Monday 16 December 2019

Esoteric Enterprises Is Here

Esoteric Enterprises is done!
It's been published by Soul Muppet publishing, who handled all the printer stuff for me. Zach's put a lot of work into making this happen (there were issues with things like page size) and I'm super grateful for it all.

Anyway. What's in the book? It's pretty dense:

  • Eight classes: The Bodyguard (chunky hard-to-kill combatants), Criminal (flexible skill experts), Doctor (mad frankenstein scientists with healing and experiments), Explorer (slippery survival-oriented urban explorers), Mercenary (highly effective violence experts), Mystic (spellcasters who rely on a divine patron for unreliable aid), Occultist (vancian casters with extra experimentation) and Spooks (a modular class of build-your-own-monster PCs).
  • Spells and equipment tailored to suit the setting, including 30 different narcotics and a whopping 70 magical grimoires.
  • XP for treasure that folds into a system where level equates to an abstraction for character wealth and status.
  • Combat that's nasty, brutal and short.
  • Injuries that are nasty, brutal and long-term.
  • Systems for dealing with criminal contacts, medical experiments, exploration, heists and other criminal activities.
  • Magical experimentation that can result in backlash, ranging from the surreal to the slightly apocalyptic.
  • Systems to roll up a complex network of underworld factions - ranging from street gangs to broods of vampires to weird cults - along with mechanisms to track the relationships between PCs and different factions, police activity and various events in the underworld.
  • Similar systems to roll up an undercity; basically a small megadungeon beneath the town, with 30 different types of complex, 40 example underworld hazards, and extensive treasure tables (including tables to create magical artefacts and weapons, and 40 sample magic items)
  • A bestiary with over 200 monsters and NPCs. That's more than the D&D monster manual (and mine are way cooler)
  • A bunch of other stuff I'm probably forgetting about.

So at 247 pages, it's packing an absolute TON into it. Seriously, this thing has absorbed me for a good two years now.
The whole thing is basically a mashup of lovecraft, world of darkness, crime fiction, paranoid fiction, body horror and dungeon fantasy in one package, using oldschool mechanics that should be reasonably familiar.

I've run it a bunch. It's really fucking good. Examples can be found here and here. I'm really into it, but I would be, since I made it by smashing all my favourite stuff together into one big horrible frankenstein game.\

Here's some pictures of the actual book:


Print copy available here. The print version is hardback, high quality, full colour. It's a limited run, rather than PoD, so get it while it's still there, I don't know when the next run will happen.
PDF available here.

Sunday 8 December 2019

Class - The Corpse Doll

Because I like the idea of Nechronica but am unlikely to ever actually play it. And because I also like franken-fran, zombieland saga, and the general idea of melencholy gruesome corpse-girls. If your GM lets this in their game, they're fucked up and I approve.
I made a whole class of zombie waifus and nobody can stop me. 

I am a shameless weeb. Also this show is really good, y'all. S2 confirmed.



This was once a girl.
Somebody loved her, before she died. Couldn't face losing her. Refused to let the grave claim her. 
There are ways to bring the dead back, as well. Not wholesome, healthy, sane ways of course, but they work. Dig up your dead love, draw the right sigils, speak the right words, and that cold flesh will stir into... not life, exactly, but animation. Or perhaps inject her carcass with chemicals to kick-start the processes of life that have fallen still. Or make a pact with some dark patron to bring her back. Or hollow her lifeless body out, and fill it with clockwork and springs, set it back into motion. They're all insane, but they work every time.
Her body, moments ago lifeless and empty, stirs into motion. Eyelids flutter open, lips part to draw breath once more. On the surgeon's slab, she pulls herself upright. For any reanimator, it's a moment of elation to see her come back.  

A digression. 
Death, if you consider him really a person at all, has a sharp sense of humour. Why do you think he has that constantly-grinning skull-mask. Why is the last sensation when you die of hypothermia unexpected warmth? Life is a cruel joke, and Death is waiting at the end to share his punchline with us.

So. The clay corpse shifts and rises, as if waking from a long sleep. And here, then is Death's little jest at those who think they can defy him.

