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Since the Warddex people have asked "what of the Pariah." Even as references to Blanks and Untouchables, variants of the Pariah gene, have proliferated through Imperial dexes, supporting Inquisitors and becoming Culexus Assassins respectively, the Necron Pariah has vanished. With the new focus on Psykers in 7e this seems like a bigger gap than ever. So, in the (ig)noble tradition of Fandexes, here's a fan-data slate for your consideration and comment. I hope you enjoy...
Fluff;
Spoiler:
Warriors of other races unfortunate enough to encounter Pariahs often recognize little difference between these rare abominations and more common Necron horrors. The rare sharp-eyed and thoughtful combatant might notice they are bulkier than the skeletal legions that surround them. However, no psyker will ever mistakes a Pariah for anything else. Crafted from a terrible symbiosis of Necron technology and human evolution, Pariahs radiate a sense of palpable menace and horror to those around them. Blotting out psychic emanations and infusing those nearby with the sense of their own mortality. Resembling artificial beings of soulless perfection, Pariahs embody the one of the unspeakable horrors of the Necron threat.
Pariahs are the grim harvest of seeds sown by twisted Crypteks billions of years ago. Desperate for a weapon against psychic races, including their ancient foes the Old Ones and their progeny, these cabals launched a grand experiment. Their crafted tools unable to achieve more than the faintest sense of the power of the Warp, they resorted to the strategies of their ancient foes; to grow rather than build their weapons. Identifying the genetic code that seemed to allow these beings access to the immaterium, a twist was devised to create beings utterly antithetical to otherworldly energies. For generations this aberration has spread, a set of recessive genes expressed infrequently. So it is that these misnamed Blanks have emerged across the galaxy from widely disparate origins.
Study of these beings is scarce among other races, the least powerful considered “soulless” abominations for the mistaken impression they lack a Warp connection. However, where races such as the nascent Necrontyr had virtually no connection to the warp, these beings’ aura is more akin to a black hole, yawning open and hungrily pulling. Psyker’s attempts to perceive them indirectly almost always fail; the thin strands of energy drawn in and shredded by the aura of these untouchables. Beyond mere “absence,” this drain can be perceived by even the least psychically sensitive individual. A feeling which creates an instinctive terror as it draws on their very life force. When directly viewed by beings attuned to psychic energies these yawning abysses horrify pure and damned alike.
The Necrons are not the only race to have found use for this ancient mutation. The Ordo Assasinorum has long sought these creatures out. Winnowing them down to the most effective to impress into service for the Imperium of Man destroying the taint of Xenos Psychers and Chaos alike. The Necrons have little interest in such refinement of their chosen tools. Instead, they gather and lobotomize them, wholly replacing their fore-brain with control circuitry, before invasively installing various cybernetic armor and upgrades. When needed in larger numbers, generation after generation will be grown in vast rows of ancient cloning vats before being modified and released onto the battlefield.
Voice of the Tomb While the minds of Pariahs that are captured by the Necron Crypteks are generally destroyed, keeping only the minimum functions necessary to generate their psychic shields, a few are given a far worse fate. Chosen for reasons known only to their new masters they are allowed to retain their higher brain function. Though, enduring the process of becoming a Pariah destroys most minds outright. The process of being flayed, vivisected, and dismembered before being remade with living metal and more arcane machines is more than most minds have the capacity to handle while conscious and capable of feeling.
While the initial dismantlement is typically done in utter silence, the Pariah's new master personally attends their reconstruction, beginning their indoctrination. The result is often fanatical loyalty even before the inevitable application of more direct influence and control, such as mindshackle scarabs. However, such shattered minds are generally unstable, producing a result little better than the shambling, lobotomized monstrosities these failures are inevitably converted to. A few, however, have their biological and psychic alienation from all living things sealed within the horrors of their transformation. These damned spirits, fully knowing that they have become trapped forever on the cusp between life and eternal undeath, become hateful of all life; a dark madness that provides the drive to prolong their tortured existence.
