Favoured of the Gods III : The Wizard's Tower

The Favoured of the Gods is a series of linked scenarios, pitching rival chaos champions into bloody combat. Each champion is striving to impress the chaos gods on the battlefield, hoping to earn favour in their eyes. If the champions fight well they will be rewarded, but failure in battle may result in punishment from the gods. 

The third scenario is fought over two games, each army's sorceror aiming to defeat a wizard in his tower, claiming a magical artefact if he is successful.  The 2500 point Chaos army contains 3 characters, the champion from scenario 1, the sorceror from scenario 2 and an army standard bearer. Each of these characters carries any magic items/chaos gifts gained (or lost!) in the previous battles. The enemy army is chosen by opponent. The game is played on a 6x4 table with a wizard tower in the centre and roughly six other pieces of terrain. In addition, three markers should be evenly spaced around the tower, about 12 inches from it.

Wizard. A wizard lives in the tower, he is placed on the top floor and never moves from this position. He is a level 1 wizard but knows all the spells from a randomly determined deck (we chose from fire, shadow, metal and death). Each magic phase he is controlled by the player who's turn it is. He can attempt to channel the winds of magic as normal. He can cast one spell per turn, randomly chosen by rolling a d6. The controlling player then decides if he wants the wizard to cast the spell, using dice from the casting pool (and the wizard's channeled dice if he gained one). The usual rules for casting spells from a building apply.

Terrain rules. The wizard has magical traps and enchantments in place to protect his domain. Around the tower are 3 markers, which represent magically concealed terrain. When a unit gets to within 3 inches of a marker, the terrain is revealed. Randomly determine the type of terrain and any effects it has on the triggering unit. In addition, the tower is magically sealed and can only be entered by single characters. 

End of Game. The chaos sorceror is aiming to impress the chaos gods. He can do this in two ways. If the chaos army wins the game (using victory points as normal) the sorceror may be able to advance a level. Calculate the margin of victory and divide by 100, rounding up. The sorceror must then roll equal to or less than this number to gain a level. For example, if the margin of victory is 237 points, dividing by 100 gives 3 (2.37 rounded up), so the sorceror would have to roll 3 or less to advance a level. A roll of 1 is an automatic success, a roll of 6 automatically fails. 

If the chaos army manages to get a character into the wizard's tower then he can fight the wizard. If the wizard is slain, the chaos sorceror may ransack the tower at the end of the game. Roll a d6 to determine what he finds:- 

1 - the wizard's revenge, a magical trap causes d3 wounds on the sorceror!

2 - nothing is found

3 - Channeling Staff

4 - Earthing Rod

5 - Power Scroll

6 - choose any arcane item up to a value of 50 points from the main rulebook or the chaos army book

If any chaos character loses all his wounds during the battle he is removed as a casualty in the usual manner. At the end of the game his fate is decided by the roll of a d6:-

1 - dead!

2 - turned to spawn

3 - lose a randomly determined gift/magic item

4+ - no long term effect, but miss the next game in the campaign

Favoured of the Gods II : The Sorceror Apprentices

The Favoured of the Gods is a series of linked scenarios, pitching rival chaos champions into bloody combat. Each champion is striving to impress the chaos gods on the battlefield, hoping to earn favour in their eyes. If the champions fight well they will be rewarded, but failure in battle may result in punishment from the gods. 

The second scenario is fought over two games, each army's sorceror hoping to prove himself against an army other than Warriors. The Chaos army is to be led by a level 2 sorceror, who may take a mark of chaos and the usual 50 points of magic items (these must be from the chaos book, not the main rulebook). He leads a 1600 point army, which may include special and rare choices, but see the will of the beasts rule below. Enemy army to be chosen by opponent, with no lord characters allowed, just one rare choice. The game is played on a 4x4 table with as many rocky features as possible, 3 being special terrain as detailed below. There should be at least 8 inches space around each rocky area to allow troops movement.

Will of the Beasts. Any non-mortal special or rare choices may be included in the chaos army, the sorceror uses his foul magics to bind them to his will. However, at the start of each turn, roll for each unit that is not in combat/fleeing. On the roll of a 1 for special choices, or the roll of a 1 or 2 for rare choices, the sorceror temporarily loses control of the unit. Roll a further d6:-

1 the beasts turn on their new master, attacking the nearest friendly unit if possible
2, 3 the beasts become confused, doing nothing for this turn
4,5 the beasts are subject to stupidity (if they are already subject to stupidity, treat this as a roll of 1)
6 the gods intervene, the sorceror may control the unit as normal

Terrain rules. Nominate 3 of the terrain pieces as special terrain:- one is a set of arcane ruins and one is a magic circle as per the main rulebook, the third piece is an altar of chaos. For the altar of chaos, each chaos turn roll a die to see which diety is in the ascendant: - 1 none, 2 Slaanesh, 3 Nurgle, 4 Khorne, 5 Tzeentch, 6 all of them. Any units with the ascendant mark gain +1 on all to hit dice rolls for this turn. Any sorcerors with the ascendant mark gain d3 magic dice and +1 on all magic rolls.

