League Rules
Grind is a fluff driven league highlighting the problems faced by coaches running a provincial Blood Bowl team, where fluff isn't just a theme but is reflected in team composition and player's abilities.

Tilea and The Merchant Princes

Tilea is a nation lacking a central government. Sharing a common language and culture it is politically divided in several city-states. The city states famously have varying forms of government, some are republics while several others are principalities. Rivalries between the city states is common and tensions between citizens frequently run high.
Along with no central rule, Tilea has no regular military and all city states employ companies of mercenaries instead. The companies range from groups of hardened, professional soldiers who will honourably fulfill the terms of their contract to the letter, to unscrupulous rabble all too prone to rebellion, plundering, and treachery. Men form the majority, but Dwarfs, High Elves and Ogres are also common. This creates a very cosmopolitan culture within the nation which leads often leads to racial unrest.

Each province is individually ruled over by one of the Merchant Princes. More greedy tyrant than benevolent ruler, they have climbed to power off the backs of others. Wielding great wealth and influence the only thing that a Prince desires more than increasing his own fortune is the chance to get one over on a rival. If there's money to be made from stabbing a fellow Prince in the back then all the better.


Blood Bowl in Tilea

Blood Bowl didn't take off among the public of Tilea as soon as the rest of the Old World, it's citizens far too concerned with their own struggles to take notice of some fancy, over-paid snobs from the Empire. Some of the richer princes in Remas and Luccini tried to bring the game to Tilea, setting up extortionately overpriced exhibition games featuring the biggest names of the Empire but were shocked when they lost money on the deals. Princes don't like to lose money and so a meeting was called.

You see, to the Princes minds, the money in Blood bowl was going to all the wrong places. They were the ones setting the matches up, they were the ones doing all the real work. Why were the players the ones making all the coin? Yes, they risked their lives. Yes, they were athletic - but they had no real intelligence to them, just lumps of meat on a field getting paid handsomely out of the Princes pockets. So the Princes did something unusual, something that didn't come naturally to them at all. They decided to collaborate. Not for long - just once in fact, but they formed the Tilean Blood Bowl Committee. Each Prince nominated a charge to represent their state on the committee, and the committee is re-formed every year from new nominees.


The Tilean Blood Bowl Committee

Blood Bowl in Tilea is a lot more regulated than it's more common counterpart, and this comes down to the BBC. Their primary objective was a simple one - make as much money as possible for their local provinces. To achieve this they changed the rules of the game to something unrecognisable to the rest of the Old World. They reasoned that most profit from games should go directly to the local government. This resulted in players getting paid lot less than in other regions, and thus the talent level is lower. But who will notice? The people of Tilea don't watch any other forms of the game. To that mind, why pay for expensive 16 man teams when they could restrict teams to just 11 players? Orcs come cheap, they'll often play just for the fight. Yes some of ours will get hurt but that's just less people to pay, right? Ogres too. In fact there's loads of mercenaries in our cities already being paid. Lets just add a Blood Bowl clause to some contracts and we have free players! It's easy to see, when you understand their goals, where most of the league's rules find their source.


Presidential Elections

Tilean Blood Bowl Committee were shocked recently when elections came back with a unanimous result and Jofré Borgia was sworn in as their new President, despite not featuring on the original ballot paper. The newly appointed chief was said to be very surprised by what he described as a 'fortunate' series of events.

With their inaugural season drawing to a close, the TBBC board members gathered to discuss the future of their league and whether profits had been high enough to continue for a second term. It was decided that, although lucrative, the monetary return would be greater with a single league overseer, who would distribute the league wealth to the families. It was agreed unanimously, as these things are with nobility, that a new landed title would be created and the Lord of the Game would have complete control of league rules and decisions, on the condition that profits increased yearly for all board members. The TBBC members then each got one vote on which of their number would hold this new title.

