OVERVIEW

Fourthcore Team Deathmatch is a contest of skill, wits, and luck. FTDM is about winning D&D.

Small teams of dungeoneers are pitted against each other in a no-holds-barred frenzy of carnage in a team-based, player-vs-player competition. The competition will consist of individual encounters called matches. Each match will last sixty (60) minutes.

At the end of every match, the number of dungeoneer deaths will be tallied, and the team with the least number of deaths will be declared the winner. In the case of a tie, a sudden death round will occur. Players will reroll initiative, act in the new initiative order, and claim victory with the next dungeoneer death. In the case of tournaments, the winners will proceed to the next match. Tournaments typically are ladder bracket style and consist of three different maps.

Terrain powers and hazards will be displayed on the Maps tab.

Fast, frantic play is encouraged. Any dungeoneer deemed to be stalling, delaying (including using the Delay or Ready actions), or in any way slowing the game will be killed ("gibbed") at the Dungeon Master's decree.

In each match, four numbered "respawn points" will be indicated. At the start of any dead character's turn, the dungeoneer will be restored to full hit points, full number of healing surges, all encounter powers and power points refreshed, all failed death saves removed, and teleported to either a random or determined respawn point (as per the map's terrain power). Although this Respawn power mimics the effects of a short rest, it is not considered a short rest.

Additionally, a dying character can choose kill themselves outright at the start of their turn in an effort to hasten their respawn.

A disadvantage exists in acting first in initiative order, as the dunegoneers spawn into the map one at a time during the first round. Hence initiative order is reversed; the dungoneer with the lowest initiative acting first and the dungeoneer with the highest initiative acting last, right before the dungeon master.

Private questions can be sent to via email here, or to twitter here.




Play-by-Post Variant

Dungeoneers will declare their actions (Free, Move, Minor, Standard, Action Point) in the comments section of the current blog post. Each comment must also be accompanied by the dungeoneer's conditions (bloodied, prone, stunned, etc.). After a die roll is indicated, a Dungeon Master will roll the appropriate dice and inform the dungeoneers of the results. In matches with support from a public, verifiable, impartial dice-rolling system (such as Roll20), dungeoneers may roll their own dice. Above all else, clarity and precision are sought after to avoid confusion. Avoid abbreviations, shorthand, and assumptions.

Each dungeoneer has 12 hours after the previous dungeoneer's turn to post their actions  in the comments section. Players who fail to post in a timely way will be gibbed by the Dungeon Master. The triggering of Killing Spree, or similar powers that grant extra actions does not extend the total amount of time a dungeoneer has to complete their turn. Dungoneers anticipating the possibility of triggering these types of powers are advised to post conditional actions, ie. "If this attack triggers Killing Spree, then my character moves to X location and makes Y attack."

Please write from a third-person perspective, present tense. Describe every action with any related rules mechanics information. Add descriptive flavor text to your actions as appropriate.
Example: Salah skillfully draws his bow as a minor action and shoots an enemy dungeoneer as a standard action with twin strike, two attacks, d20 + 6 vs. AC, Hit: 1d10 damage. He calls out to his foe, cursing in an exotic language.