Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress – Annual 2019 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Expanded Hostile Player Rules
  • Setting Up the Precipice Board
  • Exploration Step
  • Battlefield Creation
  • Destiny Phase
  • Initiative Phase
  • Activation Phase
  • Hostile Activations
  • Playing With These Rules
• Abominable Intellect Designer's Notes
  • Exploring the Blackstone Fortress - The Present Day
  • A Whole New Challenge
  • The Cautionary Tale of Janus Draik
  • Designer's Note: Explorer Archetypes
  • Twist of Fate
  • The Servants of the Fortress
  • Been There, Done That
  • Leader Points (and One-off Expeditions)
  • Everyone Fights, Nobody Quits
  • It's Still Not Difficult Enough!
  • Can You Do Better?
• Precipice
  • Returning to Precipice
  • The Shadows
  • The Helmsman
  • The Trading Post
  • The Gambling Den
• Strike Force
  • Step 2: Pick Explorers
  • Combats
• An Army of One
  • Hardly a Challenge
• Solitaires
  • Solitaire (Explorer Card)
  • Solitaire (Inspired)
• Retinue Characters
  • Adding More Retinue Characters
  • Retinue Character Rules
  • Sidequest
  • Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan
  • Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan
  • Penitent 707
  • Skarburn Zapdakka
• New Quests
  • Light in the Dark
  • Traitor's Fane
  • A Deadly Lure
    • Stage 1 - Combat: Escape
    • Stage 2 - Challenge: Near Miss
    • Stage 3 - Combat: The Long Walk
    • Stage 4 - Combat: Securing the Perimeter
    • Stage 5 - Combat: The Lure
    • Stage 6 - Combat: The Ambull at Bay
    • Stage 7 - Combat: The Final Rush
  • Wrath of the Daemonkin

Expanded Hostile Player Rules

These optional rules give the hostile player new tools to increase the difficulty of challenges and combats, as well as offering new gaming experiences for the explorers and hostile player alike.

Setting Up the Precipice Board

(Page 7 of the Rules booklet)

Do not create an exploration deck as normal when setting up the Precipice board. Instead, use the following rules:

Shuffle the combat cards and deal four of them face down in front of the hostile player. Then, do the same for the challenge cards. These form two separate decks the hostile player will use to generate combats and challenges for the explorers - the combat deck and the challenge deck. Place the remaining exploration cards back in the game box - these will not be used.

Exploration Step

(Page 11 of the Rules booklet)

During the exploration step, when the explorers would draw an exploration card, do not follow the normal rules. Instead, use the following sequence:

1. In the first exploration step, the hostile player draws one card from the challenge deck and one card from the combat deck, and then one from either deck (their choice) to form a hand of three exploration cards.
2. The hostile player chooses one of the exploration cards from their hand and places it face-up on the table.
3. The hostile player must then immediately draw the opposite type of card to the one they just placed face up and add it to their hand - if they placed a challenge card, they must draw a combat card from the combat deck and vice versa. If they cannot draw a card of the appropriate type, then they must draw from the other deck. If there are no exploration cards remaining, they do not draw a card.
4. The players then resolve the face-up exploration card.

In each subsequent exploration step, repeat the sequence from step 2. While an exploration card is being resolved, place this hand to one side, face-down beside the Precipice board, until it is needed again. If an expedition is paused, place those cards in a spare stasis vault so that the back of the card is facing outwards. Then, place the remaining exploration cards from the exploration deck in the stasis vault so that they are facing the opposite direction, behind the cards that were the hostile player's hand. This should mean that no card text or map can be seen from outside the stasis vault, but that both sets will be separate when you restart the expedition.

Battlefield Creation

(Page 6 of the Combat booklet)

During the deploy hostiles step of battlefield creation, do not use the normal rules. Instead, follow this sequence:

1. The hostile player draws the top six cards from the encounter deck. These cards form their hand.
2. They then reveal one card from their hand for each discovery marker shown on the combat card. They do so one at a time, deploying the hostiles shown on it before revealing the next card. Hostiles are deployed by the hostile player following the normal rules. The encounter on the first card shows which hostiles must be deployed in or adjacent to the hex with the discovery marker 1, the encounter on the second card shows which hostiles must be deployed in or adjacent to the hex with the discovery marker 2, and so on. Place the encounter cards in a row from left to right above the combat track to act as a reminder as to which card corresponds to each hostile group.
3. The hostile player then either places any remaining encounter cards in their hand on the bottom of the encounter deck (in any order), or places those cards on top of the encounter deck (in any order).

Destiny Phase

(Page 7 of the Combat booklet)

Any destiny dice that are discarded in this step become nemesis dice with the same value (see Activation Phase, below).

Initiative Phase

(Page 7 of the Combat booklet)

Add this to the beginning of the covering fire step of the initiative phase.

Before any explorers decide if they will swap their initiative cards on the combat track, the hostile player can choose one hostile group's initiative card. If they do, they roll the die shown by the symbol printed in this rule (the symbol is not spelled out in the scan) and look up the result on the table below.

• Failure: The hostile group's initiative card stays in the same position on the combat track.
• Success: Swap the hostile group's initiative card with the closest explorer's initiative card to the hostile group's left or right on the combat track (hostile player's choice).
• Critical success: Swap the hostile group's initiative card with any explorer's initiative card on the combat track.

Activation Phase

(Page 9 of the Combat booklet)

During the activation phase, use this additional rule.

When an explorer spends a destiny dice, before they perform that action, they give the spent destiny dice to the hostile player, keeping the same value. This dice is now called a nemesis dice. In addition, if there are any unspent destiny dice when there are no more explorers or hostile groups left to activate, those dice become nemesis dice and are given to the hostile player, keeping the same value.

The hostile player can spend a nemesis dice to perform one of the following actions, at any time during the activation phase, in the same manner as an explorer spending a destiny dice or activation dice. Once a nemesis dice is spent, it is placed in the discarded destiny dice space on the Precipice board. Return all nemesis dice to the discarded destiny dice space on the Precipice board at the beginning of the event phase. All nemesis dice revert to destiny dice when they are returned to the Precipice board.

• The Fortress Whispers (1+): Modify a reinforcement roll or a behaviour roll by an amount up to the value on the nemesis dice used to take this action. The hostile player can spend multiple nemesis dice when taking this action - when they do, they add the value of the dice together (so a 2 and a 5 would be considered to be a nemesis dice with a value of 7).

  For example, if the dice used was a 3, it could be used to modify a reinforcement roll or a behaviour roll of 5 by up to 3, giving a possible result of 2 (taking the 5 and subtracting 3), 8 (taking the 5 and adding 3), or anything in between.

• Raging Blows (1+): Choose one hostile. Make one attack with that hostile. This action cannot be taken during an explorer's activation.

• New Orders (2+): Choose one hostile after a behaviour roll has been made for that hostile. Re-roll that behaviour roll and use the new result.

• Surging Aggression (3+): Choose one hostile and make a behaviour roll for that hostile (this is in addition to any other behaviour roll for that hostile in this turn). This action cannot be taken during an explorer's activation.

• Last Strike (4+): When a hostile is slain, pick one adjacent explorer. That explorer suffers 1 wound. If the explorer is taken out of action, any action they were making ends immediately.

• Ambush (5+): When returning slain hostiles to the battlefield as reinforcements, choose one portal. Deploy those hostiles adjacent to that portal following the rules on page 13 of the Combat booklet.

• Disturbing Changes (5+): Draw an encounter card. If the encounter card has a twist, it applies for the rest of the combat. If not, there is no effect. This action cannot be taken during an explorer's activation.

Hostile Activations

(Page 13 of the Combat booklet)

Use the normal rules when activating hostiles, with one exception. The hostile player can choose to activate the hostiles from a group in any order - they do not need to activate the hostile that is closest to an explorer first.

Playing With These Rules

These rules mean the explorers will need to be cautious about their use of destiny dice, and a bad destiny roll can result in great peril for the party! In the example below, in the destiny phase the leader rolls 1, 2, 3, 3, and 6. The 3s are discarded and become nemesis dice. This means that there are two nemesis dice available to the hostile player to use - which is quite scary, considering how close the Negavolt Cultist is to Rein & Raus.

The hostile player can choose to spend either (or both) nemesis dice at any time during the activation phase, even before the first explorer or hostile group activates. These could each allow them to make one attack if they choose the Raging Attack action (a 1+ action) (printed as "Raging Attack" here; the action is named Raging Blows above), or they could use Surging Aggression to make a behaviour roll (a 3+ action). In this instance, the hostile player wisely chooses to use Surging Aggression twice, so they make two behaviour rolls for the Negavolt Cultist. They roll two results of 'Onslaught', so they attack the hapless Ratlings four times! After making their rolls, the hostile player has succeeded in inflicting 1 grievous wound and 1 wound on Rein & Raus before anyone else has taken an action - quite terrifying for any explorer. If the explorers were to be even unluckier still, the Negavolt Cultist might be first to act on the initiative tracker - meaning they would make another behaviour roll before the explorers get to respond.

As the activation phase continues to unfold, each time the explorers decide to spend a destiny dice, it then becomes a nemesis dice the hostile player can use against them. The explorers will need to carefully consider the best time to spend each dice, but they will want to use them - any that they don't use will still become nemesis dice after the last activation.

Abominable Intellect Designer's Notes

Abominable Intellect is an expansion for Warhammer Quest Blackstone Fortress that introduces replacement encounter cards for your games. Replete with vicious twists that completely buck a player's expectations for how a combat will play out and as many as triple the number of hostiles in each group, the explorers will have their work cut out for them if they wish to succeed in their goals unscathed. In this article, designer John Bracken explains why you might want to use the Abominable Intellect expansion in your games, and looks at some of the unique challenges it introduces.

Exploring the Blackstone Fortress - The Present Day

Our objective with Blackstone Fortress was to craft a thrilling narrative dungeon-bashing experience in the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium that anyone who picked up the game could dive into. Intrepid adventurers can play through a series of challenges and combats, collect clues to allow them to further their goals, all the while experiencing an in-depth story being told by the players' decisions, miniatures and the missions. This means players can focus on the narrative and thrilling story of their explorers venturing deeper into a menacing, forbidding nightmare, whilst not having to overcome outrageously lethal obstacles every five steps.

Nonetheless, it is possible for explorers to die through sheer misfortune or by being clobbered over the head, though our intention was that this would be an exceptional circumstance, rather than the expectation. This means that Blackstone Fortress, while fun and incredibly immersive, is both a light-hearted and incredibly tactical affair, which has players and explorers progressing in skill and power to take on and conquer greater challenges.

A Whole New Challenge

Life in the Blackstone Fortress is already not for the faint of heart - and with Abominable Intellect the danger grows exponentially with every card drawn.

There will doubtlessly be experienced groups of players who have dealt with the greatest hostiles and deadliest challenges the Blackstone Fortress has to offer (so far...) and are looking forward to fresh undertakings, so Abominable Intellect provides exactly that. The game itself does not change dramatically, but the sheer volume and scale of the enemies certainly will. If you thought 14 Traitor Guardsmen split over two discovery markers was tough to get through, have you tried 21 on a single marker, backed up by 2 Chaos Space Marines, 2 Rogue Psykers and Obsidius Mallex? Even a very durable Tank character (see opposite) will struggle to shrug off every single one of their attacks, never mind being able to destroy enough in the following turns to reduce future fusillades. Not to mention that is only two potential hostile groups - there could be many more hostiles yet to appear!

But don't think it's just an increased hostile count that your doughty explorers need to contend with...

The Cautionary Tale of Janus Draik

Though true explorers' deaths are infrequent, suffering heavy damage is not (especially if you are the reckless type). In the very first game of Blackstone Fortress with my friends after its release, we each picked our characters as you do to start the game. One of my more bombastic compatriots chose for himself the intrepid, swashbuckling Rogue Trader Janus Draik. A fitting choice indeed and he intended to play the role of the 'pirate-lord' to the hilt. This resulted in him charging out of the maglev chamber into what can only be described as a 'large angry mob' of Traitor Guardsmen, expecting to cut them all down in short order. While the dice could realistically have managed this epic feat, it was not to be and the two remaining Traitor Guardsmen with a collection of nasty close combat weapons proceeded to bash him to bits, causing 4 grievous wounds on our dashing protagonist! For the rest of that combat all the brutally maimed Draik could do was, in my friend's own words, 'provide laser-accurate covering fire' by standing safely in a corridor with line of sight to the rest of the group, while we finished up with the remaining hostiles and waited for the maglev to arrive. Naturally we immediately went back to Precipice, empty-handed and eager for revenge in later expeditions. Suffice to say we learned a valuable lesson regarding Traitor Guardsmen and spiky clubs.

Designer's Note: Explorer Archetypes

When we design an explorer for Blackstone Fortress, we look at the miniature and decide roughly what of the following categories that explorer might fall under. There will usually be strong visual cues, including their pose and their armament. Understanding each of these archetypes and making sure a group has the right mix dramatically increases your chances of success. If you are having a tough time in the Blackstone Fortress, or have already picked up the Abominable Intellect cards and are not having much success, it's worth taking a look at these terms and which explorers they apply to in order to see if you can improve your odds!

Tanks are characters that can absorb or deflect incoming damage from creatures or environmental effects. UR-025 or Gotfret de Montbard are superb examples of tanks. Good Defence values, or special abilities, make these characters excellent 'damage sponges' and will help get a party through even the toughest meat-grinders. This outstanding defensive ability usually comes at a cost - either in speed, killing power or range.

Damage Dealers are straightforward enough. Their job is to destroy hostiles, repeatedly, and often. Sometimes referred to as 'glass hammers' because they will go out of action if any hostiles actually get their claws on them, these characters tend to have a narrow field of abilities, which largely make them better at - you guessed it - putting hostiles six feet under. Pious Vorne and Neyam Shai Murad are both extremely effective damage dealers (but don't let either of them get hit back!).

Supporting Characters do not fit neatly in either niche and can often do a little of both. They usually come with abilities that make other characters better at their allocated tasks, or have unique skills that let them manipulate the battlefield in other ways to help their group achieve victory in combat. Espern Locarno is a good example and is perhaps one of the best supporting characters in the game. Recovering discarded destiny dice is a fantastic ability, and his force barrier ability turns a paper-thin character into a decent tank, and an actual tank into an nigh-unkillable juggernaut. Don't forget his ability to move hostiles into certain hexes as well, especially if those Ur-Ghuls are lurking around a nearby corner and need a gentle nudge to get them into line of sight.