Those who create such servants are often so inhuman and arrogant as to feel interacting with mere mortals is beneath them. So these broken souls are used as mouthpieces and vengeful avatars by their ancient masters. It is this use as heralds and intermediaries that resulted in their becoming known as the Voice of the Tomb.
Datasheet;
Spoiler:
Necron Pariah Elite; 25 pts
WS 4, BS 4, S 4, T 4, W 1, I 2, A 1, LD 10, SV 3+
Unit Type Infantry
Unit Composition 1 Pariah
Special Rules Fear
Fearless
Feel No Pain
Preferred Enemy (Psykers, Demons)
Psychic Abomination: Psykers, friend or foe, within 12” of this model have -3 Leadership, do not generate any Warp Charge, and only harness Warp Charge points on a 6. This model can never be targeted or affected by psychic powers – other units that are hit by beam or nova powers, or by Witchfire powers that use templates, are hit/affected normally. Any blessing or malediction psychic powers affecting a unit immediately cease to be in effect if the unit moves within 12” of this model or visa versa.
Wargear Phase Glaive; Str +2, AP 2, Melee, 2 Hnd, Phasing Hits
Phasing Hits; On a successful To Wound roll of a 6 the target cannot roll an Invulnerable save.
Upgrades; May add up to 9 additional Pariahs at 25 points/model May replace Phase Glaive with a Rod of Covenant on all models in the unit 5 pts/model May add Gloom Prism to all models in the unit 5 pts/model May add Shadowloom to all models in the unit 5 pts/model May add Diffraction Matrix to all models in the unit 10 pts/model May add equipment from the Technoarcana list, but all models in the unit must be equipped identically.
May add Voice of the Tomb special rule to all models in the unit - 25 pts/model - Each model with the Voice of the Tomb special rule may individually choose to substitute their Phase Glaive with either a Staff of Light (free), a Rod of Covenant (5 points), or choose from the Melee Weapons list. They may also take weapons from the Ranged Weapons list individually.
Diffraction Matrix The diffraction matrix acts as a lens for the unearthly horror that is the bearer's soul.
All units with the Daemon or Psyker special rule (friend or foe) treat all terrain, including open ground, within 12" of this model as dangerous terrain, even if they are normally not affected by terrain. In addition, while in the area of effect of one or more Diffraction Matrices all Daemons suffer a -1 penalty to their invulnerable save. This is cumulative with any other modifiers to a Daemon's invulnerable save, but cannot make it worse than 6+.
Voice of the Tomb The result of lives of exile and loathing terminating in deaths of mind shattering torment, a Voice has been forged into an individual of eternal living steel where most Pariahs end up as simple shells. Thus, they have become a dark avatar worthy of taking a place as cupbearar and herald to the warriors and demigods of ancient dynasties.
This model is an Independent Character.
Formations;
Spoiler:
Dark Experiment
Composition:
0-1 Lords or Overlords
1-3 Crypteks
1-4 Units of Pariahs
Restrictions;
There may be no more units of Pariahs in this formation than there are Crypteks, Lords, and Overlords.
Special Rules;
Close the Warp; Any model within 12" of a Pariah from this formation gains an additional die on all attempts to Deny the Witch.
Thoughts, comments, etc welcome. The price is a best guess. I am aware that they had a ranged attack in the olden days, which I took away to focus them more in their intended niche as a hard counter to the Warp. They most resemble Lychguard, but are less capable in either the anti-vehicle or survivability configuration, and significantly more expensive. The phase glaive (a weapon whose technology has been returned from its exile in Imperial hands) and Preferred Enemy (Demon) are a nod to the fact that, while the Ruinous Powers were not the intended target, there should be some adverse effects to the warp-spawn that subsist on the same powers Psykers use to produce their effects.
Edit; modifications based on feedback.
Edit; Proofreading.
Edit; added options (see below)
This message was edited 9 times. Last update was at 2015/07/20 18:13:59
I love the idea of bringing these guys back. They weren't very good in the 3rd edition 'dex, but the idea of them was phenomenal. That said, these are very expensive for one wound models with T4 and just a 3+ save (and 5+ feel no pain). I'd also like to see their psychic abomination impose a -1 Inv save to Daemons, with maybe an extra -1 if they're in base contact.
