Mercenary [Bloater]

When an opposition player performs either a Pass action, a Throw Teammate action or a Throw Bomb Special action, or attempts to either interfere with a pass or to catch the ball, they must apply a -1 modifier to the test for each player on your team with this Skill that is within three squares of them, even if the player with this Skill is Prone, Stunned or has lost their Tackle Zone.

After a Casualty roll has been made against this player, roll a D6. On a roll of 4+, the Casualty roll is discarded without effect and the player is placed in the Reserves box rather than the Casualty box of their team dugout. On a roll of 1-3, however, the result of the Casualty roll is applied as normal. This Trait may still be used if the player is Prone, Stunned, or has lost their Tackle Zone.

When an opposition player declares a Block action targeting this player (on its own or as part of a Blitz action), or any Special action that targets this player, their coach must first roll a D6, even if this player has lost their Tackle Zone. On a roll of 1, the player cannot perform the declared action and the action is wasted. This Skill may still be used if the player is Prone, Stunned, or has lost their Tackle Zone.

Once per game, if an opposition player with a Strength characteristic of 4 or less that does not have the Decay, Regeneration or Stunty traits suffers a Casualty result of 15-16, DEAD as the result of a Block action performed or a Foul action committed by a player with this Trait that belongs to your team, and if that player cannot be saved by an apothecary, you may choose to use this Trait. If you do, that player does not die; they have instead been infected with a virulent plague!

If your team has the ‘Favoured of Nurgle’ special rule, a new ‘Rotter Lineman’ player, drawn from the Nurgle roster, can be placed immediately in the Reserves box of your team’s dugout (this may cause a team to have more than 16 players for the remainder of this game). During step 4 of the post-game sequence, this player may be permanently hired, exactly as you would a Journeyman player that had played for your team (see page 72).

If this player wishes to use a team re-roll, roll a D6. If you roll equal to or higher than the target number shown in brackets, this player may use the team re-roll as normal. Otherwise, the original result stands without being re-rolled but the team re-roll is lost just as if it had been used. This Trait must still be used if the player is Prone or has lost their Tackle Zone.