NCE Community Edition

[Anthony]

Note this ruleset is based on the original Necromunda rules first released in 1995 (or more accurately the Living Rulebook edition).


This topic serves as a place to keep updated on the development of the Community Edition fan rules. There's download links, update news, proposed rule changes and you're welcome to post minor suggestions and queries. Larger suggestions and discussions should be made in a new topic instead of posting it in here so the wider community can respond to it and it makes later topic searching much easier.



Downloads
Necromunda: Community Edition
Outlanders: Community Edition
Latest version: 2018 edition
You can find a log of all previous rule changes here.



Latest News
As you can read here I'll be taking a break from NCE duties for the foreseeable future.



FAQ
So just what is this CE rulebook anyway?
The NCE started as a personal project to compile the house rules we used in our campaign into a rulebook that we could print off. After making it public some people showed an interest in using it themselves and so I began updating it based on their feedback. The OCE was compiled much later to fully incorporate the original Outlander rules as part of the NCE.

What are its aims?
To better balance the various weapons, skills, gangs, etc, to clarify ambiguities, patch up rule holes, as well as minor tweaks to improve general gameplay. There's also a few new toys to play with too.

When does it get updated?
It used to be updated in irregular intervals, but now it's going to be updated annually at the end of each year.

Can I edit out changes I don't like?
Yes, the PDFs are unprotected and can be freely edited so you're welcome to change it to suite your group's preferences. The NCE also uses the official Necromunda Online Rulebook as a template so it's easier to selectively use pages. Note there seems to be an issue with editing the NCE using Adobe Acrobat as discussed here.

Are you going to add more gangs, expansions, etc?
Nope, the aim is more to just provide a balanced core rule base that players can then add to themselves in whatever ways they prefer.

 

[GuessRange]

Just a quick thought. Going over the latest version of NCE I was constantly flicking between the lists of updated details, the old NCE and the new NCE just to make sure.

At the moment everything that has been altered from the LRB(ORB?) is coloured. Would it be possible to draw a line in the sand so to speak and make it all black, and set it at a 'version' number. Then any generally smaller adjustments that are made could be coloured to indicate the changes to wording etc?

 

[jimjimjimmyjim]

I agree with this thought, I have often had rules disputes between ppl in my campaign simply because my opponent has an older rule book than I do.

It might be nice to have a clear version number

 

[rourke]

Can I ask about the reasoning behind removing the overwatch clause from the pinning rules?
Its removal seems to be unnecessarily harsh on models that get hit in overwatch, forcing them to miss not only the current turn but their following turn as well.

I know you said in another thread that you felt the -1 to hit on overwatch made the situation unlikely but I have to disagree, a high bs model can usually cope with the negative modifier and take an enemy model out of the game for effectively 2 turns.

I would suggest reinstating the overwatch clause in the pinning rules.

(also, thanks for all your hard work Anthony, love the CE!)

 

[jimjimjimmyjim]

I haven't gotten yet thru this new book. Mainly because I have alot of new players and I don't wanna confuse them with new rules.

I must of overlooked the over watch rules but if this is what happens I have to say its over the top...

Tho like he said. Great work on the NCE

 

[Blood Donor]

Would constantly allowing the previous version of the NCE to be downloaded alongside the newest version allow for the red text that has strikethrough to be removed from the pages and create more room or is there no need for the extra space it may provide?


EDIT: In a completed state, would the Event Cards ever grace the last pages of the NCE with dotted lines around them to promote cutting them out and using them or are they too much their own entity?

 

[Anthony]

Well the strikethough text isn't version specific, it's just an official rule that's been removed instead of being changed or replaced. And yeah the Event Cards are their own separate entity really so I won't be adding it in.

Would it be possible to draw a line in the sand so to speak and make it all black, and set it at a 'version' number.

The update is dated on the front cover which somewhat serves as a version number. Having all changes in red text is extremely useful for players new to the NCE so I'd rather not change that and every rule change is listed in the updatelog. I do sometimes change non-rule wording but that's only either because there's some sort of typo or due to layout issues like trying to fit in additional rules, either way the rule shouldn't change.

Can I ask about the reasoning behind removing the overwatch clause from the pinning rules?

I don't think there's much of a problem with pinning when overwatch is used conventionally (i.e. a fighter can't see an enemy or the enemy is too difficult to hit so sets up on overwatch hoping for a better shot), since there are ways for the opponnent to mitigate against it and he's potentially wasting a turn. I do agree though there is a specific issue with high BS looking to exploit it by waiting to shoot at the very start of the opponent's turn thus effectively pinning for two turns, but the -1 to-hit means you can't use it as a widespread tactic since you need a pretty good BS otherwise the risk isn't worth it.

The problem with having a clause just for overwatch is that it's pretty unintuitive to have a situation where a fighter gets shot and auto-recovers from pinning, while the fighter next to him suffers a hit from any other means yet remains pinned. An alternative would be to say fighters always recover pinning at the end of their turn, but then you lose the ability to use pinning as a punishment which can be pretty handy.

So I do agree there is still a specific issue where high BS fighters can abuse the pinning/overwatch rules, but currently I can't see a decent simple solution so in the mean time I'd prefer to leave the official rules in place and just rely on players not being jerks.

