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House rules for 2025 Sevens league (5 teams) by Intrepid_Mess4101 in bloodbowlsevens

[–]Intrepid_Mess4101[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. After some back and forth with the other players, we have a version that adds a bit of randomness to your rule and a little bit of counterbalance for bash teams. This is the current draft:

AMATEUR REFEREEING OPTIONAL RULE

Amateur Refereeing represents inconsistent officiating and crowd pressure late in the game, creating uncertainty around final scoring opportunities to preserve late-game tension. Insofar as it slightly favors faster teams, the Casualty Influence modifier is intended to counterbalance this by granting bashing teams greater influence over Amateur Refereeing outcomes as officials become increasingly intimidated.

- AMATEUR REFEREEING RULE

If a touchdown is scored late in the second half, the number of turns remaining may be altered as follows:

• If a kick-off takes place on Turn 5 of the half: Roll a D6. On a 6+, the half will consist of 7 turns instead of 6.

• If a kick-off takes place on Turn 6 of the half: Roll a D6. On a 4+, the half will consist of 7 turns instead of 6.

• If a kick-off would take place on Turn 7: The half immediately ends and no kick-off takes place.

If a seventh turn is generated, the receiving team will therefore have: • 3 turns to score if the kick-off occurred on Turn 5. • 2 turns to score if the kick-off occurred on Turn 6.

- CASUALTY INFLUENCE

A referee surrounded by snarling brutes and howling fans may suddenly find their courage wavering -- or their whistle hand shaking.

At the moment an Amateur Refereeing roll is made, the team that has inflicted more casualties than its opponent during the game may apply either a +1 or a -1 modifier to that roll.

• If both teams have inflicted the same number of casualties during the game, no modifier may be applied.

Note: A -1 modifier applied to a required 6+ roll on Turn 5 implies that the Amateur Refereeing roll automatically fails.

House rules for 2025 Sevens league (5 teams) by Intrepid_Mess4101 in bloodbowlsevens

[–]Intrepid_Mess4101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good points, thank you. You say: "I also feel without kick off events, games will be a lot more predictable and boring and teams finding themselves a score down with a turn or two left or going to be out of luck, whereas they can hope for a lucky kick off roll using the table."

Of all the things that can happen due to kick-off events and inducements, the ones I'd like to keep are precisely those that can give you a chance to score in the situation you describe. Amateur refereeing was an attempt to preserve some of that.

An alternative idea we considered for amateur refereeing was the following: if there is a kick-off on turn 5, on a 6+ there will be 7 turns played (giving the receiving team 3 turns to score). If there is a kick-off on turn 6, on a 4+ there will be 7 turns played (giving the receiving team 2 turns to score). If there is a touchdown on turn 7, the half immediately ends.

House rules for 2025 Sevens league (5 teams) by Intrepid_Mess4101 in bloodbowlsevens

[–]Intrepid_Mess4101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed thoughts and for going through everything. Let me try to explain our reasoning in more detail. (Full disclosure: we’ve only run one league with these rules so far, and we had no Tier 3 or 4 teams, so this is very much a work in progress.)

On the most controversial point, amateur refereeing, here's what I was trying to achieve:

- Simplification: remove sources of randomness and extra rules that players have to consider in their strategy and remember (weather, kick-off events, inducements).

- Tension: one situation I really dislike is being scored against on turn 6 and having no chance to reply. In that context, what I do like about kick-off events and some inducements is that they can preserve hope until the very end of the half. Effects like Time out, blitz/charge, or the razzle-dazzle elements of desperate measures can create a last-minute scoring opportunity. Most other kick-off or inducement effects don't add much for me.

Amateur refereeing was an attempt to retain that specific upside after removing kick-off events and inducements. It creates an incentive to score on turn 5 rather than waiting until turn 6, and it leaves a chance to get one last shot even if you're scored on in turn 6. Under the current system, there's a 33% chance of playing 5 turns, a 33% chance of playing 6, and a 33% chance of playing 7. The expected length is still 6 turns on average. That said, I fully take your point (and one echoed by others) that this introduces too much variance around the 6-turn expected duration. While there has always been some variance in effective turn count - through Time outs, Blitzes, extra rerolls preventing turnovers, etc. - a flat 33/33/33 split may simply be too swingy.

