Blood Bowl
Blood Bowl
Blood Bowl
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ....................................... 2 GAME COMPONENTS ............................. 2 SETTING UP THE GAME ......................... 6 THE SEQUENCE OF PLAY ...................... 7
THE KICK-OFF ............................................. 6 MOVING THE TURN MARKER ................... 7 PLAYER ACTIONS ....................................... 7 TURNOVERS ............................................... 7 TEAM ROSTER ................................................. 24 TREASURY .................................................. 24 TEAM VALUE ............................................... 25 MATCH RECORDS ...................................... 25 INJURIES .......................................................... 25 CASUALTY TABLE ....................................... 25 STAR PLAYER POINTS ..................................... 25 HOW TO EARN STAR PLAYER POINTS ........... 26 STAR PLAYER POINTS TABLE ......................... 26 IMPROVEMENT ROLLS ..................................... 26 IMPROVEMENT ROLL TABLE....................... 26 NEW SKILLS .................................................. 26 CHARACTERISTIC INCREASES ................... 26 ROLLING DOUBLES ...................................... 27 IMPROVEMENTS & PLAYER VALUES.......... 27 VALUE MODIFIERS TABLE ........................... 27 SKAVEN TEAMS ............................................ 46 HUMAN TEAMS ............................................. 47 DARK ELF TEAMS ......................................... 48 OGRE & WOOD ELF TEAMS ......................... 49 HIGH ELF & ELF TEAMS ............................... 50 VAMPIRE & KHEMRI TEAMS......................... 51 NECROMANTIC & UNDEAD TEAMS ............. 52 AMAZON & NORSE TEAMS........................... 53 LIZARDMAN & CHAOS DWARF TEAMS ........................... 54 CHAOS & NURGLE TEAMS ........................... 55
BLOCKS .................................................... 9
RE-ROLLS ................................................14
TOURNAMENTS ..........................................30
THE KICK-OFF TABLE ..............................18 THE WEATHER ........................................20 HANDING-OFF THE BALL ........................20 GOING FOR IT! .........................................20 ASSISTING A BLOCK ...............................21 INTERCEPTIONS & FUMBLES .................22 FOULS, OR KICKING PLAYERS THAT ARE DOWN ...........................................23 SKILLS ..........................................................23 BLOOD BOWL LEAGUES ............................24
STARTING THE LEAGUE ................................. 24
BACKGROUND ............................................35
THE ORIGINS OF BLOOD BOWL....................... 36 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ........................... 37 THE COLLAPSE OF THE NAF ....................... 38 CHAOS & CONFUSION ................................. 39 THE OPEN TOURNAMENTS ......................... 39 BLOOD BOWL TODAY................................... 39 THE GAME ITSELF ........................................ 40 THE OLD WORLD............................................... 42 THE TEAMS ........................................................ 43 ORC TEAMS................................................... 43 DWARF TEAMS ............................................. 44 GOBLIN & HALFLING TEAMS ....................... 45
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ........... 79 DESIGNER'S NOTES ................................... 80 STAR PLAYER LIST ..................................... 81
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1
BLOOD BOWL
INTRODUCTION
Good evening sports fans and welcome to the Blood Bowl for tonights contest. You join a capacity crowd, packed with members of every race from across the known world, all howling like banshees in anticipation of tonights game. Oh, and yes, there are some actual banshees... Well, kick-off is in about twenty minutes time, so weve just got time to recap on the rules of the game before battle starts. Your match commentators for tonight are Jim Johnson and myself, Bob Bifford. Evening, Jim! Thank you, Bob! Well, good evening, and boy, are you folks in for a great night of top-class sporting entertainment! But first of all, for those of you at home who are unfamiliar with the rules, heres how the game is played. As you know, Blood Bowl is an epic conflict between two teams of heavily-armoured and quite insane warriors. Players pass, throw or run with the ball, attempting to get it to the other end of the pitch, the End Zone. Of course, the other team must try and stop them, and recover the ball for their side. If a team gets the ball over the line into the opponents End Zone its called a touchdown; the team that scores the most touchdowns by the end of the match wins the game, and are declared Blood Bowl Champions! How do they do it? Its like this...
COMPONENTS
The Blood Bowl box contains the following components
(Note: As this handbook is available separately and as a free PDF, the component section is only relevant if you have purchased the boxed game).
1 Handbook 1 Painting Guide 2 Reference sheets 1 Team roster pad 1 Blood Bowl pitch 2 Dugouts 2 Team cards 1 plastic Range Ruler 1 plastic Throw-in template 1 plastic Scatter template 4 plastic footballs Dice: 2 six sided Dice, 1 eight sided Dice, 3 Block Dice
Counters: 16 Re-roll counters 2 Score counters 2 Leader counters 2 Turn counters 16 Randomizer counters 1 Kick-Off coin
Plastic Models Humans: 12 players: 6 Linemen, 2 Blitzers, 2 Throwers, 2 Catchers Orcs: 12 players: 6 Linemen, 2 Black Orc Blockers, 2 Blitzers, 2 Throwers.
BLOOD BOWL
The Coaches: Dont look in the box for these, because there arent any you and your opponent are the coaches! To avoid confusion with the teams players (the plastic playing pieces), we will refer to you and the other real-life players as the teams coaches. All references to players are to the Blood Bowl pieces. Playing Pitch: This is the field on which the game of Blood Bowl takes place. Its currently big and green (a bit like an Orc) but dont worry itll soon be covered in red! It is divided into squares to regulate movement and combat; each square can hold only one Blood Bowl player at a time. The areas at either end of the pitch are called the End Zones. If a team gets the ball into their opponents End Zone they score a touchdown. These are good things to score, as the team with the most touchdowns wins the match and then can dance around a lot! In the centre of the pitch is the half-way line, and running along the sides of the pitch are the lines which show the boundaries of the wide zones. The rows of squares on either side of the half-way line, and between the two wide zones (14 squares in all), are known as the line of scrimmage. The different areas of the pitch are shown on the diagram below. rules say roll a D6 or 'roll a dice', this simply means roll one six-sided dice. If the rules say roll 2D6, it means roll two D6 and add their scores together. If the rules say to roll a D3, roll a six-sided dice. The result is halved, rounding any fractions up (i.e., 1-2 = 1, 3-4 = 2, 5-6 = 3).
Throw-in Template: In Blood Bowl the ball is thrown back onto the pitch by the enthusiastic crowd if it ever goes out of bounds. The Throw-in template is used to determine where the ball ends up when it is thrown back in. To use the Throw-in template, position the square marked with the ball over the last square the ball crossed before going off, with the centre arrow (the one marked 3-4) pointing towards the opposite sideline. Roll one D6. The result will show the direction the ball travels in. Then simply roll two D6 to see how many squares the ball will travel in that direction, counting from the square marked with the ball as the first square.
Scatter Template: The Scatter template is used when the ball is dropped or a pass misses the target square. To use the template (youll be told when to do this by the rules), position the central square over the ball. Roll the eight-sided dice, and move the ball to the square indicated by the score. The eightsided dice included with the game is mainly used with the Scatter template. Use it like a normal D6, reading the number on the upward facing side.
Block Dice & Six-sided Dice: Blood Bowl uses special Block dice and normal six-sided dice numbered 1 through 6. The special Block dice are used when a player attempts to knock another player down (this is called blocking another player). The six-sided dice are used for a greater number of purposes, and are usually referred to in the rules as D6. If the
BLOOD BOWL
Playing Pieces: The plastic playing pieces represent the 12 players from each teams squad, of whom 11 may be on the pitch at any one time. They should be carefully removed from the sprue, and then slotted into the plastic slotta-bases. There are six main types of player in Blood Bowl: Blitzers, Catchers, Throwers, Linemen, Runners and Blockers. The teams of different races contain different combinations of players. An Orc team, for example, has no Catchers or Runners. To get you started, the Blood Bowl box contains one Orc team and one Human team. The Orc team is made up of 2 Blitzers, 2 Black Orc Blockers, 2 Throwers and 6 Linemen, while the Human team has 2 Blitzers, 2 Catchers, 2 Throwers and 6 Linemen. Blitzers are just about the best all-round players on the pitch. They are quite fast and agile, yet strong enough to smash their way through the opposing line when they have to. Former ace Reavers player Griff Oberwald is a typical Blitzer: fast, strong and just a bit too flash! Catchers are the opposite of Blockers. Lightly armoured and very agile, they cant afford to get into fights. In the open, however, they are unmatched and nobody is better at catching the ball. Catchers specialize in waiting near the End Zone for that all-important touchdown pass to come sailing in out of the blue. The only problem in being a Catcher is if someone should catch you! Throwers are the most glamorous players on the pitch, able to throw a precise Long Bomb to the waiting hands of a player far down the pitch. Or at least thats the theory; throwing the ball well takes real skill. Linemen are the standard players of the team, not brilliant at any one thing, but capable enough to fill in for an injured player when necessary. Some teams seem to be made up of nothing but Linemen which is why they are always at the bottom of the league! Runners are normally the fastest players on the team, capable of outdistancing their team-mates to quickly advance the ball up pitch. While Runners might not have the talented hands of a Catcher and Runners from different races may have very different skill sets, teams that favour the running instead of the passing game find these players are invaluable. Blockers are very strong and wear extra armour to protect themselves in the powerful head-to-head blocks that are their specialty. However, they are not all that fast, and against an agile opponent with room to dodge they almost always come off second best.
BLOOD BOWL
Team Card: There are two team cards, one for the Orc team and one for the Human team. The team card lists the teams Fan Factor and team re-rolls, and shows the characteristics and skills of each of the different types of player in the team: Movement Allowance (abbreviated to MA): This shows the number of squares the player may move in a turn. Strength (ST): A players Strength represents how physically powerful he is, and is used to block opponents. Agility (AG): The higher a players agility, the more likely they are to be able to avoid tackles attempted by other players, accurately throw the ball, and catch a ball that is thrown to them. Armour Value (AV): This shows the amount of armour the player is wearing. The higher the number, the more armour the player has on. Catchers, for example, wear little or no armour. Skills: In addition to their characteristics, a player may have one or more skills, which represent special talents or abilities. For example, all Throwers have the Pass skill to show their extraordinary ability at throwing the ball. Rules Summary: On each team card there is also a short summary of the rules to save you from constantly flicking through the book. The summary lists all of the vital information you need to know about the players, such as the number of squares they can move, the dice rolls they need to dodge out of a square or pass the ball, and so on.
Plastic Range Ruler: The ruler is used to measure the range when a player throws the ball. When you are instructed to measure the range, place the 0 at one end over the centre of the square of the player throwing the ball and the red line that runs up the middle of the ruler over the centre of the square of the player the ball is being thrown to. If the line between two passing ranges crosses any part of the receiving players square, then you should use the higher range.
The Ball: Possibly the most important component in the game! There are four plastic footballs included with the game, but only one is used at a time. A football is referred to as a ball in the rules. The ball can be held by a player by simply putting it on their base.
Kick-off Coin: You can use this coin to determine which side kicks off first in the match. The coin has an Orc face on one side and an Imperial eagle on the other. One coach tosses the coin and while it is in the air the other coach calls Orcs or Eagles. Quick Reference Sheets: These handy pieces of card include all of the most regularly used charts and tables from the game, and will save you from flicking through the book when you are playing a match. Team Roster Sheets: The team rosters are only used if you use the optional rules for Creating a Blood Bowl Team (see page 16 of the Extra Rules section). You wont need them for your first couple of games, so put them to one side for the time being.
Dugouts: Each coach is given one Dugout at the start of the match. It is used to hold players that are in reserve or have been injured, and to keep track of how many turns have elapsed and the number of team re-rolls the team has left. Also included with the game are sets of counters which are used on the tracks on the Dugout. For example, the Turn counter goes on the Turn track (marked First Half and Second Half) on the Dugout.
BLOOD BOWL
THE KICK-OFF
After both teams have set up, the coach of the kicking team places the ball in any square in the opponents half of the pitch, including the opponents End Zone if he likes. The ball will then scatter in a random direction. Using the Scatter template, roll the eight-sided dice once for the direction of scatter, and then roll a D6 to see how many squares the ball will go. Important note: The kick-off is the only time that you roll a D6 to see how many squares the ball moves when it scatters. This is because kicks are very inaccurate. When rolling scatter for a missed pass, or when the ball bounces, the ball only moves one square per Scatter roll. A kick-off must land in the opponent's half of the pitch. Assuming the ball lands in the receiving teams half of the pitch, then it will either land in an empty square or a square occupied by a player. If the ball lands in an empty square it will bounce one more square (see Bouncing Balls on page 13). If the ball lands on a square occupied by a player, the player must try to catch the ball (see Catching the Ball on page 13). If the ball scatters or bounces off the pitch or into the kicking teams half, the receiving coach is awarded a touchback and must give the ball to any player in his team. Once the kick-off has been taken you are ready to proceed to the first turn of the game.
SLOW-MOTION REPLAY Jim: As any coach will tell you, Bob, a teams starting formation is vitally important. Here we can see an example of the Orcland Raiders famous 5-4-2 or Deep Defence formation. This formation is used by the Raiders against fast moving or agile teams like Skaven or Elves (some would argue with limited success). Bob: You said it, Jim. Notice how the Raiders have made sure that there are no gaps in their line for opposing players to run through every square is covered by an Orc player or one of his tackle zones. Jim: Thats absolutely right, Bob. And as added insurance the Orcs have kept two players back deep, close to their own End Zone, so that they can catch any enemy players lucky enough to dodge their way through the Orc front line.
BLOOD BOWL
LIST OF ACTIONS
Move: The player may move a number of squares equal to their Movement Allowance (MA) Block: The player may make a single block against a player in an adjacent square. Players that are Prone may not perform this Action. Blitz: The player may move a number of squares equal to their MA. He may make one block during the move. The block may be made at any point during the move, and costs one square of movement. IMPORTANT: This Action may not be declared by more than one player per turn. However, any player may perform a Blitz the player doesnt have to be a Blitzer (Blitzers are just better at it than other players). Pass: The player may move a number of squares equal to his MA. At the end of the move the player may pass the ball. IMPORTANT: This Action may not be declared by more than one player per turn. NOTE: The Extra Rules section adds two additional Actions: Hand-off (see page 20) and Foul (see page 23). Neither of these Actions may be declared by more than one player per turn.
TURNOVERS
Normally, a turn only ends when all of the players in the team have performed an Action. However, certain events cause the turn to end before all of the players have taken an Action. These events are called turnovers. The following events cause a turnover: 1. A player on the moving team is Knocked Down (being injured by the crowd or being Placed Prone is not a turnover unless it is a player from the active team holding the ball e.g. skills like Diving Tackle, Piling On and Wrestle count as being Placed Prone) or 2. A passed ball, or hand-off, is not caught by any member of the moving team before the ball comes to rest or 3. A player from the moving team attempts to pick up the ball and fails (note: failing a catch roll, as opposed to a pick up, is by itself never a turnover) or 4. A touchdown is scored or 5. The four-minute time limit for the turn runs out or 6. A pass attempt is fumbled even if a player from that team catches the fumbled ball or 7. A player with the ball is thrown or is attempted to be thrown using Throw Team-Mate and fails to land successfully (including being eaten or squirming free from an Always Hungry roll) or 8. A player is ejected by the referee for a foul. A coach that suffers a turnover is not allowed to take any further actions that turn, and any action being taken ends immediately even if it was only partially completed. Make armour and injury rolls for players that were knocked down, and if the ball was dropped then roll to see where it bounces too normally. Stunned players should be turned face up, and then the opposing coach may start to take their turn.
PLAYER ACTIONS
Each player in a team may perform one Action per turn. The actions that may be performed are described below. When all of the players in a team have performed an Action then the turn ends and the opposing coach is allowed to take a turn. You must declare which Action a player is going to take before carrying out the Action. For example, you might say, This player is going to take a Block Action. Players perform Actions one at a time. In other words, the coach may perform an Action with one player, and then perform an Action with another player, and so on. This carries on until all of the players have performed an Action, or the coach does not want to perform an Action with any more players. Note that a player must finish his Action before another player can take one. Each player may only perform one Action per turn. Only one Blitz and one Pass Action may be taken in each turn. These Actions must be taken by separate players; a player cannot perform a Blitz Action and a Pass Action in the same turn.
BLOOD BOWL
MOVEMENT
A player may move a number of squares equal to his Movement Allowance. Players may move in any direction or combination of directions, including diagonally, as long as they do not enter a square that holds another player (from either team). Players do not have to use up all of their Movement Allowance in their turn; they dont need to move at all if his coach does not want them to.
Dodging Modifiers Making a Dodge roll .................................... +1 Per opposing tackle zone on the square that the player is dodging to ........................ 1
Pick-up Modifiers Picking up the ball ....................................... +1 Per opposing tackle zone on the player ...... 1
IMPORTANT: The Agility table is used to work out the success or failure of a number of different Actions in Blood Bowl including dodging, picking up the ball, and throwing or catching the ball to name but a few. Each Action has its own set of modifiers, and it is only these modifiers which apply to the D6 roll (i.e., do not use any of the Dodging modifiers when attempting to pick up the ball).
BLOOD BOWL
SLOW-MOTION REPLAY Jim: There goes Dieter Blunt, of the Reikland Reavers and it looks to me, Bob, like hes going to try to move through the tackle zones of two Orcland Raiders players! First he tries to move to square 1. Dieter has an Agility of 3, which means that he needs to roll a basic 4 or more to dodge successfully out of the square. He gets a +1 to the roll for making a dodge, but has to subtract 2 because there are two Orc tackle zones on the square he is moving to, for a final modifier of -1. Dieter makes the move the crowd holds its breath and the D6 roll is a 5, which means that Dieter successfully dodges into the square! Bob: Too right! Dieter moves to square 1 and decides to keep on going to square 2. Dieter must still make a Dodge roll, though there arent any tackle zones on square 2, because he is leaving the tackle zones on square 1. There are no tackle zones on square 2, which means that Dieter gets a +1 modifier to his D6 roll. OH NO! Dieter rolls a 1 and comes crashing down. Now hes lying prone in square 2, and whats more that causes a turnover for the Reavers, so its the Orcland Raiders to move next!
2 5+
4+
4 3+
5 2+
6+ 1+
+1 -1
Making a dodge roll Per enemy tackle zone on the square that the player is dodging to
BLOCKS
Instead of moving, a player may throw a block at an opposing player who is in an adjacent square. You may only make a block against a standing player you may not block a player who has already been Knocked Down. A block is a very rough tackle, designed to really stop an opponent in his tracks! To see if a block works you will need to use the special Block dice included with the game.
BLITZ MOVES
Once per turn a player on the moving team is allowed to make a special Blitz move. A blitz allows the player to move and make a block. The block may be made at any point during the move, but costs one square of movement for the player to make. The player may carry on moving after the effects of the block have been worked out if he has any squares of movement left.
STRENGTH
The number of dice that are rolled depends on the strengths of the two players involved. Obviously, if one player is stronger than the other they are more likely to knock down their opponent when they make a block. To represent this, the number of Block dice that are rolled varies depending on the relative strengths of the players. However, no matter how many dice are rolled, only one of them is ever used to decide the result of the block. The coach of the stronger player chooses which of the dice is used. If the players strengths are EQUAL, one dice is rolled. If one player is STRONGER, two dice are rolled and the stronger player may choose which one is used. If one player is MORE THAN TWICE AS STRONG, three dice are rolled and the stronger player may choose which is used. Note that the coach of the player making the block always rolls the dice, but that the coach of the stronger player may choose which is used. NOTE: Extra rules on page 21 allow players not involved in the block to assist the blocking players which can alter the number of dice rolled.
Varag Ghoul-Chewer demonstrates how to make a block.
BOTH DOWN: Both players are Knocked Down, unless one or both of the players involved has the Block skill. If one player uses the Block skill then he is not Knocked Down by this result, though his opponent will still go down. If both the players use the Block skill then neither player is Knocked Down. PUSHED: The defending player is pushed back one square by the blocking player. The attacking player may follow up the defender. DEFENDER STUMBLES: Unless the defender uses the Dodge skill he is pushed back and then Knocked Down. If he does use the Dodge skill then he is only pushed back. The attacking player may follow up the defender. DEFENDER DOWN: The defending player is pushed back and then Knocked Down in the square they are moved to. The attacking player may follow up the defender.
Push Backs: A player that is pushed back as a result of a block must be moved one square away from the player making the block, as shown in the diagrams. The coach of the player who made the block may decide which square the player is moved to. The player must be pushed back into an empty square if possible. A square containing only the ball is considered empty and a player pushed to it will cause the ball to bounce (see page 13). If all such squares are occupied by other players, then the player is pushed into an occupied square, and the player that originally occupied the square is pushed back in turn. This secondary push back is treated exactly like a normal push back as if the second player had been blocked by the first. The coach of the moving team decides all push back directions for secondary push backs unless the pushed player has a skill that overrides this. Players must be pushed off the pitch if there are no eligible empty squares on the pitch. A player pushed off the pitch, even if Knocked Down, is beaten up only by the crowd and receives one roll on the Injury Table (see Injuries, opposite). The crowd does not have any injury modifying skills. Note that no Armour roll is made for a player that is pushed off the pitch, they are automatically injured. If a Stunned result is rolled on the Injury table the player should be placed in the Reserves box of the Dugout, and must remain there until a touchdown is scored or the half ends. If the player who is holding the ball is pushed out of bounds, then he is beaten up by the fans, who are more than happy to throw the ball back into play! The throw-in is centred on the last square the player was in before he was pushed off the pitch. Knock Downs: A player that is Knocked Down should be placed on their side in the square, face up. The player may be injured (see Injuries, page 11). If the player who is Knocked Down comes from the moving team, then this caused a turnover and the moving team's turn ends immediately!
SLOW-MOTION REPLAY Jim: And there goes Skurf Limbrender, the Orcland Raiders star Black Orc Blocker. Hes just blitzed down the pitch and now hes going to throw a block at Jacob von Altdorf, the Reavers Thrower. Skurfs got a Strength of 4, compared to Jacobs 3, which means that Skurf can roll two Block dice and choose which one he will use. He rolls a (Attacker Down) and a (Defender Down), and uses the Defender Down result to smash Jacob back a square and knock him flat on his back in the mud -- KERRUNCH! -
The shaded squares in the diagrams above show the squares a player can be pushed back into. Follow Up Moves: A player who has made a block is allowed to make a special follow up move and occupy a square vacated by the player that they have pushed back. The players coach must decide whether to follow up before any other dice rolls are made. This move is free, and the player can ignore enemy tackle zones when he makes the move (i.e., he does not have to dodge to enter the square). Players that are blitzing are allowed to make follow up moves, and the move does not cost them any of their movement (as they paid a square in order to make the block, they have effectively already paid for the move).
PLAYERS STRENGTHS Both players equal strength One player stronger One player more than twice as strong
ROLL: One Block Dice Two Block Dice* Three Block Dice*
*The coach of the stronger player picks which Block dice is used.
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BLOOD BOWL
STANDING UP
The only time a player can stand up is at the beginning of an Action at a cost of three squares from his movement. If the player has less than three squares of movement, he must roll 4+ to stand up - if he stands up successfully, he may not move further squares unless he Goes For It (see Extra Rules page 20). Failure to stand successfully for any reason is not a turnover.
