The Big Autumn Preview – Roleplay in the underhive

Warhammer Necromunda Roleplay offers completely different ways to explore the underhive, and you’ll soon learn that it’s a large and dangerous place with much more to see and be killed by than just gang battles.

Been wondering why the new Necromunda Core Set proudly displays the word “Skirmish” on the front of the box? Well, it’s to distinguish it from the new Necromunda Roleplay. As the name suggests, it’s a fully-fledged, miniatures-driven RPG, allowing you to participate in immersive stories that will take you from the underhive to the ash wastes. 

You play as a group of bounty-hunting Venators taking on jobs set by the Arbitrator, the equivalent of a games master, who presents the story to the other players, adjudicating on the rules of the game, and unfolding the narrative created by the actions of the players. It’s compatible with the full range of Necromunda miniatures, and comes with some fantastic and characterful new models, starting with those representing your team – these four Iconic Characters.

These player characters are an Escher Assassin, Orlock Gunslinger, Squat Fixer, and Goliath Champion. They each have rules in the box to get you started quickly, and they all have alternate builds if you want to craft your own Venators.

You’ll encounter a variety of interesting personalities in your journeys, and some of those in the two included adventures can be nicely represented by the five Adversary miniatures in the box – a Scabber, a Saboteur, a Hive Preacher, a Cadaver Merchant, and a Heretek with a servo-skull.*

Of course, no expedition through the underhive or ash wastes is complete without gunning down some goons – step forward Hive Scum. These eight no-name mooks can be built with a wide variety of weapon options and give you plenty of opportunity to test your skills in marksmanship and swordplay as you hunt down targets and investigate mysterious goings-on.

Along with the 18 brand-new plastic miniatures, the Core Set includes the 224-page Core Rulebook, which includes plenty of lore, along with rules for playing the game, creating your own characters and how they advance and improve their skills between adventures. There are also tips for the Arbitrator and two complete adventures – ‘An Abominable Intelligence’ where you hunt down a Van Saar Heretek, and ‘The Pilgrimage of Bones’, which sees you tasked with taking out a Cawdor preacher on behalf of the Corpse Harvesters Guild.

At some point in your adventures, you’re going to get into a fight, and the box includes two double-sided card playmats depicting regions of the underhive and ash wastes where your Venators will face their foes, and 11 player handouts for quick rules reference for the miniatures in the box. There’s also an Arbitrator’s screen packed with useful reference information for the Arbitrator, and allowing them to hide their devious plans from the players.

Combat encounters play out with a system that will be recognisable to Necromunda Skirmish players, utilising miniatures who have Single and Double actions, rolls to hit and injuries – all with a roleplay twist. You’ll also notice a D10 and D100 in the box, alongside the familiar D6, Firepower and Injury dice, which work with your characters’ skills to show you what you need to roll.

In essence, whenever you want to do something, whether it’s trying to fill a Hive Scum with las-rounds or intimidate a source into giving up information, you need to roll below a target score based on your skill value and a difficulty modifier. Let’s take a look at a character sheet to see some of these.

Ophelia Skar here has a WS of 61 and BS of 49, so she’s more proficient with her stiletto sword than her laspistol. She has a variety of skills, including Acrobatics, Intimidate and Stealth, which will inform how you play her in your adventures. The other Iconic Characters have different mixes of skills and abilities, so working together is key to overcoming foes and whatever cunning obstacles your Arbitrator lays for you.

If you want to make your own characters, there are 50 blank character sheets in the box, and the Core Rulebook contains full rules for creating Venators hailing from the six Clan Houses, each with their own backgrounds, archetypes, and skill sets. There is also a seventh origin, the Underhiver, with their own selection of backgrounds and archetypes, as well as the option to play a Squat. 

Necromunda Roleplay will launch alongside the first in a series of expansions – Journal Apocrypha: Denizens of the Hive – Adversaries Book 1. This 48-page journal includes profiles for 51 additional potential Adversaries – or allies – using the wide variety of Necromunda miniatures.** 

These range from members of the six Clan Houses to Enforcers, Ogryns, hive dwellers, exotic beasts, and even the infamous Kal Jericho and Scabs, who’ve been known to recruit Venators to aid them on their own adventures. If your Arbitrator is feeling particularly mean, you might even end up facing off against a mighty Ambot…

Both the Warhammer Necromunda Roleplay Core Set and the first journal will be available soon, and we’ll delve deeper into the game and how it works before release. In the meantime, head back to the Big Autumn Preview Hub to see what else we’ve revealed.

* If you’re looking at these and thinking, “They’d be great as various Hangers-on in my Necromunda Skirmish games”, you’re absolutely right.
** While you’ll be able to use your miniatures with Necromunda Roleplay, you won’t need anything from the Necromunda Skirmish books to play.