This page includes all of the information you should need to build your team for Thrudball 2025. Please do be sure to read the rules thoroughly, and if you have any questions about if something is legal then do get in touch.
These team-building rules, as well as those for star players, can be found in a screen reader-friendly format here. However, the roster builder is not screen reader-friendly at this point. If you are unable to use the roster builder for this reason, please email us with your team choices in text form and we will happily process your roster.
Please click below for the roster maker!
You have different options available to them when it comes to building your team for the tournament depending on which race you choose to bring.
Firstly, the available races have been assigned to tiers, as per the table below. Coaches should select a race and note to which tier it belongs.
Teams are then able to develop their team by hiring players, inducements, stars and skills. They can use their Available TV to buy everything except skills.
Their Spending Cash is then an additional amount of cash, which can be spent on skills or stat improvements, or used to buy additional players or inducements. A coach may not spend any more TV on skills than they have Spending Cash, e.g. a Tier 1 team can spend a maximum of 100TV on skills, which comes to 5 primary skills. The total TV of a team will therefore be their Available TV + their Spending Cash.
You can use your Spending Cash to improve your players by buying them skills and/or, if permitted by your tier, stat increases.
The table above will tell you whether your chosen race is permitted to give players secondary skills, stack skills, and/or improve a stat. The table to the right will tell you how much TV each choice will cost. ‘Stacking’ is where a single player is given more than one improvement. At least one of these improvements must be a primary skill.
No player may be given more than two additional skills as improvements.
Players with stacked skills may also be given a stat improvement - this means that in this case an individual player may have up to three improvements. However, in this case, both of the additional skills which they have been given must be primary skills.
Giving a stat improvement to a player with one additional skill counts as stacking.
If a team is permitted to 'stack' skills, this means that they may give a player or players up to two additional skills, and if permitted by tier, one stat improvement. If two skills are added, at least one of these skills must be a primary skill.
Thrud’s greatest enemy the Black Currant has used his hordes of warriors to terrify coaching staff across the land, making it harder for them to teach certain combinations of skills. For that reason, if certain pairs of skills are taken as additional skills for a player, 50TV will be required, on top of the normal costs for the skills. This cost comes from Spending Cash. These pairs are:
Tackle and Mighty Blow
Sneaky Git and Dirty Player
If a player already has one of the skills in the combinations above, they are able to take the remaining skill without paying the additional 50TV.
Example One - building a Tier 1 team
Jen wishes to bring Dwarves, who are a Tier 1 team. Jen is therefore able to spend 1150TV on building her team: buying players, rerolls and, because she is worried that her dwarves may get hurt, an apothecary. Jen then has 100k cash available to spend - she can either spend this on additional players or rerolls, or on skills. These skills cannot be stacked, and they must be primary skills. She cannot select a stat increase. Because Jen values Dwarven camaraderie, she selects five instances of Guard on her Dwarf Blocker Linemen.
Jen is happy. (Her opponents may not be.)
Example Two - building a Tier 6 team
Erik wishes to bring Nurgle, who are a Tier 6 team. Erik may therefore spend 1190TV on players, rerolls, and, while other teams could ordinarily bring an apothecary, Erik cannot because his Nurgle defy medically treatable biology, so brings a bribe instead. Erik also chooses to bring a Star Player, and so spends 1100TV to build his team, then spends his remaining 90TV, plus some of his Spending Cash, to hire The Glowcarver. He will be able to buy fewer additional skills to improve his team, but is happy with his decision.
Erik is happy, as is Papa Nurgle.
Example Three - stacking skills
Mike would like to give one of his Elf Union Blitzers Tackle and Mighty Blow as additional skills. The cost for this player will therefore be 215TV:
115TV (for the Blitzer)
20TV (for Tackle as a primary skill)
30TV (for Mighty Blow as a secondary skill)
50TV (because of the Black Currant’s schemes against this specific combo)
Mike is happy. (His opponents will be once this monster is carried off on a stretcher.)
The following inducements are available for coaches to roster on their teams. Coaches may hire the following inducements (if the Blood Bowl rulebook says that it is available to their race):
Bloodweiser Kegs 0-2
Bribes 0-3
Wandering Apothecaries 0-2
Mortuary Assistant 0-1
Plague Doctor 0-1
Riotous Rookies 0-1
Biased Ref 0-1
Halfling Master Chef 0-1
Weather Mage 0-1
Josef Bugman 0-1
Necromancers can resurrect a single killed opponent to use as a zombie who will play for the team for that game only. After the game, the team loses any player gained during the game. The same applies to Plague Ridden and Nurgle teams.
Several very special Star Players have come to play with Thrud this year. The teams for which each Star Player will consent to play can be found in the page linked below.
No other stars, including stars found in any official rules, are permitted.
There is no team progression at Thrudball: this is a resurrection tournament. This means that you build a roster, and through a savvy use of To-Me Ku-Pa’s Spell of Weasley Cunning, any player who has the bad judgement to die or suffer a serious injury during the match will be whisked away for full healing/reanimation, ready to play in the next match with all skills and fundamentals intact.