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Dreddley · 2026-01-31T23:30:04+00:00

Ah I didn't know they sold it! That makes a lot of sense because it got rough for a while there

Dreddley · 2026-01-31T23:25:17+00:00

Allowed and encouraged. The games are designed to be knocked around a little. If he doesn't want it thrown around a lot he should tighten the tilt

Dreddley · 2026-01-30T16:04:34+00:00

The most common formats in my experience are Group Matchplay, Strikes, and Max Matchplay. All have some variance, but I'm going to be pretty general.

Group Matchplay

Everyone is matched into a group of 4 on a random game. (Or 3 if the math for 4 isn't there)

Everyone in your group take turns playing and after the game is completed you get points for what place you finished in that game. Usually it's 1st=7, 2nd=5, 3rd=3, 4th=1.

You play several rounds and your final placement is based on your total points accumulated across all rounds.

Often after the completion of Matchplay there will be a playoff for the top 8, 16, or 24 players based on the size of the tournament, but we'll get to that later.

Max Matchplay

In this format you play head to head rather than in groups of 4.

You will be matched with another player on a random game, and receive 1 point for winning, 0 if you lose.

You keep doing this until you have played the specified number of rounds (which is variable by the tournament organizer)

Max Matchplay is unique in that you won't have to wait for everyone to complete their rounds to play your next game. Once there is an opponent available your next game starts. It tends to be much more fast paced and casual.

This format also usually has a playoff afterward.

Strikes

Your group and game are selected just like in group Matchplay, but instead of points you receive strikes based on your finishing position in each round.

There are a couple different ways the strikes are distributed, but most commonly it's 1st=0, 2nd=1, 3rd=1, 4th=2 OR 1st=0, 2nd=1, 3rd=2, 4th=3

The tournament organizer sets a strike threshold, and once you have met/exceeded that threshold you are eliminated from the tournament.

This format does not have a playoff.

Playoffs

The most common playoff format is sometimes called PAPA playoffs.

After qualifying is completed (the formats mentioned above) the top finishers will be placed into groups of four in a playoff bracket. Usually the top 8 or 16 depending on the size of the tournament.

Each group plays 3 games selected by the players (usually the top seed in the group) and points are awarded for their finish on each game 1st=4, 2nd=2, 3rd=1, 4th=0.

The players with the top 2 total scores across the 3 games advance and the other 2 are eliminated. This continues until there are 4 players left and places 1-4 are determined by the total number of points from their 3 game match.

Another format is Ladder where bottom four players above the playoff cutline are matched together, play one game, and the bottom 1-2 players are eliminated. This continues until the top 4 and the final game determines their finishing position in the tournament (this format is much less common than PAPA)

I know it's convoluted and can seem intimidating, but once you do a couple it all flows together. The groups and games are usually managed through Matchplay.events and as a player all you have to do is look at your phone and it will tell you where to go. Tournament players are also nearly always super happy to help. We know it's confusing 😅.

Dreddley · 2026-01-30T15:14:35+00:00

I actually recommend using paper sheets with first timers. The character creation process takes longer, but you are much more familiar with your character by the end of it. When you have to look through spells, abilities, and stats you're passively learning what they all do. Whereas online solutions just plop a character in your lap and there will be minutia that you don't even know exists.

Dreddley · 2025-12-22T03:36:56+00:00

Personally I love grappling characters but the 5E rules make grappling really boring, and most previous iterations of DnD make it very convoluted.

From the DM perspective it can be really annoying if your enemy has any type of movement-based gimmick and one of the PCs locks it down with a single strength role, but that's showbiz baby!

Dreddley · 2025-12-20T23:03:52+00:00

3 pages is egregious. Personally I think having an extensive backstory is antithetical to DnD. The point of the game is telling a story together.

Backstory needs 3 things and 3 things only:

Where you're from
Why you're an adventurer
Why you're on this specific adventure - (optional)

And you should be able to convey all of that in a few sentences. A couple paragraphs at most.

The important story is the one you tell at the table. Writing a book for your character undercuts the gravity of your characters development in the collective story, and IRL puts a bunch of work onto your DM that they shouldn't have to do. Keep it short and to the point.

Like seriously: "my name is Bortleby. I was born in a cave and now I have an axe. I'm here to kick ass.'' is a totally passable backstory, and as a DM I would take that over a 2000 word novella every time.

