A Rough Guide to the ElfBall Mod

By brownrob & GrumpyGrizzly

Contents

What is Elfball?
What do I need to play and how do I start the game?
Setting up the players
Player Pieces
Player Menu Options
Dice Rolling Window
Dice Rolling Window for Injury challenge
Sideline Staff
Loading & Saving of Teams
Play by Play Examples
Hotkeys
Icon List

What is Elfball? Top
ElfBall is a Fantasy Sports game, loosely similar to sports such as Rugby and Hockey, with fantasy races represented by 28mm miniatures from Impact Miniatures. The aim of the game is to score more goal points than your opponent, the game is much more violent than regular Rugby, Hockey and other such sports, aside from getting the ball into the goal circle, there arent many more rules!!

What do I need to play? Top
If you have got this far, then you have got enough to play the game! You just need the VASSAL Tool and the latest ElfBall module. There are several ways in which you may play the game, these are listed as follows:

Standalone: To play Standalone, simply follow the instructions provided by the VASSAL Wizard, and select "Offline game"
Online Game: This is similar to offline, except you must select "Look for a Game online". You will see a box to the right of the mod showing the server information, you will see your own name in there as well. If you are joining a game, you must go to the respective room to play. You do this by right clicking on the room you wish to join

To create a new room, simply type the name of the room into the box and then hit "Enter" Your new room should be created! Simply hold your mouse over the seven buttons above the server window to find out their functions.
Once you are in the room, you can create a new game, or join an existing game. To create a new game, you must click "File" and then "New Game" on the top left hand side of the module. You must then select your side and other options. If you want to join an ongoing game, right click on the person who set the game up, and click "Synchronise". You should then be able to see the playing area!

Setting up the players Top
Once you have the game started, its time to get the players on the pitch! To show the playing pieces window, click the player pieces button
Once you click this button you should see the following window appear to the side (clicking the player pieces button will hide this window again)

There are several tabs you can click:
Teams: This tab contains all the players for each team. Select the Home or Away tab, depending on which side you are coaching!
Misc: This tab contains miscellaneous items such as the ball and markers.
Team Support: This tab contains Bribed referees and other items you can use to boost your team.
Experimental Teams: This tab is similar to the Select your race by clicking the pulldown menu and clicking on the race you wish to coach

Once you are happy with the team you have decided to coach, place a player on the game area simply by dragging and dropping the piece onto the board. Do this as many times as you need to for each player. Please refer to the ElfBall Rulebook to read rules on where you may place players prior to a Test.

Player Pieces Top
The player pieces are the most important and detailed part of the mod. As they are so detailed I will break the section up into several parts

The icon shows the player type. The player shown is a Black Widows Hunter
The Red hexagonal outline denotes that the player is the current player
The letters W E A D Z X denote keyboard shortcuts to move the player to a new hex
The 3 arrows are used to illustrate the players Facing
The 6 Circles to the right side of the hex are used to show how much Jog has been used and how much is remaining. The White circles denote how much Jog has been used, whereas the Green Circles denote how much Jog the player has left for this action.
The Ball is used to show if the player is carrying the ball or not. If the player is carrying the ball, then this shows, if they are not carrying the ball, then no Bal will be shown on the player
The Name? label at the top is used to name your players. If you wish, you may rename your player. This is particularly useful when you have multiple players of the same player type on the pitch at any one time, for identification purposes

1. This player has been ejected, denoted by the prison gates
2. This player is Down, denoted by the large white diagonal bar across the middle of the piece. The Orange targets denote momentum accrued during the tur, which may be spent to reroll challenge dice. The Yellow diamonds represent player skills. There are 2 yellow diamonds so this tells us that the player has 2 skills that we need to watch out for. The red hex also shows that the player is active
3. This player is dead, denoted by the large skull!
4. This player is a normal player, who hasnt been activated yet
5. This player is out of action until the next test
6. This player is Dazed, denoted by the white X on top of the player
7. This player has been targeted for an away Challenge. This will report the players stats to the chat window

