Running The Campaign

RAW ✔️ The Aranthian Succession – Cinderak Burning, p61

The Succession Campaign is broken down into two main parts, divided by a period of Downtime allowing gangs to lick their wounds and consolidate their strength before the final, bloody confrontation is played out. As a guideline, each part runs for three cycles in which battles are played and victories are tallied. At the end of each cycle (as determined by the Arbitrator), the effects of the players' battles are applied to the campaign.

The Succession Campaign is divided into three phases, all of which run for a fixed length of real time:

1. The Great Darkness (Three Cycles)
2. Downtime (One Cycle)
3. Spark of Rebellion (Three Cycles)

Each phase is broken down as follows:

1. The Great Darkness Phase (3 Cycles)

The first part of the Succession Campaign follows the gangs as they try to consolidate their position while cut off from their House and survive the Great Darkness. During this phase, the following rules apply:

• Gangs may no longer re-equip from their House Equipment Lists during the post-battle sequence. In addition, gangs cannot recruit new fighters, crew or Hangers-on.
• Increase the Rarity of all items in the Trading Post and Black Market by 4.
• All Sector Mechanicus and Zone Mortalis battles have the Pitch Black rules in effect.
• Ash Waste battles take place during the Changing Seasons.
• Only unclaimed Sympathisers may be claimed as rewards for gang battles, unless there are no unclaimed Sympathisers (see Issuing and Accepting Challenges).

2. Downtime (1 Cycle)

During Downtime, gangs have a chance to recover and regroup, taking the opportunity to re-equip, fix up wounded fighters and repair and upgrade vehicles having been reconnected to the greater network of their House. Exceptionally bold and active players might put their gangs through a special side battle (see page 63) if they just can't be away from the roar of guns and chainblades for that long.

The Effects of Downtime

After their last battle of the Great Darkness phase, players complete the following steps at the end of the post-battle sequence:

A. Fighters Recover B. Captives are Returned C. Experienced Juves and Prospects are Promoted D. Fresh Recruitment E. Declare Allegiance

A Fighters Recover

Any In Recovery boxes on the gang roster are cleared.

B Captives Are Returned

Any Captured fighters are released. The gang that had Captured them receives half their credits value (rounding up to the nearest 5 credits).

C Experienced Juves and Prospects Are Promoted

If any gang contains any Juves or Prospects with five or more Advancements, they may be promoted. Their characteristics and credits value are unaffected, but their Type is changed as described in their fighter entry.

D Fresh Recruitment

All gangs gain 250 credits to spend on new equipment from their Gang Equipment List or to recruit new fighters, vehicles and/or Hangers-on. These credits must be spent now and cannot be added to the gang's Stash. Gangs may supplement these credits with extra credits from their Stash.

E Declare Allegiance

All gangs must declare their allegiance for either Lady Credo's Rebellion, the Imperial House or attempt to remain unaligned. There are no limitations as to which gangs can declare for which side; in the heat of a civil war, any ally is acceptable!

Choosing Sides

With the power vacuum left by Lord Helmawr's attempted assassination, gangs swiftly find themselves either defending the status quo, or joining Lady Credo's revolution in the pursuit of more power. In the Succession Campaign, two opposed forces are battling for the fate of Necromunda – the instruments of Lord Helmawr's authority representing the Imperial House, and those aligned with the revolution representing Lady Credo's Rebellion. During Downtime in a Succession Campaign, each player must decide if they will side with either the Imperial House, Lady Credo's Rebellion or try to remain Unaligned. Each comes with its own benefits as detailed as follows, though be warned, no gang can stand on the sidelines forever and eventually Unaligned players will need to choose between one side or the other.

Benefits of the Imperial House

Gangs aligned with the Imperial House gain the following benefits:

• Emissaries of House Helmawr: During the pre-battle sequence roll a D6, on a 4+ the gang may recruit one of the following Dramatis Personae for no credit cost ignoring any restrictions on who the Dramatis Personae will join – they will leave at the end of the battle regardless of any other rules. Cyniss, Chymist Mother (Necromunda: House of Blades see page 72) Lady Haera, 13th Daughter of Lord Helmawr (see page 54)
• Deep Pockets: When generating Income from Sympathisers, the gang adds an additional D6x10 credits to their Stash.

Benefits of Unaligned

Gangs who have yet to choose their Allegiance gain the following benefits:

• Look Out for our Own: During the pre-battle sequence roll a D6, on a 4+ the gang may recruit one of the following Dramatis Personae for no credit cost ignoring any restrictions on who the Dramatis Personae will join – they will leave at the end of the battle regardless of any other rules. Gorshiv Hammerfist (see page 73) Djangar 'Gunfists' (Necromunda: House of Chains see page 129) Margo Merdena, Drysea Roadboss (Necromunda: House of Iron see page 72) Vespa 'Minx' Merdena (see page 76)
• We Stand for Ourselves: If the opposing gang's Leader is taken Out of Action by a friendly model, the model gains an extra D3 Experience points in addition to any other Experience gains.
• Take a Side: During the post-battle sequence the gang may choose to align themselves with either Lady Credo's Rebellion or the Imperial House. If the gang only controls Gang Sympathisers then they must choose to align themselves with one of the factions.

