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Khaelieth
Learned Scribe
103 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 09:04:36
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Out of curiosity, what kind of sports are played in the Realms? I'm presuming they're Realms-specific, but do they have their own kinds of rugby, cricket etc?
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Also known on other forums as ChazSexington, Kusghuul, and Claudius.
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IngoDjan
Learned Scribe
Brazil
146 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 11:43:32
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| In my game, Cormyr has a champioship of lacrosse. Each big city has a team. This is the far I was. |
Ingo Djan
DUNGEON MASTER AO OF THE DIAMONDS!"I see the future repeat the past. It all is a museum of great news. The Time do not stop." |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 12:18:14
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I have a vague feeling that this question was given to Ed at one time. I cant remember when and if he has answered it though. Any one else with a better memory than mine?
Ballgames, various races, strength-competitions and throwing/archery games would be among the more widely seen I would guess. |
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Pandora
Learned Scribe
Germany
305 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 13:52:35
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I dont think ballgames have a big following because people are probably too busy to work for their survival to practice anything that isnt related to this specific job. You would also need a playing field for them and having something like this might be a bit complicated if this area is used only for "sports". So I would think- horse / camel races in areas where these animals are used as mounts by the majority,
- rowing contests in larger ports,
- "hide&seek games" in forests (not really "sports", but a pastime and practice for life),
- archery contests for hunting societies,
- "thinking games" with small stones and tokens for cultures with midday siesta or long winter nights,
- bigger cities might have "serious" competitions between city districts or guilds (Horserace and other contests),
- ...
would be a good general list.
There are quite a lot of competitions which are practiced in our world which would seem reasonable as "practice in a game" - like Rodeo - but which probably wouldnt fit into Fantasy because you need a pretty good timekeeping device to judge it. Races and "shooting competitions" are probably easiest to judge. |
If you cant say what youre meaning,
you can never mean what youre saying.
- Centauri Minister of Intelligence, Babylon 5 |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 13:53:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Khaelieth
Out of curiosity, what kind of sports are played in the Realms? I'm presuming they're Realms-specific, but do they have their own kinds of rugby, cricket etc?
Seems like there was something about Realms version of certain sports in Ask Ed 2004 and 2005. |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 14:38:38
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There are indeed tidbits from Ed in the '04 and '05 compiled reply files.
A few other references that immediately come to mind:-
Counselors & Kings notes that Halruaans apparently hold skyship regattas.
The DRAGON #320 June '04 issue details the other sport-type games:- 'Over the Hurdles', 'Hardriders', and 'Throwknife' in the "Roaring Dragon House" article. [It's also the article that describes "Zzar wrestling." Despite my best efforts however, I've never been able to persuade the Lady K to try it.] 
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 12 Aug 2008 14:39:34 |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 14:48:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Pandora
I dont think ballgames have a big following because people are probably too busy to work for their survival to practice anything that isnt related to this specific job. You would also need a playing field for them and having something like this might be a bit complicated if this area is used only for "sports".
Not really. You need one stuffed piece of leather and a group of people to kick, throw and catch the same in a relatively open area. Ballgames were common in ancient and medieval Europe (therefore the ban in England to promote archery) and life for farmers in the Realms is generally easier.
Festivals, market days and various holy days with gatherings could easily include larger group games. |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 15:03:43
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The is a game by the name of "The Ball Game" in Maztica (which will no longer exist now because of its dissapearance).
Iny my campaign, one of the PCs (a dwarf) played on a visit there and I made it a skill (3E) and he made a team of Moradin worshipping dwarves to play the game back on Faerun, challenging teams from other faiths (in particular, the temple of Tymora which he had a grudge with due to some events that led to its temple's destruction in Waterdeep). |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36885 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 15:23:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
quote:
Originally posted by Pandora
I dont think ballgames have a big following because people are probably too busy to work for their survival to practice anything that isnt related to this specific job. You would also need a playing field for them and having something like this might be a bit complicated if this area is used only for "sports".
Not really. You need one stuffed piece of leather and a group of people to kick, throw and catch the same in a relatively open area. Ballgames were common in ancient and medieval Europe (therefore the ban in England to promote archery) and life for farmers in the Realms is generally easier.
