The Restless Dead

Grade: 1c
Source: Border Town Burning (PDF)
Setting: Border Town Burning

Lore

A Liche is a necromancer who was wise enough never to expend his own life energy to fuel his spells during his lifetime. As time eats away at his body, he retains his soul which allows him to manipulate magic, which is what separates them from pitiful wraiths. Unfortunately, the undead bodies of the Liche are not capable of retaining magic forever. They must absorb massive amounts of magic through the use of dark rituals and forbidden spells. The most common ritual involves the devouring of the soul of a human. The soulless human becomes a zombie under the Liche’s control. This continues until he is discovered.

When a Liche is found, great armies are sent against it. The Liche retaliates by creating armies of undead warriors to defend itself, expending vast amounts of stored magical energy to do so. Win or lose, the Liche is greatly weakened in this process. More often than not, the Liche is crippled such that he is incapable of bringing himself to his former strength. In this event, the Liche has two options. Most of them wander south to the forest of Loren where they seek the wild and infinite magic of the wood. Some wander north towards the Chaos Wastes where they are almost always discovered and destroyed en-route. An even smaller percentage go west in ramshackle boats towards the lands of the High Elves... so far, only a small handful of Liches have ever lived in their undead state for very long; even fewer return to fighting strength after crippling defeat.

For those who travel north, the journey is long and arduous; dodging road wardens, rogues and thieves all for their goal to reach the Chaos Wastes, where the Liche's power will slowly regenerate from the billowing magical winds spewing from the Realm of Chaos.

Choice of warriors

A The Restless Dead warband must include a minimum of three models. You have 500 gold crowns available to spend. The maximum number of warriors in the warband may never exceed 12.

• Liches: Each warband must have 1 Liche: no more, no less!
• Necromancers: Your warband may include up to 1 Necromancer.
• Grave Guards: Your warband may include up to 3 Grave Guards.
• Zombies: Your warband may include any number of Zombies.
• Skeletons: Your warband may include up to 8 Skeletons.
• Wights: Your warband may include up to 3 Wights.
• Scarecrows: Your warband may include up to 2 Scarecrows.

Starting experience

• The Liche starts with 20 experience.
• The Necromancer starts with 8 experience.
• Grave Guards start with 6 experience.
• Henchmen start with 0 experience.

The Restless Dead Skill Table

	Combat	Shooting	Academic	Strength	Speed	Special
Liche			✓			✓
Necromancer			✓		✓	✓
Grave Guard	✓			✓

The Restless Dead Special Skills

The Restless Dead Heroes may use the following Skill table instead of any of the standard Skill tables available to them.

corpse bomb

Special magics and rituals can cause a Zombie to explode when they are near the enemy. Secretly nominate one Zombie at the beginning of the battle to be a Corpse Bomb. If the enemy charges or is charged by the Zombie, it immediately detonates. All models within D6 inches take D3 Strength 4 hits. The detonated Zombie may never be used again as it is splattered in a million pieces! Corpse bombs killed by shooting do not detonate. Only one Zombie at a time can be a corpse bomb although the skill can be taken by both the Necromancer and the Liche.

deathspeaker

At the start of the battle, the undead player may deploy D3 Zombies for free. These zombies do not count towards the maximum number of models in the warband, but increase the warband’s rating as normal. Zombies created in this way may not be used as Corpse Bombs. These Zombies only last for the duration of the battle.

wraith touch

The hero may make a Wraith Touch attack instead of their normal attacks in close combat. The hero making a Wraith Touch makes a single unarmed attack, if it hits, it wounds automatically, all rules that apply to unarmed attacks apply to the Wraith Touch. If a Liche uses this skill and wounds, then he may regain one lost wound. This may not take the hero beyond his starting total. Necromancers do not regain wounds with this skill. This skill has no effect on the Possessed or Undead.

forbidden rite

If the hero with this skill did not search for rare items during their last exploration phase, then they start the next battle with a pool of D3+1 (+1) modifiers they can use to increase their casting rolls. They may use as many of these modifiers at a time as they desire.

summoner

The maximum warband size is increased by 1.

The Restless Dead equipment lists

Pricing:

Restless Dead Equipment List

The following lists are used by Restless Dead warbands to pick their equipment.

Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons

Item	Cost
Dagger	1st free/2 gc
Club, Mace or Hammer	3 gc
Club, Mace or Hammer	3 gc
Axe	5 gc
Sword	10 gc
Spear	10 gc
Halberd	10 gc
Double-handed weapon	15 gc

Missile Weapons

Item	Cost
Short Bow	5 gc
Bow	10 gc

Armour

Item	Cost
Shield	5 gc
Buckler	5 gc
Helmet	10 gc
Light Armour	20 gc
Heavy Armour	50 gc

Special Equipment

The Restless Dead have access to the following special equipment when purchasing items from the Trading Post, outside their starting list:

Book of the Dead

Cost: 200 + D6 x 25 gc
Availability: Rare 12 (Vampires and Necromancers only)

This is a book that contain transcripts from the famous books of Nagash, the Great Necromancer.

Special Rules

A Vampire can learn Necromantic magic with the Arcane Lore skill and this book and a Necromancer will gain a new spell permanently.

Heroes

1 Liche

125 gold crowns to hire

A Liche is a powerful undead sorcerer. They journey north in a desperate bid to regain their power in the Realm of Chaos after a crippling defeat. Liches are fanatical in their struggle to hang on to their pitiful existence, especially when this close to being forever banished from the realm of the living.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	2	2	2	2	4	4	1	8

Weapons/Armour: Liche may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Restless Dead Equipment List.

Special Rules

Wizard: A Liche is a powerful wizard and so is able to use Necromantic magic and starts with two spells randomly generated from the Necromantic magic list.

Cause Fear: A Liche is a horrible abomination and causes fear.

Immune to Psychology: A Liche is not affected by psychology and never leaves combat.

No Pain: A Liche treats a stunned result on the injury chart as knocked down.

Immune to Poison: A Liche is not affected by poison.

Eternal: A Liche can choose to ignore any result on the hero's Serious Injury chart except Killed by taking a permanent -1 on their starting Wound profile. Obviously, a Liche with 1 Wound remaining on their starting profile does not have this option. A Liche that gets a Killed result instead takes a permanent –D3 Wounds on their starting profile. If this takes their starting Wound total to 0 or less, the Liche is Killed as normal.

Feed Upon Magic: A Liche can perform spells that, with the consumption of D3 Treasures, can give the Liche a permanent +1 Wound on their starting profile. This can only be used in between battles and cannot be used if the Liche searches for rare items or was put out of action in the previous battle. If the warband does not have enough Treasures to complete the spell, then the Treasures are consumed anyway and the Liche does not gain the Wound.

Warrior Wizard: The Liche may wear armour and cast spells. Indeed, it is often the clothing and armour alone that gives the Liche substance and form!

Advancement: If a Liche gets an advance roll of +1 Wound, they may instead pick a new skill from their available lists.

Liches may not carry any non-magical weapons^❓ and do not suffer any penalties for this. They may wear any armour from the Restless Dead Equipment list.

0 – 1 Necromancer

40 gold crowns to hire

Necromancers who travel with Liches are apprentices to the dark arts of Necromancy. They are the only living thing that a Liche will tolerate in his proximity!

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	3	3	3	3	1	3	1	7

Weapons/Armour: Necromancer may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Restless Dead Equipment List.

Special Rules

Wizard: Necromancers are wizards being trained by their Liche masters in the art of Necromancy and so are able to use Necromantic magic. They start out knowing one of the two spells known by their Liche masters.^❓

Apprentices: Necromancers may only ever know spells known by their Liche masters. Even if they did know spells the Liche didn’t, they wouldn’t dare use them for fear of their master’s response for their arrogance! If the Liche is ever killed, the Necromancer can continue to learn magic spells as a normal wizard, ignoring the Apprentice rule.

Gofer: As an Apprentice, the Necromancer spends much of their time running errands for their Liche masters and over the years get exceptionally good at it. When a Necromancer searches for rare items, they roll 3D6 and pick the two highest.

0 – 3 Grave Guards

35 gold crowns to hire

Grave Guards were once the finest warriors, hand selected by their masters for their martial skill and bravery, who fell in battle many centuries ago. They are now slaves to their necromantic masters in restless undeath.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	3	2	3	3	1	2	1	6

Weapons/Armour: Grave Guard may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Restless Dead Equipment List.

Special Rules

Wight Blades: Grave Guards carry weapons laden with evil magic. All close combat ‘to hit’ rolls of a 6 will automatically wound. You may roll ‘to wound’ as normal to determine if it is a ‘critical hit’, but even a failed ‘to wound’ roll will still cause a wound if a 6 was rolled first ‘to hit’.

Cause Fear: Grave Guards are terrifying undead creatures and so cause fear.

