Genestealer Cults

Rules for Genestealer Cults in Necromunda Community Edition. Based on the

original works of Brian Ansell, Paul Murphy, Nigel Stillman, Tim Huckleberry
and Anthony Case. Compiled and updated for NCE by Chris Dixon (Hunger).

image

In the depths of the great Hive Cities of
Necromunda, a nightmarish cult lurks in
the shadow of society. In the back rooms
of drinking dens and gambling houses,
behind the curtained windows of meeting
halls and private residences, its robed
members convene in secret and observe
solemn ceremonies. Their clandestine
brotherhood, however, has no need for a
secret handshake or spoken password. Its
members share a psychic familial bond that
unites them in their singular purpose.
Around the town, their charitable works
and good deeds are well known. The creed
they adhere to promotes clean-living and
an ardent, ecclesiastical work ethic. Their
followers have contributed positively to the
area, from small things like regular litter
sweeps to the financial donations made
toward repairing the defensive palisade, to
the spiritual advice centres and alms houses
they helped set up.
In times of strife, the brotherhood is a
stalwart defender of the people, and its
courageous members are ready to take up
arms to defend the community against
marauding outlaws and violent gangs that
threaten the peace. Their philanthropic
efforts continue to strengthen and improve
the community, but despite their selfless
work they are modest and insular men, and
their furtive meetings are seen as quaint
and comical eccentricities. Elsewhere in
Hive City, were life is more strictly
regimented by the codes of house and hive,
and lived under the scrupulous gaze of the
Imperial authorities, such behaviour might
arouse suspicion, but the Underhive is an
egalitarian place, and receives outcasts and
those with secrets to hide with open arms.
The community is welcoming of their good
work, and though they number just a
handful of brothers, the osmotic spread of
their humanitarian ideology appears to
bode well for the settlement.
Beneath this wholesome façade, however,
under the pallid skin of its members, the
organisation conceals a disturbing, sinister
truth. The kindly brothers who walk
amongst the settlement’s populace, tidy its
streets and defend its interests are but the
outermost echelons of a dark, inhumanly
terrible society. If an outsider were able to
peel back the onion and see through the
elaborate web of subterfuge that has been
woven around his hometown, he would
find a core of horrifying alien monsters,
psychic mind-control, and an unimaginable
fate awaiting him and his entire world.
The industrious samaritans working to
better his home town are a single cell in a
wider network. Perhaps they are the first,
or perhaps they are one of many such
sleeper cells, biding their time until they
reveal their terrible secret. If the man could
follow the brothers as they silently slip out
of the settlement when the dimming
floodlights herald the Underhive’s night
hours, he would trace a path out into the
badzones, far from civilisation, to the cult’s
hidden lair.
He would descend into long-forgotten
catacombs, lit by sickly glowing fungi and
pale flickering torches, into the brood’s
inner sanctum. Here he would find a
creature from his darkest nightmares – a
clawed, fang-toothed monster, its chitinous
skin grown tough and gnarled from age, its
bottomless pool-like eyes reflecting an
intelligence of unfathomable depth and
origin. This spine-chilling creature may
have lain dormant in its deep, dark warren
for untold decades, even centuries, arrived
from some distant world a lifetime ago,
hidden away in the bowels of a merchant
freighter or civilian transport, and secreted
itself here to await the call of its masters.
Image
Around the patriarch are gathered its
enthralled children; human mothers
lovingly caring for hideous, clawed infants;
skulking hybrids cloaked in cowls that hide
their bestial visages; robed hierarchs
studying blueprints of local settlements and
facilities; devoted servants tending to the
personal care of their monstrous father,
and all in a calm and unsettling silence, for
the telepathic brothers and sisters have little
use for the spoken word.
Yet even if the man could see all this, he
would still be unable to comprehend the
true horror of the cult, or the true scale of
the danger it poses, for the cult’s higher
purpose is perhaps unknown even to itself.
At the heart of its insular fraternity is the
worship of the Father, and of the
transcendental rebirth he will grant them
when he calls down the ancient gods from
heaven. If such concepts are ever spoken of
amongst non-brothers, they are likely to be
dismissed as eccentric facets of the society’s
seemingly innocent, if quirky and
idiosyncratic faith, however the truth is that
the sky gods are very real, and the cult’s
final glorious ascent to heaven in their
starships will be a literal one if it ever
comes to pass.

Phase 1: Inception
First Contact
Out in the cold void of interstellar space,
beyond the understanding and imagination
of those raised within the hermetic walls of
the hive city, drift the vast shoals of the
Father’s primogenitor. The Great Devourer
moves silently and relentlessly toward the
cult’s psychic beacon. Across a thousand
worlds where its children land, similar cults
arise, and the great hive fleets home in on
these beacons like moths to candles in the
darkness.
A single Genestealer is sometimes all it
takes to bring about the doom of a whole
world. Dispersed throughout the galaxy on
space hulks, or secreted in the cargo holds
of transport vessels, the Tyranid vanguard
creatures go to ground once they make
planetfall, seeking out hidden places close
to population centres, or laying in a state of
indefinite torpor if the planet is
uninhabited, to await the arrival of
unsuspecting colonists before rousing to
fulfil their deadly purpose.
