New/Modified Equipment, Skills, Warbands, Rules, the works!

I used to play Mordheim pretty religiously, but moved to PA a little over a year ago and haven't played since. It kills me a little, so I'm trying to quench my desire for all things city of the damned by going over the slew of modified/new stuff my old group used to play with. I'm going to try to not put it all in one post, as its quite a bit.

For the most part, all of our new stuff was based mostly around adding character and depth to our games, not about changing mechanics. We all loved the solid base Mordheim gave us, and just wanted to expand, not morph.

One of my favorite add-ons is the Ornate equipment. It was a big hit with our group, as it gave the option for some special, rare equipment without adding "magical" stuff that seemed too out of place in the setting.

I'll start with the new and modified equipment.

Note: I know alot of people have strong feelings on the subject, but if everyone could refrain from commenting on the fluffiness of (insert warband name here) being or not being in Mordheim, I'd appreciate it. My group was very accepting of whatever band a member wanted to introduce, as long as it was play tested and agreed upon by everyone. Anyways, that stuff always just bogs threads down.

Modified Equipment:

Slings: Reduced to 12” range, +1 to targets AS, price increased to 5gc
Halberds: original rules plus -1 to armor saves, price increased to 13gc
DH Weapons: DH axes and maces also confer their original special rules. IE, a DH Axe also has a Cutting Edge rule, and a DH Mace has the Concussion rule. Cost 5gc and 3gc more, respectively. All versions of DH weapons available to any warrior who has a regular DH weapon available on his equiptment list.
Morning Stars/Flails: Add special rule: Can not be parried
Horsemans Hammer: Add special rule: Concussion as per club special rule, price increased to 15gc. Available at creation for Middenheimer Warbands on the Mercenaries Equipment List.
All BP Weapons: May be used as a club in CC, braces count as two clubs. Pistols retain their special attack in the first round, than change to clubs in the second round.
Handgun: reduced to 25gc
Crossbows: Can not benefit from Quick Shot.
Light Armor: reduced to 10GC
Heavy Armor: reduced to 25GC, -1 to In. instead of movement if also armed with a shield
Shield: 6+ save against ranged attacks, 5+ save in close combat when also armed with a single handed weapon.
Ithilmar armor: reduced to 45GC
Gromil Armor: Reduced to 75GC
*Additional Armor Rule: Enveloped: If a character is equipped with a helmet, a shield, and a form of body armor (with the exception of toughened leathers), he gains an additional +1 to his armor save.
Blessed Water: add special rule Purify: If a model is infected with the spell “Nurgles Rot”, they may attempt to cure it by drinking a vial of Blessed Water. If they drink it after the same battle that they contract the disease, the Blessed Water will cure the Rot on a roll of 4+. If drank after the next battle, it will be cured on a 5+. If drank two battles later, it will be cured on a 6+. It can not be used any longer than 2 battles after contracting it, as the disease will have become too severe. Regardless of when the disease is cured, the warrior must miss the next D3 games while they recover.

New Equipment:

Throwing Axes: Range: 6” Str: as user +1 Special Rules: Thrown Weapons, -1 to enemy armour saves. 20gc, Rare 5. Added to both Norse equipment lists, Middenheim Mercs list, Orc and Goblins Orc equipment list, and both Beastman equipment lists.
Full Plate Armor: 4+ Sv -1 movement, plus -1 IN if also armed with shield, 65gc, Rare 7. Available at creation for Bretonians on the Knights Equipment list.
Bracers: Counts as a buckler, but does not require a hand to use. Can not parry against club type weapons. 25gc, Rare 5
Whip: Counts as steel whip, +1 to enemy saves. 8gc
Blacksmiths Hammer: Counts as a hammer, and allows the usage of the “Blacksmith” Combat Skill. 25gc, Common.
Holy Water: Has the effect of Black Lotus against Undead, Daemons, and Possessed. Holy Water is not categorized as Posion.- 13gc
Katana/Ninjato: Range: Close Combat Strength: As user +1 Special Rules: 2 Handed: A Katana or Ninjato require two hands to use. Parry: As per Sword parry rule. Keen Edge: A Katana or Ninjato add +1 to injury rolls. 30gc, Rare 10 (Rare 7 for Samurai/Ninja).
Wakizashi: Range: Close Combat Strength: As user Special Rules: Parry: As per Sword parry rule. Keen Edge: Adds +1 to injury rolls. 20gc, Rare 10 (common for Samurai)
Naginata: Range: Close Combat Str: As user +1 Special Rules: 2 Handed: A Naginata requires two hands to use. Strike First: A Naginata strikes first in the first round of combat, regardless of who charged. Keen Edge: Wounds from a Naginata adds +1 to injury rolls. 30gc, Rare 10 (Rare 7 for Samurai)
Sai: Range: Close Combat Strength: As User Special Rules: +1 Enemy Armour Save: As per Dagger special rule. Parry: As per Sword special rule, but a sai may not parry a double handed weapon of any sort. Trap Blade: As per Sword Breaker special rule, though a Warrior may only use Trap Blade if he uses a pair of sai. 10gc/35gc for pair, Rare 10 (Rare 7 for Ninja)
Nodachi: Range: Close Combat Strength: As user +2 Special Rules: Strike Last: As per Double-Handed Weapon special rule. Keen Edge: Wounds from a Nodachi adds +1 to injury rolls. 30gc, Rare 10 (Rare 7 for Samurai)
Kursarigama: Warriors armed with a Kursarigama count as being armed with a steel whip in one hand, and an axe in the other. 15gc, Rare 10 (Rare 7 for Ninja)