 

[rourke]

I see what you mean about the other sources of pinning still causing longer pinning.
One possible alternative would be to change the wording of pinning to read along the lines of "if a model is pinned at the end of their movement phase they will recover from pinning in the recovery phase"

To me this seems reasonable, if a model is pinned in the movement phase, either by overwatch or falling, then their movement is cut short and they cannot shoot or fight, effectively missing a turn.
If a model is pinned in their shooting phase through weapon overheat and the like then they have already had a chance to move fully and also shoot so they should miss the following turn.

This way both models would miss one turn of action and prevent overwatch becoming too powerful.

 

[Anthony]

Yeah that would be another option, but i think these sorts of rules are always going to throw up oddities. For example, a fighter could become pinned at the very end of his move, so why wouldn't he be pinned while a fighter who didn't move and whose weapon explodes is pinned when fluff-wise they take place in the same time-frame? But as I mentioned, I think the regular pinning rules for overwatch are okay so a solution to the specific beardy problem would ideally only affect that issue as I just don't think it's a cheesy tactic that's common enough to warrant chopping up the general pinning rules.

 

[jimjimjimmyjim]

I wrote a query in another thread I started called bottle out, if you wish you can read it there.

From this question tho I have to ask.

In the event that 2 or more rules occur at the same time, is it up to the owning player whose turn it is to decide which rule occurs before the next rule occurs or do they apl take place at the same time?

 

[obar]

Here is a link to the thread mentioned above http://www.yakromunda.com/forums/index. ... icseen#new

 

[jimjimjimmyjim]

^ Thanks for that

 

[Anthony]

In the event that 2 or more rules occur at the same time, is it up to the owning player whose turn it is to decide which rule occurs before the next rule occurs or do they apl take place at the same time?

It would be up to the players to work out for themselves.

 

[jimjimjimmyjim]

Hmmmm I had hoped you would have said yes and just mentioned a small line of rules at the start of the NCE to say the owning player decides the order... As this is not the first time I have played a game like this where something similar has come up. The only difference was back then I played the LRB, but I thought the NCE would work to ask difficult questions like this to better improve the rule book in a collaborative work from the community...

Ok I guess that would have to do.

 

[KillingTime]

A current discussion on the Autogun that may be of interest.
http://www.yakromunda.com/forums/http:/ ... ic.php?t=2

 

[Gorkamunda]

http://www.yakromunda.com/forums/http:/ ... ic.php?t=0

A couple of questions raised in this thread. Mainly point 2 & 3. They're not exactly huge issues, but I thought I'd leave it up to you to decide if they should be clarified in upcoming revisions, or if one should just leave it up to house ruling.

 

[Anthony]

2) Well the rule is "down at the end of the game", afaik there's no stipulation of whether he needs to be on the table or not - so in this instance he would still suffer a serious injury on 4+. I guess there's a question of do fighters off-table still roll on the injury table in the recovery phase (so they stand a chance of recovering to a flesh wound thus avoiding a serious injury), but I'm inclined to leave that up to the players to decide.

3) Well by the book I don't believe it's allowed since technically off-board doesn't count as "cover". But yeah I guess it's interesting in that WFB/40k allow fleeing off table so I'm not adverse to the idea. I'd need to see what the community here thinks before making a change but I can't imagine it makes much difference. Maybe something like if the fighter can't reach cover but can reach the edge of the table then he flees off the table - though can't imagine it would do his gang rep much good.

A current discussion on the Autogun that may be of interest.
http://www.yakromunda.com/forums/http:/ ... ic.php?t=2

Yeah the autogun vs lasgun crops up often and I do agree the current solution isn't perfect, but I don't believe the +2 is a better alternative. Ultimately the basic weapon usage depends a lot on the amount/type of terrain and playing styles so I'm more prepared to just leave it up to the players to figure out what works best for their group - though of course if a better alternative comes along...

 

[KillingTime]

Yeah the autogun vs lasgun crops up often and I do agree the current solution isn't perfect, but I don't believe the +2 is a better alternative. Ultimately the basic weapon usage depends a lot on the amount/type of terrain and playing styles so I'm prepared to just leave it up to the players to figure out what works best for their group.

I wasn't at all wedded to the +2 idea, and many other ideas were discussed.
Removing the -1 overwatch penalty is the one my group are currently play testing...

 

[LuckGod]

I would imagine removing the lasguns -1 save mod would work. Its the only S3 weapon with a save mod to my knowledge

 

[Anthony]

Had a spot of free time so got in a quick update. In the case of the Rescue stuff since there wasn't much of a consensus I thought I'd just go down the simplest route of treating it pretty much exactly like a Raid. I know there are more exciting ways of playing it but it doesn't seem people like the scenario much anyway so figured I'd just try and provide a simple rule base for you to embellish as you wish.


- The Bottle Roll: Fighters that voluntarily leave the fight by moving off a table edge (e.g. attackers in a raid), no longer count as down/OOA for purposes of the Bottle roll.
- Exploding Weapons: Save Modifier is also reduced by -1 if applicable.
- Berserker Chip: Clarify it can only be used once per game.
- Captured: Clarify a rescue must also be refused before being sold to guilders.
- Rescue: Decision to rescue must be made before rolling on the Scenario Table, also reworded to emphasise 'refusal'. Clarify a captive is 'rescued' when cut free. Clarify captives can still use bionics when freed. The game now ends once all captives and attackers are either down, OOA or left the table (instead of ending when just the captives leave the table).