SUBSTITUTES
You may not substitute fit players for injured players or players that have been sent off while a drive is in progress. The only time that you may add reserves is when you are setting up after a touchdown has been scored, or when setting up after half time or for overtime.
Left: Player on his side, lying face up (Prone). Right: Standing player.
INJURIES
Unless the rules state otherwise, any player that is Knocked Down may be injured. The opposing coach rolls two D6 and adds their scores together in an attempt to try to beat the Knocked Down players Armour value. If the roll succeeds, then the opposing coach is allowed to roll on the Injury table in the next column to see what injury the player has suffered.
2D6 2-7
8-9
10-12
INJURY TABLE Result Stunned Leave the player on the pitch, but turn them face-down. All face-down players are turned face up at the end of their team's next turn, even if a turnover takes place. Note that a player may not turn face up on the turn they are Stunned. Once face-up they may stand up on any subsequent turn using the normal rules. KOd Take the player off the pitch and place them in the Dugout in the KOd Players box. At the next kick-off, before you set up any players, roll for each of your players that have been KOd. On a roll of 1-3 they must remain in the KOd box and may not be used, although you may roll again for them at the next kick-off. On a roll of 4-6 you must return the player to the Reserves box and can use them as normal from now on. Casualty Take the player off the pitch and place them in the Dugout in the Dead & Injured Players box. The player must miss the rest of the match. In league play roll on the Casualty table (see page 25) to see exactly what has happened to the player.
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BLOOD BOWL
THROWING
First of all, the coach must declare that the player is taking a Pass Action. The player can throw the ball to another player in his own team (or another player in the opposing team if he really wants to), or simply to an empty square, though obviously the first of these options will be the most useful and may keep him from being attacked by his own team members! The ball may only be passed once per turn. Next, the coach must measure the range using the range ruler (see page 5 for how to correctly use the range ruler). It is perfectly acceptable to pre-measure the range to several players at any point during the throwing player's move before you declare the target of the pass. Once you have thrown the ball, however, you may not move the throwing player any farther that turn, even if he has spare MA left. SLOW-MOTION REPLAY
Bob: And theres Grishnak Goblin-Throttler for the Orcland Raiders, who has an Agility of 3 and is attempting to throw the ball four squares to Urgash Axebiter. The range ruler shows that this falls just on the boundary between a Quick and a Short Pass, so the longer of the two ranges must be used. Jim: Thats right, Bob. Grishnaks Agility of 3 means that he must roll a 4 or more to be on target. No modifiers apply to the D6 roll because Grishnak is not in any tackle zones, and the modifier for a Short Pass is +0. Grishnaks arm goes back and he throws a 6. Look at that ball go, bam!, right on target!! Now all Axebiter has to do is catch it... Bob: You said it, Jim. Its an accurate pass so Urgash gets a +1 to his D6 roll, but theres Griff Oberwald next to him, so his chances of catching suffers a -1 modifier, which means that Urgash needs a 4+ to catch the ball. The crowd goes quiet as the dice are rolled. A 3 -hes dropped it, and the ball bounces away one square. Jim: And if I can just butt in here, Bob, that missed pass causes a turnover, which ends the Orcland Raiders turn...
If the final modified score equals or beats the required roll, the pass is accurate and lands in the target square. If the D6 roll is less than the required total, then the pass is not accurate and will scatter. Roll for scatter three times, one after the other, to see where the ball ends up. Note that each of the Scatter rolls is made separately, so it is possible for the ball to end up back in the target square (though it will be harder to catch). The ball can only be caught in the final square where it ends up if it scatters through a players square then the player is not allowed to try and catch the ball. NOTE: Extra rules on page 22 allow for throwers to fumble the pass and for opponents to attempt pass interceptions.
2 5+
3 4+
4 3+
5 2+
6+ 1+
+1 +0 -1 -2 -1
2 5+
3 4+
4 3+
5 2+
6+ 1+
+1 +0
-1
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AGILITY TABLE_______________________________
Players AG D6 Roll Required 1 6+ 2 5+ 3 4+ 4 3+ 5 2+ 6+ 1+
Passing Modifiers Throwing a Quick Pass ............................... +1 Throwing a Short Pass................................ +0 Throwing a Long Pass.................................. -1 Throwing a Long Bomb ............................... -2 Per opposing tackle zone on the player ...... -1
AGILITY TABLE_______________________________
Players AG D6 Roll Required 1 6+ 2 5+ 3 4+ 4 3+ 5 2+ 6+ 1+
Jacob von Altdorf, Human Thrower
Catching Modifiers Catching an accurate pass.......................... +1 Catching a missed pass, kick-off, bouncing ball or throw-in............................. +0 Per opposing tackle zone on the player ...... 1
THROW-INS
When a ball scatters or bounces off the pitch it is immediately thrown back in by the eager spectators! Use the Throw-in template to work out where the ball goes, using the last square the ball crossed before going off as a starting point (see page 4 for how the Throw-in template is used to throw-in the ball 2d6 squares). If the ball is thrown into a square occupied by a standing player, that player must attempt to catch the ball as described earlier. If the ball lands in an empty square or a square occupied by a Prone or Stunned player, then it will bounce. If a throw-in results in the ball going off the pitch again, it will be thrown in again, centred on the last square it was in before it left the pitch. Throw-ins cannot be intercepted.
BOUNCING BALLS
If the ball is dropped or not caught, or the ball bounces to a square with a Prone or Stunned player, or a player is pushed to or lands in the balls square, or the square where a thrown ball lands is unoccupied (or is occupied by a Prone or Stunned player) then it will bounce. This is a technical term for the thing jumping about all over the place while the players stumble about trying to grab it! To find out where the ball bounces to, roll for scatter one more time. If the ball bounces into an occupied square, then the player in the square must attempt to catch it, as described above. If the player fails to catch the ball, then it will bounce again until it is either caught or bounces into an empty square or off the pitch.
TURNOVERS
If a ball thrown by a player isnt caught by a player from the moving team, this causes a turnover and the moving teams turn ends. The turnover does not take place until the ball finally comes to rest. This means that if the ball misses the target but is still caught by a player from the moving team, then a turnover does not take place. The ball could even scatter or bounce out of bounds, be thrown back into an empty square, and as long as it was caught by a player from the moving team then the turnover would be avoided!
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BLOOD BOWL
RE-ROLLS
Re-rolls are very important in Blood Bowl, as you will quickly discover. There are two types of re-rolls: team re-rolls and player re-rolls. In either case, a re-roll allows you to re-roll all the dice that produced any one result. So, for example, a re-roll could be used to re-roll a dodge, in which case the single dice rolled would be thrown again, or a three dice block, in which case all three dice would be rolled again, and so on. VERY IMPORTANT: No matter how many re-rolls you have, or what type they are, you may never re-roll a single dice roll more than once. Did you know...
That the former Skink international 'Diegi Maratona' has been attempting to come out of retirement. Sadly the little Skink wonder that dazzled us all with his amazing dodges and runs in the 2486 Blood Bowl season for the Slashers has almost tripled in weight and now resembles a little green pudding due to his sugar cane addiction. Running up huge debts (rumour has it that he challenged Tzeentch, Chaos God of change/chance, to a game of dice), Diegi has been forced to recover his career to get his finances in order. If the Skink can clean up his sugar cane addiction then perhaps he'll be a surprise star of this season. But will anyone be willing to sign him for the huge fee he's demanding?
TEAM RE-ROLLS
Team re-rolls represent how well trained a team is. A coach may use a team re-roll to re-roll any dice roll (other than Armour, Injury or Casualty rolls) made by a player in their own team and who is still on the pitch during their own turn (even if the dice roll was successful). The result of the new roll must be accepted in place of the first, even if it is worse. A coach may not use more than one Re-roll counter per turn, and may not use a Re-roll counter to force the opposing coach to re-roll a dice roll. Each coach must keep track of the number of re-rolls they have left on the track provided on their Dugout. Every time a coach uses up a team re-roll he must remove a counter from the track. When there are no markers left the coach may not use any more team re-rolls that half. At half time the two teams get a chance to rest and recuperate, and so their team re-rolls are restored to their starting level.
Block:
The Block skill, if used, affects the results rolled with the Block dice, as explained in the Blocking rules. A player that has the Catch skill is allowed to re-roll the dice if he fails to catch the ball. If you are using the Extra Rules printed later, then the Catch skill also allows the player to re-roll the dice if he drops a hand-off or fails to make an interception. A player with the Dodge skill is allowed to re-roll the D6 if he fails to dodge out of an opposing players tackle zone. However, the player may only re-roll one failed Dodge roll per turn. So, if the player kept on moving and failed a second Dodge roll, he could not use the skill again. Secondly, the Dodge skill , if used, affects the results rolled with the Block dice (see the rules for Blocks). A player with the Pass skill is allowed to re-roll the D6 if he misses a pass. A player with the Sure Hands skill is allowed to re-roll the D6 if he fails to pick up the ball. In addition, if you are using the Extra Rules printed later, an opposing player who has the Strip Ball skill may not use it against a player who has Sure Hands.
Catch:
Dodge:
PLAYER RE-ROLLS
Some players have skills that allow them to re-roll the dice under certain circumstances. For example, a thrower has the Pass skill which allows him to re-roll the dice if he misses a pass. A coach may use any number of player re-rolls in the same turn, and a single player may use a skill any number of times in the same match. However, as noted above, a single dice roll may not be re-rolled more than once. Pass: Sure Hands:
SKILLS
Many players are described as having one or more skills. These are special abilities that modify the players performance. Some skills allow dice re-rolls as described above, while others allow a player to carry out a special Action. A full description of each skill is given opposite, and reproduced on the back of the quick reference sheet. The complete list of skills is given later on in this book, for now stick with the skills listed here. Youll need to refer to the sheet quite a lot during your first few games but dont worry, the effects of the skills will become very familiar.
Many players have skills such as catch, pass etc. Unless stated otherwise in the skill description you never have to use a skill just because the players got it, and you can choose to use a skill that affects a dice roll after rolling the dice. For example, you could say you were going to use the Catch skill either before or after making a Catch D6 roll. Some skills are also used in the opponents turn. In this case you may choose to use the skill after an opposing player carries out an Action or moves a square. If both coaches want to use a skill to affect the same Action or move, then the coach whose turn is taking place must use his skill first. Note that you cant go back in time and use a skill or re-roll to affect an earlier Action. For example, if a player was blitzing, you couldnt have him throw a block, move a couple of squares, and then say Actually, I think Ill use my Pro skill to re-roll that block. the skill or re-roll must be used directly before or after the event it will affect or not at all.
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BLOOD BOWL
STOP! You have read all of the rules that you need to know in order to play a game of Blood Bowl using the teams and team cards provided with the game. Why not have a game or two before you go on to the following extra rules sections...
Goblin Lineman
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BLOOD BOWL
EXTRA RULES
All of the following extra rules are optional. This means that both coaches must agree which extra rules (if any) they are going to use before the match starts. However, they are all highly recommended and youll find that using them provides an even more exciting and interesting game without slowing down the mayhem and destruction much at all! Give em a try!
COACHING STAFF
A teams coaching staff provides vital back-up to the teams players. Coaching staff are never allowed on the pitch. They must stay on the sidelines during the match. Any team may include the following coaching staff on their roster:
BUYING PLAYERS
In order to create your team you have a treasury of 1,000,000 gold pieces. This represents the cash you have managed to raise from sponsors or by other, more underhanded means to hire the players for your team. The first step in actually creating the team is to study the team lists (see pages 72 to 78) and decide which you want to use. All of the players in your team must be from the same team list. So, for example, a High Elf team may not include Human players because these players come from a different team list.
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Apothecary
An Apothecary is a healer wise in the ways of medicine and the healing arts who looks after the injured players in a Blood Bowl team and so has a strenuous and full-time job! It costs 50,000 gold pieces to purchase an Apothecary to permanently look after your team during a match. He may be represented by an appropriate Citadel miniature if you wish. A team may not have more than one purchased Apothecary. Khemri, Necromantic, Nurgle and Undead teams may not purchase or use an Apothecary. During a match, an Apothecary may attempt to cure a player who has suffered a Casualty. An Apothecary can be used only once per match. Immediately after the player suffers the Casualty, you can use the Apothecary to make your opponent roll again on the Casualty table (see page 25) and then you choose which of the two results to apply. If the player is only Badly Hurt after this roll (even if it was the original Casualty roll) the Apothecary has managed to patch him up and pump him full of painkillers so that the player may be moved into the Reserves box. Instead of purchasing an Apothecary, Necromantic and Undead teams use the services of a Necromancer. The Necromancer is free to the team and allows the team once per a match to Raise the Dead. If a player on the opposing team with Strength 4 or less that does not have Regeneration or Stunty is killed during the match (after Apothecary attempt if any) then the team may immediately place a new Zombie player in the Reserves box of their dugout (this may cause a team to have more than 16 players for the remainder of the match). During Step 5 of Updating Your Team Roster (see page 29), you may add this player to your roster for free if you have less than 16 players on the team. A free Zombie still counts at full value towards the team value.
Assistant Coaches
Assistant coaches include offensive and defensive coordinators, special team coaches, personal trainers for your legendary players and numerous others. As a team becomes more successful the number of assistant coaches on its roster just seems to grow and grow. The more assistant coaches you have on your team, the more likely you are to win the Brilliant Coaching result on the Kick-Off Table (see page 19). Each assistant coach you add to the team costs 10,000 gold pieces and should be given a different job title. Assistant coaches do not have to be represented by models, but its much more fun if they are!
Cheerleaders
Most Blood Bowl teams have a troupe or two of cheerleaders both to inspire the teams players and their fans. Its the teams cheerleaders job to whip the fans into a state of frenzy and lead the chanting and singing as the crowds shouts and howls build up to a deafening crescendo. The more cheerleaders you have on your team, the more likely you are to win the Cheering Fans result on the Kick-Off Table (see page 19). Cheerleaders cost 10,000 gold pieces each. Cheerleaders do not have to be represented by cheerleader models, but its much more fun if they are! Did you know...
Morg 'n' Thorg refuses any offer to play for a team where he might be playing along side Ramtut III. When Morg first started freelancing his services, he and Ramtut were hired to play for the Champions of Death against the Asgard Ravens. Head Coach Tomolandry believed he was a an powerful enough Necromancer to raise an Ogre from the dead and had a nefarious plan for Morg. Tomolandry bribed the Ravens to focus their blocks and fouls on Morg and Ramtut was paid extra to 'accidently' throw a block or two Morg's way in the hopes of a fatal result. After the 3rd bone-crushing hit by his 'team-mate', Morg realized he had been duped and in a rage literally tore through most of the Champions players, coaching staff, cheerleaders, and reserve players as he exited the pitch.
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Selecting a Random Player Many of the results on the Kick-Off table require that a coach select a random player. In order to help you do this we have included a set of Randomiser' counters numbered from 1 to 16. Each counter corresponds to the player with the same number on the team roster. To select one or more player at random, simply place the counters for any players who could be affected in a mug or similar opaque container, and then draw one or more counters from the mug as or when required. Team Re-Rolls and the Kick-off Table You may not re-roll the result on the Kick-Off table with a team re-roll. In addition, subsequent rolls from Kick-Off events such as the D3 roll for Brilliant Coaching or D6 for Riot may not be rerolled. A team re-roll may not be used for any catch roll when the ball lands: however, players may use the Catch or Pro skill to try to re-roll the catch roll.
The Fans A large number of spectators attend every game of Blood Bowl, some to support one team, some to support another. Others just come to enjoy the spectacle. The number supporting one team compared to the other can have a big effect on the outcome of the game. To determine how many fans turn up to support your team, roll 2D6 and add your Fan Factor to the total. Multiply the score by 1,000 to find the number of fans that have turned up to support your team. For example, the Lowdown Ratz have a Fan Factor of 5. 2D6 are rolled to see how many fans attend. The dice rolls are 2 and 6. Add in the Fan Factor of 5 for a total of 13, which means that 13,000 rat fans have turned up for the match. The number of fans supporting your team can easily effect which team wins or loses. Their cheers can encourage extraordinary effort from your players or a well aimed rockfilled can of Bloodweiser from a fan can forever remove an opposing star. To represent the effect the fans have on a match, each team has a Fan Advantage ModifiEr (abbreviated to FAME) that can affect some of the results on the Kick-Off table and your winnings in the Post-game. If the roll for the gate means that your team is being supported by an equal number or fewer fans than the opposition, then your FAME for the match is zero. If you have more fans attending the match than your opponent, your FAME is +1 for the match. In the exceptional case that your team has drawn in twice as many or more fans than your opponent, your FAME for the match will be +2 instead.
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KICK-OFF TABLE
2D6 2 Result Get the Ref: The fans exact gruesome revenge on the referee for some of the dubious decisions he has made, either during this match or in the past. His replacement is so intimidated that for the rest of the half he will not send players from either team off for making a foul nor ban players using secret weapons. Riot: The trash talk between two opposing players explodes and rapidly degenerates, involving the rest of the players. Roll a D6. On a 1-3, the referee lets the clock run on during the fight; both teams turn markers are moved forward along the turn track a number of spaces equal to the D6 roll. If this takes the number of turns to 8 or more for both teams, then the half ends. On a roll of 4-6 the referee resets the clock back to before the fight started, so both teams turn markers are moved one space back along the track. The turn marker may not be moved back before turn 1; if this would happen do not move the Turn marker in either direction. Perfect Defence: The kicking teams coach may reorganize his players in other words he can set them up again into another legal defence. The receiving team must remain in the set-up chosen by their coach. High Kick: The ball is kicked very high, allowing a player on the receiving team time to move into the perfect position to catch it. Any one player on the receiving team who is not in an opposing players tackle zone may be moved into the square where the ball will land no matter what their MA may be, as long as the square is unoccupied. Cheering Fans: Each coach rolls a D3 and adds their teams FAME (see page 18) and the number of cheerleaders on their team to the score. The team with the highest score is inspired by their fans' cheering and gets an extra re-roll this half. If both teams have the same score, then both teams get a reroll. 2D6 7 Result Changing Weather: Make a new roll on the Weather table (see page 20). Apply the new Weather roll. If the new Weather roll was a Nice result, then a gentle gust of wind makes the ball scatter one extra square in a random direction before landing. Brilliant Coaching: Each coach rolls a D3 and adds their FAME (see page 18) and the number of assistant coaches on their team to the score. The team with the highest total gets an extra team re-roll this half thanks to the brilliant instruction provided by the coaching staff. In case of a tie both teams get an extra team re-roll. Quick Snap! The offence start their drive a fraction before the defence is ready, catching the kicking team flat-footed. All of the players on the receiving team are allowed to move one square. This is a free move and may be made into any adjacent empty square, ignoring tackle zones. It may be used to enter the opposing half of the pitch. Blitz! The defence start their drive a fraction before the offence is ready, catching the receiving team flat-footed. The kicking team receives a free bonus turn: however, players that are in an enemy tackle zone at the beginning of this free turn may not perform an Action. The kicking team may use team re-rolls during a Blitz. If any player suffers a turnover then the bonus turn ends immediately. Throw a Rock: An enraged fan hurls a large rock at one of the players on the opposing team. Each coach rolls a D6 and adds their FAME (see page 18) to the roll. The fans of the team that rolls higher are the ones that threw the rock. In the case of a tie a rock is thrown at each team! Decide randomly which player in the other team was hit (only players on the pitch are eligible) and roll for the effects of the injury straight away. No Armour roll is required. Pitch Invasion: Both coaches roll a D6 for each opposing player on the pitch and add their FAME (see page 18) to the roll. If a roll is 6 or more after modification then the player is Stunned (players with the Ball & Chain skill are KO'd). A roll of 1 before adding FAME will always have no effect.
8 3
10
11
12
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BLOOD BOWL
THE WEATHER
Blood Bowl players are a pretty hardy bunch, so it comes as no surprise that games have been played in all types of weather conditions. From the ice floes of the farthest north to the steamy jungles of Lustria, arenas open their doors on match days, and the combatants go about their business heedless of the climate. At the start of the game each coach should roll a D6. Add the results together and refer to the Weather table to find out what the weather is like for the day.
WEATHER TABLE
2D6 2 Result Sweltering Heat: Its so hot and humid that some players collapse from heat exhaustion. Roll a D6 for each player on the pitch at the end of a drive. On a roll of 1 the player collapses and may not be set up for the next kick-off. Very Sunny: A glorious day, but the blinding sunshine causes a -1 modifier on all passing rolls. Nice: Perfect Blood Bowl weather. Pouring Rain: Its raining, making the ball slippery and difficult to hold. A -1 modifier applies to all catch, intercept, or pick-up rolls. Blizzard: Its cold and snowing! The ice on the means that any player attempting to move an square (GFI) will slip and be Knocked Down on of 1-2, while the snow means that only quick or passes can be attempted. pitch extra a roll short
3 4-10 11
12
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BLOOD BOWL
ASSISTING A BLOCK
After a block has been declared, the extra team players of the attacker and the defender give an assist. This allows two or more attackers to gang up on a single defender, or for one or more defenders to aid a companion against a block. Each of these extra players adds +1 to the Strength of the player that they are assisting. Assisting a block does not count as an Action, and a player can assist any number of blocks per turn. A player is allowed to make an assist even if he has moved or taken an Action. The attacking coach must declare if any of his players will give an assist first, then the defending coach must add defensive assists with players from his team. In order to make an assist, the player: 1. Must be adjacent to the enemy player involved in the block, and... 2. Must not be in the tackle zone of any other player from the opposing team, and ... 3. Must be standing, and 4. Must have his tackle zones.
KAA-RUNCH!
The result of the block only affects the two players directly involved. Any assisting players are not affected. Similarly, only the skills belonging to the two players directly involved in the block may be used on the result. Skills belonging to assisting players cannot be taken advantage of by either side.
SLOW-MOTION REPLAY
Bob: Urgash Axebiter prepares to smash Ivan Kellhoofer out of the way. Both Urgash and Ivan have a Strength of 3, which means that normally Urgash would only get to roll one Block dice and would have to take whatever result he rolled on the dice. Jim: Thats absolutely correct, Bob, but in this case Urgash is getting an assist from Grishnak Goblin-Throttler which adds +1 to his Strength. That means that Urgash counts as having a Strength of 4 to Ivans 3, and so Urgash gets to roll two dice and choose which one he will use. He rolls a (Attacker down) and a manages to push Ivan back. (Push back), and so only
Bob: And if I could just jump in there, Jim, I think that we should point out to the fans that although Snagga Throttlesnot wanted to give Urgash an assist as well, he couldnt because he was in the tackle zone of Helmut Headreka.
PLAYERS STRENGTHS Both players equal strength One player stronger One player more than twice as strong
ROLL: One Block Dice Two Block Dice* Three Block Dice*
*The coach of the stronger player picks which Block dice is used.
