Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Basketball (Basket-brawl) GM Campaign Tool

So you want to create your own tournament for your D&D campaign. I have used this technique for years, mostly to amuse myself, but now your characters can feed their gambling addictions. Essentially the game results are a mini-game using the rolls of a handful of dice to produce the final score. You can use dice and most of us are looking for excuses to use more dice or I have created a spreadsheet that generates game results instantly.

Its easy to fit such a game into any campaign. Most large cities (even fantasy ones) can (or already do) support some kind of gaming contests. I like the basketball or basket-brawl idea because the dice create very convincing scores. The dice can be rolled behind the screen or out in the open allowing games to be played out real time and fortunes to be lost or won by the characters.

The core mechanic of the game is that there are six six-sided dice rolled per team, per half. Ideally, each die should be a different color as they represent the positions on a basketball team; guard, guard, forward, forward, center and bench. Rolled with no modifiers this will produce results that are not biased towards either team. 

In order to add something which makes one team more attractive or a higher seed in a tournament the following special abilities can be added into the teams.


Each team has 1 or 2 special abilities

3 Point barrage (x3 score for highest die score)

Twin Towers (Two Centers instead of two forwards at d10 each)

Stifling Defense (opponents -d10 per half)

Fast Breaks (+50% score for guards)

Superstar - position (x3 score for that die, d10)

Star Player - position (x2 score for that die, d8)

Strong Bench (x2 bench scoring)

Veteran Player (upgrade die by 1 level)

Master Coach (extra d8 in points, attributed to highest die for stats)

A total of 6 dice are rolled for each team per half. Each die represents one player. The dice are added and special abilities are calculated resulting in the half score per team. The dice are rolled a second time and the two results are added together for the final score.


Looking back on the original teams presented in my tourney:

Adventurer's Guild (Superstar Center, Stifling Defense) 
Pure Magic (Fast Breaks, Star Guard)
Gold Coins (Superstar Guard) 
Mongrel Maniacs (3 point Barrage) 
Secrets (Master Coach, Star Center) 
Open Hands (Strong Bench, Veteran Guard)
Guards (Twin Towers, Star Forward) 
Chili's Cohort (Star Guard, Veteran Center) 

I set up these teams based on guilds in my home brewed setting. The results can used to start an adventure because some NPC friend of the party bet too much money on the big game. I can share my Excel spreadsheet for quickly generating results if anyone is interested.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

The Finals

Adventurer's Guild (1) vs Mongrel Maniacs (7)

The Guild started strong and amassed a 19 point lead by halftime. Dwight Minotaur scored 30 first half points and it looked like the Maniacs were going to get run out of the gym. The Maniacs kept plugging and Dwight Minotaur could not seem to put the ball in the basket and they were right back in it. The Goose Goblin three point miss at the buzzer sealed their fate as the Adventurer's Guild holds on to win the championship.

Adventurer's Guild Mongrel Maniacs
Guard 2 3 Guard 2 1
Guard 4 3 Guard 6 4
Forward 6 1 Forward 2 6
Forward 6 2 Forward 4 6
Center 30 3 Center 2 6
Bench 3 4 Bench 5 5
Adjustments 0 0 Adjustments 11 5
Total 51 16 67 Total 32 33 65

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Round 2 Results

Game 1
Adventurer's Guild (1) vs Secrets (3)

The Secrets jumped out to a huge lead in the first half but Dwight Minotaur was just too much in the second half for the Secrets. He scored 30 of his 33 points in the 2nd half as the Adventurer's Guild moves on to the finals.

Adventurer's Guild Secrets
Guard 5 5 Guard 4 5
Guard 1 5 Guard 6 3
Forward 5 2 Forward 6 2
Forward 2 2 Forward 3 3
Center 3 30 Center 10 8
Bench 1 4 Bench 1 3
Adjustments 0 0 Adjustments 3 -2
Total 17 48 65 Total 33 22 55

Game 2
Chili's Cohorts (5) vs Mongrel Maniacs (7)

The Maniacs continue to surprise as they come from behind to beat the Cohorts. The relentless bombing from 3 point range once again proved to be the difference as they move into the finals against the Guild.

