Something I never understood

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cbbakke
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Something I never understood

Post by cbbakke »

Why interception is rolled before The pass. I know the designer has a note on it in teh rules.

Designer's Note: Many coaches argue over the realism of
rolling to intercept before rolling to pass. Like many rules in
Blood Bowl it is an abstraction to make the game work better.
Think instead of the interception/passing rolls as a complete
series of rolls to determine the outcome of a pass rather than
sequential steps.

Realism is part of it but how do you intercept something that didn't happen? I just don't see how it makes the game work better. If you fumble the pass then you don't make an interception roll. By making that roll your adding a roll to the game that may not be needing.

Player A passes the ball.
Player A fumbles pass.
Turn over.
Player A does not fumble pass.
Player B declares who they want to try to interception with.
interception chance is resolved

currently
Player A declares pass.
Player B Interception roll is resolved.
no interception pass is resolved.
safe throw resolved

I am sure this topic has been covered but besides increasing interceptions. It makes no sense to me to do it this way.

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by lunchmoney »

You answer your own query.
cbbakke wrote:...Designer's Note: Many coaches argue over the realism of
rolling to intercept before rolling to pass. Like many rules in
Blood Bowl it is an abstraction to make the game work better.
Think instead of the interception/passing rolls as a complete
series of rolls to determine the outcome of a pass rather than
sequential steps.

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by GalakStarscraper »

Biggest reason is to increase the % of interceptions.

Other reasons have to do with timing.

Its easier ruleswise to determine interceptions on a straight line instead of trying to factor in the movement of the passing line with inaccurate passes. In addition skills like Pass Block are much easier to specify based on a fixed path and target determined at the beginning.

Galak

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by daloonieshaman »

GalakStarscraper wrote:Biggest reason is to increase the % of interceptions.

Other reasons have to do with timing.

Its easier ruleswise to determine interceptions on a straight line instead of trying to factor in the movement of the passing line with inaccurate passes. In addition skills like Pass Block are much easier to specify based on a fixed path and target determined at the beginning.

Galak
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Yes the one line in there is true
it increases the chance of interception and no it does not

It increases it by a fraction that the guy may or may not fumble

It would play WAY better if
Thrower declares pass action get in position. I am gonna pass to that guy.
Rolls:
Fumble y/n
Pass Block
Pass or team re-roll
Interception

Adds offense, adds defense, adds flavor to skills, makes blood bowl a chink closer to chess

Pass Block limits where you can place a pass blocker so some abstract placement on a scatter is just pure blind freakin' luck if it bounces scatters to him

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by Aino »

daloonieshaman wrote:
GalakStarscraper wrote:Biggest reason is to increase the % of interceptions.

Other reasons have to do with timing.

Its easier ruleswise to determine interceptions on a straight line instead of trying to factor in the movement of the passing line with inaccurate passes. In addition skills like Pass Block are much easier to specify based on a fixed path and target determined at the beginning.

Galak
<cough> <cough> <cough> <bullchips>

Yes the one line in there is true
it increases the chance of interception and no it does not

It increases it by a fraction that the guy may or may not fumble

It would play WAY better if
Thrower declares pass action get in position. I am gonna pass to that guy.
Rolls:
Fumble y/n
Pass Block
Pass or team re-roll
Interception

Adds offense, adds defense, adds flavor to skills, makes blood bowl a chink closer to chess

Pass Block limits where you can place a pass blocker so some abstract placement on a scatter is just pure blind freakin' luck if it bounces scatters to him

Problem is that Pass block can influence on your chance of fumbling the ball (by putting a tacklezone on the thrower, giving an extra -1) :roll:

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by daloonieshaman »

serves him right trying to throw against me

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by Glamdryn »

Im a huge fan of this rule. Makes Pass Block a very cool and fun skill. Who doesnt like interceptions anyways!?!

