How To Play | stratokings

You have 4 dice that you will use for the game – 3 six sided dice (one is called the indicator, because it is a different colour from the other two) and a 20-sider for the outcome of events

There are some simple rules, which are routine, and others, which happen every so often, so I will cover those. I will also mention some rarer instances that will come up, but do not worry about trying to remember it all, it’s more for reading and when you see most of this during a game, it will sink in much quicker

So let’s assume you have your lineup ready – speed near the top, best hitter and power hitters in middle, and the rest near the bottom, followed by the pitcher (yup, no DH)…

Looking at Jeter’s Card below for reference, you will see 1, 2, 3 at the top of each column. Those are indicator #s, and every batter has this on the LEFT and RIGHT sides of his card. Each pitcher’s card has the same L/R sides, however the indicator #s are 4, 5 and 6

note: don’t pay attention to the penned in “3-5, 11” beside Jeter’s name, that’s his defense and we do that so we don’t have to look up on the chart to save time…and that red line through his card? Ya, someone ripped Jeter in four pieces, so I repaired him with Photoshop

UP TO BAT

When you are up to bat, you roll all 3 six-sided dice at the same time. The indicator tells you what column to look in, and the other two (same coloured) dice added up tell the outcome

If the pitcher shows a bold RIGHT or LEFT at the top of his card, then when you roll 1, 2, or 3 with the indicator die, you look at that side of the player’s card

Similarly, should you roll a 4, 5, or 6 and need to see what side of the pitcher’s card to look at, simply look at the batter’s top left corner, beside his name. It will show a L, R (Left/Right) or S (Switch). For Switch, look at the opposite side of what the Pitcher’s card says (ie., RIGHT=look at left side, etc.)

The 2 six-sided dice which are coloured the same are the outcome of the roll

EX: So, say the Pitcher’s a lefty and you roll a “2-8” – 2 being the indicator # and 8 being the result of adding together the 2 six-sided dice of the same colour – looking at Jeter’s 2-column and the number 8 shows “SINGLE (cf)”…sweet!

WHEN MEN ARE ON BASE

Now two things are important when reaching base – stealing and running (almost the same thing)

When you get a hit like the one above and it tells you what outfield it was hit to. In those cases, you ask for that fielder’s “arm strength” (ie., the # in brackets directly below his name; and usually ranges anywhere from -2, 0, +1, etc). This only applies to Outfielders. Infielders, like Jeter, do not have this # in brackets

The RUNNING numbers are what a 20-sided roll will get you in the event that you wish to stretch a single, like Jeter’s above to CF to a double

Say you do for example, Jeter’s running is 1-17. If the Centerfielder’s arm is -2 (pretty good), then it is still a 1-15 chance out of 20 Jeter will make it to second base. What choice, should I stay or should I go…

Now perhaps Jeter stays at first (by your choice, you don’t want to risk the out), now there is the STEALING to consider

Forget the big, blocky bold letters, A, B (Jeter), C, Ricky Henderson was a AAA…they are used for basic players, and mean nothing, but they are nice to look at aren’t they?

We use the #s to the right of that big letter A. Those are Jeter’s stealing numbers. Take a good look

There are cards you will notice which will have two sets of numbers both outside and inside the brackets, as well, some will not have that asterisk beside the first #

*6/- (17/6) means that Jeter is called an “automatic, needs a 6, for a 17”

Let me explain…

When a player is on first, it is important to always ask if the pitcher is holding the runner. In most cases the answer is yes, in some however it’s not worth it, and you’ll see why

Whenever the team pitching says “yes” to holding a runner, you automatically deduct -2 from that first # inside the bracket, so Jeter’s down to a 15 now (on a 20-sider) to steal. After you “hold” the runner you take the “arm strength” of the catcher (the only infielder who has an “arm” #) and the pitcher, who also has an arm rating

Most catchers are approx. -1 and the average pitcher is let’s say for argument +1, then those two numbers, added to the -2 for HOLDING THE RUNNER, cancel each other out, and so it has been determined that Jeter needs a 15 out of 20 in order to steal 2B

To steal after being held, you first must look to see if the player has that “*” beside his lead-off #/#. If so that means that if Jeter for example is being held, then you must roll the two six-sided dice and the outcome must add up to a “6”, to get that 15 out of 20. If you “don’t get the lead” you are not obligated to steal, so just stay on first base, I’ll explain why…(quick note-if there are two #s, ex., *7,10,11/12; that means to get the lead, a player must roll a 7, 10 or 11 to get it, and if he rolls a 12 (after the slash) then he was just picked off, so be aware)

By missing the lead, you now have to take 4 points off the 2nd #, then the hold, then the pitcher/catcher numbers added together. And as you can see with Jeter, as with most runners, their second # (the other one in brackets) almost always suck. It would 4 off the 6, then another 2 for the hold, then …. Forget it, you get the idea, you can’t run even if you wanted to, dice don’t have negative outcomes

Now the second reason after you lost the lead it’s a good idea to stay, is because now that the runner is being “held”, do you see any gb(pos.)A+ on Jeter’s card anywhere? Those “+” symbols mean that because the pitcher was concentrating on the runner, if the next batter gets up and rolls what was supposed to be a double play just turned into a single** (meaning the runner(s) moves two bases, one for each*); so you see sometimes just getting a fast guy on base and not moving him over can still be advantageous

Some other rules to consider

CLUTCH vs ANTI-CLUTCH

Very briefly, around the players’ hitting cards you will find horseshoe symbols. It means when there is a “clutch situation” (ie., 2 outs and at least one man standing on second-base, or third-base, or both) then the result of that outcome is reversed

Ex., in Jeter’s case he is considered an anti-clutch hitter because those horseshoes are next to SINGLE, and instead now with 2 out and runners in scoring position (2nd or 3rd) its an out

Sometimes they are next to outs, which then turn them into SINGLE** (the runner(s) advance each two bases), so it evens out depending on who’s at the plate during a big situation, or how close to the middle of the card those horseshoes are

BALL PARK EFFECT Singles and HRs

Simply put, any Triangle you see beside an outcome means forget what the outcome says, you will be rolling for a Ball-Park effect Single

Same goes with any Diamond you see, that means you will roll for a Ball-Park effect Homerun

Since some parks are different then others, certain hits are easier, or harder, to get, and that’s where these come in

It’s based on a chart (all stadium parks are different) and it’s a 20-sider roll. Ex., Boston is a 1-4 for a single, in Chicago it’s 1-19, that’s not really fair but what the hell

E-RATINGS (X on Pitchers’ Cards)

Anytime on a Pitchers’ card you see a giant “X” beside an out, it’s not really an out

For example, it might read flyB(LF)X, or gb(SS)X…if you see those it means a possible error has occurred

Using Jeter as an example, underneath his name are his defensive numbers

The first # is a ranking between 1-5, so a 1 is great, 2 is darn good, 3 is average (and depending on the position, like SS, perhaps not the most desirable) and the rest, well, you get the idea

The # after the little “e” is his “e-rating”, and so it goes like this: There is a chart you consult and you roll a 20-sider, it could be either an out, or a base hit. However there is also a bunch of numbers in the middle of the roll (ex., say 8-14) where if you hit that you must then roll the two six-sided dice and consult the box under the chart with the same “e-rating” that Jeter has. The higher a player’s e-rating the better chance at an error

As you can see from Jeter’s card, the league I play in we write the e-rating down, so we don’t have to go digging it up, we have it there in front of us

All other rules and fun stuff you’ll get to while we play. Enjoy!