DreadBall 3-on-3!

Here it is! The completely unofficial, amateur, backstreet pickup game of DreadBall! DreadBall 3-on-3!

One of the variants of DreadBall that is currently (legally) growing in popularity is 3-on-3 DreadBall. 3-on-3, sometimes called StreetBall due to its origins, is a smaller fast paced DreadBall involving small teams on even smaller pitch.

Ah, the field of dreams….or maiming…..mostly maiming…

Alternating Activation

The biggest change for 3-on-3 is the Rush and Action structure. Coaches alternate taking actions. Each coach gets to spend only 1 action token on their turn.

Rushes

There are no Rushes in 3-on-3. Each coach has 25 Action Tokens (18 standard tokens and 7 sin bin tokens)

Action Tokens

Each coach starts with 25 Action Tokens (18 standard tokens and 7 sin bin tokens)

You can play any number of Action cards (still max 1 per player per turn) when it is your turn to play an Action token, but you still have to play a token either before or after or between playing Action cards.

So. Many. TOKENS.

Setup

Whichever coach is the underdog in a 3-on-3 match gets to choose Home or Visitor. Max of 3 players on the pitch….to start…..

Setup behind the center line of your side color (White for Home, red for Visitor)

Ball Launch

The ball launches from the center hex and scatters. If a player is occupying the center hex when the ball launches they might be hit. Roll a 3 dice 4+ test for the ball.

The ball cannot be caught in the center hex but can be caught when it scatters as if it was an inaccurate pass.

Strikes

There are no set Strikezones. Players can Throw Strikes from anywhere in range.

Strikes are still -1 for Throwing at a small target. All Strikes are worth 1 point.

Strike hexes are impassible, as there is a physical Strikepost in this space in a 3-on-3 game. No fancy holographic Strikehexs here.

Sturdy construction, timeless design. And ALWAYS in the way!

Dunking

If you attempt to throw a Strike from adjacent to the Strikehex you gain a +1 on your Throw.

Score

The team with the most points at the end of a match wins, as is usual. If at any point during the game one team is up by 5 Strikes it is a landslide win and the game ends. A tie will result in Sudden Death overtime. Coaches “reset” their allotment of Action Tokens and continue play.

Sudden Death

There are no “gates” to keep players from coming on the pitch, so there are no restrictions to bringing players on in overtime. However, in the true sense of the sporting term “sudden death”, whichever team scores next wins the match and ends the game.

Injuries

Injured players are not removed from the pitch. When a player is injured lay them prone and place a marker representing how badly they were injured in the Sin Bin (or use a prone model and place the regular mini in the Sin Bin) in their stead.

If the injured player is injured further while on the pitch move their injury token deeper into the Sin Bin, if this results in death, remove the player from the pitch and the injury token from the Sin Bin. Whenever a coach plays a Sin Bin Action Token, in addition to their regular action, they may move all fouling players through the Sin Bin and make a Recovery Roll for injured ones.

Recovery Rolls

At the end of each Sin Bin Action Token, every injured player from the active team must make a recovery roll. This is not optional. A player cannot attempt to Stand Up until they have recovered from all of their injuries.

Recovery Roll: a 3 dice Strength test (1).

-1 per opposing player threatening the hex you are in (maximum of -2).

Recovery Succeeds: the player removes one injury per success.

Recovery Fails: the player sustains one more injury as they continue to bleed out. If this takes the total to 4, then they die and are removed.

Fouls

There is no Refbot in 3-on-3, players are calling their own Fouls.

When you call a foul roll the Spot Test as usual.

The Argue (test that opposes the Spot Check in 3- on-3) roll is:

+1 for the player committing the foul

+1 if the player committing the foul is a guard

+1 to Argue if there is at least 1 teammate within 5 hexes of the fouling player.

Tie: Fouling player is sent to the Sub Bench

Spot Wins: Fouling player is sent to the “1” space of the Sin Bin

Argue Wins: Fouling player stays on the Pitch

Sneak Amendment: If a Coach ends an Action with more than 3 uninjured Players on the pitch, they are committing a Sneak Foul.

Momentum

Resources are crucial in 3 on 3…cards and free actions let you do more with your one token!

In 3-on-3 DreadBall there isn’t a big stadium full of fans. There are no fans checks, but teams can build up Momentum. There are two main methods of generating Momentum:

-Double a Strike

-Seriously Injure an opponent

When an action meets one of these conditions, draw a card and look at the pips.

If the card has 1 pip save it as usual.

If the card has 2 pips immediately discard it and take a Coaching Dice

If the card has 3 pips immediately discard it and take a Card into your hand

Once you have collected 3 pips of single pip cards you can immediately choose to take a Coaching Dice or Card in exchange.

Roster

Starting Roster funding: 600mc

Players can be purchased from all teams.

The minimum number of players on a roster is 3

The maximum number of players on a roster is 5

To represent the rag tag, pick up nature of the setting, you can not have more than one of the same kind of player (race and position).

Additionally, specialists (Strikers and Guards) are rare, most amateur and pick up players don’t have that level of training. To represent this, you may have no more than two specialists on your roster total. So, either 1 Striker and 1 Guard…or 2 Guards, etc.

No Assistant Coaches or Cheerleaders are allowed in 3-on-3

No cards or coaching dice can be purchased on a starting 3-on-3 roster

Lastly, players don’t normally earn experience. It’s not the players who level up and advance, but rather YOU, the Coach, the Manager, the Sponsor…….but more on that next time!