Maybe the soul doesn't return. Maybe clinical brain-death wipes the electrically-encoded memories. Maybe the waters of Lethe erase the spirit's memories. 
In any case, the thing that rises on the slab isn't her.

Her eyes are blank. Her face vacant. She doesn't remember him. She doesn't remember herself. Whatever he had hoped to achieve, she's a failure.

As I say, Death is laughing at us.

So, what happens to her? Most times, the reanimator destroys what he had created in disgust. The creature on the slab isn't his lost love, so what does she matter to him. Sometimes she's cast out into the world. Sometimes she escapes. 

Occasionally, she'll survive long enough to make a new life for herself on the fringes of society. 




Hit Dice: d6
Saves: As a Thief
Attacks: As a Thief
Equipment Restrictions: As a Thief
Experience: As a Magician
She can have any alignment; despite her gruesome origin, she is a blank slate morally and spiritually.
If your system uses it, her Prime Requisite is either Charisma or Constitution.

Unnatural Animation: A Corpse Doll is vulnerable to anything that targets undead things specifically, things created by evil magic, or unnatural things. She takes damage from holy water as normal. She takes double damage from holy things. Paladins have a tendency to try to smite her, and angry mobs have a tendency to run her out of town when they find out what she is.
Unambiguously Dead: A Corpse Doll doesn't really have functioning biology like a living thing. She functions just fine if her heart, brain, etc are destroyed, and so doesn't take additional damage from backstabs, critical hits, etc. She has no need to breath. She doesn't really age, although she will probably need to be careful to avoid rot setting in. While she doesn't 'sleep' per se, she must still spend an equivalent amount of time each day maintaining the stitching that keeps her together, keeping her embalming fresh, and so forth; if she neglects this, she suffers the same penalties as a human who doesn't sleep to represent the general degredation of her physical condition. She is immune to most poison and sickness (except those that might cause dead flesh to decay such as Mummy Rot).
Diet: It is an unfortunate fact that a Corpse Doll still requires sustenance to maintain animation. She must eat raw, fresh meat (ideally immediately after the prey has been killed), without which she will starve like any living being. There is no need for this to be human meat, but people often make assumptions.
Stitch Back Together: A Corpse Doll cannot be healed by most magic (certainly not by clerics), and doesn't heal naturally. Instead, she must physically replace her lost flesh by stitching new bits onto herself. This requires three hours' work for each HP to be restored, and a source of replacement body parts. As a rule of thumb, a human corpse is good for 6 HP if the whole thing is used. Larger or smaller corpses (or partial corpses) will vary how many HP the Corpse Doll can restore from them. Some monsters don't have flesh and bones suitable for this (it's no good trying to stitch on bits from a golem, ent or fire elemental, for example), and using non-human body-parts will result in the doll looking even more monstrous than normal; if she repairs herself by replacing an arm with one taken from a giant crab, people will see this and react accordingly. Which corpses can replenish the Doll's HP, and by how much, are a matter of GM discretion.
Staple Bits On: If a Corpse Doll can stitch an organ or body-part onto herself that is responsible for a monster having some power or ability, then she might (at the GM's discretion) gain that power. For example, she could gain a poison bite by grafting snake-fangs into her mouth, flight by stapling wings onto her back, or a rusting touch by stitching rust-monster feelers onto her hands. Like when she repairs damage, this requires a half-day's work.
We Can Rebuild Her! If a Corpse Doll dies completely, she's not necessarily gone. If her team-mates recover at least a bit of her body (even just a scrap of muscle is enough), and make a new doll, incorporating some of her previous body, the she can return. Essentially, this means that anybody who knows what she is can resurrect her exactly as if they were casting Clone on her, without needing to actually have access to the spell.
Damned Creepy: A Corpse Doll who openly reveals her unnatural nature causes enemies to make reaction and morale rolls at -1.
Damned Addictive: A Corpse Doll's flesh carries some lingering remnant of the obsession that spawned her. If she can trick, coerce or force somebody into physically ingesting some of her flesh or blood, then the victim must Save vs Magic or be Charmed by her as if by the spell. She can only have one such person Charmed in this way at a time, if she charms a new victim, the previous victim is released.
Angst: There's no mechanics for this, but honestly if you're gonna play the monstrous husk of a reanimated girl and not wallow in torment and self-doubt, what's even the point?


