Talk Fantasy Football

Problem to solve: There are a lot of players who simply never throw inaccurate. This seems unrealistic to me.

Second problem to solve: Extending the range beyond short increases your chance of fumbling, but only adds to your miss chance if you take misses without using Pass.

Third problem to solve: Passing is too dangerous, and nobody ever tries difficult passes, because they usually turn into fumbles.

What would the net impact of this rule be?

1) A natural 1 is a fumble.
2) A 1 after TZ penalties is a fumble.

Implications:
A) No effect on 0 or better net modifier, or on a QP or SP. No effect on players with Accurate and Strong Arm, or on LPs from players with one of the two.
B) On an unskilled long pass or a 1-skill long bomb, a 2 after TZs is inaccurate.
C) On an unskilled long bomb, a 2-3 after TZs is inaccurate.
D) An AG5 player hits a long pass from the clear on a 3.
E) An AG6 player hits a long pass from the clear on a 2, or a long bomb on a 3.

Seems quite odd and complicated; i think you should aim for a more simple and intuitive rule, like :

1) a natural 1 is always a fumble
2) a modified roll of 0 (or less) is a fumble

How is that simpler? Both are in two parts; one of those parts is the same, and for the other one, both seem pretty much even.

Matt, I used to think likewise and would have suggested the same modification as you just did. However, I have learned to appreciate the devilishly clever design of the current rules.

I agree that frequent fumbles are not "realistic", but the high frequency of failed pick-ups in the open is not either. The game design should favor balance ahead of realism though.

If I understand correctly, the spirit of the design is to make passing a skill that requires specialists. That is, high AG players should not be better passers than lower AG but otherwise skilled players. The fumble rule has probably been designed this way. High AG avoids inaccurate throws but does not protect you from catastrophic fumbles. Only Skills such as Safe Throw, Accurate, Strong Arm, Nerves of Steel or even Hail Mary Pass do.

The other benefit I see for the current rule is to punish long bombs that are thrown only to put the ball out of reach of the opponent, especially a slow one. Once again, you need specialists to accomplish this feat reliably, so that it requires planning and foresight.

Finally, changing the fumble rule would disturb the balance in favor of the Elf teams (and other AG teams), which already have a huge edge in scoring.

What Kort said.

mattgslater wrote:How is that simpler? Both are in two parts; one of those parts is the same, and for the other one, both seem pretty much even.

It's simpler in its application since all modifiers are treated equally regarding Fumbles : there is not 2 type of modifiers (some that only affects accuracy and others (TZs) that affects both accuracy and fumbles).
Apart from that important detail, those 2 versions are very simiar (indeed : your version inspired mine).

Note : although i submit a contribution here doesn't mean i fully agree with your main objective : i share some of Kort's concerns. Indeed, i'm afraid that this kind of rule would depreciate some passing skills, especially HMP, more than they already are.

Thanks!

Hi Matt. Long time lurker here.

Some time ago I came up with an alternative passing procedure. I was struck by your same consideration (too much fumble, few inaccurates), and also by the relatively slow scatter procedure (our league use the 4 minutes rule).
But, in the end, I also shared Kort's concerns: every modification of the rules can have unbalancing consequences, so I never bothered to try out this rule. But this is MattGSlater forum, so, here is the rule!

-Only a modified roll of 0 (or less) is a fumble.
-A modified 1 is inaccurate.
-If the Pass is inaccurate, the unmodified passing roll is also the number of squares the ball scatter, in a direction determined by d8.

This way, longer pass= wider scatter.
Better thrower= shorter scatter.

But again, I fear balance issues.

Back to lurk-space...

These house rules would be fun for TTM too. There'd always be the chance the player would scatter back on the thrower

Anyways nevermind, first work out good alternative rules to regular passing, worrying for TTM comes later.