Galef wrote: If you refuse to use rock, you will never beat scissors.
They are very expensive for how fragile they are, about twice the price of the closest comparable unit in the dex. I'm not really comfortable upping their survivability or damage output, either of which would put them on par or better than the 'dex dedicated melee units. I thought about adding a phase shifters, but I felt like I was just piling stuff on at that point.
In the end, I still have no earthly clue what to do for pricing with the laundry list of abilities they're carrying and decided to roll with the "rare and unusual" and jack up the price. Suggestions (with reasoning) for direction are welcome.
The psychic abomination ability is drawn from the Culexus Assasin from the Officio Assassinorum data slate and, even so, is pretty busy as is. I thought about adding another dedicated anti-daemon ability but, again, thought the laundry list was getting excessive and that's not, really, their point, just an nifty add on. Also remember that they have a 1/6 to completely ignore Inv.
I might add something more in the upgrades. This is one of the few units in the 'crons that seem like they'd be highly customized and modified, both because the innate powers would vary and because they're pretty mostly going to be custom retrofitted when captured.
Just as a note, as I said, I'm trying to keep the laundry list down. I have a draft where Pariahs were almost literally anti-psykers with mastery levels and a discipline that handed out various penalties to psykers and buffs to DtW. Then I realized that I was building complex Independent Characters when what I wanted was a "simple" low-count unit.
Automatically Appended Next Post: A second wound gives them more wounds than Lychguard which offends me for impractical (fluff) reasons. the price/survivability is obviously a problem, though.
considered the IC bit, but it felt... off. For one thing, it makes it a character- subject to receiving and issuing challenges which... no. On the other hand, it allows you to spread around a bunch of anti-psyker protected by units which seems like it would break really fast. Who cares that it's squishy when you stick it in the middle of a bunch of Lychguard that protect it? This way you can have ICs join it, but not the other way around.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Realized I was overlooking a point of Strength and Toughness on the Lychguard, in addition to the extra attack I was looking at. After looking around a bit more, I decided I preferred cheaper and fragile, slashed the price by 20 pts to 30/model (which may still be too high).
I also added a few optional upgrades for a cryptek to use in customizing his personal horror.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/05/28 17:14:47
Necrons Pariahs normally operate in squads composed of 4 to 10 of these monstrosities. Pariahs radiate a constant sense of palpable menace and horror to those around them, blotting out all psychic emanations and infusing those nearby with the sense of their own mortality. In this way, Pariahs embody the ultimate horror of the Necron threat to the galaxy. However, they possess one known weakness; they lack the powerful regenerative ability of true Necrons due to their human roots and still retain many of their fleshy human organs encased within their necrodermis shell, making them far more vulnerable to weapons fire than their immortal counterparts amongst the former Necrontyr.
Necron Pariahs 100 pts - 25pts per model, 250pts for a 10 man squad
WS 4, BS 4, S 5, T 5, W 2, I 2, A 2, LD 10, SV 2+
Unit Type
Infantry (Elite)
Unit Composition
4 Pariahs
Special Rules
Fear
Fearless
Feel No Pain
Preferred Enemy (Psykers, Demons)
Pariah Gene: Psykers, friend or foe, within 12” of this model have -3 Leadership, do not generate any Warp Charge, and only harness Warp Charge points on a 6. This model can never be targeted or affected by psychic powers – other units that are hit by beam or nova powers, or by Witchfire powers that use templates, are hit/affected normally. Any blessing or malediction psychic powers affecting a unit immediately cease to be in effect if the unit moves within 12” of this model or visa versa.
Also - Any Psykers or Demons that are Fearless will be affected by fear and must perform fear tests while within 12" of this model. - actually makes fear rules useful against the demons and psykers they'll come up against - mostly are fearless or have ATSKNF.
Wargear
Phase Glaive; Str 5, AP4, 24", Gauss - I've always understood this weapon to be a Warscythe with a gauss gun attached - Suggest adding shooting profile and armorbane
Phase Glaive; Str +2, AP 2, Melee, 2 Hnd, Phasing Hits, Armorbane
Phasing Hits; On a successful To Wound roll of a 6 the target cannot roll an Invulnerable save.
