Blood Bowl Season 3 Core Rules Changes

Dan “dittka” Boyd: Okay, sports fans. There’s quite a lot to talk about here, so I won’t waste your time with too much preamble. The big takeaway for season 3 is that GW did a truly fantastic job tightening up the core rules. They’ve made things a lot more clear and intentional, and they’ve even managed to add some fun and flavorful new fixtures. I’m not going to attempt to mention every single change in this article, but more focus on what new and returning players need to know. Let’s get into it!

Secure the Ball!

The biggest change to this edition is a new special action called Secure the Ball. It is a way for low-agility (read: not AG2+) teams to more reliably snag the ball in a situation where no opposition players are near enough to disrupt. How does it work? It’s simple: A player can declare a Secure the Ball action if the ball is on the pitch and no non-Distracted (more on that later) opposing players are within 2 squares of the ball. Then that player can make a move action and then roll a d6. On a 2+, the player takes possession of the ball and their activation immediately ends. On a 1, the ball bounces away and a turnover is caused.

A couple of things to note: most, but not all, of the ST4 “blocker” players have gained the Unsteady trait, meaning that they cannot perform this action. Additionally, Big Guys cannot secure the ball. This is a good thing, because without these restrictions, this would absolutely break Blood Bowl! Next, the Secure the Ball roll explicitly cannot be re-rolled with the Sure Hands skill, meaning that if you need to reroll it, it’s team rerolls or Pro only. And last, it’s important to note that this action only ends the player’s activation, not the coach’s entire team turn. So while the player can’t use any unused movement allowance after securing the ball, the rest of their team can move in to cage up afterwards.

I’m still a little lukewarm on this new action, if truth be told. I think it removes one of the more dangerous aspects of playing a slow, plodding team and takes some of the shine off the 2+ agility teams. However, my last league ended with my goblin Pogoer failing to pick up the ball on a 3+ three turns in a row in the opening half of the league final, so maybe I ought not to complain!

King_Ghidra: There’s no doubt that STB is a boost for the less agile teams, and will take the odd favourable scenario away from agility teams who used to be able to pounce on ball-handling mishaps. The fact that its use ends the player’s activation is still quite restrictive, and will mean caging and screening around the ball carrier will often still be a challenge.

The ball lands on the opposite sideline from Joe’s Sure Hands thrower. Credit: Marquis_of_Peaches

Passing Changes!

The sub-header here reads: “No More Wildly Inaccurate Passes!” And there was much rejoicing! Wildly inaccurate passes were widely reviled, and getting rid of them is a great move. Now, pass rolls of a natural 1 or a 1 after modification both result in a fumble, and inaccurate passes still scatter on three consecutive d8 rolls. Easy peasy. Additionally, there are no more deflections, only interceptions. A passing action no longer will take 5 minutes to figure out, and we’re all thankful.

As for impact, I think this change is probably marginally impactful. Passing is still the non-optimal choice when it comes to offense, but now it’s just somewhat less non-optimal than it was in season 2. This is especially true when you see that all the “good” passing teams got demonstrably worse.

King_Ghidra: Very happy to see the simplification here, and the removal of the unpopular Wildly Inaccurate, which always ran counter to BB20’s stated goal of making passing more compelling. I can’t disagree that fundamentally nothing else has changed in the game to make you want to go the passing route over other approaches, but I think roster changes will support its use in more scenarios. Some of the traditional passing teams might have taken a hit in terms of losing catchers or stats, but many other positionals who had originally been given poor PA stats have now had those buffed, and we’ve also seen the removal of the ‘can’t pass’ PA, so even the Mummies of this world can sling a TD pass on a 6. That’s good for the game and will lead to more exciting moments.

The Kick-Off Table!

King_Ghidra: There are a few changes to one of the most frequent and important parts of the game. The best news is that Prayers To Nuffle are no longer part of Cheering Fans, which has been reworked so that the winner of the roll-off gets a free assist on their first block of the half. That is a lot of nothing tbh, but it’s much better than the waste of time that was the PTN.

Next up we have a simple naming change to maybe the most impactful possibility of them all, the Blitz, which is now known as Charge! A sensible change that will help to prevent rules confusion with the action.

Finally, Officious Ref has now been toned down and turned into Dodgy Snack. Instead of Stunning or Sending a player off, the Snack either lowers various stats, or sees them sent to the reserves. This is a major improvement on what was one of the most ‘feels bad’ kick-off results.

Blood Bowl 3rd Edition Dwarves

Getting Even!

One rule we’re all crazy about is Getting Even. In league play, if a player misses a game, gets a niggling injury, or suffers a lasting injury, on a 4+ the injured player gains the Hatred (x) trait, where X is a non-positional keyword that the offending player has. For example, if my goblin lineman eats a casualty and has to miss a game from my friend’s Skaven Blitzer, I roll a d6. On a 4+ my goblin gains the Hated (Skaven) trait.

