House Catallus
Source: House of Artifice
Benefits
Noble Intrigues: Any gang may form an Alliance with House Catallus. In addition, House Catallus does not care if a gang is Law Abiding or Outlaw – what matters is that the Alliance benefits House Catallus!
Strong Alliance (House Van Saar): The first time a gang belonging to House Van Saar is required to Test the Alliance (see page 75) with this ally, do not roll. Instead count the result as Disquiet.
Faceless Allies: House Catallus excels at making people disappear from Imperial records, or covering up their misdeeds. When attempting to sell to the Guilders any Captive fighter taken from a gang that is allied to House Catallus, enemy gangs gain no bounty (though they may still sell the fighter, effectively removing them from the campaign).
In addition, once each Campaign week, if a gang allied to House Catallus would be declared Outlaw for any reason, they may choose to ignore this change in alignment and remain a Law Abiding gang, though the gang must then Test the Alliance immediately.
Carnival of Death: During the pre-battle sequence, the gang may add a House Catallus Carnival to their gang. If the gang is facing an enemy crew with any fighter worth 250 credits or more, they must include a House Catallus Carnival, unless they choose to Test the Alliance instead.
Drawbacks
Debts to be Paid: During the post-battle sequence of any battle in which a House Catallus Carnival took part, and if the gang contains any fighters with the Gang Fighter (Juve) special rule, roll a D6 for each. On a roll of 1, the House demands that fighter be turned over to serve as a Mindfrayed. The fighter and all of their weapons and Wargear are immediately deleted from the gang roster. The gang may choose to ignore this roll and keep all of its fighters, but if they do they must Test the Alliance.
The Invisible Truth: Once a gang has made an alliance with House Catallus, make a note on the gang’s roster and do not delete this note even if the alliance is later broken. From this point onwards, should the gang ever attempt to form an alliance (with any organisation), roll a D6. On a result of 1, the gang immediately forms a new alliance with House Catallus instead of the alliance they were about to form.
House Catallus Carnival
Composition
A House Catallus Carnival consists of one Masked Killer and one Mindfrayed.
House Catallus Carnival Special Rules
Many Faces, One Purpose: During the Choose Crew step of the pre-battle sequence, if the scenario uses the Random (X) Crew selection method, the gang may instead choose one of their fighters to be included in the Crew in the place of one selected at random. If, however, the gang chooses to use this special rule, then they may not include the House Catallus Carnival in their crew for this battle. This special rule takes precedence over the “Here to Help” special rule.
A Band Apart: Members of House Catallus take care of their own, especially valued representatives and their favoured attendants. A House Catallus Carnival will remain separate and aloof from the gang they are working beside, disappearing during the post-battle sequence to tend to their wounds. If a House Catallus Carnival fighter goes Out of Action during a battle, there is no need to roll for Lasting Injury; they are considered to have rolled 12-26 Out Cold.
“Here to Help”: Unlike other fighters, a House Catallus Carnival is not counted during the Choose Crew step of the pre-battle sequence. Instead, at the end of this step, these fighters may (and, in some cases, must) be added to the crew, regardless of the crew selection method in use. This may take the number of fighters in a starting crew above the number specified by the scenario.
Masked Killer
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Cl | Wil | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6” | 3+ | 3+ | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2+ | 3 | 7+ | 5+ | 6+ | 7+ |
Skills: Dodge.
Weapons: Master-crafted power sword and laspistol, or a master-crafted long rifle and laspistol.
Wargear: Mesh armour, photo-goggles, infra-sight.
Special Rules: Catallus Carnival Hierarchy (Leader), Artistry of Murder.
Special Rules
Catallus Carnival Hierarchy (Leader): During a battle, should this fighter pass a Bottle test, friendly Catallus Carnival fighters without this special rule that have not already taken a Bottle test this round and that are within 12" of this fighter will automatically pass their Bottle test for that round.
Artistry of Murder: A Masked Killer is a master of violence, able to land killing blows upon foes as easily as other people might brush insects from their clothes. All weapons wielded by a Masked Killer count as having the Shock trait. In addition, when rolling the Injury dice to determine the effects of their attacks, a Masked Killer may re-roll any results of a Flesh Wound.
Equipment
The Masked Killer is armed with a master-crafted power sword and laspistol, or a master-crafted long rifle and laspistol. The Masked Killer counts as being equipped with an infra-sight and photo-goggles, and wears mesh armour.
Mindfrayed
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld | Cl | Wil | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6” | 4+ | 5+ | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4+ | 2 | 9+ | 10+ | 5+ | 8+ |
Skills: Beserker.
Weapons: 2x flail.
Special Rules: Indentured Fighter, Infectious Terror.
Special Rules
Indentured Fighter: If the Masked Killer is removed from play for any reason, the Mindfrayed, without guidance, will automatically behave as if the crew they are part of has failed a Bottle test, regardless of how many fighters in total have been removed from play.
Infectious Terror: When a Mindfrayed becomes Pinned, all fighters within 6" that are Standing and Active (friend or foe) with the exception only of a Masked Killer (friend or foe) must immediately make a Cool check. If this check is passed, nothing happens. If, however, this check is failed, the fighter immediately becomes Pinned. In addition, should a Mindfrayed ever fail a Nerve test, all fighters (friend or foe) within 6" of the Mindfrayed must also take a Nerve test or become Broken. While a Mindfrayed is Broken, fighters within 6" of it may not themselves recover from being Broken.