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Interception Modifiers Attempting an Interception ............................. -2 Per opposing tackle zone on the player ........ -1
Fumbles
Sometimes a player attempting to throw the ball will drop it in their own square. This is more likely if the player has any opposing players breathing down his neck! To represent this, if the D6 roll for a pass is 1 or less before or after modification, then the thrower has fumbled and dropped the ball. The ball will bounce once from the throwers square, and the moving team will suffer a turnover and their turn ends immediately. Designer's Note: Many coaches argue over the realism of rolling to intercept before rolling to pass. Like many rules in Blood Bowl it is an abstraction to make the game work better. Think instead of the interception/passing rolls as a complete series of rolls to determine the outcome of a pass rather than sequential steps. Did you know...
That last year, the Galadrieth Gladiators High Elf team accumulated a record 853 passes in 24 games without an interception, eventually succumbing to fellow High Elves - the Caledor Dragons (who remarkably also suffered their first interception of last year in the same game after 620 passes). In fact, many High Elf teams suffer a very low interception rate. While the High Elves point to their natural skill and ability at the passing game, we're more inclined to believe the bags of gold sitting at the side of the High Elf dugouts awaiting any opponent who drops an interception against one of their star throwers might be the cause. Still when a High Elf team faces another High Elf team, all bets (well bribes) are off, it has proven very difficult to bribe a snobbish High Elf who is already stinking rich.
Interceptions
One player on the opposing team may attempt to intercept a thrown ball. To be able to make an interception, the player must: have the plastic ruler pass over at least part of the square the intercepting play is standing in, and have a tackle zone, and be closer to the thrower than the thrower is to the target player/square of the pass, and be closer to the target player/square of the pass than the thrower is to the target player/square of the pass. Note that only one player can attempt an interception, no matter how many are eligible. The coach must declare that one of his players will try to intercept before the thrower rolls to see if he is on target. Look up the players Agility on the Agility table to find the score required to successfully intercept the ball. Roll a D6, and add or subtract any of the modifiers that apply to the D6 roll. A roll of 1 before modification always fails and a roll of 6 before modification always succeeds. If the final modified score is less than the required total, then the player fails to intercept the ball and the pass can carry on as normal. If the D6 roll equals or beats the required roll, then the player succeeds in intercepting and catching the ball. Place the ball on the players base to show that they have caught it. A successful interception causes a turnover, and the moving teams turn ends immediately. SLOW-MOTION REPLAY Jim: As we return to the match Grishnak Goblin-Throttler is about to attempt another pass. This time, however, Griff Oberwald is in a position to make an interception attempt. Bob: The crowd holds its breath as Griff leaps to intercept the pass. He needs an Agility roll of 3 or more. However, a player making an interception attempt suffers a -2 modifier, which means that Griff will need a score of 5 or 6 to catch the ball. The dice is rolled and comes up with a 6! Griff picks off the ball -- its an interception!! And just listen to those Reavers fans, Jim, are they going wild!
AGILITY 1 INTERCEPTION ROLL 6+ INTERCEPTION MODIFIERS Attempting an interception Per enemy tackle zone on the player intercepting the ball
2 5+
3 4+
4 3+
5 2+
6+ 1+ -2 -1
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The Referee Referees do occasionally spot a player making a foul and send them off the pitch, although this is quite a rare occurrence (how would you like to tell a five foot wide Black Orc blocker that theyre out of the match?!?). To reflect this, if the Armour and/or Injury roll is a doubles (i.e., two 1s, or two 2s, etc), the referee has spotted the foul, and the player taking the Foul Action is sent off to the dungeon that lies under every Blood Bowl pitch. In addition, his team suffers a turnover and their turn ends immediately. If the sent off player was holding the ball, the ball bounces from the square he was standing in when sent off. A player who is sent to the dungeon is locked up and may not play for the rest of the match, even if the referee is subsequently got by the crowd as a result of a roll on the Kick-Off table. A coach may not replace a player who has been sent off until after the drive ends.
SKILLS
This section of the rules includes lots more skills for players to use. The specific rules for each skill can be found on pages 64 to 69. Each entry also lists which category the skill belongs to (i.e. Passing, General, Mutation, etc). A skills category effects which players can access it, as described later on in the rules for Blood Bowl leagues (see pages 26 and 27). Unless otherwise stated in the skill description, the following rules apply to all skills: 1. All bonuses/modifiers from skills can be combined. 2. All skills may be used an unlimited number of times per Action. 3. Some skills refer to pushing a player back in order to work. These skills will work as long as you roll a result of Pushed, Defender Stumbles, or Defender Down on the Block dice. 4. Skill use is not mandatory. 5. You can choose to use a skill that affects a dice roll after rolling the dice (e.g. Diving Tackle does not need to be used until after seeing the result of the Dodge roll). 6. Only Extraordinary skills work when a player is Prone or Stunned.
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TEAM ROSTER
Before you can start playing league matches, each coach must create a team as explained on page 16. This is where the columns that were previously unused come in. They include a number of columns and rows for recording important information that you will need to know when you are running a league team. How these extra rows and columns are used is explained in the rules that follow.
Treasury
Each coach begins the league with a treasury of 1,000,000 gold pieces with which to buy his team. Any gold that is not spent should be recorded in the teams treasury and may be spent after any future match. A coach must keep track of how much gold his team has in its treasury by recording the amount on his team roster.
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CASUALTY TABLE
Result Badly Hurt Broken Ribs Groin Strain Gouged Eye Broken Jaw Fractured Arm Fractured Leg Smashed Hand Pinched Nerve Damaged Back Smashed Knee Smashed Hip Smashed Ankle Serious Concussion Fractured Skull Broken Neck Smashed Collar Bone DEAD Effect No long term effect Miss next game Miss next game Miss next game Miss next game Miss next game Miss next game Miss next game Miss next game Niggling Injury Niggling Injury -1 MA -1 MA -1 AV -1 AV -1 AG -1 ST Dead!
Match Records
On the back of the team roster sheet there is a Match Record Chart for recording information about the games that the team has played. Keep a record of the matches played by the team here. The coach should record the name of the opposition, the score and number of casualties inflicted by each team, as well as the gate and match winnings, and any brief notes about the game.
INJURIES
Blood Bowl is a rough and dangerous sport, and players are often injured or killed while playing the game. Many Blood Bowl players sport scars from old injuries, while some have lost eyes, ears, noses and even whole limbs! Although most injuries can be recovered from given a bit of time, some are so serious that they can permanently affect a player. In one-off games this is not important all you need to know is that the player is off the pitch for the rest of the game! but in a league it is vital to know exactly what type of injury a player has suffered. This is where the Casualty table comes in. If a player suffers a Casualty because a 10 or more is rolled on the Injury table, then the opposing coach rolls on the Casualty table. The dice scores on the Casualty table run from 11 through to 68. Assuming that you dont have a 68-sided dice (not many people do), you need to roll a normal six-sided dice and the eight-sided dice used to scatter the ball. The six-sided dice counts as tens, so a score of 2=20, 4=40 etc, and the eight-sided dice counts for the units, so a score of 3=3, 5=5, etc. Then put the numbers together to get a score from 11 to 68. For example, if you rolled a 2 on the six-sided dice and a 3 on the eightsided dice, then you would get a score of 23. Having made the dice roll, look up the result on the Casualty table. The table lists exactly what has happened to the player, and describes any special effects the injury may have. The majority of the results simply cause the player to miss the next match, though some have more long-lasting effects. The coach of the player that suffered the injury should make a note of the effect of the serious injury on his team roster. Did you know...
The Big Moot sandwich has become the number one consumed concession at Blood Bowl stadiums. The Halfling owners of McMurty's continue to reap the benefits of an exclusive concessions contract with several of the larger Old World stadiums. The aroma of those three allmeat patties, Hot Pot sauce, lettuce, cheese, onions, pickles on a caraway seed bun has lured many a fan (and sometimes the players!) away from the game to satisfy a Big Moot Attack. McMurty's reminds all Blood Bowl fans: if you gotta eat, its 'Gotta Be McMurty's'. Miss Next Game: Write an M in the injuries box on the team roster, and rub it out at the end of the next match. Niggling Injury: Miss next game as above. In addition, write an N in the Injuries box on the team roster. Each Niggling Injury adds 1 to any subsequent Injury roll made against this player. -1 MA, ST, AG, and AV: Miss next game as above. In addition, record the characteristic change on the team roster. However, no characteristic may be reduced by more than 2 points or below a value of 1. Any injuries that could reduce it further are ignored.
Dead! Take the player off the pitch and place them in the Dugout in the Dead & Injured Players box. The player won't be playing Blood Bowl any more unless he is raised to join another team!
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BLOOD BOWL
IMPROVEMENT ROLLS
As players earn more Star Player points they go up in levels of experience and make Improvement rolls. All players start out as Rookies with no Star Player points. Once a player has earned 6 points he becomes Experienced and is entitled to his first Improvement roll. Each time that the player goes up another level he is entitled to another Improvement roll. The Star Player points table lists the number of Star Player points that are required to reach each different level. At the end of the match work out how many Star Player points each of the players in your team has earned, and look up their scores on the Star Player points table. If the player has earned enough points to go up a level, then immediately make a roll for them on the Improvement table. To make the Improvement roll, roll two D6, add the scores together, and look up the result on the Improvement table.
New Skills
On any Improvement roll you may choose to take a skill from the Normal skill categories permitted for that player. The Normal skill categories allowed for each player are found on pages 72 to 78. For example, a Human Catcher could take a skill from the list of General Skills or Agility Skills. Remember to record the new skill on the team roster. Skills may never be removed from a player.
Characteristic Increases
An Improvement roll of 10-12 will increase one of the players characteristics. The entry will list the characteristics that may be improved simply pick one and record the new value on the team roster. Alternatively, the coach may choose to take a new skill instead as described in the previous paragraph. No characteristic may ever be increased by more than 2 points over its starting value or to a value greater than 10. Any additional increases must be taken as new skills instead. Did you know...
Eldril Sidewinder is the only Elf freelance star who offers his services to every Elven race. Eldril used to play for the Galadrieth Gladiators until they won the Chaos Cup against the Underworld Creepers in 2495. As Eldril scored the winning touchdown in the final seconds, he felt the touch of the chaos god Tzeentch who was watching the game. Tzeentch gifted Eldril with a stare capable of mesmerising opponents, but this gift came with a price. Tzeentch is the god of random chaos and he took special delight in mutating an Elf as Elves normally avoided the Chaos Cup. Tzeentch wiped Eldril's mind clean so that he remembers nothing of his life before the Chaos Cup. Eldril is cursed so that each morning when he awakes he believes he is a member of the Elven race playing nearest to him. He could believe he is a black hearted Dark Elf or walk out to the dawning sun, hug a tree and wonder who was brewing poison in his kitchen.
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Rolling Doubles
If the Improvement Roll is a double (e.g. 1,1 or 2,2 etc), you may ignore the result of the Improvement table (even if it was a characteristic increase) and take a skill from any skill category that this player can access from either the Normal or Double column (see pages 72 to 78). For example, a Human Catcher could take a skill from the General, Agility, Strength or Passing skill categories on a double roll.
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1. Pre-Match Sequence
1. 2. 3. Roll on Weather table Transfer Gold from Treasury to Petty Cash Take Inducements
2. The Match
1. 2. 3. Etc... Work out the number of Fans and FAME (see page 18) Receiving Team's Turn Kicking Team's Turn
3. Post-Match Sequence
1. 2. Improvement Rolls Update Team Roster
Detailed descriptions of these inducements can be found on pages 70 and 71. Note that limitations and special rules from the team lists apply. As some coaches can take a very long time deciding which Inducements to take, there is a four-minute time limit on selecting them. All inducements purchased are lost at the end of the match. No inducement can ever become a permanent part of your team.
1. The Weather
One coach rolls on the Weather table (see page 20) to see what the weather will be like for the match.
3. Inducements
Teams that are at a disadvantage are often given inducements to play that will help even the odds. Usually this takes the form of extra gold, offered by the stadium owner to help convince a team to take part in a match against a superior opponent (and thus allowing the stadium owner to recoup his losses and more through tickets sales and merchandise!). To represent this, an underdog in a match may be given a certain amount of gold that can be used to buy things for the team to help them in the upcoming match. The amount of gold the team receives is equal to the difference between the total value of the underdog team and the total value of the opposing team. For example, if one coach had a team worth 1,000,000 gold pieces while his opponent had a team worth 1,250,000 gold pieces, then the first coach would be allowed to spend 250,000 gold pieces on Inducements. Any of the gold that is not spent on Inducements is lost and may not be added to the team treasury. In addition, either coach may use gold from their petty cash to purchase Inducements. If the superior opponent wishes to
The origin of the first Troll Slayer in Blood Bowl occurred on the Dwarf Giants team. In 2465 Stout Ironfist, a star blitzer for the Giants, was given the task of protecting the Kings son during a match against the Lowdown Rats. During one drive the Rats managed to hit Stout in the face with a custard pie. By the time he was able to clear his eyes the Kings son had been killed by the Rats Troll! Stout flew into a frenzy, grabbed the Kings sons horned helm and swung it with such fury that he decapitated the Troll. Stout was so ashamed from the double blow of allowing himself to fall for the custard pie trick and failing the Kings orders to protect his son that he painted his face and partially shaved his head as a mark of humility. He also dyed his hair orange as a mark of respect to the famous red beard of the Kings son. Stout continued playing for the Giants, attacking the largest and toughest opponents he could find in the hopes of finding death to release him from his shame. A triple team block by the ogre Morg, the troll Bork, and the minotaur Zy-Nox in 2471 during a match against the Chaos All-Stars finally ended his fanatical career. Based on his legend, Dwarfs that incur massive shame for actions during Blood Bowl matches follow Stouts path in their efforts toward release and redemption through reckless acts of on-pitch violence!
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POST-MATCH SEQUENCE
You must go through the following two steps after each and every league match that you play:
1. Improvement Rolls
In league matches it is possible for players to earn Star Player points which may give them Improvement rolls at the end of the match. This phase is used by each coach to allocate MVPs, update the Star Player points the players in their team have earned, and make any Improvement rolls for the players in their team.
6. If your team has any Journeymen (see step 7 below) on the roster you must either fire them from the team or you may permanently hire them by paying their rookie cost if you have less than 16 players on your roster. If you hire a Journeyman, he loses the Loner skill but may retain any Star Player points he earned or skills learned from Improvement rolls. 7. If your team can only field 10 or less players for the next match, you may bring Journeymen onto your team for free until your team can field 11 players for the next match. A Journeyman is always a player from a 0-16 allowed position on your team's roster, counts his normal rookie cost towards your total team value, but has the Loner skill as they are unused to playing with your team. Journeymen may take the total players on your team (including injured players) to more than 16 at this point. 8. Work out the total value of the team and record it on the roster. The value of a team is worked out by adding up the value of the teams players (including extra values for improvements), support staff, team re-rolls, and Fan Factor. Do not include the value of gold in your treasury or any players that will be forced to miss their next match due to injury.
SPIRALLING EXPENSES
Successful teams can be worth a fortune as their players improve and the squad grows. During the early days of Blood Bowl the Dark Elf team, Terrifying Anarchists of Naggaroth, were reputed to be worth in excess of 7,000,000 gold pieces! However as wages and other team expenses increase, a bigger proportion of the team's winnings get devoted to just paying the bills rather than being available for additional purchases. Once a teams value equals or exceeds 1,750,000 gold pieces they must deduct the amount shown on the Spiralling Expenses table from their treasury. Spiralling expenses are deducted at the end of the match during step 3 of updating the team roster. Spiralling expenses can never reduce a teams treasury to less than zero.
CONCEDING
A player that concedes (see page 15) before setting up for a kick-off where he could only field 2 or less players suffers no additional penalties. If one coach concedes the match for any other reason then the winner gains all of the losers winnings and MVP from this match. In addition, the loser automatically loses one Fan Factor and may not roll for a new one, and any players in the losers team that have 51 SPPs or more will leave the team on a D6 roll of 1-3. Roll separately for each player with 51 or more SPPs to see if they leave.
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TOURNAMENTS
For a short period following the collapse of the NAF there were no tournaments or competitions at all. Teams simply played one-off games for whatever prize they could get. It was not long, however, before the Cabalvision networks and major Blood Bowl sponsors got together and started arranging tournaments with large prizes for the teams that managed to battle their way through to the final. Four tournaments quickly established themselves as the most important and eagerly anticipated Blood Bowl events of the year, and were soon being referred to as the Major Tournaments or simply the Majors. These tournaments were the Chaos Cup, the Dungeonbowl, the Spike! Magazine Trophy tournament, and, of course, the Blood Bowl itself. The Majors are held at roughly three-monthly intervals over the year. The Chaos Cup is held in the spring, the Blood Bowl tournament is held in the summer, and then the Spike! Magazine tournament is held in the autumn. The Dungeonbowl is held during the dark winter months, when most teams appreciate playing in nice warm underground stadiums rather than out in the freezing cold. There are exceptions of course most Norse teams actually prefer sub-zero conditions, while the Ice Lord team of Frost Giants cant take part in the Dungeonbowl tournament at all because they would melt in the warm underground stadium! At the end of each season teams gather to decide who wins the trophy. Each tournament is held at a different location. The Blood Bowl is held at the huge Emperor stadium at Altdorf, and the Spike! Magazine tournament in the seaside resort town of Magritta in Estalia. The Dungeonbowl is held in the Dwarf underground stadium at Barak-Varr (the upkeep for which is paid, at huge expense and much to the Dwarfs delight, by the Colleges of Magic). The location of the Chaos Cup tournament changes from year to year, and it is rare for anyone to know where it will be held until a week or two before the event starts! Not surprisingly this can make it very difficult for teams to attend the Chaos Cup, because if they are not in the right general vicinity when the tournament is announced then it may be impossible for them to get there in time to take part! be run, and what prize the winner of the tournament will receive. Typically there are two semi-final matches followed by a final. Inducement and treasury gold may not be used to induce Star Players or Mercenaries for these matches as the NAF, while not monitoring day to day games on the road to the finals, enforces using your own team for these important matches! There are a number of ways of deciding who will play in the semi-finals. The simplest (though probably not the fairest) method is to use the four teams that have the highest value in the league. A simple variant of this method is to use the four teams with the highest win ratio, or to multiply a team's value by its win ratio and then pick the four highest rated teams. You can work out the win loss ratio by dividing the number of games the team has won by the number it has played. So, for example, a team that had a value of 1,800,000 gold pieces that had won 5 of its 10 matches, giving it a win ratio of 50%, would be 'worth' 50% of 1,800,000, which equals 900,000 gold pieces. Another method is to have a 'play-off' period at the end of the regular season. Any coach can enter the play-offs, but must agree to play matches to a schedule set by the league commissioner. The commissioner must work out a schedule of matches, and a scoring or elimination system that will reduce the starting teams down to four contenders that will then take part in the semi-finals. There are lots and lots of ways to organise the play-offs, from straight knock-out events, to more complicated affairs that have a group stage first, such as that used for the soccer World Cup. We recommend you find out how some real life tournaments are held, and then use the system that seems best for your Blood Bowl league. The league commissioner will need to decide if inducements are allowed in the play-offs or not. Did you know...
Witch Elves first appeared on the Blood Bowl pitch not long after the collapse of the NAF when Nikk Three-horn ran away with the NAF treasury and the entire Darkside Cowboys cheerleading section. Disgusted that the cheerleaders could run away with a non Dark Elf, the Witch Elf priestesses of Naggaroth formed their very own Blood Bowl team to prove that not all female Dark Elves are so easily swayed by the lure of gold. The 'Deadly Nightshades', as they were known, made an instant impact as they dismantled just about every team that stood in their path in their first season. Sadly, however, the required ritual blood baths and sacrifices the Witches must perform back in Naggaroth for the Dark Elf god Khaine caused them to miss the semifinal of the 2490 Blood Bowl tournament. The Deadly Nightshades never quite managed to repeat the phenomenal success of that season but they certainly left a mark on the Blood Bowl world as many Dark Elf teams now field a Witch Elf or two as regular players on the squad. The Nightshades also hold two remarkable records, not only do they hold the record for most consecutive games played to a full stadium, they have also never been refused a game. While the coaches of the opposition may claim that its because they never refuse a challenge and are always willing to help out young ladies in need, a better guess might be that its because thigh length boots and revealing uniforms bring in the crowds (and the opposing players).
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Finally, you can decide to run the regular season as a league with scheduled matches (like the FA Football League in England and Wales). Teams score points depending on how well they do in matches (typically 3 for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss, though 5 for a win, 3 for a draw, and 1 for a loss is a popular alternative). At the end of the season the four teams with the most league points get to go to the semi-finals. Whatever method you use, the four teams that make it through to the semifinals are matched into two pairs by random draw. The two winners of the semi-final match then go through to the big final, and the winner of the final will receive a trophy (see the Glittering Prizes section on this page). Remember that teams do not receive inducement gold during semi-final and final matches.
Puggy Baconbreath makes his get-away from now-retired star Greaser Geargrinder
To represent this the teams taking part in an end of season tournament receive the following benefits: 1) The gate and the winnings for a semi-final or final are doubled. 2) The winner of a Major Tournament always receives a special trophy. Pictures of these trophies are at our website, www.bloodbowl.com. You can print these images and use them as trophies, or use the miniature trophies from the Blood Bowl trophy pack. So long as a team holds a trophy it has an additional team re-roll. The re-roll counts toward the teams value as normal. A trophy is held by a team until the next time that specific Major Tournament is completed at which point it is given to the new winner. 3) The winning team receives the fringe benefit described below, depending on the trophy they won. Did you know...
While the Chaos All-Stars are the most famous team with an unusual mix of players compared to other teams of the same race, several other very famous Blood Bowl teams have been composed of a unique cast of characters.
League Challenges
It is possible for coaches to exclude powerful teams from the semi-finals by refusing to play any games against them during the league season or the play-offs. To stop this underhand and quite despicable practice, any coach is allowed to issue a written challenge to an opposing coach to play a match. A coach may make a maximum of one written challenge per week. The challenge is given to the league commissioner, who passes it on to the challenged coach and gets his response. A challenged coach must make one of the following three responses within a day of receiving the challenge: Accept: A challenged coach may agree to play the match, and the two teams play the match as normal. Refuse: A challenged coach may refuse to play the match. This counts as a 2-0 win for the challenger. No Star Player points, cash or Fan Factor are gained or lost for the match. Substitute: A challenged coach may ask any other coach that is willing to take his place to play the match instead. The substitute coach must be taking part in the tournament, and must not have played against the challenger so far. If he does this then the challenging coach must play the substitute, or count as having lost the match 0-2.
Evil Gits: The Evil Gits are an evil team made up of mix of evil players. They've been known to field evil Hobgoblins, evil Orcs, evil Dark Elves, evil Skaven, evil Goblins, evil Ogres, evil Half-Orcs, or in fact any other players just so long as they are Evil! The Gits are followed everywhere by their evil unofficial supporters club, the Evil Gits Unofficial Supporters Club, who are, if anything, even more evil than the evil team they evilly support! Heroes of Law: The Heroes of Law are everything that the Evil Gits
are not. This team frequently has Human, Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling players that play for the team without pay. The players hope to show the world a better way by honest strategic play on the pitch without resorting to fouling or bribes. The Heroes of Law are known throughout the realms for their charity matches and for key players missing games because they are volunteering for some other worthy cause that day.
