=============================================
THE KICKING RULES
These rules are designed to allow you to include Kickers in your Blood Bowl league. If you want to use these rules, you'll need to make a few alterations to the usual Blood Bowl rulebook. The first thing you'll need, of course, is Kickers, but you'll also find rules for new skills and modifications to the usual game of Blood Bowl.
KICKERS
Adding Kickers to a roster is very simple. Any team that has passers can hire Kickers instead. 'Passers' can be Skaven Throwers, Dwarf Runner, Phoenix Warriors - really any such players, so long as they have normal access to Passing skills.
If the Passer has the Pass skill, then the Kicker gets the Kick skill instead. Additionally, he loses access to Passing skills and gains access to Kicking skills, which are explained below.
The player has the same cost as a Passer of his race. If your league uses allies, you can take a Kicker ally from any allied race that uses Passers.
THE KICK ACTION
Once per team turn, a player on the moving team is allowed to make a Kick action. The player is allowed to make a normal move, and after he has completed the move, he must kick the football. Note that the player does not have to be holding the ball at the start of the action; he could use his Movement allowance to run over and pick up a dropped ball and then kick it, for example.
The Kick
First, the Coach must declare where the player is trying to kick the ball. To do this, he lines up the Throw-in template over the player's head, with the 3-4 arrow (which indicates the intended direction) aimed at any adjacent square. This dictates the general direction in which the player will kick the ball, as illustrated below:
Code: Select all
/////// / = Target Area
./////.
..///..
...K... K = Kicker
......
.////.
.////.
.////.
.///K.
......
Code: Select all
AGILITY TABLE
==========================================
Player's AG 1 2 3 4 5 6+
D6 roll required 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ 1+
Kicking Modifiers
-----------------
Kicking the Ball -1
Per opposing tackle zone on the player -1
Kicking from a Wide Zone -1
The ball will travel a number of squares equal to the roll of one dice plus the player's Strength score. A shanked kick will travel half this distance, rounded down (so a roll of 2 plus a Strength of 3 yields a 5, which is cut in half and rounded down to two squares) and will scatter once from its target square before landing (unless it has traveled out of bounds).
The kicking coach should count off the distance from the kicking player and place the football in any desired target square at that distance. The allowed squares are easy to determine, counting out from the edges of the kicking direction the player used, as indicated below:
Code: Select all
3333333 / = Target Area
.22222.
..111..
...K... K = Kicker
......
.3333.
.3222.
.3211.
.321K.
......
If a kicked ball lands in a square occupied by a standing player, then that player may attempt to catch it, following the normal rules for catching the football (the kick counts as an unaccurate pass +0). If it lands in a square that contains a prone player, or in an unoccupied square, then it will bounce as normal.
A kicked ball that goes into the stands is immediately thrown back in by the eager spectators, again following the usual rules. The one exception to this is a ball that is kicked clear over the last seven squares in an opposing team's End Zone (ie the ones not in a wide zone). This is called a 'Field Goal,' and is covered below.
BLOCKED KICKS AND FUMBLES
When a player kicks the football, various things can go wrong. Usually the ball will go in the wrong direction, or fall short of the goal. These events are handled by the normal Kicking rules. Sometimes, however, the Kicker may completely fumble the kick, dropping the ball in his own square, or an opposing player may block the ball before the Kicker gets it away. Both of these events are handled by the rules below:
Blocked Kicks
One player on the opposing team may attempt to kick block a kicked ball. To be eligible to attempt a kick block, the player must be standing adjacent to the Kicker, and must be in one of the squares targeted by the Throw-in template used to determine the direction of the kick. The opposing coach must declare the one of his players will try a kick block before the Kicker rolls to see if his kick is away, just like a player has to attempt an interception before the Passer rolls the pass. Look up the player's Agility on the Agility table to find the score required to successfully block the kick.
Code: Select all
AGILITY TABLE
==========================================
Player's AG 1 2 3 4 5 6+
D6 roll required 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+ 1+
Kicking Modifiers
-----------------
Attempting a kick block -1
Per opposing tackle zone on the player -1
Fumbles
Sometimes a player attempted to kick the ball will drop it in his own square. This is more likely if the player has any opposing players breathing down his neck! To represent this, if the dice roll to get a kick away is 1 or less before or after modification, then the Kicker has fumbled and dropped the ball. The ball will scatter once from the Kicker's square. A fumble counts as a Turnover, and the moving team's turn ends immediately.