Thursday 5 December 2019

Class - The Abyss Mystic

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
We live in a world of light, form, stability, reality. Everything the light falls upon is defined. Pinned into place by the act of witnessing it.
It was not always this way. Before the creation of light chained the world into its current form, darkness reigned. Things were imprecise, mutable, filled with potential. Far from being empty, there were intelligences in the dark, beings of the abyss. The world was a constantly-shifting quantum foam, and these creatures shaped it to their whim.
Such true darkness is rare in our current world. Mere night-time is still touched by the faint light of the moon and stars. To escape the light entirely, one must travel into the depths of the ocean, into the lowest points of the oldest dungeons, into the deepest veins of the earth. One must descend into the abyss. Here, the world is truly lightless. Here, free from the restrictions of vision and reality, one can commune with the true darkness that predated creation.

Few mortals have any clue as to the potential held in the darkness. To turn away from the light, to willingly blind oneself and immerse oneself in the void is seemingly insane. There are a few, though, who know what is possible. Who study the true black arts. Who draw upon the darkness and channel its power.
Such individuals are frequently found in the company of adventuring parties, hoping to be taken into the earth's depths, to encounter the true darkness that can be found down there.

Hit Dice: d4
Saves: As a Magic User
Attacks: As a Thief
XP: As a Magic User
Equipment Restrictions: As a Thief
Alignment: Must be Chaotic

Darksight: In absolute darkness (including supernatural darkness), an Abyss Mystic can navigate as easily as broad daylight. This ability does not grant any ability to see better in low-light conditions. Even very dim light ruins darksight, leaving the Abyss Mystic groping about in the gloom like anybody else.
Veins of the Earth says magic darkvision doesn't really work in the veins. This stuff explicitly does; the darkness of the veins is an asset to an abyss mystic, not an impediment.
Channel The Abyss: By vomiting forth the shadows within themselves, an Abyss Mystic can create a pool of absolute darkness in a 10 foot radius around them. Doing so costs the Abyss Mystic 1 HP as they draw out the darkness inside them. This pool of darkness follows the mystic if they move, and lasts until they sleep or choose to dismiss it.

Abyss Mysticism: In absolute darkness, an Abyss Mystic can invoke the darkness from before creation to create supernatural effects, equivalent to the spells used by other classes.
To do this, they choose which spell they wish to cast, and roll a casting dice, which is normally a d20. If the result is their level, or less, the spell is successfully cast.
For each round spent gathering abyssal power before casting, reduce the size of the casting dice by 1 step (from a d20 to a d12, then d10, d8, d6 and finally d4).
If the maximum result on the casting dice is rolled (IE a 20 on a d20, a 12 on a d12, etc), then the spell automatically fails, and the mystic's form begins to dissolve into primordial darkness. They take as much damage as their maximum HP total. Roll the casting dice again, and reduce the damage taken by that much.
Example:
 A 3rd level Abyss Mystic with 9 HP wishes to cast Silence. There is no absolute darkness nearby, so they must create some using Channel the Abyss (taking 1 damage in the process, reducing them to 8 HP). They then spend two rounds gathering power, reducing their casting dice from a d20 to a d10. On the third round, they attempt to cast the spell, rolling a d10. 
If the result is 1-3 (their level or less), the spell is cast successfully.
If the result is 4-9, the spell fails but nothing bad happens.
If the result is 10 (the maximum possible), they begin to dissolve into shadow. They take 9 (their maximum hp) minus d10 (the casting dice) damage.

At first level, they know only a single spell of the Abyss. At each level, they learn another spell, either randomly chosen or of the Abyss Mystic's choice, depending on how the game you're running handles it. Abyssal spells don't use spell ranks; count them all as 1st level spells for any effect that cares.