Chili's Cohorts Mongrel Maniacs
Guard 16 6 Guard 4 2
Guard 3 2 Guard 4 4
Forward 6 5 Forward 5 6
Forward 1 2 Forward 3 1
Center 7 4 Center 4 4
Bench 4 5 Bench 2 3
Adjustments 0 0 Adjustments 10 12
Total 37 24 61 Total 32 32 64

Friday, April 4, 2014

Round 1 Results

Game 1

City Guards (4) vs Chili's Cohorts (5)

The Guards deploy two monstrous centers along with their star forward. The Guards love to score inside. The Cohorts will attempt to counter with their star guard and veteran center. 

City Guards
Chili's Cohorts
Guard 4 6 Guard 16 16
Guard 1 5 Guard 5 3
Forward 8 16 Forward 1 6
Center 8 7 Forward 6 6
Center 4 4 Center 2 6
Bench 1 6 Bench 2 4
Adjustments 0 0 Adjustments 0 0
Total 26 44 70 Total 32 41 73

We have a minor upset right at the start. The Cohorts ran out to a first half lead 32-26 lead by guard Rock Nash while star City Guard forward Twang McDowt  managed only 8 points. The Guards mounted a furious comeback in the second have that was matched by the Cohorts as they held on  for the victory and move on to the second round.The Cohorts await the victor of Game 3 between the Gold Coins and the Mongrel Maniacs.

Game 2

Adventurer's Guild (1) vs Pure Magic (8)

The Adventurer's Guild employ a stifling defense and a superstar center Dwight Minotaur. Pure Magic uses the combination of the star guard Linn the Gnome and a furious fast break.

Adventurer's Guild Pure Magic
Guard 4 2 Guard 3 6
Guard 5 4 Guard 16 8
Forward 2 4 Forward 6 2
Forward 2 4 Forward 1 4
Center 9 27 Center 2 6
Bench 1 6 Bench 1 4
Adjustments 0 0 Adjustments 0 2
Total 23 47 70 Total 29 32 61

No Upset here. The Magic took a 6 point lead into halftime 29-23 but Dwight poured in 27 second half points and the defense continued to keep the fast break in check. The number one seed Guild move on into the next round. The Guild will face the winner of Game 4 between the Secrets and Open Hands.

Game 3

Gold Coins (2) vs Mongrel Maniacs (7)

The Gold Coins will pit their superstar guard Hank Glitters against the three point barrage of the Mongrel Maniacs.

Gold Coins
Mongrel Maniacs
Guard 9 21 Guard 3 1
Guard 1 1 Guard 3 4
Forward 2 4 Forward 6 2
Forward 2 4 Forward 5 6
Center 4 5 Center 3 3
Bench 1 1 Bench 5 6
Adjustments Adjustments 12 12
Total 19 36 55 Total 37 34 71
The Maniacs were a team possessed today as they rained three pointers all afternoon. The game was never close despite the 30 points scored by Glitters. The Maniacs move on to face the Cohorts in the second round.

Game 4
Secrets (3) vs Open Hands (6)

Master coach Phil Juju and star ogre center Shack Shaker take on the solid bench and veteran guard Reggie Mueller from the Open Hands.

Open Hands
Secrets
Guard 2 4 Guard 8 6
Guard 2 4 Guard 1 5
Forward 4 2 Forward 6 2
Forward 5 2 Forward 6 6
Center 12 16 Center 6 5
Bench 3 4 Bench 10 2
Adjustments 6 5 Adjustments 0 0
Total 34 37 71 Total 37 26 63
Reggie and the Bench lead the way in the first half and it appeared there might be another first round upset but Shack scored 28 and Phil had other ideas as the Secrets came from behind to win and advance.



Thursday, April 3, 2014

Tournament Action

Its that time of year again. The Crossroads annual Guild Basketbrawl Tournament. The games are all played in a anti-magic shelled court so that speed, skill and strength cannot be influenced by spells and baubles. Eight teams were selected for this year's tournament. They are listed below:

Seed     Team
1           Adventurer's Guild 
2           Gold Coins (Merchant's Guild) 
3           Secrets (they could tell you...)
4           Guards   
5           Chili's Cohort 
6           Open Hands (Monastery) 
7           Mongrel Maniacs   
8           Pure Magic (Sorcerer's Guild)