Referee Table (In response to the challenge)

[Pagan]

I had considered working up a Referee chart in my league for some extra cutthroat rules in side events. This is in response to the challenge in the other thread for new concepts. A search did not turn up anything similar in the forum history.

Along the lines of the Kick-Off table changing the game with weather, a roll to see which Referee shows up to the game to influence how things are handled. This is by no means used currently, just ideas that are popping into my head as I type the list up. These are NO WAY considered playable or even fair, and not intended to be that. They are, however, helping me kill a good 10 minutes at work.

2 - Referee shows up late. No player is ejected for Fouling or using Secret Weapons in the first half. Roll for Referee again at Halftime. (probably as bad as LRB5 Get the Ref!)

3 - Sham Twelve Toes, Halfling Referee. Sham is rather intimidated by the big folk playing Blood Bowl. He will not send a player with STR 4 off the pitch for fouling unless they break the victim's
Armor. (Steals an ability from a Skill, which I'm not a fan of extra rules doing.)

4 - Laizee Shingouger, Goblin Referee. Laizee is a fan of cheating at the game, having been notorious for being ejected during matches as a player. When a player would be ejected for using a
Secret Weapon, or any player with Stunty would be ejected for Fouling, roll a d6. On a 1-3, the Referee's Booth notices the infraction and orders the player is ejected. On a 4-6, the Booth
misses the call and Laizee chooses to look the other way.

5-9 A standard referee shows up to the match.

10 - Deaf Blinders, Orc Referee. Deaf Blinders is a purist of the game, and attentively watches every play. Any Foul Action that breaks armor always results in an ejection, even if doubles are not rolled. Deaf Blinders is not immune to a little extra pay for a match, so he can be Bribed, but it takes two successful Bribes to negate an ejection.

11 - I.C. Nothing, Sigmarite Referee. I.C. Nothing sees everything. Any Foul Action that results in a double roll will cause the player taking the Foul Action to be ejected, in addition to any player who assists on the foul. I.C. Nothing cannot be Bribed.

12 - Two Referees show up. Every Foul Action results in a player getting ejected. Also, any player using a Secret Weapon is ejected after using the advantages given by their Weapon. This only results in a Turnover if the player had the ball. Deathrollers and Ball and Chain players cannot be setup on the pitch.

Something with less drastic impacts may be tested for fun.

[Darkson]

Nice ideas.
Personally I'd consider changing #10 to any foul that doesn't roll doubles, and allow #12 to use bribes to setup DR and B&C.

I'd still like to see on-pitch refs back.

[UncleBob]

One ref idea I always liked was the one who beats up players rather than sending them off. So perhaps an injury roll (with MB? Chainsaw! +3 on AV) if the foul was spotted, or even a straight casualty roll. That would be the slaughtering, crazy, ex-player referee. The kind of madness I like about BB.

[Oxynot]

One ref idea I always liked was the one who beats up players rather than sending them off.

Maybe some FAME-based roll on whether the referee throws the ejected player to the dugout or into the crowd (or opposing dugout). I doubt blood bowl referees can be counted on being unbiased

4+ plus minus the FAME.

[UncleBob]

Tossing players into the crowd is another fine idea. FAME based like "Give 'em to us!" Nice.

Another thing I always liked was to have a ref on the pitch.
One method could be that one team places the ref somewhere on the pitch at begin of the match. Then the ref moves before every turn like a scattering ball during kick-off. He stops the moment he gets in contact with a player or when he's about to leave the pitch. When a player is sent off, he jumps at once in contact with that player.
As a joke this could allow a Mad Bull Minotaur referee, who, whenever he gets in contact with a player, takes a block action (ST6). Or the Chainsaw guy.
Otherwise the ref could have a strength of three and both teams could block him whenever they want. (AV 7, no injury roll, instead 1-5 nothing, 6 injured and replaced (new ref roll)).
As a bonus the teams get one "ref point" each time they knock him down and two points when they injure him. During the next kick-off table coaches can add their ref points to their FAME.

