Dogs in BloodBowl

Got a great idea and/or proposal for BloodBowl?

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Sword of Solkan
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Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Sword of Solkan »

Hi chaps,

I was watching one of those videos where a dog runs onto a football pitch and disrupts the game. Naturally enough, this got me thinking about how they could be included in Blood Bowl.

I was thinking that dogs might make a fun addition to the Halfling team, and could add a bit of variety to their roster. This also makes a certain amount of sense from a narrative standpoint, as the halflings have a reputation for farming and are also such famously awful at Blood Bowl that they might be desperate enough to try using sheepdogs on the pitch in place of their regular players.

This was what I was thinking in terms of stats:

0-2 Dogs 60k 7/3/4/7 - Bonehead, Dodge, Loner, No Hands, Tackle A/GS

Between Bonehead, Loner and its lack of access to Block and Wrestle the Dog won't be a reliable blitzer.

The Dog has No Hands, so the only benefit it's ever going to get from AG4 is dodging away... which makes sense as you're going to have a devil of a job grabbing hold of an unfamiliar dog if it doesn't want to be caught. Bonehead makes even this unreliable, with a 1 in 6 chance the dog gets distracted.

With Tackle and MV 7, the Dog does a decent job marking players. This might give the Halflings something approaching a fighting chance against elf teams. If a Dog survives long enough to level up then learning Side-Step or Diving Catch will become more useful in this role. However, with AV7, leaving it in contact with the opposition will always carry a significant risk of being taken off the pitch.

Alternatively, if people prefer to allow the Dog to pick up the ball then I was thinking something along the following lines:

0-2 Dogs 60k 7/3/4/7 - Bonehead, Diving Catch, Dodge, Loner - A/ GS

Special rule: The Dog cannot take Pass actions. It can make hand-offs.

It could be fun to also give it Animosity... but that might be a step too far, as Bonehead and Loner will already make it a very unreliable ball-carrier.

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by mushoomy »

Sword of Solkan wrote:Hi chaps,

I was watching one of those videos where a dog runs onto a football pitch and disrupts the game. Naturally enough, this got me thinking about how they could be included in Blood Bowl.

I was thinking that dogs might make a fun addition to the Halfling team, and could add a bit of variety to their roster. This also makes a certain amount of sense from a narrative standpoint, as the halflings have a reputation for farming and are also such famously awful at Blood Bowl that they might be desperate enough to try using sheepdogs on the pitch in place of their regular players.

This was what I was thinking in terms of stats:

0-2 Dogs 60k 7/3/4/7 - Bonehead, Dodge, Loner, No Hands, Tackle A/GS

Between Bonehead, Loner and its lack of access to Block and Wrestle the Dog won't be a reliable blitzer.

The Dog has No Hands, so the only benefit it's ever going to get from AG4 is dodging away... which makes sense as you're going to have a devil of a job grabbing hold of an unfamiliar dog if it doesn't want to be caught. Bonehead makes even this unreliable, with a 1 in 6 chance the dog gets distracted.

With Tackle and MV 7, the Dog does a decent job marking players. This might give the Halflings something approaching a fighting chance against elf teams. If a Dog survives long enough to level up then learning Side-Step or Diving Catch will become more useful in this role. However, with AV7, leaving it in contact with the opposition will always carry a significant risk of being taken off the pitch.

Alternatively, if people prefer to allow the Dog to pick up the ball then I was thinking something along the following lines:

0-2 Dogs 60k 7/3/4/7 - Bonehead, Diving Catch, Dodge, Loner - A/ GS

Special rule: The Dog cannot take Pass actions. It can make hand-offs.

It could be fun to also give it Animosity... but that might be a step too far, as Bonehead and Loner will already make it a very unreliable ball-carrier.
I like the idea of a dog running onto the pitch and disrupting the game. But I don't think it should have a place on a team.

I think the idea of a dog running on the pitch would be better as a "random events" or "miscellaneous mayhem" card. Maybe instead of a dog it could be something more warhammery like a squig that rampages onto the field when the coach uses a "squig/dog" whistle. My idea on how the card would work would go something like this.

The squig acts like a ball and chain, chomping everything in its path. The player chooses a starting square along the sideline (not touch down line) and it moves towards the opposite side like a ball and chain. This card can be played before/after your turn. When a player is hit by the squig, he is placed prone and armor is rolled.

This card would be quite chaotic as it could hit the users team also and would be a crazy but fun addition to the game.

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Regash »

I'm no fan of the idea.
It would be like the New York Giants bring some trained Pitbulls to the pitch.

Blood Bowl, as brutal as it may be, still is a sport.
And trained killer animals? Nope.