Ornate Equipment: (For purposes of whether or not a warrior can use acquired Ornate Equipment, it is treated as a normal piece of equipment of that type. For example any warrior who has a handgun in his equipment list may use an Ornate Dwarven Handgun, without needing the Weapons Expert skill. Furthermore, Ornate Equipment may be purchased as Ithilmar or Gromil equipment as well, though Ithilmar and Gromil equipment are always rare 14, meaning that a character must have the Academic Skill Streetwise in order to find such pieces.)

Ornate Dwarven Handgun: Range: 30” Str: 4 Special Rules: Prepare Shot, Move or Fire, and Save Modified: As per regular Handguns. Accuracy: ODHGs add +1 to their “to hit” rolls. 65gc, Rare 11. Available at creation for Dwarves on the Thunderers Equipment list.
Ornate Druchii Repeater Crossbow: Range: 24” Str: 3 Special Rules: Fire Twice: An ODRCB may fire twice per shooting phase without the -1 to hit penalty. Dark Steel Bolts: Wounds from a ODRCB add +1 to injury rolls. 85gc, Rare 11. Available at creation for the Druchii Warband on both equipment lists.
Ornate Tilean Crossbow: Range: 30” Str: 4 Special Rules: Move or Fire: As per regular Crossbow. Accuracy: OTCB add +1 to “to hit” rolls. 40gc, Rare 10. Available at creation for Tilean Mercenaries.
Ornate Armor: Save: Variable Cost: Armor type x2, Rare 11. Special Rules: Type: Light Armor, Heavy Armor, Full Plate, Ithilmar, and Gromil may all be upgraded to Ornate Armor. Symbol of Authority: If a warbands leader wears Ornate Armor, the range of their “Leader” skill is increased by 6”.
Ornate Marienburger Longsword: Range: Close Combat Str: As per user Special Rules: Parry: An OMLLS parries as a regular sword, with the exception that it parries on a roll of equal or greater than the opponents to hit roll. 20gc, Rare 10. Available at creation for Marienburger Warbands on the Mercenaries Equipment List.
Ornate Estalian Rapier: Range: Close Combat Str: As per user Special Rules: Parry: An OER parries as a regular Rapier, with the exception that it parries on a roll of equal or greater than the opponents to hit roll. Barrage: As per regular Rapier. Armor Save: As per regular Rapier. 25gc, Rare 11. Available at creation for the Estalian Inquistion on the Inquistor Equipment List.
Ornate Middenheimer Hammer: Range: Close Combat Str: As per user Special rules: Certain Concussion: When rolling for injury caused by a wound from a OMLH, a roll of 1-4 results in Stunned, as opposed to a regular Hammers 2-4. 12gc, Rare 10. Available at creation for Middenheimer Warbands on the Mercenaries Equipment List.
Ornate Hoethian Greatsword: Range: Close Combat Str: As user +2 Special Rules: Strike Last: As per Double-handed weapon rule. 2-Handed: A OHGS requires two hands to use Parry: as per Sword special rule. 30gc, Rare 12. Available at creation for Shadow Warriors.
Ornate Reiklander Longbow: Range: 30” Str: 3 Special Rules: Accuracy: ORLLBs add +1 to their to hit rolls. 25gc, Rare 8. Available at creation for Reiklander Mercanaries on both equipment lists.
Ornate East Dwarven Blunderbuss: Range: Special Str: 3 Special Rules: Fire Once: As per Blunderbuss special rules. Shot: When your model fires a OEDBB draw a straight line 16” long and 1” wide from the firer. Any and all models in its path are automatically hit by a strength 3 hit, that may re-rolls failed wound rolls. Save Modifier: An OEDBB is more effective at piercing armor than its Str 3 suggests. A warrior wounded by an OEDBB makes his armor save with a -1 modifier. 50gc, Rare 10. Available at creation for Chaos Dwarf Warbands on the Chaos Dwarf equipment list.

