War Hamster 10,000

An odd game that arose in the Western Empire and popular among noble blooded children, but even some adults have fallen victim to the craze. The game originated among a couple of bored young teens within the Empire of Sin. One of the teens had a large collection of hamsters, a hobby of his mother to breed them and often giving her son some of her extras. To help pass the time he decided it would be fun if he and his friend divided the hamsters between them, equip them with small improvised weapons such as sewing needles tied to their heads or knives strapped to their backs, and then pit their "armies" against each other. After having fun, the teens shared the idea with their friends. Soon, the game became a phenomenon.

Even though something only thought up in boredom, the game has since caught on and taken a life of its own. As popularity spread, so too did the complexity. There are now shops within the Western Empire devoted to War Hamster 10,000 equipment and training. Types of equipment include small hamster sized armor with blades and other weapons attached to mini-hamster helmets or war spheres (spiked hamster balls), as well as options to modify terrain for the field of play. Equipment only plays a small part though. Training plays a significant difference between victory and defeat.

Training can be undertaken by both player and hamster. In the case of trainers, they learn a variety of tactics and strategies. This includes how to best equip their hamster army, deciding a good blend of armor types, weapon types, not overweighing them with too much, and picking a good field of battle for the strengths of their army. Also included can be training methods to better hone the hamster forces. Training for the hamsters goes into building up endurance, training them to execute maneuvers (even if the hamster doesn't understand it, merely repeat it), and building the killer instincts of the furry warriors.

Games are played on a variety of scales. Small battles can be anywhere between one and five, with hamster armies ranging between one and three being the most popular. Medium battles can range up to ten hamsters on each side, large up to 25, and epic ranging all the way up to armies 50 hamsters strong. Each player gets to set up half the field, to give their side an edge. Some players compete under handicaps, such as playing with fewer hamsters than the opponent and/or letting the opponent set up more (or all) of the battlefield, either for bonus points in a competition or just for the challenge against less experienced players.

In order to participate in competitions, players must be able to field enough hamsters for the size of the battle. Most competitions hold small battles for this reason, as the players must also be ready to replace any hamsters lost in a round. This adds to the strategy of battle. If a player uses all his best war hamsters in the early rounds, they may get injured or killed before the later rounds when they're needed most. But fielding too many of the weaker war hamsters early on can eliminate a player before ever reaching the final rounds.

Each city and each competition has their own rules however, such as restricting certain types of equipment or only hosting epic battles. One city makes players roll one six-sided die before each round. The roll determines the conditions of battle. Rolling a 1 means that the player cannot replace any hamsters lost this round in the next round. A 2 forfeits half the player's field, leaving them only with a quarter of the board. Results of 3 or 4 restrict certain types of armor, which can be detrimental if the player relies heavily upon that type. If a 5 comes up, the player suffers a penalty to how many war hamsters can take the field that round. Only on a 6 does the player escape without any penalties.

The term 10,000 is used in the game name not because that many hamsters compete at one time, but because 10,000 is a term used to indicate a number too high to count. With the popularity of the game, it is quite easily 10,000 strong within the Western Empire. Even though the game does hold some appeal to commoners, many of which attend competitions just to watch, it is still a game primarily of nobles. This is because few people other than nobles have the money to spend on building, equipping, training, and replacing losses of a hamster army just for a game. Commoners have more important things to spend their money on, such as feeding their families.