The monster hunts at night, preying on
isolated settlements, homesteads or
travellers, using its supreme intelligence and
stealth to lay cunning ambushes. The prey
stands no chance.
Image
The alien’s lightning speed and superhuman
strength are more than a match for any
adversary that resists, and its powerful,
diamond-hard claws can cut through tank
armour, however the Genestealer does not
hunt to kill, but to capture. The monster’s
unfortunate victims are brought back to its
lair, where they are subjected to the
‘Genestealer’s kiss’. The creature cows its
struggling captive into a state of passive
compliance with its hypnotic gaze, and then
implants the docile host with material from
an ovipositor in its prehensile tongue. Over
the course of several hours, the substance
gradually works its way through the victim’s
bloodstream, subverting the host’s genetic
composition and reproductive system.
When the host later regains consciousness,
it has no memory of the horrifying ordeal,
and the changes wrought by the
Genestealer’s seed bond it psychically to
the creature. The Genestealer is no longer
viewed as a terrible monster, but as a
cherished idol. The victim is released and
returns to its community, where it is driven
to reproduce by the biological and psychic
imperatives of its altered body.
Establishment
In time the Genestealer will acquire a small
enclave of implanted thralls. A prolific
creature may range tens of miles from its
lair to establish its presence throughout a
cluster of adjacent settlements, creating
several cells of its followers who pass
among the general populace without
detection, each cell at a different stage of its
developmental growth. When a cell reaches
a critical mass relative to the population
density of the settlement, the cult begins to
form. Some of its members may leave the
settlement permanently, venturing to the
monster’s secluded lair to tend to the
Father and join others of their kind.
Some remain behind in the settlement to
continue the cult’s work there. Outwardly
these individuals are seen to be upstanding
members of the community, often
promoting a cover for the cult’s activities in
the form of a new faith, secular tradition,
artisans’ guild or the like. The cover acts as
a legitimate reason for the cult to meet, and
may aid the brotherhood in recruiting new
members. The cult must be careful to
ensure that its cover subscribes to the
prevailing political and ideological climate
of their world – worlds with a significant
Imperial presence are typically suspicious of
unorthodox religions and political
movements, and with good reason. In the
more lawless regions of a world, or on a
world with less Imperial control, the cult
may have more licence to operate freely
under its cover, spreading its message of
freedom and enlightenment with ease.
Genestealer Lifecycle
As a cell grows, its members will eventually
reproduce, giving birth to hideously
malformed offspring bearing extra arms,
clawed hands, needle-sharp fangs and pale
skin. These abominations are lovingly
raised by the doting parents, who tend
them and coo over them like any other
infant. Children born to pairings where one
parent has not received the Genestealer’s
implant are equally cherished by both
parents; the non-cultist appears incapable
of seeing the monstrous nature of its
offspring, such is the power of the infant’s
psychic dominion over the parent. Pregnant
mothers instinctively gravitate to the
Genestealer’s lair before or soon after the
birth of their deformed child, sub-
consciously driven to move away from the
prying eyes of neighbours and into the
security of the familial group. In this way,
the Father’s children are drawn to him, and
the cult begins to muster at his side.
Image
Further down the line, when these hybrids
reach adulthood, they too are able to
reproduce. A hybrid retains the sexual
physiology of the host species, and is able
to breed true with other hybrids, or with
other members of its parent’s race.
Enthralled brood brothers and sisters are
attracted to the monstrous hybrids in the
same way they may be attracted to natural-
born men or women of their race, and as
with the raising of their aberrant children,
these otherwise-human people appear to be
unaware that their partner is an horrifically
corrupted monster.
Successive generations of the cult’s children
breed closer to the appearance of the host
species, so that the third generation appears
less bestial and more human-looking than
the second. The fourth generation can
easily pass for a member of its great-great-
grandparents’ species, although a closer
inspection may reveal a pallid skin tone,
slightly pointed teeth and a cold, unsettling
stare. These features are easily hidden
though, and these individuals are capable of
walking freely among the local populace
without detection. These hybrids represent
the cult’s most chilling aspect – on the
surface they are indistinguishable from any
ordinary human, but underneath the skin
they are utterly inhuman, as alien as the
original Genestealer itself.
Genestealer cults rarely grow beyond the
initial stage before they are exposed and
destroyed. Most commonly, the cult’s true
nature is never revealed, and instead it is
the cover which proves to be its undoing.
Imperial authorities are quick to stamp out
divergent religious thinking, and quick to
put down political groups, lest they incite a
revolt against the rule of the planetary
governor. The fledgling brotherhood is
persecuted to the point of annihilation, and
the aging Father of the cult is left to die
alone or move on. A Genestealer cult in
Necromunda represents a cult in this first
formative stage – a single sleeper cell
consisting of a small number of brothers
and sisters in the thrall of the Genestealer
patriarch – for once a cult is fully
established, the planet is already on the
road to outright rebellion and eventual
oblivion, and is a long way beyond the
scope of the Underhive’s setting.
