To celebrate the release of the new Champions of Chaos book for the Age of Sigmar RPG Soulbound we’ll be releasing a handful of articles going into details on a number of playable archetypes (or classes) available in the book. You can see our review of the Champions of Chaos book here.

Today, we’ll be holding our noses and trying not to get anywhere one of Nurgle’s blessed children - the Putrid Blightking.

Putrid Blightking

You are a humble warrior of Nurgle, bloated and fecund with his potent blessings, inexorable and unrelenting.

Unlike the followers of other Gods of Chaos, those who fall into the Plague God’s embrace need not be frenzied warriors, preening fencers, or martial cultists. Humble Nurgle welcomes all consumed by ennui and the futility of existence, from the farmer watching desolate fields of barren crops, to the surgeons overwhelmed by endless plagues and disease, to even philosophers mired by unanswerable questions of purpose and entropy.

Mark of Chaos - Nurgle

Everyones favourite God of Plague and Pestilence, the Fecund Lord, the Grandfather - Nurgle is the god of entropy, rotting and corruption. From the humblest cold to the most catastrophic plagues, Nurgle believes that his bountiful gifting of plagues and sicknesses make him a beloved and generous deity. His followers are often on opposite ends of the same spectrum, be it wallowing in despair at their state of undeath, or cackling and jovial as they sing merry tunes of their illnesses. Constantly revelling in a cycle of corruption, from life to atrocious rotting to death and then starting all over again. Nurgle and his kin all rejoice in this cycle and believe that spreading the word and fecundity of Nurgle is the most glorious purpose there is.

Core Skill and Talent

Skill - Fortitude - Whilst those who follow the plague god are happy to suffer his countless sicknesses, they also need to be able to survive them in order to spread them further afield. Thus, Nurgle’s most beloved champions lean on their own fortitude and constitution in order to enjoy these plagues for longer and have a higher chance to spread them. Often hulking masses of rotten flesh and pustules, even the most grievous attacks can fail to inflict pain on a Putrid Blightking.

Talent - Bulwark - Through this Talent, Putrid Blightkings are their most effective when surrounded by hordes of enemies. Bulwark allows a player character to improve their defence if in close combat with multiple enemies. Naturally, this is where a Blightking would want to be as it simply means there are more souls closer to him who could receive the grotesque gifts of Nurgle.

Available Skills and Talents

Skills - Athletics, Cults, Fortitude, Intimidation, Medicine, Might, Reflexes, Weapon Skill

There’s a myriad of skills here that a Putrid Blightking could utilise for maximum efficacy. Fortitude, Might and Reflexes would help to keep the Blightking alive during the heat of battle, with some Weapon Skill to deal out damage to boot. However, do not underestimate the Medicine Skill as there’s a Talent below to help out with this.

The only outlier I can find is Athletics. Putrid Blightkings are often majorly swollen to the point that they barely fit in their armour anymore, so the prospect of one of these guys sprinting towards you feels a little far-fetched, albeit terrifying.

Talents - Butcher Surgeon, Chosen, Fearless, Grandfather’s Blessing, Hard to Kill, Immense Strikes, Iron Stomach

Remember the mention of Medicine above? Well, Butcher Surgeon allows you to potentially heal wounds from your party during periods of Rest. You can read more about it in the Plague Priest focus but I certainly wouldn’t advise sleeping on more healing potential in your party.

Grandfather’s Blessing is far more fitting for a Putrid Blightking than their rusted, bulging armour is, as this allows you to spend 1 Mettle to inflict the Poisoned Condition on an enemy you have just dealt close combat damage to. Poisons and plagues are Nurgle’s bread and butter, so this is very at home here. Furthermore, to exhibit Nurgle’s kindness and love for his children, Putrid Blightkings have the “Chosen” Talent, where when rolling on the Punishment table you can reduce the roll by 2 to a minimum of 1. As ever, Nurgle’s generosity cannot be refuted.

Recommended Role

Whilst the Blightking is able to deal some damage at close range and even poison those who get to close, the Putrid Blightking’s real job is to barrel into enemies and take the hits. Acting as a tank for the party, the Blightking is right at home when surrounded by hordes of enemies to whom he can dispatch plagues and poxes to slow them down, all whilst ensuring the rest of the party do what needs to be done. Able to take damage as well as potentially heal damage dealt to himself and those around him, the Putrid Blightking is someone that everyone in the party should respect - just maintain social distancing or you may find yourself bestowed with one of Nurgle’s infinite gifts.

Miniatures

Join us tomorrow where we take our final gander into some of the player archetypes released in the Champions of Chaos rulebook for Soubound. This time we shall gaze into Chaos Undivided and learn to better understand the Darkoath that call the Mortal Realms home…

Soulbound: Champions of Chaos - Putrid Blightkind Archetype Focus