Fabulous Freebooters

For every player safely employed by a team, there are dozens of freelance players who will agree to wear anyone's colours in exchange for hard currency. Many competent and skilled players prefer the life of a freebooting mercenary to the strict rules and regulations imposed on players under permanent contract. OTHERs, including some of the game's biggest stars, prefer to offer their services on a game-by- game basis, allowing them to pick and choose the teams they play for and to charge the fee they want, often without the aggravation of haggling over money or contract details.

EXPANDED RULES FOR MERCENARY PLAYERS

The rules presented here are an expansion of the rules for Mercenary Player Inducements contained within the Blood Bowl rulebook. At the discretion of league commissioners or event organisers, these rules may be used instead, in which case the following rules replace those found in the Blood Bowl rulebook. If these rules are in use:

The total number of Mercenaries available is reduced from 'unlimited' to 0-3.
The number of each specific type of Mercenary available to a team is detailed on the following pages.
The rules for Mercenaries as detailed in the Blood Bowl rulebook are not used; those rules are completely replaced by the following rules.

These rules are designed to give coaches tremendous freedom in creating Mercenary players for their teams, allowing them to create a player suited to almost any situation. In addition, these rules can be used by league commissioners or event organisers wishing to create a unique Star Player to feature at their league or event. This has long been a popular feature of Blood Bowl leagues and events the world over, and these rules will make it easier than ever to correctly cost such unique and characterful players.

0-3 MERCENARY PLAYER INDUCEMENTS

PRICE AND QUANTITY VARIES, AVAILABLE TO ANY TEAM

In league play, any team may purchase Mercenary Player Inducements during the pre-game sequence. How many can be purchased depends upon the type as described over the following pages. When a Mercenary player is purchased, their services are secured for that one game. The Mercenary is not added to the Team Draft list, but their player profile will need to be recorded for reference purposes for the benefit of both coaches. Should you wish, Mercenary players can be named and even given a backstory, creating your own character that can then be Induced again ahead of any future fixture.

Mercenary players never gain Star Player Points and cannot be awarded the MVP for a game. Mercenary players never gain any advancements other than those taken when they are created. Unless the league commissioner decides otherwise, any Casualty table results applied against a Mercenary player are waived after the game they, like Star Players, are assumed to employ their own staff of healers and medics to keep them in peak condition.

In exhibition play, Mercenary players, like any other Inducement, can be purchased when the team is drafted, as described in the Blood Bowl rulebook.

Mercenary players may not take the number of players in the team to more than 16. However, in league play, players that are missing the game due to injury do not count towards the number of players on the team, so they are not counted towards the 16 player limit when working out how many Mercenary players a team can purchase.

CREATING A MERCENARY

To create a Mercenary player, the first thing to do is decide upon the type. There are five broad types of Mercenary player to choose from: Stunty Superstars, Legendary Lineman, Brutal Blockers, Reliable Ringers or Bona Fide Big Guys. Each type has a profile which includes a selection of Skills and Traits, and a basic hiring fee in gold pieces.

To this profile you have the option to add certain additional Skills or Traits, or to improve characteristics. Most of these additions and improvements increase the basic hiring fee of the Mercenary, but some may reduce the hiring fee. This means that you are given the opportunity to create the perfect Mercenary at a premium price, or to create a Mercenary who comes complete with a few flaws and a healthy discount!

Note, however, that some of these options are not available to all teams. For example, a Stunty Superstar can gain the Bombardier and Secret Weapon traits, but only if they are hired by a team that has one, or more, of the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Halfling Thimble Cup', 'Old World Classic', 'Underworld Challenge' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules.

Once your Mercenary has been created, you will need to record their profile and their hiring fee. Hopefully, your team will have sufficient funds available to afford your creation!

0-2 STUNTY SUPERSTARS MERCENARY PLAYER INDUCEMENTS

30,000 GOLD PIECES PLUS OPTIONS, AVAILABLE TO ANY TEAM

	MA	ST	AG	PA	AV
Stunty Superstar	5	2	3+	4+	6+

Skills & Traits: Dodge, Loner (4+), Right Stuff, Stunty

OPTIONS

A Stunty Superstar must take at least one option chosen from one or more of the following lists:

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Any Stunty Superstar may take:

A single additional Agility skill for +10,000 gold pieces.
Two or more additional Agility skills for +20,000 gold pieces each.
A single additional General skill* for +40,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Passing skill for +20,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Mutation for +30,000 gold pieces.

