Update Underhive Tools Development

[MusingWarboss]

I agree with @Stoof and @ClockworkOrange here that if required, a thread listing all available Necromunda tools (pros and cons), their development status, which books have been partially/fully implemented etc. could be a very useful addition for those who need more than YakTribe is currently available to offer.

Most of the posts in this thread, from about post #41 onwards should probably be moved to the Underhive Tools Development thread as they’re not relevant to new member logins and more pertinent to that discussion.

I can see why Stoof got at you @LeperColony as your reply to a new member login was to immediately suggest other things.

This site is no longer being updated. There are still admins who do eventually approve people, but at this point Yaktribe's functionality for Necromunda is obsolete.

You’ve edited that bit out of your last post (I read it) where you suggested it was in reply to a “I need X but can’t find it” post.

I don’t use Munda Manager or Gyrinx (I really don’t need more accounts and more logins) so I can’t comment on their usefulness or not.

I can see having a quick browse that MM has its code listed on GitHub (under some licence) and seems to be pretty well supported via Patreon, buymeacoffee etc.

Gyrinx also seems to be open-source and code accessible on GitHub (again under some licence) and they too have finance options.

Both are team efforts, so are more resilient to any individual developer fatigue. Neither will help if GW cease&desist you. I know that a fair few well intentioned projects recently have disappeared because of GW legal.

I also remember Malo referring to a request from GW to pull certain things from the site here. As far as I’m aware GW know of YakTribe but are willing to let us be as long as nothing infringes their active in development game business model.

For me YakTribe is this bit here, the community forum. I find it easier to use and far friendlier than Facebook. The tools here are a massive bonus to that and for classic ORB-NCE era are fully supported and the NCE rulebook is still in active management.

For new Necromunda the tools here support the N18+GotU era just fine, should anyone want to use that edition. It was decided that the 2020 updates onwards would be a separate thing (which is why you can choose between GotU or Book of versions of house gangs).

What really killed development here was Outcasts, which added not just a layer of complexity like Gene Smithing etc but a whole new development model was required to accommodate it in the code. Then Ash Wastes added vehicles and other stuff and so it will continue as GW designed this game to be played with paper and cards, where massive development shifts don’t matter and can easily be accommodated.

As far as I can see all the alternatives are finding out this stuff as they develop:

What has been the hardest gang format to implement so far?​

Tom: Anything that is unique and special to a gang has tended to be a faff — Squat ancestry, Goliath gene-smithing etc. Equipment that adds rules and skills too… but I’d like to think we’ve got pretty good support for them.

Outcasts are supported but only with workarounds, because they are so different to everything else — that hurdle is ahead of us.

MoW: We’re hoping to steadily improve support for Outcasts, but they are a unique headache, with so many oddities.

Both these quotes are from a Goonhammer interview with the Gyrinx developers from 21st July 2025. So they don’t seem much further along than YakTribe.

https://www.goonhammer.com/getting-to-know-gyrinx-a-new-set-of-necromunda-gang-and-campaign-tools/

Maybe MM has got past these issues in the last six months?

So while on the surface, MM has huge gaps and isn't really usable for much at the moment, the underlying foundational work is progressing and when it's all done, a huge amount of functionality will be added within a short order.

That’s from 22nd Jan 2025.

But honestly, without Malo making the original Necromunda tools, then actively trying to support modern Necromunda when it appeared I don’t think any of these alternatives would’ve appeared as they do. They all build off of the ideas and implementation Malo did - alone.

 

[Hobo86]

i have been testing mundamanager for a while now:
-(a dozen gangs)
-it's functional, some niche abilities still require workarounds (add the price for mutations, manually input abilities for some gene mods)
but it's possible to create most outcast gangs
-their team is very responsive via discord to correct errors and they have a Trello? where their design priorities are shared with the users.
usually smaller reported errors are fixed within the day, bigger issues are added to their Trello
-earlier, bigger changes required deleting and rebuilding characters but that seem be a thing of the past
-they recently added weaponstats when you buy new weapons so you can see the range, ...
-they base their information on the necroraw rules.
-so they advanced pretty fast

I would have to test Gyrinx to be fair.
-They did try to recruit 'users' on the mundamanager discord at some point.

I'll ask ashen quarter from mundamanager if they're willing to send a message/update

 

[Hobo86]

I sent a message on the mundamanager discord wether they're willing to share an update here.
perhaps it would be better to let this topic rest a little while (or to continue in the private chat if things remain unresolved)?

I mean... this is the internet... messages can get misinterpreted or misfrased pretty fast in er... the sump *

 

[MusingWarboss]

Just one last request (and I see this a lot on Facebook too which is why the earlier posts are triggering):

Please stop telling people YakTribe is dead.
Again symantics. Saying “This site is no longer being updated” is as good as saying it’s dead to people, especially new users, it gives that impression.
The site is fine, you’re referring to a very specific part of it [the modern Necromunda tools] but you’re giving the impression the whole thing is dead. It is not.

On other places, like Facebook I’ve seen no end of people promoting Munda Manager wherever YakTribe is mentioned - often using phrases like “abandoned” and it really seems like a push (deliberate or not) to sideline Yak and grab people over to your own gated system. (I must admit I’d never heard of it until all these posts just seem to appear recently)

This isn’t Geocities; it’s still an active forum with an active community, competitions, meet ups, still maintaining the NCE and yes, while not bleeding edge the tools here still work. Especially if you’re running an ORB-NCE game.

I know you said “Such a response does not need to include a disclaimer about the other ways Yaktribe is still effective” but you could find a more polite way of saying it that doesn’t imply the site is deserted.

Like:
“YakTribe’s tools support up to the Ash Wastes edition. If you need anything newer than that, there are alternatives that might suit you better, such as Gyrinx or Munda Manager”

 

[ClockworkOrange]

“I can commit to an effort to impart such lessons more from the perspective of "the tools are no longer updated" instead of "the site," though as I said for many they are synonymous and at any rate I am not confident I will be mindful enough to maintain that distinction in every reply”

MOD VOICE Please make every effort to observe our (my) wishes in every reply and avoid triggering words like dead, obsolete and moribund etc. I like how the new thread is worded…..

Time to put this particular chat on hold Yaks, there’s a new thread to discuss the alternatives.

Ta Clockwork