The following is a home-made profession for Warhammer Quest created by myself as an alternate Warrior type. This is of course not official by any means, and I have not had the opportunity to fully playtest it through all possible situations, though I am reasonably certain it should not be greatly imbalancing.
To summarize the Flagellant, he's a lunatic zealot immune to fear and pain, formidable in combat, but a complete ascetic, not able to build up an arsenal of magical goodies as most Warriors can, and lacking special Skills to be gained at higher levels.
The Old World is a dark and dangerous place, full of many hardships greater than human perseverence can withstand. Whole villages may fall to the plague, to drought or to the sword, and with the ever-increasing threat of Chaos, it is all too easy to give up all sense of hope.
The Flagellant is a religious zealot of sorts who has given himself over to a complete and inescapable belief in ultimate doom. Flagellants often travel in bands, whipping and striking each other in an attempt to "purge" themselves of any attachment to the material world, which they believe to be temporal and therefore not worth relying upon. As a result of their crazed mindset and exposure to pain (a good deal of it self-inflicted), those Flagellants encountered are effectively immune to pain or fear. Quite often at battles between the Empire and its enemies, a band of Flagellants may show up and throw themselves into the fray, showering wrath upon their foes with no concern for their own safety.
A Flagellant who ends up in the company of adventuring Warriors is a rarity, and certainly not a cheerful travelling companion. Still, he is a formidable fighter, and eager to bring death upon as many of the minions of Chaos as he can before he meets his ultimate doom.
| Wounds | 1D6+9 |
| Move | 4 |
| Weapon Skill | 3 |
| Ballistic Skill | - |
| Strength | 5 |
| Toughness | 4 |
| Initiative | 3 |
| Attacks | 2(4*) |
None.
Flail, causing 1D6+7 Wounds, but at -2 on TO HIT rolls.
None.
Never breaks from pinning.
Each turn, before combat, roll 1D6. On a roll of 6, the Flagellant
enters a
Frenzy, making double his normal attacks until the combat is over.
The Flagellant is immune to Fear, Terror, Hypnotism, or other psychology. He
never flees, never uses armor or missile weapons, and cares nothing for
treasure.
| ENEMY'S WS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| TO HIT FOE | 2(4) | 3(5) | 4(6) | 4(6) | 4(6) | 4(6) | 5(-) | 5(-) | 5(-) | 6(-) |
| BL | Gold | Title | M | WS | BS | S | DD | T | W | I | A | L | WP | Pin | Skills |
| 1 | 0 | Novice | 4 | 3 | - | 5 | 4 | 1D6+9 | 3 | 2(4) | NA | 0 | |||
| 2 | 2000 | Champion | 4 | 3 | - | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2D6+9 | 3 | 2(4) | 1 | 4 | NA | 0 |
| 3 | 4000 | Champion | 4 | 4 | - | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2D6+9 | 3 | 2(4) | 2 | 5 | NA | 0 |
| 4 | 8000 | Champion | 4 | 4 | - | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3D6+9 | 4 | 2(4) | 2 | 5 | NA | 0 |
| 5 | 12000 | Hero | 4 | 5 | - | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3D6+9 | 4 | 3(6) | 2 | 5 | NA | 0 |
| 6 | 18000 | Hero | 4 | 5 | - | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4D6+9 | 5 | 3(6) | 3 | 5 | NA | 0 |
| 7 | 24000 | Hero | 4 | 5 | - | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4D6+9 | 5 | 3(6) | 3 | 5 | NA | 0 |
| 8 | 32000 | Hero | 4 | 6 | - | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5D6+9 | 5 | 4(8) | 3 | 5 | NA | 0 |
| 9 | 45000 | Lord | 4 | 6 | - | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5D6+9 | 6 | 4(8) | 3 | 6 | NA | 0 |
| 10 | 50000 | Lord | 4 | 6 | - | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6D6+9 | 6 | 4(8) | 4 | 6 | NA | 0 |
Unfortunately, the Flagellant does not gain any special skills as he increases in Battle-Level. They simply get better at smashing their enemies senseless.
* The Flagellant does not visit Settlements, or if he does, it is only to parade through the streets, perhaps with a banner warning everyone that the end is near. Flagellants live in squalor, not having to pay Cost of Living expenses, but also unable to visit any special locations in Settlements.
* Flagellants are complete ascetics, even more so than Dwarven Slayers. They completely forego any acquisition of treasure or gold. Any "gold" acquired by a Flagellant character should be marked down as "experience", which can be spent in the same way toward increasing Battle-Levels outside Settlements as gold, though it is not spent on training as such. This "experience" cannot be lost by Hazards that result in loss of gold, nor can it be spent on goods.
* Flagellants will not utilize missile weapons, and have no interest in sharing in special treasure items. The leader should pass over the Flagellant when distributing treasure. Flagellents will never wear armor, and have no interest in trading up for better, magical weapons. In the event that a Flagellant should for whatever reason lose his weapon, he might improvise with whatever alternative weapon is handy for the time being, but once the Warriors leave the dungeon, he will somehow acquire or construct a replacement flail.
* Flagellants do not gain special skills, but they can still gain specialist actions as described on p. 168 of the Roleplay Book. Rather than having a 50% chance of gaining a specialist action with each Battle-Level, the Flagellant automatically qualifies for one with each increase in level.
Citadel Miniatures has several models of Flagellants for Warhammer Fantasy Battles, as part of the Empire army. For those looking for off-brand alternatives, the "Miracle Worker" figure from Heartbreaker Hobbies & Games might do for a "religious fanatic" type of model suitable for this role. For a female Flagellant Warrior, there was a crazed "Nun" figure as part of a 3-piece set from their "Nightmares" line that could suit the part, sans flail.
My initial interest in writing up this character was to present a total ascetic -- something completely alien to any of the Warrior types I've witnessed so far in games of Warhammer Quest. At first glance, this may seem to be a particularly powerful character, but keep in mind that this character is using a flail, and therefore the chance to actually hit a target can be rather low -- if not downright impossible! Even though he may do a lot of damage on a single blow, remember that Killing Blows can only be administered if done in a "single blow". I've interpreted this rule to mean that essentially you can only cause a Killing Blow with your first Attack of any given turn. If you're playing otherwise, then you should probably apply this rule at least to the Flagellant to maintain his weaknesses as designed.
Insofar as role-playing goes, this should provide something radically different from the standard hero (we hope!): a crazed, babbling, maniacal zealot, wrapped up in a perpetual nightmare of doom and gloom, hellfire and brimstone. He may well be destined for an untimely end (A Flagellant Lord would seem terribly odd!) but he's sure to be remembered long afterward!
Warhammer Quest and Warhammer Fantasy Battles are trademarks of Games Workshop, and its use here does not constitute a legal challenge to that status. This article may be considered copyrighted by T. Jordan "Greywolf" Peacock (me =) ), though it may be passed along, just so long as no alterations are made and no fees are charged for its use.
I have an illustrated statistic card in the same format as the cards that come with the set that I've made up in PageMaker 5.0 format. If there is any interest, I may see if Britt Klein might think it worthwhile to have some of these PM5 files uploaded to the wais.com ftp site. Sorry, but I can't be expected to send out photocopies to everyone who asks, as the postage does add up after a while.
If you'd like to contact me for whatever reason, you can write to me at:
Jordan Peacock
1610 Parker
Cedar Falls, IA 50613