*A Stunty Superstar may not take the Dirty Player (+1) skill.

CHARACTERISTIC OPTIONS

~~Any Stunty Superstar may improve or reduce any characteristic by up to 2, as follows~~ Any Stunty Superstar may improve or reduce any characteristic as follows. Each option may be chosen a maximum of once:

Improve MA by 1 for +30,000 gold pieces.
Improve AG by 1 for +40,000 gold pieces.
Improve PA by 1 for +30,000 gold pieces.
Improve AV by 1 for +30,000 gold pieces.
Any characteristic may be reduced by 1 for -10,000 gold pieces (to a minimum of 30,000 gold pieces).

TRAIT PACKAGES

In addition, a Stunty Superstar may exchange the Right Stuff trait for a single package of upgrades from this list:

Gain the Dirty Player (+1) and Sneaky Git skills, but replace the Loner (4+) trait with Loner (5+) for +50,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Favoured Of ', 'Halfling Thimble Cup', 'Lustrian Superleague', 'Old World Classic' or 'Underworld Challenge' special rules only).
Gain the Dirty Player (+2) and Sneaky Git skills, but replace the Loner (4+) trait with Loner (5+) for +80,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl' or 'Halfling Thimble Cup' special rules only).
Gain the Bombardier and Secret Weapon traits for +40,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Halfling Thimble Cup', 'Old World Classic', 'Underworld Challenge' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules only).
Gain the Stab and Secret Weapon traits for +20,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Halfling Thimble Cup', 'Lustrian Superleague', 'Old World Classic', 'Underworld Challenge' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules only).
Gain the Pogo Stick trait for +50,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Halfling Thimble Cup', 'Lustrian Superleague', 'Sylvanian Spotlight' or 'Underworld Challenge' special rules only).
Gain the Ball and Chain, Secret Weapon and No Hands traits and +3ST, but reduce MA by 2 and lose the Dodge skill for +60,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Favoured Of ', 'Halfling Thimble Cup' or 'Underworld Challenge' special rules only).
Gain the Chainsaw, No Hands and Secret Weapon traits, but lose the Dodge skill for +40,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Elven Kingdoms League', 'Halfling Thimble Cup', 'Lustrian Superleague', 'Old World Classic', 'Sylvanian Spotlight' 'Underworld Challenge' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules only).

0-2 LEGENDARY LINEMEN MERCENARY PLAYER INDUCEMENTS

50,000 GOLD PIECES PLUS OPTIONS, AVAILABLE TO ANY TEAM

	MA	ST	AG	PA	AV
Legendary Lineman	6	3	3+	4+	9+

Skills & Traits: Loner (4+)

OPTIONS

A Legendary Lineman must take at least one option chosen from one or more of the following lists:

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

A Legendary Lineman may take:

A single additional General* skill for +20,000 gold pieces.
Two or more additional General* skills for +30,000 gold pieces each.
A single additional Agility skill for +30,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Passing* skill for +20,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Strength skill for +30,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Mutation for +30,000 gold pieces.
Two or more additional Mutations for +40,000 gold pieces each (available to teams with the 'Favoured Of ' special rule only).

*A Legendary Lineman may not take either the Dirty Player (+1) skill or the Leader skill.

CHARACTERISTIC OPTIONS

~~Any Legendary Lineman may improve or reduce any characteristic by up to 2, as follows~~ Any Legendary Lineman may improve or reduce any characteristic as follows. Each option may be chosen a maximum of once:

Improve MA by 1 for +20,000 gold pieces.
Improve PA by 1 for +30,000 gold pieces.
Improve AV by 1 for +20,000 gold pieces.
Any characteristic may be reduced by 1 for -10,000 gold pieces (to a minimum of 50,000 gold pieces).

TRAIT PACKAGES

In addition, a Legendary Linemen may choose a single package of upgrades from this list:

Gain the Dirty Player (+1) and Sneaky Git skills, but replace the Loner (4+) trait with Loner (5+) for +60,000 gold pieces (available to any team).
Gain the Dirty Player (+2) and Sneaky Git skills, but replace the Loner (4+) trait with Loner (5+) for +90,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Favoured Of ', 'Old World Classic', 'Sylvanian Spotlight', 'Underworld Challenge' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules only).
Gain the Bombardier and Secret Weapon traits for +40,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Favoured Of ', 'Old World Classic', 'Sylvanian Spotlight', 'Underworld Challenge' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules only).
Gain the Stab and Secret Weapon traits for +20,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Elven Kingdoms League', 'Lustrian Superleague', 'Old World Classic', 'Sylvanian Spotlight', 'Underworld Challenge' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules only).
Gain the Chainsaw, No Hands and Secret Weapon traits for +60,000 gold pieces (available to any team).

