---
title: SPORTS HORSE 3.0
author: dozens
date: 2023-07-31
toc-title: Contents
status: draft
version: 0.3.0
fontsize: 20px
---

## ABOUT

You are an equiludologist.
A student of Horse Sports.
You also have a gambling problem.
Your goal is to build a stable full of the finest Sports Horses possible.

In this game you will:

- Create horses
- Build their spirit
- Compete in daring sports
- Bet on your horses
- Win fabulous prizes
- Horse cloning! 

## YOU WILL NEED

- These instructions!

- A whole bunch of six-sided dice. Like maybe 12 or more.

- Maybe some pen and paper to chronicle the adventures of your horses.

## STYLES OF PLAY

1. TIMED: Play two rounds of 3 Horse Sports and see how wonderful are your horses

2. FREE PLAY: Play forever, just you and your horses.

3. SOLO: Play by yourself!

4. AMONG FRIENDS: Play with others.

## GETTING STARTED

To make a horse,
use the tables below to determine your horse's Qualities by giving them a Type.
Then give them a Look and a Name.
Finally, gather up your dice for your Spirit pool.

## HORSE QUALITIES

Every horse has three basic qualities.
Your Horse Type will tell you what your horse is naturally good at.
(And not-so-good at.)

1. RAZZLEDAZZLE: speed, agility, precision, showmanship

2. GUMPTION: brawn, boldness, initiative, aggressiveness

3. MOXIE: cunning, smarts, know-how, insight

## HORSE TYPE

Roll or choose a Horse Type and note your Horse Quality modifiers.

d6 TYPE          GUMPTION RAZZLEDAZZLE MOXIE
-- ----          -------- ------------ -----
1  Draft horse    2         1             0
2  Stallion       2        0              1
3  Unicorn        0         1             2
4  Pony           0        2              1
5  Mustang         1        0             2
6  Quarter horse   1        2             0

## HORSE LOOK

To determine the look of your horse, choose or roll (twice) on the table below for Base Color and Markings.

d6  BASE COLOR   MARKINGS
--  ----------   -----------------
1   Black        None
2   White        White stockings and blaze
3   Gray         White splotches
4   Red          White spots
5   Brown        Black dots
6   Tan          Star


## HORSE NAME

Roll d6 to determine how many times
to roll on the tables below.

d6     Roll...
---    ----------
1 - 3  Adjective Noun
4 - 6  Adjective Adjective Noun

### d66 Adjective

Roll 2d6 and read them in order from left to right to create a two digit number between 11 and 66. e.g. if you roll a 2 and a 4, that is 24.

d66   ADJECTIVE        d66    ADJECTIVE
----  ----------       ----   ---------------
11    Bucket Of        41     Too Much
12    We Bought The    42     Eldritch
13    Exceptional      43     Her Imperial Majesty's
14    Understood       44     The People's
15    Electric         45     Coal Miner's Daughter's
16    Lunar            46     Your Very Own
21    Wild             51     Randy
22    Soupy            52     Clever
23    Balanced         53     Punctual
24    What             54     My Favorite
25    Humble           55     Effectual
26    Tropical         56     Reliable
31    Proud            61     Mister
32    Give Them        62     Doctor
33    Let Them Eat     63     Eventual
34    Perfect          64     Naked
35    Handsome         65     Soaking
36    Ugly             66     Blistering



### d66 Noun

d66   NOUN            d66  NOUN     
---   ---------       ---  ---------
11    Wizard          41   Commitment
12    Apple           42   Ransom
13    Farm            43   For The People
14    Dancer          44   For The Win
15    Cheese          45   In A Box
16    Shrubbery       46   Under The Sea
21    Panic           51   Filibuster
22    Chocolate       52   Know It All
23    Horror          53   Bluster
24    Queen           54   Tornado
25    Tropic          55   Gravity
26    Thunder         56   Mess
31    Pride           61   Aristocrat
32    Holiday         62   Royalty
33    Hangover        63   Slander
34    Cake            64   Twenties
35    Smoke           65   Hope
36    Echo            66   Science

## HORSE SPIRIT

Start every game with a pool of at least nine dice.
This is your Spirit pool.
It represents your horse's wild, untamed, noble essence.