Twist of Fate

No adventure is complete without a series of unfortunate events that will throw a wrench in even the most carefully laid plans. These pitfalls are known as twists and while they are an uncommon occurrence in the Blackstone Fortress, when they do appear, it can change things up in a combat very swiftly.

In Abominable Intellect these are taken to the next level. In this example, as is often the case, there may be a tooled-up explorer who is an absolute monster when it comes to destroying hostiles from afar. You are prepped and ready to start blasting hordes of screaming chaos-worshippers to bloody pieces. Then you draw the encounter card with the Low Lighting twist and all of a sudden you will need to reconsider your approach.

Low Lighting: Add 1 to the cost of all weapon actions that target a hostile at Range 2 or more, to a maximum cost of 6+. For example, the cost of a (4+) weapon action would be increased to (5+).

All of a sudden your weapon actions, which you are relying on to deal the maximum damage possible, become much harder to use - even when inspired. Eek! In addition, any (1+) basic weapon actions suddenly become (2+), which means they aren't always available and the overall damage output of the group plummets. Tough times ahead for Rein and Raus. At least Amallyn Shadowguide has her powered blade, which is an exceptional melee attack, but for her sake she should hope nothing survives to attack her back, as her measly Defence characteristic of [Defence icon] means she won't be around for long if she ends her turn on the front line.

Transcription note: the Defence value here is printed as a Defence symbol whose numeral does not survive the scan; it is shown as [Defence icon] rather than guessed.

While this twist is in play, you won't be able to rely on being able to deal with hostiles from a safe distance. That isn't to say any explorer becomes useless, far from it, but simply that the players' approach will need to change. The following twist, for example, makes things harder for Tanks, but hardly impossible:

Frenzied Onslaught: In the combat, re-roll one action dice that resulted in a failure for each hostile attack action if the attacking hostile is adjacent to the target.

This means any of your Tank characters will be hit much more often than usual - there will be fewer 'lucky misses' and your Tanks will take much more abuse from the enemy than normal, meaning you will need ways of healing them, or even better, preventing them from taking that damage in the first place. Not an easy task when, say, 6 Chaos Beastmen are bearing down on your group.

The Servants of the Fortress

The Servants of the Abyss and Cultists of the Abyss boxed sets allow you to bolster your hostiles in order to make full use of the Abominable Intellect cards. If you don't have the extra miniatures then you will still have a much tougher time but for the full experience and to really push things, you will want to get a full roster of enemies. This makes these boxed sets perfect to accompany the Abominable Intellect cards, and even serve a function in your regular games by allowing you to complete certain hostile groups that would otherwise not be placed. They add a lot of fun to the game and make for more challenging encounters in every sense.

Been There, Done That

So you have done it all. Your group of hard-bitten, tough-as-nails, never-say-die explorers have carved a swathe through the Abominable Intellect expeditions and remain bloodied but unbowed. What comes next?

One of the first lessons an explorer learns when traversing the Blackstone Fortress is that circumstances and fortune can always, and usually will, deteriorate rapidly - especially for explorers. As a result the Abominable Intellect set provides two different difficulties you can choose to play with - Challenging and Abominable.

Challenging is the standard extra-difficult setting which increases the size of the groups of hostiles, and introduces the nasty twists which will always pop up to make life harder.

The second way, and a great choice for the most ambitious of explorers, is Abominable. In this instance you follow all the rules for Challenging but then you must draw an additional combat card in each combat and apply any twists from that card in addition to any others you might draw.

It is worth bearing in mind that every single card in Abominable Intellect has a Twist on it. So that's a minimum of two Twists in every combat on Abominable difficulty which will completely change how you approach the game, and how difficult life is for the explorers who take part in the adventure. Here is my favourite combination (as a hostile player!):

Bleeding Out: Treat the Recuperate (1+) action as Recuperate (4+).

Enhanced Weapons: Each explorer has Defence [Defence icon] in this combat.

Transcription note: as above, the Defence value is a symbol whose numeral does not survive the scan.

These two mean that not only do your explorers get hammered in combat, but in order to recuperate any damage taken, your explorers need to give up much more valuable dice, leaving them with the tough decision of what to focus on - slaying the hostiles to reduce incoming attacks, running out of range, or healing up to prevent being taken out of action by a lucky hit. Let's see Gotfret bounce all that off his shield!

Not only that, but there are Abominable Intellect cards for Escalation, Traitor Command and the Dreaded Ambull expansions, meaning you can play with those miniatures on harder difficulty settings too. The Ambull and Chaos Ogryn are not to be trifled with...

Leader Points (and One-off Expeditions)

Many players use leader points to play competitively against each other, and compare their successes from previous expeditions. How to score leader points is explained on page 7 of the Precipice booklet. In addition, for one-off expeditions, leader points are a fantastic way of keeping score between players and between games as well.

Abominable Intellect makes these expeditions even more fun. The jostling between players to get to those oh-so-important discovery markers when they are completely surrounded by hostiles makes play very interesting indeed. Where before an explorer with the right gear might be very capable of tearing a hostile group to bloody shreds, now there are so many more hostiles that each explorer has to carefully gauge how many they can kill, whilst ensuring their compatriots can't steal the glory out from under them! Not to mention that explorers who are competing don't always use destiny dice in the most generous manner...

Naturally this friendly rivalry can cause expeditions to fail entirely - if the explorers are not efficient with their actions, and are attempting to steal discovery markers before other players, they can leave their comrades open to all manner of horrible attentions from the hostile groups. When playing with Abominable Intellect, this can lead to a group of explorers being taken out of action quite quickly indeed.

Everyone Fights, Nobody Quits

So after all the talk about how much more difficult the game will be, it is worth pointing out that it is by no means insurmountable. Though expeditions are indeed more difficult, any combination of explorers will be well equipped to deal with these encounters, but you will find that after 4 combats in any given expedition, they will have a few more scars to show for their efforts. Choosing a balanced party with a wide range of abilities will improve your chances of success, and preparing the correct sets of items and synergies between explorers will make life even easier. Cooperation is key too, unless you are playing for leader points, in which case may the best explorer win!

It's Still Not Difficult Enough!

So you have been through multiple expeditions using Abominable Intellect using the most difficult setting and you need something even more demanding. Your best bet is to use the additional hostile player rules found earlier in this book. Combine a murderous hostile player and the Abominable Intellect cards and you have a recipe for a lot of dead explorers. Good luck to any player who wants to take that on.

Can You Do Better?

As you might imagine, between playtesting the various expansions and creating new stories for you to enjoy, we play a LOT of Blackstone Fortress in the studio (oh what a difficult life we lead). Naturally this means we played quite a few games while testing the Abominable Intellect cards. To date our most difficult expedition involved the wholesale slaughter of the following (including their reinforcement rolls):

• 64 Traitor Guardsmen
• 16 Spindle Drones
• 15 Chaos Beastmen
• 13 Negavolt Cultists
• 10 Chaos Space Marines
• 9 Rogue Psykers
• 6 Ur-Ghuls

In the end, three explorers went out of action a total of 5 times throughout the expedition, and one came within a hair's breadth of actually dying. One particularly vicious combat ended with a battered UR-025 clanking its way onto the maglev transport under the power of destiny dice alone. Hardly a heroic moment, but as there were two ambushes during that expedition, in extremely tight confines, we called it a win regardless. In that expedition we also tried out a group made up primarily of Supporting Characters and one Tank - Espern Locarno, Daedalosus, Taddeus the Purifier and UR-025. This was to see if it was too difficult to get through the waves of enemies with a group that did not have a great deal of damage. In the end we persevered (through no small amount of luck) but it's not an experience for the faint of heart!

So there you have it. A comprehensive rundown of all things to do with Abominable Intellect. All that remains is for your explorers to restock, reload, and step once more into the darkness.

Good luck - you'll need it!

Precipice

The port city of Precipice is a lawless conglomeration of starships and space stations - a dangerous place where even more dangerous people gather to prepare their expeditions into the Blackstone Fortress. Both great treasures and great peril await brave explorers.

Precipice is a hulking conglomeration of galactic flotsam and jetsam. When unlucky or foolish explorers go missing in the Blackstone Fortress, their ships are often forcibly boarded, dismantled, and amalgamated into the port-city, creating more space into which the opportunistic residents create ramshackle trading areas, sleazy gambling dens, or vulgarly appointed watering holes. With little effort, or by pure misfortune, one can turn a corner from a relatively populous area and end up in a shadowy back alley filled with those who have been driven insane by their ventures into the Blackstone Fortress. Canny explorers will have opportunity aplenty aboard the station to discover hidden trinkets or black market deals in the shadow of the Blackstone Fortress, yet they will need to have their wits about them - Precipice itself is far from safe...

For the explorers to visit Precipice itself, follow the rules presented below.

Returning to Precipice

(Page 4 of the Precipice booklet)

Use the normal rules when returning to Precipice with the following addition.

Instead of visiting a spacecraft and making use of its facilities, an explorer can visit Precipice itself. To do this, that explorer's player must pick one of the four following locations within Precipice to visit and roll the Blackstone dice on the corresponding chart overleaf to see what befalls their explorer during their stay. In all cases, any wound counters applied to explorers as a result of visiting Precipice itself will remain on their explorer cards for their next expedition. If an explorer is taken out of action, do not make a recovery roll for them (they do not die) but keep their wound counters as described above. If an explorer is placed into a stasis vault after visiting Precipice, place their wound counters (with the current side facing up) into the stasis vault with them. It is also possible for an explorer to gain inspiration points whilst visiting Precipice. An explorer keeps any inspiration points gained this way for their next expedition. If they are placed into a stasis chamber, place their inspiration point counters into the stasis chamber with them with the relevant side face-up.

The Shadows

Not every foray into the Blackstone Fortress results in success and glory. Some parties are lost to the denizens of the fortress, never to be seen again, yet other explorers return alone. Though these escapees may have found rich rewards amongst the fortress' chambers, they have often paid a far higher cost, their grip on sanity irrevocably eroded by their experiences. Some of these individuals are lucid enough to strike deals with - others cannot escape the delusion that they still walk the echoing halls of the Blackstone Fortress, and will lash out at any who approach them.

To visit the shadows, roll the Blackstone dice and apply the result from the table below. You can re-roll the dice if the explorer visiting the shadows is Janus Draik, UR-025, Dahyak Grekh, or Pious Vorne.

The Shadows Event Table

Roll	Event
1	Murdered!: Make a defence roll for the explorer. If the defence roll is failed, the explorer is killed in the same manner as if they had failed a recovery roll.
2-5	Mugged: The explorer must discard one archeotech card and suffers one grievous wound. If they cannot discard one archeotech card, the explorer suffers two grievous wounds instead.
6-10	Failed Attack: The explorer suffers one wound and draws one discovery card.
11-15	Deranged Bargain: The explorer draws one discovery card.
16-19	Rare Find: The explorer draws three discovery cards, then returns two of those cards to the discovery deck and shuffles it.
20	Diamond in the Rough: The explorer draws two discovery cards.

The Helmsman

Aside from the Blackstone Fortress itself, there is nowhere in the uncharted void more dangerous than the tavern known as the Helmsman. Though a meeting place for the inhabitants of Precipice, explorers would be foolish to assume that the Helmsman is a refined area in which to relax with a glass of fine amasec. Every explorer that sets foot here had better get their business done, and quickly, before they are eyed up as an easy mark.

To visit the Helmsman, roll the Blackstone dice and apply the result from the table below. You can re-roll the dice if the explorer visiting the Helmsman is Janus Draik, Taddeus the Purifier, Espern Locarno, or Amallyn Shadowguide.

The Helmsman Event Table

Roll	Event
1	Caught in your Cups: Make a vitality roll. If the vitality roll is failed, the explorer is killed in the same manner as if they had failed a recovery roll.
2-5	Bar Brawl: The explorer suffers one wound.
6-10	Swindled: The explorer must discard one archeotech card. If they cannot, there is no effect.
11-15	Shady Deal: The explorer can discard one archeotech card. If they do, they receive one clue card from the discovery deck. If there are no clue cards in the discovery deck, the explorer receives one inspiration point instead.
16-19	Challenged to a Duel: Make a weapon action for the explorer at any range. If the attack roll results in a success or critical success, the explorer draws cards from the discovery deck until they draw an archeotech card. They keep that card and return the other cards to the discovery deck, and then shuffle that deck. They also receive one clue card from the discovery deck. If there are no clue cards in the discovery deck, the explorer receives one inspiration point instead. If the roll results in a failure the explorer suffers one grievous wound. Keep taking weapon actions as described above until the explorer receives one clue card (or one inspiration point) or is out of action.

The Trading Post

Though nothing as formal as a true trading post exists on Precipice, plenty of souls pawn what wares they have brought with them in order to obtain the ancient and arcane artefacts that are extracted from the Blackstone Fortress. Anything and everything can be found at the hawkers' stalls - including cheap knock-offs, glamorous yet utterly useless trinkets and a healthy dose of half-truths and outright lies. For all the traders' faults, though, they offer a chance for a canny explorer with a keen eye for quality to trade their archeotech for an item of real value.

When an explorer visits the Trading Post, choose three spacecraft, shuffle each of their sets of resource cards separately, then deal one card from each set in front of the Precipice board - these items are available to purchase for the explorer that is currently visiting the Trading Post in the same manner as visiting a spacecraft. Treat these cards as if their value is two lower than what is printed on the cards (so 6 becomes 4, 4 becomes 2 and so on), to a minimum of 1. The visiting explorer can only purchase one of these resource cards. If they purchase a resource card, discard the other two resource cards, then roll the Blackstone dice and apply the result from the table below. You can re-roll the dice if the explorer visiting the Trading Post is Janus Draik or Rein and Raus.

The Trading Post Event Table

Roll	Event
1-5	A Bad Deal Gone Wrong: The item is worthless - a cheap knock-off of the real deal. Discard the resource card.
6-15	The Real Deal: The item is the genuine article. The explorer keeps the resource card.
16-20	Diamond in the Rough: The explorer has found something truly special. The first time in the next expedition that the resource card would be discarded or exhausted, it is not.

