Roaming Horrors

Source: The Book of Desolation (2024)

The psychic awareness of the Malstrain Patriarch is constantly scanning the exclusion zone for prey, sending their minions out to eliminate intruders. The rules for Roaming Horrors are designed to be used in all scenarios for the Underhells Campaign, though if the Arbitrator wishes they can only be used for certain scenarios or not at all.

Using Roaming Horrors​

In a scenario that uses Roaming Horrors, the player with Priority rolls on one of the tables that follows before the Ready Gang step. Which table is rolled on is determined by the current region the gangs are exploring. When a Horror is generated, they are placed as detailed below.

Dead Zone​

The hunters have drawn the notice of the Malstrain Patriarch and it is searching the darkness for them.

D66	Adversaries
11-36	D3 Malstrain Tyramites
41-46	D3 Brood Scum
51-56	D3 Brood Scum and 1 Brood Scum Leader
61-65	Malstrain Genestealer
66	Malstrain Genestealer Prime

Secundan Abyss​

The Malstrain Patriarch dispatches deadlier minions to find the intruders who have trespassed upon its domain.

D66	Adversaries
11-26	D3 Malstrain Tyramites
31-36	D3 Brood Scum
41-46	D3 Brood Scum and 1 Brood Scum Leader
51-56	Malstrain Genestealer
61-66	Malstrain Genestealer Prime

Underhells​

The hunters have invoked the fury of the Malstrain Patriarch and must act quickly to escape its gathering servants.

D66	Adversaries
11-16	D3 Malstrain Tyramites
21-26	D3 Brood Scum
31-36	D3 Brood Scum and 1 Brood Scum Leader
41-56	Malstrain Genestealer
61-66	Malstrain Genestealer Prime

Placing Roaming Horrors​

Each scenario will include a number of Spawn Points. At the start of each round (unless noted by the scenario} Horrors will begin to appear, their type determined by the result on the tables on page 82. Roll randomly for the Horrors appearing and where they are placed. Once placed, Horrors will then follow their Nature as detailed below.

Activating Roamin Horrors​

Each time a player cornpletes an activation with one of their fighters, a Horror will activate before their opponent(s) activate a fighter. Horrors are controlled by the player who just con1pleted their activation, though they n1ust follow tl1eir Nature. Each Horror may only activate once in each round.

Horror Natures​

The nature of the Horror determines how it will act. Unless otherwise noted, Horrors always move toward the nearest non-Roaming Horror fighter.

Cautious (Brood Scum): The Horror will move to within weapon range and attack if possible, sticking to cover. They will not expose themselves unless they can take a shot. If they are already in cover with a potential target, they will aim and shoot. If engaged, they will fight.

Aggressive (Malstrain Genestealers and Tyramites): The Horror will move so as to get within charge range or charge when possible. lf engaged, they will fight.

Killing Horrors​

Unless otherwise noted, Horrors do not follow the normal rules for resolving hits and are removed if an Injury dice would be rolled and applied to them. Models can earn XP and Kill points for killing Horrors Primes and Leaders count as Champions and all other Horrors count as Gangers for this purpose.

Horrors And Ammo​

Horrors do not need to make Ammo rolls and their weapons never run out of ammo.

Malstrain Brood Scum Weapons​

When placing Malstrain Brood Scum, the player with Priority decides what weapons and Wargear they are equipped with.

Primes And Leaders​

Some fighters are noted as being Primes or Leaders. These represent the most dangerous examples of their kind. If a fighter is indicated as being a Prime or Leader, increase its Attacks and Wounds characteristics by 1.

Horror And Malstrain Corrupted, Or Malstrain Gangs​

Roaming Horrors are worked up to a killing frenzy, as such they do not recognise Malstrain Corrupted or Malstrain gangs as being on the same side and will attack them as enemies.

Data Crystal Stacks​

Data crystal stacks are found throughout the Underhells of Hive Secundus. Ancient repositories of learning and technology, lost when Hive Secundus was destroyed, the data crystals they contain are highly sought-after treasures - if you can get them back across the Dust Wall...

During battles taking place in the Underhells, each player deploys a Data Crystal Stack outside of their deployment zone before setting up their starting crew. In addition to following the standard rules for terrain from the Necromunda Core Rulebook, such as cover and blocking line of sight, Data Crystal Stacks have a number of unique features as described below:

Fragile Structures​

Although capable of holding a wealth of information, the crystalline nature of data crystals makes them susceptible to thermal damage. If a Data Crystal Stack is hit by a weapon with the Blaze trait, roll a D6 and consult the following table:

D6	Result
1	"She's Gonna Blow!": The data crystals contained within the stack destabilise, leading to an explosive chain reaction! All models within D3+3" are automatically hit by a S5, D1, AP -1 attack and all fighters hit change their status to Prone and Pinned. No more Data Crystals may be harvested from this Data Crystal Stack.
2-3	Limited Explosion: A couple of the data crystals within the stack destabilise and explode, however the majority of the data crystal stack remains intact. All fighters within 3" are automatically hit by a S3, D1, AP - attack and all fighters hit change their status to Prone and Pinned. Any future attempts to perform the Harvest Data Crystal (Basic) action suffer a -1 modifier to the Intelligence test.
4-6	Lucky Escape: Although several of the data crystals start to glow from the heat, they remain stable.

Harvesting Data Crystal Stacks​

Any fighter within 1" of a Data Crystal Stack can perforn, the Harvest Data Crystal (Basic) action:

Harvest Data Crystal (Basic): The fighter makes an Intelligence test, if passed they gain a Data Crystal. If the test is failed, they have instead roused the Malstrain - add 1 to the roll to generate Roaming Horrors at the start of the next round.

Carrying Data Crystals​

Each fighter may only carry one Data Crystal at a time. If a fighter is taken Out of Action whilst holding a Data crystal, their controlling player places a marker on the battlefield in base contact with the fighter before removing them from the battlefield.

Any fighter who ends their activation in base contact with a Data Crystal may pick it up, as long as they are not already carrying a Data Crystal.

When the battle ends, any Data Crystals that were held by a fighter still on the battlefield or a fighter that fled are added to the gang's Stash.

Using Data Crystals​

During the Receive Rewards step of the post-battle sequence, each player may either sell any Data Crystals in their Stash for D3x10 credits or attempt to unlock them by rolling on the table below:

D6	Result
1	A fighter of your choice earns D3 XP.
2-3	A fighter of your choice gains a random skill from one of their Primary skill sets.
4-5	A fighter of your choice gains a random skill from one of their Secondary skill sets.
6	A fighter of your choice gains a random skill from any skill set.