I want to start my upcoming campaign with a scene that is lighthearted, but gets across some of the misery that is inherent in the Outer Rim, and particularly in the industry of slavery (which the session will be about). Having the players forced into a brutal Rollerball-esque sci-fi blood sport seems like a cool way to do it. I had a little trouble finding a suitable set of rules, so I decided to make my own. I named the game Smashball, after the game from Star Wars lore, though I've found very little information about what the canon Smashball is meant to be and I've finally concluded that I should just do whatever I want. Since I think it's cool (and since maybe somebody smarter will be able to contribute), I've decided to share the current state of the rules.

The Smashball Arena is made up of three large (maybe 20 metres across) donut-shaped platforms, built above each other like three stories of a building. Most of the platform is, uh, platform; the holes in the middle are only a couple metres across. Each team has one member (a Smasher) on each platform; at the professional level, teams are usually trying to figure out where their opponents will deploy their Smashers, so they can deploy their own in a way that provides a good matchup.

At the beginning of the game, the Smashball is fired into the arena from a ballistic chute. It is about the size and density of our basketball, but an internal repulsor engine and a coating of Kularian Impact Oils cause it to massively amplify any force applied to it; it bounces all over the stadium at dangerous speeds, and if smashed into something, it explodes spectacularly. The object of the game is for the Smashers to acquire possession of the Smashball (and it is hard to catch, even when you aren't sharing a platform with an opponent), dive into the hole in the middle of their platform, and smash the ball into a gigantic confetti-and-pyrotechnics-filled plasteel pinata that is beneath the platforms. Successfully Smashballing can kill you, especially if your technique is poor or you aren't a PC. However, even a lowly slave who Smashballs after being forced into a game by his master can possibly earn his freedom; the crowd goes wild for it.

When somebody Smashballs, the round is over. By this point in the game there is usually a broken bone (or a casualty), so playing three rounds of one point each is pretty common.

Smashers are allowed to wrestle with each other, and launch each other off the platforms (into water, usually; this is generally considered far less dangerous than landing a Smashball). They may also pass the Smashball to another platform, or intentionally launch it at any other player, almost certainly sending them falling on a hit. There are two other positions in the game - each team has a Switcher and a Sniper. The Switchers begin the game on a small repulsorlift platform, just small enough to fill the hole in the middle of the main platforms. In the centre of this small platform is a series of very difficult-to-use controls - you have to press just the right button at just the right cue in order to control the platform, but if you succeed, you may move it up or down one level. The position of the platform blocks some or all of the players from attempting to Smashball. Switchers are also armed with Concussion batons, which have a knockback effect - they can attempt to blast each other away from the controls, off of the Switcher platform (at which point they effectively become an extra Smasher, though they are allowed to re-mount the platform if opportunity allows), or even off of the arena altogether.

Snipers watch the game from Long Range, on a much larger ring platform from which they can see (and target) everything. They are armed with Shock Rifles, and their platform has plenty of cover, as well as force fields that prevent them from physically getting to each other. The Snipers may freely shoot at any player, including the other Sniper, to slow them down. In addition, due to the way the rifles and the Smashball are designed, a round that hits the Smashball will cause it to explode even bigger than if it was Smashed. Although it is practically Impossible, a pro-league Sniper can score a Smashball by shooting it just before it hits the target, even if the person Smashballing was on the opposing team. This 'cheap' victory has happened only twice in the long, bloody history of this awful Outer Rim sport.

Advanced Details

The players can choose their positions before the game begins. If you have a party more than five, you may be a bit out of luck here. I have a party of four, but I made it a five-man game so that I can have an allied NPC, and let the players see how terrible this industry is before they get called out to play ball.

Everybody acts on Vigilance initiative. The first Smashball enters play at the beginning of round 2, bouncing around on one of the three main platforms - the Setback die has three different results that are equally likely as each other to come up, so in a pinch it is good for picking a starting level. At the start of each following round, if nobody has possession, it is most likely going to stay on the same platform. I'll use a percentile here, moving it up one on a 1, down one on a 0, or otherwise not moving it. If the Smashball is destroyed without the round ending, the operator decides whether to fire one at the start of the next round, or the round after that - depending on how much excitement is already happening on the field, if anybody is dead, etc.

