TEXT: MORE TALE$ FNOffi THE U]UDENHruE
  So juve, ya made it back then... where've ya been? I thought
  the Thing had got ya. What d'ya mean what thing? You had
  your head stuck in a gunk tank or somethin'? The Thing from
  the Sump. Stranger things may have happened in the Hive
  before, but not in my time. This blob just rose right up from the
  Sludge Sea an' started dissolvin' people away. And ain't
  nobody been able to stop it. But I've lived in this drain pipe for
  longer than I can remember, an' it's gonna take more than a
  walkin'slime bucket to move me. Hey kid, whot're ya looking
  at, you'ye gone all pale... Where're you goin'? Why the rush?
  Was it somethin' I said... What d'you mean it's behind me?
  Uhhh, now you mention it, maybe it is time for a moye. Never
  did like this scumsuckin' pipe anyhow. Wait for me kid... Papa
  Steve comin'through!
  It's not often that I get as much feedback from an article as I
  did from last month's Tales From the Sumo. Ever since I
  finished it people
  have 
  been
  coming up to me with
  suggestions for all kinds of
  weird and wonderful new
  scenarios based around their
  own favourite B-movies.
  This all got me so enthused
  that I just couldn't resist
  carrying on the theme in this
  month's articlel
  You might remember that last month, I mentioned some
  scenarios that I'd been playing which had gangs being hunted
  down by a Lictor. Well, this got me thinking about what other
  sorts of horrific and tenifying creatures might inhabit the
  deepest, darkest corners of the Underhive. The bestiary section
  of the Outlanders book gives a whole host of Hive denizens,
  but I wanted something more - an horrific mutant monstrosity,
  independently capable of taking on a whole gang, or even
  several gangs at once. Something like the horror from the film
  The Thing, where the creature is shot, axed, burned, and even
  savaged by dogs - but still keeps on coming. After bouncing a
  few ideas around the rest of the White Dwarf crew, a suitably
  nightmarish plot began to form...
  IT CAME FNORfr THE SUMP
  The first thing to do would be to create the monster itself. This
  could perhaps be a giant arachnid, like the beast from
  Tarantula, a foul reptilian that lived and bred deep in the
  sludge of the Sump like the Creature from the Black Lagoon,
  or maybe a swarm of smaller creatures that existed as a single
  colony, a plague of insectoids that coutd strip the flesh from a
  living target in seconds, like Them. Eventually, however, I
  decided that the monster would be an amorphous. tentacled
  blob. This seemed to me to be just the sort of thing rhat might
  live in the depths of the Sump, carrying irself further Uphive in
  its constant search for food.
  This time I wanted something more than just a one off
  scenario. I wanted something that would become more of an
  inherent part of the campaign. Again, after trying'out a couple
  ofideas, and throwing some suggestions around the rest ofthe
  crew, I'd worked out how this was going to happen.
  The Thing from the Sump is moving Uphive, and has started
  entering your players' territories. Each week, at the same time
  that you generate a random campaign event, roll randomly to
  see which gang's territory the Thing has moved into that week.
  You should also select one oftheir territories, which is the one
  that the Thing has turned up in. The gang cannot claim any
  
  Whenplaytesting this scenario, I used one of the Chaos
  Spawn models from the Studio Chaos aftny to represent
  the Thing. There are all sorts of bits and pieces that you
  can use ro model your own creatures like t.entacles 
  lrom
  Beasts of Nurgle, parts from Creat lJnclean Ones, or
  almost anything from a Lictor!
  income from this territory this week
  unless they manage to drive off the
  monster. If they fail to drive it off or
  kill it tusing the special scenario
  rules given below) then it will
  destroy that territory completely -
  cross it off the gang's list! If they
  drive it off, they may keep the
  teritory and use it normally from
  that point on. However, the Thing is
  still alive and still hungry, and in the
  next week it will move into another
  territory - or perhaps even back into
  the same one!
  Yffiffi S#ffiffi&tr€$@
  The Thing from the Sump is a
  unique 
  and 
  extremely 
  tough
  creature. Being largely made up of
  slime and gunk, it is completely
  immune to most normal weapons. The best you can hope for
  with a regular weapon is to drive it back slightly. The only way
  the gangs can think to destroy it is by submerging it in a
  particularly noxious toxichem pool. Fortunately for the gangs
  such pools are not uncommon amongst many parts of the
  Underhive. The only problem is how to push it in...
  This scenario should be played whenever a gang tries to fight
  off the Thing from the Sump, with the Arbitrator setting up the
  table and controlling the Thing. When setting up for this
  scenario you should place something to represent the toxichem
  pool that the gang is trying to drive the Thing in to. This should
  have several gantries and walkways overhanging it for the
  Thing to be blasted off - it's not so stupid that it will just walk
  into the pool ! The toxichem pool should be placed about in the
  middle of the gaming area. Anything falling into the toxichem
  is instantly kilied, and any equipment is lost permanently!
