This webpage is dedicated to expanding the rules for
Necromunda
Introduction
Necromunda is a brilliant game. Sadly, it is no longer supported by GW in an official capacity. The consequences of this decision by GW is that they have allowed the essence of Necromunda to remain alive on the Specialist Games (SG) website. It appears that while SG is affiliated with GW, the control of the Necromunda rules has been appointed to a group of people called the Necromunda Rules Committee (NRC).
The NRC apparently meet every two years where they discuss and makes changes to the official rules of the game. The official rules are kept in a large file that is known as the Online Rule Book (ORB). In addition to this, a FAQ file is also maintained, where some members of the NRC answer general FAQs. It appears that there is a group of senior people in the NRC who have the authority to give official Answers to questions with the status of being Answer Moderators. The FAQ files and the ORB are all to be found on the SG website.
I have recently started playing Necromunda. Within minutes of playing the game, it was clear to me that some of the official rules are logically inconsistent and contradictory. This was of concern to me, as I thought that the NRC would have revised all of the bugs from the rules, once they had been appointed custodians. So, I spent many hours over a few days reading the ORB and many of the FAQs.
To my disappointment, it was clear that there were many FAQs that were given 'official' answers by different Moderators, that were incorrect. This, also, was of concern. If the custodians of the rules could not answer FAQs properly, then who else could? Furthermore, the nature of the SG website is such that, discussing alternate rules or possible suggestions to fix the broken rules, is not encouraged. It is a blunt condition of using the SG forums that only the official rules may be discussed without any latitude for creative solutions. Moderators often lock topics that they consider answered, which is not always necessarily a bad thing to do. Freedom of thought and speech on the SG website is limited.
Finally, after directly demonstrating to some Answer Moderators that their interpretations of the rules were incorrect, only to be met with a typical brush-off reply, I decided that if I wanted the broken rules fixed, then I would have to do it myself. Therefore, this webpage is my solution to fixing the bugs in the rules.
My gaming group of friends will use these house rules listed below as good fixes to the flaws in the Necromunda rules. Hopefully, they might also be of value to you, in your games.
Rule Changes
Scavvy Mutant Claw (10th Jan, 2007)
The official wording of the Scavvy Mutant Claw makes it a useless appendage. The following tighter definition for the claw makes it a worthwhile mutation to have during hand to hand combat (HTH).
A claw is a larger, stronger, mutated version of a normal hand. It generally has the shape of a hand, but it may have extra or fewer fingers, sometimes even being shaped like a beak. In all cases, a claw is stronger than a normal hand and it has the full functionality of a hand. A claw can hold and use weapons and other equipment, like a hand. A claw is not a weapon in its own right. A claw that does not hold a weapon will not contribute an extra attack dice in HTH, as it is not a weapon. The claw gives the Scavvy Mutant a +1 Str bonus if it is using a HTH melee weapon (NOT A PISTOL) during HTH.
Example: A Scavvy Mutant with a claw uses a massive weapon in HTH. He receives a +1 Str bonus from the claw on top of the normal Str bonus from the weapon.
Example: A Scavvy Mutant with a claw uses a sword in his hand and an autopistol in his claw. He does not receive a Str bonus from the claw for either weapon.
Example: A Scavvy Mutant with a claw uses a sword in his claw and an autopistol in his hand. He receives a +1 Str bonus from the claw for the sword. He does receive a Str bonus from the claw for the autopistol.
Selling Free Knives (or Clubs) (10th Jan, 2007)
Most fighters, when recruited have a free weapon, usually either a knife or a club. This item has value and can be sold at the Trading Post for half of the cost (rounded up). This is an official rule, which in itself causes no problems.
However, once the fighter sells his free weapon, HE NO LONGER HAS IT ANYMORE. It shall be crossed off his roster. Subsequently, it is not possible for the official rules to state that a fighter is always assumed to have a knife stashed away on their person, if they sell it! ALL REFERENCES IN THE ORB THAT STATE A FIGHTER IS ASSUMED TO HAVE A KNIFE AT ALL TIMES SHOULD BE IGNORED AND REMOVED. A fighter ONLY has the weapons that are listed on his roster when he enters battle. If during the battle any of these weapons are lost, destroyed, removed, etc, then they will be crossed off his roster.
Note, the Disarm Skill states that a fighter is always assumed to have a knife, this is wrong and should be ignored. A fighter is only armed with the weapons that are on his roster. If a fighter ever wishes to obtain another knife (or club), then they have to purchase one from the Trading Post, or swap in the Post Battle Sequence with another fighter.
Therefore, it is possible that a fighter could enter battle completely unarmed, with no weapons on his roster. This is allowed, though it is probably not a good idea, as he will be vulnerable in HTH.
