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Category: Culture, sports
Purpose: To give the Imperium recreational culture that is not simply pillaging and drinking
Summary: The following document explains game of Whack Bat: its origins, rules, scoring, and common terminology.
In the aftermath, as the bodies were collected, it was discovered their somewhat unique wings were good to tan into leather, and a few enterprising beasts decided to use the leather as the outer casing for play balls, which then looked not unlike miniature versions of the bats' corpses rolled up inside their own wings. So similar was the resemblance that the blood fervor grew again, and every ball made of bat leather was promptly destroyed by panicked beasts.
They discovered that this was also fun, and so crafted more balls to destroy, made of other sorts of leathers, or cloth, or coconuts, or gourds. And soon the streets began to come up with rules for scoring, and certain gangs preferred this or that type of bat-ball to whack. Although originally the word "bat" referred to the balls, it eventually grew to reference the game itself, and then simply to name the makeshift wooden clubs used to destroy the balls. "Whack Ball" and "Whack Bat" are both in use today depending on the region of Bully Harbor.
Bounder / Blaggart - The only player allowed to pick up balls with their paws, only when it goes out of bounds or into a Neutral Zone. Their job is mainly to chase balls in these events, but they also start off the game by standing in the opponent's turf and throwing the starting balls. Every time a ball is destroyed, they are sent out of bounds to fetch the next and serve it from the end of the enemy's turf. One on each team.
Blunters / Blighters / Cads - They use four-sided square clubs. In Pro Whack Ball, the sides of the club are concave, to make the edges sharper. Blunters are often the newest team members, as the role is considered easiest. Two on each team.
Rounders / Rotters - They use rounded clubs. Considered the more skilled players. Two on each team.
Spiker / Stinker - The Spiker is the only player who is legally allowed to have a spike in their club. While they excel at destroying inflated balls, a wooden ball can put a Spiker out of commission for the rest of the game. One on each team.
From 1720 to 1722, Pro Whack Ball added a seventh player, the Slicer - also known as the Scoundrel, Sod, or Bleeder. Instead of using a club, they used a cutlass. The position was discontinued due to team and equipment losses. From 1722 to 1732, over half of Whack Ball players were using re-purposed Whack Bats as prosthetics and flaunting the rules of no "touching the ball with your paws" on technicalities.
Split street - a single street with a neutral zone (bisected by another street). Regulation length for each street is then 100 tails, discounting the neutral zone.
Three-way intersection - Three streets that meet in the middle with a neutral zone.
Four-way intersection - Four streets that meet in the middle with a neutral zone.
Five-way intersection, or Roundabout - Five streets that meet in the middle with a neutral zone.
Soft - Usually made from leather with a light filling of dried grass, or a bladder filled with dyed water or other liquids. Rotting melons, gourds, and cabbages can and will also be used, although rarely, because it's hard to find food that's lasted long enough to go bad. Pro Whack Ball often stores these in secret places until they are ready for use.
Plush - Knitted or crafted from wool and other soft cloths, and usually filled with scrap fibers, grass, or anything squishy enough that won't leak out and make the ball damp, such as desiccated insect part and dried offal.
Reinforced - Only naturally-grown coconuts, melons, and gourds; unripened and difficult to break.
Hard - Specially made of hollowed wood or cheap scrap metal, specifically for Pro Whack Ball. Small casks and old wooden mugs with the handle missing may be used by Street Whack Ball.
Trick - Made to be indestructible, usually metal or solid wood. In the event a Trick ball is destroyed, the game is immediately over.
Apart from the balls and bats, Pro Whack Ball is played without any helmets, pauldrons, etc, as it is considered most sporting. Street Whack Ball players, of course, do it just to prove how tough they can be. Only Kit Whack Ball and School Whack Ball players wear helmets and other padded gear, because you just can't trust an uncoordinated dibbun or scholar with anything.
Pro Whack Ball uniforms consist of tan breeches ending just above the knee, and white smocks with the player's initials embroidered on the back, and team logo embroidered on the front. No boots, gloves, or hats are to be worn during play. Upon winning a game, the team must don their Glorious Tricorns, which are made of black leather and draped with a pawkerchief the front two sides, and have large gilt feathers. These are kept in a lockbox, for they are rumoured to have been worn by the First Whack Batters and made from bat-wing leather, and must not be worn more than five minutes before being stored away again for the next team to win. The pawkerchiefs are for the players to give out to their adoring fans.