In addition, if the explorer is a Rogue Trader, they can discard one of their resource cards and draw cards from the discovery deck until they draw an archeotech card. They keep that card and return all other cards they drew to the bottom of the discovery deck.

The Gambling Den

Rigged tables, marked cards and loaded dice await every explorer that dares to set foot in one of the gambling dens that have sprung up along Precipice's corridors. Only the daring and the foolhardy enter the gambling dens with any intention of making gains, for just as death lurks around every corner in this part of the galaxy, one other fact is ironclad - the house always wins.

When an explorer visits the Gambling Den, they must decide what they are willing to gamble with from their store of archeotech. To do so they can pick up to three archeotech cards to gamble with. These cards are their stake. Once they have done this, roll the Blackstone dice and apply the results from the table below.

The Gambling Den Event Table

Roll	Event
1	You Callin' Me a Cheat?: The explorer must make an agility roll. If that agility roll is failed, the explorer is killed in the same manner as if they had failed a recovery roll.
2-5	Bad Luck: The explorer discards their stake.
6-10	The House Always Wins: The explorer must discard one randomly selected archeotech card from their stake. They keep the remaining cards.
11-15	Broke Even: The explorer draws a number of discovery cards equal to the number of cards in their stake. Then they discard the same number of cards from their stake and/or the cards they just drew. They keep the remaining cards.
16-19	Up on their Luck: The explorer draws a number of discovery cards equal to the number of cards in their stake. They discard 1 of those cards and keep the remaining cards. They are also chased out of the den by the furious owners and suffer 1 wound.
20	The Emperor's Own Luck: The explorer draws and keeps a number of discovery cards equal to the number of cards in their stake. They also suffer 1 grievous wound as they are accused of cheating and dealt with accordingly.

Strike Force

These Strike Force rules allow players to play the game with fewer than four explorers. Perhaps a regular player can't make a gaming session and you don't want to risk killing their favourite explorer, or maybe you just fancy a change of pace. It may even be the case that no one in a group of three players wants to control an extra explorer. Whatever your reasons, the following rules will not only allow you to choose fewer explorers to start an expedition with, but will help you make up for the loss of firepower.

When you are setting up a game of Blackstone Fortress, instead of following Step 2, use the following rules instead.

Step 2: Pick Explorers

An expedition consists of between 2 and 4 explorers. If the expedition has 4 explorers, follow the rules on page 6 of the Blackstone Fortress: Rules booklet. If the expedition has 2 or 3, follow the rules below.

• Two players: If there are two players, each player picks one explorer to control. Then the leader can pick a third explorer. If a third explorer is chosen, during the expedition, whoever is the leader controls that explorer.
• Three players: If there are three players, each player picks one explorer to control.
• A Hostile Player: A player can decide to be the 'hostile player' and control any hostiles that are encountered during the expedition. Any player apart from the leader can be the hostile player.

In leader order, each player picks the explorer(s) they wish to control. Rein & Raus count as a single choice. When a player picks an explorer, they take their miniature(s) and place the corresponding character card beside the miniature(s) with its secret agenda side face up (sometimes an explorer will become inspired during an expedition, allowing you to flip their card to its inspired side). Put the remaining explorer miniatures and character cards back in the game box.

If the rules call for an explorer to do something - for example, move, attack, take an action, roll a dice or draw a card - then the player who controls the explorer carries out the activity, deciding how the move will be made and making any dice rolls for the explorer.

Note that in any case where an expedition would end due to there being less than four explorers, substitute the number four with however many explorers the expedition started with.

Combats

Use the following additional rules during combats when using less than four explorers.

Destiny Phase

After rolling the destiny dice, roll the activation dice that would ordinarily be used by the explorers that are not being used - so if there are three explorers on the expedition, there should be four activation dice not in use, and so on. These dice are now called fate dice and can be spent as extra activation dice by explorers following the same rules as destiny dice on page 9 of the Combat booklet with the following exceptions:

• All fate dice are placed in the available destiny dice space of the Precipice board after being rolled - do not place any in the discarded destiny dice area.
• The number of fate dice an explorer can spend depends on the number of explorers being used.
  • 3 explorers - 2 fate dice
  • 2 explorers - 4 fate dice

An Army of One

Blackstone Fortress is a game that can be played as both a single player and multiplayer experience. Whether one explorer takes control over an entire group and leads them to victory, or a group of friends decide to tackle the challenge of the fortress as a team, there are pitfalls and challenges aplenty for all.

But what if a single hero took to the field of battle that was powerful enough to handle the threats of the Blackstone Fortress alone? A warrior so mighty that not even a Chaos Space Marine or entire group of Negavolt Cultists was enough to give them pause?

Well here it is: a 'what-if' scenario where we present a potent warrior that is quite capable of completing an expedition by themselves, and with activation dice to spare. To set up an expedition using this fell-handed explorer, use the rules for setting up a one-off expedition, with the following changes.

• Stage 2: When setting up a one-off expedition, during stage 2, you can pick the Solitaire as an explorer. If you do, no other explorers can be picked. This means that only one player can be an explorer in this expedition, and one other player can be a hostile player.
• Stage 3: Note that some exploration cards require more than one explorer. If one of these is drawn during the expedition, draw a different challenge from the remaining challenge exploration cards instead.
• Stage 4: Pick an unused explorer initiative card to represent the Solitaire.
• Stage 5: Do not set up any spacecraft.
• Stage 12: The leader reads the following:

'The denizens of the Blackstone Fortress shift uncomfortably in their lairs. Feral Ur-Ghuls pause suddenly to sniff the air as they travel through the shadows, their predator's instinct recognising an apex threat. Even the deranged minions of Mallex whisper amongst themselves of a fresh terror that hunts them, and that will not rest until they have all been eliminated. Even as such rumours are brutally put down, in the distance, panicked screams and terrified howls begin to echo down the corridors...'

Hardly a Challenge

When making event rolls, use the following table instead of the one in the Combat booklet.

Solo Play Event Table

Roll	Event
1	Bring It Down!: Make one attack with every hostile that has line of sight to an explorer. If a hostile does not have line of sight to an explorer, they make one Move action towards the nearest explorer.
2-3	Unfulfilled Destiny: Do not make a destiny roll at the start of the next turn.
4-6	Wave after Wave: If possible, every hostile that has been slain during the combat encounter is returned to the battlefield as reinforcements (pg 13 of the Combat booklet).
7-10	Dangerous Conditions: Draw two encounter cards. Any twists on those cards apply for the rest of the combat. If neither encounter card has a twist, repeat this process until at least one encounter card that has a twist on it has been drawn.
11-14	Deadly Escape: The leader replaces the portal furthest from the explorer with a maglev transport escape chamber. If more than one portal is equally far from the explorer, the leader can pick which one to replace. If this event has already been rolled, or if an explorer has used a Summon action, treat this result as a 'Bring it Down!' result instead.
15-17	Inspiration: The explorer receives 1 inspiration point.

Solitaires

Solitaires are incredible warriors, able to move faster than the naked eye can follow. None, even amongst the Harlequins, know the true limits of their abilities. Tales exist of Solitaires running up sheer fortress walls, spilling from the shadows inside locked bunkers, even slowing time itself. Their impossible acrobatics are such that no blade can strike them, nor bolt or blast find its mark upon their flesh. In battle they are utterly lethal, their scything kicks and hammer-blow punches coming so fast that most foes are dead before they even realise the fight has begun. Each individual Solitaire is the equal of a host of lesser warriors.

"The first the foe knows of the Solitaire's onset is a shimmering blur of light and colour streaking through their ranks. Then the killing begins. Soldiers fall, eyes widening as heads are severed, throats opened, and hearts pierced. Blood falls like monsoon rain in the wake of a killer too fast to be seen. Only when the Solitaire pauses for a second amidst the slaughter do the enemy get a glimpse of their executioner - a domino field swirling around a lithe form, a grotesquely masked head tilted at a curious angle as the monster regards those it hunts. As the Solitaire flows into motion again, the deaths of those who remain are but moments away."

Solitaires are the strangest of all Harlequins. They conceal themselves amongst craftworld or Commorrite society, hiding their true nature as they wander from place to place. Only occasionally will these dread figures reveal the monster that lurks beneath the facade, joining a Harlequin masque for a performance or battle before drifting on once more. At such times they speak and are spoken to only in ritual form, and are feared by most Aeldari as an ill omen.

Solitaire (Explorer Card)

(Page 17 of the Solitaire card sheet)

• Move: 5 (inspired: 6)
• Defence: two Defence icons (blue)
• Agility: two Agility icons (blue)
• Vitality: one Vitality icon (purple triangle)

Weapon Actions

Weapon	Range 1	Range 2-3	Range 4+
Harlequin's Kiss (1+)¹	blue pentagon + grey square	N/A	N/A
Harlequin's Caress (2+)²	purple triangle	N/A	N/A

¹ Monofilament Liquifier: If an attack with a Harlequin's Kiss inflicts a wound or grievous wound on a target, double the damage caused by that wound or grievous wound. ² Heart Thief: If this attack was a critical success, the target hostile is slain.

Icon note: the weapon-action dice icons are printed as symbols on the card; the Range 1 cell of the Harlequin's Kiss row shows a blue pentagon and a grey square, and the Harlequin's Caress row shows a purple triangle, as printed. Symbol names are not spelled out on the scanned card.

Special Rules

• A Blur of Motion: When an activation dice would be spent for this explorer to take a Move action, reduce its value by 1 instead. If an activation dice would be reduced to 0, it is spent. In addition, in each turn of combat, the Solitaire can perform a gambit without an activation dice being spent.
• Impossible Agility: When a Move action is taken with the Solitaire, it does not have to halt the move when it enters a hex adjacent to a hostile that is visible to it. In addition, it can move through hexes occupied by hostiles, but cannot end a Move action in the same hex as a hostile.
• A Dance of Death: When an activation roll is made for the Solitaire, those dice can be re-rolled.
• Holo-fields: If a Move action was taken with the Solitaire this turn, hostiles cannot treat it as visible unless they are within 3 hexes when they attack.

Secret Agenda

Take four Move actions and slay one hostile after each Move action in the same activation phase.

Solitaire (Inspired)

(Page 17 of the Solitaire card sheet, inspired side)

• Move: 6
• Defence: two Defence icons (blue)
• Agility: two Agility icons (blue)
• Vitality: one Vitality icon (purple triangle)

Weapon Actions

Weapon	Range 1	Range 2-3	Range 4+
Harlequin's Kiss (1+)¹	blue pentagon + purple triangle	N/A	N/A
Harlequin's Caress (2+)²	purple triangle + grey square	N/A	N/A

¹ Monofilament Liquifier: If an attack with a Harlequin's Kiss inflicts a wound or grievous wound on a target, double the damage caused by that wound or grievous wound. ² Heart Thief: If this attack was a critical success, the target hostile is slain.

Special Rules (inspired side): the same four rules as the base side are printed here, namely A Blur of Motion, Impossible Agility, A Dance of Death and Holo-fields, with the same wording as above.

Retinue Characters

Retinue characters represent characters who, while not being the central protagonists of the Blackstone Fortress story, still play a part. These individuals may be hired - or otherwise persuaded - to accompany the explorers into the fortress. In the game, they can be fielded in addition to a full party of four on an expedition into the Blackstone Fortress. As they are less inclined to act on their own initiative, they are not controlled by one player but by whichever player is the leader that turn, moving and fighting as directed by that player. Incredibly useful for any party of explorers, retinue characters have their own unique weapons and sometimes unique actions, lending their strength to the group and allowing the explorers to overcome obstacles they would otherwise find impossible.

Retinue characters were introduced in the Blackstone Fortress: Escalation expansion. The first, a combat Servitor designated X-101, was discovered in the fortress itself, and once rescued, gave the explorers a powerful asset - an unquestioningly loyal companion they could bring on their expeditions to fight against the minions of Mallex. This article introduces new retinue characters for you to use, including background that explains how these particular characters came to the fortress, a reference card for each character, and rules for how you can win them to your cause - a necessary step, as most of them will not be waiting around gathering dust like X-101!

Adding More Retinue Characters

Precipice is populated by a diverse collection of individuals. Representatives of many different facets of Imperial life have found their way to the station, along with members of dozens of different alien races. This has allowed us to pick some great Warhammer 40,000 miniatures and present them as retinue characters so that you can use more models in your games of Blackstone Fortress.

Of course, these followers won't just cheerfully join your crusades into one of the most mysterious and dangerous locations in the known galaxy for no reason! To recruit these fighters to your cause, you must first succeed in a unique quest. Completing this quest not only allows you to pick these characters for future expeditions, but also tells the story of why they are on the Blackstone Fortress and how your explorers came across them.

Retinue Character Rules

To use these retinue characters, follow the rules below.

When starting a new expedition, one retinue character can be chosen to accompany the explorers. Some retinue characters have conditions which must be met to recruit them; the explorers must achieve these before that character can be picked to accompany the explorers. A retinue character is treated as an explorer in all regards with the following exception:

• A retinue character does not have an initiative card and is always controlled by whoever is the current leader. Retinue characters are activated immediately after the leader's own explorer.
• A retinue character can never use destiny dice.

Sidequest

An expedition to recruit a retinue character can be undertaken as a one-off expedition before, after or even during another quest. If you begin this expedition whilst on another quest (such as the quest for the hidden vault, or the quest for the Black Shrines) do not treat this expedition as part of the quest you are currently undertaking - that quest is placed on hold, using the following rules:

• During this expedition discovery cards cannot be drawn for any reason.
• There is no Legacy or Trading step when the explorers return to Precipice.
• No cards, counters or tokens are drawn, placed or added to the databank to affect the amount of time the explorers have to finish the quest that is currently on hold. Menace counters and legacy cards are good examples of this. Those cards, counters and tokens that have already been drawn, placed or added to the databank are, however, still in use - the forces of Chaos are relentless after all. This means, for example, that the cumulative penalties from the menace tracker will still affect this expedition during combats.
• Retinue characters do not use activation dice. Instead, their character card will tell you how many actions (and what actions) that character can take each time it is activated. A stunned retinue character takes one fewer action in a turn in which it stands back up. Retinue characters suffer wounds and grievous wounds and are taken out of action in the same manner as explorers.

