DreadBall Season 2 Design Theory: Dead is Forever?

DB logoYou know that sinking feeling you get when you count the line of body bags by your Subs’ Bench and then the funds you have to get them all fixed up and good as new? Well Season 2 has the answer.

There is a lot of discussion in Season 2 about different ways of running leagues and so on. Mostly this is merely offering suggestions for league sponsors rather than hard and fast rules, but there are a couple of important additions. The first of these are a set of new advancement tables (with the new abilities) and a new Free Agent table. You’ll be familiar with the way both of these work so they don’t need explaining, and the reasoning behind them is obvious too – in many ways they had to be done. What you might not have seen coming is a new form of player “resurrection”.

This new Cryorevision process comes from the caring people at BrenMed Industries and costs a mere 4mc¹ per player, per fatality. It slots into the same place in the between matches sequence as the normal process of reviving a player (or not), it’s just a lot cheaper. So what’s not to like? Well Cryorevision isn’t quite as slick as the normal process; not as entirely fool-proof. It does have its little problems…

When you use this method to revive a player you need to roll to see if they’ve come back as you expected or whether they suffer from an unfortunate side-effect of the process colloquially known as “freezer burn”. Depending on which bits didn’t thaw right, the damage could be a loss of a stat or an ability. If they’re really lucky they’ll be good as new. These are the chaps you’ll see promoting the company on the adverts. At the other end of the scale are those that are too far gone to even be recycled. Remember the footnote?

So why did I put this in? Well from my days running Blood Bowl I know that injury rules can be a very emotive topic. Many people like them and as just as many can’t stand the thought. Injuries also create an extra set of things to track and some more fiddle. True, they are also characterful and tell a story, and I like that, but the down sides they have are real too. This was why they were left out of the original set.

Having thought a lot more on the topic I came up with this new rule which allows me to have my cake and eat it. As it is entirely down to the Coach in question to take the risk on the cheap reviving, they can choose to have the extra fiddle of injuries or not. If they don’t like the idea they can avoid it entirely. True, they will go to more wakes, but everyone has a black suit already and the buffets are often well catered and invariably free. For those sentimental (or skint) Coaches that want to keep their team staggering along regardless, it allows them to take the risk and keep the old faces in the team photos.

Win/win 🙂

 

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1: Non-refundable.

This entry was posted in DreadBall - The Futuristic Sports Game, Game Design Theory. Bookmark the permalink.

14 Responses to DreadBall Season 2 Design Theory: Dead is Forever?

  1. Porky says:

    Cryorevision is a clever way of weaving it into the world, and for a drawback ‘freezer burn’ is inspired.

  2. James Maz Marsden says:

    great idea,

    love the names as well

  3. mattadlard says:

    ‘True, they will go to more wakes, but everyone has a black suit already and the buffets are often well catered and invariably free.’

    Wow has a almost Pratchett feel about 6hat comment.

  4. GoranByNight says:

    I am just reading the season 2, and I have a doubt. The starting team of judwans and robots it’s only six players, is not eight?

  5. GoranByNight says:

    But then only they can have 12 players, not 14?

  6. E r i c k B o u c h a r d says:

    Nice addition, that Cryorevision idea. Thanks!

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