| From: | Gurth <gurth@******.NL> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Suburban Brawl |
| Date: | Sat, 16 Sep 1995 23:12:55 +0200 |
This is an illegal version of Urban Brawl that is becoming more and more
popular among both rich and poor people in the Seattle Metroplex. It evolved
from the also popular Urban Brawl, but is much more violent and takes place
in an inhabited area of the Sprawl.
Betting is extensive on all games, with huge amounts of money changing hands
after the end of a game, although this is all on the black market, with
nothing being official.
PLAYING SUBURBAN BRAWL
Suburban Brawl is played by two teams of 15 players per team. It resembles
legal Urban Brawl, in that each team has to try and score points by bringing
a ball in the opponent's goal zone. There are even less rules than in Urban
Brawl, and players can use virtually everything they want in order to
survive the game.
Brawlers
Fifteen brawlers play on each team, with no replacements being allowed. All
players are offensive, unlike in Urban Brawl, where all but two of the
players play in offensive positions. Brawlers may use any cyberware, bioware
and magic they have.
Positions
Any brawler may carry the ball. There are no different positions, again
unlike Urban Brawl. Each player may carry and use any weapons and armor he
wants. A slight difficulty in selecting weapons and armor is that Suburban
Brawl is played in areas where people are living and working, and where
police are patrolling. This makes most brawlers use not-so-obvious weapons
and other gear.
Magically active players are allowed, and they may use any and all magic
they are able to use. At least one of the players usually carries a medkit,
and tends to the injuries of other players. Even this medic is a valid
target, thus he is usually armed as well.
Weapons
All weapons are allowed, from hold-out pistols to assault cannon, and from
knives to monofilament whips. Most brawlers use weapons that combine
concealability with lethality, and the weapons are often heavily modified
with gas vents, smartgun links, laser sights, and any ammunition the player
and/or his team might possess. The use of grenades is also widespread, as
are cyberweapons.
Brawlers may pick up any weapon that they happen to come across.
Armor
Each team wears some distinctive color, usually as an armband, headband or
cap, but otherwise all colors are allowed, even camouflage patterns. All
ratings of armor are allowed, but again, most brawlers go for armor that is
both concealable and gives good protection.
One thing that all players must wear is a recorder. This records what
happens to the player, and alarms the officials when it is removed from the
player. This makes sure that a player is not replaced by a different one,
since it is impossible to remove the recorder without it triggering an
alarm. Players are regularly checked by officials to see if they are wearing
the recorder. If a teammember is found who is not wearing a recorder, his
entire team is disqualified.
Vehicles
Any and all vehicles are allowed, together with all modifications.
Motorcycles are favorites, as are heavily-armored and armed vans.
However, in order to score a point, the ballcarrier has to leave any vehicle
his is in or on, and move into the goal area on his own.
The ball
The ball is a standard Urban Brawl ball. Players may carry the ball in any
way, but it must be visible for other players.
Brawl Zones
Unlike Urban Brawl, where the Brawl Zone is evacuated before the game
starts, Suburban Brawl is played in an inhabited area, with the residents
not knowing that their area is to be a Brawl Zone. There is no limit to the
size of the playing area, and thus the whole of the Seattle Metroplex can be
considered the Brawl Zone. Combat can occur literally in someone's back
yard, and often even in someone's living room.
Officials
Some twenty to fifty officials keep an eye on the game. They follow the
players around in cars, on motorcycles and on foot, and also keep a look-out
for any security services that might show up. At least two officials follow
each ballcarrier at any time.
GAME STRUCTURE
A Suburban Brawl game has no set game time. It starts at a time set by the
organisers, and ends when one of the teams has won. A team has won the game
when one of the following objectives has been met:
-the team has scored at least 25 points and is at least 5 points ahead of
the other team
-the team scores 50 points
-the other team has been annihilated
Once a goal has been scored by one team, both teams must return to their own
goal zones, and the game continues.
