TAKE YOUR SEATS PLEASE!
House rules for Blood Bowl Stadiums
By Stuart Woods
Originally presented in Citadel Journal #21 and Blood Bowl Compendium #1
Copyright Games Workshop LTD 1997
Got a 16 man Blood Bowl squad? Four Star Players? Eight reroll counters? Wizard? Healer? Loads of Assistant Coaches and Cheerleaders? You have? You rich git!
But seriously, the time may come when you have literally nothing else to spend your gold crowns on. All the money is doing is pushing up your team rating. This can be bad news if it means your opponents are getting extra Dirty Trick cards.
How about making some ground improvements? It won’t bring down your team rating, but you may get a few benefits from it.
The following table shows you what’s available:
|
TYPE |
COST |
FAN FACTOR INCREASE* |
AVAILABLE TO |
UNAVAILABLE TO |
|
Stadium |
300,000 |
3 |
All others |
Goblins |
|
Grandstand |
200,000 |
2 |
All others |
Goblins |
|
Terracing |
150,000 |
1 |
All others |
Goblins, High Elves, Wood Elves |
|
Not-So-Grandstand |
100,000 |
0 |
Goblins |
All others |
*This Fan Factor increase is a ‘one-off’ permanent increase when you make your purchase.
You may purchase some Terracing for 150,000 then at a later date spend another 50,000 to convert into a Grandstand and so on. Your team’s Fan Factor will rise accordingly.
STADIUMS
If you own a Stadium and you are playing at home you may nominate one special home supporters end/side. This must be done before kick off.
If a home team player is knocked off the pitch into the nominated end/side, roll a D6 and consult the following table:
|
D6 |
EFFECT |
|
1-4 |
Injured as normal |
|
5-6 |
Pushed back onto pitch* |
*Because it’s a home team player the fans push the player back onto the pitch. Place the player prone on the square where he made his exit. If the opponent decided to follow-up he will be pushed back, but may choose which square (of those available) he is pushed back to. Do not make an armor or injury roll for the home team player.
If an away team player is knocked off the pitch into the nominated end/side, add +1 to the injury result (Any other modifiers apply as normal).
EXTRA REROLL COUNTER
At the beginning of each half the home teams coach rolls 2d6. On a roll of 9+, the home side receives an extra reroll counter for that half only. This is to represent the little ‘lift’ the home side gets from their cheering fans as the players run out to the tunnel and onto the pitch.
If the team already has eight reroll counters, they may take a ninth! On any one turn during the half the home side may use two reroll counters. They may either reroll one failed action twice or two failed actions once. To use a second reroll counter on a second failed action, the first reroll counter has to have worked, i.e. you must not have still suffered a turnover situation after using the first reroll counter.
In addition to the above, there are some special Stadium rules that affect certain races only. These are as follows:
UNDEAD STADIUMS
At the beginning of every home match, the Undead coach may roll a D6 for all four individual sides/ends of his team stadium. On a roll of 6 the away fans will not enter (or will leave very shortly after entering!) this part of the stadium as it is haunted! For every 6 rolled the away team will lose one quarter of their fans for this match.
If the away team has a Fan Factor of less than four then it will be reduced by 1 (for each 6 rolled), down to a minimum of 0! Any other fractions should be rounded up. Should the Undead coach be fortunate and roll four sixes then the away team will have no fans at the game whatsoever!
Ignore these rules if both sides are the Undead.
WOOD ELF STADIUMS
Wood Elf teams who own a Stadium have their Fan Factor increased by 1 for home matches. This is due to all the fans that are watching from the trees that overhang the Stadium!
DARK ELF AND NORSE STADIUMS
Visiting fans must roll a D6 at half time. If the result is a 6 they will leave the ground immediately. Why? Because it is too cold for them! The away teams Fan Factor will be zero for the rest of the match.
Ignore the above rule if away fans are Dark Elves or Norse.
SKAVEN STADIUMS
Visiting fans must roll a D6 at half time. If the result is a 6 they will cheer for the Skaven team for the remainder of the match, because the hot dogs they ate at half time contained traces of Warpstone! The Skaven coach may add his opponents Fan Factor score to his own for the rest of the game. The away teams Fan Factor will be zero until the next match.
Ignore these rules if both sides are Skaven.
GRANDSTANDS
Apart from increasing a team's Fan Factor by 2, the only other bonus gained from owning a Grandstand is the ‘Extra Reroll Counter’ rule as described earlier. However, the home sides coach needs to roll 10+ on 2D6 to gain this benefit.
TERRACING
The Terraces tend to attract the roughest yobbo supporters you can imagine. Nominate one end/side before kick off. If any away team players are knocked off the pitch into the nominated area, add +1 to the injury result.
FOUL!
If a home team player is sent off for committing a foul, roll one D6:
|
D6 |
RESULT |
|
1-4 |
Sent off as normal |
|
5-6 |
Let off with a caution* |
*On a roll of 5 or 6 the Ref is intimidated by the yobbo fans and will not send the player off. You may also argue the decision with you Head Coach as normal. Therefore allowing the home side two attempts at keeping their player on the pitch.
NOT-SO-GRANDSTAND
These are the pathetic attempts by shoddy Goblin workmen to build some sort of a Stadium. (Right, that’s it! A duel at dawn you cad! Swords or Pistols? Yes, you can have swords. I’ll take pistols then… - Ed.) The following special rules apply:
HIGH ELVES
Snobby High Elf supporters will refuse to enter a ‘Not-So-Grandstand’: (In fact they won’t sit on any seat unless it has a velvet cushion!) This means High Elf teams have a Fan Factor of zero whilst playing at such venues.
‘ANDY HAND WEAPON
If there is a pitch invasion add +1 to all injury rolls. Because of poor workmanship, the invading fans are able to ‘yank off’ a lump of wood before running on to the pitch, giving them something with which to smash over the unfortunate players skulls!
TIMBER-R-R-R
Excited fans that jump up and down may cause a Not-So-Grandstand to collapse, possibly killing unfortunate fans. The more touchdowns there are per game, the more likely the stand will collapse. Roll 2D6 after the second TD and consult the following table:
|
TD'S |
2D6 |
EFFECT |
|
1 |
- |
No effect |
|
2 |
11+ |
Collapse |
|
3 |
10+ |
Collapse |
|
4 |
9+ |
Collapse |
|
5 |
8+ |
Collapse |
|
6+ |
7+ |
Collapse |
COLLAPSE
If there is a ‘Collapse’ result, roll 2D6 and consult the following table:
|
2D6 |
EFFECT |
|
2-7 |
Home fans killed -1 Fan Factor (permanent) |
|
8-12 |
Away fans killed -1 Fan Factor (permanent) |
If there are 2 or more stand ‘collapses’ during one match it will cost the Goblin Head Coach 40,000 Gold Crowns to pay for repairs (5,000 for parts and 35,000 for labor!). Special Rules for a ‘Not-So-Grandstand’ will not apply until this money is paid!
EXTRA FANS
During the course of a home match, thousands of Snotlings will squeeze into the stands to cheer on their local side. Goblin teams may add +2* to any Fan Factor result on the kick off table.
*This should not be written onto your team sheet, as this is not a permanent increase.
Also, do not alter the size of the ‘Gate’ when working out match winnings. The Snotlings are so tiny they’ve managed to sneak in without paying!