Here are the core principles of our league, broken into 3 sections: DLE2 Core Principles, DLE2 Understandings, & DLE2 Required Knowledge & Tasks. The former are why we do what we do, and what you should know, and the latter are the only things you must actually DO to be in DLE2, aside from play.

DLE2 Core Principles

A) This league is intended to provide a high probability of several interesting, fun, and competitive matches for each coach, each season.

B) No one or two teams should ever have what appears to be a ‘lock’ on the top spots, or power levels. This is not a league for dynasties, or for a select few coaches to enjoy beating on a constantly cycling pool of new coaches using low power teams.

C) Better coaching may lead to more consistent winning, and fewer players injured, but every coach should get their ass kicked once in a while. That is just the math of Blood Bowl. A rule-set that prevents that is a flawed rule-set. (Long live the Dragons! https://fumbbl.com/p/match?id=4236654)

D) DLE2 is a league for mature, experienced coaches who understand bad dice happen, and will remain respectful to their opponent, regardless of any game’s outcome.

E) DLE2 is a league which has a ‘max relax’ attitude. If real life gets you behind in scheduling, don’t worry about it. Just understand that your concession loss in DLE2 should be the least of anyone’s worries. Just don’t expect to fall behind in scheduling AND to get a concession win. Equally importantly, do not get so serious about your own play-off race that you get annoyed by a rival’s concession win. Other people’s scheduling, real life issues, and games are not your concern. Finally, tanking is allowed, but will not be catered to. If you are about to be rewarded a concession WIN, and you would rather take a LOSS, it is your right to say you want a coin toss to decide the victor instead. There WILL be a victor after an un-played game. Even ‘tankers’ plans can get foiled, and this should be no more annoying than a division rival getting a concession win in a tight play-off race.

F) DLE2 members are often invited to vote on changes to the rules. Sometimes not. In order to ensure the league stays on track towards respecting the principles outlined above, I may choose not to vote on certain issues that I feel might take the league in the wrong direction. Changes that don’t seem to affect the principles above should be put to a vote. Sometimes these votes require a vast majority, sometimes only 51 percent.

G) DLE2 aims to be transparent with regards to how draft players are made, and why rule changes are made. All rules have been written down on DISCORD, and can be viewed, and can be referenced by DLE2 admin staff when coaches have questions. We make almost nothing up on the fly. Dice rolls for randomly created players and the skill tables used are visible on DISCORD, and rules and rule changes are discussed and explained often. I ask for a certain amount of trust, but also invite questions, opinions, feedback, and criticism.

DLE2 Understandings

A) DLE2 is a league and community that stays in touch via DISCORD. Certain information can only be found there, such as current play-off standings. Further, some team maintenance actions must be performed there, such as the reporting of the retirement of skilled players for the Free Agent Pool, and making draft picks. Any player attempting to continue in DLE2 without DISCORD must find his own work around to be able to perform all of the tasks set out in the REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE & TASKS section below. You do not HAVE TO communicate via DISCORD, but you do have to post some things there, in the right place at the right time, or find your own work-around.

B) DLE2 uses Google docs to display Free Agents available to be hired, and to run the draft each season. An e-mail is required to be given to the commissioner to gain access.

C) Rounds in DLE2 are 2 weeks. Games un-played after 2 weeks will result in one team getting a concession win. Two weeks is a LONG deadline, and extensions will no longer be granted. After two weeks, the league enforcer will check the scheduling channel for the round in question to see which coach appears to have been most available, most accommodating, or at least put in some effort to communicate at all. All scheduling efforts ‘count’, but they must be cut/paste into the scheduling DISCORD channel to ‘count’ as far as a concession decision is concerned.