[voyagers_uk]

great ideas so far, keep 'em coming

[UncleBob]

When the ref is placed on the pitch it would open a few more options, like:

A Nurgle ref with disturbing presence and foul appearance.
A ref with a TZ (who likes to take cheap shoots at the player).
Different strength from 2-6, the ST 2 guy would give only half a point when knocked over.
A gang of three refs.
The ref points could be used to argue a call, like the old rule, D6 plus ref points. A 1 before modification is a failure and a six after modification a success.
The ref points could be spend to skip the scatter roll and the coach could move the ref where he wants him to.
And the ref tries to intercept like normal players, but if he does intercept, he's not catching the ball, but it knocks him out. Armour roll for the ref and the ball bounces once from his square. So its more like getting in the way, than intercepting.

[UncleBob]

I had some fun writing all this, so it became quite long. First this is the fluff.

The referee has to ensure that each game of Blood Bowl is played as tied down by the holy book of Nuffle. But since most teams consider those „rules“ only as guidelines, and refs in particular as spoilsports, most officials almost stopped bothering. Nonetheless, a referee has to be present at every match and therefore a referee (or sentenced convict, Looney, city council trainee or simply foreigner) is send to every match to keep the chaos in order. Some who survive their first couple of games might even become professional, most of them become hunting trophies, though.
A ref has to do a lot of things, he records who scored, who crippled who, which team won, and makes sure that the right teams are present (not every touring bus carries a Blood Bowl team around). The conflicts normally starts when the referee does that ungrateful job of running around on the pitch to keep an close eye on the action (or simply to escape a furious player). Of course, most referees would prefer to referee the match from the sideline (or the next pub, for what it matters), but in common it can’t be helped but to get right into the thick of it.
When the ref is running around the players, waving his arms or blowing his whistle as if his life depends on it (wait a second, it does!) it happens quite often that he’s getting into the players path, might it be between a full tilt charge at the ball-carrier, an Ogre and his victim or a Halfling and his snack.
Of course most players don’t appreciate the referee interfering with their play and have the nasty habit of simply pushing the referee out of the way, running him into the ground or using him to relieve some of their frustration.
Another rather annoying although not intended habit of referees is to interfere with the ball and the accounts of referees knocked into the next millennia by a „misguided“ pass seem to be endless. At least that’s what you expect when you see those never-ending cabalvision loops of funny referee accidents.
Of course, referees are not very popular with the fans and direct public relation tents to cut their refereeing time rather short. Even the Fans of the most hopeless teams believe it’s all the ref’s fault.

[UncleBob]

And the rules.

To find out what kind of referee they’ve send to your match, make a roll on the ref table after you’ve rolled for the Weather.
After both coaches have set up their team, the coach with the lower team rating places the referee miniature in any unoccupied square he likes.
At the begin of each turn the ref moves like a scattering ball during kick-off (D3, D6 or D8 squares in a direction decided by the D8). The ref stops his move at once when he would move through an occupied square, or when he’s about to leave the pitch.
The ref himself has no TZ and normally the ref don’t has to dodge for leaving a TZ, unless the coach of that player wants him to. Furthermore a coach can decide to block or foul the ref when he feels like it. Treat the ref always like a player from a third party (the opponent can chose to assist the ref, but don’t have to). The only exception is the injury roll for referees. Use following injury table instead: Roll a D6, on a 1-3 the ref is prone and gets up automatically and without any penalty when it’s his turn to move again. On a 4-6 the ref is injured, remove the ref, roll for a replacement on the ref table and place the new ref on the pitch like you would at the begin of the match. Mighty Blow (+1), Pilling On (re-roll) and Stunty (+1) apply to this injury table as usual. BUT, blocking, fouling or tripping the referee over is a foul, of course. Any natural one rolled during the injury roll will cause the ejection of the player who caused the roll.
Whenever a referee moves over the ball, it will bounce one square as he kicks it out of his way. Furthermore, if the ref is under the range ruler during a pass, roll a D6 as if the ref is going to intercept (after any interception attempts). On a 6 the ball hits the ref and knocks him down, the ball bounces once from the ref’s square and the coach who threw the pass makes an armour roll for the ref with following modifications on the armour roll: quick -1, short 0, long +1, bomb +2. If this injures the ref, the player throwing the pass won’t be sent off for this unfortunate accident. By the way accident, the ref will never try to catch the ball and always drop it automatically, should a player throw a successful pass to the ref, treat this as if the ref „intercepted the ball“, means he’s knocked down and make an armour roll with the same modifications.
Whenever a ref is pushed off the field or when the kick-off table result Get the ref, has been rolled, don’t bother with any kind of armour or injury roll but simply remove the ref and roll for an replacement.
For all ref’s the normal four rules apply (sent off on double during armour, sent off on double during injury, secret weapon sent off at the end of drive and bribes work on 2+) unless the text states a different procedure for any of those.

