Vampire Broods

Vampire Broods is a homebrewed Necromunda gang that takes a new spin on the bloodsuckers for Warhammer 40k. This ignores the warp-spawned Vampyres in favor of a xenos concept mixed with the blood-drinking Necromunda mutants. Overall the concept was to make a more direct parallel with the Vampire Counts fluff-wise and crunch-wise; powerful undead monsters served by cannon fodder hordes.

The Vampire

Since before the dawn of the Imperium have the hungry dead dwelt in the shadows of the galaxy. Lurking in cathedrals of power to gore-spattered lairs they have preyed upon Mankind for eons, spawning horrors beyond number and ruling from the shadows. Though they wear the guise of Man they are no longer humans but shapeshifting alien abominations, raised from the deceased in utter blasphemy.

The Vampire is a horrid nocturnal creature born of mad human science in the distant past. They are undead, the xeno-blood flowing through them animating their necrotic flesh. Despite the fact each Vampire was raised to unlife from a previously human existence, retaining their personalities and minds, the process remakes their very genetic structure and mutilates their soul until they are transformed into something obscene. Vampires are gifted with unholy powers but shackle to an alien hunger for blood in order to sustain their unliving flesh. This sanguine sustenance is the very crux of their existence, and though they can learn to control this vile thirst ultimately it enslaves them. However, if fed fresh human blood regularly a Vampire can survive indefinitely, granting them an odious form of immortality.

To the unwary observer the Vampire appears human, albeit pallid and yet somehow eerie. Yet this is but a mask, a human skin they wear over the alien darkness of their soul, and many Vampires bear predatory mutations that reflect the beasts they truly are: unnatural rot, large claws, distorted bat-like visage, sharp spurs, vestigial wings, and more. Some have even thrown off the guise of Man entirely, willingly or unwillingly succumbing to the ravages of their blood, fully transforming into monstrous chiropteran beasts: massive, stooped and rotting with bony spurs, tattered membranous wings, and a savage fang-filled maw dripping crimson. If it can be said that Vampires have a true form, this would be it.

Drawn to the promise of immortality and power many have fallen sway to the Vampire, only to be used as pawns in their ambition... if not simply used as food. And yet some show true promise, or their Vampire patron has singled them out, and may be transformed into a new Vampire if deemed worthy. And so have the Vampire propagated and festered in the shadows, slowly building their power.

A History Written in Blood

When the galaxy was shrouded in the darkness of the Old Night the first Vampires crept from the shadows. As with many things the difference between history and myth is greatly muddled in the Vampire’s origins. However, in the countless legends held upon rotting scrolls or within crumbling dataslates, there is one myth far more common than any other.

Long ago a forsaken cabal of humans known as the Immortal Ones sought a means of eternal life at any cost. In their quest they committed untold atrocities, descending further and further into desperation and madness, yet the secrets of eternity eluded them. Until one day, upon a rotting world beneath a sunless sky, they found a nightmarish xeno-monster of immense power. This creature, who referred to herself as the Dark Mother, was an undead horror, her alien “biology” unliving yet undying. She had been alone for millennia, her people exterminated by the Lightbearers, cursing her with eternal isolation.

And so the two evils struck an unholy pact: in exchange for Dark Mother’s undying blood, which they named the Ichor, the Immortal Ones agreed they would become her children and slaves forever more, and together they would come to rule the galaxy. Through arcane science and bloody sacrifice the secrets of deathlessness were unlocked from the Ichor of the Dark Mother, and the Immortal Ones willingly took the curse into their flesh and souls. They became the first Vampires, and with their Dark Mother carved an empire for themselves from the anarchy of the Age of Strife. Within their Realm of Night they enslaved humans to feast upon like cattle while driving them to construct unholy monuments to their insidious glory. In time they learned how to pass the Ichor onto new host through the freshly dead, and so propagated the first Bloodlines of the Vampire. For millennia the Vampires and the Dark Mother gorged themselves upon the blood of man, their dark domain ruling many stars and sowing untold misery for mankind.

But at last did salvation break over these benighted worlds, for the God-Emperor of Mankind at the head of his Great Crusade saw this wretched domain and deemed it beyond redemption. The war between the Emperor and the Dark Mother was apocalyptic, but ultimately the Emperor proved mightier, casting down this evil domain and putting it all to the torch. Yet some Vampires escaped the righteous onslaught and fled into the void, hiding among the shadows of many worlds. Slowly, silently, they wormed their way into the new Imperium that mankind had built, becoming a dark cancer in its very heart.

