NECROMUNDIAN BLOOD BALL

Material originally presented at: http://home.istar.ca/~dfmaki/necrobb.htm.

When I picked up my copy of Necromunda and flipped through the rules and source books, I couldn't help but ask myself, "Self, do Necromundians play Blood Bowl?" When talking it over with some friends, we determined probably not. If there was enough empty space in the Underhive for a Blood Bowl pitch, it would fill up rather quickly.

But still, the idea never left the back of my mind. Lately it has been pushing forward, sometimes at wierd times. Grocery shopping, shaving, sitting bolt up in the middle of the night, disturbing a sound night's sleep.....

Anyway, I decided to jot down all my ideas before I forget them. They are as yet untested, but I would like some comments.

Necromundian Blood Ball is played with the same mechanics as Blood Bowl, with respect to moving, blocking, passing ,etc. The following exceptions apply:

1. The pitch is half the size, divided along the boards "Line of Scrimmage". The former "side lines" become the new "end zones".

                  Home Defend/   Neutral     Away Defend/
                  Away Attack    Zone        Home Attack
                  Zone                       Zone
                      _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
                     :_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:
                     :_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:
                     :_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:
                     :_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:
              Goal   :_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:   Goal
                   |~:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:~|
                   `~:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:~'
                     :_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:  
                     :_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:
                     :_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:
                     :_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:_:_:_|_:_:_:_:
                     : : : : | : : : : : : | : : : :
                     :~:~:~:~|~:~:~:~:~:~:~|~:~:~:~:
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  Home Bench   Penalty Box   Away Bench
   

2. Teams have a 12 man roster, with 7 players on the pitch at any time.

3. Teams must set up between their end zone and their "wide out" line.

4. The ball is placed by the "kicking" team in any square along the middle row between the wide out lines. It will then scatter three times. The ball will not scatter Out Of Bounds on the spinoff, so reroll any results which would place the ball in the crowd. The "spinoff" is only used at the start of each quarter.

5. Hive crowds come better armed than their Old World counterparts. Hence, all injury rolls due to crowds are at +1.

6. The game is played in four quarters of eight turns.

7. The Ball

   The ball is self-propelling with a special sensor to detect when it is being held. When held the jets shut off. When unattended, the ball will scoot around the field under it's own power.

   The ball starts with an initial speed of three. Before the start of either player's turn, an unattend ball will gain a point of speed and move around the field a number of squares equal to its current speed. Use the scatter template and roll the d8 the appropriate number of times to move the ball. The ball will never scatter out of bounds under its own power.

   The ball has the following characteristics:

   MA: 3 +1 per turn unattended

   ST: =MA

   AV: 11

   AG: n/a

   Skills: None

   The ball never has to make a dodge roll when scooting.

   Move the ball (if necessary) before moving the turn counter.

   If the ball enters a square occupied by a player, it will throw a block on the player, with the following results:

   Attacker Down:

   Ball scatters one more square and stops dead. It has MA=0 for the rest of the turn. If the ball is left unattended until the start of the next player's turn, it will start again with MA=3.

   Both Down:

   The ball scatters one more square and stops dead The player is knocked down in his square, unless he has the skill Block. If the ball is left unattended until the start of the next player's turn, it will start again with MA=3.

   Push Back

   The ball pushes the player back and loses a point of MA. The ball continues scattering. The opposing coach decides where the player is pushed.

   Defender Down:

   The ball knocks the player down and back, losing a point of MA as above. The ball continues scattering. The opposing coach decides in which square the player ends up.

   A player voluntarily entering the ball's square must make a block on the ball with the following results:

   Attacker Down:

   The player is knocked down in the square and the ball scatters one square and will lose a point of MA.

   Both Down:

   A player without the skill Block is knocked down in the square and the ball scatters one square and stops. If the ball is left unattended until the start of the next player's turn, it will start again with MA=3.

   A player with block will see the ball drop to his feet with MA=0 for the rest of the turn. He may elect to pick up the ball or let it scatter one square. If the ball is left unattended until the start of the next player's turn, it will start again with MA=3.

   Push Back:

   The ball scatters one square and loses a point of MA.

   Defender Down:

   The ball stops dead at the attacker's feet with MA=0 for the rest of the turn. He may elect to pick up hte ball or let it scatter one square. If the ball is left unattended until the start of the next player's turn, it will start again with MA=3.

