Blood Bowl Ambassadors

by mzurkerman, first posted on TFF.

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This is a role I think is very important to our hobby. I believe very strongly in it. Those of you who have met me at tournaments know that I will take any chance I get to grab a passerby and tell them what a wonderful game it is and even narrate my turns a little bit to let them know what it’s like to be on the sidelines. I am always in recruit mode at game stores, and other than work (where I still haven’t completely come out of the gaming closet – that comes from working in the financial sector for so long), I talk it up all the time.

So what does it take to be a Blood Bowl Ambassador?

– You need patience. Incredible amounts of patience.
– Carry business cards with your NAF handle and contact information. I recently made one with my email, TFF name, NAF ID and #, league website, and the two tournaments I run along with logos for everything.
– You need to be having a good time, even when you’re not. Dice suck but you must have that smile on your face and show that it’s still a fun time.
– You should get into the game; talk to your players, be almost a caricature of yourself – it’s entertaining and watchers pick up on that vibe
– Have a “No, really! I was there!” story or two to tell interested players. It could be league championship games or an incredible set of rolls to get that goblin to land in the end zone. Something to show the excitement of the game.
– If they are interested in the hobby side of things, put them in touch with the local artisan – you know, the person you wish painted YOUR teams.
– If they are RPGers, play up the fluff. Have the Icepelt book handy so you can show them some great fluff. Or if your league has a newsletter or funny emails, share them. My newsletter has piqued the interest of a number of people who have joined the LIBBL.
– Be ready to show interested parties how to play the game. If you can’t do it, make sure you have a few players from your league/tournament group who can do it for you. And more patience.
– When you teach the rules, take a lesson from the BB2 campaign – go in stages. Introduce more complexity as the game goes on. Don’t overwhelm them – this is a tough game to learn.
– Lobby/create novice-friendly rules in your league, such as no turn clock, scrimmages that count towards building their teams, co-coaches for the first season, etc. and make sure you tell new players how easy it is to get into your league
– Corollary to the above rule: No SPP farming on new players!!!!! Everybody in the league should know that the league is stronger if everyone works towards getting the novices up to speed as quickly as possible.
– If they are concerned about cost, let them know how cheap this is compared to D&D or Warhammer or, for Nuffle’s sake, Magic! Be ready to lend them a team until they find out how much they like it, or tell them they could use Lego figures, or even coins mounted on a base while they figure out what teams they want to play. And they can still get pitches and dice from Impact or any number of vendors if they get into the sport.

That’s it off the top of my head. We’re all a part of this thriving community and there are a large amount of gamers out there that are either unfamiliar with the game, or have only played it on the computer. Let’s convert them into Blood Bowl disciples!