The rules are here.
Any questions, ask away 🙂
To try and keep things sane(ish) I will delete comments once they’ve been incorporated into the digital rules, discussed in an article, or added to any FAQ below.
Sponsors, Teams & Team Building
These have been left out of the Beta for the moment. Please use the two starting teams provided. The idea here is to get you playing the game so you know how it works from personal experience. This stage also helps us to clarify any fuzzy rules points.
Once everyone is clear on this then we can move onto the next step and have a close look at how teams are built. Yes, this will be well before the end of the KS 🙂
Board Notes
The board art in the downloadable pdf (above) is not final yet. It will be updated in due course. Until then, note the following:
- There is only space marked for one deck of cards. There should be space for 2 decks and their discard piles. This is because I split the deck quite recently and the art hasn’t quite caught up.
- The kill 3+, etc part of the board is not used in this version of the beta. It’s for betting and applies only in league games.
The Future Of DreadBall
A few people have asked if the different rules in DBX are going to be taken back and dropped into DB.
Many of the changes in DBX reflect the difference between the two games. That said, some of the new rules may well make it to a future 2nd edition of DB (if we ever do one), but none are currently planned to port across before that point.
Quirkworthy 
Question on Explosive Collar (my new favorite Ability): Since a 3mc bribe is required by the penal system and the Convict Sponsor starts with 6mc, does that mean he/she can only use Explosive Collar twice in the game? Is there any way to get more money?
This convict “team” (with the 6mc kitty) is a get-you-by starting point. This or something like it will be included in the game and is fine for one-off matches. However, in league play you will have as much money as you can wangle, and whether you spend it on more players, extra nasty surprises, coaching dice, betting, or leave it to pay off the authorities when you blow up their convicts is up to you 😉
The New Ball Bounces image is missing an example. If it struck in the hex one to the right, coming from an angle (heading north-west), it should presumably bounce south-west.
You’re correct. I thought this diagram had been updated. I’ll see if I can hunt it out.
I played the beta rules last night with my wife.
This dbx malarky is total carnage.
We ended up with only 6 uninjured minis on the field. And 5 deaths.
The new rules seem to work great. No real complains. Just loads of death and explosions. I lost by 3 because the wife cheats I mean plays by the rules ( damm)
Only problem we have now is going back to do for are league night might feel a little tame
It may. But it should also feel “clean” and slick in a different way. Not better or worse, just different. I’m sure many people will have a preference. My aim was to make them different enough for them to both be worth playing, and for that debate about which is better to be meaningful 😉
Strikers can, in theory, eliminate opponents by throwing the ball at them. Was it just too tedious to leave Strikers on the field during Sudden Death?
Good point! I would say let them stay on.
Whilst they can theoretically injure opponents, they cannot stomp them to finish them off so their victims tend to stay on the pitch and get better. They can only do anything when they have the ball and whatever they do loses it. The fact that they are actually better at evading the opposition just dragged this phase of the game out needlessly in most cases. The clean solution is just to take them off.
Talking about stomp, will there still be a separate stomp action, or has it been folded into just a special slam with modifier ?
It got folded into normal Slam. I think this solution is cleaner when you don’t have to differentiate what’s legal and what’s a foul.
Can you take a run up and stomp or do you still have to be next to them without “Does This Hurt”
You can all run and stomp in DBX. Did I mention it was a tiny bit more violent?
I vaguely remember something about turning it up too 11 but this might 12 or 13.
Any plans to incorporate the new victory condition of no opposing players on the pitch into normal Dreadball to give the more bashy teams an alternate win condition?
Also wanted to confirm that the entire edge of the board is the entry hex so a player can come on to the board from the subs bench to any hex along your edge of the board and not a specific entry hex like in the normal game.
No plans at present to change DB victory conditions.
If you look carefully on the arena art the edge of the board next to the subs’ bench has a line in the team’s colour (yellow or blue). This marks the hexes you can enter on.
Though Jake has said no plans to DGB regular DB on this, I think it would be an awesome ruling.
In the section on obstacles. It mentions that small obs can be “jumped” over. If you have played ODB you would assume that you need jump skill but if you havent you could be lead to believe that you can do it from the get go. Which is it please?
Is this jump in the sense that they need the skill jump? or something everyone can do?.
