Slaughterball

Slaughterball Rulebook

Table of Contents

PART 1: SCRIMMAGE RULEBOOK
PART 2: EXHIBITION AND LEAGUE RULEBOOK

PART 1: SCRIMMAGE RULEBOOK

Scrimmage Games

If you like brutal sports, genetically perfected athletes, and steel-plated carnage, grab your dice, choose your team, and let's get crunchy!

Quick Play Scrimmage

You can learn the basic rules quickly by playing a few scrimmage games, as explained in this rulebook. These simplifications speed play and concentrate on getting you playing as quickly as possible.

After you've mastered scrimmage games, you can move on to exhibition or league games where you can get your athletes hyped up with all those sweet skills (not to mention the cheerleaders!). Check out the Exhibition and League Game Rulebook for more information.

You Are the Coach, Not the Player

To avoid confusion, this rulebook does not use the term player to refer to the real people playing the game or the plastic figures on the game board. Instead, the figures are called athletes and the people playing the game are coaches.

Scrimmage Components

The following components are used in a scrimmage game:

Double-sided game board
68 strategy cards
4 Closed Goal tokens
3 Onslaught tokens per coach
1 Score token per coach
1 First Coach token
1 Round token
1 plastic ball
1 Scrimmage Athlete Reference Sheet per coach
1 double-sided relaunch template
1 eight-sided scatter die and 20 custom six-sided dice

Each coach gets the following athletes in one color: 1 razor (round base), 2 cleavers (starburst base), 2 slashers (hexagon base), 1 butcher (square base).

Setup

The picture in the rulebook shows all of the components you need to play a 4-team scrimmage game of Slaughterball. For a 2-team game you would just remove two teams from the setup. For a 3-team game, flip the board over to the Hexagon side. The picture shows the athletes off the board so you can see the pertinent parts of the board (the Slaughter Box, Penalty Box, Round tracker, Score tracker, slices, goals under Goal Door tokens, the Meat Grinder spaces, athlete starting spaces, launchers and Re-entry spaces).

Before playing a scrimmage game of Slaughterball, perform the steps below.

Board Setup

Slaughterball fans prefer the action and insane mayhem of a full, 4-team game. However, you can also play with just two or three teams. The 4-team and 2-team games use the Octagon side of the board, while the Hexagon side is used for 3-team games.

Each coach takes a Scrimmage Athlete Reference Sheet. One side shows helpful turn and action information. The other side lists the athletes under the coach's control, including their traits (Accuracy, Agility, Brawling, Speed, and Toughness).

2- and 4-team game: place the board Octagon-side up in the center of the table and put the dice nearby.

3-team game: place the board Hexagon-side up in the center of the table and put the dice nearby.
Place Closed Goal tokens over each of the goals on the board. Teams cannot score goals until these tokens are removed when an athlete with the ball runs over the Meat Grinder at the center of the board.
Remove the Brutal Spike and Unexpected Spike cards from the deck and put them in the box. Shuffle the remaining cards and place them near the board.
Deal five cards to each coach. This is the max-draw hand size. Each card tells you when you can play it.
Place the Round token on the LO (Launch Off) space of the Round tracker.
Place each team's score token near the Score tracker. When a team scores, move their token along the tracker.
Each coach gets three Onslaught tokens to indicate which athletes have acted during their turn.
The pro team reference cards, maverick cards, and Edge and Injury tokens are not used and can be put back in the box.

Team Placement

Each coach rolls four dice. The coach who rolls the most knives (reroll ties) takes the First Coach token and chooses his team's home slice and team color. The coach keeps the First Coach Token for the rest of the game.

2- and 4-team game: the First coach can choose from slices 1, 3, 5, and 7.

3-team game: the First coach can choose from slices 1, 3, and 5.
In descending order of rolled knives, the other coaches pick their home slices from the remaining odd slices.

2-team game: The other coach must choose the slice opposite the First coach.
Each coach places all six of his athletes (one razor, two cleavers, two slashers, and one butcher) in the starting spaces of his home slice as indicated on the Scrimmage Athlete Reference Sheet.

Launch the Ball

Roll the gray, eight-sided scatter die and place the ball in that launcher space. For example, if you roll a 5, put the ball on the launcher marked 5. If you are playing in the Hexagon, reroll 7s and 8s.
Scatter the ball from the launcher, as described in the Scattering the Ball section.

Starting the Game

The First coach takes the first turn and play continues clockwise from there. For more information, see the Turn Sequence section.

Rolling the Dice

The basic mechanism of Slaughterball is the Trait test. The Trait test determines if the action of an athlete succeeds or fails. There are two parts to the Trait test:

Roll a number of dice equal to the athlete's relevant trait (traits include Accuracy, Agility, Brawling, Speed, and Toughness). Various modifiers may add or subtract dice for this roll.
Count the number of knives rolled to determine whether or not the action succeeds.

Whenever an athlete attempts an action that might fail, such as passing the ball or chopping an opponent, the coach must make a Trait test for the athlete.

For instance, if a razor tries to shoot a goal, the coach rolls a number of dice equal to the razor's Accuracy.

Interference

Opposing athletes can interfere with Trait tests if they are adjacent to the athlete attempting the test. For each such opponent that interferes, subtract one die from the Trait test. If multiple opponents interfere, that many dice are subtracted from the Trait test. For more information, see the Interference section.

Other Modifiers

There are other modifiers to the number of dice rolled for a Trait test. They are detailed in the appropriate sections. Some examples of other modifiers include:

+1 die for chops and carves if the athlete has possession of the ball (it's a big solid steel ball, and great for pounding opponents).
+4 dice for chops against prone opponents.
Extra dice from cards (for example, +3 dice for Accuracy tests when you play the Sharpshooter card).

Minimum Dice

You can never roll fewer than one die for any Trait test, even if subtractions would reduce the number of dice rolled to zero or less.

Subtracting dice for any reason happens after all additions.

Success or Failure

The success of the athlete's action is determined by how many knives are rolled on the dice. More knives are better. For example, to shoot a goal you must roll a number of knives equal to or greater than the number of spaces between the shooter and the goal.

To learn the specific traits tested for a specific action, along with the number of knives required for success and possible modifiers, see the appropriate action section.

Opposed Tests

Sometimes, an opponent will roll dice at the same time your athlete does. During a Chop test, for example, both athletes are trying to injure the other. In this case, the athlete who rolls the most knives succeeds, while the other athlete fails.

Dice Symbols

The custom six-sided dice have symbols on each side: double knife, knife, knife, boot, star, and skull. In scrimmage games, only the knife and double knife sides are used. Ignore the other symbols until you play an exhibition or league game. (A double knife counts as two knives.)

Turn Sequence

A game of Slaughterball proceeds in a series of six rounds. In each round, each coach takes a turn, starting with the First coach and moving clockwise around the board.

Team Turn

A coach's turn has three phases conducted in the following order:

Draw phase
Onslaught phase
Cleanup phase

When a coach takes his turn, he is the acting coach and his team is the acting team.

Draw Phase

During the Draw phase, do the following:

If you are the First Coach and the Round token is already on round 6 or OT (overtime), the game is over unless there is a tie for first place.
If you are the First Coach, move the Round token to the next round (leave it on OT if it is already there).
Except during round 1, discard as many cards as you want.
Draw cards back up to your maximum draw hand size of five.

If you have to draw a card and there are no cards in the draw deck, shuffle the discard deck to create a new draw deck.

You can't play any cards while you are drawing cards.

Onslaught Phase

In the Onslaught phase, you can take actions with your athletes:

Select an athlete and place an Onslaught token near him. You cannot select an athlete that already has an Onslaught token.
Perform up to two different, consecutive actions with the selected athlete. Possible actions include Chop, Move, Pass, and Shoot, which are explained below.

Each action must be completed entirely before the next action is taken. So, an athlete cannot split up his Move action, such as move one space, take a Chop action, and then move his remaining four spaces.

Important: An athlete cannot perform the same action more than once on the same Onslaught token.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you run out of Onslaught tokens or you don't want to use any more.

Your Onslaught phase ends when any one of the following occurs:

You have used all of your Onslaught tokens.
You voluntarily end your turn.
Your team loses momentum (see below).

Lost Momentum

Usually, you can use all of your Onslaught tokens before your Onslaught phase is over. However, any coach can play a Lost Momentum card to prematurely end another coach's Onslaught phase when one of the following occurs:

One of the acting coach's athletes is knocked down.
An athlete not on the acting team catches the ball (such as by using the Lucky Bounce card).

Whenever one of these events happens, any other coach can play a Lost Momentum card if he has one. The acting coach's Onslaught phase then ends, even if he has unused Onslaught tokens.

Cleanup Phase

In the Cleanup phase, the acting coach takes back all of his spent and unspent Onslaught tokens.

If he has the right cards, he can also return athletes to the Pit from the Penalty Box or Slaughter Box.

Return Athlete to Pit from Penalty Box

To get an athlete back into the game from the Penalty Box, a coach must play a Penalty Expires card. Upon doing so, place the formerly penalized athlete in any unoccupied Re-entry space.

If all Re-entry spaces are occupied, then the athlete cannot be returned to the Pit.

Return Athlete to Pit from Slaughter Box

To get an athlete out of the Slaughter Box and back into the Pit, a coach must play the No Time to Bleed card. Upon doing so, place the formerly injured athlete in any unoccupied Re-entry space. If all Re-entry spaces are occupied, then the athlete cannot return to the Pit.

Winning the Game

At the end of round 6, the team with the most points wins.

If there is a tie for first place at the end of round 6, overtime ensues. Play continues until a round ends with one team having more points than any other team. That team wins.

Ties for 2nd and 3rd place are permissible, and do not cause overtime.

It is possible there is so much carnage that only one team has any athletes left standing in the Pit. In this case, play continues until the end of round 6 as usual. Ties also still prompt overtime. Usually, the last team standing will win on points, but there may be times when a team wins the game while all of their athletes are in the Slaughter Box.

Scattering the Ball

Scatter is when a loose ball bounces to a new space. This happens in a variety of situations, as listed in the table below:

Scatter Reason	Scatter From
Launch off	Random launcher
Relaunch	Launcher indicated on Relaunch template
Failed pass	Receiver's space
Failed shot	Space in front of goal
Failed to pick up the ball	Ball's original space
Athlete with the ball is knocked down/injured/sent to Penalty Box	Athlete's space

Last Place Coach

Whenever the ball scatters, the Last Place Coach is in charge of deciding where the ball ends up based on a scatter die roll. The Last Place Coach can change from one scatter to the next.

The Last Place Coach is determined in the following order:

The coach with the lowest score in the game. If there is a tie for this, then go to step 2.
Out of the tied teams, the coach who takes his turn last in a round.

Scatter Process

Whenever the ball scatters, the Last Place Coach follows these steps:

Roll the 8-sided scatter die. The result is the maximum scatter distance.
The Last Place Coach can decide which unoccupied space to scatter the ball into, up to the maximum scatter distance from the starting space. For example, if the coach rolls a 4 on the scatter die, he can place the ball 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 spaces away in any direction.
The ball cannot scatter into an occupied space. If all of the spaces within the maximum scatter distance are occupied, the coach can choose any of the nearest unoccupied spaces.

Scatter Example

In this example, a team has just scored a goal and the red coach is the Last Place Coach. Using the Relaunch template, he determines that the ball scatters from launcher 3. He then rolls the 8-sided scatter die, getting a 2. The green spaces in the image indicate which spaces the Last Place Coach can place the ball. All the spaces are within two spaces of the launcher. The ball cannot scatter into any of the occupied spaces.

Interference

Before going into detail about each of the actions, you should know about interference.

Slaughterball is a game of grappling, mangling, punching, kicking, biting, chopping, and other brutalities. Athletes use every opportunity to interfere with their opponents. That can mean trying to block a pass or shot, or distracting opponents so they get chopped by a teammate.

Any upright athlete can interfere with an adjacent athlete's test by subtracting one die from the roll.

The following rules apply to interference:

NOT AN ACTION: Interference is not an action. It does not require an Onslaught token, nor does it require a card. It is a free ability that all upright athletes have against all adjacent opponents at all times.
ONCE PER TEST: An athlete can interfere with only one opponent during any one action. If more than one athlete can be interfered with during an action, the interfering athlete's coach can pick which eligible opponent he interferes with. For example, if an athlete is adjacent to both the chop attacker and chop defender, the athlete can interfere with only one.
NO LIMIT PER ROUND: An athlete can interfere with any number of different tests per round.
OPTIONAL: Athletes are not required to interfere; their coach decides if they do so in each case.
PRONE: A prone athlete cannot interfere.
NOT A PARTICIPANT: An athlete cannot interfere in a test in which he is a participant (for example, he can't be the attacker, defender, or thrower).
MINIMUM DICE: Interference cannot lower the number of dice rolled to less than 1.
GANGING UP IS ALLOWED. Multiple adjacent athletes can interfere with a single test.

Interference Example

In the image, the green butcher takes an action to chop the blue cleaver. The butcher's two green teammates are adjacent to the cleaver and both interfere. Fortunately for blue, the yellow butcher is going to interfere with the green butcher. The green butcher gets the dice shown in the image, and the blue cleaver doesn't get nearly as many dice. Obviously, the blue cleaver is in a lot of trouble!

