Urban Brawl

One of the most popular sports in the current world, Urban Brawl is often considered the ‘Sport of the One and Twenty’, developed directly from stylized gang battles during the chaos surrounding the Awakening, it’s a bloody sport where teams of combatants hunt each other in the actual wastelands caused by predatory terminal-stage capitalism for the amusement of a jaded and traumatized populace.

Oh, yeah, and there’s a ball involved.

### THE BRAWL ZONE

Urban Brawl takes place in a ‘Brawl Zone’. Brawl Zones are specially-selected urban areas set up to host the contest. Brawl Zones are selected by the ISSV before the season begins. The list of potential sites is kept confidential and includes about twice as many zones as the league will actually need. Brawl Zones always cover a depressed, prohibited or dangerous area area, usually an officially uninhabited area such as the local Barrens. ISSV surveyors take pains to select areas with a minimum of SIN-holdings citizens to minimize local impact if the Commissioner chooses to activate it. A Brawl Zone measures roughly four city blocks long by three city blocks wide: official dimensions are 550 meters long by 420 meters wide, minimum, and 680 meters long by 510 meters wide, maximum. The game area must be bounded by open streets on all sides. Teams will be informed which cities their games will be in at the beginning of each season, but will not be given any information about which zone will be active. Zones are activated only twenty-four hours before a match. Residents are moved out, cameras and other gear moved in. UCAS law says any citizen in the zone can appeal an ISSV vacate notice, but such appeals are rarely made. Once a zone is activated, league and network techs go to work, setting up remote cameras and relay transmitters for the flocks of camera drones used to vid the game. In the twenty-four hours before the game teams are allowed to do as much research on the area as they can to gain whatever advantage possible. During play Brawlers are allowed to go anywhere in the zone, inside, outside, building roofs, basements, etc.

Each team has a goal are at one end of the Brawl Zone. This is a circle four meters in diameter marked by colored Neolux and glow-paint. The block it is in is designated as the Goal Block. A team may move its goal to a different block on the boundary street at the beginning of each quarter so the a team is never sure of where the opposition goal is when a new quarter starts.

### THE BALL

The regulation Brawl ball is spherical, 65-70 centimeters in diameter (about the size of a soccer ball) and weighs 500-600 grams. It is made of dense plastifoam, and coated with bright gold or yellow glo-paint, "clearly visible at a minimum distance of 50 meters," according to the ISSV rules. It may be carried in the hands or tucked under one arm. There are two balls in play during the match, with one each beginning play in possession of each team.

### THE GAME

The point of Urban Brawl is to score the most points by the end of play. A goal is scored if the ball carrier into the opposing team's goal while in possession of the ball. The ISSV defines ‘possession’ as ‘in the hands of, or in contact with the body of, a qualified offensive play’. Precedent has established that this definition does not require the ball-carrier to be moving under their own power or even alive.

An Urban Brawl game is divided into four quarters, thirty playing minutes each. Each play lasts a maximum of five minutes or until one of the following conditions is met:

•A goal is scored.

•The clock runs out on the quarter.

•A ball is declared dead.

•A wipeout takes place.

If a goal is scored or the dock runs out on the play, both sides begin the next play back in their home goals. If a ball goes dead, the opposing side (the side whose ball did not go dead) can either start over at their goal, or resume play with all their brawlers in their present locations and their opponents back at their own goal. A wipeout (when all the offensive players are eliminated during a play) is an automatic defeat, no matter what the current score. The clock stops between plays, in order to facilitate moving players, clearing casualties to aid stations, start or maintain medical treatment, reload weapons or any other maintenance. The rules call for a team to be ready for play a maximum of five minutes after the play ends. Average playing time for a game of Urban Brawl is about four to six hours from start to finish, including a ten-minute rest period between quarters and the fifteen-minute half time break.

In Urban Brawl, each team is carrying a ball and is attempting to score a goal while preventing the opposing team from doing the same. Once play starts, the team has thirty seconds to get the ball

out of its goal block. If they fail to move the ball beyond their own goal, a freeze penalty is called on everyone on the team except the ball carrier (see Penalties, above). The team has another thirty seconds to get the ball out of the three blocks adjacent to their goal street, During the remainder of the play, if the ball stays in the same block for more than sixty seconds, or is earned back into its own team's goal block for any reason, the team is again hit with a penalty until the ball carrier moves into a legal block.

