Orbula Rules

Orbula is a sports game inspired mainly by soccer, rugby and American football. It was first mentioned in Arc 2, and fully fleshed out and played for Arc 4.

For the structure and organisation of orbula in Hyranor, see Orbula in Hyranor. This page is about the sport of modern orbula, for the ritual that is known as old orbula, see Old Orbula.

The rules for orbula given here are the rules applying for the HASMORQL, for HASMOLIGA those rules are changed a bit to create a more spectacular gameplay.

## Basic Concept

Orbula is a sport played with a magic orb instead of a ball. In the middle of the stadium, there is a hoop suspended in the air. The goal is to get the orb through the hoop. Throwing the orb through the hoop scores one point for the team, slam dunking it gets the team three points. A game of orbula consists of five rounds, which start with the orb falling down at a random spot on the field, and end as soon as any points are scored. After five rounds, the team with the most points wins the game.

## The Orb

The magic orb is the ball for the game. Generally, it is grey and has little cracks in it that leak magical light. Throughout the middle runs a recessed band that divides the orb in half and is etched with magical runes that program the rules of the game into the orb, allowing the orb to also function as the referee for the game. It glows in the colour of the team that has the best chances of winning at the moment, and also behaves in a way according to what is going on on the field at the moment.

## The Stadium

The stadium is circular and has a hoop suspended in the air in the middle.

## The Teams

There are two teams of six players each playing in a game. There are three positions in an orbula team: three blockers, two rushers, and one jammer.

### Blocker

The three blockers are the defensive position. They are not allowed to touch the orb, but can touch members of the opposing teams, which the other positions are not allowed to do. Blockers are similar to rugby players in that they tackle people, grab them and pull them on the ground, or try to knock the orb from their hands. They can get really physical and rowdy. They have Magical Bracers that allow them to use a dash action to dash into an opposing player, who must pass a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. The wearer of these bracers, in turn, has advantage on any rolls made to avoid falling prone. The magical bracers were introduced as a patreon item in Arc 2.

### Rusher

The two rushers are similar to quarterbacks. They have to start every single possession: When the orb is put into play or when it is knocked loose and possession changes hands, a rusher has to touch the orb first. They lead the team's possession and dictate what happens in the play. They have a magical item that allows them to use reactions to move and interact with objects, so that they can dive and get the orb.

### Jammer

Every team also has a single jammer, who are the only players allowed to slam dunk, meaning the only players that can score 3 points for their respective teams. They have Boots of Springing and Striding, which allow them to jump really high and dunk.

## The Game

A game of orbula consists of five rounds. A round starts with the orb falling down at a random spot in the stadium, and ends as soon as any points are scored, no matter how long that takes - orbula games are not timed. Throwing the orb in the hoop scores 1 point, slam dunking it gets the team 3 points. Since it is only possible to score 1 or 3 points, after five rounds no ties are possible.

If a team scores 3 points in the first, second and third round, that's called a niner. After a niner, the game automatically ends. It is basically the "perfect game" for the winning team.

## Trivia

* The rules for orbula were written in a Zoom session by Gus, Sean and Aubri.
* Orbula has close similarities to the game Halo Ball, but when they created the rules, they did not know about that game.