   Moving into the ball square does not count as the Blitz action for the turn. Getting knocked down by the ball will cause a turn over.

8. The Object

   The object is to score points by throwing or "dunking" the ball into the opposing team's Goal square.

   To throw at the goal, use the normal passing rules with the Goal as the receiver. Since the goal mouth is many times smaller than the average catcher, subtract 1 from the die roll. If the throw is accurate, a goal is awarded.

   A player adjacent to the Goal in possession of the ball may attempt to dunk the ball into the goal. This is done with a straight AG roll. Since it is tougher to Dunk while opposing players are clawing on your back, subtract 1 from the Dunk roll for each enemy tacklezone the player is in.

   If the shot or Dunk Roll fails, the ball will ricochet off of one of the posts. Roll a d6. On 1-3, the ball bounces off of the post furthest from the benches, on 4-6, it bounces off the post closest to the bench. It will scatter d6 squares using the "throw-in" template.

   If the throw or dunk is successful, a point is scored for the team. The ball will stop in the goal. The ball will stay in the goal until a member of the defending team moves into a square adjacent to the goal. At that point, the moving player makes a Catch roll to receive the hand off from the goal. Members of the team which just scored must move at least three squares from the goal. Failure to do so will result in a Minor Penalty being called against the team, which must be served by a player on the pitch at that time. A reroll may be used to prevent this penalty call, but all players must then be moved at least three squares out immediately, or face the risk of another penalty being called. See penalties below.

9. You may substitute players while the play is on going. A player who moves into the "bench" area for his team is taken off of the board. The coach may then place a different player in any square in the bench. This player is able to move up to half of his MA, plus two Go For Its on the turn he enters the pitch. A player who has left the pitch may not return until the start of his coach's next turn. If the coach's turn ends before a player has moved off of the bench, his opponent may chose an adjacent square in which to place the player. You may substitute more than one player per turn.

   If a player is removed from the pitch due to injury, his coach may bring a substitute onto the field at the beginning of his next turn.

10. If, when fouling, the fouler rolls doubles on either the Armour or Injury roll, he is assessed a minor penalty of d6 turns. If both the Armour _and_ the Injury roll come up doubles, the player is assessed a major penalty of 2d6 turns.

    The penalized player is placed in the penalty box. For the duration of the penalty, the penalized team must play with one less player on the pitch.

    A player already assessed a minor penalty in the game who incures another penalty, receives a major penalty, regardless of the results of the dice. A player who received a major penalty and incures another penalty, is ejected from the game. The team must still play short handed for the duration of the penalty. The penalty is served by another player who was on the pitch at the time of the call.

    When the player has served the turns required for his penalty, he may return to the pitch as if he were coming off of the bench in a substitution, except the player starts in the penalty box area instead of the bench.

SKILLS

Super Dunk:

Can dunk from 2 squares away, instead of being adjacent to the Goal.

Quick Change:

The player with this skill may take a full move when coming off of the bench in a substitution.

Shot Block:

Pass Block, but only for blocking shots. Blocking shots and passes require too different sets of skills, really.

Hurl Opponent:

Instead of making a block. Use block dice and rules for assists. On a >POW<, throw the defender d3 squares in any direction. Pick the direction before you roll distance. On a Push Back, the defender slips free. On an Attacker Down or Both Down, the attacker falls flat on his face, making an Armour and Injury roll. Block _does not_ help if he rolls Both Down, and the defender is untouched on a Both Down.

Sweet Touch:

May reroll a failed shot at the Goal.

Body Check:

Add +1 to players ST if he blitzes an opponent on sideline and makes no other actions (free or otherwise).

Sneaky Bastard:

When the player makes a successful block, add +2 to the Armour roll.

Cheap Shot:

When the player makes a successful block and penetrates his victim's armour, add +2 to the Injury Roll.

True Grit:

The player may ignore a KO result on a d6 roll of 4+. Also, after the player has been placed on the bench after being Badly Hurt, on a d6 roll of 4+ he may reduce the result to a KO. Roll at each kickoff to see it the Badly Hurt player shakes off the injury to KO status.

Killer Rep:

Before a player may assist in any block against a player with Killer Rep, he must roll 4+ on a d6.