Genesis of Unlife

Vampires are parasitic undead beings whose feeding and reproductive cycles are debase blasphemies. While the true origin of the xenos abomination might never be known they are completely predatory to humanity, yet inseparably tied to their host species. Scholars almost universally agree they are a bio-engineered race whose origin likely falls within human hands long ago in a godless time, making them but another horror unleashed by reckless ancestors. What spurred the creation of such monsters is much debated, but generally accepted that the Vampire is either the dark fruit of an attempt at immortality or the abject failure of this endeavor, perhaps both.

Despite human origin and appearance the Vampire is truly alien. For one they rely exclusively on necrogenous to defile the dead and raise more of their kind, using their Ichor as a catalyst to reanimate corpses. The “parent” Vampire who gives the blood is called the Progenitor, while the raised “offspring” is called a Progeny; for indeed they are now related by blood. This process, called Ascension, is arduous and draining for both the Progenitor and Progeny, requiring extremely large quantities of blood over a long and painful ceremony. However, if successful, the Progeny rises as one of the undead, retaining the mind and soul they had in life but now chained to inhuman instincts.

Vampirism is inherent to the Ichor, the invasive genetic material rewriting the DNA of the host, slowly merging their genome with a xeno-beast until nothing human remains. Indeed, the Ichor even contains a dark resonance, believed to be soul-shards of the Dark Mother herself, that warps the soul and awakens latent psychic abilities. But this process takes time, and when first spawned a Vampire is little more than a reanimated cadaver taking their first bumbling steps as a true predator of the night. Assuming the fledgling Vampire survives through the slow metamorphosis, consuming enough blood and retaining their sanity in the face of alien instincts, then they can attain monstrous power. Ichor is unstable, however, and many Vampires suffer from bestial mutations, the weak-willed even completely devolving into feral monsters as their alien hungers override any vestiges of the human psyche.

Broods and Bloodlines

While some Vampires are solitary predators stalking the night alone, most tend to cultivate Broods around themselves as a means of having loyal retainers and disposable pawns. These Broods are established by a Progenitor that creates Progeny and other horrors to enact their dark schemes. With very little effort most Vampires can raise Spawn: lurching reanimated cadavers, feral, mutated, and ravenous but instinctively loyal to the Brood. Vampires will additionally enthrall mortals into their service via their strange powers and addictive blood, wretches to act as agents in human society and daytime guardians of their crypts. As a Brood grows in numbers and influence it begins to branch off into smaller Broods, all bound by blood to their ancestral Progenitor, and a Bloodline begins to form. Bloodlines are clans of the undead, sharing genetic markers and often some unique mutations, and can be as few as one or two Broods to hundreds of infestations over entire worlds.

Vampires order themselves based on the "potency of the Ichor", or in other words how much they have metamorphosed from mere reanimated corpses into true xeno-monsters. The greater the metamorphosis the greater the Vampire's raw power and potential, and so "Pureblood" Vampires are inherently more powerful and hold positions of authority, while younger and weaker "Halfbloods" and "Thinbloods" are subservient to them... for a time. The process of Ascension alters the Progeny's brain chemistry to create unnatural feelings of loyalty to their Progenitor, something mercilessly exploited and maintained, but it is not infallible: an incompetent Progenitor that does not control his underlings is unworthy of the Ichor's power, doomed to be devoured by the hungry fangs of a usurper. A cunning Vampire knows just when to send his Progeny elsewhere to start their own scheming and Broods, propagating their vile race across the stars.

There are other Vampiric creatures related to their Ichor, horrors spawned through dreadful powers and alchemical blood-pits, but most such things are serve only as guardians and warbeasts to their creators and so fall outside the Vampiric hierarchy.