Move Action

Using the Move action, an upright athlete may move up to a number of adjacent spaces equal to his Speed trait. Adjacent spaces are spaces that touch sides or corners.

Athletes cannot move into or through spaces containing opposing athletes (upright or prone). Athletes can move through spaces containing their teammates, but they cannot end their movement in such a space.

In the example, the green butcher has Speed 4 and moves four spaces to end adjacent to the red slasher. The butcher can move through the space with his teammate.

The green slasher has Speed 5, but only moves three spaces to end adjacent to the red cleaver.

Tip: Put the Onslaught token in the athlete's starting space to keep track of how far he's gone.

Pick Up the Ball

As a free part of a Move action, an athlete in the same space as the ball on the floor can try to pick it up. It does not cost any spaces of movement to try to pick up the ball.

If an athlete enters or moves through the space containing the ball and does not try to pick it up, the ball scatters.

To pick up the ball:

Move into the space containing the ball.
Roll a number of dice equal to the athlete's Agility trait.
Subtract one die for each interfering opponent.
If one or more knives are rolled, the athlete picks up the ball. If no knives are rolled, the ball scatters. If the athlete has enough movement left over, he can continue his movement and try to pick up the ball again.

In the example, the yellow razor moves two spaces into the space with the ball and can then try to pick it up. Whether successful or not, she can continue her move.

Stand Up

It takes a full Move action for a prone athlete to stand up. Athletes who stand up cannot move to any other space during their Move action.

Facing

Athletes are genetically engineered with excellent hyper-peripheral vision. They constantly scan the Pit in all directions to keep track of opponents. It doesn't matter which direction a figure is facing on the board.

Chop Action

In Slaughterball vernacular, attacking opponents is called chopping. Using punches, kicks, throws, wrestling, or any other violent medium, an athlete tries to inflict severe bodily harm on an adjacent opponent.

Teams score points for knocking down or injuring opposing cleavers, slashers, and butchers. No points are scored for harming razors. For more information, see the Scoring section.

The attacker must be upright and the defender must be adjacent.

Chop Test

The attacker rolls a number of dice equal to his Brawling.

Subtract one die for each interfering opponent who is not the defender.

Add one die if the attacker is holding the ball. (It's a solid piece of steel!)

Add four dice if the defender is prone.
The defender rolls a number of dice equal to his Brawling.

Subtract one die for each interfering opponent who is not the attacker.

Add one die if the defender is holding the ball.

Chop Results

If no one rolls any knives, nothing happens and the chop fails.
If both athletes roll the same number of knives, both are knocked down.
If one athlete rolls more knives, the opponent is knocked down.
If one athlete rolls more knives than the opponent's knives + Toughness, the athlete that rolled fewer knives is sent to the Slaughter Box.

If the athlete is knocked down or injured in a Meat Grinder space, his opponent gets +4 knives for determining the extent of the injury.

If an athlete holding the ball is knocked down, the ball scatters.

Chop Fouls

Other coaches can play a Penalty card on any athlete that commits a foul by chopping one of the following:

A prone opponent
A razor not holding the ball

Chop Example

In this example, the blue slasher can chop any opponent in the adjacent red spaces. In this case, that includes the red cleaver and the yellow razor.

Chopping the yellow razor won't earn the blue team any points. Plus, chopping a razor is a foul and could result in a penalty. So the blue slasher decides to chop the red cleaver (who is worth two points if injured).

The yellow razor is adjacent to the blue slasher and decides to interfere with the chop attack, subtracting a die from the blue slasher's test.

The green slasher is adjacent to the red cleaver, but decides not to interfere. Maybe the blue team is in the lead and green doesn't want them to score any more points.

Both athletes roll their dice. The cleaver gets five knives while the slasher gets only two. No doubt thanks to the razor's interference, the red cleaver managed to turn the tables and knock down the attacker! (Three extra knives are not more than the blue slasher's Toughness 4, so he's not injured.) The red team scores one point for knocking down the blue slasher.

The Meat Grinder

The dark spaces in the middle of the Pit are called the Meat Grinder. The floor in this area is not smooth steel, but made up of pointed tenderizers designed to inflict pain and suffering on anyone unfortunate enough to fall down here.

If an athlete is knocked down or injured in a Meat Grinder space during a chop or carve, his opponent gets +4 bonus knives for determining injuries.

Coaches can play a Penalty card on any athletes that end their Move action in a Meat Grinder space before the goals are opened.

Pass Action

Slaughterball is a brutal sport full of crushing chops and serious injuries, where the butchers do their best to pummel opponents into unconsciousness. But it's probably even more important to control the ball and make sure it gets into the hands of your athletes who can shoot the longest goals.

An athlete with the ball can attempt to pass the ball to any other athlete in the Pit, including an opponent, no matter how distant. Athletes can even attempt impossible passes that are guaranteed to fail.

Intervening athletes do not block line of sight. Throws are assumed to go over, under, or around intervening athletes.

An upright athlete takes a Pass action to throw the ball with an Accuracy test, while the receiver can make a free Agility test to catch the ball. The results of these tests are added together to determine if the pass was successful.

Pass Distance

The pass distance is equal to the fewest number of spaces between the passer and the receiver. Do not count the spaces that the passer and receiver are in. If the passer and receiver are adjacent, the pass distance is considered to be 1.

Pass Test

Roll a number of dice equal to the passer's Accuracy.

Subtract one die for each interfering opponent adjacent to the passer.
Roll a number of dice equal to the receiver's Agility. The receiver can do this for free. Receiving is not an action.

Subtract one die for each interfering opponent adjacent to the receiver.
Add up the number of knives from the Accuracy and Agility tests.

Pass Results

If the sum of the passer's and receiver's knives is equal to or greater than the pass distance, the receiver catches the ball.
If the coach rolls fewer knives than the pass distance, the pass fails and the ball scatters from the receiver's space.

Pass Example

In this example, the yellow cleaver is passing the ball to the yellow razor. The pass distance is four, the fewest number of spaces between them (not counting the spaces they are in). The coach rolls the passer's Accuracy dice and the receiver's Agility dice. If four or more knives show up, the pass is completed.

Shoot Action

Fans swarm to the slaughterdomes to see the brutality and viciousness of butchers and slashers racking up the injuries to win a game. But it's just as likely that the keen eyes and strong throwing arms of the razors and cleavers triumph, thanks to scoring goals. A long Hail Mary shot from beyond the Meat Grinder scores a lot more points than taking down a butcher. No team should ignore the chance to shoot goals.

When an athlete takes a Shoot action, he's trying to throw the ball into any of the goals in the Pit. He makes an Accuracy test, and if he gets more knives than the shoot distance, he scores points equal to the shoot distance. (Note: the Shoot Results below say knives equal to or exceeding the shoot distance succeed; the printed rulebook words this introduction differently.)

Shoot Distance

The shoot distance is equal to the fewest number of spaces between the shooter and the goal. Do not count the space the shooter is in. You must count the space with the chevron directly in front of the goal. If the shooter is in the chevron space, the shoot distance is one.

Shoot Test

Roll a number of dice equal to the shooter's Accuracy. Subtract one die for each interfering opponent adjacent to the shooter.

Shoot Results

If the athlete rolls fewer knives than the shoot distance, the shot misses and the ball scatters from the chevron space in front of the goal.
If the athlete rolls knives equal to or exceeding the shoot distance, the shot is successful and a goal is scored!

The shooter's team earns points equal to the shoot distance. If the shooter is in the chevron space, he still earns one point.

The ball is then immediately launched from a random launcher on the other side of the pit, as explained in the Relaunch the Ball section.

After the ball is relaunched or scattered, the acting coach may continue his turn.

Shoot Example

In this example, the red razor is attempting a shot. There are five spaces between the razor and the goal. If the razor succeeds in rolling five or more knives on his Accuracy test, he scores five points. If not, the ball scatters from the space in front of the goal.

Relaunch the Ball

After each successful goal, the ball is immediately scattered from a random slice on the other side of the Pit. Follow these steps to relaunch the ball:

Place the Relaunch template so that the goal on the template is aligned with where the goal was scored on the board. There are two sides to the Relaunch template. Make sure you use the side of the Relaunch template that matches the board you are playing on.
Roll one die and place the ball on the launcher indicated on the Relaunch template.
Scatter the ball from the launcher.

Interrupts and Carves

The card deck includes several Interrupt cards. You can play an Interrupt card to have one of your athletes carve an opponent who moves out of an adjacent space. Your athlete is trying to trip and injure the opponent as he runs by.

Carving is NOT an action, it is an interrupt. Carving does not require an Onslaught token.

You must play an Interrupt card to attempt a carve.

An athlete can only attempt to carve an opponent once during that opponent's Move action, no matter how many times that opponent moves out of an adjacent space.

More than one athlete can carve the same opponent during the same Move action. But each carve must be attempted separately.

Coaches are discouraged from rushing through moving their athletes. The game is not about how quickly you can move the pieces on the board. Instead, you should give other coaches an opportunity to interrupt if they want to.

Interrupting cannot be simultaneous. If two or more coaches declare an interrupt at the same time, the Last Place Coach determines who goes first.

Carve Process

To carve an opponent, follow these steps:

Play an Interrupt card during an opponent's Move action when that opponent tries to move out of a space adjacent to one of your athletes (attacker).
Pause your opponent's move before he moves out of the adjacent space, making him stop.
Begin the carve attack.

Carve Attack

The attacker rolls a number of dice equal to his Brawling.

Subtract one die for each interfering opponent who is not the mover.

Add one die if the carver is holding the ball.

Carve Defense

The moving athlete's coach rolls a number of dice equal to his Agility.

Subtract one die for each interfering opponent who is not the carver.

Carve Results

If the mover rolls more knives than the carver, the carve fails and the mover can continue his Move action.
If the carver rolls a number of knives equal to or greater than the knives rolled by the mover, the mover is knocked down in the adjacent space and his Move action is over.
If the carver rolls more knives than the mover's Toughness plus the mover's knives, the mover is injured and sent to the Slaughter Box.

If the mover is in a Meat Grinder space and is knocked down or injured, the carver adds +4 knives to his result.

Carving Penalties

Think twice before carving a razor when he doesn't have the ball. If you carve him, other coaches can play a Penalty card on you.

Carve Example

The blue razor wants to go grab the ball so he can pass it to a teammate closer to a goal. But that means he has to run around the yellow slasher. If the yellow coach has an Interrupt card, the blue razor could be in trouble, but he has to risk it.

As it turns out, when the blue razor leaves space A, the yellow coach plays an Interrupt card. The blue razor must stop in space A and a carve attack starts.

The yellow slasher gets to roll attack dice and the blue razor gets to roll defense dice (shown in the images). The coaches roll for their athletes and get the results shown.

The blue razor rolled more knives. Therefore, the razor can continue his move.

Even if the yellow coach has another Interrupt card, he can't play it during the razor's same Move action.

The razor moves around the slasher to the ball, manages to pick it up, and then moves away from the slasher.

Knockdowns and Injuries

Slaughterball is a brutal game rife with injury and pain. Athletes are knocked down and injured with alarming regularity. This is not only because athletes get points for slaughtering opponents, but they're also genetically-engineered with violent dispositions.

Knockdowns

Upright athletes can be knocked down when they lose a Chop or Carve test.

When an athlete is knocked down, place the plastic figure on its side in its space. A knocked down athlete is also called a prone athlete. A prone athlete cannot be knocked down.

Prone athletes can get back up by using a Move action. In fact, prone athletes cannot take any action except a Move action to stand up. After standing up, an athlete can take any remaining actions normally.

Opposing athletes cannot enter a space occupied by a prone opponent. No athlete can end his movement in a space with a prone athlete.

Injuries

Athletes are injured when, during a Chop or Carve test, the sum of their Toughness and knives is exceeded by the number of knives rolled by their opponent.

When an athlete is injured, remove the athlete from the Pit and place him in the Slaughter Box.

The only way an athlete can return to the Pit from the Slaughter Box is to play a No Time To Bleed card.

Fouls and Penalties

A foul is a violation of the rules, of which there are precious few in Slaughterball. Rules generally interfere with the carnage that the rabid fans demand, and so they are kept to a minimum and inconsistently enforced.

Athletes often commit fouls during a game, to gain an advantage against their opponents, to exact vengeance for a perceived slight, or just to spite.

Even the bravest of referees aren't stupid enough to enter the Pit, so they remain outside, observing the game from behind the safety of the Pit's steel walls. This means that they don't have a good, close view of what's going on, and so infractions often go unnoticed and unpenalized, much to the delight or dismay of the fans (depending on whether their team suffered).

If an athlete is actually caught committing a foul, a ref can penalize him by sending him to the Penalty Box. The many unpunished fouls in a game are often attributed to nearsightedness of the refs. However, some cynics suggest that the rules were created to be broken, so that the fans can enjoy the violent spectacle even more.

In this board game, referees are simulated in the card deck as Penalty cards. Coaches can play these when athletes commit fouls. A Penalty card can be played on an uninjured athlete who does any of the following:

Chop or carve a razor not in possession of the ball.
Chop a prone opponent.
End a Move action in one of the Meat Grinder spaces before the goals are opened.

As soon as the offending action is complete and injuries are assessed, a coach can play a Penalty card on that athlete. Unless the card is cancelled, the athlete is removed from the Pit and sent to the Penalty Box.

