Bay 12 Games Forum

There are a couple dozen big-name teams across North America, some owned by megacorporations and some merely supported heavily by them (like modern baseball teams). The Bay Toads are not one of them. They're one of maybe half a dozen minor Urban Brawl teams in Seattle who pretty much just play each other. All the players have day jobs; the teams don't make a lot of money. They might meet up in the Barrens or something to play actual Brawl, or a couple might get a gig at the local "Urban Brawl Arena," an actual indoor arena, to play some Arena Brawl.
Let's see if you can change that, neh?

If you play your cards right and all goes well, maybe someday you can get into the Big Leagues. Good luck, chummers.

Okay, mostly Fame. Fortune isn't handled with any kind of rules.

There are two kinds of fame, Acute and General. Acute Fame comes from singular awesomeness. A Scout who manages to be average all the time, but then manages to cause a wipe by blowing up the enemy Outrider's cycle before participating in the clean-up, is going to suddenly be known across the country; if he can't keep up a good level of competency, though, he'll barely be more known than he was beforehand before too long. On the other hand, a Blaster with a high rating of kills, who other players drop the ball to escape, is going to have a pretty good Chronic Fame rating even if he geeks one too many guys and gets reassigned to Scout duty.
Teams also have fame. While a team gets a bit of fame from having famous players, unless it has several that won't get it much of anywhere. However, a team's performance can easily boost its fame. One won game is a small boost; a streak is a bigger one. Big boosts to fame come from such things as defeating "better" teams or setting records.

There are two main ways of getting Acute Fame: Stunts and generally awesome actions. Stunts are normal actions, but cooler. You take a -1 to the roll; if it is successful, you make a Showmanship roll to see how cool it is. A 3 gets one Acute Fame point; each result above that doubles the Acute Fame Points. Generally awesome actions are actions which are impressive. Such actions give Acute Fame as determined by the GM.
Chronic Fame is a bit tougher to get. Exceptionally great actions may get you Chronic Fame, at a minimum of 10% of the Acute Fame (round down). You also get Chronic Fame for certain types of outside work.

Teams get Acute Fame for winning games, among other things. Beating an inferior team is 1 point; an approximately equal team 2; and beating a superior team is worth at least 5, plus a point or more of Chronic Fame. Chronic Fame for teams is harder to get...better try winning something.

Acute Fame is lost at a rate of 1 per week or so--more if trying to lay low, much less if you keep up whatever gave you fame. In fact, making a habit of something gives you Chronic Fame! Speaking of Chronic Fame, it just about never degrades.

You won't always be in the Zone. Especially once your team gets known past the stage where they're playing Urban Brawl as a hobby as much as anything, interesting things will happen between games. These things could include anything from surprise interviews to opportunities at acting, or anything else I think of on the fly.

Basically, don't expect this to be "BRAWL BRAWL BRAWL," be prepared for other fun stuff.


This is also an opportunity to seek extra funds from various sources and "upgrade" your characters.

At various points, I will award three kinds of points: Attribute, Skill, and Karma. These will typically be awarded for notable actions.

Attribute and Skill points can be spent to raise Attributes and Skills, obviously. They need to be spent between games--no buying a point of Body in the middle of a game to help you survive longer!
Karma points can be converted into all sorts of neat stuff. They can be converted into Attribute or Skill points, or kept for luck. Spending a Karma point lets you roll an important roll twice; you keep the better result. Spending two lets you make any roll an automatic success*! Spending Karma must be declared before the turn.

*Not guaranteed. Exceptionally difficult tasks may require three or more Karma points, or even be impossible to buy successes with!


An easier way to fame may be to spend money. A team's wealth is measured in Wealth units of about 10,000 nuyen each. You can Train players for skills, which generally cost about 1d3+1 Wealth times the square of the level of skill you desire. Players can also be outfitted with cyberware, which is pretty costly but improves players a lot. A list of cyberware available is available on request between games.