bah gawd, that's pollux's music!
This entry has been partially migrated over from my old blog. It was reposted here on 24 February 2023.Everyone loves wrestling! [citation needed]
Here are the rules I used for grappling/brawling in my last home game, cleaned up a bit.
brawling
Closing on an armed opponent to start a brawl allows an attack first, unless by surprise. Brawling creatures each make a number of attack rolls equal to the number of free grasping appendages they have and compare their highest results. The winner subtracts the loser's roll from their own, and has that many Brawl Points to spend to use effects from the table below:
| COST | EFFECT |
|---|---|
| 0 | Shove. End brawl and disengage. |
| X | Pummel. Deal X nonlethal damage. |
| 2+ | Shank. Deal damage with a small weapon. Cost increases by 2 per use. |
| 5 | Disarm. An item in the target's possession is now on the ground (double cost to keep it in your hand instead). Alternatively, you can draw an item from your inventory. |
| 8 | Lock. Target cannot use appendage. If head/neck is chosen, creature starts to suffocate. You may normally only maintain as many locks as you have free appendages. |
| 12 | Throw. Target flies up to 20 feet, takes 1d12+STR damage, and is now prone. |
| 18 | Ridiculous pro-wrestling finisher move. Target must save versus Death. If the save is made, the target is unconscious. If the save is failed, the target dies in one round. |
Creatures in a brawl roll every round until one either disengages or is incapacitated.
notes
- I experimented with allowing players to carry over points between rounds. It was generally a pain to deal with and I don't recommend it.
- A whole bunch of small people dogpiling a big person only came up once or twice in my game, much to my embarrassment and shame as a GM. I handled it then by comparing the best rolls from each "side" of the grapple.
- My quick and dirty rule for things like tackling, jumping off of ladders, etc. is give the tackler a hefty bonus, but if they lose anyway their would-be target gets an equal number of extra points to use against them.
- Claws and teeth count as small weapons in my game.