At some point,
you will choose to gamble away your horse's Spirit in order to win competitions.

If you finished last session with more than nine dice in your pool,
begin the next session with that many.
If you finished last session with less than nine,
begin the next session with nine.

## HORSE SPORTS

Each Horse Sport has an associated Horse Quality.
To compete in a Horse Sport you will assemble and roll a Horse Sport dice pool.
Your Horse Sport dice pool is made up of a Gift, your Type modifier, and Spirit:

- Always start with 1 dice. This is a Horse Gift. Don't question it, accept it. You never look a horse gift in the mouth.

- Add a number of dice equal to your Horse Type modifier (+0, +1, or +2) for this kind of Horse Sport.

- Add as many dice from your Horse Spirit pool as you are willing to gamble, between 0 and your Spirit max.

Once you have assembled your Horse Sport dice pool,
then it's time to roll all those dice!
Here's how to interpret the results.

- WHINNY: If any die shows a 1, then you win! Describe a favorable outcome. Add 1 die to your Horse Spirit pool.

- NEIGH: If there are no 1s, then you have lost the Horse Sport competition.
Describe a less than favorable outcome.
Also your horse loses Spirit: any dice you have gambled from your Horse Spirit pool are lost.

### RAZZLEDAZZLE SPORTS

These Horse Sports require agility, precision, and showmanship.

1. **Ring Jousting**: the horse must carry its rider so that they can spear and capture a ring with their jousting instrument

2. **Lemon Sticking**: the horse must carry its rider so that they can pierce a lemon on the ground with their jousting instrument

3. **Chariot Racing**: the horse must draw a two-wheeled chariot

4. **Ballroom Dancing**: the horse must dance with elegance and poise

### GUMPTION SPORTS

These Horse Sports require brawn, initiative, and aggression.

5. **Basket Duck**: played with a live duck in a basket. The first side to deliver the duck back to their home ranch wins.

6. **Polo**: smashing balls through hoops with mallets

7. **Horseball**: similar to basket duck, but the ball is a ball instead of a duck, and it must be passed through large vertical hoops in order to score.

8. **Running And Jumping**: the runningest, jumpingest horse is the winner.

### MOXIE SPORTS

These Horse Sports require cunning, smarts, and know-how.

9. **High Dive and Swimming**: a high dive competition, with a synchronized swimming event

10. **Horsegammon**: it's like backgammon but for horses

11. **Social Etiquette**: manners and social grace

12. **Rhyming and Riddling**: a battle of horse wits

## HORSE CHAMPIONS

A Horse Championship Game consists of one Horse Sport of all three types.
If your horse wins all three games,
they become a celebrated Horse Champion.

## HORSE CLONING

At any point you can create a new horse by splitting your current SPIRIT pool into two piles.
Keep one pile for your original horse,
and give the other one to your new horse.

Give your new horse a Type, a Look, and a Name.

## HORSE RETIREMENT

There may come a time when it is appropriate for your horse to retire and go out to pasture.
This might be because they have had a long and accomplished Horse Sports career.
Maybe they had an injury or their Spirit is broken by a particularly devastating defeat.

Nothing mechanically needs to be done for this.
Just imagine a beautiful grassy pasture for them to graze in.
You can visit them any time you want,
and they will be happy to see you.

## HORSE IMPORTING AND HORSE EXPORTING

Hey are you into tabletop roleplaying games?
Do you maybe play some kind of Sword and Sorcery fantasy and wish your character had a horse?
Lucky for you!
You can easily export any of your horses from SPORTS HORSE to your other games!
Similarly you can import a horse from any other game into SPORTS HORSE.

## TOUCHSTONES AND INSPIRATIONS

- horse, m455:  <https://git.m455.casa/horse/>

- Sports, Viagra Boys:  <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjL7D33xpS4>

- The Pool, James V. West:  <http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/the-pool>

- Town Of You, kumada1:  <https://kumada1.itch.io/a-town-of-you>

