There has been interest expressed in holding an Orcball tournament at Chimera, for the “Chimera Cup”.
I am very happy for Chimera to host this event, but we currently need someone to volunteer to be the co-ordinator.
Any takers?
Thank you to Peter for stepping up to take charge of this event. Further details to come soon.
I’ve checked out the French Trollball site (translated) and the rules seem to be:
5 fighters + 2 healers per team, plus subs.
Fighters have 1 sword each (max 110cm) stay in the field or in the subs area.
Healers can cruise around the outside of the field, and are safe while outside the field.
1 Hit and you are dead, whereby you kneel holding your sword upright.
If the Healer takes a dead fighter’s sword, then the fighter can leave the field and go to the subs zone.
Healers can take one sword at a time back to the subs zone, and then the next Fighter can sub onto the field.
If a Healer gets hit while they are on the field, they are dead and must be healed by the other Healer. If both Healers are dead then the team can no longer be Healed.
The Trolls Head can be carried and passed from fighter to fighter, with the objective to get it to the opponent’s goal area (centre back of their side of the field).
It seems workable.
Alista, any luck getting your rules together for us to take a squizz ?
Alista has sent them to me but I’m not sure whether it’s okay to post them or not.
Orcball works like this but these aren’t official:
5-7 a side
1 hp each, players are down until the next down
1-2 blockers can have 2 weapons or a 2 handed weapon or a weapon & shield but can’t pick up the ball
strikers can have 1 handed weapons
no forward passing
can punt it forward
5 downs
if the ball carrier is hit the ball is dead
play resumes with the ball carrier passing the ball behind underneath their legs… like in grid iron or american football
opposing team must be at least 3 metres away at resumption of a down
simultaneous hits count within 1 second
a goal is scored by carrying the ball through the goal posts, either front or backwards
goal scored turns over ball
5 downs and ball is turned over
Here are Alista’s Official Versions of the rules. He has kindly allowed us to use these for Chimera if we choose to, anyone else wanting to use them for anything else must ask his permission first.
[quote]Orc-Ball Rules Summary
By Alista Fow
The Field shall consist of two goals between 50 to 250 paces apart. Each goal shall be between 5 to 20 paces wide. There will be a centre spot halfway between the goals. The goals and boundaries of play shall be determined by the head referee.
The Officials shall consist of a head referee and as many other referees as needed.
The Teams. There should be two teams, each of equal number and with at least 3 players per team. Each team should have a captain and carry markers of different colours than the other team.
The Weapons shall be boffer weapons and defined as;
Short < 80cm
Medium < 100cm
Heavy < 150cm
Pole arms < 200cm
Shields <= 0.5 m2
Each player can carry one weapon of any size, or if they have a Medium or Short Weapon, then in their other hand they can use a shield or a Short weapon.
The Winning Team shall be the first team to score 3,5,7,9 or 11 goals, the number being pre-agreed, OR the team to score the most goals in an agreed upon time. At the half way point of the game the teams will change ends.
Downs. The offensive team will have 4 downs in which they can attempt to score. If at the end of four downs they have not scored then the ball will be turned over to the opposition team and they will become the offensive team.
A down shall consist of the time between when the ball becomes live and when the ball is declared dead. At the start of the down the offensive team shall array so that its line is facing the oppositions goal. The offensive team shall have a front line that consists of more than half the players in the side. At the start of the down both sides shall be on their own sides of the neutral zone and shall be moving position.
When the ball is alive then it may be carried by any player that has a single handed medium or short weapon only, it may be passed backwards at any time, it may be passed forward once by a player behind their line of scrimmage, it may be drop kicked or it may be punted at anytime.
At the end of the down the head referee will place the ball on the spot where the ball was declared dead. From this point the offensive team has 40 seconds to start a new down.
The Neutral Zone. When the down is set there shall be a neutral zone between the offensive team and the defensive team. No player shall be close enough to hit an opposing player without taking at least one step forward. The exclusion zone is usually 2 meters or greater.
Scoring. A team shall be deemed to have scored a goal if a player from that team runs across the opposing teams goal line in either direction whilst carrying a live ball.