A team has to decide how to divide its forces to protect the ball during its travels through the Brawl Zone without leaving their goal wide open.

Any ball carrier can pass or hand the ball to any other offensive brawler at any time. If the ball hits the ground, the team has ten seconds to recover it. If they don't recover it within that time, the ball is declared dead. It also goes dead if it is picked up by an offensive brawler on the opposing team

Brawlers keep playing until they are disabled by their wounds or until they surrender. A brawler may trigger their surrender switch any time. The switch activates a pattern of bright yellow Neolux tubing woven through their uniform which lights up brightly. The surrender switch also triggers the brawler's penalty circuit, and they are under a kill penalty for the rest of the play (see Penalties, below). They are allowed re-enter the game on the next play. As a kill penalty, a surrender counts as being taken down when calculating a wipeout.

Disabled brawlers can be attended by the medico where they fall. They cannot be transported until combat in that block of the Brawl Zone ceases, either by moving elsewhere or stopping at the end of the play. When the area is safe, pickup teams move in at once to evacuate any wounded brawlers.

Wounded brawlers can get first aid at aid stations located just off the field at the ends of the goal streets. Any brawler who is evaced to a hospital can be replaced in the next play. Only the on-duty physician, who reports to the ISSV, can order an evac. A player who is not evaced but can't, or won't, re-enter the Brawl Zone at the thirty-second warning before the next play, cannot be replaced in that play. His team can replace him in the following play, but if they do, the wounded player is out for the

rest of the game, even if his wounds are healed later on. Typical field measures for wounded brawlers consist of dressings to control bleeding and fractures and heavy doses of painkillers and stimulants to get the players back into action by the next play.

### THE BRAWLERS

Urban Brawl does not place limitations on cyber- or bio- ware augmentation on Brawlers. One of the ways of grooming minor league or college players is by investing in enhancement.

Spellcasting was long forbidden until “camera-visible and game-benefitting spell effects” were permitted in the mid-2060’s. Mages are allowed on teams under certain restrictions, which include: no thought- or action-influencing magics, no summoning or spirit effects, no levitating or magics that alter speed of movement. Spell effects must be visible to cameras. Free Spirits are currently not allowed as participants in any capacity of a Urban Brawl franchise.

An Urban Brawl team consists of thirteen on-field players. Thirteen brawlers enter play at the beginning of the game, players may be replaced between plays. If all the offensive (ball handling) players are removed from play through wounds (or death), kill penalties or surrender, a ‘wipeout’ is declared, which is an automatic defeat, regardless of point total.

Offensive (Ball-Handling) Positions

-Scouts: Light Armor, personal sidearm. 4 to a team (Left Front, Right Front, Left Rear, Right Rear)

-Bangers: Medium Armor, personal sidearm. 4 to a team (Left Front, Right Front, Left Rear, Right Rear)

-Heavies: Medium Armor, personal sidearm, along with choice of shotgun, assault rifle or SMG. 2 to a team (Right and Left)

Non-Offensive (cannot handle the ball)

-Outrider: Medium Armor, personal sidearm, motorcycle with mounted weapon (assault rifle, SMG or shotgun). May fight or carry any Brawler not currently in possession of the ball.

-Blaster: Light Armor, Light Machine Gun on gyro harness

-Medico: Heavy Armor, coated in white, no weapons, full medical kit. Cannot engage in combat, cannot be be directly attacked.

Besides firearms, brawlers are allowed almost any melee weapons (electrically-charged and monofiliment weapons are prohibited), whether external or cyberware. Any improvised weapon from the brawl zone is legal, provided it does not violate other weapon restriction.

Armor must be decorated in team colors. Yellow or gold, which would obscure the surrender lights woven into armor, is not an allowed choice. ISSV regulations mandate “at least one dark and one bright” color to minimize camouflage benefits. All regulation armor is required to be equipped with ISSV-approved penalty and surrender circuits.

Brawlers are equipped with two-way radios, powered down to limit range to the size of Brawl Zone. These radios are often built into the armor or part of an internal comm implant. Brawlers are checked carefully for implanted comm gear that might allow them to get information from observers outside the Brawl Zone. Anyone carrying that type of gear must allow it to be neutralized during the game or be banned from playing.

