Cawdor

Gang Composition

In campaign format, you get $1,000 credits to start your gang.

The first step is to choose and purchase the fighters that make up the gang.  The House Cawdor gang list details all the fighters available to the gang.  These fighters are purchases by paying the credits cost shown in their entry from the budget available.  All House of Cawdor gangs must always follow these rules:

  • There must be one fighter with the leader special rule.
  • The total number of fighters with the Gang Fighter (X) special rule in the gang must always be equal to, or higher than, the total number of fighters without the Gang Fighter (X) special rule combined, not counting Hangers on or Hired Guns.

Should it occur during the course of a campaign that the number of fighters without the Gang Fighter (X) special rule exceeds the total number of fighters with the gang Fighter (X) special rule, the controlling player must either:

  • Retire a number of fighters without the Gang Fighter (X) special rule during the post-battle sequence in order to correct the imbalance.

Or

  • Recruit fresh fighters with the Gang Fighter (X) special rule during the post-battle sequence in order to correct the imbalance.

Sample names for your gangers: Beluque, Shyrth, Caban, Hoyke, Cornet, Wardecors, Hauberk, Cowl, Dagged, Epitoga, Cottus, Gamberson, Phyrgian, Houve, Touret, Barbet, Moufles, Snood.

Sample names for Redemptionists: Torgun, Horst, Klovis, Turmund, Luthren, Othor, Elias, Gerald, Ruthrun, Dagorn, Torqium, Mathtias, Theor, Corvun, Noah, Jorgos.

Weapons and Wargear: all fighters can be equipped as follows

  • A fighter can be equipped with a maximum of three weapons purchases from those listed in their entry.
  • Weapons marked with and * take up the space of two weapons.
  • Any fighter may purchase wargear that is listed in their entry.
  • Weapons accessories marked may not be combined together on the same weapon.  If once such accessory is purchased for a weapon, another may not be added.
  • If the gang is being founded for Campaign play, fighters will be limited to equipment listed in their entry, whereas fighters in a gang founded for Skirmish play may also have access to some items of equipment from the Trading post and Black Market.  This should be agreed upon by the players.

New Equipment: During a campaign, gangs may gain new equipment, either by purchasing it from the Trading Post or Black Market, or as a result of Boons.  These items are added to the gang’s stash and may be distributed among fighters during any post battle sequence.

  • Any fighter may discard any wargear they are equipped with in favour of new wargear.    Any Wargear discarded this way is placed in the gang’s stash and may be given to other fighters.
  • No fighter may discard a weapon, Underhive gangers become attached to their weapon of choice and would rather hoard weapons than discard them.
  • Fighters with the Gang Fighter (X) special rule that do not also have the Tools of the Trade special rule cannot be given a new weapon if it would take them above the limit of three weapons carried.
  • Fighters with the Tools of the Trade special rule can be given more than three weapons as they have multiple Fighters cards, each representing a different equipment set, as described below.

Fighter Cards and Gang Roster: Finally, a blank fighter card should be completed for each fighter when they are added to the gang; the characteristics of the fighter and any equipment they now have should be noted down in the appropriate sections of the Fighter Card.  A gang roster sheet is completed for the gang as a whole.

Equipment Sets: Senior gang members, enjoying the privilege of rank, often maintain a cache of weapons that allow them to equip themselves appropriately for each battle.  As such, fighters with the Tools of the Trade special rule can have multiple Fighter cards, each representing a different set of equipment.

  • The controlling player can make an additional fighter card for a fighter with the tools of the trade special rule at any time.
  • An appropriate model should be available for each different equipment set and or fighter card a fighter has.
  • there is no additional cost for having multiple equipment sets.  If, for example, a Word-Keeper owns a fighting knife, they may include that weapon in as many or as few different equipment sets as the controlling player wishes without additional cost.  the weapon is only purchased and paid for once.
  • Regardless of the number of equipment sets a fighter has, they still have a single entry on the gang roster.  This entry should include the total value of the individual weapons and items of Wargear that fighter own. But remember, each individual weapon or item of Wargear is only counted once.
  • If the fighter suffers any Lasting Injuries or gains any Advancements, they should be recorded on all of their fighter cards.
  • Only one of a fighter’s cards can be used for a battle.
  • If a battle uses random fighters from the gang, all the fighter’s cards should be shuffled together and one should be drawn at random and added to the rest of the gang’s fighter cards before any cards are drawn.  This means that only one of this fighter’s cards can be drawn for the battle, and that the controlling player cannot choose which of their equipment sets they will be using.
  • When distributing equipment from the gang’s stash, it can be moved to any or all of a fighter’s cards, and can even be moved to more than one.

