Pen & Paper Baseball Rules Guide
Pen & Paper Baseball Rules Guide
Equipment: This rule book, a set of dice (see below), pencil and paper
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dice 2
Creating Teams 2
Simulating a Season 8
The Off-Season 11
Sample Teams 18
Record Sheets 30
Six-sided Twenty-sided
d6 d20
If the game calls for three six-sided dice to be rolled, it is abbreviated 3d6. If it calls for
one twenty-sided dice to be rolled, it is abbreviated 1d20.
CREATING A TEAM
A Pen & Paper Baseball team consists of nine players. Each player is rated numerically in
four skills: Batting (B), Fielding (F), Pitching (P) and Running (R).
To create a team, roll ratings for twelve players. Roll 3d6 for each skill, totaling the
result. The skill score determines the skill rating modifier:
A switch hitter can choose to hit and pitch either left- or right-handed on each play, but
must make their choice known in advance – i.e. before the pitch is thrown.
The manager also decides the team’s batting order. A manager can change the batting
order at the beginning of each game.
PLAYING A GAME
A game of baseball consists of nine innings. An inning consists of both teams having a
chance at bat. The away team always bats first in an inning. If you do not know which
team is the home team for your game, flip a coin.
When the fielding team records three “outs”, the batting team’s turn at bat ends and the
fielding team gets its turn at bat. A player is put out by have three strikes pitched to them
while at bat, having a ball they hit caught before it hits the ground, by being tagged by
the ball while running between bases, or having a base they must run to tagged by a
fielding player who is holding the ball.
If a batter gets pitched four balls, they are walked to first base and advance any of their
team mates who are on base who would otherwise have to share a base. Thus, a batter is
walked and advances to first base. If somebody is already on first base, they advance to
second base. If there was only another player already on third base, they do not advance,
as they would not have to share their base with another player.
I. The Windup
The pitcher decides which kind of
pitch he is going to throw. There are
three pitches in P&PB, the fastball,
curve and slider. Fastballs are the
most commonly thrown pitches. They
are the easiest for pitchers to throw,
and are the most likely to result in fly
balls, line drives and the dreaded
home run. Curves and sliders are easier to hit than fast balls, but they most commonly
result in ground balls, which are less dangerous to the fielding team.
If a runner is already on base, they may declare they are going to try to steal a base
during this step. Although the attempt to steal is declared now, it is resolved later.
Each inning pitched after the third inning carries a 1 in 6 chance (i.e. a roll of “1” on 1d6)
of the pitcher suffering fatigue. Make this roll at the end of each inning after the third (i.e.
fourth, fifth, etc.). Fatigue reduces the pitcher’s Pitching score by 1 point for the
remainder of the game. Multiple fatigue rolls impose a cumulative penalty during the
game, thus a third failed fatigue roll reduces a pitcher’s Pitching score by a total of 3. If
the pitcher’s Pitching score is lowered, their Pitching modifier changes accordingly.
A roll of a natural “1” always counts as a strike, and a roll of a natural “20” always counts
as a batted ball, regardless of modifiers.
Batting Result
Roll Result
1-8 Strike
9-10 Foul ball
11-15 Ground ball
16-18 Fly ball
19 Line drive
20 Home run
If the ball is put into play as a ground ball, fly ball or line drive, roll 1d6 to determine the
ball’s direction, consulting the charts below. You do not need to know the direction of a
foul ball or home run.
The position indicated in these charts is the position that must attempt to field the
batted ball (see below).
Stealing a Base
If the ball was a strike or a ball and a runner declared they were going to steal a base,
you resolve the base stealing attempt now. If the ball was a hit, you do not need to
When a runner tries to steal a base, the catcher must roll 1d20 + his Fielding modifier
minus the runner’s Running modifier and attempt to roll higher than “11”. If the roll is a
failure, the base is stolen. If the roll is successful, the runner is put out.
If a runner tries to steal a base while a different position is holding the ball, use the same
process, but with the target numbers as indicated on the chart below.
If a base runner is forced to run, then they can be put out merely by having a defender in
possession of the ball step on the base to which they are running. This is called a “forced
out”. The numbers needed to put a base runner out below, not including those for
stealing bases, assume a forced out. If a base runner is not forced to run, they must be
tagged. This imposes a -1 penalty to the dice roll to put the base runner out.
The fielder must roll to field the ball successfully – this means the fielder fields the ball
and throws it to another baseman or just covers up his own base, putting the batter out.