If an athlete holding the ball is sent to the Penalty Box, the ball scatters from the last space he was in.

Yes, you can play a Penalty card on one of your own athletes. You might want to do this to get your athlete out of the Pit so an opponent cannot slaughter him for points.

To convince coaches not to use this strategy, there are Shot Clock cards in the deck.

Leaving the Penalty Box

There is one way to get an athlete out of the Penalty Box and back into the Pit: play a Penalty Expires card during that athlete's team's Cleanup phase. This lets you remove the penalized athlete from the Penalty Box and put him upright in an unoccupied Re-entry space of your choice.

Cancelling Penalties

A Penalty card can be cancelled with a Distracted Ref card or an Axed card. If a Penalty card is cancelled, another Penalty card can still be played for the same event that prompted the first Penalty card (unless the Distracted Ref card was used).

Double Penalties

It is possible to commit multiple fouls with the same event. For example, chopping a prone razor is actually two fouls. One foul for chopping a razor who doesn't have the ball, and another for chopping a prone athlete.

You can play a Penalty card for either foul, but there is no reason to play one for each foul. One card is enough to send an athlete to the Penalty Box.

Shot Clock

There is another card that can send an athlete to the Penalty Box, and that's the Shot Clock card.

One strategy for teams in the lead is to hog the ball until the timer runs out. Fans hate this, because it usually just turns into a big pile-up in one spot with no more scoring.

You can play a Shot Clock card during any other coach's Cleanup phase if, during the just-completed Onslaught phase, the acting team did none of the following:

Open the goals
Take a Shoot or Spike action

When the card is played while the ball is loose, the ball is scattered from a random launcher. If an athlete on the active team is holding the ball, he is sent to the Penalty Box and the ball is scattered from a random launcher.

This encourages coaches to take a shot at least once during their turn and not hog the ball.

Scoring

There are three ways to score in Slaughterball: open the goals, throw the ball into the goal, or slaughter opponents.

Open the Goals

At the start of the game, all of the goals are closed. The only way to open the goals is to carry the ball into one of the central Meat Grinder spaces.

The first athlete to move into one of the Meat Grinder spaces while holding the ball scores two points for his team and opens the goals. This can only happen once per game.

Once the goals are open, they remain so for the rest of the game and any team can then score in any goal.

Throwing the Ball into a Goal

Goals are worth variable points. When a goal is scored, that team earns a number of points equal to the shoot distance (minimum 1 if the shooter is in the space directly adjacent to the goal). For more information, see the Shoot Action section.

Of course, longer shots are more difficult. Deciding what range to shoot from is one of the tough decisions a coach must make. Do you go for the easy 2-point shot, or do you try for a 5-pointer to gain the lead?

After a goal is scored, the ball is immediately launched out of a random launcher on the other side of the Pit, as explained in the Shoot Action section.

Slaughtering Opponents

Slaughtering is the term used when an athlete knocks down or injures an opponent. Teams score points for slaughtering as follows:

Athlete	Points for Knocking Down	Points for Injuring
Razor	0	0
Cleaver	1	2
Slasher	1	3
Butcher	1	4

Do not add the points for knock-down to injury when you injure an athlete. You can't knock down a prone opponent. Yes, you can score points for injuring (and fouling) prone opponents, but these points are revoked if you are penalized for the foul.

The goals do not need to be open to score points for slaughtering opponents.

After Scoring

A team's turn does not automatically end after it scores. If the coach still has unused Onslaught tokens, he can keep using them. This means that it is possible for a team to score multiple times during their turn.

This is a good reason to make sure you have some athletes positioned to catch the ball when it relaunches after you score a goal.

Scrimmage: What Comes Next

You've read all of the rules you need to know to play a scrimmage game. Go ahead and play a few games to get the feel of brutality and strife!

For deeper strategy and more options, check out the Exhibition and League Rulebook. In it you'll find rules for: Spike Action (throw the ball at opponents to slaughter them), Pro teams (four different teams with different skills and traits), Edge tokens (give underdogs a fair shot at more powerful teams), Support staff (mascots, assistant coaches, physicians, and cheerleaders), Athlete improvement (earn money and spend it to transform your team into a juggernaut of brutality), 50 skills, and more.

PART 2: EXHIBITION AND LEAGUE RULEBOOK

Slaughterball: Exhibition and League Games

If you thought there was brutality and mayhem in the scrimmage rules for Slaughterball, you ain't seen nothing yet! With the exhibition and league rules in this book, you'll get to throw the ball at opponents using the Spike action, coach asymmetrical and unique professional teams, use 50 skills, get athletes out of the Slaughter Box by using physicians, force opponents to reroll by distracting them with cheerleaders, cancel opponents' cards with your mascot, and more!

So, if you're ready for deeper strategy, more action, more options, and more carnage, read on!

Three Ways to Play

There are three different ways to play Slaughterball: scrimmage games, exhibition games, and league games. You should have started by playing a few scrimmage games, as explained in the Scrimmage Rulebook. If you haven't done that, put this book down and go read that one to learn the basics of Slaughterball. Then come back here.

SCRIMMAGE GAMES. The beginner's guide to Slaughterball. Check out the Scrimmage Rulebook for more information. You'll need to read that book first to learn the basic rules for the game.

EXHIBITION GAMES. Want to play one of those crunchy pro teams but don't want to commit to a full season? Then you can play an exhibition game. Using the standard roster, you can experience deeper pit strategy with athlete skills and Edge tokens. Each team has different strengths and weaknesses, so you'll have to adjust your tactics based on the opposing teams in the game.

LEAGUE GAMES. Want to choose the athletes on your team? Want to earn prizes for winning games and then spend that money to buy more athlete skills, increase traits, and hire support staff? Want to see your team grow into an unstoppable juggernaut of deluxe brutality? Then league games are for you!

Differences

Most of the rules in the Scrimmage Rulebook remain unchanged for exhibition and league games. Therefore, this book does not repeat the rules from the Scrimmage Rulebook. Instead, this book makes a note of the differences, when appropriate. Most of the differences are additions to the rules, not changes to the scrimmage rules.

Major differences from the scrimmage rules include the following:

Spike action: Athletes have this new action at their vicious disposal.
Edge tokens: In order to balance the asymmetrical professional teams, lower-valued teams get an underdog bonus granting them Edge tokens.
Injury tokens: The extent of an athlete's injury is indicated with Injury tokens.
Mavericks: League teams can hire maverick athletes to join them during a game.
Support staff: League teams can hire physicians, cheerleaders, mascots, and assistant coaches to assist them during a game.
Skills: You now have over 50 skills to improve your athletes.
Interrupting skills: The Interrupt card becomes much more powerful as athletes learn Interrupting skills to get extra actions, intercept, and more.

Components

When playing exhibition or league games, you have access to all components, as indicated below:

DOUBLE-SIDED GAME BOARD (1): The game board comes in two pieces. Make sure you combine the correct two sides when playing.
CUSTOM DICE (20): These six-sided dice have custom faces and are used to determine the success or failure of actions taken by the athletes.
SCATTER DIE (1): This eight-sided die is used to determine where the ball bounces to after certain events.
GOAL DOOR TOKENS (4): These tokens are used to show that the goals are closed until any athlete opens them by running the ball over the Meat Grinder.
EDGE TOKENS (50): These tokens are used to give weaker teams a bonus to make them competitive against stronger teams. Not used in scrimmage games.
PLASTIC BALLS (2): Slaughterball is played using a large, steel ball sporting repulsor fields that give it a somewhat erratic rebound trajectory. The ball is represented by a plastic piece in the game. To make them easier for you to pick up, the balls are not to scale with the athletes.
STRATEGY CARDS (70): These cards provide coaches with ways to help their own athletes or hinder opponents. Coaches can refresh their hand at the start of their turns, and if the deck runs out, just shuffle it and draw from the new deck.
SCRIMMAGE ATHLETE REFERENCE SHEETS (4): One side of these sheets lists the athlete traits you use in a scrimmage game, which you can ignore for exhibition and league games. The other side is a quick-reference sheet for the turn sequence and actions available to the athletes (used in all games).
PROFESSIONAL TEAM REFERENCE CARDS (4): Each of the four professional teams (Carnage, Nemesis, Swords of Damocles, Valkyries) has its own double-sided reference card that lists the athlete traits, skills, costs, and standard exhibition game roster.
MAVERICK REFERENCE CARDS (4): These double-sided reference cards present the traits, skills, and Pit Power adjustment of the four mavericks (Gibraltar, Simba Khan, Toccata, and Fugue). These are only used in league games.
FIRST COACH TOKEN (1): This token is given to the coach who takes the first turn in a game.
ROUND TRACKER (1): This token is used to track rounds on the Round tracker on the board.

Athletes

The genetically-engineered athletes that participate in Slaughterball are represented on the board by large plastic figures. Each of the four teams come in a different color. There are 12 figures in each team and four types of athletes, indicated by the shape of the base: square butcher, hexagonal slasher, starburst cleaver, and round razor.

The four pro teams:

CARNAGE: A brutal team genetically-engineered to resemble goblins, orcs, and ogres of myth and legend. They score more points by slaughtering opponents than by making goals.
NEMESIS: A team of sleek neohumans with a deep playbook and potent counter-strategies. The cleavers give their coach more options during a turn.
SWORDS OF DAMOCLES: Current Slaughterball champions who rely on the speed and accuracy of their talented razors to score amazing goals.
VALKYRIES: An all-female team famed for their Nordic beauty and feared for their prowess at manipulating opponents.
MAVERICKS: Mavericks are Slaughterball athletes owing allegiance to no team. They sell their services to the highest bidder and frequently break the rules just by entering the Pit.

Slaughterball teams are composed of genetically-engineered neohuman athletes harvested from heavily regulated corporate or United Globe government biovats.

While their physical traits are refined to excel at Slaughterball, most teams don't have the funds to implant more than rudimentary memories and personalities. As such, you don't usually see these athletes wandering the streets of the metroplex.

The Global Slaughterball League (GSL) regulations do allow variations in the genomes for these types, although even this customization must stay within the well-balanced norms. The GSL does not want min-maxing geneticists tweaking the system and ruining the careful equilibrium that entices millions of fans to watch the games every week.

If some scheming geneticist finds a loophole in the regulations, the commissioners swiftly lock it down and fine the offender. Slaughterball rule number one is, of course, make it fun for all the fans!

There are four different types of athletes: razors, cleavers, slashers, and butchers. Each has a different role in the game, as explained below.

Razor (Neohomo Sapiens Athlo-Vivus)

Razors are the stars of the team, with accelerated vision, four arms, super-human hand-eye coordination, and the speed and agility to run circles around opponents. Usually, the other athletes try to get the ball to the razor so he can score big with the long shots.

Razors have round bases.

Cleaver (Neohomo Sapiens Athlo-Tacticus)

Cleavers are hyper-observant with enhanced spatial reasoning, strategic training, and command abilities to direct their teammates to victory. They're also very good at feints, bluffs, and misdirection to confuse opponents.

Cleavers have starburst bases.

Slasher (Neohomo Sapiens Athlo-Brutus)

Pitiless machines of bloodthirsty carnage, slashers excel at hunting down and mangling opponents. They are designed to protect the razors and cleavers while brutalizing the opposition. They specialize in unusual maneuvers intended to inflict maximum harm, such as double-teams, flying chops, ballbusters, buttkickers, dirty stompers, and wallbangers. By choosing the right mix of skills, a slasher can even become a threat to the mighty butchers.

Slashers have hexagonal bases.

Butcher (Neohomo Sapiens Athlo-Horribilis)

Butchers are inexorable juggernauts of muscle and ferocity. They are the biggest, strongest, toughest, and meanest athletes in the Pit. They can't handle the ball very well, but for sheer brutality they can't be beat.

Butchers have a square base and are so big that they sometimes don't fit entirely in one space. Don't worry about that, though. They're considered to be in just one space, even if they don't fit in it.

Traits

Each athlete is defined by a set of six traits genetically engineered to comply with voluminous sporting regulations. Each athlete must conform to the genetic standards of the league, and pre-game genetic scans are required for all athletes.

Each year, the GSL reviews and updates its genetic requirements. However, these changes are usually so minor that they have little real impact on an athlete's capabilities. For example, in 2112, the league deregulated the cosmetic appearance of athletes and now most teams design custom looks for the athletes to enhance popularity for product endorsements.

Check out the Pro Teams section to see the various trait values.

Accuracy

You can't win a game unless you score. One way to do that is to get the ball into a goal. Accuracy is an athlete's ability to throw the ball exactly where he wants it to go. Accuracy is used for passing, shooting, and spiking.

Agility

While butchers and slashers wade in to mix it up with their opponents, razors and cleavers try to avoid clashes, grab the ball, and get it into the goal. Agility is how nimble the athlete is at eluding opponents. It's also how good they are at getting in the right position to catch and pick up the ball. Athletes with high Agility can dodge around opponents with little effort, pick up the ball with ease, and catch long passes with flair and panache. Agility is used during carves and spikes to avoid being hit. It is also used during passes to catch the ball and when an athlete wants to pick up the ball.

