Elite Athlete Background for 5E

Moving along in knocking out some basic rules that will eventually allow me to play with toy soldiers the way I imagine...

My take on 5E backgrounds, btw, isn't necessarily "by the book"...even though RAW allow for a lot of customization on this front anyway.  The 5E standard seems to be for a background to provide two skill proficiencies, two tool or language proficiencies, a package of starting gear, one bonus feature that enhances roleplay, and tables for generating one or more personality traits, bonds, ideals, and flaws.

I just want to generate backgrounds that are somewhat balanced with this but don't get bogged down in tiny details.  Now, I also understand that the tables for bonds, flaws, etc. are probably what many people like the most about 5E backgrounds - and they're certainly the part that takes the most work to create - but those are details that can easily be trimmed.  And while I LOVE that rules emphasizing roleplaying are so prominent in the 5E core, I have found that all of these character details are more than I actually feel like processing before playing a character for the first time.  Maybe if my group was a "one campaign for years" crew, I would appreciate taking the time to get to know each character using these tables.  However, we jump around enough that I prefer to just allow some character personality traits to emerge in gameplay.

Anyway, all of that is to say...here's my really simple Elite Athlete background to use when playing with toy soldiers:

Elite Athlete

Sport:  ________

Skill Proficiencies:  Athletics + your choice of Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Insight, Perception, Deception, Intimidation, or Performance (based upon the specific sport and position)

Additional Proficiencies:  Weights, ________ Equipment

Feature:  Legend in This Town - You are well-known in the region(s) in which you regularly played while achieving the greatest successes of your sports career.  In this area (which can vary greatly in size depending upon the nature of the competition and the level of success), you are treated as a high-level celebrity, gaining access to anything available for a price to the general public and to many things unavailable even for money.  This includes entrance to clubs, invitations to major events, and the audience of the region's power brokers if you so desire.  Fans and admirers will often offer to buy you drinks in local establishments.  They will also request a lot of photos, autographs, and moments of your time to share their appreciation for you.

From 3DJoes.com...

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Wishing a great day to everyone on this most sacred of American holidays!

All this G.I. Joe talk has 80s nostalgia at a high here at Monstrous Matters, so I'm feeling the need to share this gem of Reagan-era Americana...

They're so bad, they know they're good.  With the perspective of almost 40 years both clouding and illuminating things, it seems hard to overstate just how popular that 1985 Chicago Bears team was. 

And of course, on the Joe front, 1986 brought us this unforgettable member of the team...

Images brazenly stolen from YoJoe.com...check out this awesome resource sometime!  (Uh, and seriously, if this thievery is truly bad form, somebody just let me know and I'll adjust things...)

I never actually owned a Fridge figure. Now that I'm 45 and looking to play with a bunch of my 3 3/4" toys again, I wonder if I should correct that. Not sure what class to make him (maybe something that rewards campaign play by increasing the physical stats of other team members in between battles...?), but it shouldn't be too tough to find or quickly jot down a Professional/Elite Athlete background that could cover Joes like the Fridge, Captain Grid-Iron, and Big Lob. Hmm. Coming soon...

Now, Go Birds!

Football in 5E?

As my interest in 5E has grown, I've been really jonesin' to start posting to this blog regularly for the first time in...well, kind of ever, I guess.  I'm trying to avoid that voice I often hear in my head, that returning to the blog requires some important reason to put my voice out into the aether again, and that I'd better have something good to write if I'm not going to just look like an idiot making a play for relevance in a very tiny and specific corner of the internet.

But...

I mean, I honestly think all three of you who still read my posts have realized at this point that my prose ain't exactly poetry, and you're mostly on this blog out of some combination of time to kill + occasionally shared interests (a combination with varying percentages depending on the day).  In other words, I don't think I'll scare anyone off when I don't deliver Shakespeare, so here's where we're going today...

Watching the World Cup today (I know...FIFA, Qatar, etc....I still can't bring myself to just not watch...go USMNT!), I had to wonder about soccer/football and D&D rules.  Surely this would be something that's been thought about many times over.  To what extent has it ever been pulled off?  And if it was played, was it actually fun?

A quick "d&d soccer rules" search turns up some interesting Reddit discussions , and I learned from one of them that the Dungeons & Daddies podcast must have had a couple of episodes where the characters played soccer, and oh my am I going to have to invest time into learning the answer to this?  Why can't I just see a summary of what's been done now, in 2022, when all the knowledge of the world should be at my fingertips?

So...um, anyone have any suggestions on where to look for this sort of thing?

RETURN TO BLOGGING BONUS:  Here's the first image that came up when I asked the Dream art generator to give me "Dungeons & Dragons soccer"...

This Day in Anthro History: Left Shark!

On this day in 2015, Katy Perry headlined the halftime show for Super Bowl XLIX.  As usual with her stage show, she had dancers.

Left Shark is the one to the...left.  Image from NYMag.com.

