H is for Hedgehog

Hedgehog and porcupine - little ball of spines

Hedgehog and porcupine were the collateral victims of Rotzball in Wissenland. This traditional sport is pulling in more and more spectators and fans. Betting has never been so popular and lucrative therefore cheating is becoming a real nuisance . Severe sanctions have been taken against the poor referees and coaches that have been caught. They were sanctioned by huge fines and even few case of public humiliation. All these scandals result in an increased popularity of this noble sport.

Rotzball rules are simple, two teams of eleven players try the ball between two poles on other team side by all means possible. Snotball is a variant played in Middenheim, the most obvious difference is that the ball is replaced by a snotling. But other rules differ and cause a lot of discussion in tavern of that great city. Regional variant also change few rules making professional referee a necessity.

One of these rules is that only head, elbows and knees are protected by leather straps or piece. In old time it was a way to avoid the most damaging injuries while keeping the show attractive and spectacular. People running in armor isn’t that fun as we don’t see much blood from the audience.

Another rule is that those piece of light armor are stamped with the colors or mascot of the team. Team can’t have armory or heraldic symbols but are allowed to have animal on a blazon if that animal is also the mascot of the team.

The coach of the Pfeildorf hedgehogs find a loophole in the rules. He replaced his player protection by hedgehog skins still wearing spines. The protection naturally becoming spiked leather piece. He did this for the first time, two weeks ago during the regional derby against the Wusterbug Ducks. The opposing coach protested but the referee found nothing to rule against that play. Hedgehogs beat the Ducks and won the Wissenland cup.

This move created a precedent and teams started to change their mascot as soon as the news reached the different town and village. Wusterburg mascot died in a terrible locker accident on that same day. It was replaced by a porcupine. Spines are longer and are less likely to shed from the skin. Wusterburger fans were delighted to see their team win against Heisenberg Moose on the score of 3 dead to 1. Heisenberg coach collection of antlers shed was effective for blocking but not for scoring.

Since that day, Rotzball’s rules are modified so that all the hedgehogs and porcupine can live a peaceful life.

-JMT

Popular posts from this blog

[D&D 5e] Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden 17

The party left the ice fortress to check out the dead body we heard was frozen in the ice halfway up the island. The body was of Nas. It turned out she was still there in spirit, and she possessed Vael. In Vael’s body, she went after the Codicil that Ylenn had her face stuck in. When Vael couldn’t get to Ylenn, Nas possessed Prax instead. Prax also couldn’t get there, as Ylenn cast Hold Person on him, and the rest of the party dragged him away from Nas’ dead body. After he was far enough away, the spirit had to return to the dead body…which Morgan had burned to a crisp. We got the orb containing Professor Scant from Nas’ dead body. We circled the island, looking for the whale or another good way off. We couldn’t find one. Ylenn said she could summon the whale, if we could just last the night. We made a lean-to to sleep in and keep cover from the roc. As an octopus, Morgan was able to get some sail from a sunken ship to cover our lean-to. He also was able to find a huge treasure che
Read more

Thoughts on Stalwart Adventures 3

I think we were all done with fighting goblins. The DM had the pack leader in the next room. He gave himself up and assured us the goblins (and his ogre) would leave us alone. The rest of the night (until the end) was exploring. It’s really good to mix in the exploring after so much fighting. I still need to get better at Find/Remove Traps, as one blasted me pretty good.  I played the character a little more chaotic, and it was kind of fun. Probably not the type of fun that the other PCs feel they can rely on to watch their back, though. The fun thing about chaotic neutral is I can lean into it whenever I’m looking to spice things up. The rest of the time I can be more reasonable and reliable. The cleric held its own again. I really think he may be the best option for fighting the alpha werewolf. We’ll have to talk it over and see what the others think. I know Zak isn’t the best choice! If we can defeat the alpha wolf, it should wrap up this little adventure nicely. 
Read more

Thoughts on Stalwart Adventures 2

I like to increase thieving skills as I practice them, unless I know for sure there is something else I want to improve during downtime. In the last sitting, I mostly used Hide in Shadows and Find/Remove Traps. Once I get high enough level, I’ll be using an Invisibility spell to hide. Until then, I need to keep using and increasing this skill. We should get enough XP for me to go up to wizard level 2. That will get me 1-2 HP, and every HP is precious for this character. Also, I get a second first level spell. Sleep is great, but I do look forward to a second utility spell I can use. I like the idea of Spider Climb, but my Climb Walls is already 70%. Maybe I can brainstorm some cool ways to use Phantasmal Force. I wasn’t as good with my attack rolls, which is really what I would expect over a larger number of tries. The group fighter got a lot better, also as expected. The cleric is a beast. He really optimized his character build and the benefits of a specialty priest. That’s defini
Read more