Dead Players. At the beginning of a down all the players on the field will be considered to be in play. A player is out of play if they are hit by an opposing players weapon. Head shots and groin shots are disallowed and tripping is disallowed. The only approved contact between opposing players is lightly hitting the other player with an approved weapon. A player also goes out of play if they leave the playing area. They do not enter play again until the beginning of the next down. Dead players cannot participate further in any way in that down.
Dead Ball. At the beginning of the down the ball becomes alive. It will be deemed a dead ball if the player carrying the ball goes out of play, if it is kicked or batted along the ground. If comes into the possession of a player who has more than a short or single handed medium weapon or any player with a shield, if the ball leaves the field of play or a penalty is committed.
Loose Ball. The ball will be deemed to be a loose ball if it is not being carried by a player. This may occur by dropping the ball, an incomplete pass or a legal kick. A loose ball may be claimed by any player of either team. If the player is allowed to carry the ball then may continue the play and carry it. If the player is ineligible to claim the ball, then they can claim the ball for their team and the ball becomes dead. If the offensive team claim the ball then the down is complete and they subtract one from their total remaining downs as it counts as played down. If the defending team claim the ball then there is a turn over and they are allowed four downs to try and score a goal. If the ball travels out of bounds unattended, then the team that causes the ball to go out of bounds loses possession of the ball.
Carrying the ball. A player shall be eligible to carry the ball if they started the down armed with a single, one handed weapon of short or medium length. A person with a shield cannot carry the ball.
The Snap. The ball becomes live when the ball is “snapped”. A snap is when a player on the front line, (usually the Centre), passes the ball which has been placed on the ground by the referee, through their legs to a player behind them. The snap must be one smooth continuous motion.
Penalties
If the offensive team commits a penalty then the down shall be counted as being completed. The ball will be placed at the same spot as the down began or where the ball went dead, whichever is furthest from the defenders goal.
If the defensive team commits a penalty, then the down shall complete as incomplete and will not be counted against the offensive teams total. The referee will place the ball at the spot where the ball was declared dead or five paces closer to the defenders goal whichever disadvantages the defensive team more.
If a player commits a personal foul, which includes blatant cheating, excessive force, intentional contact, then for a first offence the player may be ordered off the field by the referee for 1 to 4 downs at the referees discretion. For a second offence the player may be ordered off the field for from 1 play tit until the end of the game. This player cannot be replaced or substituted. Also for both instances, the penalties for an offensive team or defensive team foul will apply.
[/quote]
Behold! I have arrived! Lord High Darth Peterham!
Of Cheem.
I must say that I read the different rules that have been proposed and find that it really sounds like American football with swords. So, I’m making something up that is more larp-y than ball-y. Hopefully once it’s finished it’ll be metric orctonnes of fun.
So far, the general idea is to chop off the opposing nobles head and present it to your own noble (who must have his head on at the time). If your Noble is missing his head, it must be reattached by the healer. (CTF anybody?)
There are several classes that people can play including Soldier, Knight, Scout, Healer and Noble. There may be only one Noble and a limited number of healers based on team size. Each class has different weapon and movement allowances, meaning that the makeup of your team is incredibly important when determining strategy.
Other details will follow as I deem, though please bear with me, I won’t oversimplify things.
You know what? Sod my last post. How’s this for a rule idea:
A team consists of:[ul]
[li]3xSoldier (Medium weapon, can pick up head)[/li]
[li]2xKnight (Medium weapon + Shield or Large weapon)[/li]
[li]1xRanger (2xLight weapon or Light weapon + Ranged, can roam out of field)[/li]
[li]1xGuard (Polearm)[/li][/ul]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Football_pitch_metric.svg
[ul]
[li]The ball starts in the middle.[/li]
[li]Teams start in their respective zones. (The area with the penalty dots)[/li]
[li]Soldiers must get head into opponents goal. (A trash can or similar)[/li]
[li]If hit with a weapon, return to respawn points at the back corner of your zone.[/li]
[li]When goal is scored, play resets.[/li][/ul]
Everything else is fair game. 
I’m getting kinda creeped out by the silence here. No-one’s yelled at me yet or presented a counter.
Please, I do appreciate constructive criticism, and since I won’t actually be playing the game personally I figure that the players should have a decent say in how the game is run.