0-1 BRUTAL BLOCKERS MERCENARY PLAYER INDUCEMENTS

70,000 GOLD PIECES PLUS OPTIONS, AVAILABLE TO ANY TEAM

	MA	ST	AG	PA	AV
Brutal Blocker	4	4	4+	6+	9+

Skills & Traits: Loner (4+)

OPTIONS

A Brutal Blocker must take at least one option chosen from one or more of the following lists:

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Any Brutal Blocker may take:

A single additional Strength skill for +30,000 gold pieces.
Two or more additional Strength skills for +40,000 gold pieces each.
A single additional Agility skill for +40,000 gold pieces.
A single additional General skill* for +30,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Passing* skill for +20,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Mutation for +40,000 gold pieces.

*A Brutal Blocker may not take either the Dirty Player (+1) skill or the Leader skill.

CHARACTERISTIC OPTIONS

~~A Brutal Blocker may improve or reduce any characteristic by up to 2, as follows~~ Any Brutal Blocker may improve or reduce any characteristic as follows. Each option may be chosen a maximum of once:

Improve MA by 1 for +30,000 gold pieces.
Improve MA by 2 for 50,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Favoured Of ' or 'Lustrian Superleague' special rules only).
Improve AG by 1 for +50,000 gold pieces.
Improve AV by 1 for +20,000 gold pieces.
Any characteristic may be reduced by 1 for -10,000 gold pieces (to a minimum of 70,000 gold pieces).

TRAIT PACKAGES

In addition, a Brutal Blocker may choose a single package of upgrades from this list:

Gain the Dirty Player (+1) and Sneaky Git skills, but replace the Loner (4+) trait with Loner (5+) for +70,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Favoured Of ', 'Lustrian Superleague' or 'Old World Classic' special rules only).
Gain the Dirty Player (+2) and Sneaky Git skills, but replace the Loner (4+) trait with Loner (5+) for +100,000 gold pieces (available to teams either the 'Badlands Brawl' or 'Favoured Of ' special rules only).
Gain the Mighty Blow (+2) skill, but replace the Loner (4+) trait with Loner (5+) for +60,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Favoured Of ', 'Lustrian Superleague', 'Old World Classic', 'Sylvanian Spotlight' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules only).
Gain the Stab and Secret Weapon traits for +20,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Lustrian Superleague', 'Old World Classic', 'Sylvanian Spotlight', 'Underworld Challenge' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules only).
Gain the Ball and Chain, Secret Weapon and No Hands traits and +2ST, but reduce MA by 1 for +90,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Favoured Of ', 'Sylvanian Spotlight', 'Underworld Challenge' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules only).
Gain the Chainsaw, No Hands and Secret Weapon traits for +60,000 gold pieces (available to teams with the 'Favoured Of ' special rule only).

0-2 RELIABLE RINGERS MERCENARY PLAYER INDUCEMENTS

70,000 GOLD PIECES PLUS OPTIONS, AVAILABLE TO ANY TEAM

	MA	ST	AG	PA	AV
Reliable Ringer	6	3	2+	3+	8+

Skills & Traits: Loner (4+)

OPTIONS

A Reliable Ringer must take at least one option chosen from one or more of the following lists:

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Any Reliable Ringer may take:

A single additional Agility skill for +30,000 gold pieces.
Two or more additional Agility skills for +40,000 gold pieces each.
A single additional General skill for +30,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Passing skill for +30,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Strength* skill for +50,000 gold pieces.

*A Reliable Ringer may not take either the Mighty Blow (+1) skill or the Guard skill.

CHARACTERISTIC OPTIONS

~~A Reliable Ringer may improve or reduce any characteristic by up to 2, as follows~~ Any Reliable Ringer may improve or reduce any characteristic as follows. Each option may be chosen a maximum of once:

Improve MA by 1 for +30,000 gold pieces.
Improve MA by 2 for +60,000 gold pieces (available to teams with the 'Elven Kingdoms League' special rule only).
Improve AG by 1 for +50,000 gold pieces.
Improve AG by 2 for +100,000 gold pieces (available to teams with the 'Elven Kingdoms League' special rule only).
Improve PA by 1 for +30,000 gold pieces.
Improve PA by 2 for +60,000 gold pieces (available to teams with the 'Elven Kingdoms League' special rule only).
Improve AV by 1 for +40,000 gold pieces.
Any characteristic may be reduced by 1 for -10,000 gold pieces (to a minimum of 70,000 gold pieces).

