Age of Sigmar: Soulbound - Champions of Chaos Review
The year was 2020 and the world was undergoing a turmoil that very few thought we’d ever find ourselves in. Amidst the early stages of the pandemic, I found myself spending 99% of my time indoors and sat in front of a computer screen due to government mandates to stay at home. Fortunately, this was as good a time as any as to start organising and running online RPG sessions with friends and Cubicle 7 delivered the superb Age of Sigmar: Soulbound RPG. Now, five years later and having played literally hundreds of hours of Soulbound, the time has come for a new age of Soulbound…and the skies darken a chaotic red…
Taking a step back for those new to the series, Soulbound is a series of tabletop RPG releases set within Games Workshop’s heroic fantasy Age of Sigmar. In the original Soulbound release players would form a band of spiritally bound characters under the Pantheon of Order, questing through the setting of the Mortal Realms to defeat meagre and mighty enemies be they goblins, undead or even the dreaded forces of Chaos. Over the past few years Cubicle 7 have released “Champions of…” supplements allowing players to create characters of other Grand Alliances including Destruction (various greenskins, trolls, etc) and Death (vampires, necromancers, wights, etc…). Now the time has come for the long-awaited Champions of Chaos supplement. However, this isn’t simply a supplement…
Chaos Finds A Way
Champions of Chaos is, in fact, an entirely new full rulebook for Soulbound. Rather than tacking onto the original core Soulbound book, the Champions of Chaos book is completely standalone. It is, almost, the antithesis of the original Soulbound book as players do not aim to save the Mortal Realms, but to defile, desecrate and destroy them. Rather than traversing the fiery Realm of Aqshy to quash cults of Chaos you are instead planting the seeds of Chaos, or instead of defending bastion cities of Order from attack, you’re leading the charge and opening their gates to let in the ruinous hordes.
The original Soulbound had a major emphasis on the Great Parch as a setting. This large region within the Realm of Aqshy provided an (and I argue the best and most thorough) insight into the Mortal Realms, that had largely been unexplored from a day-to-day perspective outside of major battles of the Age of Sigmar tabletop wargame. Within Champions of Chaos, the prime area of focus is the Bloodwind Spoils set within the tumultuous Eightpoints. An in-depth explanation is given as to why the Eightpoints is relevant to the faction of Chaos as well as what life is like within the Bloodwind Spoils for those unfortunate enough to call it home.
The book does an excellent job of breathing a sense of life and purpose into the location without it being lazily inferred that every living creature is either a moustache-twirling villain or thoughtless murderer. There is plenty within Champions of Chaos to provide a sense of individuality and intention to anyone within the Bloodwind Spoils, be they the lowliest cultists NPC or even a hulking player-created chosen of Chaos. Akin to a towering standard-bearer, the feat here of breathing life into this locale is done so like the ground-shattering planting of tall, unwavering banner - and this banner is proudly emblazoned with the eight-pointed star. My only issue with how Champions of Chaos handles the Bloodwind Spoils and the Eightpoints is that there’s no map detailing the region or area. Soulnbound came with a breath-taking map of the Great Parch so to have an equivalent missing from this book feels like a real shame.
For anyone uninitiated in the dark arts of Chaos, the book does a sterling job to introduce you. There are mounds of information on what the gods of Chaos represent and abhor, and how these can be respected in the game by player characters.
An all-too-easy proposal that this book could have burrowed into would be that any player-party of Chaos marauders would simply quest out into the other (more “orderly”) realms to lay waste and raid. Whilst this is something that the book does suggest and support, it also convinces players why staying within the setting of the Eightpoints makes great sense for both simple questing and trudging the Path to Glory to become a Chosen of Chaos.
Some of the given adventure hooks and proposed frameworks within the book are all too tantalising in themselves including recruiting a Chaos cult to aid in the disrupting of a great ritual to not tip the balance of the gods, or even accompanying a Chaos Sorcerer to unearth a lost ruin an ancient mountain at the risk of treachery. The provided stories and adventures themselves feel at home in a fantasy-based RPG such as this, but even with the warband being more murderous than most these stories can make sense and work well based on the deity and ambition-driven motivations of each player character.
The biggest chore here will be for the GM to explain to the players that, yes, even though they’re a gaggle of evil warriors there’s always more to do and accomplish rather than simply killing everything in sight. I do feel the book provides the information and resources here to help assuage players from stabbing first and asking questions later, in most regards.
Different Flavours of Malice and Murder
In terms of playable characters, the book provides 23 playerable archetypes across six different sub-factions/alliances.
