TEXT: LAIR OF THE RAT
  by Gary James and Brandon Hicks
  Here is anotber excellent offering from Gary James' website.
  This is a special scenario for 3 players, whicb pits trt)o gctngs
  ctgainst tbe forces of the Ratlord controlled by a referee. Tbe
  Ratlord also appears in tbe Warbammer Montbly's tbe
  Redeemer strip, as part of tbe tbe Callers beinous plot to
  destroy Hiue Primus. We'ue included some of tbe
  illustrations from tbat strip for reference if you feel inspired.
  to conuert your own Ratlord, uhicb would make a nice
  modelling project. Failing tbat tbe Skauen Vennin Lord
  model would make a suitable stand-in.
  7he place was uery special. No-one had dared to defile tbis, tbe ruost boly af places, for
  mafiry genercttions. Tbe last group bad been draun by greed, greed for sacred
  arcbeotecb, greed for rare anirnal pelts and u:ildsnake. Now tbey were coming again.
  He coulcl feel tbe fall of tbeir cluwsy feet and smell their fear. Of wbat were tbey
  afraid? Of tbe uermin, scuttling tbraugb tbis darkest of corners in tbe underbiue. Heb.
  If it is uermin tbey want, then uerrnin tbey will get. But these u,ill be tbe uennin of
  tbeir uorst nightmares.
  Letresetb took bis staff and rapped in the filtb af the dusty ftoor 7?sree giartts r6ts
  emerged frorn tbe surcounding infrastructure, tbeir ejtes reflecting an eail but
  intell'igent glint despite tbe darkness. Ee petted. tben and fed each a titbit. *We sball be
  needing a little belp my friends." he rasped. "Go nottj, seek Him aut and bring Hirn to
  me Tell Him to burry, for tbey are atmost upon ils". Tbe emissaries turned and
  clisappeared silerctly ircta tbe darkness. It had been a long tirne since be bad bad
  occasion to sun'trrto'tx Him, and tbougb tbe circumstarrces were regrettable Iarernetb
  coulcln't betp but loak forzaard. to seeing Him again. He was as close to fanzily as he
  could hope to get.
  Tbe Beastmttster's fingers caressed tbe snootb, curted irtstrttrnent stitched to tbe hem
  of bis coat, and he rewinisced. Ile bul always bad a u:ay a,ith animals. His parents
  bad encouraged bim initiallV, and ushen Iaremetb discouered the Talkircg be bad.
  den'ranstrated uitb pride the excepriorzal control be cauld exert ouer bis pets. His
  parents bad been amused, tben bemused, and then startled.. Ihis was too far frorn the
  Way to be good. He rnust stap it. TIte pets tnust g{}. It utas far bis otun good, anct tbey
  did it because tbey loued him, he kneu tbat. But tbe Talking becarne s*onger It
  intruded. into bis eaeryday thoughts arzd be couldn't control it. He was drawing
  attention to bi*zse$ and euorse, to bis farrzily. Er;entaelty bis family borne had been
  besieged by mobs demanding that he be band.ed. ater ta tbe Guilders for examination.
  Eis fatber bad knozun tlse consequences af allowing this action, and be had been
  smugled out lbrougb the mob by a family frimcl, He knew he wou[d neuer return.
  In tbe Llnd.erbiue people bad been less startled by his powers, ancl be bad leamed to
  keep tberz to birnse$ uloen be ca*ld. Three days later Spike bad turned up. It bad been
  easy for tbe creature to track bis master into the {Jnderbiue. AII undampened Wyrds
  teft a psychic wake in their patlt - the ueryt atmosphere bristled nitb energy like iron
  filings starcding on esd wbsn a rnagnet is applied. Ltnlike magnetic force, Wyrd
  psycbics fell into six poles - one for each prirnary power Beastmasters, bauing only a
  ooeak secondqry pawer in addition to tbe Thlking, produced a characteristic psy-print-
  
  He bad met an Elder, a feltow Wyrd, who laugbl bim to hone and sharpen bis lalent.
  But the most powerful of these remained tbe Tatking. Tltis u.,as udortunate, because
  eaen Llnderbiuers shied awayfrom tbe uermin and other creatures which were all tbat
  could pass as 'pets' in tbis Emperor-forsaken place. And so Laremeth had. pressed on
  deeper and deeper inlo the underbiue. With only crealures as companions tbe Talking
  became an asset ralher tban a liability.