Need the ability.
Reading the section on ending rush and becasue fan support is treated differently
Does
“As soon as one of these is true, the current Rush ends. Complete any remaining parts of the current action (scattering the ball, etc) and then resolve the End of Rush step. The opposing Sponsor then starts their next Rush by moving the marker along the Rush track.”
– Mean that if you lose the ball you dont get a chance to get fan support?
If so that is a clever trick and makes alot of sense. No fan likes it when their team is playing poorly.
I’ve updated this to make it clearer.
What happens to the short obstacle when a you roll a 3 on the trap? Unlike other results, it doesn’t say anything.
The player is knocked down in the hex. No injury (page 5).
And just an idea to help players placing the obstacles (because everytime I place them I start counting hexes from the corners or ball launch hexes to find the right spot).
Put numbers on the left/right side of the pitch in every “row” of hexes an letters on the top/bottom of the pitch in every “collumn” of hexes.
In the setup for each areana give the “coordinates” for the obstacles e.g.
Small obstacles: A5, D12, N8
Tall obstacles: B7, H9, L13
Should fasten up the placing…
That’s not what I asked. Result number 3, unlike the others, doesn’t state what happens to the obstacle itself after resolving the effect.
Fair point. I’ll update it. The obstacle is removed on anything except a dud result.
I take it then it should be markers as gone off so you dont try and blow your players legs off again and again.
In the proper version you simply leave the lid off the crate. This is what the rule refers to 🙂
If a team wins by injuring all the opposing players on the pitch, what does the score count as? A landslide? Something else?
Good question. A landslide is the answer.
If a ball scatters into a tall obstacles does it stop there and then or does it bounce off like its hit the wall?
Like it hits the wall.
Played a game today. The ball was largely ignored to my detriment. It is brutal I have never before had so many checks to make on 0 dice.
One thing that we spotted missing. Where do teams set up at the start the team areas seem to be missing from both the beta pitch and the images in the rules any hints?
You’re right. 4 players from each team set up on their own back row of hexes, adjacent to their subs’ bench.
I’m playing with the idea that each of the 6 set ups might have a different starting area.
Like the idea of variable start areas (depending on layout) but it does add an extra (if slight) area of complication.
It does, but not really any more than you already have with the whole concept f a variable set up. It’s just another bit of that.
At present I’m not sure if the different set ups need variations in starting position. I need to play them some more.
Not sure if this has been addressed, but I can’t find it in this thread and the digital rules have not be updated.
The Alien Filth team is missing a Starting Team and Notes section, so I’m not sure how many J/S/G to bring. I’m assuming Backstab is their note, but I don’t know who has the ability.
I don’t quite understand why is there a restriction to bring a Striker/Guard into the pitch on any action, if you can emphasize your answer on the “fluff” reason (cause i can kinda see the reason why bringing the Non-Jacks on when ever is a little overwhelming).
DBX Beta Rules, Page 23, Example: You are repeating the mistake made in Season 1. There is no difference in a ball traveling from B and a ball traveling from D. Nor is there a difference between balls traveling from either C or A. In all cases, the ball strikes a flat wall panel and bounces straight back. The only way a ball could bounce from B to C as shown in the diagram is if the scatter die were a D12 and an odd number were rolled. As this is never the case in Dreadball (or in Dreadball X), then this cannot happen. (Sorry; I posted this on the DBX main page by mistake.)
DBX Beta Rules, Page 24, on a Player catching a Scattered ball: The text reads,
“A player can double the catch for a scattered ball, with the normal benefits even during the opponent’s Rush . If this happens then your opponent will resume his interrupted Rush once all your free action(s) have been resolved.”
The way this is worded, it sounds this could happen: my opponent takes an action to move a player down the pitch to a spot where he could catch a thrown ball. Then he moves another guy to slam one of my guys away from threatening the ball that is on the ground. For his third action (he’s been spending action tokens so far), he moves a third player to get the ball, but he has to Dash to do so. He fails, and lands in the spot with the ball. According to DBX Beta, this does not end his rush. I catch the Scattering ball with a Striker and I double on the catch!
This is where I am interrupting my opponent’s Rush.