Brawling

The fans want more carnage and they love butchers and slashers who can deliver the most casualties. Brawling is a combination of the athlete's strength, ferocity, combat skill, and pain threshold. Athletes use Brawling during chops, carves, and spikes.

Speed

Slaughterball is a game of unrelenting momentum. Athletes are always running, rarely slowing down. The Speed trait is the maximum number of spaces an athlete can run when taking the Move action.

Toughness

Toughness is a combination of an athlete's genetically-engineered endurance plus the protective gear that he wears. Athletes with high Toughness can suck it up and take heavier hits. Toughness determines how difficult it is to send the athlete to the Slaughter Box.

Rules Changes

The rules in this book supercede the rules in the Scrimmage Rulebook. If a conflict between the two rulebooks arise, the rules in this book take precedence.

Cleanup Phase

Exhibition and league games add the following options during the Cleanup phase. After the coach is finished with these options, his turn is over and the next coach starts his turn.

Heal Injured Athletes

A coach can play Heal 2 edge tokens to heal his athletes in the Slaughter Box. For each Heal token spent, remove two Injury tokens from one of your athletes.

If a league team has a physician on the support staff, the coach can sacrifice cards to heal injured athletes in the Slaughter Box. For each card that the coach sacrifices, remove one Injury token from one injured athlete.

Return Athlete to Pit from Slaughter Box

If an athlete in the Slaughter Box is uninjured (no Injury tokens), the coach may place him in an unoccupied Re-entry space of his choice during the Cleanup phase. If all Re-entry spaces are occupied, then the athlete cannot return to the Pit.

Picking Up the Ball

Some skills enable athletes to move outside of a Move action. Unless otherwise noted, whenever an athlete moves outside of a Move action, the athlete cannot try to pick up the ball.

Knockdowns

If an athlete is knocked down in a space occupied by another athlete, scatter the knocked-down athlete into an unoccupied adjacent space.

Injuries

In a scrimmage game, injured athletes are sent to the Slaughter Box and can only return to the game by using the No Time To Bleed card.

In a league or exhibition game, the injured athlete is sent to the Slaughter Box with Injury tokens to indicate the severity of the injury.

The number of Injury tokens placed on the injured athlete is determined by the Chop or Carve test results as follows:

Carve Test Injury Tokens: If the carver rolls more knives than the mover's Toughness plus the mover's knives, the mover is injured and sent to the Slaughter Box with Injury tokens equal to the difference.

Chop Test Injury Tokens: If one athlete rolls more knives than the opponent's knives plus Toughness, the athlete that rolled fewer knives is sent to the Slaughter Box with Injury tokens equal to the difference.

For example, a butcher grievously chops a razor. The butcher rolls a whopping 11 knives, while the razor rolls only two. The razor has Toughness 3. The razor is sent to the Slaughter Box with six injury tokens.

Spike Scoring

The addition of the Spike action gives athletes another way to score points in league and exhibition games.

In addition to the standard points scored for slaughtering opponents, you score bonus points equal to the spike distance. You do not score any points, including these bonus points, for spiking a razor. See the Spike Action section for more details.

Spike Action

Another way to score is to use the ball as a projectile weapon against opponents in the hopes of knocking them down or injuring them.

This is not an easy path to victory. Dodging and blocking a thrown slaughterball is not very difficult. Even if you hit your target, you have to overcome his toughness. This means that injuries from spike attacks are quite rare in the Slaughterball Pit.

Spike Distance

The spike distance is equal to the fewest number of spaces between the spiker and the target. Do not count the spaces that the spiker and target are in. If the spiker and target are adjacent, the spike distance is considered to be one.

Spike Test

The spiker rolls a number of dice equal to his Brawling plus Accuracy.

Subtract one die for each interfering opponent who is not the target.

Add the following bonus Accuracy dice based on the target:

Spike Target Bonus Accuracy Dice
Razor +3
Cleaver +4
Slasher +5
Butcher +6
The target rolls a number of dice equal to his Agility.

Subtract one die for each interfering opponent who is not the spiker.

Spike Target	Bonus Accuracy Dice
Razor	+3
Cleaver	+4
Slasher	+5
Butcher	+6

Spike Results

Subtract the spike distance from the spiker's knives.
Subtract the target's knives from the result of step 1.
Subtract the target's Toughness trait from the result of step 2.
If the result of step 3 is zero or less, the spike failed, the target remains upright, and the ball scatters from the target's space.

If the result of step 3 is 1 or more, the target is knocked down and the ball scatters from the target's space.

If you play the Brutal Spike card, you injure the spike target instead. Send the opponent to the Slaughter Box with Injury tokens equal to the result of step 3.

Spike Scoring

A successful spiker's team scores standard slaughter points for knocking down the opponent (or injuring an opponent if you play the Brutal Spike card). But they also score bonus points equal to the spike distance. You don't score any points (or bonus points) for spiking a razor.

For example, if an athlete knocks down a slasher at a spike distance of 4 spaces, the spiker scores 5 points (or 7 points by using a Brutal Spike card).

Target	Points for Knocking Down	Points for Injuring
Razor	0	0
Cleaver	1	2
Slasher	1	3
Butcher	1	4
Bonus points	+Spike distance	+Spike distance

Spike Example

In this example, the blue cleaver has the ball and decides to spike the red cleaver. The spike distance is two.

The blue cleaver adds up the following attack dice: Blue cleaver Brawling 3 = +3 dice; Blue cleaver Accuracy 4 = +4 dice; Target is a cleaver = +4 dice; total spike attack dice 11. The blue cleaver rolls a handful of 11 dice. That's a whopping 8 knives! A pretty good roll.

The red cleaver must now defend with the following dice: Red cleaver Agility 3 = +3 dice; total spike defense dice 3. The red cleaver rolls the dice. Too bad for the red cleaver he only rolled 3 knives (a boot, a knife and a double knife).

The results are calculated as follows: Blue cleaver knives 8; minus throw distance -2; minus red cleaver knives -2; minus red cleaver Toughness -3; total knives 1.

The red cleaver is knocked down! The blue team scores 1 point for knocking down a cleaver +2 points for the spike distance, for a total of 3 points.

The Last Place Coach rolls the scatter die, gets a three, and places the ball in a new space of his choice within three spaces of the red cleaver.

Spike Injuries

It is rare for a spike to injure an opponent, due to high-tech armor and inherent toughness. However, it does sometimes happen. If you're lucky enough to draw the Brutal Spike strategy card, you can use it to injure the target instead of knocking him down.

Interrupts

The real power of Interrupt cards now comes into play as athletes learn certain skills. In addition to granting athletes the ability to carve opponents, Interrupt cards can now power special abilities granted by certain skills. Athletes can get extra actions (with skills like Interrupting Move, Interrupting Chop, and so on), intercept throws (Interrupting Intercept), cancel cards (Thwart), and more.

These new abilities necessitate more clarity and explanation of when and how Interrupt cards can be played.

When You Can Play an Interrupt Card

You can play an Interrupt card during any coach's turn at the following times:

During the Draw, Action, or Cleanup phases
Before or after another action or interrupt
During an opponent's Move action to make a Carve test

Certain skills might let you play an Interrupt card at other times. For example, the Interrupting Intercept skill lets you interrupt a Shoot, Pass, or Spike action to try and catch the ball instead of the intended target catching it.

STRATEGY TIP: One strategy that is sure to annoy is to play an Interrupt card just before the Cleanup phase. Then, use an athlete's Interrupting Move skill to block a Re-entry space. Since your athlete is blocking the Re-entry space, his healed athletes must re-enter from a different door entirely.

Playing Interrupt Cards

An Onslaught token is not required to play an Interrupt card.

Coaches should give other athletes the opportunity to play Interrupt cards. After you finish an action or an interrupt, pause momentarily and ask if anyone wants to interrupt you. If not, you can continue.

Coaches are discouraged from rushing through their actions to avoid interrupts. The game is not about how quickly you can take actions or play Interrupt cards.

You cannot play multiple Interrupt cards at the same time. You must play them one at a time, completing each before playing the next, giving other coaches the opportunity to interrupt in between.

Interrupting Movement That Is Not Part of a Move Action

Several skills grant athletes the ability to move without the use of a Move action. You cannot interrupt movement that is not part of a Move action.

For example, the Beckon skill lets a cleaver sacrifice cards to move a teammate two spaces per card. This movement cannot be interrupted.

Interrupting Interrupts

An interrupt cannot itself be interrupted, with two exceptions:

An Interrupting move can be interrupted by an Interrupting carve.
An Interrupting throw can be interrupted by an intercept.

Interrupting Other Cards

Once a card has been played, you cannot interrupt until the results of that card are completed (except to carve during an Interrupting move).

For example, if a coach plays the Penalty Expires card, you cannot then use your Interrupting Move skill to move over and block his Re-entry space, thereby preventing his athlete from re-entering the Pit. You must wait until the opposing athlete re-enters, thus completing the effects of the Penalty Expires card.

Cancelling Interrupt Cards

You can cancel an Interrupt card with an Axed card, a Cancel Card token, or other effects that cancel cards. You can't cancel an interrupt that doesn't use an Interrupt card, like an athlete using the Automatic Carve skill.

Simultaneous Interrupting

Interrupting cannot be simultaneous.

If two or more coaches declare an interrupt at the same time, the current Last Place Coach decides who can interrupt first.

A coach cannot play two Interrupt cards in a row unless no other coach wants to interrupt him. That is, after any coach plays an Interrupt card all the other coaches must be given an opportunity to play an Interrupt card.

Interrupt Limits

An athlete can carve an opponent only once during that opponent's Move action. Other athletes can subsequently interrupt that moving athlete, of course, but only once each.

Also, as is stated in each of the Interrupting skills, an athlete can only use a specific Interrupting skill once per team turn (no matter whose turn it is). So, an athlete with Interrupting Move and Interrupting Chop skills can do both once per turn, but that athlete cannot use the Interrupting Move skill twice or the Interrupting Chop skill twice in one turn.

Sacrificing Cards and Dice

At various times, usually due to a skill, you will have the opportunity to sacrifice a card or die.

Sacrifice Cards

When you sacrifice a card, it means that you discard it without the effects written on the card taking place. In exchange, you usually get some other effect.

Sacrificing a card is not the same as playing a card.

For example, an athlete with the Direct skill can sacrifice a card to move a teammate two spaces.

A sacrificed card cannot be cancelled.

Sacrificing an Interrupt card is not the same as playing an Interrupt card. That is, normal rules for playing Interrupt cards do not apply to sacrificing Interrupt cards.

Sacrifice Dice

Some skills give you the option to sacrifice dice that roll certain symbols in exchange for some effect. For example, the Speedy Accuracy skill lets you sacrifice boots to move one space per boot after an Accuracy test.

Follow these steps when you use skills that let you sacrifice dice:

Roll the dice for the test.
Decide which dice you want to sacrifice, following the restrictions of the skill.
Resolve the test without the sacrificed dice.
If the athlete is not injured, implement the effect of the sacrificed dice.

For example, an athlete with the Beckon skill can sacrifice dice that rolled a boot to move a teammate one space. Those boots cannot be used for any other purpose.

After you sacrifice dice, you can't reroll any of the dice from the entire test.

Knockdowns and Sacrificed Dice

Athletes who were knocked down can still use their sacrificed dice, except they cannot use the dice to move themselves (using Speedy Brawling, for example). Such sacrificed dice are ineffective.

However, sacrificed dice CAN be used to move other athletes, even if the athlete using the skill is knocked down (using the Beckon skill, for example).

Injuries and Sacrificed Dice

Sacrificed dice effects are not implemented until after the test is resolved. If the athlete who sacrificed dice was injured during the test, then that athlete is sent to the Slaughter Box and cannot use the sacrificed dice.

Underdog Bonus

Even though there are rigid genetic-engineering regulations enforced by the GSL, not all teams are designed equally. Some teams include better and more valuable athletes on their roster. During the course of a league season, teams will get varying prizes to spend on staff and skills. As the season progresses, the value of the teams will fluctuate. A team that loses a few games will be at a disadvantage against a team that has won a few games.

To measure this difference, each team has a Pit Power, which is a numeric value that approximates the relative strength of the team in the Pit.

In an exhibition game, Pit Power is calculated by adding up the cost of each of your athletes in the Pit.

In a league game, Pit Power is calculated by adding up the cost of each of your athletes in the Pit, plus the cost of all your support staff, plus the Pit Power adjustment of mavericks you hired for the game. Unspent winnings are not added to the Pit Power.

To offset the disadvantage of a lower Pit Power, teams with lower Pit Powers enjoy an Underdog bonus, which grants them free Edge tokens.

Follow these steps for each opposing coach who has a higher Pit Power:

Subtract your Pit Power from the opposing coach's Pit Power.
Divide the remainder by 500,000 and round down. This is how many Edge tokens you earn from the Underdog Bonus for that team.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each opposing coach that has a higher Pit Power than your team.

For example, a standard exhibition match with the number of Edge tokens for each team is shown below:

Exhibition Team	Pit Power	Edge Tokens
Swords of Damocles	18,600,000	0
Nemesis	16,700,000	3
Carnage	16,400,000	4
Valkyries	16,300,000	4

For a league example, let's assume we're near the end of a season and teams have the values shown in the table:

League Team	Pit Power	Edge Tokens
Nemesis	20,200,000	0
Swords of Damocles	19,500,000	1
Valkyries	19,100,000	2
Carnage	18,600,000	5

Nemesis gets no Edge tokens because they have the highest Pit Power in the game.