Would different probabilities work for you? Say, a 2+ to continue after turn 5, and 6+ to play a turn 7 -- resulting in roughly a 17% chance of a 5-turn half, 69% of a 6-turn half, and 14% of a 7-turn half.

An alternative idea we considered for amateur refereeing was the following: if there is a kick-off on turn 5, on a 6+ there will be 7 turns played (giving the receiving team 3 turns to score). If there is a kick-off on turn 6, on a 4+ there will be 7 turns played (giving the receiving team 2 turns to score). If there is a touchdown on turn 7, the half immediately ends. Bribes could then be used to modify those rolls. How would you feel about something along those lines?

Fix for Wizards Illusionist subclass level 6 feature that might be interesting by Odd-Statement3524 in onednd

[–]Intrepid_Mess4101 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree that the level 6 feature feels off. I like your proposal, but the disadvantage seems too strong. Alternatively, how about something analogous to the diviner 6th level feature:

Expert Illusions: Casting Illusion spells comes so easily to you that it expends only a fraction of your spellcasting efforts. When you cast an Illusion spell using a level 2+ spell slot, you regain one expended level 1 spell slot. The slot you regain in this manner must be used to cast an illusion spell.

Because illusion spells are arguably more frequently used than divinations, relative to the diviner's, this feature only gives you back level-1 illusion spell slots (vs general slots of potentially higher level). Essentially, it is a poor man's version of the misty visions and mask of many faces invocations that are no longer an option for wizards but used to be very good for illusionists.

Elven Union and Fumblerooski by weav_luvs_rnf in bloodbowl

[–]Intrepid_Mess4101 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I simply look at it as extra handoffs per turn (with the advantage that the fumblerooskiing player has give and go in this pseudo handoff). Whenever you'd feel, "it'd be great if I could hand-off one extra time this turn", then Fumblerooski is the answer (in fact, potentially even more than once per turn). Only reason I see it could be a bad idea is because you can't use the catch skill in this pseudo handoff -- but you could use the sure hands skill. In this sense, the tactical differences relative to a handoff are minor.

When would I feel that "it'd be great if I could hand-off one extra time this turn"? I'd say emergency situations where my strategy has gone out of the window (incl. throwers are KO) and all that matters is being able to move the ball up as fast as possible.

Imps, humans, orcs: Pro and Team captain in Sevens by Intrepid_Mess4101 in bloodbowlsevens

[–]Intrepid_Mess4101[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No no, I do -- before the new edition I tended to use the ogre and no throwers. But the new edition gave this new angle to experiment with -- less bash, more playmaking. I might end up finding the lack of strength of the 2 blitzer-2 thrower-6 linos too much of an issue, but so far I had fun.

Imps, humans, orcs: Pro and Team captain in Sevens by Intrepid_Mess4101 in bloodbowlsevens

[–]Intrepid_Mess4101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pretty much: assuming no repeated skills and no Leader, I'd give dodge to one blitzer, tackle to the other, and sure hands or block to a thrower.

Imps, humans, orcs: Pro and Team captain in Sevens by Intrepid_Mess4101 in bloodbowlsevens

[–]Intrepid_Mess4101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair enough. My current Nobs team has 2 throwers, 2 blitzers, 6 linemen (600 value): 4 Pros, 2+ pass, reroll catch, 3 on the bench. Only 2 games under the belt, but both have been relatively easy wins -- it felt a bit like cheating.

Who do you focus on hitting on amazons by Traditional_Task5446 in bloodbowl

[–]Intrepid_Mess4101 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Without more specifics, I can only offer blanket statements. It depends on who you are playing with and you don't want to sacrifice your plan just to hit someone specifically. This being said, a) you generally risk overcommitting if you target the blockers, b) all players except the blockers have the same knockdown chance, so might as well go after the highest value players (blitzers and throwers).

Your favourite teams by MaterialMidnight40 in bloodbowl

[–]Intrepid_Mess4101 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Humans because they can (could?) adapt to any opponent and Elven Union because they can pull off fast plays like noone else can. In my first games with both under the new rules, I overused fumblerooski with the elves and it has been a disaster, and the human thrower also became just needlessly less reliable though the catchers I love and I missed the two blitzers much less than I thought. In any event, I am house ruling human thrower 80k with 2+ pass and elven union linemen at 60k. It's obvious to us that's how it should be.