D) You do not NEED to hire free agents. If your team is small enough and you want to hire a free agent after Rounds 2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,12, or 13, it is up to you to understand how the process works, and to make the correct DISCORD posts and requests. Det takes care of the FA pool and skilling, and is probably DLE2’s biggest asset. Please do not annoy him. Free Agents are a bonus, not a right, and they are first come, first served. If you really want a guy, get your games done early. (opponent willing)

E) This league is intentionally UN-serious, so please don’t get too excited or too down after a win or loss, good season or bad season. This is why we have a mandatory hobbit. No matter how well you have played, you still might lose to a 1TTD hobbit toss. Enjoy the helplessness. Nuffle does. Play as well as you can, improve, and make some friends.

DLE2 Required Knowledge & Tasks

A) You MUST post any skilled players retired from your team into the ‘free-agents-available’ channel on DISCORD.

B) To schedule a game, you MUST attempt to contact your opponent via his chosen method, as listed beside his name on the league page, and also pinned in the scheduling channel. (FUMBBL PM, DISCORD PM, or DLE2’s DISCORD ‘Scheduling Channel’) If you do not try and contact him, nor he you, expect a coin toss concession win or loss.

C) If you want to avoid a concession loss, due to an un-played game, you MUST cut/paste any scheduling attempts you have made into the correct DISCORD scheduling channel. (each round will have it’s own channel, deleted upon round completion, to avoid too much clutter) If you don’t understand this, can’t do this, or forget to do this, don’t expect a concession win. Accept the enforcer’s decision, the coin toss result, or better yet, get the games played)

D) Each skilled player on the team MUST have a player bio that says where the player has come from, stating his Draft Round/Pick number, or a link to his previous team (Free Agent or Trade), or a line saying he was a ‘Walk-On’ skill-less player. To get skilled players skilled up, you must make his bio first, with the correct links, THEN ask for his skills and SPP to be added. (by det, Murker, neubau, darkwing, or chimp)

E) You MUST be able to take part in each season’s draft. (duh) The draft is run on DISCORD, referencing the Google doc. If you can’t do that, you probably wouldn’t have made it this far.

Inducements in DLE2 are limited to the following:

If the difference in TV between teams is 100k or greater, the lower TV team must purchase 1 Wandering Apothacary.

For every additional 100k (or 200k - see Wizard) difference, the smaller team may choose an inducement from the list below. You can only take something twice once everything has been taken once.

Re-Roll
Bribe
Merc Human Lineman
A Normal Skill on ONE of the mercs
2 Babes (Always 2, Never just 1)
Wizard - 200k to purchase! (300k inducements total required - 100k Apo + 200k Wizard)

It is the responsibility of the coach whose team has the highest Fan Factor to ready his team first before a match. If the teams have an equal FF, the coach whose team has the best win percentage (since that coach took over) must ready his team first. Any dispute will be resolved by the league commishioner.

Additional Players

DLE2 uses the basic human roster with the following 3 additional player types. These 'xeno' players can be traded as normal if they have skills.

0-1 Elf Union Lineman (6,3,4,7, 60k) Skills: None
0-1 Dwarf Blocker (4,3,2,9, 70k) Skills: Block, Tackle, Thick Skull
1 Halfling Hopeful (5,2,3,6, ZERO tv) Skills: Dodge, Right Stuff, Stunty

Starting with season 6, the Halfling Hopeful will be a mandatory player. (You always have to have one rostered, but can be replaced by a merc lino if MNG)


Coach's Champion

Each coach is entitled to start each season with a Coach's Champion. A Coach's Champion is a 60K (or less) player with skills selected by the coach. The champion comes with the appropriate amount of SPP for the skills he posesses. The champion belongs to the team and is never able to be traded. The champion's player bio must begin with the words 'Coach's Champion'.
If the champion is killed or retired, a new champion can be created following the next draft. A coach may not create an identical champion twice in a row. (The champion must have a different skill set or player type) If a new coach takes over a team without a champion, he must also wait until after the draft to create a replacement champion.
The champion may not be a dwarf, elf, or halfling.


