Greetings, Sports Fans!
Spring is ending, and Summer is on the way,* which means it’s time for a Blood Bowl FAQ! Games Developer, and Herald of Nuffle, Tom has been called up from the dugouts to go over the changes and updates implemented this time around.
Tom: The Third Season Edition was released last November, and since then, thousands upon thousands of games of Blood Bowl have been played. Naturally, some common questions have cropped up in our inbox and across the community, which we’ve collated together and answered in the FAQ. There are also a small number of errata updates for the rulebook, which correct a mistake or tweak how a rule works. We’ve answered as much as possible, but if you feel like something has been missed, then please email bloodbowlfaq@gwplc.com – it’s the best place for us to see your questions!
This article highlights a few of the Errata and questions we’ve answered in the document. It also includes a look at our philosophy when it comes to making balance changes in Blood Bowl – you’ll find this at the end of the article.
Errata
There are a handful of errata updates this time around, aimed either at altering a specific rule to make it more intuitive or altering an existing player profile. Some of the key ones are:
Modifying Dice Rolls
The wording of the modifying dice rolls section has been changed. Now, dice can be modified to lower than a 1 – even Elves have to put in a bit of effort dodging past five opponents!
Active Traits
We’re using this errata to clarify the use of Special Actions given by Traits. Now, the Trait section explicitly calls out using Special Actions while Prone, stating that players can declare the action so long as they can make a free Move Action first. This brings Traits in line with Skills.
Player Profiles
The Errata includes changes to three profiles. Two – the Chaos Renegade Ogre and the Dwarf team’s Runner – are done to bring the profiles in line with their counterparts on other teams. The third sees the Old World Alliance team’s Treeman gain Loner (4+); while it is an Altern Forest Treeman, we wanted to make it a bit more stubborn to use alongside the diverse cast of characters in an Old World Alliance team.
“What does the ‘F’ in FAQ stand for, Jim?” – Bob
“It’s ‘Frequently’, Bob.” – Jim
“And what does the ‘A’ stand for, Jim?” – Bob
“That’s ‘Asked’, Bob.” – Jim
“And what about…” – Bob
“I’m going to interrupt you there, Bob, it’s ‘Questions’!” – Jim
FAQ
Since the release of Third Season Edition, we’ve looked far and wide for the community’s pressing Blood Bowl questions. Any that cropped up regularly, we added to this FAQ and provided answers for. Some are simple clarifications aimed at removing any doubts, while others give a detailed analysis alongside the answer. A few of the most asked questions are included below, but there are plenty more in the FAQ document.
Dodge Order of Action
When a player Dodges, all manner of things besides re-rolling a 1 into a 1 can happen. With skills such as Tentacles, Shadowing, and Diving Tackle, we’re using this FAQ to break down the order in which events happen when a player tries to Dodge away. This should make it clear when the respective rolls and tests are made.
Bombs and Balls
There have been a few questions about bombs (e.g., Can you use them with Dump-off?) and the Ball & Chain (e.g., What happens if my player spins off the pitch?). All these have been answered, so you can cause havoc to your heart’s content.
Steady Footing
Third Season Edition introduced a number of new Skills, including Steady Footing, which has received a couple of questions. The FAQ clarifies instances when the Skill triggers and when it doesn’t.
Hiring and Firing
Many people have asked us about the changes to the hiring and firing order of the post-game sequence. The FAQ reiterates that the order presented is correct – if you fire a positional, you need to wait a game before hiring a replacement. This does reflect a big change from the previous edition, and we know that opinions are divided, but for now, we’re not making any changes to the sequence.
There are plenty more answers in the FAQ, so download the latest and take a look!
Balance and Blood Bowl
Outside of the questions addressed in the document, we also received requests for balance updates – that is, errata targeting the performance of specific teams. In this FAQ release, we’ve chosen to make only minor balance-focused changes – a single Tier change and a single player change (the Old World Alliance Treeman).
The Third Season Edition release changed the landscape of competitive Blood Bowl. We’ve been tracking internal and external data since then to get a picture of which teams might be overperforming and thus need to be updated. Individual team performance is still shifting, and is often dependent on the rules used at specific tournaments.
At present, we’re choosing to wait for a few additional large data points over the coming months before we determine whether any broader changes are necessary – if we change anything else, you’ll see them in the next FAQ update.
There are three core levers we pull when it comes to balancing Blood Bowl – Tier List changes, Star Players and Mega-stars, and Roster changes.
Tier changes are our first port of call tool to address balance, and we’re doing just that with this FAQ. Dwarfs are being moved down to Tier 2, in response to their lower win rate following recent roster changes. We have our eye on a few other teams as well – Nurgle, Human, and Elven Union, for example – that may change in the future.
Star Players and Mega-stars are more involved as they have broader influence. Star Players are a core part of Blood Bowl and an integral part of the experience. The benefits each Star Player brings depend on the teams they play for and the gold available in each event. Any changes will affect multiple teams in different ways. To aid balance, we can add overperforming Star Players to the Mega-stars list, which heavily restricts their use, or change their rules. There are no changes to the list this time, but it is a tool we have in our back pocket.
Roster changes are the final, and most impactful, changes we can make. This can be anything from altering the gold cost of players, to adding or removing Skills. Making these changes affects both the specific team and their opponents, as reducing one team’s capacity can mean another begins to rack up victories. As such, we prefer to be measured rather than reactive, making changes only when we want to create a significant shift in the performance of the targeted rosters.
Thanks, Tom! Don’t forget, the Blood Bowl team are always happy to hear your opinions – if you feel there’s a balance update needed for certain players or teams, or you think everything is fine and want to express that, please contact them via bloodbowlfaq@gwplc.com. Download the latest errata, FAQ, and tier list here.
* Unless you’re a Blood Bowl fan in the southern hemisphere!
