Stadiums are fascinating places, particularly for people-watching. Often people go to a sporting event less to watch the event itself than to watch the other spectators. Young and old, rich and barely scraping by, families and loners: all sorts go to stadiums. Of course, the groups do segregate themselves, which is also interesting to watch-the rich buy box seats or front-row season tickets, while the working- class get seats up in the nosebleed section. Groups of college students or other young adults cluster together, usually in the cheap seats, while more elderly attendees huddle together in the back where they don’t have to walk far to their seats. Families often go with other families, creating a single Large mass, while loners find seats by themselves and sit curled up to avoid attracting attention.

Stadiums are also interesting because they showcase athletic ability. People pay to watch baseball, basketball, football, or any other sport, to see the athletes handling themselves with speed, strength, and grace. Most sports are competitive, and some attendees get in to that aspect, rooting for their teams and shouting insults at their rivals. Others use the event as a chance to get out of the house, either alone or with others, and to distract themselves from regular concerns. Likewise some people bet on sporting events and watch each game tensely, hoping to make money off a particular team’s success or failure.

Stadiums follow the same basic shape, regardless of their size or the spore (or sports) they feature. Every stadium has a rounded rectangular or squashed oval floor plan, with the arena at the center. The arena is easily tl1e largest space in the stadium, and around it on all sides are the seats, which recede as they rise, so that the highest seats are also the farthest away. In many stadiums some of the lower seats are boxed off for special groups – often a set of small rooms sits just below the highest group of seats, and these rooms have fancier accommodations, including comfortable couches, private restrooms, and fully stocked bars.

Most stadiums have several gates or doors at ground level, each one leading to elevators, escalators, ramps, or a combination of the three. Since stadiums are designed to hold large numbers of people, they have to handle large numbers entering and exiting all at once, and having so many different access points helps distribute the people more evenly.

Another feature of every stadium is the players areas. In most cases, these are rooms containing rows of lockers, divided by benches, plus showers and lavatory facilities, but sometimes they contain only a bench and a small restroom, particularly in smaller stadiums. Nonetheless, every stadium has some place for the participants to go before and after the event, and these places are close to the arena and have direct access to it.

There are an open-air stadiums (primarily for football, soccer, and baseball) and covered ones (for any kind of sport). If it has a field, it might real grass or artificial. If it’s more suited for indoor sports, often basketball, indoor soccer, and hockey can use the same arena simply by covering the court with appropriate material.

Lights flooding the field with illumination are expensive additions to the stadium, but they can extend the time in which the structure can be used by several hours.

Stadiums are excellent places to hold a clandestine deal or meeting, since with that many people around, it’s easy to conduct business unnoticed, and it’s easy to disappear into the crowd. At the same time, stadiums are also ideal targets because so many people are gathered in one place for several hours at a time.

Sports and Their Skills

The following is a selection of sporting activities and the suggested skills used by their players. Game Masters should require that the character has scholar: (specialty sport) in order to properly use the skills required by that sport.

Otherwise, the character either rakes a difficulty modifier or must use know-how (if she has it) as a complimentary multi-action attempt with a Moderate to Difficult know-how difficulty to figure out what to do next.

+ Baseball: acrobatics (sliding), running, melee combat (batting), throwing (throwing, catching)

+ Basketball: jumping, running, throwing (passing, shooting or dunking a basket); also useful: dodge

+ Bowling: throwing

+ Boxing: brawling, dodge

+ Football: brawling (tackling, blocking), running, throwing (passing, kicking, catching); also useful: acrobatics, dodge, jumping, lifting

+ Golf: melee combat

+ Hockey: acrobatics (skating), brawling, melee combat (catching and passing the puck)

+ Lacrosse: running, missile weapons (for catching and throwing the ball); also usefal: dodge

+ Polo: melee combat, riding

+ Soccer: running, throwing (kicking, headbutting; goalie – for catching the ball)

+ Tennis: running, melee combat

+ Volleyball: throwing; also useful: acrobatics

Don’t Miss …

The Sunburst Stadium is a typical large minor-league open-air stadium and focuses on the Sunbirds football team. The stadium is a large oval structure, with the field dominating at the center. Around that are the seats, with various stairs and elevators providing access to them. Beyond the seats are the hallways, which include several rooms and spaces for concession stands and souvenir shops. Information desks are spaced out around the stadium, as are security checkpoints. On the first floor are the ticket counters (near each entrance), the manager’s office, and the main security office. Locker rooms are situated under the seats, just off of the field itself

Things to See

+ Sports equipment (as appropriate for the sport being played – baseballs, baseball bats, basketballs, soccer balls, footballs, protective gear, etc.)

+ Waxed paper cups bearing the logo of the main soda pop being served

+ Red hot dogs, topped with ketchup and mustard, in lightly browned buns on white paper holders

+ Red plastic baskets lined with paper and filled with crispy fried potato strips or rings

+ Clear plastic bags of lightly colored cotton candy

+ Souvenirs bearing rhe logo (and/or the mascot) of the teams playing, as well as the other teams in the league (stiff cloth-like pennants on wooden or plastic sticks; small helmets; shirts; mugs; pencils; postcards; event books; sear cushions; plastic water bottles; etc.)

+ Handheld radios used by spectators to better understand what’s happening on the field

+ Black binoculars

People to Meet

Most stadiums have ticket-takers, booth attendants, concessions, grounds crew, maintenance workers, security, and the manager – in addition to the athletes and their team assistants and managers. Everyone should have average attributes of 2D, with at lease one pip in scholar: sports, and everyone except security has +1 in business. The concession workers have +2 or more in charm or persuasion, and the manager has 3D in business. Security has +1D in melee combat, marksmanship, search, and tracking.

Athlete: Reflexes 2D, acrobatics 2D+1, brawling 2D+2, dodge 2D+2, jumping 2D+2, melee combat 2D+2, Coordination 2D, throwing 2D+2, Physique 2D, lifting 2D+2, running 2D+2, swimming 2D+2, Knowledge 1D+2, scholar: baseball 3D , scholar: basketball 3D , scholar: football 3D, Perception 2D, search 2D+1, Presence 2D, charm 2D+1, willpower 2D+1. Move: 10. Strength Damage: 1D. Body Points: 12. Wound levels: 2.

Things to Do

+ The big game is chis weekend, and the players’ character have great seats. But then they hear a rumor that the game might be canceled, because the stadium might be shut down. What’s going on? The stadium’s been doing great business – every game has been packed – so why would it be closing? 1he characters can’t let this happen – nothing can stand in the way of chis weekend’s game!

+ A major drug deal is going down this week- end. 1he players’ characters know where and when it’ll take place. The problem is, you don’t know who’s involved – both sides have large organizations and could send almost anyone. The meet is caking place at the stadium, during a game. Ir’s perfect cover. With so many people around, how can the characters possibly keep an eye on everything, much less figure out who the dealer is and get there in rime to stop the deal from taking place?

+ A madman has taken control of the stadium. He has a bomb scrapped to his chest, and threatens to detonate it if anyone interferes – and it looks like the bomb may be powerful enough to level the entire stadium and kill everyone inside! But the players’ character can’t just lee him get away with this, especially since there’s no guarantee he won’t snap and detonate it anyway. The characters have to get in there and rescue all chose people.