Devil's Den Challenge #17: One Warband Scenarios
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http://forum.specialist-games.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16003Printed on: 16/09/2008
Topic:
Topic author: Long_John_Silver
Subject: Devil's Den Challenge #17: One Warband Scenarios
Posted on: 02/09/2008 06:57:26
Message:
Devil's Den Challenge #17: Single Warband Scenarios
After having a new player join an fairly long running Mordheim campaign we had some serious underdog problems. No one in my group particularly likes the existing underdog rules. So, I was thinking that we should have some games where new warbands can gain experience and injuries (and learn the basic rules) without being smashed by the rest of the group.
I am thinking of situations like bank heists, tomb robbing, et cetera. With one warband and a sort of "dungeon master" playing everything else.
Replies:
Reply author: StyrofoamKing
Replied on: 02/09/2008 10:40:15
Message:
Hmm. I like. Is it okay if other warband members make Cameo appearances?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Suck my powder monkey!"
-Recent swear by Sartosa Campaign players
Reply author: Ethlorien
Replied on: 02/09/2008 11:40:22
Message:
Ethlorien's Official Entry:
Hall of Heroes
Before the coming of the comet, before the destruction of Mordheim, one of the most magnificant buildings in the city was the Hall of Heroes. A massive edifice devoted to the heroes of the Empire, past elector counts, wizard lords, heroes of legend. Yet when the comet struck, the building was all but destroyed, the blast incinerating the ancient tapestries of glorious battles, destroying the artefacts of the fallen, toppling the statues of the great men of legend. Yet not all was destroyed. Rumours ever abound of old artefacts still lying within the rubble, of the haunted cries of heroes of old, of treasures once hidden from public view now scattered across its chared floors. So the mercenaries and the greedy come.
Yet it is a perilous journey, for the dark alleys leading to the Hall of Heroes are filled with vermin and undeath. The streets are raised and great fissures torn into the very ground. Even the building itself sits atop a rocky outcropping, raised high into the air by the comet, overlooking the lower quarters of the city. It is a place haunted and frightful, where only the bravest or most desperate of men come.
The Hall of Heroes is a deadly scenario designed for the underdog of any campaign. While the risk is great, so too is the rewards. Any warband struggling to compete with the stronger warbands of Mordheim will soon be compelled to venture into the Hall of Heroes, desperate for the advantages that may be contained within.
For best results, this game is to be played with a single warband and a campaign masters setting-up and controlling the hazards.
Terrain
The Hallf of Heroes is just that, a massive hall. The game is to be played in a single structure, 16" wide, by 2' long. The Hall is a single level (as the upper floors have been all but destrped). The floor is littred with debris, rubble, broken statues, and (for the ambitious terrain-builder) crumbled flights of stairs leading up to dead ends or crumbling balconies. A single, great door is centred along one of the 16" sides (the starting area for the warband), while a special feature is placed on the opposite end (a statue, pile of treasure, bookshelf, etc...).
Set-up
A single warband is placed along the door edge of the table. Once set-up has been completed, read the following out loud:
Even before the door behind you has shut, a chill wind picks up and an eerie moaning wafts across the Hall. The sound of stones scrapping against the cracked marble floor can be heared in the dark corners of this old building. Slowly, before your very eyes, the statues of ancient heroes, rubble just a moment ago, begin to rise up and reform.
Roll a D3+1: this is the number of Statues that have risen up to defend their hall from the intruding warband. These statues are placed randomly across the Hall, no closer to the warband then 12".
Special Rules:
Statues of Legend: For each statue, the Campaign Master must roll a die to determine its stats. Roll a d6, and consult the list below:
1-3 = Heroic Statue (Army Champion, Powerful Noble, etc)
M3, WS3, BS0, S4, T4, W1, I2, A1, Ld10
Specail Rules: Stone Fist, Can't Run, Immune to Psychology, Immune to Poison, Stone, No Pain
4-5 = Epic Statue (General, Elector Count, etc)
M4, WS4, BS0, S4, T5, W2, I3, A2, Ld10
Specail Rules: Stone Fist, Can't Run, Immune to Psychology, Immune to Poison, Stone, No Pain
6 = Legendary Statue (Sigmar, Original Elector, etc)
M4, WS5, BS0, S5, T6, W3, I4, A3, Ld10
Specail Rules: Stone Fist, Can't Run, Immune to Psychology, Immune to Poison, Stone, No Pain
Stone Fist: Treat all attacks from stone statues as though they were armed with hammers.
Can't Run: Stone statues are too bulky and ancient to run. They may still charge as normal.
Stone: Being made of stone, stone statues have an inate 5+ armour save.
No Pain: Stone statues treat all 'results of stunned' as 'knocked down'.
At the end of the warband's turn, it is the Campaign Master who takes control of the statues. Their job is to do their best to stop the warband from reaching the special feature at the other end of the hall.