Amazon Referee D6 3 3 7 Dodge.
Amazons are a tribe of warriors with a serious fighting ethic. Based on this tradition, attacks against prone players is cowardice in their eyes. But at the same time they can’t feel much mercy for a player who can’t fend for himself. An Amazon referee will sent off any player taking a foul action, but if the fouled player gets hurt, they usually change their opinion. Whenever a foul action results into a casualty roll, the Amazon referee takes the call back and the rejection is ignored. Welcome to Sports!

Chaos Warrior Referee D6 4 3 9 Dirty Player.
Whenever the Chaos Warrior Refeere is moving into a square occupied by a prone or stunned player, he can’t resist the temptation to put the boot in. Stop the refs movement and make a foul action, but no side can assist. Use Dirty Player only on the armour roll, as the Refeere is not kicking to hurt, but only out of leisure and reflex.

Marauder Referee D6 3 3 8.
Where Marauders come from Blood Bowl is played a bit differently. Or at least there’s no other explanation for the heavy armoury those refs drag onto the pitch. Well, perhaps they’re just mad. Roll a D6:
1-3 That ref has a chainsaw! When the Marauder would move in an occupied square he takes a blitz action with his chainsaw against that player.
4-6 When the ref is about to move, roll a D6. On a 4+ the Marauder won’t take the move but throws a bomb instead. Make the ref move like normal, but instead placing the ref in the final square, a bomb explodes there as in described in the Bombardier rules.

Dark Elf Referee D6 3 4 8.
Dark Elves are superior in the divine ways of causing exquisite pain, and they don’t hate anything more than seeing blundering barbarians failing so utterly with their rude attempts to inflict pain. In addition to the doubles, every player taking a foul action that does not break the armour will be sent off.

Dwarf/ Chaos Dwarf Referee D3 3 2 9 Block, Tackle.
Dwarf Referees have an ill liking for weird devices and love to see some mechanical action on the pitch. As a result every player with secret weapon is not automatically rejected, but must roll a D6 at the end of each drive they played, on a 4+ the player is rejected. As grumbling Dwarves don’t like to make way for anyone, every Dwarf referee has a Tackle Zone that applies for both teams alike.

Elf Referee D6 3 4 7.
Elf referees don’t mind a bit of grinding foul action, but they do reject to secret weapons. No player with secret weapon can be set up at the begin of any drive, as the Elf will make a very thorough check of both teams dug-outs before the drive starts. The Elf is not unwilling to accept bribes during that pre-drive visits, though.

Goblin Referee D6 2 3 7 Dodge, Stunty.
Goblin take a pleasure in seeing others get hurt. A Goblin Ref tends therefore to forget to blow the whistle when he’s too absorbed with gaping. Every rejection for a foul action is cancelled on a 4+, and as Goblins a extremely greedy too, you don’t have to roll a die for your bribes. Bribing a Goblin always works.

Halfling Referee D6 2 3 6 Dodge, Stunty.
Halflings are not really known for their courage, nor for their ability to defend a point. When the Halfling ref spots a foul, the fouling player can throw a block without assists at the Halfling. If it knocks the Halfling down he is persuaded and takes the call back.

High Elf Referee D6 3 4 8.
High Elves are extremely refined and rich, the disgusting rolling around in the mud and disembowelling each other is something they can’t understand nor like. In addition to the doubles, a High Elf Ref will eject every player who’s foul action breaks the victims armour. Furthermore, as High Elves tend to be richer than most, it needs two bribes to bribe them once.

Human Referee D6 3 3 8.
The standard ref, no rules apply, except being crooked, unfair and totally indifferent towards the players health.

Tomb Guardian Referee D3 5 1 9.
Being the oldest and most ancient of all Blood Bowl interested people nowadays, Tomb Guardians still have a problem with all those upstarts and chaotic team-management that’s going on. Players moving on and off the teams, mercs playing for the highest bidder, and not the slightest bit of loyalty and honour inside them. Deeply disgusted by this modern ways, a Tomb Guardian seems to turn a blind eye from time to time. A Tomb Guardian will never eject a player for fouling a journeyman, mercenary or star player.

