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The Underhive; where life is nasty, brutish, and short. If you're lucky.

Beware the shadows of the Hive, where only the strongest endure...

Necromunda is one of several spinoffs of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000, and arguably tied with Battlefleet Gothic as the longest-lived and most enduringly popularnote . Notable for functioning on a considerably smaller scale than its progenitor; it trades WH40K's significantly-sized army detachments, with dozens of models and accompanying vehicles, for small gangs with an average of 6-12 models. The gameplay is based heavily on the 2nd Edition WH40k rules (updated for compatibility with 4th Edition and later, in later editions) with some RPG-like mechanics added on. Specifically, it focuses on long-term campaigns and gang development, with gangs actually growing in size and ability with time and experience.

One of the "Hive Worlds" of the Imperium, the titular planet Necromunda is a place where industrialization and pollution have created a Single-Biome Planet consisting of vast, mile-high termite-mound-like "hive cities" devoted primarily to manufacturing weapons and equipment, and providing troops, for the Imperial Guard. Outside the hive cities, the environment has been effectively destroyed by pollution and radiation, and a perpetual smog enshrouds all but the very peaks of the cities. Necromundan society is highly stratified by class, with each class further divided into a small number of feuding clans known as "Houses." The elites reside in the "spire," which juts above the smog cloud, providing sunshine and fresh air. The majority of the population lives, works, and dies in the grim and filthy main hive, and do the bulk of manufacturing and food production. The game setting, the Underhive, is a vast, decaying, multi-level industrial wasteland populated by outlaws from the main Houses, mutants, pyromaniac religious fanatics, escaped slaves, plague zombies, Proud Warrior Race Guys, rogue psykers, and all manner of strange and deadly creatures. The hive floor consists of an immense toxic lake, surrounded by a ring of refuse, and anything that dwells there is best avoided entirely.

Although initially similarly short-lived, Necromunda enjoyed considerably more support than Games Workshop's other Gaiden Games, featuring more prominently in their publicity, and in their White Dwarf and (now defunct) Citadel Journal publications. It also had two Comic Book series based in Necromunda: Kal Jerico (following the titular rogue) and The Redeemer (following a Redemptionist in his crusade against heretics). However, it too eventually dropped off the radar, with one official expansion and a second edition, Necromunda: Underhive, being produced. The game was eventually discontinued, along with the rest of the Specialist Games range, in 2013 (having fairly consistently been the best-selling part of the range for a decade). In April 2017 a new 40K Gaiden Game, Shadow War: Armageddon, was released based on the Necromunda ruleset. November 2017 then saw the release of a 3rd Edition of the game, also called Necromunda: Underhive, which includes the basic rules, that were expanded by a number of supplemental Sourcebooks, such as the Necromunda: Gang War series, Necromunda: The Book of Peril, and Necromunda: The Book of Judgement that include campaign rules, extra gangs, hired guns and other advanced rules. An expanded hardback rulebook was also released in November 2018. The updated game has proven enduringly popular, and continued to get new rulebooks and expansions well into The New '20s, most prominently a series devoted to the Ash Wastes between the hives and running adventures in that environment, complete with new gang types and the introduction of Necromunda-scale vehicle rules, with a focus on the land-trains that run between hives.

A video game called Necromunda Underhive Wars was announced in 2017 and was released on the 8th of September, 2020. A spinoff FPS RPG featuring the factions and Kal Jerico, Necromunda: Hired Gun, was released in 2020.

For the fantasy equivalent game directly inspired by Necromunda's success, see Mordheim.


Being set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the game features a large number of the tropes on that page, as well as employing setting and gameplay tropes of its own.

  • Amazon Brigade: While House Escher is most famous for fielding exclusively female gangsnote , other Houses occasionally have all-female gangs fighting in their name. The religious extremists of House Cawdor in particular have a number of woman-only gangs that style themselves after the holy warrior women of the Adepta Sororitas.
  • Ammunition Backpack: The 1st and 2nd Edition models for Heavies equipped with high rate of fire heavy weapons, such as heavy stubbers or heavy bolters, are sculpted with backpacks bulging with ammunition for their massive guns.
  • Arbitrary Headcount Limit:
    • The number of leaders and special fighters a gang can include on their roster is limited, either by total number or by other factors such as the number of regular fighters the gang contains. 1st and 2nd Edition gangs could only include 2 Heavies (or their equivalents) while 3rd Edition limits the number of Champions (or equivalents) to 2 plus 1 more per 10 Reputation the gang has, while Hangers-Onnote  and Brutes are limited to 1 plus 1 more for every 5 Reputation the gang has. Each type of Hanger-On and Brute also has its own limit: three Ammo Jacks, two Ambots, one Slopper for example. 3rd Edition Helot Chaos Cult gangs are also only allowed to have up to one Witch.
    • While there is no upper limit to the number of members a gang can contain in 3rd Edition Necromunda, beyond the credits cost of the fighters and their equipment, it is rare for both gangs to use their entire roster for a battle with each scenario detailing how many fighters a player is able to use for the game, known as a Crew. The number of fighters in a Crew is often randomly determined and of the seven scenarios included in the core Necromunda: Underhive rulebook, only one allows both players to use their entire gang. The first Necromunda: Gang War supplement also introduces additional methods of creating a Crew.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: in typically Grimdark Warhammer 40k fashion this is Exaggerated to an almost cartoonish degree. Even beyond the oppression, inequality, casual sadism and decadence that is usually present with this trope (but taken up to eleven), Nobles send their children as "Spyre Hunters" into the underhive to achive a certain objective to prove they have the cunning and ruthlessness necessary to survive the politics of the Spire. Often this objective is to kill a certain number of the locals. This guarantees Necromunda's top nobility is full of the most cunning, ruthless and sadistic sociopaths. The current ruler of Necromunda, Haera Astaria Vorterra Helmawr, was disappointed that "only" three workers died of exhaustion whilst moving her dining room table into position. She also gained her position as 137th Lord of Necromunda in a vicious battle she planned at her "Bloody Banquet" where six of her siblings were killed (along with several servants as collateral damage) and subsequently eliminating any other political and dynastic rivals she could find. Not that her targets were any better.
  • Attack Animal:
    • During 2nd Edition the Bosses who led Scavvy gangs could be accompanied by a pack of Scavvy Dogs, diseased and savage beasts who would attack anyone their master desired as long as he can keep them fed with titbits of food.
    • Exotic Beasts, introduced in 3rd Edition, are animals that can be purchased by Gang Leaders and Champions who will fight alongside their master in a game. Each House has their own unique beast that reflects the character of the House such as the tough but thick Goliath Sumpkroc, the high-tech Van Saar Cyberachnid, the Sheen Birds considered to be embodiments of the Emperor's grace by members of House Cawdor, or the Khimerix, gene-spliced by House Escher from various dangerous and xenos beasts.
