9.12.2013

E5M5: MARIO WORLD


When a couple of plumbing dungeoneers from Brooklyn take some special mushrooms, all sorts of wacky hijinks follow! But after fireballs, bottomless pits, giant snapping turtles, and huge piranha plants? Musta been a bad trip.

8.26.2013

GENCON 2013 CHAMPIONS INTERVIEW

BEHOLD!

An interview with some of the winners and dangerous competitors of the GenCon 2013 Tournament of Champions, wherein we discuss the tournament, what makes Fourthcore Team Deathmatch so great, winning strategies, and contemplate the future of FTDM.


8.20.2013

GENCON 2013 RECAP: PART 1

The GenCon 2013 Dungeons & Dragons Fourthcore Team Deathmatch Tournament of Champions has come and gone with blood, pain, and tears. An event lauded by many, but mastered by so very few, it represents the ultimate embodiment of brutality. For truly, can there be no greater quarry than thy fellow man? No, there is none.

Tournament Basic Info

Benoit's amazing terrain graciously donated to the cause:


Morning Entry Round
Moose Hockey Maple Syrup, Eh? vs. Team Walk-Ons
At this point in time, the returning champions are on the ropes and losing, visible via the clear cups used to track deaths. Victory went to MHMSE? with a brutal 12-7 score while at the other end of the room the Badass Dungeon Crushers mopped the floor with The Stalkers 14-10

Such a nice, beautiful setup of Benoit's Vault of the Spider Queen terrain. We used the shining gold pipe cleaner ring to denote which dungeoneer carried Lolth's Egg, while the player held a lilac-colored plastic Easter egg. Glass beads were dropped in cups to record number of deaths, while traditional colored pipe cleaners were wrapped around the minis to denote which team they belonged to.
A shot of Marc Talbot (MHMSE?) standing proudly in front of the FTDM banner, anxiously squaring off against the Badass Dungeon Crushers on E1M9 - Run!

Defeated teams from the Entry Rounds were given the privilege of playtesting FTDM's newest map, E5M4: Carbon Freeze while the semifinals raged on behind them.

MHMSE? vs. BDC in an intense struggle during the morning semifinals on Run!, Jon Green presiding.
Arguably the most difficult challenge to them all, this would prove to be the closest anyone has ever come to defeating MHMSE? with a narrow defeat of BDC at 13-14.

The poster size tournament ladder is filled in with the names of the defeated and the victorious.

After a short 45 minute break, we are back in high gear with the afternoon matches. The entry round at this table had a total of three teams vying for dominance - Stormhawks v. Eh Team v. Order of the Radiant Sun, in a heavily populated, chaos-filled, target-rich environment.
Three teams enter, only one team leaves; as the Eh Team crushes their enemies and dominates the field.

The epic three-team battle continues as twelve dungeoneers duke it out against each other simultaneously.

Red Bulls were given freely, but only to those who would roll their dice faster.
At the other end of the room, Big Jim's Sons are unceremoniously splattered by Don't Make This Weird.
I lieu of pictures, video was taken of the afternoon semi-finals round, to be revealed later in the week. Don't Make This Weird capitalizes on their mastery of forced movement to shut down the Eh Team with a remarkable victory of 10-3.

The fighting stays mostly confined to the bottom two floors, Don't Make This Weird trying to force the tide of battle there to capitalize on their forced movement and prone-ing capabilities.

"See this guy I'm pointing to? Dead."
The use of tiers for this terrain is perfect and expresses the core concept beautifully.

The end scene of the entire tournament. If we could only see the true carnage, dungeoneers knee deep in the dead. MHMSE? clinches victory for a second year in a row with a solid 21-16 score. Congratulations!!!

The tournament ladder is updated with finality, Moose Hockey Maple Syrup, Eh? once again taking the championship and establishing a dynasty of triumph.

"We're #1, two years running."
Immediately beforehand, no shit, a rousing rendition of O Canada is sung by the members of MHMSE?, both in English and in French. You can expect to see that video as well.

Marc and Derek, stalwart defenders of Canada's honor honour.

Team Moose Hockey Maple Syrup, Eh?
Victorious.

A post-game pic of Marc the next morning, running some D&D Next and proudly showing off his medal.

Be sure to check out Andy Kotch's personal picture roll, mostly of the final match between Don't Make This Weird and Moose Hockey Maple Syrup, Eh? found at imgur.com/a/0WuVE

8.05.2013

E5M4: CARBON FREEZE


Deep in the bowels of Cloud City is a chamber, the only purpose of which is to freeze the inhabitants for hibernation. It is in this Carbon Freeze chamber that you must battle to the death.

Be among the first in the world to experience this map, live at the GenCon 2013 FTDM Open Play!!