Vampires of Necromunda

Even deep within Segmentum Solar have vampiric infestations arisen, festering in forgotten crypts and layered behind conspiracies. In particular the world of Necromunda with its sunless skies, warrened hives, debauched aristocracy, and teeming underworld proved an ideal breeding ground for the vile undead. The first Necromundan Bloodline of Vampires, known in legend as the Voasin, first came to the planet countless millennia ago and infested all levels of society. Through their mortal pawns the Voasin ravenously consumed territory, resources, and power in a bid to gain control of the planet, and they very nearly succeeded. However, in 008M39 Inquisitorial agents discovered their true nature of these horrors, and so together with vengeful Houses they set about the systematic purging the Voasin wherever they were found.

Though their cleansing was through, almost destroying the Voasin utterly, a single Pureblood managed to flee into the shadowy depths of the underhive. There, hidden in the lawless depths, this Vampire found new and fertile darkness in which to propagate and thrive. Through the countless centuries its Broods have spawned Broods and so on over and over, but unlike the former incarnation of the Voasin Bloodline this Vampire, simply called “the Red Ancestor” by modern Necromundan Broods, seems uninterested in unifying its descendants. Instead, the many Broods act largely independent of each other, some having grown to the point they have founded their own new Bloodlines. A few have crept back into the upper hive, manipulating the humans through webs of lies and treachery, while most have festered in the underhive, ruling their territory as a tyrannical fiefdom. Still others seemed to have completely devolved, revealing only in their monstrous nature in the darkest recesses of the hive.

Vampire Broods have become something of an open secret upon Necromunda: the populace is kept ignorant of their existence and even many within the Houses now believe them to be a myth. However, House Helmawr knows the truth, and Enforcers are dispatched to mercilessly exterminate Vampires whenever found. Thus, the only Broods and Bloodlines upon Necromunda are those that have kept themselves hidden, even balancing a meticulous rise to power without exposing themselves to the light.

The Umbrus are perhaps the most prolific of the new Necromundan Bloodlines. They say their Ichor is thicker than any other Brood, claiming to be founded by the Progeny of the first generation spawned by the Red Ancestor. With tendrils wrapped around every House and Guild in Hive City, mortal thralls and Vampiric agents in all levels of society, they have considerable hidden power and influence. Their ambition is nothing short of infecting the Noble Houses of the Spire and finishing what the Voasin began, but until then they skulk in the shadows. They send their fledglings into the underhive to form Broods and collect territory, resources, and human cattle in a horrid parody of Clan Houses and their gangs. However, the Umbrus are at risk in recent decades, as the Delaque have come dangerously close to uncovering their secrets on multiple occasions, while Escher alchymyst fleshteks somehow have managed to get samples of their Ichor.

However not all Vampires are interested in political power. The Coven Occulta, a large Brood festering deep in the underhive, is instead obsessed with the hoarding of esoteric knowledge. Lairing in a series of forgotten laboratories they seek knowledge as a means of power, and powerful they have become. While their Ichor hexes their flesh, cursing them with the appearance of an emaciated walking corpse with hideous bat-like visage, it also grants them remarkable psychic powers beyond most Vampires. This power and knowledge, combined with the horrors they can spawn from their alchemical blood-pits, leads many to believe they are working to bring about some kind of master plan. Thus far they seem to be missing some key component, forcing them to act bolder than ever by spawning new Broods to send out into the darkness to recover their unknown prize. However, this behavior has not gone unnoticed, and the local Cawdor have been whipped up into a frenzy over rumors of blood-sucking xenos.

Other Vampires are not so subtle, such as the Stygians of Hive Mortis. Ever since the disastrous plague that brought the entire hive to its knees the Stygians, long hidden in the darkness, have exploded in number, revealing in the darkened corridors and feasting upon the accumulated dead. They keep up no pretense of being human, devolving raging humanoids of swollen muscles, rending claws, elongated maws, and other horrific features. The Enforcers and occupying militias must constantly patrol to keep their numbers down if Hive Mortis has any hope of ever recovering, but they have an unlikely ally in this struggle: House Goliath gladly hunts the Stygians as good blood sport. However, as many have learned too late, despite their appearance the Stygians are not mere beasts and are more than capable of planning and tactics. Indeed, though their numbers have been largely suppressed to the Mortis underhive, it costs many human lives to keep them down there. Some in the hive whisper that this will be their final doom: an unending horde of monstrosities tearing their way up from the darkness.

Vampire Gang Rules

Gang Composition

A Vampire Brood must follow these rules when it is founded and when new fighters are added to the gang:

• There must be one Leader (Vampire Pureblood) chosen when the gang is first founded.

