nm_02_lair_of_the_rat

7/29/2019 nm_02_lair_of_the_rat

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LAIR OF THE RATby Gary James and Brandon Hicks

Here is anotber excellent offering from Gary James' website.This is a special scenario for 3 players, whicb pits trt)ogctngsctgainst tbe forces of the Ratlord controlled by a referee. TbeRatlord also appears in tbe Warbammer Montbly's tbeRedeemerstrip, aspart of tbe tbe Callers beinous plot todestroy Hiue Primus. We'ue ncluded some of tbeillustrations from tbat strip for reference if you feel inspired.to conuert your own Ratlord, uhicb would make a nicemodelling project. Failing tbat tbe Skauen Vennin Lordmodel would make a suitable stand-in.

7heplace was uery special. No-one had dared to defile tbis, tbe ruost boly af places, formafiry genercttions. Tbe last group bad been draun by greed, greed for sacredarcbeotecb, greedfor rare anirnal pelts and u:ildsnake. Now tbey were coming again.He coulcl feel tbe fall of tbeir cluwsy feet and smell their fear. Of wbat were tbeyafraid? Of tbe uermin, scuttling tbraugb tbis darkest of corners in tbe underbiue. Heb.If it is uermin tbey want, then uerrnin tbey will get. But theseu,ill be tbe uennin oftbeir uorst nightmares.Letresetb took bis staff and rapped in the filtb af the dusty ftoor 7?sree iartts r6tsemerged rorn tbe surcounding infrastructure, tbeir ejtes reflecting an eail butintell'igent glint despite tbe darkness. Ee petted. tben and fed each a titbit. *Wesball beneeding a little belp my friends." he rasped. "Go nottj, seek Him aut and bring Hirn tome Tell Him to burry, for tbey are atmost upon ils". Tbe emissaries turned andclisappeared silerctly ircta tbe darkness. It had been a long tirne since be bad badoccasion to sun'trrto'txHim, and tbougb tbe circumstarrces were regrettable Iarernetbcoulcln't betp but loak forzaard. to seeing Him again. He was as close to fanzily as hecould hope to get.Tbe Beastmttster's fingers caressed tbe snootb, curted irtstrttrnent stitched to tbe hemof bis coat, and he rewinisced. Ile bul always bad a u:ay a,ith animals. Hisparentsbad encouraged bim initiallV, and ushen aremetb discouered the Talkircg be bad.den'ranstrated uitb pride the excepriorzal control be cauld exert ouer bis pets. Hisparents bad been amused, tben bemused, and then startled.. Ihis was too far frorn theWay to be good. He rnust stap it. TItepets tnust g{}. It utas ar bis otun good, anct tbeydid it because tbey loued him, he kneu tbat. But tbe Talking becarne s*onger Itintruded. into bis eaeryday thoughts arzd be couldn't control it. He was drawingattention to bi*zse$ and euorse, o bis arrzily. Er;entaelty bis amily borne had beenbesieged by mobs demanding that he be band.ed. ater ta tbe Guilders for examination.Eis fatber bad knozun tlse consequences af allowing this action, and be had beensmugled out lbrougb the mob by a family frimcl, He knew he wou[d neuer return.In tbe Llnd.erbiuepeople bad been less tartled by hispowers, ancl be bad leamed tokeep tberz to birnse$ uloen be ca*ld. Three days later Spike bad turned up. It bad beeneasy or tbe creature to track bis master into the {Jnderbiue. AII undampened Wyrdsteft a psychic wake in their patlt - the uerytatmosphere bristled nitb energy like ironfilings starcding on esd wbsn a rnagnet is applied. Ltnlike magnetic force, Wyrdpsycbics fell into sixpoles - one for each prirnary power Beastmasters, bauing only aooeak secondqry pawer in addition to tbe Thlking, produced a characteristic psy-print-


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He bad met an Elder, a feltow Wyrd, who laugbl bim to hone and sharpen bis lalent.But the most powerful of theseremained tbe Tatking. Tltis u.,asudortunate, becauseeaen Llnderbiuers shied awayfrom tbe uermin and other creatures which were all tbatcould passas 'pets' in tbis Emperor-forsaken place. And so Laremeth had.pressed ondeeper and deeper inlo the underbiue. With only crealures as companions tbe Talkingbecame an asset ralher tban a liability.Tbat is wbere be discouerecl tbis boly place, and tbe secret lbat lte must protect. Il wastbe most ancient of places, uncletected by ordinaries for many nxan))generalions. Il badcrealed Him, and He must remain an euengreater secret lest the witch bunt began oncemore and lbe pitilul crealures that passedfor a family were again to be barmed as acot*equence of bis powers.Laremeth snapped himself out of bismelancholy and back to tbe matler at band. "Nowthen, Gebeneth.are you close by too?Let's ind out". Spike had been bis most loyalbeast and it bad seemed itting to carue bis summoning flute from the rib of tbis, bisfatourite ward. He took it and made two sbrtil blasts uthich echoedfar inlo tbe uoidlike tbe sbrieks ol tbe dying rat. Now all he could do was wait...and keep an ele ontbeir 'uisitors'.Tberewere lwo Sroups.be could sense hat. Maybe tbe1, pou14 e morepowerfut tban the last, for a long time bad passett. Lord belp us,And Larewetb wassure lhal He would.A disturbance in tbe back of Laremelh's mind announced. he aruiual of Gebenetb,andbe turned to greet his btood brotber. "It bas been sanre tilne, Be*stffiaster \Ybat bringsyou back?"Laremeth outlined tbe situation. Two gangs had wandered inlo tbe o*skirts of tbeSacred Place and h* bad. beere hefirst to sef$e it - passibly because tbe gangs utereexterminating tbe biue uermin as tbeJtaduanced, sending ripples of bestial angstthrough tbe underbiue.Wben he had lirst uandered into tbe sacred Ratskin enclaue tlre BeastrrTaster a.d beenobserued quietty for seueral days raitbout delect on by euenhis fledgling prycbic powers.Tleespirit of tbe shaman had taalked u)itb bitn rnany times before lhe Rats$ns enzerged.They recognised thepotential uorth of the Beastmaster and admired his control of tberats. Laretneth tiued with tbem for a number of years and, gradually, tbeir trust in bimgrew. Tben tbe day arriuedfor lbe ritual, Deep witbin tbe ratskin territory la1,r nancient and undisturbed arcbeotecb board. Ald the board beld a secret - a secret lbattbe Ratskirnhoped he would betp tbem to exploit,..