Immune to Poison: Grave Guards are not affected by poison.

Immune to Psychology: Grave Guards are not affected by psychology and never leave combat.

No Pain: Grave Guards treat a stunned result on the injury chart as knocked down.

May not Run: Grave Guards are slow undead creatures and may not run (but can charge normally).

No deal: Grave Guards may not search for rare items.

Henchmen

(Bought in groups of 1-5)

Zombies

15 gold crowns to hire

Zombies are the most common of the undead: creatures animated by the will of their Necromantic masters to be slaves in their undeath.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	2	0	3	3	1	1	1	5

Weapons/Armour: Zombies may not carry any weapons or wear armour and do not suffer any penalties for this.

Special Rules

Cause Fear: Zombies are horrible abominations and so cause fear.

May not run: Zombies are slow undead creatures and may not run (but may charge normally).

Immune to Psychology: A Zombie is not affected by psychology and never leaves combat.

Immune to Poison: A Zombie is not affected by poison.

No Pain: Zombies treat stunned results on the injury chart as knocked down.

No Brain: Zombies never gain experience.

Zombies may not carry any weapons or wear armour and do not suffer any penalties for this.

0 – 8 Skeletons

20 gold crowns to hire

The remains of ancient soldiers lie restless in their graves in the Northern Wastes. It only takes a mere whisper from the Necromancer to command them from their slumber and again into loyal service as mindless undead warriors.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	2	2	3	3	1	2	1	5

Weapons/Armour: Skeleton may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Restless Dead Equipment List.

Special Rules

Cause Fear: Skeletons are horrible abominations and so cause fear.

May not run: Skeletons are slow undead creatures and may not run (but may charge normally).

Immune to Psychology: Skeletons are not affected by psychology and never leaves combat.

Immune to Poison: Skeletons are not affected by poison.

No Pain: Skeletons treat stunned results on the injury chart as knocked down.

No Brain: Skeletons never gain experience.

0 – 3 Wights

30 gold crowns to hire

Wights were formerly great champions among men, now reduced to shambling bodyguards. They resemble skeletons, but are far better armed and armoured and retain a substantial amount of their old combat prowess.

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	4	2	2	3	3	1	2	1	6

Weapons/Armour: Wight may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Restless Dead Equipment List.

Special Rules

Cause Fear: Wights are horrible abominations and so cause fear.

May not run: Wights are slow undead creatures and may not run (but may charge normally).

Immune to Psychology: Wights are not affected by psychology and never leaves combat.

Immune to Poison: Wights are not affected by poison.

No Pain: Wights treat stunned results on the injury chart as knocked down.

Experience: Wights may gain experience, however Wights promoted to become Heroes by rolling The lad's got talent will be unable to search for rare items in the same way as Grave Guards. They must choose the Combat and Strength skill lists if promoted. Wights also gain Wight Blades if they become Heroes.

0 – 2 Scarecrows

65 gold crowns to hire

Some sorcerors have been known to create horrible unliving forms that are impervious to pain and notoriously difficult to stop. In order to maintain secrecy, a cunning wizard disguises their twisted supernatural bodyguard as something more common. With its ordinary appearance the golem is granted enough freedom to move around undetected. These lanky constructs are fashioned from straw to resemble scarecrows used by farmers to frighten birds away from crops. No one gives them so much as a passing glance... that is, until they begin to move!

Profile	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
	5	3	0	3	3(6)	1	3	2	10

Weapons/Armour: The scarecrow carries no equipment and suffers no penalties for this.

Special Rules

Cause Fear: The sight of a tall, lanky and silent scarecrow moving is highly unnatural and so causes fear.

Immune to Psychology: The scarecrow is immune to all psychology and will never leave combat.

Immune to Poison: The scarecrow is immune to all poisons.

No Pain: The scarecrow treats all stunned results on the injury chart as knocked down.

No Brain: The scarecrow never gain experience.

No Substance: The scarecrow is incredibly difficult to take down with shooting as there are few vital parts to hit. The scarecrow counts as having a T6 against all shooting and magical missiles, likewise, a scarecrow is immune to critical hits caused by shooting. The exception to this rule is missile weapons or spells that are fire based which deal damage as normal.

Flammable: The scarecrow is primarily ratty cloth, straw and preserved body parts so as a result they burn very easily. Scarecrows count as being flammable. In addition, a scarecrow will be 'caught fire' on the roll of a 3+ as opposed to the normal 4+.