Motley Horde: This mix of misfits, cast-offs, and flat-out lazy players
comprise an interesting team. Many of the team's players may hang around for practice, but then skip the game or vice versa. The coach, Kul-Blood Conn, never knows from week to week who will show up, and his game plan must change radically depending on the players available. One week he may have six Chaos Dwarfs, four Skaven and a couple Dark Elf players show up, while the next game he may be faced with seven Hobgoblins, a mutated Chaos Warrior and five Snotlings!
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THE DUNGEONBOWL
Dungeonbowl is played, as its name suggests, in a dungeon. Originally the two teams started at opposite ends of a small underground complex, the idea being to get to the opponents starting position with the ball and score a touchdown, but eventually the game evolved so that it is played on a normal sized and shaped pitch which just happens to be located in a dungeon! The Dungeonbowl League is sponsored by the ten Colleges of Magic, and each College also supports one of the teams taking part in the tournament. Even though the idea was originally put forward to settle the matter of which College was the most powerful, and was to be a one-off event, Dungeonbowl has now been going for over 20 years and shows no sign of ending in the foreseeable future. The winning team receives a special contract from the College that supported them. This contract allows the team to induce a Wizard for 50,000 gold pieces instead of the normal 150,000 as long as the team holds the trophy.
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across the Sea of Claws, which means that normally only one or two Old World teams make it to the island to compete against the local Blood Bowl teams. The Far Albion tournament cup (or FA Cup as it is known) used to be a stunning trophy, studded with diamonds and crusted with emeralds. Sadly it was stolen in 2145 and had to be replaced with what was meant to be a temporary tin replica. The original FA Cup never re-appeared, however, and now the battered old tin replacement has great sentimental value, especially for the local Albion teams. Prizes for the tournament consist of the trophy, and a 120,000 gold pieces prize split 80,000 gold pieces to the winner and 40,000 gold pieces to the loser. At the other end of the scale is the Goblin Tribal Leeg. This tournament is normally held at round about the same time as the Spike! Magazine tournament, as most Goblin teams cant afford to travel to far-off Estalia from their tribal lairs in the Darklands, and in any case Goblin players hate playing in the bright, sunny conditions under which the Spike! tournament is normally held. The Tribal Leeg tournament doesnt have a trophy or any gold prizes since it is all but impossible for a bunch of Goblins to arrange for a trophy and two different teams to be in the same place at the same time, and any gold prize is invariably stolen before the final takes place! This means that all the winner of the Goblin Tribal Leeg really gets is the undying support of a huge horde of Goblin fans, who follow the team around the Old World watching it play. Whether being followed around the Old World by a huge army of Goblin fans is actually a good thing is open to debate, but it certainly increases the gate winnings that the team receives every time it plays a match!
OTHER TOURNAMENTS
The four Major Tournaments are not the only Blood Bowl competitions that are held over the course of the year. Many other tournaments take place, ranging in size from small local events involving only a handful of teams, through to really quite large events that rival the Major Tournaments in importance. Any League Commissioner who feels like organizing extra tournaments based on these less important events should feel free to do so. It is a good idea to keep the number of extra tournaments fairly low, otherwise the commissioner (not to mention the coaches) will quickly become overwhelmed with the number of tournaments that they have to play. Similarly, the prizes for minor tournaments should be kept on the low side, and the total gold (for both winner and runner-up) should never exceed one and half times the normal winnings. Note that extra team re-rolls are only allowed for winning Major Tournament trophies. Two examples of typical minor tournaments are the Far Albion tournament and the Goblin Tribal Leeg. The Far Albion tournament is one of the more important minor tournaments. It is held on the distant island of Albion, northwest of the Old World
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It seems to me, continued the Dwarf in a loud voice to regain their attention, that Nuffle has seen our dilemma and is trying to resolve it. I suggest that a team is put forward from each side, and that our differences be resolved in this fashion. A murmur of assent rippled through the crowd, soon rising to a roar of agreement; except, that is, for the corner in which the Goblins were standing, since they were all still exploring the intriguing new possibilities of foot-stomping! And so it was that the first game of Nuffle Amorical Football, as it soon became known, took place. A pigs bladder was inflated, much to the pigs consternation we must add. Armour was taken from the temple, and placed on chosen warriors from either side. The teams lined up, a shaman referee, dressed in fresh zebra skin for the occasion, blew a whistle and the game was away. There was no proper pitch, no lines and very few rules, and to this day no-one is quite sure who actually won. There was a suitably large amount of carnage, however, and everyone agreed that they had really enjoyed themselves. The battle was forgotten, and the various sides dispersed to carry the exciting news to their homelands, where every tribe quickly rushed to field a team. It was while those who remained swept up the mess that they discovered a strange green surface just under the bloody mud of the battlefield, a surface engraved with peculiar symbols and lines. The field was scrubbed clean. The workers were hushed, aware of the significance of their find. At last, the sacred Gridiron spoken of in the Book was revealed. The Dwarf seer, who had adopted the name of Sacred Commissioner Roze-El, after a priest of high standing mentioned in the Book, offered a prayer to Nuffle and began to organise the first sect meeting. His mind burned with plans for the future, plans that would culminate in the toughest sects meeting in a physical offering to the great god the Blood Bowl!
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
During his time as Sacred Commissioner, Roze-El made many great strides in recreating Nuffles original rites. In the darker recesses of the temple, piles of remarkably well-preserved pamphlets and scrolls were found, giving further details of the ancient games rituals. A team of seers and scribes was set to work translating and retranslating these, until a vast body of knowledge was assembled about the game. These quickly helped clarify the rules of the game. Soon, games were being played with set time limits and on properly-marked pitches. By the time of Roze-Els death, at the grand old age of 196, there were sixteen teams competing in a season which culminated in the glorious excesses of the Blood Bowl final. There were initially some problems, as teams from the Auld World and the New World areas developed their own unique rules of play, and a match between the Dwarf Giants and the Reikland Reavers in 2399 almost started a full-scale war when neither side could decide whose rules to use. Eventually, though, NAF resolved the situation, and a set of rules for everyone to use was published in 2409. The twin conferences were ratified in 2432, with the winner from the New World Football Conference (NFC) meeting that from the Auld World Football Conference (AFC) in the final for the Blood Bowl trophy. The arrival of Bloodweiser Beer as sponsors of the Blood Bowl cup in 2461 was the final transformation which made the competition into what it is today.
Height: 7 ft 11 in
Position: Blocker; former Team Captain Career Totals: 50 passing touchdowns, touchdowns, 617 kills/serious injuries inflicted 50 rushing
Awards: 46 Most Valuable Player Awards. Services to Organ Transplants Medal 2479, 2491. Anti-violence Watchdog Committee Worst Tackle of the Year 2479, 2480, 2485, 2486, 2491. NFC Player of the Year 2485. Chaos Cup winners medal 2471, 2487, 2493 Spike! Magazine Star Player Rating: 692 points
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Roze-El was succeeded by his acolyte and apprentice Djimm Thorp, and then by the infamous Jorge Hellhound. Hellhound is known for many things, but his most important innovation came when he realised that he could sell far more tickets for games than he could ever hope to pack spectators into any stadium in the New World. And so he contacted the various Colleges of Magic, asking them to find a way to transmit an image of the game all over the continent. The result was the invention of a device, named after the Campaign for Real Arcanery the Camra. A bound spirit in a box was allowed to look out in one direction only, at the Blood Bowl pitch, and his mental image could then be transmitted by teams of magicians using the spell Cabalvision. Anyone could buy a licence to have these thoughts transmitted into their own minds. The idea was a huge success. When Hellhound sold the franchise to Channel 7 for the princely sum on 714 gold crowns, it was just the beginning. Rival Guilds set up counter-bids. The Necromancers Broadcasting Circle (NBC) coverage began with Blood Bowl X, but they are normally thought to be dead boring. The Crystal Ball Service (CBS) have been more successful. The Association of Broadcasting Conjurers (ABC) won the franchise when it was renewed for the thirtieth time in 2486 (incidentally, the sum had risen to a staggering 12 million!)
GRIFF OBERWALD
Former Star Player of Reikland Reavers
It isn't often that head coach of the Reikland Reavers, Harry Zwimmer, has a nice word to say about any other human being, but it is recorded that when he first saw the young Griff Oberwald play, he actually declared: "Zat boy is almost above average!". Such immense praise from the tight-lipped coach was only the first in a great many compliments paid to the young superstar from Streissen, who has since been called "Griff the godlike!" (Spike! Magazine), "Phew what a scorer!" (Middenheim Mirror) and "The greatest gift to our profession since Morg 'n' Thorg first bit a Goblin's head off in the Chaos Cup!" (Undertaker's Gazette). The young Oberwald came to the attention of Reavers fans in his first game for the team at the end of 2483, in which his ferocious tackle play gamered him three ears, a nose and a two-match suspension. Undaunted by this minor set-back, Griff gained a permanent place in the Reavers first team, where he battled his way through the lines alongside his half-cousin and team captain Orlak Sturmdrang. A quite remarkable second season for the Reavers earned him a precious Best Newcomer medal, and culminated in his scoring the winning touchdown against the Darkside Cowboys in the full-scale rout that was Blood Bowl XXV. Oberwald's qualities are those of the classic Blood Bowl hero. He's tall, super fit and strong, with a grace and co-ordination that can leave most other players standing. Instantly recognisable across a murky Blood Bowl pitch by the splattering of gore across his kit, Oberwald cuts a very dashing figure and it's no surprise the girls go wild when he has the ball in his capable hands. Oberwald became team captain at the start of the '87 season and immediately made his mark on the team, driving them harder than every with startling results. Reikland finished the year as Blood Bowl champions yet again, and Oberwald was voted AFC Player of the Year. Going from strength to strength, Griff becomes one of the most respected (and feared!) Blood Bowl player in the Old World. After winning his fourth Blood Bowl winners medal in 2499, Griff realized that the rigors of playing full time for the Reavers was becoming too much for him. Griff's living larger than life had taken a half step of speed from his game (while donating some to his waistline). Griff turned freelance starting with the 2500 season with a single match fee that rivals the gold need to provide the cost of food and ale for the most sought out freelance star monstrosities (like the minotaur Grashnak and snow troll Icepelt). However there is little doubt that teams (including the Reavers) will be lining up to hire the special services of one of the most dangerous humans to ever take the Blood Bowl pitch.
Height: 6 ft 4 in
Position: Blitzer; former Team Captain Career Totals: 107 catching touchdowns, 209 rushing touchdowns, 93 kills/serious injuries inflicted; 8 interceptions Awards: 11 Most Valuable Player Awards. Bloodweiser Best Newcomer medal 2484. AFC Player of the Year 2487. Blood Bowl winners medal 2485, 2487, 2491, 2499 Spike! Magazine Star Player Rating: 401 points
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up their own open tournaments. Four tournaments quickly established themselves as the most important and eagerly anticipated Blood Bowl events of the year, and were soon being referred to as the Major Tournaments or simply the Majors.
Special Playz:
Crump dere frowerz, Fump dere kacherz, Keep clear of geezerz in lotza armour, Kill dem zoggin' noisy 'oomans in da crowd an' nick all dere stuff.
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The major tournaments are watched by countless numbers of Humans, Orcs, Elves, Ogres, Dwarfs, Trolls, Goblins, Halflings and many more esoteric viewers besides. Just how many watch and play the game is difficult to determine, because it is so widespread. Rumours persist that the game has permeated the lower levels of the astral and daemonic planes and hopes are still high that in a few years we shall witness exchange teams of daemons and elementals joining all the regulars in the Blood Bowl! As the long departed Commissioner Three-horn famously said on many occasions: This is Blood Bowl, buddy, anything could happen!. You better believe it! In fact, anything DID happen because in 2502 due to the continual need to monitor and organize the majors and play-offs, the NAF was reformed with president Jonathan 'Krippler' Louis III to overlook and calculate the rankings for the tournaments (though some sceptics claim the NAF simply pull a number out from... somewhere...). With a procedure in place for popular election of future NAF presidents, and no actual handling of the multi-millions that was the sponsorship money, tournament prizes and CabalVision revenue, the chance of corruption was greatly reduced. These days the NAF also offer banking services for the travelling teams (since lugging gold crowns through the Badlands can be more hazardous to the team's health than the game). Many teams take advantage of this service of the NAF to lessen the risk to the team and trouble with the hauling the weight of that much gold. Did you know...
Spike! Magazine number 3 All-time Most Violent Player Award is currently held by Max 'Kneecap' Mittleman. Although a referee rather than a player, Max was always a big hit with the fans for his refusal to follow the NAF referee's guidelines. Instead Kneecap dispensed summary justice with the aid of a pair of pliers, a branding iron and a chainsaw. Kneecap was sacked after three games, but the NAF was forced to reinstate him due to 'pressure from the fans'. His record for the Most Players Dismembered by a Referee stand to this day.
teams like the Dark Elves and Dwarfs have tried using synthetic substance called Astrogranite instead since it does not need sunlight or maintenance. Traditional above ground teams have refused to use Astrogranite though especially since disgraced NAF head Nikk Three-horn owned the original factory that made it.
REFEREES
Those hard-faced, zebra-striped officials with the funny trousers and the piercing whistles are the NAFs representatives on the field of play. As such, they have a very important job to perform. Its a pity, then, that the good name of Blood Bowl referees has gone down so much in the publics estimation. Many pretend they are rat gutters or sewer sweepers rather than admit their real profession. Fifty years ago, the average game of Blood Bowl would be officiated over by a team of seven referees and line judges. These days, youre considered extremely lucky if two turn up. The trouble is that referees seem to erm die rather easily. Since they dont wear padding or armour, and since they are often frail and wizened ex-players, they really dont stand a chance against players like Vurner Vinkler. Vinkler, nicknamed the Refkiller, made a habit of celebrating each touchdown by flattening a referee, until he was lynched after a particularly successful game by eighty members of the Referees and Allied Rulekeepers Guild (RARG). Did you know...
According to the rules of the original game, a match started with the ball being tossed up between the teams by a hapless referee. The upshot of this was usually a dead referee, of course, so the practice was stopped and a kick-off used instead. Now at least, the referee can stay out of the way and not get flattened!
40
BLOOD BOWL
THE PLAYERS
A Blood Bowl team consists of a large squad of players. However, according to the rules, only eleven players may be on the pitch at one time, in deference to Nuffles sacred number. Unsurprisingly, this rule has not always been adhered to as closely as it might. During the first half of the Blood Bowl final of 2476, the Severed Heads (now playing as the Orcland Raiders) managed to sneak a grand total of 27 players onto the pitch. This despicable cheating was only spotted when there werent enough oranges to go round at half-time! When asked why they hadnt noticed it earlier, their opponents, the Creeveland Crescents, claimed they didnt notice because all Orcs looked the same to them, especially those who were battering them to the ground. There was also something of a dispute during a famous match between the Greenfield Grasshuggers and the Underworld Creepers, when it was discovered that the Grasshuggers new star Blitzer was in fact two Halflings in an Ogres kit, one standing on the shoulders of the other! Still, the matter was settled when the Creepers Troll ate both offenders, and play could continue. Of the eleven noble warriors legally allowed on the pitch at any one time, some will be standard Linemen but others will be players that specialize in throwing, catching, running, blocking, or blitzing.
the Greenfield Gigglers. Even the Nurgle's Rotters have a gang of cheerleading lovelies who are probably very pretty if you happen to be a rotten body of putrescent disease like the rest of the Rotters players. Most teams have very strict rules about cheerleaders, especially where relations with players are concerned. Some teams forbid any form of contact between the stars and the cheerleaders, with infringement punishable by instant dismissal.
EQUIPMENT
It can cost upwards of 150,000 gold crowns to outfit a professional team for a season and to look at the way players treat their kit youd think the money grew on trees. However, all that padding and armour comes in very useful for keeping a player alive long enough to maybe make a few yards or to toss the ball to another player. The cost of equipment is now so high that some teams, especially those from the poorer goblinoid races, insist a player supply his own equipment from whatever he can find. Some players have become remarkably inventive at improvising Blood Bowl gear from other objects. The very first ball, history tells us, was made from the inflated bladder of an unfortunate pig called Dennis. Sorry to say, the ball used that day has not survived to the present, but the Blood Bowl Museum does contain a lot of balls from the early days of the game. In those days a ball could be just about any shape, and made from just about any material that could stand up to the punishment of a Blood Bowl match, but still be light enough to be thrown. These days, all balls are made by the Blood Bowl Ball Company of Rock Rapids near Middenheim. Game standard professional balls cost around 30 gold crowns but teams have been experimenting with spiked balls which allow the team to circumvent the rules banning weapons from the field of play!
CHEERLEADERS
Where would we be without those beauties of the Blood Bowl battlefield, those cuddly cuties of the Chaos Cup confrontation, the cheerleaders? You know, every team gets demoralised at some time or another, but there's nothing like a happy chant from a posse of beautiful women to turn a 2-0 deficit at half-time to the Lowdown Ratz into a triumph of modern pest-control! Every team has it own cheerleading squad, from the stark Elven beauty of the Darkside Cowgirls to the roly-poly homeliness of
41
BLOOD BOWL
Blood Bowl today is mostly played on a mammoth continent that is known to all as the Old World (or the Auld World for the real old timers). The Old World is a wild and dangerous place - let's face it, it has to be if the inhabitants play Blood Bowl for fun! The land is bound to the east by the Worlds Edge Mountains and to the west by the Great Ocean. The northern coast lies against the Sea of Claws, on the other side of which is the frozen tundra of Norsca, home of the fierce Norse warriors, and beyond to fabled Albion. Bordering the southern edge is the foreboding Land of the Dead, with its cyclopean tomb cities of Khemri and Numas. Beyond the Worlds Edge Mountains are the Dark Lands, home to the evil and twisted Chaos Dwarfs, whilst further north lie the dread Chaos Wastes from which incursions by the armies of the ruinous powers are launched upon the Old World. Westerly, beyond the Great Ocean, is the equally vast land mass known as the New World, comprising of Naggaroth in the north and Lustria in the south. Also called the Land of Chill, Naggaroth harbours the slave fleets of the Dark Elves which raid far and wide in search of fresh victims. While deep in the steaming jungles are the spawning pools of the mysterious and ancient race of Lizardmen. Perpetually shrouded in mist, the isle of Ulthuan, last vestige of the High Elf race, stands alone between the Old World and the New World. Life is often short and death sudden and unexpected in the Old World. Comparing the similarities between everyday life and Blood Bowl, it is unsurprising then that the game has proven so hugely and enduringly popular. Brought up amidst constant wars, dark forests of horrible monsters and the ever present reality of plague and other incurable diseases, the people of the Old World are natural Blood Bowl players; willing to risk all to win fabulous riches and fame in a world where their future is never certain.
1. The late Engel 'The Exterminator' von Evilstein was probably the most violent player ever. Just before he was killed during an explosive attempt to wipe out the entire Underworld Creepers team at one go, he was reckoned to have killed or seriously injured an unbelievable 824 players! 2. Knut Rockkneed of the Asgard Ravens is still the holder of one of the more unlikely NAF records. From 2469-2474, over a period of 40 games, he set off 113 traps without sustaining so much as a scratch. In fact, the Ravens got so used to Knut's good fortune that their opening play in every game was to have him wander around the pitch setting off spear traps, opening pits and making the arena safe for his team-mates. Knut finally met his end when the Dwarf Warhammerers went for broke and mined half of the pitch with explosives. This plan wrecked their entire stadium, killed 7 of their players and brought down the wrath of the NAF, but the Warhammerers were still happy with their choice. "There is no Knut too tough for us to crack!" boasted a spokesman for their owners. 3. Stunted Grom Red-Axe was famous for his 41 league-long scoring rush when fired from an over-loaded cannon during a 2480 match with the Gouged Eye. Grom was the Dwarf Warhammerers' top scorer before his unfortunate death when he looked down the barrel of a blunderbuss which had jammed. Still, he was posthumously awarded the Channel 7 Viewers' Award for Most Entertaining Player Death of 2487.
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BLOOD BOWL
THE TEAMS
ORC BLOOD BOWL TEAMS
Orcs have been playing Blood Bowl since the game was discovered - indeed it was an Orc who discovered the shrine where the sacred box of Nuffle was hidden. Orc teams are very hard-hitting, concentrating on pounding an opponent into the turf to create gaps through which the excellent Orc Blitzers can run. Indeed, if any fault can be found with Orc teams in general it is that they sometimes spend a little bit too much time pounding the opposition, and not enough time running the ball to score! Orcs have always respected brawn over intelligence and so they frequently make use of Black Orcs and a Troll in their teams, to add even more weight to the front line. In addition, the Orc race has close links with other green-skinned races such as Goblins, and it is not uncommon to find Goblins playing in Orc teams.
2429
2431
2464
2495
Now
Team Honours: Blood Bowl winners 2464 (IV), 2473 (XIII), 2495 (XXXIV); Chaos Cup winners 2441, 2445, 2450-2454, 2460, 2469, 2473, 2477, 2482-83; AFC Champion winners 2435, 2464, 2470, 2473, 2474, 2478 Hall of Fame: Eruk Ogrehack, Bolg Stonemangle, Garg Worm-face, Harg Vainkill Spike! Magazine Rating: 302 points
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BLOOD BOWL
DWARF GIANTS
Team Colours: Dark Grey and Blue Owner: Thorn Durinsgold III Head Coach: Gudrun Wolfric Players: Dwarfs
The Giants are an old team with a very long and distinguished history. They were one of RozeEl's original Blood Bowl sects, and they have been present for every major development in the game's history. In more recent times, thanks to the motivation of team owner and patron King Durinsgold III, they have consolidated their talents and relaunched themselves into the fully-modernised, up-to-the-minute, high-tech Blood Bowl game of today. 2381 When they realise their religion is getting in the way of having a good time, the Illuminated Seers of the Sacred Orb of Nuffle change their name, update their rather stuffy image, and become the Dwarf Giants. Retiring captain Varak Varaksson becomes Head Coach, and sets about instituting a ruthless retraining program. After numerous modest successes, the Giants' good fortunes reach a peak when they end the season as league champions. However, a long and bloody underground war against various Orc and Goblin armies lead by Argvak Pentel begins soon after and the entire team is drafted. When the war ends - 36 years later - the team is all but forgotten. However, thanks to some serious determination from new coach Karrag (Varaksson died heroically in the war), the Giants are soon ready for action again, even winning the NFC league championship in 2438. In more modern times the Giants have consolidated their skills with typical Dwarf patience. Under the tuition of youthful new coach Wolfric, and the inspired (and some would say quite crazy) captaincy of Grimwold Grimbreath ('The Helmsmasher'!), the Giants are regularly setting new records for fatalities and touchdowns alike.