Scoring
Each team gets assigned a goal area to defend. This area is selected at
random by the officials (by throwing darts at a map, usually), and a
different goal area is assigned to each team at the top of every hour. In
addition, the goal area is also moved when some or another security force
moves in to prevent the game from going on. The goal area is always kept
under observation by at least two officials.
The goal area can be anywhere, in somebody's backyard, inside the lobby of a
hotel, in the middle of Puget Sound, on the runway of SeaTac Airport, etc.
The only limitation is that the goal area must be within the area governed
by the Seattle government. The exact location of the goal area is anounced
to both teams at the moment that the new goal area becomes active. To this
end, all players carry a radio receiver using coded messages, to prevent
everything from being overheard by Lone Star or other security forces.
As for determining when a goal is valid, the following rules are used: as
long as the ball is in a player's possession when it enters the goal area,
the goal counts, whether the player is alive or dead, moving under his own
power or not: any time a player enters a goal area with the ball in his
possesion, the goal counts. The ball may not be thrown or kicked into the
goal area, but all this is up to the officials to decide.
Penalties
There is only one penalty in Suburban Brawl; everything is allowed, except
attacking officials. Although officials are usually well-armored, some
players go wild and attack them anyway. Anyone wounding an official is
immediately removed from the game. If he does not cooperate, he is knocked
unconcious and the removed and locked up until the game is over.
For any player killing an official, the penalty is death. If the player is
not killed during the game, he will be afterwards.
LEGALITY
Since Suburban Brawl is a highly violent game taking place in residential
areas, it is considered highly illegal, both the game itself and playing it.
Most players and organizers don't care, and simply feel that that is what
makes the game exciting. More than once, Lone Star (or some other security
company) has been involved in actions against Suburban Brawl players. It is
not uncommon for opposite sides in the game to suddenly unite when Lone Star
shows up, fight off Lone Star, and then continue the game as each other's
enemies once again.
Anyone caught playing Suburban Brawl is usually charged with one or more
(usually more) of the following crimes: Possession and/or Transport of all
illegal items found on the suspect; Threat, Use and/or Intent for any legal
and illegal items found on the suspect; Arson; Assault; Battery; Murder 2
and/or Murder 3; Negligence; Reckless Endangerment; Vandalism.
TEAMS
No official teams play Suburban Brawl, although many unofficial teams exist
in Seattle.
At least one game is played every weekend, and in one game two teams are
involved. Some twenty teams are on the "official" play list, and compete for
the Suburban Brawl Trophee.
A team scores one point for every game it wins, and scores no points for
every game it loses. In the rare event of a draw, both teams earn a point,
and a team loses five points every time it is disqualified. The team with
the most points at the end of the season wins the Suburban Brawl Trophee. If
two or more teams all have the same number of points, the Trophee goes to
the team which scored the most goals in the season. If that still doesn't
settle things, a final match is held between the teams that have the same
number of points to determine the final winner.
Current team list (as of March 2054)
The list below is that used by the organizers of Suburban Brawl. Of course,
all teams don't officially exist, especially those belonging to corporations.
A-Team (unemployed Mercs)
Brain Eaters (Brain Eaters Street Gang)
Cutters (Cutters Street Gang)
Grim Reapers (shadowrunner team)
Redmond Razors (Razors Street Gang)
Seattle Samurai (Yakuza)
Shaikujin (various corporate employees)
Spikers (Spike Wheels Go-Gang)
Texan Cowboys (various people from Texas, CAS)
Thrillers (shadowrunner team)
SUBURBAN BRAWL TROPHEE
This is the big prize, and consists of a large sum of money (around 200,000
nuyen) for each surviving member of the winning team. It also increases the
market value of the players of the winning team, which in turn means that
they are likely to change teams between seasons (or end up dead by the hands
of other, less fortunate, players).
--
Gurth@******.nl - Gurth@***.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Be all that they told you
-> Unofficial Shadowrun Guru & NERPS Project Leader <-
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