Benefits of Lady Credo's Rebellion

Gangs aligned with Lady Credo's Rebellion gain the following benefits:

• Emissaries of the Rebellion: During the pre-battle sequence roll a D6, on a 4+ the gang may recruit one of the following Dramatis Personae for no credit cost ignoring any restrictions on who the Dramatis Personae will join – they will leave at the end of the battle regardless of any other rules. Athera and Stix (page 74) Lady Credo, Rebel Lord (Necromunda: Book of the Outcast page 107)
• Stars in the Ascendency: Each time the gang wins a battle they gain 1 extra Reputation in addition to any granted by the scenario.

Side Battles

Side battles are special battles fought during Downtime. While most players will be happy with taking a break for a week and getting ready for the Spark of Rebellion phase, there may be a few who can't go a week without their fix of gang warfare. To satisfy this need, an Arbitrator can run one or more side battles during Downtime. Side battles are fought after the effects of Downtime are applied. Side battles should, as a rule, be unusual and have no effect on the campaign as a whole. They are a great opportunity for the Arbitrator to design a custom scenario, to use the Arbitrator tools from the Necromunda Rulebook, or to play some of the narrative scenarios. Models can earn Experience and suffer Lasting Injuries or Lasting Damage from a side battle, but should not gain or earn Income, or gain credits or Reputation as a reward for a side battle. Instead, the Arbitrator should create a special reward for the victor or victors of a side battle, such as an unpredictable piece of archeotech, a unique chem, or a custom gang tactic.

note

Balancing Lady Credo's Rebellion and The Imperial House

The Succession Campaign has been designed to work with any mix of Lady Credo's Rebellion, the Imperial House and Unaligned gangs; it is also just as possible to find the agents of the Imperial House fighting amongst themselves to increase their personal power as it is for the servants of Lady Credo's Rebellion to squabble over who should rule. However, as a guideline, a Succession Campaign should include at least one gang aligned with Lady Credo's Rebellion and one aligned with the Imperial House, with any number of Unaligned gangs. This allows for sides to form naturally over the course of the campaign, with gangs either choosing to fight for Lady Credo's Rebellion or maintain the power of the Imperial House.

Other alternatives include all gangs but one being aligned with either Lady Credo's Rebellion or the Imperial House – representing a lone campaigner for freedom from oppression, or the last bastion of the status quo fighting to keep upstarts in their place.

3. Spark of Rebellion Phase (3 Cycles)

The second part of the Succession Campaign sees gangs defend their Sympathisers against their rivals, as well as win over those controlled by other gangs. During this phase the following rules apply:

• There is no restriction to adding more models to the Gang Roster.
• Items in the Trading Post and Black Market revert to their usual Rarity ratings.
• The Pitch Black rules are no longer automatically in effect for all Sector Mechanicus and Zone Mortalis battles.
• Ash Waste battles take place during the Season of Ash.
• Only controlled Sympathisers may be fought over and claimed as a reward by the victor of a gang battle (see Issuing and Accepting Challenges).

Winning

Victory in the Succession Campaign can be measured in many ways, although simply surviving the effects of the Great Darkness and the start of a civil war is an achievement in itself. At the end of the campaign, the Arbitrator awards Triumphs to the players depending on how their gangs have performed during the campaign. Some of these reflect the overall battle for control of Necromunda, while others are more personal and reward gangs who have earned the most impressive reputation or weathered the Great Darkness the best.

The Arbitrator should have a look at the Triumphs at the start of the Succession Campaign as some of them require keeping track of how many battles each gang has won, and of which kind, as these will need to be recorded. Likewise, the Arbitrator might like to make the players aware of the different Triumphs at the beginning of the campaign so that each player can decide if there is one or more they wish to try to achieve. Below is a list of the Succession Campaign Triumphs:

Triumphs

Triumph	Condition
Champions of House Helmawr	The player's gang has won the most scenarios for the Imperial House.
Champions of the Rebellion	The player's gang has won the most scenarios for Lady Credo's Rebellion.
Survivor	The player's gang who suffered the fewest deaths amongst their fighters during the Great Darkness phase.
Hoarder of Coin	The player's gang with the highest Wealth at the end of the campaign.
Leader of Men	The player's gang which controlled the most Territories at the end of the campaign.
Legendary Status	The player's gang with the highest Reputation at the end of the campaign.