Blades of Khorne - Deathbringer, Skullgrinder, Slaughterpriest
Disciples of Tzeentch - Magister, Ogroid Thaumaturge, Tzaangor
Hedonites of Slaanesh - Myrmidesh Painbringers, Shardspeaker, Slaangor, Symbaresh Twinsouls
Maggotkin of Nurgle - Harbinger of Decay, Putrid Blightkind, Rotbringer Sorcerer
Skaven Clans - Deathmaster, Grey Seer, Master Moulder, Plague Priest, Stormvermin, Warlock Engineer
Slaves to Darkness - Chaos Sorcerer, Chaos Warrior, Darkoath Chieftain, Ogroid Myrmidon
The above list provides ample variety and nuance available to each player looking to dive in. Further still, the book also advises that existing species from the other books could be intertwined to a Chaos-worshipping variant but that this should be run by the GM before committing. This is a particularly welcome inclusion for me as it is enough to light a spark of creativity for anyone who is keen to create a deftly unique character, be it a Khorne-aligned Troggoth or a machiavelian Tzeentch-aligned Duardin. The offering “out of the box” with the prior listed archetypes is good indeed, but you need only scratch the surface and let your creativity flourish to find some bizarre unforgettable opportunities for roleplay.
Additionally, Champions of Chaos comes with a selection of new Talents not previously available in the other Soulbound publications. Some are thematically renamed existing entries, but plenty are very new. As an example, “Turncoat” means that your character was formally a servant of Sigmar (or the Betrayer as he is constantly referred to within this book) meaning that you have a better understanding of the ways of the world of Order, though this could prove beneficial it also builds suspicion amongst the denizens of Chaos.
Another Talent is “Revel in Sensation” which has a player character’s Accuracy and Melee improve in their next turn should they suffer a Condition such as Poisoned. Whilst it would have been excellent to have even more Talents entirely new to this book, there are enough here to give Champions of Chaos and the potential player characters firm differentiation from any Order, Destruction or Death-based counter-parts.
Furthermore, there are some new Skills introduced into Champions of Chaos that aren’t available to any other alliance of character. This in itself makes the Champions of Chaos book feel ever more distinct when stood alongside the previously releases. These new Skills include:
Cults (Mind) - Proficiency in this skill means your character has an improved sense of understanding of Chaos throughout the Mortal Realms as well as those who would represent them. Whilst most who worship Chaos do not fully understand what it is that they swear fealty to, you comprehend more than most what it is that they serve, how they worship and what it costs.
Enthrall (Soul) - With Enthrall as a skill you are able to better harness the attention of those who serve Chaos and bend them to your bidding. Whether you’re looking to rouse a band of cultists to join you in a raid or are pushing a Charismatic speech to convert those who would otherwise balk at your specific worship.
Worship (Soul) - This is how you are able to complete rituals aimed at seizing the attention or favour of your chosen deity. Worship is crucial as doing so increases the likelihood of pleasing the gods in order to attain gifts, or perhaps to return to their good graces…
Considering we haven’t seen updated Skills across the other major Champions books in Soulbound, this cements the importance of Champions of Chaos and how this is not only a unique experience within the Soulbound system, but also seemingly a refinement in how characters can be made or played.
Fever for the Favour
Favour is the measure of the gods’ recognition and appeasement over your actions which usually involve reverence towards them in some form. The typical way to gain Favour is by completing Acts of Worship, which can only be done at the end of each session. The constraint here feels a bit ham-fisted, but it would certainly provide some chances of roleplaying and heightened tension within the party. Each Chaos God (including Undivided) has a table of Acts of Worship and so completing each act will grant an amount of Favour and mark it off of the table. If a player character completes one of these tables then they earn additional favour and table can then be started again.
Players can then spend Favour on Dark Gifts, which has a number of tables for Boons, Daemonic Wargear and Mutations. Some Dark Gift examples are a Daemonic Steed at the cost of 7 Favour, or even a Plague Rat for 3 Favour (if you’re not aligned with the God of a Favour, you must pay double to earn it)a.
The above all sounds absolutely superb and presents plenty of opportunities for bespoke experiences and characters with an abundence of risk/reward. It feels prudent to add that Favour for this purpose can only be spent when using the Pursue Dark Gift Endeavour. As Endeavours are only undertaken during “down-time” between adventures, players should pick carefully how they wish to spend their stockpiled Favour.
As is the way of Chaos, this is not always positive. You can spend a frugal 2 Favour on a Random Mutation but you would also gain two random Secondary Mutations such as an extra mouth somewhere on your body or even a Rearranged Face, making you less effective at Guile tests. Be warned that should a character ever gain more mutations than the total of their character’s Attributes (Mind, Body and Soul) combined then they suffer the worst of fates - Spawndom. The character effectively dies on that spot as the raw energies of Chaos consume them and they erupt into a quivering mass of chaotic mutation controlled there onwards by the GM.
The final use of Favour resembles Soulfire from the original Soulbound book. It can be used to instantly pass a chosen Skill Test, to restore all Toughness and even delay death. Whilst this feels like a direct rip from the original book, the distinction here is that Favour is per-player, rather than as a party resource. This is supportive of the source material as this implies a more selfish, inwardly-driven system rather than the communcal Soulfire.