The Swords of Damocles get one Edge token because Nemesis' Pit Power is 700,000 more than theirs.

The Valkyries get two Edge tokens because Nemesis is 1,100,000 more. They don't get any for the Swords of Damocles, since their Pit Power is only 400,000 greater.

Carnage, who are probably severely overmatched in this game, get a whopping five Edge tokens: one token for the Valkyries, one token for the Swords of Damocles, and three tokens for Nemesis.

Edge Tokens

Edge tokens give coaches some additional options during a game. Coaches can get them from the Underdog Bonus or from support staff.

Getting Edge Tokens

Edge tokens are first collected for each team's Underdog Bonus, and then for each team's support staff. In both cases, the coach with the lowest Pit Power picks all of his tokens first, and then the other coaches in ascending order of Pit Power pick theirs.

There are a limited number of each type of Edge token. For example, there are only four Cancel Card tokens. By the time the last coach gets to choose his tokens, there might not be any Cancel Card tokens left. Too bad.

For their Underdog Bonus, coaches can choose any combination of Edge tokens available. All of one type, or a mix. They do not have to reveal which tokens they take. The other coaches will then get a surprise when the tokens are played and revealed during the game.

Use an Edge Token

Coaches can use Edge tokens at any appropriate time. For example, if someone plays a Fumble card on your athlete, you can spend your Pick One Discard token to search for the Axed card. You can then use the Axed card on the Fumble card.

Edge Token Descriptions

Each Edge token has the following effect when used. Used tokens are returned to the game box.

Cancel Card: Cancel the effects of a card just played.
Draw Two Cards: Draw two cards from the deck.
Exit Penalty Box: During your Cleanup phase, move one of your athletes from the Penalty Box to any unoccupied Re-entry space.
Get Up: Stand up one of your prone athletes. You can do this before or after any action, or during the Draw or Cleanup phases. This does not require an action.
Heal 2: Remove two Injury tokens from any combination of your athletes in the Slaughter Box.
Pick One Discard: Take a card of your choice from the discard pile and put it in your hand.
Reroll: Reroll all of the dice you just rolled for any Trait test, including all dice gained or lost from other modifiers. You can play more Reroll tokens to roll a second time, a third time, and so on. You must keep the results of the last roll.

You cannot reroll a test that you have already sacrificed dice in.

If you have cheerleaders, you can also force an opponent to reroll a test as above. You can do this once per cheerleader.
Steal One Card: Take one card of your choice from an opponent's hand and put it into your hand.
Usurp Scatter: Play when the ball scatters. Instead of calculating the Last Place Coach normally, you are considered to be the Last Place Coach.

Unspent Edge Tokens

In an exhibition game, unspent Edge tokens are not worth anything. So use them during the game!

For league games, coaches earn 50,000 credits for each Edge token they don't use during the game. The tokens are then discarded (you don't get to save them from game to game).

Play an Exhibition Game

Exhibition games let you coach a professional team. The athletes on professional teams have varying starting rosters, traits, and skills. Each team has a unique playing style with their own strengths and weaknesses. You'll probably have to play a few games before you learn the best strategies. But you can often surprise opponents by playing against your team's strengths, especially if you get the right hand of strategy cards.

While all the rules for a scrimmage game are used, there are some extra things and a few changes that you must know before playing an exhibition game. Be sure to read the Rules Changes through Edge Tokens sections of this rulebook before continuing.

To play an exhibition game, follow the instructions in the Scrimmage Rulebook's Setup section, with the following exceptions:

Choose a Team

The game comes with four teams: Carnage, Nemesis, the Swords of Damocles, and the Valkyries. Each has a different play style, which are abbreviated below (for more information, check out the Pro Teams section).

Carnage: If you like to inflict a lot of damage, this is your team. A bunch of genetically-engineered ogres, orcs, and goblins are yours to command! Your best bet is to try to slaughter your opponents, instead of score goals.
Nemesis: Strategic coaches love Nemesis, thanks to the three extra cards you get in your hand. This team gives you lots of tactical options and the ability to prevent other coaches from using their cards.
Swords of Damocles: Last year's Slaughterbrawl champions, this team is all about scoring goals. The three razors can dominate a game by making repeated long shots. But the team is very fragile, so don't get too close to other teams or you'll be in trouble.
Valkyries: These tough and beautiful athletes excel at controlling their opponents. If you want the ability to move opposing athletes to open up a path to score, these are the girls for you.

After you've chosen your team, take the matching reference card and collect the six athletes indicated for your standard exhibition game roster.

Each team has some athletes that have special skills described on the back of the reference card. You can use these skills as described on the card during the game. For more information about skills, see the Skills section.

Board Setup

In addition to the board setup rules in the Scrimmage Rulebook, place the Injury tokens near the board. The Heal 2 Edge tokens can be used to heal injuries in the Slaughter Box.

Team Placement

Instead of using the scrimmage roster, each pro team uses the athletes listed on its reference card under Standard Exhibition Game Roster.

Each exhibition team has a different Pit Power. The lower-valued teams get an Underdog Bonus that grants them Edge tokens. See the Underdog Bonus section to learn how to get your Edge tokens (see Edge Tokens).

Optional Rules

You can make an exhibition game more interesting by using optional rules listed in the Optional Rules section. All coaches must agree to optional rules before they can be used.

League Rules

Do you want even more grimly futuristic, gengineered carnage in your life? Do you want to create a team and coach it through an entire season? Do you want to name each of your Slaughterball athletes and watch them develop into unstoppable juggernauts of victorious mayhem?

If so, you are a board gamer of amazing taste and brutal refinement. It also means that you'll love the league rules.

A Slaughterball league is a connected series of games played between a set of teams over a given time span and overseen by a league commissioner. At the conclusion of the league, the four top-ranked teams face off in a playoff game called the Slaughterbrawl. The winner of this game is the League Champion.

Leagues are a great way to prove that you are the best coach, and having a League Championship trophy is definitely something to brag about and rub under some noses.

But, before you start a league, you have to do some preparation.

The biggest requirement is that you need a bunch of coaches! At least ten coaches would be great, but you can probably get away with a minimum of six. Check out the League Coaches section if you're going to be coaching a team in a league.

You also need a league commissioner. Whoever is chosen to be the league commissioner should read the League Commissioners section below. It explains how to plan, organize, and run a league.

The Play League Games section explains how to play a league game, including pre-game and post-game requirements and events.

League Commissioners

If you want to participate in a Slaughterball league, someone must take on the role of the commissioner. This person is responsible for the following:

Identifying and signing up coaches.
Setting all the league rules.
Maintaining the Game Results Sheets and League Rankings Sheet.
Arbitrating all rules questions and coach disagreements.

Depending on the level of trust in your league, the commissioner may be required to watch every game, or not. The commissioner is allowed to be a coach in the league, but any rules debates or coach disagreements should then be arbitrated by a neutral third party.

Setting All League Rules

Leagues use the rules in this book and the Scrimmage Rulebook. However, commissioners can apply optional or house rules as desired. See Optional Rules.

If there are any special, optional, or house rules for the league, the commissioner should type them up and make them available before the league starts.

Scheduling Rounds

In a standard Slaughterball league, each team plays 10 games. The commissioner must determine how often games are played. This decision should be based at least partially on the availability of the coaches in the league.

For example, a commissioner has 16 coaches join his league and they can all commit to playing one game a week. But several of them have to start up school again in three months. The commissioner thus decides to have a 10-week season, each team playing once per week. The playoff game will happen in week 11.

The commissioner might also set up more- or less-frequent games. Maybe you want monthly games, or even twice-weekly. Experienced coaches can easily play 2-3 games on a Saturday slaughterball bash. It all depends on the commitment the commissioner can get from the coaches.

The commissioner should create and fill out a league calendar. This should be posted some place where all the coaches can review it.

Games for First Week

Usually, all coaches are required to show up on the first day of the first week to inaugurate the season. For this first week, all coaches put their team names in a hat and the commissioner draws out four at a time to determine the game participants.

In an ideal league, the total number of coaches will be divisible by four, so a full game of four teams can be played by everyone. However, this won't always be the case, so you might have some 3-team games, which shouldn't be too bad. Try to avoid 2-team games, as these don't provide enough carnage for the fans (and reduce winnings and league points for the coaches).

Games for Later Weeks

Before the subsequent weeks, the commissioner collects all the Game Results sheets from the previous week and fills in the teams on the appropriate week column of the League Ranking Sheet. League Rank is determined by the total League Points a team has earned so far. The team with the highest total League Points is ranked 1st, and the rest are ranked in descending order of League Points. Break ties with Team Potential (listed on the Team Roster sheet). If Team Potential is tied, randomly break the tie.

The coach with the lowest League Rank can then challenge three other teams to a game. If League Rank is tied, break the tie with lowest Team Potential. If that is tied, randomly determine who challenges next. Challenges cannot be refused. These first four teams are then locked in for the next week and removed from the pool for remaining challenges.

After the first game has been set, the remaining coaches challenge in ascending order of League Rank. Only unchallenged coaches can challenge, and they can only challenge coaches not already selected for a game.

If there are two leftover coaches, the one with the lowest League Points can "steal" any higher-valued team from one of the other 4-team games.

If there is one leftover coach, that coach can "steal" one higher-valued team from two 4-team games.

3- or 2-Team Games

The commissioner should step in and try to prevent any team from having to play consecutive 3-team matches. Coaches in 3-team matches earn less money and League Points, and that can add up over a 10-week season. If there is an uneven number of coaches in a league, try to cycle the smaller games through everyone.

Appealing a Challenge

If the commissioner allows it, coaches can appeal a challenge from another coach. Coaches might do this for a variety of reasons, but it should be rare.

The following situations should contribute to a commissioner's decision to grant an appeal:

Challenged by a coach who frequently misses games.
Challenged to a game scheduled to take place on a date that the challenged coach will be unable to attend.
Challenged to a game versus significantly higher-value team or teams.
Challenged to a consecutive 3-team game.

The commissioner shouldn't approve appeals indiscriminately, and should start to suspect frequent appeals as the strategy of a coach trying to manipulate the challenge system.

Why the Challenge System?

The challenge system takes the onus of scheduling off of the commissioner's shoulders. It can be a very difficult thing to come up with an interlocking schedule of 4-team games for a dozen or more coaches.

The challenge system forces the individual coaches to arrange and schedule their own games. They can even make their challenges based on whom can attend and when.

Allowing the lowest-value teams to challenge first gives them the option of playing against other low-value teams, thus avoiding probable defeat at the hands of higher valued teams. This also makes it more likely that higher-valued teams face off against competitive teams.

League Week Sequence

By a deadline set by the commissioner, the commissioner collects all of the Game Results Sheets for the previous week, updates the League Rankings Sheet, and posts it for all coaches to see.
By a deadline set by the commissioner, the coaches challenge other coaches to games, thus setting the matchups for the round. If this can't be done in person, the commissioner should facilitate through email or forum posts (or whatever method is most efficient).
Coaches arrange times and places to play the required game for the round. Upon completion of the game, they fill out the Game Results Sheet and give it to the commissioner.

No-Shows

If a coach misses a scheduled game, the coach earns no money and no League Points, and the game counts as a last-place finish for them. That team is still considered to have played the game. His team will lag behind the others both in athlete skills and in League Rank.

Even though the absent coach suffers, the remaining coaches should not. Other coaches earn winnings and League Points as if the absent coach had attended and came in last place.

Habitually absent coaches can cause a problem for a league, and even earn a bad reputation. Commissioners have some weapons in their arsenal to address this, including the following options:

If a coach is absent from a 3-team game, the commissioner can work to pull a team from a 4-team game to compensate. The same is true for 2-team game absences.
Coaches who miss a game must challenge last in the following week no matter what their League Rank. This should help encourage the absent coach to try harder to make the games.

End of the Season

After each team has played 10 games, the final League Rankings are calculated. The four highest-ranked teams then participate in one final game, the Slaughterbrawl. The winner of this game is the season champion!

Teams That Haven't Played 10 Games

It's possible, due to scheduling issues, that some teams might not have played 10 games at the end of the season. The commissioner has a couple options to handle this:

Teams that haven't played 10 games are treated as having come in last place for the games they didn't play. They don't get League Points and they don't get any game winnings for the games.
The commissioner can arrange makeup games for the lagging teams, either by setting the teams or letting the lowest-value lagging team challenge higher-value teams. The commissioner decides if the teams who have already played 10 games get any League Points and winnings for participating in the extra games.

League Coaches

All coaches who want to participate in the league will need to sign up. Before doing so, they should look over the league rules to determine if they have the time to commit to the game schedule. Everyone has a real life and family, work, or other commitments, after all.

Even though the Slaughterball league schedule isn't very strict, it will probably require coaches to play at least one game every week. Some dedicated fanatic leagues could have two games a week, such as playing two each Saturday.

Choose Your Team

Slaughterball gives you four teams to choose from: Carnage, Nemesis, the Swords of Damocles, and the Valkyries. More teams will be released over time, and you can choose any team that you like.

Depending on how many coaches you have in the league, you might end up with more than one of each team participating.