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by bouncergriim »

Glamdryn wrote:Im a huge fan of this rule. Makes Pass Block a very cool and fun skill. Who doesnt like interceptions anyways!?!
Usually the thrower/QB :smoking:

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by daloonieshaman »

it sure would draw more attention to the Slann

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by cbbakke »

GalakStarscraper wrote:Biggest reason is to increase the % of interceptions.

Other reasons have to do with timing.

Its easier ruleswise to determine interceptions on a straight line instead of trying to factor in the movement of the passing line with inaccurate passes. In addition skills like Pass Block are much easier to specify based on a fixed path and target determined at the beginning.

Galak

I have always thought it should be.
Pass made
no fumble
interception attempt.
no interception.
work out where ball goes (accurate or not).

Adding figuring out where the ball went and then doing interception, I agree would be a pain in the ass and even devalue passblock more. On the otherside it could actually increase the number of chances on interception. Many passes are made with the QB moving that one extra square to get into the passing lane so nobody gets a chance at it. If the pass was inaccurate and you figured out interception from that line it would add times where by the bad throw the ball ended up going over a defender. Just a thought

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by Smeborg »

Although my heart has always longed for a passing sequence with the potential for a scattered inaccurate pass before the interception attempt, my head understands some of the difficulties that this would pose from a rules point of view (example: ball scatters off the pitch, how do you draw a line to where it lands?). The bypassing of fumbling by a successful interception seems to be one of the strangest quirks of the passing rules (example: you make a pass requiring a natural 6 to be anything other than a fumble, but the Elven Catcher still has a 5/9 chance of intercepting it). I would be inclined to favour a rules change to elimnate that quirk.

There are at least 4 ways to avoid interceptions - (a) don't pass, (b) pass to a player standing next to you, (c) only make passes that can't be intercepted, and (d) use Hail Mary Pass. All have their drawbacks or limitations, of course. There are at least 3 ways to reduce the probability of interceptions - (a) use positioning to make a Pass Blocker roll dice to move, (b) use positioning to reduce the odds of an interception (tackle zones and D-Pres) and (c) use Safe Throw. So at least the rules give something to any coach who loathes interceptions.

In my experience, Pass Block is a rarely used skill, like Strip Ball, that nevertheless can have a strong influence on play by its threat.

For those who don't like the passing rules - I challenge you to come up with better. I suggest it's not easy to do so, especially if you take into account the number of steps required.

All the best.

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daloonieshaman
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Re: Something I never understood

Post by daloonieshaman »

Here is a solution

a few minor changes to other rules

Interception:
The intercepting player must be:
in the 3 Squares in front of the thrower or catcher
and the square must be touched by the RR
Include visual examples:

Player Declares Pass
moves whatever set to throw (declares target and measures range and current modifiers)

Reaction:
Pass Block action completed
Declare an Interception

Add any new modifiers

Player decides to tuck the ball or let it fly
Tucking the ball:
The thrower see that the situation is worse than he first thought and decides to try and stop his throw
Roll AG -1 (plus mod for TZ) If good end of player's action(may use pass skill or team RR)
If failed fumble (he's a clutz and did not practice the play)
Let it Fly:
The thrower pumps the ball and zings it at his receiver
Roll Pass (normal rules apply)
If the ball scatters the Interceptor may attempt to move one square in the direction of scatter (normal move rules apply). If he is still in proper position to int then roll
Bounce/Catch as normal for inaccurate or accurate pass

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by cbbakke »

I can understand the difficulty of it but I really think it would create a lot more chances for interception. Everybody uses the system of finding the passing lane so there is no int chance. Often there are defenders just outside of range of this so by making inaccurate would create those chances.

I don't think it would be that hard figure out though. You do the scatter and draw the line from that square. If it goes out of bounce then you would use the square it goes out of bounce to draw the line. would add a little time to passing, but also more chaos and excitement.

Is passblock in need of a little love so it is taken more? +1 to dodge during passblock or +1 to interception chance.

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by daloonieshaman »

how about using your brain more when passing

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Re: Something I never understood

Post by cbbakke »

daloonieshaman wrote:how about using your brain more when passing
uh.. Where did that come from?

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