Kugane Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 As some of you may know I absolutely adore Skaven and do lots of conversions with them. Lately however I started to have an idea of creating a Skaven themed free people's army with converted handgunners (stormvermin with guns) and freeguild guard (clanrats), warlords on Gryphons, etc. Would it be possible for Skaven to regain their once human mind? If so how could that work fluffwise? If theres a possibility I'll gladly write a decent length story to back it up! I was thinking of a story about a man who lost a loved one to the curse of the horned rat, and with the permission of Sigmar himself captured and experimented on Skaven to find a way to undo the curse. After decades of unsuccessful attempts, he one day stumbles upon a potion that allows some Skaven to fight the corruption and regain fractions of their humanity. Some Skaven with past life memory still intact form a warband vowed to kill the verminlord that put them in this miserable state. Would Sigmar allow such creatures among Order? Considering that the dark elves are allowed in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkanaut Admiral Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Well, they did manage to successfully 'decontaminate' a Nurgle champion, so anything is possible! Having said that, that guy was a human to begin with whilst Skaven are supposedly the spawn of chaos. So it might require more work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kugane Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 8 minutes ago, Arkanaut Admiral said: Well, they did manage to successfully 'decontaminate' a Nurgle champion, so anything is possible! Having said that, that guy was a human to begin with whilst Skaven are supposedly the spawn of chaos. So it might require more work. Well, a horned rat can mutate and turn any creature into a Skaven in the AOS rules, so perhaps something along the lines of a city of men being mutated? So these would be Skaven that once were human. Perhaps a band of humans with an extraordinary will power to fight the taint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayple Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Mind you, the skaven as a whole were never human. They're mutated rats. To 'cure' such a being would involve not only reversing thousands, if not millions of generations of warpstone-corrupted genetics - but also completely rewrite/wipe their CULTURAL upbringing in short: you wouldn't be able to do so with a normal skaven - but you could, provided you aquired and managed to utilize a broodmother to breed new skaven - attempt to indoctrinate them to follow a different culture. A different religion. A great horned sigmar. Would this remove the EVIL that is ingrained in their very genetic structure? Probably not, but they could probably be trained to be.. less so. The benefit of this is.. well. Questionable but by all means, it'd probably look cool. A skaven cult of Sigmar would be an interesting approach though. It wouldn't be the first time they thought they knew the true form of the great horned rat purge the unbelievers! As for humans that have been turned into Skaven, that's just a matter of reversing a curse, so it would be much less of an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burf Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Yunno, I opened this thinking it would be ridiculous now I'm thinking about Skaven Stormcast and drooling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killax Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 With the right ammount of narrative anything is possible. Like Dark Elves and quite some other factions they arn't just Chaos or Order or Destruction etc. If anything the Skaven also used to kill a lot amongst themselves and offcourse others due to their WFB nature. It was even said in the WFB lore that if all Skaven could cooperate they would outnumber every army, so luckily they don't really do that. This aside WFB had a ton of Skaven clans and I am quite certain one could be a sort of anti-Chaos god X clan or perhaps indeed only see their Horned God as the only Chaos god worth fighting for and as such also have an offensive posture against other Chaos armies. There is a lot of narrative wiggle room, feel free to use it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AthlorianStoners Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Agreed, you can work this into a narrative. Skaven reared from birth by an Ayzrite warrior could be good, especially if you put a few generations of breeding in. Further, you could include some kind of Azyrite food source to counter the chaos in their veins, eventually breeding them to be Beastmen of order (Lizardmen are Daemons of Order so it could work) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramer Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 26 minutes ago, AthlorianStoners said: Agreed, you can work this into a narrative. Skaven reared from birth by an Ayzrite warrior could be good, especially if you put a few generations of breeding in. Further, you could include some kind of Azyrite food source to counter the chaos in their veins, eventually breeding them to be Beastmen of order (Lizardmen are Daemons of Order so it could work) My thoughts exactly, you could even add Sigmar as a god as inspiration for the rats in there. Once upon a time a backstabbing second in command for a warlord, stabbed his superior in the back. Just when he was about to kill a favoured priest of Sigmar. The priest assumed the newly self appointed warlord saved his live out of mercy and heals his wounds with a prayer. As a result this clan starts to mimic the humans living above ground until, in a few generations, they live side by side. Still working to receive the blessing of Sigmar... or are they... Also it's amazing modelling project! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burf Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I'm just thinking about how cool skaven would look in some high fantasy gleaming plate. An army of highly dignified rat men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoreCommander Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 There was a paragraph in the older books about skaven "evilness". It said that there could be some chance of raising a somewhat "not so evil" skaven provided one could somehow separate it from their entire culture at the moment of birth (provided that even skaven babies eat one another...) and raise it independently. The same paragraph also said that no one has ever thought about doing such a worthless and stupid thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VoodooChileIRL Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I mean there are already Skaven Stormvermin, why not Stormcast-vermin? (I'm sorry) But it would be interesting if down the line Sigmar went a bit mad reforging races, might give them the chance to cast Sigmar and the Stormcast as a villain, even if just for a small campaign. Could also have a divine intervention... "Sigmar your reforging of my Skaven has hurt-harmed me in the following ways..