Closing The Loop
If, however, the cult’s cover was to remain
intact, and the movement allowed to
mature, the first stages of the world’s
ultimate demise would be set in motion. As
the fourth generation of hybrids is born,
the cult is stable, and its agreeable cloak of
religious ideology, enlightened thinking or
harmless eccentricity is accepted in the
wider society. Like their fellow brothers,
fourth generation hybrids also breed true.
Image
A pairing between a fourth generation (F4)
hybrid and a standard human genotype may
produce a typically bestial-looking F2,
however the pairing of two F4 hybrids
marks a significant milestone in the cult’s
rise to power, for such a pairing gives birth
to a Purestrain Genestealer, which quickly
grows to maturity. This development
completes the loop of the Genestealer’s
lifecycle, and allows the cult to proliferate,
spreading further afield as new
Genestealers are born and make their way
to new settlements or offworld and begin
the process once more.
Image
Phase 2: Subversion
Closer to home, the cult begins to prepare
for its eventual rise to dominance. This
stage may take decades, even lifetimes to
bear fruit, and its members run a daily risk
of discovery and reprisal. Since its birth, the
cult has been slowly and steadily insinuating
itself into local affairs. The brotherhood’s
selfless charitable and community-building
efforts grant local authorities a positive
disposition toward it, and its members’
good standing and subtle hypnotic gaze
help them manoeuvre into positions of
power. Cult members are promoted to key
roles in political organisations, religious
institutions, public services, military
command chains and other strategically
powerful systems without their true
allegiance ever being known. Individuals
outside the cult follow their orders or are
brought into the fold until the cult has full
control over local state affairs.
The cult’s power steadily increases, and as
its movement gathers momentum, it begins
to draw together the resources it will need
for conquest. Cult members who have
infiltrated local organisations and
bureaucratic systems divert public funds
from their intended projects, and siphon
money from the treasuries of banks, private
companies and religious institutions.
Cargoes arriving at starports and land
terminals are expunged from manifest
documents and vanish in transit. Military
vehicles and weapons go missing from
heavily guarded arsenals. Suspicious
investigators find themselves stonewalled
when they ask questions, or disappear
without trace. Forces that may oppose the
cult with violence are systematically
undermined, as the brood infiltrates
military structures, police forces and
organised crime syndicates, or gradually
bleeds them dry by shutting down their
funding or other income streams.
Image
Phase 3: revolution
The Magus Arises
Across the planet, the cult’s numerous
sleeper cells steadily expand their influence
and subvert their locales in the same way.
As the cult’s network grows, the planet
gradually falls under the cult’s sway. The
direction the cult takes could now go one
of several ways. With so many influential
figures subscribing to the cult’s cover, the
cover itself may become a planet-wide
religious or political movement.
Enthusiastic followers preach its credo,
handing out pamphlets on street corners
and delivering sermons to growing
congregations until the movement reaches
a fervent tipping point and becomes the
dominant ideology across the world.
Opposition to the ‘new faith’ may be
strong, and the cult may face a stubborn
backlash from powerful quarters of society,
or it may be hampered by a weak but
determined partisan movement, resisting its
efforts with guerrilla attacks and the
spreading of conspiracy theories.
What is needed is a leader around which
the cult will rally, a general to lead its
armies in battle, a prophet to speak the
words of the Father. When the cult’s
psychic presence reaches critical mass, the
magus arises. A fourth generation hybrid,
the magus is a supremely powerful psyker,
able to hold whole populations under his
sway with his hypnotic presence and
powerful, inspiring oratory. The magus is
the leader for the time and place, the
prophesied one spoken of in the scriptures.
His public persona could take any number
of forms – a prominent and respected
business tycoon, religious or military leader,
benevolent governor or entertainment
superstar. However he presents himself, his
coming signals the beginning of the end.
Rebellion
Now a powerful worldwide movement in
possession of stockpiles of weapons and a
strong fighting force, the time is ripe for
the cult to light the fire of the rebellion it
has fomented for tens, hundreds, or even
thousands of years. The cult may have
reached its zenith in a whirlwind of
spectacular public approval, its globe-
spanning ideology having swept across the
world like wildfire in a matter of short
years. Equally, the origins of its faith may
be shrouded in history, having existed for
millennia and been a staple religion of the
world since ancient times.
Once the cult attains this level of
integration into the planet’s discourse, the
fate of the world is sealed. Its human
inhabitants cannot possibly apprehend the
scale of the cult’s control, and even if the
truth were discovered it would scarcely be
believable. The average Imperial human
knows little of the horrors that dwell
beyond the upper atmosphere of his world,
and such a man could simply not accept
that a mind-controlling alien cult had
corrupted the leaders of his planet. Even
faced with the continual newsfeeds of
genocide, religious fanaticism and divisive
warfare perpetrated in their names, the man
will dismiss such thoughts and return to the
reality of sporting events, popular
entertainment and the daily grind of his job.
With the arrival of the magus, the cult is
galvanised into action. Under the great
leader’s banner, the worldwide movement
makes its bid for global domination. Its
armies of freedom fighters – largely
composed of non-cultists fighting for
noble, altruistic principles in the interests of
their fellow men – take up arms and fight
to cast off the historical oppression of the
old regime.