Presumably using some sort of mutagenic ooze, or perhaps an advanced form of radiation treatment, Perry procured two bipedal, dancing sharks to be part of her crew.  And by the next day, one of them had stolen the internet.  The shark on the viewer's left - who has since become widely known as "Left Shark" - performed some goofy choreography (perhaps non-choreography?) that really captured our hearts that night.

Here's part of the performance in question which includes the key moves (it is worth checking out the full peformance, though; all of her dancing stuff is pretty funny):

Now, I'll be honest with you.  I didn't see this as it was occurring, and once I heard all the buzz and watched it, it was kind of hard to tell which one was the one that "messed up."  They both look goofy as anything and make me laugh a lot.  But it's the one on the viewer's left.

I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, this post is especially timely, as the dancer in question (presumably de-mutated at some point following the show), Bryan Gaw, has finally begun talking about that night.  Here's the piece from NPR where he explains that the goofiness was all part of the plan.  And if that's really the case...well, I'd say it worked pretty darn well!

Seriously, watch the sharks dance.  Puts me in a good mood every time.

Saturday Evening Cartoon: I'm with Moe!

Tomorrow is about as close to Good vs. Evil as we're ever gonna get in the Super Bowl.  Join me in cheering for the Good, won't you?!

And now...rise up, Falcons!!

So last year brought Cleveland one title...and almost a second, only falling short in maybe the best Game 7 ever played in any sport, and to the freakin' Cubs.

Surely Atlanta sports fans can hope for something out of 2017...?

Rufus the Bobcat vs. Brutus Buckeye

It's one of the biggest weeks of the year for college football fans.  With my Georgia State Panthers on a bye week, and the Iron Bowl looking like it could be a bloodbath, I guess my greatest interest today may lie in the huge Michigan-Ohio State matchup that kicks off in just a few minutes.

This seems like a great time to revisit one of my favorite unscripted moments in mascot history...that time that Ohio University's Rufus the Bobcat went crazy and attacked OSU's Brutus Buckeye...

And...another angle...

Actually, "favorite" might be overstating the way I feel about this incident.  I suppose it's kind of like the recent American presidential election...somewhat entertaining to watch it unfold, but please (oh please), don't let it become the norm.

The story behind the assault on Brutus might be even more entertaining than the event itself.  Rufus (or his alter ego, at least) apparently had it out for The Nut-Headed One for a while.

Saturday Evening Cartoon: NFL Rush Zone trailer

Well, after welcoming the new college football season last weekend, we got to see the NFL start its 2016-17 campaign on Thursday night, as the Broncos reminded everyone why head injuries are such a concern in American football these days.

But enough about concussions.  Let's talk superheroes!  Using NFL branding to market an animated kids' show seems like a no-brainer (see what I did there?).  What we got a few years ago in NFL Rush Zone, though...well, it turned out weirder than I would have imagined.  Being a fan of mascots who grew up in the 80s, I have fond memories of the old NFL Huddles toy line.  The market-the-mascots approach seems like a good way to go, as far as I'm concerned.  But instead of, say, an anthropomorphic Colt, we got, in the words of Kid Fenris, "an ambulatory Madball in a Colts helmet."

But who are we to judge?  The cartoon lasted like four years.  Here's a trailer...

Saturday Evening Cartoon: How to Play Football (featuring Goofy)

One more football-related post for the weekend.  If you're a fan of Goofy sight gags, this short is for you...

Marvel's College Football Kickoff Covers

Depending on who you ask, these are either awesome or the stuff nightmares are made of.  The connection of Marvel Comics and ESPN under the Disney umbrella brings us these comic book covers highlighting some of the matchups from this opening weekend of the college football season.

From my perspective...well, they're comic book covers featuring the mascots of college football teams...so it's going to take some pretty poor execution to make them fall short of awesome.  I think I dig this one the most...

...but I'll admit that there's something about these overmuscled anthropomorphic animals fighting over a football that I also enjoy...

The strangest one is probably this next cover, for the Florida State vs. Ole Miss game.  I'm assuming that the sometimes controversial nature of both schools' mascots (one being a Native American, the other historically being an old southern fellow named Colonel Reb...although the Colonel has been replaced in recent years by Rebel, the Black Bear) is what led to the questionable decision to have this as the only cover featuring either a basic football player or a pair of not-so-basic crystal entities.  (EDIT:  I just got those...they're Garnet and Gold...not a terrible name for a superheroic duo, actually...)

And finally, I have to include this one, since it includes a beefed-up version of Aubie (probably my favorite mascot ever).  The artists also captured the discomforting stare of the Clemson tiger pretty well...

You can see all of the covers a number of places on the web...for example, here.  And if you think you recognize some inspiration from classic Marvel covers, you're right...CBR has an article with a bit more on this.

The day is here.

Where I live, today may as well be a holiday.  And a big one, at that.  Yep, after a couple of appetizers over the past week, college football returns in full force today!

