Setting Up The Campaign
RAW ✔️ Book of the Outcast, p64
Setting up an Outlander Campaign is a task that falls to the Arbitrator. To set up the campaign, the Arbitrator must make sure that all the players have founded their gang and chosen the site for their settlement (see page 67). This is best done in a single evening or session where everyone playing in the campaign meets and goes through all the steps of setting up the campaign together and generally gets excited about the fun ahead.
Set Start and End Dates
The Outlander Campaign is divided into six campaign cycles, separated by a single cycle of downtime after the first three cycles, meaning the campaign will last a total of seven cycles. For ease, we have set each cycle as a week, as this is usually how often gaming groups or groups of friends get together to play. However, players can choose for a cycle to represent a longer or shorter period of real time. The first step in setting up the campaign is for the Arbitrator to determine the start date, the end date and when the downtime cycle will fall. They then share this information with the players.
Founding Gangs
Before the campaign begins, each player must found a gang. Each gang has a starting budget of 1,000 credits, and must be created using any gang. This budget can be spent on fighters (following the restrictions in each Gang List) and equipment from that gang's Equipment List; any credits that are not spent are added to the gang's Stash and stored away for later use. A Fighter card must be completed for each fighter in the gang, and a gang roster must be completed to record all of the gang's details.
The Outlander Campaign follows all the usual restrictions and guidelines for gang attributes, fighter attributes and completing a roster.
Starting Your Settlement
During the Outlander Campaign, each gang will have its own settlement that it must grow and protect. At the start of the campaign, these settlements are little more than badzone camps, scraping out an existence away from the more populous regions of the underhive, but with the right materials and time they can become burgeoning hubs of trade and civilisation in an otherwise lawless wilderness.
Each player will need a Settlement Roster sheet (see page 84), or blank piece of paper, to keep track of their settlement. This is done in much the same way as players keep track of their gangs, recording Materials gathered and Structures built. The Settlement Roster sheet also lets the player know what benefits their settlement is providing them from one cycle to the next; the greater their settlement, the greater the yield from its Structures.
The very first thing a player must do when starting their settlement is choose where it will be. This will inform to an extent the Materials it generates, as well as any defences it has should the settlement be attacked. In general, the more desolate the starting location of a settlement the easier it will be to defend, though the poorer its Materials will be. Unless the Arbitrator decides otherwise, players should be allowed to choose where they wish to build their settlements, as this forces them to carefully consider the kind of settlement they wish to grow.
Settlement Locations
There are five different kinds of outland locations players can construct their settlement in, each with its own Benefits and Drawbacks. Each of these sites has three important characteristics: Defence, Resources and Toxicity, each of which have ratings from 1-6.
Defence is used when the settlement is attacked and provides various Benefits for the gang whose settlement is being raided. Resources represent the natural wealth of the location and influence the number of productionrelated buildings that can be built. Finally, Toxicity is a reflection of how dangerous the local environment is. It is worth noting that all outland settlements are toxic in some way, and even the most forgiving are still difficult places to create a town.
All players must choose one of the following locations to build their settlement in. Once a location has been chosen it cannot be changed (except in extreme circumstances) for the duration of the campaign.
Badzones Settlements
Many of the sites that settlements are built in border, or are in, the badzones described in Necromunda: The Book of Peril. If the Arbitrator wishes, many of the rules from that supplement may be used in Outlander Campaigns. Environmental conditions are especially applicable.
Factorum Run Off
Factorum run-off sites are rich in resources but also often highly toxic.
- Defence: 3
- Resources: 6
- Toxicity: 3
Boneyard
Boneyards are places where refuse has gathered over the centuries and can provide rich picking grounds for scavengers. While not as rich in resources as run-off, they are less toxic and therefore safer to work.
- Defence: 4
- Resources: 4
- Toxicity: 4
Ghost Town
These places can be good places to find resources but, as known locations, are harder to hide and defend.
- Defence: 2
- Resources: 5
- Toxicity: 5
The Depths
Building a settlement close to hive bottom is a risky proposition. These locations do, however, offer good defence as they are hard to find and attack.
- Defence: 6
- Resources: 3
- Toxicity: 3
Edge of the Hive
Settlements constructed within the shell of the hive clinging to its skin are very difficult to build, but benefit from the resources of the wastes and protection from its inhabitants.
- Defence: 5
- Resources: 5
- Toxicity: 2
Maps and Environments
While it is not necessary for the Arbitrator to map out exactly where the gang's settlements lie in relation to one another, they may wish to make a map showing the region of the outlands being fought over. The advantages to having a map is that the Arbitrator can use it to show the rise and fall of different settlements, sending copies to the players each cycle so they can see if new settlements have appeared, old ones have vanished or new trade routes have opened up. These maps can be as simple or as complex as the Arbitrator wishes, and could be some names on a piece of paper connected by lines right up to detailed grid or hex maps showing all manner of information from underhive perils to hive infrastructure.
Another use for maps is for helping the players and the Arbitrator choose opponents for battles and the environments they might fight in. Players can see which gangs are next to their settlement and the kind of terrain they might have to battle it out in; this can inform the terrain used for the players' battlefields and whether a gang needs to travel through hostile territory to reach their intended target.
Starting Structures
In essence, a settlement is a collection of Structures, recorded by the player, that provide their gang with benefits at the start of each campaign week. There are three kinds of Structures a settlement can have: Building Structures, Defence Structures and Supply Structures. Building Structures generate a wide variety of bonuses. Defence Structures keep the settlement safe and come into play when the settlement is attacked, directly influencing how the battlefield is set up. Supply Structures provide Materials, namely Power, Sustenance, and Salvage, which are vital in the creation of buildings and defences.
All settlements start with two Structures: an Isotopic Fuel Rod and a Water Still for free, though additional ones can be purchased at the cost listed on page 85. These are both Supply Structures and provide the settlement with Materials. At the start of the campaign, players will receive these Materials and may spend them to create new Structures before their first battle. All other Structures must be built by harvesting Materials during battles.
For more details on Structures and Materials, see Settlements and Structures.
Expanding Your Settlement
During each post-battle sequence, gangs can expand their settlements, provided they have the Materials to do so. After the Receive Rewards step of the post-battle sequence, players may select a new Structure for their settlement provided they have the Materials to pay for it and meet any other requirements it might have – such as the settlement already having other Structures or certain Hangers-on being part of the player's gang. The player simply pays the Material cost for the Structure, removing the Materials from their Settlement Roster sheet, then adds it to their settlement. There is no limit to the number of Structures that can be added to a settlement during a single post-battle sequence, provided the requirements are met. Structures can also be added systematically, so in the same post-battle sequence a player may build their Structures in any order to ensure they meet the requirements needed.
The location of the settlement also limits its Structures. For instance, a settlement built in the Depths will never be able to match the number and productivity of Supply Structures in one built near a Factorum Run-off, though equally, the one in the Depths will boast better defences. When expanding a settlement, players have the following limits dependent on location:
- A settlement may not have more Defence Structures than its Defence rating.
- A settlement may not have more Building Structures than its Toxicity rating.
- A settlement may not have more Supply Structures than its Resource rating.
For a full list of Structures and their requirements, see the tables in Settlements and Structures.