A retinue character can never have discovery or resource cards. If a rule or ability would cause a retinue character to receive a discovery card, the leader receives that discovery card instead.

Retinue characters can never receive any cards that are given as rewards. If a reward would be given to a retinue character (because, for example, they slew a specific enemy or achieved a certain goal), that reward is instead given to the leader.

Cards and equipment that would go in an explorer's stasis chamber at the end of a session's play remain in stasis with their explorers as normal.

Once the explorers have completed this expedition, these rules cease to apply and the explorers can continue once again with their quest.

Running Out of Time: The Search action, and equivalent actions that discard discovery markers (such as Daedalosus' Omniscan ability), cannot be used in a quest to recruit a retinue character.

Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan

Gren Broggan had served in the Krourk Abhuman Auxilla for several years when the relentless focus he brought to whatever mission he was given was noted by the auxilla's Commissariat advisors. Gren was taken from his unit and received intensive training as a bodyguard. When this was complete, he was assigned to the commander of the Cadian 118th, Major Stahlven. While Gren was en route to join up with the 118th, Stahlven was slain, and his command was split between his two most promising protégées. Due to a bureaucratic error, Gren was assigned to guard both officers on his arrival. As the 118th deployed for battle on the agri world of Harlast, Gren struggled with this dilemma, but his training had provided no guidance for such a situation. When the enemy attacked, Gren was still doing his best to protect both officers, charging from one redoubt to another and back again to check his charges were safe.

The remnants of the Cadian 118th were evacuated from Harlast, and a downcast Gren went with them. He faced court martial for dereliction of his duty, as he had failed to protect either of his assigned officers. He would have been executed, but for the intervention of his brother Dorg - the elder Broggan broke Gren out of his cell, and the two forced their way off planet. Before long, Dorg had negotiated a contract with the data trader Xalleus, who took the Broggan brothers with him when he followed strings of rumours to the Blackstone Fortress. When Xalleus began to do business on Precipice, the value of Gren's expertise as a bodyguard was recognised, even if he sometimes had to be reminded who his charge was. There were many threats on the patchwork space station, and the towering abhuman offered excellent personal protection. On occasion, Xalleus even sold Gren's services to others in need of Ogryn-grade security, so long as Dorg remained on Precipice to watch the data trader's back.

Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan - Ogryn Bodyguard, Retinue Character (card)

"Yes boss."

• Move: 2
• Defence: purple triangle
• Agility: grey square
• Vitality: blue pentagon
• Size: Huge

Weapon Actions

Weapon	Range 1	Range 2-3	Range 4+
Ripper Gun¹	blue pentagon	purple triangle	grey square

¹ Buried in Lead: If the target for this weapon action is in an adjacent hex to Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan, re-roll any action dice that results in a failure.

Special Rules

• Whatever You Say: Do not roll activation dice for Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan. Instead he will take up to three of the following actions in any order or combination: Ripper Gun, Move, Recuperate. He can only take these actions if he starts his activation in a hex adjacent to an explorer controlled by the leader. If he does not, follow the sequence presented under 'Where's the Boss?' below.
• Huge: Other explorers cannot share a hex with this explorer.
• Where's the Boss?: Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan takes up to three Move actions, after which his activation ends. Each of these Move actions must take him closer to an explorer controlled by the leader. If he ends an action in a hex adjacent to an explorer controlled by the leader, his activation ends. If, at the start of his activation, he cannot take a Move action that takes him closer to an explorer controlled by the leader, he instead takes up to three Ripper Gun weapon actions that target the nearest visible hostile, after which his activation ends. If he is unable to take a Move action as described above, and there are no hostiles visible to him, he takes no actions and his activation ends.

Secret Agenda: A grievous wound is applied to an explorer being controlled by the leader.

Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan (Inspired)

"You hurt the boss! You make me mad!"

• Move: 2 · Defence: purple triangle · Agility: grey square · Vitality: blue pentagon · Size: Huge

Weapon Actions

Weapon	Range 1	Range 2-3	Range 4+
Ripper Gun¹	two blue pentagons	blue pentagon	grey square

¹ Buried in Lead: (as above)

Special Rules

• Whatever You Say: Do not roll activation dice for Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan. Instead he will take up to four of the following actions in any order or combination: Ripper Gun, Move, Recuperate. He can only take these actions if he starts his activation in a hex adjacent to the explorer controlled by the leader. If he does not, follow the sequence presented under 'Leave the Boss Alone!' below.
• Huge: Other explorers cannot share a hex with this explorer.
• Leave the Boss Alone!: Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan takes up to three Ripper Gun weapon actions that target the nearest visible hostile, after which his activation ends. If there are no hostiles visible to him, he instead takes up to three Move actions, after which his activation ends. Each of these Move actions must take him closer to an explorer controlled by the leader. If he ends an action in a hex adjacent to an explorer controlled by the leader, his activation ends. If, at the start of his activation, there are no hostiles visible to him, and he cannot take a Move action that takes him closer to an explorer controlled by the leader, he takes no actions and his activation ends.

The inspired side of the printed card has no separate Secret Agenda text.

Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan

Dorg is a Bone 'ead, an Ogryn who received chemical augmentation to enable him to better lead a squad of Bullgryns. His squad were specialists in boarding actions, breach assaults and linebreaking actions. Serving alongside the 9th Vallast Fusiliers, Dorg's squad earned a reputation for never falling back, no matter the pressure levelled against them. Whether holding a position against waves of charging Orks or forcing a breach in a traitor-held trenchline, the Bullgryns could be counted on to soak up incoming fire and push back harder than their enemies. Dorg himself was dubbed 'the Wall', as he was known to be every bit as yielding as a ferrocrete barrier.

Dorg had only one weakness, exacerbated by the procedures he had undergone to turn him into a Bone 'ead - he was burdened with a protective instinct for his younger brother Gren. Such familial ties count for little in the Militarum Auxilla, but Dorg used what influence he had as a squad leader to keep tabs on his sibling's postings. When he was told about the Cadian 118th's terrible defeat at Harlast, Dorg was determined to check if his brother was safe. He deserted the Vallast Fusiliers' camp and bullied his way across the system to Savast II, the planet where the remnants of the 118th were being rearmed and prepared for their next campaign. There he sprang Gren from his imprisonment and set about ensuring their escape. By this point, the Commissariat were hunting for both Broggan brothers, and Dorg had to look for allies amongst Savast's criminal underworld. They found their partner in Xalleus, a trader who was planning to head to the Western Reaches in search of incredible riches.

The journey that led the group to Precipice was a difficult one - both Ogryns proved their worth, each saving their patron's life on several occasions. Xalleus found many opportunities to trade upon the station, but the wealth he sought was not easily come by. Conditions aboard Precipice were desperate. After months on the station, the data trader resorted to hiring Dorg out as muscle to parties of explorers preparing to enter the fortress. It would only be a matter of time before Dorg failed to return from one of these expeditions...

Setting Up an Expedition to Recruit the Broggan Brothers

Set up the expedition as described in the Blackstone Fortress: Rules booklet, but with the following changes:

• During Step 2, neither Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan nor Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan can be picked as a retinue character.
• During Step 12, the leader reads aloud the following text instead: 'You alight from the maglev chamber, ready to track down and rescue Dorg Broggan from whatever assails him. As you push towards where he was last sighted, deep bellows of rage and pain along with distant echoes of battle reverberate down the corridors towards you...'

Success: This expedition is successful if the final combat 'Dorg's Last Stand' is successful. If the expedition is successful, both Gren 'Knuckles' Broggan and Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan are available to be picked as retinue characters in future expeditions.

Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan - Bullgryn Sentry, Retinue Character (card)

"Nothing gets past Dorg."

• Move: 2
• Defence: blue pentagon
• Agility: grey square
• Vitality: blue pentagon
• Size: Huge

Weapon Actions

Weapon	Range 1	Range 2-3	Range 4+
Battle Maul¹	two purple triangles	N/A	N/A

¹ Crushing Blow: If an attack with a Battle Maul inflicts a wound or grievous wound on a target, place 1 additional wound counter on that target.

Special Rules

• Keep it Simple: Do not roll activation dice for Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan. Instead he will take up to two of the following actions in any order or combination: Battle Maul, Move, Recuperate, Guard.
• Huge: Other explorers cannot share a hex with this explorer.

Unique Actions

• Guard: After Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan takes this action, re-roll failed defence rolls for him until the next time he is activated, or he is taken out of action. In addition, he can make a Battle Maul weapon action against the first hostile that moves adjacent to him in the turn in which he took this action.

Secret Agenda: During an expedition, slay a hostile with a Battle Maul weapon action during that hostile group's activation.

Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan (Inspired)

"Nothing 'thump' gets 'thump' past!"

• Move: 2 · Defence: blue pentagon · Agility: grey square · Vitality: blue pentagon · Size: Huge

Weapon Actions

Weapon	Range 1	Range 2-3	Range 4+
Battle Maul¹	two blue pentagons	N/A	N/A
Shield Slam²	purple triangle + grey square	N/A	N/A

¹ Crushing Blow: (as above) ² Battered into Senselessness: If the attack roll for this weapon action is successful, the target is stunned in addition to any wounds they suffer.

Special Rules

• Keep it Simple: Do not roll activation dice for Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan. Instead he will take up to two of the following actions in any order or combination: Battle Maul, Move, Recuperate, Guard, Shield Slam.
• Huge: Other explorers cannot share a hex with this explorer.

Unique Actions

• Guard: (as above)

Expedition: Dorg's Last Stand

Having entered the fortress once more at his employer's command, Dorg has become trapped, assailed by a pack of Ur-Ghuls. Despite his formidable constitution, the Bullgryn is weakening - you must get to his location and slay the remaining aliens.

Access route: This expedition is one combat, set up as shown on the printed map. Place Dorg's miniature in the hex marked D.

Hostile groups (map markers 1-4)

• 1: 3 Chaos Beastmen, 2 Chaos Space Marines
• 2: 8 Traitor Guardsmen
• 3: 7 Cultists
• 4: 1 Cultist Firebrand

Expedition Rules

• Dorg's Last Stand: Place the miniature that represents Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan in the hex marked D on the combat map. Place 2 Ur-Ghuls in the hex marked U. The Ur-Ghuls have no hostile group and do not take behaviour rolls. Instead, during the event phase, after the event roll, each Ur-Ghul will attack Dorg once with their Claws and Talons. Dorg is treated as having a Defence value (shown as a symbol in the printed book; not legible in the scan) for the purposes of these attacks. If an Ur-Ghul is on the battlefield and is not adjacent to Dorg, instead of attacking, place it in the hex marked U.
• An Immovable Object: Dorg 'The Wall' Broggan does not activate in this combat, and is not treated as an explorer.
• Rescuing Dorg: If all of the explorers are out of action, if Dorg has seven or more wound or grievous wound counters next to him, or if all of the explorers that are not out of action are in hexes adjacent to Dorg and there are no Ur-Ghuls on the battlefield, the combat ends at the start of the following event phase.
• If all the explorers are out of action, or if at the start of the event phase Dorg has seven or more wound or grievous wound counters next to him, this expedition is failed and can be attempted again.
• If the combat ends and all of the explorers that are not out of action are in hexes adjacent to Dorg and there are no Ur-Ghuls on the battlefield, this expedition is successful.

Sidequest Table (Dorg's Last Stand)

Roll	Event
1	All Is Dust: If any discovery markers are still on the battlefield, the leader must discard one of them. If there are no discovery markers, each explorer loses 1 inspiration point, to a minimum of 0.
2-3	Unfulfilled Destiny: Do not make a destiny roll at the start of the next turn.
4-6	Not Dead Yet: The leader must pick one hostile that was slain during the combat and has not returned to the battlefield, and then deploy them as close to an explorer as possible.
7-10	Changing Conditions: Draw an encounter card. If the card has a twist, it applies for the rest of the combat. If not, there is no effect.
11-14	Shield Bash: Place one of the Ur-Ghul miniatures on its side. The next time it would attack, instead of attacking, it stands up.
15-17	Inspiration: The leader picks an explorer. That explorer receives 1 inspiration point.
18-19

Penitent 707

The Imperial citizen now known as Penitent 707 committed an unforgivable sin on the shrine world of Zanzastus IV - he was heard blaspheming against the Emperor in response to a reduction in his manufactorum's nutri-rations. He was taken in by the Adeptus Ministorum's deacons, and judged by the planet's Cardinal. His crime was deemed not sufficient to warrant an immediate and summary execution - instead he was subjected to the punishment of arco-flagellation.

According to the tenets of the Ecclesiarchy, this sanction grants the sinner a chance at redemption - they are torn apart physically and mentally, and rebuilt into a single-minded killing machine, one which activates only upon the order of its Ecclesiarchal master. At this point, the blasphemer was given the weapon-name Penitent 707, and passed into the ranks of Zanzastus IV's Arco-flagellants.

The missionary vessel Clarion visited Zanzastus IV as its master, Taddeus the Purifier, wished to claim the succour offered by the shrine world, and replenish his mission's supplies. While there, he took aboard several of Zanzastus IV's Arco-flagellants, rightly recognising that their fervour would be vital to his future endeavours. The Purifier's journey to the Blackstone Fortress began soon afterwards, and was an arduous pilgrimage. By the time Clarion arrived at Precipice, only a single Arco-flagellant remained in his care - Penitent 707.

During one of Taddeus' first journeys into the fortress, Penitent 707 was lost. The Arco-flagellant's pacifier helm deactivated at the Purifier's command, just as anticipated, and the weaponised sinner launched into a killing frenzy. When Taddeus spoke the converse trigger word to reactivate the pacifier helm, however, something failed - Penitent 707 rampaged onwards into the darkness, all thought extinguished by the desire to slay the enemies of the Emperor. Taddeus was forced to abandon his charge and return to Precipice soon after, assuming Penitent 707 would fall to one of the fortress' many threats.

When rumours reached Precipice of a howling berserker with flails in place of its limbs stalking the fortress' depths, the explorers realised what this weapon was, and that it might still be turned to the service of their cause. The carnage such a creation could inflict would serve them well, but to direct Penitent 707's rampage they would need to discover the pacifier helm's true code word. Until they did so, the Arco-flagellant would not distinguish them from the multitudinous enemies in the fortress, so they would have to search quickly if they were to avoid the sinner's wrath.