There are more icons (such as spells etc but they will be dealt with in a later section)

Player menu options

If you right click a player piece, the following options will come up:

There are shortcuts to the different options, eg CTRL U will display the player attributes for example. The options are as follows:

• Attributes: This will display the players attributes, Jog, Might, Tackle, Dodge, Skill Grit and also Goal Points gained. You can alter the values of the attributes simply by rewriting over them and closing the window that pops up.
• Set Active Player: This simply places a red hex over the player to denote that the player is the active player for this turn. Many menu options are disbled until the player is active
• Target Player for Away Challenge: This places a target marker over the player, and outputs the players stats to the chat window. This is very useful when declaring a challenge against this player!
• Return to Load/Save Window: Clicking this simply returns the player to the window where you load or save your player roster. It moves the player off the pitch, and into the popup window
• Misc Status Layers: This layer has a few options, which are:
• Ejected: This will place an icon over the player, prison gates, to show that the player has been ejected
• Not Ejected: If the player has been ejected, then this function removes the prison gate icon
• Living/Dead Status: This toggles wether a player is alive or dead, if the player is dead, a large skull will show on the player
• Comes back after START of next test: This allows you to show if a player is to sit out a Test
• Modify Skills: This option is to do with altering and defining the number of skills a player has, the options are as follows:
  • Increase # of Skills: This simply shows that the number of skills that the player has, has increased, a yellow diamond will appear each time you press this, up to a max of 8 skills, after which it resets to 0
  • Decrease # of Skills: This does the opposite of the former option. It will remove a diamond each time, and resets to 8 once you pass 0. The mod will ask you if you wish to make a status note (I.e why has the player lost a skill!), the reason being displayed on the player icon
  • Known Skills: This Displays a popup window showing you the skills a player has (If any). To add or modify a skill, simply write a new skill into a new row, or replace a skill with another. To save, simply close the window. The mod does not recognise skills yet, so they need to be manually resolved. You also must alter the # of skills using the above methods!
• Modify Jog Usage: This option allows you to alter or reset your jog, the options are:
  • Increase Jog: This simply increases the Jog counter on the right of the player icon, turning a green circle white
  • Deacrease Jog: This does the reverse of the above button, turning a white circle green
  • Reset Jog Usage to 0: This resets all White counters to Green
• Declare Challenge: This is possibly the most detailed menu. While the player is inactive, you may only make a Catch, Interception, Injury, Special Injury and Faceoff Challenge. In order to make another challenge not listed above, you must first activate the player. See the above text to see how to Activate a player. When you select any challenge, there will be a popup window, called the Dice Window, which will allow you to roll the required amount of dice. Please refer to the Dice menu to find out how to operate it! The menu options are as follows:
  • Get Up: Use this challenge when you with to try to make an activated player that is Down or Dazed, to attempt to stand up.
  • Improved Get Up: Use this challenge when the player wishes to perform the same action as above, but expending more Jog to increase chances of success
  • Disengage: Use this challenge when you wish to move away from a forward facing opponent.
  • Throw: Use this challenge to attempt to pass the ElfBall to another player, you may need to attempt an Interception Challenge if an opponent is under the path of the ball
  • Interception: Use this to see if a player successfully intercepts a pass
  • Catch: Use this if you want to see if a player successfully catches a thrown ball
  • Impact: Use this challenge before a Tackle challenge if your might is less than your opponents, refer to the rules for more detailed information!
  • Tackle: Use this challenge when you wish to tackle a player, you may need to roll an injury challenge or a special injury challenge, depending on the outcome, please refer to the rulebook / You may only make one Tackle Challenge per action
  • Shove: Use this challenge when you wish to shove a player into another hex
  • Dash: This has a sub-menu with challenges ranging from 1-6. A 1 Dash Challenge means you roll 1 dice whereas a 6 Dash Challenge means you roll 6 dice, increasing your chances of success. You may only roll dice equivalent to momentum stored up during the turn, hence larger numbers may be unavailable to select
  • Pick Up: Use this when you wish to pick the ball up. If you pass the challenge (after modifiers) then select "Pick Up Ball" to pick the ball up, of ot fails you may need to scatter the ball from the player
  • Special Injury: This is a special type of challenge that rolls an injury challenge, which makes your player have Grit 6 for the challenge, meaning 6 ElfBall Dice are used
  • Injury: This rolls an injury challenge for th player when they are potentially hurt. After the challenge is resolved, the mod will move the player to the correct area, and will report the result in the game window. You may need to alter attributes etc but this will be prompted via a popup window
  • Face Off: Use this challenge at the start of a test to resolve the faceoff
• Pick Up Ball: Use this option when you have passed a Pickup/Catch or Interception Challenge. Any other Balls lying on the board will be deleted, including any which other players are carrying. Use this option if you scatter the ball by accident and wish to put it back.
• Momentum Usage: This option can control the amount of momentum accrued during the turn, there is also a button on the toolbar that performs the same function. The options simply Add or Subtract one momentum
• Change Player Name: This simply changes the players name. It is useful to distinguish a player as some of the icons are similar. It will replace the Name? txt with the text you input into the popup box
• Down/Dazed/Stand Up: This option toggles icons that denote wether a player is Down. Dazed or standing. A standing player has no additional markings, a player that is Down has a single line that looks like \ , a Dazed player has a symbol that resembles an X
• Clone: This makes an exact replica of the player, with any changes in the player properties
• Delete: This option deletes the player and permanently removes them from the board, be careful as the only way you can replace the player is by making a brand new one!
• Move to location: This moves a player off the playing field and to one of the designated areas on the board. The areas are; Bench, Recovery and Infirmary, the locations are shown as follows:

Dice Rolling Window Top

When you click a challenge via the player menu the following window will appear (the layout will vary from challenge to challenge and player to player:

At this stage:

• Press the large Blue circle to roll dice. Wait a few seconds and the dice will process.
• The number of successes needed will be shown in the top right corner. Note that this does not take into account more detailed factors like player facings etc. It just calculates the base number of successes needed. Please refer to the rulebook for more information on challenges

Now we have clicked to roll the dice the following comes up

In this instance, the roll has been flopped. The total amount of successes is -1 and as a result we may not reroll any of the dice with momentum accrued during the action. To reroll dice using momentum, simply click each dice you wish to reroll. A red outline should appear for each dice. Click the dice again to unselect it. The momentum counter in the dice window will show how much momentum remains. When you are satisfied with your selection. Click the Blue button again to reroll the dice you have selected. When you have finished, then Click the Green button to close the window, after which you may have to apply the results manually.
You may manually roll dice by clicking the Dice Button on the toolbar, shown by 3 ElfBall Dice. Click "Roll Set # Of Dice" in the Dice Window and select the required number of dice. Then Click the blue button as usual You may reroll dice using momentum, if any is available. If you wish, you may select or deselect a dice for a reroll by right clicking the desired dice and click "Select/Deselect for Reroll

Using Dice Window for an injury Challenge

This can be tricky. Select an injury challenge for the player in question. Roll the dice as usual. We see the following comes up

If we refer to the Injury table we see that 5 successes mean that the player is Dazed. At this minute in time, we wish the player to be Down, so we can use a Zlurpee keg to add a success to the injury challenge.You may only use kegs on challenges that were not flopped and that did not have a total of 0 Successes. You must ensure you have the necessary free barrels on your team befoe you attempt to use them. To use a barrel simply click "Use Zlurpee keg" in the Dice Window, and it will add a success to your diceroll.You may also right click on an unused barrel to add one success to the roll

We can see that an extra success has been added to the roll, and that a barrel has been used. Once you click the green button, the injury will be resolved automatically. In this case the player will have a Down Icon. If the injury is more serious, the player will need to leave the pitch, the mod will automatically move the player to the designated area, so keep an eye on the reports that the game displays in the chat window!

