Building the Church of Rot
By Steve Rowlinson
Although much that is reported to be happening in The Weald is uncertain, confused or simply inaccurate; it is known that there is growing unease and disturbance spreading from the North: a creeping terror casting a black shadow across the land and its people.
Tales of monsters, cannibalism, neighbour turning upon neighbour, the forest itself spitting up the dead to devour the living. All manner of horrors are being reported.
Something evil is afoot; dark powers encroach upon The Weald.
The Church knows the source of this darkness; its members whisper it with manic fervour: The Rot comes.
As with any great disaster falling upon the world, people turn to fear, and there are always those who will seek to worship that which they fear. And thus was born the so-called Church of Rot.
Not a true Church in the sense that it has no central organisation; no code of edicts; no religious texts (at least, not yet). Each band of worshippers is an individual cult in its own right, with its own ideas and notions about how to best worship the Rot.
Already rival sects have been known to battle each other over doctrinal differences. In fact it seems that the Rot-cults are at war with everyone; the Wardens view them as lunatics little better than the Gnarl and the Gnarl make no distinction between warden and cultist in their endless hunger. The cultists of the Church will even seek out Gnarl Haunts to hunt; their insane fervour driving them to prove to the Rot that their devotion and faith make them its strongest champions, whilst also providing opportunity to gather Rot-infested organic matter so that they might “ascend” to be closer to the Rot in form and spirit.
These devoted, deluded lunatics present an entirely new threat to the people of The Weald, and their numbers only grow.
The Church of Rot supplement is a “re-skin” of some of the basic rules for running a Warden warband , allowing players to instead create and play a warband of disturbed rot-cultists.
It should also be seen as a guide to the possibilities for making your own home-brewed variants of the Warden faction to further explore the strange populations and people of the
Weald.
The Church of Rot should be used in conjunction with The Weald core rulebook. The supplement can be used in substitution of the general options for creating a warband of the Warden faction. In all other game and rules terms, warbands of the Church of Rot are treated exactly as Wardens (in any cases where a rule interpretation may be unclear or disputed and cannot be agreed upon players should roll dice or flip a coin to determine who is correct. The author in no way encourages duelling as a way to settle disagreements.)
Church of Rot Warbands
There are three types of model available to Church of Rot warbands; Acolytes, Brethren and Disciples. Players may choose from these and the equipment and items as they see fit, as long as they are within the agreed game allowance (see The Weald core rulebook for further information).
Acolytes
The Acolytes of the Church are newly inducted members, often drawn from the dregs of society. They are usually destitute; most are deranged or traumatised from horrors they have witnessed. The Church provides a welcoming environment and twisted sense of structure and purpose to these lost souls. They form the expendable bulk of the Church’s’ forces.
Brethren
Brethren are devoted servants of the Church, most carry strange and unwieldy weapons that they change into battle with, heedless of any danger to themselves. They seek only to prove their faith to The Rot.
Disciples
The most fanatical and feared members of the Church are the Disciples. They have abandoned all reason and any semblance of humanity in their quest to “ascend” to sit by the side of The Rot. They are deadly and fearless, many have taken trophies for themselves from Gnarl they have bested and have begun to manifest strange changes and mutations from their proximity to Rot-touched items.
The aim of this short supplement is to demonstrate the ease in which the basic rules of The Weald system can be adapted with a little creativity to enhance the feel and flavour of your warbands.
This is not an attempt to create a high-powered warband, but to make some minor cosmetic changes and adapt aspects of the rules to create more options for players. I have tried to ensure that any buffs or advantages are suitably balanced against the standard options in the core rules.
The stat lines for the cultists generally make them slightly weaker from a starting point compared to general Wardens and some of their overall choices are more limited but I have tried to balance this by giving Disciples the potential to become quite dangerous models with a little experience. Having access to their own unique version of a Gnarl Mark also gives them an opportunity to have a tactical advantage against their opponents by forcing Wardens to make #Horrific tests in order to engage nearby cultists. Used well this can be a very powerful tool. Finally the new weapon; Flaming Censer, was an attempt to give the
Brethren a fun and fitting weapon choice. This was based entirely off the Chain Warden weapon, modified by changing the #Grappling tag to #Scorching and then also making the weapon #Two-handed to offset the increased damage potential and therefore keep the cost the same as a Chain.
The Church of Rot supliment is available in downloads.
The Weald Team encourages you to have a go at creating and designing your own “re-skins” for use in your games and we are always happy to hear about your creations, ideas or suggestions. Follow the hashtag #weald28 on Instagram to learn more about The Weald or share your own creations and feel free to reach out to any of our creative team or come join us on the lively Weald Discord community to get involved!
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