TABBL Online Season 8 League Rules

The Tahoma Area Blood Bowl League is an inclusive space meant to be representative of all players who participate. That means we do our best to respect every player who plays, refer to them in the way they want to be referred to, and create a space wherein they can feel that they belong. We show respect to each and every player and try our best to create a space for them to play Blood Bowl.

Online League Rules for Season 7

Online League Format

The league will be divided into divisions of a varying number of players. Each team will play every other team in their division at least once. If the number of players in the league is less than 16 then players will play cross-divisional in order to meet the goal of 8 games per season.

# of Preseason Games:

New teams: Up to 5 per team registered. Teams cannot play the same team twice.

Redrafted Teams: No Preseason Games for Redrafted Teams

# of games per season: 6-8 (Round-robin)

# of playoff games: Up to 3 (Knock-out)

Time between games: 7 Days. Rounds will move forward as soon as all games have been completed.

Standings tiebreakers (Using in-game tiebreakers):

Points
# of Wins
TD +
TD -
Coin Flip

Scheduling Rules:

Games must be played within their scheduling rounds. A schedule round is from the date that the round is opened until the announced deadline from the league admin. If a coach is unable to schedule their game or has not offered at least 3 options for their opponent then the game will be forfeit by that coach. In the event that an agreement is not able to be reached by each coach then the game will be considered to be "scheduled" for the default time for the league.

League Default time: Saturday @ 12 PM Pacific

Scheduling Process:

Coordinate with the other player by utilizing the scheduling channel on discord. Agree on time and date.
Schedule your game in the Scheduling channel and agree upon a time.
Play your game!

Divisional rules:

When there are 15 or less players in the league:

When the league has 15 or fewer players in the league, divisions will be created according to the divisional chart below with as close to 8 games played per team as possible.

When there are 16 or more players in the league:

At least two divisions will exist in the league in order to protect newer players. Divisions will consist of a balanced number of players set by the number of registrations we have for the league. Our target number will be 8 players per division, however, this may flex to 10 depending on the number of players at the start of each season. At the end of the season, the bottom two positions from the each division will demote if possible and the upper two from each will promote if possible.

In the construction of the divisions, the following criteria will be considered and in this order of importance:

The priority in promotion and/or relegation
The coach's previous performance in the league.
The coach's previous division if they are a returning coach.
The tenure of the team.
The coach's experience as it is known to the admin team

It'll always be the intention of the league to try to balance these features and to provide folks with as competitive of a league as possible. However, this won't always be possible and will be highly dependent on the overall balance and progression of the league.

Promotion & Relegation Priority list

Should a spot open in any division, whether through demotion, a coach will be promoted or relegated dependant upon the following criteria:

Division champion
Division runner up
Division 3rd place team, or playoff team from previous season
Division 4th place teams, or playoff team from previous season
Lower division champion. (Promoted team)
Lower division runner up. (Promoted team)
Current division team that did not get relegated
Current division team that did not get relegated
Current division team that did not get relegated
Current division team that did not get relegated.

We will try our best to follow this structure as much as possible. However, there may be times where we are not able to and a decision will need to be made that moves players in or out on other criteria. If that occurs then the admin team will make an explanation available for folks at the time divisions are published.

Team building for new teams:

Each team will receive skills dependent upon the package listed below:

Treasury: 1M Gold per team

Skills: Dependent on team tiering below

Build rules:
1. - The chosen player must not possess the Loner or Secret Weapon trait.
  - The chosen player cannot end with a combination of Sneaky Git / Dirty Player. However, one or the other is ok.

All added skills are subject to a league review prior to them being added onto the chosen player.

Team Tiers as below

Playoff Format

Playoffs will be played in a knockout format with players assigned from each division to the playoff race. Players will earn their spots based upon their performance in the divisions that they are in.

For this upcoming season, we will be assigning playoff spots according to the following:
Div 1: Top 2 Positions

Div 2: Top 2 Positions

Div 3: Top 2 Positions

Div 4: Top 2 Positions

Div 5: Top 2 Positions

Wildcards: Top 6 positions that did not meet the top 2 slots in their group.

Star Use: Megastars will only be permitted for use by Stunty teams in the playoffs: Goblins, Halfings, Gnomes, Ogres.

Overtime: Should a match go to overtime, the team that elects to receive the ball in extra time must score. If the team that starts with the ball does not score, the defending team will be set as the winner of the match.

Redraft

Redrafts will be done in accordance with standard GW rules. The following criteria will be used

1.3M gold will be awarded to each team, dependent on the team's previous performance in their seasons.
For each season played, a player's cost will increase by 20k due to their agent recognizing their increasing skill and value.
Temporarily retired players are able to recover between seasons by utilizing the in-game functionality.
Redraft will occur based upon the rules available to use in Cyanide's tools and ruleset.

GW Rules are displayed below to help make with understanding the process of redrafting. While we may choose to change the rules to some extent throughout the league's life and progression, we are currently using them as written here. At this time, BB3 supports redraft with RAW. We will utilize this ruleset for redraft.

General Rules

Special rules of play are listed below. We play with some slight variations to the Blood Bowl rules to help make the experience better.

MVP Selection:
1. MVP's will be randomly assigned during the league in accordance with the end-of-game procedures. However, if a dead player receives your MVP then we will reroll the MVP across your team. Notify an admin and we'll get that sorted out for you!

