I’m liking the Tox Bomber. He’s a good addition; similar enough to the Scab Bomber that I don’t have to learn a completely new set of mechanics, but different enough that his bombs feel like a distinct challenge. Good stuff.
Thinking along the lines of adding alternate versions for specials, there are a few still missing a counterpart. We’ve got Scab Flamers and Tox Flamers, Scab and Dreg Shotgunners, Heavy Gunners, Ragers, and now Bombers, but we’ve still only got the one Sniper, Trapper, Mauler, and Mutant.
Though there’s also the Pox Hound, I dunno if they count as being Scab or Dreg. Same for the three ogryn. And also the burster, but nobody cares what he thinks.
So here are some ideas I’d like to pitch for the Dreg Mauler, the Dreg Sniper, the Dreg Trapper, and the Scab Mutant.
DREG MAULER
Since the Dregs are basically Scabs but without a budget, their lower tech version of a Mauler could be basically a Chaos Warrior from Warhammer Fantasy. I’m imagining something based on this fellow:
The old favorite: a big fat gross guy with a huge disgusting weapon. That thing would probably do some corruption on hit. He could keep the armored head but unarmored body like Vermintide Maulers so that krak grenades still stick to him, or maybe he could be wearing a plate on his chest or back that looks like it was peeled off a boiler. If his midsection isn’t armored, he should probably have considerably more health than Scab Maulers, so he remains a tough target that needs a lot of pounding to bring down.
Not terribly different from the Scab Mauler, but then the gunners and shotgunners and ragers are all almost if not completely identical, so, I figure the Elites should only be slight variations, and taking the Mauler’s armor off and giving him a corrupting weapon ought to be plenty.
DREG SNIPER
Continuing the theme of the Dregs being low tech heretics, I imagine a Dreg Sniper wouldn’t have a big fancy longlas sniper rifle like the Scab Sniper, but rather some kind of ramshackle not-military-grade gun that looks more fit for hunting, like a Warhammer 40k-ified elephant gun, or a big bolt action looking thing. It could have something like a flashlight or search light attached instead of a laser sight, still keeping the effect of telegraphing where the sniper is aiming.
The Dreg Sniper’s shots are slower moving (as in not hitscan, but still super fast) and a little less accurate, so just a tad easier to dodge, and sometimes maybe even possible to just sprint away from, and he would do considerably less damage than the Scab’s proper longlas. However, this snipey stubber would fire a lot faster, perhaps with only a two, two-and-a-half second cooldown between shots, so his overall damage per second is roughly equal to his Scab Counterpart. He’d still takes a bit to line up a shot before he begins firing, so he would still be primarily a punishing specialist who does high damage to players who are not paying enough attention or are too tied up by other enemies.
For his appearance, I’m thinking he’d wear ragged not-very-good camouflage, like a makeshift ghillie suit or filthy brown cloak that doesn’t actually blend in with his surroundings. Maybe parts of his cloak are made of human skins. And of course, even if his outline is a bit broken up and he does blend in a bit, he still has a big red searchlight beam to give away where he is if he’s active.
His rifle would make a big distinct KA-CLICK just before firing.
DREG TRAPPER
The role of the Trapper is to disable players who are away from their team, or disrupt a team formation while they’re distracted by something else. My idea for a similar but distinct Dreg Trapper is one that focuses a little more on the disrupting a distracted team aspect, by having a weapon that’s less of a net launcher and more of a barbed wire bolas harpoon gun.
She behaves the same, but when she successfully traps someone, they take considerably faster damage over time. To compensate for the damage increase, they get knocked away from the trapper instead of pulled towards her. The flung player will also then bonk other players out of the way, though this probably wouldn’t do more than a tiny amount of damage, if any at all. Players knocked out of the way wouldn’t be pushed very far; probably just on the level of how much you get moved when a hound runs past you. It’ll only push you over a ledge if you were already standing close to it, and it wouldn’t be strong enough to push someone up and over a handrail.
This may still knock people out of position, and has the chance to disorient more than one player at a time (though still only one player is disabled), but is less likely to pull someone into groups of enemies. Still, it would be important to help a disabled ally as fast as possible even if there are no other enemies nearby, because the net itself is doing some damage.
For the look, I would borrow some elements from this guy:
Adorned with some big horns worn like trophies, and some outdoorsman gear like ropes and hooks and flasks, maybe a big hat and a pelt of some kind, to give them the feel of a crazy poacher. Like, literally a trapper.
SCAB MUTANT
Had an interesting idea that could work to fill the same roll that mutants occupy, that of being a tanky loud distracting thing that disrupts the crap out of the players but is not too threatening on its own. My idea for a Scab Mutant is basically a heavily armored battering ram. His arms are shriveled and mangled, so he can’t grab people. He can only ram people and send them flying. More than a hound running by, but less than an explosive barrel. His armor is covered in spikes; I’m imagining something reminiscent of the bloke in the middle here:
Possibly wearing bits of ogryn armor. I’d maybe give him a vertical line of unarmored skin below the head and between his massive shoulder plates, to make it easier for the person he’s charging directly at to kill him before he reaches them, but he’s armored from the sides. The spikes mean his ramming charge does some damage, close to being hit by a regular melee enemy. Unlike the Dreg Mutant, he doesn’t stop when he runs over one person. He runs over anybody he passes through, and can turn around and try again faster than the Dreg version. The ram can also be Blocked, which negates the damage, but not the shove, just like being punched by a monstrosity.
An alternative idea, if the grabbing is too central to the mutant’s role. His running speed and turning speed are a bit lower, perhaps doing a sort of hunched over tackling run like a big linebacker. He grabs a player and sometimes pounds on them, but his attacks are slower and heavier than the Dreg’s, so they do more damage. He holds onto his victim for longer before throwing them, but has a longer wind up before he actually damages the person he grabs. He would still be armored, and so harder to kill than the Dreg Mutant, but easier to avoid, making him a longer lasting distraction, but overall potentially less threatening if you keep your eye on him.
I imagine him making a sort of yelling-through-gritted-teeth war cry, a kind of “RRRRRRRRRRGG!!” instead of the Dreg Mutant’s “RAAAAH!!”
I’d also give him a helmet like the spiky skull one the little fellow in the lower left has here:
Actually though, looking at this other dude, giving the Scab Mutant a furnace in his gut and a drill for an arm might be pretty sweet too.