  • Awesome, but Impractical:
    • Flamer weapons in 1st and 2nd Editions were useful as the player didn't have to have to roll to hit their opponent, and could hit multiple fighters with a single blast. On the downside however, the limited fuel capacity of flamer weapons meant the player had to make an ammo roll every time they were fired, meaning that there was a 50% chance of the weapon becoming useless after every use.
    • In the 1st and 2nd Edition of the game lascannons were the single most powerful weapon available to underhive gangs, capable of destroying anything it hits with a single shot. The fact that the weapon only fired a single shot however meant that it could only kill a single enemy a turn, so that it was rarely worth its extreme cost.
  • Back-Alley Doctor: Healers of dubious repute often end up in the underhive, often up-hive chirurgeons who let an important patient die due to bad luck or incompetence and had to flee retribution. During a campaign gangs can take critically injured fighters to a Doc in an attempt to save them or hire Rogue Docs as Hangers-On. It is expensive to take a wounded fighter to such a doc, however, and there is always the chance that the fighter could die or suffer additional injuries.
  • Back Stab: The Backstab weapon trait from 3rd Edition signifies a weapon that is particularly useful when attacking a foe from behind, granting the attack a Strength bonus when used to attack an enemy from outside their vision arc. The Backstab skill, meanwhile, indicates that fighter is so skilled at this manoeuvre that they are able to count any melee weapon that they use as having the Backstab weapon trait, whether it is a knife or a BFS.
  • Badass Longcoat: The traditional outfit of House Delaque is a long, flowing trench coat in the style of a spy or private investigator. These coats are perfect for concealing weaponry and add to the House's secret agent visual theme.
  • Badass Normal: With the exception of the stimm-enhanced members of House Goliath, the members of the various House gangs tend to be regular humans chosen from the general population of the House for their violent tendencies.
  • Bar Brawl: The Gang Raidnote  scenario sees members of two rival gangs get into a fight at a local drinking hole. The scenario limits the use of weapons (they have to be checked at the door), and also includes rules for intoxicated fighters and NPC patrons who can get involved in the brawl by throwing furniture at the player's fighters.
  • Bat Out of Hell:
    • Some areas of the Necromundan underhive are infested with swarms of carrion bats. These scavengers have ferocious piranha-like jaws that they use to steal mouthfuls of flesh from corpses and living underhivers alike.
    • Ripper Jacks are bat-like alien creatures that inhabit abandoned domes in the Underhive. Ripper Jacks attack by enveloping their prey's head with their wings while biting and gouging their eyes and throat.
  • Beast Man: Gor Half-horn is a Bounty Hunter of the Homo sapiens variatus breed of abhumans. This goat-like abhuman strain, more commonly known as Beastmen, are heavily discriminated against by the intolerant Imperium for their monstrous appearance, and the fact that Gor has been given an official Imperial Sanction has led to many wild rumours. The first hired gun to be released for the 3rd Edition of the game, Gor is also notable for being the first Imperial Beastman model to be produced since the 1st Edition of Warhammer 40,000 itself.
  • The Beastmaster: Some Wyrds have the ability to dominate and control the various mutant creatures that inhabit the underhive. Known as Beastmasters, these Wyrds hire out their services to those with few scruples, personally leading their vicious pets into battle as they have to remain close to their charges to maintain their control.
  • The Big Guy: While some of the Brute characters, introduced during 3rd Edition, fall under other categories, many of these large and powerful hangers-on that greatly add to their gang's combat prowess. The mutated Goliath 'Zerkers and the abhuman 'Jotunn' Servitor-Ogryn in fulfil the role of large combat powerhouse particularly well.
  • BFG: Heavy weapons, such as the heavy stubber or the 'Krumper' rivet cannon are large and unwieldy weapons with massive firepower. Highly expensive, and often difficult to use, the use of heavy weapons are limited to only the most trusted or technically minded members of a gang such as Heaviesnote  and Championsnote .
  • BFS: During the 1st and 2nd Editions of the game, two-handed swords were available but were unlikely to see much use as the combat system generally favoured using multiple smaller weapons rather than a single, slow and heavy blade.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: Pit Slaves are generally modified by their owners so that they can perform their duties more efficiently. Scrap slaves will have their arms and hands replaced with buzz saws, mining slaves will be outfitted with rock drills and fungus harvesting slaves will gain a pair of razor sharp shears. Those slaves who find themselves in the fighting pits of the underhive often have chainswords fitted to their arms in place of their hands with the famous rebel slave Bull Gorg having both his hands replaced with a pair of turbo chainswords.
  • Blast Out: A gameplay mechanic for the Shoot Out scenario sees each player make a Nerve check for their gangnote  or a Cool check for each fighternote  each turn. To represent the building tension, these tests are cumulative and once the result reaches a specific value someone snaps and goes for their gun, causing all hell to break loose.
  • Blinded by the Light: Photon flash flares and grenades are special, non-lethal, weapons that emit a bright light when they activate, blinding any unprotected eyes in close proximity. When such a weapon is used, those within its area of effect must pass a check against their Initiative characteristic or be blinded, reducing their combat skill characteristics for a turn to their minimum in 1st and 2nd Edition, or becoming unable to take any action except Reaction attacks for a turn in 3rd Edition.
  • Bling of War: Many successful Gang Leaders and Champions like to flaunt the wealth they have acquired with extravagant clothes, items and wargear. The 3rd Edition of the game represents this with Extravagant Goods, rare and expensive items that high-ranking gang members can buy to show off their wealth. One such item of wargear is gold plating for their favourite weapon that has the in-game effect of raising their Leadership characteristic.
  • Blob Monster:
    • Sludge jellies are large gelatinous masses that inhabit the toxic lakes of the sump. When they sense passing prey, they reach out with tentacles up to hundreds of feet long and attempt to sting it to death.
    • Icrotic slime is a transparent, fist-sized blob monster visually indistinguishable from the various spills of toxic liquid found in the Sump, which feeds on the brain of living creatures. While feeding, the Icrotic slime releases chemicals into its victim's body that give them a highly euphoric feeling and boosts their physical abilities. The positive effects of being host to an Icrotic slime mean that, during 1st Edition, gang fighters can use Icrotic slimes as a highly dangerous combat drug, trusting their comrades to remove the slime before it totally consumes their brain.
  • Booby Trap: Booby traps can be purchased by any gang from the Trading Post during a campaign and come in fragnote , gas and melta varieties. While narratively intended to help defend a gang's hideout, booby traps can be used for any game and explode whenever any fighter, friend of foe, comes close.
  • Booze-Based Buff: During 1st and 2nd Edition Wild Snake was a rare and potent moonshine that could install "Snake Courage" in a gang that drank it before a battle, giving them +1 to their Leadership. The resulting drunkenness resulted in a -2 to their Initiative however.