Festivals, market days and various holy days with gatherings could easily include larger group games.
I agree. And in any relatively safe area -- even something as small as a disused courtyard or a village square -- kids are going to gather and invent their own games. Some of these games they will remember and carry on into adulthood.
One fantasy series I've always enjoyed, the Riftwar Saga and its sequels, had a sport analogous to soccer evolve that way. It started as "barrel ball", a disorganized game that involved kicking a leather ball stuffed with rags into a barrel. It was played on days off by boys, mostly teenagers. The game continued like that for generations, until the Prince of Krondor, tired of having all his squires get mauled in the game, asked his Master of Ceremonies (to whom all the squires reported) to write up formal rules for the game. Within a generation of that, it had become an organized sport, with guild-sponsored teams and an actual stadium for game play. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 18:47:59
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I could see Quidditch being played in Halruaa. 
And of course the Goliaths are always up for a good game of Goat Ball. 
I could see Orc Tribes forming teams and playing something akin to American Football - I guess I spent too much time watching Games Worshop Bloodbowl Games.
I used to (YEARS ago) have trolls that would play Fairy darts...
it was VERY messy, and usually didn't end well for the Fairy.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 12 Aug 2008 18:49:26 |
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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2008 : 00:11:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
And of course the Goliaths are always up for a good game of Goat Ball.
Indeed. I was quite pleased at the opportunity to put a kukanath kuth sequence in DoM.
On that note, I might say that prior to his exile, the goliath Gargan the Dispossessed was a remarkable goat ball player, such that one of his previous names (from his youth) was "Thaninkoama," which means "summit-champion." When he grew up he became "Goluumkamkak," which means "stone-slayer," and he was named "Vathkelke" ("lost-by-choice") in his exile.
And for what might be construed as a minor Depths of Madness spoiler:
(For her part, Twilight has participated in exactly one game of goat ball at Gargan's insistence--and that didn't end so well for her. But that's a story for another day.  )
Cheers
*Note: As this is the Sages of Realmslore section, I will note that goat ball and the goliaths playing it (such as noted above) is canonical, but that aspect of Gargan's past has not been much discussed in canonical sources, and my own study and construction of the Faerunian dialect of Gol-kaa (the goliath language) is not canonical, per-se (you can find some of it in Tom and my article on Goliaths in the Realms, here on Candlekeep). These tidbits are extrapolatory.
Just adding that disclaimer.
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Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
Edited by - Erik Scott de Bie on 13 Aug 2008 00:13:43 |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2008 : 00:55:45
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| I wonder if in the Great Glacier the inhabitants chase after a hard disk of vulcanized rubber with a wooden stick... |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
Edited by - Alisttair on 13 Aug 2008 00:56:19 |
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MerrikCale
Senior Scribe
USA
947 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2008 : 03:36:06
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| i have always wanted to be a professional tic-tac-toe player so.... |
When hinges creak in doorless chambers and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls, whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still, that is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight. |
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Khaelieth
Learned Scribe
103 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2008 : 08:12:26
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I did find a reference in RoF yesterday; elves hunted/hunt mountain orcs for sport.
But what's goat ball? Got this image of American football played with ram horns on their helmets. |
Also known on other forums as ChazSexington, Kusghuul, and Claudius.
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Yuen
Acolyte
Austria
22 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2008 : 20:49:55
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I got this image of football with a goat as a ball and 22 Goliaths chasing after it  |
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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 18 Aug 2008 : 16:41:15
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Goat ball is a sport similar to . . . hmm . . . the nearest parallel we have in the real world is rugby mixed with dodgeball, maybe? Hmm. Sort of.
Goliaths (or the hapless adventurers participating) climb up on these small platforms (boulders, tree-stumps, etc) and hurl around this poorly-filled, lumpy sack about the size of a football (made from goat skin). Objectives in the game include completing passes with the awkward goat-hide ball (the more misshapen the better, actually), knocking opposing players off platforms with well placed throws, or just shoving them off (particularly if no one's looking). A team wins if they've knocked all their opponents to the ground or tagged them all with the ball (which makes a player "out").
It's all detailed on page 59 of Races of Stone.
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
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Sports in the Realms
