Neutral Heroes
Neutral Heroes represent the forces within Blightmeer that aren't the warbands of the players. These beings are in constant conflict, with continual power struggles to determine who holds influence over the city.
Neutral Heroes tend to be quite impactful, being able to hold their own against members of a warband or having some other ability that makes them useful or dangerous. In general, they are a little more complicated from a rules perspective than a hero of a warband.
Each warband can be Aligned with up to three Neutral Heroes, who acts as tentative allies. While having their own individual goals, warbands must also help to advance the individual goals of their Aligned neutral heroes. This means they are sometimes coerced into carrying out a Neutral Hero's bidding, possibly to the warband's detriment.
If a warband succeeds enough in the name of their benefactor, that Neutral Hero can formally become a 'Patron'. Every warband can only have one Patron and every Neutral Hero can be the Patron of a single warband. When this happens, the Neutral Hero can be temporarily hired at a reduced cost.
Neutral Hero Types
Neutral Heroes come in two types:
- Opposed Type Neutral Heroes, which come in pairs
- Solo Type Neutral Heroes
Opposed Type Neutral Heroes
Many Neutral Heroes are the natural enemies of other Neutral Heroes. The Blight Prophet and the Bishop are one such example. While the Blight Prophet's goal is to spread the Blight, the Bishop's goal is to prevent it. As such, if a warband Aligns with one, they become the enemy of the other.
Both Neutral Heroes tend to have opposing goals and, if one of the Neutral Heroes dies permanently, the other Neutral Hero automatically fulfills their goal, as there is no longer anyone to stop them.
When an Event is triggered, the Alignment of both warbands is considered as to what the exact Event will be. Usually one of the two Opposed Heroes appear, but sometimes both will. When a Special Scenario occurs, the two Heroes generally fight each other during the Special Scenario, with the support of an Aligned warband.
Solo Type Neutral Heroes
Solo Type Neutral Heroes do not have a natural enemy, often residing in the greyer areas of society. The Shady Merchant, who is ultimately out to profit off of the misfortune of others, is a good example.
Their event tables are smaller and they do not have a predefined opponent for their Special Scenario, but they tend to have quirkier mechanics.
Interacting with Neutral Heroes
There are a number of ways players will interact with Neutral Heroes throughout the campaign. They are briefly described here, but are described in more detail when they come up within the rules themselves.
Neutral Hero Deck
All interactions with Neutral Heroes use the Neutral Hero Deck. This is a deck that consists of all of the Heroes for the campaign. Each card in the deck has the relevant stat block for them and special rules for them.
This deck is shared between all players and all games. This means that, if games are running concurrently and a Neutral Hero is in one game, it can't appear in another at the same time. This means that groups can have a single model that represents the Hero and it increases the variety of Neutral Heroes seen by the players.
Support and Neutral Heroes
One way that players may interact with Neutral Heroes is via Support. Should a warband be underperforming relative to other warbands, a Neutral Hero may lend its support by temporarily fighting for that warband. This is in the Neutral Heroes interest, as providing a little extra assistance to a protege may turn their fortunes around. They may even fight against warbands they are aligned with, but will never fight with a warband that they are the Patron of.
Events
When an Event triggers in a game, a Neutral Hero is selected at random by drawing a Neutral Hero card from the deck. At this point, consult the event table for that Neutral Hero to determine which event will be triggered. The event triggered will be based on whether you or your opponent are aligned to the Neutral Hero (or its opposed Hero). For Opposed Neutral Heroes, they will share the same table. This means that, even if a Neutral Hero is drawn, its opposed Hero may appear instead.
If a warband is Aligned with a Neutral Hero, they are more likely to help the warband when appearing during Events. However, if a warband is Aligned to that Hero, that Neutral Hero's opposed hero (if it has one) will be more likely to be hostile.
Once the event is determined, follow the instructions for that event. This can vary wildly depending on the Hero. The Bishop may try and burn the Blight stricken city to the ground, while the Blight Prophet may try to spread Blight to the masses, while the Shady Merchant may try to run off with some of your hard-earned Treasure.
Alignment, Favour, and Patronage
Warbands often have the opportunity to become Aligned with a Neutral Hero when an Event is triggered. When it happens, it will be noted within the Event itself. When Aligned, a warband and the Neutral Hero form a loose alliance and are more likely to work together, should you meet them in the future.
You can align with up to three Neutral Heroes and, once Aligned, generally cannot become unaligned, so choose wisely! If two Neutral Heroes are opposed to each other, you can never align with both of them.
