The Proving Grounds
Welcome to the Proving Grounds! Deep in the lightless depths of the Underhive lies a place where only the desperate or the foolish dare tread. Here, the air is poison, the ground unstable, and every shadow hides a new way to die. The Proving Grounds are a rite of passage for Juves with more ambition than sense.
In the Badzone, credits are as rare as an honest scummer. Instead, gangs claw through the rubble for scrap, trading rusted metal, scavenged tech, and dubious relics for whatever weapons and gear they can cobble together. Between rival ambushes, toxic storms, collapsing tunnels, and the whims of fate itself, survival is never guaranteed.
Starting Credits
Gangs have 1,000 credits available for their initial gang.
Underhive CampaignThe setting for this campaign is the Underhive.
IncomeAt the beginning of each campaign week generate credits according to the table below.
| Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 1D3x10 | 2D3x10 | 3D3x10 |
Additionally a Maximum of 30 credits may be earned/saved per week from post battle actions (fixer, savvy tader, etc.)
Campaign PhasesThe Campaign follows the three phase format:
| Phase | Length |
|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 2 Weeks |
| Downtime | 1 Week +250 Credits House List |
| Phase 2 | 2 Weeks |
| Downtime | 1 Week +250 Credits House List |
| Phase 3 | 2 Weeks |
Gang Creation Limits
During gang creation:
- You may recruit either:
- up to two Champions.
- One Brute and up to one Champion.
- One Vehicle and up to one Champion.
Restricted Items (0–2)
Restricted items include:
- Special Weapons (Apart from Long Rifle)
- Heavy Weapons
- Rak’gol Razor Gun, Warpstorm Bolter
- Any Pistol with a special weapon equivalent (e.g., Plasma, Web, Grav, Flamer, Melta)
- Any Close Combat Weapon with Esoteric or Paired, or where Strength modifier + AP + Damage totals more than 5
- Example: Chain Glaive (S +2, AP 2, D 2) totals 6 → Restricted
Controlled Items (0–3)
Generic
- Boltgun
- Combat Shotgun
- Arc Rifle
- Blasting Charge
- Demo Charge
- Incendiary Charge
- Power Weapons
- Long Rifle
Cawdor
- Cawdor Charger with Blunderbuss
- Cawdor Polearm/Blunderbuss
- Eviscerator
Enforcers
- Enforcer Shotgun
- Enforcer Boltgun
Squats
- Ironhead Boltgun
- Ironhead Bolt Pistol
Corpse Grinders
- Boning Sword
Downtime Replenishment
As your gang returns from the Badzone to re-arm and replace losses, their Patron gains greater trust in their abilities.
At each Downtime:
- You may purchase +1 Restricted Item and +2 Controlled Items beyond your previous limits.
- You may recruit one additional Champion or Brute.
The Aspirants
At the start of the campaign, each gang must recruit at least 2 Juves/Prospects.
- If your House list does not include a Juve option, you must instead hire Rookies:
- Cost the same as a Ganger.
- Have -1 Weapon Skill and -1 Ballistic Skill compared to a Ganger.
- Gain the Fast Learner special rule
- Change Gang Fighter (Ganger) to Gang Fighter (Juve)
Spyrer Gangs ignore this feature
Juve Experience Bonus
Whenever a Juve or Prospect Seriously Injures an enemy fighter, they gain +1 additional XP (in addition to any normal XP for the action).
Special Juve Advancement
After a Juve or Prospect takes part in a battle and earns any xp other than for simply participating, they may roll on the Special Juve Advancement Table
Juve Advancement Table
When a Juve gains an Advancement, roll a D6 and consult the table below:
- 1 – Gain D3 XP immediately.
- 2–3 – Gain a Random Skill from Agility, Brawn, Combat, Cunning, Ferocity, Savant, or Shooting (Randomly determine table) .
- 4–5 – Roll on the Scrappy Tricks Table (see below).
- 6 – Roll on the Rare Gifts Table (see below).
Re-roll any duplicates on the below tables
Scrappy Tricks Table- Always Ready – This fighter may come out of Recovery to fight, but begins the battle with a Flesh Wound.
- Tough – When Seriously Injured and not assisted, roll 2 Recovery dice and choose which to apply.
- Scavenger’s Nose – After each battle, if this fighter took part and survived, roll a D6; on a 4+, gain 1 scrap.
- Hive Rat – May re-roll Initiative tests to avoid falling or slipping hazards.
- Pack Runner – May make a free move at the start of the battle, before rolling for priority.
- Fearless Whelp – This fighter never makes Nerve tests when another fighter goes Out of Action.
- Lightning Reflexes – Gains the Lightning Reflexes skill.
- Powerful Arm – Double this fighter’s Strength when determining how far grenades can be thrown.
- Badzone-Born – This fighter is unaffected by the first Badzone Event that would affect them each battle (Roaming Horror Actions aren't Events).
- Bounce Shot – When throwing grenades, before rolling to hit, the Blast marker may be shifted up to 2", even out of line of sight.