Cat Fall:

A player with Cat Fall can often control his or her decent to the pitch. When the player with Cat Fall is knocked over due to a block, or falls over due to a failed dodge or go for it, roll a d6. On a 4+, the player is able to control his or her fall and no armour roll is required. On a 3 or less, the player crashes gracelessly to the field, making armour and injury rolls as normal.

The SpinOff Table

2	Hive Quake! Huge chunks of the roof fall onto the field. Roll a die for each model on the pitch, and in the dug out. On a "1", the player is hit with the fallen debris and is knocked down in his square. Roll for armour and injury.
3	Get The Ref!
4
5	Cheering Fans!
6	Rat! A Necromundan Rat has emerged from under the playing field. Scatter d3 times from where the ball is located; this is where the rat emerges (if in stands, no effect). The Rat moves after each team turn, by the scatter template, and blitzes or fouls any player in it's path. Stats: 4/2/4/7, Dodge, Razor Sharp Claws
7
8
9	Brilliant Coaching
10	Blitz
11	Thrown Squid! Each coach rolls 2d6 and adds Fan Factor. The fans of the team which won the roll have taken to throwing many tentacled creatures onto the pitch. A random player on the pitch from the other team is hit in the face and is placed face down, but no injury is rolled. This player must remain face down until he can score above 6 on a d6 roll added to his ST, at which point he will roll face up.
12	Pitch Invasion!

2	Frenzy! The ball no longer moves randomly! It will move towards the nearest player and attempt to lay him flat! If more than one player is the closest, roll randomly to determine which one he ball goes after.
3	Navigational Malfunction! The ball may no longer scatter along the diagonals, but may only freely move parallel to the sidelines or parallel to the to the endzones.
4	Jumpy! The ball is jumping around like a rat in an acid puddle. All attempts to pass, shoot, catch or pick up the ball are at -1.
5	Over Eager! The ball refuses to remain in the hands of any one player for too long. If, at the end of the turn, a player on the moving team holding the ball had the ball at the start of the turn, the ball rips free from his hands and scatters three squares.
6	Clank! The ball loses a point of AV as bits of it fall to the pitch.
7	Sputter! The ball loses a point of MA permanently, and now has a starting MA of 2 instead of 3.
8	Speed Burst! The ball gains +2 MA.
9
10
11	Hunter! The ball has a grudge against the player which injured it. The ball will refuse to be held by this player. At the beginning of each turn the ball is unattended, it will move towards the player, attempting to lay him flat. The ball will behave normally if the player who injured it is no longer on the pitch, until such a time as he returns.
12	Aerodynamic! By some fluke of engineering, the ball is actually improved by the jarring hit delivered to it! For the remainder of the game, a +1 modifer is applied for all attempts to pass or shoot the ball.

The Teams:

Orlock:
            MA ST AG AV  Skills             Updt Cost
0-1 Leader   6  3  4  8  Sweet Touch        GAP  80,000
0-8 Ganger   6  3  3  8  None               G    50,000
0-2 Heavy    5  4  3  8  Block, Sure Hands  GS   90,000
0-6 Juve     6  2  3  7  None               G*   30,000

Goliath:
            MA ST AG AV  Skills             Updt Cost
0-1 Leader   5  4  3  9  Hurl Opponent      GS   80,000
0-8 Ganger   5  3  3  9  None               G    50,000
0-2 Heavy    5  4  2  9  Block              GS   90,000
0-6 Juve     5  2  3  8  None               G*   30,000

Delaque:
            MA ST AG AV  Skills             Updt Cost
0-1 Leader   7  3  4  7  Sneaky Bastard     GA   80,000
0-8 Ganger   7  3  4  7  None               G    50,000
0-2 Heavy    7  3  4  7  Block              GS   90,000
0-6 Juve     7  2  3  7  None               G*   30,000

Van Saar:

Cawdor:
            MA ST AG AV  Skills             Updt Cost
0-1 Leader   6  3  3  8  True Grit          GA   80,000
0-8 Ganger   6  3  3  8  None               G    50,000
0-2 Heavy    6  3  3  8  Block              GS   90,000
0-6 Juve     5  2  3  8  None               G*   30,000


Esher:
            MA ST AG AV  Skills             Updt Cost
0-1 Leader   6  3  4  8  Cat Fall           GA   80,000
0-8 Ganger   6  3  3  8  None               G    50,000
0-2 Heavy    6  4  3  8  None               GS   90,000
0-6 Juve     6  2  3  8  None               G*   30,000