There's nothing quite like the energy of a big sporting event. Raging barbarians crashing on the line of scrimmage, sharp-eyed fighters throwing the perfect pass, speedy rogues expertly dodging on their way to a touchdown, all while the crowd cheers and the bards play.

Let's take a look at how we can simulate this excitement at the table by playing sports using Dungeons & Dragons mechanics!

• How to Play Sports in D&D
• Keeping the Tension in D&D Sports
• Let's Homebrew a D&D Sport: Team Relay Race

How to Play Sports in D&D

Artist: Bryan Sola

When it comes to sporting events in your game, anything is possible. Your world's sport of choice could range from jousting tournaments to electrified dodgeball and everything in between.

While the only limiting factor for creating a sport in Dungeons & Dragons is your imagination, it's nice to have a foundation to build from. We're going to examine the core elements of sports in official sources and how we can use these elements to play different sports at your table.

Ability Checks and Saving Throws

One of the most straightforward ways to run sports in D&D is to develop a series of ability checks for activities like passing a ball/puck/disc, running while avoiding the other team, and scoring in some capacity.

These checks could be contested by the other team's checks or have a DC that needs to be hit, allowing you to customize the tasks required to play.

Examples of Ability Check Sports from Official Sources

These ability check systems have been used in various official fifth edition sports. Chain Lightning from Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden revolves around collecting a metal ball with a contested Dexterity (Athletics) check, keeping it away from the other team by making DC 15 Dexterity (Athletics) checks, and then pelting it at them using a ranged attack roll.

Mage Tower from Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos is a more accessible version of a sport using this system, as it takes place over 3 phases, and teams only have to succeed in more DC 16 ability checks using various skills than the other team to win the game.

The most simplified example would be the arm-wrestling competition in Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep, where participants simply make contested Strength (Athletics) checks until a contestant comes out ahead.

Applying These Rules to Your Game

Using this system, you can create just about any sport. All you have to do is lay out the phases of your game and decide on an ability check and resolution method for each phase. For example, here’s what snapping the ball might look like in a D&D version of football:

• DC-Based: Snapping the ball back to the quarterback could be a DC 10 Dexterity (Athletics) check. On a failure, the quarterback might need to make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw to avoid fumbling the ball.
• Contested: Attempting to defend your quarterback could be a contested Strength (Athletics) check against the offensive lineman you’re facing off with.

Initiative

If you're whipping up rules for a particularly strategic (or violent) sport, it might be best to use some form of initiative to mimic a combat scenario during play.

Obviously, this would be the go-to option for arena fighting. Still, it can also be used for something like Capture the Flag, where characters have unrestricted access to their abilities.

To shake things up from feeling too much like combat, you could try some of the alternate initiative methods found in the Dungeon Master's Guide:

• Initiative Score: No rolling required. The initiative is determined by a passive Dexterity check (10 + Dexterity score). This option is great for fast-paced games like hockey.
• Side Initiative: Each team rolls a d20 without any bonuses. The highest roll determines the starting team. Then, the characters act as a team, and when everyone has finished their turn, the other team gets their turn. This system could be used to simulate baseball or even basketball.
• Speed Factor: Easily the most complex option as creature size and a character's chosen action determine when they will go. But this could be a fun option in a tactical game with plenty of moving pieces, like football.

Chases

The rules for chases in the Dungeon Master's Guide make an excellent starting spot for racing sports.

Whether you're creating a form of professional tag or want to run a simple footrace, using participants' Constitution scores to see how many times they can Dash in a given period without gaining levels of exhaustion is an excellent starting spot.

Then, you can mix in different stages, mechanics for attacking and defending, or complications based on how you want the race to play out.

Examples of Racing Sports from Official Sources

The chase mechanic can also be combined with ability checks, like the swimming race in Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep, where contestants swim against a river's current using their movement and the Dash action. To move each round, they need to succeed in a DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check or be pushed downstream and gain a level of exhaustion.

As exemplified by the dinosaur racing in Tomb of Annihilation, they can also be used in conjunction with Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks to make ridden animals run faster. Instead of granting exhaustion, these mechanics make the mount roll Constitution checks to continue running at a normal speed after being pushed with an Animal Handling check.

Rock Paper Scissors

While this isn't a D&D-specific solution, it can be an excellent option for simulating one-on-one events like boxing, fencing, or jousting. It's also a straightforward system, so it can be helpful for quickly coming up with game mechanics when the party decides to try bare-knuckle boxing at the tavern after they've had a few too many ales.

Each contestant will choose one of three options, with each option beating another, losing to another, and tying with itself.

For example, the aforementioned bare-knuckle boxing could work something like:

• Punch: Punching beats grappling.
• Block: Blocking beats punching.
• Grapple: Grappling beats blocking.

I sometimes like to combine rock paper scissors methods with ability checks and saving throws, so if you choose the option that would beat your opponent, you instead get advantage on your check, and they get disadvantage.