- Strong Lungs – This fighter counts as being equipped with a respirator.
- Rat Keeper – Gains a Wasteland Giant Rat pet.
- Hive Runner – Halves all movement requirements when climbing (ladders cost 0.5", vertical surfaces 1").
- Crawl Master – Moves full distance when crawling.
- Reckless Charge – Roll 2D3 for Charge distance and choose the highest.
- Survivor – Roll twice on the Lasting Injury table and pick the result you prefer.
- Born in the Dark – This fighter ignores all penalties due to low visibility.
- Sneaky – May spend a Basic action to Hide, treat this fighter as if they were prone when working out ranged attacks against them.
- Lucky – Once per round, force an enemy to re-roll a single hit roll made against this fighter.
- Minor Psychic Awakening – This fighter may Deny the Witch as if they were a Psyker, they may also now learn psychic powers as if it were a primary skill.
- Hive’s Chosen – This fighter is never considered a valid target by Roaming Horrors unless they are the only viable target.
- Slippery – May move through terrain features less than 1" thick.
Scrap Economy
In the Proving Grounds, credits have no value. Scrap is the only currency that matters — twisted metal, scavenged tech, and ancient relics traded for whatever weapons and gear the gang can source.
Scrap Piles
Broken machinery, twisted metal, and half-buried relics of the hive’s forgotten past. Most of it is worthless junk — but every so often, a fighter strikes lucky.
- A fighter may search a Scrap Pile by taking a Search (Basic) action.
- Roll a D6: on a 5+, they uncover something useful and the gang earns 1 Scrap.
- Once successfully searched, a Scrap Pile is considered exhausted and cannot be searched again.
Searching for Scrap
A new post-battle action is available in this campaign searching for scrap for each fighter that searches roll a D6, on a 4+ your gang earns an extra scrap.
Trading in Scrap
Between battles, a gang may exchange scrap with local merchants in return for Loot Crates.
Loot Crates
- A Loot Crate is a sealed bundle of equipment, sourced from dubious sellers and scavengers.
- To request a Loot Crate, choose a broad weapon category such as Basic, Pistol, Special, Heavy, etc.
- Trade in 1–5 scrap for that crate. The more scrap you spend, the greater your chances of receiving rare or powerful gear.
- You may make as many trades as you wish, provided you have the scrap to pay for them.
The exact contents of a Loot Crate are determined in secret. Each crate is guaranteed to contain at least one item from the chosen category — this will always be the most valuable item in the crate — alongside any other goods the merchants choose to throw in.
Excess itemsItems recieved from loot boxes may exceed your Restricted item and Limited Item limits. However, these excess items do not increase your maximum allowance - you may not purchase additional Restricted or Controlled items at Downtime until you are below your limit again.
Making do with what's availableSometimes you have to make do with what's available, it can't be that complicated. Just point and shoot!
Vanilla Gangers and Juves may equip basic, pistol, and close combat weapons. Any custom fighters such as plague zombie do not gain this benefit as they were designed with these restrictions in mind.
Discord CommandsTo trade in scrap for a Loot Crate, use the following command:
!scrapbox [1-5] [category]
Where [1–5] is the amount of scrap you are spending, and [category] is your chosen loot category.
Available Categories:
- Basic
- Pistol
- Special
- Heavy
- CC (Close Combat)
- Grenades
- Wargear
- Armour
- Vehicle
Example:
!scrapbox 3 basic
This command will generate a Level 3 Loot Crate containing a Basic weapon as the primary item, plus any other gear that comes bundled with it.
Badzones
The Proving Grounds lie deep within the most hostile reaches of the Underhive — the Badzones.
These are regions abandoned by all but the most desperate souls, where the air itself is toxic and the ground shifts beneath your feet.
Here, ancient infrastructure groans in the dark, storms tear through ruined domes, and the echoes of long-dead industry whisper from the shadows.
Gangs venturing into the Badzones must contend with hazards as deadly as any rival.
Badzone Events
Each round, the Badzone threatens to change the battle in an instant - a collapsed walkway, a surge of electricity, or a swarm of hive creatures bursting from the shadows.
At the start of each round, draw from the Badzone Event Deck and resolve the effect immediately.
Some events are a single time effect, others persist for everyone on the board.
Badzone Environments
Each Badzone has its own environment, a set of persistent conditions that shape every battle fought within it.
From constant howling winds that drive bullets off course, to toxic mists that choke the lungs, to unstable gantries that collapse without warning — these environmental effects are always in play for the duration of a scenario.
Along with the scenario for the week, the Badzone Environment is determined and remains in effect until the scenario’s end.
Intermiitant Lighting
The power grind in this sector can be described as tempromental at best
At the start of each round, roll on the visability table:
| D6 | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Full Night Cycle: The Visibility (3") rule is in effect. |
| 2–3 | Near Night: The Visibility (6") rule is in effect. |
| 4–5 | Near Day: The Visibility (12") rule is in effect. |
| 6 | Full Day Cycle: The Visibility (24") rule is in effect. |
Falling Debris
Chunks of rockcrete tumble from the crumbling dome above, smashing into the battlefield below.