Setting Up an Expedition to Recruit Penitent 707

Set up the expedition as described in the Blackstone Fortress: Rules booklet, but with the following changes:

• During Step 12, the leader reads aloud the following text instead: 'As you alight from the maglev chamber, the sound of rending flesh and crackling electro-flails confirms you have found your target. You push forward, hoping to find the code word before Penitent 707 becomes aware of your presence.'

Penitent 707 - Retinue Character (card)

"I... obey..."

• Move: 2
• Defence: grey square
• Agility: grey square
• Vitality: purple triangle

Weapon Actions: None (N/A at all ranges)

Special Rules

• A Living Weapon: Do not roll activation dice for Penitent 707. Instead, it can take up to three Move or Recuperate actions in any order or combination. In addition, Penitent 707 can never gain inspiration points.

Secret Agenda: The leader can choose to inspire Penitent 707 after spending an activation dice for any action if there are any hostiles visible to their explorer on the battlefield.

Penitent 707 (Inspired) (card)

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

• Move: 2 · Defence: grey square · Agility: grey square · Vitality: purple triangle

Weapon Actions

Weapon	Range 1	Range 2-3	Range 4+
Arco-Flails	two purple triangles	N/A	N/A

Special Rules

• A Living Weapon: Do not roll activation dice for Penitent 707. Instead, it can take up to four of the following actions in any order or combination: Move, Arco-flails. If it is not adjacent to a hostile, it must make a Move action. When it makes a Move action, it must always move closer to the nearest hostile. If it is adjacent to a hostile, it will not make a Move action. In addition, Penitent 707 can never gain inspiration points.
• Berserk Killing Machine: Do not make defence rolls for Penitent 707. Penitent 707 does not receive the benefit of cover.
• Combat Stimms: Re-roll failed attack rolls for Penitent 707.
• Pacifier Helm: If there are no hostiles on the battlefield after an action, turn Penitent 707's retinue character card back over to its secret agenda side. If this happens during Penitent 707's activation, end its activation.

Expedition: The Salvation of Penitent 707

The Arco-flagellant Penitent 707 rampages through the fortress' tesselating corridors, slaying all those it encounters in a killing frenzy. The weaponised sinner's unrelenting fervour would be a powerful asset if it could be directed, and so the explorers have resolved to track it down, discover the code word for its pacifier helm, and take control of it.

Access route: This expedition is one combat, set up as shown on the printed map. Place Penitent 707's miniature in the hex marked 707.

Hostile groups (map markers 1-4)

• 1: 7 Traitor Guardsmen (TG), 1 Chaos Space Marine (SM)
• 2: 7 Traitor Guardsmen (TG), 1 Chaos Space Marine (SM)
• 3: 4 Chaos Beastmen (CB)
• 4: 7 Cultists (C), 1 Cultist Firebrand (FB)

Expedition Rules

• Too Risky: You cannot pick a retinue character to accompany the explorers for this expedition.
• A Weapon Unsheathed: Penitent 707 starts this expedition inspired. Penitent 707 activates after the leader each turn, after any attempts to decipher its pacifier helm code. Follow the rules on Penitent 707's character card to see what actions it takes when it activates. Whilst there are no hostiles on the battlefield, Penitent 707 treats explorers as hostiles when it takes any action.
• Pacifier Helm Code: To discover the pacifier helm code, after an explorer has activated and there are no discovery markers on the battlefield, that explorer can attempt to decipher the code. Take the four discovery markers and shuffle them face down before placing them in a row with the number side face down. The explorer who just took their activation can take one guess as to what value each discovery marker is by placing one activation dice in front of each discovery marker, with the dice showing the value they believe the discovery marker to be, which will be between 1 and 4. Each dice must also show a different value. Then reveal the discovery markers, and remove the discovery markers with the correctly guessed values and place them in the game box. An explorer can repeat this process for any remaining discovery markers using the same process after they have taken an activation.
• Once all the discovery markers are in the game box, immediately flip Penitent 707 character card to its secret agenda side.

Sidequest Table (The Salvation of Penitent 707)

Roll	Event
1	Holy Rampage: Penitent 707 makes one Move action and one Arco-flails action.
2-3	Unfulfilled Destiny: Do not make a destiny roll at the start of the next turn.
4-6	Not Dead Yet: The leader must pick one hostile that was slain during the combat and has not returned to the battlefield, and then deploy them as close to an explorer as possible.
7-10	Changing Conditions: Draw an encounter card. If the card has a twist, it applies for the rest of the combat. If not, there is no effect.
11-14	Unstoppable Destroyer: Remove one wound or grievous wound marker from Penitent 707 character sheet.
15-17	Inspiration: The leader picks an explorer. That explorer receives 1 inspiration point.
18-19	Heroic Effort: The leader picks an explorer that is out of action. Deploy the explorer in the same hex as another explorer or as close to another explorer as possible, and then make a vitality roll for them. If no explorers are out of action, the leader picks an explorer. Make a vitality roll for that explorer.

If all explorers (except Penitent 707) are out of action, if Penitent 707 is out of action, or if Penitent 707's character card has its secret agenda side face up before the beginning of the event phase, the combat ends at the start of the following event phase. If, when the combat ends, Penitent 707 is out of action, or if all the explorers (except Penitent 707) are out of action, this expedition is failed and must be attempted again. If any explorers are not out of action and Penitent 707's character card is flipped to its secret agenda side, the expedition is conquered and Penitent 707 can be picked as a retinue character in future expeditions.

Skarburn Zapdakka

Skarburn Zapdakka is a Flash Git, an Ork who took to the stars to earn his fortune after he was forced from his original tribe for his swaggering bluster. The life of the Freebooter suited Zapdakka, and for several years he fought under the renowned mercenary Kaptin Deffdreg. After each battle, Zapdakka spent whatever loot he had acquired on upgrades for his treasured snazzgun. However, the Flash Git's incessant desire to assess the results of the latest tinkering with his weapon got him into trouble on the dust world of Ghorovow. Zapdakka blasted apart a group of gold-robed humans, only to find out they included the renegade commander who had drawn Kaptin Deffdreg to Ghorovow, seeking firepower to support his ill-fated insurrection.

Zapdakka had always believed he was destined for greater things, and took his ejection from Deffdreg's ship as a sign from Gork (or possibly Mork) that the time was right to strike out on his own. While touting himself as a gun for hire on the frontier station of Farvast, Zapdakka heard tell of a distant fortress where loot lay in great drifts in the corridors, protected by ancient machines and snarling beasts. The ambitious Ork knew the timing of these rumours was not coincidence - it was his destiny to find and loot this apocryphal fortress.

It was months before a ship docked at Farvast that was headed for the fortress. The Aurea's captain was heading to the Western Reaches to escape the vengeance of a powerful group of creditors. Zapdakka was able to gain a place on the trader's ship through a combination of bribery and intimidation. The Aurea's journey to the area of wilderness space in which the Blackstone Fortress lay was fraught with danger, and Zapdakka found plenty of opportunities to enhance his reputation for getting the job done through overwhelming application of firepower. On arriving at Precipice, the Flash Git took the first opportunity to join a group of mercenaries heading to the Blackstone Fortress. Within hours, each of the others had been cut down, either by the fortress' denizens or by errant snazzgun fire. Zapdakka himself roamed the tesselating corridors seeking the priceless item of loot that would seal his reputation. If any other group of adventurers from Precipice wished to secure the Freebooter's services, they would need to prove they would be able to lead him to the motherlode.

Setting Up an Expedition to Recruit Skarburn Zapdakka

Set up the expedition as described in the Blackstone Fortress: Rules booklet, but with the following changes:

• During Step 2, Skarburn Zapdakka cannot be picked as a retinue character.
• During Step 12, the leader reads aloud the following text instead: 'You alight from the maglev chamber, hoping to locate Zapdakka and convince him to join your cause. You hear the concussive sound of heavy firepower echoing from a nearby chamber, and push towards the Flash Git's location.'

Skarburn Zapdakka - Retinue Character (card)

"You're paid for dakka, an' dakka yer gonna get!"

• Move: 2
• Defence: purple triangle
• Agility: grey square
• Vitality: purple triangle
• Size: Huge

Weapon Actions

Weapon	Range 1	Range 2-3	Range 4+
Snazzgun¹	purple triangle	blue pentagon	purple triangle

¹ Unbridled Firepower: When this retinue character makes this weapon action, draw line of sight to the target, then make an attack roll against each explorer and hostile in each hex through which that line of sight was drawn (including the hex which contains the target).

Special Rules

• Waaagh!: Do not roll activation dice for Skarburn Zapdakka. Instead he will take up to three of the following actions in any order and combination: Snazzgun, Move, Recuperate. If there are hostiles visible to him, he must take the Snazzgun weapon action.
• Dakka! Dakka! Dakka!: After Skarburn Zapdakka's activation is over, roll the Blackstone dice if he made any Snazzgun weapon actions. On a 1, apply 1 grievous wound to Skarburn Zapdakka. On a 20, take the Snazzgun weapon action again.
• Huge: Other explorers cannot share a hex with this explorer.

Secret Agenda: This explorer kills two hostiles with a single weapon action (taking an explorer out of action with a weapon action counts as killing one hostile to determine if this retinue character inspires).

Skarburn Zapdakka (Inspired) (card)

"Outta my way runt, or you'll get some dakka too."

• Move: 2
• Defence: purple triangle
• Agility: grey square
• Vitality: blue pentagon
• Size: Huge

Weapon Actions

Weapon	Range 1	Range 2-3	Range 4+
Snazzgun¹	blue pentagon	two purple triangles	blue pentagon

¹ Unbridled Firepower: (as above)

Special Rules

• Waaagh!: Do not roll activation dice for Skarburn Zapdakka. Instead he will take up to three of the following actions in any order or combination: Snazzgun, Move, Recuperate. If there are hostiles visible to him, he must take the Snazzgun weapon action.
• Dakka! Dakka! Dakka!: After Skarburn Zapdakka's turn is over, roll the Blackstone dice if he made any Snazzgun weapon actions. On a 1-3, apply 1 grievous wound to Skarburn Zapdakka. On an 18-20, take the Snazzgun weapon action again.
• Huge: Other explorers cannot share a hex with this explorer.

Expedition: Zapdakka's Rampage

The Freebooter Skarburn Zapdakka has gone on a greed-fuelled killing spree. Only an explorer with wealth to spare can hope to catch this loot-obsessed maniac's attention long enough to strike a deal.

Access route: This expedition is one combat, set up as shown on the printed map. Place Skarburn Zapdakka's miniature in the hex marked Z.

Hostile groups (map markers 1-3, as printed in the key)

• 1: 7 Cultists (C), 1 Cultist Firebrand (FB)
• 2: 4 Negavolt Cultists (NC), 7 Traitor Guardsmen (TG)
• 3: 4 Spindle Drones (SD), 4 Chaos Beastmen (CB)

Expedition Rules

• Lootin' Frenzy: This rule replaces the Waaagh! rule on Skarburn Zapdakka's character card for this expedition. Do not roll activation dice for Skarburn Zapdakka. Instead use the following sequence to determine his actions each turn.
• Skarburn Zapdakka will take three actions when he activates. If he cannot make the Loot action, he will make a Leggit action, and if he cannot make a Leggit action he will make the Dakka Dakka action. He will activate after the leader each turn, after any retinue characters. The hostile player (or the leader if there is no hostile player) rolls the dice and moves and rolls the dice for his miniature.
  • Loot: If Skarburn Zapdakka is in the same hex as a discovery marker, remove that discovery marker from the battlefield and place it next to his character card.
  • Leggit: Skarburn Zapdakka makes a Move action towards the closest discovery marker.
  • Dakka Dakka: Skarburn Zapdakka makes a Snazzgun weapon action (use the Inspired side of the character card when resolving the Snazzgun weapon action) that will target the nearest hostile or explorer. If there is a choice, the hostile player (or the leader if there is no hostile player) chooses the target.

Sidequest Table (Zapdakka's Rampage)

Roll	Event
1	Avin da Best Time (first word of title partly illegible in the scan; transcribed as printed as far as it reads): Skarburn Zapdakka makes one Snazzgun weapon action, one Loot action and then makes one Leggit action.
2-3	Unfulfilled Destiny: Do not make a destiny roll at the start of the next turn.
4-6	Not Dead Yet: The leader must pick one hostile that was slain during the combat and has not returned to the battlefield, and then deploy them as close to an explorer as possible.
7-10	Changing Conditions: Draw an encounter card. If the card has a twist, it applies for the rest of the combat. If not, there is no effect.
11-14	Avin a Good Time: Skarburn Zapdakka makes one Loot action and then one Leggit action.
15-17	Inspiration: The leader picks an explorer. That explorer receives 1 inspiration point.
18-19

If all explorers are out of action, if there are no discovery markers on the battlefield, or if Skarburn Zapdakka is out of action, the combat ends at the start of the following event phase. If, when the combat ends, all the explorers are out of action, or Skarburn Zapdakka has 3 or more discovery markers next to his character card, this expedition is failed and must be attempted again. Otherwise, the expedition is conquered and Skarburn Zapdakka is available to be picked as a retinue character in future expeditions.

New Quests

Light in the Dark

Retreating from an ill-fated push into overwhelming traitor forces, Taddeus the Purifier resolves to burn every nest of Chaos he can find before seeking out new allies at Precipice.

Light in the Dark is a short mission for Warhammer Quest Blackstone Fortress for 1-3 players. The mission takes place before the events of the quest for the Hidden Vault featured in the Blackstone Fortress boxed set and follows Taddeus the Purifier and his acolyte, Pious Vorne, on their first doomed foray into the Blackstone Fortress to cleanse it of the taint of Chaos.

Starting the Quest

Light in the Dark is a new quest that can be attempted if the explorers are not already undertaking another quest, such as the quest for the Hidden Vault. We recommend playing the Light in the Dark quest before beginning the quest for the Hidden Vault.

The Light in the Dark quest consists of a short access route and then a combat encounter using a predetermined map, similar to those used for the Strongholds found in the quest for the Hidden Vault. The quest for Light in the Dark uses the rules for the Access Route, Reaching the Stronghold, the Stronghold Event Table & Stronghold Rules and Conquering the Stronghold from page 12 of the Blackstone Fortress: Precipice booklet, as well as the following changes to the game set-up sequence.