• The total number of Vampire Thinbloods in the gang must always be equal to, or higher than, the total number of other fighters (Vampire Pureblood and Vampire Halfbloods) in the gang, not counting Hangers-On or Vampire Spawn.

• The gang may include 2 Vampire Spawn per Pureblood and 1 Vampire Spawn per Halfblood in the gang.

• A fighter can be equipped with a maximum of three weapons. Weapons marked with an asterisk (*) take up the space of two weapons.

• Any fighter may take Wargear.

• Weapon accessories marked with a dagger (†) may not be combined together on the same weapon. If one such accessory is purchaed for a weapon, another may not be added.

During a campaign, all gangs continue to follow the mentioned rules as new fighters are added to the gang. Additionally, the following rules apply:

• A gang founded for a campagin can contain no more than two Vampire Halfbloods. Additional Vampire Halfbloods may be added to the gang during the course of the campaign.

• During the course of a campaign, any fresh recruits added to the gang may be equipped with items currently held in the gang's Stash, rather than purchasing new equipment.

During the course of the campaign, gangs may gain new equipment, either by purchasing it from the Trading Post or as a result of Territory Boons. These items are added to the gang's Stash and may be distributed among fighters during any post-battle sequence:

• A fighter cannot be given a new weapon of a type not allowed by their entry within their gang list.

• Vampire Thinbloods cannot be given a new weapon if it would take them above the limit of three weapons carried.

• A Vampire Pureblood or Vampire Halfblood can be given more than three weapons as they can have multiple Fighter Cards, each representing a different "set" of equipment, as described on page 59 of Gang War Four.

• A fighter may discard any Wargear carried when given new Wargear. Discarded Wargear is placed in the gang's Stash.

Vampire Broods in Campaigns

In a Dominion Campaign, Vampire Brood gangs are treated just like any other. They begin the campaign with a Settlement Territory which they cannot lose, representing their base of operations. They can take control of unoccupied Territories during the Occupation phase and they can seize control of Territories from other gangs during the Takeover phase. Settlement Territories do not generate Juves; instead, if one of the D6 rolls is a 6, they generate a single free Vampire Thinblood. If both of the D6 roll a 6, this becomes a two free Vampire Thinbloods.

Despite their secret agenda, a Vampire Brood gang is seen as just another gang by most of the locals. They claim Territory Boons just like any other gang, but are treated as a Delaque gang for the purposes of Enhanced Boons.

Gaining Experience

Vampire Brood fighters gain Experience in the same way as fighters in a normal House gang. The Pureblood and any Halfbloods can have their XP spent on Advancements in the same way as a Leader or Champion. Thinbloods advance in the same way as Gangers, and can become Specialists if a 2 or 12 is rolled for their Advancement.

Vampire Spawn cannot gain Experience or Advancements in any way.

Captured Fighters

If any member of a Vampire Brood gang is captured, the normal rules are followed. However, due to their alien nature, they are worth more when sold to the Guilders; the gang that is selling them receives their full value in credits, instead of half their value.

Post-Battle Actions

Each Vampire Pureblood and Vampire Halfblood in the gang can make one post-battle action in the same way as a Leader or Champion, respectively. Vampire Broods cannot make the Medical Escort action, the docs being unable to work upon their unliving alien physiology, but instead Vampire Broods may make a Feeding action to consume Captives to heal (see Feeding). They can still make the Sell to the Guilders action if they so choose.

Hangers-On, Hired Guns, and Dramatis Personae

Vampire Brood gangs may hire Dramatis Personae and Hive Scum in the same way as other gangs.

Additionally, Vampire Brood gangs may hire Hangers-on, but they use the following table:

Reputation	Maximum Hangers-On
Less than 5	1
5 to 9	2
10 to 14	3
15 to 19	4
20 to 24	5
Each additional 5	+1

Loss of a Leader

If a gang’s Pureblood is killed or is retired, a new Pureblood must be nominated from among the gang’s Halfbloods. If the gang has no Halfbloods, the new Leader must be a Thinblood, Specialist or otherwise.

In either case, an eligible fighter with the best Leadership must be selected as the new Leader. If more than one eligible fighter is drawn for best Leadership, use Advancements as a tie -breaker; if there is still a tie, the controlling player can decide.