  Tbat is wbere be discouerecl tbis boly place, and tbe secret lbat lte must protect. Il was
  tbe most ancient of places, uncletected by ordinaries for many nxan)) generalions. Il bad
  crealed Him, and He must remain an euen greater secret lest the witch bunt began once
  more and lbe pitilul crealures that passed for a family were again to be barmed as a
  cot*equence of bis powers.
  Laremeth snapped himself out of bis melancholy and back to tbe matler at band. "Now
  then, Gebeneth. are you close by too? Let's find out". Spike had been bis most loyal
  beast and it bad seemed fitting to carue bis summoning flute from the rib of tbis, bis
  fatourite ward. He took it and made two sbrtil blasts uthich echoedfar inlo tbe uoid
  like tbe sbrieks ol tbe dying rat. Now all he could do was wait...and keep an ele on
  tbeir 'uisitors'. Tbere were lwo Sroups. be could sense that. Maybe tbe1, spou14 be more
  powerfut tban the last, for a long time bad passett. Lord belp us, And Larewetb was
  sure lhal He would.
  A disturbance in tbe back of Laremelh's mind announced. the aruiual of Gebenetb, and
  be turned to greet his btood brotber. "It bas been sanre tilne, Be*stffiaster \Ybat brings
  you back?"
  Laremeth outlined tbe situation. Two gangs had wandered inlo tbe o*skirts of tbe
  Sacred Place and h* bad. beere the first to sef$e it - passibly because tbe gangs utere
  exterminating tbe biue uermin as tbeJt aduanced, sending ripples of bestial angst
  through tbe underbiue.
  Wben he had lirst uandered into tbe sacred Ratskin enclaue tlre BeastrrTaster ba.d been
  obserued quietty for seueral days raitbout delect ion by euen his fledgling prycbic powers.
  Tlee spirit of tbe shaman had taalked u)itb bitn rnany times before lhe Rats$ns enzerged.
  They recognised the potential uorth of the Beastmaster and admired his control of tbe
  rats. Laretneth tiued with tbem for a number of years and, gradually, tbeir trust in bim
  grew. Tben tbe day arriuedfor lbe ritual, Deep witbin tbe ratskin territory la1,r an
  ancient and undisturbed arcbeotecb board. Ald the board beld a secret - a secret lbat
  tbe Ratskirn hoped he would betp tbem to exploit,..
  THE SCENARIO
  fWo rival gangs are exploring 
  uncharted
  terrain 
  when 
  they discover each others
  presence. Because of the remote location,
  the area is crawling 
  with wild beasts and
  mutant creatures. This scenario takes three
  people to play - two gangs and an arbitrator
  to control the Forces of the Ratlord.
  C h o o s i n g  
  t h is sce n a rio
  The stakes are high in this scenario - an
  archeotech hoard to the winners. Because of
  this we suggest this scenario should only be
  taken if the Gang Fight scenario is chosen
  and then a 6 is rolled on a further D6.
  THE FORCES OF THE
  RATLORD
  These consist of three characters and D3+3
  Ratskin warriors.
  Laremet h
  Laremeth is a special character, but is
  basicallv a Beastmaster VVrd who always has
  3 rats to control 
  - do not choose other
  creatures. and do not make a D3 roll for the
  number of rats. Choose his secondary power
  as normai. Laremeth is the leader of the
  Forces of the Ratlord and counts as having
  the Leader skill.
  Gehene t h
  Geheneth is a Renegade Ratskin Shaman,
  
  and takes the Shaman characteristics from
  Outlanders. 
  In this scenario some of the
  Spirit Lore Powers would not make sense,
  so when rolling a power for Geheneth use
  this modified table: 1-2 Curse 3-4 Ghost
  Dance 5-6 Spirit W'alk.
  RATLORD
  The tatlord 
  is a new special character
  introduced 
  for this scenario. 
  Use any
  model 
  that seems appropriate 
  - he is a
  mutant 
  creature 
  of (as yet) undisclosed
  origin. 
  The Varhammer 
  Fantasy Skaven
  Vermin Lord is a good choice.