Bunting: Any successful hit can be declared a bunt by the hitter. Bunts are always
fielded by the pitcher in P&PB, thus the higher target numbers above.
To catch the ball in the air and put the batter out, the fielder
must roll 1d20 + their Fielding modifier and get a number
higher than 14.
To throw a runner out, the fielder rolls 1d20 + their Fielding modifier minus the runner’s
Running modifier. The roll must be higher than a target number – see the chart below:
To catch the ball in the air and put the batter out, the fielder must roll 1d20 + their
Fielding modifier and get a number higher than 4.
To throw a runner out, the fielder rolls 1d20 + their Fielding modifier minus the runner’s
Running modifier. The roll must be higher than a target number – see the chart below:
Shorter Seasons
The easiest way to handle the limitations of time and personnel is to simply play a short
season against as many opponents as you have available. If you have two friends who
want to play the game, put together a three team league and maybe play a three, five or
seven game series against one another to decide the league champion.
Extrapolation Method I
In professional baseball, teams play 18 games each against the other teams in their
division, and 12 games each against the teams outside their division. A simple way to
simulate this many games is to play a three game series against each team, and then
extrapolate the results of the other games from the win/loss record in the three game
series. This is done with the roll of 1d6 for each additional game to decide the winner.
Example: The Atlanta Bears and Montreal Kings split their series of three games, with
Atlanta winning two games and Montreal one. The teams are in different divisions in
their league, so they would normally play a total of 12 games against one another. To
decide the outcome of other nine games, the Atlanta player rolls 1d6 for each additional
game, registering a win for his side on a roll of 1-3 on 1d6, since they had a 2-1 record
against Montreal in the three games they actually played. This means that, despite
winning the most actual games played, the Atlanta Bears could end up with a losing
record against Montreal. Hey - that’s life in the big leagues!
Extrapolation Method II
In this method of extrapolation, a three game series is still played, but the comparison is
between the ratio of runs scored by the teams rather than the ratio of wins and losses.
Non-Player Teams
If you have only a few flesh-and-blood players but want to simulate a larger baseball
league, you can create “non-player-teams”. These NPT’s are generated the same way as
other teams, rolling dice for 12 players, cutting the three worst, assigning the remaining
nine positions, and creating a batting order for the team. You can play against these
NPT’s in normal head-to-head play, having another player roll dice and manage the NPT,
or use them in “shoot-out” style play (see below).
Shoot-Outs
If you do not have time to play a game using the normal head-to-head rules, you can opt
for this quick shoot-out style play. In shoot-outs, each team gets nine “at-bats”, with the
results of each determining the runs a team scores in an inning.
Run the at-bat just as in head-to-head play, using the normal pitching, batting and
fielding rules. You do not put players on base in a shoot-out; if a double is indicated, just
count it as two runs and then play the next at-bat without actually placing the batter on
second base. In a shoot-out, there are no “runs batted in” or base running.
Example: The St. Louis Wolves and Boston Beans are NPTs in a league, and the players
do not want to waste too much time determining their record against one another. They
decide to play a three game shoot-out series between them, and then use extrapolation
method I to determine their record for the remaining 9 games they would play.
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In game two, St. Louis’ batters are more productive, managing two walks, one single and
three doubles, for a total of 9 runs. Boston’s batters, on the other hand, are shut out, so
St. Louis wins game two.
In game three, St. Louis’ batters score 8 runs to Boston’s 5 runs. This means the St. Louis
Wolves win the three game shoot-out series 2 to 1, which in turn means they have a 3 in
6 chance of winning each of the nine games remaining between the clubs.
Rolling 1d6 for each of the nine additional games, St. Louis rolls the following numbers:
4, 3, 1, 1, 5, 5, 6, 4, 3. That comes out to four additional wins, so the total record of St.
Louis vs. Boston for this season will be St. Louis 6 wins, Boston 6 wins.
If we had used method II, we would have found that St. Louis scored a total of 17 runs to
Boston’s 9. That’s a ratio of 1.9:1, which means St. Louis needs to roll 1-4 on 1d6 to win
each additional game. Using the rolls above, St. Louis would win 6 additional games.
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Markets
The United States are divided into major and minor media markets. On the map included
in this book, red zones are major markets and blue zones are minor markets.
Each team begins play with one market in its fan base, this being the market that they
call home. If a team does well during the season, it may expand its fan base into adjacent
markets. Teams that do poorly might see their fan base contract, though they do not lose
their home market until they actually lose their franchise (see below).
