DEATHBOWL

THE BLOODIEST BOWL OF ALL!

By John Bridegroom

Originally presented in Citadel Journal #31 and Blood Bowl Compendium #3

Copyright Games Workshop Ltd. 2000

 

That which does not kill us makes us stronger! Isn’t that what it’s all about? You’ve been around, played the baddest of the bad and left their corpses on the pitch, countless victories, and trophy after trophy, but where do you go from there? Even with your record the other teams in your league are still talking trash! How can you prove once and for all that your team is the unstoppable, frenzied force of destruction you say it is? The answer lays in the underground circles, my friend. Where fans go to wager tons of gold and teams come for blood. Here, there’s no referee and only the strongest can survive. Where the game itself becomes a test of will with no leagues and no relief. Where the most important game of your team’s career (or its last!) will be played. Step through the gates if you dare, this is the Death Bowl!

Death Bowl

Death Bowl is played on a specially designed pitch (shown below) with four teams. The teams line up on or behind the heavy black lines with at least three players on the line. There is no kick off as the ball is placed in one of the four center squares (chosen randomly). The end zones are marked in gray. To score you must get a standing model with the ball into the end zone directly across from you own. Roll a D6 to see whom goes first and continue clockwise from there. It’s a mad rush for the ball and Nuffle help the poor creature that gets it!

Team Rating

Only teams with a Team Rating of 250 or more may participate in a Death Bowl. Anything less and the bodies crowd the pitch too quickly!

Assisting a Block

Once a player declares a block, and only after he declares it, any opposing players in a position to assist may do so if they want to. (All’s fair in love and Blood Bowl!)

Cards

Each team gets one Dirty Trick. No other cards are used in the Death Bowl.

Gate

Each team rolls for the gate as normal. Then all four rolls are added together for the final total.

Healing

No apothecaries, healing scrolls or regeneration are allowed in a Death Bowl. "Who needs all that pansy elf-crap, just don’t die in the first place!" – coach for the 2493 Death Bowl champions.

Referees

There are no referees in the Old World crazy enough to set foot in a Death Bowl. The only referee to ever step into a Death Bowl was killed by the fans before the first play! No penalties are ever called (except illegal procedures).

Winners

The winner of the Death Bowl receives 300,000gps plus the gate in gold, as well as the reward of being able to say "Hey, I won a Death Bowl!" and watch all the other teams in the league run and cower in their dugout!

Fan Factor

All teams get a permanent +1 to their Fan Factor in addition to the normal roll.

Losers and Ties

Losers receive the gate in gold and must roll on the following table. If the game ends in a four-way tie, all teams must roll on this table. (Hey, next time win!)

 

We liked this article so much, especially because of the amount of work that John had put into it. Not only had he submitted it on disc, but he also scanned in his logo and sent us cromalins of the Quark Express pages as well!

If only more of you could do this then we could spend our afternoons down at the pub! – Ed.