When a fighter is promoted in this way, their Type is changed to Pureblood, and from now on they count as a Pureblood for determining which equipment and skill sets they can access. Their characteristics do not change.

Feeding

Vampires crave the blood of the living to sustain their unliving bodies. The consumption of blood, and blood-rich tissues such as hearts and livers, is digested into the xeno-blood Ichor that flows through necrotic flesh. Their inhuman metabolism is able to process this Ichor into new "necrosynthesis cells", an impossible contradiction that even the cleverest of docs fail to understand, which can reshape their forms and heal wounds.

The Vampire Pureblood and Vampire Halfbloods can make the following post-battle action (see page 56 of Gang War Four) but the Brood benefits from the effect. This action can only be made once per post-battle sequence.

Firstly, a Captive is required. If the gang is holding a Captive that, if held by another gang would be eligible to be sold to the Guilders (see page 56 of Gang War Four) the Captive may be devoured by the Brood. Alternatively, if no Captive is available, the Brood can select a Hanger-On or even a member of the gang (except the one making the action).

Once the sacrifice is selected they are consumed by the Brood like sludge-piranha upon raw meat. (heal Injuries, for critically injured they can roll on the Medical Escort chart without actually going to a Doc, etc.? Rule TBD).

Vampire Out of Action

As undead xenoforms Vampires are notoriously difficult to truly kill. Anytime a Vampire goes Out of Action roll of the following chart to determine the effect:

((TBD - depends on Feeding action))

Vampire Brood Fighters

A starting Vampire Brood gang is made up of the following fighters:

Vampire Pureblood

	Credits	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Cl	Wil	Int
Vampire Pureblood:	###	5	3+	3+	4	4	2	3+	2	4+	4+	5+	5+

Equipment List: The Vampire Pureblood starts with no equipment. They have no weapon restrictions and may select from Vampiric Equipment.

Skills: The Vampire Pureblood start with two skills chosen from their Primary skill sets.

Special Rule - Vampirism: If a Vampire is taken Out of Action they roll on the “Vampire Out of Action” chart instead.

The most powerful Vampire and the Progenitor of the Brood. Possessing unholy power and sinister abilities they are consummate predators who rule their Broods with a tyrannical iron fist. While only a pale shadow compared to the nightmarish elders of their kind, their unliving physiology granting them the strength to rip a man to ribbons and shrug off wounds no mortal creature could bare, while their lineage grants them access to obscene artefacts.

Vampire Halfbloods

	Credits	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Cl	Wil	Int
Vampire Halfbloods:	###	5	3+	3+	3	4	1	3+	2	5+	5+	6+	5+

Equipment List: Vampire Halfbloods starts with no equipment. They have no weapon restrictions and may select from Vampiric Equipment.

Skills: Vampire Halfbloods start with one skill chosen from their Primary skill sets.

Special Rule - Vampirism: If a Vampire is taken Out of Action they roll on the “Vampire Out of Action” chart instead.

The most powerful Progeny of the Brood and the Pureblood's lieutenants. Each of them are horrid undead beings of terrible power, more than a match for any underhive gang scum. As they walk this dark path the Ichor coursing through their veins will metamorphose their necrotic bodies further, growing their unholy power until not a trace of humanity is left in their tattered alien souls.

Vampire Thinbloods

	Credits	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Cl	Wil	Int
Vampire Thinbloods:	###	5	5+	5+	3	3	1	5+	1	8+	7+	7+	8+

Equipment List: Vampire Thinbloods starts with no equipment. They can be armed with Basic Weapons, Close Combat Weapons and Pistols. When the gang is created, one Vampire Thinblood can be armed with a Special Weapon. During a campaign, additional Vampire Thinbloods can also take Special Weapons as they are added.

Special Rule - Vampirism: If a Vampire is taken Out of Action they roll on the “Vampire Out of Action” chart instead.

The fledglings of the Brood. Vicious and enslaved to a hunger they cannot control, only time will tell if they survive the trials of unlife and the fangs of their masters to evolve into true monsters.

Vampire Spawn

	Credits	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Cl	Wil	Int
Vampire Spawn:	###	4	5+	--	2	3	1	7+	1	--	--	--	--

Equipment List: A Vampire Spawn starts with no equipment. They can only be equipped with Close Combat weapons but may take no other Wargear.