Isn’t that flavorful? A mechanic for grudges is just the fun kind of thing we needed in Blood Bowl. And Hatred is just enough of a “nice-to-have” that it is a true silver lining. Hatred, by the way, allows a blocking player to reroll one skull (Player Down, FKA Attacker Down) per block action against a hated target. So it’s nice to have, but it won’t break the game. Very cool, very flavorful little rule.

Blood Bowl Khorne Team painted by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms

Brawlin’ Brutes!

In what we think will shake league play up quite a bit, many teams have been given a new team special rule: Brawlin’ Brutes! This means that in league play, a Brawlin’ Brutes team’s players will gain 3 SPP for a casualty, and only 2 SPP for a touchdown. Here’s a list of the Brawlin’ Brutes teams:

Black Orcs
Dwarves
Khorne
Nurgle
Ogres
Orcs

Obviously, these are teams that generally cause more casualties than score touchdowns. This will be a huge boon to these teams as 2 casualties for a primary skill-up is pretty nuts for these very bashy teams. Also, a linemen on one of these teams getting a lucky casualty will be able to roll up a random primary, which is something you actually want now! (More on that in just a bit!) The only question I have is, why aren’t Tomb Kings on this list? Or Chaos Chosen? They’re famous for grinding out games and causing plenty of carnage. Feels like they’ve been left out.

Skills and Traits!

There’s a lot to talk about here! First, they’ve invented a new skill category, Devious, and filled it with a bevy of new skills. Which we will get to. But now we have 6 categories of 12 skills each, for a grand total of 72 skills. And that’s not even counting the 36 traits! That’s 108 distinct rules to keep track of! Holy mackerel, that’s a lot of crap to remember! Also, they organized the skills alphabetically in the book, but not by skill category, which I find annoying!

Some important things to note: rolling up a random primary skill has been greatly improved. You now roll twice on the table and pick the skill you want, though if you generate the same skill twice, you’re stuck with it. Another notable bit: no more random secondaries. I don’t think anyone ever chose this option, but now you can’t even if you wanted to. And last, SPP cost for secondary skills and characteristic increases has seen a pretty significant reduction.

Blood Bowl Vampires by King_Ghidra

Changes to Existing Skills/Traits!

Arm Bar: Explicitly gives SPP for Casualties caused by the Arm Bar-having player now.

Big Hand: Text updated to specify that no negative modifiers are to be applied to the pick up roll for a player with Big Hand.

Bombardier: Bombs no longer explode if a player catches them. The player must immediately attempt to throw it. They only explode if they hit the ground.

Break Tackle: Got better for stronger characters. Agility test roll is modified by +1 for ST3, +2 for ST4, and +3 for ST5+.

Cloud Burster: No interception attempts can be made for a player with this skill, regardless of pass length.

Defensive: This skill now turns off Put in the Boot as well as Guard during your opponent’s turns.

Dirty Player: Now a Devious skill.

Dump-Off: Text updated to include any Special action used against the player with this skill, not just ones that replace a block action.

Frenzy: Cannot combine with Grab, Hit and Run, or Multiple Block.

Fumblerooskie: Now a Devious skill.

Give and Go: Renamed Running Pass. Now includes Hand-Off actions.

Guard: Clarifies that the assists provided are for Block actions only.

Hail Mary Pass: Can now be used in a blizzard. Go nuts out there, Elven Union Throwers!

Hit and Run: Now in the Agility skill category. Players with this skill cannot also have Frenzy.

Hypnotic Gaze: Now an unmodified 3+ to hypnotize an opposing player.

Iron-Hard Skin: Text updated to reflect the changes in the Chaos Dwarf Spike Magazine issue. No modifiers to armor rolls against this player.

Kick: Now the ball deviates d3 instead of d6, so no more 0-square deviations.

Kick Team-Mate: Mighty Blow is no longer used by the team-mate kicker on the result of a fumbled throw.

Monstrous Mouth: Lost the catch reroll, kept the immunity to Strip Ball, and gained the Chomp Special Action. When a player Chomps another player, doll a d6, on a 3+ the chomped player cannot leave the square they’re in until the Chomper is no longer Marking them.

Nerves of Steel: No longer impacts Interception attempts.

No Ball: Renamed from No Hands.

Pile Driver: Now a Devious skill.

Plague Ridden: Only works with Blocks, no longer with Fouls.

Pogo: Renamed from Pogo Stick.

Projectile Vomit: Text updated to specify that after the Projectile Vomit special action, the player’s activation immediately ends.

Shadowing: Now a Devious skill.

Sneaky Git: Now in the Devious skill category.

Strip Ball: Text updated to include that the blocking player must choose to follow-up before the ball bounces.

Sure Hands: Text added to clarify that this skill cannot be used to Secure the Ball.