  • Boring, but Practical: The 3rd Edition background for Orlock gangs states that members of the House look for reliability in their weapons over such things as power or flashy attacks. In-game however Orlock weapons are no more reliable than anyone else's.
    • In 3rd edition, it's almost mandatory to equip everyone who can wield pistols with a stub gun. While it's a measly revolver with a maximum 12" range, strength 3, damage 1 hit without effect, the fact that it only costs 5 credits means you'll never break the bank equipping your gang with them. In addition, it has a 2+ammo check AND the plentiful rule, negating arguably the most limiting mechanic in the game, and better still, its short range modifier is +2 to shooting, which can turn even a goliath bully into a competent gunslinger, and that's not even including its dirt cheap dumdum or manstopper round additions that really add some punch.
  • Bounty Hunter:
    • The underhive is the most common destination for outlaws and mutants, making it a rich hunting ground for those wishing to make some credits bringing these degenerates to justice. Due to their skill and fighting powers Bounty Hunters have been a popular Hired Gun in every edition of the game, with 3rd Edition in particular including detailed rules for various types of Bounty Hunter as well as a number of named Bounty Hunters.
    • Venator Bands, introduced for 3rd Edition in the May 2018 issue of White Dwarf, are elite gangs of Bounty Hunters who band together for protection, to track down the most lucrative bounties or for more esoteric and near-religious reasons. The rules for these gangs also include rules for including Bounty Hunters from specific Houses.
  • Breakable Weapons: In 1st and 2nd Edition, a player must make a second Ammo Roll if the first was failed on a roll of a 1. If this second roll also failed then the weapon exploded, destroying the weapon and causing a hit on the model carrying it. This is justified due to the difficulty in maintaining complex mechanisms and the widespread use of homemade ammunition of dubious quality; it is not uncommon for the weapons used by inhabitants of the Underhive to suffer a catastrophic failure.
  • Burn the Witch!: As with many Imperial religious fanatics, House Cawdor and members of the Cult of Redemption possess an intense loathing of psykers and Wyrds, believing that the best fate for such witches is immolation by flamer weaponry. During the 1st and 2nd Edition of the game Redemptionist Crusade even had a rule that they would automatically burn any Wyrd they capture at the stake unless their comrades rescue them.
  • Chainsaw Good:
    • As with the wider Warhammer 40,000 setting, chainswords are a popular weapon but their high cost means that they are often only wielded by gang leaders and their most trusted fighters. In 1st and 2nd Edition chainswords were the most powerful of the Common close combat weapons while in 3rd Edition rules for chainswords weren't introduced until the second Necromunda: Gang War supplement and the release of the Forge World weapon kits.
    • The primary weapon of the Spyrer Matriarchnote  is the chainscythe, a weapon that fits with her techno-Grim Reaper visual theme.
    • Although it had no effect in the rules, the 1st Edition Goliath Leader with meltagun model has replaced his traditional mohawk with a chainsaw blade, something the 3rd Edition models give a Shout-Out to with the inclusion of a similarly designed mohawk as an option on the Goliath plastic sprue.
    • The background for Pit Slaves makes mention of the legendary pit fighter Harkan Vore, who had a chainsaw replacing his lower jaw.
    • During the 1st and 2nd Editions of the game, Redemptionist Crusades were the only gang who had access to Evisorators, massive two-handed chainsaws popular with religious fanatics throughout the Imperium.
  • Chameleon Camouflage: The wings of Yeld Spyre suits, from the 1st and 2nd Edition Spyre hunter teams, were wired with crystalline circuitry that allowed them to change colour and blend into the surrounding environment, something that was represented in the game by a negative to hit modifier for anyone firing at a Yeld from long range. The chameleon cloaks worn by the veteran Spyrer Matriarchs in 2nd Edition used similar, but more sophisticated, technology to camouflage its wearer and gave her enemies a negative to hit modifier for all of their attacks.
  • Church Militant: The Cult of the Redemption are a highly violent offshoot of the Imperial Cult native to Necromunda that has since spread to the wider Imperium. The Cult aggressively persecute anyone who deviates from their strict beliefs of physical and spiritual purity and launch armed crusades against the deviant inhabitants of the underhive.
  • Clam Trap: One of the (many) forms of hostile wildlife found in the on Necromunda is the Ash Clam, a mutated terrestrial bivalve native to the planet's ash wastes, and occasionally found in more run-down areas of the underhive as well. These creaturesnote  essentially function as a biological Bear Trap, which can lead to an ignominious end for any ganger unfortunate enough to get stuck in one.
  • Cosmetically Different Sides: In earlier editions of Necromunda, this is a possibility for the main ganger houses, your house determined the likelihood of the type of skill you got, but if the Random Number God had been good to you, it's possible to have a Goliath gang as shooty and sneaky as Delaque with exactly the same hardware. In contrast, outlaw gangs like Spyrers and Ratskins had completely different rules and equipment lists. 2nd Edition began to move away from this slightly with the addition of House specific weapon lists for starting gangs, while 3rd Edition continued this trend by giving the Clan House gangs more differentiation with access to unique equipment and weapons.
  • Cool Chair: The Pyrocaen Lords of the Promethium Guild (introduced in 3rd Edition) often sit on flame and jet-driven palanquins, never setting foot on the underhive's filth as they have the fuel to waste for both comfort and protection.
  • Cyberpunk: While earlier edition mixed it with American Old West themes, Necromunda is one of the better examples of the Cyber Punk asthetic within Warhammer 40,000 canon with gangs of stimm-altered thugs, cyborgs and maniacs fighting each other to expand the business opportunities of their House, in the ruined industrial depths of a Mega City. It does lack many of the Cyber Space elements of the genre however.
  • Deadly Gas:
    • The Pollution result on the 1st Edition Campaign Events Table saw sections of the underhive filled with poisonous fumes from heavy discharges of toxic waste. The in-game effect of this event was to make tunnels and vents (territories that allowed gangs to set up fighters outside their deployment zone) unusable until the gas cleared.
    • 3rd Edition Escher gangs have access to the 'Nightshade' chem-thrower. Developed from the gas injectors used in House Escher's gene-labs, the chem-thrower is able to fill a corridor with clouds of chemical fog. The exact nature of the gas emitted by the chem-thrower varies from the relatively mild choke gas to insidious bio-toxins that attack the target's cellular structure, liquefying their flesh and internal organs. In-game chem-throwers are a deadly weapon that causes has a chance to inflict an Injury against an opponent without any saves and ignores their Wounds characteristic but can be resisted with respirators.