If a team does not win, the handkerchiefs embroidered for them are set on fire and stomped out by the opposing teams whilst wearing their Glorious Tricorns. It is natural at this time for the winning team to sing their Team Anthem, but not required.
Balls must be destroyed on enemy turf, or else the point is scored against the player's team. In Attack Whack Ball, non-trick balls are added to the game every minute or at the referee's discretion until there are none left, and may be added to the game without the Bounder serving but instead thrown in by lucky audience members or the referees themselves. In normal Whack Ball, balls are added to the game only upon a previous ball being destroyed.
For each point the opponent gains on their turf, the team loses a tail - for every five tails lost, their turf shrinks.
When a team scores twenty-five points, the Trick ball is called into play and is cast into either territory by the Trickster; a specially chosen audience member who will be forever immortalized at the post-game pub crawl. The trick ball cannot spend more than one minute on a team's turf, or else the team forfeits. In single-street games with a singular minute-glass, the team whose turf the ball lands on first is given the first turn, and time is accrued - otherwise, the team's minute glass is turned over every time the Trick ball enters or leaves their territory, or there may be several minute glasses, so that a new minute is always available.
When a team scores fifty points, they are declared the winners, regardless of turf gained.
If a team loses all their turf, they are forfeit.
In street Whack Ball, hitting a statue with a ball and breaking a piece off it is considered a win. In Pro Whack Ball, this practice is officially frowned upon and the team at fault is forfeit.
Crack-Bat* - An obscure rule that has seen a decline in use with the rise of Pro Whack Ball and higher-quality equipment rather than just whatever sticks were lying around in the street, as well as the finicky conditions on which an umpire judges it. The professional standard is this: Crack-Bat is called when a player's bat snaps (either wholly or enough to render the bat 'ineffectual'). If this occurs when the player strikes the ground, another player, themselves, or any other object *not including* a ball, then the player is sent off-field (traditionally to find a new stick and join in the next game). However, if the player's bat snaps *whilst having struck a ball on that swing that snapped it* and *not having struck any player on that swing*, then the Crack-Bat player's team is awarded the victory, and the game is ended.
Teams have been known to attempt to game this rule by having at least one player with a previously damaged bat, or one made out of some brittle substance disguised as wood, and have them deliberately whiff swings until they could get a perfect Crack-Bat. More stringent inspections, and the 'Three Whiffs' rule that benches a player for half the game if they are seen to be deliberately failing to whack, have mostly killed this exploit.
Trick-Bat - If a Crack-Bat occurs on the Trick Ball, the team instantly loses the game and may be officially and permanently disbanded.
(* Crack Bat ruling courtesy of Darragh!)
For Bounders:
For Batters:
All Players:
Soft Penalty: Each player is awarded three soft penalties at the start. If all three are spent, they are given a full penalty.
For Bounders:
For Batters:
All Players:
Purpose: To give the Imperium recreational culture that is not simply pillaging and drinking
Summary: The following document explains game of Whack Bat: its origins, rules, scoring, and common terminology.
WHACK BALL
History:
The Imperium's finest sport, Whack Ball - or Whack Bat as it is sometimes referred to - was invented during a particular peculiar invasion of leather-winged creatures from the MSC, known as "bats". The creatures arrived by boat and were immediately set upon by Imperium residents, who feared for their lives. The horrifically disfigured faces of the rodent-like invaders were the prime concern, followed by their ability to fly and roost in tall buildings, where it was believed they were a threat to the local gull population. Citizens were urged to take up any means necessary to remove the infestation.History:
In the aftermath, as the bodies were collected, it was discovered their somewhat unique wings were good to tan into leather, and a few enterprising beasts decided to use the leather as the outer casing for play balls, which then looked not unlike miniature versions of the bats' corpses rolled up inside their own wings. So similar was the resemblance that the blood fervor grew again, and every ball made of bat leather was promptly destroyed by panicked beasts.