Upgrades;
May add up to 6 additional Pariahs at 25 points/model
May add Diffraction Matrix to the unit for 50 pts - suggest adding this a unit upgrade for a flat fee. a full squad as per the fluff with this addon would cost 300pts.
Diffraction Matrix
All units with the Daemon or Psycher special rule (friend or foe) treat all terrain, including open ground, within 12" of this model as dangerous terrain, even if they are normally not affected by terrain. In addition, while in the area of effect of one or more Diffraction Matrixes all Daemons suffer a -1 penalty to their invulnerable save. This is cumulative with any other modifiers to a Daemon's invulnerable save, but cannot make it worse than 6+.
- Suggest taking the rule from the Obelisk and forcing terrain checks. Most demons have some kind of move through cover feature.
These change make them the most expensive infantry unit in the codex but also makes them a strong anti psyker force and basically puts them on par with other elite infantry for their stat line. They have a 2+ save because they lack the mobility of the praetorians and can't get the 3++ like the litchguard can.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/05/28 18:53:32
Necrons Pariahs normally operate in squads composed of 4 to 10 of these monstrosities. Pariahs radiate a constant sense of palpable menace and horror to those around them, blotting out all psychic emanations and infusing those nearby with the sense of their own mortality. In this way, Pariahs embody the ultimate horror of the Necron threat to the galaxy. However, they possess one known weakness; they lack the powerful regenerative ability of true Necrons due to their human roots and still retain many of their fleshy human organs encased within their necrodermis shell, making them far more vulnerable to weapons fire than their immortal counterparts amongst the former Necrontyr.
Glad you like it. The bit you quote from the wiki is a combination of the 3e dex's flavor text and stats. I should incorporate more of that text. I'll probably look at that tomorrow.
I did make a deliberate decision to slash the 4-10 unit because the idea has always been that they're incredibly rare. I might up the max unit size to 10, but the idea of a lone techno-zombie shambling along being used as a psychic shield for their undying masters appeals.
Necron Pariahs 100 pts - 25pts per model, 250pts for a 10 man squad
WS 4, BS 4, S 5, T 5, W 2, I 2, A 2, LD 10, SV 2+
You probably want to check your price and stat line against the Lychguard. From that comparison the basic statline/price point is off.
There's a lot here that goes to separation of roles. I'll talk more about that at the bottom.
Also - Any Psykers or Demons that are Fearless will be affected by fear and must perform fear tests while within 12" of this model. - actually makes fear rules useful against the demons and psykers they'll come up against - mostly are fearless or have ATSKNF.
I seriously considered this and discarded it deciding fear is just there to make the "normals" quake. To keep a random unit of guard from being a hard counter to them. The daemons and psykers they're after should get punched in the mouth by the unit's "real" powers.
Naaris wrote: Wargear
Phase Glaive; Str 5, AP4, 24", Gauss - I've always understood this weapon to be a Warscythe with a gauss gun attached - Suggest adding shooting profile and armorbane
Phase Glaive; Str +2, AP 2, Melee, 2 Hnd, Phasing Hits, Armorbane
It was. I mentioned in the first post that I deliberately dropped the shooting profile to help keep a separation of roles, and this ties into that. I'll talk about it more below.That is also a reason I specifically dropped Armorbane in favor of Phasing hits; anti big unit buffs v anti-armor.
May add Diffraction Matrix to the unit for 50 pts - suggest adding this a unit upgrade for a flat fee. a full squad as per the fluff with this addon would cost 300pts.
Thinking about dropping the forced unity of equipment. On the other hand, the thought behind unity was forcing a choice between many weak anti-psykers and a few strong ones.
Diffraction Matrix
All units with the Daemon or Psycher special rule (friend or foe) treat all terrain, including open ground, within 12" of this model as dangerous terrain, even if they are normally not affected by terrain. In addition, while in the area of effect of one or more Diffraction Matrixes all Daemons suffer a -1 penalty to their invulnerable save. This is cumulative with any other modifiers to a Daemon's invulnerable save, but cannot make it worse than 6+.