Guardians of the Halls: The stone statues will not allow the warband to pillage their hall of its ancient treasures. At the end of every stone staue turn, the Campaign Master rolls a die. On a 3+, D3 more stone statues rise up to defend the Hall.
Desperate: As it takes a desperate kind of man to even enter the Hall of Heroes for such a heist, this is a warband starved for an advantage. As such, the warband need not make a rout test - it is up to the warband leader to decide when it is time to flee.
Objectives and Ending the Game
The object of the warband's attention is the special feature at the end of the Hall. Each hero or henchman may reach the special feature once and pillage something from it. Once pillaged, they are expected to make it back out of the hall alive via the door they entered. Any hero or henchman that does so, gains a roll on the trearure list below. Note: a hero or henchman that pillages the special feature and is then put OOA does not get a roll on the treasure list as the guardians take back their item before dumping his unconscious body out the building.
The game ends when all memebers of the warband have been put OOA or have fled back through the front door.
Treasure D66 (1 roll per hero/henchman who pillaged the special feature and escaped).
11 - Keepsake: a worthless baubble once held by a hero.
12 - Treasure worth 1d6gc
13 - Treasure worth 2d6gc
14 - Treasure worth 3d6gc
15 - Treasure worth 4d6gc
16 - Treasure worth 5d6gc
21 - Treasure worth 6d6gc
22 - Treasure worth 50gc
23 - Treasure worth 75gc
24 - Treasure worth 100gc
25 - A sword
26 - A greatweapon
31 - Light armour
32 - Heavy armour
33 - Ithilmar armour
34 - Gromril armour
35 - Biography of an ancient hero (1 hero gains +1xp)
36 - Biography of an ancient legend (1 hero gains +2xp)
41 - Book of War Tactics (1 henchman group gains +1xp)
42 - Ithilmar weapon (player's choice)
43 - Gromril weapon (player's choice)
44 - Shroud of a Hero (special cloak that grants a further +1AS, +2AS vs. spells)
45 - Cup of Blood from a Hero (1 hero drinks for +1T)
46 - Circlet of Control (1 hero gains control of a Heroic Statue for as long as he has circlet, or until put OOA).
51 - Amulet of Control (as Circlet, but an Epic Statue is gained)
52 - Ring of Control (as Circlet, but a Legendary Statue is gained)
53 - Book of Lore (Hero can choose from Academic skills, or gains an Academic skill is already has Academic skills)
54 - Tome of Magic (any spellcaster gains 1 spell)
55 - Crown of Legend (1 hero may wear, takes up the Helm slot. While worn, gain 3xp. If crown is ever removed, Hero looses 3xp and any skill if this drops it below a dark square).
56 - Cursed Sword (Sword that adds +1 to Heroes WS, yet deals a single S3 hit to that hero every time a critical is scored)
61 - Horn of Heroes (Re-roll a failed Rout test)
62 - Rod of Commanding (takes up a hand slot, must be used by the warband leader, for purposes of Rout warband counts as two members greater)
63 - A wizard's gem worth 150gc
64 - A legend's goblet worth 200gc
65 - Sigmar's Girdle (Must be worn by a hero, hero gains +1T and treats critical hits as a normal hit)
66 - A random artefact
Experience
+1 Survives: If a Hero or Henchman survives the battle, they gain +1xp.
+1 Pillaged: If a Hero or Henchman pillages the special feature and makes it out of the building, they gain +1xp.
+1 Per enemy out of Action: A Hero gains +1xp for each enemy he puts OOA. +2 for a Legendary Statue.
Well, a good run through the Hall of Heroes should bolster a struggling warband.
Ethlorien
Reply author: StyrofoamKing
Replied on: 02/09/2008 14:14:19
Message:
SCENARIO - RAT HUNT
Based on Skaven Mutant Warband by Master & Styrofoam King
You curse under your breath... it was in your hands! A piece of wyrdstone the size of a man's head! But that bumbling lackey stumbled with in on the street, and sent it tumbling into the sewers. He'll get beat for it for sure. But in the meantime, you squint your eyes in the dark, eager to win back your prize.
SET-UP
Ideally, this scenario is perfectly set in the sewers; Heroquest or Warhammer Quest tiles are perfect. Or, if you have the time, set up the map in corridors of 2" by 8" sections that grid themselves across the table.
If this is impossible, it may be set above ground. For the sake of ambience, we recommend you keep the 'Darkness' rule, to give the feeling of hunting on the darkest of moonless nights, in the shadiest corners of the city. If so, the Rat Nests are deployed in buildings.
LAST CHANCE PURCHASES
Before diving into the darkness, you make a quick rush to the local peddlar. You may purchase up to 1 Lantern and/or 1D3 Torches before going into the sewers. Due to the rush to buy, the lantern costs +3gc, and the Torches cost 3gc instead of 2gc. (For convience, the rules for torches are reprinted below.)