Setting Up the Light in the Dark Expedition

Set up the expedition as described in the Blackstone Fortress: Rules booklet, but with the following changes:

• During Step 2, do not select explorers as normal. Instead, only 2 explorers are used, and these will always be Taddeus the Purifier and Pious Vorne. If there is a third player, that player will be designated the 'hostile player'.
• During Step 5, explorers may not take additional spacecraft to bring the total up to 4. Clarion is the only spacecraft that is used in this mission.
• During Step 12, instead of the text specified, the leader reads out the following text instead: 'The maglev transport chamber lurches into motion, carrying Taddeus the Purifier and Pious Vorne away from the baying hordes of traitors at their heels. Though bloodied, they will take any opportunity they can to strike a blow against the forces of Chaos before they return to Precipice...'

Traitor's Fane

Discovering a heretical temple filled with profane texts, Taddeus and Pious strive to burn everything that is unholy before departing the Fortress, for now...

Access Route: Sort through the exploration cards and split them into combat cards and challenge cards. Shuffle each of these piles and take the top card of each pile to create the access route exploration deck. The explorers reach the Traitor's Fane after the second exploration card has been resolved.

Hostile Groups (map markers 1-3)

• 1: 1 Chaos Space Marine
• 2: 5 Traitor Guardsmen
• 3: 2 Chaos Beastmen

Traitor's Fane Rules

• Burn the Heretics!: Re-roll attack rolls for Pious Vorne's Vindictor Flamer and Cleansing Flames attack actions if the target is also visible to Taddeus the Purifier.
• Tainted Ground: Explorers may not take Search actions while in the same hex as a discovery marker. Instead, they must burn all three discovery markers. Pious Vorne can choose a discovery marker as the target of an attack as if it were a hostile. Once a discovery marker has suffered 3 wounds it is removed from the battlefield.

Traitor's Fane Event Table

Roll	Event
1	All Is Dust: Each explorer loses 1 inspiration point, to a minimum of 0.
2-3	Unfulfilled Destiny: Do not make a destiny roll at the start of the next turn.
4-6	Not Dead Yet: If possible, the leader must pick one hostile that has been slain during the combat encounter and has not returned to the battlefield, and then deploy them as close to an explorer as possible.
7-10	Heretical Reinforcements: Re-roll reinforcement rolls for hostile groups next turn if reinforcements fail to arrive.
11-14	Burn them all: Pious Vorne can re-roll the attack roll when a hostile enters a hex with an inferno marker until the start of the next event phase.
15-17	Inspiration: The leader can pick one explorer. Flip that explorer's character card to its inspired side.
18-19	Heroic Effort: The leader picks an explorer that is out of action. Deploy the explorer in the same hex as another explorer or as close to another explorer as possible, and then make a vitality roll for them. If no explorers are out of action, the leader picks an explorer. Make a vitality roll for that explorer.

Conquering the Traitor's Fane: The Traitor's Fane is conquered if, at the start of the event phase, all three discovery markers have been destroyed.

Reward: If the explorers conquer the Traitor's Fane, either Taddeus the Purifier or Pious Vorne can claim the Ministorum Artefact - Blessed Aquila - below.

Ministorum Artefact: Blessed Aquila

Once per exploration round, exhaust this card in the same manner as a resource card to re-roll 1 activation or action dice. This card does not turn face up at the start of the next turn. Instead, it is turned face up at the end of that exploration round.

A Deadly Lure

(Quest story text on the printed opening pages is omitted as flavour; the rules below follow it.)

This expedition follows a group of explorers as they attempt the exceedingly dangerous and difficult task of luring one of the most fearsome creatures in the galaxy - an Ambull - towards a chamber that they cannot breach in the hopes that it will bore through it and allow them to plunder the riches within. This will be tricky at best and suicidal at worst, as the Ambull is a notoriously destructive and unpredictable beast, prone to rampages that have devastated planets and populations alike.

The quest for the sealed chamber is a standalone quest that can be attempted if the explorers have completed the quest for the Ambull's lair and are not currently on another quest, such as the quest for the hidden vault. Before starting the expedition, the explorers can choose to undertake the quest for the sealed chamber. If they do so, follow the rules presented here to set up an expedition for this quest. Once the explorers have started this quest, they may not start another until it has been completed. The quest for the sealed chamber uses some new rules and some existing rules from those presented for the quest for the hidden vault on pages 12-13 of the Blackstone Fortress: Rules booklet. Use the existing rules for New Expeditions, along with the following new rules. You will also need a copy of The Dreaded Ambull expansion for Blackstone Fortress to be able to play this quest.

Starting the Quest for the Sealed Chamber

This quest is a single expedition made up of challenges and combats unique to this quest. Both the challenges and combats are labelled as stages, each being a set piece in the clever plan of the shadowy mastermind directing the explorers on their quest. To begin the quest, follow the rules below. Set up the expedition as described in the Blackstone Fortress: Rules booklet, but with the following changes.

Setting up the expedition for the quest to the Sealed Chamber

During step 3, do not create a deck of exploration cards as normal. Instead, the explorers are trying to pull off a set plan of action with multiple stages. If each stage is successful, the plan goes off without a hitch and their mission will be a success. However, the natural unpredictability and destructiveness of the Ambull means that this is by no means certain. If they fail any stages, their quest will become more difficult, or worse, they will fail the quest outright and have to start again.

Each stage is resolved in the same way as an exploration round, following the rules on page 11 of the Blackstone Fortress: Rules booklet with the following additions.

• In the exploration step, the leader reads aloud the text in italics at the start of that stage, and then the players resolve the challenge or combat map as appropriate following the rules on page 11 of the Blackstone Fortress: Rules booklet.
• In the leader step, the explorers can exchange with each other (or give away) discovery cards, resource cards, Ambull eggs and/or stronghold artefact cards.

The Ambull Eggs

For each Ambull egg an explorer is carrying, place an Ambull egg counter on their character card so that it covers one of their activation dice spaces. This prevents that activation dice being rolled in the initiative phase in the same manner as a wound or grievous wound counter. At the start of the initiative phase, before rolling activation dice, an explorer can drop 1 or more Ambull eggs they are carrying. If an explorer is taken out of action, or if they have a total of 4 wound or grievous wound counters on their character card, they immediately drop any Ambull eggs they are carrying. If a wound or grievous wound counter is placed on the same activation dice space as an Ambull egg counter, that Ambull egg is dropped. An Ambull egg counter cannot be placed in the same activation dice space as a wound or grievous wound counter. If an egg is dropped it is destroyed - place the egg counter back in the game box.

During their activation, an explorer that is carrying an Ambull egg can take the Pass (4+) action.

• Pass (4+): Choose a visible explorer within 3 hexes that has no hostiles in any adjacent hex. Remove one Ambull egg counter from this character card and place it on that explorer's character card so that it covers one of their activation dice spaces as described above (remember that an Ambull egg counter cannot be placed in the same activation dice space as a wound or grievous wound counter).

During step 4 do not create an encounter deck. Each stage has specific hostiles in the same manner as a stronghold.

During step 12 the leader should read the following aloud to the other explorers:

'The explorers have delved deep into the lair of an Ambull and located its eggs. They have managed to avoid the creature until now, as its attentions were occupied by a Spindle Drone infestation. This will not last much longer, however, as the Ambull has nearly dealt with the first incursion. The explorers must make haste and escape the lair before the Ambull can extricate itself from its attackers and deal with them.'

Then resolve the first stage - Escape!

Stage 1 - Combat: Escape

The explorers have made their way into an Ambull's lair and claimed a number of precious eggs. The creature itself is temporarily distracted, but if the explorers are to escape with the eggs they will have to use caution or make a frantic rush to the escape chamber.

Set-up: Deploy the explorers in any of the 4 hexes marked with the letter E. Each explorer starts this combat carrying one Ambull egg.

Escape Rules

• Get Ready to Run: The rules for Summon actions are not used in this combat.
• Apex Hunter: If the Ambull is to be deployed on the battlefield (by a reinforcement roll, for example) the hostile player must deploy the Ambull on an empty hex within 4 hexes of an explorer carrying an Ambull egg and remove all wound counters that were next to the Ambull.

During this combat, replace the 'All is Dust', 'Changing Conditions', and 'Escape Chamber' results on the event table with the following result:

• RRRAAAAAHHRRR!: If the Ambull is not on the battlefield, the hostile player must deploy the Ambull in an empty hex adjacent to an explorer carrying an Ambull egg and remove all wound counters that were next to the Ambull. If this is not possible, place the Ambull as close as possible to an explorer carrying an Ambull egg. If the Ambull is already on the battlefield and is adjacent to a hostile or an explorer, it takes the Swipe action. If the Ambull is already on the battlefield and is not adjacent to a hostile or an explorer, it takes the Charge action.

Hostile Groups

• The Ambull (A): use the Ambull Enraged hostile reference card for the Ambull in this combat.
• 2 Borewyrm Infestations (B)
• 4 Spindle Drones (SD)

Victory

To pull off this stage of the plan, at least one explorer that is carrying an Ambull egg must be on the maglev escape transport when the combat ends. Any other result is treated as a failure. Additionally, if there are no explorers carrying Ambull eggs after an explorer has finished their activation, then the explorers immediately fail this stage of the plan. If the explorers fail this stage of the plan, they must restart the quest or start another quest. If the explorers succeed, resolve Stage 2. Note that, in order to succeed at this stage of the plan, sacrifices may need to be made...!

Stage 2 - Challenge: Near Miss

As the explorers escape from the Ambull's lair, a terrible screeching sound announces the creature's pursuit, and giant claws tear into the maglev. The explorers must dislodge the Ambull before it kills them or wrecks the speeding transport chamber.

In leader order, each explorer must take a weapon action as if they were attacking an adjacent hostile. Use wound and grievous wound counters to keep track of the total damage inflicted by all weapon actions during this challenge. If the total damage inflicted is 7 or less, apply one wound to each explorer. If the total damage inflicted is 8 or more, the explorers are unharmed (for now), but the Ambull continues to tear at the maglev transport chamber. Repeat this process, but this time the explorers will have a wound applied to them if the total damage from their weapon actions is less than 16 (including the previous damage inflicted). Once this is done, consult the Victory section below.

Victory

If the total damage inflicted by all weapon actions taken during this challenge is 16 or more, the Ambull is dislodged and the explorers escape. If at least one explorer is carrying an Ambull egg, turn to page 54 and resolve Stage 4: Securing the Perimeter. If no explorers are carrying Ambull eggs at this point, then the explorers immediately fail this stage of the plan - they must restart the quest or start another quest.

If the total damage inflicted by all weapon actions taken during this challenge is less than 16, the Ambull tears into the maglev and it crashes. Each explorer suffers 1 grievous wound. If at least one explorer is carrying an Ambull egg, turn to page 52 and resolve Stage 3: The Long Walk. If no explorers are carrying Ambull eggs at this point, then the explorers immediately fail this stage of the plan - they must restart the quest or start another quest.

Stage 3 - Combat: The Long Walk

The explorers clamber from the wreckage of the maglev and view their surroundings. They have been significantly thrown from their path, and their destination is now a greater distance to travel than they are comfortable with - especially considering the Ambull that now hunts them. They must begin a long trek through hostile territory if they are to reach their goal.

Set-up: The explorers start in the maglev transport chamber.

Hostile Groups (map markers 1-4)

• 1: 3 Negavolt Cultists (NC), 1 Rogue Psyker (RP)
• 2: 2 Chaos Beastmen (CB), 3 Traitor Guardsmen (TG)
• 3: 4 Spindle Drones (SD)
• 4: The Ambull - use the Ambull hostile reference card for the Ambull in this combat.

The Long Walk Rules

• Precious Prize: First, each explorer can choose to protect one Ambull egg they were carrying during the crash. Then roll the Blackstone dice for each egg an explorer is carrying that they are not protecting: if the result is 8 or less, that egg is destroyed. If an explorer chose to protect an egg, they suffer 1 wound instead, and that egg is unharmed.

During this combat, replace the 'All is Dust', 'Changing Conditions', and 'Escape Chamber' results on the event table with the following result:

• RRRAAAAAHHRRR!: If the Ambull is not on the battlefield, the hostile player must deploy the Ambull in an empty hex adjacent to an explorer carrying an Ambull egg and remove all wound counters that were next to the Ambull. If this is not possible, place the Ambull as close as possible to an explorer carrying an Ambull egg. If the Ambull is already on the battlefield and is adjacent to a hostile or an explorer, it takes the Swipe action. If the Ambull is already on the battlefield and is not adjacent to a hostile or an explorer, it takes the Charge action.
• Apex Hunter: If the Ambull is to be deployed on the battlefield (by a reinforcement roll, for example) the hostile player must deploy the Ambull on an empty hex within 4 hexes of an explorer carrying an Ambull egg and remove all wound counters that were next to the Ambull.

Victory

To pull off this stage of the plan, at least one explorer that is carrying an Ambull egg must be on the maglev escape chamber when the combat ends. Any other result is treated as a failure. Additionally, if there are no explorers carrying Ambull eggs after an explorer has finished their activation, then the explorers immediately fail this stage of the plan. If the explorers fail this stage of the plan, they must restart the quest or start another quest. If the explorers succeed, resolve Stage 4: Securing the Perimeter.

Stage 4 - Combat: Securing the Perimeter

The explorers have arrived at the area they suspect the sealed chamber to be in. Though the Blackstone Fortress' halls and corridors are constantly reordered, the sealed chamber seems remarkably stable - perhaps some effect of the Grayl Intulia that lies within. Such concerns are quickly put aside, as the explorers must first deal with the massed Chaos forces swarming in the area.

Set-up: The explorers start in the maglev transport chamber.

Hostile Groups (map markers 1-4)

• 1: 2 Chaos Space Marines (SM), 2 Rogue Psykers (RP)
• 2: 4 Chaos Beastmen (CB), 4 Negavolt Cultists (NC)
• 3: 6 Traitor Guardsmen (TG)
• 4: The Ambull - use the Ambull hostile reference card for the Ambull in this combat.

