Necromantics

In addition to hiring Assistant Coaches on a permanent basis, a team may temporarily hire additional Assistant Coaches as Boosters during the pre-game sequence of a league or Exhibition game. This is for a fee of 20,000" per Assistant Coach. There is no limit to the number of Assistant Coaches that can be hired in this manner: simply increase the number of Assistant Coaches on the team roster for the duration of the match. At the end of the game, Assistant Coaches hired in this manner leave the team.

In addition to recruiting Cheerleaders on a permanent basis, a team may temporarily hire additional Cheerleaders as Boosters during the pre-game sequence of a league or Exhibition game. This is for a fee of 20K per Agency Cheerleader. There is no limit to the number of Cheerleaders that can be hired in this way: simply increase the number of Cheerleaders on the team roster for the duration of the match. At the end of the game, Cheerleaders recruited in this way leave the team.

Any team may hire a Weather Mage for a fee of 30K as an inducement during the pre-game sequence of a league or Exhibition match. A Weather Mage is not a Wizard and can be taken as a Boost in addition to a Wizard. A Weather Mage may be used once per game, at the beginning of your team's turn (before your players' first action). Roll on the weather chart, adding or subtracting 1 or 2 from the result. The effects last until the beginning of your next turn, and replace the effects of the existing weather. At the beginning of your next turn, the previous weather conditions are restored. Note that if the game phase ends before the start of your next turn, a Weather Change result on the Kickoff Table can change the weather conditions again. If the game phase ends before the existing weather conditions (those in effect before the Weather Mage intervened) return to normal (for example, if the Weather Mage was used to create a Heat Wave and the game phase ends), the current effects apply.

The team purchases a keg of extra-special Bloodweiser magic ale for 50,000 gold pieces, and gets a lovely lady to serve players before going out for each drive. The combination of the ale and the young lady serving it means that for each purchase of this inducement, players on the team gain a+1 modifier to recover from KO’d for this match.

Blood Bowl history is full of great magicians. Sadly, Horatio X. Schottenheim is unlikely to be among them, but that doesn't make him any less popular! In his quest for fame and glory, Horatio has dedicated his life to becoming the best spellcaster in Blood Bowl. He's spent millions on advertising, always made himself available at a moment's notice, and even has a column in Spike! Magazine... but greatness continues to stay out of his reach. The crux of the problem is this: he's not very good at Magic. After years of mishaps and near-death experiences, he's given up on learning new spells, and is now dedicated to creating the perfect fireball. He might even succeed one day. "Take that! Damn...". Once per half, Horatio can summon a fireball and hurl it at the opponent more or less well. He can do this either at the beginning of his team's turn, before any player takes an action, or immediately after the end of his team's turn, even if it was due to a turnover. Target a square anywhere on the field, then deflect and move the target square D3 squares in the direction indicated. Roll a die to hit each standing player5 (of both teams) on the target square or a square adjacent to it. If the "to hit" roll is 4 or more, the target is Placed. If it is 3 or less, the target avoids the flames. Make an Armor roll (and possibly a Wound roll) for each Plated player, as if he had been Plated by a player with the Chestnut skill. If a player on Horatio's team is Tackled by a Fireball, he does not suffer a turnover unless he had the ball in his possession at the time.

Each extra team training session costs 100,000 gold pieces and allows the team to take one extra Team re-roll that may be used for this match only.

Goblin teams may buy a bribe for 50,000 gold pieces. any other team can buy a bribe for 100,000 gold pieces. Each bribe allows a team to attempt to ignore one call by the referee for a player who has committed a foul to be sent off, or a player armed with a secret weapon to be banned from the match. Roll a D6: on a roll of 2-6 the bribe is effective (preventing a turnover if the player was ejected for fouling), but on a roll of 1the bribe is wasted and the call still stands! Each bribe may be used once per match but more than one bribe may be used on a single call by the referee.

Any team that cannot purchase a permanent Apothecary can hire an Igor for 100,000 gold pieces to assist the team. An Igor is a master of needle and thread on rotting flesh, connecting hip bone to leg bone, rewrapping funeral wraps and so on. He can really get the boys shambling back to the pitch. An Igor may only be used once per a game to re-roll one failed Regeneration roll for a player.

Wizards, just like everybody else in the Old World, are keen sports fans and many are fanatically loyal in support of their chosen team. It is not surprising, then, that soon after the game was born, Wizards started ‘helping out’ the team they supported with carefully selected spells. Soon games were awash with magic as rival Wizards battled to give their team the edge. In the end, the Colleges of Magic were forced to insist that only teams that had bought a special license from the Colleges of Magic were allowed to have magical assistance. They limited this assistance to one spell per match, and even this had to be chosen from a very limited selection and cast by an officially appointed Colleges of Magic team Wizard. Wizards and fans alike soon realised that they really wanted to see a proper Blood Bowl match rather than a spellcasting contest, so the new rules were soon universally accepted. Any team is allowed to hire a Wizard for a match, as long as they can afford the whopping licensing fee charged by the College of Magic concerned. No team may hire more than one Wizard per match. Once per game, the Wizard is allowed to cast either a Fireball spell or a Lightning Bolt spell. Wizards may only cast spells at the start of the turn for the team that induced him before any player performs an Action or immediately after the turn of the team that induced him has ended even if it ended with a turnover. Fireball: Choose a target square anywhere on the pitch. Roll one dice to hit each standing player (from either team) that is either in the target square or a square adjacent to it. If the 'to hit' roll is a 4 or more then the target is Knocked Down. If it is a 3 or less he manages to dodge the fireball’s blast. Make an Armour roll (and possible Injury as well) for any player that is Knocked Down as if they had been Knocked Down by a player with the Mighty Blow skill. If a player on the moving team is Knocked Down by a fireball, then the moving team does not suffer a turnover unless the player was carrying the ball at the time. Zap: Pick a player on the pitch, and roll one dice. If the score is equal to or higher than the target player's Strength then they are turned into a frog for the remainder of the drive. 1 Always fails, 6 always succeeds, if the frog is injured at any time it is counted as Badly Hurt and the player misses the rest of the game. Frog stats: MA 5, ST 1, AG 4, AV 4, Dodge, Leap, No Hands, Very Long Legs, Stunty, Titchy.

Not all black magic practitioners seek to lead their teams. Many cultivate their sinister interests in their spare time. In these enlightened times, necromancers are also much more welcomed by the Colleges of Magic, and thus offer their services to coaches looking for a contracted wizard. Due to their singular passion, however, they tend to practice what they know best and, rather than throwing fireballs, they are usually hired to motivate the players a bit more! Disembodiment: Cast at the beginning of any of your opponent's turns, before the players take any Actions. Target an opposing player and roll a D6. On 3+, he becomes strangely ethereal! The player gains the No Hands skill and immediately loses the ball if he was wearing it, bouncing it once. In addition, the player no longer generates a tackle zone. Disembodiment lasts until the start of your opponent's next turn. Vanhalables' Dance of Death: Roll at the beginning of any of your turns, before any player takes an Action. Roll a D6. On a 3+, all Skeletons and Zombies players on the field gain +1M, +1AG, +1AR until the start of your next turn.

Halflings teams can hire a Chef for 100,000 gold coins and other teams for 300,000 gold coins. Roll 3D6 at the beginning of each half to see how the chef's cooking affects the team. For each die roll of 4 or more, the team is so inspired that they gain a Team Raise, and in addition the opposing team is so disturbed by the fantastic smell of cooking emanating from the opposing pit that they lose a Team Raise (but only if they had any left).