In a league, you are assumed to be coaching a subsidiary team from the flagship team's stockyard. Thus, everyone should come up with a unique name for their team. So, you might be playing the Brutal Berthas team, using the Valkyries Team Genetic Portfolio.

After you choose your team, you must select which eight athletes to include on your roster. There are three restrictions:

Your team must have eight athletes (only six of which can be used in each game).
You must have at least one of each type of athlete (razor, cleaver, slasher, butcher) on your team.
You can have at most three of each type of athlete on your team.

Your roster is set in stone for the season. You can't hire new regular athletes, nor can you make substitutions. However, you might have the opportunity to hire mavericks before each game to help you out.

Complete Team Roster Sheet

Fill out your team roster sheet with all of the information for each of your athletes. Coming up with athlete names is a big part of the fun, because if that butcher has a badass name, he's going to be a superstar!

Play League Games

While all the rules for a scrimmage game are used, there are some extra things and a few changes that you must know before playing a league game. Be sure to read the preceding pages of this rulebook before continuing.

To play a league game, follow the instructions in the Scrimmage Rulebook's Setup section, with the following exceptions:

Pre-Game

During the pre-game, teams bid on mavericks, choose athletes that will be in the game, set up the board, and place their team.

Maverick Auction

The first step of a league game is the maverick auction. See the Mavericks section for how to handle the auction.

Choose Athletes

In ascending order of League Rank, each coach chooses and reveals the six athletes that will participate in the game. Coaches can choose from the regular athletes on their roster and any mavericks they hired.

Calculate Pit Power

You must calculate your team's Pit Power before each league game to account for the specific athletes you are using in this game, including those from your regular roster and any mavericks that you hire. Enter your Pit Power on the Game Record Sheet.

To calculate Pit Power, follow these steps:

Add the value of each of your chosen regular athletes who will participate in this game.
Add the cost of all your support staff.
If you hired any mavericks that will participate in the game, add their Pit Power adjustment.

Board Setup

In addition to the board setup rules in the Scrimmage Rulebook, place the Injury tokens near the board. The Heal 2 Edge tokens can be used to heal injuries in the Slaughter Box.

Team Placement

Instead of using the scrimmage roster, each league team uses the athletes chosen from their rosters during the Pre-Game.

Based on their Pit Power, teams might get an Underdog Bonus, which will grant them Edge tokens. See the Underdog Bonus and Edge Tokens sections.

After all coaches have taken Edge tokens based on their Underdog Bonus, they can take Edge tokens granted due to support staff. Starting with the coach to the First Coach's right and continuing in counter-clockwise order, each coach takes all of his Edge tokens gained from support staff, if any.

Post-Game

After the buzzer sounds on a league game, coaches follow these steps:

Mavericks Exit

All mavericks that were hired for this game depart. If they were injured or killed, they are resuscitated to full health in time for the next game.

Award League Points

Each team earns one League Point for each team they defeated in the game. This means that teams earn more points in 4-team games. Teams do not earn points for teams they tied.

League Points should be reported to the commissioner so that he can enter them on the League Rankings Sheet.

Award Prize Money

Slaughterball is a globally lucrative sport, and each team earns money after a game to improve athletes and hire support staff and mavericks.

Each team earns 100,000 credits, plus 100,000 credits for each League Point they earned.

For each of your Edge tokens that you did not use during the game, you also get 50,000 credits. The Edge tokens are returned to the box, you don't get to keep them for the next game.

Award Examples

So, in a 4-team game (with no ties), each team earns the following:

Place	League Points	Prize Money
First	3	$400,000
Second	2	$300,000
Third	1	$200,000
Fourth	0	$100,000

Teams do not earn points for teams that they tie. If there is a tie for second place in a 4-team game, for example, each team earns the following:

Place	League Points	Prize Money
First	3	$400,000
Second (tie)	1	$200,000
Third	0	$100,000

If there is a tie for third place, here's how it pays out:

Place	League Points	Prize Money
First	3	$400,000
Second	2	$300,000
Third (tie)	0	$100,000

A three-way tie for second place earns 0 League Points for everyone except the winner, who earns 3 League Points.

Place	League Points	Prize Money
First	3	$400,000
Second (3-way tie)	0	$100,000

Spend Money

Finally, a team can spend its winnings to hire support staff or improve athletes with new skills. Only athletes who participated in the game that was just played can gain new skills.

For more details, see the Support Staff section and the Skills section.

Recalculate Team Potential

After you have spent your money on improving athletes and hiring staff, you must recalculate your Team Potential. Add the value of each of your athletes plus the value of all of your support staff and enter it in the appropriate space on the Team Roster.

Mavericks

Mavericks are Slaughterball athletes and staff who owe allegiance to no single team. Instead, they play for the highest bidder. Some are veterans from famous teams who have earned their emancipation and decided to continue playing as free agents (some call them mercenaries). Others are genetic experiments that do not comply with GSL genetic regulations, but are granted licenses just to see what they can do. Whatever the case, each maverick must acquire GSL sanction to participate in the games and be listed in the maverick circuit.

Before each league game, mavericks show up and offer their services to the highest bidder during an auction.

Maverick Auction

During any league game, there will be a random number of maverick athletes that coaches can bid on using the following steps:

Each coach rolls a die.
In ascending order of Team Potential, each coach draws one random Maverick card per knife that he rolls. He also takes the matching figure.
After all coaches have taken their Maverick cards and figures, all other Maverick cards and figures are returned to the box. They are not used in this game.
Each coach can return any number of the mavericks that he drew back to the box. You might want to do this if you don't have enough money to compete in the auction. No reason to give other coaches the chance to hire a powerful maverick when you can't afford to bid.
The coach with the lowest Team Potential may put up for auction one of the mavericks that he drew. Place that maverick figure on the Meat Grinder. That coach may make the first bid to hire the maverick. All bids must be in increments of 50,000. Everyone can inspect the Maverick card.
In order of ascending Team Potential, each coach can then make a higher bid for the maverick. Then the original coach can raise his bid and the process continues. Bids must be in increments of 50,000.
When no coach wants to raise the bid, the coach with the highest bid takes the maverick into his team and deducts the bid amount from his team's treasury.

If the maverick does not receive a bid, return it to the game box. It's not used in this game.
In ascending order of Team Potential, each coach can put one of the mavericks that he drew up for auction (return to step 5). The coach with the lowest Team Potential always gets to bid first.
Continue placing mavericks up for bid in this manner until all coaches no longer have any mavericks to put up for bid.

After the game, the mavericks leave with their fortune and glory.

The following mavericks are included in the game: Gibraltar, Fugue, Simba Khan, and Toccata. Their traits, skills and Pit Power adjustment are listed on the Maverick reference cards (not reproduced in the rulebook). The rulebook gives each a short background: Gibraltar is a veteran slasher who began with Domination, was freed by owner Vaughn McVaughn, and has a skill at anti-butcher strategies; Fugue and Toccata are psykers from the disbanded Deltas, whom the GSL allows as mavericks; Simba Khan is a butcher, formerly of the Pride team.

Support Staff

Athletes might be the most recognized and glorified members of a team, but they aren't the only ones. There are many other people outside of the Pit who make a Slaughterball team successful. From the genetically-engineered super-sexy cheerleaders who encourage the fans to wild jubilation, to the funny mascots who mock and humiliate opposing teams, to the assistant coaches, physicians, and agents. They all contribute, and you can hire them for your own team.

After each league game, in addition to improving your athletes, you can spend your winnings to hire support staff. Each type of staff gives you some benefits as described below.

CHEERLEADERS: A bevy of outrageously beautiful, genetically-engineered crowd pleasers can lead the fans in stunning bursts of thunderous support. This so invigorates the team, that you get one Reroll token per cheerleader. Also, thanks to their superbly designed seething feminity and voluptuousness, the cheerleaders are able to distract opponents with a wide variety of poses, moves, and revelations. Thanks to these efforts, for each cheerleader on your staff, you can use one Reroll token to force an opponent to reroll one test (instead of using it to reroll one of your own rolls).
DEFENSIVE COACH: You have a dedicated assistant coach who concentrates on defensive maneuvers and responds to opposing strategies. Once during each of your Cleanup phases, you can take one card of your choice from the discard pile.
MASCOT: Your mascot is so good at humiliating opponents and their fans that it demoralizes them to the point of making mistakes in the Pit. You get one Cancel Card token per game.
MAVERICK AGENT: You have a professional recruiter on your staff, who spends all of his time working to ensure that you have as many mavericks to bid on as possible. You get one additional die to roll during maverick auctions.
OFFENSIVE COACH: Another assistant, the offensive coach works very hard to give you the best offense. You get one additional Onslaught token per turn.
PHYSICIAN: You have a physician to tend to your injured athletes. During the Cleanup phase of your turn, you can discard cards to heal injured athletes. For each card that you discard, you can remove one Injury token from an athlete in the Slaughter Box.

Staff	Cost in Credits	Maximum per Team
Cheerleader	100,000	No maximum
Defensive Coach	500,000	1
Mascot	100,000	1
Maverick Agent	50,000	1
Offensive Coach	500,000	1
Physician	200,000	1

Skills

Slaughterball athletes are neohumans, genetically engineered and grown in biovats that include pre-inception mental indoctrination in the rules and strategies of Slaughterball.

Even so, the athletes require additional training and instruction when they leave the vats. Corporate obedience, discipline, drive, determination, and more are all genetically programmed and ruthlessly trained into each athlete. But even with all of this, athletes have much more to learn when they actually start playing the game.

These additional abilities, called skills, are listed in this section. Not all of the skills are available to each athlete. Razors have access to speed and throwing skills while butchers' skills make them better at chopping and carving.

Cleavers and slashers really gain a boost in their value to the team due to their unique skills. For example, cleavers have access to Pit Tactics, which increase the coach's hand size while the cleaver is in the Pit. Slashers have a collection of skills that can make even a butcher hesitate to chop them.

Skills are not used in scrimmage games. In exhibition games, only the starting skills for each team are used. In league games, teams start with the same skills as in exhibition games. However, league coaches can purchase new skills for their athletes throughout the season, molding their team into whatever juggernaut of victory they choose.

The tables on the following pages list the skills, the athletes that can learn them, and the cost for each. The table also lists any prerequisite skills an athlete must possess before learning the skill.

When Skills Can Be Used

Each skill description tells you when it can be used. Unless a skill specifically says otherwise, it can only be used by athletes while in the Pit. Most skills cannot be used in the Penalty Box or Slaughter Box. If an athlete is not in the game, none of his skills can be used.

For example, each Nemesis cleaver has the Thwart skill. If the Nemesis coach sends three cleavers into the Pit, then each cleaver can use that skill once per team turn. If two cleavers are sent to the Slaughter Box, then the skill can only be used once per team turn.

The rules of the skills apply to the athlete with the skill. For example, the cleaver who has Pit Strategy can sacrifice a star to draw a card only when he is rolling a test, not when other athletes roll a test.

Skills in Leagues

After a game in a Slaughterball league, each coach earns money to spend on improving their athletes (not including mavericks). This includes money for more training equipment, better facilities, virtual simulations, additional training personnel, enhanced supplements, and so on.

Each athlete can learn only one new skill after each game, and only if he was in the Pit for at least part of the game. Athletes who sat out for the entire game cannot learn new skills after that game.

Deciding on athlete skills can be a difficult decision. Do you concentrate on turning your razor into a speedy sharpshooter? If you do, your butcher won't get those brutal skills to make him feared by all opponents.

And if you concentrate on turning one athlete into a Slaughterball superstar, the three other teams in the Pit will do their best to take that athlete out quickly. A team with only one or two highly-skilled athletes is far more fragile than a team with the skills spread out over the entire team.

Once learned, a skill cannot be unlearned. No refunds or exchanges.

Whenever an athlete acquires a new skill, increase the athlete's cost by the cost of the skill.

Skills/Rules Precedence

When the specifics of a skill seem to conflict with a basic rule of the game, the skill takes precedence. For example, normally an athlete must be adjacent to an opponent to interfere. But the Daunt skill lets athletes interfere with opponents up to two spaces away. The skill takes precedence over (or, you might say, "breaks") the rule. If there is any doubt about a rule, the league commissioner should decide the outcome. If there is no league commissioner, you can flip a coin.

Special Actions

Some skills give athletes the option to take Special actions. Unless otherwise stated, an athlete must be upright and in the Pit to take a Special action. Each Special action can be taken once per onslaught. For example, if an athlete has both the Divert and Direct skills, he could take a Special action to use Divert, and then another Special action to use Direct. But he cannot Divert twice in the same onslaught.

Skill Table

Skill names are given as printed in the table. R = Razor, C = Cleaver, S = Slasher, B = Butcher.

Skill	Prerequisites	Athletes	Cost
Assist Chop		C S	50,000
Automatic Carve		S B	200,000
Awesome Brute 1		C S B	50,000
Awesome Brute 2	Awesome Brute 1	S B	50,000
Awesome Brute 3	Awesome Brute 2	B	50,000
Awesome Dodger 1		R C S	50,000
Awesome Dodger 2

List of Skills

The letters after the skill name indicate which athletes can possess or acquire the skill: (R)azor, (C)leaver, (S)lasher, and (B)utcher.