I choose to throw with my free action, so I run to a good position, and then throw to one of my players who is in position to score. He catches the ball, and doubles, enabling him to throw on the goal, and score! My free actions are resolved when the ball relaunches, and my opponent’s interrupted Rush resumes, according the rule quoted above. He now has only two action tokens left to spend. True, or false? I am hoping “False,” but the rule will need some clarification if it is false.
If it is true, this is almost as bad as the rule about a player with no dice being forced to “try” to catch the ball.
Please clarify, either way. Thank you!
(Sorry; I posted this on the DBX main page by mistake.)
Im a little confused about your interpretation David.
Assuming four action tokens per rush, I count that your opponent should have one action left.
First action a player runs.
Second action a player slams.
Third action the player falls on the ball.
You then interupt – throwing, catching and scoring all for free.
The ball relaunches.
The original player takes their fourth action before thier rush will end, passing play to you for your rush.
Ack! Sorry about that; I’ve only played DBO to date, and I was still thinking about the 5 action tokens there. Sorry for the confusion.
I thought a lot about this after I posted, and I realize that no clarification really is necessary. After all, why would an interruption (even one that ends in a score for the other team) reset a team’s tokens, or even advance the game to another rush? Short answer: it doesn’t.
So, apologies for the long-winded (and slightly confusing) question!
No worries… glad I could clarify
After playing a game this afternoon, the following items seemed a bit unclear:
1.) The Ball is in a hex next to an active trap. A Jack/Striker moves into the hex as a part of a Run or Sprint action. What is the order of operations for dealing with ball pick up and trap resolution? A.) Pick up ball, then resolve the trap or B.) Resolve the trap, then pick up (if still standing) or scater (if not standing) ball?
I was unable to find clarification on this looking at either the traps or the ball pick up sections.
2.) Fan Checks: The triggers for Fan checks on throwing strikes seems a bit odd.
– Doubles a scoring 2 or 3 point Throw.
– Struts his stuff in a display of Showboating
Is the intent to trigger 0 fan checks on a 1 success strike throw, and 2 fan checks on a 2 or more success strike throw?
I believe it works like in original Dreadball: no Fan Checks for a single success on a 2-point score, but 1 Fan Check if that Throw was doubled. 1 Fan Check on a single-success 3-point score, and 2 Fan Checks if the 3-pointer is Doubled. No Fan Checks are possible on Dunks, since they don’t have a dice roll.
Is there a Fan Check for a player bleeding out after failing Recovery Tests?
A couple of questions on the “treat this like a Slam” effect. I assume that a player with Grizzled would still apply this ability to things like an exploding box? For example, a small obstacle is approached by the Jetari Brawler Drone Guard, and a 4 is rolled; this would be a 3-dice “Slam” that has to be Dodged. Does this also apply if a ball is thrown at that player? It looks like the working on a Throw no longer says anything about a Slam, so I assume no.
Possibly a balance issue: the Asterian Pirate Jacks seem like they are all but certain to not be able to do much damage, even with the Backstab rule. Bad dice don’t help, but I went a whole game unable to so much as push a Convict with one, even with a Striker to mark the opponent and a Backstab. Some possible solutions (besides the obvious and not very flavorful improved Strength) would be to change Backstab to lowering the target number (treat Strength 5+ as 4+ for this Slam), letting Backstab count as a successful hit (like Can’t Feel a Thing on Armor Check) or allowing Backstab on Thrown balls.
Grizzled: you are correct.
The players listed in these teams are the baseline players – the weakest versions if you like. The full game includes better versions that can be accessed during a league. This will be clearer when I go through the team building rules this week.
Hmm, I posted this over at the DBX page, but it probably makes more sense to put here. Sorry for the double posting.
On page 18, the rules say, “If the modifiers reduce the number of dice you can roll to zero or less then count this as no dice. You cannot make this roll without using Coaching Dice (see below).”
Does this mean that you cannot attempt the action or that you cannot succeed at the action?
For example, if a jack has sprinted into the threat zones of two opposing players can the attempt a throw a pass without coaching dice, knowing that it will get no successes and thus be an inaccurate pass?
I know this same issue was raised in the DBO FAQ, but the beta rules here use the same language; it would be lovely to have it cleared before it becomes an issue in DBX as well.
Sorry, that example I gave wasn’t quite right; I meant moved instead of sprinted for the jack; no one can sprint and throw in the same action.