Skink Referee D8 2 3 7 Dodge, Stunty.
Skink priests are divine and deeply woven into heaven mysteries and they make extremely weird referees. Sort of fixed on rituals and the proper way, a Skink referee will either reset the clock or not move it all during a Riot. Furthermore, Skink referees are following a divine plan they call the plan of the old, and to tell the truth, no one but themselves can make head or tail out of that. Before every drive you have to roll a D6, on 1-3 the Skink will reject every player who takes a foul action, while on a 4-6 he’ll reject no player at all, either for fouling or for secret weapons. On top of that fickleness, they are not even excepting bribes.

Flesh Golem Referee D3 4 2 9 Stand Firm.
Flesh Golems tent to be rather resentful towards crowds, especially those with forks and torches, and as they don’t lack physical strength they normally have it their way. A match refereed by a Flesh Golem ignores any Get the Ref, Throw a Rock and Pitch Invasion results on the kick-off table. Furthermore they intimidate the crowd by such an expanse that both coaches can’t use their FAME for any kick-off table result. There is nothing like a Flesh Golem to shut up the crowd.

Norse Referee D6 3 3 7 Block, Guard.
Norse are people in desperate need of fun. When they have a chance to let their hair down, the pub usually goes with it. When refereeing, a Norse ref can’t hold on to himself and before you know it, he’s right in the thick of it. A Norse ref will always assist blocks or fouls by the active player when in a position to do so.

Nurgle Referee D3 4 2 9 Disturbing Presence, Foul Appearance.
The most disgusting and revolting kind of referee a team can run into. Players of both teams are under the influence of the Referees Disturbing Presence.

Ogre Referee D6 5 2 9 Mighty Blow.
This Oge has an ear for the crowd, and who can seriously refuse those lovely roars of „Give ´em to us! Give ´em to us!“. So whenever the Ogre rejects a player for fouling he might give in to that chants and toss the sinner into the stands for a more direct and severe punishment. After a Foul is called roll a D6, both coaches can add or subtract their FAME to the result, if the final result is a 4+, the Ogre ref picks up the player and tosses him into the stands, with the known consequences, straight injury roll. As a small gift, the Ogre referee won’t mind when the player resumes playing, should he survive the fans.

Orc Referee D6 3 3 9.
Orcs are stickler and thick. Once they’ve figured out who is the „nasty une her“ they keep their eyes fixed on them, actually too fixed. After the Orc ref spotted a foul he becomes too occupied with watching the „sinners“. As long as the Orc is watching a team, the other team gets only ejected for a foul action when they break the armour. But the moment they roll a double during a foul action all the complaints and aggressive rants will eventually get through to the thick Orc and he switches his attention to the other team, so that the other side can now ignore ejections unless they break the armour or until they roll a double.

Skaven Referee D6 3 3 7 Prehensile Tail.
Skaven Referees are a nasty bunch and take much delight in the failure and misery of others. As a result it happens rather regularly that the Skaven Ref accidentally trips over a player, knocks the ball out of his reach, or stumbles into the players back. The referee has a Tackle Zone that applies to both teams alike. Furthermore, when the Skaven ref moves over the ball he’ll kick it out of the way, the ball flies D8 squares in a direction decided by the D8. By the way, you don’t have to roll for your bribes, bribing a Skaven always works, believe me.

Slann Referee D6 3 3 8 Leap, Very Long Legs.
Slann have an extraordinary take off power. Therefore the Slann Referee will never stop when moving in an occupied square but simply leap over the player automatically. Furthermore, being airborne helps a lot to keep an eye on the match. The Slann referee spots every foul and rejects every player taking a foul action, and secret weapons are ejected the moment they are used for the first time.

Underworld D6 3 3 7
Underworld referees are through the bank addicted to warpstone powder and as this habit puts them in constantly need of this stuff they take any chance to get some. If you roll the Underworld ref, both coaches can immediately purchase Bribes for 50k, may it be at the begin of the match or right in the middle of it, the Underworld ref will give you plenty of time to make your offer. Furthermore a Underworld ref will never tolerate any kind of rule break, unless he’s paid. Any player taking a foul action is sent off, unless the coach uses a bribe, for which it is not necessary to roll, bribing an Underworld referee always works.