Abyssal Spells:

  1. Abyssal Tar. Duration 1 round/level. Radius 30 feet. This spell causes the darkness to become almost tangible, slowing and constraining those within it. Any creatures within the spell's radius in absolute darkness move at half speed, and are only able to attack, cast spells or take other such dramatic actions every other round (as if affected by a Slow spell). Those in deep shadow, but not absolute darkness, get to make a Save vs Paralysis to resist the spell's effect each round. Creatures immune to darkness, such as Abyss Mystics, are immune.
  2. Arms of the Abyss.. Duration 1 round/level. Range 20 feet. This spell creates a semi-tangible black tendril that emerges from an area of shadow or darkness that the mystic can see. The arm can extend out to ten feet in length, and can manipulate objects with as much dexterity as a human hand. If issued a command by the mystic, the arm obeys, otherwise it will lash out blindly at its surroundings. It can attack (as a 1-hd monster), dealing d4 damage on a hit, or else grapple, snatch items, etc like any other creature. It has as many HP as the mystic's level. Exposure to light is harmful to the arm; it takes 1 damage a round if exposed to any light at all, while brighter light (such as torchlight) deals d4 damage a round, and full daylight does d12 a round.
  3. Charm Shades. This spell functions exactly like the spell Charm Person, except that it only effects non-physical undead or extra-planar creatures such as ghosts, invisible stalkers and so forth. Shadows, Shades and other monsters explicitly made of shadow or darkness get no save to resist the spell. Exposing the subject to bright light ends the spell immediately.
  4. Control Shadows. Duration 1 round/level. Radius 30 feet. During the spell's duration, the mystic controls the shape, movement, depth and extent of all shadows within the effect's radius (which might extend outside the pool of absolute darkness created by the mystic). They can create shadows of things that aren't there, create enough shadow for team-mates to hide in, extend pools of shadow over an enemy's eyes to blind them, or create shadows that another of the mystic's spells can make use of.
  5. Create Sensations. Duration 1 round/level. Radius 30 feet. During the spell's duration, the Mystic can create illusory sensations for any sense except vision. They can create tactile sensations, noises, smells, tastes, and even spoof unusual senses possessed by creatures (such as a shark's ability to detect electrical charge). The sensations can be tailored so different victims experience different things. There is no save initially, but a Save vs Magic is allowed when a victim has evidence that the sensation might be false, allowing them to tell for sure that it's only an illusion.
  6. Dissolve into Darkness. Duration 1 round/level. During the spell's duration, the mystic's physical form evaporates, leaving only a two-dimensional shadow behind. Equipment carried by the mystic is likewise transformed. Whilst two-dimensional in this way, the mystic cannot be physically touched or touch things, and is immune to most attacks. They can move only slowly - 10 feet per round - as their form slithers across whichever surface it's projected onto. When not hidden in darkness or shadow, exposure to dim light deals 1 damage to them per round, exposure to brighter light (such as torchlight) deals d4 damage per round, and sunlight or equivalent does d12 damage per round. The mystic can still cast other abyssal spells in this form.
  7. Enlarge/Shrink. (as the existing spell).
  8. Extinguish. Range 20 feet. This spell completely extinguishes a single fire or light source within range. 
  9. Eyes of the Abyss. Duration 1 round/level. Radius 30 feet. During the spell's duration, the mystic can see (and hear, touch, smell etc) everything that happens in any absolute darkness in the spell's radius, granting them a sort of limited-radius omniscience. The spell allows them to see through illusions, invisibility, etc within the spell's area of effect. 
  10. Feather Fall (as the existing spell)
  11. Peer Through The Abyss.. Duration 1 round/level. This spell functions exactly like the spell Clairvoyance, except that when used the mystic can only perceive things in absolute darkness. Anything in even very slight light cannot be viewed by the spell.
  12. Reach Through Shadows. Duration 1 round/level. Radius 30 feet. During this spell's duration, the mystic can reach their hand into the darkness surrounding them, and have it emerge from any shadow or darkness in range, up to the shoulder. Anything they grab can be pulled back to the mystic, or they can use the spell to place things away from them.
  13. Sever Shadow.. Range 20 feet. The mystic can extend a knife of shadow from the darkness they lurk in, attacking the shadow of an enemy nearby. As the enemy's shadow is ripped apart, corresponding wounds appear on their body. The victim must be illuminated enough to cast a distinct shadow, which must fall within the spell's 20 foot range. The shadow-knife hits automatically, dealing d6 damage plus the Mystic's level.
  14. Shroud.. Duration 1 turn/level. The mystic pulls a shroud of shadow over their allies, concealing them. The spell's subject (who must be within the mystic's pool of darkness when the spell is cast) gains the Hide In Shadows ability of a Thief, of the mystic's level. If the subject is already a thief (or otherwise has this ability), then add the mystic's level to their own for the purposes of their chance at hiding.
  15. Silence (as the existing spell)
  16. Step Through Shadows.. Range line-of-sight. The mystic steps into the darkness, and emerges from any area of shadow or darkness they can see that is large enough to fit their whole body into.
  17. Spider Climb (as the existing spell)
  18. Undo The Chains of Light. Duration 1 round/level. Radius 30 feet. This spell causes things to revert to the state they were in before light and space gave things solid, tangible existence, dissolving into their dark, primordial potential. Everything and everybody within the spell's radius is affected. Objects slowly degrade over time, crumbling to black dust, and then dissolving into raw darkness, although this will take hours to complete. Creatures are more vulnerable; it only takes a little disruption for the orrder that makes life possible to be disrupted. A creature in sunlight or similar light is unaffected. A creature in bright light (such as torchlight) takes 1 damage a round, a creature in dim light takes d4 damage a round, and a creature in absolute darkness takes d12 damage a round. Creatures immune to darkness (such as Abyss Mystics) are unaffected.
  19. Unseen Servant (as the existing spell)
  20. Water Breathing (as the existing spell)




