BlightBowl

(4-Team BloodBowl, Skaven Style)

      After its discovery by the great Roze-El, BloodBowl spread quickly to every corner of the Old World. The labyrinthine, underground strongholds of the Skaven were no exception. In a society where political infighting and clan feuding are as common as fleas on an ogre, the Skaven are rarely known to come to a consensus about anything. With the arrival of BloodBowl, however, all Skaven could agree (mostly) that the sport was a great way to resolve inter-clan disputes without depleting the precious resources necessary to wage war (which are, of course, better devoted to use against OTHER races...). Many prominent families soon each had their own team to represent them on hastily constructed underground BloodBowl fields whenever an inter-clan "misunderstanding" arose. Though such "GrudgeBowl" matches were immensely popular with the commonfolk, some powerful Grey Seers were concerned that Skaven culture was being polluted by the game. They contended that BloodBowl was not at all consistent with Skaven social and political traditions. Prior to the arrival of BloodBowl, most feudal conflicts rarely involved only two clans. It was fairly common for clan disputes to entangle several different clans, their allies, their slave-families, and various assorted guilds of henchmen and thugs. In fact, the "winner" of disputes over territory, slaves, Warpstone deposits, or what have you, was very rarely one of the main clans that started the fray, but usually one of the allied clans that managed to pull off some underhanded betrayal of a supposed ally at a critical juncture. Conniving, deception, double-crossing, and all other methods of backstabbing that are the mainstays of Skaven political culture are just not feasible with only two contestants. Because of its two-team format, BloodBowl was simply too restrictive to be integrated into the complex and time-honored Skaven traditions of treachery, ...without a few alterations...
      A council of Grey Seers enlisted the aid of several respected Skaven BloodBowl coaches to help with this problem, and, after much deliberation (and several fist-fights), a solution was reached. Played on a field altered to include 2 additional end-zones, this version of BloodBowl could accommodate 4 teams of players, as 2-on-2 pairs of allies, a 3-on-1 grudge-match, or a 4-way free-for-all (or a constantly changing mix of the three, which is usually the case). The number of players fielded by each team was reduced to minimize confusion (and increase referee survivability). The kick-off regulations were also altered slightly to remove some of the "fairness and equity" (...who ever said life was fair...) and put things a little more back into the hands of random chance, much favored among the Plague Priests. The resulting game was not only much more representative of traditional Skaven clan politics, but also much more open to the possibilities of mass chaos and carnage. The fans loved it, and so did the Seers. "BlightBowl" was born. The refusal of the NAF to sanction "BlightBowl" limited its spread outside of the Skaven community initially, but after the collapse of that obviously shortsighted organization, "BlightBowl" (also called SkavenBowl and DeathBowl in some areas) has increased steadily in popularity among all the races of the Old World. "BlightBowl" matches are highly anticipated and draw enormous crowds, sometimes even exceeding the capacity of smaller stadiums. These games are always a big hit with the fans, and are sure to bring fame and fortune to those teams brave (or stupid) enough to enter them (...and survive...).

All of the rules for BlightBowl are exactly the same as those for BloodBowl, except as noted below:

      The field is a 25 x 15 grid (one row shorter than a conventional 26 x 15 field), with an additional 5 x 15 extension centered on either side to form a fat "X" or cross shape. The 3 x 3 square area in the center of the field is the "Kill-Zone". No players may be set up inside the Kill-Zone while preparing for a kick-off. The end of each "arm" of the cross is a different team's end-zone; one row of 15 squares separated from the nearest edge of the Kill-Zone by ten rows of squares. There are four "Advance Lines" on the field, one running diagonally from each corner of the Kill-Zone to the nearest elbow between two adjacent "arms" of the field. During setup, no player may be placed in a square containing an Advance Line, though they may be placed adjacent to them. Each team's "quarter" of the field is that area bounded by their end-zone and sidelines and the adjacent advance lines connecting them to the closest edge of the Kill-Zone. Each team playing is randomly assigned a quarter of the field to defend, except in a 2-on-2 "allies" match, in which case allied teams should be given adjacent quarters, so that each team is opposite an opponent.