Skills: All Vampire Spawn have the Clamber and True Grit skills.

Special Rule - Mindless Beast: The only actions a Vampire Spawn can make are Move, Charge, Fight, and Coup de Grace. It cannot use equipment of any kind except for Close Combat weapons. Any Cool or Willpower checks made for a Vampire Spawn automatically pass, but any Leadership or Intelligence checks automatically fail.

Special Rule - Spawning: So long as the maximum number of Spawn is not reached the Pureblood and any Halfblood can take a Post-Battle Action to raise a Vampire Spawn at no cost.

While performing the Ascension of a mortal into a Vampire is exhausting and fraught with danger, simply dripping a few drops of Vampiric blood down the gullet of a corpse brings it lurching to unlife. Such creatures are pitiful and animalistic, devoid of higher reasoning and enslaved to their ravenous hunger, controlled by the will of their Vampiric masters. These ghoulish Spawn are useful for little except for violence, making them excellent fodder for the Brood.

Feral Vampires

If any Vampire (except Vampire Spawn) gives into their hunger and loses all sense of self and higher reasoning (by losing all their Intelligence or Willpower) they devolve into a beast that immediately attacks another of the Brood; resolve the combat, and if not destroyed the Feral flees into the darkness of the underhive. Given time they will continue to feed and mutate, and if they survive long enough will metamorphose into a new monstrous form. Most Vampire Broods will view such beings not only as errant blood but threats to their very survival, for such unrestrained creatures draw unwanted attention to Vampiric infestations....

Skill Access

Vampire Brood figthers have access to the following Skills:

Vampire Skills	Agility	Brawn	Combat	Cunning	Ferocity	Leadership	Shooting	Savant	Vampiric Powers
Vampire Pureblood		Secondary		Secondary	Primary	Primary			Primary
Vampire Halfblood		Primary	Secondary		Primary	Secondary			Secondary
Specialist - Vampire Thinblood	Secondary	Primary			Primary		Secondary

Vampiric Powers

Vampire Purebloods and Halfbloods, the Ichor having saturated their flesh and largely remade their very beings, can manifest the sinister mutations and haunting powers of their blasphemous genetic legacy. A Vampire Pureblood and Vampire Halfbloods have access to the Vampiric Powers list below as one of their Primary and Secondary skill sets, respectively.

• Dark Majesty: The Vampire commands through the dark resonance shared in the Ichor of the Brood. Whenever a Nerve or Willpower test is made for another fighter from the gang who is within 6” of the Vampire, use the Vampire’s characteristic value.

• Hypnotic Gaze: Through their unholy gaze the Vampire can dominate the minds of weaker-willed beings. Select an enemy fighter that is both within 6” and line of sight of the Vampire, and that has not been activated this turn. Roll a Willpower check to perform this action: if successful that fighter may only perform a single Move (Simple) action when activated this round.

• Unguis Blades: At a whim the Vampire can grow or retract razor-sharp calcific claws or warp their mouth into a fang-filled maw. The Vampire effectively gains two Osseous Fighting Claws (see Vampiric Equipment) that has Dual Weapon dice in close combat. These do not count against the Wargear carry limit.

• Mortis Hide: The Vampire shapes their necro-polymorphic flesh, hardening it into a leathery-chitinous hide that doesn't inhibit their movement. This grants a passive +1 to all Armour rolls.

• Membranous Wings: At will the Vampire can morph or retract a large set of tattered bat-like wings from their forearms, granting them to ability to move around quickly and ascend levels. The Vampire can move 6" in any direction, including vertically onto a platform, completely unaffected by difficult terrain.

• Blood Spawn: The Vampire's Ichor is dark and potent, able to call forth more minions to serve. They allow the Brood to have +1 Vampire Spawn beyond the normal limit, and can create two Vampire Spawn via the Vile Spawning Special Rule.

Vampiric Equipment

As parasites leeching upon the masses of Mankind, the technology utilized by the Vampires and their minions is often of similar to Imperial designs or simply stolen technology. However, as part of their monstrous legacy, the Vampires have access to unique technologies all their own, exotic remnants from their long-lost Realm of Night; alien devices and blasphemous weaponry developed by inhuman beings bent on conquest of the stars.