Dwarfs were one of the very first races to play Blood Bowl. Many Dwarf teams can trace back their history to the early years of the game. Dwarfs tend to use a running game, grinding their opponents into the ground as they go and working on the principal of high casualty rates opening up the game. Weakness both with and against the passing game has been a feature of the Dwarf game for many centuries. There are, however, so many Dwarf teams around that it is possible to find one to suit any taste. One Dwarf team (Durum's Destroyers) has even built up a good passing game, thanks to the inspired leadership of Bran 'Long Bomb' Ironson. It is, however, the Dwarfs' reputation for flamboyant illegality in which they are surpassed only by Goblins that makes them such a big hit with the fans. Since it was a Dwarf who first discovered Nuffle's sacred laws and brought the game into being, most Dwarf teams believe they have a lasting right to alter the laws as they choose. The Dwarf Warhammerers, for example, frequently bend the rules of the game, and then claim Roze-El authorised their illicit amendments.
2400
Now
Team Honours: Blood Bowl Winners 2462 (II), 2484 (XVIV); Orcidas Team of the Year 2484 Hall of Fame: Durgul 'The Killer' Hilliman, Coach Farakhan Karrag, Varak Varaksson Spike! Magazine Rating: 299 points
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BLOOD BOWL
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BLOOD BOWL
SKAVENBLIGHT SCRAMBLERS
Team Colours: Yellow Owner: The city of Skavenblight Head Coach: Headed Players: Skaven
Rising from the foulest sewers of the land, the Skavenblight Scramblers are the world's premier Skaven team. Three times winners of the Blood Bowl the team is a vicious mixture of the natural speed of the Skaven and the brutal raw power of the Rat Ogres. It can surely be only a matter of time before the Scramblers reach the top again. 2442 The city of Skavenblight invests numerous chunks of warpstone into a minor team in Clan Rigens - The Scramblers. Success immediately finds the team (as well as numerous mutations) and the Scramblers become the top team in Clan Rigens in a matter of months. They even finish as the Warpstone Bowl champions (an all Skaven tournament), a title they hold for five consecutive years. After an exhibition game on the eve of the 2461 season between the NAF's Potbelly Piemen and the now Skavenblight Scramblers in the deepest pits of Skavenblight the thoroughly beaten Halflings are sold into slavery because they were unable to pay the suddenly introduced "Warpstone Tax for teams beaten by the Scramblers on the eve of the new NAF season". Without a team to replace the Piemen at such short notice the NAF duly award the newly vacated spot in the league to the Scramblers. After spending the whole year rigging their stadium for the finals with traps, bottomless pits and a very abnormal slope down to the opponent's end zone while a team of reserves set about qualifying for the finals, the Skavenblight Scramblers rout the Gouged Eye to become the first (and only!) team to win the Blood Bowl two years in a row. Star Players of the day were Skrag the Unclean and Glart Smashrip who inflicted 13 bouts of extreme nausea and 6 fatalities respectively. The Scramblers hold aloft another record as they become the only team to win the Blood Bowl and the Chaos Cup in the same year and were promptly elected "Team of the Year". The success was attributed to the introduction of a fearsome Rat Ogre into the team. Early experiments with the wild creatures had initially met with more fatalities for the Scramblers than the opponents, but after selective breeding by Clan Moulder, the Rat Ogres eventually understood the rudimentary concepts of the game. Rat Ogres have now become a regular feature on most successful Skaven teams, many sporting mutations such as additional limbs or tentacles. The Scramblers and fellow Skaven side the Doomfire Warphunters were to play each other in the opening game of the Blood Bowl Tournament. However the game was so highly anticipated by the Skaven fans that many had to be turned back at the turnstiles. So the Skaven did what any self respecting mutated, 5 foot tall rat would do... They dug underground to try and sneak into the stadium. When the opening kick-off arrived, the ground underneath was so unstable that the entire pitch collapsed (inflicting 14 fatalities). The Warphunters suffered the worst of the damage, but even the Scramblers couldn't put their team back together in time for the Blood Bowl championship.
Vytik
the
Many
2461
2493
Now
Team Honours: Blood Bowl Winners 2477 (XVII), 2478 (XVIII), 2493 (XXXII); Chaos Cup Winners 2493; Orcidas Team of the Year 2478, 2493 Hall of Fame: Tarsh Surehands, Breeet Braingulper, Rasta Tailspike Spike! Magazine Rating: 146 points (after the tunneling disaster)
Skitter Stab-Stab forgets the use of weapons is strictly against the rules
46
BLOOD BOWL
REIKLAND REAVERS
Team Colours: Blue and Yellow Owner: JJ Griswell Jr Head Coach: Helmut Zwimmer Players: Humans
The Reavers were formed over a century ago, in 2389, when a vacant franchise came up in what was then the Oldlands Conference. Known during their first few years as the Altdorf Acolytes, the team quickly established their reputation for great skill and ability, as original owner DD Griswell Snr poached and bought up the best players throughout the western lands! This policy of marrying awesome buying power with the best money can buy has seen the Reavers in good stead throughout their long life. Today, under DD's great-grandson JJ Griswell Jr, the Reavers are probably the finest all round team in the known world. 2389 The Altdorf Acolytes formed by a business consortium in association with the people of Altdorf, make their base at the Griswell Memorial Stadium. Thanks to the sterling efforts of head coach Johann Weisshaupt and the large treasury of DD Griswell Snr., in their 1st season they come 4th in the Whiteskull Challenge Cup (now the Chaos Cup). When the Griswell Memorial Stadium collapses during a storm (amid rumours of paybacks and cost-cutting by the firm who built it), the team changes its name to the Reikland Reavers and sets up home at the new Altdorf Oldbowl. No-one is quite sure where either of those names comes from, but both help the Reavers to their first cup win, beating the Wupertal Wotans in the final. DD Griswell Jr. takes over as team owner on the death of his father. Head coach at this time is Blind Willy Muller. The Reavers slump to their worst placing ever. Muller is reputed to have got the job through blackmailing DD Jr. The Reavers start the 1st season of a 14-year low patch when 11 members of the first team are infected during a Nurgle's Rotters game and have to transfer to the Subterranean Slimeballs. DD Griswall Jr. is replaced by son JJ Griswell Snr. JJ Griswell Snr. dies during an Asgard Ravens fixture, and is replaced by current owner JJ Griswell Jr. New head coach Helmet Zwimmer arrives soon after, and institutes his 'New Order' of training and preparation. Reikland thrashes the Darkside Cowboys to win Blood Bowl XXIV, but only after surprise substitute Orlak Sturmdrang replaces fatally-injured captain, Wolfram von Beck, after only ninety seconds. Mighty Zug sets his stillunbeaten Most Opponents Bitten in One Match record. Griff Oberwald (incidentally, Sturmdrang's half-cousin!) leads the team to their 4th Blood Bowl championship after replacing Orlak as team captain when Orlak finds dealing with his groupies as a megastar too much pressure. The Reavers are one of the few teams to survive the collapse of the NAF unscathed, thanks mainly to the astute financial planning of team owner JJ Griswell Jr. The Reavers silence sceptics who said they couldn't adjust to the new open tournaments by storming back to win Blood Bowl XXXI in a close final against the Marauders. After winning the Blood Bowl for the 6th time Griff Oberwald leaves the Reavers to turn freelance. While this rocks the team it will be only a matter of time before Coach Zwimmer creates the next generation of super stars to immortalize the team.
2396
2411
2432
2468
2485
2487
2489
2491
Now
Team Honours: Blood Bowl Winners 2471 (XI), 2479 (XIX), 2485 (XXV), 2487 (XXVII), 2491 (XXX), 2499 (XXXVIII); Chaos Cup Winners 2396, 2399-2405, 2412, 2422-2427, 2448, 2461, 2463, 2470 Hall of Fame: Walter damn Kempft, Erdrich Holstein, Coach Johann Weisshaupt, Jules Winder Spike! Magazine Rating: 295 points
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BLOOD BOWL
DARKSIDE COWBOYS
Team Colours: Black and Blue (like their opponents) Owner: Prince Derren ar-Lolovia Head Coach: Luxen Tuentir Players: Dark Elves
The twisted, degenerate Dark Elf race is infamous for the worship of weird and deviant violence, and Blood Bowl fits into their religious beliefs very well indeed. The Cowboys are a cruel, ultraviolent team, and consequently do very well at the game. The combination of high intelligence, natural grace, degenerate violence and hatred of all living things has helped them to the top on more than one occasion. 2422 The Old World first learns of the existence of the Darkside Cowboys when the Halfling Pinkfoot Panthers visit them for a friendly match and don't return! Several teams threaten to boycott the Cowboys when they apply to join the official NAF league, but the pale-skinned assassins are admitted anyway. Instantly sordid revelations started to appear about their peculiar habits, such as using trussed-up Snotlings as balls to save wear on expensive imported ones. These rumours only seem to heighten the Cowboys' mystique with thrill-starved fans. The Cowboys play in the very first Blood Bowl, beating the Chaos All-Stars in a very sloppy game (literally - the Cowboys used illegal magic to turn most of the All-Stars front line into slugs!). The Cowboys nearly disband after the infamous match against the Kishago Werebears (which lasted for 19 days before being abandoned at 2-2 on the death of the last player on either side). New NAF rules limiting the duration of games come too late to save the Werebears, but the Cowboys manage to reform and rebuild their team under the skilled leadership of Jeremiah Kool. Their drive culminates in glory when they win Blood Bowl XXI, during which Kool set his unbroken passing record. Although Kool retired in 2487, his place is more than filled by Hubris Rakarth, the latest in a long line of glamorous Darkside players. In his first season as team captain Hubris earns immortal fame by leading the Cowboys all the way to the Blood Bowl championships that turn out to be the last organised by the old NAF league. While the match is in progress NAF commissioner Nikk Three-horn disappears with the entire NAF treasury and most of the Cowboys cheerleaders! The Cowboys have survived both the collapse of the NAF and Hubris turning freelance to enter a period of intense training (and sacrificing to Khaine of unwary opposing fans). With a Dark Elf team winning the 2505 Chaos Cup, experts say that the Cowboys' year will soon arrive again.
2438
2461
2473
2488
Team Honours: Blood Bowl Winners 2461 (I), 2481 (XXI), 2488 (XXVIII); Orcidas Team of the Year 2481 Hall of Fame: Rokudan Fey, Jeremiah 'Flashing Blade' Kool Spike! Magazine Rating: 270 points
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BLOOD BOWL
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BLOOD BOWL
KALLAHIR SWIFTS
Team Colours: Blue and Orange Owners and Head Lucien and Valen Swift Players: Elves
The year 2501 was one that every Blood Bowl fan remembers. During a press conference after a match between the Galadrieth Gladiators and the Elfheim Eagles both Lucien and Valen Swift, sick of being classed as second rate players amongst the now money filled High Elf teams announce their joint retirement effective immediately. However, as many retired players have found out, the cheers of the crowd and the sight and sounds of a crunching tackle or a glorious catch are difficult to stay away from. Two months later, the Swift brothers announce they are forming their own team without any backings from the Elven Kingdoms. 2502 Investing their combined savings Lucien and Valen rent out a training ground and purchase 16 blue and orange uniforms (blue from the Gladiators and orange from the Eagles). Immediately they are overwhelmed by many old team-mates and rivals as well as many younger Elves who do not want to play alongside the Princes of the High Elf teams. After a gruelling summer training camp, the two brothers pick the 16 players to be the first to wear the Swifts uniform. During one of their first games Valen Swift notices a silver haired cheerleader throwing a rock perfectly at an unsuspecting opponent near the sidelines (which was on the other side of the pitch and resulted in a KO). Impressed by her throwing abilities, Valen offered the lass a try out for one of the Swifts' thrower positions. She aces the tryout and Lauriala Vinetree dons Valen Swifts old face mask and becomes the first female thrower for a non-Amazon Blood Bowl team. In her first game she throws two touchdown passes to Highelm Lyrpadre and runs for another against the Altdorf Underachievers. Lauriala in only her second year breaks Harg Vainkill's passing record with 157 passes thrown for 2321 paces. All the passing records in Blood Bowl, however, cannot help the Swifts as they find themselves going into the Majors with a depleted squad due to old injuries catching up with many of the veteran players. The team is forced to drop out of the Spike! Tournament to setup a training camp for a new generation of facemasks, spikes and mohawks. Continually setting the throwing world on fire Lauriala Vinetree goes from strength to strength under the tuition of Valen Swift. In three years she has become the best thrower in the tournament circuit with her unnerving accuracy. As many of her male opponents have found out, she has a bullet throw that will bring tears to any man's eyes. With Lucien Swift coaching the up and coming young blitzers and with former Eagles catchers Highelm Lyrpadre and Ibrahim Goldawn, the team has become a dangerous combination of beauty, youthfulness and experience.
Coaches:
2503
2504
Now
Team Honours: None yet Hall of Fame: None yet Spike! Magazine Rating: 281 points
And so the High Elves have found themselves split into two types of teams. On the one hand you have the relatively inexperienced, but well equipped, High Elves from the noble caste and on the other you have the more experienced, but less well equipped, 'Pro' Elves, as they became known. But one thing the two styles of teams will always have in common, they are both masters of the throwing game.
50
BLOOD BOWL
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BLOOD BOWL
CHAMPIONS OF DEATH
Team Colours: Black (what else?!?) Owners and Head Coach: Tomolandry the Undying Players: Skeletons, Zombies, Wights, Mummies, and Ghouls
First raised in 2439 deep in the caves of the Coldworm Mountains, the Champions are the property of a gifted Necromancer known as Tomolandry the Undying. The sorcerer has dwelt in these caves for many centuries, wizended by age if not destroyed by it, as he delved ever deeper in the mysteries of the Black Arts. About the year 2425, Tomolandry became bored with all that tedious mucking about with corpses and coffins. He used his skills to tune into what other mages were doing, resulting in him patching himself into the network of the Necromancers Broadcasting Circle, and was delighted to discover Blood Bowl! Soon Tomolandry's enthusiasm grew so much that he started his own football club. However, instead of hiring players, he simply resurrected a dozen skeletons, cast a spell of his own devising which gave them a rudimentary knowledge of the game - and the Champions of Death were (re)born! 2439 In their first season the Champions attract much opposition from all the other teams. Tomolandry, in a rare interview with Spike! Magazine, declares that the other teams are just jealous because their players stop playing when they die, and he doesn't have a weekly wages bill to pay! Tomolandry discovers that skeletons raised from the remains of former Blood Bowl players perform much better than his spell enhanced skeletons. Soon after this the Dwarf Giants accuse Tomolandry of kidnapping one of their players, when it is revealed that the skeleton of ex-Giant blocker, Skrull Halfheight, has been resurrected and is now playing for the Champions! Most teams bring in player contracts stating that players' bodies are still team property even after his death however the NAF refuses to upset Tomolandry by actually enforcing these contract clauses. Realising his team needs more speed, Tomlandry adds some fresh blood (actually its the team's first actual blood) to the team by hiring a pair of cannibalistic Ghouls. While Ghouls are not actually dead, the Champions find they now have a true running game. In addition, the team is now captained by Ramtut III, a rediscovered mummy of an original Blood Bowl player from eight thousand years ago. With this combination of new players, the Champions storm to victory against the Vynheim Valkyries at Blood Bowl VI. Ramtut III leaves the team to help his Khemri brothers return to the game. This setback is offset by Tomolandry's discovery of a spell to immediately resurrect dead opponents as Zombies to play for the Champions. Furthermore, Count Luthor von Drakenborg replaces Ramtut when Tomolandry offers him all the nubile female blood he can drink for the entire season. Under Luthor's captaincy the team wins its second Blood Bowl, despite some trouble in the quarter-finals when a werewolf opponent ran off with several of the Champions Star Players' leg bones which forced the team to search all night so they could be repaired. Earlier in this year, in what was surely an event not related to the Champions at all, the famous cheerleading squad, the Shadowy Forge Bunnies, vanish while travelling and are never heard from again. It's taken a while for the Champions to get used to the open tournament style after the NAF collapsed - the dead are notoriously conservative in their ways - but it looks as if they are finally on their way after winning Blood Bowl XL thanks to the brilliant captaincy of Ghoul star player Wrag Bonesnapper.
2451
2468
2486
Now
Team Honours: Blood Bowl winners 2467 (VI), 2486 (XXVI), XL (2501); Chaos Cup winners 2440, 2459, 2461-62, 2467 Hall of Fame: None (no players ever retire - they're simply put into storage for a few years before being revived again!) Spike! Magazine Rating: 289 points
52
BLOOD BOWL
53
BLOOD BOWL
54
BLOOD BOWL
Deep within the dark forests of the Old World, far off the beaten tracks used by more civilized folk, lurk the dreaded Beastmen of Chaos. These terrible creatures are half beast and half man, the twisted descendants of people and animals mutated by the power of the Chaos Gods. Even more powerful than the Beastmen are the Chaos Warriors. These once human champions have sold their souls in return for superhuman strength. Successful Chaos Warriors will often be rewarded with other gifts in the form of magical abilities and terrible physical mutations such as horns, extra limbs or crab-like claws. These followers of Chaos often combine to form a frighteningly effective Blood Bowl team. Most Chaos teams are not noted for the subtlety or marginality of their game play. A simple drive up the middle of the pitch, maiming and injuring as many opposing players as possible, is about the limit of the typical Chaos team's game plan and by Nuffle, does it work! However, as random as mutations seem to be on a Chaos team, there have been many Chaos teams that have used the gifts of their patrons for such uses as 'passing' the ball and 'catching' it and many opponents have been caught unawares by a Chaos team able to throw (and catch) the ball. There are those Chaos teams that have chosen a path of decay and disease, these are the followers of Nurgle, a giant plague ridden, maggot filled Chaos god of pestilence that delights in creating all manner of disease to spread. Nurgle is a huge fan of Blood Bowl. On more than one occasion he has been seen watching a game, with a giant bag of Pop Khorne to nibble on, as his favourite team, the Nurgle's Rotters, infest the pitch. Whatever your flavour of Chaos God however, there are plenty of Chaotic teams to go around featuring patronage from one of the four major Gods. You'll often find Beastmen players that follow Slaanesh playing a running game as they weave between the opposition or you may even find a Tzeentchian Chaos Warrior with a great throwing arm - Von Hawkfire of the All-Stars was a perfect example of such a player with his ability to turn a thrown ball into a grand piano as it was about to be intercepted. Often the most dangerous Chaos teams are those that feature players from all Chaos Gods, and as the Chaos All-Stars have shown, when you have four Gods supporting you, 'chance' tends to work in your favour.
2420
2467
2497
Now
Team Honours: Blood Bowl winners 2467 (VII); Chaos Cup winners 2397-98, 2409, 2419-20, 2434, 2436, 2449, 2468, 2471, 2487, 2495-97; Dungeonbowl winners 2489, 2492-93; Spike! Magazine Trophy winners 2493 Hall of Fame: Duke Luthor von Hawkfire, Morg 'n' Thorg, V'hnn Qlss 'Snakey' Zzchhtrr Spike! Magazine Rating: 270 points
55
BLOOD BOWL
2 : BADYEAR GIT
A goblin doom diver who was too cheap to pay for admission is hit by the kick-off while flying over the stadium. Play at any kick-off after all players have been set up and the ball placed, but before any scatter has been rolled. The ball scatters 2d6, instead of 1d6, on this kick-off.
9 : HOMETOWN FANS
Your team's fans start the match very willing to help their favourite team by throwing the ball to the perfect place for you. Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. You may choose the direction the ball is thrown in on the throw-in template every time it goes out of bounds during the first half. During the second half, all throw-ins are done as normal.
3 : SPRINKLER MALFUNCTION
Somebody triggered the sprinkler system, on accident of course. The ball becomes difficult to handle and the mist makes it difficult to see until it is shut off. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. All attempts to pass, catch, or pick up the ball have an additional -1 modifier for this drive.
10 : INCOMING!
The crowd received souvenir balls today and have decided to use them as ammunition instead of keepsakes. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. For this turn, any player from the opposing team must dodge any time they leave a square within 2 squares of either sideline or end zone.
4 : ECLIPSE
Suddenly all light is blocked out by a total eclipse. Maybe its the complete darkness, or maybe it's astrological magic, but for one brief moment all players are equal. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For your turn and your opponent's turn, all players on the pitch have only the characteristics and skills of a rookie Goblin.
J : ROGUE WIZARD
A wizard in the stands starts to get a little bored and bombs the pitch with a fireball! Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. Place a marker on the pitch, scatter the marker 5 times. If it does not scatter off the pitch at any point, the fireball explodes as the spell; the centre is where the marker is.
5 : FANATIC INVASION
A crazed goblin fan talks an ogre into tossing him onto the pitch! Play after your turn has ended but before your opponents turn begins. You may not play this card after a kick-off is resolved. Place a miniature to represent the Goblin Fanatic into any empty square on the pitch. He has the same stats as a rookie Goblin Fanatic. The coach playing this card may immediately move the Fanatic. Each coach can only take a Move Action with the Fanatic after his turn has ended but before his opponent's turn. This Fanatic has no tackle zones and blocks without any offensive assists. At the end of the drive the ref automatically ejects the Fanatic from the game.
Q : BALL CLONE
The random chaos of Tzeentch has effected the ball. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. If the ball is on the ground, a 2nd ball materializes in the square and one of them is bounced from it. The first player that crosses into the end zone with one of the balls rolls a D6. On a 1-3, the ball vanishes and a touchdown is not scored. This effect ends when a drive ends. Players may not pick-up, catch, or intercept a ball if they already are carrying one. A ball bouncing into the square with the other ball will bounce again.
6 : FRIENDLY FANS
The crowd loves your team, and wouldn't ever consider ripping one of your players apart...well, not this game anyway. Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. Any player on your team that is pushed into the crowd this game is only Stunned, do not roll injury.
K : JOHNNY WATERBOY
He must be a magician as that is some mighty fine H2O. One drink from this minor wizard of water seems to revive any bashed up players. Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. For this match, your players gain a +1 modifier to recover from KOd for this match (a roll of 1 is still a failure).
7 : ROWDY FANS
Your fans have shown up today and its with an extra evil glint in their eyes. They want a LOT of blood and are in the mood to help see it.
Timing: Effect:
Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. For this match, any block or foul made by or against an opposing player adjacent to the sidelines is treated as having one extra assist from your team. In addition, no opposing player adjacent to the sidelines can assist a block or foul.
8 : HECKLER
An overeager fan heckles and distracts one opponent especially well. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. An opposing player of your choice may not use any skills (including block and dodge defensively) other than those that must be used (frenzy, loner, etc.) for this turn and the following opposing turn.
56
2 : COME TO PAPA!
You have read the kick-off almost perfectly and are ready to receive it. Play when you are receiving a kick-off after all players have been set up and the ball has been scattered, but before any kick-off result is rolled. Move one player not on the line of scrimmage to the square where the ball will land.
9 : PERFECT KICK
You try and kick the ball to just the right spot to help your defense. Play after all players have been set up for a kick-off, but before any kick-off result is rolled. Place the ball anywhere in the line of scrimmage or the end zone of the opponent's half excluding the wide zones. To determine the landing square for the ball, instead of the normal kick-off scatter, scatter the ball for one square 3 times using the sideline throw-in template for each scatter, you may choose how the template is facing on each scatter as long as it is facing a sideline or end zone.
3 : DOGGED DEFENSE
Your players give everything they have to defend the end zone, trying to trip the opposition from the ground. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. For this turn all your players that are Prone (not Stunned) exert tackle zones as if they were standing, however they cannot assist or cancel assists, catch, or take any other Action that requires a standing player.