- Suggest taking the rule from the Obelisk and forcing terrain checks. Most demons have some kind of move through cover feature.
These change make them the most expensive infantry unit in the codex but also makes them a strong anti psyker force and basically puts them on par with other elite infantry for their stat line. They have a 2+ save because they lack the mobility of the praetorians and can't get the 3++ like the litchguard can.
Actually, tied for most expensive. They can't get 3++, but they can get 4++... and I miss Semipiternal weave being an available upgrade. Might make that an available upgrade here because I can.
Now, here's the thing with a number of your suggestions; I don't want the unit to be "lychguard+anti-warp," "warrior+anti-warp," or "warrior+lychguard+anti-warp." Thus, stripping out things like the ranged attack and higher levels of native CC power. The more I look at this, the more I think that's part of why Pariahs went away; to make room for a pure-Necron CC unit and let the Immortal breath as the warrior+ upgrade. The fact they took an awesome fluff (and much needed anti-psiker) seems to have been lost. Add to that Necrons tend to have specific tools that can be used in additional ways (knife, hammer, wrench) rather than utility kits (sphess mahrine)... Thus, I'm trying to take that key, central role and play hard to that.
Anyway, I'm glad people like and are interested in my efforts. And I really hope that GW does an official dataslate for these guys.
I like what you've done here. I too sorely miss the Pariahs, and hae since repuposed the models first as Cyrpteks and now as Lychguard.
The only issue I have wih your dataslate is the upgrades
May add Gloom Prism to all models in the unit 5 pts/model
May add Shadowloom to all models in the unit 5 pts/model
May add Diffraction Matrix to all models in the unit 10 pts/model
May add equipment from the Technoarcana list, but all models in the unit must be equipped identically.
There are just too many of them. Other than the Necron Characters, Necrons tend to have squat for upgrades, other than weapon swaps.
Also, as you have it currently written, there is nothing stoping them from taking ALL of them.
There are just too many of them. Other than the Necron Characters, Necrons tend to have squat for upgrades, other than weapon swaps.
They are characters (thus base unit size 1), I just don't want them to have the character rules, like challenges. A unit of more than 1 is the equivalent of a Royal Court. It's weird, but sometimes simply abusing the rules is the most elegant solution.
Spoiler:
adamsouza wrote: I like what you've done here. I too sorely miss the Pariahs, and hae since repuposed the models first as Cyrpteks and now as Lychguard.
So, for GW to return pariahs at this point they'd pretty much have to do a new model, which makes me wonder what that would look like now.
The only issue I have wih your dataslate is the upgrades
...
There are just too many of them. Other than the Necron Characters, Necrons tend to have squat for upgrades, other than weapon swaps.
The fact that even the highest ranking necrons have no options is something that's driving me crazy. Warriors should have no upgrades. Immortals and Lychguard have their 2 weapon profiles (and Immortals move back to Elite status)... I think Deathmarks should have an alternate profile (Being Elites) and Flayers should have their single profile but be Troops. But, most importantly, as the truly sentient components of an ancient race known for hyper-tech and madness, I think that the non-character HQ's should absolutely proliferate with choices. They are unique individuals with unearthly resources and technology at their disposal. The thing that the Warddex did right (even if I hated the execution) was make Crypteks, rather than often unnecessary apothecaries, techno-wizards with strange and varied powers.
Don't get me wrong; I prefer my necrons as faceless masses of killing machines (a method that's become less effective with the advent of Necron vehicles beyond the monolith and its consequent nerfing),
but if we're going to get Tomb Kings in Space fluff, might as well get the ability to make our Necromancer-kings unique and interesting individuals. And, if we're going to do that, something as custom and unusual as Pariahs should show the variety (and personality) of the Cryptek making them or the Tomb Lord wielding them. Also, the key component (the living pariahs themselves) should be pretty variable given that they're grown randomly rather than built. Overall, it's sort of a "hand made v mass produced" thing.
None of which really rebuts your point. But, then, I'm not sure you're talking about a balance thing so much as a flavor thing, so...
