With the release of the "Head Coach's Handbook", there were a few small changes to the ruleset of the game:

1. Piling On is back
... but with the modification that it requires a team reroll to use. As of now, this is enabled in R, B and L by default. Player-run leagues still have the option of changing this.

Inevitably, this change will have people asking about their old players who used to have Piling On, which were modified to having Juggernaut instead. These players will remain unchanged without exception. The removal of Piling On back then was explicitly written in the rules (despite people arguing that the intent was to change it to the rule as written in the new handbook), and FUMBBL complied to that rule. Any new skill roll (or skill roll that hasn't been picked yet) that gives access to Strength skills will have access to Piling On, regardless of if they were hired before or after this change.

2. Cards
The rules for special play cards are modified. Cards are no longer purchased as part of the inducements, but three variations are available to choose from which involves the two teams getting cards for free. This means that in addition to FUMBBL not having support for the current cards, the overall system for selecting them is no longer accurate either. My intent is therefore to disable them from the official division rules (again, leagues can configure cards as they see fit). However, because of the significant impact this can have on teams currently participating in the FUMBBL Cup, I will defer this change until after the final match of the tournament has been played.

3. Star Players
I have not yet had the time to review these, but I am being told the Star Players in the handbook are not matching what is published in the Spike Journals. My intention is to keep Star Players as up to date as possible with the handbook set being taking precedence over the ones published in Spike Journals 1 through 7, and later Spike Journals being considered updates.

I hope this information is helpful to you, and the best place to discuss any of these changes is on the forums (although I will read comments to this news posting as well).