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Introduction
In honor of Wrestlemania and my own personal fan theory on the subject, here is a write up you can use for your own game.
The Major Leagues
United World Federation
Rivaled only by Brutaris in popularity, the United Worlds Federation or UWF is what most people in the Pact Worlds mean when they talk about combat sports in the Pact Worlds. UWF is a grand spectacle of fighters from across known space competing in both armed and unarmed combat for the glory of their homeworlds.
With a current roster of two hundred, the UWF is divided into four distinct divisions: United Championship Division, the promotion's main division that's open to all fighters. Armored Combat Division, a very popular subclass for fighters in heavy power armor and battle mech suits. Empty Hand, a division featuring strictly unarmed combat between fighters. And Combat Team, the only truly lethal division where fighters on opposing teams are pitted against a series of timed challenges on obstacle courses or even wild animals.
Each of these divisions fight in a weekly holovision broadcast known as UWF Match Ups and major special events scheduled throughout the year. On the weekly broadcast, fighters are followed around in a reality show like fashion. Fights don't always happen inside the ring as major confrontations between rival fighters occur regularly.
The UCD Champion, "Death to Fools" (Male, Vesk, Soldier, CN) is a major Pact Worlds Celebrity who regularly grants personal appearances at major events throughout both the Veskarium and Pact Worlds. His finishing move, the Long Ride, is a flexing suplex into the floor of the arena. "Death to Fools'" Main rival at the moment is Saya "Skull Princess" Farge (Female, Half Elf, Operative, CG). The two fighters have "ambushed" one another at various events in an attempt to goad the other into a fight. Their championship fight is scheduled for a future major tourney.
The current Armored Division Champion is Neressa Galberion (Female, Korasha Lashunta, Mechanic, CG). Neressa's power armor, "The Bulwark of the Stars", is as iconic as the champion herself and Neressa has started licensing copies of her famous battlesuit. Selling replicas of a fighter's power armor is a common merchandising tactic used by the UWF but many Armored Division warriors steadfastly refuse to do this. Retired UWF superstar Wix Tane (Male, Human, Technomancer, LG) has refused to release the design specs of his infamous "Vault of Secrets" power armor despite being offered millions of credits by defense contractors across the system. There are even rumors that the Pact Worlds military tried to copy the Vault of Secrets' stealth flight system but failed miserably.
Current Empty Hand Champ Rosa "Painfist" Haller (Female, Human, Operative, CE) is widely believed to be unbeatable after her victory over Vera Kerns (Female, Human, Soldier, CN) but rumors are spreading that Battle#v1.3 (Genderless, SRO, Soldier, N) is about to turn pro and has it's artificial eye set on Painfist's belt.
While fatalities and serious injuries are rare, they do occur and the most recent high profile injury during a Combat Team match has lead to calls to reform the division. Bloodwhisker (Male, Ysoki, Soldier, LE) the Captain of the Seven Devils Hellknight Combat Team, lost an arm during an obstacle course match, causing an automatic forfeit as his team was unable to continue with only six players. This means that the current team combat champs, The Leaves of Kyonin, are now champions only by default. Now in addition to calls from the public to finally shut down the Combat Team division, the UWF is facing complaints from their own fighters that the Combat Team championship should be vacated and played off in a tournament. The loudest voice demanding a new tournament is N'zairn the Unwanted (Male, Drow, Technomancer, CE) the team captain of the Nightbloods. N'zairn has actually threatened legal action if the League doesn't create a new playoff for a vacated title. The Leaves of Kyonin to their credit have offered the Nightbloods a championship opportunity.
The Fighting Pits of Arl
The Fighting pits of Arl on Akiton is a vastly different experience than the flashy UWF. Typically a regional interest, the Fighting Pits were an ancient tradition that helped the Shobhad, Hykli, Ysoki, and Ikeshti settle serious conflicts without wide spread tribal warfare. To this day, the Hykli still consider the fighting pits an ancient and respected institution and betting upon fights is considered a serious social taboo. These fights are considered a form of worship to Talavet, the god of community who allows small scale bloodshed to preserve the large scale community.
