ends in a draw.
Sport Actions, Bonus Actions and Reactions
Actions:
Pass: Pass the ball from one teammate to another. A pass can travel a maximum distance of 30 feet. To make a pass, make a Dexterity-based attack plus proficiency. A pass is successful if the result of the roll is higher than 10.
Ex: A pass for a level 6 character with a Dex Score of 20:
d20 + Dex Modifier (5) + Proficiency Bonus (3) = 7 + 5 + 3 = 15
Shoot: Shoot the ball in a certain direction. The maximum distance the ball can travel when shot is 30 feet. To shoot, make a Strength-based attack plus proficiency.
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10 or lower: The ball travels 10 feet
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11 to 15: The ball travels 15 feet
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16 to 20: The ball travels 20 feet
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21 to 25: The ball travels 25 feet.
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26 or higher: The ball travels 30 feet.
Tackle: Tackle a creature to take the ball from them and push them 10 feet away. To tackle a creature, make a Strength (Athletics) check. The creature makes a contested Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If your check is higher than theirs, the tackle is successful and the creature lets go of the ball, the ball now occupying the space the creature previously did, and the creature is pushed 10 feet away.
Steal: Take the ball away from the grasp of a creature. To steal the ball from a creature, make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. The creature makes a contested Wisdom (Insight) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If your check is higher than theirs you take the ball away from the creature.
Bonus Actions:
Pick Up: Pick up the ball when the ball is within 5 feet of you. This action can only be executed if the ball is not in possession of a creature.
Reactions:
Intercept: Stop a pass or shot. If a ball not in possession of a creature enters your range as it is being passed or shot, you can use your reaction to try to intercept the ball. To do so, roll a Dexterity saving throw. If your roll is higher than the roll of the initial pass or shot, you successfully intercept the ball, and it is now in your possession.
Lunge: Lunge in a direction of your choosing. You can invoke this reaction at any time except during your turn to move up to 10 feet in any direction. You can use this reaction to set yourself up for passes.
Concentration:
If a creature receives any damage while in possession of the ball, they must immediately make a concentration saving throw, as if concentrating on a spell. On a failure, they let go of the ball. The ball now occupies an empty space of the GM’s choice within 5 feet of the creature.
A Note: In order for these rules to work, class abilities or items that allow players to interact with objects as a bonus action or a free action should not work when dealing with the ball.
Sport Tips
This is a section of tips to play a match to its fullest potential. We greatly encourage sharing these with your players before the match.
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Use a ring (if playing in person) or a stamp (if playing online) to keep track of who has possession of the ball on the map.
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The goalie should be someone with a high dexterity, as their job is to intercept the ball.
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The goalie should be a ranged combatant, such as an archer or a caster, as they’re going to be away from the action for most of the match.
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Casters may wish to spend their time as defenders in the backline, close to the goalie, where they have the most range to influence the battlefield with their spells.
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Ranged combatants and characters with dexterity-based builds are better in the middle of the field to facilitate passes to attackers.
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Characters with strength-based builds are best as attackers, as the only way to gain points is to Shoot the ball into the enemy team’s goal.
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Be careful with using your reaction to hit a passing enemy with an opportunity attack, as you won’t have your reaction to intercept a ball if it comes near you or to lunge to receive a pass.
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You can get someone to drop the ball they are holding in several ways: You can tackle them, steal the ball from them, or damage them to make them lose concentration.