Incalculable riches or never-ending death await all who seek glory
at the third annual Three Kingdoms Challenge...

Another year has come and gone...

   Teams that traveled from near and far have returned home, full of bruises and memories of slaying and feasting, of battle and drinking without end. Losing coaches have been fired, or beheaded, or suffered even worse fates at the hands of unhappy fans. Fortunes have traded accounts as debts have been collected, and there have been frightful stories of the awful things done to those gamblers who cannot pay.

   Throughout Lustria, plans are being made for the next battle for the Gumpta Cup and within each throne room of the three major kingdoms, the sinister plotting and deal making is beginning to come to a boil.... for none of these rulers can easily live with the fact that a human team, strange to Lustria and the continent, now claims the championship.

   Clan Esuom's dottering leader, Falt Skidnee, his humor was even less evident than usual - in a fit of disappointment days after the tournament, had the entire team quartered and fed to his Rat Ogre Guards as an example of his displeasure. He has remained suspicious that another foreign Skaven team, the Foo Fighters, finished the highest among all Skaven teams, and then mysteriously accompianed the winning human team home. Falt smells a fix and he is out for revenge - on his own kind if needed!

   King Shriek of the Ork tribe Plugged Nickel was distraught for weeks over his Ork teams finishing even lower than last year. It is said that his anger was visited upon the bodies of two hundred slaves this time, their blood filling the pails and scuppers of his entire castle, the smell cloaking the countryside for weeks.

   The Tailbreakoph clans of the gnarled Lizardman leader Seamus the Heinous fielded a team, but could do no better than a distant 21st. He has scoured his vast swamps and rivers for the most violent and swiftest of his tribe, for his shaman witches have predicted a might victory this year.

   The die is nearly set and mighty forces are once again in motion...

   The Old Man Monkey is tired - weary of the bickering and pettiness of the leaders of the Three Kingdoms Challenge. So he has demanded, and won, the right to hold the tournament nearer to his own lands and castles, where untainted help is more available and the ceaseless efforts of bribery and threats of death are more controlled, under his merciless gaze.

    Will your team rise to the challenge?

    Or will you be MANHANDLED IN THE PANHANDLE?

Tournament Organization

The tournament location is the Lightfoot Recreation Center at 10901 N. 56th Street in Temple Terrace, FL. You can find out more about them on the web at:http://www.templeterrace.com/parks/facilities.htm.

There will door prizes given away in addition to drawings for prizes between rounds. We are also designing a tournament Tee shirt which will be available exclusively during the tournament.

The tournament fee is $35.00 US for all non-NAF coaches, and $30.00 for NAF coaches. Your registration fee includes:

• Tournament fee for location and organization.
   
• Lots of nice Blood Bowl related giveaways and prizes in several categories (1st place from final, 1st, 2nd and 3rd runners-up, best painted, best sportsman, etc.). For coaches from Florida, there will be additional trophies for Highest Finish, Best Painted from Florida, and more. For more information on prizes, check out the Info/Pics page.
   
• Lunch on both tournament days, plus water and soft drinks during the games.
   

You can prepay your tournament registration and guarantee your spot by using the PayPal button below. If you do not have a PayPal account, you can still use this button for MasterCard and Visa payment. We encourage every coach to prepay as we will be able to use those funds for various tournament expenses. As long as there are seats available, anyone can pay onsite at the registration setup at the tournament site.

Non-NAF members may sign up at the tournament and receive:

• A one year NAF-membership giving you discounts at most international tournaments and a participation in world ranking system.
   
• A set of 3 very cool NAF blocking dice in the latest color and style and a NAF membership card.
   

You must bring the following things:

• Your painted team and coaching staff miniatures (non-GW or converted are allowed if different positions can easily be recognized).
   
• Two copies of your team roster. We'll collect one and check every team.
   

Please try to bring a Blood Bowl set if you are able - while we will probably have plenty of boards, the use of extra dugouts, templates and markers will be appreciated.

