(so freeboot for 90k)

I suggest that the vampire team needs a boost, because at the moment they s@#k (their team-mates). The only thing they do at the moment is eating there own alive! So I suggest: tone down 'off for a bite' AND introduce a vamp leader (on the roster), because it fits their culture.

And bring in a more powerful one with leader?

...if you have access to The Lord....

You cheated. The vampire can't at any point move through the end zone while going after the thrall. At least that's what i remember reading at blood-bowl.net.

I don't think that's quite right. If you fail OFAB and enter the endzone with the ball no TD is scored - unless you can feed. So having a thrall next to the endzone is very sensible.

New Racial Characteristic and Rules:
OFAB:
A player with this characteristic must occasionally feed on the blood of the living. At the start of any action, roll a D6. On a 2+ the player may carry out the action as normal. On a '1', however, the player is overcome with a desire for blood. The player's team loses the declared action for that turn and the player must instead make a Move Action. If the player ends his action standing adjacent to a Thrall from his own team, immediately roll for unmodified injury on that Thrall (an injury to the Thrall is not a turnover). If the player does not end his action next to a Thrall from his own team, then he runs into Reserves to find a pretty maiden groupie to quench his thirst. Place him in the reserves box, this is a turnover.

A team scores a touchdown when one of their players
ends an action standing in the opposing team???s End
Zone while holding the football. As soon as this
happens, play stops,

Note, however, that in order to score a
touchdown the player must end his action standing in
the End Zone; if the player failed to make a Dodge roll,
for example, and thus fell over in the End Zone then he
would not score a touchdown.

Of course if the thrall is not there he leaves the pitch and does not end his move in the end zone so there's no TD

There's gotta

I know it is a bit ruleslawyerish, but we do not know a nice and smooth alternative.

i'd also like to say ... wow you guys reply like a million times while i'm replying so when i reply i have to go back and read everything that was posted before i finished typing my reply ... you all are so speedy.

A player with this characteristic must occasionally feed on the blood of the living. At the start of any action where the player is not stunned, roll a D6. On a 2+ the player may carry out the action as normal. On a '1', however, the player is overcome with a desire for blood. The player's team loses the declared action for that turn and the player must instead make a Move Action. If the player finishes moving standing adjacent to a Thrall from his own team, immediately roll for unmodified injury on that Thrall (an injury to the Thrall is not a turnover unless he was holding the ball). If the player does not finish moving next to a Thrall from his own team, then he runs into Reserves to find a pretty maiden groupie to quench his thirst. Place him in the reserves box, this is a turnover (if he was holding the ball it scatters once from the final square of his movement.) The Vampire's Move action is not consided ended until he injures a Thrall or runs into Reserves.

Apologies if it's been discussed before, but:

1) What happens if there is nothing in range of the Vampire - where does the ball scatter from? Since the coach MUST make a move action, can they move the Vampire nearer his own players so when the ball scatters from his final square it might bounce near/onto one of his own team? Must the vamp NOT move if he can't reach a thrall?

2) Can a vamp GFI to reach a Thrall?

3) Can a vamp GFI to reach an opposing player? The ball then scatters into the opposing player, is not caught and bounces to a friendly player and it IS caught - is this a turnover?

The player's team loses the declared action for that turn and the player must instead make a Move Action. ... If the player does not finish moving next to a Thrall from his own team, then he runs into Reserves to find a pretty maiden groupie to quench his thirst. Place him in the reserves box, this is a turnover (if he was holding the ball it scatters once from the final square of his movement.)

Forgive the attitude, but I've grown to the opinion that playtesting and thoughts by the online masses doesn't matter for jack recently so it affects my thoughts on topics like this one.

(I myself am allergic to causing turnovers on failed negative trait rolls and to injuring your own players on those rolls; I'm not at all allergic to an on-pitch variant that keeps Vampires near Thralls for feeding, however.)
-Chet

. In terms of balance, it seems fine. In terms of fluff though, it's not as good as the old one.

Fluff isn't always the best guide. Crippling the team by making constant injury rolls against the Thralls is just poor mechanics, no matter how fluff-worthy it is. I don't see that much changes here: either the Vamp is alone and goes prone, or a Thrall is adjacent and goes prone (or stunned). Seems "fluffy" enough for me.

-Chet

It's a big deal for keeping the team playable, I think. And enjoyable. Sure, watching a Vampire kill a Thrall is funny, but I wouldn't find much humor in it if I were the Vampire coach shelling out 40K each time it happened. The team's not so good that it needs that kind of balancing mechanic, in my opinion.

-Chet