Dying while scoring?

[Duke Jan]

Saw this when I was on holidays in the states:
http://www.sbnation.com/2009/12/27/1221 ... m-panthers

Now this never happens in BB because the game mechanics don't allow it. Still, that "Famous Last Touchdown" would make the game a lot more fun. I was thinking along the lines of a skill like this:

Dying for it
When this player is knocked down holding the ball, he won't let go without a struggle. If armour is not broken the player holds on to the ball just a bit longer and won't let go until the active team's turn is over. After this turn the player lets go of the ball and another armour roll is needed to check whether he took too big a risk. If the player goes down in the end zone, he scores on a successful agility roll. (And then dies!).

Other/better suggestions more than welcome. Had a better version in my head, but the jet lag erased that.

[Wylder]

So high armor teams will never let go of the ball when they are knocked down anymore? And then they get to take an entire team turn once the ball finally does land?

Busting well formed cages is hard enough without giving the cage even more chances to keep going. This sounds like it would severely upset the agility/bash game balance.

[Joemanji]

How about a new rule ... if a player fails a GFI into the endzone they may still try to score the TD. Roll a D6, on a 4+ the TD stands. However, regardless of the result of this roll the player automatically fails his AV roll as he overextends himself.

[Jural]

I like it Joe. Great House rule, fluffy and lots of fun.

[Duke Jan]

My initial thoughts were along Joe's line as well. Probably better anyway because it is simpler.

But then I thought: not all players should be allowed to do so, why not a skill? You would see some players with the skill, the ones with lower armour values. They will be less likely to make their initial armour roll since they tend to have low AV. Also, if it's a skill it should be better than sure feet. Perhaps there should be an AG roll, but I think on ball handlers the increased risk of injury would be a serious price already.

@ Wilder: so you would prefer this skill on a dwarf runner over a whole list of other possible skills? I think I would prefer to rely on the cage working and take a traditional skill path instead.

[Jural]

As a skill though, it's just a 50%, very situational version of Sure Feet. with huge penalties for failure

[Duke Jan]

Not really, since the skill I had in mind works by the players' ability to postpone the turn over. That is a potentially huge advantage.

[Fat_Emrys]

How about a new rule ... if a player fails a GFI into the endzone they may still try to score the TD. Roll a D6, on a 4+ the TD stands. However, regardless of the result of this roll the player automatically fails his AV roll as he overextends himself.

For a higher risk/reward:

If a player fails a GFI into the endzone they may still try to score the TD. On a successful Agility roll the TD stands and the player twists and stretches to get over the line before he falls. However, regardless of the result of this roll the player is automatically injured and rolls on the casualty table as he overextends himself. A bribe can be used to reroll the Agility roll. ("Come on, ref, he crossed the line before his head fell off!")

I can see that this might favour teams with regeneration but (on the whole) they're less likely to succeed with the AG roll.

With either version I think it'd have to apply only for GFIs into the endzone - rolling skulls when you're blocking or failing a dodge should always mean a turnover.

[Jural]

Not really, since the skill I had in mind works by the players' ability to postpone the turn over. That is a potentially huge advantage.

With regards to going for it, you postpone the turnover as long as your armor isn't broken... but typically armor is broken more frequently than 1/6... and then a successful AG roll, Sure Feet is just much better

But your first post says any knock downs, so it's more versatile, as it basically covers failed dodges as well (and random special play cards, scattered thrown teammates, etc.) I think it also stacks with dodge, sure feet, and re-rolls as well, which I'm not sure about (35/36 chance to score should be a maximum if you have a tackle zone on you and can't blitz it off- my opinion only.)

OK, so it probably does have merit as a skill on it's own now that I understand it

So what about the following simplified version:

Heroic Grip- When a player with this skill is knocked over in his turn while carrying the ball, he is placed prone but the ball does not scatter from his square. Heroic Grip counts as a re-roll of the roll which knocked the player down, so Heroic Grip can't be used if the player used a team re-roll or a skill re-roll. The player's turn ends, but no turnover occurs. When the team turn does end, the player immediately rolls on the Injury Table and the ball scatters from the square he is in. If the player is in the end zone at the end of his turn, if he succeeds at an unmodified agility roll then a Touchdown is scored before the turn ends (the player must roll on the injury table as usual.)

[Cirrus the Blue]

I think a really 'dead' easy way to go about it would be that before the ball is scattered, if in fact the player does die on either a dodge or GFI into the endzone, on a 2+ the TD stands and the drive ends, but the player still dies. How's that sound? I think for such a rule, the simpler, the better.

- Cirrus