“What does FAQ stand for, Jim?" – Bob
"You keep asking that, Bob!" – Jim
Greetings, sports fans!
It’s May, and that means the Blood Bowl design team is ready to provide the first of their biannual FAQ updates. We caught up with Blood Bowl rules writer and chief herald of Nuffle Jay to see what balance updates have been implemented this time around.
Jay: Over the past months, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the state of Blood Bowl, looking at tournament results, win percentages, and the questions sent into our FAQ inbox. We have answered some of the more burning questions, as well as taking the opportunity to rebalance the game in a few ways – a process we explain here.
Underworld Denizens
It’s fair to say that Underworld Denizens teams have been dominating for some time now, so we have opted to rebalance them slightly and bring them in line with the rest of the teams. As a result, we have removed the Swarming trait from the Underworld Snotlings, meaning that they can no longer flood the pitch and overwhelm their opponents.
Decisions like this are never taken lightly, and we are confident that this change will help to rein in the Underworld Denizens team slightly whilst still allowing them to compete.
Guard and Fouling
One thing that has become apparent is the constant growth of a Fouling meta, where coaches are prioritising Fouling the opposition off the pitch. This is becoming increasingly prevalent, so we have decided to lessen the impact slightly. Before, players with the Guard skill would be able to provide offensive and defensive assists to Foul actions, making it even easier to stick the boot in.
In this update, we have changed this so that Guard now only provides assists to Block actions instead.
Goblin Bommas
One of the smaller changes is to Goblin Bommas, who have gained access to Passing skills on Primary rather than Secondary. This brings them in line with the likes of Snotling Fungus Flingas and makes them more adept at chucking their iconic bombs. Goblin coaches rejoice!
Bloodlust Clarifications
We have also taken the opportunity to clarify a number of interactions with the Bloodlust (X+) trait. Does a player have to take Bloodlust if they begin their activation prone? What happens if a Stunned player is Stunned again by being bitten? And how does Bloodlust interact with Foul Appearance? All have been tackled in this FAQ.
Gnomes
The newest team to stroll onto the pitches across the Blood Bowl world, Gnomes, have caused quite a stir across the community. There has been some small confusion regarding the Trickster trait, so we have provided some clarifications to help. Also, as we mentioned in the Gnome reveal blog, we have amended the Halfling Master Chef so that their discounted rates only apply to Halfling teams.
We are confident that these clarifications and changes will help your games run smoother, and provide a more entertaining Blood Bowl experience. In the meantime, if you have any other questions or queries regarding Blood Bowl, send them to bloodbowlfaq@gwplc.com for consideration in our next update. We’ll see you in November!