Tuesday 3 December 2019

Hrud for Kill Team - final rules

Strategies

Glimpsed Shadows
Hrud Tactic 
Use this Tactic at the beginning of the first battle round. Pick a model from your kill team and set it up again, anywhere in your deployment zone.
2 CP

Warp Space
Hrud Tactic 
Use this Tactic after a model from your kill team shoots in the Shooting phase. The model can immediately make a normal move of up to 7" as if it were the Movement phase.
1 CP 

Slippery Blighter 
Hrud Tactic 
Use this Tactic after a model from your kill team Falls Back. That model can still shoot this battle round.
1 CP

Entropic Bait
Hrud Tactic 
Use this Tactic at the start of the Shooting phase. Pick a model from your kill team that is within 2" of a HRUD WARRIOR model. Until the end of the phase, while that Hrud Warrior model is on the battlefield, any attacks which target the chosen model are resolved against that Hrud Warrior model instead.
2 CP

Distortion Field
Hrud Tactic 
Use this Tactic in the Movement phase. Pick a model from your kill team that has not yet moved. That model may not move this phase, but for the rest of the battle round, if this model is obscured, shooting attacks that target this model suffer an additional -1 modifier to their hit rolls.
1 CP

Toxic Smog 
Hrud Tactic 
Use this Tactic at the start of the Fight phase. Pick an enemy model that is within 1" of any of your HRUD POISONER models and roll a D6. On a 4+, that enemy model suffers 1 mortal wound.
2 CP

Distortion Tunnels
Hrud Tactic 
Use this Tactic at the end of the Movement phase. Choose up to three HRUD models from your kill team that were set up in Reserve and set them up anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 5" away from any enemy models.
1 CP

Units

Hrud Warriors
Hrud Warrior: Movement 6", WS 5+, BS 4+, Strength 2, Toughness 2, 1 Wound, 1 Attack, Leadership 4, 6+ Save, no max.
Hrud Warrior Gunner: Movement 6", WS 5+, BS 4+, Strength 2, Toughness 2, 1 Wound, 1 Attack, Leadership 4, 6+ Save, 2 max.
Hrud Elder: Movement 6", WS 5+, BS 4+, Strength 2, Toughness 2, 1 Wound, 2 Attacks, Leadership 5, 6+ Save, 1 max.
Equipment: Scavenged Small-arm.
Options:
This model may replaces its Scavenged Small-arm with a Scavenged Long-arm, a Scavenged Shotgun, or a Marksman's Rifle.
A Hrud Warrior Gunner may replace its Scavenged Small-arm with a Flamethrower, a Scavenged Machine-gun, a Rocket Launcher or a Hrud Warp Fusil.
A Hrud Elder may have a Poison Blade.
Special Rules:
Squirmy Anatomy: This model can climb any distance vertically (up or down) when it makes a normal move – do not measure the distance moved in this way.
Shadow Field: When an opponent makes a hit roll for a shooting attack that targets this model, and this model is obscured, that hit roll suffers an additional -1 modifier. 
Specialists: Leader (Elder only), Heavy, Coms, Scout, Sniper,
Faction Keyword: Hrud
Keywords: Infantry, Hrud Warrior