Coachable Veteran

Before the initial draft of Season 1, each coach may create one lineman, known as the team's 'Coachable Veteran'. This veteran comes with 31 SPP and may be given 2 normal skills from the General table, and may make one skill-roll for the selection of the 3rd skill. The veteran belongs to the team and is never able to be traded. The veteran's player bio must begin with the words 'Coachable Veteran'.
This is a 'one time only' benefit for a team, and if the veteran is retired or killed, no new veteran will be created for the team. (Expansion teams will also get a Coachable Veteran)


Drafted and Traded Player SPP's

A drafted player comes with the appropriate minimum number of SPP for the number of skills he has.
A traded player comes with all the SPPs he has earned before he was traded; the same is true for all players when a team goes through a takeover process: all SPPs are kept.


TV Tracking

The tracking of a team's TV in DLE2 is based on the skills a player posseses, and does not include the base FUMBBL TV value of each player. In this way, a newly created blitzer adds 0 TV to the team's TV total, and a +AG/Tackle blitzer adds 60'000 TV to the team's total. (60k) If the coach elects to add the optional elf lineman, dwarf blocker, and/or halfling hopeful to the roster, these players WILL add their base TV to the team's TV total.

The draft will be held after the championship game each season. Coaches will have 48 hours to make trades before and after the draft. The innaugural draft consisted of 8 rounds of drafting from a pool of 134 players.

Subsequent drafts will be 4 rounds, and draft from a pool of 120 players. (24 Blitzers, 24 Catchers, 15 Throwers, 15 Ogres, and 38 Linemen, & 4 Halflings)

New Mechanic: After all 120 players have been rolled randomly, one stat of each kind will be added randomly to the blitzer, catcher, and lineman pools. Two random stats will also be added to the thrower and ogre pools. This should ensure a high enough quality draft, keeping it interesting for everyone involved.

DLE2 uses the BB2016 'Select 3 MVP' rule. (Piling On is also absent)

Post Draft* skill rolls are drafted players with pending skill-ups, skilled using dice rolled in the Discord chat channel called '#skill_rolls'. The 'test roll' is announced made with 3d6, followed by the 'real roll' of 2d6. The dice roller and the witness may be any DLE2 coaches, other than the owner of the player.

If the player's owner is not present to witness the rolls and make an immediate skill choice, he may file his skill request in channel '#skill_requests' by entering the following data in a post:

Player Name, Team, Skill Choice: 12 +ST, 11 +AG, 10 Doubles Guard, 10 Normal +AV, Doubles Guard, Normal Fend

Once a skill request has been actioned, a member of the skilling staff will edit the coach's roster and delete the skill request from the #skill_request channel.

Link to the Custom Ruleset: Custom Ruleset

Player Trades and Draft Pick Trading

Team's may trade players and certain draft picks in between season's before and after the draft and at the 'Mid-Season Trade Window' (between games 7 and 8). A team's 1st and 2nd round draft picks may never be traded. [clarification: The PLAYERS drafted with 1st and 2nd Round picks may be traded after the draft, but the right to pick in the 1st and 2nd round may never be traded. Each coach WILL pick in the 1st and 2nd Round] Only the 3rd and 4th round picks of the next two drafts may be traded.
(eg: During Season 3, only 3rd and 4th round picks for Draft 4 and Draft 5 may be included in trades. Draft 6 picks are not able to be traded until the completion of Draft 4)
The Post-Season Trade Window opens immediatly following the championship game and closes when the first pick of the draft is drafted. The Post-draft Trade Window opens when the last pick is drafted and closes when announced by an admin (whom will always give at least 24h warning). The Mid-Season Trade Window opens as soon as both teams involved in a trade have completed their 7th game of a season and closes when announced by an admin (whom will always give at least 24h warning). Any 'trading' between coaches before these windows is simply a gentlemen's agreement, and is not binding. A trade is made official once both coaches have announced the identical trade in the official Trade channel on discord during one of the trade windows. Announcements made at the wrong time are likely to be ignored by management. Once both coaches announce a trade, DLE2 management will action the trade and adjust the rosters. In this way, there is no requirement for DLE2 management to keep track of anything other than a limited number of 3rd and 4th round picks traded. There will be a minimum of 48 hours before a draft, after a draft, and during the mid-season trade window in which coaches can announce a trade.

