Boxing Rules

[IndianaKen]

The campaign I am running is set in 1920's NYC (using CoC 7e). Two of the PCs, Bennie the Boxer and O'Malley the Mobster, have conspired to throw Bennie's next fight. Bennie is going down in the third round, and the pair hope to both clean up and satisfy some issues they have with the Irish Mob. 

Here's the problem, I am unsure how to handle the boxing itself. Normal combat rules should work fine, but can be a bit too lethal. I was thinking of having the boxers inflict half damage due to the gloves and me wanting the fight to be drawn out. One of the things about Bennie is, between his high Fighting (Brawl) skill and massive DB, he can up and kill a man with one good hit, and has several times. Certainly if he pulls his punches all his rolls will suffer a penalty die, possibly two in the third round where he tries to go down. 

However, it would be fun if Bennie KO's his opponent in the second (or even first) round and now has a lot of explaining to do. 

[cjbowser]

Bear in mind the importance of major wounds in CoC7. To really kill somebody a major wound has to be struck, otherwise it's just bruises, contusions, and grazes. So, step 1 would be to mitigate the damage.

Rather than halve the damage, why don't you only have them do their DB in damage. Being a bit of a pugilist myself, I can tell you that with a skilled boxer, the gloves don't do a lot to soften blows. And, with 1920s gloves, they're little better than bare knuckling brawling. However, we're talking narrative here. So, by using only the DB, you're preserving Bennie's strength advantage, but lessening the chance he'll drop somebody in one blow.

Now, if Bennie's planning to throw the fight in the 3rd round, why should he bother rolling in the 3rd round. He goes out, intentionally throws some bad punches and the first of the opponent's punches to land takes him "down."

[SDLeary]

8 hours ago, IndianaKen said:

The campaign I am running is set in 1920's NYC (using CoC 7e). Two of the PCs, Bennie the Boxer and O'Malley the Mobster, have conspired to throw Bennie's next fight. Bennie is going down in the third round, and the pair hope to both clean up and satisfy some issues they have with the Irish Mob. 

Here's the problem, I am unsure how to handle the boxing itself. Normal combat rules should work fine, but can be a bit too lethal. I was thinking of having the boxers inflict half damage due to the gloves and me wanting the fight to be drawn out. One of the things about Bennie is, between his high Fighting (Brawl) skill and massive DB, he can up and kill a man with one good hit, and has several times. Certainly if he pulls his punches all his rolls will suffer a penalty die, possibly two in the third round where he tries to go down. 

However, it would be fun if Bennie KO's his opponent in the second (or even first) round and now has a lot of explaining to do. 

Here is what I would do....

Boxing (and weaponless combat in general) is "Less Lethal". Unless damage above the Major Wound value is scored, it doesn't even tick off HP. Those hits above the MW level are more serious, something along the lines of strong sternum or kidney punches, punches in the gut so hard that they knock you down, or perhaps even broken ribs or arms, or internal injuries. These blows tick off HP as normal, and such a blow should prompt a roll of some type to see if the character is KOed (Con x3??).  A critical drops the opponent, and perhaps kills them.

For Boxing, I would also use the Location chart from BRP, and have them roll 1d10+10 for location. That way if a critical to the head is scored, you know Bennie snapped his opponents neck, etc. 

SDLeary

[IndianaKen]

On January 21, 2016 at 0:08 PM, cjbowser said:

Bear in mind the importance of major wounds in CoC7. To really kill somebody a major wound has to be struck, otherwise it's just bruises, contusions, and grazes. So, step 1 would be to mitigate the damage.

Rather than halve the damage, why don't you only have them do their DB in damage. Being a bit of a pugilist myself, I can tell you that with a skilled boxer, the gloves don't do a lot to soften blows. And, with 1920s gloves, they're little better than bare knuckling brawling. However, we're talking narrative here. So, by using only the DB, you're preserving Bennie's strength advantage, but lessening the chance he'll drop somebody in one blow.

Now, if Bennie's planning to throw the fight in the 3rd round, why should he bother rolling in the 3rd round. He goes out, intentionally throws some bad punches and the first of the opponent's punches to land takes him "down."

This is the lan I will go with, only DB. It will give a longer spiral down and most likely end in a KO if Bennie does too well. Bennie will have to make Fighting rolls in the 3rd round though as he is attempting to make it 'look good' when he goes down. If he succeeds he won't do any damage, just take a hit and fall over realistically. If he fails, it won't be believable and people will talk about how the fix is in (which would put his manager on the spot). A crib fail results in damage to the other guy, risking a KO. The mobsters will nt be happy about that.

[Noita]

I've done a CoC boxing fight before, a long time ago, and kept it simple. A special (20%) knocked the opponent down for a count of ten (1d10) with the damage from the fist added to the dice. A critical was a knockout. Both fighters were skilled and knew what they were doing. Can be a quick knock out or go on for a fair bit. 

[IndianaKen]

The fight went down in last night's session. Bennie vs. Tony 'Lo Stallone' Ramone. The first two rounds went smoothly, hits were exchanged but nothing major, just bruises. In the third, I give Bennie's player a choice, just take the hit and fall over or roll Fighting to make it look good (like a maneuver, not do any damage but make the dive truly believable). Bennie's dice hit the table, 99. Ramon's dice come up...03. Cut to various scenes of the other PCs either watching the fight or listening to it on the radio, and their shocked faces. 

The next day Bennie wakes up in the hospital, his jaw wired shut. O'Malley (the other PC who got Bennie into this mess):

"I'm real sorry for what happened Bennie. Now don't try to talk. The doc says you'll be able to walk and move your arms again if the swelling goes down in your neck, something about a cervical. Anyway, here's your cut, ten percent like we said."

O'Malley slips the roll of money into Bennie's hospital gown and pats him on the chest.

"Take care Bennie, and if you ever get back on your feet, your job is waiting for you."

Bennie spends the next two weeks in the hospital, but makes a full recovery.