The underhive, and indeed much of Necromunda, is scattered with relics from the dark reign of the Voasin. Such artefacts from their ancient Bloodline are prized above all, and many Broods will go to any length to procure one.

Osseous Weapons

Shaped from calcific growths from the polymorphic flesh of a Pureblood, these serrated, mono-edged blades absorb blood from their victims as they strike. Vampires use this stolen bounty of blood to rejuvenate themselves even in the midst of battle.

Special Rule - Osseous: If an enemy is successfully wounded or taken Out of Action with an Osseous weapon, the user can heal 1 Wound or gain +1 to Toughness or Strength.

	Credits	Short Rng	Long Rng	Short Acc	Long Acc	Str	AP	Dmg	Ammo	Traits
Osseous Dagger	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

	Credits	Short Rng	Long Rng	Short Acc	Long Acc	Str	AP	Dmg	Ammo	Traits
Osseous Fighting Claw	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

	Credits	Short Rng	Long Rng	Short Acc	Long Acc	Str	AP	Dmg	Ammo	Traits
Osseous Sword	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

	Credits	Short Rng	Long Rng	Short Acc	Long Acc	Str	AP	Dmg	Ammo	Traits
Dark Talon	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

Dark Talon: An ancient Osseous Sword pulsing with a shadowy aura. Some whisper this is literally a talon from the Red Ancestor itself, imbued with a fraction of its dark essence, able to rend apart even the toughest foe with ease.

Sonic Weapons

Despite being less powerful that other common weaponry Vampires prefer to arm themselves with sonic weapons. Such weapons often render victims unconscious or paralyzed yet still alive, perfect for harvesting warm blood from fallen foes. This dirge of sounds is the reason many enemies of the Vampire speak of the wailing moans and howling screams of the dead as they fight their unliving enemy.

Special Rule - Sonic: TBD; provides bonus to capturing enemies?

	Credits	Short Rng	Long Rng	Short Acc	Long Acc	Str	AP	Dmg	Ammo	Traits
Shrieking Pistol	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

	Credits	Short Rng	Long Rng	Short Acc	Long Acc	Str	AP	Dmg	Ammo	Traits
Howler Rifle	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

Armour

• Deathless Shroud: Secreting necrotic toxins that actually fortify a Vampire's constitution; increases their rolls on the Recovery Test.

Grenades

• Necrosis Grenade: Rots living targets, heals undead targets

Wargear

• Pureblood Heart: The preserved sanguis-sac of an Pureblood, suspended in a cylinder of viscous red Ichor. Gives a temporary but massive boost to M, S, T, I, and A.

• Vile Goblet: Small semi-sentient sack with a peering eye and lapping proboscis-like tongue, it consumes errant blood that can later be drunk by its master during combat to restore damage.

Exotic Beasts

• Vampiric Familiar: Semi-sentient vermin gestated within an blood-cyst created from a Vampire’s own flesh and utterly slaved to its undead master. In appearance they resemble lamprey-like xenobats the size of a small dog, although in truth their form is largely dependent on the whims of their Vampire master. They are slavishly loyal to their master and share a psychic bond with their creator.

• Chiropterrors: Dire bats.

Ordo Vampiricus, the Vampire Hunters

To the Ordo Xenos the Vampire represents a particularly horrible threat and unforgivable sin. They are the worst of traitors much like Daemon Princes are to the Ordo Malleus, for both have forsaken their very humanity and souls, turning their back upon the God-Emperor and the Imperium in exchange for immortality and power. There is no Vampire worthy of redemption for to have fallen so far there is nothing left that can be saved, only destroyed before they bring yet more suffering and ruin in their predations. In the hidden fortresses across the galaxy Inquisitors have arrayed many weapons capable of destroying a Vampire as well as vast libraries detailing them. They know their foe and many Vampires have burned in the holy fires of the Inquisition.

So grave is the threat posed by these Xenos Horrificus that a special Ordo was even developed from within the Inquisition to hunt them down and exterminate them all; the aptly named Ordo Vampiricus. Said to have been founded by the legendary Inquisitor Helsing who, after defeating the greatest Vampiric threat to the Imperium ever known, knelt before the Golden Throne and swore before the Emperor Himself he would destroy each and every one of the undead beasts. It seems he and his scions were blessed in this effort, for they possess armouries uniquely stocked to destroy the undead.