-Zorblag R`Lyeh
Two questions came up in our 1st beta rules game last night that need clarification please. The first one is quite important as far a I can see 🙂
Firstly when starting the game it says, “…places 4 players anywhere he wants in the appropriate team zone marked on the map…”……..um where is this team zone?
Secondly, when you nobble someone it says “for their next rush they lose 1 dice….”. They way we read that was that I nobble a player in MY rush, but they don’t start loosing dice until THEIR rush. So if I slam them in MY rush after nobbling them, the nobble has no effect. It would seem to make more sense that they would be nobbled from when they are selected in my rush, through their rush until the start of my next rush (when I could choose to nobble them again).
and I accept that it may just be because we obviously only had the small starter teams, but it almost felt like there were too many objects on the pitch.
Loving the game even with incomplete beta rules (for example, it mentions balls going into the crowd, but doesn’t tell you what to do about it). Can’t wait to have our next game (we are thinking of doubling the teams up to see how 16 players feels).
Oh loving the fact that all Jacks have “slide” by default now too – makes them very useful.
Jake has answered the setup earlier it seems to have been missed off. The setup zone is anywhere in the first hex along your subs bench.
The ball going into the crowd mechanism has been removed in v2 it reads as it just bounces like hitting a wall in Dreadball O.
Anyone any luck with sorting out Nobbling yet – it still seems wrong to me that you declare a nobbled player on YOUR rush, but the rule says they lose dice in their rush, not yours and theirs?
That is my interpretation too… which just means that the nobble doesn’t take effect until and only for the opponents next rush.
In some ways it makes sense – otherwise nobble would be just plainly be better than intimidating your own team. If nobble takes effect for two rushes, you could potentially remove 1 dice from an opponent for four slams (plus action cards) and then – if he is still standing… he is then minus one dice on everything, if he is injured it makes it next to impossible to recover.
Or… Intimidate grants you a lone coaching dice…
Of course, clarification from Jake is always welcome. ; )
I feel dunks, while automatic if uncontested, should have an opposed roll if an opposing player has a threat hex on you.
If a dunk is contested roll the following:
3 dice skill or strength test (let you decide Jake, but honestly both make sense and picking which to use also makes sense) test
+1 Dice if you’re a Jack (defensive specialists and more imposing players. In basketball, it’s often the big maulers who stop dunks and dunk through people)
Threatening, Gotcha, and additional threat apply as normal
Dunker win – Player Scores. Take a fan check.
Dunker Doubles – Player Scores. Blocker is knocked back. Take a fan check
Draw – Ball scatters. All normal scatter rules apply including ending the turn.
Blocker wins – Ball scatters. Dunker is knocked back. Take a fan check.
Blocker Doubles – ball scatters. Dunker is knocked down. Take a fan check.
You could possible resolve doubles as if they were slams for the blocker.
When will the plague rules be available??
Will these rules be stand-alone or will you need the original Dreadball rules? As they stand you would need the originals as well, but you might have plans to expand on these.
Colin they are stand alone, but are also compatible with DB0 teams.
Thank you, but I don’t think I asked the right question. I get that the rules are stand alone, but will the rulebook be?
I ask because even though I’ve read the original rules none of the club I’d be introducing the game to would have.
Ah yes. From the KS the Xtreme rulebook will be standalone and the starter box can be used entirely on its own without need for anything from DB0. From what has been said during the KS you will not need any prior knowledge of the original game nor need to own any part of it. Xtreme in its own rights is a stand alone game.
Thank you very much. I was actually about to retract my question because I’ve just come across the Core Rules section! I didn’t expect it to be so far back in the .pdf.
Played our first game of DBX last night (having picked it up at the Mantic Open day) and came up with a question that’s probably obvious, but we couldn’t see it in the rules.
Player enters a hex which is adjacent to two booby traps.
1. Do they both explode? (We said yes)
2. Do you do each explosion separately, or add them together? (We did separate, but adding together sounds more fun and more brutal ).
3. Assuming both explode (i.e. not duds), and the players fails to Dodge either explosion, which direction do you push straight back in? (We ruled it was from the explosion that did the most hits)
Any help appreciated, especially if it has a direct page (or FAQ) reference.