10 : OPTION PLAY
This play is designed so your ball carrier can choose either to keep the ball himself or dump it off to someone else. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. A player of your choice gains the Dump-Off and Pass skill until the drive ends.
Name: Description:
4 : FLEA FLICKER
A trick play is on. You trick the opponent into thinking one person will run the ball, but he tosses it to someone else who throws the ball. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. You may take an extra Pass Action, however the first Pass Action you take must be a quick pass.
J : PUNT
Time to get rid of the ball and pin the opponent deep!
Play after your turn has ended, but before your opponents turn begins. If a player you control has the ball, you may place the ball in any square you want and scatter the ball three times. If the ball is not caught it will bounce as normal.
5 : FUMBLEROOSKI
The players on your team intentionally fumble the ball to open up some funny and spectacular plays. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For this turn any failed pick up, catch, or fumbled pass rolls do not cause turnovers. Also a player can intentionally fail to pick up or catch the ball, or fumble a pass. Any failed attempt to pick up or throw the ball ends the players Action. Any player failing a catch roll counts as having taken an Action for the turn as well, even if they have not performed an Action yet.
Q : SPECTACULAR CATCH
A player puts himself on the line to try for an amazing catch Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For this turn a player of your choice gains Catch and Diving Catch.
K : SUICIDE BLITZ
The player gets a good jump over the line of scrimmage and launches himself at the opponents. Play after a kick-off to your opponent has been resolved (including the ball landing), but before your opponents turn begins. A player of your choice not holding the ball may take a Blitz Action immediately. This player suffers from the No Hands skill for this Action only.
7 : HEROIC LEAP
The player has one chance to be a hero, and tries for it all! Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. Choose a player with strength four or less. This turn the chosen player may leap, as the skill, with a 3+ to land regardless of that player's agility or skills.
A : WAKE UP CALL
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Time to get some extra players on the pitch, ready or not. Play before you set up any players for a drive. Instead of rolling for a player to come back from being KOd, you may have the player automatically recover by placing the player on the pitch Stunned. You may do this with any number of KOd players. After placing as many players from KO'd on the pitch as you desire, roll a D6 for each player that is Stunned. On a 4+, that player is turned to Prone.
57
BLOOD BOWL
2 : BEGUILING BRACERS
The player has come across the bracers of Count Luthor to use for the match. They are so good that they even distract the player wearing them sometimes. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. Choose one player on your team. That player gains the skills Hypnotic Gaze, Side Step, and Bone-head for the remainder of this game.
9 : LUCKY CHARM
The player has acquired some lucky charms from a Halfling in a green coat before the game. Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. A player of your choice may ignore the first time his armour is broken, and just be Placed Prone. Any roll that ignores armour, such as the crowd or throw a rock, is not affected by a lucky charm.
Timing: Effect:
3 : BELT OF INVUNERABILITY
Your player really has found a way to become a man of steel. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. Armour rolls made against a player of your choice may not be modified or re-rolled by any positive modifiers for the remainder of this game. This includes (but is not limited to) Claw, Mighty Blow, Dirty Player, Piling On, fouling assists, Stunty and Chainsaw attacks.
Name: Description:
4 : FAWNDOUGH'S HEADBAND
One of the great passers of all time has loaned your player his headband for this game, but you had better make sure you get it back before he notices it missing! Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. A player of your choice gains Pass and Accurate for this turn, but an additional +1 modifier on any interception rolls against him is applied as well.
Timing: Effect:
5 : FORCE SHIELD
Your player paid top gold for a Ring of Invincibility, but it's not all that was advertised. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. Choose the player on your team holding the ball. That player gains the Sure Hands and Fend skills until he no longer has the ball.
Q : RABBIT'S FOOT
One player finds himself a lucky rabbit's foot after the pre-game meal of, well, rabbit. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. A player of your choice without Loner gains the Pro skill for the remainder of this game.
K : RING OF TELEPORTATION
Where'd he go? The player uses a teleportation ring to get out of a tight spot. Play after your turn has ended (unless your turn ending would end the half.) One player on your team of your choice can be moved D6 squares in a single direction of your choice (note: you must move the full D6 squares and must choose the direction before rolling the D6). Treat this movement as if the player had been thrown with the Throw TeamMate skill but without the 3 scatters to determine the landing square. The landing roll from the teleportation is automatically successful unless he has bounced off another player.
7 : GLOVES OF HOLDING
A player puts a magic salve, Grisnick's Stickum, onto his gloves before the drive. Play at any kick-off after all players have been set up and the ball placed, but before any scatter has been rolled. A player of your choice gains the Catch and Sure Hands skills, but may not take Pass or Hand-off Actions for the remainder of this game.
A : WAND OF SMASHING
Stick! Smash! Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. Choose one player on your team. That player gains +1 strength and the Mighty Blow skill for this turn.
8 : INERTIA DAMPNER
The player has come across a magic amulet that slows the speed of any large objects that happen to intersect with his location. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. Choose one player on your team. For the remainder of this drive, any opponent moving one square or more first and then blitzing this player suffers a -1 modifier to his Strength (minimum Strength of 1) for the block attempt.
58
BLOOD BOWL
2 : BLATANT FOUL
A player on your team is determined to take out the opposition, no matter what. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. The armour roll for your Foul Action this turn automatically succeeds and is considered a non-doubles roll, however the injury roll for the foul must be rolled as normal with the player sent off on doubles.
9 : KICKING BOOTS
These boots were made for stomping, and that is just what they will do! Play after all players have been set up for a kick-off, but before any kick-off result is rolled. A player of your choice gains the Kick and Dirty Player skills and a -1 MA for the remainder of this game.
3 : CHOP BLOCK
A player throws a dirty block on the opponent. Play after your turn has ended but before your opponents turn begins. You may not play this card after a kick-off is resolved. This card may only be played on one of your Standing players that did not take an Action during your last turn. Your player is Placed Prone and an opposing player in a square adjacent to him is now considered Stunned.
10 : PIT TRAP
A devious groundskeeper has set up a pit trap for you. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. Choose a player: that player is Placed Prone, no armour roll is made, and if the player had the ball bounce it as normal.
Name: Description:
4 : CUSTARD PIE
One of your players thrusts a cleverly concealed custard pie in the face of an opposing player. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. Choose one player on the opposing team adjacent to one of your Standing or Prone players (not Stunned). That opposing player is so flabbergasted by the pie hit that he loses his tackle zones for the remainder of this turn as per a successful Hypnotic Gaze roll.
J : SPIKED BALL
A Bloodthirster is in the crowd today, so in honour of this event a spiked ball is swapped with the real ball. More blood for the blood god and the fans! Play after all players have been set up for a kick-off, but before any kick-off result is rolled. Until the drive ends any failed pick up or catch roll (but not interception roll) is treated as the player being attacked with the Stab skill by an opponent.
Timing: Effect:
5 : DISTRACT
Your player is very good at distracting all those around him. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. The chosen player gains the skill Disturbing Presence for this turn and all opposing players starting their Action within 3 squares of the player count as having Bone-head (lost Tackle Zones from failed Bone-head rolls return at the end of this turn).
Q : STOLEN PLAYBOOK
You nabbed a playbook from the opponents coach! He sure will be surprised when you know exactly how to ruin his play. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. A player of your choice gains Pass Block and Shadowing until the drive ends.
6 : GREASED SHOES
The magic grease applied to your opponents shoes has finally taken effect. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. This turn all opposing players need to roll a 5+ to Go For It instead of the normal 2+.
K : TRAMPOLINE TRAP
Someone set up a deep pit trap...with a trampoline in it! Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. Choose any opposing player. Using all the rules for the Throw TeamMate skill, the player is automatically thrown (i.e. cannot be fumbled) to a target square that is D6 squares away in a random direction from his own square (use the scatter template). The player will need to make a landing roll as normal if they land on the pitch.
A : WITCH'S BREW
You've spiked the opponents Kroxorade bottle with a witch's concoction! Play after all players have been set up for a kick-off, but before any kick-off result is rolled. Choose an opponent and roll on this table. 1- Woops! Mad Cap Mushroom potion! The player gains the Jump Up and No Hands skills until the drive ends. 2- Snake Oil! Bad taste, but no effect. 3-6 Sedative! The player gains the Really Stupid skill until the drive ends.
8 : ILLEGAL SUBSTITUTION
A reserve sneaks onto the pitch while the ref is cleaning his glasses. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. You may place any player from the reserves box in an unoccupied square in the end zone you are defending. This player may only take a Move Action this turn. This may take your team to 12 players for the remainder of the drive.
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BLOOD BOWL
9 : FAN UPROAR
Your fans start yelling so loudly that the opposing team cannot hear the coach or any of the on pitch play signals. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. No team re-rolls may be used by your opponent for this turn or his next turn (unless the drive ends before your opponent's second turn).
3 : BANANA SKIN
One of the oldest tricks in the book, but a well aimed peel still is a great equalizer. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. An opposing player of your choice in a tackle zone of one of your players is automatically Knocked Down. Roll for Armour/Injury as normal. If the player was holding the ball, it does not cause a turnover.
10 : HURRY UP OFFENSE
Your team is making all of the time that it has left count, trying to mount one last scoring drive. Play before moving your turn marker. You receive an immediate free turn. However, after each Action roll a D6, on a 1 the free turn ends. This roll may not be re-rolled. Your opponent immediately begins a free turn after your free turn is over, and the same rules will apply for when it ends. If a TD would have been scored during your free turn, the touchdown does not count unless a player from your team still has the ball in the end zone at the end of your opponent's free turn.
Name: Description: Timing: Effect: Name: Description: Timing: Effect: Name: Description: Timing: Effect: Name: Description: Timing: Effect: Name: Description: Timing: Effect:
4 : BUTTERFINGERS
One player from the opposing team knows he just is not himself today and ball handling for this drive is just out of the question. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. For the remainder of this drive, one selected opposing player not currently holding the ball gains the No Hands skill.
J : INTENSIVE TRAINING
One player from your team is really psyched for this weeks match, and has been working very long hours preparing for it. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For the remainder of this game, one player of your choice from your team gains one extra skill. This can be any skill that he can learn from an Improvement roll without a doubles roll.
5 : CHAINSAW
One of your players brings along a chainsaw for the game: not too subtle, but effective. Play before setting up for a drive. A player of your choice gains the Chainsaw, Secret Weapon, and No Hands skills for this game.
Q : UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
A players taunting and antics after scoring causes a fan to express his feelings towards him with a well-thrown rock-filled Bloodweiser can. Play immediately after your opponent scores a touchdown. The player that scored the touchdown is KO'd. He may not roll to recover from KO'd until the end of the next drive.
7 : DOC BONESAW
That blood on his outfit and the saw on his hip are not very comforting, but his medical talents are difficult to refute even on undead players. Play after a drive has ended and KO'd recovery rolls have been made. A player from your team that has been KO'd or Badly Hurt is moved to Reserves.
A : LEWD MANEUVERS
A group of cheerleaders were hired to distract the opposition. They do such a good job of it even your players are not going anywhere. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. Choose a wide zone. Any player from either team that is currently in that wide zone may take no Action this turn or on the opposing turn that follows this turn.
8 : EXTRA TRAINING
Your team has been working all week on playing better as a united squad. Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. Your team receives one extra team re-roll for this match.
2 : LURVE POTION
A magic potion slipped into your opponents drink makes someone in the stands completely irresistible to him. Play after a kick-off to your opponent has been resolved (including the ball landing), but before your opponents turn begins. One randomly selected opposing player, in a wide zone of your choice, is placed in the Reserve box. If the player was holding the ball, it bounces once from their original square.
60
BLOOD BOWL
3 : MAGIC HELMET
Its magic has almost worn off, but this relic that once protected older generation Blood Bowl players over their entire career appears to have enough magic left for one more game. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. For the remainder of this game, one player of your choice from your team gains +1 AV and the Thick Skull skill.
Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. Select a weather result. The weather will immediately change to that result and remain there until a Weather Change kick-off roll is made.
4 : MIRACLE WORKER
Whether this crazy man actually has a direct line to Nuffle or not he gets results. Play after a drive has ended before rolling for KO'd players. One player on your team who has suffered a Casualty roll of 41 or higher is now considered to be KO'd.
10 : STILETTO
One player from your team has come armed to even up this match. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For the remainder of this game, one player of your choice from your team gains the Dirty Player and Stab skills.
J : TEAM ANTHEM
The crowd today is really out in full fanatic support for your team. Their cheers and encouragement for your team and abuse for the referees and the opposing team really have set the stage for your team to do their best (including bribing the ref for the coin toss). Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. Your team automatically wins the coin toss to kick or receive without flipping the coin. In addition, your team receives an additional +2 modifier to your FAME (see page 18) for any Kick-Off table result for this match but not for the winnings roll.
Timing: Effect:
Name: Description:
6 : RAZZLE DAZZLE
A tactical play of great effect if it works.
Q : THE FAN
As your team takes the pitch, a crazed retired warrior runs out of the stands and asks to help you smash those gits!. The head coach decides to see if he can help. Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. Add the fan to your team as a player even if this takes your team to more than 16 players. The fans stats are MA 6, ST 4, AG 2, AV 7, and he has the Loner and Frenzy skills. The fan leaves your team when the half ends.
Timing: Effect:
Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For this turn, you may declare either a second Pass Action or a second Hand-off Action.
Name: Description:
7 : SUITABLE PITCH
The pitch is made to be in perfect playing conditions for your team, either by removing some of the dangerous objects, or by adding even more. Once the ref is wise to this situation the state of the pitch is restored to normal, however. Play after all players have been set up for a kick-off, but before any kick-off result is rolled. Choose to either add more dangerous objects or to remove them. If you add more dangerous objects then all Armour rolls caused by being Knocked Down are modified by +1. If you choose to remove them, the modifier is -1 instead. This modifier affects both teams and stays in effect until the drive ends.
K : THE WALL
Your team has been practicing a new special play and the head coach has decided now is the time to try it out. Play after your turn has ended but before your opponents turn begins. You may not play this card after a kick-off is resolved. During only this turn of your opponent, every player on your team is treated as having the Stand Firm skill.
Timing: Effect:
Name: Description:
8 : RUNE OF FEAR
Your head coach had a Dwarven rune forged for him before the game and has decided now is the time to put its limited effect into Action. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. During only this turn of your opponent, every player on your team is treated as having the Foul Appearance and Disturbing Presence skills.
A : WOOF WOOF!
A stray dog runs onto the pitch and runs off with the ball.
Timing: Effect:
Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. The ball must be on the ground for this card to have an effect. Roll for Scatter direction with the Throw-in template. The ball scatters D6 squares in that direction and is where the dog places it on the ground (no bounce roll). If the final square is occupied, scatter once more in the same direction. If at any time the scatter result indicates the dog ran into the crowd, stop scattering and have the crowd throw-in the ball.
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BLOOD BOWL
2 : BAD HABITS
The opposing team has picked up some really bad habits and its starting to change their ability to work together as a team. Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. The opposing team loses D3 team re-rolls for this game only.
9 : GIMME THAT!
One player from your team has been waiting all season to show what he can do and he wants the ball NOW! Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For the remainder of this game, one player of your choice from your team gains the Dauntless, Juggernaut, and Strip Ball skills.
3 : BALLISTA
Your team has cunningly concealed a massive ballista along the sidelines allowing you to fire it at an unsuspecting opposing player at just the right moment. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. The Ballista works exactly like a Wizards Lightning Bolt spell.
10 : IRON MAN
One player from your team has dedicated the match to his recently departed mum and is determined to play for the whole game, no matter what the cost. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. For the remainder of this game, any event that results in an Injury roll against a selected player from your team is treated as if a Stunned result was rolled without actually rolling to see an injury result.
Timing: Effect:
Name: Description:
4 : BLACKMAIL
You have the goods on one of the opposing players, and you have chosen now to call in your favour. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. You may treat a chosen opposing player, other than the ball carrier, as a member of your team for this turn only. Note that the referee recognizes the player as an opponent, so you may not score a touchdown for your team with this player and the player cannot be ejected for fouling his own team.
2 : KID GLOVES
One player from the opposing team has the NAF questioning his tactics on how he has been racking up those injuries. He decides to go easy this game to reduce the scrutiny on him. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. For the remainder of this game, all armour breaks against your team by a selected opposing player from fouling or blocking will be treated as Stunned results without this player actually rolling to see an injury result.
Timing: Effect:
Name: Description:
5 : BUZZING
One player from your team accidentally drank some Mad Cap Mushroom laced coffee before this drive. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For the remainder of this game, one player of your choice from your team not holding the ball gains +1 to his AG and the Jump Up, No Hands and Frenzy skills.
3 : KNUCKLEDUSTERS
A player from your team slips on a pair of magical one-shot knuckledusters because he is going to make sure that the opponent he has his eye on goes down this turn. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For this turn, one player of your choice from your team can convert any and all Block dice he rolls to Defender Down results.
6 : DUH, WHERE AM I?
One player from the opposing team was out all night on a bender and is really not ready for this game. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. For the remainder of this game, one selected opposing player gains the Really Stupid skill.
4 : MAGIC SPONGE
The local wizards guild is fans of your team and has provided your team with a magic sponge that offers possible healing magic to one lucky player. Play after a drive has ended. Roll a D6. On a 1, the sponges magic fails. On a 2+, you may heal one player in the Dead and Injured box to move him to Reserves.
Timing: Effect: Name: Description: Timing: Effect: Name: Description: Timing: Effect:
7 : EGO TRIP
One player from the opposing team has developed a real swelled head from his success and is demanding super star treatment. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. Choose one opposing player. For the remainder of this game, that player must be activated first every turn or not be activated at all.
5 : MINE
Your team trapped the pitch with a disguised mine and the opposing team has just set it off. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. Mine works exactly like a Wizards Fireball spell except that the centre square must have an opposing player in it for this card to be played.
8 : ZAP!
An underhanded mage you have bribed turns an opponent into a frog. Play after your turn has ended or your kick-off to an opponent is resolved, but before your opponents turn begins. Roll a D6. On a 1, the spell has FIZZLED and this card has no effect. On a 2+, one targeted player is treated as having ONLY the following characteristics and skills for the remainder of the drive (MA: 4; ST: 1; AG: 4; AV: 4; Dodge, Leap, No Hands, Stunty, Titchy). If he was carrying the ball it will bounce once from his square. His characteristics/skills will return to normal at the end of the drive, but any injury he suffers as a frog is permanent.
6 : NOT-SO-SECRET WEAPON
You bribe the Groundsman to drive his other machine onto the pitch to help your team out. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. Place a miniature to represent the Groundsman in any square on the pitch adjacent to the sidelines but not in an end zone. The Groundsman has all the stats and skills of a rookie Dwarf Deathroller. You may treat this player as a normal member of your team and it may take you above 11 players on the pitch for this drive. The Groundsman will only play this drive before he returns his equipment to the garage.
62
BLOOD BOWL
7 : ORCIDAS SPONSORSHIP
One player from your team has been selected to help field-test the latest innovation in Blood Bowl footwear. The air-elemental filled soles make the player especially light on their feet. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For the remainder of this game, one player of your choice from your team gains +1 MA and the Sprint and Sure Feet skills.
9 : TACKLING MACHINE
One player from your team has been told "win or else by the Goblin bookies to make good on his gambling debts and he is determined to get his team the win even if he needs to take down every opposing player himself. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. For the remainder of this game, one player of your choice from your team gains the Diving Tackle, Jump Up, Tackle, and Wrestle skills.
Effect:
DESPERATE MEASURES DECK (400,000 gold pieces to randomly draw one card from these 8 cards)
Name: Description: Timing: Effect:
J : ASSASSIN
Your team hires a trained assassin to dope a vital player from your opponents team to force him to miss the game. Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. Pick a player on the opposing team. He must miss this game.
J : I AM THE GREATEST
Egos on the opposing team are running very high for this match and the head coach is unable to override his teams prima donnas. Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. For each drive, only one of the two players with the highest Team Value or Inducement Cost on the opposing team eligible to be set-up for that drive (ie not Sent Off or in the KO'd or Dead & Injured box) may be placed on the pitch.
Name: Description:
Q : MINDBLOW
Your team has employed a powerful telepath and has chosen this moment to utilise her talent. Her mental scream temporarily stuns the opposing team into inactivity. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. Roll a D6 for each opposing player on the pitch. On a 2+, that player as he had failed a Bone-head roll previously. This effect only last until the end of your turn after which the Bone-head effect is removed without the player needing to start his next action to cancel it.
Timing: Effect:
K : DA FREIGHT TRAIN
You've bribed star Borg 'Freight Train' Gorthag and he comes flying onto the pitch to assist your team. Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action. Place a miniature to represent Borg in any square adjacent to the sidelines but not in an end zone. Borg's characteristics/skills are MA 6;ST 5;AG 2;AV 9 with Loner, Mighty Blow, Thick Skull, Break Tackle, Juggernaut, and Strip Ball. You may treat this player as a normal member of your team, he may take an Action as normal the turn he is placed on the pitch, and it may take you above 11 players on the pitch for this drive. Borg will leave your team at the end of the current half.
K : COME ON BOYS!
Your players show great discipline in the face of misfortune against a tough opponent. Play after your turn has ended, but before your opponents turn begins. If your turn just ended from a turnover, your team does not actually suffer a turnover from that failed roll. The Action of the player causing the turnover is ended, but any player on your team who has not yet declared an Action may continue their turn as if the turnover did not occur. Any further turnovers this turn simply end the Action of the player committing the turnover instead of ending the turn.
Name: Description:
A : MORLEY'S REVENGE
The opposing teams drinks have been spiked with a powerful laxative, which makes several players have trouble getting out of the locker room facilities for each drive. Play during the pre-game after all inducements are purchased. Randomly select three opposing players. For the remainder of this game, each one must roll a D6 before every kick-off. On a roll of 1-3, he may not take part in this drive. On a roll of 4-6, he may be set up normally.
Timing: Effect:
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SKILL DESCRIPTIONS
Accurate (Passing)
The player may add 1 to the D6 roll when he passes.
Bombardier (Extraordinary)
A coach may choose to have a Bombardier who is not Prone or Stunned throw a bomb instead of taking any other Action with the player. This does not use the team's Pass Action for the turn. The bomb is thrown using the rules for throwing the ball (including weather effects), except that the player may not move or stand up before throwing it (he needs time to light the fuse!). Fumbled and intercepted bomb passes are not turnovers. All skills that may be used when a ball is thrown may be used when a bomb is thrown also. A bomb may be intercepted or caught using the same rules for catching the ball, in which case the player catching it must throw it again immediately. This is a special bonus Action that takes place out of the normal sequence of play. A player holding the ball can catch or intercept and throw a bomb. The bomb explodes when it lands in an empty square or an opportunity to catch the bomb fails or is declined (i.e., bombs dont bounce). If the bomb is fumbled it explodes in the bomb throwers square. If a bomb lands in the crowd, it explodes with no effect. When the bomb finally does explode any player in the same square is Knocked Down, and players in adjacent squares are Knocked Down on a roll of 4+. Players can be hit by a bomb and treated as Knocked Down even if they are already Prone or Stunned. Make Armour and Injury rolls for any players Knocked Down by the bomb. Casualties caused by a bomb do not count for Star Player points.
