Dark Rituals
RAW ✔️ The Book of Ruin, p27
A Helot Chaos cult is built around the worship of the Chaos gods, and membership requires adherence to a number of ritualistic practices. The leadership guides the rest of the cult in solemn rites that glorify their dark masters, and – should the congregation be deemed worthy – might result in a gift from the gods themselves.
The Cult Demagogue can make the following post-battle action (see page 92 of the Necromunda Rulebook). This action can only be made once per post-battle sequence.
Lead Ritual
First, decide which of the Chaos gods the ritual is invoking: Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh or Tzeentch.
If desired, a single member of the gang may be randomly chosen to be the focus of the ritual and offered up to be a vessel of the god's power. Make a deck of all the gang's Fighter cards, removing the Cult Demagogue and Cult Witch card(s) and only including one card for each Disciple (should a Disciple have more than one equipment set). Then draw one card at random.
Alternatively, if the gang is holding a Captive that, if held by another gang, would be eligible to be sold to the Guilders (see page 92 of the Necromunda Rulebook), the Captive may be sacrificed to fuel the ritual.
Then roll 2D6 and apply the following modifiers:
- +1 if the gang won this battle.
- +1 if the gang gained Reputation in this battle.
- +2 if the cult already has the favour of the god the ritual is invoking marked on their roster.
- +2 if the gang is sacrificing a Captive to fuel the ritual.
- -2 if the cult has the favour of a different god to the one the ritual is invoking marked on their roster.
- -1 if the gang lost this battle.
- -1 if the gang lost Reputation in this battle.
If the final result is 9 or more, the ritual is heeded by the cult's patron. Mark on their roster sheet that they have the favour of their chosen god – the effects of this favour are listed below. If they already have the favour of a different god, it is replaced. In addition, if a member of the gang was picked to be the focus of the ritual, they immediately gain D6 Experience.
If however the final result is a natural double 1, or is 2 or less after modification, the cult is deemed unworthy. They lose any Favour they had with the gods. Furthermore, if a member of the gang was picked to be the focus of the ritual, they are turned into a Chaos Spawn.
The God's Favour
The following is a simplified list of benefits that Helot Chaos Cults can gain in their next battle.
For the full list of benefits, refer to the rules for the Blood God, the Plague Lord, the Dark Prince, and the Architect of Fate benefits in the Embracing the Dark Gods section.
If the gang has successfully performed a Dark Ritual and has marked on their gang roster the favour of their chosen god, the appropriate bonus is gained during the gang's next battle:
- Khorne: Once per round, a single failed Wound roll can be re-rolled.
- Nurgle: Once per End phase, a single Recovery roll can be re-rolled.
- Slaanesh: Once per round, during the Activation phase, two fighters that are Ready can be picked and activated one after the other, rather than the usual one.
- Tzeentch: Once per round, a single fighter may ignore all negative modifiers when making a Shoot (Basic) or Shoot (Double) action.
Chaos Spawn
If one of a Cult Gang's fighters is turned into a Chaos Spawn, they are effectively slain. They are deleted from the gang's roster, and any equipment they were carrying is lost. A Chaos Spawn no longer counts towards the gang's fighter limit – for example, if the gang has two Cult Disciples and one becomes a Chaos Spawn, they now only count as having one Cult Disciple, so another may be recruited.
They are immediately replaced with a Chaos Spawn, which is worth 130 credits for the purposes of calculating Gang Rating, and has the following profile:
Chaos Spawn
Worth 130 credits for the purposes of calculating Gang Rating
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Cl | Wil | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D6" | ? | - | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | - | - | - | - |
| Rg S | Rg L | Ac S | Ac L | S | AP | D | Am | Traits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unarmed attack | - | E | - | - | S | - | 1 | - | - |
Wargear: None (always makes unarmed attacks) Special Rules: Warped Monstrosity, Mindless Beast, Out of Control
When the Chaos Spawn is added to the gang, fill in a Fighter card for it as normal. For each characteristic value that is shown as a ?, roll a D6 and consult the appropriate column on the following table (roll separately for each such characteristic).
For example, a player might roll a 1 for Weapon Skill, a 3 for Strength, a 6 for Toughness, a 1 for Wounds, a 5 for Initiative and a 6 for Attacks, to create a Spawn with a Weapon Skill of 5+, a Strength of 4, a Toughness of 6, 1 Wound, an Initiative of 4+ and 3 Attacks.
Note that the Movement characteristic is random, determined by rolling a D6 each time the Spawn makes a Move or Charge action, and that a Spawn will move D6" plus D3" when it charges.
| D6 | WS | S | T | W | I | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5+ | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5+ | 1 |
| 2-5 | 4+ | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4+ | 2 |
| 6 | 3+ | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3+ | 3 |
Equipment
A Chaos Spawn carries no weapons and will always make unarmed attacks.
Special Rules
Warped Monstrosity: Chaos Spawn cannot be Pinned and will never become Broken or Insane. Any Flesh Wound and Serious Injury results on an Injury roll for it are ignored. If one is taken Out of Action, it does not suffer a Lasting Injury – instead, it is automatically restrained during the Wrap Up (as described below).
Mindless Beast: The only actions a Chaos Spawn can make are Move, Charge, Fight and Coup de Grace. It cannot use weapons or equipment of any kind. Any Cool or Willpower checks made for a Chaos Spawn automatically pass, but any Leadership or Intelligence checks automatically fail.
Out of Control: During the 'Wrap Up' step of the post-battle sequence of any battle that featured the Chaos Spawn, the controlling player must roll to see whether the cult can restrain the Chaos Spawn. First, nominate up to three Helot Cultists from the gang who did not go Out of Action and were not Seriously Injured at the end of the battle. Roll a D6 for each nominated Cultist. If any of the dice score a 4 or more the Chaos Spawn is restrained; otherwise, it scurries away to join the other nameless horrors of the underhive, and is removed from the gang's roster. If a dice scores a 1, make an immediate roll on the Lasting Injuries table for that Cultist, as they suffer the unfettered wrath of the Spawn.
Chaos Spawn In Skirmishes
In one-off Skirmish battles, up to two Chaos Spawn can be purchased for a Chaos Cult gang, at a cost of 130 credits each. Determine the characteristics for each Spawn individually.
RAW ✔️ The Book of Ruin, p28