Securing the Perimeter Rules

• On Patrol: Do not make behaviour rolls for hostiles until the first hostile is slain.
• Too Far to Go Back Now: The rules for Summon actions are not used in this combat.

During this combat, replace the 'All is Dust', 'Changing Conditions', and 'Escape Chamber' results on the event table with the following result:

• RRRAAAAAHHRRR!: If the Ambull is not on the battlefield, the hostile player must deploy the Ambull in an empty hex adjacent to an explorer carrying an Ambull egg and remove all wound counters that were next to the Ambull. If this is not possible, place the Ambull as close as possible to an explorer carrying an Ambull egg. If the Ambull is already on the battlefield and is adjacent to a hostile or an explorer, it takes the Swipe action. If the Ambull is already on the battlefield and is not adjacent to a hostile or an explorer, it takes the Charge action.

If, before the event roll, all hostiles on the map are slain, the combat ends. If no explorers are carrying an Ambull egg, then this stage is failed - they must restart the quest or start another quest. If at least one explorer is carrying an Ambull egg, resolve Stage 5: The Lure.

Stage 5 - Combat: The Lure

The explorers have succeeded thus far; against all odds, they have lured an Ambull into position and survived both the creature's attentions and the attacks of roaming heretic troops. After depositing the eggs in the sealed chamber through a series of chutes and grav-lifters, all that remains is to wait for the Ambull to bore through into the chamber. This will be easier said than done, as the presence of such a mighty creature has driven the forces of Chaos into a frenzy. After all, slaying such a beast is an act that may well earn the notice of Mallex, or, for the more fortunate amongst the heretics, the eyes of the Dark Gods themselves.

Set-up: Deploy the explorers in the hexes marked with the letter E.

Hostile Groups (map markers 1-4)

• 1: 2 Chaos Space Marines (SM), 1 Rogue Psyker (RP)
• 2: 4 Chaos Beastmen (CB), 4 Negavolt Cultists (NC)
• 3: 6 Traitor Guardsmen (TG)
• 4: The Ambull (A) - use the Ambull hostile reference card for the Ambull in this combat.

The Lure Rules

• Don't Quit On Me Now: The rules for Summon actions are not used in this combat.
• Wave after Wave: Re-roll reinforcement rolls if hostile reinforcements fail to arrive.
• The Eyes of the Gods are Upon Us!: Hostiles re-roll failed attack rolls that target the Ambull. If the Ambull is visible to a hostile, that hostile treats it as the nearest, only visible explorer until it is slain or an explorer is in an adjacent hex (and the Ambull is not also in an adjacent hex). In addition, if the Ambull is on the battlefield, hostile reinforcements must always be placed on the battlefield as close as possible to the Ambull. If the Ambull is not on the battlefield, deploy hostiles following the rules on page 13 of the Combat booklet.
• Reach the Eggs: When the Ambull activates, roll once on the behaviour table below instead of the behaviour table on the Ambull hostile reference card. Because of its single-minded determination to retrieve its eggs, the Ambull only takes one action each turn in this combat, rather than two - do not use the Hulking Creature rule on its hostile reference card. Similarly, ignore the Driven Off rule on that card - the Ambull will not abandon its eggs.

Finally, don't forget that the Ambull treats all other hostiles as explorers (following the rules on page 9 of The Dreaded Ambull booklet).

Ambull Behaviour Table (The Lure)

Roll	Hidden (no line of sight to an explorer)	Engaged (adjacent to a visible explorer)	Close (range to the closest visible explorer is 2 or 3 hexes)	Other (any other situation)
1-3	Burrow	Burrow	Burrow	Burrow
4-6	Burrow	Onslaught	Burrow	Burrow
7-9	Burrow	Onslaught	Burrow	Burrow
10-12	Burrow	Onslaught	Advance	Burrow
13-15	Burrow	Onslaught	Charge

Ambull Unique Actions (The Lure)

• Burrow: If it is not already in the hex in which it was deployed, place the Ambull in that hex. Place 1 grievous wound token on the tunnel hex.
• Swipe: Take the Swipe action from the Ambull hostile reference card.
• Berserk Smash: Take the Swipe action from the Ambull hostile reference card. Re-roll failed attack actions for that action.
• Rush: Move towards the closest explorer or hostile. Then take a Charge action.

The Lure Table

Roll	Event
1	Out of Luck: Do not make a destiny roll at the start of the next turn.
2-3	Blood-crazed Attack: The Ambull takes a Charge action. Once the Ambull has taken this action, if it has taken less than 8 points of damage, or there are no hostiles or explorers visible to it, place it in the hex in which it was deployed.
4-6	Savage Mauling: The Ambull takes an Enormous Mandibles and Claws weapon action against each hostile and explorer adjacent to it. If there are no explorers or hostiles adjacent to it, place 1 grievous wound counter on the tunnel hex.
7-10	Nightmare Behemoth: The Ambull takes an Enormous Mandibles and Claws weapon action against each hostile and explorer adjacent to it. If there are no explorers or hostiles adjacent to it, it takes a Charge action (treat hostiles as explorers when making this action).
11-14	Cometh the Hour: The leader picks an explorer. That explorer can take one weapon action available to them.
15-17	Inspiration: The leader picks an explorer. That explorer receives 1 inspiration point.

Victory

To pull off this stage of the plan, the Ambull must breach the sealed chamber. The sealed chamber is breached when six grievous wound counters have been placed on the tunnel hex. Once the sealed chamber has been breached, remove the Ambull from the battlefield - do not make reinforcement rolls for it. Then each explorer can also enter the chamber. To do this, they must end a Move action in the same hex the Ambull was deployed in - if they do, remove them from the battlefield (they are not out of action). Once each explorer that is not out of action has entered the sealed chamber in this way, the explorers have pulled off this stage of the plan and combat ends immediately. Now resolve Stage 6: The Ambull at Bay. If the Ambull is slain, or every explorer is taken out of action, then this stage is failed - they must restart the quest or start another quest.

Stage 6 - Combat: The Ambull at Bay

The explorers have achieved the nigh-impossible - they have manipulated the Ambull to enter the sealed chamber, and now their reward awaits. However, the Ambull will not stand any interruption as it gathers its eggs. It must be slain before the explorers can safely retrieve the Grayl Intulia and make their escape.

Set-up: Deploy the explorers in the hexes marked E.

Hostile Groups: The Ambull (A). Use the Ambull Enraged hostile reference card for the Ambull in this combat.

The Ambull at Bay Rules

• Impossible Foe: When the Ambull activates, use the behaviour table below instead of the behaviour table on the Ambull Enraged hostile reference card.

Ambull Behaviour Table (The Ambull at Bay)

Roll	Engaged (adjacent to a visible explorer)	Close (range to the closest visible explorer is 2 or 3 hexes)	Other (any other situation)
1-10	Onslaught	Advance	Charge
11-18	Swipe	Charge	Rush
19-20	Berserk Smash	Rush	Rush

Ambull Unique Actions (The Ambull at Bay)

• Swipe: As per the Swipe action on the Ambull Enraged hostile reference card.
• Berserk Smash: Take the Swipe action. Re-roll failed attack actions for that action.
• Rush: Move towards the closest explorer or hostile. Then take a Charge action.

The Ambull at Bay Table

Roll	Event
1	Out of Luck: Do not make a destiny roll at the start of the next turn.
2-3	Out of Time: The Ambull takes a Charge action.
4-6	Hurled Rubble: The explorer furthest from the Ambull suffers 1 grievous wound.
7-10	Nightmare Behemoth: If the Ambull has any wound counters next to it, remove 1 wound counter that is next to it. If it has no wound counters, but it does have a grievous wound counter next to it, instead remove 1 grievous wound counter.
11-14	Cometh the Hour: The leader chooses one explorer. That explorer can take one weapon action available to them.
15-17	Inspiration: The leader picks an explorer. That explorer receives 1 inspiration point.
18-19	I'll Bleed Later: The leader picks an explorer. Remove 1 wound counter from that explorer's character card.

Victory

To pull off this stage of the plan, the explorers must slay the Ambull - nothing else matters! If they do so, all that remains is for the explorers to fight past the Chaos forces in the area - resolve Stage 7: The Final Rush. If every explorer is taken out of action, then this stage is failed - they must restart the quest or start another quest.

Stage 7 - Combat: The Final Rush

The explorers scavenge a remarkable hoard of valuables from the bodies of the fallen explorers whose corpses litter the chamber. Amongst a large amount of usable items is the fabled Grayl Intulia. With the precious cargo safe in hand, the explorers must only deal with the thronging servants of Chaos before they can escape.

Set-up: Deploy the explorers in the hexes marked E.

Hostile Groups (map markers 1-3)

• 1: 2 Chaos Space Marines (SM), 2 Rogue Psykers (RP)
• 2: 4 Chaos Beastmen (CB), 4 Negavolt Cultists (NC)
• 3: 6 Traitor Guardsmen (TG)

The Final Rush Rules

• Only One Way Out: The rules for Summon actions are not used in this combat.

In order to determine what valuables were recovered from the sealed chamber, draw four random resource cards and give one to each explorer, in leader order.

Victory

To pull off this stage of the plan, all explorers that are not out of action must be in the maglev escape chamber. Upon completion of this quest, the explorers are given a reward by their mysterious sponsor - each explorer has three additional trading points to spend at the next spacecraft they visit.

Wrath of the Daemonkin

In this quest the explorers will face down an emergent threat within the Blackstone Fortress - Astroth Mythrak, a malevolent Master of Possession, and his daemonically empowered creations, the Greater Possessed. This quest also provides hostile reference cards allowing you to include these enemies in your future games.

Completing this quest will be a battle of faith and willpower as much as gunfire and blade-work. The horrendous consequences of Chaos worship are writ large, and the explorers will find themselves sorely pressed to deal with the towering Greater Possessed and the soul-dread that follows such creatures. In addition, Astroth Mythrak is a psyker far more potent than even the feared Rogue Psykers that populate the Blackstone Fortress.

To complete this quest, the explorers have but one objective - make their way deep into the lair of Astroth Mythrak and destroy him utterly, along with all of his nightmarish creations. This will be easier said than done, as Mythrak has surrounded himself with fanatically loyal minions - to some, the soulflaying process of daemonic possession is seen as a gift from the Dark Gods, and Mythrak has no qualms about playing on the greed of his subordinates if it allows him to create more horrific monsters that will serve his will.

The quest to slay Astroth Mythrak is a new quest which you can choose to play instead of starting a different quest. We recommend completing the quest for the hidden vault before starting this quest, as it will give you a good knowledge of the game, and the narrative running through it, before starting this new quest.

Starting the Quest to Slay Astroth Mythrak

In this expansion, the explorers journey to a series of hellish strongholds in an attempt to slay Astroth Mythrak, an evil and cunning Master of Possession. In order to do this, they must first disrupt his ability to create the monsters known as Greater Possessed. The explorers hope this will force the despotic sorcerer to confront them head-on, where they might slay him.

The quest to slay Astroth Mythrak is a standalone quest that can be attempted if the explorers are not currently on another quest, such as the quest for the hidden vault. Before starting an expedition, the explorers can choose to undertake the quest to slay Astroth Mythrak. If they do so, follow the rules presented here to set up an expedition for this quest. Once the explorers have started this quest, they may not start another until it has been completed. The quest to slay Astroth Mythrak uses the existing rules for those presented in the quest for the hidden vault on pages 12-13 of the Blackstone Fortress: Rules booklet, with additional rules for three strongholds, the hostiles within those strongholds and their access routes. There are only two changes, provided below.

Setting Up the Expedition (Changes to the Hidden Vault Set-up)

• During Step 4, to make the encounter deck, take the encounter cards for the Traitor Guardsmen, Chaos Beastmen, Chaos Space Marines and Negavolt Cultists and shuffle them. If you wish to use encounter cards from other expansions (such as the Dreaded Ambull) shuffle them together with these cards. This is the encounter deck for this quest - place it next to the combat track.
• During step 12, the leader reads the following aloud: 'The explorers alight from the maglev transport chamber in what they suspect to be the bowels of Mythrak's lair. The sound of screams in the distance, fast approaching, confirm that not only have they arrived, but that they have been detected...'

Failure

The quest to slay Astroth Mythrak ends in failure if fewer than four explorers are available at the start of an expedition. If this happens, the players have failed this quest and will have to restart this quest, or choose another quest.

Exploration Rounds

Each expedition in the quest to slay Astroth Mythrak is launched with the intention of conquering one of three strongholds which represent the lair he has built for himself within the Blackstone Fortress. These strongholds must be conquered in a specific order, as conquering one grants the explorers access to the next. The first is the Vestibule, the second is the Factorum Inferna, and the final one is the Nexus Malefica.

At the start of each expedition, the players must determine which destination they intend to travel to, dictated by the order above. The first stronghold they attempt to conquer must be the Vestibule. If the Vestibule has been conquered they can attempt to conquer the Factorum Inferna, and if the Factorum Inferna has been conquered they can attempt to conquer the Nexus Malefica. They cannot choose to try to conquer a stronghold that has already been conquered. Each stronghold has an access route as described on page 12 of the Precipice booklet. To create each access route, deal out the number of cards listed below from the challenge and combat decks face down, and then shuffle the dealt cards together and place them face down.

• Vestibule: the access route consists of two combat and three challenge cards. The explorers reach the stronghold after the fifth exploration card has been resolved - turn to the Vestibule.
• Factorum Inferna: the access route consists of three combat cards and three challenge cards. The explorers reach the deeps after the sixth exploration card has been resolved - turn to the Factorum Inferna.
• Nexus Malefica: the access route consists of four combat cards and four challenge cards. The explorers reach the catacombs after the eighth exploration card has been resolved - turn to the Nexus Malefica.

The Strongholds

The strongholds take the form of three combat encounters, each with their own unique rules and theme. If the explorers reach one of the strongholds during an expedition, it will require additional rules to set up. Each of the destinations has a set of rules that will affect how the combat is fought. Make sure to read all of the rules for a destination carefully before you start the combat, as they will often change how hostiles or explorers are set up for that combat.

The instructions for each destination will tell you what the explorers need to do to conquer that area, and what rewards you will receive. If all of the explorers are taken out of action before this happens, the expedition ends in failure and no rewards are received.