If you really think it breaks something (including suspension of disbelief) I'll look at it. But, as I said, the fact that even the faces of the faceless masses are so invariable when their fluff has moved to reflect the extreme personalities of their leadership and how those variations (should) show up bugs me.
Also, as you have it currently written, there is nothing stoping them from taking ALL of them.
This is true, and potentially a balance thing. My thought is that the thing that "prevents" taking all of them at the moment is unified equipment versus mass survivability. Basically, you can pick up more models at listed cost or you can pick up abilities which make each model more expensive. That's because up-powering them raises the cost of adding more models to the unit, while their abilities don't really stack with each other. So, it comes down to which is more valuable, a 4++ or an additional model (+1 wound/attack and slightly expanded range)? The goal there being that you can have one Untouchable or a group of Blanks for similar points without having to break out different base rules.
Ironically, the intra-unit mono-build is also a nod to your point, above, regarding necron invariability, so...
edit; shoved a long, windy, long-winded post into a spoiler tag in favor of the pithier, to the point response above.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/05/29 04:15:43
edited again-
- added a modification of the 3e fluff text into this fluff block (end of the first paragraph).
- nudged price down again from 30 -> 25
- increased max unit size from 5 -> 10
- added an option to switch weapons for the Rod of Covenant as it is the best existing codex representation of the old flayer/warscythe combi-weapon, which taken straight just seems too much.
When I was going through making sure I had an full understanding of the Pariahs in the existing lore I stumbled across the story of Thomas Macabee. In many ways it inspired my decisions regarding the development of these Pariahs; people robbed of their individualism, custom made rather than mass produced. What I wasn't sure about for quite a while was how to include the phenomenon of a Pariah that still retained some warped version of their own mind. Early drafts had two different Pariah stat blocks; one very stripped down with few if any options that came in groups of 4-10 (Codex Pariahs), and an independent character with a proliferation of options (Macabee Pariahs). Slowly the two converged on the axis of the idea that Pariahs, because of their relative rareness and organic components, are essentially custom constructs built by Crypteks who are individuals. Thus they became the non-character characters I presented, above. What was still missing, though, was a way to represent Macabee. That warped, inhuman remnant of sanity and sentience... that deathless, disquieting Voice of the Tomb.
Well the problem from a design standpoint is that Pariahs were split up into Lychguard and Triarch Praetorians, which both have the same stateline as a Pariah and both have the same function as a close combat unit. Especially Praetorians, who functionally are jump Pariahs.
What is the Pariah supposed to do that other units cannot, or do poorly? Can they outfight Lychguard or Praetorians? If their uniqueness is as anti-psyker unit, maybe maybe just let LGs and TPs buy Adamatium Will or some version of Shadow in the Warp.
Alcibiades wrote: Well the problem from a design standpoint is that Pariahs were split up into Lychguard and Triarch Praetorians, which both have the same stateline as a Pariah and both have the same function as a close combat unit. Especially Praetorians, who functionally are jump Pariahs.
What is the Pariah supposed to do that other units cannot, or do poorly? Can they outfight Lychguard or Praetorians? If their uniqueness is as anti-psyker unit, maybe maybe just let LGs and TPs buy Adamatium Will or some version of Shadow in the Warp.
You're absolutely right that the combat function of Pariahs was split into the Lychguard and Praetorians. I covered this above. It's also why I've gone out of my way to keep the Pariah statline lower than either of those units. They function as a close combat unit, but it is not their design.
In that same post I outline the Pariah's unique function is anti-psyker, as you surmise. It's what their unique function (per fluff) was always supposed to be. However, simply adding Adamantium Will doesn't begin to provide support worth the name. Any Psyker with a Psychic Hood provides better anti-psi protection. Even Shadow in the Warp is strongly lacking, given the changes to Psykers brought by 7th ed. This is why, as I said earlier, I leaned on the Culexus assassins which share fluff with the Pariahs.
I'm all for bringing these guys back somehow, but 25pts for T4 and a 3+ save? Eh.