THE SCENARIOfWo rival gangs are exploring unchartedterrain when they discover each otherspresence. Because of the remote location,the area is crawling with wild beasts andmutant creatures. This scenario takes threepeople to play - two gangs and an arbitratorto control the Forces of the Ratlord.C h o o s i n g t h i s s c e n a r i oThe stakes are high in this scenario - anarcheotech hoard to the winners. Because ofthis we suggest this scenario should only betaken if the Gang Fight scenario is chosenand then a 6 is rolled on a further D6.

THE FORCESOF THERATLORDThese consist of three characters and D3+3Ratskin warriors.L a r e m e t hLaremeth is a special character, but isbasicallv a Beastmaster VVrd who always has3 rats to control - do not choose othercreatures. and do not make a D3 roll for thenumber of rats. Choose his secondary poweras normai. Laremeth is the leader of theForces of the Ratlord and counts as havingthe Leader skill.G e h e n e t hGeheneth is a Renegade Ratskin Shaman,


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and takes the Shaman characteristics fromOutlanders. In this scenario some of theSpirit Lore Powers would not make sense,so when rolling a power for Geheneth usethis modified table: 1-2 Curse 3-4 GhostDance 5-6 Spirit W'alk.RATLORDThe tatlord is a new special characterintroduced for this scenario. Use anymodel that seems appropriate - he is amutant creature of (as yet) undisclosedorigin. The Varhammer Fantasy SkavenVermin Lord is a good choice.Rat lo rd

M W S B S S T W I A L d

3r

Skills: Killer reputationSpecial: The Ratlord controls D3+3 giantfats in exactly the same manner as aBeastmaste! with the exception that thereis no range limit on the control of theRatlord's rats. The Ratlord cannot useweapons but has fearsome claws whichhave a strength of 5 and inflict D3 damage.He is immune to fear and terror. TheRatlord counts as a large target with a + 1to hit. For reference pu{poses, the Ratlordhas a cost of25O credits.RATLORD RATSThese have the characteristics of Giant Ratsfrom the Outlanders bestiary The Ratlordalways has his D3+3 rats available to him.If a Ratlord's rat is slain another will take itsplace. Place the replacement in base to


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base contact with the Ratlord.RATSKINSThe Forces of the Ratlord include D3*3Ratskins. Generate these as for hired RatskinScouts.SETUP rTERRAINThe arbitrator sets up the terrain, since it isunknown to the gangers. The teffain shouldbe set up on one or two levels with denseground cover. Place the mine entrance piecenear the centfe and ensure there is cover forthe Ratlord to move around in. As this isunknown terrain tunnel, vents andinfiltration do not apply. The arbitratorselects a location where the Ratlord willemerge and makes a note of this on a pieceof paper. The gangs are unaware of thislocation.FORCES OF THE RATLORD SETLIPThe Ratskins set up first in hiding, then thegangs, then the rest of the Ratlord's forces.The Ratlord emerges from hiding and canbe placed on the terrain in a pre-destinedspot at the beginning of any of the RatlordForces' turns. The Ratlord may not run inthis turn.GANG SETUPThe two exploring gangs are allowed to usehalf of the gang (rounding up) plus D3members (the gangs have nor taken the riskof leaving their territories unguarded whenso far away). Note that, for a reason

unknown to the gangs, any Ratskin gangmembers slip away and are not available inthis scenario. The gangs deploy within 4inches of the table edge and roll a D6 to seewho moves first. The Ratlord forces movelast.GAMEPLAYThe gangs are initially unaware of eachother and cannot shoot or charge theopposing gang until they are aware of theother's presence. lf a gang member comeswithin three times his own initiarive ininches of an opposing gang member thenhe will notice the other gang and alert hiscompanions. Shooting upon a gang will notnecessarily alert them to the firer'spresence...the shots could have come froman unknown source, such as the Ratskins.When a weapon is fred, the target gangrolls 2D6 and adds the weapon's strengh tothe score. Ifthe score is over 10 the gang ismade aware of their opponents shootingupon them.ENDING THE GAMEBottle tests need not be made until 50% aredown or out of action. The game is overwhen both gangs have compulsorily orvoluntarily bottled out or one gang hasdefeated the opposing gang and all theForces of the Ratlord. The Forces of theRatlord will never bottle out.If a victorious gang has a ganger withinrunning distance of the mine entfance atthe point at which the game ends then theg ^g may add an archeotech hoard to itsterritory list.EXPERIENCE

+D6 for surviving the battle*2D6 for surviving a hand to handencounter with the Ratlord himseU*5 per wounding hit*10 for the gang member who inflicts akilling wound on rhe Ratlord. Note thatthis replaces the * 5 for the woundinghit.

nm_02_lair_of_the_rat

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