Of course, the Chaos Gods are fickle and Favour can be lost. The Champions of Chaos book also states that player characters can earn their God’s Displeasure in two ways. The first being violating the strictures of their god, which are listed in the book and this comes with some elasticity from the GM. The second way is to fail a Channelling test when trying to cast a spell as the gods seem unhappy when the player character fails to twist the Mortal Realms to their will. At times you will face a “Punishment” from your god and have to roll on a table, with the number of dice being based on the Displeasure points you have accrued. These punishments can range from suffering Disadvantage on your next test, to Nurgle deciding to disintegrate one of your weapons into powdered rust at the end of your current adventure.
Having a blend of Favour, Worship and Displeasure for the Chaos Gods helps to imbue even further identity into this book as your actions and the world will very much revovle around the Chaos Pantheon. Although, at time of writing the final character sheets are not yet available and so I’d hope that tracking these various “resources” are considered on the character sheets as otherwise it’s tedious book keeping for players (or likely their GM).
Light on “Bad Guys”
Unfortunately, there's an element of the book that I do feel falls very short and it is arguably one of the most crucial. Yes, players in Champions of Chaos are indeed the “bad guys”, but they still need baddies (or goodies?) to fight against on their quests.
It is in this that the book lands damply. The original Soulbound book had nearly 40 pages full of enemies in its bestiary - providing a bounty of opponents. The chaotic counterpart offers not even half of this, coming to around 15 pages.
This is an aspect I honestly would have loved to see simply “copy pasted” over from the other books. Considering the somewhat abrasive nature of the forces of Chaos, player characters will need heaps upon heaps of enemies to fell. Khorne would most definitely be disappointed at this offering.
Relax, Unwind, Start a Riot
As I am sure you can imagine, it’s all too easy to imagine how these raucous raiders spend their time during adventures. Nevertheless, it’s important that we look at how their time is spent between fights, battles and quests. Endeavours in Soulbound are activities undertaken by player characters during “down-time” and are often used to rest, heal, spend XP and other things to further their goals. Champions of Chaos does lean on this. Although, whilst the staples still remain here such as healing all wounds or creating spells, some very exciting options have been crafted!
Key entries I would feel remiss to exclude would be Forsake/Commit to a Path. With these you can either change your existing Mark of Chaos to another (earning the ire of your current chosen deity) or to gain a Mark of Chaos from a chosen god should you be Chaos Undivided. This will certainly help to ensure that players don’t feel stuck with their current patron god and will enable them to mix up their tones and playstyles (naturally, forsaking a god of the ruinous powers comes with consequences...).
Another Endeavour to look into is Secrets of the Dark Gods where your character hunts for lost lore, hidden secrets or daemonic whispers to determine where their time should be focused on next, such as looking for lost artefacts, slaying a powerful enemy or simply fulfilling the wishes of Chaos itself. This will provide countless opportunities for players to work with GMs and cook-up some fun and thematic adventures or side quests to be undertaken by the party, should the initial player character be able to persuage them to come along for the ride.
Delightfully Devilish
There's every chance that the prospect of player worshipers of Chaos could prove a little monotonous for some players. I am confident that there are a lot of role-players whose idea of playing bloodthirsty rampagers or plague-infused bulwarks simply doesn't sound fun.
I believe that Cubicle 7 have done an admirable job here to make the idea of playing as the bad guys in this book quite appealing for as many players as possible. Not every party needs to be charging murderhobos every moment of a session, but some will want to. It's a tall order to try and please everyone and whilst it's a challenge to give these characters characters for social interaction, Guile and more - there's enough here for a GM to work with.
Nonetheless, the Champions of Chaos book provides a perfect opportunity for parties to unleash their inner urge for conquest and charge through the Bloodwind Spoils (and beyond) to lay to waste anything that stands in their way, desecrating and worshipping as they go. It's just a real shame that the available enemies/NPCs in the book are notably light. Needless to say, the push here is to purchase the Soulbound Bestiary book - which is absolutely worth the purchase all the same.
I shall bring this to a close as I roll up my sleeves and begin planning quests for my typical party of players. The biggest challenge I shall face will be determining how I'll be able to keep all player characters in check to save them from murdering everything in their path - or rather, not save them from, but reward or punish them suitably in the name of the dark gods…
You can purchase the Soulbound - Champions of Chaos Rulebook in digital PDF very soon* from Cubicle 7. The physical rulebook will also be available to pre-order and you’ll gain access to the PDF version instantly upon pre-order, so you and your fellow devotees of Chaos can begin your quest to despoil right away.
Thanks very much to Cubicle 7 for providing us with a digital review copy of Champions of Chaos for content creation purposes.
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*Update 19/09/2025 - The release of Champions of Chaos seems to have been delayed from the original given date of 18/09/2025 that was published originally in this article. We do not know why but hopefully it won't be too much longer.