37. Fungal Horror
RAW ✔️ The Book of Peril, p84
Many of the Badzones Environments, such as the Sump Sea or the Stygian Depths, can have a big impact on how a scenario plays out. Sometimes, this will mean a little bit of planning on the part of the players to decide how the hazardous environment fits in with the scenario and how they set up the battlefield. For instance, when playing the Toll Bridge scenario over a Sump Sea, the bridge is most likely a central gantry between two structures and the 'river' below it represents an especially deep part of the sea or an especially toxic one. In scenarios which use specific terrain or markers, such as the Manufactorum Raid or Fungal Horror, if an area of the board is impassable or hazardous, such as the ground in Stygian Depths, then the terrain or markers should be put in places where the fighters can reach and interact with them.
Gangs fight to survive a rapidly growing jungle.
Battlefield
This scenario uses the Battlefield Set-up guidelines, as described on page 117 of the Necromunda Rulebook and may either be a Zone Mortalis or a Sector Mechanicus battlefield.
Crews
This scenario uses the standard rules for choosing a crew, as described on page 118 of the Necromunda Rulebook. Players use the Custom Selection (10) method to choose their crew.
Deployment
This scenario uses the standard rules for deployment from page 119 of the Necromunda Rulebook.
Growing Horror
The battlefield is rapidly becoming overgrown by a fungal horror, and with each round, the Carnivorous Plant spreads. At the beginning of the game, place a marker in the centre of the board – if playing a Zone Mortalis game, choose the central-most tile. This marker represents the fungal horror and can be a token, piece of themed terrain or anything else appropriate. The marked tile, or the area within 12" of the marker, is overgrown with writhing questing vines, and any fighters either beginning or ending their activations in it risk being coated in flesh-eating spores – treat this the same as catching on fire just as if they had been hit by a weapon with the Blaze Trait. In addition, due to clouds of spores, line of sight though overgrown areas is limited to 6", and fighters within the area may not take more than one Move action during their activation unless they are equipped with a respirator. Fighters that are Seriously Injured in overgrown areas go Out of Action.
In each End phase, there is a chance that the fungal horror will spread. The player with Priority should roll a D6 for each Fungal Horror marker already on the board. On a 4 or more, the player then rolls a Scatter dice to determine the direction that the horror spreads in. In a game of Zone Mortalis, the closest tile to the marker in the direction indicated becomes overgrown – place a new marker on it. In a game of Sector Mechanicus, place a new marker 12" from the existing marker. If this would cause the marker to be placed off the board, place it in contact with the board edge instead.
Tactics Cards
Each player may choose two random Tactics cards from their Tactics deck. If, during the pre-battle sequence, the total Credits value of fighters in one player's starting crew is less than their opponent's, they may randomly draw an additional Tactics card for each full 100 credits of difference.
Ending the Battle
If either player has no fighters on the board at the end of a round, the game ends. The game also ends if there are nine or more Fungal Horror markers on the board at the start of the End phase.
Victory
If one gang has fighters on the board at the end of the game, they are the winner. Otherwise, the game is a draw.
Rewards (Campaigns Only)
Experience
Each fighter that took part in the battle earns 1 XP.
Reputation
If one gang has fighters on the board at the end of the game, they earn D3 Reputation. If either gang bottled out, they lose 1 Reputation.
Arbitrating The Scenario
In an Arbitrated scenario, the Arbitrator can take on the role of the fungal horror as it tries to spread throughout a dome, facing off against one or more players and their gangs. Use the rules Growing Horror for the spread of the fungal horror, but instead of markers representing the centre of overgrown area, use Carnivorous Plants instead, thus when the fungal horror spreads to a new area, fresh Carnivorous Plants will spring up. The players must attempt to contain the spreading horror, destroying the plants before they overwhelm the board. For an additional challenge, when each new Carnivorous Plant is placed, set up D6 carrion-eaters within 6" of it (profiles for carrion-eaters can be found in the Fighter Down scenario). These beasts will then attack the gangs as they desperately try to escape the spreading fungal horror.