Modern Bloodsport: How to make it believable?

[Gypsylight]

While not nearly as fantastic or expansive as many other settings here, one of the projects I'm currently working on is a modern setting in which a semi-secret competition takes place at special sites around the world: teams hunt one another in organized matches, some of which may have special rules or conditions and some which are simply kill-or-be-killed. There are few rules as to who can compete; mercenaries, former-soldiers, criminals, slaves, convicts, even bloody-minded celebrities. The entire tournament, which runs almost all year, is overseen by a committee that handles the betting, publicity, and legal issues that arise from the technically-illegal sport. Though it remains fairly clandestine and out-of-reach for groups like InterPol, the competition does have an enormous underground following worldwide.

A few tenants of the setting I've worked out so far;

All teams supply their own weapons and equippment, which must typically fit into the category of "small-arms".

All other expenses are provided for.

Killing an opponent is always acceptable, but executing a crippled or surrendering one is considered to be in bad taste and may have unoffical repurcussions.

Matches are filmed by a combination of remote-controlled hidden cameras and camouflaged crews.

Players caught breaking serious rules, like attacking crew members, are subject to ejection, penalization, or even execution.

My question is then, how realistic can I make this? Assuming the world in which it is set is a tad shadier and darken than our own, how large and widesperad could such a competition be before it would impossible to hide and would have to be shut down?

[Mason]

First off,
   Welcome to the CBG!
 
 Second, what kind of areas do these competitions take place in? Urban? Jungle? All of the above? I can picture this sort of competition happening in a third-world country. Remote locations seem the most logical, although small team based matches (like 3-4?) might be plausible in an urban area. I can picture abandoned parking garages, sewers, old distilleries etc. as potential match areas.
   Another thing that crossed my mind is why would the PCs compete? Money...obviously. Then I thought of Street Fighter, and all the little sub-plots that are thrown in. Mortal Kombat also came to mind, but I take it you want a non-magical scenario.
  Aside from players having ties to government agencies, I think it would be best to leave there involvement as vague as possible. Perhaps a PC is secretly(or not)an agent for some gov. agency, hell-bent on bringing down the "committee" leadership.

  So to sum up:  What do the PCs get in return for fighting? Locale would most likely determine how determined the government agencies (read:InterPol, CIA etc.)are to stop the competition. It seems to me that competitions in third-world countries would be largely ignored, barring interest from foreign nations. For instance, if a match had a lot of collateral damage, human-rights would become an issue, and depending on media, other nations might get involved. I think media might have a role in their somewhere.

   My two-cents.

[SDragon]

In such a sport, each combatant is naturally going to go for the most powerful weapon they can get. In a modern setting, with the only restriction being "side arms only", they'd probably go for some sort of sub-machine gun. Without environmental factors (obstacles, etc.), this'll just become a western showdown-at-noon style duel with uzis. If that's what you're going for, great, but otherwise, I'd suggest having Thunderdome-style arena-provided weapons.

Obviously this whole thing would have to be strictly criminal underworld, but that may or may not have any real significance in your setting...

[Llum]

Make sure it's somewhere relatively remote or in some country with few laws about this kind of thing. Bonus if the law enforcement is easily bribable (wich it is in a lot of parts of the world).

Teams supplying their own weapons and equipement makes it ripe for cheating IMO.

Camouflaged crews could become collateral casualties pretty easy depending what kind things a team brings. Things like granades, explosives, uzis etc aren't very discriminate.

Maybe camera UAVs or something to help out. This makes them fast, flying, and small. A LOT harder to hit. Also makes a lot more sense, since a lot of them can be thrown out.

[Gypsylight]

Second, what kind of areas do these competitions take place in? Urban? Jungle? All of the above? I can picture this sort of competition happening in a third-world country. Remote locations seem the most logical, although small team based matches (like 3-4?) might be plausible in an urban area. I can picture abandoned parking garages, sewers, old distilleries etc. as potential match areas.

Generally, I imagine the fights taking place on private islands, in regions like the South Pacific, South America, or African coast: some of them might have been specially-developed to provide specific scenery and some of which are left in their natural state. The entire area won't be entirely for competition either; there might be hotels and accommodations for spectators and VIPs, hospitals for treating survivors of the match, and possibly even a "safe area" so that competitors can rest during particularly lengthy games.

Another thing that crossed my mind is why would the PCs compete? Money...obviously. Then I thought of Street Fighter, and all the little sub-plots that are thrown in. Mortal Kombat also came to mind, but I take it you want a non-magical scenario.

Yes, money and fame would be the two primary motivations, as might as simple love of combat and violence. A crack marksman might enter to test his skills against real, intelligent opponents, a la "The Most Dangerous Game". As I mentioned before, some of the contestants are slaves or otherwise competing against their will, while convicts who enter and perform well could offered a reduced sentence or release as a reward. Mind you, things like revenge or a desire to kill a specific opponent are not out of the question either, but most don't compete solely for those reasons.