ASSIST CHOP - C S Instead of interfering with an opponent during a chop, you can add +1 die to your teammate's Brawling test.

AUTOMATIC CARVE - S B You do not need to play an Interrupt card to carve an opponent leaving an adjacent space. You can carve as many times as you want in a turn, but you can only carve the same opponent once during a Move action.

AWESOME BRUTE - see table For each level of this skill, when you play a Brute card, you can roll one additional Brawling die.

AWESOME DODGER - see table For each level of this skill, when you play a Blade card during a carve or spike, you can roll one additional Agility die.

AWESOME SHARPSHOOTER - see table For each level of this skill, when you play a Sharpshooter card, you can roll one additional Accuracy die.

AWESOME SNAGGER - see table For each level of this skill, when you play a Blade card, you can roll one additional Agility die when you try to pick up or catch the ball.

BALLBUSTER - S If you are carrying the ball, you get an extra +4 dice for a Brawling test (this is in addition to the standard +1 die for attacking with the ball).

BECKON - C When you roll a test, you can sacrifice boot dice to move one upright teammate one space per sacrificed die after the current test is resolved. The teammate cannot be interrupted or carved during this movement. If moved through a space with the ball, the teammate can try to pick it up.

BUTTKICKER - S When you make a Brawling test as part of a chop or carve, you can count boots as knives.

COUNTER-INTERFERENCE - C S B Once per test, you can prevent one adjacent opponent from interfering. If you do so, you cannot interfere in the same test.

DAUNT - S B You are so intimidating in stature, ferocity, or appearance that you can interfere with opponents up to two spaces away.

DIRECT - C Take a Special action to nominate one upright teammate. For each card that you sacrifice, you can move that teammate two spaces. The teammate cannot be interrupted or carved during this movement. If moved through a space with the ball, the teammate can try to pick it up.

DIRTY STOMPER - S When you chop a prone opponent, you get +8 dice to your Brawling test instead of +4 dice.

DISTRACT ACCURACY - R C S When you interfere with an Accuracy test, you cause the opponent to lose two dice instead of just one.

DISTRACT AGILITY - R C S When you interfere with an Agility test, you cause the opponent to lose two dice instead of just one.

DISTRACT BRAWLING - C S B When you interfere with a Brawling test, you cause the opponent to lose two dice instead of just one.

DIVERT - C Take a Special action to nominate one opposing upright athlete. For each card (of any type) that you sacrifice, you can move that opponent two spaces. The opponent cannot be interrupted or carved during this movement.

DOUBLE TEAM - S Instead of interfering, you can sacrifice any two cards to add your Brawling to a teammate's chop against an opponent adjacent to both of you. Your teammate must also have the Double Team skill. Opponents can interfere with you to reduce your Brawling, but the same opponent cannot interfere with both you and your teammate.

You suffer the same amount of damage (knives) if your teammate loses the Chop action. You are also sent to the Penalty Box if your teammate is penalized for the chop.

FAKE OUT - C When you roll a test, you can sacrifice boot dice to move one opponent one space per die after the current test is resolved. The opponent cannot be Interrupted or carved during this movement.

FAST HEALER - R C S B Whenever you are healed of Injury tokens you heal double the number that you should. A Heal 2 token heals you of 4 Injury tokens, for example.

FURIOUS CHOP - S B During a chop, either as the chopper or defender, you can voluntarily reduce your Toughness by an amount of your choice (down to 2). For this chop, increase your Brawling by the same amount. After injuries are determined for the chop, your Brawling and Toughness revert back to their normal values.

HANDOFF - R C S At the end of a Move action, you can hand off the ball to an adjacent teammate by making a Pass test. This does not require an extra action, and is considered part of the Move action. Thus, no interruptions can occur between the move and the handoff. Your Move action ends as soon as you hand off the ball.

HELP UP - C S B As a Special action, you can help an adjacent prone athlete to stand up. This does not cost the other athlete an action.

IMMACULATE RECEPTION - R C Sacrifice any card to try to catch a scattered ball when your coach is the Last Place Coach. If you are within the maximum scatter distance when your coach scatters the ball, your coach can place it in your space so that you can try to catch it. Make an Agility test (remember to include interference). If you get at least one knife, you catch the ball. Otherwise, the ball scatters from your space.

INTERRUPTING CHOP - S B Once per team turn, you can play an Interrupt card to take an Interrupting Chop action against an adjacent opponent.

INTERRUPTING INTERCEPT - R C S Once per team turn, when an opponent announces a throw, you can play an Interrupt card to try to intercept the ball. You must be in or adjacent to the ball's trajectory (spaces through which the throw distance is counted) during the throw.

The thrower rolls a number of dice equal to his Accuracy.
The intercepter rolls a number of dice equal to his Agility.

If the intercepter rolls more knives than the thrower, the intercepter catches the ball. Otherwise, the throw is resolved as normal.

For a pass, for example, the receiver can roll his Agility dice to help complete the pass.

INTERRUPTING MOVE - R C S B Once per team turn, you can play an Interrupt card to take an Interrupting Move action.

INTERRUPTING SPECIAL - R C S B Once per team turn, you can play an Interrupt card to take an Interrupting Special action for which you have the skill.

INTERRUPTING THROW - R C Once per team turn, you can play an Interrupt card to take an Interrupting Pass, Shoot, or Spike action.

LEADERSHIP - C Other teammates in the Pit get +1 die to all of their tests. This stacks if other athletes on your team also have Leadership. You don't get a +1 bonus from your own Leadership skill.

MOVE PRONE ATHLETE - B As a Special action, you can move one adjacent prone razor, cleaver, or slasher to any other unoccupied space adjacent to you.

PIT ADVICE - C You can use a Special action to gain another Onslaught token for your coach during this turn.

PIT STRATEGY - C Once per test, sacrifice one star die to draw one card.

PIT TACTICS - C While in the Pit, your coach's maximum hand size is increased by +1.

RESILIENT - R C S B When you are injured, you can sacrifice any cards to cancel Injury tokens on a one-for-one basis.

If an attacker with Savagery chops a defender with Resilient, both athletes may sacrifice cards back and forth to increase and decrease the Injury tokens.

SAVAGERY - S B When you roll a chop attack, if you get more knives than your opponent, you can sacrifice any cards to get +1 knife per card that you sacrifice.

SCARE REF - C S B You are so terrifying that you can intimidate the refs into turning a blind eye to even your most egregious fouls. Sacrifice an Interrupt card to cancel a Penalty or Shot Clock card played against you.

SPEEDY ACCURACY - R C For each boot that you sacrifice during an Accuracy test, you can move one space after the Accuracy test if you are still upright. You cannot be interrupted or carved during this movement. If you move through a space with the ball, you can try to pick it up.

SPEEDY AGILITY - R C For each boot that you sacrifice during an Agility test, you can move one space after the Agility test if you are still upright. You cannot be interrupted or carved during this movement. If you move through a space with the ball, you can try to pick it up.

SPEEDY BRAWLING - C S For each boot that you sacrifice during a Brawling test, you can move one space after the Brawling test if you are still upright. You cannot be interrupted or carved during this movement. If you move through a space with the ball, you can try to pick it up.

STAND UP - R C S B As a Special action, you can stand up. This lets you also use the Move action during the same onslaught that you stand up.

STAR BALL HANDLER - R C When you make an Agility test to pick up or catch the ball, you may count stars as knives.

STAR BRAWLER - S B When you make a Brawling test, you may count stars as knives.

STAR EVADER - R C When you make an Agility test during a carve or spike, you may count stars as knives.

STAR THROWER - R C When you make an Accuracy test, you may count stars as knives.

SUPERSPEED - R C When you play a Burst of Speed card, you may move six extra spaces instead of just three.

THROW INTERFERENCE - R C S B You can interfere with a throw (Pass, Shoot, or Spike) test if you are in or adjacent to a space in the ball's trajectory (the spaces counted in the throw distance).

THWART - C Once per team turn, if you're upright you can sacrifice an Interrupt card to cancel another card just played.

TRAIT INCREASE - R C S B Athletes can permanently increase one of their traits by one point per game by paying the appropriate cost.

The cost to increase a trait is the new value of the trait multiplied by 100,000 credits. Traits marked with an * in the table below get a 50% discount on the cost (round up to the nearest 100,000 credits).

For example, to raise a razor's Brawling from 3 to 4 costs 400,000 credits. To raze a butcher's Brawling from 6 to 7 costs 400,000 credits.

Each type of athlete has a maximum for each trait, as shown in the table below:

Trait	Razor	Cleaver	Slasher	Butcher
Accuracy	11*	7*	5	4
Agility	10*	7*	5	4
Brawling	3	5	7*	11*
Speed	11*	9*	7	5
Toughness	4	6	8*	10*

Pro Teams

Slaughterball comes with four professional teams in four different colors:

Carnage (green)
Nemesis (blue)
Swords of Damocles (red)
Valkyries (yellow)

Each team has 12 playing pieces, with the following genotypes:

3 razors with round bases
3 cleavers with starburst bases
3 slashers with hexagon bases
3 butchers with square bases

These 48 figures are enough to create any team roster allowed by the scrimmage, exhibition, or league rules.

The teams are colored so you can play with them straight out of the box. However, feel free to paint them up in whatever colors you like. After all, if you paint your team, you will roll more knives. Plus, other coaches will viciously mock you if you have the only unpainted team on the board.

In a scrimmage game, each team starts with exactly the same number and types of athletes: one razor, two cleavers, two slashers, and one butcher. You will also use the Scrimmage Athlete Reference Sheet so that all of the teams are identical. Athletes on scrimmage teams are recently out of the force-growth biovats. They have only their genetically-engineered traits and no specific skills.

In exhibition games, coaches use the standard game rosters listed on the pro team reference cards, which include at least one and at most three of each athlete type.

In league games, coaches can hire eight athletes for their roster. Only six play during a game, and there are no substitutions allowed. Therefore, the coach must make sure to choose the best starting lineup. The extra two athletes give the coach more options to counteract other teams during game setup.

Stockyards

In the 22nd century, some teams are so popular that they sell licenses to create subsidiary teams using the same Team Genetic Portfolio (TGP). All of these subsidiary teams are part of the flagship team's stockyard.

For example, the Carnage stockyard is led by the flagship team Carnage. But there are dozens of subsidiary teams playing around the world, including the Ogres, Orks, Fists of Satan, White Hand, and so on.

All subsidiary teams are licensed and pay royalties to the stockyard owner (Grissom-Gondorp Genetic Industries in the case of Carnage), and must comply with a variety of rules and regulations.

Teams from the same stockyard are allowed to compete in the same game as long as uniforms are sufficiently different. The two Carnage subsidiary teams, White Hand and Fists of Satan, for example, have played each other so many times they have developed a strong rivalry.

If you are playing in a league, you should create a subsidiary team in the stockyard. This ensures that two different teams using the same TGP won't have the same name.

(The standard exhibition rosters are printed on the team reference cards and are not reproduced in the rulebook. The trait/skill/value tables below are the printed Pro Team tables.)

Carnage

The first team designed and owned by Grissom-Gondorp Genetic Industries, Carnage has a history of spectacular violence inside and outside of the slaughterdomes across the globe. Genetically engineered to resemble ogres, orcs, and goblins, Carnage athletes exemplify... well, carnage. While they aren't the fastest athletes in the league, the butchers and slashers are renowned for their ability to carve swifter opponents. For that reason, many opposing razors steer clear of the greenies.

Strategies: Carnage concentrates on chopping opponents, scoring most of their points by slaughtering. They are one of the tougher teams, and they often rack up enough pain to achieve victory.

Counter-strategies: Going up against a Carnage slasher, let alone a butcher, is a foolhardy option. Most other teams try to avoid clashes at all costs, instead maneuvering around the greenies and going for goals.

Owner: Grissom-Gondorp Genetic Industries. Home: Great Lakes Metroplex. Subsidiary Teams: Ogres, Orks, Fists of Satan, White Hands.

Athlete	ACC	AGI	BRW	SPD	TGH	Skills	Value
Razor	5	5	3	6	3		2,700,000
Cleaver	3	3	3	5	4		2,100,000
Slasher	2	3	5	5	5	Automatic Carve, Awesome Brute 1, Dirty Stomper, Star Brawler

Nemesis

One of the longest running teams in the GSL, Nemesis prides itself on effective strategies. Their cleavers are geniuses in tactics, arena geometry, and counter-strategies. Other teams often have their best-laid plans frustrated by the near prescient ability of the Nemesis cleavers to predict and thwart their schemes. This generally means a lower-scoring game, as opponents go for shorter shots, declining to set up risky long bombs that Nemesis will thwart.

While they always perform with technical precision, Nemesis lacks strong shooters and choppers to provide the wizbang moments the fans crave. Coupled with their lack of historically-themed genetics or uniforms, they have found it difficult to build up the millions of rabid fans enjoyed by other teams.

Strategies: The Nemesis coach's primary goal is usually to protect the cleavers, to maintain the extra strategic options they provide. Other than that, the specific cards in the coach's larger hand will determine if Nemesis goes for a shooting or slaughtering game.

Counter-strategies: Other coaches do not like Nemesis' larger hand size, and so the cleavers are primary targets. If they are eliminated early, it is very unlikely that Nemesis will be able to compete.

