#rulechange

Apparently I had forgotten and it wasn't exactly common sense that describing serious abuse/harm/death you've enacted on an animal is very against what we're doing here.

I think the 5e DM guide rules about crafting poisons and potions are waaaay too complicated and restrictive to use on the fly. Here’s what I do in three simple pages:

Hello, lovelies! I hope everyone is super excited about submitting entries for the fest! :) 

I just wanted to share two (tiny tiny) things that I’ve changed in regards to the contest. 

First, you will see that there is now an additional submission category-- Best Fluff. I realized it was a little wacky to have Best Dark!Fic and not Best Fluff, so there you go! 

Second, I’ve added another rule to prevent potential trolls from crashing our H/G party: 

“Rule 8: We reserve the right to reject any stories that are deliberately trolling/designed to create unnecessary drama/attempting to bash other characters. (C'mon people...these rules are loose because we don't want to stifle creativity, but please don't abuse the level of leniency here.)”

I don’t expect that this will make a huge difference for those of us who have heard about this so far, but it’s better to cover our bases. 

Can’t wait to see what everyone’s working on! :D

Nothing is more exciting than a last second shot in a basketball game. As the ball soars through the air both teams watch with nervous anticipation as the game will be decided in the next second. There is really nothing in sports that matches the sheer thrill of that moment. Due to the ability to foul at the end of a game, however, these moments happen less often than they should.

We have all seen it time and time again. A basketball game down to the last minute of play last for what seems like an eternity as one team gets fouled and shoots free throws every time they get the ball. It is a strategy that makes sense. You need to stop the clock and get the ball back at end of the game and fouling is the only way to do this. This long shot strategy has become the meta to finish basketball games and really takes the fun out of the last few minutes. Fans of the winning team have to wait through the annoying foul shots to finally celebrate their official victory, while those on the other side are left to wallow in inevitable defeat for the same amount of time. It is just an broken system that leads to an ugly finish for a fun game.

Fouling, by definition, is breaking the rules of the game. While there are some instances it can be effective in other sports and during the other quarters in basketball, it isn’t something that should be encouraged. When strategically breaking the rules time and time again is a legitimate strategy, you know you have a problem. While fouling does technically give both teams a chance, if a slim one, until the bitter end, it isn’t a good way to finish a game. The team who played the best through the whole game should take home the victory they deserved without having to endure the painstaking process of free throws in the final minute of the game.

Fouling even can benefit the team that is in the lead at the end of the game. Let’s look at a relatively common scenario. If your team is up by three points with a few seconds remaining, it is often seen as a good idea to foul and put the opponent at the line for only two shots. This way they can only cut the game to a single point while your team remains up by a point while you get the ball back. This takes away the excitement of a last minute do or die shot to put the game into overtime and ends the game in a boring fashion.

So how would a change be implemented to stop this practice from regularly occurring? Since purposeful fouling at the end of a game occurs on the floor instead of while shooting, a ruling needs to be put in place to address these fouls in particular. While giving three free throws for these infractions is a possibility, I would recommend keeping the current two free throws but giving the team that was fouled the ball back. This would take away the motivation of the opposing team to foul as they would simply be left in a worse position than they were before the foul. This rule would only be active in the last two minutes of the game and would have a major impact on the end of it. Fouls on the floor would become rare in the end of games, leading to more exciting shots and epic finishes.

As always, what do you think? Does a change need to be made in the basketball foul system? Is my solution of two free throws with the ball coming back a good one to solve this problem or do you you have a better way to do it? Let me know down below!