How Mr Borgia's name has been marked on all 8 papers is a mystery to the organisers and the committee, who each insist they didn't vote for him. An appeal was quashed this morning by Lord Justice Commoli who said that unless anyone could irrefutably prove that tampering had taken place then the decision was to stand. None of the original papers remain to prove Jofré's absence, and so he was sworn in, in the presence of eight hateful and angry Committee members.


Lord of the Game

Lord of the Game, the newly titled Lord Borgia is a unknown character, believed to be from Remas. He is a vastly intelligent man, though harsh and clinical. Said to have great foresight, upon appointment to office he immediately began making changes to the structure and rules of the league.


Recent Developments

In his first order of business, Lord Borgia ordered that all teams comprising the league would be to travel out on a tour across the Old World, spreading the news of the league's formation to the surrounding realms and attracting cheap foreign talent not good enough to perform in the big leagues. He didn't say that last part. The teams are to forego their promised summer break and will instead be divided into groups and told their destinations, much to the ire of several team managers and all of the players.

Theobald Eck has been named Chief of Trifles. A largely honorary title, he serves as Lord Borgia's personal assistant. Because he liked delegation. And trifle.


The New TGC

In his second order of business, Lord Borgia rules that the name Blood Bowl was too closely associated with the game played in the Empire, and that their vast rules deviations qualified as a new sport. Gridball was floated to the committee, but it didn't appeal. A name was needed that people could relate to, that demonstrated the harsh realities of life in the Tilean states. Grind Ball was decided upon, and the Grind league. The name fits, and minimal modification was required to the too-hastily-printed new advertising materials. The Committee was then renamed The Tilean Grind Committee, or TGC and it's members the G8. These 8 nominally important figures will henceforth meet at their new headquarters at the summit of the Irrana Mountains, north of Miragliano. Nobody knows why such an inconvenient location was chosen for the 'Summit Meetings', but Lord Borgia now takes residence there in what can only be described as a palace. There are rumours the location was chosen for its distant views, and that maybe Lord Borgia has designs on things beyond sport.

The Teams


The Humans of Tilea
Galloper Gunners of Bronzino
Irrepressible Quarriers: "Rock Solid"
Miragliano Red Pox: "Riddled, just riddled with it"
Miragliano's Hope: "This is Miragliano!!!!"
Pavona Parole Program: "You play prison rules?"
Sartosa Shipwrecks: "Prepare t' be boarded"
Tobaro City Guard: "Piggolo Lives!"
Caragio Fighting Clams: "Il Caragio Zibatti Clama"
Blended Men of Tilea


The Orcs of the Badlands
Unguths Vilesons
Monte Castello Stuffers


The Elven Travellers
Mora Pro Asur
Verezzo Lightfoots


The Dwarves from the Mountains
Ironfist's Nomads


The Vermin from under the City
Blighted Marshes Brawlers
Castello Cabolleros
Skurvy Buccaneers
Tobaro Catacomb Prowlers

Vendettas and Grudges

The Rules
- Any time a player is injured (permanent injury), the injured player may declare a vendetta against the player that injured him.
- Excessive violence: Any time a player is injured or killed as a result of fouling or piling on, the whole of the injured player's team may declare a vendetta
- Any time 2 coaches agree, they may declare themselves rivals and set up a grudge. Grudges must be approved by the league management, and must have a basis whether this be due fluff or on-field action.

The Rewards
Vendettas and Grudges are roleplaying devices and have no effect on the league scoring, but it is fun to keep track of them and teams and players will be awarded at the end of the season for making good on vendettas and grudges. Completing Vendettas and setting up Grudges has the following effects:
- Whenever a Vendetta is completed by a player, that player may immediately take his next skill roll, and count that roll as a double. Settling vendettas is great for personal growth. Contact league admin to arrange your skill selection.
- Whenever 2 teams face each other in a Grudge Match, both teams may spend their inducement money (normally banned) as per the full Blood Bowl rules. Petty Cash can also be spent for these games.

Vendettas



Grudges