Weapon Skill (WS) (10th Jan, 2007)
WS is a measure of a fighter's natural prowess when fighting in HTH. It not only represents his ability to use HTH weapons, but also his ability to make do with impromptu weapons around him, such as fists, elbows, rocks, pipes, bars, thrown sludge, etc. These impromptu weapons are not weapons that can contribute an attack dice, nor are they weapons that can be written on a roster sheet. They represent the random factors of HTH that all fighters experience in the Underhive and the opportunistic nature of being able to use surroundings to your advantage. A higher WS means that a fighter can use his surroundings more effectively, or find a better time to strike an opponent, or duck under a beam to avoid a blow, etc. HTH melee consists of more than just one blow from a weapon, it is a whirl of motion, where fighters with a higher WS are more capable of mastering the moment. An unarmed fighter is at a serious disadvantage in Necromunda, as he can only rely on his WS in HTH, without the presence of a HTH weapon to support his attack/defence.
Attack Dice (Att) In HTH (10th Jan, 2007)
A fighter in HTH gets one Att for each HTH weapon or pistol that he holds in his hands. If a fighter is unarmed, then he does not get any Att. Note that this does not mean that a fighter will not have a Combat Score (CS). It means that his CS will only consist of WS + Modifiers. Fighters that have an increased Att characteristic more than 1, will receive an extra Att for each point more than 1, if they are armed with a HTH weapon or pistol.
Example: A starting fighter is armed only with a knife. During HTH he rolls 1 Att, so his CS will be 1D6 + 3(WS) + Modifiers.
Example: A starting fighter is unarmed. During HTH he does not roll any Att, so his CS will be 3(WS) + Modifiers.
Example: An experienced fighter with a natural Att characteristic of 2 is foolishly unarmed. During HTH he does not roll any Att, as he does not have a weapon to attack with. His CS will be WS + Modifiers.
Example: An experienced fighter with a natural Att characteristic of 2 is armed with a sword and a knife. During HTH he rolls 3 Att, so his CS will be max(3D6) + WS + Modifiers.
Example: A starting fighter is armed only with a lasgun. A lasgun is not a HTH weapon, so he does not have any HTH weapons to use in HTH. During HTH he does not roll any Att, so his CS will be 3(WS) + Modifiers.
Example: A starting fighter is armed with a lasgun and a knife. During HTH he rolls 1 Att, so his CS will be 1D6 + 3(WS) + Modifiers.
Example: A Scavvy Mutant with three arms is armed with an autopistol in each hand. During HTH he rolls 3 Att, so his CS will be max(3D6) + 3(WS) + Modifiers.
Carrying Weapons (11th Jan, 2007)
The rules are in error when they state that a fighter may have any number of weapons. This is patently absurd, as the fighters are not walking gun racks. The following limitations and restrictions make perfect sense with regards to what a fighter can carry, hold and use in his hands and slung on his body. Ignore all references in the ORB that refer to how many weapons can be held and carried and use the following restrictions instead.
A Basic, Special or Heavy weapon can only be used with two hands. However, they can be carried with one hand if they are not being used. Pistols require one hand to use and they can be slung over a fighter's body when they are not being used.
A maximum of ONE Basic OR Special weapon may be slung over a fighter's back to free up his hands. Heavy weapons can never be slung over a back, as they are too bulky. They must always be carried by one hand, even when not being used.
Massive weapons, chains and flails, can be held in one hand, but they require two hands to use. They can never be slung, they must always be held.
A fighter may carry a mix of HTH weapons and pistols, up to a maximum of one more than the number of hands a fighter has. They can all be slung on his body when they are not being used. This limit does not include massive weapons, chains or flails.
Example: A fighter (with two hands) may use a shotgun in his hands, with a lasgun slung on his back. He may also carry a mix of three pistols and other HTH weapons as he desires. During HTH, he can carry the shotgun with one hand and draw one of his HTH weapons or pistols to use in HTH.
Example: A Heavy Ganger is armed with a heavy stubber, a flamer, an autopistol and a knife. He MUST carry the heavy stubber in one hand. Therefore, if he carries the flamer in his other hand, he will not be able to shoot either weapon, nor can he use any HTH weapons in HTH. If he slings his flamer on his back, then he can use his heavy stubber. He can also carry the heavy stubber in one hand and either use his autopistol or knife in HTH.
Note that a Heavy Ganger (with two hands) with a Heavy weapon WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO USE A BACK-UP BASIC OR SPECIAL WEAPON THAT HE CARRIES! He does not have enough spare hands to hold the Heavy weapons and use the other back-up Basic or Special weapon.
