Combat Biking, What is it? Options

[Lord Ben]

I've been doing a lot of runs centered around combat biking recently. Or at least the Combat Bike Arena figures prominently in my adventures as a meeting place or a hangout after sessions or whatever.

But I never really read more than a passing comment about it? Is there anything "official" that was written?

I've been playing it as sort of a cyberpunkish pro-wrestling with strong metahumans and although they don't try to kill people it happens a lot anyway. It's like wrestling in that a lot of the draw comes from the pre-game taunts/threats, etc.

Of the two runs based off it (similiar runs with different groups) one group stole their custom bikes and replaced them with scooters. The other group is going to use sticky-glue mist and a feather cannon to tar&feather the team as they come flying out of their tunnel into the stadium. They were both hired by the home team to do something to humiliate the other team. It's been good fun.

[Vector]

There is a half decent novel called Dead Air about a combat biker. Also, I believe it is mentioned in some of the SOTA sourcebooks.

[Earthwalker]

As far as I remember its a ball game where you score points by getting the ball in a goal. Of course everyone but the goalie is on a bike, either a big hog or a fast rice rocket.

Theres different positions I think about 6 players a side (of course this is from memory cant remember the book its in) A couple of heavy bikers as blokers, a couple of fast bikes to carry the ball and try to score. A big heavy bike with a granade launcher (stun grenades) and a goalie on foot.

weapons are allowed but stun rounds only.

Death does happen but its rare and the idea is to score goals not kill the opersition.

Any way thats what I rememeber. I am sure soneone will correct me if I am wrong.

[Lindt]

I some how have allways thought of it as a cross between Rollerball and Arenacross.

[PlatonicPimp]

I can't recall, but I think there is a published adventure with the officla rules for combat biking in it. Or maybe that's urban brawl. I can't recall.

[MYST1C]

[MYST1C]

[Thorncrow]

I know it was mentioned, but it was in Shadowbeat, along with info on Urban Brawl and other sports in the Sixth World, a bit dated, it was set in the early 2050s but easily updated if you can find the book.

[Aku]

That sounds like a crappy game to be playing on bikes IMO... i was hoping it was something more akin to a race ALA the Road Rash (i beleive) Sega game from the early 90's...ahh hhow much fun that game was... get a chain offa some other biker, and then smack him and the cops down with it.... now THAT was combat biking...

[SL James]

The description in Life on the Edge is actually less than useless. I mean, really. Looking at Earthwalker's description, how does "(soap opera mayhem on motorcycles)" actually add anything productive? Well, it's on motorcycles, so I guess it's kind of, sort of, not really useful.

Nice description. What I liked about Dead Air was that when someone is killed, the penalty was a whopping 1 or 2 game suspension (IIRC). And the kicker was that he was suspended moreso because he used an illegal weapon than he actually killed someone.

[Rifleman]

To paraphrase from Shadowbeat (and not get in trouble with Wizkids, hopefully), it's a weird combination of Capture the flag, football, and basketball based around a weighted flag/ball designed with a weighted bottom so the flag is always up.

Starts out in the center of a field on a drone going all sorts of directions making it annoying to grab, and a time begins for the play that is randomized between 30 and 60 seconds. The teams try and grab and then drag it downfield through an obstacle filled field to the enemies goal, defending by a goalie on foot but armed like any good troll panzer is. The only way around the obsticles is to take the skyway, a thin road over the top with no railing and raises up about a ten feet into the air. And you still have to deal with the goalie. Got eight people on bikes armed for various purposes running around trying to get the ball, defend, all those types of things.

Scoring is the key here. You get a point if you so much as have the ball in enemy territory when the clock runs out, three if you get it in the enemies goal. But if the ball is in your territory, attended or not, your opponent still gets that point. Possession for the next play goes to whoever had the ball last.

All the weapons are 'non-lethal' (Don't want to kill players purposefully after all. They are expensive!) but deaths are not unheard of.

Fouls are mostly to the tune of "If they are off thier bikes, you can't purposefully run them over/ shoot them/ so forth." and if you do get caught, you pull out immediately of the play (which continues) or the refs hit your kill switch for the bike. The only other interesting one is if you purposefully drop the ball, You leave play and the other team gets a point. No wusses or pointshaving, apparently.

If you can, find Shadowbeat. Full rules, and a lot of interesting details.

[Edit: Minor grammer errors here and there]

[RunnerPaul]

In fact, I'm suprised that no one's put out a mod for any of the first-person-shooter games that recreates the combat biker experience.