Tournament Rules

(Download the tournament rules in PDF format here)

The basic game rules will be those of the living rulebook v4.0, which includes the official changes of the Fall 2004 Rules Review, all of which is available on the official Bloodbowl page. If the LRB 4.0 is not available by March 1, 2005, the basic game rules will be the LRB 4.0, plus the results of the Fall 2003 Rules Review.
A complete set of official teams and tournament rules will available soon on the Info/Pics page. Listed below are some highlights of rules changes that have been made for the Three Kingdoms Challenge:

• Coaches can use 1.000.000 gold crowns to build their teams (valid starting team has TR100). This starting team stays the same throughout the tournament, so there are no after game winnings nor fan factor changes, with the exception of added skills (see below). In fact, all pre- and post game dice rolls except the weather roll are cancelled. Coaches may also take one (1) standard skill advancement to give to any player on their roster. Coaches must CLEARLY indicate on their roster sheets what their pre-game skill choice is and who it was given to when they submit their team roster at the tournament check-in.
   
• Freebooting anything is not allowed, so you better spend your cash.
   
• The rulers of the Three Kingdoms have forbidden the "interference" of Star Players or wizards.
   
• Players do not collect Star Player points, however, the coaches are allowed to give one skill to a player of their choice before game 1 (as mentioned above) and after games 1, 2, and 4. You can choose a skill from the normal categories accessible for the player's position. No player may be given more than one skill, and Big Guys and Bull Centaurs may receive only ONE added skill during the entire tournament.
  After round 3, at the end of tournament day one, you can chose to either:
  
  • give a skill or trait to a player who has not yet received a skill, following the rules for a double at the starplayer roll, or
  • give a second skill to a player who already has received a skill, or
  • give a regular skill to two players of your choice that have not yet received a skill.
  These skills are kept for the rest of the tournament, so a team will have a total of 5 or 6 skills at the kickoff for game 5.
   
• Thanks to a nearby temple of Shallya, all injuries are miracuously cured after every game, so the team resets to the starting roster with additional skills (see above).
   
• Forgetting to move the turnmarker will not result in an illegal procedure unless both coaches agree to play this way.
   
• Time control: the 4 minute time limit per turn will not be used, unless both players agree to play this way. However, match time is limited to 2 hours and 15 minutes. Matches that are not in turn 5 of half 2 after 2h will receive a strict time limit of 15 mins per player to end the match. Should a large delay be noticed earlier, the tournament organization may order the use of a clock before the 2h limit is reached. If time runs out for one player before the end of the last turn, the game will be considered abandoned and the score at that time will become official.
   
• We will be giving each coach a brand new set of D6s as part of the tournament package and these dice will be the only dice allowed for use in tournament play. Coaches will NOT be allowed to use their own D6s.
• A D3 instead of a D6 will be used on Kickoff results of "Throw a Rock" and "Pitch Invasion"

If a case of extremly unsporting behavior is reported (for example intentional delay of game, insulting other players or not accepting a refs decison regarding rules discussions), the tournament organization holds the right to deduct tournament points or even exclude players from the tournament. (Just to make sure, we do not think this will happen.)

Tournament Scoring

In the first round, all NAF coaches will be paired as close as possible to their NAF ranking; all non-NAF coaches will be randomly paired.

After the first matches are completed, the tournament will be played in a swiss system, meaning that match points will be used to pair opposing coaches.

Every coach will play 5 games in two days. After round 4, the two highest ranking teams play the final to determine the tournament winner. All other coaches will play a 5th round for fun, honour, tournament and NAF ranking and to go for the three runners-up places. The following points will contribute to the tournament ranking:

• Game results: Points will be awarded as follows: Win = 55, Tie = 35, Loss = 10. Added bonuses are explained on the Info Pics page. Touchdown difference will be used as a first tiebreaker, followed by casualty difference.
   
  
• Team Painting: up to 10 points total, for completeness, detail, basing and variety/conversions. The complete painting scoring is fully explained on the Info Pics page. These points are incorporated into the ranking after round 5 and may effect participation in the final and final tournament ranking.
   
  
• Sportsmanship: up to 3 points per game, with 3 being the highest and 1 the lowest. The complete sportmanship scoring is fully explained on the Info Pics page. These points are also incorporated into the ranking after round 5 and may effect participation in the final and final tournament ranking.
   

Rough Timetable