Death of a leader: All House Cawdor gangs must include a single fighter with the Gang Leader special rule.  This fighter is, naturally, the leader of the gang.

Unlike most other gangs, those of House Cawdor have two options available to them; a word-keeper or a Redemptor Priest.  These two different options represent the internal divisions within the House, and whichever is chosen will heavily influence the character of the gang.  Regardless of how many options a gang has, it can only ever include one fighter with the Gang leader special rule.

If a gang leader is killed, a new leader must be nominated:

  • The new leaders is the fighter with the highest leadership characteristics, selected from among those fighters that have, in order of priority:
    • The Gang Hierarchy (X) special rule
    • The Tools of the Trade special rule
  • If the gang contains no fighters with either special rule, the fighter with the highest Leadership characteristic must be selected from among the remaining gang members.

If two or more eligible fighters have the same Leadership characteristic, use Advancements as a tie breaker, if there is still a tie, the controlling player can decide which fighter will become the new gang leader.

When a fighter is promoted this way, they gain the Gang Leader special rule.  Additionally, in the case of a House Cawdor gang, the new leader must choose what type of leader they will become (World-keeper or Redemptor Priest).  In some cases, this decision will be made for them based upon the type of fighter being promoted:

  • Should a fighter with the Fanatical special rule become the new leader, they must become a Redemptor Priest.
  • Should a fighter with the Pious special rule become the new leader, they can choose to become either a Word-keeper or a Redemptor Preist.

In either case, the promoted fighter will, from now on, count as a fighter of their new type for the purpose of determining which equipment and skill sets they can access.  Their existing characteristics and skills do not change.

Gang Alignment: Because sometimes the Cawdor gangs are law abiding and others are not so much, all gangs of Cawdor have an alignment.

  • If a gang contains more Pious fighters than Fanatical fighters when it is founded, its alignment is automatically Law Abiding.  Referred to as Cawdor Gangs
  • If a gang contains more Fanatical fighters than Pious fighters when it is founded, its alignment is automatically Outlaw. Referred to as Redemptionist Gangs
  • If a gang contains an equal number of Pious and Fanatical fighters when it is founded, its alignment is determined by the Pious or Fanatical designation of its leader.

As the gang changes due to a combination of attrition and hiring new fighters the alignment can change.  During campaign play, after each battle it takes part in a Cawdor or Redemptionist gang may be required to make an alignment test if:

  • The gang now contains more Pious fighters than Fanatical fighters.
  • The gang now contains more Fanatical fighters than Pious fighters.

If the gang only contains Pious fighters it will always be considered a Cawdor gang and will be considered law-abiding

If the gang only contains Fanatical fighters then it will always be considered a Redemptionist gang and its alignment is automatically outlaw.

Alignment checks are done as the very last stage of the post battle sequence.  The gang leader makes a willpower check.  The player may apply a +3 modifier to the result if the leader is pious and their gang is currently law-Abiding or if the leader is fanatical and their gang is currently outlaw the modifier is optional and can be applied after the roll.  If the check is passed nothing happens, if the check is failed the alignment changes immediately.

A fighter with the outlaw special rule can only be recruited and fielded as part of an outlaw gang.

Law Abiding Gangs – must abide by the following

  • Law Abiding gangs can Claim Bounties on Captives taken from outlaw gangs, once their owner’s gang has had a chance to rescue them. Roll 2dX10 credits for every fighter belonging to the Outlaw gang that suffered a memorable death result on the lasting injury table during the battle.  If the fighter was a captive belonging to an outlaw gang, they can be sold to the Guilders for the full worth of the fighter.
  • Law Abiding gangs may trade captives with other Law Abiding gangs, but may not trade Captives back to outlaw gangs.
  • Law Abiding gangs can hire any hangers-on, brutes, hired guns and dramatis personae that do not have the outlaw special rule
  • Fighters in a law abiding gang do not have bounties on their heads.
  • Law abiding gangs have restricted access to the Black Market in the post-battle sequence, though they may freely visit the Trading post.
  • Law Abiding gangs may form guild alliances.

Outlaw Gangs – must abide by the following:

  • Outlaw gangs cannot claim bounties on any captives taken, but can dispose of them once their owner’s gang has had a chance to rescue them.
  • Outlaw gangs may trade captives with any other gang as they wish.
  • Outlaw gangs can hire only hangers-on, brutes, hired guns and dramatis personae that have outlaw special rules.
  • All fighters in an outlaw gang have a bounty on their head
  • Outlaw gangs have restricted access to the trading post in the post-battle sequence, though they may freely visit the black market.
  • Outlaw gangs may form criminal alliances.

Gang Members

Cawdor Word-Keeper (leader)