  • Derelict Graveyard: The 3rd Edition background material for the game mentions the Navis Mortis, a large area of spacecraft wreckage surrounding the Hive known as the Needle. Created from the wrecks of smuggler ships trying to circumvent the stranglehold House Helmawr has on planetary trade, the Navis Mortis is now home to numerous gangs of nomads, scavenges, religious extremists and other ne'er-do-wells who fight amongst themselves for the remains of valuable cargo and ancient technology.
  • Desert Punk: The Ash Wastes setting sees gangs of nomads, outcasts and mutants fighting each other from the backs of giant lizards and rust covered vehicles in the desolate industrial wastes that separate the Necromundan Hive Cities.
  • Disney Villain Death: The background for the 1st Edition special character Karloth Valois, a feared vampiric wyrd, mentioned that he fell into the Abyss, the massive chasm near the centre of the underhive, to his presumed death, while being hunted by Redemptionists.
  • Disposable Vagrant: The Spyrer hunters target the population of the underhive for their murderous Rite of Passage as the deaths of the outlaws and gangs who reside in the dilapidated area won't adversely affect the industrial output of the manufacturing zones further up-hive, and because they pose the greatest challenge.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: The setting's background material mentions that there are rumours that the plague that wiped out the majority of Hive Mortis' population was intentionally unleashed on the Hive after a member of its ruling House insulted the then Planetary Governor, Lady Annyr Helmawr, at a dinner party.
  • Double Weapon: The double-bladed knife is a weapon unique to the Ash Waste Nomads. Although it isn't any more powerful than a regular knife the Nomads use the double-bladed knife as a defensive weapon and are so skilled in its use that they are able to parry attacks as easily as a warrior armed with a regular sword.
  • The Dreaded: The Ferocity Skill Fearsome, as well as its 1st and 2nd Edition equivalent Killer Reputation, represents a fighter becoming so feared that his foes will hesitate at the thought of fighting them and have to take a Willpowernote  test in order to charge the Fearsome fighter.
  • Dumb Muscle:
    • Scalies are recruited into Scavvy Gangs for their considerable size and strength rather than for their somewhat limited intelligence. To represent this, the 2nd Edition rules for Scalies barred them from becoming a gang leader as their high Leadership represented the fact that they are unlikely to run away (due to being too stupid to understand the danger they are in) rather than their command abilities.
    • Brutes, introduced in 3rd Edition, are large and powerful fighters made for smashing through enemies but with little in the way of intelligence. They tend to possess high combat abilities but lower mental characteristics, with the exception of the Van Saar Arachni-rig Servo-suit, whose high Intelligence is their hat.
  • Dungeon-Based Economy: The game is located in a Hive City, a kilometers-tall spire continually built up, so lower levels are full of archeotech, advanced weaponry and valuable raw materials that locals dig for. These levels are also full of mutants, outcasts and giant spiders, as well as rival gangs after the same thing.
  • Dystopia: The mid-levels of Hive Primusnote  is a wretched place consisting of massively overcrowded hab zones and heavily polluted manufactory zones where the population labour to produce goods and services for their Houses and the elite on the Spire. These levels are probably the safest part of the hive. The underhive is where those exiled from further up the hive go where even the safer districts, protected by vicious gangs loyal to the Clan Houses, are still places where life is nasty, brutish and short and law extends as far as a gun can shoot. Even further downhive, outlaws and mutants fight to the death over a few scraps of food and law has completely broken down. Oh, and the Spire? It's a Decadent Court where the Noble Houses live off the wealth produced by the Clan Houses and cold-bloodedly murder each other for control of the hive, and they look on sending a small band of their kids down to the worst parts of the underhive as a rite of passage.
  • Elite Mooks: House Brutes in 3rd Edition are big, monstrous fighters whose raw killing potential is offset by high points costs.
  • Everything Trying to Kill You: The underhive is an incredibly hostile environment full of mutant tribes, hostile fauna and poisonous fungus. Even the terrain itself is insanely hazardous with industrial pollution poisoning entire areas of the underhive and hive quakes threatening to bury the unwary beneath a near infinite amount of rubble. The 1st and 2nd Edition of the game included expanded rules for fighting in such a hostile environment with random events such as toxic fog, swarms of dangerous vermin and deluges of pure acid interrupting a battle. The third Necromunda: Gang War supplement for 3rd Edition meanwhile includes random events such as hive quakes, disease outbreaks and outbreaks of dangerous flora that can effect all gangs involved in a campaign at the same time.
  • Experience Points:
    • In 1st and 2nd Editions, fighters could gain experience for surviving and achieving objectives in each battle to gain increase in their level and earn skills or stat increases.
    • The 3rd Edition experience points system focuses on Gang Leaders, Champions, Specialistsnote  and Juves, who can use their experience points to purchase improved statistics or skills during a campaign's pre-battle sequence. Regular Gangers meanwhile have a simplified experience points system, randomly acquiring statistic increases for every 6 experience points they earn.
  • Eye on a Stalk: Some of the mutants and Scavvies living in the underhive have eyes on the end of short tentacles that grow from their sockets that are constantly looking around for the enemy. The Eyestalks mutationnote  gives those afflicted with it a field of vision double that of a normal fighter, and makes it easier for them to hide from enemy fire.
  • Eye Scream: Before becoming an infamous hired gun, Mad Donna was a noblewoman in the spire, until she gouged out the eyes of her fiancé with a silver fish fork. Years later Donna ripped out one of her own eyes after a bartender said she was pretty.
  • The Faceless: The background for the 3rd Edition named character void born Bounty Hunter Yar Umbra states that he has never been seen without his hood. This has led to some speculation as to what he is hiding and the belief that, whatever it is, it was the reason he was marooned on the hive world by his merchant vessel.
  • Feudal Future: Due to its massive population it is impossible to establish any kind of central authority on Necromunda so, as with most other Imperial hive worlds, an urban feudal society has evolved to maintain order. At the lower end of the hierarchy, individual loyalties are owed to immediate family with closely related families supporting each other under the control of the head of the most powerful family. These family groups then cooperate with other family groups to form Houses, each of whom owe alegence to a more powerful House. All the Houses owe allegiance to one of the Great Housesnote  who in turn swear loyalty to House Helmawr, the Imperial House whose leader, Lord Gerontius Helmawr, is Necromunda's absolute ruler.
  • Fragile Speedster: In all editions of the game, the Escher concentrate on speed and agility in battle and are the only gang able to give Agility skills to any member but they lack Muscle/Brawn skill and, in 3rd Edition, have limited access to Ferocity skills.
  • Full-Conversion Cyborg: Ambots are created by taking the central nervous systems of ambulls — large, insectoid alien animals — implanting them with neural controllers and wiring them in mechanical shells modeled after the ambulls' natural bodies; the resulting cyborg is then mainly used for excavation. This allows ambots to retain their natural digging instincts while benefiting from greater mechanical strength, endurance and built-in tools. This process also allows their Mechanicum creators to circumvent the Imperium's ban on AI.