Entry into the Fighting Pits is a serious matter and requires sponsorship from a clan. The current Battlemaster, Yog of Five Winds (Male, Wytchwyrd, Mystic, LN) is one of the most respected sentient in the city of Arl and his guidance of the Fighting Pits is considered an important part of his duties as a high priest of Talavet.
The fights in the fighting pits are televised but only on Akiton's local holonet. They are presented commercial free as a religious broadcast by the Talavet Church. Each match begins with a prayer and then a respectful handshake by the competitors. Death in these fights is an unfortunate occurrence but is a factor in certain matches. Killing you opponent deliberately, especially after they surrender is not technically illegal but considered a grave dishonor.
Bloodleagues
In the Halls of the Living on Eox, the Bloodleagues have been one of the only official full contact death sports in the Pact Worlds. Seen as exploitative and vicious, even by the standards of other Eoxian holonet shows, the Bloodleagues offer a dark, gruesome past time that is enjoyed by sadists and bloodthirsty psychopaths across the system.
There are very few rules in the Bloodleagues but in general, two to eight armed opponents are placed inside an arena and fight to the death. An average life expectancy of a Bloodleaguer is fifteen minutes but a few "veterans" have stayed alive long enough to achieve fame. Telessa the Lamia (Female, Elf, Mystic, CE) decapitated her own sister to achieve her status as the leader of the Bantamweight class while the Gorax of the Shadow Clan (Male, Orc, Soldier, CE) is the reigning heavyweight champion.
While the Bloodleagues are "popular" among certain elements of the Pact Worlds society, they are surprisingly unpopular with the native Eoxians. The Undead populace are often dissatisfied with the "artless" methods of dispatch that occur inside the Bloodleague arenas. Zo!, the well known reality show super producer, has gone on record with saying that the Bloodleagues are "a bad investment" and often refuses to let repeats of Bloodleague matches on his channel.
Minor Leagues
Dragon Moot
On Triaxus, the Skyfire Centurions have an annual combat sports competition where the Battleflower warriors show off their skills for the Draconic leadership of the planet. These displays of military prowess are a sort of "sales conference" where various mercenaries who have been trained by the Skyfire Centurions or the Battleflowers can show various corporate clients what they can do. Most of the powerful bodyguards of the various elder dragons are hired at the Dragon Moots. Participating is invitation only.
The Starlight Meditation
Every year, the various solarion masters of the Pact Worlds gather on the Idari's main deck to display their skills. This competition is considered the most important fighting meet up of it's kind due to the important exchange of skills between various styles and practitioners. During the Starlight Meditation, Solarions are granted mastery ranks by the loose organizations who oversee the guidance of the Solarian fighting arts within the Pact Worlds. Particpating organizations in the Starlight Meditation include the Dawn Patrol from the Burning Archipelago, the Knights of Golarion, the Hellknights, and even a few of the Noble Houses of the Drow and Cultists of Aucturn. The participates will meet, fight in one competition, and then teach the crowd the specifics of their technique. No winners or losers are recorded during the competition matches but the most successful fighters tend to attract the most students to their chosen style. Currently, the House of Walking Stars on Verces has had the most success at the Meditation. He-Who-Moves-With-Speed (Male, Kasatha, Solarion, NG) has participated in the Tournament and his "Ibra's Faithful" Teaching methods are currently being adopted in many Solarion monasteries.
I would have to look up my notes, but the main combat sport I created was Blastball, a Vesk team sport. Its kind of like rugby, except with fewer rules on contact, and the ball explodes on a hard impact. You score points by getting the ball into the opponent's goal. . . though you can also win by incapacitating enough opponents that they can't field a full team anymore. Contact rules are basically "you can wallop the guy with the ball as much as you want, but you can't simply strike or tackle other team members".
Plus, since the ball explodes, you have a bunch of additional tactical factors:
1. Deliberately seeking to detonate the ball to reset the play.
2. Deliberately throwing the ball at an opponent, in an attempt to explode it in their face.
3. Scoring a goal automatically detonates it, which means the goalie needs to tank a lot.
4. Scrums are a bad idea, basically asking for the ball to wallop everyone.
The version I ran involved three player teams, but there are several variations in my mind. Three player is the smallest formal version, but there are styles with up to nine players per team. The more players, the more likely there will be a mandatory goal keeper and/or off-sides rules.
OOO! I like!