Also, I disagree that they should have an option for Rods of Covenant. Those are only really the Praetorians weapons, if I recall. Having a psychic hybrid experiment have access to them, when Necrons are all about status and rank, is a bit much.
krodarklorr wrote: I'm all for bringing these guys back somehow, but 25pts for T4 and a 3+ save? Eh.
eh?
krodarklorr wrote: Also, I disagree that they should have an option for Rods of Covenant. Those are only really the Praetorians weapons, if I recall. Having a psychic hybrid experiment have access to them, when Necrons are all about status and rank, is a bit much.
It bugs me too but as I was trying to find a way to give them back their 3e weapons (warscythes+flayers) which didn't give them the most powerful weapon in the codex, and kept creating something that looked so much like the Rod of Covenant that, much like the non-character character bit, I figured I'd just call a spade a spade.
Just give them Warscythes with Gauss Flayers built in instead of Gauss Blasters, maybe?
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
How about any option to put them into a transport? Might have to specifically word the allowance based on the normal wording for Necron transports and what they can carry.
I also like the idea of the 4-10 size, limiting the unit options to just one of the many and going with a fixed cost for the Diffraction Matrix.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those ... moments will be lost in time, like tears...in rain
Furyou Miko wrote:Just give them Warscythes with Gauss Flayers built in instead of Gauss Blasters, maybe?
That would be the only 24" melee/ranged weapon in the codex, and would do that on top of being the Lychguard primary weapon, which is better than the Pretorian melee weapon. In short, that's the opposite of not trying to make it compete with the dedicated melee units.
ah64pilot5 wrote:How about any option to put them into a transport? Might have to specifically word the allowance based on the normal wording for Necron transports and what they can carry.
That's a good call. The night scythe as a dedicated transport is easy. I'm split about whether they need to ride in the bus. Making them characters would do this /and/ resolve some of the weirdness adamsouza was talking about earlier with non-character necrons with a list of options... the weirdness of pariahs in challenges is the cost.
Something to think about.
ah64pilot5 wrote:I also like the idea of the 4-10 size, limiting the unit options to just one of the many and going with a fixed cost for the Diffraction Matrix.
Like I said, I started out with separate codex pariahs and macabee pariahs. Unifying them still seems cleaner to me.
What might make more sense and be more fluffy, is that rather than create a dedicated unit, make them an upgrade for Lychguard. They are supposed to be incredibly rare finds - barring some sort of breeding program - and it would make sense that they are only used by an Overlord's most trusted warriors for specific missions and combat.
The pinnacle of the Great Work, Pariahs were the final solution to their War in Heaven and the Old Ones legacy. These soldiers and generals were harvested from Humans implanted with the Pariah Gene many millenia ago, and are outfitted with the most advanced Living Metal bodies possible - as they are irreplaceable and irretrieveable should they fall on the battlefield.
Necron Pariahs - One model in a Lychguard unit may be upgraded to a Pariah for +100 points.
WS 5, BS 4, S 5, T 5, W 2, I 3, A 2, LD 10, SV 2+
Special Rules
Special Rules
Fear
Fearless
IWND (4+)
Preferred Enemy (Psykers, Demons)
Pariah Gene: Psykers, friend or foe, within 12” of this model have -3 Leadership, do not generate any Warp Charge, and only harness Warp Charge points on a 6. This model can never be targeted or affected by psychic powers – other units that are hit by beam or nova powers, or by Witchfire powers that use templates, are hit/affected normally. Any blessing or malediction psychic powers affecting a unit immediately cease to be in effect if the unit moves within 12” of this model or visa versa.
The Pariah and his unit always has a minimum cover save of 5+ and can never be specifically targeted by any special ability but may be issued a challenge. This is not cumulative with any other modifier.
Wargear:
Phase Glaive; Str 5, AP4, 24", Assault 2 Gauss
Phase Glaive; Str +2, AP 2, Melee, 2 Hnd, Phasing Hits, Armorbane
Phasing Hits; On a successful To Wound roll of a 6 the target cannot roll an Invulnerable save.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/07/30 10:10:42
9000
8000
Knights / Assassins 800 