  • Gaiden Game: Necromunda was the first Specialist Games released based on the 2nd Edition rules of Warhammer 40,000 and was the second Gaiden Game to be rereleased after the re-establishment of Games Workshop's Specialist Games Department.
  • Game Master: The Outlanders supplement for 1st Edition and the Necromunda: Gang War books for 3rd Edition introduce rules for campaigns run by a Game Master known as an Arbitratornote . During such campaigns it is the job of the Arbitrator to organise games, keep track of campaign turns, introduce random events and generally make sure that all those involved in the campaign have the most fun possible.
  • Gang of Hats:
  • Genius Bruiser: During 1st and 2nd Edition, Heavies are big guys both strong enough to carry BFGs and have the technical skill to keep them in working order despite the lack of supplies in the underhive.
  • Giant Spider:
    • The hives of Necromunda are infamous for their giant spiders that can range in size from several feet across to larger than a man. Species include the long-legged wolf spiders, the stealthy orb spidersnote  and the amphibious sump spiders that have precious gems for eyes.
    • In 3rd Edition, House Van Saar are known to capture, breed and cybernetically enhanced Necromundan giant spiders for various purposes. In-game, Van Saar gangs can purchase these cyberarchnids as pets from the Campaign Trading Post.
  • Grappling-Hook Pistol: The Grapnel Launchernote  is a magnetic grappling hook that can be purchased at a trading post. The 1st and 2nd Edition versions were Rare Items of wargear that allowed a model to winch themselves up and down levels instead of moving normally and could also be used as weak Improvised Weapon. The 3rd Edition version meanwhile is a Common Item what allows the user to move in any direction by using a special action but cannot be used as a weapon.
  • Grave Robbing: Cadaver Merchants, a type of Outlaw Hanger-onnote , acquire corpses that should by law go to the Corpse Guilds and sell them to cannibals and rogue docs. The in-game effect of a Cadaver Merchant's activities is that during an Uprising Campaign, when food is in short supply, they can 'acquire' extra portions of Meat during post-battle sequences. They can also make the gang some extra money by selling the bodies of members that have died.
  • Gun Accessories: In all editions of the game, the underhive Trading Post has a number of different accessories that can be fitted to a variety of different weapons. These accessories range from mundane gunsights and silencersnote  to more exotic accessories such as single-shot flamers, las-projectors (that extend the range of laser weapons) and suspensors (hydraulic or anti-grav accessories that make it easier to carry heavy and unwieldy weapons.
  • Guns Akimbo:
    • In 1st and 2nd Edition, any model with access to the Shooting Skill chart was able to acquire the 'Gunfighter' skill when they leveled up. This skill allowed the model to fire a pair of pistols at a target. This skill was also one of the common randomly generated skills available for the Bounty Hunter and Underhive Scum hire guns.
    • In 3rd Edition, all models equipped with a pair of pistols are able to fire them both at a single enemy fighter but suffer a to hit penalty if they do so. The 3rd Edition 'Gunfighter' skill however allows the model to ignore the to hit penalty and target multiple enemies.
  • Had to Be Sharp: Life on Necromunda is hard for everyone, from the lowest Scavvy in the underhive to the highest born noble of the spire. Life is a constant battle against the planet’s polluted environment, the dilapidated state of hive infrastructure and the constant conflict caused by inter-House politics with even the ruling elite at near constant risk of assassination or exile simply for being impolite during a dinner party. Such a life breeds a hardy people, with only the strongest, smartest or luckiest surviving long enough to make a name for themselves.
  • Hand Cannon: Large, powerful handguns are popular amongst some of the simpler underhive fighters for their stopping power, intimidation factor, and the satisfying noise they make when fired. In all editions of the game the bolt pistol common to the wider Warhammer 40,000 setting, is one of the more popular hand cannons, despite its unreliability, as its .75 calibre explosives round make a spectacular mess when they explode within a target.
  • Harpoon Gun:
  • Hidden Weapons: Skinbladesnote  are small knives that can be concealed beneath a ganger's skin. Hidden from all but the most intensive of searches, a character is able to use these knives to mount an escape attempt if they are captured by an opposing gang.
  • Hive City: Hive Primus is a very characteristic example of what these cities are like in the setting. It's a mountain-sized mass of masonry, built up over millennia as habitation domes, tenement complexes and industrial areas were stacked on top of each other again and again, in order to accommodate skyrocketing population growth while avoiding the increasingly toxic outer environment. In the present setting, the hive's became a rambling, poorly-mapped mass of architecture, most of whose citizenry lives its entire lives in its depths without ever seeing the outside world.
  • Holy City: Hive Temenos is the centre of the Imperial Cult on Necromunda, containing the headquarters of the Ecclesiarchy, the largest Imperial cathedral on the planet, countless minor chapels and shrines, and an Adepta Sororitas priory. Even outside the official places of worship, the upper reaches of the hive resemble a cathedral with vaulted ceilings, pillared halls, statues of the God-Emperor and incense burners filling the massive structure. The population of Hive Temenos is the most devout on Necromunda and it is a stronghold of the ultra-religious House Cawdor.
  • Home Field Advantage: In 3rd Edition some scenarios, usually those where one side is the attacker and the other is the defender, will give one gang bonuses known as a Home Turf Advantage that gives their fighters bonuses and re-rolls to Bottle and Rally tests as they fight harder to protect their territory.
  • Homing Projectile: Executioner shotgun rounds are the traditional ammunition used by the Adeptus Arbites and the Necromunda Enforcers, as well as the rarest type of shotgun ammo available in the 3rd Edition Trading Post. These shells are adamantium-tipped projectiles contain sensors and a primitive robotic brain that allow it to lock onto energy patterns and seek them out with unerring accuracy. The rules for Executioner rounds represented this by giving them a bonus to their to hit roll, but due to the fact that it takes some time for the shell to lock on, this only applied to shots fired at long range.
  • Human Subspecies:
    • While relatively uncommon in the hives of Necromunda abhumans, such as Ogryns and Beastmen, are still present and often work as bodyguards and bounty hunters. Due to the discrimination they suffer in regular Imperial society, many abhumans gravitate to the underhive where their superior physical abilities often make them popular hired guns.
    • The Scales were a race of large, reptilian abhumans that accompanied the 1st and 2nd Edition Scavvy gangs. Of limited intelligence, Scales were nonetheless popular with their comrades for their massive strength.
    • The 3rd Edition background for House Goliath mentions that, due to years stimm-abuse and selective breeding, many members of rival Houses consider the massive Goliaths to be a strain of abhuman.
  • Hypnotic Eyes: Some of the Adepts who lead Genestealer Cult gangs in the 3rd Edition rulesnote  share the hypnotic gaze exhibited by some Purestrain Genestealers and are able to dominate the mind of the weak-willed with nothing more than a piercing stare. This is represented in-game by the 'Hypnosis' Adept Ability that allows the Adept to stop an attack by an opponent before they can make it.