New Campaign Optional Rules:

Damaged Equipment: Over the course of the many battles that a warband is likely to be a part of during their time in Mordheim, their equipment is likely to become tattered and broken if proper maintenance is not seen to. Thankfully for the many suffering warbands infesting The City of the Damned, many desperate blacksmiths from around The Empire have heeded the call and now work out of the settlements surrounding Mordheim.
Creators Note: Equipment damage was introduced as both a way to add a touch of characterfulness, and to delay equipment creep in campaigns. We’ve found that the need to constantly pay for repairs (or pay the consequences of not repairing) keeps warbands from amassing too much wealth too quickly. It also really helped irk power gamers in the group, as it added yet another unpredictable expense to their coffers.

Armour Damage: During a battle, keep track of all the unsaved wounds suffered by any model wearing armour. If the model sustained one unsaved wound, roll a D6. On a roll of 6+, the armour has become damaged, and the roll suffers a -1 modifier for every additional unsaved wound suffered during the battle. For example, if a model suffered three unsaved wounds in the battle, their armor would be damaged on a roll of 4+. If the model is equipped with the 3 different types of armor, IE a helmet, a shield/buckler, and body armor, roll a D3. 1-2 the helmet is damaged, 3-4 the shield/buckler is damaged, 5-6 the body armor is damaged. If only wear 2 different types, roll a D6. On a 1-3 the helmet/shield/buckler is damaged, 4-6 the body armor is damaged.
• Damaged Helmets only save against stuns on a 5+ instead of their original 4+
• Damaged Bucklers and Shields are destroyed
• Damaged Light Armor/Toughened Leathers are destroyed
• Damaged Heavy Armor is reduced to a 6+ save
• Damaged Full Plate is reduced to a 5+ save
• Gromil, Ithilmar, and Ornate Armor are immune to damage.
All destroyed armor is removed from the warbands equipment list. All damaged armor is still useable, however if it gets damaged again in another battle, it will lose another -1 from its save. Any armor whose save is 6+ and becomes damaged is destroyed.

Damaged Weapons: During a battle, keep track of all close combat wounds that a model causes which are subsequently prevented by an armor save. If the model has caused at least 2 wounds that were saved by armor, roll a D6. On a roll of 6+ the weapon has become damaged, and the roll suffers a -1 modifier for every additional saved wound caused during the battle. For example, if a model caused 5 saved wounds, the weapon will be damaged on a roll of 3+. When a weapon is damaged, it loses 1 beneficial special rule it possesses. The rule lost may be chosen by the owning player. For example, if a club is damaged, it loses its concussion special rule. If a Two-Handed Axe is damaged, the player may choose whether it loses its cutting edge special rule, or its +2 strength modifier. If a weapon loses all its beneficial special rules and gets damaged again it is destroyed and removed from the warbands equipment list. Gromil, Ithilmar, Dark Steel, and Ornate weapons are immune to damage. Black Powder weapons are also immune, even when being used as a club, as well as a Pistols special shot. Note: The following are examples of a non-beneficial rule, ie one that may not be chosen to be removed via damaging.
• Any +1 to enemy save modifiers
• A Flail/Morning Stars Heavy rule
• Any “2-handed” rule
• A 2-Handed Weapons Strike Last rule
• A Spears Unwieldy rule

Going to the Blacksmith: Between battles, after the exploration phase, a warband may choose to go to a blacksmith. The cost of repairing an item is directly related to the cost of said item, using the following table.

• Cost of Purchase: 0gc-5gc Cost of Repair: 2gc
• Cost of Purchase: 6gc-10gc Cost of Repair: 5gc
• Cost of Purchase: 11gc-15gc Cost of Repair: 8gc
• Cost of Purchase: 16gc-20gc Cost of Repair: 10gc
• Cost of Purchase: 21gc-30gc Cost of Repair: 15gc
• Cost of Purchase: 31gc & up Cost of Repair: 20gc

When an item is taken to the black smith and repaired, it is fully restored to “like new condition”. Repaired armor regains its original armor save, and repaired weapons regain all their original special rules.