Owner: Nanotronix. Home: San Angeles Megaplex. Subsidiary teams: Cabal, Devastators, Venture.

Athlete	ACC	AGI	BRW	SPD	TGH	Skills	Value
Razor	7	6	2	7	3		3,100,000
Cleaver	4	4	3	6	4	Pit Strategy, Pit Tactics, Thwart	3,000,000
Slasher	3	3	4	5	5		2,300,000

Swords of Damocles

Incepted only six years ago, the Swords of Damocles have rocketed to the top tier of GSL success, culminating with their Global Slaughterbrawl win last year. Some wonder if the team's greatest strength is also its long-term weakness. There can be no doubt that the Swords razors are phenomenal performers. But razors are also the most fragile athletes in the sport. In the last six years, 70% of the Swords razors have been permanently killed or retired due to excessive injury.

Strategies: Their success hinges almost entirely on the excellent pit coverage and great shooting game of their razors. If they can avoid slaughter and get the ball, these star athletes can bust out their scores into the 20s or even 30s. Swords strategy thus depends on getting their razors into wide positions so they can exploit any fumble, missed throw, or relaunch. Once a Swords razor has the ball, it's very unlikely he won't score at least once.

Counter-strategies: Of course, with so much value in only three razors, the Swords are a fragile team. Smart opponents target the four-armed shooters from the outset, willingly taking penalties to put the razors in the Slaughter Box. And each lost razor makes it that much harder for the Swords to cover the entire Pit for ball recovery.

Owner: Ultrachem Sodaco. Home: Elliniki Historiplex. Subsidiary teams: Spartans, Trojans, Hoplites, Olympians.

Athlete	ACC	AGI	BRW	SPD	TGH	Skills	Value
Razor	7	6	3	7	3	Interrupting Move, Star Evader, Star Thrower	3,700,000
Cleaver	5	4	3	6	4		2,600,000
Slasher	3	3	4	5	5		2,300,000

Valkyries

One of the two Norse-themed teams owned by Extraterrestrial Cruise Lines, the Valkyries are skilled and determined women unafraid to exploit their feminine wiles to manipulate opponents. More often than not, they trick, distract, or just wrap opponents around their little fingers before stomping them beneath their boots.

Along with other teams such as Nemesis, the Valkyries have invested heavily in their cleavers. These brutal Nordic maidens are unmatched in their ability to use trickery, guile, and allure to befuddle opponents. Without fail, Valkyrie razors are given wide openings to take the Hail Marys they are so adept at completing. The slashers are no slouchers, either. You don't want to get near one of these ladies while she has the ball, because she knows just how to use it to inflict maximum hurt.

Strategies: The Valkyries are in a good position to choose either a slaughtering game or a scoring game. The cleavers are great at luring opponents into vicious traps. Their favorite tactic is to tempt some poor sap onto the Meat Grinder, and then tenderize him. Ouch. But, coaches can also opt to get the ball to the razor. She's the best shot in the league and can really rack up the goals.

Counter-strategies: Take out the cleavers and razor. Yes, the slashers and butcher aren't slouches, but without the razor for scoring or the cleavers for strategy, the Valkyries are at a disadvantage.

Owner: Extraterrestrial Cruise Lines. Home: Uberplex Europa. Subsidiary teams: Wings, Goldstars, Vanir.

Athlete	ACC	AGI	BRW	SPD	TGH	Skills	Value
Razor	8	6	2	7	2		3,100,000
Cleaver	5	4	3	6	3	Beckon, Distract Accuracy, Distract Brawling, Direct, Divert, Fakeout	2,900,000
Slasher	4	4	4	5	4	Awesome Brute 1, Ballbuster, Distract Brawling

Optional Rules

The commissioner and coaches will no doubt devise all manner of house rules to make league games even more enjoyable. Here are some quick suggestions, which you might have to flesh out a bit to be usable.

Lasting Injuries

In normal league games, all injured athletes are completely healed in time for the next game, thanks to the wonders of advanced 22nd-century medicine. If you'd like to make injuries more important, you can use these rules.

Any athlete with injury tokens at the end of a game cannot buy new skills or increase traits during the Post-Game.

After a game, each athlete with Injury tokens must roll one die plus one die for each Injury token in excess of his Toughness. For example, a razor with Toughness 3 who has five Injury tokens rolls three dice. Effects are cumulative.

If an athlete is killed during a game, either because of the Dead Neohumans Don't Dance Card or some other reason, he is rejuvenated after the game. However, that athlete must roll the eight-sided scatter die and roll that many dice on the Lasting Injury table.

Die Roll	Lasting Injury	Athlete Value
Knife	The athlete can't participate in his team's next game.	No change
Double knife	The athlete can't participate in his team's next two games.	No change
Boot	The athlete loses one point from a random trait. He can't increase this trait until after the next game.	Reduce by 100,000
Star	The athlete loses one random skill. He can't buy it back until after the next game.	Reduce by the cost of the skill
Skull	Roll two more times on this table. Reroll additional skulls. Results combine. So if you roll two knives, the athlete misses the next two games.	As above

Athlete Value Adjustment

If an athlete suffers a lasting injury, his value decreases as indicated in the Lasting Injury table.

Maverick Lasting Injuries

Mavericks who roll knives for their lasting injuries cannot play for any team during the next week or weeks.

Any maverick who suffers a trait loss or skill loss must sit out the rest of the season. Next season, the maverick is all healed up and back in action.

Replacement Athletes

In a normal league season, coaches hire their eight regular athletes at the start of the season and stick with those athletes until the end of the season.

Alternatively, the commissioner can allow coaches to replace athletes with fresh recruits between games. This is especially useful if the Lasting Injuries optional rule is used.

All roster regulations must be obeyed.

Be sure to adjust Team Potential to reflect the new roster. Subtract the value of the departing athlete and add the value of the replacement. All replacement athletes are hired with the standard traits and skills for their team and type.

Skill Budget

At the start of the league, each team gets a budget to purchase additional skills before the start of the season. Each such improvement applies to only one athlete, not to all athletes of that type. The budget amount is set by the commissioner, but 300,000 credits is a good place to start.

Support Staff Budget

At the start of the league, each team gets 200,000 credits (or some other amount set by the commissioner) to hire support staff. Unspent staff budget is lost.

Exhibition Mavericks

If you want to spice up exhibition games with some wild athletes, you can add mavericks into the mix. Each coach gets 500,000 credits to use in a maverick auction (unspent budget is lost). See the Mavericks section for more information.

No Mavericks in Leagues

Some commissioners might want to ban mavericks from their leagues. This will make the games more predictable and evenly-matched, but it will also remove the sheer awesomeness that psykers and rule-breaking mavericks provide.

Rogues

Rogues are standard athletes that have left the regular teams and now hire themselves out just like mavericks, although they aren't as popular with the fans or the teams.

If rogues are allowed by the commissioner, coaches can nominate spare pro team athletes during the maverick auction. Rogues are treated like mavericks.

Whomever hires the rogue can use him as part of his or her team, even when playing against the rogue's former team. Be sure to mark the rogue in some manner so you can differentiate it from his former team.

Automatic Skills

Some of you might prefer to have some skills granted to all athletes by default. For example, if you don't like the rule that it takes an entire Move action to stand up an athlete, you can implement an optional rule where all athletes on every team have the Stand Up skill.

As long as all players get the skill, there is no need to adjust team value, as the skill essentially becomes a basic rule.

However, if you do use this optional rule, some teams might become relatively less powerful, and balance issues may arise. For example, granting everyone the Stand Up skill will make team Fury less powerful, as each athlete on that team already has that skill.

Linked Seasons

The commissioner can allow coaches to play linked seasons. This means that teams start the next season with all the skills, traits, support staff, and treasury that they ended the last season with. This will result in very powerful athletes for the second and subsequent seasons. New teams joining the subsequent seasons will be at a severe disadvantage and the Underdog Bonus may not be enough to make them competitive. They will probably be crushed.

Exhibition Custom Roster

Instead of using the default six athletes listed on your team reference card, you can choose any six athletes. You must still comply with the following rules:

You must have at least one of each type of athlete.
You can have at most three of any type of athlete.

Recalculate your Pit Power based on the sum of your athlete's costs.

Random League Games

Instead of using the challenge system for scheduling league games, you can make each week's matchups random by drawing coach names out of a hat.

Maverick Teams

If you have six maverick figures, you can field a team full of mavericks, adding them to the team without buying them at auction. Beware! They will probably crush their opponents with savage ease.

Glossary and Index

Page numbers in the printed glossary refer to either the Exhibition and League Rulebook or (marked SR) the Scrimmage Rulebook; they are omitted here.

Accuracy (ACC): One of the six athlete traits. It is used during throw (Pass, Shoot, Spike) actions.
Acting coach/team: The coach or team currently taking a turn. The acting coach's turn starts with the beginning of his Draw phase and ends at the conclusion of his Cleanup phase.
Action: Actions include Chop, Move, Pass, Shoot, Special, and Spike. Special actions are provided by certain skills.
Adjacent: Adjacent means the spaces directly next to each other. Spaces that touch only at the corner are also adjacent.
Agility (AGI): One of the six athlete traits. It is used during carves and spikes, and during Pass and pick-up-the-ball tests.
Athlete: One of the plastic playing pieces representing the neohumans on a team.
Auction: The bidding process to hire mavericks.
Boot: One of the symbols on the dice. Boots are used in exhibition and league games only, when the athlete has a relevant skill, such as Divert or Speedy Brawling.
Brawling (BRW): One of the six athlete traits. It is used during Carve, Chop, and Spike tests.
Butcher: A Slaughterball athlete of immense size and strength, but limited agility and speed. Butcher playing pieces are identified by their square bases.
Cancel a card: You can cancel a card with the Axed card, a Cancel Card Edge token, and with some skills. When you cancel a card, you must do so right after it is revealed. A canceled card is discarded and its effects are not resolved. If the method used to cancel a card is itself cancelled, the original card is resolved. Sacrificed cards cannot be cancelled.
Cards: The strategy cards give coaches benefits that can help with certain strategies. Each coach has a hand of cards that he can discard and redraw during the Draw phase. Each card can be played at various times, usually indicated on the card. If a card does not say when it can be played, it can be played at any appropriate time.
Catch: During a Pass action, the receiver tries to catch the ball. Catching the ball is a free part of the thrower's Pass action. Catching is not an action itself.

Record Sheets

The following pages contain record sheets that you are free to photocopy for use in your Slaughterball games. You can also find printable PDF versions of these record sheets at www.slaughterball.net. (The blank sheets themselves are not transcribed; the field explanations follow.)

Team Roster Sheet

Use this blue sheet to keep track of your league team each season. There are spaces for your athletes, support staff, and game record.

Support Staff Area: If you hire some cheerleaders, physicians, or other staff, list them in this area.

Support Staff: List your support staff here, along with how much you paid for them.
Total Support Staff: Add up the cost for all of your staff in this box.

Athletes Area: The main section of the sheet is for your eight athletes.

#: The athlete's jersey number.
Type: Use the first letter: R for razor, C for cleaver, S for slasher, and B for butcher.
ACC, AGL, BRW, SPD, TGH: The athlete's trait values.
Skills: List the athlete's skills here. Include both their starting skills and the new ones that you buy for them.
Base Value: From the Pro Team reference card.
Extra Skills Value: Total cost of the extra skills you bought for the athlete.
Total Value: Add together the athlete's Base Value and Extra Skills Value.
Total Athlete's Value: Add up the value of all of your athletes.
Treasury: List your unspent credits.
Total LPS: The total League Points each team earned so far this season, including for this game.
Post-Game Team Potential: Each team's Team Potential after the team's prize money is added.

Game Record Area: A quick place to look to see how your team is doing in the league.

Place: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th (you can also indicate ties).
Score: Enter the scores for all of the teams in the game, and underline your score. For example: 22, 19, 17, 15.
League Points/Rank: Your total League Points and League Rank after the game. For example: 15/2nd.

Game Record Sheet

Use this green record sheet to keep track of the games in your league. Each sheet can track four games, with up to four teams participating in each game.

Commissioner: Name of the commissioner, with contact information, if you like.
Season: Which season this sheet is for, such as Seattle Slaughterball League Season 2.
Week: The week of the season during which the game was played.
Game #, Date, and Location: For posterity, record the game number, date, and location of the game.
Teams: List the teams in order of play, starting with the First Coach's team.
Pit Power: Each team's Pit Power at the start of the game.
Edge Tokens: The number of Edge tokens each team gets for this game.
Score: The final scores for each team.
Place: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th (you can also indicate ties).
Prize: How much money each team earned for the game.
LPs Earned: How many League Points each team earned for the game.

League Ranking Sheet

The league commissioner manages the red League Ranking Sheet, which keeps track of how all of the teams are doing compared to each other during the season.

Commissioner: Name and contact information.
Season: Which season this sheet is for, such as Seattle Slaughterball League Season 2.
League Start Date: The date that the league started.

Week columns: After all of the games for a week are completed, the commissioner looks at the pile of Game Record Sheets. The team with the most League Points goes in the first row, followed by the second-most League Points in the second row, and so on. Break League Point ties with Team Potential. If Team Potential is tied, randomly break the tie. For subsequent weeks, the previous week's rankings are used to determine the order of challenges (see the Games for Later Weeks section).