Image
The forces of order that oppose them find
the rug pulled from under their feet as the
full extent of the cult’s infiltration into the
existing powerbase becomes clear. Military
resistance to the coup crumbles as whole
regiments of soldiers defect to the cult’s
banner; police fight police; friends fight
former allies. Long-standing rivalries
between religions, ethnic groups and entire
nations are revealed to be contrived,
orchestrated by their leaders to misdirect
the masses and mask the true agenda.
Under the magus’s gestalt leadership, the
cult acts as one to seize control of the
world as it spirals into disorder. Its war
machine is pressed into action to crush any
opposition amid the chaos, and when the
dust finally settles the planet is wrested
from its previous masters and brought
under the cult’s absolute control. The
planet’s human inhabitants may at last see
through the veil of political manipulation
and subterfuge that has confounded them
for so long, or they may greet the new
world order with cheering and celebrations.
It matters not. Either way their world is
utterly and irrevocably condemned to
extinction, and in one form or another the
final glorious ascension that the cult’s credo
preaches will certainly befall them.
Phase 4: Sublimation
As the cult grows larger and larger
throughout the course of its life, its psychic
presence grows proportionally with every
implanted brood brother or birthed hybrid
that swells its ranks. Each one is a psychic
node on the cult’s network that adds its
power to the combined signal, which shines
like a beacon in the warp. Far out, across
the distant reaches of interstellar space, the
Genestealers’ primogenitor hears the call of
its children. Arrayed before it in the warp
like an illuminated city at night, the Great
Devourer senses these psychic beacons
burning like torches in the darkness. Its
fleets gravitate toward the brightest lights,
drifting from one to another like waypoints
as they crawl across the void, for the
brightest nodes indicate the greatest
concentrations of biomass and the places
where it will find the least resistance.
Image
With the cult triumphant, and the world
under its iron grip, the brotherhood’s cover
can finally be dropped. The cult’s inner
circle can finally reveal its true face, and as
hybrids and Genestealers emerge from their
lairs the population is systematically
enslaved and implanted. Any pockets of
resistance that remain are mercilessly
hunted down by broods of roving
Genestealers, and in time the planet’s entire
population will be forced into submission –
either implanted and added to the psychic
beacon or slaughtered where they fight
back. What condition the planet is in when
the inevitable apocalypse finally arrives is
dependent on the time to day-zero, and on
the totality of the cult’s dominion relative
to the human inhabitants when it comes.
The cult’s psychic signature is not only
visible to the Tyranid fleets; it is also visible
to human astropaths and other powerful
psykers capable of detecting its presence in
the warp. If caught early, Imperial
authorities in nearby star systems may be
able to intervene. More than one desperate
resistance movement has looked upward
with joyous relief to see Imperial ships
descending into low orbit, cheering their
saviours and praying for deliverance until
the virus bombs begin to fall.
If the world is not visited by Imperial
forces and subjected to Exterminatus, the
only other visitors to the world will be of
another, entirely more sinister origin. In the
void between the stars, the hive ships of
the Great Devourer drift slowly but
inexorably onward at sub-light speeds, their
relentless progress measured on timescales
unimaginable to humans. Homing in on the
beacon that may have been lit millennia
ago, the cult’s monstrous kin finally arrive
to complete the cult’s long-awaited
apotheosis. Despite their alien longevity,
the original Genestealer patriarch, and even
the magus too, may be long dead by the
time the mycetic spores begin to rain from
the sky. Embattled resistance fighters,
struggling for centuries against their
horrifying masters, may present a
determined last stand, but before the
endless swarms of the Eternal Hunger they
cannot hope to survive. The cult’s own
brothers may finally understand that their
cause was false, and turn against the sky
gods who come to claim them. More often
than not though, the cult’s victory is
consummate, and its members calmly
board the hive ships and walk into the
digestion pools to become one with their
creator in the final, glorious rapture.
 Special Rules
Lawful
Genestealer Cults start a campaign as a
lawful gang, composed of apparently
ordinary individuals. Unless superseded by
this document, all rules for standard house
gangs apply to Cults at start-up.
Hired Guns
Lawful Cults can recruit any Hired Guns
except Bounty Hunters. Outlawed cults
cannot recruit any Hired Guns, as a result
of their worrisome reputation.
Scenarios
Genestealer Cults may roll on either the
Standard Scenario Table on page 109 of
Necromunda Community Edition, or the
Outlaw Scenario Table on page 27 of
Outlanders Community Edition.
Captured Cultists
Captured cult members may be ransomed
back to the cult or sold into slavery as
normal. If a Hybrid or the Hierarch is
captured and is to be sold into slavery, the
cult must always attempt a rescue mission,
however Brood Brothers are not subject to
this requirement.
Sump Dynamo
Note that the cult can use a Sump Dynamo
acquired from the Outlaw Rare Trade
Chart to convert any of its Outlaw
territories, but may never convert its Cult
Lair or its Settlement.
Fresh Blood
After the starting gang is recruited, a Cult
may only gain new members via a ‘6’ result
for Settlement income, a ‘6’ for Cult Lair
income, or via the Genestealer’s Kiss.