### PENALTIES

Penalties are rated as wounds, kills, or freezes. Wound or kill penalties are called on individual brawlers. A freeze penalty affects an entire subteam or team.

A wound penalty immobilizes a player for the rest of the play.

A severe rules infraction earns a brawler a kill penalty. They must leave play, and infractions that cause death or injury may be prosecuted as criminal acts in some jurisdictions. A player given a kill penalty cannot be replaced until the beginning of the next quarter. If all functional players on a side

receive kill penalties during one quarter, their team forfeits the match in a ‘wipeout’.

Uniforms are wired with a regulation penalty circuit that gives any brawler who moves while under a penalty a disabling shot of electricity. Any brawler who tries to disable the penalty circuit earns a kill penalty. All brawlers will hear a ten-second countdown over their radios before a penalty is applied to any brawler. After the countdown, the offender's penalty circuit kicks in and their surrender lights blink on and off for the duration of the penalty.

The penalty circuit of a player under a wound penalty stays on for the rest of the play. The penalty circuit of a player awarded a kill penalty stays on until an armed ISSV security escort arrives to escort the player out of the Brawl Zone. A freeze penalty lasts until the officials decide to end it.

Medico uniforms do not carry penalty circuits, and medicos are not subject to wound, kill or freeze penalties. A medico who violates the rules is removed from play, but is replaced immediately instead of at the next quarter.

If a freeze penalty is called on a team, any wound or kill penalties in force against the opposing team are canceled.

If all the active brawlers on a team earn penalties simultaneously, it is not considered a wipeout. The ball is called dead at that point, and the other team chooses from the usual options to begin the next play.

**Reasons for Penalties**

-Arson: Deliberately setting a fire in the Brawl Zone earns a kill penalty, and means an automatic loss for the team if the game has to be canceled. This rule originated after an unfortunate incident in Buenos Aires.

-Deliberate Attack on Disabled/Surrendered Brawler A kill penalty.

-Deliberate Attack on Brawler Under A Penalty: A wound penalty if the attack misses, a kill penalty if it hits.

-Illegal Intelligence: Any team receiving information from outside the Brawl Zone during a game forfeits the game. This includes all electronic and magical means.

-Insufficient Offense: If the ball carrier is still in their own goal block sixty seconds after the play begins, a freeze penalty is called on every member of the team except the ball carrier. The penalty stays in effect until the ball carrier leaves the goal block. They have to catch up with each other as best they can after that. The penalty also apples if the ball carrier is in any of the three blocks adjacent their goal street two minutes after the play begins. Likewise, if the ball carrier spends sixty seconds in the same block, a freeze penalty is called on their side until they moves into a different block.

An official can also call insufficient offense if, in their opinion, the ball carrier is not making an effort to get the ball to the opposition's goal. This rule is enforced pretty loosely, but basically prevents ball carriers from going to ground in basements, or skipping back and forth between the same two blocks trying to avoid contact with the opposing team.

The clock stops on insufficient offense if the ball carrier is engaged in combat. That is, if a ball carrier spends thirty seconds in a block, then gets caught in a fight, the clock stops until the ball carrier is out of combat, whereupon they have thirty seconds remaining to vacate the block.

-Leaving the Brawl Zone: A wound penalty. Roughing the Medico: Deliberately attacking a medico earns a kill penalty. If the medico is wounded or disabled, a replacement medico is sent in immediately.

-Roughing the Officials: A kill penalty is called on any player who attacks an official.

-Unauthorized Ball Carrier: If the medico, the outrider, or a player mounted on the outrider's bike takes possession of the ball, or the ball carrier mounts the outrider's cycle, the ball is called dead at once. The opposing side may choose from the usual options to begin the next play.

-Unnecessary Destruction of Property: This penalty rule is designed to cut down on damage that the ISSV will have to pay for later. Shooting at a car because someone is using it for cover is fine. Doing so without game-relevant reasons draws a wound penalty.

-Unsportsmanlike Conduct: A wound or kill penalty, at the discretion of the referees. This rule includes arguing with a decision, interference with a media device, and so on. Since Crash 2.0, this has been expanded to cover all communications-related violations, such as: hacking of weapons, trid feeds or cameras.