  Randomly select a table edge - the Thing will staft in the
  middle of this edge. The gang may then set up anywhere
  within 8" of the opposite table edge. The gangers have two
  objectives. Ideally, they would like to destroy the creature, so
  that they can claim the bounty on it, and not have to worry
  about it attacking any more of their tenitories. However, if
  they cannot destroy it, they at least want to drive it off out of
  their tenitory. The Thing is destroyed if any hit forces it back
  so that it cannot avoid falling into the toxichem. It is driven off
  if any hit forces it off a table edge and out ofthe playing area.
  See the following section for ruies on driving the Thing back
  with weapon hits. The gang must take bottle tests as normal
  when they have suffered 25Ea castalties, but must also test
  each time the Thing devours one of the gang.
  The Thing just wants to eat as many gangers as possible. It
  always takes the first tum in this scenario.
  E"SSffi 
  Yffitrruffi trffi#ffi Yffiffi ffiWffiffi
  A number of special rules apply to the Thing from the Sump,
  making it a unique adversary.
  Wounds: The Thing from the Sump starts with six Wounds. In
  fact its entire profile stafis at six. However, every time it
  suffers a Wound its entire profile gets reduced by one, so that
  the whole profile will always remain at the same level as the
  number of Wounds it has remaining.
  TheThing 
  6 
  6 
  6 
  6 
  6 
  6 
  6 
  6 
  6
  Regeneration: The Thing from the Sump can regenerate
  Wounds (and the rest of its profile) during the recovery phase.
  During each if its recovery phases, roll a dice for each Wound
  that the Thing currently has missing. On a ro11 of 4, 5, or 6, the
  Wound is regenerated. Remember that the rest of the profile
  will also regenerate at the same time. The Thing from the
  Sump will continue to regenerate even if reduced to zero
  Wounds. The only way it can be killed is by submerging it in
  the toxichem.
  Movement: The Thing from the Sump can neither run nor
  charge. It therefore always moves at its Movement
  characteristic speed. Note, however, that this will drop if the
  Thing suffers any wounds. The Thing may freely move over
  any obstacles without penalty, and may climb up or down
  walls as if they were ladders.
  Pinning: The Thing from the Sump cannot be pinned. Nor can
  it be taken man down, man out, or suffer flesh wounds. The
  only way to stop, or damage, it is by the methods described
  above. Also, it need never take agility tests to avoid falling off
  heishrs if hit.
  
  .,]
  Shooting: The Thing from the Sump may lash out with one
  tentacle for each of its Attacks. Note that this means that as it
  suffers wounds it will be able to throw out fewer tentacles each
  turn. Each tentacle has a range of 12". Roll to hit as normal.
  For each hit, pull the target 1 " closer to the Thing. If it is pulled
  into contact, then fight as normal in the hand-to-hand combat
  phase. These attacks can pull gang members off high levels.
  Any hit by a tentacle will cause that gang member to become
  pinned, even if it does not pull them into the Thing itself. The
  Thing has a 360' line of sight.
  Hand-to-hand combat: The
  Thing from the Sump cannot
  charge. 
  Instead, 
  it
  automatically fights a round of
  hand-to-hand combat against
  anything that it is in contact with during the hand-to-hand
  combat phase. However, both the Thing and its hand-to-hand
  opponents may move off freely in their movement phases -
  they are not locked in combat. Any gang member unfortunate
  enough to be absorbed by the Thing is lost permanently, along
  with all his weapons and equipment!
  Push-backs: Every time the Thing from the Sump suffers a hit
  (even if it can't damage it), from shooting or hand-to-hand
  combat, it is driven back 1 ". It is particularly susceptible to hits
  from flamer weapons, which drive it back 1D6" instead of just
  1". Move the model of the Thing directly away from the
  attacker. If this pushes it over the edge of a high level, then it
  will fall to the ground and suffer damage as normal.
  Feeding Frenzy: When the Thing from the Sump senses food
  nearby, it will sometimes go into an uncontrollable frenzy to
  get to it. Roll 1D6 at the start of each Thing turn. On a 1, 2, or
  3, it is controllable and may be played as the Arbitrator wishes.
  However, on a ro11 of 4,5, or 6, the Thing is affected by its
  Feeding Frenzy. It must move at full speed towards the nea.rest
  visible gang member, but will always select a target in the open
  over one in cover. The Thing will always lash with as many
  tentacles as possible at this one target. Note, however, that
  even when in a frenzy the Thing will not move into a toxichem
  pool voluntarily, and will try to move around it. The only way
  to force it into a toxichem pool is to blast it there!
  Leadership: The Thing never bottles out and is immune to all
  psychology. It is assumed to automatically pass any
  Leadership test it is required to make, and so its Leadership
  value is never actually used.
  IF THEY STJRV|I/E
  As the Thing stomps and slimes its way
  around the Hive, 
  bounty on its
  metaphorical head gets bigger and
  bigger. Every time the Thing is involved
  in a battle which it survives (whether it
  gets driven off or not) its bounty
  increases by the roll of a dice times ten.