  • I'm a Humanitarian:
    • Scavvies have no qualms about consuming other sentient creatures if they do not have enough resources to buy food for the entire gang. Capture enemies or those Scavvies too badly injured to be useful anymore are most likely to be the victims of such a fate. While a single model was enough to feed an entire gang in 1st Edition, 2nd Edition introduced a formulanote  to work out how many gang members each model could feed.
    • The 3rd Edition introduces Corpse Grinder Cults, workers in the Corpse Starch processing plants that have gone mad from their work. Instead of rendering corpses down into cheap food, they begin to feast on human flesh directly.
    • Ghouls, from the 2nd Edition version of Scavvy gangs, are individuals driven so mad by their hunger that they began to eat the dead and acquired a taste for it. Ghouls are so driven by their hunger they will even stop and feed in the middle of a battle. Even their Scavvy friends think these guys take it too far; after all a Scavvy only eats resorts to cannibalism until it gets something better.
  • Identity Amnesia: The special character Brakar the Avenger was found alone and near death in an isolated Underhive tunnel with no memory of who he was or how he got there. The Ratskin natives who rescued Brakar adopted him into their tribe, but although his physical wounds healed, he never regained the memories of his previous life.
  • In-Series Nickname: The Luther Pattern Excavation Automatanote  are a common sight on Necromunda, and are often called "Ambots" in the underhive vernacular due to them being made from cybernetically modified ambulls.
  • Join or Die: All enemies captured by the Redemptionists (except wyrds and other mutants) are given a choice, to join the Crusade or be burned at the stake as a heretic. The 1st and 2nd Edition rules represented this with the Redemptor Priest's 'Redeemer' special rule where any captive not rescued by their comrades had to roll off against the Priest and became a fanatical Redemptionist if they lost. Any other result saw the captive killed as a heretic.
  • Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: Due to their ease of maintenance and reliability many gangs, particularly outlaws and those Houses with a lower tech base, prefer solid shot autoguns and shotguns to more sophisticated weapons. While this has been a minor feature of the game since its inception, 3rd Edition, increased this tendency by making kinetic weapons far more common amongst House Equipment lists and writing into the background that many fighters believing that House Van Saar's preference for energy weapons is a sign of weakness.
  • Last Stand: In 3rd Edition, Last Stand is a narrative scenario that pits a single gang against a much larger force, sometimes consisting of multiple opposing gangs. If the attacking force is a single gang, that force can recycle wounded fighters to represent a near endless stream of foes attempting to take out the surrounded gang. In order to win the scenario, the gang making the Last Stand has to survive seven turns.
  • Layered Metropolis: The hives of Necromunda have been built up over millennia in layers of hab domes upon hab domes until it reaches the upper atmosphere with the interior sections of a hive typically separated into loose sections inhabited by different social classes. The nobility live lives of luxury above the planet’s polluted cloud layer in what residents of Hive Primus simply call the Spire. The vast majority of a hive's population live and work in the area bellow the Spire commonly known as Hive City, a polluted industrial sprawl of hab and manufactory zones where most of a hive’s production takes place. At the base of the hive is the underhive, a maze of ancient manufactory zones, ruined domes and millennia-old industrial waste where outcasts, ne’er-do-wells and the desperate congregate to harvest raw materials, search for archeotech or simply try to survive from day to day. At the very bottom of the underhive, the ruins of past domes become even more decayed and inhospitable, forming the area known as hive bottom where only the most hideous mutants and foul creatures can survive for any length of time.
  • Mercenary Units:
    • Hired Guns (like bounty hunters, hive scum and wyrds), present in all editions of the game, are willing to fight for any gang willing to pay the price. They are powerful fighters with multiple skills and good equipment, but are not members of the gang, and thus cannot collect income, must be paid for every battle they fight in, don't earn experience, and their equipment cannot be changed.
    • 3rd Edition introduced Hangers-On, tradesmen who offer their services to gangs. Unlike Hired Guns, they are not combatants and only fight when the battle happens on the gang's turf and the Hanger-On is unfortunate enough to be caught in the fighting. They cannot gain experience or be given equipment, and will leave the gang if they suffer a Lasting Injury.
  • Mix-and-Match Weapon:
    • The Exterminator is a single-shot flamer used by the fanatics of the Redemption that can be attached to any basic, special or close combat weapon, turning them into this trope.
    • The 3rd Edition of the game introduces a number of new forms of combi-weapon that reflect the nature of the Hoses that use them including the Escher needler-bolter that utilises the potent pharmaceuticals of the House, the more rugged and brutal Goliath plasma-stub combi-pistol, and the high-tech lasgun-melta of House Van Saar.
    • One of the signature weapons of House Cawdor gangs in the 3rd Edition of the game is a long polearm that sports an axe or halberd blade alongside a ranged weapon such as a blunderbuss or autogun. Created as a crude imitation of the guardian spears wielded by the Emperor's Custodian Guard, members of House Cawdor consider these polearms to be divine weapons that confer the blessings of the God-Emperor to those who wield them
  • Morale Mechanic:
    • The morale of individual fighters is handled through Nerve tests. Should a fighter see a friendly model taken down near them, a must take a check using their Coolnote  characteristic. If the test is failed, the model is Broken and has to run for cover until they rally by passing another check with the same characteristic in subsequent turns. Various conditions, powers, abilities, and skills can make it more or less likely that a model will pass their check.
    • Morale for an entire gang uses Bottle Tests that depend on the number of fighters they have out of action. In 1st and 2nd Edition, this test involved taking a Leadership test for the gang leader if they suffered more than 25% casualties, while 3rd Edition uses a roll comparing casualties with the number of gang members taking part in the battle. Should the test be failed, 1st and 2nd Edition gangs lost the game automatically, while 3rd Edition gangs can continue to fight, but their fighters have to make a Cool check each turn or run from the battlefield.
  • Multi-Armed and Dangerous:
    • In the 1st and 2nd Edition of the game, Mutants in a Scavvy gangs could purchase extra arms that allowed them to wield more weapons during combat.
    • Genestealer Hybrids typically have between two and four arms. The 3rd Edition rules for Genestealer Cult Gangsnote  allow a player to purchase an extra arm for their fighters as an item of wargear, allowing them to easily handle an unwieldy weapon or to gain extra attacks in combat.
  • Multiple Head Case: Having two heads was one of the options for mutant Scavvies in the 1st and 2nd Edition versions of the game. The mutation gave the model a 180 degree field of vision and allowed them to fire two pistols at the same time as each head is able to aim and fire one of the guns independently.
  • Never Smile at a Crocodile: Sumpkrocs are hulking, four-eyed mutant crocodiles native to the Sump, the polluted bottom layer of Necromunda. They're extremely aggressive predators but also rather stupid, enough so that showing one its reflection will cause it to viciously attack it in the belief that it's a rival.