The main reason I thought of getting rid of all the football stuff was because it means that I have to learn all of this by wrote and instruct all the referees in the rules as well. Also, the football rules slow down gameplay quite a bit from what I understand, and I want to avoid going overtime.
Agreement? Disagreement? Flame?
I personally rather like the French rules for Trollball (sorry Peter, I know you have an inherent hatred of all things French)
I also like the rules you posted.
I don’t have a problem with Jared’s rules either.
…but on the whole, I like the French rules the best.
(end feedback)
Well what I’m thinking would be to get a couple of teams together soon to thrash something out, test the various rules, and generally see what’s fun and doable.
So, we need two teams of 7 players, a stack of weapons, and a severed head. (wow, just try taking that one out of context)
I’d appreciate it if a couple of more socially integrated people could step up and organise the two teams (as I can’t see myself being able to wrangle up 7 enthusiastic players without extreme difficulty).
Only two teams for the cup? damn i was expecting more.
Okay
“Wanted six maniacs to join grumpy old gray haired B!$#ard to form orcball team, those interested in mayhem, chaos, and general larp style fun contact the aforementioned grumpy guy via my pm.”
Got one team mate already, 
, any one else?
My only thoughts is that 7 people per team will limit the number of teams. If it were 5/side you’d get more teams for the actual cup on the day.
And in saying that, there’s nothing stopping people being on more than one team, right?
In which case - alright gramps, I’m in 
[quote=“Dave”]
And in saying that, there’s nothing stopping people being on more than one team, right?[/quote]
Unless those two teams go up against each other. In which there may be a conflict of interest.
He means two teams for a practice run to see which rules work best
[quote=“Anna K”][quote=“Dave”]
And in saying that, there’s nothing stopping people being on more than one team, right?[/quote]
Unless those two teams go up against each other. In which there may be a conflict of interest.
[/quote]
Cool - I’ll mark myself, and kill equally on both teams 
I like Trollball because you can be a non-fighter and still make a big impression on the game.
I also like Orcball because it’s a pisstake on gridiron and there’s lots of fighting.
Both those games have been playtested so I am certain would be well-balanced. I prefer both over Jugger because they have a focus on fighting whereas Jugger is more gamey than combat oriented.
Peter, I’m not so keen on playing an immature system when we have two mature, tested systems available.
I can understand your reluctance Mike, however I want to see how easy it is to run games using these ‘mature’ systems, if they run well and people have a great time, then we’ll go with them. If they are not, then we won’t. I am not going to sacrifice quality for opinion.
So, already we have the ‘Grumpy old gray haired B!$#ard’ team with 2 players. Fantastic!
[quote=“Aitrus”]So, already we have the 'Grumpy old gray haired B!$#ard’
team with 2 players. Fantastic![/quote]
Yep , those other teams may have youth and exuberance, but I’ve got old age and treachery
so don’t delay sign up with the B!$#ard today and be on the winning side.
Right, at the St. Wolfgang’s afterlarp, I hashed out a pretty solid set of core rules (with the help of a nice Hamiltronian) that I like to think are pretty solid, though they do need playtesting before I’ll be happy with them:[ul]
[li]You must get the orc head into the opponents goal to score a point. Once a point is scored, play resets.[/li]
[li]The orc head starts equidistant to the goals, all team members must be in contact (or close enough to) their goal.[/li]
[li]You may only pick up the head if you have a free hand to do so*[/li]
[li]You may only have one weapon per hand, 5 throwing daggers count as one weapon.[/li]
[li]If you have both hands free* then you may raise team-mates from death with a five second double shoulder grasp.[/li]
[li]The match ends at a condition agreed upon beforehand.[/li]
[li]*A free hand is considered a hand that does not correspond to a weapon or shield (not including bucklers) used on that limb.[/li][/ul]That’s pretty much it. A good playtest should have 10 players, 5 on each team; a couple of garden bins, and a severed head.
Someone needs to volunteer or press-gang a captain for the second playtest team, so when we actually have some decent weather, we can capitalise on it and give all this a shot.
we always played this game with a live ball
basically, a guy with a crash helmet on that could be bribed with beer