Swarming: No longer a skill, instead is now a team special rule.
Swoop: New rules for swooping: instead of scattering, the swooper can choose to use this skill. If so, they will be placed in a square that is d6 squares away from the target square in the direction specified by the throw-in template. If the swooper is placed in this manner, then they can reroll the landing attempt.

I’m a huge fan of a lot of these changes, but I’ll highlight three:

Monstrous Mouth seems like it could be really powerful! Any method of controlling your opponent's movement is going to be huge.
Break Tackle is good again! Ogres and Minotaurs everywhere are rejoicing!
Hit and Run is an incredibly good skill, and giving it broad access in the Agility skill tree is going to have some seriously big impacts in the game. Elven Union Blitzers picking this up after Dodge are going to be a real pain in the neck!

King_Ghidra: Hit and Run feels like it is going to become an instant meta pick. Anyone who has played with it or against it on Amazon Blitzers will know it has amazing versatility. As Dan suggested, probably the various flavours of Elves will be the ones licking their lips here.

The Break Tackle change is a major surprise. Cage-diving and screen-breaking Big Guys are going to come back into the meta as a legitimate threat, especially those who don’t have Loner. Swoop is definitely going to see Doom Divers back on Goblin rosters I think.

The Grimcinnati Benghouls. Credit: Fowler

New Skills/Traits!

Skill categories are marked with the letter in brackets. A for Agility, D for Devious, G for General, M for Mutation, P for Passing, S for Strength, T for Trait.

Bullseye (S): No scatter if the player with this skill throws a teammate and the result is a superb throw.

Eye Gouge (D): If a player is Pushed Back by a player with this skill, they cannot provide assists until they are next activated.

Hatred (X) (T): Reroll one skull (player down) result as part of a block action against a hated player.

Insignificant (T): When drafting a team, you may not have more insignificant players than other players.

Lethal Flight (D): Mighty Blow, but for breaking armor via a Throw Teammate action. Includes a cutout for earning SPP for causing TTM casualties.

Lone Fouler (D): Reroll failed armor roll as part of a Foul action if there are no offensive or defensive assists.

Punt (P): New special action where the punter can kick the ball d6 squares in the direction determined by the throw-in template from their square with no Turnover caused. If the punter has the Kick skill, they can reroll either or both of the dice rolls.

Put the Boot In (D): It’s Guard but for Fouls.

Quick Foul (D): Move after Fouling.

Saboteur (D): Booby trapped Secret Weapon. If the saboteur is knocked down as part of an opposing player’s block action, roll a d6. On a 4+ the blocking player is also knocked down and the saboteur is automatically knocked out.

Steady Footing (G): 6+ save to avoid being Knocked Down of Falling Over.

Taunt (G): If a taunter is pushed back by a block action, then the blocker must follow up unless they have already Taken Root.

Unsteady (T): An Unsteady player may not use the Secure the Ball action.
Violent Innovator (D): This player gains SPP as a result of casualties caused by a Special action they can take.

Lots of cool stuff in here! Once again I’ll highlight three:

Punt has turned out to be nowhere near as good as I thought it would be. Whoops! It’s kind of a disappointment, if truth be told. The fact that you can punt the ball one measly square is both hilarious and sad.
I’m looking to take Saboteur as early as possible on my goblin Loony! Not only will it punish those who take their aggression out on my poor little psychopath, but it will also protect him from lasting injury when it pops off.
Quick Foul is going to be problematic! Moving after fouling was removed from Season 2, and I’m surprised that they brought it back in Season 3. This is going to be an immediate target for Loonies, ‘Ooligans, and anyone else with Dirty Player or Chainsaw. It’s the bad old days once again!

King_Ghidra: Some very fun new skills here! Violent Innovator seems a very interesting option for League play, as some of the special actions can really rack up the casualties. Bullseye seems strong and I think TTM-specialists, both as missile-throwers and touchdown-makers, might be worth the investment. Taunt and Eye Gouge are the ones that intrigue me the most. They are both starting skills on rostered players now, but their impact seems very hard to judge. If Eye Gouge is good, and it seems good, it’s going to be a major boost for Undead and Necro both. Taunt has potential to be a real frustration and control skill, denying opponents the ability to free up players and squares. I think it’ll really come into its own in those positions where teams look to push their way down the sidelines and need to make blitzes to score.

Blood Bowl Norsca Rampagers

Raf's Werk Force Wreckers. Painting and Photo Credit -Shoshie Bauer www.shoshiesminis.com

Final Thoughts

Once again, these new core rules are excellent. They’ve done a great job tightening up the language used, and have added some excellent little sprinkles of flavor all over the ruleset. I’m very excited to get to playing and painting new teams, and I hope the rest of you are, too. Happy blocking, sports fans!

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Tags: Blood Bowl | blood bowl season 3