Ending an Expedition

Instead of the rules for ending an expedition found on page 11 of the Rules booklet, an expedition comes to an end if any of the following occur:

1. At the end of a combat, all of the explorers are out of action.
2. An explorer dies in the recovery step.
3. In the exploration step, all of the players agree to end the expedition instead of drawing an exploration card.
4. The target stronghold is conquered.

Pausing the Quest or an Expedition

Pausing the quest to slay Astroth Mythrak follows the same rules as on page 7 of the Precipice booklet.

After the Quest

Once this quest is completed, the threat presented by the Greater Possessed and Mythrak's former cabal is greatly diminished but far from over. Greater Possessed, though rare, do roam the darkened corridors of the Blackstone Fortress, as do Masters of Possession. If you wish to increase the challenge of your games with these fearsome hostiles, follow the rules presented here.

• When you draw an encounter card to generate a hostile group, if it contains any Rogue Psykers, the leader can roll the Blackstone dice. If the result is a 15+, replace one Rogue Psyker from that hostile group with one Master of Possession (see the Master of Possession card below).
• When you draw an encounter card to generate a hostile group, if it contains any Chaos Space Marines, the leader can roll the Blackstone dice. If the result is a 15+, replace up to two Chaos Space Marines from that hostile group with an equal number of Greater Possessed (see the Greater Possessed card below).

Stronghold: The Vestibule

The Vestibule is the first obstacle that the explorers must overcome if they are to defeat Mythrak and cast him from the Blackstone Fortress. A madhouse of the damned, it is a hellish place where the Master of Possession's victims wait to be summoned deeper into his lair. They have been led to believe that infinite power will be theirs for the taking should they survive the trials that await them within, but none know the truth - all their path leads to is a ritual knife and an eternity of damnation. These screaming lunatics have little thought but to please Mythrak through bloodshed, hoping that he will notice them and raise them up through his malefic sorcery. Though the majority of these petitioners are faithless Traitor Guardsmen and fanatical Chaos Cultists, some of Mallex's Chaos Space Marines have been lured here, dissatisfied with his rule and desperate to earn the gifts of the Dark Gods, no matter the price. Watching over them all is the vicious guardian that bars access to Mythrak's domain, a creature swollen with unholy might.

Hostile Groups (map markers 1-4)

• 1: 7 Traitor Guardsmen (TG)
• 2: 7 Traitor Guardsmen (TG)
• 3: 1 Cultist Firebrand (CF), 7 Cultists (C)
• 4: 2 Chaos Space Marines (SM), 1 Greater Possessed (GP)

Stronghold Rules

• Fanatical Petitioners: Subtract 1 (to a minimum of 1) from the result of reinforcements rolls made for hostile groups 1, 2 and 3.
• The Watcher: Place 1 Greater Possessed in the hex marked GP. It automatically takes the Hold action until any explorers have entered any of the hexes marked X or have line of sight to it - from that point, make behaviour rolls for it as normal.

Event Table - The Vestibule

Roll	Event
1	All Is Dust: Each explorer loses 1 inspiration point, to a minimum of 0.
2-3	Unfulfilled Destiny: Do not make a destiny roll at the start of the next turn.
4-6	Not Dead Yet: The leader picks one hostile that was slain during the combat and has not returned to the battlefield, and then deploy them as close to an explorer as possible.
7-10	Desperate Petitioner: The hostile player (or the leader, if there is no hostile player) picks one Cultist that is on the battlefield and activates that Cultist.
11-14	Investigating the Noise: The hostile player (or the leader, if there is no hostile player) picks one Chaos Space Marine that was slain during the combat, and then deploys them as close to a portal as possible.
15-17	Inspiration: The leader picks an explorer. That explorer receives 1 inspiration point.
18-19

Conquering the Vestibule: If all the explorers that are not out of action are on the maglev transport escape chamber, then the explorers conquer the Vestibule and return to Precipice. When choosing their next destination, they can choose to launch an assault on the Factorum Inferna.

Stronghold: The Factorum Inferna

A profane place of worship, the Factorum Inferna is lit by a dull red glow and haunted by the screams of the slain. Here is where the minions of Mythrak perform the necessary rituals and sacrifices to conjure forth daemons from the warp. These warp entities are trapped, tortured and bound in rune-marked cages to await the attentions of Mythrak himself. The Master of Possession will commit the greatest of all blasphemies by forcing or cajoling each creature into a body of flesh and blood, either with or against the wishes of the owner. While he prepares himself for these ceremonies, Mythrak's Chaos Space Marines oversee the works that go on in the Factorum, and many of his creations roam the halls like predatory watchdogs, hunting down interlopers. As the explorers draw near, these predators sniff the air and unleash a mighty howl, rushing towards them. The explorers must face down the horrors of this place and destroy the binding cages in order to strike at the source of Mythrak's dark power.

Hostile Groups (map markers 1-4)

• 1: 7 Traitor Guardsmen (TG), 1 Chaos Space Marine (SM)
• 2: 7 Traitor Guardsmen (TG), 1 Chaos Space Marine (SM)
• 3: 1 Cultist Firebrand (CF), 7 Cultists (C)
• 4: 2 Greater Possessed (GP), 2 Rogue Psykers (RP)

Stronghold Rules

• The Rune-wrought Cages: The obstructed hexes marked on the combat map represent the rune-wrought cages. A rune-wrought cage can be targeted with weapon actions as if it were a hostile with a Wounds characteristic of 8. Once a rune-wrought cage has suffered 8 points of damage it is destroyed - remove the hex that represents the cage from the battlefield. The rune-wrought cages do not activate, nor are they part of a hostile group.
• A Hidden Path: The Summon (4+) action cannot be taken until the rune-wrought cages have been destroyed. Once the last rune-wrought cage has been destroyed, randomly pick one portal by assigning each a number between 1 and 5 and rolling an activation dice, re-rolling results of 6. Remove all portals from the battlefield except the one that corresponded to the number rolled.

Event Table - The Factorum Inferna

Roll	Event
1	All Is Dust: Each explorer loses 1 inspiration point, to a minimum of 0.
2-3	Unfulfilled Destiny: Do not make a destiny roll at the start of the next turn.
4-6	Not Dead Yet: The leader picks one hostile that was slain during the combat and has not returned to the battlefield, and then deploy them as close to an explorer as possible.
7-10	Psychic Horror: One explorer chosen by the hostile player suffers a wound.
11-14	Unleashed Hunters: The hostile player (or the leader, if there is no hostile player) picks one Greater Possessed that was slain during the combat, and then deploys them as close to a portal as possible, unless there are no portals, in which case this result has no effect.
15-17	Inspiration: The leader picks an explorer. That explorer receives 1 inspiration point.
18-19	Heroic Effort: The leader picks an explorer that is out of action. Deploy the explorer in the same hex as another explorer or as close to another explorer as possible, and then make a vitality roll for them. If no explorers are out of action, the leader picks an explorer. Make a vitality roll for that explorer.

Conquering the Factorum Inferna: If all the explorers that are not out of action are on the maglev transport escape chamber, then the explorers conquer the Factorum Inferna and return to Precipice. When choosing their next destination, they can choose to launch an assault on the Nexus Malefica.

Stronghold: The Nexus Malefica

Upon his arrival at the Blackstone Fortress, Astroth Mythrak made every effort to corrupt and defile segments of the ancient station. In doing so, he discovered the polarising effect the energies of the warp could have upon the material of the fortress, and this learning enabled him to create the Nexus Malefica at the heart of his domain. A conjunction of channelled Chaos energy, the Nexus Malefica allows Astroth Mythrak to access a great well of psychic force. He uses this malefic energy to empower his Possessed minions, and to create more of these vile creatures. This is a process fraught with hazards, and despite his best efforts the Greater Possessed are still few in number. These elite shock troops are usually more than sufficient to keep his private chambers free of nuisances. Now, however, as the explorers assault his final fortress, Mythrak is forced to deal with matters himself, and prepares to unleash as many of his foul creations as possible.

Hostile Groups (map markers 1-4)

• 1: 2 Chaos Space Marines (SM)
• 2: 2 Rogue Psykers (RP), 1 Cultist Firebrand (CF)
• 3: 2 Greater Possessed (GP)
• 4: 1 Master of Possession (MP) - Astroth Mythrak

Stronghold Rules

• Astroth Mythrak: The Master of Possession on this map is Astroth Mythrak. Treat him as having a Wounds characteristic of 13 instead of 10, and do not make reinforcement rolls for hostile group 4.
• The Nexus Malefica: While Astroth Mythrak does not have line of sight to an explorer, he will only take the Rites of Possession action. In addition, when Astroth Mythrak is activated, he takes three actions, one after the other. Roll on the behaviour table for his first action, and then take it. Then roll on the behaviour table again for his second action, and then take it. Then roll on the behaviour table again for his third action, and then take it.

Event Table - The Nexus Malefica

Roll	Event
1	All Is Dust: Each explorer loses 1 inspiration point, to a minimum of 0.
2-3	Unfulfilled Destiny: Do not make a destiny roll at the start of the next turn.
4-6	Not Dead Yet: The leader picks one hostile that was slain during the combat and has not returned to the battlefield, and then deploy them as close to an explorer as possible.
7-10	Tainted Aura: One explorer chosen by the hostile player (or the leader if there is no hostile player) suffers a wound. Then the hostile player rolls a die. On a critical success, the hostile player chooses a different explorer, or the same explorer if there is only one explorer not out of action - that explorer suffers a wound.
11-14	Fiendish Resilience: The hostile player (or the leader, if there is no hostile player) picks one Greater Possessed that was slain during the combat, and then deploys them as close to an explorer as possible.
15-17	Inspiration: The leader picks an explorer. That explorer receives 1 inspiration point.

Conquering the Nexus Malefica: If Astroth Mythrak has been slain, and all the explorers that are not out of action are on the maglev transport escape chamber, then the explorers conquer the Nexus Malefica and return to Precipice having triumphed over Mythrak and his Greater Possessed. Upon completion of this quest, the explorers are given a reward when they return to Precipice - each explorer has three additional trading points to spend at the next spacecraft they visit.

Astroth Mythrak (Lore)

None but Astroth Mythrak know why he came to the Blackstone Fortress, or how he found his way to the ancient station. The denizens of Precipice first became aware of a sinister new presence amongst the forces of Chaos in the Blackstone Fortress when they encountered his creations - monstrous Chaos Space Marines wracked with daemonic power. Precipice's data traders have tracked down cryptic hints that offer potential explanations for the Master of Possession's appearance. Some suspect he is acting as the hand of the warlord Abaddon and has been sent to judge Mallex's fealty to the Despoiler, or to assert the master of the Black Legion's command. Others believe Mythrak serves only his own ends, and hopes to supplant Mallex as preeminent master of the heretical forces in the fortress. Certainly, there is no evidence the two champions are working towards the same ends. It is no easy task to find the fortress or gain access to its tessellating halls, so the Master of Possession's presence cannot be coincidence.

Mythrak represents a dire threat to those who brave the fortress' chambers - he presides over a dark laboratory wherein he performs the profane ceremonies of binding that channel daemonic spirits into hosts of living flesh, imbuing his chosen victims with warp-born power. The Greater Possessed are the most fearsome products of his dark art, and represent a threat unlike any other in the Blackstone Fortress. Destroying Mythrak and his unholy stronghold is essential if the explorers are to continue plumbing the depths of the Blackstone Fortress.

Master of Possession (Hostile Reference Card)

"The warp rises."

• Move: 2
• Wounds: 10
• Size: Huge
• Weapon Actions: Force Staves and Bolt Pistol - Range 1: blue pentagon; Range 2-3: purple triangle; Range 4+: grey square.

Special Rules

• Daemonkin: Roll the Blackstone dice each time a wound or grievous wound is suffered by a Master of Possession. On a 17+, the wound or grievous wound is negated.
• Master Psyker: When a Master of Possession is activated, he takes two actions, one after the other. Roll on the behaviour table for his first action, and then take it. Then roll on the behaviour table again for his second action, and then take it.

Behaviour Table

Roll	Hidden (no line of sight to an explorer)	In Cover (from cover, to all visible explorers)	Engaged (adjacent to a visible explorer)	Close (range to closest visible explorer is 2 or 3 hexes)	Other (any other situation)
1-3	Disrupt	Onslaught	Onslaught	Onslaught	Onslaught
4-6	Disrupt	Onslaught	Onslaught	Onslaught	Onslaught
7-9	Disrupt	Onslaught	Onslaught	Onslaught	Onslaught
10-12	Disrupt	Onslaught	Onslaught

Unique Actions

• Disrupt: One unspent activation or destiny dice chosen by the hostile player (or the leader, if there is no hostile player) is discarded and cannot be spent this turn. If no unspent activation or destiny dice are available, one explorer chosen by the hostile player suffers a wound.
• Rites of Possession: One unspent activation or destiny dice chosen by the hostile player (or the leader, if there is no hostile player) is discarded and cannot be spent this turn. If no unspent activation or destiny dice are available, one explorer chosen by the hostile player suffers a grievous wound.
• Warpfire Braziers: All adjacent explorers suffer 1 grievous wound.

Greater Possessed (Hostile Reference Card)

"I... will... devour... you!"

• Move: 3
• Wounds: 12
• Size: Huge
• Weapon Actions: Daemonic Mutations - Range 1: two blue pentagons; Range 2-3: N/A; Range 4+: N/A.

Special Rules

• Daemonkin: Roll the Blackstone dice each time a wound or grievous wound is suffered by a Greater Possessed. On a 17+, the wound or grievous wound is negated.

Behaviour Table

Roll	Hidden (no line of sight to an explorer)	Engaged (adjacent to a visible explorer)	Close (range to the closest visible explorer is 2 or 3 hexes)	Other (any other situation)
1	Warp Surge	Onslaught	Warp Surge	Warp Surge
2-18	Charge	Onslaught	Charge	Charge
19-20	Rush	Fury	Charge	Rush

Unique Actions

• Warp Surge: Remove a wound counter from the Greater Possessed. If the Greater Possessed does not have a wound counter, treat this result as a Charge result instead.
• Rush: Move towards the closest explorer. Then take a Charge action.
• Fury: Take the Onslaught action. Re-roll failed attack rolls for that action.