For those players and GM's who wish to add more depth to the gambling skill presented in the SWRPG we provide these home brewed rules. They have proven extremely fun and workable in our game and we hope that some of you find use for them as well.
At the end of the day, victory in sports comes down to two things: Ability and Variables.
A great team can still loose if enough variables cause them an insurmountable deal of adversity, and a poor team can win if enough positive variables swing things in their favor.
That being the case, here are the new rules devised to make Gambling & Sports more exciting in the SWRPG. The rules below are broken into team sports (sports played by more than one individual) and Individual sports (this also includes racing and animal riding sports as well as shockboxing etc).
The level of enjoyment by use of these rules is totally dependent on your group and how much they enjoy gambling/sports. So feel free to tweak and modify these rules as you see fit to make your game more enjoyable!
Team Sports
Teams are gauged by a D code that goes up to 5D. The breakdown is like this:
1D: Poor Team
2D: Below Average Team
3D: Average Team
4D: Above Average Team
5D: Excellent Team
This is known as their BASE SCORE.
This is where the fun comes in. The Base Score is modified by the ADJUSTERS. The Adjusters are conditions/variables that affect the Base Score. The Adjusters are the impact they have in the game. They Are:
• The teams' performances this season, in prior seasons, in last week's game, and against each other
Adjuster: -1pip to 1D
• The playing surface
Adjuster: -1Pip to 1D
• Home field advantage
Adjuster: -1Pip to 2D
• The weather forecast (How well a team plays in adverse conditions)
Adjuster: -1Pip-2D
• Injuries, especially those of star players
Adjuster: -1Pip to 2D
• Team morale
Adjuster: -1Pip to 1D
• Events in the personal lives of the Players
Adjuster: -1Pip to 1D
Note: No team can drop Below 1D or Exceed 7D
So…for example:
You’ve got the Paragon City Prophets going up against the Moonlight Falls Pirates on the Pirates home turf.
Paragon City Prophets: Base Score 5D
MF Pirates: 3D
Variables:
The teams' performances this season, in prior seasons, in last week's game, and against each other:
Paragon City has historically manhandled the Pirates, and they’ve played them once already this season and dominated them, but the pirates claim that was a fluke.
Adjuster:
PC Prophets: +1D
Pirates: -1
• The playing surface
Natural turf, Paragon City has trouble playing on it as their home turf is artificial. The Pirates play and train on this turf.
Adjuster:
PC Prophets: -2
Pirates: +1D
• Home field advantage
Pirates fans are nasty and notorious for making visiting teams feel like crap. They sometimes even hurl items at other players and spray paint their respulsorbus.
Adjuster:
PC Prophets: -1D
Pirates: +2D
• The weather forecast
Pirates are used to the crappy weather, the Prophets are used to a dome. Nuff Said.
Adjuster:
Pc Prophets: -1D
Pirates: +2
• Injuries, especially those of star players
Several Pirates players were involved in a riot and are out with injuries. The prophetws also have several folks out with injuries.
Adjuster:
PC Prophets: -2
Pirates: -1D+1
• Team morale
The Prophets are in the middle of a winning season. The Pirates are doing well in their division. Both seem to be doing something right.
Adjuster:
PC Prophets: +1D
Pirates: +2
• Events in the personal lives of the Players
The Prophets are well taken care of and previous championships add to their image. They get a lot of respect. The Pirates are outcasts and troublemakers and seem to always have drama.
Adjuster:
Prophets: +2
Pirates: -1D
So, if we were to +/- the adjusters, the results would look something like this:
PC Prophets :
Total Bonus: +2D+2 / Total Penalty: -3D+1
Base: 5D. + Bonus= 7D (would be 7D+2 but there is a ceiling of 7D)
Penalty Adjuster: -3D+1 from 7D = 3D+2
3d + 2 is what the Prophets would roll.
MF Pirates : Total Bonus: +4D+1 / Total Penalty: -2D+2
Base: 3D. + Bonus= 7D (would be 7D+1 but there is a ceiling of 7D)
Penalty Adjuster: -2D+2 from 7D = 4D+1
4D+1 is what the Pirates would roll.
The Prophets roll their 3D+2 and get: 9
The Pirates roll their 4D+1 and get: 20
So the Pirates, an underdog, Beat the stuffing out of the Prophets thanks to some variables working in their favor. However, this is still a roll of the dice and wild dies do matter…the Prophets could have rolled a few sixes and beat the Pirates or the Pirates could have rolled badly. Nothing is a sure thing- which is why they call it gambling.
In the above example, a player who is a gambler, or who has the gambling skill, can roll to determine who the above adjusters favor and what edge that adjuster may give to either team. Depending on the success (or failure) of that roll, a GM may give small clues or hints to lead the player to pick the winning team, or, if the gambling roll results in a “1” on the wild die, the GM may determine that the roll reveals nothing, giving the player a 50/50 chance of picking the winner.
Ultimately, it is up to the GM to determine how much or how little to reveal to the player.
Individual sports:
When it comes to Shockboxing/Kaadu Racing/Podracing etc, the rules are pretty much the same. The pilot/Kaddu/Boxer starts with a base of 5D and the following adjusters are applied:
• The playing surface (this includes wind gusts, etc for flying sports)
Adjuster: -1Pip to 1D
• The weather forecast (Only applies to piloting/racing)
Adjuster: -1Pip-2D
• Injuries, (Past & Present)
Adjuster: -1Pip to 2D
• Events in the personal lives of the Players (for animal racing this applies to the jockey)
Adjuster: -1Pip to 1D
Note: No individual can drop Below 1D or Exceed 7D
The rules apply as they tdo to team sports. Adjusters are charted and the end dice total is rolled…high roll wins.
The Payout.
GM's can use the following rules to determine payout. They are basically a simplified version of horse racing odds/betting.
Odds: X-X
Lets say you bet on a Kaadu who is favored to win (he’s strong and fast)
He may pay out 2-1.
Meaning: If he wins he will pay 2 credits for every 1 credit you put down for him to win. Why not more? Because he’s favored to win …if they paid 100-1 and he won (as he is expected to) they (the bookies) would be out a ton of money.
However…
Let's say Kaadu #2 wins, and he is paying 30-1.
So lets say you put 10 credits on this longshot to win, and he does. You just made 300 creds.
You may use this system for teams and individuals.
And obviously,if any of your PC's get into a boxing match or anything, it will be rolled and roleplayed like regular combat...these gambling rules are to allow the GM to present the players with results that add flavor to the gambling side of the game.