Hrud Poisoners
Hrud Poisoner: Movement 6", WS 5+, BS 4+, Strength 2, Toughness 2, 1 Wound, 1 Attack, Leadership 4, 6+ Save, no max.
Hrud Poisoner Fighter: Movement 6", WS 5+, BS 4+, Strength 2, Toughness 2, 1 Wound, 1 Attack, Leadership 4, 6+ Save, 1 max.
Hrud Chemist: Movement 6", WS 5+, BS 4+, Strength 2, Toughness 2, 1 Wound, 2 Attacks, Leadership 5, 6+ Save, 1 max.
Equipment: Scavenged Small-arm.
Options:
This model may replaces its Scavenged Small-arm with a Poisoned Blade, a Scavenged Shotgun, or a Chainsaw.
A Hrud Poisoner Chemist or Fighter may have a Smog-generator.
A Hrud Poisoner Chemist may have a Poisoned Blade or a Chainsaw.
Special Rules:
Squirmy Anatomy: This modelcan climb any distance vertically (up or down) when it makes a normal move – do not measure the distance moved in this way.
Shadow Field: When an opponent makes a hit roll for a shooting attack that targets this model, and this model is obscured, that hit roll suffers an additional -1 modifier. 
Smog-generator: Subtract 1 from the Leadership characteristic of enemy models within 6" of any models equipped with a Smog Generator
Specialists: Leader (Chemist only), Coms, Scout, Combat, Medic
Faction Keyword: Hrud
Keywords: Infantry, Hrud Poisoner

Hrud Scavengers
Hrud Scavenger: Movement 7", WS 4+, BS 4+, Strength 3, Toughness 3, 1 Wound, 1 Attack, Leadership 5, 6+ Save, no max.
Hrud Scavenger Gunner: Movement 7", WS 4+, BS 4+, Strength 3, Toughness 3, 1 Wound, 1 Attack, Leadership 5, 6+ Save, 1 max.
Hrud Saboteur: Movement 7", WS 4+, BS 4+, Strength 3, Toughness 3, 1 Wound, 2 Attacks, Leadership 6, 6+ Save, 1 max.
Equipment: Scavenged Long-arm.
Options:
This model may replaces its Scavenged Long-arm with a Marksman's Rifle.
A Hrud Scavenger Gunner may replace its Scavenged Long-arm with a Flamethrower, a Scavenged Machine-gun, a Rocket Launcher, a Hrud Warp Fusil or a Hrud Warp Bombard.
A Hrud Saboteur may have a Poisoned Blade, or replace its Scavenged Long-arm with a Scavenged Shotgun.
Special Rules:
Squirmy Anatomy: This modelcan climb any distance vertically (up or down) when it makes a normal move – do not measure the distance moved in this way.
Shadow Field: When an opponent makes a hit roll for a shooting attack that targets this model, and this model is obscured, that hit roll suffers an additional -1 modifier. 
Spotter: At the start of each Shooting phase, you can choose another HRUD model within 3" of a Hrud Scavenger that is not shaken. That model does not suffer penalties to their hit or injury rolls due to their target being obscured.
Specialists: Leader (Saboteur only), Coms, Scout, Heavy, Sniper, Demolitions, Veteran
Faction Keyword: Hrud
Keywords: Infantry, Hrud Scavenger