  Ratlord
  M W S B S S T W I A L d
  3r
  Skills: Killer reputation
  Special: The Ratlord controls D3+3 giant
  fats in exactly 
  the same manner 
  as a
  Beastmaste! with the exception that there
  is no range limit 
  on the control 
  of the
  Ratlord's 
  rats. The Ratlord 
  cannot 
  use
  weapons 
  but has fearsome 
  claws which
  have a strength of 5 and inflict D3 damage.
  He is immune 
  to fear and terror. 
  The
  Ratlord counts as a large target with a + 1
  to hit. For reference pu{poses, the Ratlord
  has a cost of25O credits.
  RATLORD 
  RATS
  These have the characteristics of Giant Rats
  from the Outlanders 
  bestiary The Ratlord
  always has his D3+3 rats available to him.
  If a Ratlord's rat is slain another will take its
  place. Place the replacement 
  in base to
  
  base contact with the Ratlord.
  RATSKINS
  The Forces of the Ratlord include D3*3
  Ratskins. Generate these as for hired Ratskin
  Scouts.
  SETUP 
  r
  TERRAIN
  The arbitrator sets up the terrain, since it is
  unknown 
  to the gangers. The teffain should
  be set up on one or two levels with dense
  ground cover. Place the mine entrance piece
  near the centfe and ensure there is cover for
  the Ratlord to move around in. As this is
  unknown 
  terrain 
  tunnel, 
  vents 
  and
  infiltration 
  do not 
  apply. The arbitrator
  selects a location 
  where 
  the Ratlord will
  emerge and makes a note of this on a piece
  of paper. The gangs are unaware 
  of this
  location.
  FORCES OF THE RATLORD SETLIP
  The Ratskins set up first in hiding, then the
  gangs, then the rest of the Ratlord's forces.
  The Ratlord emerges from hiding 
  and can
  be placed on the terrain in a pre-destined
  spot at the beginning 
  of any of the Ratlord
  Forces' turns. The Ratlord may not run in
  this turn.
  GANG SETUP
  The two exploring gangs are allowed to use
  half of the gang (rounding 
  up) plus D3
  members (the gangs have nor taken the risk
  of leaving their territories 
  unguarded when
  so far 
  away). Note 
  that, 
  for 
  a reason
  unknown 
  to the gangs, any Ratskin gang
  members slip away and are not available in
  this scenario. The gangs deploy within 
  4
  inches of the table edge and roll a D6 to see
  who moves first. The Ratlord forces move
  last.
  GAMEPLAY
  The gangs are initially 
  unaware 
  of each
  other 
  and cannot 
  shoot 
  or charge the
  opposing 
  gang until they are aware of the
  other's presence. lf a gang member comes
  within 
  three 
  times 
  his own 
  initiarive 
  in
  inches of an opposing gang member then
  he will notice the other gang and alert his
  companions. Shooting upon a gang will not
  necessarily 
  alert 
  them 
  to 
  the 
  firer's
  presence...the shots could have come from
  an unknown 
  source, such as the Ratskins.
  When a weapon 
  is fred, 
  the target gang
  rolls 2D6 and adds the weapon's strengh to
  the score. Ifthe score is over 10 the gang is
  made aware of their opponents 
  shooting
  upon them.
  ENDING THE GAME
  Bottle tests need not be made until 50% are
  down or out of action. The game is over
  when 
  both 
  gangs have compulsorily 
  or
  voluntarily 
  bottled 
  out or one gang has
  defeated 
  the opposing 
  gang and all the
  Forces of the Ratlord. The Forces of the
  Ratlord will never bottle out.
  If a victorious 
  gang has a ganger within
  running 
  distance of the mine entfance 
  at
  the point at which the game ends then the
  g ^g may add an archeotech 
  hoard to its
  territory list.
  EXPERIENCE
  +D6 for surviving the battle
  *2D6 
  for surviving a hand to hand
  encounter with the Ratlord himseU
  *5 per wounding hit
  *10 for the gang member who inflicts a
  killing wound on rhe Ratlord. Note that
  this replaces the * 5 for the wounding
  hit.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Warhammer/40k/Necromunda/02 Necromunda - 1st Edition (1995)/Senarios/air_of_the_rat 3 players.pdf