Another Blood Bowl story from Black Library, The Skeleton Key is David Annandale’s first contribution to this growing collection of highly entertaining tales. This time the story is told from the perspective of mummy Ramtut the Third, as his Champions of Death undead team take on the honest-to-a-fault Bright Crusaders in the Dungeonbowl. Unlike a standard Blood Bowl game this involves a search for both the ball and the end zones, along with traps, teleporting skeletons, interfering goblins, and even a little cross-dimensional travel. It’s a clash of heroes against monsters even while Ramtut despairs at how far he’s fallen.
Perhaps the most anarchic and bonkers of all the new Blood Bowl stories so far, this is another delightfully daft and entertaining story that’s full of great little touches. The Bright Crusaders’ chivalry is hilariously out of place and easily abused, while Ramtut’s disgust at the razzmatazz is nicely pitched against his determination to succeed anyway, and the commentary from Jim and Bob adds a clever bit of additional context to goings on. There’s masses going on, including some genuinely crazy stuff, but it’s tightly plotted and fits together beautifully to demonstrate another side to this bonkers but brilliant setting.
