kickstarter mvps
“THE VETERAN”
Plays for anyone except genetically pure humans
Claiming that they are one of the original
For many of DreadBall’s early years he was a
DreadBall players is a common trick for the
fixture of the Trontek teams, moving from one
older MVPs. However, with the player known
to another as contracts became ever-more
as “The Veteran” this may actually be true.
lucrative. However, he seems to have become
James “The Veteran” Syler has certainly been
in the game for a long time, and he has the
scars to prove it. And it’s not just scars – he’s
also got prosthetics, implants and all manner
of trophies too.
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disillusioned with the Trontek management
and these days won’t go anywhere near them
unless it’s scoring strikes for their opponents.
These arguments famously came to a head
during a tied final of Thudweiser Cup VIII
which resulted in his walking off the pitch in
Over the years he has survived numerous
disgust. Since then he has played as an MVP
injuries and been revived more than once.
for anyone but his old bosses.
This makes him a little more cautious than
many Strikers, and the prosthetics that have
been used to repair him give him a distinctive
look. Modern medical technology would not
be so obvious, but as he says he’s been around
for a long time and these injuries aren’t
new. In fact, these days he’s had most of his
easily damaged bits replaced with titanium
alloys and so putting him out of a match is
far from easy.
Infoburst
A recent study by VitaCarb revealed that
a staggering 84% of all DreadBall players
have at least three permanent prosthetics.
Ongoing advancements in the field by
corporations such as Praexus mean that the
vast majority are indistinguishable from the
Striker
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owner’s original limbs and organs.
Grizzled, Duck &
Weave, Quick Recovery
player statline
DreadBall Azure Forest
25
THUNDER CHRIS
Plays for anyone
When DreadBall burst onto the sports scene
than before. After a few weeks of puzzlement,
it took the gaming public by storm. Its
Chris decided that he had to find a new focus
huge popularity saw sponsors falling over
for himself, and decided that he would once
themselves to back it, and this financial
again rise to the top of a sport. Obviously, this
vacuum left older sports to wither and die.
would be DreadBall.
Most of their players retired gracefully,
while a few ranted in the sports press about
the unfairness of it all. Only the hardiest
tried to convert.
Chris Nord was a well-known first defence
for the Grandine Groundhogs back in the
days before DreadBall, when zero-G sports
were all the rage. His fame came to an
abrupt end when he was critically injured
during a quarter final against
the Alamino Alligators. Despite
the immediate attentions of
the team medics he was beyond
their help and was placed
in cryo-store in the hope that
future medical advances would be able to
save him. They did.
When Chris awoke, the world of sports
was a very different place. Gone were
the zero-G stadiums and underwater
training pools, and in their place stood mighty
DreadBall arenas.
It was a shock. His family had migrated to
the outer systems and could not be found. His
chosen sport was dead and so was his faithful
dachshund Cindy. The only ray of sunlight was
that his savings had been gathering interest
while he slept and he was now even richer
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Jack
Grizzled, Even The Odds,
360 Vision, Threatening
player statline
DreadBall Azure Forest
27
DRAKE
Plays for genetically pure human teams or Teratons
It’s not every day that a devastating
the commercial links back to the breakfast
combination of gene-splicing, robotics and
cereal and the lucrative contract that implied.
solid-light holograms take to the DreadBall
The fans had never seen anything like it and
arena with the success of Drake and his
were bound to lap it up. Surely there must be
“Dynamic Dinoborg”. The cuddly miniature
a way to make it happen.
dinosaur was originally created in the
Teraton-operated labs of Shujimi-Tech as
part of an plan to bring a breakfast cereal’s
mascot to life. However, the results were
not at all as expected. The moment of the
dinosaur’s hatching was observed by a
group of humans on a factory tour, and the
hatchling bonded instantly with what it
thought was its mother, but which
turned out to be the son of one
of the touring dignitaries.
This made the creature fairly
useless for the advertising
campaign and so it was donated
to the boy, Drake. He was soon riding it
in his street games of DreadBall, and as luck
would have it he was spotted by a member
of the DGB. The rest, as they say, is history.
It goes without saying that a seven-year-old
boy cannot be allowed in the middle of a
DreadBall arena during a game. Of course not.
The head of the Health and Safety department
of the DGB actually had a stroke when the
idea was suggested, and they haven’t been
much happier since. However, the marketing
arm (not to mention accounting) was
extremely keen on the idea, especially with
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DreadBall Azure Forest
Eventually a compromise was reached. The
boy would be replaced by an exact replica
in the form of a solid-light hologram. This
would “ride” the real dinosaur in the arena
rider would normally do. In practice it works
so that the opposing players would have
surprisingly well, and Shujimi-Tech have
something to interact with. During a match,
found that they are actually able to fulfil their
the real Drake controls the whole thing from
contract for a real-world mascot after all. In
the Subs’ Bench, his solid-holo copying his
fact, if you believe their latest press releases,
every move and transferring his commands to
they planned it this way all along.
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the Dinoborg with knees and hands, just as a
Can’t Feel a Thing,
Quick Recovery,
Really Lucky, Steady
player statline
DreadBall Azure Forest
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“Can I just say that it’s great to be out here in the Expansion Zone?”
“You certainly can, Jake. With a new round of licensee leagues starting up,
why would we want to be anywhere else?”
“There are some big names making their way to Azure IX, Jim. It’s set to be
a league to remember!”