SHOW YOUR MIGHT IN THE ARENA WHERE FATHER MET SON IN DRAMATIC COMBAT!! FACE YOUR FOES AT GENCON!!

7.09.2013

GenCon 2013 Tournament of Champions



On Saturday August 17th, GenCon 2013 will be ground zero for carnage and slaughter, hosted by the Fourthcore Team Deathmatch Dungeon Masters. Come alone or with friends, but leave only with honor, glory, and pride.

The tournament will consist of teams of 4 dungeoneers competing in a ladder bracket on the maps listed above. It is highly recommended that dungeoneers form their teams well ahead of time and develop a coherent strategy towards winning before coming to the event. However, lone wolf dungeoneers are more than welcomed at the tournament and will be placed in a team so as to best fill out all sides and ensure everyone has an ample opportunity at murder. The Dungeon Master is more than happy to help small groups or lone dungeoneers form teams beforehand. Email the Dungeon Masters and they will set you up!

Dungeoneers may compete in EITHER the Morning Entry Round (10:00 am) OR the Afternoon Entry Round (1:00 pm). The winning teams from each entry round will then be allowed to move on to the Championship Match (4:00 pm), there to compete for ultimate victory and the title of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CHAMPIONS.

Teams have already started forming for these highly anticipated events. Don't miss this chance to seize your destiny and bathe yourself in glory!

CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES
SEE THEM DRIVEN BEFORE YOU

Don't forget to stop by for a quick 45-minute Match on Thursday night in our Fourthcore Team Deathmatch Open Play!

5.16.2013

Fourthcore Team Deathmatch comes to Albany Games Day XIX!



Albanygameday.blogspot.com



Join Dungeon Master Deuce on Saturday, June 8th, 2013 for the first Fourthcore Team Deathmatch Tournament in the Capital Region!  

We plan to fill the halls of Zombie Planet with the screams of murder and mayhem not seen since the latest Delve into Rappan Athuk!  Come alone or with friends, but leave only with honor, glory, and pride.

5.02.2013

FTDM North at the Hairy Tarantula

Behold, Mortals!
 
An event is scheduled for this Saturday, May 4th at the Hairy Tarantula North, Toronto.

The first matches will begin at 1:00 p.m. sharp so please be on time. The matches are exactly 1 hour of real time. Once they begin we don't stop until the hour is up. You cannot join a match already in progress. Everyone who participates will get a chance to play in three matches, each on a different map. We'll be using these three maps on Saturday.

The Citadel

Don't worry about forming teams ahead of time. You can if you want, but until we have an exact head count on the day of the event we're not sure if we'll be using teams of 3 or 4 on each side.
 
This event requires you to bring your own level 1 character. No pre-gens will be provided.

http://www.fourthcoreteamdeathmatch.com/p/character-creation.html
 
Address: 6979 Yonge St.
 

3.22.2013

Watch a live Fourthcore Team Deathmatch now!


GREETINGS, MORTALS!

An unholy display of savagery and barbarism awaits! The arena of Pac-Man, a realm of unceasing hunger plagued by the tormented spirits of the fallen, has been deemed worthy of a Fourthcore Team Deathmatch!

Watch our LIVE STREAMING GAME on this TwitchTV link, starting on Saturday March 23rd 12:00pm (noon) Eastern Standard Time as the forces of Dr. Wily battle against classic monsters of the silver screen!

http://www.twitch.tv/ftdm/new

3.21.2013

E10M1: COLLAPSE!

The arena for this is a 12 square x 12 square platform suspended in the Elemental Chaos.

3.11.2013

Online Live Event: Saturday March 23rd


GREETINGS, MORTALS!

As many of you know, a transgression has been recently made during the recent Fourthcore Team Deathmatch OnLive Roll20 March 1st Match of Champions (FTDMOLR2M1MoC). The punishment has now been served.

Dungeon Master Andy fucking Kotch is pulling together a single FTDM match, online but live via the Roll20 app, on Saturday March 23rd, 12:00 pm (Noon), Eastern Standard Time. The match will be played on James Barlow's excellently designed E5M3: PAC-MAN and will last 2 hours.

The first eight players to Comment here or on the similar thread on our Google+ Community with a commitment to play get in. Already, three have made their commitment.

If this event gets full and you want in, suggest a date, time, and map to play and the FTDM community will try and pull it together.

Many lessons have been learned since our last foray into this idiom. The field of battle will be improved since last you saw it for increased speed and functionality. The match will be kept private, however spectators will be directed to a LIVE SIMULCAST of this event.


Good hunting!

3.06.2013

MARCH 2013 RULES UPDATE: RACES

It's official: starting today, Fourthcore Team Deathmatch supports any and all Races available to Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition.

Break out the Bugbears.