Sideline Staff Top

Sideline staff are found in the gamepiece tab and consist of the following:

• Bribed Ref: Use this when a player has infringed the rules. To use him, simply drag and drop him over the offending player, right click to activate him. He will resolve the challenge automatically, if the player is ejected then the player will be moved to the infirmary and will have a prison bar icon placed over him
• Cheerleaders: Use her when you wish to add momentum at the start of an action before any challenges are rolled. Simply right click and gain one momentum!
• Zlurpee Kegs: Already explained above
• Potions: To use a potion simply drag a potion over the required player, and right click to resolve the challenge. The potion will automatically move the player to the correct area, and place a potion marker on the player. You may need to alter the players attributes. The chat window will inform you what needs to be done!
• Wizards: In order to use any of a Wizards spells, you must first activate him. To activate him, you must right click and select Activate player. This will not inactivate your current player on the field! The Wizard has 3 skills available to him.Transformation, System Shock, and Inferno
  • Transformation: To use Transformation right click and select Transformation.A target with a frog will appear over the Wizard. To cast the spell, move the Frog over the designated player, and select Frog Em!. You can delete this frog if you do not wish to cast this spell.Once you click Frog 'Em, a dice window appears, resolve the challenge to see if the spell has any effect. If the spell has no effect, then the player remains unaffected, however, if the spell is successful the player is turned into a frog! The players icon and stats will change. The frog may not handle the ball as it has 0 Skill, and the player will be sent to the bench with prison gates for this Test. If the player was carrying the ball, the ball with automatically scatter.
  • System shock: Similar to the Transformation spell, simply right click the wizard after activation and select System shock. Place the lightling marker over the desired player and right click the lightning to roll for the challenge. You may need to manually apply results
  • Inferno: Activate Inferno in the same way as above...Move the inferno icon that appears over the area you wish to burn.
    
    To resolve the inferno, right click the fire icon in the centre of the player. Over each player in the inferno, there will be a colour coded mini inferno icon, like so
    
    Right click each inferno icon to resolve the challenge in the window. If the challenge is flopped you will need to roll a separate injury challenge, shown above. If the player was carrying the ball it will automatically scatter
    
    

Loading & Saving of Teams Top

If you are playing in a league you may wish to Save your team at the end of a game, if you have scored goal points or gained new skills etc. If you wish you save your team, then you need to send all of your players to the Load/Save window, which is also located on the toolbar. when you have moved all of your players, then right click the players in the load/save menu and click Save. A Save dialog will appear. Simply direct the dialog to the location you wish to save to and click Save. To load a team open the Load/Save dialog , right click in the square and click Load. Then divert the dialo to point to your team and Load it it. From this you can drag and drop your team into the Bench

Play by Play examples Top

This section will attempt to explain the nitty gritty of various actions.

Example 1: The Widowmaker wishes to Tackle the Gnoll ballhandler, and throw the ball to the Strike waiting to recieve the pass to run in for an easy score. First we must activate the Widowmaker. She moves into the upperleft hex (by depressing W while the widowmaker is selected) and declares a Disengage challenge. The Gnoll Safety has a Tackle of 3, so our Widowmaker must make 1 success to pass the roll. However the widowmaker is disengaging into a foward facing opponent hex and requires an extra success, so the required amount is 2 Sucesses. As shown below the widowmaker makes 2 successes and successfully completes the Challenge. Clock Done to close the window!

The Widowmaker now attempts a second Disengage challenge, again to the Upper Left, however only one success is needed as the Gnoll Striker is not forward facing into this target hex.The dice are rolled. The widowmaker rolls 4 successes, which is 3 more than what is required, therefore we gain 3 momentum.We add momentum by clicking the add momentum button on the toolbar, or via the player menu by right clicking Momentum. Note that 3 orange targets now appear on the player icon, which shows that we have accrued 3 momentum

As we are attacking the Striker from his rear facing and he is holding the ball, we require 2 successes with a -1 modifier. We roll 3 successes, so we have rolled 2 more successes than is needed. The Striker must roll for a punishing hit. In this case it is a Special Injury challenge via the player menu.