Ghoul Referee D6 3 3 7 Dodge.
Ghouls feed on corpses. Seeing two players, one standing, the other lying motionless on the ground, a certain instinct in the Ghoul might break through and overwhelm him. As a result, it might happen that the Ghoul gets transfixed on the „corpse“ and rejects the fouled player on a 4+, rather than the fouling player.

Vampire Referee D6 4 4 8.
When a Vampire Ref sets out to explain the situation to a nasty rule breaker it might happen that he’s overcome by the urge to drink blood. To represent this nasty habit roll a D6 when the referee spots a foul, on a 1 the Ref reaches for the players neck and goes nuts. Make a straight injury roll but treat any casualty roll as badly hurt. The call stands either way. In addition, Vampires are quite fascinating. To represent their mesmerizing effect every player in contact with the Vampire must roll a D6 after declaring an action, on 1 the player is spellbound and can’t take an action that turn, but the action is not wasted.

Wood Elf Referee D6 3 4 7.
Would Elves prefer the purity of pass and flair play that is not smudged by filthy fights and wars of attrition. A Wood Elf referee sees it therefore as his mission to clean the pitch of every player who tries to destroy the beauty of the game. The moment a Wood Elf referee spots a foul (rolled double) he will reject the fouler and every player of the fouling player’s team that assisted the foul. Wood Elf referees don’t accept bribes.

Troll Referee D3 5 1 9 Mighty Blow.
Trolls are dim and always hungry. A combination that leads to many confusions. When the Troll referee is about to reject a fouling player he might forget halfway through the call what he was about to do. And if a Troll doesn’t know what to do, he normally stuffs it into his mouth. When a foul is called roll a D6, on a 1-3 the player is sent off, but on 4+ the Troll gets confused. Roll another D6, on a 2-6 the call is taken back and the player is not ejected, on a 1, though, the Troll gets too confused and eats the player who committed the foul, meaning the player is dead.

Minotaur Referee D6 5 2 8 Frenzy, Horns, Mighty Blow, Juggernaut.
This Ref is a Mad Bull, whenever the ref’s move would carry him into an occupied square he takes a block action against that player who dares to occupy the square he wanted to stay in. Make a normal block as if the Minotaur made a blitz action, but no side can assist. After the block, the Minotaur Referee stops moving and probably roars a lot.

Treeman Referee D3 6 1 10 Mighty Blow, Stand Firm.
Treemen are not really known for their speed. They are quite sluggish in fact. A Treeman referee has therefore very often the problem to catch the offender during play, what means that every player ejected for a foul doesn’t have to leave the pitch but can keep on playing. But Treemen are also known for their good memory and they won’t forget. When the drive ends, the player will be sent off.

Slayer Referee D3 3 2 8 Block, Dauntless, Tackle.
Slayers are aggressive creatures and feel permanently the itch to exert authority (or spit into it’s face). When a Slayer is not grasping a player by the collar each turn to show ´em who’s in charge here, they feel that the match is going out of their hands. Slayer referees have a TZ applying for both teams, and whenever the Slayer moves into a occupied square, he throws a block at that player (no side can assist).

Snotling Referee D6 1 3 5 Dodge, Side Step, Stunty.
No fouls are ever called, no player with Secret Weapon is rejected at the end of drive. Seriously, would you listen to a squeaky voice, hopping madly around and hardly reaching to your knees? No, sir!

[zerak]

love this. The amount of work... whoho.
It seems funny.

[cyagen]

You forgot Galak!

Any ref rule MUST include Galak Skycrapper !

[Khar-peth]

good stuff !
keep them coming

[lanky316]

Loving Uncle Bobs rules. I'd go further and have it rolled ala Casualty table with some star refs.

e.g. Greyhelm Pollken (Dwarf) - Due to a career as a player when Greyhelm broke the record for most concussions in a season he suffers from a rare case of a dwarf with a bad memory. As such if a player rolls a double when fouling roll a D6, on a roll of a 6 Greyhelm has forgotten the offence and the offender may play on, however he will be sent off if he commits another foul regardless of double when Greyhelm remembers the error.

Markus Clatterbergen (human) - due to low life expectency of referees Markus keeps well away from the action and as such can miss important moments. When a player scores a TD roll a D6, on the roll of 3+ the TD stands on a 1 or 2 however the defence get another turn to try and stop the score counting while Markus gets into position to see if it crossed the line.