*Every coach will ALWAYS pick in the first and second round. What you do with these players after.. that's up to you!*

Conferences, Divisions, and Play-Off Structure

The DLE2 is a 20 team league divided into 2 Conferences, each having 2 divisions of five teams. The 'Knights of the Lance Conference' consists of the 'KoL North' and 'KoL West' divisions. The 'Knights of the Sword Conference' consists of the 'KoS South' and the 'KoS East' Divisions. Each regular season will consist of 14 games, meaning two seven-game tournaments, with the Mid-Season Trade Window in between. The first tournament will see each division square off against it's conference rivals, and in the second half of the season each division will play against a division in the rival conference. (whichever division it did not play against in the previous season) In this way, each team will play each team in the League a minimum of every other year.

Eight teams will make the play-offs each season. Division winners will automatically advance, and the remaining two teams in each conference with the most points will also advance. The DLE2 awards 3 points for a Win, 1 for a Draw, and 0 for a Loss. In the event of a tie between team's, the tie is broken if one team has defeated the other more often that season. If not, the tie is broken by whichever team has scored the most touchdowns that season. If still unresolved, the tie is broken by whichever team has had the fewest TD's scored against them. If still undecided, a coin toss in Discord will decide. In the event of a complex draw between 3 or more teams for these 2 'Wild Card' play-off spots, a fair and agreed upon method to decide the winner will be conducted in the Discord chat room.

To decide each conference champion, the #1 seeded team will play the #4 seeded team, and #2 plays #3. (Seeding is based on points and the method described above) The winners of these matches will play, and each conference champion will play in the championship match to compete for the 'Knight of Valor Trophy' and to be named season champion. Unlike regular season games, play-off games will always go into overtime if required.


Jester's Cup

The 12 teams which do not make the play-offs have the option of entering the Jester's Cup tournament. The Jester's Cup is a randomly seeded KO tournament consisting of only those teams which elect to enter. The winner of the Jester's Cup can select one of two 'prizes'. The coach may elect to have the final draft pick in the upcoming draft, or he may elect to move his team into another division.

If the winner of the Jester's Cup elects to move divisions as his prize, he must put his 3 choices of division in order. A 1d6 is rolled, and on a 1-3 he moves to his first choice, on a 4 or 5, his second choice, and on a 6, he moves into his third choice of division. The winner of the Cup WILL move divisions if he elects to roll the 1d6.

If the coach elects to move divisions, the team which makes the swap is chosen as follows:
A) The winner of a division may NEVER leave the division
B) If one or more of the 3 elligible teams volunteers to leave the division, the leaving team will be selected randomly from the volunteers.
C) If no one volunteers to leave the division, a d10 will be rolled. Based on that division's standings at the end of the season, on a 1-6 the 4th place team will swap. On a 7-9 the 3rd place team will swap, and on a 10, the division runner-up will be the team swapping divisions with the Jester's Cup winner.

Clarification: Not only is Play-Off Seeding decided by the 'Points Earned, TD For, TD Against, Coin Toss' method, but so is Draft Order, and anything else that tries to establish which team is 'better' or 'more powerful.' Eg: If two teams were eliminated from the play-offs in the first round, and both scored 24 points during the season, which ever team had more TD For that season will draft after the other team.

The 'Knight of Valor Trophy' is a custom miniature, cast in solid brass, made for the DLE2 by Hero Forge miniatures. It will be mailed to each season's winner for a photo op. What local land mark will you pose with the trophy in front of when YOU win it?