Keeping the Tension in D&D Sports

Artist: Johan Grenier

Sports are meant to create a sense of competition and companionship. If you're running sports in D&D and they feel a little flat, here are some tips to help bring the excitement:

Make It Simple, Fast, and Engaging

Unless the sport is a crucial part of your story and will be played multiple times, it's likely best to keep it simple and fast-moving.

To keep the tension as high as possible, you don't want players spending excessive time thinking about their next move or asking for rule clarifications. You want the game to flow between rounds and engage every party member somehow.

The pit fighting downtime in Xanathar's Guide to Everything is a good example of a simple ruleset that will resolve quickly. It only takes three ability checks, and players don't need to learn any intricate rules to play.

Even if the sport only allows one participant from your party, like the pit fighting example above, you could allow party members on the sidelines to cheer for their teammate using Charisma checks, subtly help them using spells, or place wagers on the contestants.

Add Complications

Yeah, football is fun to watch. But wouldn't it be more fun to watch if kruthiks started burrowing out of the field and attacking players? And the players had to keep playing because only the winner would take home a rare superb owl trophy—the only known way to harness the powers of a superb owl.

I would simply caution you to make sure that any complications you add affect teams equally—unless you want the sport to start devolving into full-on combat, that is.

Raise the Stakes

Now, I'm not condoning sports betting here, but in a fantasy game, there's no better way to create tension than allowing the party to put some hard-earned gold pieces (or magic items) on the line.

You could also raise the stakes by creating a rivalry between the party and an opposing team. This can be done in many ways, but some examples would be:

• They beat the party in an earlier round but face them again in the finals.
• They cheat during play and get away with it.
• They intentionally try to sabotage the party between games.

Evoke an Atmosphere

Whether you're playing digitally or in person, pumping some music or crowd noises is a surefire way to help the players imagine they're competing in a bustling stadium.

I also like to give players the ability to showboat in the sports I run. This allows them to try to get the fans on their side by making Charisma (Performance) checks. On a success, they'll get a boost in morale, which could offer any number of benefits. On a failure, the crowd cheers for the other team, giving their opponents a boost.

Let's Homebrew a D&D Sport: Team Relay Race

Using the examples from official sources that we've explored in this article, let's whip up a relay race that is simple enough to be picked up quickly but exciting enough to keep players on the edge of their seats.

Race Structure

Artist: JASON CHAN

This team relay race can include up to three opposing teams plus the party's team. It consists of four stages: the javelin throw, the stone lift, the pole climb, and the rope swing. One member from each team competes in each event.

If you have more than four party members, feel free to add in more events to accommodate party size.

Creating the Opposing Teams

Depending on which level party you’re running the relay race for, you can create opposing teams out of various NPCs:

• Low-level Parties: A bandit, guard, scout, and thug.
• Mid-level Parties: 2 bandit captains, a veteran, and a knight.
• High-Level Parties: 4 gladiators.

When the party has decided who will take on each obstacle, the participants from each team starting on the javelin throw will roll initiative. Once a participant completes a stage, the subsequent team member begins at the next stage in their previous team member's initiative.

The first team to complete all four stages wins.

Javelin Throw

Each participant must make three successful ranged attacks against clay targets with increasingly higher ACs. The AC of each target, in order, is 15, 18, and 20. Each participant only gets one attack per round.

Stone Lift

Each participant must lift a large stone and carry it a distance of 40 feet. At the beginning of their turn, participants make a Strength (Athletics) check and move a number of feet based on the Stone Lift Results table.

After each attempt, participants must succeed in a Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion. The DC for this saving throw starts at 5 and increases by 2 each round. If a participant reaches 5 levels of exhaustion, they can no longer move and are therefore disqualified from the event.

Pole Climb

Each participant must climb a 20-foot greased metal pole to get a flag at the top.

At the beginning of their turn, participants make a Dexterity (Athletics) or Strength (Athletics) check and climb a number of feet based on the Pole Climb Results table.

A successful DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check will reveal that the pole has a pin in the bottom. The pin can be pulled to dislodge the pole, causing it to fall over so the contestant can skip the climb. This is a legal move meant to reward observant participants, but they should not know this until they pull the pin.

Rope Swing

Each participant must knot a rope into a lasso, lasso a beam hanging across the pit, and swing across the pit.

On each of the participant's turns, they will attempt to do one of the following:

1. Make a DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) check. On a success, they correctly knot the rope. If the check fails, they must make a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check to notice that the rope is knotted incorrectly. On a failure, they will believe the knot will hold. If contestants attempt to swing across the pit with a failed knot, they will automatically fail their Acrobatics check and fall into the pit.
2. Make a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check. On a success, they lasso the beam over the pit.
3. Make a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a success, they swing over the pit. If the check fails by 5 or more, they fall into the pit.

If a participant falls into the pit, they miss their next turn as it is spent climbing out.

Game On!

Sports are a great way to add tension and excitement to your D&D games without relying on combat. In worlds where magic exists alongside civilizations, there are bound to be spectacular (and dangerous) games to entertain the masses.

Plus, if strapping blades to your boots and skating around while trying to score on the other team's net doesn't give you a cathartic release, you can always try punching your opponent's teeth out instead!

Mike Bernier (@arcane_eye) is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.