Skaven of Clan Pestilens

Grade: 1b
Source: Town Cryer #29 (PDF)
Setting: Mordheim

Lore

"Jarod glanced down the street... All seemed clear. He could not immediately tell why, but he was sure someone, or something was there. Maybe it was just that strange odour hanging around the ruins here. He shivered, although Mordheim seemed to have its own special smell, this made him think of death."

"A sudden noise made him jump up and bring his crossbow to bear on the still empty street. A strange mist started to creep in and soft squeaks could be made out. As Jarod sounded the alarm, two figures rushed towards him. Dressed in tattered cloaks, they wielded what looked like a spiked censer. Almost suffocating in the bellowing smoke, he fired his crossbow. Then, just before the spiked smoking ball smashed his skull, he saw two red gleaming eyes in a disease ridden skaven face."

In the Old World sickness and plague are a fact of life and many people blame rats for spreading contagion. They are more right than they know.

The Skaven of Clan Pestilens revel in filth and foulness. Hardened by exposure to diseases not even imagined by man.kind, they use their disgusting knowledge against their enemies.

Choice of warriors

A Clan Pestilens band must include a minimum of 3 models. You start with 500 warp tokens to form your warband with. The warband can have a maximum of 15 models.

• Plague Priest: The warband must include a single Plague Priest as the leader.
• Pestilens Sorcerer: The warband may include a single Pestilens Sorcerer.
• Plague Monks: The warband may include up to two Plague Monks.
• Monk Initiates: The warband may include up to two Monk Initiates.
• Plague Novices: The warband may include any number of Plague Novices.
• Giant Rats: Your warband may include any number of Giant Rats.
• Rat Ogre: Your warband may include a single Rat Ogre.

Starting experience

• A Plague Priest starts with 20 experience.
• A Pestilens Sorcerer and Plague Monks start with 8 experience.
• Monk Initiates and Plague Novices start with 0 experience.
• Henchmen start with 0 experience.

Clan Pestilens Skill Table

	Combat	Shooting	Academic	Strength	Speed	Special
Plague Priest	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Pestilens Sorcerer			✓		✓	✓
Plague Monks	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Monk Initiates	✓	✓			✓	✓

Clan Pestilens Special Skills

Members of Clan Pestilens may choose to use the following Skill list instead of any of the standard Skill tables available to them.

black hunger

The Skaven can draw upon the dreaded Black Hunger, the fighting frenzy which gives him unnatural strength and speed but can ravage him from inside. The Skaven Hero may declare at the beginning of his turn that he is using this skill. The Hero may add +1 attack and +D3" to the total move to his profile for the duration of his own turn but will suffer D3 S3 hits with no armour save possible at the end of the turn.

censer bearer

Only a Clan Pestilens member with the Black Hunger special skill may choose the Censer Bearer special skill. A Clan Pestilens member with this skill is called Censer Bearer. He gains the special rule frenzy and the only weapon he may use in close combat is a censer.

rotten body

A Clan Pestilens member with this skill has grown accustomed to poisons, diseases and the fog of death emanated by censers. He is now immune to poison and diseases and, if take out of action because of a failed test by wielding a censer, he will not have to roll for injuries at the end of the battle, recovering automatically.

contagious

Only a Clan Pestilens member with the Rotten Body special skill may choose the Contagious special skill. A model who inflicts an injury in close combat that send the contagious member of the Clan Pestilens out of acion must take a Toughness test. Roll a D6. If the result is higher than the Toughness of the model taking the test, he will suffer an automatic wound. A result of 6 always inflicts a wound. Models of undead and possessed never take this test.

ignore pain

Only a Clan Pestilens member with the Resilient strength skill may choose the Ignore Pain special skill. A Clan Pestilens member with this skill treats "Stunned" injuries as "Knocked Down".

Skaven equipment lists

The following lists are used by the Skaven to pick their equipment.

Heroes equipment lists

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Club	3 gc
Sword	10 gc
Spear	10 gc
Halberd	10 gc
Flail	15 gc
Disease Dagger	15 gc
Censer	40 gc

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Sling	2 gc

Armour

Item	Cost
Shield	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc
Light armour	20 gc

Henchmen

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Club	3 gc
Sword	10 gc
Spear	10 gc

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Sling	2 gc

Armour

Item	Cost
Light armour	20 gc
Shield	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc

Special Equipment

This warband has access to the following special equipment when purchasing items from the Trading Post, outside their starting list:

Censer

Cost: 40 gc
Availability: Rare 9

The censer is a hollow spiked metal ball attached to a long chain and is swung like a flail. A plague infested shard of warpstone burns inside the ball and emits pestilential fumes that nauseate the opponents and may turn the wielder of the censer into a difficult target to shoot at.