They discovered that this was also fun, and so crafted more balls to destroy, made of other sorts of leathers, or cloth, or coconuts, or gourds. And soon the streets began to come up with rules for scoring, and certain gangs preferred this or that type of bat-ball to whack. Although originally the word "bat" referred to the balls, it eventually grew to reference the game itself, and then simply to name the makeshift wooden clubs used to destroy the balls. "Whack Ball" and "Whack Bat" are both in use today depending on the region of Bully Harbor.
The Game - Players:
Each team must have six players on the field at all times, or forfeit. A team can have benched players in reserve or to act as time clerks. A benched player can only go into play if another player on their team is too injured to continue playing, or forfeits their spot to take care of nature.Bounder / Blaggart - The only player allowed to pick up balls with their paws, only when it goes out of bounds or into a Neutral Zone. Their job is mainly to chase balls in these events, but they also start off the game by standing in the opponent's turf and throwing the starting balls. Every time a ball is destroyed, they are sent out of bounds to fetch the next and serve it from the end of the enemy's turf. One on each team.
Blunters / Blighters / Cads - They use four-sided square clubs. In Pro Whack Ball, the sides of the club are concave, to make the edges sharper. Blunters are often the newest team members, as the role is considered easiest. Two on each team.
Rounders / Rotters - They use rounded clubs. Considered the more skilled players. Two on each team.
Spiker / Stinker - The Spiker is the only player who is legally allowed to have a spike in their club. While they excel at destroying inflated balls, a wooden ball can put a Spiker out of commission for the rest of the game. One on each team.
From 1720 to 1722, Pro Whack Ball added a seventh player, the Slicer - also known as the Scoundrel, Sod, or Bleeder. Instead of using a club, they used a cutlass. The position was discontinued due to team and equipment losses. From 1722 to 1732, over half of Whack Ball players were using re-purposed Whack Bats as prosthetics and flaunting the rules of no "touching the ball with your paws" on technicalities.
The Game - Territories:
Street - a single street, no neutral zone. Regulation is 200 tails in length, but may be shorter or longer for pick-up games.Split street - a single street with a neutral zone (bisected by another street). Regulation length for each street is then 100 tails, discounting the neutral zone.
Three-way intersection - Three streets that meet in the middle with a neutral zone.
Four-way intersection - Four streets that meet in the middle with a neutral zone.
Five-way intersection, or Roundabout - Five streets that meet in the middle with a neutral zone.
The Game - Balls:
A regulation Whack Ball must be larger than a ripe apple, but smaller than a ripe pumpkin.Soft - Usually made from leather with a light filling of dried grass, or a bladder filled with dyed water or other liquids. Rotting melons, gourds, and cabbages can and will also be used, although rarely, because it's hard to find food that's lasted long enough to go bad. Pro Whack Ball often stores these in secret places until they are ready for use.
Plush - Knitted or crafted from wool and other soft cloths, and usually filled with scrap fibers, grass, or anything squishy enough that won't leak out and make the ball damp, such as desiccated insect part and dried offal.
Reinforced - Only naturally-grown coconuts, melons, and gourds; unripened and difficult to break.
Hard - Specially made of hollowed wood or cheap scrap metal, specifically for Pro Whack Ball. Small casks and old wooden mugs with the handle missing may be used by Street Whack Ball.
Trick - Made to be indestructible, usually metal or solid wood. In the event a Trick ball is destroyed, the game is immediately over.
The Game - Gear and Uniforms:
Bats must be made of wood. Street Whack Ball bats are most often things like table and chair legs, stolen Fogey truncheons, stolen belaying pins, and whatever Good Sticks are found in the city's parks and outskirts or washed up on the beach. Pro Whack Ball bats are made by a singular company these days, and fashioned with love, care, and spite by a trio of carpenters who all loathe each other but love the game. Each carpenter crafts a set number of bats per year and marks each one, and these are highly sought after collectors items once they have seen play in an official game.Apart from the balls and bats, Pro Whack Ball is played without any helmets, pauldrons, etc, as it is considered most sporting. Street Whack Ball players, of course, do it just to prove how tough they can be. Only Kit Whack Ball and School Whack Ball players wear helmets and other padded gear, because you just can't trust an uncoordinated dibbun or scholar with anything.