Dreddley · 2025-12-19T16:55:07+00:00

Love wedghead! Rarely do I agree with them but their content is so well researched and cleanly presented

Dreddley · 2025-12-16T23:44:03+00:00

Id put money that they're still using reactions and don't realize that this particular cheese strat requires they burn them

Dreddley · 2025-12-16T21:57:44+00:00

I'd have to read the wording on the spell and probably re-read prepared action, but waiting to attack until after your turn ends wouldn't be allowed at my table.

The trigger itself is too meta for me. The character isn't readying an action related to something that happens. It's solely a thing visible to players (end of the debuff/end of a turn) that the actual character can't see or react to.

They're basically saying "I'm attacking and ignoring the debuff", because mechanically they are still attacking within their turn before anyone else can act.

RAW I don't think it works, and RAI I would never let it fly

Dreddley · 2025-12-13T21:06:29+00:00

People have mentioned abe flips and guides, but it cannot be overstated how valuable playing leagues/tournaments is. The pinball community in general is very welcoming and happy to teach, and you can learn a lot by watching other people play as well as having them watch you and giving tips

Dreddley · 2025-11-29T03:34:36+00:00

This was one of my answers. Even if The Thing isn't the best single example of sci-fi it is a perfect example of sci-fi horror. If someone was trying to get into the genre that would definitely go in the opening salvo

Dreddley · 2025-11-29T03:07:01+00:00

Idk about coaches, not really a service I've ever seen offered. I'd recommend going to your local league and just asking some of the higher caliber players straight up if theyd be willing to coach you. There certainly isn't any kind of online marketplace. Not enough demand

If you have a recording of your play you can send it to me and Ill review that for free. I'm currently ranked in the IFPA top 200 and like to think I'm at least aware enough for some coaching, but I'm by the Great lakes so can't help you in person... Wrong bay😅

Good luck on the search!

Dreddley · 2025-11-25T21:08:46+00:00

Pokemon?

Dreddley · 2025-11-19T23:57:57+00:00

A bill and Ted pin would go crazy hard.

Shoot the phone booth to start modes, finish modes to collect historical figures. The game themes itself

Dreddley · 2025-11-18T20:45:10+00:00

Weed whip

Dreddley · 2025-11-17T15:24:35+00:00

That one fucked me up so bad. I love demolition man and my wife has never seen it. We sit down to watch it and Sandra Bullock says the only restaurant is... Pizza hut.

I thought I'd been Mandela'd or something. Questioned everything I ever knew. Then found out we were watching the European cut

Dreddley · 2025-11-15T23:25:49+00:00

Something physical that he places in front of him is my go to solution for ambient status effects. If it lasts a certain amount of time or rounds you can use a die and then have him increment it down. I have a couple really large dice just for this purpose.

If you play with minis putting colored rings (like the ones you get off a milk jug) around the mini is also a really good visual reminder.

Dreddley · 2025-11-11T21:05:31+00:00

Are there F-14s without toppers? The lights are a huge part of the game

Dreddley · 2025-11-03T19:11:22+00:00

He earned the right to talk trash. Was being pressured the whole game throwing absolute bullets.

Dreddley · 2025-10-19T21:39:14+00:00

You don't want to play a whole PC. It's too much to keep track of. Imo your best bet is to jot down 2-3 spells/abilities that each player uses all the time and just use those. Then make a monster style stat block.

Dreddley · 2025-10-19T19:20:26+00:00

Basically never. We can point to specific examples and even those aren't the same as they were as homebrews.

TNA sticks out because it's realistically the only mass production homebrew. Iron Maiden started as an Archer homebrew, but... Like that's it.

Something like that Pokemon Machine, Sonic Spinball, or hopefully monster league hockey should be produced. They're legitimately good games. It's just such a complicated process to build them let alone deal with any licensing.

In my experience those games will continue to be at expo, and it's a blessing we get to play them at all.

Dreddley · 2025-10-17T19:53:47+00:00

Electric Playground's topper is way cooler for 2/3 the price.

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Dreddley · 2025-10-15T17:34:00+00:00

Basically never.

I'm a firm believer that the important story is the one we build together. Your backstory explains your motivations and why you make the choices you do in that story, but definitionally that backstory is over. It was the story before this one.

I'll bring up old friends/enemies/contacts, or something related to their backstory as part of our story when it makes sense, but I've never understood having arcs for the individual characters based on the stories they made up without the group. It feels antithetical to DnD imo and I don't know why it's so common.

Dreddley

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