• Stellus Bolts (###creds): Promethium harvested from the corona of a star, alchemically modified, and blessed by priests, this substance eats away at undead flesh in a ravenous fury such that it makes it difficult for Vampires to regenerate. This phosphor-like explosive ensures even well-fed Vampires will find it difficult to heal from such horrendous damage. Bolt shells infused with this Stellus substance are often used when hunting the undead.

• Bloodbane Blade (###creds): Power swords forged from alloys that react violently with Vampiric blood, boiling it away and weakening a Vampire with each successive strike. Indeed, Vampires truly fear such a weapon, for it reminds them of that which they often forget: that without the strength of their xenoblood they are little more than walking alien cadavers.

• Bloodbane Stakes (###creds): Staked comprised of the same alloy, launched from Condemnor Bolters. If they pierce the sanguis-sac of a Vampire, their stomach-heart dual organ, it can cause such catastrophic damage that weaker Vampires will be outright destroyed while even purer Vampires will be rendered crippled.

• Hardlight Dagger (###creds): Incredibly rare devices that emit hyper-compacted photons formed into a small blade of pure light, they sear through any physical barrier and burn away corruption with their touch. Their origin is unknown as no STC record exists for these arcane weapons, leading many Magi to suspect that they are either archeotechnology or perhaps some forgotten xeno-weaponry; whatever the case, these much-coveted weapons are as irreplaceable as they are deadly.

• Sol Grenade (###creds): Photo-cells that absorbed the Holy Light of Sol. For all intents and purposes they act as flash grenades, but against the undead they burn their flesh as surely as plasma conflagration.

• Flamer and Plasma weapons are also favored by the Ordo Vampiricus

Special Characters

The Red Ancestor

	Recruit	Creds	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Cl	Wil	Int
The Red Ancestor:	N/A	N/A	7	2+	2+	7	7	4	2+	5	2+	2+	2+	2+

Equipment List: The Red Ancestor carries no arms or armour for it needs none. Instead, when battle is joined it uses its polymorphic abilities to grow the Ancestor's Claws (dual-wield Dark Talons) and the Ancestor's Flesh (leathery-chitinous hide that provides equivalent Armour as Carapace Armour).

Skills: The Red Ancestor has all Vampiric Powers. It also has (x,y,z) Skills.

Special Rule - Vampirism: xxx

Special Rule - Blood Ritual: The Red Ancestor can only be summoned through a bloody sacrifice. The ritual is mechanically the same as Feeding, except it requires 2 Captives to complete. If successful the Red Ancestor hears echoes through the Ichor, drawn to the Brood that dared summon it. It will remain so long as 1 Captive is sacrificed to it per Feeding rules in each post-battle sequence.

An ancient evil that has haunted the darkness of Necromunda for many centuries, this is the unholy source of all the Broods currently infesting the planet. Mysterious and powerful, the Red Ancestor seemingly cares little for the squabbles and machinations of its descendants. Yet some whisper this is but a ploy, and it to this day pulls at a web of intrigue that spans the planet, manipulating events to bring about the Bloodline's ascendancy. Legend says that if it is presented a large enough blood sacrifice it can be summoned by its children to aid them for a time.

Brock Eriksson

	Recruit	Creds	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Cl	Wil	Int
Brock Eriksson:	N/A	##	5	3+	3+	5	5	3	3+	3	4+	2+	3+	6+

Equipment List: Bloodbane Blade, Condemnor Bolter with Bloodbane Stakes and Stellus Bolts, and x4 Sol Grenades.

Skills: (Add various appropriate Brawl, Combat, etc. Skills)

Special Rules: TBD - Essentially a Bounty Hunter exclusively against Vampire Broods.

A peerless warrior of incredible power and unmatched martial skill, Brock Erikson is hellbent on the complete destruction of all Vampires in the galaxy. He is unequaled as a swordsmen and a flawless marksman, and combined with his extensive geno-mods, bio-grafts, and equipment he can go toe-to-toe with the most powerful of Vampires. Given that his operations have spanned centuries and his physical abilities rival Astartes he is among the greatest warriors to arrive on Necromunda; however, it will not work for just any job, and will only contract his services to those that fight against the undead.