- At the end of each round, roll a D6 for every battlefield tile (12"x12" area).
- On a 4+, place a Small Blast marker in the centre of that tile and scatter it 2D6".
- Any fighter caught under the blast area suffers a Strength 3, AP–, Damage 1 hit.
- Any fighter caught under the centre hole of the blast instead suffers a Strength 6, AP–, Damage 2 hit.
Choking clouds
Billowing fogs of acrid smog drift across the battlefield, clinging to gantries and choking the lungs of the unwary.
- Unless equipped with wargear that mitigates smoke, Shooting attacks made at Long range suffer a -1 modifier to hit.
- Shooting attacks made from a fighter on a lower elevation than their target suffer an additional -1 modifier.
- Fighters without a respirator, and who are not standing on the battlefield floor, must make a Toughness test when they activate.
- If the test is failed, the fighter may only make a single action during that activation.
Lair of the Beast
A colossal hive-beast slumbers beneath this dome, its vast tentacles stirring restlessly in the dark. The ground quakes as it stirs, questing for prey bold — or foolish — enough to wake it.
-
After both crews have deployed (but before the first fighter activates), place four Beast’s Lair markers on the battlefield.
- Players take turns placing these, starting with the player who has Priority.
- Beast’s Lair markers must be placed at least 12" from each other and from any deployed fighter, and may not be placed in either deployment zone.
-
At the end of each round, each Beast’s Lair marker scatters D3" in a random direction.
-
When a fighter fires a non-silenced weapon, move all Beast’s Lair markers within 6" of that fighter directly towards them:
- If the weapon was not a Heavy weapon, move the lairs D3".
- If the weapon was a Heavy weapon, move the lairs D6" instead.
Horrors in the Dark
Things lurk in the badzone - nameless horrors hunting for any ganger foolish enough to stray too far from their crew.
- When a fighter is activated, if they are not within 8" of any other fighter (friend or foe), roll a D6 on the table below:
| D6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | The fighter suffers a Strength 6, AP -1, Damage 2 hit. If they are Seriously Injured as a result, they are dragged into the darkness and taken Out of Action. |
| 2–3 | A nightmarish creature emerges from the shadows. The fighter cannot make any actions this activation, as they are too busy driving the creature away. |
| 4–5 | The fighter hesitates at noises in the dark. They may only make one action this activation. |
| 6 | The lurking horror passes them by — the fighter may act normally. |
Labyrinth
Even by Underhive standards this dome is a maze — broken walkways, collapsed walls, and endless blind passages where fighters can become suddenly and terrifyingly alone.
- When a fighter activates and does not have line of sight to any other model (friend or foe), they must make an Intelligence check.
- If the check is failed, the fighter becomes lost. Their opponent immediately places them anywhere within 12" of their current position.
- The fighter may not be placed in impassable terrain, nor within 1" of another fighter, a Roaming Horror, or a Beast’s Lair marker.
- After this relocation is resolved, the fighter may complete their activation as normal.
Booby Traps
This section of the Badzone has been rigged to explode — tripwires, firebombs, and unstable charges buried in the rubble.
- The first time a fighter enters a large terrain feature (such as a building or ruin), roll a D6 and consult the table below:
| D6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | No Trap – Nothing happens. |
| 3 | Tripwire – The fighter is immediately Pinned and their activation ends. |
| 4 | Frag Trap – Place a Large Blast marker centred on the fighter. All fighters under the template suffer a Strength 3, AP–, Damage 1 hit with the Knockback trait.. |
| 5 | Incendiary Trap – Place a Large Blast marker centred on the fighter. All fighters under the template suffer a Strength 2, AP–2, Damage 1 hit with the Blaze trait. |
| 6 | Blasting Charge – Place a Large Blast marker centred on the fighter. All fighters under the template suffer a Strength 5, AP–1, Damage 2 hit. |
Fungal Sprawl
The dome has been overrun by choking growths of toxic fungi, their swollen pods releasing clouds of spores at the slightest disturbance. Few who breathe them in escape unchanged…
- At the start of the battle, each player places 3 Fungal Growth markers on the battlefield.
- These must be placed at least 3" from deployment zones and 6" from each other.
- Whenever a fighter moves within 2" of a Fungal Growth, they immediately suffer a hit from a weapon with the Gas trait.
- If the hit goes through, instead of rolling an injury dice, roll a D6 on the table below to determine the effect:
| D6 | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Broken - The fighter immediately becomes Broken. |
| 2 | Obscura Spores - The fighter is treated as being under the effects of Obscura. |
| 3 | Madness - The fighter is now subject to Insane condition. |
| 4–5 | Toxic - The fighter is immediately Seriously Injured. |
| 6 | Deadly - The fighter immediately goes Out of Action. |
Scenario List
The following scenarios are used for scheduled play during The Proving Grounds campaign. Plan your gang accordingly!