View Full Version : I am in need of a minigame for Pathfinder.

2014-08-12, 11:33 PM
So as is normal for PCs, they became super excited about something I had no details for. Specifically, a game some NPCs were playing called Dragonhawk Polo. They immediately wanted to play it.

It's basically polo that takes place in the clouds on a magically created beast called a dragonhawk. They're all made individually and are meant to represent a F1 racecar: expensive and powerful. Each team fights over a banner, and has to bring it over to the goal in order to win. The game goes on as long as it takes to win.

It's suppose to be a dangerous game. The riders will dive bomb their mounts to knock the other side out of the air, or out of their saddles and to rip the banner out of the hands of the current holder. There is a small, but real chance, of falling out of their seats and to their death. The riders are normally locked into their saddles.

Can anyone help me out? It doesn't have to be complicated. They'll play the game only once or twice, probably.

2014-08-13, 12:48 AM
You can try modifying these jousting rules for aerial combat. http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Jousting_(3.5e_Variant_Rule)


2014-08-13, 12:52 AM
Well, there's two ways to do this: One involving math. And the other one is fun. :smallbiggrin:

Math: Stat the Dragonhawks. Decide ahead of time how well they can be controlled, and what actual skills and attributes the players will use while riding them.

Fun: Wing it (I am soooo sorry for that). Have some basic numbers for the Dragonhawks' main abilities, and then let the players **** with things as they get up there!

Outside of that, just pick a sport it's supposed to simulate, and then follow those rules.

Realms of Chaos
2014-08-14, 11:16 AM
Some considerations:

-In order for the game to take any appreciable amount of time, the stadium should be pretty long. Getting from the middle of the stadium (where I presume the banner starts) to a goal should take around 3 rounds, even while "running".
-Because the game is a race to a single point instead of a war of attrition to gain the most points, getting points should probably be a bit more difficult than flying in a straight line. Perhaps members from your team have to fly through a number of hoops while under attack by automated net launchers. Alternately, the match may start out as "combat" where a number of dragonhawks need to be knocked from the sky before anyone can score a goal.
-It's kind of hard to inspire players to perform different tasks without some mechanical incentive, perhaps give each team different varieties of dragonhawk? For example, maybe give each team a "goaly" dragonhawk (very slow with low maneuverability but hearty, strong, and capable of producing gusts of wind to knock others off-course), a "speedy" dragonhawk (fastest and perfect maneuverability with high AC but no way to attack and automatically fails fly check upon collision), a "sleeper" dragonhawk (moderate stats with ability to turn itself and its wearer (but not the banner) invisible so long as it moves no more than 20 feet per round), an "interceptor" dragonhawk (low speed, good maneuverability, moderate strength, ability to take a move or standard action as an immediate action every 1d4+1 rounds, and the ability to make a steal attempt as s free action whenever it rams an opponent), and throw in a couple of "savage" dragonhawks (vanilla NPC dragonhawks not on any team that attack whoever has the flag).
-To what degree do you want the actual abilities of players coming into play? Does anything go? Is there limited interaction (like giving competitors nets and allowing for buffs on the hawks)? Are the competitors simply guiding their mount?
-As there's a good chance of this happening, what happens if the banner falls? Does the game pause while it is returned (like most fouls in our real-world games) or do the players race for it?
-An important tactical consideration to make her is just how long the banner is. If we are talking about a 20 foot banner, foes could steal it without getting too close to the other player and grabbing it in the middle is far more advantageous than grabbing it at one end (leaving a 10-foot tail instead of a 20-foot tail in this case).