A rolled pool of symbol-faced action dice that shrinks as the gladiator tires and bleeds, combined with a crowd-favour economy that punishes passive play.
A one-on-one gladiatorial duel game on a hex-grid arena, presented as a quick-start with a pre-made Murmillo and Thraex. Each turn players roll six Action Dice whose faces (Manoeuvre, Attack, Defence, Special Attack, Respite, Laurel) define what the gladiator can do; dice are spent on actions and reactions, and lost through wounds and fatigue. Attacks are opposed 2d6 rolls followed by hit location and wound tables, and every attack forces the defender to withdraw a hex. Matches end by kill, disablement, exhaustion, loss of all dice, or yielding, after which the crowd decides the loser's fate.
Severe wounds cause permanent bleeding and location-specific crippling effects.
Deep Wounds and Slow Kills give Bleed Tokens, which add a Fatigue each Fatigue phase and can never be removed. Slow Kill to head/vitals disables, to torso trips (both concede), to limbs forfeits an Action Die.
Bleed Tokens represent a gladiator taking a fast-bleeding wound.
Graded wounds from glancing blow to killed are recorded per body location.
Roll 2d6 + modifiers (Strong +1, Torso/Vitals +2, minus location armour value): 2- glancing, 3-4 harried (1 Fatigue), 5-7 flesh wound, 8-10 deep wound (+Bleed), 11-12 slow kill (2 wounds, Bleed, location effect), 13+ killed. Filling all boxes in one location Disables the gladiator; overflowing them in one attack kills.
If a gladiator has marked all of the Wound Boxes in a single location, he is considered Disabled and immediately concedes the match
Wounds, fatigue and mishaps shrink the action dice pool temporarily or permanently.
Forfeited dice sit on the sheet until recovered by spending a LAUREL Die; Surrendered dice are lost for the match. A gladiator surrenders a die when Fatigued and each time he reaches another 3 total wounds (Hurt); limb Slow Kills and wall collisions forfeit a die. Losing all dice concedes the match.
Surrendered Dice are permanently lost for the remainder of the match and cannot be recovered.
Initiative goes to the gladiator who rolled more Manoeuvre dice.
Count MANOEUVRE Dice in the pool; LAUREL Dice may be converted to Manoeuvre to bid higher, and a Laurel Token breaks ties (+1). Ties otherwise go to the gladiator who did not hold initiative last turn. The winner may pass the Initiative Token to the opponent.
Initiative scores are determined by counting the number of MANOEUVRE Dice in each gladiator’s Action Dice Pool.
The defender spends unspent dice during the opponent's activation to react.
Defence Rolls are always made, but a DEFENCE Die adds the shield Parry Bonus (+2 parmula, +3 scutum) once per attack and each extra DEFENCE Die adds +1 Dodge; Stand Fast spends a DEFENCE Die to refuse to withdraw. Banked Defence Tokens can be used in place of dice. Reactions must be declared before the defence roll.
While a gladiator may not perform their own Actions out of turn, they can respond to their opponent’s action with Reactions (such as spending DEFENCE Dice, for example).
Five phases: roll action dice, initiative, activations, fatigue & bleeding, end of turn.
Both players roll Action Dice, determine initiative, then the initiative holder activates fully followed by the opponent (each activates once). In Fatigue & Bleeding, check Hurt (every 3 wounds surrender a die), gain 1 Fatigue, gain 1 more per Bleed Token, then check for Fatigued/Exhausted. End of turn gathers dice (not forfeited/surrendered) and discards Fervour.
Each turn comprises five phases, as follows: • Phase One: Roll Activation Dice • Phase Two: Determine Initiative • Phase Three: Gladiator Activations • Phase Four: Fatigue and Bleeding • Phase Five: End of Turn
Favourable or unfavourable rolls use 3d6 keeping the best or worst two.
Advantage rolls 3d6 and keeps the higher two; Disadvantage keeps the lower two. They cancel each other and do not stack. Used for back-to-the-wall defence, Shield Lunge, Thracian sword ties and spending an opponent's Apathy Token on the wound roll.
A gladiator rolling at Advantage rolls 3d6 instead of the normal 2d6, taking the higher two dice results. A gladiator rolling at Disadvantage rolls 3d6 instead of the normal 2d6, taking the lower two dice results.
All rolls use d6, mostly 2d6.
Combat, hit location, wound and crowd rolls use 2d6 (3d6 at advantage/disadvantage); Action Dice are d6 whose faces map to symbols in the quick-start.
Most rolls in the game require only a pair of ordinary, six-sided dice (known as d6). Sometimes, you will roll three dice.
Gladiator classes have traits and once-per-turn special attacks.
Murmillo: Resolute (Defence/Respite dice interchangeable), Strong (+1 wound), Impetus and Shield Lunge. Thraex: Dominant (Manoeuvre/Special interchangeable), Thracian Sword (ties hit), Elusive Strike (no parry) and Outflank. Common special attacks are Aimed Strike, Driven Attack, Heavy Strike and Rush; each may be used once per turn.
There are two types of Special Attacks: Common Special Attacks, available to all gladiators, and Class-specific Special Attacks, unique to certain gladiator classes.
Each gladiator's sheet tracks dice, tokens, wounds, armour and fatigue.