We right click the Gnoll and select Special Injury challenge. The result of the challenge is 1. The Gnoll coach does not want to lose his Striker for the rest of the game so decides to expend 3 Zlurpee Kegs to make him Dazed, keeping him on the pitch. The Widowmaker could decide to expend momentum to make the player leave the pitch, but as she wishes to throw the ball, she wishes to reserve the momentum for throwing the ball. The Gnoll Striker is Dazed, and the ball spills one hex. The Widowmaker moves to the upper left hex to attempt to pick the ball up. She declares a pickup challenge, and gains the 1 success needed. Right click the widowmaker and click "Pick Up Ball" to give her the ball.

She has 1 Jog left so she tries to make a Throw Challenge. Using the LOS marker (found on the toolbar she measures the range, which is found to be 3 hexes) She then declares a Throw challenge, which in this instance requires 1 Success, which she duly gets

The Black Widows Striker attempts a Catch Challenge. She requires 2 Successes but gains 1 success in the resultant roll.

We have 3 momentum remaining so we will expend 3 momentum to reroll the flop and the blank dice, by clicking on each dice, note that the dice turn red when selected for reroll.

The dice have been rerolled and now we have 5 successes and 0 momentum left. we have enough successes to pass the challenge. Close the dice rolling window and then right click the striker and click Pick Up Ball. The striker should now have the ball and be deleted from the Widowmaker, and marks the end of a successful action!

Hotkeys Top

Here is a list of hotkeys used in the mod

Player Action Controls

Player Movement Controls 

Obscure Controls  

Hotkey	Action
SHIFT-E	Puts on Ejection Bars
ALT-SHIFT-E	Removes Ejection Bars
CTRL-J	Gives Back One Jog
CTRL-SHIFT-J	Uses One Jog
CTRL-SHIFT-R	Resets Jog Useage to Zero
ALT-SHIFT-F5	Add One Momentum (or use track)
ALT-SHIFT-F6	Subtract One  Momentum (or use track)

Challenges

Hotkey	Challenge Type
ALT-G	Get Up
ALT-E	Improved Get Up
ALT-D	Disengage
ALT-T	Tackle
ALT-I	Interception
ALT-C	Catch
ALT-M	Impact
ALT-K	Tackle
ALT-S	Shove
ALT-P	Pickup
ALT-Y	6 Grit Injury
ALT-U	Injury
ALT-F	Face Off
ALT-1	1 Dice Dash
ALT-2	1 Dice Dash
ALT-3	1 Dice Dash
ALT-4	1 Dice Dash
ALT-5	1 Dice Dash
ALT-6	1 Dice Dash

Icon List Top

Layer	Meaning	Hotkey
	Shows which player is active and able to move	CTRL-A
	Player facing. Arrows show the forward direction	CTRL-F
	Jog counter. Each green dot is a jog point. Goes white as used. When all the circles are white, the player is out of jog.	(automatic)
	Prison bars show that they were ejected for rule breaking	SHIFT-E
	Shows who the target of the challenge is. Gives the statline in the output window. Color of target is the team who is targeting the player	CTRL-T
	Skill markers. One for each skill on the player. CTRL-L opens the skill window to enter skills.	CTRL-S
	Momentum markers. One for each point of momentum. Only shows on the active player	(automatic)
	Shows that the player is Down	CTRL-Z
	Shows that the player is Dazed	CTRL-Z (twice)
	Player is currently taking an injury challenge	ALT-U or ALT-Y
	The player has used a potion once this game and can't use another	Potion
	The player has been turned into a frog and is in "frog prison"	Wizard
	Transformation targeting icon for turning a player into a frog	Wizard
	Shows the player was hit by an inferno. Click to interact and resolve the inferno.	Wizard
	Shows that the sideline staff item has been used. Resets appropriately after players score	(sideline staff)
	Player is dead or retired	Potion or Injury
	Player will not come back until after the start of the next test	Injury