Pro Whack Ball uniforms consist of tan breeches ending just above the knee, and white smocks with the player's initials embroidered on the back, and team logo embroidered on the front. No boots, gloves, or hats are to be worn during play. Upon winning a game, the team must don their Glorious Tricorns, which are made of black leather and draped with a pawkerchief the front two sides, and have large gilt feathers. These are kept in a lockbox, for they are rumoured to have been worn by the First Whack Batters and made from bat-wing leather, and must not be worn more than five minutes before being stored away again for the next team to win. The pawkerchiefs are for the players to give out to their adoring fans.
If a team does not win, the handkerchiefs embroidered for them are set on fire and stomped out by the opposing teams whilst wearing their Glorious Tricorns. It is natural at this time for the winning team to sing their Team Anthem, but not required.
The Game - Scoring:
Soft Ball - 1 point
Plush Ball - 2 points
Reinforced Ball - 3 points
Hard Ball - 4 points
Trick Ball - Instant win
Crack Bat - Instant win
Trick Bat - Instant loss
Soft Ball - 1 point
Plush Ball - 2 points
Reinforced Ball - 3 points
Hard Ball - 4 points
Trick Ball - Instant win
Crack Bat - Instant win
Trick Bat - Instant loss
Balls must be destroyed on enemy turf, or else the point is scored against the player's team. In Attack Whack Ball, non-trick balls are added to the game every minute or at the referee's discretion until there are none left, and may be added to the game without the Bounder serving but instead thrown in by lucky audience members or the referees themselves. In normal Whack Ball, balls are added to the game only upon a previous ball being destroyed.
For each point the opponent gains on their turf, the team loses a tail - for every five tails lost, their turf shrinks.
When a team scores twenty-five points, the Trick ball is called into play and is cast into either territory by the Trickster; a specially chosen audience member who will be forever immortalized at the post-game pub crawl. The trick ball cannot spend more than one minute on a team's turf, or else the team forfeits. In single-street games with a singular minute-glass, the team whose turf the ball lands on first is given the first turn, and time is accrued - otherwise, the team's minute glass is turned over every time the Trick ball enters or leaves their territory, or there may be several minute glasses, so that a new minute is always available.
When a team scores fifty points, they are declared the winners, regardless of turf gained.
If a team loses all their turf, they are forfeit.
In street Whack Ball, hitting a statue with a ball and breaking a piece off it is considered a win. In Pro Whack Ball, this practice is officially frowned upon and the team at fault is forfeit.
Crack-Bat* - An obscure rule that has seen a decline in use with the rise of Pro Whack Ball and higher-quality equipment rather than just whatever sticks were lying around in the street, as well as the finicky conditions on which an umpire judges it. The professional standard is this: Crack-Bat is called when a player's bat snaps (either wholly or enough to render the bat 'ineffectual'). If this occurs when the player strikes the ground, another player, themselves, or any other object *not including* a ball, then the player is sent off-field (traditionally to find a new stick and join in the next game). However, if the player's bat snaps *whilst having struck a ball on that swing that snapped it* and *not having struck any player on that swing*, then the Crack-Bat player's team is awarded the victory, and the game is ended.
Teams have been known to attempt to game this rule by having at least one player with a previously damaged bat, or one made out of some brittle substance disguised as wood, and have them deliberately whiff swings until they could get a perfect Crack-Bat. More stringent inspections, and the 'Three Whiffs' rule that benches a player for half the game if they are seen to be deliberately failing to whack, have mostly killed this exploit.
Trick-Bat - If a Crack-Bat occurs on the Trick Ball, the team instantly loses the game and may be officially and permanently disbanded.
(* Crack Bat ruling courtesy of Darragh!)
The Game - Penalties:
A penalty results in the player being removed from the game and replaced with another team mate. If no team mates are left to replace them, the team forfeits.For Bounders:
- Punching or clawing any of the opposing team's players. (Kicking and tripping is allowed.)
For Batters:
- Dropping your Whack Bat.
- Touching the ball with your paws.
- Breaking an opposing team's bat with your own.
- Kicking any of the opposing team's players.