3.02.2013

Pre-Generated Dungeoneers

Dungeon Master James Barlow has graced the Fourthcore Team Deathmatch community with a most splendid gift. He has lent his talent and artistry in creating intuitive, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand character sheets for Fourthcore Team Deathmatch dungeoneers. These character sheets go a long way towards extending a helping hand and welcoming new players into the fold by cutting through the typical clutter and presenting information in a thoughtful and well-designed manner. There are no templates for this, one cannot simply cut and paste their ideas into here. These are labors of craftsmanship.

2.18.2013

Online Live Event: Friday March 1st

GREETINGS, MORTALS!

Let's maybe backtrack a bit and not bite off quite so much at once. Dungeon Master Ross is pulling together a single FTDM match, online but live via the Roll20 app, on Friday March 1st, 12:00 (Midnight), Eastern Standard Time. The match will be played on James Barlow's excellently designed E5M1: 2FORT.

The first eight players to Comment here or on the similar thread on our Google+ Community with a commitment to play get in.

If this event gets full and you want in, suggest a date, time, and map to play and the FTDM community will try and pull it together.




Play-By-Post Match 19 | Round 06

2.16.2013

Google+ Community

GREETINGS, MORTALS!

A Google+ Community has been created for Fourthcore Team Deathmatch to better facilitate discussion on various topics: strategy, tactics, bloodshed, murder.

2.13.2013

E0M3: Basic Training

As the GenCon 2013 Tournament of Champions, and other various events, loom black and approaching upon the deadly horizon, we look to sharpen our blades. To that effect, this article aims to provide some basic tips and tricks for newcomers to use when building their dungeoneers. After all, none of us want an easy victory. If we did, we wouldn't be playing Fourthcore. Thus, I encourage the FTDM veterans out there to lend in their suggestions as well. New players reading this and improving their skills will only serve to make a better deathmatch.


Play-By-Post Match 19 | Round 04

2.03.2013

Baltimore Showdown 2013

He did not care any more. Life? Death? The same.
Only that the crowd would be there to greet him with howls of lust and fury!

Charm City Game Day 2013
Date: Saturday February 9th, 10:00am

1.30.2013

GenCon 2013 FTDM Open Play

 UPDATE (5/8/13): Final details received and posted from GenCon overlords.

An opening volley and a prelude to war, Thursday August 15th at GenCon 2013 will show off a new style of event for Fourthcore Team Deathmatch. BEHOLD! The FTDM Open Play.

The event, inspired by The Tower of Gygax and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, will consist of teams of 4 dungeoneers competing in "bear pit" style elimination on the maps listed below. Matches will be shortened to a brief 45 minutes. TWO TEAMS ENTER, ONE TEAM LEAVES!

It is highly recommended that dungeoneers form their teams well ahead of time and develop a coherent strategy towards winning before coming to the event. However, lone wolf dungeoneers are more than welcomed and will be placed in a team ad hoc so as to best fill out all sides and ensure everyone has an ample opportunity at murder. The Dungeon Master is more than happy to help small groups or lone dungeoneers form teams beforehand. Email the Dungeon Masters and they will set you up!

The winning team from each Match will be rewarded with a set of custom FTDM dice and then be allowed to move on to the next Match against a new opponent until they are eliminated. Play will continue in this fashion throughout the night.

This event is entirely a first-come, first-serve affair. Players may bring their own FTDM-legal 1st Level dungeoneers, or use one of the many pregens provided. Don't miss this chance to seize your destiny and bathe yourself in glory! Come alone or with friends, but leave only with honor, glory, and pride.

CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES
SEE THEM DRIVEN BEFORE YOU

1.08.2013

Play-by-Post Match 17 | Round 01

Play-by-Post Tournament 01: Introduction

Fourthcore Team Deathmatch play-by-post Winter 2013 Tournament is mere hours from starting. Allow the Dungeon Master to introduce to you the dungeoneers in this challenge of luck, wits, and skill.

TEAM BLUE vs. SESAME STREET vs. AXIS OF EVIL

1.07.2013

Q: What races are available to play in FTDM?

A: Fourthcore Team Deathmatch follows RPGA legality rules, with a few noted additional restrictions. Thus, almost all WotC-published races are available to play in a Fourthcore Team Deathmatch tournament, with the noted exception of any race that is only published in the Monster Manual, such as Bugbear, Bullywug, Orc, etc.

Kobold and Goblin, as an opposite example, have been published under Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook and are thus legal to play in Fourthcore Team Deathmatch.

Q: Does "drop to 0 HP" mean EXACTLY 0 hit points?

A: No. Though there is some debate as to what the exact intent of the Dungeons & Dragons game authors intent was here, Fourthcore Team Deathmatch interprets any power or effect that states "drops to 0 hp" to be equivalent to stating "drops to 0 hit points or fewer".