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planar Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I absolutely love the idea. An elite band of good skaven fighting under the banners of the good guys but facing the suspicion and discrimination of everyone. You are in the Mortal Realms now and everything is possible! Do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killax Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 2 hours ago, Burf said: An army of highly dignified rat men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nacnudllah Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 My old Dogs of War Duelists say yes (sorry for the crummy picture, it was rushed as I'm on my way to work). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kugane Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 Really liking all the feedback! The breeding idea and seperating them from birth would work out. I guess I can write some narrative around that. I've done mostly Nippon Skaven conversions, so I'm sure I can re-use some of my old conversion work. Currently brainstorming which models to use for this project! Regardless I'll need to get a hold of 30 handguns to create a regiment of gunners :P. Also planning choosing what sigmarite weapons would work with them. Either way, thank you for all the feedback so far! Now see if this can become a workable project haha. I'll start working on a Skaven General today to start setting the mood for the army, perhaps even on a griffon. Considering to use some Kharadron stuff as a base for the handgunner conversions and create swordsmen out of Stormvermin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dez Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 You'd have a better chance getting a Dwarf to an AA meeting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angrycontra Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Even if you could turn skaven good I actually think that would be even scarier than evil skavens. Why? Well it's not their warpstone tech or viciousness that make skaven a threat, but their massive numbers. Skaven reproduce at alarming rate and even if they didn't want to, their numbers would become a huge issue to other races. Evil skaven have so much in-fighting that their numbers keep in check, but good skaven...? Who's gonna keep their numbers checked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayple Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 The thing that has always kept Skaven in check is mostly their cowardice. Even when outnumbering a foe ten to one, they still have a tendency to run away if the foe has even the slightest appearance of being able to win. The backstabbing just tend to ruin their otherwise functional and clever attack strategies. Narrative idea: ''It is said that the great bright one rewards the most loyal, brave, selfless, righteous, and mighty followers with eternal life, and unthinkable power. Vrim Lightpaw wants-needs to be elevated in this way - and he will stop at nothing to do it.'' A Skaven's path to ascension. Can he plot, scheme, and backstab his way into the good grace of the great bright one, and show him that he alone is the most best-kindest, heroic rat in the realm? You get the idea Skaven being Skaven, misinterpreting (but never considering that they could be wrong) an aspect of the great horned rat, and completely missing the spirit of the teachings in question. Sorta like an overachiever being told to relax, and they decide to be, and work really hard to be the best at relaxing ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erasercrumbs Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I don't think they'd be Skaven anymore if they weren't loathsome. They were basically created for the sole purpose of making life miserable for everyone else. Why not have noblebright otterfolk instead? Now that would be something I can get behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aezeal Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Because Order doesn't have enough factions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayple Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 7 minutes ago, Aezeal said: Because Order doesn't have enough factions? Aw, come on now don't be like that. We're talking conversions! Narrative! Flavour! And Skavencast (Vermincast?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kugane Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 7 hours ago, Mayple said: The thing that has always kept Skaven in check is mostly their cowardice. Even when outnumbering a foe ten to one, they still have a tendency to run away if the foe has even the slightest appearance of being able to win. The backstabbing just tend to ruin their otherwise functional and clever attack strategies. Narrative idea: ''It is said that the great bright one rewards the most loyal, brave, selfless, righteous, and mighty followers with eternal life, and unthinkable power. Vrim Lightpaw wants-needs to be elevated in this way - and he will stop at nothing to do it.'' A Skaven's path to ascension. Can he plot, scheme, and backstab his way into the good grace of the great bright one, and show him that he alone is the most best-kindest, heroic rat in the realm? You get the idea Skaven being Skaven, misinterpreting (but never considering that they could be wrong) an aspect of the great horned rat, and completely missing the spirit of the teachings in question. Sorta like an overachiever being told to relax, and they decide to be, and work really hard to be the best at relaxing ever. The bright one made me chuckle, that does sound Skaven. I guess they could even be misguided into believing that Sigmar is their true god. I could also stick with a single skaven conversion and make it really stand out on the battlefield and have a story like the one you just told surrounding that single Skaven that goes against the Horned Rat and follows sigmar instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menkeroth Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Skaven being on the other side of the barricade is fundamental (and was ever, actually), so no, really. It is in their nature. But other rat species that are not Chaos? why not. Just don't copypast skaven then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riavan Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I want to see a skaven stormcast model. Maybe get some of those multipart stormcast kits and put some shoulder pads on a rat ogre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Misfire Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I think the argument for cleansing skaven is on a par with the one for cleansing skaven players: all "cleansing" involved should be of a purely genocidal bent. In all seriousness I've got no horse in this debate - it's your hobby, do what you want. I'm amazed nobody's mentioned Tergus of the Sainted Eye yet mind, he's a Hallowed Knights prosecutor prime who got hideously Curse of the Horned Rat'd protecting Alarielle in The Realmgate Wars: Quest for Ghal-Maraz, only to turn back up reforged and fully human-shaped again (presumably after having been mercifully hammered to death by his horrified comrades) in the Black Library novel Plague Garden. Both books are well worth checking out and probably the closest we'll get to any kind of good guy skaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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