  • New Old West: Although each successive edition of the game has downplayed these elements, the underhive can basically be seen as a pseudo-Cyberpunk version of the Wild West with Bounty Hunters, techno-barbarian native tribes, shootouts and the like combined with mutants, cyborgs and ancient technology.
  • Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: While in the main Warhammer 40,000 game, the Imperial Guard's lasguns and flak armour are compare poorly to the equipment of other factions, it's usually because those other armies are immortal death machines, spore-based super warriors, or Sufficiently Advanced Aliens. The Imperial Guard still has ten thousand years of technology and the resources of the quadrillion strong Imperium of Man. Compared to them, the gangs of Necromunda are, well, slum dwellers. The general lack of armour or sophisticated weapons in the game's underhive setting makes even basic and improvised weapons like knives, big chunks of pipe, and ordinary pistols (aka "stub guns") reasonably effective. Lasguns are actually toward the high end of the effectiveness scale, and flak armour is elite gear. A single Space Marine or Genestealer would be a One-Man Army. The developers describe the Genestealer Cult in Necromunda as an almost insignificant off-shoot of a greater whole compared to the ones in the parent game (case in point, the Adept leads the Genestealer Cult in Necromunda but is only the equivalent of a unit sergeant in the main game).
  • One-Handed Zweihänder: The 3rd Edition version of the Bulging Biceps skill allows a fighter to use weapons that would normally require two hands to wieldnote , such as polearms and large axes, in a single hand, leaving the other free to carry another weapon.
  • One-Man Army: Many trained military personnel from the parent game (with the exception of low-level basic troops like Imperial Guardsmen or Eldar Guardians, who would be merely high-level elite troops) are able to decimate underhive gangs. The 1st Edition rules for Space Marines and Eldar Scouts give them individual ratings around three times as high as that of a starting ganger.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Even those few Cultists on Necromunda who know the most common names of the Chaos Gods rarely speak them and there are a number of local variations that the Dark Powers are typically referred to such as the Lord of Skin and Sinewnote , the Wisperernote , the King in Rags and Tattersnote , and the Nightwildnote .
  • Outlaw: Even in the underhive, there's a kind of law. If a gang runs afoul of the Merchant's Guild or the House authorities, they can be outlawed: forced to relocate further downhive into the badzones, with a bounty on their heads. Scavvies, Spyrers and Ratskin Renegades are inherently outlawed, while Redemptionists usually have bounties on their heads, but never have to live as outlaws because they hide among more law-abiding communities. The 1st Edition Outlanders supplement introduced rules for such outlaw gangs where they were forced to keep their gang fed while living hand-to-mouth, had a more difficult time acquiring relatively standard equipment and had large bounties placed on their heads that opponents could collect.
  • Playing with Fire:
    • One of the four types of Wyrds that gangs could hire in the first two editions of the game was the Pyro Wyrd. Possessing powerful pyrokinetic abilities Pyros were capable of flinging fireballs at their enemies, create walls of flame or unleash a blast of heat equivalent to an anti-tank meltagun.
    • One of the powers available to the Witches who accompany Chaos Cult gangs in the 3rd Edition of the game is Scouring. This Psychic Power causes balefire to engulf his enemies, inflicting damage equal to auto or las weaponry.
    • One of the Strange Powers that a fighter can gain from consuming raw spook in the 3rd Edition of the game is 'Flame Burst', the ability to produce a sheet of flame from their hands. In-game this counts as an attack from a flamer.
  • Poisoned Weapons:
    • The Outlaw Trading Post from the 1st and 2nd Edition of the game had blade venom available to purchase. Brewed from mutant fungi, blade venom could be used to envenom any bladed weapon so that it caused more damage to an opponent, but the user had a chance of harming themselves if they fumbled their attack.
    • In 3rd Edition, any weapons with the 'Toxin' Weapon Trait are poisoned weapons. How effective such weapons are dependent, in part, on the victim's Toughness characteristic but if it does take effect the victim will be taken Out of Action immediately. House Escher are particularly well known for their use of such weapons.
  • Posthumous Character: The 1st Edition Special Character Bull Gorg was the most famous gladiator Pit Slave to have ever lived and lead a slave revolt that captured one of the more populous settlements in the underhive. After his defeat and capture, Gorg was executed by the Guilders and although there have always been in-universe rumours of his survival he is officially dead, yet still received rules and was available as a hired gun.
  • Power Fist:
    • In the 1st and 2nd Editions of the game, power fists were the most powerful close combat weapon available. Such weapons were rare items at underhive Trading Posts where they were incredibly expensive, costing more than three Juves to purchase.
    • In 3rd Edition the servo-claw is a less advanced version of the power fist that boosts the wearer's strength so that they can carry heavy objects or tear their opponents apart in close combat.
  • The Power of Hate: During the 1st and 2nd Editions of the game, fighters that came face-to-face with a warrior that they truly hated would gain bonuses to their Leadership characteristic and their close combat abilities, as they would refuse to retreat in the face of their sworn foes and hack relentlessly hack at their enemies.
  • Puppeteer Parasite: The Brain Leaf is a semi-sentient plant from the 1st Edition of the game that implants its leaves into its victim to take over their nervous system and turn them into mindless tools. The Brain Leaf uses these helpless slaves as protection from the creatures of the underhive and, once they have outlived their usefulness, as compost. In campaign games, the Brain Leaf had a chance of taking over any model that it attacked, allowing the victim to be controlled by the campaign's Arbitrator until they are taken out of action.
  • Railing Kill: Much of the terrain in the 1st and 2nd Editions of the game consisted of decaying and dilapidated catwalks, gangways, and bridges; all of which are decaying and unstable. Since characters could be pushed, shot, or otherwise induced to fall off, there were rules for falling damage with falling more than one level generally resulting in instant death. While the basic rules for 3rd Edition set the game within tunnels and other close confines, the first Necromunda: Gang War supplement reintroduces rules for battling in three-dimensional environments including falling damage and rules for being knocked from the terrain after suffering a hit.
  • The Red Mage:
    • The Wyrd Hired Guns from the 1st and 2nd Editions of the game randomly generated two Psychic Powers, one from their primary focus (pyromancy, telepathy or telekinesis) and one random minor power. This could lead to a Pyro Wyrd being able to throw fireballs, as well as heal his comrades with a touch of his hands; or a Telepath Wyrd being able to induce hallucinations in the enemy, whilst also being able to stop time for a limited period.
    • The Witches from the 3rd Edition Chaos Cult gangs have access to list of psychic powers including offensive powers such as 'Scouring' (which causes hellfire to erupt from the Witch's hands and burn enemies) as well as defensive powers such as 'Dark Shield' (which protects the Witch and his allies from harm) so is able to develop into a Red Mage after gaining experience.