Block (General)
A player with the Block skill is proficient at knocking opponents down. The Block skill, if used, affects the results rolled with the Block dice, as explained in the Blocking rules.
Bone-head (Extraordinary)
The player is not noted for his intelligence. Because of this you must roll a D6 immediately after declaring an Action for the player, but before taking the Action. On a roll of 1 they stand around trying to remember what it is theyre meant to be doing. The player cant do anything for the turn, and the players team loses the declared Action for the turn. (So if a Bone-head player declares a Blitz Action and rolls a 1, then the team cannot declare another Blitz Action that turn.) The player loses his tackle zones and may not catch, intercept or pass, assist another player on a block or foul, or voluntarily move until he manages to roll a 2 or better at the start of a future Action or the drive ends.
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Chainsaw (Extraordinary)
A player armed with a chainsaw must attack with it instead of making a block as part of a Block or Blitz Action. When the chainsaw is used to make an attack, roll a D6 instead of the Block dice. On a roll of 2 or more the chainsaw hits the opposing player, but on a roll of 1 it kicks back and hits the wielder instead! Make an Armour roll for the player hit by the chainsaw, adding 3 to the score. If the roll beats the victims Armour value then the victim is Knocked Down and injured roll on the Injury table. If the roll fails to beat the victims Armour value then the attack has no effect. A player armed with a chainsaw may take a Foul Action, and adds 3 to the Armour roll, but must roll for kick back as described above. A running chainsaw is a dangerous thing to carry around, and so if a player holding a chainsaw is Knocked Down for any reason, the opposing coach is allowed to add 3 to his Armour roll to see if the player was injured. However blocking a player with a chainsaw is equally dangerous, if an opponent knocks himself over when blocking the chainsaw player then add 3 to his Armour roll. This skill may only be used once per turn (i.e. cannot be used with Frenzy or Multiple Block) and if used as part of a Blitz Action, the player cannot continue moving after using it. Casualties caused by a chainsaw player do not count for Star Player points.
Dodge (Agility)
A player with the Dodge skill is adept at slipping away from opponents, and is allowed to re-roll the D6 if he fails to dodge out of any of an opposing players tackle zones. However, the player may only re-roll one failed Dodge roll per turn. In addition, the Dodge skill, if used, affects the results rolled on the Block dice, as explained in the Blocking rules in the Blood Bowl book.
Dump-Off (Passing)
Hack Enslash "heads off" an Elf trying to break away
Dauntless (General)
A player with this skill is capable of psyching themselves up so that they can take on even the very strongest opponent. The skill only works when the player attempts to block an opponent who is stronger than himself. When the skill is used, the coach of the player with the Dauntless skill rolls a D6 and adds it to his strength. If the total is equal to or lower than the opponents Strength, the player must block using his normal Strength. If the total is greater, then the player with the Dauntless skill counts as having a Strength equal to his opponents when he makes the block. The strength of both players is calculated before any defensive or offensive assists are added but after all other modifiers.
This skill allows the player to make a Quick Pass when an opponent declares that he will throw a block at him, allowing the player to get rid of the ball before he is hit. Work out the Dump-Off pass before the opponent makes his block. The normal throwing rules apply, except that neither teams turn ends as a result of the throw, whatever it may be. After the throw is worked out your opponent completes the block, and then carries on with his turn. Dump-Off may not be used on the second block from an opponent with the Frenzy skill or in conjunction with the Bombardier or Throw Team-Mate skills.
Decay (Extraordinary)
Staying on the pitch is difficult when your rotting body is barely held together. When this player suffers a Casualty result on the Injury table, roll twice on the Casualty table (see page 25) and apply both results. The player will only ever miss one future match as a result of his injuries, even if he suffers two results with this effect.
Fend (General)
This player is very skilled at holding off would-be attackers. Opposing players may not follow-up blocks made against this player even if the Fend player is Knocked Down. The opposing player may still continue moving after blocking if he had declared a Blitz Action.
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Horns (Mutation)
A player with horns may use them to butt an opponent. This adds 1 to the players Strength when he makes a block. However, the player may only use this ability as part of a Blitz, and only if he has moved at least one square before he makes the block (standing up at the start of your Action does not count!). If the player has the Frenzy skill, then the Horns bonus applies on the second block if it applied on the first.
Frenzy (General)
A player with this skill is a slavering psychopath who attacks his opponents in an uncontrollable rage. Unless otherwise overridden, this skill must always be used. When making a block, a player with this skill must always follow up if they can. If a 'Pushed' or 'Defender Stumbles' result was chosen, the player must immediately throw a second block against the same opponent so long as they are both still standing and adjacent. If possible the player must also follow up this second block. If the frenzied player is performing a Blitz Action then he must pay a square of Movement and must make the second block unless he has no further normal movement and cannot go for it again.
Grab (Strength)
A player with this skill uses his great strength and prowess to grab his opponent and throw him around. To represent this, only while making a Block Action, if his block results in a push back he may choose any empty square adjacent to his opponent to push back his opponent. When making a Block or Blitz Action, Grab and Side Step will cancel each other out and the standard pushback rules apply. Grab will not work if there are no empty adjacent squares. A player with the Grab skill can never learn or gain the Frenzy skill through any means. Likewise, a player with the Frenzy skill can never learn or gain the Grab skill through any means.
Juggernaut (Strength)
A player with this skill is virtually impossible to stop once he is in motion. If this player takes a Blitz Action, then opposing players may not use their Fend, Stand Firm or Wrestle skills against blocks, and he may choose to treat a Both Down result as if a Pushed result has been rolled instead.
Jump Up (Agility)
A player with this skill is able to quickly get back into the game. If the player declares any Action other than a Block Action he may stand up for free without paying the three squares of movement. The player may also declare a Block Action while Prone which requires an Agility roll with a +2 modifier to see if he can complete the Action. A successful roll means the player can stand up for free and block an adjacent opponent. A failed roll means the Block Action is wasted and the player may not stand up.
Guard (Strength)
A player with this skill assists an offensive or defensive block even if he is in another players tackle zone. This skill may not be used to assist a foul.
Kick (General)
The player is an expert at kicking the ball and can place the kick with great precision. In order to use this skill the player must be set up on the pitch when his team kicks off. The player may not be set up in either wide zone or on the line of scrimmage. Only if all these conditions are met is the player then allowed to take the kick-off. Because his kick is so accurate, you may choose to halve the number of squares that the ball scatters on kick-off, rounding any fractions down (i.e., 1 = 0, 2-3 = 1, 4-5 = 2, 6 = 3).
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Pass (Passing)
A player with the Pass skill is allowed to re-roll the D6 if he throws an inaccurate pass or fumbles.
Leap (Agility)
A player with the Leap skill is allowed to jump to any empty square within 2 squares even if it requires jumping over a player from either team. Making a leap costs the player two squares of movement. In order to make the leap, move the player to any empty square 1 to 2 squares from their current square and then make an Agility roll for the player. No modifiers apply to this D6 roll unless he has Very Long Legs. The player does not have to dodge to leave the square he starts in. If the player successfully makes the D6 roll then they make a perfect jump and may carry on moving. If the player fails the Agility roll then he is Knocked Down in the square that he was leaping to, and the opposing coach makes an Armour roll to see if he was injured. A failed leap causes a turnover, and the moving teams turn ends immediately. A player may only use the Leap skill once per Action.
Piling On (Strength)
The player may use this skill after he has made a block as part of one of his Block or Blitz Actions, but only if the Piling On player is currently standing adjacent to the victim and the victim was Knocked Down. You may re-roll the Armour roll or Injury roll for the victim. The Piling On player is Placed Prone in his own square -- it is assumed that he rolls back there after flattening his opponent (do not make an Armour roll for him as he has been cushioned by the other player!). Piling On does not cause a turnover unless the Piling On player is carrying the ball. Piling On cannot be used with the Stab or Chainsaw skills.
Loner (Extraordinary)
Loners, through inexperience, arrogance, animal ferocity or just plain stupidity, do not work well with the rest of the team. As a result, a Loner may use team re-rolls but has to roll a D6 first. On a roll of 4+, he may use the team re-roll as normal. On a roll of 1-3 the original result stands without being re-rolled but the team re-roll is lost (i.e. used).
Pro (General)
A player with this skill is a hardened veteran. Such players are called professionals or Pros by other Blood Bowl players because they rarely make a mistake. Once per turn, a Pro is allowed to re-roll any one dice roll he has made other than Armour, Injury or Casualty, even if he is Prone or Stunned. However, before the re-roll may be made, his coach must roll a D6. On a roll of 4, 5 or 6 the re-roll may be made. On a roll of 1, 2 or 3 the original result stands and may not be re-rolled with a skill or team re-roll; however you can re-roll the Pro roll with a Team re-roll.
No Hands (Extraordinary)
The player is unable to pick up, intercept or carry the ball and will fail any catch roll automatically, either because he literally has no hands or because his hands are full. If he attempts to pick up the ball then it will bounce, and will causes a turnover if it is his teams turn.
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Sprint (Agility)
The player may attempt to move up to three extra squares rather than the normal two when Going For It (see page 20). His coach must still roll to see if the player is Knocked Down in each extra square he enters.
Stab (Extraordinary)
A player with this skill is armed with something very good at stabbing, slashing or hacking up an opponent, like sharp fangs or a trusty dagger. This player may attack an opponent with their stabbing attack instead of throwing a block at them. Make an unmodified Armour roll for the victim. If the score is less than or equal to the victims Armour value then the attack has no effect. If the score beats the victims Armour value then they have been wounded and an unmodified Injury roll must be made. If Stab is used as part of a Blitz Action, the player cannot continue moving after using it. Casualties caused by a stabbing attack do not count for Star Player points.
Stakes (Extraordinary)
This player is armed with special stakes that are blessed to cause extra damage to the Undead and those that work with them. This player may add 1 to the Armour roll when they make a Stab attack against any player playing for a Khemri, Necromantic, Undead or Vampire team.
Shadowing (General)
The player may use this skill when a player performing an Action on the opposing team moves out of any of his tackle zones for any reason. Each coach rolls a D6 and adds their own players movement allowance to the score. If the shadowing players coach manages to equal or beat the other coachs score, then he may move his player into the square vacated by the opposing player. He does not have to make any Dodge rolls when he makes this move, and it has no effect on his own movement in his own turn. If the Shadowing players coach rolls less than the other coachs score then his player is left standing. A player may make any number of shadowing moves per turn. If a player has left the tackle zone of several players that have the Shadowing skill, then only one of the opposing players may attempt to shadow him.
Stunty (Extraordinary)
The player is so small that they are very difficult to tackle because they can duck underneath opposing players outstretched arms and run between their legs. On the other hand, Stunty players are just a bit too small to throw the ball very well, and are easily injured. To represent these things a player with the Stunty skill may ignore any enemy tackle zones on the square he is moving to when he makes a Dodge roll (i.e., they always end up with a +1 Dodge roll modifier), but must subtract 1 from the roll when they pass. In addition, add 1 to any Injury roll made against a player with the Stunty skill. Stunties that are armed with a Secret Weapon are not allowed to ignore enemy tackle zones, but still suffer the other penalties.
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Wrestle (General)
The player is specially trained in grappling techniques. This player may use Wrestle when he blocks or is blocked and a Both Down result on the Block dice is chosen by either coach. Instead of applying the 'Both Down' result, both players are wrestled to the ground. Both players are Placed Prone in their respective squares even if one or both have the Block skill. Do not make Armour rolls for either player. Use of this skill does not cause a turnover unless the active player was holding the ball.
Tentacles (Mutation)
The player may attempt to use this skill when an opposing player attempts to dodge or leap out of any of his tackle zones. Each coach rolls a D6 and adds their players ST value to the score. The opposing player adds 1 to his result. If the result for the tentacled player is higher than the final result of the moving player, then the moving player is held firm, and his action ends immediately. If a player attempts to leave the tackle zone of several players that have the Tentacles ability, then only one of the opposing players may attempt to grab him with the tentacles.
SKILL CATEGORIES
GENERAL
Block Dauntless Dirty Player Fend Frenzy Kick Kick-Off Return Accurate Dump-Off Hail Mary Pass Leader Pass Block Pro Shadowing Strip Ball Sure Hands Tackle Wrestle Nerves of Steel Pass Safe Throw Catch Diving Catch Diving Tackle Dodge Jump Up
AGILITY
Leap Side Step Sneaky Git Sprint Sure Feet
PASSING
STRENGTH
Break Tackle Grab Guard Juggernaut Mighty Blow Multiple Block Piling On Stand Firm Strong Arm Thick Skull Tentacles Two Heads Very Long Legs
MUTATION
Big Hand Claw / Claws Disturbing Presence Extra Arms Always Hungry Ball & Chain Blood Lust Bombardier Bone-head Chainsaw Decay Fan Favourite Foul Appearance Horns Prehensile Tail
Titchy (Extraordinary)
Titchy players tend to be even smaller and more nimble than other Stunty players. To represent this, the player may add 1 to any Dodge roll he attempts. On the other hand, while opponents do have to dodge to leave any of a Titchy players tackle zones, Titchy players are so small that they do not exert a -1 modifier when opponents dodge into any of their tackle zones.
EXTRAORDINARY
Hypnotic Gaze Loner No Hands Nurgle's Rot Really Stupid Regeneration Right Stuff Secret Weapon Stab Stakes Stunty Take Root Throw Team-Mate Titchy Wild Animal
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INDUCEMENT DESCRIPTIONS
0-2 Bloodweiser Babes: You purchase a keg of extra-special Bloodweiser magic ale for 50,000 gold pieces, and get a lovely lady to serve players before going out for each drive. The combination of the ale and the young lady serving it means that for each purchase of this inducement, players on the team gain a +1 modifier to recover from KOd for this match. 0-3 Bribes: Each bribe costs 100,000 gold pieces and allows you to attempt to ignore one call by the referee for a player who has committed a foul to be sent off, or a player armed with a secret weapon to be banned from the match. Roll a D6: on a roll of 2-6 the bribe is effective (preventing a turnover if the player was ejected for fouling), but on a roll of 1 the bribe is wasted and the call still stands! Each bribe may be used once per match. 0-4 Extra Team Training: Each extra team training session costs 100,000 gold pieces and allows the team to take one extra Team re-roll that may be used for this match only. 0-1 Halfling Master Chef: Halfling teams may hire a Halfling Master Chef for 100,000 gold pieces; any other team can hire the Chef for 300,000 gold pieces. Roll 3D6 at the start of each half to see what effect the chefs cooking has on the team. For each dice that rolls 4 or more, the team is so inspired that they gain a Team Re-roll, and in addition the opposing team is so distracted by the fantastic cooking smells emanating from their opponents dug-out that they lose a Team Re-roll (but only if they have any left to lose). 0-1 Igor: Any team that cannot purchase a permanent Apothecary can hire an Igor for 100,000 gold pieces to assist the team. An Igor is a master of needle and thread on rotting flesh, connecting hip bone to leg bone, rewrapping funeral wraps and so on. He can really get the boys shambling back to the pitch. An Igor may only be used once per a game to re-roll one failed Regeneration roll for a player. Unlimited Mercenaries: For every player safely employed by a team there are dozens of freelance players who play just one game with a team and then move on. These are the stars who didn't quite make it and the cast offs from teams that went bankrupt. A Mercenary costs 30,000 more than an ordinary player of his position. For example, a Mercenary Human lineman would cost 80,000 gold pieces to hire for a match. The normal limits on the total number of players allowed in a team and in each position do apply to Mercenaries (so they aren't truly unlimited). However, players that are missing the game due to injury do not count towards the number of players on the team, so you can use Mercenaries to replace players that are missing a game if you wish. All Mercenaries have the Loner skill as they are unused to playing with the rest of the team. In addition you may choose to give a Mercenary one additional skill selected from those available to a player of that position on a Normal roll, at an additional cost of 50,000 gold pieces. For example, a Mercenary Human lineman could be given Tackle if desired for a total cost of 130,000 gold pieces to hire for a match. Mercenaries cannot earn Star Player points other than the MVP for the game. Mercenaries can never gain new skills. 0-2 Star Players: Star Players are the heroes of the Blood Bowl arena, the most resourceful and talented players in the sport. Each Star Player has his own set of special skills and each is an individual, standing out from the rest of the players in the league by virtue of the unique set of skills and talents that they possess (see the back cover for Star Player stats and skills). Star players act as free agents playing single matches for any team that can afford their high fees (and that they are willing to assist in the first place), and then moving on to play for another team. You may hire up to two Star Players that are allowed to play for your team. Unless your league commissioner decides otherwise, deaths and serious injuries inflicted on Star Players are waived after the match. Star Players may not take the number of players in the team to more than 16. However, players that are missing the game due to injury do not count towards the number of players on the team, so you can use Star Players to replace players that are missing a game if you wish. It is possible (though unlikely) for both teams to induce the same Star Player. If this happens then neither may use him and he keeps both sets of hiring fees! Star Players can never earn Star Player points other than the MVP for the game. Star Player can never gain new skills. Finally purchased/induced Apothecaries or an Igor may not be used on Star Players ever. Star Players employ their own personal trainers and apothecaries who travel with them to heal them from almost any injury (including death) and to get in shape for their next match and will not use your team's amateur physicians. 0-2 Wandering Apothecaries: Any team may hire a Wandering Apothecary or two to help your team during the match for 100,000 gold pieces each if your team can normally purchase a permanent Apothecary. Often these Apothecaries are powerful priests of the local deity. While they would never allow themselves to be a permanent part of a heathen Blood Bowl team, they have been known to assist for a single match for a generous donation to their faith. The rules for Wandering Apothecaries are identical to the rules for purchased Apothecaries on page 17. Only one Apothecary may be used to re-roll each Casualty roll.
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0-1 Wizard: You may hire a Wizard to help your team during the match for 150,000 gold pieces. The rules for Wizards follow on this page.
WIZARDS
Wizards, just like everybody else in the Old World, are keen sports fans and many are fanatically loyal in support of their chosen team. It is not surprising then that soon after the game was born, Wizards started helping out the team they supported with carefully selected spells. Soon games were awash with magic as rival Wizards battled to give their team the edge. In the end the Colleges of Magic were forced to insist that only teams that had bought a special license from the Colleges of Magic were allowed to have magical assistance. They limited this assistance to one spell per match, and even this had to be chosen from a very limited selection and cast by an officially appointed Colleges of Magic team Wizard. Wizards and fans alike soon realised that they really wanted to see a proper Blood Bowl match rather than a spellcasting contest, so the new rules were soon universally accepted. Any team is allowed to hire a Wizard for a match, as long as they can afford the whopping licensing fee charged by the College of Magic concerned. No team may hire more than one Wizard per match. Wizards can be represented in games with one of the Wizard models from the range of Citadel miniatures for Warhammer. This isnt strictly necessary, but looks a lot better than representing a Wizard with a bottle top or tiddlywink!
Once per game, the Wizard is allowed to cast either a fireball spell or a lightning bolt spell. Wizards may only cast spells at the start of their own turn before any player performs an Action OR immediately after their own team's turn has ended even if it ended with a turnover. Fireball: Choose a target square anywhere on the pitch. Roll one dice to hit each standing player (from either team) that is either in the target square or a square adjacent to it. If the 'to hit' roll is a 4 or more then the target is Knocked Down. If it is a 3 or less he manages to dodge the fireballs blast. Make an Armour roll (and possible Injury as well) for any player that is Knocked Down as if they had been Knocked Down by a player with the Mighty Blow skill. If a player on the moving team is Knocked Down by a fireball, then the moving team does not suffer a turnover unless the player was carrying the ball at the time. Lightning Bolt: Pick a standing player anywhere on the pitch, and roll one dice. If the score is a 2 or higher, then he has been hit by the lightning bolt. If the roll is a 1 then he manages to dodge out of the way. A player hit by a lightning bolt is Knocked Down and must make an Armour roll (and possible Injury as well) as if hit by a player with the Mighty Blow skill. Did you know...
Wizards are not always able to cast spells safely from the sidelines. In 2501, an Albion league started a 2nd division that prohibited spellcasting from off the pitch. This meant that Wizards had to take the pitch as onpitch spellcasters. Many fans travel to games in this division of the Midgard Blood Bowl League to see just how well Wizards stand up when a raving Blood Bowl star is screaming down the pitch at them. The sights and sounds of frying bolts of lightning and sizzling fireballs followed by the snapping of a Wizards spine like a twig have delighted fans of all ages so much that the commissioner of the league has no plans to overturn the ruling despite several petitions from the Colleges of Magic to do so.
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TEAM ROSTERS
The following seven pages list the 21 official races for the game. Qty indicates the number of that position that you may have on your team. Double indicates the additional skill categories to those in the Normal column available to choose a skill from on a double skill roll (see pages 26 and 27). For the Normal and Double column, G = General skills, A = Agility skills, S = Strength skills, P = Passing skills, and M = Mutation skills.
AMAZON TEAMS
Long ago, driven by a desire for adventure, the Valkyries of the Norse settlement in Lustria sailed away from their men-folk and founded a colony deep within the estuary of the river Amaxon. Now these ferocious warriors have taken to the Blood Bowl pitch and Nuffle save those who dare play against them!
AG 3 3 3 3
0-8 Re-roll counters: 50,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Helmut Wulf, Morg n Thorg, Zara the Slayer
CHAOS TEAMS
Chaos teams are not noted for the subtlety or originality of their game play. A simple drive up the centre of the pitch, maiming and injuring as many opposing players as possible, is about the limit of their game plan. They rarely, if ever, worry about such minor considerations like picking up the ball and scoring touchdowns not while there are any players left alive on the opposing team, anyway.
AG 3 3 2
AV Skills Normal Double Horns 8 GSM AP 9 None GSM AP 8 Loner, Frenzy, Horns, Mighty SM GAP
Blow, Thick Skull, Wild Animal
0-8 Re-roll counters: 60,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Brick Farth & Grotty, Grashnak Blackhoof, Lord Borak the Despoiler, Max Spleenripper, Morg n Thorg, Ripper
Qty Title 0-16 Hobgoblins 0-6 Chaos Dwarf Blockers 0-2 Bull Centaurs 0-1 Minotaur
Cost MA ST AG AV Skills 40,000 6 3 3 7 None 70,000 4 3 2 9 Block, Tackle, Thick Skull 130,000 150,000 6 5 4 5 2 2 9 8
Sprint, Sure Feet, Thick Skull Loner, Frenzy, Horns, Mighty Blow, Thick Skull, Wild Animal
0-8 Re-roll counters: 70,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Grashnak Blackhoof, Hthark the Unstoppable, Morg n Thorg, Nobbla Blackwart, Rashnak Backstabber, Zzharg Madeye
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AG 4 4 4 4 4
0-8 Re-roll counters: 50,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Eldril Sidewinder, Hubris Rakarth, Horkon Heartripper, Morg n Thorg
DWARF TEAMS
Dwarfs seem to be ideal Blood Bowl players, being compact, tough, well-armoured and having a stubborn knack of refusing to die! Most successful Dwarf teams work to the principle that if they can take out all the other teams potential scorers, and wear down the rest, then there wont be anybody left to stop them scoring the winning touchdowns!