The play sheet shows weapon, parry bonus, armour values and wound boxes per location, the fatigue track, defence token spaces (Murmillo 3, Thraex 2), forfeited dice area, traits and special attacks.
The Gladiator Play Sheets allows players to track their gladiator’s Action Dice, tokens, wounds, and fatigue levels at a glance.
Every attack forces the defender back one hex; at the wall this risks collision.
After any attack the defender withdraws one hex: directly away if hit, or into a rear hex of his choice if missed (attacker's choice after a Driven Attack). A gladiator with no hex behind has his Back to the Wall (defence at Disadvantage); if forced off the grid he rolls d6 (+1 per Manoeuvre die), 1-3 collides: 1 Tripped (concede), 2-4 forfeit a die, 5-6 gain Fatigue.
After the effects of an Attack have been resolved—whether or not the attack was successful—the Defender is forced to Withdraw.
Attacker and defender each roll 2d6 plus modifiers; attack must exceed defence.
Attacker spends an ATTACK Die, declares extra Press the Attack dice (+1 each) and rolls 2d6; the defender, having seen the result, declares Parry/Dodge and rolls 2d6. After the defence roll the attacker may Focus with LAUREL Dice (+1 each). Attack greater than defence succeeds; the Thraex's sica also succeeds on ties but rolls wounds at disadvantage.
If the Attack Roll is greater than the Defence Roll, the Attacker hits the Defender and the Attack is considered successful, regardless of whether or not a Wound is inflicted.
A 14-box fatigue track fills each turn and from exertion; F means Fatigued, X means Exhausted.
Every Fatigue phase adds 1 Fatigue plus 1 per Bleed Token; Quick Step, Rush, Outflank, Shield Lunge and Fervour also cost Fatigue. RESPITE Dice remove 1 each (Catch Your Breath) when not adjacent. Reaching F surrenders a die and sets a floor; reaching X concedes the match.
If, during the relevant step in the Fatigue & Bleeding phase, a player has the box marked “X” on the Fatigue Track checked, their gladiator is considered to be Exhausted and immediately concedes the match
A gladiator with two or more adverse conditions may be forced to yield.
Before activating, a gladiator with two or more conditions rolls 1d6; if lower than the number of conditions (each Bleeding or Hurt instance counting extra) he must Raise the Finger.
Before a gladiator begins their activation, if they have two or more of the conditions listed above, they must roll 1d6. If the result is lower than the number of conditions they have, they must yield and Raise the Finger
Six symbol-faced dice rolled each turn determine which actions a gladiator can take.
Faces are MANOEUVRE (move a hex), ATTACK (attack or +1 Press the Attack), DEFENCE (Parry, +1 Dodge, Stand Fast, or bank as Defence Token), SPECIAL ATTACK, RESPITE (remove Fatigue or Play to the Crowd) and LAUREL (wild: convert to any face, +1 Focus, bank as token, recover a forfeited die). Any two dice may buy a one-hex move. Unspent dice are kept for reactions in the opponent's activation.
Players roll a set of six Action Dice that allow you to direct the actions of your gladiator. Action Dice represent a gladiator’s ability and opportunities to manoeuvre, maintain endurance, defend from, and attack, their opponents.
A successful attack rolls 2d6 for body location.
2d6: 1-2 Vitals, 3 Rear Leg, 4-5 Lead Leg, 6-7 Lead Arm, 8-9 Head, 10 Rear Arm, 11-12 Torso. Torso and Vitals give +2 on the Wound Table; each location has its own armour value and wound boxes. Aimed Strike shifts location by one.
First, the attacking player rolls to determine the specific location on the opponent where the blow has struck. Roll 2d6 and consult the Hit Location Table.
Gladiators move hex by hex on an arena grid.
Each MANOEUVRE Die moves one hex; a Quick Step moves two hexes for 1 Fatigue if not starting adjacent. Gladiators cannot enter occupied hexes or leave the grid; facing has no game effect.
All movement in Blood on the Sands is conducted over a hex-grid board, which means there is no need to measure distances as in some tabletop miniatures games.
Matches end by kill, disablement, exhaustion, tripping, lost dice, apathy or yielding.
A gladiator with two of Apathy, Back to the Wall, Bleeding, Fatigued or Hurt may Raise the Finger and concede. A living loser rolls 2d6 on the Appeal table (+1 per Favour, -1 per Disfavour, etc.): 2-5 Iugula (killed), 6-12 Mitte (spared). Simultaneous exhaustion is a draw (stans missus); an optional ten-turn limit also ends in a draw.
A gladiator who has lost the match and is alive must roll on the Appeal to the Crowd Table, applying any relevant modifiers, to determine if the fickle mob will spare their life.
The crowd rewards wounding and showmanship and punishes passivity.
Wounding an opponent or a successful Play to the Crowd gives Favour; rolling a 1 when playing to the crowd or failing to entertain (no attack, no closing, not ending adjacent) gives Disfavour. Max two of either; a third Favour becomes a Fervour Token (a wild die for 1 Fatigue), a third Disfavour an Apathy Token; two Apathy concedes the match. Favour modifies the loser's Appeal to the Crowd.
To keep the crowd engaged, a gladiator must meet at least one of the following conditions by the end of their activation: 1. Attempt an Attack (including a Special Attack); or 2. End their activation at least one hex closer to their opponent