What do the PCs get in return for fighting?

As I said, lots of money and fame across the international underworld, with all the perks and benefits that come with it. Many of the same reasons real gladiators fought, other than those who were slaves or criminals.

In such a sport, each combatant is naturally going to go for the most powerful weapon they can get. In a modern setting, with the only restriction being "side arms only", they'd probably go for some sort of sub-machine gun. Without environmental factors (obstacles, etc.), this'll just become a western showdown-at-noon style duel with uzis. If that's what you're going for, great, but otherwise, I'd suggest having Thunderdome-style arena-provided weapons.

First, the term I used was "small-arm", which is anything not considered to be a heavy weapon: the only weapons banned are those like rocket or missile launchers, heavy machineguns, or flamethrowers, but I'm considering allowing those for certain matches. "Most powerful weapon" isn't really a very good descriptor; for example, while an AK-74 will put a cripplingly-large hole through someone, an M-16 is far lighter and more accurate, and while the Barret .50-caliber sniper rifle will preforate an armored car, it's enormously-long and still not as accurate as an old-fashioned bolt-action. Plus, some characters might just have personal preferences and tastes, like only using pistols or never using grenades.

Teams supplying their own weapons and equipement makes it ripe for cheating IMO.

How? They'd probably be searched for banned weapons before the start of the match, which are generally too large and heavy to make concealing them possible...what do you forsee as leading to cheating?

Camouflaged crews could become collateral casualties pretty easy depending what kind things a team brings. Things like granades, explosives, uzis etc aren't very discriminate.

Maybe camera UAVs or something to help out. This makes them fast, flying, and small. A LOT harder to hit. Also makes a lot more sense, since a lot of them can be thrown out.

First, Uzis are in fact fairly accurate. Mac-10s and MP5Ks are not. Secondly, I see your point about the crews, so there probably would not be many crews on the ground; most likely, most would be filimg from a helicopter or secure vantage-point. UAVs, while not out of the question, are both extremely expensive and probably very hard to accquire without attracting lots of governmental attention.

[Llum]

Teams supplying their own weapons and equipement makes it ripe for cheating IMO.

Hiding things inside weapons, secret compartments. I guess it really comes down to what you allow, but people like to cheat. People who fight to win and for their lives are more likely to cheat. People who are criminals who might be even more dishonest, are even more likely to cheat.

You can't really just say, people won't cheat and the organizers search everything so people can't cheat. Unless the organizers have a rule where all equipement must be delivered X amount of time before hand and they have time to completely dismantle everything, that would greatly reduces the chances of cheating.

Camouflaged crews could become collateral casualties pretty easy depending what kind things a team brings. Things like granades, explosives, uzis etc aren't very discriminate.

Maybe camera UAVs or something to help out. This makes them fast, flying, and small. A LOT harder to hit. Also makes a lot more sense, since a lot of them can be thrown out.

A small simple UAV are actually really easy to make yourself. They are pretty cheap to make, especially for an organization as rich as this one. Acquiring a military-grade UAV like the Predator Drone would be difficult, but more likely because it carries missles and can fly around like a jet.

A small UAV could be built cheaply and in big quantity if just equipped with an camera and some recording hardware.

[LD]

Welcome and good luck with this Gypsylight.

Maybe this old thread could be helpful (I'm surprised Sarisa didn't mention it, but it was the first thing that came to my mind)-- http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?79837

There is also a D20 game based around a similar conceit that you might be able to use as inspiration... I can't remember the name- D20 Arena, D20 Bloodsport? Something along those lines about setting D20 Up as a bloodsport game with competitors- like a cross between Rugby and War.

Hiding things inside weapons, secret compartments. I guess it really comes down to what you allow, but people like to cheat. People who fight to win and for their lives are more likely to cheat. People who are criminals who might be even more dishonest, are even more likely to cheat.

Hiding things inside weapons? (Nice starting point... but... if I may,

Why not try something even more advanced- hiding things inside skin grafts; using microsurgery to remove once at the special competition zone could make doctors in high demand.

[St0nE]

hmm... cool concept.. d20 modern would be a good base ruleset for this, as would either World of Darkness ruleset. I could see Detroit as a setting if one is needed in the states... hell, you're often safer in Baghdad than in Detroit... and since only small arms are allowed... in urban raids, sniping and building raids with carbines are common... also see body armor being used by some... an IBA isn't that heavy if you're used to it... and wear a full combat load... total weight for armor + ammo is like 50 lbs... add supplies for rest of weight... and that weight is pretty well distributed...

[Mason]

Maybe this old thread could be helpful (I'm surprised Sarisa didn't mention it, but it was the first thing that came to my mind)-- http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?79837

  Holy. Crap. I completely forgot about that. Thanks LD!
 

[Drizztrocks]

Sounds pretty cool. Are vehicles allowed? I think that would add a very interesting factor.