Sevens At The Seaside


January 25th, 2020

It’s wintertime in the Pacific Northwest, the days are short and the skies are grey, but don’t despair, here’s a ray of Blood Bowl Sevens shaped fun to lift your spirits! Four games of possibly the most fun version of Blood Bowl that exists, with a few twists that make it just like a day at the beach. During an English summer.

NAF Sevens Ruleset here. Build your team with 600,000 GC from any of the 26 NAF approved rosters.

The only inducements permitted are Bloodweiser Kegs, the Halfling Master Chef, and 0-1 ice creams from the Cursed Ice Cream Truck (100,000 each). Each team gets one ice cream for free that they can use at half time. 

Each team must have at least 7 players but may not have more than 11 players on the roster. A team will only field 7 players at a time.  

In addition, only 4 “specialist” players (meaning any player whose availability is less than 0-12) may be selected.  

It’s the off season, so teams are not very well-trained or reliable. Team re-rolls cost double their listed cost. For example, a re-roll for a Human team would cost 100,000 GC.  No extra skills are available. 

Additional Rules

For this day at the seaside, there are special rules for:

  • Fouling & Secret Weapons
  • Ice Cream
  • Look Ma, No Hands!
  • Weather
  • Kick Off Events

Please check these out so you’re not surprised on the day!

Fouling & Secret Weapons

There’s no ref so you can’t be sent off for fouling.  However, the crowd don’t like unsportsmanlike behaviour and will pelt fouling players with rocks, refuse and small animals. 

After any foul, roll 2D6.  If the result is > 7, the fouling player has been hit and should roll on the injury table. 

After each drive is over, any player with a Secret Weapon will automatically be pelted by the crowd. Roll on the injury table as for any normal armour break. If Knocked Out, roll for recovery before the next drive, as with any other KO.

The Ice Cream Truck

life is a beach, so there will be an ice cream truck to treat your players. Note that consumption of ice cream may have adverse effects…

All ice creams are eaten at half time. Players in the injured or KO boxes can also eat ice cream. If a player eats an ice cream, roll D6:

1 Squig Flavour 
The player is so revolted that they spend the rest of the game being sick.  Move them to the Injured box. 
2-3 I AM MR WHIPPY NOW 
The player returns to the pitch.  (This includes players who were previously dead, injured or KO’d) All that ice-cream has done something to their concentration, and they suffer Really Stupid for the rest of the match. 
4-5 Everything’s better with ice cream 
The player returns to the pitch with no ill-effects.  (This includes players who were previously dead, injured or KO’d) 
6
I Scream For Ice Cream
The player returns to the pitch, gains Frenzy, Wild Animal, Disturbing Presence and Foul Appearance 

Look Ma, No Hands!

Every seaside town has at least one shop selling dreadful nick-nacks and souvenirs. For the Winter Sunshine Bowl, one of your players has found a new toy and won’t stop playing with it. Unfortunately, that means their hands are full and they won’t be any good for ball carrying duties, but they should still be useful. 

Each coach may nominate one player at the start of a drive while setting up. For that drive, in addition to their normal skills they have Chainsaw and No Hands. Secret Weapon does not apply. After the drive, the toy breaks and they revert to their normal skills.  Look Ma, No Hands! can be played once per game by each coach.

If a player already has a Secret Weapon, they cannot take Look Ma, No Hands!

Weather

It can be a bit … changeable at the beach. The top table roll 2D6 at the start of each round, setting the weather for all the tables:

2-4 Very Sunny: A glorious day, but the blinding sunshine causes a -1 modifier on all passing rolls. 
5-9 Sewage outflow  A pipe from the local sewer has burst, spraying effluent all over the pitch.  All players gain Foul Appearance until the weather changes.
10-12 Rain: It’s raining, making the ball slippery and difficult to hold. A -1 modifier applies to all catch, intercept, or pick-up rolls. 

Kick off events

Anyone playing Blood Bowl at the seaside is a bit … special. And so are the events whenever anyone kicks a ball in the air.

2D6
2High Tide! 
The sea isn’t cooperating with the game and floods a portion of the field. Randomly select one wide zone; that portion of the pitch may not be occupied by any players for the rest of the drive. Any players who were set up in that section are immediately moved in a straight line toward the middle of the field until they reach the center zone. If their destination square is 2 already occupied, scatter them with a d8 until an empty square is reached. If a player is pushed into the flooded area by an opponent, they are removed from play as usual, but go to Reserves.
If the kickoff falls in the flooded area, it is a touchback. If the ball scatters into the flooded area during play, it is swept back in by the tide and returns to the square it most recently occupied.
The field returns to normal at the end of the drive. 
3Dobbin’s Gone Crazy! 
The donkey that has been giving children rides on the beach for the past 20 years finally loses patience and charges right across the pitch, throwing the game into disarray. Each player must make a successful Dodge roll and move directly back. This is an unmodified roll If the dodge fails, the player is knocked over into the square directly behind them. If another player is occupying that square, he is pushed straight backwards but stays on his feet. Roll armour for the knocked 
over player as normal, adding +1 to the roll for the trampling hooves of the donkey. 
4Perfect Defence
The defending team can rearrange into a new (legal) formation. 
5 Wasps! 
A huge swarm of wasps has descended on the pitch.  Make an armour check for every player – if they fail, they are Stunned for the next turn. 
6 That’s Not The Ball 
A confused player has picked up a lobster rather than the normal ball.  Play using the rules for Spiked Ball for this drive.  (If a player rolls a 1 on a pick up, catch or intercept roll (after rerolls, but before any modifiers are applied), the player is treated as being attached with the Stab skill.)
7High Winds 
The ball scatters three times rather than once after kick off. 
8Noisy Fairground 
A massive fairground has been erested next to the pitch and the constant ringing of bells and flashing lights distract the players.  After both teams have played a turn, somebody can try to make them turn everything off.  At the start of each turn, the coach may choose to roll a D6, and on a 4 or better, the fairground music stops. Until then, all players gain the Bone Headed skill. 
9 Quick Snap 
The offence start their drive a fraction before the defense is ready, catching the kicking team flat footed. All of the players on the receiving team are allowed to move one square. This is a free move and may be made into an adjacent empty square, ignoring tackle zones. It may be used to cross the LoS. 
10 Charge! 
The kicking team’s coach chooses a number between zero and three.All players on the kicking team are moved directly forward this number of squares. This is a free move, ignores player movement and does not require activation or GFIs. 
11 Weather Change 
Roll for new weather.  If the same weather is rolled, the ball scatters twice. 
12 Ding a ling ding ding dong
What’s that sound?  It’s the bell of the Warpstone Ice Cream Truck, making a special delivery.  Each coach buys an ice cream for one player currently on the pitch (roll on the Ice Cream table) 

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