Concessions: We handle concessions in this league as an “only if absolutely necessary” scenario which is to say that we do not generally allow concessions in this league. In most cases, we will follow the rules as they are documented in the rulebook. We will only deviate from these rules in extenuating circumstances.
1. 3 Players Left Standing Condition: If, at the beginning of a drive, a player has 3 players or less left on the pitch then the player is permitted to concede legally. No penalties will be assessed to the player in this case.
2. Illegal concessions: If a concession is made and the player has not met the 3 players left standing condition then the league staff will review the specific scenario and make a determination dependent on the surrounding factors that forced the player to concede. These will be handled on a case-by-case basis and the league will attempt to follow precedent wherever possible. In most cases, the rules from the Blood Bowl 2020 rulebook will be followed:

I. The opposition is awarded one touchdown and any touchdowns you have scored are converted to your opponents team and assigned via a random dice roll across the team.

II. You will forfeit your MVP and any SPP for it, even if the game has assigned you one.
III. You will not generate any winnings for your match.

IV. Your dedicated fans is reduced by D3.

1. Other conditions:

The league reserves the right to consider special circumstances in the event of an illegal concession and break from precedent. This means assigning unique punishments or not assigning punishment at all.

Scheduling: Players are expected to schedule and play their games in a timely manner. The expectation is that once a fixture is open for the player to play, the player has contacted their opponent and offered times within 3 days. Games are given a 7 day window from when the window has been rolled to play their games. In these cases, league staff will review communications between players and make a decision as to what will occur. Precedent will not be considered in these cases. While it is not a requirement, the league staff strongly recommends creating a thread in the scheduling channel for visibility's sake.
Holiday Scheduling: When there are holidays, whether American or Canadian, the league will try to accommodate by giving additional time for those rounds to allow folks to spend time with their friends and family when possible.

When a player leaves the league: In the event that a player leaves the league mid-way through the season, we will process their games as a 2-0 win for the player. The winning team will receive a random MVP and 2 random touchdowns rolled across the team. This will be done using BB3's in-game tools.

Game Clock: The game clock will be set to the competitive timer mode. This will grant 2 minutes for each turn with a bonus timer of 7 1/2 minutes for the duration of the game.

Mega-Stars and Star Players: Megastars are stars that can be game breaking in a variety of ways. If you've ever been on the receiving end of Morg N' Thorg, you know how much it can hurt to lose your team's star. Our league has adopted special rules to help deal with this:
1. In a any game, mega-stars are considered to take 2 Star Player Slots. This is not currently hardcoded into Blood Bowl 3 and is expected to be followed by each coach.
2. Teams are limited to 2 Star Player slots per Team.
3. All other Star Players take 1 Star Player Slot unless special circumstances exist, e.g. Grak & Crumbleberry or Dribl N' Drull
4. In playoff games, the overdog will be permitted to spend only up to 50k additional from their treasury to purchase additional inducements.
5. Stars on the megastar list below marked with an asterisk are only permitted to be used by Goblins and Halfling teams in any division.

Megastar List

1. 1. 1. Morg N' Thorg
    2. Griff Oberwald
    3. Deeproot Treebranch
    4. Hakflem Skuttlespike
    5. Kreek Rustgouger
    6. Bomber Dribblesnot*
    7. Willhelm Chaney
    8. Cindy Piewhistle*
    9. Giant inducement

Permitted Inducements
1. All inducements in BB3 are currently permitted.

Bugs & Other BB3 Issues:

Blood Bowl 3 isn't tabletop and that means we're at the whim of the developer. If you encounter a bug during play, we expect that you'll continue to play your game and see the game through. It's an unfortunate part of playing in the digital environment. In extreme cases, the league admin may reset the game and ask you to play the game from the beginning as if no turns had been taken. This will occur when it is determined that either the game cannot move forward due to the bug or that the bug was of such egregious circumstances that it fundamentally altered the outcome of the game.

Changes before the game:

Any changes that occur within 24 hours of the agreed upon game start should be disclosed to the other player. If you took an additional linemen, please tell your opponent. If you took a skill, tell your opponent. If it was more than 24 hours prior to the game start then this is not a requirement. It is the expectation of each player to have reviewed their match prior to starting the game.

Immediately prior to starting the game, the following should occur:

Overdog should state either that no additional changes will be made to their team or will make changes and inform the underdog.
Underdog can respond by making no changes or by adjusting their team. If changes have been made, they must inform overdog.
If the changes lift them into the overdog status, this process will repeat.
If TV's are equal then this process is not required. However, any changes made within the last 24 hours must still be disclosed to your opponent.

Conduct Rules

Demonstrate mutual respect towards one another.

This does not mean that one cannot tease, chirp at, or razz the opposing player. It’s Blood Bowl, after all, if you don’t complain about your opponent's dice at least once then are you really playing? But don’t be a dick about it. We’re all adults, we know when it’s too far, don’t go too far. The league will handle sportsmanship complaints with a heavy hand. Don’t make this game unfun for others.

Don’t be *that guy*

We’ve all played against that guy once or twice. They make their skills hard to read, their models can barely be determined what’s what, they try to take that extra movement square when you aren’t looking, or some other sordid act. Don’t be that guy. Be as honest as you can be, try your best to know the rules, and if you’re wrong… just admit you’re wrong and move on.

Schedule your games in a timely manner.

Don’t try to mess with your opponent by offering the worst possible windows for scheduling. Be proactive, make concessions, do your best to help get that game played. The effort that you put into scheduling games is part of the decisioning factor if a game ever goes to toss up for forfeit review.

League Staff

Jay Smith (@flutethecat) - Commissioner

James @hype261 - League Admin

Will @WillShoebox - League Admin

Gondra @Gondra - League Admin

Patrick @torokokill - League Admin

PainkillerBlaide @Cody - League Admin

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