All that said, it was a good laugh. Just took the basic teams, I saved the game by blowing up a Con to take out the only Asterian Striker that could score to go ahead, and then my Striker failed a pick-up for the winning score, so it went to Sudden Death and the cons eventually pulled off the win (the Asterians had some amazing Recovery rolls).
1. Yes.
2. Separately as they are two different explosions.
3. Which ever has the most successes.
Is that based of your own opinion or something in the rules? Not disagreeing (as that’s what we did) but looking for an actual rules confirmation.
Based on “A trap will go of the first time a player move adjacent to it.” (page 26) So if you move adjacent to two they will both go off.
It is rolled individually because “the effect of each trap is shown by the underside of the model’s lid” so each trap has a different effect, even though you have the same target number.
The final part is just because it makes sense, the other option is to have them go down in that hex.
Just playing devil’s advocate here:
Would you not work out the explosion of one crate, which would have a fair chance of knocking you away. Assuming it does, that is that crate ‘resolved’. The 2nd crate could then go off, but there would be no model standing next to it for it to affect
because of the wording of how the crates explode.
The intention may well be to resolve the 2 crates at the same time; and in terms of ‘narrative’, that may make sense. However, the rules as they are currently written don’t necessarily support that.
The section on p26 regularly references ‘resolve the trap’. If I resolve a trap and am pushed away from it, the 2nd trap cannot affect me. Nowhere does it say ‘resolve both traps simultaneously’. Adding the 2 explosions together may make sense, but it currently involves making up rules for resolving it. Do I add the pool of explosion dice together and work it out as a single slam? Do I do 2 explosions and work out 2 lots of potential damage before trying to dodge away? How does my armour affect this?
That leaves a lot of interaction down to the player to interpret. It the intent is for them to trigger simultaneously and both affect you, it is a fairly significant omission from the rulebook, as with the abundance of crates, I can see this happening fairly frequently.
Obviously if I attempt to resolve them one at a time and the 1st trap doesn’t push me away, then the 2nd trap would trigger and would need to be resolved also.
Played our first game of DBX tonight, loved it. One question though, when rolling a dice for each fan check, it states that each success lets you draw a card or take a coaching dice. The dice section states that each roll of a ‘6’ counts as a success and lets your roll again, does that mean (with good rolls) a single fan check can result in multiple successes and thus multiple cards/extra coaching dice?
Based on the bit about rolling up (or exploding dice as some of us remember it from DBO days) you might infer that if they don’t use a characteristic then they don’t roll up. Though I could see reason for Fan Checks in DBX being able to roll up, what with the crowds getting exceptionally supportive or what have you.
Question in regards to DBX MC. If a coach can only spend a max of 70mc on players per game, and at the end of each game each coach gets 70mc, and there is pretty much nothing else to spend mc on (3mc for a collar or 1 mc for cheerleaders), then what’s the point of mc? It almost feels like it has no point in DBX, so what am I missing?
Two reasons.
1) mc act as a points system to purchase players (more obvious with the expanded Sponsor rules). Might as well call the points mc as anything else.
2) Mantic insisted on DB and DBX being interlinked, and a continuity of mc across the two is part of that.
I’m not sure what you’re suggesting as an alternative.
Ball Launch Question:
What happens when you have a player standing on a ball launch hex in Xtreme? Obviously he gets a 6 dice 4+ Slam, but does he count as being hit in an Arc? Or does any damage go straight to an Armour Check?
There doesn’t seem to be anything saying that the ball counts as being in either of his arcs or is NOT in either of his arcs, just the mention that it is being fired into the hex from above.
Wager Question:
Do I count kills from any other source? If an opposing sponsor detonates explosive collars killing his own players, does that count towards the kill wager requirements? Does a enemy player who bleeds out and dies count? Does a Ball Launch or Trap kill count?
Or is it only if one of my players kills an opposing player for it to be a kill?
I’ve seen this asked a number of time in various locations, but never seen an answer. The Kovossian Asterian Head gives the player Dirty Tricks, which has no place in DBX. As I’m currently planning to build by mutants, I was wondering if this was an error, or is the Asterian head pointless in DBX? Also, given that Keeper doesn’t give the 3+ Armour in DBX like it does in DBO, is the Teraton arm overcosted?
Cheers,
Matt