All Players:
- Any player who purposefully puts their face in the way of a swing to try and force a Skim or Wheeze.
Soft Penalty: Each player is awarded three soft penalties at the start. If all three are spent, they are given a full penalty.
For Bounders:
- Touching the ball with your paws when it's not out of bounds or in a neutral zone.
- Purposefully throwing a ball at someone's head.
For Batters:
- Hitting an opposing team's batter's in the paws with your bat and causing them drop their bat as a result. Referees may call the penalty to either side, as some players may purposefully drop their bats to get the offending player in trouble.
- Hitting an opposing player in the Unmentionables. Becomes a full penalty if the injury results in them leaving the game. (Note that a Bounder is perfectly allowed to kick someone there.)
All Players:
- Striking anyone on any team in the tail. It simply isn't done.
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(Some) Common Terminology:
(Some) Common Terminology:
- Scuffle - a game with two teams playing
- Pile-on, Riot - a game with three or more teams playing
- An Historical - a game with five teams playing
- Territory - the entire playing field
- Street - the entire playing field if only two teams are playing without a middle neutral zone
- Circus - the entire playing field if only two teams are playing with a middle neutral zone
- Pigeon Foot, Sandwich - the entire playing field if three teams are playing
- Gran's Funeral, Morning, Upstairs - the entire playing field if four or more teams are playing
- Prude, Gawker, Fifty-Pointer, Sundial, Tub - any notable landmark in the middle of an intersection, usually a statue of someone famous and important, but sometimes a fountain or well
- Crossroads - the neutral zone between team's turf, the intersection of their respective streets
- Wagon, Cart, Porter - if a player or referee shouts "Wagon" the game is on time out until the wagon passes or the referee finishes making their ruling, or the player comes back from the loo
- Turf - the scoring zone for each team
- Tail - the length of an adult fox's tail, used to measure turf size. Pro Whack Ball territory is 200 tails long.
- The Scurry, The Scoot, The Scamper, Cast Off (Naval leagues) - The start of the game, when the Bounders first serve the starting balls.
- Privy, Head, Cad's Mate, Your Gran - a soft ball
- (K)nitwit, Ninny, Git, Stinker's Mate, My Gran (Derisive) - a plush ball
- Delivery, Crate, Nutter, Kook, Shot (1750s), My Gran (Proud) - a reinforced or hard ball
- Jig, Jester, Rotter's Mate - the trick ball
- Slimeball, Scuzzball, Blood Pudding, Grape/Grapeshot (1760s) - anything thrown into the territory by the audience to distract the players
- Fuzzball - a dibbun thrown into the territory by the audience to distract the players. (Note such occurrence does not pause the game)
- Sinker - a ball which has fallen into a well or fountain. If irretrievable, the point is awarded to the last to hit it. Score is not attributed if the Sinker is the Trick ball.
- Supper - a game played with a single minute-glass, where Trick ball time is not reset to the full minute upon the Trick ball being removed from the turf.
- Sun, Moon, Tide, Gull, Snitch, Li'l Brother/Sister, Clerk - The player, referee, or volunteer who watches the Trick ball and turns a fresh minute-glass over or starts counting out loud when it crosses into new territory.
- Skimmer, Wheeze - The unlikely but surprisingly often event in which a bat narrowly misses another player, but comes close enough to clip and detach a whisker.
- Skimmers, Wheezers - the fans who scour the playing field for detached whiskers and argue about whose it might belong to. A Pro Whack Ball player's whisker is a collector's item which can be worth hundreds of gilders, and many players may purposefully try to tug their whiskers before a game or pluck and re-fit to make sure they fall off, in exchange for a percentage of the sale.
- Cheek - a player who purposefully gets themselves smashed in the face trying to force a Skim or Wheeze.
- Biscuit, Crisp - A game won through a Crack-Bat victory.
- Crab - A game ended by Trick-Bat.
- Sogger, Dipper - A player who is penalized for a Crack-Bat.
- Wings - the pawkerchief's worn upon the winner's hats or set on fire and stamped on by the winning team.
- Mums - any outside source which calls for the cancellation of the game; weather, Fogeys, Stoatorian Guard, a player's mum, etc.
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