      Each team makes handicap rolls based on its rating versus the average rating of its three opponents. If a result must be applied against an opposing team, the rolling coach may choose which ONE opposing team is affected. In a 2-on-2 "allies" match, only one set of handicap rolls is made, based on the difference between the average rating of one pair of teams versus the average rating of their opponents. Here, the two allied coaches rolling the handicaps must agree on which of their own players/teams or opponents teams is affected, or the result is forfeited. As always, each result on the handicap table may only be rolled once per game (reroll any duplicates). Fan Factor is rolled for all four teams to determine the Gate, but after the game, only HALF of the gate is used to determine the modifier to the winnings roll for each team that played.

      At the start of the game, the winner of the coin toss may choose to either "kick" or "receive" (making the team to their right the kicking team). The kicking team must setup first, and each other team then sets up in COUNTER-clockwise order around the field. Each team must still have at least 3 players on their line of scrimmage (adjacent to their side of the Kill-Zone or the Advance Line tapering off of it, but not in either wide zone), and may have no more that 2 players in each wide zone. Note that in BlightBowl, each team is limited to a maximum of 7 (not 11) players on the field at any time. When all teams are setup, a kick-off event is rolled, (with the team to the left of the kicking team considered the "receiving team"), then the ball must be kicked to one of the nine squares in the Kill-Zone. Kick scatter is resolved, then the kick-off event, then the "receiving team" starts their next turn after ball bounce/catch resolution. There is no such thing as a touchback in BlightBowl; any square on the field not in the kicking team's quarter is a valid landing spot for the kick. If the ball goes into the crowd, they will throw it back in. If the ball lands in the kicking team's quarter of the field, after scatter, bounce, throw-in, or botched catch attempts, then it must be kicked again.

      Coaches takes their turns in clockwise order around the field, each advancing their own turn markers. One half will consist of 32 team turns, 8 for each team. After any touchdown, the scoring team becomes the kicking team for the next drive. At the beginning of each new half (or overtime), the team with the current highest score (breaking ties with casualties, then a roll-off) is automatically the kicking team for the next drive, and will reset the turn order for that half, starting with the coach to their left (the team receiving the kick-off). Leaping or passing (a ball, team-mate, or secret weapon) over the crowd (i.e., from one "arm" of the field to another, crossing over any area that is not a part of the field) is not allowed, unless using a Blunderbuss or a Hail Mary Pass. Games without a winner after 1 overtime period are resolved with a roll-off.

      In a 2-on-2 "allied teams" game, several additional rules apply. Primarily, players on the two allied teams must be considered members of the same "team" for most game mechanics purposes. Allies may provide assists (and counter assists) for each other during blocks and/or fouls. Players may also ignore the negative effects of the tackle zones of allied players, as if they were on the same "team". Players may not intentionally block members of an allied team, but may pass or handoff to allied players, etc. Note that this also means if an allied player falls down for any reason during the moving team's turn, it is considered a turnover just as if a member of the moving team had fallen over. While preparing for any kick-off, if members of the same "alliance" are both kicking and receiving, then the would-be receivers must kick instead, and must advance their turn marker one turn for no effect (making one of the opposing teams the new receivers). In order to score, a player must still get the ball into the end-zone opposite their own team's starting position (reaching your allies' score zone has no effect). At the end of the game, the alliance with the highest combined score (from both teams) is victorious and both teams are considered to have won, while both of the other teams are considered to have lost. As a final note, in a game with all Skaven teams, the coaches are allowed to break their alliances at any time, even mid-turn, with their former allies immediately considered opponents. New alliances may also be "negotiated", but only between drives, and all members of the new alliance must be agreed on the union or it cannot be made.

BlightBowl v1.2, 05/15/05 -ZD-