This post is all rules, I'm afraid. Flame me for posting them if you wish:
LIVE ACTION TROLLBALL
Glorantha's most exciting cultural export
Rules devised by Michael O'Brien and Nils K. Hammer, c.1994 [inspired by Chaosium's RuneQuest supplement Troll Pak c.1982 and with thanks to John Hughes, the original 'Bhagwan'.]
As played at RQ Con I, Baltimore 1994, Convulsion '94, Leicester 1994, RQ Con II, San Fransisco 1995, RQ Con Down Under, Melbourne 1996 and Convulsion '96, Leicester 1996.
**Coaching Tips** by Bhagwan Broobasher, Line Backer of the Bogside
Wanderers, Current holders of the Oztralian Trollball Ashes.
**Bhagwan sez: "Urgghh!"**
'Da Roolz'
More than scoring goals or dismembering trollkin, roleplaying is what makes this the sport of Heroes.
**Bhagwan Broobasher sez, "It's the chants, the insults, the songs, the
rubber chickens, the facepaint, the Kyger Lager t-shirts and the random
attacks on spectators that make Trollball such a satisfying experience.
In Trollball you learn to appreciate the beauty and poetry that dwells
in the heart of an Uz".**
2. Play begins when the giant referee in the centre throws the trollkin (a rag doll with velcro limbs)
It's liable to go in any direction - so watch out!
**Bhagwan Broobasher sez: "Please do not eat the live part of the trollkin
until after a point is scored!"**
3. The Game is played at WALKING PACE
When moving imagine you're SIZ 28, lumbered with a huge gut and weighed down by a rock gizzard still digesting that dwarf from last night. Better still, imagine you're a Ray Harryhausen Dynamation monster - think of Clash of the Titans, or better still Jason and the Argonauts or any of his Sinbad movies.
Move at several frame per second. And don't forget to growl a lot!
**Bhagwan Broobasher sez: "Moving too fast results in getting kicked by
the giant referee!"**
4. Any *Palpable Hit* takes out that location
What's a "Palpable Hit" you ask? In a nutshell, any hit that gives a satisfying THUD.
If you get hit on an arm, you drop what you're carrying (weapon,
trollkin body part, etc.)
If you get hit on a leg, you fall down, and will have to drag yourself
around.
If you get hit on the head or body, you're down and out - you'll need
Healing. Scream a lot.
**Bhagwan Broobasher sez: "To test your weapon, you've gotta belt
yourself over the head for 3 minutes. If you're still standing at
the end, the weapon is okay to use in the game!"**
5. Healing
Unless you know a Heal spell, any time you're injured, you've got to get yourself to one of the beautiful Xiola Umbar Healers on the sidelines...
**Bhagwan Broobasher sez: "Get at team-mate to 'drag' you, if you can't
make it over to the side under your own steam!"**
6. The Trollkin Ball
The trollkin is considered "alive" if its head is still on. If it "dies", a new trollkin is brought into play and starts with the giant referee.
**Bhagwan Broobasher sez: "Australian experience has found that using
small humans (eg. 13 year old WarMallet players) proves to be
unsatisfactory - Humans are difficult to dismember and it became hard
to recruit further volunteers..."**
7. The Giant Referee
The Giant Referee can punish infractions - real or otherwise - by KICKING the offending player. If you get kicked, you RUN 30 paces in that direction, and then shamble back to the game, shamefaced and angry...
**Bhagwan Broobasher sez: "Hey Spectators!, Don't forget to pelt
those rulebreakers!"**
8. Magic. Hey, Trollball don't use Magic!
Corse it does, just don't let the Giant Ref catch you!
Magic is incredibly simple - each player gets 3 spells on slips of paper. To cast the spell, take out the paper, shout what spell you're casting, crumple up the paper and throw it at the target. If it hits, the spell works!
**Bhagwan Broobasher sez: "Spells are only usable once, so make 'em worth
it!**
Spells:
HEAL - Restores one Hit Location.
BEFUDDLE - Act like you're on Dreamweed until someone hits you.
DISRUPT - Destroys the location hit by the bit of paper.
JUMP (self only) - once cast, play stops and the player is allowed to take 12 paces in one direction. Play the resumes.
MOBILITY - move at jogging pace for a while.
SLOW - move at 2 frames per second for a while.
DISPEL MAGIC - Negate effects of one spell (except Heal and Disrupt).
COUNTERMAGIC - use if it by an oncoming spell. Negates that spell.
RAISE ZOMBIE - turns dead troll player into zombie with insatiable appetite for raw flesh. Ignore ball, attack other players including those on own side! (only have a limited number of these)
Live Action Trollball is brought to you by ARGAN LAGER The troll beer that reaches the parts human beers can't!
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