AG 2 3 3 2
AV Skills 9 Block, Tackle, Thick Skull 8 Sure Hands, Thick Skull 9 Block, Thick Skull 8 Block, Dauntless, Frenzy,
1 10
Thick Skull Break Tackle, Dirty Player, Juggernaut, Mighty Blow, No Hands, Secret Weapon, Stand Firm
0-8 Re-roll counters: 40,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Barik Farblast, Boomer Eziasson, Flint Churnblade, Grim Ironjaw, Morg n Thorg, Zara the Slayer
ELF TEAMS
When the NAF collapsed, many Elven teams were left penniless. Those teams that have survived the fallout are not as rich as the High Elf teams nor as well equipped, but they sure know how to play the game. Sporting facemasks and mohawks, they take to the pitch to relive the glory days they once played in.
AG 4 4 4 4
0-8 Re-roll counters: 50,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Eldril Sidewinder, Hubris Rakarth, Jordell Freshbreeze, Morg n Thorg, Prince Moranion
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BLOOD BOWL
GOBLIN TEAMS
A Goblin teams game plan owes much more to hope than potential. Goblins can make quite good catchers because they are small and agile, but the art of throwing is sadly lost to them, while the chances of their blocking anything larger than a Halfling are remote to say the least. Still, this never seems to bother Goblin players, and occasionally the use of a particularly devious secret weapon will even allow a Goblin team to win a match.
Qty Title 0-16 Goblins 0-1 Bombardier 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-2 Pogoer Looney Fanatic Trolls
Cost MA ST AG AV Skills 40,000 6 2 3 7 Dodge, Right Stuff, Stunty 40,000 6 2 3 7 Bombardier, Dodge, No 40,000 40,000 70,000 110,000 7 6 3 4 2 2 7 5 3 3 3 1 7 7 7 9
Hands, Secret Weapon, Stunty Dirty Player, Dodge, Leap, Secret Weapon, Stunty, Very Long Legs Chainsaw, No Hands, Secret Weapon, Stunty Ball & Chain, No Hands, Secret Weapon, Stunty Loner, Always Hungry, Mighty Blow, Really Stupid, Regeneration, Throw Team-Mate
0-8 Re-roll counters: 60,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Bomber Dribblesnot, Fungus the Loon, Morg n Thorg, Nobbla Blackwart, Ripper, Scrappa Sorehead
HALFLING TEAMS
The technical deficiency of Halfling teams is legendary. Theyre too short to throw or catch, they run at half pace, and the whole team can spend all afternoon trying to block an Ogre without any chance of success. Most Halfling coaches try to make up for quality with quantity. After all, if you can get half a dozen players in the opposing teams End Zone and, by some miracle, manage to end up with the ball, then there is a small chance that one or two of them wont be jelly by the time you throw the thing.
Cost MA ST AG AV Skills 30,000 5 2 3 6 Dodge, Right Stuff, Stunty 120,000 2 6 1 10 Loner, Mighty Blow, Stand
0-8 Re-roll counters: 60,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Deeproot Strongbranch, Morg n Thorg, Puggy Baconbreath
AG 4 4 4 4
0-8 Re-roll counters: 50,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Eldril Sidewinder, Morg n Thorg, Prince Moranion
74
BLOOD BOWL
HUMAN TEAMS
Although Human teams do not have the individual strengths or outstanding abilities available to other races, they do not suffer from any outstanding weakness either. This makes Human teams extremely flexible, equally at home running the ball, passing it, or ignoring it and pounding the opposition into the turf instead!
AG 3 3 3 3 2
AV Skills 8 None 7 Catch, Dodge 8 Sure Hands, Pass 8 Block 9 Loner, Bone-head, Mighty
0-8 Re-roll counters: 50,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Griff Oberwald, Helmut Wulf, Mighty Zug, Morg n Thorg, Puggy Baconbreath, Zara the Slayer
KHEMRI TEAMS
Over 8,000 years ago, the Khemri played the first games of Blood Bowl against the Slann. But, as the Kingdom died off, so did the game until its rediscovery. And as the game returned, it was inevitable that the ancient players and stars of the Khemri would return to the pitch they once played on.
Cost MA ST AG AV Skills 30,000 5 3 2 7 Regeneration 70,000 6 3 2 7 Pass, Regeneration, Sure 90,000 110,000 6 3 3 5 2 1 8 9
0-8 Re-roll counters: 70,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Hack Enslash, Ramtut III, Setekh
LIZARDMAN TEAMS
The Mage-Priests foretold the game of Blood Bowl thousands of years before it was discovered by the Dwarf Roze-El. So it is no surprise that the Lizardmen play Blood Bowl. Providing an odd blend of dexterity and strength, the Lustrian team can almost last the distance against a power team such as Chaos, while remaining able to pull off the running plays of the Skaven.
AG 3 1 1
0-8 Re-roll counters: 60,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Helmut Wulf, Hemlock, Morg n Thorg, Slibli
75
BLOOD BOWL
NECROMANTIC TEAMS
The damned and the cursed do not always lurk in the forests or in the graveyards of the Old World. Sometimes they come together, forming a group to hunt those more fortunate of souls. Finding relief in crazed outbursts of terrible violence, these groups do the best they can to ease their suffering - they pop off for a nice game of Blood Bowl.
Title
Zombies
AG 2 3 3 2 3
0-8 Re-roll counters: 70,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Count Luthor von Drakenborg, Hack Enslash, Ramtut III, Setekh, Wilhelm Chaney
NORSE TEAMS
Norse teams have a well deserved reputation for ferocity both on and off the playing pitch. The Norse that takes up Blood Bowl is a truly unedifying specimen, interested only in beer, women and song off the playing pitch, and beer, women and bloody carnage while on it!
AG 3 3 3 3 2 1
AV Skills 7 Block 7 Block, Pass 7 Block, Dauntless 7 Block, Frenzy, Jump Up 8 Frenzy 8 Loner, Claws, Disturbing
0-8 Re-roll counters: 60,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Boomer Eziasson, Helmut Wulf, Icepelt Hammerblow, Morg n Thorg, Wilhelm Chaney, Zara the Slayer
NURGLE TEAMS
Nurgle teams are a form of Chaos team whose players worship the god Nurgle. Nurgle is the Chaos god of corruption and disease, and he rewards his players by granting them a rather unpleasant disease known as Nurgles Rot. The fact that Nurgle teams smell awful is assumed rather than proven. True, they are all made up of semi decomposed flesh surrounded by swarms of flies, but by the time anyone gets close enough to get a really accurate whiff, he has inevitably caught one of Nurgles nasty diseases, and he usually dies before he can suggest a new personal hygiene regime.
Cost MA ST AG AV Skills 40,000 5 3 3 8 Decay, Nurgles Rot 80,000 6 3 3 8 Horns, Nurgles Rot, 110,000 140,000 4 4 4 5 2 1 9 9
Regeneration Disturbing Presence, Foul Appearance, Nurgles Rot, Regeneration Loner, Disturbing Presence, Foul Appearance, Mighty Blow, Nurgles Rot, Really Stupid, Regeneration, Tentacles
0-8 Re-roll counters: 70,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Brick Farth & Grotty, Grashnak Blackhoof, Lord Borak the Despoiler, Max Spleenripper, Morg n Thorg, Ripper
76
BLOOD BOWL
OGRE TEAMS
Ogre teams have existed since the forming of the NAF and have even had some success such as winning the XV Blood Bowl. However, as any right-minded person will tell you, having more than one Ogre in the same place at the same time is a disaster in the making. The key to an Ogre team is the Snotlings. If they are close enough to jab an Ogre in the leg to remind him that they are playing in a match then you may have the makings of a team.
Step, Stunty, Titchy Bone-head, Mighty Blow, Thick Skull, Throw TeamMate
0-8 Re-roll counters: 70,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Brick Farth & Grotty, Morg n Thorg, Nobbla Blackwart, Scrappa Sorehead
ORC TEAMS
Orcs have been playing Blood Bowl since the game was invented, and Orc teams such as the Gouged Eye and Severed Heads are amongst the best in the league. Orc teams are tough and hard-hitting, grinding down the oppositions line to create gaps for their excellent Orc Blitzers to exploit.
Cost MA ST AG AV Skills 50,000 5 3 3 9 None 40,000 6 2 3 7 Right Stuff, Dodge, Stunty 70,000 5 3 3 8 Sure Hands, Pass 80,000 4 4 2 9 None 80,000 110,000 6 4 3 5 3 1 9 9
Block Loner, Always Hungry, Mighty Blow, Really Stupid, Regeneration, Throw Team-Mate
0-8 Re-roll counters: 60,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Bomber Dribblesnot, Morg n Thorg, Ripper, Scrappa Sorehead, Ugroth Bolgrot, Varag Ghoul-Chewer
SKAVEN TEAMS
They may not be all that strong, they certainly arent tough, but boy oh boy are Skaven fast! Many an opponent has been left in the starting blocks as fast-moving Skaven players scamper through a gap in the line and run in for a lightning fast touchdown.
AG 3 3 4 3 2
AV Skills Normal Double 7 None G ASPM 7 Pass, Sure Hands GP ASM 7 Dodge GA SPM 8 Block GS APM 8 Loner, Frenzy, Mighty Blow, S GAPM
Prehensile Tail, Wild Animal
0-8 Re-roll counters: 60,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Hakflem Skuttlespike, Headsplitter, Morg n Thorg, Skitter Stab-Stab
77
BLOOD BOWL
UNDEAD TEAMS
In the Old World the dead do not rest easy. Vampires lurk in haunted castles, Necromancers seek to escape death by searching for forbidden knowledge, the Liche-lords rule over legions of corpses, and on the Blood Bowl field players who died long ago return to the scenes of their former glory and play Blood Bowl once again
AG 2 2 3 3 1
0-8 Re-roll counters: 70,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Count Luthor von Drakenborg, Hack Enslash, Ramtut III, Setekh
VAMPIRE TEAMS
Although Vampire teams include a number of extremely capable players, they are let down by the unreliability of the Vampires. While they should be concentrating on the game, their attention often wanders to their hunger and before you know it they are off for a quick bite!
0-8 Re-roll counters: 70,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Count Luthor von Drakenborg, Helmut Wulf, Thorg, Wilhelm Chaney
AG 4 4 4 4 1
AV Skills 7 None 7 Catch, Dodge 7 Pass 7 Block, Dodge, Leap 10 Loner, Mighty Blow, Stand
0-8 Re-roll counters: 50,000 gold pieces each Star Players available for Inducement: Eldril Sidewinder, Jordell Freshbreeze, Morg n Thorg
Designer's Note: Some of the above 21 teams are more challenging than the others to play either because of their skills requiring advanced strategies to be effective or because they have difficulty winning. These teams have been designed this way on purpose to give challenges to coaches who master the basics of Blood Bowl. These more challenging teams are: Chaos, Dark Elf, Goblin, Halfling, Nurgle, Ogre and Vampire. Coaches should be aware that these are considered teams for more advanced players and can be confusing or difficult to use if you are new to the game.
78
BLOOD BOWL
79
BLOOD BOWL
DESIGNER'S NOTES
Blood Bowl has changed a lot from my original prototype of the game...
So began my designers notes for the first edition of Blood Bowl, printed waaay back in 1987. Little did I realize then that Blood Bowl would keep on changing and evolving over the years, becoming ever more exciting and playable thanks to the dozens of Blood Bowl coaches that have spoken or written to me with their comments and ideas. In many ways I feel that Blood Bowl is not my game any more, it has developed a life of its own over which I have very little control! So how has the game changed over the years? Well, the first edition combined elements of American Football with the Warhammer Fantasy Battle rules to provide a game that was fun, and very, very bloody! The second edition used a whole new set of rules mechanics specifically for the Blood Bowl game, but took quite a long time to play. The third edition, published in 1993, introduced new rules that streamlined play and made for a much more exciting game. The version you are now reading is the PBBL (Perpetual Blood Bowl League) edition, and for once the core game rules have pretty much stayed the same; the main changes are to the way that the rules for running leagues, and any other changes merely fine-tune rd the rules from the 3 edition of the game. When I started work on the 3rd edition what I wanted to do was find some way to stop the wars of attrition that had slowed down the earlier versions of the game, while at the same time making the game mechanics quite simple so that the game would play as quickly as possible. The Turnover rule was probably the single most important change to the game, and almost on its own it changed the whole feel and pace of the game. It means that every single dice roll is exciting, and that even the very best laid plans can go wrong as I have found out to my own cost more than a few times! The other area that I wanted to look at in the 3rd edition was the rules for setting up and running a league. In previous editions of the game, the league rules were added almost as an afterthought, and it is surprising that they worked as well as they did. For the 3rd edition I wanted to make sure that the rules for setting up and running a league worked every bit as well as the board game rules themselves. To a large extent we succeeded, but with one important exception that I will tell you more about below. The single most important thing I needed to sort out with the league rules was the problem of the part-time coach. Anybody who has played in a Blood Bowl league before will understand this problem. When the league starts up you get loads of enthusiastic coaches all clamouring to take part. After half a dozen games, however, quite a few of the coaches will have started missing games, or have dropped out of the league altogether, especially if their team isnt doing very well... The way that I tried to get round this problem was by creating an open league format. This places the emphasis on arranging matches and playing games firmly on the shoulders of the coaches themselves. In this way enthusiastic coaches can play as many games as they like, or rather, as many games as they can find opponents to play against. Meanwhile, less enthusiastic coaches can play fewer games, as and when they like. This system worked well in the 3 edition rules, with one very important exception: teams just kept getting better and better if they played matches, and if they played enough matches there was simply no way for a starting team to compete against them. This was not what I had intended to happen at all; the league rules were there to provide continuity between games, not to allow coaches to create super-teams that couldnt be beaten unless an opponent had racked up enough matches.
rd
This problem came about because the handicapping system Id built into rd the 3 edition rules didnt give enough help to the underdog. In the years rd following the release of 3 edition a number of increasingly complex patches were applied to the game rules to try and deal with the problem, but none of them really worked as well as I hoped, and they added a lot of complexity to the game. In the end I became frustrated with the whole thing and decided to go back to the drawing board and start again with a new handicap system. After a few wrong turns this resulted in an early version of the rules for Inducements that you will find in the new League rules, and the associated rules that increase the value of a player as they learn more skills. These two things are a lot simpler than what we had before, and make it much more straight-forward to balance a match between two teams of differing experience. They also mean that the Blood Bowl league rules have finally achieved the design goals I set for them back in 1993 (well, better late than never!) Id like to finish by thanking the people who really made this rulebook possible. First of all I must thank all the members of the Blood Bowl gaming community. Blood Bowl is blessed with a community of truly dedicated coaches, who have supported the game through thick and thin no matter what I or anyone else has tried to do with it. Sometimes vociferous, always passionate, Blood Bowl simply would not be around if it were not for the community of coaches that support it. You all have my gratitude and respect. The community is well served by a superb player-led organisation called The NAF. The NAF runs tournaments and provides a network that links together Blood Bowl Leagues all over the world. To put it simply, if you are a serious Blood Bowl Coach then you need to be a member of the NAF. Join up right now! (http://www.bloodbowl.net) Next on my thank-you list are the members of the Blood Bowl Rules Committee (BBRC). This small group of dedicated coaches having taken on the onerous responsibility of keeping this hare-brained game designer on the straight and narrow, making sure that my more scatty ideas dont see print while at the same time providing sage advice on the ideas that are worthwhile and making sure they work well. I simply couldnt have done it without them. Finally, I must single out one man without whom the PBBL edition rulebook simply would not have been finished. This man is the irrepressible Tom Anders (aka GalakStarscraper). Tom joined the BBRC when one of the founding members had to stand down. I knew little about Tom then, other than that he had a fearsome reputation for speaking his mind and arguing his corner. It was Toms luck to join the BBRC just when we were starting on the new rules for Inducements. Initially horrified by what he saw we knocked heads quite a few times in those early days! Tom went on to become their biggest contributor. When pressure of my other work meant that I no longer had time to finish the rules, Tom stepped up as my lead developer, turning the half-formed set of experimental rules I gave him into the polished document you now hold. In the process he sorted out problems with the wording of the rules, cleaned up and improved the skills section, and made sure that all of the teams in the game are as balanced and fun to play as it is possible to make them. And in all of this all he ever asked as recompense was an old, very battered, Blood Bowl helmet that Id had made as the trophy for a tournament. Truly he is a prince among men. But thats quite enough gushing. Wipe that tear from your eye, strap on your extra-sharp set of spikes, and get out on that pitch and win!
80
STAR PLAYERS
Name
Barik Farblast Skills Brick Farth & Grotty
BLOOD BOWL MA
6
Team/Skills
Dwarf Loner, Hail Mary Pass, Pass, Secret Weapon, Strong Arm, Sure Hands, Thick Skull Chaos, Nurgle, or Ogre (Note: you must have 2 slots open on your roster to induce this duo which counts only as one Star Player inducement) Loner, Bone-head, Mighty Blow, Nerves of Steel, Strong Arm, Thick Skull, Throw Team-Mate Loner, Dodge, Right Stuff, Stunty Goblin or Orc Loner, Accurate, Bombardier, Dodge, No Hands, Right Stuff, Secret Weapon, Stunty Dwarf or Norse Loner, Accurate, Block, Bombardier, No Hands, Secret Weapon, Thick Skull Necromantic, Undead, or Vampire Loner, Block, Dodge, Hypnotic Gaze, Regeneration Halfling Loner, Block, Mighty Blow, Stand Firm, Strong Arm, Thick Skull, Throw Team-Mate Dark Elf, Elf, High Elf or Wood Elf Loner, Catch, Dodge, Hypnotic Gaze, Nerves of Steel, Pass Block Dwarf Loner, Block, Chainsaw, No Hands, Secret Weapon, Thick Skull Goblin Loner, Ball & Chain, Mighty Blow, No Hands, Secret Weapon, Stunty Chaos, Chaos Dwarf, or Nurgle Loner, Frenzy, Horns, Mighty Blow, Thick Skull Human Loner, Block, Dodge, Fend, Sprint, Sure Feet Dwarf Loner, Block, Dauntless, Frenzy, Mighty Blow, Thick Skull Khemri, Necromantic or Undead Loner, Chainsaw, No Hands, Regeneration, Secret Weapon, Side Step Skaven Loner, Dodge, Extra Arms, Prehensile Tail, Two Heads Skaven Loner, Frenzy, Mighty Blow, Prehensile Tail Amazon, Human, Lizardman, Norse or Vampire Loner, Chainsaw, No Hands, Secret Weapon, Stand Firm Lizardman Loner, Block, Dodge, Side Step, Jump Up, Stab, Stunty Dark Elf Loner, Dodge, Leap, Multiple Block, Shadowing, Stab Chaos Dwarf Loner, Block, Break Tackle, Juggernaut, Sprint, Sure Feet, Thick Skull Dark Elf or Elf Loner, Block, Dirty Player, Jump Up, Mighty Blow, Strip Ball Norse Loner, Claws, Disturbing Presence, Frenzy, Mighty Blow, Regeneration Wood Elf or Elf Loner, Block, Diving Catch, Dodge, Leap, Side Step
Cost
60,000
ST
3
AG
3
AV
8
290,000
Grotty Skills Bomber Dribblesnot Skills Boomer Eziasson Skills Count Luthor Von Drakenborg Skills Deeproot Strongbranch Skills Eldril Sidewinder Skills Flint Churnblade Skills Fungus the Loon Skills Grashnak Blackhoof Skills Griff Oberwald Skills Grim Ironjaw Skills Hack Enslash Skills Hakflem Skuttlespike Skills Headsplitter Skills Helmut Wulf Skills Hemlock Skills Horkon Heartripper Skills Hthark the Unstoppable Skills Hubris Rakarth Skills Icepelt Hammerblow Skills Jordell Freshbreeze Skills
60,000
6 6
2 2
4 3
7 7
60,000
390,000
250,000
10
170,000
100,000
80,000
6 7 5
6 4 4
2 4 3
8 8 8
90,000
200,000
340,000 80,000
6 6
6 3
3 3
8 8
170,000
210,000
310,000
260,000
330,000
230,000
81
MA
5 5 4 6
ST
5 4 5 6
AG
3 3 2 3
AV
9 8 9 10
Setekh Skills Slibli Skills Skitter Stab-Stab Skills Ugroth Bolgrot Skills Varag Ghoul-Chewer Skills Wilhelm Chaney Skills Zara the Slayer Skills Zzharg Madeye Skills
Chaos or Nurgle Loner, Block, Dirty Player, Mighty Blow Chaos or Nurgle Loner, Chainsaw, No Hands, Secret Weapon Human Loner, Block, Mighty Blow Any team except Khemri, Necromantic, and Undead Loner, Block, Mighty Blow, Thick Skull, Throw Team-Mate Chaos Dwarf, Goblin, or Ogre Loner, Block, Dodge, Chainsaw, No Hands, Secret Weapon, Stunty Elf or High Elf Loner, Block, Dauntless, Tackle, Wrestle Halfling or Human Loner, Block, Dodge, Nerves of Steel, Right Stuff, Stunty Khemri, Necromantic or Undead Loner, Break Tackle, Mighty Blow, Regeneration, Wrestle Chaos Dwarf Loner, Dodge, Side Step, Sneaky Git, Stab Chaos, Goblin, Nurgle or Orc Loner, Grab, Mighty Blow, Regeneration, Throw Team-Mate Goblin, Ogre or Orc Loner, Dirty Player, Dodge, Leap, Right Stuff, Secret Weapon, Sprint, Stunty, Sure Feet, Very Long Legs Khemri, Necromantic or Undead Loner, Block, Break Tackle, Juggernaut, Regeneration, Strip Ball Lizardman Loner, Block, Grab, Guard, Stand Firm Skaven Loner, Dodge, Prehensile Tail, Shadowing, Stab Orc Loner, Chainsaw, No Hands, Secret Weapon Orc Loner, Block, Jump Up, Mighty Blow, Thick Skull Necromantic, Norse or Vampire Loner, Catch, Claws, Frenzy, Regeneration, Wrestle Amazon, Dwarf, Human or Norse Loner, Block, Dauntless, Dodge, Jump Up, Stab, Stakes Chaos Dwarf Loner, Hail Mary Pass, Pass, Secret Weapon, Strong Arm, Sure Hands, Tackle, Thick Skull
100,000
230,000 140,000
7 5
4 3
4 3
8 6
350,000
200,000 270,000
7 4
3 6
3 1
7 9
50,000
220,000
250,000 160,000
7 9
4 2
1 4
9 7
70,000 260,000
5 6
3 4
3 3
9 9
240,000
270,000
60,000
You will need a copy of the Blood Bowl boxed game to use the contents of this book. Games Workshop Ltd, Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK www.bloodbowl.com PRODUCT/COMPONENT CODE: 60310999010 ISBN: 1-84154-329-2
Games Workshop, Games Workshop logo, Blood Bowl, Death Zone, Fanatic and Fanatic Logo are trademarks of Games Workshop Ltd. The copyright in the contents of this product are the exclusive property of Games Workshop Ltd. 2006. All rights reserved.