MUTATION OPTIONS

A Reliable Ringer may take a single Mutation from the following list (available to teams with the 'Favoured Of ' special rule only):

Big Hand for +30,000 gold pieces.
Extra Arms for +20,000 gold pieces.
Two Heads for +30,000 gold pieces.
Very Long Legs for +30,000 gold pieces.

TRAIT PACKAGES

In addition, a Reliable Ringer may choose a single package of upgrades from this list:

Gain the Hypnotic Gaze trait, but replace the Loner (4+) trait with Loner (5+) for +60,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Elven Kingdoms League', 'Favoured Of ', 'Halfling Thimble Cup', 'Sylvanian Spotlight' or 'Underworld Challenge' special rules only).
Gain the Stab and Secret Weapon traits for +20,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Elven Kingdoms League', 'Halfling Thimble Cup', 'Sylvanian Spotlight' or 'Underworld Challenge' special rules only).

0-1 BONA FIDE BIG GUY MERCENARY PLAYER INDUCEMENTS

130,000 GOLD PIECES PLUS OPTIONS, AVAILABLE TO ANY TEAM

	MA	ST	AG	PA	AV
Bona Fide Big Guy	4	5	4+	5+	9+

Skills & Traits: Bone Head, Loner (4+), Mighty Blow (+1), Throw Team-mate

OPTIONS

A Bona Fide Big Guy must take at least one option chosen from one or more of the following lists:

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Any Bona Fide Big Guy may take:

A single additional Strength skill for +30,000 gold pieces.
Two or more additional Strength skills for +40,000 gold pieces each.
A single additional General skill for +40,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Passing* skill for +30,000 gold pieces.
A single additional Mutations skill for +40,000 gold pieces.

*A Bona Fide Big Guy may not take the Leader skill.

CHARACTERISTIC OPTIONS

~~A Bona Fide Big Guy may improve or reduce any characteristic by up to 2, as follows~~ Any Bona Fide Big Guy may improve or reduce any characteristic as follows. Each option may be chosen a maximum of once:

Improve MA by 1 for +20,000 gold pieces.
Improve MA by 2 for +50,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Favoured Of ', 'Lustrian Superleague', 'Sylvanian Spotlight' or 'Underworld Challenge' special rules only).
Improve AG by 1 for +40,000 gold pieces.
Improve PA by 1 for +30,000 gold pieces.
Improve PA by 2 for +60,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Halfling Thimble Cup', 'Old World Classic' or 'Underworld Challenge' special rules only).
Improve AV by 1 for +20,000 gold pieces.
Any characteristic may be reduced by 1 for -10,000 gold pieces (to a minimum of 130,000 gold pieces).

TRAIT PACKAGES

In addition, a Bona Fide Big Guy may exchange the Bone Head trait for a single package of upgrades from this list:

Gain the Always Hungry, Projectile Vomit, Really Stupid and Regeneration traits, but reduce AG by 1 for -10,000 gold pieces (available to any team).
Gain the Frenzy skill, the Unchannelled Fury trait and the Horns mutation, but lose the Throw Team-mate trait for +20,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Favoured Of ', 'Halfling Thimble Cup', 'Old World Classic', 'Underworld Challenge' or 'Worlds Edge Superleague' special rules only).
Gain the Frenzy skill, the Animal Savagery trait and the Claws and Prehensile Tail mutations, but lose the Throw Team-mate trait for +20,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Favoured Of ', 'Lustrian Superleague', 'Sylvanian Spotlight' or 'Underworld Challenge' special rules only).
Gain the Mighty Blow (+2) skill, but replace the Loner (4+) trait with Loner (5+) for +50,000 gold pieces (available to any team).
Gain the Ball and Chain, No Hands, Really Stupid and Secret Weapon traits and +2ST, but reduce MA by 1 for +80,000 gold pieces (available to teams with either the 'Badlands Brawl', 'Favoured Of ', 'Lustrian Superleague', 'Old World Classic' or 'Underworld Challenge' special rules only).