Darebase

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Darebase, also spelled Dare Base, is a tag game between two teams on an open field that places a premium on speed and agility. The game field consists of a large no-man's land with bases occupying two opposite ends of the field. Game fields typically range from between a football field and a basketball court. Each base belongs to the team that starts on that side.

The game can be won in either of two ways: either by capturing all of the opposing team's players or by occupying the opposing team's base. In order for a player to be captured they must be tagged by an opposing team's player that has entered no-man's land after that player, a condition commonly referred to as "fresher." Players can return to their base line at any time to become fresher.

Players typically start by engaging in a series of feints, or dares, whereby one player will approach the opposite base and attempt to get opposing players to give chase. Once the chaser gets close enough to the opposing team's base line another player may cross their base line to intercept them which immediately reverses the situation.

When one player captures another player, both players become immediately inactive until the capturer finishes escorting the captured player to jail. Each team's jail is located in a corner of the field and is represented by a specific marked point on the base line such as a cone or pole. The jailed player must be in physical contact with the jail point to be eligible for rescue. They may stretch out or lay down to reach closer to their home base. When the next player is captured, that player must be in physical contact with the first player and may also stretch out. This chain of jailed players makes it easier for captured players to be freed.

To free players from jail, a team member must tag the jailed member. There are several variations of the game that hinge on different rules for freeing captured players from jail. In one variation, only one person can be freed at a time: whichever player has been in jail the longest. In this variation, the most recently captured player joins the line at the point of the jail while the players that have been in jail the longer move towards the other end of the line. The most senior prisoner must be tagged in order to be freed.

Another variation allows all players to be freed if any of the jailed players are tagged.

Yet another variation is actually a hybrid of the two above. To free all players, the rescuer must tag the point of the jail. Alternately, a rescuer is able to free just the most senior prisoner who is at the end of the line by tagging them directly.

Once a rescuer has freed one or more prisoners they and those who are freed are immune to capture until they return to their team's base.

Players that are able to successfully cross the opposing team's base line are safe from capture and may cross that line to capture other players.

DareBase provides several key roles that players typically occupy with very little discussion or leadership. Some players choose to place themselves out front, attempting to draw chase from the opposing team's fastest players. This dueling eventually results in one team's fastest player(s) being captured, or gaining the advantage of crossing the other team's base line. Other players naturally employ more defensive tactics such as guarding the line and/or jail.

DeepSkyFrontier 06:39, 8 April 2007 (UTC)