Captured Enemies: Genestealer’s Kiss
Captured enemies who may be useful to
the cult can never be ransomed or sold into
slavery, and are instead subjected to the
Genestealer’s Kiss. The captive is brought
to the cult’s secret lair, where a Purestrain
implants the unfortunate individual with its
seed. Hours later the captive recovers from
the ordeal with no memory of the event.
Roll a Ld test for the model. If it fails, it
joins the cult, and is immediately added to
the cult’s roster together with its skills &
equipment, however it retains no special
rules such as the Leader ability or a
Ratskin’s Resilience trait.
If the Ld test is passed, the model is
allowed to ‘escape’ back to its gang
unharmed. No ransom may be collected for
the captured fighter, and he may not be
sold into slavery. The returned captive
gains the trait ‘Genestealer Implant’.
Only humans may be implanted by the
Genestealer’s Kiss - Scalies and other
genetic aberrations are automatically slain.
Spyrers, possessing technology that could
give away the cult, must also be killed, and
may never be implanted, ransomed or sold.
All other humans, including Enforcers,
Ratskins, Ash Waste Nomads and other
outlaws, are either assimilated into the cult
or allowed to return to their gang and
report their daring escape.
Genestealer Implant
An infected gang member with this trait
must roll a D6 before each battle. On a 1
he leaves the gang together with all his
equipment to venture off alone, psychically
directed to spread the cult further afield.
Brood Telepathy
All members of a Genestealer Cult are
bonded together under the psychic
dominion of the Patriarch, which is
disseminated through the Hierarchs of each
of its sleeper cells. All Genestealer Cult
members may re-roll any failed nerve, fear
or terror tests if they are within 8” of the
Hierarch.
Defend The Hierarch
If the Hierarch goes Down, all friendly
models within 16” except Purestrains and
Hired Guns must use their following
movement phase(s) to attempt to move to
an item of cover that is within 8” of the
Hierarch, unless this move would take
them past the Hierarch.
Models that are Pinned, Down or in hand-
to-hand combat may ignore this rule, unless
their status changes and the Hierarch
remains Down. Models subject to this
compulsory move may still move
intelligently, using cover and moving
around difficult terrain, but they must not
deviate more than 2” from the most direct
path, and will climb up or down if
necessary.
If there are enemies who are not down,
broken or in hard cover within the model’s
line of sight before this move is made, then
the model may choose to fall back up to 4”,
and may turn to face them and fire its
ranged weapon(s) if desired. If no viable
targets (i.e. those not down, broken or in
hard cover) are within the models LOS
before the move is made, then the model
must Run instead.
Image
Synapse Collapse
If the Hierarch is taken Out Of Action,
every model in the cult except Purestrains
and Hired Guns must take a Nerve test
using their own Ld. All Ld based tests
taken by cult members except Purestrains
and Hired Guns must be taken on models’
own Ld. Bottle tests are taken on the Ld of
the model with the next highest Ld who is
not a Hired Gun or a Purestrain.
Leadership Disputes
Hierarchs are chosen to lead the cult by the
Patriarch, and their brothers and sisters are
psychically bound to follow the Hierarch’s
will. He can never be challenged for
leadership of the gang. If the Hierarch is
killed, the Hybrid with the highest Ld (roll
off if there is a tie) becomes the cult’s new
leader, and gains the Brood Telepathy,
Defend The Hierarch and Synapse Collapse
traits, but not the original Hierarch’s
psychic powers, if any.
Secrecy
The cult’s need for secrecy is paramount,
however its Hybrids are often required to
leave the lair to fight. Clad in cowls and
robes, they are usually assumed to be
deformed mutants, and although their true
nature is likely to remain a secret, the
‘mutants’ can nevertheless attract unwanted
attention. Whenever making a roll on the
Outlaw Table, the cult must apply the
following additional modifiers:
-1 if any Hybrids took part in the previous
battle.
-1 if a Purestrain took part in the previous
battle.
Image
 Territory and Income
Cult Lair
Genestealer Cults automatically start
with their unique Cult Lair territory. The
Cult Lair is an Outlaw Territory, and
takes a single Brood Brother to work. If
the Cult Lair is ever captured it instantly
becomes a Wastes.
Extra Territories
In addition, they must roll up a further
three Outlaw territories from page 7 of
Outlanders Community Edition.
Outlaw Cults
If outlawed, the cult loses all territories,
except the Cult Lair.
Income & Profits
All Genestealer Cult income is washed
through the standard income chart on
page 93 of Necromunda Community
Edition, as the cult stockpiles in
preparation for its revolt. Only Brood
Brothers can work territories.
Captured Territories
Genestealer Cults may capture any
standard or Outlaw territories in the
usual way, and may collect income from
them in addition to any other territories
they possess. Income from captured
Lawful territories is halved before
washing. In the case of Guilder
Contacts, Drinking Holes and the like,
the territory represents the cult
infiltrating local services and amenities.
Settlement Juves
Instead of recruiting free juves from the
settlement, a cult recruits free Brood
brothers on the roll of a 6.
