Becoming Monsters: Tidbits 07

Suddenly, a man walked out onto the stage. Todd glanced down at his watch, it was about that time. Looking around the field had made the remaining minutes fly past. The man was speaking. "Welcome everyone! I am Mr. Harrison, and I will be overseeing the first annual Development League!"

There was a brief applause. Todd remembered him, vaguely, from the Orientation a couple days prior. The impression had not changed, he still looked like an all-American football star who let himself go slightly to seed.

"The League will be held throughout the school year, and will serve to integrate most extracurricular competitions into one overarching goal: to make sure each of you are pushing yourselves to excel! We will mostly not have set teams. The League score is calculated individually. Some small prizes exist at the end, but let's be real. The biggest ones are bragging rights." There was laughter from the crowd. "There are several ways to gain points for yourself, but in general they come from events where you have at least two teams of five or more competing, or at least sixteen individuals."

He reached into his pocket to grab a remote and hit it. The two screens to the sides lit up with a simple animation showing people competing in team sports.

"Five points per person on the winning team. One to the loser, three for a tie. On individual competitions, the three-point score goes to second and third place. These will adjust for particularly large competitions. Events must be approved and observed by staff to count. Oh, and the exciting part. All events will allow and encourage the use of Race and Class abilities."

There were murmurs in the crowd over this news. He hit another button, and this time the animation changed. A man kicking a soccer ball was being defended by a shield-casting mage, fire from a dragon deflecting off the barrier.

"In general, as long as an ability does not maim or kill competitors, does not harm bystanders, and does not invalidate the nature of the game itself? It is usable. Just let the judges have your list for approval before go time. All teams may have one additional off-field teammate for preparation, recovery, or other similar things. They will score just like their teammates."

The murmurs got deadly quiet. This completely changed the nature of everything they thought possible.

"We have one more thing to add for scoring. Every Class Level you gain during the year will give you ten points at the end, as long as you are passing all classes. If you are failing anything, or on any kind of probation, you may neither participate nor assist. Now, to show you all how this will work. The next thirty minutes will be your opportunity to get your initial placements." There was a clatter, and the people at the tables started setting out games and equipment.

"Go. Go and select your game or games. Play hard and give it everything you got, whether or not you thought it was allowed before. We want to see the very best you can do, and you can't do that with one hand tied behind your back. Three of you will walk away today with five points, six more with three each. Everyone else here will get one."

Todd looked around and saw several likely candidates for what he might be able to do. Chess. Video games. Cards. Trivia. He had to stay away from the physical games for now, the people here would likely steamroll him. Maybe he could get those support slots?

Wait. The scoring structure. There are some oddities with it...

His thoughts were interrupted. "Ready? BEGIN!"