The Contest

Sets of Two surfers compete against each other, three waves per surfer, with the following format: each wave must feature two beginner tricks (or better), two intermediate tricks (or better), and at least one advanced trick. Pro, Original, or God level tricks may be attempted at the player and GM’s discretion. Each successful trick scores points equal to the score it succeeded by. For example, a surfer with a Skill level of 7, and a +2 in Surfing must roll 9 or under to succeed at an Advanced trick (4d6). The surfer rolls 4d6s and adds the scores. If the roll is 9 or below, the surfer has executed the trick, otherwise the surfer wipes out doing the trick. In the event of a success, say a 6, then subtract 6 from 9 to determine how much the surfer succeeded by and he scores a 3. Weigh a Pro score trick +1 point, a God Level trick, +2 points, and the GM may weigh Original tricks using these guidelines depending on perceived difficulty. In the previous example, had it been a Pro trick instead of an Advanced one, it would have been awarded a +1 to the surfer’s trick score, for a total score of 4 for that one trick. Add each of a wave’s five trick totals together to form the score for the entire wave. The Three waves are added together for a surfer’s score. Add the two teammate’s scores together to determine team scores. Highest team score wins control of the beach.

A wipeout on a wave does not necessarily receive a score of zero. Each trick completed before the           wipeout still counts towards the wave’s score. So, doing a more difficult trick later in the ride, could maximize a score, if the later trick results in a wipeout. For example, say a surfer does a Bottom Turn (Beginner Trick), scoring a 5, an Intermediate Snap Trick, scoring a 2, then a Cutback (Beginner Trick), scoring a 4, then tries a God Level Sushi Roll trick and wipes out doing that fourth trick. The scores for the three tricks completed before the wipeout would still count as the surfer’s score for that wave, a total of 11. Original, Pro, or God-level tricks may NOT be performed last on a wave, as they require more water volume and intensity to execute than is available at the runout of a wave.

 Surfing Tricks

Beginner tricks (2d6)

Bottom Turn – foundation of surf riding, first turn on a wave after dropping in.

Carve – change your line and direction in open section of the wave, bury the rail, draw an arc, and stay in the curl.

Cutback – go back from the shoulder into the pocket of the wave, reducing speed.

Intermediate tricks (3d6)

Snap – a radical change in trajectory in the pocket or at top of the wave.

Roundhouse Cutback – surfer returns to the curl, gaining maximum speed and amplitude off the top. Doing a figure eight line.

Off-the-Lip – vertical top turn attacking a steep slope, half the board off the wave’s lip, then drive it toward the bottom of the wave with momentum.

Foam Climb – used to get beyond a broken lip, a closed-out section or white water, connecting to open face parts of the wave.

Floater – gliding horizontally over the lip or foam section about to break.

Closeout Re-entry – last chance to do a power turn on a closeout section.

Tail Slide – letting the tail of the board slide down the wave face.

Nose-riding – stand on the nose while riding the wave.

Switch Stance – ride opposite normal stance.

360 – full rotation on the face of the wave.

Kick-flip – flips the board 360 degrees along the axis running from the nose to the tail.

Advanced tricks (4d6)

Tube Ride – riding the hollow part of the wave, fully covered by the curl’s lip.

Aerial – gain speed, find a ramp, launch off the lip, above the wave, landing on the face of the wave.

Alley-Oop – backward aerial rotation.

Superman – drive the board down the line, go up, kick the board, project it toward the beach, grab the rail and connect before landing.

Pro tricks (5d6)

Rodeo Flip – combination of spinning and flipping.

Kerrupt Flip – full rotation alley-oop with a grab. Named for Joseph Kerr (2006).

Flynnstone Flip – backflip grab maneuver, first executed by Flynn Novak (2010).

God level (6d6)

Sushi Roll – combines the Superman with the Rodeo Flip, first performed by Julian Wilson (2007).

 

“Held down” If a surfer wipes out while executing a maneuver, that surfer loses two Stamina and must roll a save versus Skill and may add Swimming bonuses to keep from being “held down.” A surfer or swimmer that is “held down” makes a new save each turn in order to surface, otherwise, loses one additional Stamina for each round the character is “held down.” A character that reaches 0 Stamina washes ashore unconscious, with or without surfboard, at GM’s discretion.