Image
Cult Lair Territory
D6 Result
1 The cult’s activities are attracting
suspicion. No income is generated
from the Lair this turn, and the cult
gains an additional permanent -1
modifier against its roll on the
Outlaw Table. This modifier is
cumulative with any other modifiers
gained through this result.
2 A local arms dealer or tech trader
supplies a shipment of goods. Any
number of the items may be kept or
sold for their base value. Roll a
further D6:
1:- One common Special Weapon,
rolled randomly.
2:- Three common Pistols of the
same type, rolled randomly.
3:- Three common Basic Weapons
of the same type, rolled randomly.
4:- Three supplies of Grenades of
the same type, either rare or
common, rolled randomly.
5:- One item from the Outlaw Rare
Trade Chart, rolled randomly.
Reroll results of 61 and over.
6:- One item from the Rare Trade
Chart, rolled randomly..
 Cult Lair Territory
D6 Result
3 The cult receives a charitable
donation from a benefactor. The
territory generates D6x10 creds. In
addition, the brothers’ good deeds
around the town have garnered
some goodwill among its people,
and you may add +1 to your roll on
the Outlaw Table during this post-
game phase
4 The cult collects the take from its
many legitimate business fronts.
The territory generates D6x10
creds.
5 The cult’s agents divert funds from
the treasuries of local businesses
and Guilder interests. The territory
generates 2D6x10 creds. If a double
is rolled, the cult’s activities are
spotted, and an investigator is put
on the trail in the form of a Bounty
Hunter. The next gang that fights
the cult may be joined by a free
Bounty Hunter for that battle.
6 The cult’s recruiting drive bears
fruit, as new members join the
brotherhood. The territory
generates a free Brood Brother,
who may be added to the cult’s
roster if you wish. Otherwise this
result has no effect.
Image
Image
Recruiting The Cult
A Genestealer Cult is recruited in the
same way as a normal gang. You have
1000 credits to spend on recruitment
and armament within the following
guidelines:
• Minimum of 3 fighters – Your cult
must include no less than 3 fighters.
• 1 Hierarch – The cult must include a
Hierarch.
• 0-1 Purestrains – The cult may
include up to one Purestrain
Genestealer.
• Any number of Hybrids, as long as
the following criteria is met.
• The cult must include at least one
Brood Brother for every Hybrid it
includes, plus one for the Hierarch.
• If, for example, due to deaths or
retirement, the number of Brood
Brothers falls below 50%, then any
excess Hybrids may not take part in
future battles until the balance has
been restored, lest the proportion of
‘mutants’ attracts too much attention.
Hierarch - 130
Hierarchs are the vassals through which the
Patriarch directs the cult’s constituent cells.
A vicious, intelligent and psychically
attuned hybrid, the Hierarch commands his
cell of brothers without question or
recourse.
Weapons: The Hierarch is equipped with a
knife.
Equipment: The Hierarch may select
items from the Close Combat, Pistol, Basic,
Hierarch Only, and the Extras and
Miscellaneous lists.
Extra Arm: When recruited, the Hierarch
may be given up to one extra arm at a cost
of +10 creds. The arm grants the Hierarch
+1 Attack in close combat, and may either
be used to hold a weapon, or may be
equipped with a Genestealer Claw at a
further cost of +15 creds.
Psychic Powers: The Hierarch has the
psychic power Hypnotic Gaze. He may
purchase up to one extra Wyrd Minor
power from pages 25-26 of Outlanders
Community Edition at a cost of +20 creds.
Hierarchs never need to make Perils Of
The Warp rolls when using psychic powers.
Hypnotic Gaze: When the Hierarch
charges into close combat he can attempt
to transfix one opponent. Both models roll
a D6 and add their Ld. If the Hierarch
wins, the opponent’s WS is reduced to 1
for that round.
Hybrid - 75
Hybrids are the cult’s inner sanctum – the
awful, visceral truth behind the cult’s
agreeable outer facade. Hybrids are the
personified image of what lies beneath the
skin of every cultist, as alien in body and
mind as the Genestealer itself, a mockery
of the former humanity that gave rise to
their existence. Hybrids are savage fighters,
and though their physiques vary between
specimens, most possess additional arms
with grasping hands or razor sharp talons;
F2s tend to be more animalistic, while F3s
often possess the dexterity and intelligence
to use firearms.
Weapons: The Hybrid is equipped with a
knife.
Equipment: A Hybrid may select items
from the Pistols, Close Combat, Basic,
Special, Heavy and Extras and
Miscellaneous lists.
Weapon Limits: Your cult may only ever
have a total of 2 special or heavy weapons
(or one of each), as all surplus equipment is
stockpiled in secret caches away from the
cult’s lair in preparation for the revolution.
Extra Arm: When recruited, the Hybrid
may be given up to one extra arm at a cost
of +10 creds. The arm grants the Hybrid
+1 Attack in close combat, and may either
be used to hold a weapon, or may be
equipped with a Genestealer Claw at a
further cost of +15 creds.
Brood Brother - 35
Brood brothers are ordinarily civilians,
untrained in the ways of combat, but driven
to fight ferociously by the Hierarch’s
unwavering will. In battle they are relentless
and unnerving adversaries, fighting in
silence with a cold, inhuman focus and
distant stare.
