In this week's Field Test, we wrap up a batch of homebrew content for Infinity with custom rules for a fast and furious bloodthirsty party game. Welcome to Channel 9001, home of the completely illegal and utterly insane Infinite Fight Club!
‘Alright, listen up pendejos, because we’ve got a lot to get through and this recycled air is playing havoc with my lungs. Some of you used to be big shots up in Aristeia. The rest of you never even made it that far. But you all have one thing in common: you need money. The good news is, today you get the chance to make some serious cash. The bad news is, you’re gonna have to fight for it. So take a good look at the losers sharing that transport shuttle with you, because the next time you meet ‘em, they’re gonna be going for your throat…’
Osvaldo ‘Peach’ Melba, Showrunner, Channel 9001
Far from the glitz and glamour of Aristeia!, buried under the hype and the post-match interviews, somewhere in a sleazy corner of some filthy orbital slum, a transmitter is pulsing out fat bursts of data. The content of this transmission is relentlessly hyper-violent and totally without boundaries, mana from heaven for those who see the Human Sphere’s mainstream gladiatorial arena as too safe and sanitised.
This is Channel 9001. You’ve probably seen the advert in which a stricken fighter, covered in blood, shrieks “it’s over nine thousand!” before a chainsaw takes his head off. Whether it’s called Channel 9001 because of the meme, or whether it genuinely was the 9001st channel to be registered is unknown. All that matters is that it's home to the Infinite Fight Club, a totally illegal down-market version of Aristeia!
What is Infinite Fight Club?
The last time I attended the Masters, we celebrated the first day by having a not-entirely-sober Deathmatch where loads of players brought a Spec Ops to the table and duked it out in a free-for-all murderfest. It was absolute chaos and a lot of fun.
This is a humble attempt to create something a little more manageable, but perhaps even crazier.
What do I need to know (aside from how long I’ll spend in jail if I watch Channel 9001)?
Infinite Fight Club is designed for 2+ players and is fought on a 2 x 2 table. If you go above 8 players, you might want to try a bigger table. But if pure carnage is what you want, stick with the 2 x 2!
Each player must have 3 dice of a distinct colour, as these will go into the Blind Bag (see below). In each Game Round, dice will be drawn from the bag one at a time and the player designated by the colour of the dice can spend an order on their trooper. Once the order is spent, the next die is drawn. When there are no dice left, the round ends. The game lasts for 4 rounds (but players may decide to play a longer game, if everyone agrees).
You may wish to use tokens instead of dice in the blind bag. Whatever works for you.
Creating Your Fighter!
Each player takes a Spec Ops and is free to spend a number of XP depending on the level of game they want to play:
The Underdog Bid
The player with the fewest XP spent on their fighter gains an extra D20 which they can add to the blind bag at the start of any round. This die can only be added once per game, so you cannot add it every round.
Deployment
Before the game begins, you will need to place 9 Spawn markers which should be 20mm wide. Place one in each corner of the playing area and halfway along each table edge, with a ninth token in the middle. If you have more than 9 players (you crazy fools) use your discretion to place enough spawn points to accommodate players at the start of the game.
You may not use any level of Airborne Deployment, Forward Deployment or Infiltration.
Initiative and deployment
Before you deploy, every player rolls a D20 and compares results in the usual way to determine who gets initiative. In the case of a draw, the trooper with the highest WIP wins. If WIP is the same, the player who spent the fewest XP wins. If this is still a draw, the players who drew must reroll.
The winner can choose one of the following Deployment Patterns:
A: The player who failed the hardest places first. The player who won places last.
B: The player who won places first, the player who failed hardest places last.
Since the game uses a blind bag mechanic for activation order, you do not need to worry about who activates first. That, I am afraid, is down to cruel fate!
Special Rules
In Infinite Fight Club, every trooper has access to the following Special Action:
Time Out! - the trooper must be Engaged. By spending an entire order, the trooper may move 2” in any direction away from the enemy trooper(s) it is engaged by. The trooper must end this movement on a horizontal surface. This is always treated as a Heel Turn (see below).
Combat Drugs
In Infinite Fight Club, participants rely on combat stimulants to keep their edge until the final bell rings. To illustrate this, some game states have a different effect. Stunned and Immobilised game states caused by flash, stun, adhesive ammo, etc, have no effect on the target other than the target suffers a -3 to any face to face rolls. The effect lasts until the end of the turn and is not cumulative. So a model that is glued by adhesive and stunned by flash pulse only suffers a single -3 penalty.
Heel Turns
Some things rub the crowd the wrong way. On Channel 9001, these are known as Heel Turns. If a trooper executes one of the following actions, the crowd will start a derogatory chant and the trooper's performance will suffer. In game terms, the trooper will immediately enter Stunned (-3 to all face to face rolls) state after completing the order.
- Speculative Fire
- Killing an enemy rendered unconscious by another participant
- End an activation further away from any enemy on the table than you were before the activation was made.
- Execute a 'Time Out!' action.
Scoring
In Infinite Fight Club the only way to win is by killing opponents. Players score 1 Objective Point for each enemy they kill. Knocking an enemy unconscious does not count. If you kill an enemy, or achieve a Coup de Grace against an unconscious enemy, you score 1 point.
Troopers that are killed are removed from the game and respawn immediately on a spawn token chosen by the player who controls the trooper that was killed.
Campaigns
In a campaign, every participant creates a trooper using up to 15 XP. Then, you play through a season of events, each event being represented by a single game. For each objective point scored in a single game, you get +1 XP to spend before the next game.
Note that in a campaign, once you have bought an upgrade, you keep it until the end of the campaign. Weapons and items that are disposable are replenshed after each game.
Players should decide on how many events they want. A short 4-event season is pretty manageable. But you can run longer if you like!
We hope you have fun with this! If you come up with any insane builds (and believe me, there are some utterly bonkers ones, especially at MurderMania level) do let us know how they fared!
Also, we’ve been delighted with the constructive feedback we received for our homebrew TAG Deathmatch and Experimental Hacking rules, and the missions we’ve devised (such as 'Under Siege'). Let us know what else you’d like us to smash out.
And remember… if it isn’t over 9000, you’re watching the wrong channel!
Need any tokens? Check out our latest range here!