Using The Campaign
Source: Necromunda: Apocrypha Necromunda (2024)
The baleful gaze of the Lord of Skin and Sinew has fallen upon Hive Arcos, driving its people to savage hunger and bloody madness. Gangs must choose the role they are to play in the carnage to follow, either clinging to the ideals of the Imperium and the rule of law, or giving in to their basest instincts and surrendering themselves to the whims of the Blood God!
The Uprising Campaign is a complete narrative campaign that can be used alongside the Necromunda rules. It incorporates many of the existing Necromunda campaign rules, adding additional special rules to capture the desperate decline of a hive in the grips of a Chaos uprising and the breakdown of Imperial law.
In the Uprising Campaign, players take sides, allying themselves with the Imperial authorities, offering their allegiance to the Dark Gods, or (at least in the beginning) attempting to remain neutral, looking out solely for their own interests. As the campaign progresses and the cannibal apocalypse unfolds, the power of one side or the other will wane, until a breaking point is reached, and a final battle to determine the fate of the hive is played.
Whilst the Uprising Campaign is designed to allow players to recreate the events within the doomed Hive Arcos, players can use these rules to represent a similar, small scale uprising in almost any hive. Players may even wish to play an Uprising Campaign with gangs they have used in another campaign, representing such dire periods of civil unrest on a more local scale.
The Arbitrator
The Uprising Campaign requires one of the players to take on the role of an Arbitrator. It is the Arbitrator’s job to keep track of victories, offer guidance for the players and control any random events or elements. In the Uprising Campaign, the Arbitrator’s responsibilities include:
- Organising the players and making a list of all of the gangs involved in the campaign.
- Keeping the players informed as to the progression of the campaign, and whether Chaos or Order are in Ascendancy (see page 80).
- Deciding when each phase of the campaign begins and ends, as well as when the overall campaign begins and ends.
The Gangs
Hive rebellions and daemonic incursions are notoriously indifferent when it comes to who they affect, and all kinds of local factions can find themselves caught up in the fighting. The Uprising Campaign can be played with any Necromunda gangs – and guidelines for including different kinds of gangs are presented in the Setting up the Campaign section on page 76.
Uprising Territories
While the focus of the Uprising Campaign is the struggle between Order and Chaos, Territories still play a large part in the conflict. These represent the turf controlled by the gangs and provide them with a steady supply of resources along with various other benefits. Players begin the campaign in control of one or more Territories, and have the opportunity to capture various Territories as the campaign progresses.
In the Uprising Campaign, each Territory can be under the influence of Order, or under the influence of Chaos. When the campaign begins, all Territories are under the influence of Order, but as the campaign progresses they can be Ruined and come under the influence of Chaos, representing the gradual corruption of the hive. The Boons gangs gain from Territories change depending upon which influence the Territory is under (see page 88).
Pre- and Post-Battle Sequence
The Uprising Campaign uses all of the standard rules for the pre- and post-battle sequences presented in the Necromunda Core Rulebook, including the gaining and spending of XP.
Winning
Victory in the Uprising Campaign goes beyond the final domination of Chaos or Order. At the end of the campaign, the Arbitrator awards various Triumphs (see page 86) based upon such things as the most victories for Order or Chaos, the most people consumed or saved, or which gang has the highest Reputation.