Weapons: A Brood Brother is armed with
a knife.
Equipment: A Brood Brother may select
weapons and equipment from the Pistols,
Close Combat, Basic, Extras and
Miscellaneous lists.
Image
Purestrain - 200
Few things in the galaxy make the blood
run cold quite like the Genestealer. Such
creatures are the epitome of man’s most
primal fear, lurking in the depths of the
psyche as the unnameable, hair-raising
terror that steers us away from dark places
and makes us cower from strange sounds
in the still night hours. They are the alien
incarnate; impossible to reason with,
impossible to outrun, cold and calculating
and without fear or remorse. Their
superhuman stealth and agility combined
with their intelligence make them the
perfect ambush predator. The first inkling
the victim has of his stalking assailant is of
the monster silently dropping from its
ceiling duct, or wrenching the grating from
beneath his feet, moments before its razor
sharp claws eviscerate his body in a bloody
shower of heart-stopping violence.
The cult may have up to one Purestrain
Genestealer – the cult’s revered Patriarch.
In time the monster will become aged
beyond its natural lifespan, and retire to its
lair to live out its twilight years in the care
of its family. For now though, in the cult’s
infancy, it must venture beyond its sanctum
to secure its territory and ensnare new
thralls.
Weapons: Genestealers fight with their
lethal teeth and claws, all stat increases for
which are already included in their profile.
Equipment: Genestealers may never use
or carry any equipment. They cannot pick
up or carry loot counters or similar tokens.
 Purestrain Special Rules
Scenarios
Genestealers can only be used in scenarios
where the Cult player is the attacker.
Furthermore, they may not be used in any
scenario that takes place in a settlement, such
as a Shootout, Bar Room Brawl, Hunters or
The Hit. They may take part in Gang Fight,
Scavengers, Hit & Run, Raid, Rescue
Mission, Ambush, The Hoard, Blind Fight,
Caravan, Loot & Pillage, and Heist scenarios,
in addition to other scenarios based around
outlying territories, badzones, holesteads etc.
Monster Rolls
Genestealers can never be the target of a
Monster Roll attack. They are the monster!
Fearless & Cause Terror
Genestealers cause Terror, never need to
take nerve tests, and can never be pinned.
Night Vision
Genestealers can see normally in all light
levels, including pitch black darkness.
Cold IR Trace
Genestealers emit no heat signature. Infra-
red sights do not reduce the to hit penalty
when shooting at a Genestealer in cover.
Infra-red sights and goggles do not confer
any advantage to see them, and the wearer
must instead use his normal Initiative range
or vision range when attempting to detect
them.
Alien Metabolism
Genestealers are immune to all drugs,
including Icrotic Slime and Wildsnake, all
Hallucinogenic effects, Choke and Scare gas,
poisoned attacks including Blade Venom and
hits from needle weapons.
Psychic Fortitude
Genestealers are immune to psychic assaults
that attack the mind. If they are targeted or
otherwise hit by the effects of any of the
following psychic powers, the Genestealer
ignores the effect, and the psyker instead
suffers a S2 hit: Mind Control, Terrify,
Invisibility, Mental Assault, Hallucinations,
Assail, You Can Fly, Mirror Image. Psychic
powers from other sources (i.e. not those
from pages 23-26 of Outlanders Community
Edition) that target the mind have no effect
on a Genestealer but do not cause damage.
Bio-Scanners & Sense Presence
Bio-scanners work normally against
Genestealers, and will detect them in the
same way they would detect other fighters.
An enemy model equipped with a Bio-
Scanner automatically converts all blips
within 16” of him at the end of his turn.
In the same way, the Wyrd power Sense
Presence also works normally, and will force
blips within 12” to convert automatically.
Serious Injuries
Genestealers ignore the following effects on
the Serious Injury Chart on page 84 of
Necromunda Community Edition: Infected
Wound (21), Shell Shock (32) and all results
of 56+. Treat these results as Full Recovery
instead.
Enemy Injuries
Genestealers are among the most lethal of
adversaries, and their victims are frequently
torn limb from limb by the monster’s
formidable claws. Enemy fighters who are
taken Out Of Action by a Genestealer roll
twice on the Serious Injuries chart and apply
the result with the lowest score.
Blips
Genestealers are not placed on the board to
begin with. Instead the Cult player has three
blip counters, each the size of a 25mm base,
which deploy and move as if they were
normal fighters. These blips represent
shifting shadows that spook enemy gangers,
pings and interference on electronics, noises,
silhouettes and other nerve-jangling
indications that something fearful stalks the
area. Two blips are decoys, while the third
represents the Genestealer’s true position,
which is known only to the Cult player.
Blips must be deployed at least 8” away from
other blips. Each blip may move up to 10” in
the Cult player’s movement phase, and may
climb any vertical surface. The blip must end
its move at least 8” away from all other blips,
either out of sight of enemy gang members,
or in cover, where it can legitimately Hide
from enemy fighters, although it may cross
open ground to get there, as the signal flits
from place to place.
