Teams are built with gil, which are Blitz Bowl’s analog to points. Each coach gets 100,000 gil to build their team. That seems like a lot, but linemen, the basic coach for each team, usually cost around 5,000 gil. More skilled or more powerful coaches will cost more, with something like a terrifying Gigas coming in at 15,000 gil.
TEAM ROSTER SHEETS
The pad of team rosters is used to record the playing characteristics of the team for use by both players to see while playing (ie you cannot hide your team’s roster from your opponent). Sheets located here.
BUYING PLAYERS
As stated above, in order to create your team, you have a treasury of 100,000 gil. This represents the cash you have managed to raise from sponsors or by other, more underhanded means to hire the players for your team. The first step in actually creating the team is to study the team lists and decide which you want to use. All of the players in your team must be from the same team list.
Having decided on which team list you will use, you must now hire the players for your team. Each of the players in your team will cost a number of gil, as indicated on the lists. The team list also indicates the maximum number of each type of player you are allowed to take for your team. So, for example, a Hume team may not have more than two Throwers. In addition, your team must have at least 11 players and may not have more than 16. Within these restrictions you may have any number and type of player, just so long as you have the cash to hire them.
TEAM RE-ROLLS AND FAN FACTOR
When you create a team, you do not get any team re-rolls or Fan Factor for free – you have to pay for them from your treasury. Each re-roll costs the number of gil shown on the team list for the team that you have chosen, and allows you to re-roll one dice roll per half. If you’ve played any games, you will know just how important team re-rolls are, and it is a good idea to take at least one or two for your team.
Your team’s Fan Factor represents how popular the team is, and can have important effects on the results you roll on the Kick-Off Table. All teams start with a Fan Factor of 0. When you create your team, you may purchase up to 9 additional Fan Factor for 1,000 gil each. Each point of Fan Factor your team has adds 1,000 to the team’s value.
COACHING STAFF
A team’s coaching staff provides vital back-up to the team’s players. Coaching staff are never allowed on the pitch. They must stay on the sidelines during the match. Any team may include the following coaching staff on their roster:
Head Coach (AKA ‘The Manager’ or ‘Da boss’)
This represents you, and so does not cost any gil to hire for the team. During a match your main job is to yell and shout at the players in your team in order to inspire them and, more importantly, to yell and shout at the referee if he makes a call against your team. Any time a player is sent off for committing a foul or using a Secret Weapon, you can ‘Argue the call’. Roll a D6. On a roll of 6, the the referee accepts your arguments and the player in question is only sent to the Reserves box instead of being sent off entirely. On a roll of a 1, the referee has had enough of your lip and ejects you from the game! For the rest of the game, you cannot argue any calls, and if the ‘Brilliant Coaching’ result is rolled on the Kick-off table, subtract 1 from your dice roll. A turnover is still caused if argue the call is successful. Argue the call may be used in before or after a Bribe, however, the Bribe only applies for the player, not the Head Coach.
Assistant Coaches
Assistant coaches include offensive and defensive coordinators, special team coaches, personal trainers for your legendary players and numerous others. As a team becomes more successful the number of assistant coaches on its roster just seems to grow and grow. The more assistant coaches you have on your team, the more likely you are to win the ‘Brilliant Coaching’ result on the Kick-Off Table. Each assistant coach you add to the team costs 1,000 gil and should be given a different job title.
Cheerleaders
Most Blitz Bowl teams have a troupe or two of cheerleaders both to inspire the team’s players and their fans. It’s the team’s cheerleaders’ job to whip the fans into a state of frenzy and lead the chanting and singing as the crowd’s shouts and howls build up to a deafening crescendo. The more cheerleaders you have on your team, the more likely you are to win the ‘Cheering Fans’ result on the Kick-Off Table. Cheerleaders cost 1,000 gil each.
White Mage
A White Mage is a healer wise in the ways of medicine and the healing arts who looks after the injured players in a Blitz Bowl team – and so has a strenuous and full-time job! It costs 5,000 gil to purchase a White Mage to permanently look after your team during a match. A team may not have more than one purchased White Mage.
During a match, a White Mage may attempt to cure a player who has suffered a Casualty or been KO’d. A White Mage can be used only once per match. If the player was KO’d, leave him on the pitch Stunned or in the Reserves box if not on the pitch. Otherwise immediately after the player suffers the Casualty, you can use the White Mage to make your opponent roll again on the Casualty table and then you choose which of the two results to apply. If the player is only Badly Hurt after this roll (even if it was the original Casualty roll) the White Mage has managed to patch him up and pump him full of painkillers so that the player may be moved into the Reserves box.