At the end of the season, each team rolls 1d6 to determine whether they expand their fan
base into a new market, or lose a market from their fan base. Their chances of growth or
contraction depend on how well they did during the season.
Example: Let us say that the Seattle Skippers end the season with a record of 96-69-1
(i.e. ninety-six wins, sixty-nine losses and one tie). They were the best team in their
division, but they were not the best team in the league. The Skippers roll 1d6 and get a 3.
Looking at the “Best in Division” row, we see that a 3 means that the Skippers expand
their fan base. They are already in the Seattle (SEA) market, and the Portland market is
home to the Portland Pioneers, so they decide to expand into Washington (WA).
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Major markets can be added to a team’s fan base, but cannot be controlled by the team.
This means that other teams can also add the major market to their fan base. If multiple
teams share a major market, treat it as a minor market for purposes of determining the
income the teams derive from it.
A team can “conquer” a minor market controlled by another player by challenging them
to a pre-season contest. This game can be handled per league play or head-to-head rules.
The winner takes control of the market in question. A team cannot challenge for another
team’s home market.
Income
Money is the name of the game in professional sports. A team’s income depends on how
well it did in the season, and by the number and type of markets in its fan base.
For each team, find the row that corresponds to their performance during the season,
and then add up the revenue for each major and minor market in their fan base.
Example: If a team has one major market and two minor markets, and finishes with a
winning record, they earn $90 million in their major market, and $45 million in each
minor market, for a total income of $180 million.
Player Salary
Each player is paid a salary based on the total of their skill scores. Minor league players
are paid $250,000 per year. Players that a team cannot afford to pay do not play and
must be released to the draft. Money not spent on salaries can be saved for the future.
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Off-Season Events
Losing teams have to deal with the consequences of failure. Each team that ends a season
the worst in their division or worst in the league must roll 2d6 and refer to the table
below for the consequences of their disastrous season:
Roll Consequence
2 Team folds due to lack of fans
3 Team moves to a random minor market unless it can come up with $30 million dollars for stadium
improvements and public relations
4-12 No consequences – the fans are patient for now
Team Development
At the end of each season, roll up a crop of new players equal to three times the number
of teams in the league. Once these new players are generated, stage a draft, with the
worst team in the league (by percentage of wins in the last season) choosing first, then
the next-to-worst, and so forth, until all the new players have been drafted.
Managers can now assign new players to positions on their teams. Replaced players are
not lost, but are sent down to the minors to develop their abilities. At the beginning of
each season, players in the minors have a chance to improve one of their skill scores. For
each player, choose one skill score to attempt to improve. Roll 3d6 - if the roll is higher
than the existing skill score, improve the score by +1. If the roll is lower, retain the old
score. Players can be brought up from the minors at the beginning of the next season.
Aging Players
After five season of play, a player’s skills could erode. For each skill score, roll 3d6. If the
roll is lower than the existing skill score, reduce the skill score by 1. If a skill score is
reduced in this manner, it cannot again be improved by sending the player down to the
minors. After a player’s fifth season, they must make these aging rolls after each
subsequent season of play.
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Baltimore Canaries
Home Market: Baltimore MD
Last Record: 67-91-4 (0.414) – Union League South Cellar
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Brooklyn Toppers
Home Market: Brooklyn NY
Last Record: 90-82-0 (0.523)
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Chicago Tigers
Home Market: Chicago IL
Last Record: 82-79-1 (0.506)
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Cleveland Spiders
Home Market: Cleveland OH
Last Record: 63-97-2 (0.389) – Union League North Cellar
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Houston Generals
Home Market: Houston TX
Last Record: 83-77-2 (0.512)
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Montreal Kings
Home Market: Montreal CAN
Last Record: 69-91-1 (0.429)
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Philadelphia Bluebirds
Home Market: Philadelphia PA
Last Record: 70-89-3 (0.432)
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Portland Pioneers
Home Market: Portland OR
Last Record: 62-92-2 (0.383) – Continental League West Cellar
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Washington Blues
Home Market: Washington DC
Last Record: 91-70-2 (0.558)
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PLAYER POS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Runs
Hits
Errors
Left on Base
PITCHER W-L IP BF K BB H R ER
IP=Innings Pitched • BF = Batters Faced • K = Strikeouts • BB = Walks • H = Hits Allowed • R = Runs Allowed • ER = Earned Runs
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Name
Home Market:
Other Markets:
Last Record:
Total Salary:
Assets:
1B
2B
3B
SS
RF
CF
LF
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Division:
Team W L T R RA W%
Division:
Team W L T R RA W%
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