Once you are Aligned, you can gain Favour with them. This is generally done by winning games, but can occasionally be done through other means, such as some Events or via Special Scenarios.
If you were the winner of a game, you increase your Favour with each Neutral Hero you are aligned with by one. You can then select one of those Neutral Heroes and add a second, additional Favour. If you were the loser of the game, increase your Favour with two Neutral Heroes you are aligned with by one.
If you are the first warband to gain 12 Favour (the maximum) with a Neutral Hero, they become your Patron. A Neutral Hero can only be the Patron of one warband and each warband can only have one Patron.
When a Neutral Hero becomes your Patron, you gain the following benefits:
- You may hire your Patron at half the cost as normal via Rally Support
- You always have first choice to hire them via Rally Support before others
- No one can hire your Patron to fight against you via Rally Support
Special Scenarios
Neutral Heroes are at their most impactful during Special Scenarios. During them, each player generally has a Neutral Hero as an ally. These Special Scenarios are often about carrying out the Neutral Hero's will, so they will be particularly invested in your success. Should you win a Special Scenario, you will earn even more Favour with the Neutral Hero than you normally would.
Neutral Hero Progression
Neutral Heroes progress in similar ways to regular Heroes, with some differences.
Neutral Hero Scars and the Blight
Neutral Heroes can die from Scars and the Blight, just like anyone else. Whenever a Neutral Hero is Incapacitated during a game, roll on the Hero Scars table. Keep track of any Scars, as well as whether they are Deathtouched.
The Blight is handled the same way as any other unit, checking to see if they catch it. If they do, they must make Blight Progression Rolls as usual, but only after games that they participate in.
They also make Improvement Attempts whenever they would be required to do so. They cannot learn new Skills or Spells and cannot go over the usual stat caps.
Neutral Hero Goal Progression
Neutral Heroes have their own goals, which can range from Incapacitating units, to spreading the Blight. Every time they achieve their goal, increase their progress tracker by the noted amount.
Eventually, if a Neutral Hero progresses their goal enough, they will receive some reward. The reward is generally greater the harder the goal is to achieve. It may be something that fundamentally changes them, such as the Demonologist, something that provides them with a new ability, or may result in them acquiring a new and powerful Artifact.
These Artifacts act as normal, being able to be stolen from the Neutral Hero if it is Incapacitated. If the Hero is the Patron of a warband, they will give the warband the Artifact as a gift.
Neutral Hero Death
If a Neutral Hero dies it is permanently removed from the campaign. All warbands that were Aligned with that Neutral Hero no longer are. If that unit had an opposing Neutral Hero, it automatically maxes out its progress track and gains the usual benefits from it.
Choosing Neutral Heroes
To choose Neutral Heroes, either collectively agree on who should be included, or determine them randomly from the full list of potential Neutral Heroes. The number of Neutral Heroes should be one more than the number of players.
Neutral Heroes come in two types:
- Opposed Type Neutral Heroes, which come as a pair
- Solo Type Neutral Heroes, that are fully independent
It's recommended to select a number of Opposed and Solo Neutral Heroes as per the table below.
Neutral Heroes Table
| Total Players | Opposed Neutral Heroes | Solo Neutral Heroes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 pair | 1 |
| 3 | 1 pair | 2 |
| 4 | 2 pairs | 1 |
| 5 | 2 pairs | 2 |
| 6 | 3 pairs | 1 |
| 7 | 3 pairs | 2 |
| 8 | 4 pairs | 1 |
Reskinning Neutral Heroes
Changing the names, descriptions, or even equipment of a Neutral Hero is encouraged. Feel free to do so, so that they match any models that you have available. The only restriction is that units that have Ranged Weapons should still have them and those that don't have Ranged Weapons should still not have them. For Melee Weapons, roughly equivalent ones should be substituted if possible (so replace a one-hander with another one-hander, rather than a great weapon).
A particularly great way to reskin a Neutral Hero is to have a hero from a previous campaign become the Neutral Hero. One of the players obviously has the model and it's (probably) not being used for the current campaign. This helps everyone feel like the world is a living, breathing space and makes Neutral Hero deaths more impactful and tragic.
Playing Without Neutral Heroes
While we highly recommend playing with Neutral Heroes, if your group lacks the minis to make fielding them practical, or if you want a simpler campaign, it is possible to play without Neutral Heroes. If this is the case, do the following:
- Remove Events by removing the Event Token that reads 'Event' on it.
- Do not use Special Scenarios. The winner of the campaign is simply whoever has the most Wins at the end (although you can always alter the campaign ending to suit your group).