End of Game. The game ends at the whim of the gods! From the end of turn 4 onwards, roll a d6 and add it to the turn number, if the total is 10 or more the game ends immediately. Thus, a roll of 6 will end the game on turn 4, a roll of 5 or 6 will end the game on turn 5, etc. Obviously the game ends sooner  if the sorceror and/or his army is destroyed. Victory is determined in the usual way, with an additional 10 victory points for each unsaved wound caused by the sorceror in the game. He also gains 10 points for each spell he casts. Once the  victory points are added up, the sorceror's fate is decided.

If the sorceror wins by more than 500 victory points, he gains the favour of the gods. He becomes a level 3 Sorceror Lord and may make an Eye of the Gods roll, adjusting it by +/- 1 if he wishes.

If the sorceror wins by between 100 and 500 victory points, he remains unaffected and may continue to the next game. Any Eye of the Gods rolled during the game are carried forward to the next game.

If the scores are within 100 victory points, the game is a draw and the sorceror gains no special reward. Any Eye of the Gods rolled during the game are lost on the dice roll of 1.

If the sorceror loses by between 100 and 500 victory points, he attracts the wrath of the gods for his failure. Any Eye of the Gods rolled during the game are lost on the dice roll of a 1 or 2. Also, the sorceror is reduced to level 1 on the d6 roll of 1.

If the sorceror loses by more than 500 victory points, he is turned to spawn.

Favoured of the Gods I : Clash of Champions

The Favoured of the Gods is a series of linked scenarios, pitching rival chaos champions into bloody combat. Each champion is striving to impress the chaos gods on the battlefield, hoping to earn favour in their eyes. If the champions fight well they will be rewarded, but failure in battle may result in punishment from the gods. 

The first scenario is a battle of around 1500 points fought on a heavily wooded 4 x 4 table, which represents a chaos forest. There should be a minimum of 8 woods, with paths (gaps) of about 6 inches between them, to allow some movement of troops. The two armies are each led by an exalted hero armed only with a hand weapon and shield, no magic items are allowed in this game, they have to be earned in battle! Additionally, troops should be marauders, warhounds and chaos warriors only, the champions do not yet have the renown to attract ogres, trolls or the like.

Searching for items. If  an exalted hero enters a wood, and if there are no enemies in the wood, he can search. Toss a coin, tails means nothing is found. Heads means there is some adventure to be resolved. Roll a d6 to determine the guardian of the forest:-

1.  troll
2.  minotaur
3.  chaos ogre champion
4.  chaos ogre
5.  chaos forsaken
6.  the gods are kind, there is no guardian

Now the champion must fight the creature, as a challenge. The fight is concluded immediately, so if several turns of combat are required they are resolved consecutively, until one of the combatants is dead or has fled. If the champion is victorious, he can claim his prize as he loots the lair of the beast. Roll a d6 again:-

1.  the gods are cruel, no magic items are found
2.  Whip of Subversion
3.  Glaive of Putrefaction
4.  Helm of Many Eyes
5.  Collar of Khorne
6.  the champion is truly blessed and may choose 1 of the above items, plus he makes a roll on the Eye of the Gods table

The exalted hero can search as many forests as he is able to in the game, subject to his army surviving the battle. However, he may only claim 50 points  of items maximum, once this total is reached he must join the battle at the nearest available combat. Also, each forest can only be searched once per game.

Other special rules. The exalted hero must challenge any unit champion he encounters in combat and gains an Eye of the Gods roll if he wins.

End of Game. The game ends after 8 turns, or sooner  if the champion and/or his army is destroyed. Victory is determined in the usual way, with an additional 100 victory points added for each magic item claimed. Each champion should also add 10 victory points for each unsaved wound they cause in the game. Once the  victory points are added up, the champion's fate is decided. 

If the scores are within 100 victory points, the game is a draw and both champions retire intact but with no special reward. Any items found/rewards gained are carried over to the next game.

If the difference in scores is more than 500 victory points, the loser is turned to spawn. The victor makes one roll on the Eye of the Gods table and he may choose to adjust his Eye roll by + or - 1.

If the score difference is between 100 and 500 victory points, both champions retain their magic items for the next game. Any Eye of the Gods rewards gained by the loser are removed on a roll of 1 or 2.