Construct: The scarecrow is an undead construct and may re-roll any rolls on the injury table except for wounds caused by fire.

Animated Construct: Powerful constructs such as scarecrows require much more concentration from their summoners than normal skeletons or zombies to remain animated. The scarecrow is controlled by either the Liche or the Necromancer (note down on the warband roster which), but each may only control one at a time, so only a warband with both a Liche and a Necromancer may ever take two Scarecrows. If the Liche or the Necromancer is for some reason unable to participate in a battle, their Scarecrow will also be unable to participate.

Whenever the scarecrow's controller loses a wound he must pass an unmodified Leadership test or the magical bond is broken and the scarecrow is immediately taken out of action.

The scarecrow carries no equipment and suffers no penalties for this.

Necromancy (The Restless Dead)

Necromancy is the magic of the dead. It grants Necromancers the power to raise the dead and command spirits, but also destroy the vitality of the living. This list is slightly revised for use in a Restless Dead Warband.

Necromancy (The Restless Dead) are used by The Restless Dead Liche, The Restless Dead Necromancer

While they are similar, this spell list has differences to the original Necromancy list, and should only be used by The Restless Dead Liche and Necromancer.

D6	Result
1	Spell of Awakening
2	Lifestealer
3	Reanimation
4	Spell of Doom
5	Call of Vanhel
6	Deathly Visage (Necromancers only)
7	Living Horror (Liche only)

Spell of Awakening

Difficulty: —

The Sorcerer summons calls the soul of a slain Hero back to his body and enslaves him with corrupt magic.

If an enemy Hero is killed (i.e. your opponent rolls 11-15 on the serious injury chart after the battle), then the sorcerer may raise him to fight as a Zombie in his servitude.

The dead Hero retains his characteristics and all his weapons and armour but may not use any equipment or skills. He may no longer run, counts as a Henchmen group on his own and does not gain additional experience.

Lifestealer

Difficulty: 10

The Sorcerer sucks out the very essence of life from his victim, stealing its vigour for himself.

Choose a single model within 6”. The target suffers a wound, (no saves allowed) and the sorcerer gains an extra wound for the duration of the battle. This may take the Wounds of a Necromancer above their original maximum value, but a Liche may only restore lost wounds. This spell will not affect the Possessed or any Undead models.

Reanimation

Difficulty: 5

At the spoken command of the Sorcerer, the dead rise to fight again.

One Zombie that went out of action during the last hand to hand combat phase immediately returns to battle. Place the model within 6” of the sorcerer. The model cannot be placed straight into hand to hand combat with an enemy model. This spell can be used on Grave Guards and Wights to restore 1 lost wound (should they have more than one). This cannot be used to bring Scarecrows, Grave Guards, Wights and Skeletons back to life if they are taken out of action the way Zombies can.

Spell of Doom

Difficulty: 9

The Sorcerer whispers to the sleeping dead to rise up from the ground and seize his enemies.

Chose one enemy model within 12”. The model must immediately roll equal to or less than his Strength on a D6 or the dead emerging from the earth will rend him with supernatural power. If he fails, you may roll on the Injury table to see what happens to the unfortunate warrior.

Call of Vanhel

Difficulty: 6

The Sorcerer summons the world of the dead to invigorate his Undead servants.

A single Zombie, Skeleton, Wight or Grave Guard within 6” of the caster may immediately move again up to its maximum movement distance. If this moves them into base contact with an enemy model then it counts as charging. The targeted Zombie, Skeleton, Wight or Grave Guard will automatically pass Initiative tests needed to be made during this extra movement.

Deathly Visage (Necromancers only)

Difficulty: 6

The Sorcerer calls upon the power of Necromancy to reveal the moment of his enemies’ death.

The Necromancer causes fear in his enemies for the duration of the battle and is likewise immune to fear. This spell is the one exception to the Apprentice rule that Necromancers must usually follow when in a Liche warband. A Necromancer may choose this spell if the Liche has the spell Horror.

Living Horror (Liche only)

Difficulty: 8

The ghostlights around the Liche intensify as he torments the mind of his enemy forcing him to experience the sensation during the very moment of his death over and over.

You may choose one model within 8” of the Liche and roll D6+3. If this score is equal to or greater than the Leadership of the target model, then that model suffers a Wound, no armour saves allowed. If this wounds the target and they still have Wounds remaining, then that target may not move, shoot or cast spells during their next turn unless they pass a Leadership test. This spell will not affect the Possessed, Undead, or any model that is immune to fear.