A Blood Bowl block die is a six-sided die with five results: Player Down, Both Down, Push Back, Stumble and POW. Push Back appears on two faces, while every other result appears once. Depending on the players’ effective Strength, you roll one, two or three block dice, but only one result is applied.
If you need a set, our Blood Bowl dice sets come with all seven dice: three block dice, two D6, a D8 and a D16, painted for your team.
When more than one die is rolled, the coach controlling the player with the higher effective Strength chooses which result is applied.
This guide follows Blood Bowl: The Official Rulebook, Third Season Edition, and the Designer’s Commentary of May 2026. The difficult part for a new coach is that none of the faces use numbers, and older guides do not always call the results by the same names.
Want to try it? Roll one, two or three block dice below.
Choose how many dice to roll.
Only one result is applied. If more than one die is rolled, the coach controlling the stronger player chooses which one.
The Five Results on a Blood Bowl Block Die
| Current result | Older or common name | Basic effect |
|---|---|---|
| Player Down | Attacker Down, or the skull | The active player performing the Block Action is Knocked Down. |
| Both Down | Both Down | Both players are Knocked Down, unless a Skill that can be used changes the outcome for one or both of them. |
| Push Back | Push | The target player is pushed back. The result itself does not knock either player down. |
| Stumble | Defender Stumbles, or dodge-pow | The target is pushed back. If the target can use Dodge this is normally resolved as a Push Back, otherwise it is resolved as a POW. |
| POW | Defender Down, or pow | The target player is pushed back and Knocked Down. |
Skills, Traits and conditions can change how several of these are resolved.
Which Skills Change Block Dice Results?
- Block: when Both Down is applied, a player with Block who is able to use it avoids being Knocked Down.
- Dodge: when Stumble is applied, the target avoids being Knocked Down if it can use Dodge, so the result works out as a Push Back.
- Tackle: can stop the target using Dodge against Stumble. Check the current wording.
- Wrestle: changes how Both Down is resolved.
Having a Skill does not always mean you can use it. The current Designer’s Commentary is explicit that a Distracted player cannot use Dodge against a Stumble, and that the same applies to Block against Both Down. The official Blood Bowl downloads page hosts the latest Designer’s Commentary, errata for free. The complete core rules are in the Third Season Edition rulebook.
How Many Block Dice Do You Roll, and Who Chooses?
Compare effective Strength after resolving any valid offensive and defensive assists and other modifiers. An adjacent team-mate does not automatically provide an assist, so check the current assist conditions before counting it. Tackle Zones and Skills such as Guard affect who can help, and the dice count is only settled after that.
| Effective Strength comparison | Dice rolled | Who chooses the result? |
|---|---|---|
| Equal Strength | 1 | The single result is applied. |
| Stronger, but not more than twice as strong | 2 | The coach controlling the stronger player chooses. |
| More than twice as strong | 3 | The coach controlling the stronger player chooses. |
The threshold is worded as more than twice, so exactly double is still a two-dice block. Strength 6 against Strength 3 rolls two dice; you need above Strength 6 to roll three.
The active player always makes the roll. If the target is the stronger, the opposing coach picks from the dice you just rolled. That is what coaches call an uphill block, or two dice against, and it is why more dice is not automatically good news.
What Are the Odds on a Blood Bowl Block Die?
All six faces are equally likely. Player Down, Both Down, Stumble and POW each appear once, so each is 1 in 6. Push Back appears twice, so 2 in 6, a third of every roll.
Can a Block Cause a Turnover?
A block normally causes a Turnover when the active player ends up Knocked Down, unless a rule or Skill prevents it.
| Basic situation | Chance of knocking down the active player |
|---|---|
| One die, no Block | 2/6 = 33.3% |
| Two dice, active coach chooses, no Block | 1/9 = 11.1% |
| Two-dice uphill, opponent chooses, no Block | 5/9 = 55.6% |
| One die, Block can be used | 1/6 = 16.7% |
| Two dice, active coach chooses and Block can be used | 1/36 = 2.8% |
Without Block, Player Down and Both Down normally put the active player down. Choosing between two dice, both must show one of those before there is no safe alternative. An uphill block is the mirror image, since the opponent needs only one unhelpful face. With Block, Player Down is the basic danger.
These are baseline probabilities. Re-rolls, Wrestle, special Skills, conditions and which coach selects the die can all change the practical risk.
Why Do Older Guides Use Different Names?
Plenty of guides, videos and older dice use the names in the second column above, and at the table you will hear skull, push, dodge-pow and pow. Third party dice sometimes redraw the icons but keep the same five results, so compare an unfamiliar set against your rulebook.
What Dice Come in a Blood Bowl Team Set?
A current Blood Bowl team dice set normally contains seven dice: three D6 Block dice, two regular D6s, one D8 Scatter die and one D16.
- Three block dice cover the maximum normally rolled for a Block Action.
- The D6 handle ordinary numbered rolls.
- The D8 is the directional, or scatter, die.
- The D16 is used when a rule or table calls for a D16 roll.
Blood Bowl’s D8 Scatter die is different from the classic six-sided wargaming scatter die, but both generate direction. We covered the six-sided version in our guide, What Are Scatter Dice.
Do You Need Dedicated Block Dice?
Not strictly. A regular D6 can reproduce the same probabilities if both coaches agree on the mapping before the game. Dedicated block dice are simply faster to recognise when blocks are being rolled repeatedly.
| D6 result | Block die result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Player Down |
| 2 | Both Down |
| 3 or 4 | Push Back |
| 5 | Stumble |
| 6 | POW |
For two or three block dice, roll that many D6 and translate each separately, then apply one result using the Strength comparison. Most coaches make enough Block rolls that translating numbered dice becomes inconvenient. A set of three block dice covers the standard Block Action procedure in the current rules.
Our fantasy football sets are seven 16mm resin dice with the same composition, engraved and painted by hand. They are unofficial accessories compatible with Blood Bowl, and the teams are in our Blood Bowl Dice range. The rest of the unusual shapes sit with our Special and Extra Dice.
The Short Version
A Blood Bowl block die has six faces and five results: Player Down, Both Down, Push Back, Stumble and POW. Push Back appears twice. Effective Strength determines whether you roll one, two or three dice, and the coach controlling the stronger player chooses the result when several are rolled. A normal D6 can reproduce the same probabilities, but dedicated block dice are much quicker to read.
Shop Blood Bowl Dice by Team
Every set below is seven 16mm resin dice, three block dice, two D6, a D8 and a D16, painted for one roster: Vampire, Goblin, Lizardmen, Skaven, Orc, Shambling Undead, Dwarf, Elven Union, Dark Elf, Human, Amazon, Halfling, Norse and Tomb Kings, with the full range in our Blood Bowl dice sets.