Football Thrills #1 (October 1951)

Best of luck to you and yours (your team, that is) this weekend!  (Here are the games upon which my happiness hinges...)

Tackles & Touchdowns

After musing on a d6-skill-based football game back here, I've followed up by exploring the idea a little more...settling on some rules, playing some games with generic players, and figuring out quick-n-dirty conversions of Madden 16 player ratings to skill values (making the occasional adjustment as I see fit).  I'm getting closer to having a full version of this ready...

The basics of the rules:

The average value of a game skill for a starter in the NFL is 4 on offense and 3 on defense.

The field is divided into four spaces, plus end zones.  For the purposes of the rules, I'll number the spaces like so...

After a kickoff, the offense starts in space 1.

Outcomes are then determined by identifying crucial skill matchups in a drive.  For solo play, flip a play card to determine which offensive and defensive skills to compare (e.g. running back's Agility vs. linebacker's Tackling).  (I'm still figuring out the best way to handle this for head-to-head play.)  Both players roll against their indicated skills, with success on a roll ≤ the skill's value.

IF the offense succeeds, and the defense fails…move one space with the chance to move more (the matchup to continue is indicated on the card...this is how big plays are made).

IF both succeed or both fail…one space if offensive roll > defensive roll, none if not.

IF the offense fails, and the defense succeeds…it's fourth down.
Two consecutive plays of no movement lead to fourth down no matter what.

The offensive coach can then choose to go for it, punt, or try for a field goal.  If successful on fourth down (moving at least one space), continue as normal; if unsuccessful, the ball changes hands at the current space.

A punt moves ball two spaces (or one space if in space 3).

Field goals are made on 5 of 6 if in space 4, 3 of 6 if in space 3.

There are six drives per quarter.  (I count up on a d6.)

Onside kicks have 1 in 6 chance of success if there are two or fewer possessions left to play; teams may attempt one onside kick per game with more than two possessions left at a success rate of 3 in 6 (by announcing a “surprise onside kick”)

And here's Cam Newton's updated player card:

Gonna update here when I hit the next stage of "developing" this...

Are you ready for some...

Well, it's a big week here in the U.S. of A., in which we all gear up for the national holiday that is Super Bowl Sunday.  Naturally, that means I'm thinking a lot about American football gaming.

It was a homemade baseball simulation that first led me to purchase "funny dice" (d10s, in this case) as a kid.  I have a soft spot for tabletop sports games and have often thought about how sports might be approached within the framework of old school D&D type games.  So here's where I'm headed at the moment...

It makes sense to build such a game based on players' skills.  Interestingly, this is one of the most open-ended ideas in the realm of OSR games, so there are a lot of options.  Some folks like the idea of modeling skills after saving throws.  Some use a d20 roll-under method like that in the popular Rules Cyclopedia.  Many, however, are willing to stick with the tried-and-true d6 for resolving questions of skill.

The d6 approach does have some history on its side, as some aspects of original D&D were apparently resolved with "x in 6" chances of success.  The use of the six-sider has been further codified in games such as Weird West and White Lies, which use roll-high systems with target numbers, as well as Lamentations of the Flame Princess, which stays somewhat true to OD&D with a unified roll-under skill mechanic.  (I really enjoy the look of skills on the LotFP character sheet, too, where pips are filled in on individual dice.)

While I may not use it all the time, I like the idea of the d6 for its history and simplicity.  Rolls can be modified with White Box-type ability score bonuses without breaking things.  And it would be easy to imagine classes like LotFP's Specialist that are able to gain ranks in whatever skills you could imagine.  Like, say, the skills used in a game of American football.  So that we can come up with something like this:

Now, how do we use these numbers?  An easy way would be to generate player-vs-player matchups and resolve them with a couple of rolls.  Stealing a page from the football card game Third and Long, we can reduce an offensive drive to a few "key plays" and identify the players critical to each (getting as specific as the exact skill(s) required by each player).

By random roll (the reason I numbered the skills on Manning's card above) or playing/drawing a card, we can establish which skills to roll for...so there's a showdown between, say, Manning's Accuracy and Luke Kuechly's ability to Read an offensive formation:

Then, resolve it with either an opposed roll (Manning's d6+5 vs. Kuechly's d6+4, with ties going to the defense?) or an attempt by both players to roll under for success.  I can imagine a somewhat abstract board that teams move along as an indication of general field position:

Manning succeeds, Kuechly fails...move two spaces.  Both succeed...one space.  Both fail...retry.  Offensive failure + defensive success...it's fourth down and time to make a choice.

Or something like that.  (Or, just use opposed rolls...)  Then, add in field goals and punts and whatnot.

This is all pretty much thinking out loud at the moment.  I'm having fun with it and am really open to any suggestions others might have for such a minigame!

And for the sake of my wife...the biggest Cam Newton fan I know...I'll make sure to include this in the post:

Enjoy the game on Sunday, football fans!