Talk Fantasy Football

I figured the new thread was a lesser sin than Threadomancy from '07.

I've struggled mightily with Vampires in my Options rules. I find Bloodlust interesting as a mechanic but conceptually very annoying, so I was initially looking for a replacement altogether rather than a mechanism to incorporate Bloodlust into Human, Undead and Necro teams. But I have a newer, more soft-path idea spawned out of one of my earlier concepts.

What I've got now is essentially two Vampires. One, the guy on the Vampire team, is on a team run either by his master or by some elder Vampire. That manager is pairing him up with other guys like him, who can be thought of as greater or lesser stars with the same relative ego issues as players on other teams, or with Thralls, who are clearly on a much-lower level of status, as little more than trained animals. That guy has the same profile as in the current LRB, with the new Bloodlust (where all Cas are BH).

The other, the Vampire on the Human, Undead or Necromantic team (replacing either an Ogre, 0-2 Ghouls or 1 Were, respectively), is in a very different spot. His Head Coach is just some old guy: maybe the Vamp will give that he knows more about football, maybe not. The point is that the boss is a talking hamburger (or a crusty, rancid talking hamburger, depending on the team), and the teammates are a bunch of Thralls who don't get that they're Thralls, or even worse, animated corpses with no will of their own. And those who do have appetizing-looking teammates are prohibited from having even a nibble!

There are three consequences of this. The first is that Vampires tend to show up when they want to show up. They don't practice with the team (after all, they're supernaturally gifted), and so their progress sometimes becomes stunted. They also sometimes disappear between drives to get a, um, bite, in the stands (sometimes even from a vendor, because team owners especially discourage that sort of behavior with stadium employees). The second effect is that they demand more money to play for ordinary humans (they don't dare make this demand of a Necromancer). Finally, they whine constantly, talk smack to their teammates, brag every minute, and get into off-the-field scuffles almost as a matter of course. Mechanically, this is a lack of G access, a higher price on Humans (see the antitrait description below for why), and an antitrait that doesn't assume cheap non-regenerators are available.

So I present to you, the Option Vamp!

Humans: no Ogre, but 0-1 Options
Among other Options (like 1 Ogre), is:
1 Vampire: 6/4/4/8 Egomaniac, Hypnotic Gaze, Regenerate AS/GP 130k

Undead (0-2 Ghouls, with 1-2 Ghouls as options) and Necros (0-1 Weres, with 1 Were as an option) also have 1 Vampire option as per the Human, but he only costs 110k. The fluff reason is the Necromancer bit, but mechanically, Egomaniac is hell on TRRs, and Humans pay less.

Egomaniac (Extraordinary Ability)
When Vampires wander onto other team races, their uncontrollable egos and appetites make them frustrating to play with, especially since non-Vampire coaches usually prohibit them from attacking their teammates and football makes Vampires hungry. If not accommodated, this player is prone to go off and pout, disappear in search of food, make unreasonable demands, or complain loudly. At the start of each drive, when the player is first set out on the field, roll 1d6.
1: The player takes the drive off, hanging out in the Reserves bin, or even in the stands, until the next drive.
2: The player is grumpy, and will only play if the team makes a special effort to coax him along. The coach must decide whether to lose a Team Re-Roll counter for the half, or let the player fume in the Reserves bin. If the team has no Re-Roll counters, the player must stay in Reserves.
3: The player comes along, but grumbles loudly. This demoralizes the player's teammates, and the team loses a Team Re-Roll counter for the half, if one is available. If the team has no Re-Rolls left, the player plays normally.
4-6: The player plays normally.

Two questions.

First: Does it sound fun?

Second: Does the pricing look right?

It certainly sounds interesting. I'm very new to the game, so can't comment too much on gameplay or pricing. I will comment on your wording though.
[quote=mattgslater]At the start of each drive, when the player is first set out on the field, roll 1d6.[/quote]
This part of the Egomaniac description sounds rather ambiguous, as in do I get to replace him if I have any reserves? I would suggest wording it as either: or Also, fluff-wise I don't see much chance of the vamp playing for an undead/necro team as there isn't a ready food source that the vamp would be willing to eat and he especially wouldn't want to play with werewolves on a necro team.

sumbloke wrote:Before setting players up for each drive, roll 1d6.

Yeah, that. Thanks! It's kind of like a KO.

Also, fluff-wise I don't see much chance of the vamp playing for an undead/necro team as there isn't a ready food source that the vamp would be willing to eat and he especially wouldn't want to play with werewolves on a necro team.

That's the point of Egomaniac. It's compensation for the fact that the food is in the stands, rather than on the pitch. Bloodlust would be horrid on Humans: they pay for that armor. Maybe I should make both available on the Human team and let the HC decide?

Is the 130k price too high? Egomaniac as I have it here is at least as bad as Wild Animal on a Big Guy, and worse than Really Stupid. On a team with 3RR, how many times will a TRR be available at the start of a drive? I mean, twice per game for sure, but after that? If there's an average of one score per game when the team has RR left, then it'll cost one TRR per match, assuming you'd burn the RR on a 2. Is it possible that on a 2, a team would decide to keep the RR and field a lesser player instead? I'd imagine that if you were down below 11 with at least 3 turns to go, you'd burn the RR, even if it was your last. Would you stock up on RRs to keep your Vamp on the pitch when rolling a 2, or would you limit yourself so you don't have unnecessary TRR burn rolling 3s late in the half?