  • Rodents of Unusual Size: After giant spiders, the most infamous species of animal life to inhabit Necromunda is the Necromundan giant rat, some of which have been reported to grow up to four feet long (not including the tail). The underhive in particular is rife these mutant vermin, which the native Ratskins hunt for food and clothing. Most of them sport mutations of various kinds, such as scales, spines, and additional heads.
  • Role-Playing Endgame: It's possible to play as law enforcement as a squad of Arbites. They have much better gear and huge cyber-mastiffs, but they hit a level cap at which point the character is removed to serve as a Veteran Instructor elsewhere.
  • Sawed-Off Shotgun: During the first two editions of the game, the type of shotgun a gang fighter used was merely cosmetic but 3rd Edition introduced different stat lines for the different types of shotgun. The 3rd Edition sawn-off shotgun, available to Orlock starting gangs and as a Common Item at the Campaign Trading Post, lacks the various ammo types of a regular shotgun but, due to the improvised nature of its ammo, automatically passes ammo rolls.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Spyrers fight for fun and glory but should their prey put up too much of a fight they will retreat to find easier game. To represent this 2nd Edition Spyre hunter teams had to start testing to see if they would retreat from a battle after they lose a single member rather than 25% of their number as with other gangs.
  • Skull for a Head: The 2nd Edition models for Ratskin Renegade Chiefs and Totem Warriors wear the skulls of Necromundan giant rats as helmets to complement their rat pelt capes and to infuse themselves with the rat's spirit.
  • Shotguns Are Just Better: Shotguns have been one of the most useful and versatile basic weapon in every edition of the game due to their low cost, the variety of different ammo types they can be equipped with and their ability to knock enemy fighters from high scenery. The style of shotgun used tends to vary from House to House with the Goliath preferring rugged designs, while Esher shotguns are more elegant.
  • Shout-Out: The Assault on Precinct-Fortress 17 mini-campaignnote , where a coalition of Outlaw gangs, known as the Thunderboys, attack an isolated Enforcer precinct in revenge for the murder of their boss, is a shout out to the film Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) that sees a Los Angeles gang, known as Street Thunder, attack an LAPD precinct in retaliation for the death of one of their bosses.
  • Snakes Are Sinister: The spies and assassins of House Delaque are the most sinister and creepy of all the Necromundan Clan Houses and incorporate a snake into their heraldry. The models for the 3rd Edition of the game take this even further, the high collars of their stormcoats resembling a cobra’s hood, their armour having a segmented scale-like look and the models themselves being tall and sinuous.
  • Spiders Are Scary:
    • During the 1st Edition of the game, the largest Gigantic Spiders that inhabited the underhive caused 'Terror', making it more difficult for the enemy to engage them and possibly causing nearby enemy fighters to flee.
    • The 3rd Edition Cyberachnids created by House Van Saar have such a terrifying appearance that many denizens of the underhive prefer to keep them as far away as possible. In-game this is represented by the 'Fearsome' (Ferocity) and 'Horrific' special rules that make it more difficult for enemies to attack their master and make them impossible to capture as the enemy keep their distance.
  • Supernatural Fear Inducer: The 'Terrify' power, which some Wyrds have been able to manifest in all editions of the game, sees the psyker inflict horrible mental illusions on an enemy that can cause them to Break and flee.
  • Super-Scream: The Wyrd Minor Power Banshee Howlnote  allowed the psyker to unleash a powerful scream that causes enemy fighters waiting for a shot to be knocked out of Overwatchnote  as they are buffeted by noise.
  • Testosterone Poisoning: The entire culture and appearance of House Goliath is based around the concepts of aggression, strength, toughness and massive muscles, something the other Houses ridicule them for.
  • The Theocracy: The Cult of the Redemption is effectively the state religion of House Cawdor and the Cult's rules are strictly enforced by the House's ruling council. Lord Mormaer Cawdor, the current head of the council also considers himself the highest and most pious servant of the God-Emperor on Necromunda, something that causes friction with the Imperial Governor Lord Helmawr.
  • This Is a Drill: Pit Slaves altered for mining duties have their limbs replaced with powerful rock drills. During the 1st and 2nd Editions of the game, a Pit Slave equipped with a Rock Drill could exchange multiple hits for a single attack with increased strength to represent the Pit Slave drilling through the target's body.
  • Unusable Enemy Equipment: 3rd Edition introduced various weapons and pieces of equipment that are particularly tied to a certain House. While such equipment is available to fighters from specific Houses through their House Equipment lists, some are unavailable at the campaign Trading Post and thus inaccessible to models from opposing Houses. In addition, the background material states that, even if they got their hands on equipment from opposing Houses, most fighters wouldn't even dream of using it for anything more than a Battle Trophy due to the risk of booby traps and the simple shame of using a weapon produced by an enemy.
  • Use Your Head: Fighters with the 'Headbutt' Musclenote /Brawnnote  Skill can choose to deliver a punishing headbutt against an opponent in close combat. How this is worked out depends on the edition with the first two editions requiring the fighter to give up at least two regular hits in combat while the 3rd Edition makes the headbutt attack a Basic action.
  • Veteran Unit: During a campaign, a fighter can gain Experience in a number of ways, most commonly by knocking out enemies, rallying after being broken in battle, or completing scenario objectives. Fighters can spend Experience to purchase Advancements.
  • We Will Use Manual Labor in the Future: As with the wider Imperium, the one resource that Necromunda has in abundance is manpower. As a result the massive population of the Necromundan hives spend the majority of their lives labouring away in the manufactories to produce the planets manufactured goods. This is taken even further in the underhive where the lack of resources means the population have to partake in backbreaking labour just to survive and has resulted in a thriving slave trade. In the first couple of editions of the game, the Pit Slaves were a gang made up of escaped slaves who had been fitted with crude cybernetics to make them more efficient at in their roll.
  • Wretched Hive: The entire planet of Necromunda is covered in enormous hive cities, populated dominantly by criminals, gangsters and scavengers who fight proxy wars against each other for the Houses that control all aspects of life in the hives. The underhive, where the game is primarily set, is even worse with the addition of highly dangerous fauna, an environment polluted by millennia of industrial waste, tribes of mutants and deadly monsters.
  • Zerg Rush: Although very small scale compared to nearly all other Games Workshop games, it was still possible to do this with Scavvy gangs during the 1st and 2nd Editions of the game as they could field a large number of weak plague zombies. Such tactics could potentially become Game Breakers due to plague zombies being incredibly cheap, moved with ridiculous speed (2D6" per turn meaning that they had a good chance of moving faster than the 8" normal humans could run) and if they took someone down in combat there was a pretty good chance they'd turn into a zombie too, in stark contrast to how hard it is to lose a ganger normally.

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