TURNOVERS
In accordance with the sacred texts of Nuffle, a Kick action always results in a Turnover, no matter what the result of the kick itself. The Turnover does not take place until the player ahs completed the Kick action and the ball has finally come to rest.
FIELD GOALS
If you use the Field Goal rules for your league, then a Touchdown is worth three points instead of the usual one. A Field Goal is then worth two points.
A team scores a field goal when one of its players taking a Kick action kicks the ball over any of the squares in the opposition's Field Goal area and immediately through the End Zone, into the crowd. As soon as this happens play stops, the crowd cheers and whistles, and the cheerleaders dance about waving pom-poms. The coach of the scoring team has our permission to leap about and cheer a bit, too, while moving the Score Marker two spaces along the track of his side of the board.
The Field Goal area consists of the middle seven squares in the opponent's End Zone, as indicated by the shaded area in the diagram below. ...(diagram omitted here, but its the seven squares of the end zone not in the wide zones)
IMPORTANT: A Field Goal counts for a score only if the ball is kicked out of bounds after last passing one of the indicated seven squares. Balls that bounce out of bounds after landing in one of the indicated squares, or that go out of bounds somewhere else and are then thrown out of bounds over any of the indicated squares, or that get kick blocked or fumbled over the line, etc. do not count as field goals, and the crowd will throw these balls back into play using the normal throw-in rules.
KICK-OFFS
If you are using these rules, then at least one player must be set up to kick the football. This player may not be set up in either Wide Zone, nor may he be set up on the Line of Scrimmage (the same restrictions that apply to using the Kick skill on a kick-off). Note this player does NOT have to be a Kicker position or have the Kick skill.
If the kicking team has failed to set up a player to kick the ball, or was unable to do so, then the receiving team is awarded a touchback - the other players are so hopelessly uncoordinated, they can't ever seem to keep the ball in play!
KICKING SKILLS
In order to use the Kickers of course, you'll need a whole set of Kicking skills. And your're in luck because we have them right here!
The first thing you should do is change the Kick skill from a General skill to a Kicking skill. In addition, insert the following bit into the skill description:
The player may re-roll the dice if he fumbles or shanks a roll to kick the ball away.
Once you've done this, you're fee to add the following skills and traits to your league!
Dirty Kick (Kicking Skill)
The player is skilled at kicking his opponent right where it hurts in a swift and devastating attack, and may use this skill instead of making a Block. This attack is a great equalizer, so ignore the Strength values and any assists for the players involved. Roll on Blocking dice instead, consulting the table below.
Skull: The Kicker is knocked over, but do not make an Armour roll for him.
Pow/Skull: The defender fends the Kicker off. Leave both players where they stand, and the Dirty Kick has no effect.
Push: The defender back away before he can be kicked. Treat this as a pushback result on the Blocking dice, but the defending coach may choose the target square.
Pow/Dodge: The Kicker connects with the defender, hard! Place the defender face up in his square, but do not make an armour roll for him.
Pow: The defender is kicked where it hurts! Place him face down in his square as if he has been Stunned
Extra Leg (Physical Ability)
The player may add +1 to any attempt to get the ball away when he kicks it.
Hook Kick (Kicking Skill)
The player is skilled at 'hooking' the ball when he kicks it. This player can kick from the wide zones without the -1 penalty.
Pooch Kick (Kicking Skill)
The player is skilled at kicking the ball 'just right'. When he kicks the ball, treat the distance roll as a range. The player may choose to drop the ball into play at any point in the target range.
Strong Leg (Kicking Trait)
The player has a rocker of a leg! Add double the player's Strength to any distance rolls for this player when he kicks the football (instead of the normal 1x Strength addition).
OTHER SKILLS
Nerves of Steel, Pass Block, Very Long Legs, Very Sunny, and Foul Appearance are all expanded to all effect Kicks as well in similar manners as they effected passing and interceptions.
STAR PLAYER POINTS
A successful Field Goal is worth two Star Player Points, and a successful Kick Block is worth two SPPs as well. {Note: the MBBL will use the interception column to record both of these events}
