The Hedonites of Slaanesh hunt the Mortal Realms in pursuit of their absent god. Each depraved act weakens the chains that bind their Dark Prince in Uhl-Gysh, and so their carnival of base delights swells.
Reality itself breaks down when the Hedonites wage war, as they beguile and overwhelm the foe with seductive Temptations of Slaanesh. At the start of each battle round, Slaanesh grants six Temptation Dice, natural sixes all, and whenever an enemy fails a hit, wound, or save roll, the Hedonite general can offer a die in exchange.
Should a greedy opponent gobble that gift up, they’ll turn their clumsy failure into a sweet success, but you’ll generate D6 Depravity Points in return. On the other hand, should they choose that path of resistance and repress their baser urges, their unit must suffer D3 wounds instead.
As the battle grows more intense, the Hedonites enter a rapturous state, becoming faster and deadlier. Once per turn at the start of the combat phase, a friendly unit within 1” of an enemy unit can become Euphoric Killers, and every scintillating act of sadism they inflict upon their foe conjures a Depravity Point.
As howls of anguish and ecstacy fill the air, the warriors of the Dark Prince Revel in Depravity, unleashing powerful new abilities. At 12 Depravity Points they become harder to hit, subtracting 1 from all hit rolls against them, then at 24 points they become energised with hit rolls of 6 in melee causing a mortal wound in addition to any other damage.
The climax comes at a heady 36 points, when their rapacious indulgence causes the Hedonites to entirely lose themselves in an orgiastic display of violence and gain a 5+ ward save.
Naturally, these boons can be sacrificed to summon Slaanesh daemons, but it’s a tense trade-off. A clever general must walk the razor-thin wire between arrogance and indulgence to inflict the most damage.
There are plenty more ways to bring foes to their knees and get them begging for mercy in Battletome: Hedonites of Slaanesh, which you can pre-order on Saturday. Tomorrow we’ll be taking a closer look at the boorish brutes who make up the Blades of Khorne.