Gear

Ranged Weapons
Flamethrower: Range 8", Assault d6, Strength 4, AP 0, Damage 1, This weapon hits automatically.
Marksman's Rifle: Range 36", Heavy 1, Strength 4, AP 0, Damage 1, A model firing a sniper rifle does not suffer the penalty to hit rolls for the target being at long range. If you roll a wound roll of 6+ for this weapon, it inflicts a mortal wound in addition to its normal damage. 
Hrud Warp Bombard: Range 30", Heavy 4, Strength 5, AP 0, Damage 1, This weapon can be fired at models that are not visible to the bearer. If the target is not visible to the bearer, a 6 is required for a successful hit roll, irrespective of the firing model’s Ballistic Skill or any modifiers. 
Hrud Warp Fusil: Range 30", Heavy 1, Strength 8, AP -4, Damage d6, This weapon can be fired at models that are not visible to the bearer. If the target is not visible to the bearer, a 6 is required for a successful hit roll, irrespective of the firing model’s Ballistic Skill or any modifiers. 
Rocket Launcher: Range 24", Pistol 1, Strength 8, AP -2, Damage 3, No special rules.
Scavenged Machine-gun: Range 36", Heavy 3, Strength 4, AP 0, Damage 1, No special rules.
Scavenged Long-arm: Range 24", Rapid Fire 1, Strength 3, AP -, Damage 1, No special rules.
Scavenged Shotgun: Range 12", Assault 2, Strength 3, AP 0, Damage 1, If the target is within half range, add 1 to this weapon's strength.
Scavenged Small-arm: Range 12", Pistol 1, Strength 3, AP 0, Damage 1, No special rules.

Melee Weapons
Chainsaw: Melee, Strength As User, AP 0, Damage 1, When a model attacks with this weapon, it can make a single additional attack.
Poison Blade: Melee, Strength n/a, AP -2, Damage 1, This weapon wounds on a 4+.

Points Costs

Ranged Weapons:
Flamethrower 2 Pts
Hrud Warp Bombard 5 Pts
Hrud Warp Fusil 4 Pts
Marksman's Rifle 1 Pt
Rocket Launcher 3 Pts
Scavenged Machine-gun 1 Pt
Scavenged Long-arm 0 Pts
Scavenged Shotgun 0 Pts
Scavenged Small-arm 0 Pts

Melee Weapons:
Chainsaw 0 Pts
Poison Blade 2 Pts

Other Equipment:
Smog-generator 3 Pts

Models:
Hrud Warrior 7 Pts
-Hrud Warrior Gunner 7 Pts
-Hrud Elder 7 Pts
Hrud Poisoner 6 Pts
-Hrud Poisoner Fighter 6 Pts
-Hrud Chemist 7 Pts
Hrud Scavenger 7 Pts
-Hrud Scavenger Gunner 7 Pts
-Hrud Saboteur 8 Pts

Hrud for Kill Team - the design process

The Hrud appear in 40k's background but haven't, to my knowledge, ever been given official rules. So here's me writing up some rules for them, so I can use them in Kill Team.
First up, our goals for the rules.
What do we know about the Hrud as a race?

  • They live mostly underground, prefer dim light, and dislike bright lights.
  • They generate a distortion field from their bodies that make them hard to pinpoint and often hide them in a pool of shadow. 
  • Their bodies are highly toxic, and they can create a wide variety of poisons.
  • They accelerate entropy around them, causing things to decay quickly and those nearby to age prematurely.
  • Their bodies are unusually flexible, well suited to climbing and squeezing.
  • They have comparatively little of their own technology, and tend to use scavenged equipment from the 'host civilisation' of whichever world they infest.
  • They undergo mass migrations when their populations rise particularly high.
  • They make use of unique warp technology, letting them distort space and time, move between worlds, and other strange feats.
  • Their signature weapon is the Warp Fusil, which fires a bolt of plasma through the warp to strike its target unprepared.
From this, a particular play-style emerges that seems appropriate. The Hrud are individually weak and often encountered in large numbers. They're relatively mobile, hard to pin down and making excellent use of cover. Their tactics are based on hit-and-run strategies, ambushes, and sniping rather than brute force. Most of their weaponry is poor, but they have a few devastating heavy weapons.

So.
Let's work out the base Hrud stats.

