Subject:  [BBOWL-L]   P: Big Guy Rules, part 1 (long)

BLOOD BOWL BIG GUYS

These rules are designed to sort out some of the problems with the way that
Big Guys (Ogres, Trolls, Rat Ogres, etc,.) work in Blood Bowl. The current
rules are OK as far as they go, but putting Big Guys on star player cards
was a fudge really, and over time I've become less than happy with using
the Star Player cards as a method of getting Big Guys into the game. After
all, according to the background you can have entire teams of Big Guys (the
Oldheim Ogres being the most notable example), and I now feel that they
should really be treated as races in their own right, with a team list just
like the other races get, and that they should be incorporated into other
teams using something like the mixed race team rules that appeared in the
Citadel Journal. This would leave the Star Player cards to represent unique
one-off Star Players.

Linked to the above is one _very_ important question (to me, at least),
which is: Why, in the background, have teams of Big Guys always done so
badly? After all, no team I can think of could take on even 11 Morg's (let
alone 16!), but the Oldheim Ogres aren't one of the really great teams,
while the Craggen Counts (a team of _Vampires_!) was "systematically put
out its misery by its fans". How could these things happen when Star
Players of these races are so good?

The answer is, I think, that Star Players like Morg and Count Luthor Von
Drakenborg are truly exceptional players that lack a highly debilitating
quirk or failing found in all other players of that race. Therefore, when
writing up non-star player Big Guys, they should be given a really bad
_negative_ skill which crocks them enough to make taking a whole team of
them as attractive as taking a team of Snotlings.

But enough 'why', lets get on to 'how'! The following rules are very rough
at the moment, more of a discussion document than anything else. They are,
of course, strictly optional, and should not be used without an opponent's
consent.

STAR PLAYERS

When using the Big Guy rules, you are only allowed to include _one_ of each
Star Player in your team. You couldn't have more than one Morg, for
example, let alone four Count Luthor Von Drakenborgs! On the other hand
there is no upper limit on the total number of Star Players allowed in the
team, just so long as they are all different. In addition, ignore the bit
on the card which tells you which teams the Star Player will play for; this
is replaced by the new mixed race team rules below.

MIXED RACE TEAMS

These rules replace the Mixed race Teams from the Journal. All teams now
have a list of allied races, as shown on the table below. A  team can draw
allied players from any allied race. Allied players can be selected from
the appropriate team list, or be a star play of the appropriate race. The
limits on the number of players allowed in a team must be _halved_ when
selecting allied players for a mixed race team. For example, an Orc team
can normally have up to 4 Black Orcs. This means that a team selecting
Black Orc allies could have half this total (2 Black Orcs) in the team.
Star players simply count as an player of their race. So, for example, if
Griff Oberwald was hired by a Human team he would simply count as one of
the teams Blitzers (all be it a very special one!), but if he was hired by
a High Elf team he would count as a Human ally.

Allied players are hired using the normal rules. However, if you take a
second or subsequent allied player for your team while there is still
another alive and kicking in the ranks, then your fan factor is
_immediately_ reduced by 1 point to represent fans giving up on the team
for hiring 'foreign' players. Fan factors lost in this way are gone for
good, and can't be got back if the player latter leaves or is killed
(although you can still gain fan factors after a match by rolling on the
fan factor table). The only exception to this rule are 'stunty' players.
Because fans don't mind the little guys so much (they're kind of like team
mascots), you can include up to 4 in the team before its fan factor will go
down (i.e. each stunty player only counts a 1/4 when reducing fan factors).

A team with a fan factor of 1 can *try* and hire allied players if the
coach wants. Pay out the money for the player and then roll a D6: 1-3 = the
player is intimidated by the hate mail he receives and runs off (with his
hiring fee, the git!); 4-6 = the player sticks it out and remains with the
team. In either case the teams fan factor remains at 1 point.

ALLY TABLE
team: allied players

Chaos: Chaos Dwarf, Dark Elf, Goblin, Norse, Orc, Skaven, Minotaur, Ogre,
Troll, Vampire
Chaos Dwarf: Chaos, Goblin, Norse, Orc, Bull Centaur, Minotaur, Ogre, Troll
Dark Elf: Chaos, Goblin, Norse, Orc, Minotaur, Ogre, Troll, Vampire
Dwarf: Human, Norse, Ogre
Goblin: Chaos, Chaos Dwarf, Dark Elf, Skaven, Ogre, Troll
Halfling: Human, Treemen, Wood Elf
High Elf: Human, Wood Elf
Human: Dwarf, Halfling, High Elf, Norse, Wood Elf, Treeman, Ogre
Norse: Dwarf, Human, Treeman, Ogre; OR Chaos, Minotaur, Ogre, Troll
Orc: Chaos, Chaos Dwarf, Dark Elf, Goblin, Norse, Skaven, Minotaur, Ogre, Troll
Skaven: Chaos, Dark Elf, Goblin, Orc, Minotaur, Ogre, Rat Ogre, Troll
Undead: Chaos, Dark Elf, Skaven, Minotaur, Ogre, Troll, Vampire
Wood Elf: Halfling, Human, Treeman, Wood Elf

Notes on the Allied Player Table
Big Guys: The Big Guys team list will give an option for 'all Big Guy '
teams. Such teams can't have allies (they have to consist of Big Guys
belonging to _one_ race).
Chaos: The fan factor of a Chaos team is _not_ reduced for hiring allied
players. However the special rules about team re-rolls (see below) _do_
apply.
Bull Centaurs & Rat Ogres: Note that these aren't on the list of allies
above. This is because they are going to be incorporated directly into the
Chaos Dwarf and Skaven teams lists!
Norse: The Norse have two sets of options, the first for 'nice' Norse, the
second for 'nasty' Norse. Choose which you want to be the first time you
hire an allied player. They can't be combined!
Undead: Undead players cannot be hired by other teams, as they need the
team Necromancer to erm, remain active.

MIXED RACE TEAMS AND TEAM RE-ROLLS

There is no denying that mixed race teams are simple not as efficient and
well trained as other teams. To represent this the coach of mixed race team
must roll 1D6 for each allied player in his team at the start of each half
(and at the start of overtime if it occurs). Each dice that comes up with a
'1' reduces the number or team re-rolls the coach has for that period by 1.
If a team doesn't have enough team re-rolls to meet the loss, then the
opposing team _gains_ re-rolls equal to the shortfall. For example, a team
with 4 allied players and only one re-roll manages to get three 1's at the
start of a half. This reduces its re-rolls to none, and gives the opposing
team an extra two re-rolls to use for the half! Note that this is
especially cruel if you go into overtime, as you are unlikely to have any
team re-rolls left to give up!


PHEW! Well that's quite enough for now. I'll try to sort out an post the
"Big Guy" team list and the appropriate negative skills tomorrow. Until
then, have fun...

Jervis

*Disclaimer* This stuff is just our own opinions - it ain't official until
it's in print!