“I worship the gods, and by their favour, I am worshipped in turn.”
–Havastien the Beautiful

In February, we announced the upcoming release of The Tome of Excess , a sinfully indulgent supplement for Black Crusade . This powerful tribute to Slaanesh introduces four new Heretic Archetypes, along with cruel weapons, rules for empowering minions, new Daemon Engines, and more to amplify the rapacious hordes of the Dark Prince. While rules for expanded interactions and social combat allow players of all alignments to seduce their foes, players also gain new ways to use their growing Infamy, plus new dark rituals to curse and entrap enemies. Discover secrets of the Screaming Vortex, such as the Demons of Contrition, the xenos guardians of the Forbidden Portal, Malignia’s deadly jungles, and more. And in the included adventure, Heretics must best a Pirate Prince of the Ragged Helix in their bid to launch their own Black Crusade!

Now, with the release of The Tome of Excess about a week away, we’re pleased to present a preview from contributing writer Tim Cox. Of all the servants of Chaos, it is perhaps those dedicated to Slaanesh who are most likely to surround themselves with a court of dedicated servants, whether simply to feed the Heretic’s ego, or to aid him in pursuing the debauched pleasures to be found in the Screaming Vortex. As a disciple of the Prince of Excess draws closer to perfection, it is only proper that lesser creatures flock to him, latching themselves to his rising star. Today, Tim discusses Slaanesh’s Minions and their place in The Tome of Excess .

Tim Cox on Minions of Chaos

One of my favourite things about Black Crusade is how different it is from other Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay games, which is reinforced with unique mechanics such as Corruption and Infamy. The unique option for players to take Minions of Chaos stands out for me as a signature of the unique themes of Black Crusade , so when I was offered the chance to expand on the core Minion rules, all I could do was laugh maniacally!

Adherents of Slaanesh have a particular tendency to attract followers, either through sheer personal magnetism or deliberate measures to obtain them, so Minions are a natural fit for The Tome of Excess . The rules for creating Minions in the Black Crusade core rulebook allow for a huge degree of freedom in creating Minions. When starting this project, I knew I wanted to expand players’ options even further, not just in what sort of Minions are possible, but how they are created.

The Tome of Excess introduces both new abilities for Minions and new Talents for Heretics that enhance their Minions. I am particularly excited about two new varieties of Minion—Horde Minions and Superior Minions. Right from the outset, I knew I wanted to give players an option for representing truly numerous followers, such as a cult. The existing rules for Hordes provide a method for a player to command vast numbers of followers without bogging him down in book keeping. As most Black Crusade players know, Hordes possess a Magnitude rather than Wounds value, which is an abstract representation of how much damage it can take. A Horde Minion’s Magnitude is based on the Heretic’s Infamy value, so as he grows in reputation and power, so does his Horde of followers. This represents anything from additional recruits, to the individuals improving through experience, to dark blessings.

While Horde Minions represent numerous, individually weak followers, Superior Minions are quite the opposite. Superior Minions are powerful servants and, unlike other Minions, they can gain and spend experience points to advance, just like a player character. In this way, a Superior Minion increases in power along with the controlling Heretic, and can be a valuable asset even at the highest levels of play. Of course, where Chaos is concerned, nothing is ever simple or safe, and having a Superior Minion entails certain responsibilities and risks that may prove detrimental to a careless or unlucky Heretic.

I think players will also really enjoy the new Talents available to Heretics. These have a number of effects, such as increasing the maximum number of Minions a Heretic can have. A particularly wicked Talent allows Heretics to bend NPCs to their will, transforming them into Minions!

I’m really looking forward to hearing what sorts of interesting new Minions players come up with, and how they fit into the stories of the Screaming Vortex.

Thanks, Tim! Download an except from The Tome of Excess (pdf, 6.4 MB) to learn even more about minions, then prepare yourself; The Tome of Excess arrives on store shelves next week!