Let's Play A Frisbee Game, "Four Corners"

I'd like to talk about another game my kids and I like to play. This is one that we made up on our own that uses a frisbee.

It's sort of like a mini-tournament.  The game starts with 4 players standing in a square, or representing the "four corners".

Finesse and control are the keys to the game.  The idea isn't to make the other players miss the disc entirely.

We play a six strike version.  That means, each player gets six strikes, then they are out.

You get a strike when you attempt to catch the frisbee that another player tossed to you, but instead of catching it, you touch it but drop it or otherwise don't catch it.  That's a strike.

If the toss is uncatchable, meaning that it is out of reach from the point the player who is receiving is standing in their "corner", it's considered a "foul" and the player tossing the frisbee gets  3 fouls.  On the third foul, it becomes a strike.

Remember, the idea isn't to get a clean miss, it's to toss the frisbee in such a way to make the receiver make the attempt/effort to catch it and fail to do so.  This means the tossing player needs to keep it in a catchable range or "in play".

If a player gets six (6) total strikes, they are eliminated from the game.

A player is not charged with a strike if they do not make an obvious attempt to catch a frisbee tossed to them.  If they try to catch it, make contact with it then do not catch it, it's a strike. 

If they do not make an obvious effort to catch the frisbee but it hits them, making contact, it is considered "null".  At that point, the receiving player picks it up and tosses it to the next player with no foul or strike earned for anyone.

As I mentioned before, this game is all about control of the disc.  How well can player A control the speed, velocity and direction of the frisbee to make the recipient try to grab a frisbee that is intentionally thrown to be missed by player B.

Also, each player is allowed to call for a "switch" in game play direction once during the game.  For example, if player A tosses the frisbee to player B then player B tosses to Player C and player C calls "Switch!" and now tosses the frisbee back to player B thus causing the direction of play to change.

It's actually a very fun game that promotes learning control of the frisbee, builds eye-hand coordination and improves dexterity.

A variation of the game is to play one handed, meaning all tosses and catches must be made with only one hand.

As the pace of the game speeds up and players are more confident in their control of the frisbee, games become very fast and require more agility and quick reflexes.

Eragon-izing AD&D 1E

My kids are what brought me back to AD&D after about 20 years of being away.  They love AD&D 1E now that they have gotten to play it.

They also like modern fantasy themes which include the idea of a dragon rider as they saw in Eragon.  Yes, between you and me there ave been numerous "dragon riders" in fantasy fiction before Eragon showed up, but they didn't have movies made about them and get such public interest, at least for my kids.

I have been pondering how to continue with AD&D 1E and adding a dragon rider somehow.  I've talked with others in online forums and read many articles related to the concept.  I've been under the notion that it would be too difficult to make happen.

Then it hit me, AD&D 1E already has a basis for a dragon rider.  A fighter/magic user who is able to employ both abilities at the same time (so to speak).  In AD&D though, it's called a Ranger.

The difference between a Ranger and a Rider is that Riders use Dragon magic which requires no material components.

Of the dragons listed in the Monster Manuals, they won't be able to be ridden as their character has already been established as non ride-able.  I expect to create a type of dragon that is intelligent and interested in sharing a bond with a Rider.  That way, existing dragons within AD&D aren't compromised.

I'll post more on the Dragon Rider development as I go along.  Please feel free to comment with suggestions on how to make the character and related additions fit into the AD&D world as fluidly as possible.