For the baseline, let's take a Grot from the ork list. This line-up is appropriately shit, and only costs 4 points.
Next up, let's make this stat-line sneaky. How do we do this? Well. The cost of an Ork Boy is 6 points. The cost of a Komando is 8 points. The difference between the two is that a Komando gets an extra point of Movement and the Sneaky Gits (enemies suffer -1 to hit while the model is obscured) rule. Their stats and gear are otherwise identical. So, we can conclude that +1 movement and the 'Sneaky' rule is worth two points.
We can re-fluff the grot's (rather shit) Grot Blaster as a scavanged weapon, and explain its low stats as a result of its being degraded by the entropic field the hrud produce.
Lastly, moving outside the Ork list, the Astartes Reivers get access to a Grapnel Launcher (ignore vertical distance while moving) for one point.

This gives us a stat-line of:
Hrud WarriorsMovement 6", WS 5+, BS 4+, Strength 2, Toughness 2, 1 Wound, 1 Attack, Leadership 4, 6+ Save.
Squirmy Anatomy (Ignore vertical distance when climbing)
Shadow Field (enemies suffer an additional -1 to hit while this model is obscured)
Scavenged Small-arm (12" range, Pistol 1, Strength 3, no AP, Damage 1).
For a total of 7 points. This seems suitably sneaky, and can represent a standard Hrud warrior.

Now, it seems only fair to give them a second troop choice, this one a dedicated scavenger, used to having to defend itself from other races. Let's pick something a little tougher than Grots for the baseline, but only barely; chaos cultists. Again, give it the squirmy anatomy and shadow field, for +3 points. Then, to represent their use as scouts, an auspex is one point: we can re-fluff this as special training.  
Hrud ScavengerMovement 7", WS 4+, BS 4+, Strength 3, Toughness 3, 1 Wound, 1 Attack, Leadership 5, 6+ Save.
Squirmy Anatomy (Ignore vertical distance when climbing)
Shadow Field (enemies suffer an additional -1 to hit while this model is obscured)
Spotter (pick a friendly model within 3" at the start of the shooting phase. That model ignores penalties for their target being obscured)
Scavenged Long-arm (24" range, Rapid Fire 1, Strength 3, no AP, Damage 1)
Costing us a grand total of 8 points. 

Our final troop-type will be poisoners. These will use the same stat-block as hrud warriors, but also get the option to take a 'choking cloud' item; the aura of '-1 leadership' a chaos Icon of Despair produces, at the same points cost. Other than that, their main difference to standard hrud is the gear they can take, which is close-range focussed.


We can reverse-engineer the costs for Leader-type models for each troop type. Basically all of them cost 1 point more, and get +1 attack and +1 Leadership, and maybe some slightly better gear options. Gunners have various different points costs depending on the gear available, but this is pretty simple to work out. 

Weapons mostly have their costs right there, we can pick a few interesting weapons. Sniper Rifles, Flamers, and Heavy Stubbers seem fun. For their signature weapons - the Warp Fusils - I want to do something a bit special, though. 
The Tau have a weapon available called 'smart missile systems' costing 5 points, which can shoot at enemies not in line-of-sight (needing 6s to hit when doing so). This seems like a good way to model being able to shoot through the warp. A smart missile system has the same stats as a Burst Cannon (which costs 4 points), except that it is Heavy rather than Assault, 30 inch range, and gets the option to shoot out of line-of-sight. So, we can conclude that a range increase from 18 to 30, indirect fire, and going from Assault to Heavy is worth +1 point.
Now, to apply this to a suitably potent gun to produce the warp fusil's stats. The Dark Eldar get a Blaster, which is a powerful single-shot assault weapon, with 18-inch range, so that makes a nice base. The modifications above give us a potent single-shot heavy weapon that can ignore line-of-sight.

Lastly, let's pick a few Tactics for the Hrud. These are mostly gonna be coming from the Eldar/Dark Eldar/Nids and will focus on movement and cover.

And with that, we have the behind-the-scenes work done. Now all that's left is to put it together in a useable format, which will come in the next post.
The end result should be a GEQ list that's strongly focused on using and abusing cover. The list is more comfortable at long range, since they get better benefits from cover while shooting, and can negate the enemy's ability to benefit from cover in a few different ways. If an enemy tries to close with them, the Hrud have a few Tactics they can use to pull back and keep shooting, and their ability to climb for free means they can dart about vertical terrain that slows down most other troops coming after them.