Tournament Structure

The most important rule is a simple one. This is a family friendly tournament. If during the weekend, the organisers find you to be behaving in a manner not considered to be family friendly, you will be given a warning. If you persist in your behaviour, you will be ejected from the tournament and the campsite and no refund will be issued. 

We will play 6 games of Blood Bowl over the weekend. At the end of the sixth round, the player with the most tournament points will win the Thrudball Trophy.

Each round, the bottom four coaches will be invited to play an exciting game of Dymarip, which is a special multiplayer Blood Bowl variant played in an inverted pyramid. In round six, the bottom four teams are entered into the (in)famous “DockBowl”, played on Bogg Norr Dock and Seaside! In both cases, these games will be run by our head referee.

The rest will be struggling for position and improving overall NAF rankings for the weekend. The tournament will be played using the BB2020 rules with the NAF updates (including Slann).

Please ensure that you have read and have access to these rules on the day.

Games will be scored as follows: Win = 50 Draw = 20 Loss = 0

The primary tie breaker is whether the roster was submitted on time (see Team Building), followed by Strength of Schedule.

Tiering of the teams is the next tie breaker this year, so if two coaches (one with Goblins (tier 7) and one with Undead (tier 1)) are on the same number of points, the winner will be the coach who played the lowest tier (in this case, it will be the Goblins). 

The fourth tie breaker is combined net TD/Casualty.

If a fifth tie breaker is needed, a game of Skulls will be played (most Skulls from 9 block dice).

A concession will result in the conceding term losing 100 tournament points, and they will not receive any touchdowns or casualties for that game. The game will be recorded as a '3-0 3-0', to give maximum points to their opponent. They will also, at the Tournament Organiser's discretion, be ineligible for any prizes. 

Please note: Every casualty counts as a casualty at Thrudball (blocking, crowd, bomb, wizard, rushes, dodges, TTM etc.)

Rounds are two hours fifteen minutes apiece, so play to four minute turns or risk not finishing! If you haven’t finished your game within the time allowed, you will play until you have had an equal amount of turns, then dice down. 

You can view the full schedule here.

If a game has not begun the second half after an hour, it is recommended that a clock is used and that four minute turns are enforced. The BB Coach Assistant comes with a clock, so if you have not downloaded it, please do so. 

Thrudball Admins and Refs have the power to enforce clocks on any game at any point, so if you get a reputation for playing extremly slowly, you may well be on the clock from turn one!

Each round, the bottom four coaches will be invited to take part in a special event. In rounds 1 to 5, those coaches will take part in Dymarip, and in round 6, they will participate in Dock Bowl.

Participation in all events is optional.

Each coach will only be invited to play Dymarip once, although a coach who has played in Dymarip may also play in Dock Bowl.

These games are four-player games, and will result in one winner, one loser, and two drawing coaches. In each case, the winner will be the only one who scores a touchdown, and the loser will be the one who allows a touchdown in their endzone. 

We are allowing Grudges for the 1st round at Thrudball. They will cost you £5 to grudge someone. If you want to get out of a Grudge, it will cost £3. All Grudge money goes to Charity. Grudging allows you to Challenge a rival player to a game for the 1st round, rather than being selected at random. 

Email admin@thrudball.com if you would like to grudge someone.

We have a great tradition of amazing sportspersonship at Thrudball, rarely having incident. With this in mind, no sportspersonship scores are added in this event. However, if you are in breach of sportspersonship, you will be yellow carded, deducting 50 points from your score. If you persist in poor behaviour, you will be shown a red card, and you will be removed from the event. If you believe your opponent is displaying unsportspersonlike behaviour, please speak to a Ref during or after the match. Red and Yellow cards are given at the Head Referee’s discretion.

If one coach requests to share dice, then all dice must be shared. 

In case of any issues, please speak to a referee.

If a player dies or is seriously injured during the match, To-Me KuPa’s Spell of Weasley Cunning whisks the player away for full healing/reanimation. In other words, players which die are healed to full health for the next match with all skills and fundamentals intact. No injuries, deaths, SPP or anything else will carry over unto the next game. Raised Zombies and Rotters are not added to the roster. 

Unlike previous years, formal COVID-19 procedures are not currently required (this situation may change if the venue, organisers or government deem it necessary). That said, please be aware that some coaches may be taking enhanced precautions, and that we do have attendees who are clinically vulnerable. 

With that in mind, please:

• Respect each other's personal space

• If you are unwilling to shake hands, please consider fist bumps or finger gun salutes instead

• Please ask before touching your opponent's models

The organisers will provide pitches, but unlike previous years, coaches will be permitted to use their own boards. 

Equally, coaches are permitted to dice share.