Torch (EiF 16); 2 gc; Availability: Common
Warriors lacking the funds for a lantern may have to make do with torches. Torches act exactly as lanterns, adding +4" to the range the model may spot hidden enemies, but has a few other special rules as well. A torch will only last one game. A model armed with a torch counts as causing fear in animals (Hunting Dogs, all riding steeds, Bears, Wolves, etc), and may use a torch as a makeshift club. When used in combat, a torch is treated as a normal club, though with a -1 to hit modifier. Any models that have a Regeneration special rule (like Trolls) will not be able to regenerate wounds caused by a torch during the battle. (Torches may also cause buildings to catch fire – see ‘Let the Damned Burn’, from Town Cryer
.
SET-UP
The Warband player set-ups his warband on one table edge, along one section of the sewer corridors.
The Rat Player starts off with no warriors or creatures on the board, but will be able to control creatures later in the Scenario. After the warband Player has set-up, the Rat player places 6 markers on the board, separated evenly along the board, at least 12" from the warband warriors and other markers. These markers represent Rat Nests.
SPECIAL RULES
Darkness: The sewers are particulary dark, making enemies particularly hard to see. Any model that doesn't run or fire declare itself as hidden, regardless of whether or not there is cover. As normal, Models within Initiative range of inches are discovered as normal, and Torches and Lanterns add inches to finding hidden models. Certain Races gain +4" to discovering enemy models in the dark: Skaven, Dwarves, Goblins, Vampires.
RAT NESTS
In search for the Massive Stone, your warband has to rummage through several Rat Nests. Each time a friendly model of yours gets within 3" of a RAt Nest, you may search it at the end of your Movement Phase. Roll 2D6:
2-6 You find 3 Giant Rats. See Skaven warband for rules (reprinted below).
7 You find 1D3 Rapid Rats. They follow the same stats and rules for Giant Rats (see below), except they have Strength 4 and suffer Frenzy. They are near suicidal, however, and any Injury roll of 'Stunned' is treated as 'Out of Action' against Rapid Rats.
8-9 Rats of a different kind! You face 1D3 Verminkin (stats below). Each are armed with 2 Daggers and Slings.
10-12 The Motherload! You find the Massive Stone; in the stomach of a Ratspawn! Kill the Rat Spawn, and you gain the Massive Stone. (If any other models search Rat Nests, reroll all further rolls of 10-12- there is only one Ratspawn & Massive Stone per scenario.)
. . . . . .M WS BS S T W I A Ld
Giant Rat 6 2 0 3 3 1 4 1 4
Skaven . .5 3 3 3 3 1 4 1 5
Spawn. .2D6 3 0 4 5 3 3 d3* 10
RAT SPAWN RULES
*Roll for attacks each round of combat.
Causes Fear, Immune to Psychology
Movement: Instead of normal movement, each movement phase, the Spawn moves 2D6" towards any enemy model. The Spawn must move straight towards an enemy, though this need not be the nearest enemy, and may be an enemy the Spawn cannot even see (Spawn have a plethora of senses, magical and otherwise that tell them where their foes are). If this movement brings the Spawn into contact with any model, friend or foe, the Spawn immediately attacks it, and will continue to fight in following rounds until the other model has been taken out of action or fled. Spawn may move up ladders and stairs, and may even attempt to climb walls subject to the normal climbing rules.
END OF THE GAME
The game ends When either the Warband player routs, or when the Ratspawn is killed and the Massive Stone is taken.
EXPERIENCE
+1 For the Winning Leader
+1 Exp for each enemy taken out of action
+1 Exp for each successful wound dealt against the Rat Spawn that does NOT take it out of action (meaning, the final blow only yields 1 Exp, not 2.)
POST-GAME
In addition to the normal Exploration, you may choose to divide up the Massive Stone: it yields 1D3+2 Wyrdstone.
ADDING A THIRD PLAYER
If you have a third player around, he may choose to play a Rival warband, also hunting for the Massive Stone. He may choose 1 Non-leader Hero from his warband to Lead the party, and is accompanied by 7 Ratcatchers (the hero temporarily learns Leader skill). Each Ratcatcher has Human Warrior stats (see Mercenary warband), and are each armed with Club and Dagger. Two Ratcatcher models may be armed with Slings, and two different Ratcatchers may be armed with Torches (both of these are free, and stay with the Ratcatchers after the scenario). If using these rules, add +1 to each Rat Nest search after the first, increasing the chances of finding the Spawn. The game ends when the Stone is taken off the board, or both warbands rout.
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The Method to the Madness: A scenario with a lot of Creeps to Kill (easy Exp), a Climactic finish (BIG monster; who also gives +1 Exp for each wound against him); and a potentially big pay-off. A nice way to even things out; although shooting warbands might be at a bit of a loss, it's great for head-first blood-thirsty bands.
EDIT: VARIATIONS
This scenario works well outside of the City of Mordheim as well. Rustle through Lizard nests in Lustria, Graveyards in Sylvannia, or Badger dens in Athel Loren. Most any setting can use these rules.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Suck my powder monkey!"
-Recent swear by Sartosa Campaign players