Example: A Scavvy Mutant with three hands may use a blunderbuss in two hands, while he has an autogun on his back. In his other hand he may use a HTH weapon or a pistol. While in HTH combat, he can hold the blunderbuss in one hand and draw another HTH weapon or pistol to use in HTH. He may carry a mix of four pistols and other HTH weapons as he desires and sling the ones that he is not using.
Example: A fighter with two hands is armed with a chain, laspistol, autopistol and knife. He must hold the chain with one hand, but he can choose to use a pistol in his other hand to shoot. During HTH, he may use the chain, which will require two hands, so he must sling the pistol. Or, he can hold the chain (but not use it) and choose to use either a pistol or knife in his other hand. If he only holds the chain, he will get 1 Att from either the pistol or the knife. The chain is a dead-weight as it is not being used. Note, that this fighter could also have a Basic weapon slung on his back, but he would never be able to use it, as he always has to carry the chain with one hand, it can not be slung.
Example: A Scavvy Mutant with three hands is armed with three autopistols, an autogun and a club. He has all of the pistols in his hands, while the autogun is slung. During his shooting phase, he may sling two autopistols so that he can use his autogun if he chooses.
Swapping Weapons (11th Jan, 2007)
At the start of the shooting phase, a fighter can swap and sling any number of weapons into and from his hands as required, provided he does not break any restrictions for carrying his weapons.
At the start of the HTH phase, before HTH begins, a fighter can swap and sling any number of weapons into and from his hands as required, provided he does not break any restrictions for carrying his weapons.
It is not an efficient game mechanic to impose a rule on the number of times a fighter may swap his weapons during a turn. Keeping the rules simple with regards to weapon swaps also keeps in line with a fluff perspective - most fighters in the Underhive are well practised at slinging some weapons, while quickly drawing other weapons to meet sudden threats. If they can't manage that, they struggle to survive!
Disarm Skill (21st Jan, 2007)
The disarm skill is one that is not written well. Ignore the old description and use this one instead.
A fighter armed with a HTH weapon of any type may use this skill against one opponent in HTH at the start of the HTH phase if the opponent is also armed with at least one HTH weapon. Roll a die, on a result of 4+ the opponent randomly loses one HTH weapon that it is using in the HTH combat. This weapon is knocked from the opponent's hands and is temporarily lost nearby. Weapons that are not held in hands (such as a Pit Fighter's arm weapon) can not be disarmed. At the end of the combat, if the opponent is not down, then he can make an Initiative check (rolling under his Initiative) to see if he can recover his weapon(s), with a result of 6 always failing. If he does not recover the weapon(s), then they considered lost and crossed off from the Gang Roster.
Example: A fighter with the disarm skill and a laspistol charges against an opponent armed with a sword and an autopistol. The fighter successfully disarms his opponent, with a random result determining if his opponent loses either the sword or autopistol.
Example: A fighter with the disarm skill and a knife charges against an opponent armed only with a heavy stubber. In this case, the fighter can not use the disarm skill on the opponent, as the heavy stubber is not a HTH weapon.
Example: A fighter with the disarm skill and a knife is charged by an opponent with an autopistol, sword and laspistol. The opponent is holding the sword and autopistol in his hands. The fighter successfully disarms his opponent, with a random result determining that his opponent loses the sword. Note that the laspistol could not be disarmed, as it was not in his hands. At the start of the next combat round, the opponent drew the laspistol to also use in HTH. The fighter successfully disarms his opponent again, with a random result determining that his opponent loses the laspistol. The opponent manages to take the fighter down and put him out of action. At the end of the combat, he fails an Initiative check to find his weapons, so he permanently loses his sword and laspitol, but he still has the autopistol.
Chains and the Parry Skill (21st Jan, 2007)
The rules for using chains are not clear when parries are involved.
Any fighter using a chain can not parry, even if he has the parry skill. Any opponent fighting in HTH against a chain can not use parries, whether they are from swords or skills. Note, that these restrictions only apply if the chain is being used in HTH, rather than just being held.
Example: A Scavvy Mutant with three arms and the parry skill is armed with a chain, a laspistol and an autopistol. During combat, the Scavvy may decide not to use the chain, so he can hold it one hand while he uses the laspistol and autopistol. In this case, he can also use his parry skill against an opponent. Alternatively, he can decide to use the chain, in which case, he has to sling one of the pistols. The other pistol can be held in his spare hand and also used in HTH. However, in this case he can not use his parry skill, as he is using the chain.
Example: A fighter with the parry skill is armed with a chain. He charges an opponent armed with two swords, who also has the parry skill. The chain automatically cancels the parries from both swords and the opponent's parry skill. However, the fighter can not use his own parry skill, as he is using the chain in HTH.
Webpage created on 10th January, 2007.
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