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Contenders

Introduction

Contenders is a boxing-themed roleplaying game from JJ Prince's imprint Prince of Darkness Games. The game is in the same family created by My Life with Master, in that it features a definite end-game. It is highly evocative, and the system is made to engineer very tense scenes. If you like the darker side of boxing, like me, then this is a game you must check out.

The Pitch

Here's my pitch of the game to potential players.

House Rules

Promotion Scenes

Note that you only decide how much the Winner vs the Loser gets, not each respective fighter's cut. Each fighter also gets Show Money (called an "Appearance Fee" in the game) equal to his current Rep prior to the match. Below is a table showing how this shakes out in accordance with the game's rules.

Remember that draws pay each fighter the Loser's Cut, and a disqualification pays each fighter one less Cash than promised, and Threat Scene fights only give you the Show Money. Also remember that Contenders may gamble at 1:1 odds on all matches.

Rounds Winner's Cut Loser's Cut Alternative Purse Splits
15 5 3 6 vs 2; 7 vs 1; 8 vs 0
14 4 3 5 vs 2; 6 vs 1; 7 vs 0
12 4 2 5 vs 1; 6 vs 0
10 3 2 4 vs 1; 5 vs 0
8 3 1 4 vs 0
6 2 1 3 vs 0
4 2 0 N/A
2 1 0 N/A

Negotiating the Number of Rounds

Instead of just roleplaying the negotiation for the number of rounds to fight, try the following rules:

Contender vs NPC Boxer
Rep vs Pain
Contender vs Contender
Rep vs Rep. The promoter then draws the winning Contender's Pain and compares it to the Rep result, with the winner deciding on the final number or rounds.

Fight Scenes

If you want to adopt the standard 10 Point Must system over the Victory Point system in the game, then try this:

Damage Outcome Score Mechanics
<1 Very Close Winner 10-9 The aggressor gets the edge. If the two boxers tie, then the Narrator decides the winner in the judges' eyes.
1-2 Clear Advantage 10-8 -1 Trait penalty to the loser
3-4 One-sided 10-7 -2 Trait penalties to the loser
5+ Completely outclassed (10-6) KO, TKO, or other referee stoppage (RSC = Referee Stopped Contest)

If you're unfamiliar with the 10 Point Must system, the winner of each round scores 10 points, while the loser scores 7-9 points depending on how much he was dominated. In this scoring system, there can be no ties, each round has a winner and a loser, with the one exception being when the referee warns a boxer and docks him points (see the Street Style section).

If a fight goes the distance (time runs out without a winner having been declared yet), simply total up the scores to find the winner, high score wins. In boxing there are three judges scoring each fight, if they all agree on the winner it is called a Unanimous Win, while if the decision is two judges versus one it is called a Split Decision Win. Of course, you could rarely, due to points docking, end up with a tie.

The 10-6 result doesn't actually occur in the game, but then again, it doesn't occur much in real boxing either, as it would mean that the referee wasn't doing his job and stopping the damn fight. In Contenders 5 or more points of damage ends the fight, plain and simple!

Street Style/Dirty Tactics

The Narrator may choose to have the ref warn the Dirty boxer as part of his narration, as per the rules, but the impact on the 10 Point Must system is different in the following way: