Torque Arena

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A crew waits in its half of the arena, its seekers kneeling on the packed dirt floor. Behind them, mechanical noises indicate their totem-pole rising into position and locking to its three linked plates.
KLANG. It is done.
KLANG, echoes the opposing totem in front of them, as the rival crew slowly stands up.
All seekers shuffle into their positions. Two step into the central qwik zone and grab hold of the shaking torque, a mechanical ball wound up to violently twist and scatter.
"TOOORQUE!" loudly proclaims the master of ceremonies, immediately followed by the spectating crowd finally breaking the silence shouting "TORQUE! TORQUE! TORQUE!" in response.
The bout begins.

(prototype v0.17)

Torque Arena is a tabletop Miniatures Sports Game (MSG fuyioh!) set in a post-collapse solarpunk world. Two crews of five seekers each vie for control of a mechanical "torque ball” in order to throw it and fell the rival's totem. First crew to do that wins the bout: no scores, no clocks, no second chances! 

• Brutal ...but a sport!
  Seekers can tackle each other hard, driving rivals away and to the ground. As there is no model removal, violence is just a tool among many.

• Fast & Dynamic
  Play flows in individual alternating activations, instant reactions, and timely chains of extras actions. No breaks, no resets, just a single Go! A full bout usually plays out in about 60 minutes.

• Welcoming to Newcomers
  Game mechanics are simple and clean, focused on moment to moment WYSIWYG choices, little or no number crunching and just a smidge of area control.
  Movement happens on a hexgrid, but can easily be converted to good ol' tape measurements for veteran players of a more hobby-persuasion.

• Solarpunk Campaign Play
  [W.I.P. 🔨 ]
  Beyond individual bouts, I'm working on an rpg-like narrative campaign system for players interested in exploring the personal lives of their crew of seekers, the impact they have on their post-collapse community, and its fate within a harsh but hopeful solarpunk environement.

Main inspirations.

• The Salute of the Jugger (movie) for the whole idea.
• Welcome to Wrexham (docu-series) for the uplifting example of what sport can mean for a community.
• Dreadball (game by Mantic) for the overall structure and dice pool concept.
• One Page Rules (game company) for a great example of how modern miniature games can rethink old conventions to get to a leaner and meaner shape.
  
• Apocalypse World (game by Vincent Baker) for the narrative elements and the handling of interesting post-apocalypse tropes.

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HELP ME PLAYTEST THIS THING! :D 

If you enjoy the rules and actually put them to the table, please let me know:

• Write a feedback in the community forum here.
• Share a text/video bout report on your blog/channel.
• Share thematic images, stories and ideas that could vibe with Torque Arena.

Thank you so much.

(prototype v0.17)