Soulbound: Champions of Chaos - Harbinger of Decay Archetype Focus
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.
In our final article focusing on the numerous archetypes across Champions of Chaos, we bow our heads and pray solemnly to Nurgle’s mounted messenger, the Harbinger of Decay.
Harbinger of Decay
Rider of a pale, rotten horse, you read divine omens in the plague and rust you unleash upon the Mortal Realms.
When the tri-lobed moon hangs in the sky, its lambent light blighting the land below, desperate tribes amidst the Mortal Realms make their offerings and sacrifices to hidden, rotting shrines. Soon, a Harbinger of Decay is spotted. Fearfully venerated, surrounded by superstition, they are known by many names; Husk Men, Empty Ones, the Stolen.
Mark of Chaos - Nurgle
As previously stated in our Putrid Blightking focus, Nurgle is the God of Plague who revels in both the despair of his soon-to-be-followers as well as his maniacally jovial hordes fully under his sway. Harbingers of Decay are the morose and sullen of his children. They are said to be able to see the future in the grotesque formations of a rotten corpse or the rhythmic buzzing of a cloud of flies. Whilst some of the followers of Nurgle (especially his adorable Nurglings) come across as comical and silly, the Harbingers of Decay are the bell-tolling doombringers that the mortals of the realms know to fear should they see or hear them as by that point it is likely already too late.
Core Skill and Talent
Skill - Fortitude - Like the Putrid Blightking, the Harbinger of Decay begins with an investment of power in Fortitude. Sitting firmly atop their Daemonic Steed, these hulks of rotting flesh and flies are monsterously hard to move through force or poison and so their constitution should never be underestimated.
Talent - Mounted Combatant - The Harbinger of Decay is one of my all-time favourite models (especially the recent glow-up from the last year or two) and is always pictured riding a decaying, zombified horse. Mounted Combatant works wonderfully for this and since the mount is provided in the base equipment then this worshipper of the rotten grandfather may in fact be one of your swiftest fighters in your party. Since this talent improves your combat when riding your mount, you’ll want to be spending most of your time on it.
Mounted Combatant - You and your mount have learned to move and strike as one. When mounted, your Melee increases by one step.
Available Skills and Talents
Skills - Athletics, Cults, Determination, Fortitude, Intimidation, Medicine, Might, Weapon Skill, Worship
In the wider Age of Sigmar game and lore, the Harbingers of Decay act as priests of Nurgle, improving nearby friendly fighters and weakening nearby enemies. This somewhat comes across somewhat in this archetype as the Harbginer has skills in Medicine, allowing them to heal other party members. Worship will also help then to gain Favour from Nurgle and thus allowing Dark Gifts to be purchased. The other staples of Nurgle are here, with Fortitude, Determination and Might furthering your ability to take hits and not get knocked down or out.
Talents - Butcher Surgeon, Beast Whisperer, Chosen, Fearless, Grandfather’s Blessing, Immense Swing
Sharing a lot of similarities to the Putrid Blightking, the Harbinger of Decay is once again able to use abilities to heal friendly party members both in and out of Rest periods. Chosen leans on the generosity of Nurgle reducing the likelihood of a worse punishment from Nurgle himself should it be deemed necessary. Immense Swing allows the Harbinger to make great use of its Greatscythe, as Two handed melee weapons wielded gain the Cleave Trait - although you must have Body 4. Sadly, the Harbinger starts at Body 3 so this isn't a wise choice when starting.
However, the biggest issue here is that the Harbinger doesn’t get access to any Nurgle prayers - the fact that only the Khorne and Skaven prayers exist in the book makes the Harbinger feel quite undercooked as an archetype and really deprives it of a sense of distinction alongside the other Maggotkin classes.
Recommended Role
It’s hard to really make the Harbinger feel more distinct next to the Putrid Blightking, but the key factors would be that it’s faster due to the mount but also feels more situated towards a healing and support presence. I’d double-down on the latter if the archetype had immediate access to the some form of Maggotkin prayers.
With Body 3, Mind 2 and Soul 3, this mounted morbidity should be chanting to the Grandfather at all times, calling down plagues of insects to disrupt their enemies and to stitch-up the wounds of their brethren. I’m hoping that the review draft of the book I received is missing the aforementioned plague prayers, because this would be the top of the list for me in order to give the Harbinger some identy rather than simply “Putrid Blightking on a horse”.
