Throwing the ball, Couple of rules clarified...

Pulled right from Jake's Dreadball FAQ.  Good stuff here, that I think helps the Rats (striker in the strike hex), and the Forge Fathers (Throwing at a downed target).

THROWING THE BALL 

Q: Can I have a friendly player on a Strike Hex when I Throw the ball at it? If so, what happens if the Strike attempt is missed? Can that player try to catch the ball (as an inaccurate Throw)?

A: Yes. A friend facing the wrong way will be struck as if he was an opponent. A friend facing the Thrower must make an attempt to catch the inaccurate Throw.

D: An intriguing conundrum here, and not explicitly covered in the rules. The ruling is based on the following logic. Firstly, you can choose to target the Strike Hex or an opposing player if they share the same space, so it would seem strange if you could not differentiate between friend and Strike Hex. So yes you can choose to either pass to your team mate or try for the points. In fact, you must make that choice as you can’t do both at once. And yes, there will be times when you do want to Throw the ball to your friend rather than at the Strike Hex.

If you score then all is well and the game continues as normal.

If you miss then an opponent would be struck. This should also apply to a friend who does not have the Throwing player in his front arc. He cannot see the ball coming to avoid it – even if he knows it’s on its way. 

If the ball misses the Strike Target and the friendly player on that hex is facing the Thrower then they must try to catch the ball (as an inaccurate Throw). This is the closest to the normal rule. Essentially you have to decide whether it should be more like a attack or a poor pass, and given that all DreadBall players have linked headset comms built into their helmets it seems reasonable to assume that a friendly player facing the right way will know what’s coming. 

I wouldn’t expect to see this happen much as it costs an action to get the player onto the Strike Hex on top of everything else and he only has a marginal chance to catch the ball. However, some folk are bound to try it    

  

Q: Can I Throw the ball at an opposing player who is on the floor? If so, what modifiers (if any) apply?

A: Yes. The target cannot Dodge, and the normal modifiers apply to the Throw.

D: While it’s a bit mean and underhand to Throw the ball at fallen opponents, it also seems to be entirely in character with the game and I can’t see why you shouldn’t. The rules say that a target player only gets a chance to Dodge if they have the Throwing player in their front arc. As fallen players don’t have arcs they can’t possibly have the Thrower in their front and so cannot Dodge.  The modifiers and results apply as written with the obvious note that the target cannot fall over as they are already on the ground. They can however, be knocked back into other hexes by the force of the impact and can be required to make armour checks. As they are on the floor they have no facing so do not need to be turned if pushed back.