As a Smasher, you start at Medium range from the other Smasher on your platform. You are not allowed to enter the Switcher platform unless you are Smashballing (even if the platform is on your level; you can run up and Smashball it and that's legal, and if you're still on the platform afterwards you can fight with the Switchers, though you can't use the controls). The Smashball is always at Short range due to its chaotic motion. If you spend a manoeuvre to become Engaged with it, you can catch it as an action, which takes a Hard Athletics check. The Smashball is hard to work with; it usually takes one manoeuvre to get to the hole in the platform from somewhere else, but for every point your Brawn is below 4, it requires an additional manoeuvre. Passing the Smashball takes a Ranged (Light) check; Easy to throw it up (or down) one platform or at the Switchers, Medium to throw it two, Hard to throw it at the Sniper platform. Take two Setbacks because of how tricky it is to work with. If you are trying to hit somebody on another platform, increase the difficulty by one. If you are throwing at the Switchers and they are both on the platform, upgrade the difficulty, and spend Despair to hit the allied player. Somebody hit by the Smashball is knocked prone. They can be Disoriented/Immobilised/Staggered for the rest of the encounter for 1/2/3 Advantage, or blown out of the game for 4 Advantage or Triumph. They may spend Threat to take possession, but if they only have a few Threats, they have to make an Athletics check of their own. Taking possession from another Smasher (or like, whoever, if the game gets weird) takes an opposed Athletics or Brawl check. You can also use those skills normally to knock an opponent down, or grapple them. If you are already man-handling somebody, you can roll another opposed check to throw them off the edge, but with +1 difficulty (+2 if you're not near the edge to begin with). Finally, when you're in position, you may take the Smashball action. If the platform is not in your way, you automatically score the point, and take Damage/Strain as if you fell Short Range; roll as usual to minimise the effects of the impact, but upgrade both of the dice to red, and spend Despair to take a Critical Injury.

As a Sniper, you use Ranged (Heavy) to shoot people. You are at Long Range from the platforms, and Extreme Range from the other Sniper - the Shock Rifles work fine at these ranges. Instead of normal attack rolls, when you shoot somebody, they take 1 point of strain and 1 Setback on their next check per success. You can spend Advantage to Immobilise or Stagger them for a round as usual, but you can also spend 3 to make any Setbacks they take from the shot stay until the end of the Round (the Round of the match, not a combat round). If you want to shoot the Smashball, you must spend 3 Advantage on a shot against whoever is holding it, or you can shoot it while it's not possessed, but you take three Setback on that shot. When it blows, everybody on the platform is damaged as if they just Smashballed, except they roll Resilience instead of Athletics/Coordination to resist. By making a Hard Stealth check, you can find an extremely good piece of cover on your platform. This makes you immune to the enemy Sniper and to launched Smashballs. If both Snipers are in perfect cover, they get the option to Sniper War each other - instead of making a Ranged check, make an opposed Cool check to outwit them with your timing. Whoever succeeds at this check may make an immediate shot at Easy difficulty. This allows for one Sniper to shoot the other twice in one round, if they both use Sniper War and the same person wins both. Shooting the Smashball right before an opponent gets the point is a PC-only option; right before the enemy wins, the PC may make an Impossible Ranged (Heavy) check to steal the win. That's all.

The Central Disc starts on a randomly-determined platform, like the Smashball. As a Switcher, you are on a very small platform, but we'll still count it as being some distance across for the sake of tactical movement - call it difficult terrain or something, I don't know. It takes a manoeuvre to get into the centre (where the control systems are), and a manoeuvre to get to the other side, where your opponent starts. If you two are in the same sector, you count as engaged. Hitting somebody with a Concussion Baton deals an amount of Strain equal to the successes you get, and also knocks them to the edge of the Disc (or onto the connected Platform or if they were already on the edge). Blowing somebody right off the arena is possible with a spectacular result. Operating the controls is a matter of making an Average Vigilance check at the end of the round, and only if you are alone in centre of the Disc. If you succeed, you can shift the platform one level (you can even park it one level below the bottom platform, or one level above the top platform). For three successes you can shift it an additional level. Finally, because of the sheer twitchiness of being a Switcher (between the difficult terrain, possibility of getting hit at any moment, the Smashball flying right by if it's on your level, and the ridiculous control panels), you can fake your opponent out; roll a Deception check opposed by their Cool as an action, and if you succeed, they lose their entire next turn.

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Okay, I think that's everything I have in my head, now on "paper". You might think that's a lot of complexity, especially for new players, but they really don't have to know all of those details. All of the hard work can be on my side of the table. For the players, I'm working on little handouts. I attached a little image of what they currently look like (don't post here much, not sure if there's a more elegant way to include an image). All they need are the three sentences of what their position is responsible for, and I'll manage the madness. I am trying to be a little intentionally vague on the corners, too - what happens when a Sniper takes possession, a Smasher ends up moving with the Switchers on the Discs, and so on. It's Outer Rim blood sport, the refs will figure it out as it happens.

Anyway, wanted to share, and please let me know if you can think of a way to improve it or add anything.