Range: Close Combat
Strength: As user +2

Special Rules

Heavy: The +2 Strength bonus applies only to the first turn of hand to hand combat.

Two-handed: A censer requires two hands to be used and the wielder cannot use a shield, buckler or additional weapon in close combat.

Fog of Death: A model hit by the censer must take a Toughness test. Roll a D6. If the result is higher than the Toughness of the model taking the test, he will suffer an automatic wound in addition to the censer hit. A result of 6 always inflicts a wound. Also the model wielding the censer must take the test and will suffer a wound with a result of 6. Models of undead and possessed are immune to the fog of death and do not take the test. If the model wielding the censer also has the fog-enhancing warpstone shards, he becomes a difficult target to shoot at, and models targeting him with missile weapons suffer a -1 penalty to hit.

Disease Dagger

Cost: 15 gc
Availability: Rare 8

This dagger is permanently covered with a disgusting and moulderish layer of green ooze that may infect those that are hit with terrible diseases.

Range: Close Combat
Strength: As user

Special Rules

+1 Enemy Armour Save: Daggers are not the best weapons to use for penetrating an enemy model's armour. An enemy wounded by a dagger gains a +1 bonus to his armour save, and a 6+ armour save if he has none normally.

Infecting: a natural 6 on an hit roll means that the model hit has been infected with the disease and that he must take a Toughness test. Roll a D6. If the result is higher than the Toughness of the model taking the test, he will suffer an automatic wound in addition to the dagger hit. Models of undead and possessed are immune to this disease and do not take the test. A model wielding two Disease Daggers gains a +1 Attack bonus for wielding two weapons and there is no further effect, except that the chances of rolling an infecting 6 on the hit rolls are higher.

Clan Pestilens Banner

Cost: 10 gc
Availability: Rare 5

Special Rules

A model within 12" of the standard bearer of the band, usually a Plague Monk or a Monk Initiate, may reroll once every failed all alone test. The staff of the Clan Pestilens banner counts as a two-handed weapon. A warband may have a single Clan Pestilens banner at any one time. (Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the normal Banner).

Fog-enhancing Warpstone Shards

Cost: 100 + D6 x 10 gc
Availability: Rare 9

When put inside a censer these warpstone shards have the peculiar characteristic of making the resulting clouds of pestilential fumes thicker than usual.

Special Rules

The wielder of a censer who also have some fog-enhancing warpstone shards is a difficult target to shoot at, and other models suffer a -1 penalty to hit when targeting him with missile weapons (Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the Elven Cloak).

Liber Bubonicus

Cost: 200 + D6 x 25 gc
Availability: Rare 12

Special Rules

If a Clan Pestilens warband includes a Pestilens Sorcerer, he may use the Liber Bubonicus to permanently learn an additional spell randomly chosen from the Horned Rat spell list. A Plague Priest may use the Liber Bubonicus to learn the Horned Rat magic if he has the Magical Aptitude skill: that means he would gain the special rule "Spellcaster: is a spellcaster and may cast spells from the Horned Rat spell list." and permanently learn a randomly chosen spell from the Horned Rat spell List. The Liber Bubonicus may be used a single time, and a warband cannot have and use more than one Liber Bubonicus in a given campaign (Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the Tome of Magic).

Arcane Lore

This item replaces the Tome of Magic for Skaven of Clan Pestilens. For the Tome of Magic, the skill Arcane Lore is used to learn Lesser Magic, it is assumed this was meant for the Liber Bubonicus as well. For gameplay purposes it matters little as the warrior is still required to learn an academic skill.

Liturgicus Infecticus

Cost: 30 + 2D6 gc
Availability: Rare 8

Special Rules

At the beginning of a turn, or just before taking a Rout Test, the warband may chant the Liturgicus Infecticus, and benefit of a +1 Leadership bonus until the end of the turn. (Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the War horn).

Poisons and Drugs

Vial of Pestilens

Cost: 25 + 2D6 gc
Availability: Rare 9

This small crystal vial contains an extremely potent and rapid disease. A single sniff is enough to melt the airways and leave the victim drowning in its own blood. It is, however, short lived and only remains dangerous for a few seconds before it is neutralised in the air.

Special Rules

The vial may be opened and shoved in the face of the model in base contact that just took the Skaven Out of Action. The opponent must roll equal to or under its Toughness or automatically be taken Out of Action, no save is allowed. If the opponent succumbs to the disease, he didn't manage to go through with the attack and the Skaven is only Stunned not Out of Action. The vial may be used once.