Blips may not declare charges, and must
remain Hidden until they are converted. At
the end of his movement phase, an enemy
fighter must attempt to convert any blip that
is within a distance equal to his Initiative x3
in inches. To convert the blip, the fighter
must pass an Initiative check at his base
Initiative. Blips are automatically converted if
they are ever within an enemy model’s base
Initiative distance in inches. Once converted,
the blip is then revealed, and the model must
take a Terror test if within 8” of a revealed
Genestealer. The player’s turn then continues
as normal – either the Cult player continues
his turn, and the revealed Genestealer may
continue its movement or declare a charge
against an enemy within charge range, or the
enemy gang may attempt to shoot or charge
the Genestealer if it is their turn and they are
able to do so.
Climb
Genestealers are supremely agile, and can use
their claws and multiple arms to climb sheer
surfaces at speed. They suffer no movement
penalties for climbing, and can traverse any
vertical surface, even those without ladders.
Hit & Run
Once the Genestealer is on the board, all
remaining blips are revealed to be decoys and
are removed. The Genestealer can move,
declare charges, and otherwise fight
normally.
If the Genestealer is reduced to 0 wounds,
place the model as if it were Down. At the
start of the Cult player’s next turn the
Genestealer is automatically removed from
play, and is considered Out Of Action. The
monster is assumed to have darted into the
shadows and disappeared from the battle via
any one of the numerous ducts or crawlways
that dot the area.
If the Genestealer takes all of its hand-to-
hand opponents Out Of Action, and there is
another enemy fighter within 5”, the
Genestealer must immediately Follow Up
and engage the enemy.
If, at any point during the battle, the
Genestealer has taken at least one enemy
model Out Of Action, and cannot reach any
enemies with its Follow Up move, then at
the start of the Cult player’s next turn the
Genestealer is removed from the board, and
is assumed to have exited the area, although
in this case it is not counted as being Out Of
Action.
Follow Up Move
A Genestealer’s lightning fast reflexes grant it
a 5” Follow Up.
 Equipment
House Weapons List
Cost Cost
Hierarch Only Extras
Bolt Pistol 25 Frag Grenades 25
Plasma Pistol 30 Krak Grenades 40
Frag Missiles 35
Close Combat Super Krak Missiles 50
Knife (first knife free) 5 Bolt Shells 15
Club 10 Hot Shot Shells 5
Sword 15 Manstopper Shells 5
Massive Weapon 15 Dum-Dum Bullets 5
Genestealer Claw (Hybrid) 15*
Miscellaneous
Pistols Clip Harness 10
Stub Gun 10 Filter Plugs 10
Autopistol 15 Lobo Chip 20
Laspistol 15 Photo Contacts 15
Hand Flamer 25 Weapon Reload Weapon ÷ 2

Basic Hierarch Only Weapons

Autogun 20
Shotgun (solid + scatter) 20 As per Necromunda Community Edition
Lasgun 25 (page 78), when the gang is first created,
the Hierarch (being the leader) can be
Special recruited with up to two Hierarch Only
Autoslugger 45 Weapons and must be equipped with them
Grenade Launcher 60 for the first game. After the first game the
Flamer 80 Hierarch Only section of the weapon list is
removed. Any fighter can buy and use such
Heavy weapons after the first game.
Heavy Stubber 120
Autocannon 260
Lascannon 300
Genestealer Claw

Strength Dam Save Mod

Image
User +1 1 -3
Special: If a 6 is rolled to wound, the hit
instead causes D2 damage.
 Skills and Experience
Experience Advance Table
Genestealer Cults are recruited with the Experience Points
following experience points: 0-5 Initiate
6-10 Initiate
Hierarch 60 + D6 11-15 Initiate
Hybrid 60 + D6 16-20 Initiate
Brood Brother 20 + D6 21-30 Brother
31-40 Brother
Genestealers do not gain XP or advances. 41-50 Brother
51-60 Brother
61-80 Brother
81-100 Brother
101-120 Brother
Image 141-160 Master
161-180 Master
181-200 Grand Master
201-240 Grand Master
241-280 Grand Master
Maximum Stats 281-320 Grand Master
321-360 Venerable Master
361-400 Venerable Master
401+ Illuminati
Skill Tables
Agility Combat Ferocity Muscle Shooting Stealth Techno
Hierarch Yes Yes Yes Yes - Yes Yes
Hybrid - Yes Yes Yes - Yes -
Brother - - Yes - Yes Yes -

Image
 Back Page Image

Resources, Copyright and Editorial Notes

These rules have been developed to bring the Genestealer Cult in line with Necromunda
Community Edition. Original rules and background for Genestealer Cults can be found in
Confrontation supplements, Gang War magazine, Citadel Journals, White Dwarf articles and
Necromunda Magazine. These rules have been developed with input from the online
Necromunda community, and thanks go to everyone who has contributed to their
production.

Games Workshop, the Games Workshop logo, Citadel and the Citadel Castle, Necromunda,
the Necromunda stencil logo, the Necromunda plate logo, Underhive and all associated
marks, logos, devices, names, characters, illustrations and images from the Necromunda
world and Warhammer 40,00 universe are either ®, TM or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-
2003, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. All rights
reserved. No challenge to their status is intended.