Battlegames Ideas

Original guide by sir squeak!

Here are some battlegame ideas.  These can be varied for fun. Each is defined as class or not class, class meaning a full class battelgame and not class meaning no classes, armor or projectiles. The important thing to remember is to be clear in game definition, flexible in conflict and try to not powerhouse one side (nobody likes being shattered in 1 minute a life). Have fun!

Mutual annihilation: (class)Populace is divided into teams and fight it out until one team is shattered.

Trench or Ditch battles: (not class) Populace is divided into two teams and line up opposite each other on a field. The two teams fight until one team is annihilated (the losing team). The first person to die on the winning team then joins the losing team and the battle begins again. Sometimes the sides get really lopsided on these, but eventually they even out ok.

Flag battles: (class) Divide populace into teams and give each team a flag. The teams fight each other for the flags until someone is delcared a winner. To win a team must capture the other team’s flag and hold it for 15 minutes or 3 attacks. These are basic requirements and can be varied: Hold a flag for 30 seconds to score a point, and play to 3 or 5 points.  A stationary flag battle requires that the team flag stay at the base (which is declared at the beginning of the game). When the opponant’s flag is captured it must be brought back to the base. The clock stops when a flag is moved, and the clock starts when there are two flags at a bas. This can be varied for more than two teams also.

Fox across the river: (not class) An alley is drawn across the field (the bigger the alley, the harder the game, recommend start with 50ft). One person is chosen to be the fox. The fox stands in the alley, or "river", and the rest of the populace stands on one side of the river. When the fox yells "fox across the river" the object of the populace is to run across the river without getting killed. Anybody that the fox kills becomes a fox the next round, until everybody is in the river. Last man standing wins.

Monster hunts: (class) Pick a monster that your park has the class abilities to deal with. If your populace is larger, you may need multiple monsters. Then yell lay-on and its the populace vs. the monster until somebody is shattered. Its very important for the monster to have a sense of humor.

Castle battles: (class or not class) Divide into two teams, defending and attacking. You will need to construct some semblance of a castle. Leave a space for the drawbridge (where most of the fighting will be done). You can use hay bays, ropes around trees or whatever else is safe and works. The defending team is inside the castle and the attacking is outside. Lay down rules on castle walls ahead of time- no casting through them, fighting though them or projectiles through them. If your using something that permits you can make provisions for destroying castle walls. Start with the drawbridge down and let the teams fight until the attackers are killed or the castle is taken. You can define taken as a flag or just overrun. When your done you can switch off teams and let the attackers defend.

Chasm battles: (not class) Lay out two "planks" with rope appropriate to the number of people playing (I’d keep it under 10 a team). A very approximate guess would be 4’ x 10’. They should be divided by about 5’ (enough that you can jump across, but not without effort). The teams divide up onto the planks so that they are at opposite ends and half of each team is on each plank. The two teams then fight until one teams is killed. The idea is that there are two planks over a chasm. Jumping between planks is allowed but if you miss the planks, you die; this includes stepping off into nothing. Note: you can try these with classes, but we have had little success, too much going on, not enough room…

Pirate Ship battles: (not class or class) Outline two large pirate ships with rope, the ships should be about 10’ apart and connected by two planks. Each team takes a ship and the object is to board your opponants ship. You can play this with flags or just mutual annihilation. Be sure to define ahead of time if the planks can be destroyed; the ships cannot be destroyed. We occasionally play this with some classes variations include, allowing one or two people per side the heal spell, allowing archery, allowing classes w/spell bolts only - no range magic, allowing everything but mass magics (Very Chaotic).

Warlord Battle:(not class or class) Each player starts as the Warlord of their own team. Any player a Warlord kills will come alive in a 50 count(counted at the spot where they died) as a minion that must follow the orders of the Warlord that killed them. Any player a minion kills will come alive in a 50 count as a minion that must follow the orders of the Warlord of the minion that killed them. If a Warlord is killed, all minions under that Warlord are freed, and become independant Warlords. A Warlord may sacrifice a minion to heal all wounds, by touching them and saying "Sacrifice," or simply killing them. Sacrificed minions come alive in a 50 count as an independant Warlord. Game ends when there is only one Warlord left, that Warlord is the winner. (This game works best as a not class game, but full class Warlord games can be fun, as long as allowed classes or amounts of armor are not too unbalancing.)

Goblin Football (Soccer) Players 10+ (not class)
Setup : a  reasonable size clear fields with two goals ( I tend to use shields although anything will do.)
Rules: Players are Goblins; die on a wound. The ball kills you when you touch or hit it, even with a weapon. Yes, you must die to move the ball. Don't worry though, death count is only 10 and counted in place. One player per team is the goalie. The goalie may touch the ball without  penalty, but may not pass half field. For extremely small numbers it's recomended that the goalie can not score. Can be played best three out of five, or best score in a half hour. 

Title: Thief in the Midst Players: 5-10 (Class)
Description: The  local shire has been plagued by a thief. The local Lord has declared  this thief a menace and must be dealt with. The reward for his capture is substantial and local residents are determined to claim this prize.
Setup: Reeve or Noncombatant writes numbers on cut squares and hands them to  players. Choose a number and person with that number is considered to be the thief. Thief can be any class but now has the option to use 1 teleport per life.(Can not be used while subdued) In the event that the chosen class of the thief is immune to subdue a dead body will be sufficient to collect the reward. The thief can come alive after their death count but must halt their count when being transported. Can resume when left unattended (not being touched by a living player)

Rules: The thief will need to not reveal themselves to the group unless they have an advantage. Warn the group that the thief would be too skittish to face large groups and they should seek him out alone or in pairs. Once the thief has been revealed by their actions (hauling around a bag of loot or seen stealing) the residents need to capture and bring him before the Sheriff. But only one person may receive a reward. It is encouraged that the residents compete for the award by subduing one another when possible to take the captive for themselves.

Add more thieves if your group is larger. 1 more for every 5 players above 10. Thieves can work together.

Graveyard Battle Players: 10+(Class or not Class)
Setup:  Mark off two areas with cloth strips or marking tape. Make sure the areas are large enough to accommodate each team comfortably and that  they are, if possible, on opposite sides of the field.
Rules: The areas designated by the markers are considered "Holy Ground" and all other area's are considered "unholy ground". Each team  then engages in battle normally. If a person dies on "unholy ground"  they begin their death count normally. If they reach half of their death count before being moved to one of the "holy ground" areas, they return  as a standard zombie with no loyalty to either side. Zombies have a death count of one half of the standard count being used for the battle game. Zombie's cannot enter "holy ground" unless they are killed first. In the class variant, zombie lives do not count toward total lives for the battlegame.

Bodies may be removed from the field by two  people "dragging" the bodies. People dragging a body cannot run and one unencumbered hand must be on the body the entire time. If the body is dragged onto holy ground, the body will return as a normal player. If  the class variant is used, spells that would normally move a corpse are allowed, such as Summon Dead or Shove. If a body is  moved onto an opponent's holy ground, then that player will return as a normal player but must first return to their own nirvana after their death count as expired.

Conditions for winning the game are either turning all opponents into zombies or, for the class variant,  annihilation of the opposing team.

Captain Variant: Setup and play are as above but one person for each team is designated as a captain. That player gains 3 summon dead and 3 resurrect spells per life and has a total of 4 lives if used in the militia  variant or their normal lives granted by their class if using the class variant. Conditions for winning is to shatter the opposing captain.