-Use of Unauthorized Firearm: Picking up someone else's gun earns a wound penalty. (this does not apply to melee weapons)

-Prohibited Enhancement Type: Instituted in 2072. This rule is largely targeted at Technomancers and Free Spirits which the ISSV, like all other major professional sports authorities, currently forbids to compete. Any team found to be using a PET is put a freeze penalty until the PET is removed from any ISSV Zone or facility and the team may be subject of fines at League disciplinary hearing.

### OFFICIALS

Two to four officials cover each city block of the Brawl Zone. Officials wear Partial Heavy Armor coated with white glo-paint and marked to show their status as referees, technicians, or biotechs. Officials' armor is wired with a set of pickups that let them scan the Zone through any of the fixed-mount cameras. They can also check the action through the signals from any of the hundreds of surveillance drones flying in the Zone. Officials carry tasers for self-defense.

### HISTORY

Invented in the middle of the chaos of the Awakening as formal rules for street fighting between Parisian street gangs. Originally commercialized by French infrastructure firm Javert et Cie. By the time of the First Crash, it was already being played internationally (dubbed ‘Jeu de Guerre de Ville’ in it’s native French, translated to ‘Stadtskrieg’ in German and ‘Urban Brawl’ in English when Govinda Enterprises brought the game to North America). The first American championships (The “Super Brawl”) were held in 2037, when the European championships were suspended due to the EuroWars, and the various international leagues held their first unified championship, the Urban Brawl World Cup (UBWC) in 2046, under the auspices of the newly-formed ISSV. Today Urban Brawl teams flourish in almost every nation on Earth and the number is growing all the time. Just this year (2075), the Trans-Polar Aleut (Inuit Nunangat) reversed its long-time ban on the sport, and have been granted a slot to form a franchise for the city of Iqaluit, the Apex.

### LEAGUE

The global sport of Urban Brawl is governed by the ISSV (Internationaler Stadtskrieg Sport Verein or ‘International Urban Combat Sport Union’), which is based out of Berlin. Regional Commissions govern specific regions, such as European, Pacific Rim or North American Leagues. Each League selects a ISSV-approved Commissioner to head it up. The ISSV has a complicated formula for tracking league standings to determine the players in the biennial World Cup playoffs. National and continental championships are played under rules worked out by the franchises and the local ISSV commissioners. The annual North American Super Brawl is a face-off between the two leading teams in North America, with the contenders chosen according to their ISSV ranking. A unique aspect of the Urban Brawl brackets is that every two years (on even numbered years) just after the Wolf Cup playoffs the top-grossing non-franchised teams can actually challenge League teams for their slots in the rankings, which has led to some of the most exciting championships.

### NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE FRANCHISES (2076-2077 Season)

* Ares Predators (Ares Macrotechnology)
* Atlanta Butchers (CAS)
* Boston Massacre (UCAS)
* Chicago Zappers (UCAS)
* Cincinnati Lasers (UCAS)
* Dallas Magic Bullets (CAS)
* Denver Thunderheads (FRFZ)
* Detroit Nightmares (UCAS)
* Havana Guerrillas (Carib)
* Iqaluit Apex (Inuit Nunangat)
* Miami Spears (Carib)
* Minneapolis-Saint Paul River Snakes (UCAS)
* Mitsuhama Warriors (MCT)
* Montreal Assassins (Quebec)
* Mountain Dragons (Draco Foundation)
* New Orleans Tombstones (CAS)
* New York Slashers (UCAS)
* Oakland Terminators (CFS)
* Renraku Invincibles (Renraku)
* St. Louis Slaughter (UCAS)
* Seattle Screamers (UCAS)
* Tacoma Wings (Federated Boeing)
* Tenochtitlan Volcanos (Aztlan)
* Tsêhéstáno Arrows (Očéti Šakówiŋ)

### ARENA BRAWL

Setting up a proper Brawl Zone is an expensive, and often dangerous, affair and only the largest franchises can really afford to put them on. The ‘Minor Leagues’ of Urban Brawl is Arena Brawl. These games are staged in areas or mock-ups of street zones, use only gel rounds and much lighter armor than the real thing. Injuries still happen, but fatalities are almost unknown. Arena Brawl is staged in the same sized spaces (and often the same arenas) as Combat Biker, making it a 150m by 50m play area. “Buildings” are are all one-story high, with doors and windows spotted along the walls at random. Less satisfying to fans, more limiting for players, and less profitable for broadcasters, there’s a reason Arena Brawl is considered the ‘Farm Leagues’ for players looking to hit the big-time.