Scroll of the Rat Familiar

Cost: 25 + D6 gc
Availability: Rare 8

Special Rules

The Scroll of Familiar Rat has a spell inscribed on it, usable by a Pestilens Sorcerer as many times as he wants. If the warband includes at least one Giant Rat, the spell may be cast on it before the combat begins, transforming it in a Rat Familiar. If his Rat Familiar is within 6", the sorcerer may reroll once in a game the dice to overcome the difficulty of a spell. A sorcerer may only have one Rat Familiar at any one time, it is an henchman and it counts normally toward the maximum number of models permitted co the warband. If the sorcerer dies, his Rat Familiar turns back to Giant Rat form. (Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the normal Familiar).

Rat Familiar:

The Rat Familiar is a Giant Rat enchanted with the Scroll of the Rat Familiar.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	6	2	0	3	3	1	4	1	4

Enchanted Animal: The Rat Familiar earns experience as an henchman. A result of 10 - 12 on the henchmen advancement table, instead of the promotion to hero status gives as a result "Improved spellcasting: if the sorcerer is within 6" of the Rat Familiar, he gain a +1 bonus when rolling dice to overcome the difficulty of a spell. This ability is cumulative."

Warpstone Amulet

Cost: 10 gc
Availability: Rare 5

Special Rules

The owner of a warpstone amulet may reroll a single die during the battle or, if not out of combat at the end of the game, a single die when looking for wyrdstone shards (Clan Pestilens members use this item instead of the Rabbit's Foot).

heroes

1 Plague Priest

85 gold crowns to hire

The Plague Priest is one of the most disgusting disciples of the corrupted Clan Pestilens brotherhood. As leader of a small band of devoted to the Clan, the contagion and the wide spreading of diseases are his main goals in the streets of Mordheim.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	5	4	4	4	4	1	5	1	7

Weapons/Armour: The Plague Priest may be equipped as desired from the Clan Pestilens equipment list.

Special Rules

Leader: Any warrior within 6" of the Plague Priest may use his Leadership instead of his own.

0 – 1 Pestilens Sorcerer

45 gold crowns to hire

The Pestilens Sorcerer is a twisted alchemist, always looking for new and more terrible forms of contagion, under the vigilant supervision of his dreadful master, the Horned Rat.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	5	3	3	3	3	1	4	1	6

Weapons/Armour: The Pestilens Sorcerer may be equipped as desired from the Clan Pestilens equipment list.

Special Rules

Spellcaster: The Pestilens Sorcerer is a spellcaster and may cast spells from the Horned Rat spell list.

0 – 2 Plague Monks

45 gold crowns to hire

The Plague Monks are among the most fanatic and dangerous members of Clan Pestilens, to them is usually given the honour to chant the Liturgicus Infecticus in combat.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	5	4	3	3	4	1	5	1	6

Weapons/Armour: Plague Monks may be equipped as desired from the Clan Pestilens equipment list.

0 – 2 Monk Initiates

20 gold crowns to hire

The Monk Initiates are young skavens devoted to the Clan Pestilens discipline, waiting to be promoted as true Plague Monks.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	5	2	3	2	2	1	4	1	4

Weapons/Armour: Monk Initiates may be equipped as desired from the Clan Pestilens equipment list.

henchmen

Plague Novices

20 gold crowns to hire

They are the lower rank of Clan Pestilens. They infest the Mordheim streets, coming just before the terrible Plague Monks and their clouds of pestilential fumes. Dream of every Plague Novice is to be chosen someday to be a Monk, and to be given the privilege of chanting the Liturgicus Infecticus.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	5	3	3	3	3	1	4	1	5

Weapons/Armour: Plague Novices may be armed with weapons and armour chosen from the Henchmen Equipment list.

Giant rats

15 gold crowns to buy

Giant contagious rats follow the Clan Pestilens during its battles.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	6	2	0	3	3	1	4	1	4

Weapons/Armour: None. Giant Rats never use any armour or weapons.

Experience: Giant Rats are animals and do not gain experience.

0 – 1 Rat ogre

210 gold crowns to buy

These terrible monsters are often chosen as personal bodyguards by Skaven of higher ranks.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	6	3	3	5	5	3	4	3	4

Weapons/Armour: Jaws, claws and brute force! Rat Ogres can never use weapons or armour.

Special Rules

Fear: Rat Ogres are so frightening they cause fear.

Stupidity: A Rat Ogre is subject to stupidity unless a Skaven Hero is within 6" of it.

Experience: Rat Ogres do not gain experience.

Large Target: Rat Ogres are Large Targets as defined in the shooting rules.