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Message: <blockquote data-quote="devastator" data-source="post: 4347978" data-attributes="member: 71901">This is a copy of the email I sent 10 people I regularly game with:   Hey Team. So if anyone hasn’t noticed, 4th edition is out. And in my VERY professional opinion, it’s a pretty good system. One thing in particular that I noticed was that monsters, and making groups of monsters for encounters is WAY easier and more balanced. You hadn’t noticed? Well I’m here to tell you, it’s pretty damn good.  Hence we come to the point of this email. In the past we have had competitions that depended on your ability to power game and meta game to create a single character that interacted with your group well enough to overcome a group of unknown enemies. Even so, those groups lacked a certain amount of teamwork, or so I found.  In 4th edition, monsters all have roles, and can easily support each others goals just by doing their own jobs. Your controllers master and shape the battlefield, your soldiers hold the defensive line, and the lurkers dart in and out, doing massive amounts of damage. I propose:   MONSTER MASH TOURNAMENT OF AWESOME!!!  Each competitor will construct a team of monsters (or an “encounter group” if you will) drawn from the monster manual. Each monster on your team must be played “as printed” and cannot be elite or solo. The games will be run standard tournament style, match ups will be random. Each “Game” will consist of a “Best of 3” mechanic. If you win two battles against your opponent, you move on in the tournament. Your team will consist of a main line-up and a “bench” which will be a small group of monsters you can switch out between matches to accommodate to your opponent’s strategy.  Team Rules:  1.  You will create and run the equivalent of a 10th level encounter group as if you were DMing a group of 5 PC’s. This means your Target XP is 2500 XP. Your Main Team may not exceed this amount at the beginning of any match or you will gain an automatic “match loss.” 2.    No monster may exceed level 10, and only one monster on your main team may be level 10. 3.    Your Main Team will consist of no less than 3 monsters, and no more than 8 monsters. 4.  Your Bench may consist of up to four monsters (duplicates are allowed), none of which may be level 10. Remember that when you swap a main team monster for a benched monster, your target XP must remain at or below 2500 XP. 5.    No monsters may have the “solo” quality. 6.    A maximum of one monster on your whole team (main and bench) may have the “leader” quality. 7.  No Main Team may contain more than four minions, should you choose to use them. Remember, minions also have an XP cost. They count towards your target XP of 2500.  Combat Rules:  1.  Tournament style play. There will be random match ups at the beginning of the event for the opening games. Players will play against the same opponent up to three times, until they have accrued at least 2 points. Points are won by destroying all of your opponents Main Team monsters, or if time has elapsed, by having the highest total HP (found by adding your surviving monster’s remaining HP together). In the unlikely event that all monsters on both teams die simultaneously, the active player will be given the point. A player may also concede the point if he sees that victory is impossible. Winners proceed to the next round, and losers may be asked to judge the next round, or can elect to play each other in a sub-tournament. 2.    Time limit for each match is 45 minutes. (Pending review and discussion). 3.  Games will be played alternatively, and judged by the players not currently fighting. Example: A vs B, judged by E and F, while at another table G vs H, judged by C and D. Once they complete their first match out of three, the players switch. E vs F, judged by A and B, and C vs D, judged by G and H, until winners have been found for each match up. 4.  In the event in which a rules disagreement cannot be settled by the two judges, they may call over the opposing judges. This should be avoided unless totally necessary because it gives opposing teams an opportunity to see their next opponent before the actual match up. 5.  Each player will make a single map, with dimensions of 30 x 30 x 30 squares. No map may contain more than 50% hazardous or difficult terrain, and may contain tunnels, provided that they are large enough for a medium creature to fit through without squeezing, and are not filled with a substance that may be deemed hazardous. Leave room around the edge of your map for coordinates (A1, E7, etc) 6.    A hazardous substance may be defined as any of the following: lava, water, acid, fire, quicksand, proximity mines, etc. 7.    No map may contain proximity mines. 8.  All maps must reserve at least 2 squares of depth for “regular dirt” below ground level (ie 28 squares of open air + 2 squares of ground = 30). Tunnels must have at least 1 square filled with dirt both above and below any space that does not have a direct opening to open air. 9.    In the event you feel you are unable to make your own map, you may ask another player to make one for you. 10.  Before every match, a randomly selected map will be chosen for the battle. Each competitor will place their monsters on the map without seeing their opponent’s placements. (Judges will oversee this and record placements). The “corners” system will be used for placement: each competitor is assigned an edge of the map, and may not place any monsters more than 15 squares from that edge. 11.    All monsters must be placed on ground level. 12.  Initiative will be rolled by adding all of your Main Team monsters initiatives together, using the total as the initiative modifier.  Let me know what you think! Some rules may be subject to change.</blockquote>

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