From: robmh@aol.com
Date: Mon 11 Apr 1994 - 05:28:51 EEST
It's mildly funny to think of baseball as the Trollkin's sport while the Uz
are playing their version of football, but I don't think I'd use the idea.
Baseball, even crude baseball, seems too organized and genteel to be played
by Trollkin.
Here's a Trollkin game that makes a bit more sense to me, I like it a lot for a first draft. For now I'm calling it Rockball.
Each of two teams draws a circle (that's a Darkness Rune you're drawin' there, sport) about ten feet in diameter. The circles should be about 45 to 60 feet apart (distances open to change if people think I've got them wrong...).
Each team chooses two of its members to enter the Rockball circles. One of the team members carries a stick and will henceforth be referred to as the batter, the other is barehanded and will be called the pitcher.
Each of the two teams has an agreed upon number of stones in their circle, stones they've selected themselves. The usual method of deciding how many stones the current round will involve is for the team that lost the previous round to pick a number of stones between three and fifteen and drop that number into the dirt in between the circles. The team that won the previous round drops a number of stones in the dirt between three and fifteen as well, and then the sides split the number of stones in two, and the odd stones go to the team that lost the round before. I realize Trollkin aren't mathematical geniuses, so this part of the round is frequently the site of misdirection, extreme stupidity, and con games.
When the round begins, the two pitchers are free to throw the stones from their circle at the opposing players. There's no time limit for this. The batters are not allowed to throw stones, though they can catch them and drop them into their circle for the pitcher to hurl later. Good batters either parry the stones down into their circle for the pitcher to throw or even strike the rocks back at the opposing team to catch them off guard. Pitchers can also catch stones, or 'trap' them with their bodies (soccer style) if they're really tough.
Any stone that lands outside the circles is out of play. The round is over when all the stones are out of play or when the side which still has stones is unable to return fire.
Some batters work to protect their pitcher, others are just trying to stay in one piece themselves. Any Trollkin who falls out of the circle, steps outside the circle, or reaches outside the circle for a rock is supposed to be eliminated from the game completely. Since one team wins when the opposing team is unable or unwilling to provide a pitcher and a batter for the next round, it's a serious mistake to go outside the circle before the round is over, though many times a Trollkin who is hit hard has no choice about where they're falling. There are famous stories about batters who caught their pitchers as they were falling out of the circle, parried all further throws to gather stones, and waited for their pitcher to revive and wipe out the competition.
Some games end in draws if neither team is willing to admit defeat and neither team can put the other out.
Like Troll Ball, Rockball is a cheater's paradise, a full team participation game. In fact, Trollkin usually play that spectators aren't allowed, everyone present has to play on one team or the other. Trollkin who have been eliminated aren't supposed to participate in any fashion, but that's the main rule that gets violated and turns the game into a brawl.
If teams want to, they can send the same pitcher/batter pair into the circle again and again, though most teams have to rotate their batters and pitchers to keep them in the game. Armor and other extras are negotiated each game.
For basic tactics there's the old snowball fight trick of throwing one rock high to get the opponents' attention and following it up with one or two low fast rocks to knock them out while they're distracted with the high throw. Since trollkin aren't a good deal smarter than most human children, this basic trick is guaranteed to work at least half the time. That's part of the reason the minimum number of rocks in a round is three. Some of the most deadly Rockball players only play with three rocks at a time, even if they have more at their feet. Less confident players just scramble and throw wildly and get knocked out by accurate or lucky tosses.
Of course the least competent pitcher/batter pairs knock each other out of the circle accidentally, so games can go a lot quicker than you might expect, especially since most Trollkin are not very brave.
On the other hand, successful batter/pitcher pairings are quite likely to persist from game to game, and carry over into life beyond the Rockball circles with Trollkin pairs who excel at looking out for each other in combat and life.
--Rob Heinsoo
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