Also, I just found this:
Did you know...
...that the Lowdown Ratz experimented in training this year with a new player: a giant black Warg! The wolf ate six first team players, seriously injured another four, crippled the apothecary and ran away into the swamps with the only ball the Ratz have, effectively ending any chance of a Blood Bowl final appearance... Not that they had a Halflings hope in Khornes bathroom anyway.

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Loki »

If you go and find be Streetbowl rules I'm sure a Dog was a random event in those

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Sword of Solkan »

Regash wrote:I'm no fan of the idea.
It would be like the New York Giants bring some trained Pitbulls to the pitch.

Blood Bowl, as brutal as it may be, still is a sport.
And trained killer animals? Nope.
Blood Bowl’s always allowed things which wouldn’t be tolerated in any real sport – and that’s all part of the fun. And it’s not as though sheepdogs would be the wackiest thing on the pitch.

If the Minnesota Vikings were to start turning up to games riding giant pogo sticks and the Miami Dolphins used a death-roller then they wouldn’t have much cause for complaint if the Giants were to bring a few pit bulls.

As an aside, the sheepdog I've proposed isn't much of a killer animal - it doesn't have the statline or the skill access to fill that sort of role.

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Darkson »

Dogs as a random event or a card, no issue. As a member of a team? No thanks.

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Sword of Solkan »

Darkson wrote:Dogs as a random event or a card, no issue. As a member of a team? No thanks.
I might be on to a hiding for nothing here, but what’s the objection to dogs as a part of a team?

It’s not even as if they don’t have form in Blood Bowl - Games Workshop included them in one of the alternate Halfling teams they published in Fanatic Magazine.

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Darkson »

Just don't like any animal on any team, else you're on the slippery slope to horses, Unicorns (Lucky Luc!), Eagles, Stegadons...

And a fan-created set of house-rules in the Journal is hardly official, nor a ringing endorsement from GW.

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by babass »

"shadowing" would be a nice skill for dogs.
really stupid would better fit as bonehead i guess, as a dog need a "master"

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Sword of Solkan »

Darkson wrote: And a fan-created set of house-rules in the Journal is hardly official, nor a ringing endorsement from GW.
Let’s not get carried away. I said that allowing dogs on the pitch “had form”, not that it was GW’s final word on the matter. At a minimum, GW clearly thought it was a decent enough idea that they were willing to give it space in their magazine and publish it on their company website.

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Sword of Solkan »

babass wrote:"shadowing" would be a nice skill for dogs.
really stupid would better fit as bonehead i guess, as a dog need a "master"
You could certainly give the dog Really Stupid in place of Bone-head. Shadowing could also be a good shout – maybe to replace Tackle?

Is it still worth 60k, or should I drop the price to 50k?

0-2 Sheepdog 7/3/4/7 Dodge, No Hands, Really Stupid, Shadowing – A/GS – 50K

Actually, I’m wondering whether this works better as a Secret Weapon?

0-1 Halfling Ratcatcher 5/2/3/6 Dodge, Secret Weapon, Small but Vicious Dog, Stunty – A/GPS – 60k

Special: If the Ratcatcher is on the pitch at the start of a drive, then the Halfling coach may place the Small But Vicious Dog in a square next to him (unless it is already in the Dead and Injured Box, or is Knocked Out and has not recovered). This allows the Halfling team to break the normal limit of 11 players on the pitch at a time. If the Ratcatcher is sent off by the referee then the Small But Vicious Dog leaves the pitch as well. The Small But Vicious Dog does not earn SPPs, cannot be MVP and does not track injuries between matches.

Small But Vicious Dog 5/2/3/6 Bloodlust, Dauntless, Dirty Player, Dodge, No Hands

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Darkson »

Sword of Solkan wrote:GW clearly thought it was a decent enough idea that they were willing to give it space in their magazine and publish it on their company website.
They also printed Blood Bowl on a ship and Judge Dredd & Fatties in a previous edition...
A lot of the time they used what they had, they needed to fill the space.

You asked me why I was anti, I've answered - I'll leave this thread now.

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by Madsherman »

The dog IS a card atm, right? There's a card titled "woof woof" or something.

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Re: Dogs in BloodBowl

Post by lunchmoney »

Madsherman wrote:The dog IS a card atm, right? There's a card titled "woof woof" or something.
Good Karma, 100k
Ace Diamond ": WOOF WOOF!
Description: A stray dog runs onto the pitch and runs off with the ball.
Timing: Play at the beginning of your turn before any player takes an Action.
Effect: The ball must be on the ground for this card to have an effect. Roll for Scatter direction with the Throw-in template. The ball scatters D6 squares in that direction and is where the dog places it on the ground (no bounce roll). If the final square is occupied, scatter once more in the same direction. If at any time the scatter result indicates the dog ran into stop scattering and has the crowd throw-in the ball.

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