  This amount is added to the income of
  whichever gang eventually manages to
  kill it.
  Experience is awarded to gang members
  fighting the Thing as follows:
  +D6 Survives. Each surviving gang
  fighter earns D6 experience points. Even
  fighters who are taken man down or man
  out receive experience for taking part.
  +D6 Driving 
  off the Thing. If the
  Thing is driven off, each surviving gang
  member gets a further D6 experience
  points, on top of the D6 for surviving.
  This bonus is also awarded if the Thins
  is killed.
  +10 Killing the Thing. If the Thing is
  killed, the gang member who blasted it
  into the toxichem pool gains 10
  experience poinfs.
  The last three members
  of 
  the 
  gang 
  are
  ambushed by the Thing,
  and those that can flee
  for their lives...
  
  il,.j -..:.].i li,:-:l ii;t',,j':.tl 
  :! ..:i:l = 
  :...
  During playtesting of this scenario one thing became clear -
  the Thing is tough! Most novice gangs got two or three gangers
  taken out without any chance of killing the Thing! For this
  reason you can allow more experienced gangs to come hunting
  for the creature. If a novice gang can find someone to fight the
  scenario for them, in exchange for cash or purely for the glory
  and bounty, then you may allow them to try and fight off the
  Thing instead of the appointed gang. Note that the territory
  under attack does not change, so if they fail to drive off or kill
  the Thing it is still the original gang that suffers the loss.
  Also during playtesting we played around with a few
  other ideas that you might like to ffy. One of the most
  dangerous was having the Thing split into several smaller
  Things if it got hit by a particularly high Strength
  weapon, such as a lascannon. These would then quickly
  regenerate into full-sized Things, which could each go
  off and attack other territories! Another idea was to have
  the Thing grow larger and tougher every time it
  consumed a gang member, with its profile permanently
  increasing by one for each victim devoured. Note that
  both these abilities make the Thing even more deadly, so
  should only be considered if you have a lot of very
  erperienced 
  gangs in your campaign.
  .'."..'i,"i;"ri:.:i, 
  -;=i,.....,,:,.','.- 
  .', :-.,: ,
  Of course, there's no reason why you have to make your
  monster B-movie scenarios the same as mine. There are all
  sorls of other creatures that you could use instead, and all sorts
  of different ways of incorporating them into your Necromunda
  campaigns. Adrian had a whole host of ideas for having a more
  sinister, hidden creature hunting gang members over the
  course of a campaign, which he's outlined below. You can take
  any of these ideas as a starting point for your own campaigns
  - just let your imagination run wild. Necromunda is the perfect
  setting to capture that sense of dark foreboding that is such an
  essential component of any B-movie, so make the most of itl
  Adrian: Steve and I were talking about the It Came
  From The Sump scenario and the conversation
  triggered off a whole load of ideas for altemative
  scenarios you could try based on other B-movies. My
  favourite idea was for a more sinister plot, with an
  unseen creature preying on gang members. The
  monster attack could be a random event, or organised
  by the Arbitrator. Every game there is an increasing
  chance of a single ganger being snatched and killed
  during any turn, with both gangs immediately bottling
  out when the killing happens. Perhaps the event is
  triggered when one of the gangs bottles out. The beast lashes out as the gang runs for it, enraged at the cowardice being
  displayed (how like a Khorne Bloodletter or a Spyrer to slay a coward, for example), cutting down a random gang member.
  Whichever way you do it, the beast's actions have no apparent pattern to them (at least to start with), in order to increase the
  tension. The creature doesn't have to be something you invent yourself - it could be a Genestealer, a Bloodletter, a Spyrer, a
  Psyker or even a mysterious plague of some kind!
  The deaths could increase in regularity as the campaign continues and the gangs become subject to psychological effects such
  as fear ot frenzy. Gangers are reduced to gibbering wrecks or transformed into blood-mad fiends desperate to uncover the beast
  responsible for the deaths. Suspicion is rife on all sides. Convinced that the other gangs are somehow involved in the attacks,
  fulI scale war breaks out between Houses. Fighting is fierce as gangers set upon gangers, but still the deaths go on. The level
  of fear amongst the gangs would become very real.
  fet another idea is for the Arbitrator to finally reveal the monster through clues left over the course of several games, or a
  single event during a normal game. A reward is posted for the death or capture of the beast, the gangs competing to track it
  down as quickly as possible. Maybe, as more and more games are played, gangs acquire clues, a glimpse of the beast, a
  footprint, anything that might give the gang an idea about the creature. The gang with the most clues earns the right to try to
  capture or kill the monster. In order to lure the creature out into the open a lone juve is used as bait, the rest of the gang either
  trapping it with web pistols or blasting it with a lascannon, dependant on how greedy they are or how desperate they are to see
  it dead!
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Warhammer/40k/Necromunda/02 Necromunda - 1st Edition (1995)/Senarios/it_came_from_the_sump.pdf