Free Beer and Inspiration, new version

[mattgslater]

Situation: Our league format, which we like, a four-month season followed by a postseason. Teams can play up to 14 or so games, but some will play fewer. Then we play a postseason tournament for the championship. Invariably, some coaches play all their games and others don't.

Objective: To create a pair of inducements that provide long-term value for those who will play fewer games, without either being too-good a deal or stiffing the underdog unnecessarily in the match at hand.

Proposed New Rules

1) Pre-Match Sequence: Roll for the Gate and work out FAME right after rolling for Weather, before Inducements are selected.

2) New Inducements:

0-2 Free Beer (100k/250k). Maybe money can't buy you love, but money can buy beer for your backers. Fuelled by suds, your fans go crazy! For 100,000 gold, you buy a round for the whole house, and your FAME for this match is 1. For 250,000 gold, you promote the free beer to ensure a great turnout; your FAME for this match is 2. Note that this does not affect your opponent's FAME. If 10,000 fans turn out for your side and 11,000 fans show for the other side, the opponent has FAME 1, too. This also does not increase any FAME you already had, unless you buy more Free Beer than you had FAME. This FAME applies for all purposes, including Winnings.

0-1 Inspiration (200k). When the going gets tough, the tough get going! One of your players, chosen at random, psyches himself up for this match against a strongly-favoured opponent! You may assign that player any one normal skill for this match only. At the end of the match, the player gains a free MVP award; remove the player from the pool of eligible players for the MVP. Inspiration is a state of mind, and can't be induced from Petty Cash.

[sann0638]

Voted uh, just because I'm not a big fan of house rules in general. But it's well thought out - I'd be tempted (for the fun of it) not to remove the Inspired player from the MVP pool. Sorry if that had already been suggested/discussed/discarded - just my tuppence worth.

[Xadie]

0-1 Inspiration (200k). At the end of the match, the player gains a free MVP award; remove the player from the pool of eligible players for the MVP. Inspiration is a state of mind, and can't be induced from Petty Cash.

Do I get this right: for 200k one gets free 5SPP on a player randomly chosen + the normal MVP? *scratcheshead*

[Darkson]

I'm not sure which one I should vote for, as I don't think it's balanced insofar as Inducements are meant to be for the game in question, not for long-term, and I don't agree with the intention.

[plasmoid]

Ha. Nice one Darkson.
No - not this one. The other one. (look up)

[mattgslater]

Do I get this right: for 200k one gets free 5SPP on a player randomly chosen + the normal MVP? *scratcheshead*

Yes. Two MVPs, and one of the MVPs is picked before the game; that player gets a normal skill for the match.

Voted uh, just because I'm not a big fan of house rules in general. But it's well thought out - I'd be tempted (for the fun of it) not to remove the Inspired player from the MVP pool. Sorry if that had already been suggested/discussed/discarded - just my tuppence worth.

That's not a bad idea. I hadn't considered it.

I'm not sure which one I should vote for, as I don't think it's balanced insofar as Inducements are meant to be for the game in question, not for long-term, and I don't agree with the intention.

That's either option #2, if you think I have the costing right on my broken concept, or option #4 if you think that my broken concept can be improved on and preserved, or option #5 if you just want to object to the idea of some league halfway around the world doing it their way.

[Wanchor]

pption #5 if you just want to object to the idea of some league halfway around the world doing it their way.

Hah. So sensitive. I'm with Darkson, anyhow, concerning inducements that do more than affect the current match and only the current match.

[mattgslater]

Ok. So it's a bad idea. Do I have the costing right? Given the context of my idea, do you think there's a cleaner or more effective way to do it?

[Wanchor]

I really don't know what the cost of an inherently unbalanced idea ought to be. Don't you think it would be a moot point, considering my previous statement?

[mattgslater]

Unbalanced? Why unbalanced? You can balance something you don't think should be done: I don't buy pink nightgowns, but I can still tell you if a given pink nightgown looks like a good or bad bargain when I see the gown and the pricetag. Are you saying that on some metaphysical level there's no way to get that balance just right, like the Khemri team? 'Cause I strongly doubt that in this case.

[Wanchor]

I'm saying that I have no idea how to gauge the value of something that, by design, is nothing like any of the other things in the game. Let us presume that everything in Blood Bowl is representable by apples - what am I supposed to do with this orange?

[mattgslater]

Actually, I think it's quite a lot like Wandering Apothecary.

Wandering Apothecary: "I'm concerned about the long-term health of my team, so I'm taking a #2 Apothecary. There's a good chance that I'll use it to get an extra body in the match, but what it's really for is to ensure that I don't lose any value."

Free Beer: "I really need to roll a (2, 3, 4) for Winnings, so FAME for me would be huge. There's a good chance that FAME will help on some roll in the match, but what it's really for is to ensure I get to make my next purchase on schedule."

Inspiration: "I have a big TV gap, meaning I'm either suffering turnover issues or falling behind on the development curve, or both. I need some SPP to balance my team out. I do get a free skill to use in the match, but I pay the big money to keep up on SPP."

[Wanchor]

Alright, you've sold me on the Free Beer. Fame +2 might be overpowered, though, and I'm more inclined to price the +1 FAME at higher than 100k...150 seems a tad too high. 120, maybe? I can't really say without playtesting and the exact circumstances provided that make it an option in the first place.

Still can't get behind the free XP, though. That stuff is earned - play smart, roll crits, kill orcs, &c &c.