Leader Experience: At the beginning of a campaign, a player may choose one of two ways to field their warbands leader. They may either field them as listed, or they may use the active experience rule. If they choose the latter, before the first battle, the leader will start with greatly reduced stats, and will go through 8 mini battles, gaining an advancement for each battle, whether he wins or loses. This system allows the player to greatly customize their leader and give him some character before he ever even steps foot into Mordheim. However, the battles have their risks. If he is taken out of action, he still has to roll on the serious injuries chart, but will re-roll a result of Dead or Captured. Furthermore, if a Leg Wound or Arm Wound is rolled, the result is ignored on a roll of 2-6 instead of the Leader missing the next battle.
• If a Leg or Arm Wound is rolled, the result of the subsequent roll is ignored on a roll of 2-6 instead of the character missing the next battle.
• If the character has already suffered a Leg or Arm Wound and rolls it again, re-roll until a different result is achieved.
• If Madness is rolled more than once, and a different result is gained on the subsequent roll, the original result is replaced by the new one. IE, if the player has become Frenzied as a result of a previous madness roll, rolls for madness again and gets Stupidity as a new result, the character will lose Frenzied and gain Stupidity.
• If Blinded in One Eye is rolled more than once, the second effect is ignored.
• If Robbed is ever rolled, its effects are ignored.
• If Deep Wound is rolled, it is treated as an Old Battle Wound.
• If Sold to the Pits is rolled the fight between the character and the Pit Fighter is carried out as usual, however if he loses he is tossed out of the Pits as unworthy of even being killed. He does not roll on the Serious Injury chart for this loss, but from then on out Pit Fighters will cause Fear for the character. If he wins, he gains the 50gc, but not the +2 Exp.
• If Survives Against the Odds is rolled, he is simply left uninjured, but doesn’t gain the +1 Exp.

The Leader still keeps all special rules of their warband type, as well as any special rules the Leader is bought with, with the exception of Skaven Assassin Adepts who do not gain the Perfect Killer skill until their 8 mini-battles have been fought.

If this route is chosen, the Leader will start with the following profile:

Mercenaries/Witch Hunters/Pirates/Bretonnians/Inquisitors:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 6

Cult of Possessed/Carnival of Chaos:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 3 3 1 2 1 6

Sisters of Sigmar:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 6

Undead (Vampire):
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
6 3 3 4 3 2 4 1 6

Skaven:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
6 2 3 3 3 1 4 1 5

Elves:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
5 3 3 3 3 1 5 1 7

Dwarves:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
3 3 2 3 4 1 2 1 7

Orcs:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 2 3 4 1 2 1 6

Goblins:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 2 2 3 1 2 1 5

Beastman:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
5 2 2 3 4 1 3 1 5

Skink Priest:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
6 2 2 3 2 1 4 1 5

Norse Jarl:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 1 3 3 1 3 1 7

Samurai:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 2 3 3 1 3 1 6

Necromancer:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 6

Ninja:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 3 2 3 3 1 4 1 6

(description of the 8 mini battles to follow)

Cool stuff. Crossbows not benefiting from Quickshot is one of my pet ideas. Perhaps we could start a movement similar to the Dual Wield group.

Some neat ideas here. I particularly loved the Holy Water "poison". If it's alright may I include this in the "Return to Sylvania" campaign I'm working on?

The Ornate stuff had me a little worried at first glance, but I see that most of it is very well balanced, and better still, built with the theme of a warband in mind. To make a few recommendations:

>Make the ornate "heroes only" - saves the danger of a reiklander warband with 15 ornate long bows
>Raise the reik longbow to 30+. 25 for a bow that will already hit nearly every time is bit cheap.
>Midden hammer- may I suggest you change it from "stuns on 1-4" into "concussion, ignores helmets." auto stun is pretty nasty.
>Not a fan of the fully enclosed rule, personally... armor is weak as it currently is, but a 2+ armor save is pretty hard to beat.
>my rules for throwing axes, in case you were interested, are same as throwing knives, except they use the skill AXE thrower instead of knife thrower. Axe thrower: may throw 2 axes, at +1 strength each. It makes this the same as the existing norse axes, and only changes them when combined with shooting skills (which the norse can't get.)

That's all the recommendeded changes, really. Although, to point things out
>If you follow the optional blackpowder rules, the prices are lowered - handguns become 24, pistols 12... not bad buy, really
>Some players use the +2 in combat with shields already (though I recommend it only applies on FOOT.... a knight with a 1- armor save is SICK.

Von Kurst wrote:

Cool stuff. Crossbows not benefiting from Quickshot is one of my pet ideas. Perhaps we could start a movement similar to the Dual Wield group.

Haha, yeah, it seems to be a pretty ubiquitous house rule. It just... makes sense. Crossbows were not weapons that were quick to reload, let alone be able to load and fire one accurately twice in the time frame that a turn in Mordheim is supposed to represent.

StyrofoamKing wrote:

Some neat ideas here. I particularly loved the Holy Water "poison". If it's alright may I include this in the "Return to Sylvania" campaign I'm working on?

The Ornate stuff had me a little worried at first glance, but I see that most of it is very well balanced, and better still, built with the theme of a warband in mind. To make a few recommendations:

>Make the ornate "heroes only" - saves the danger of a reiklander warband with 15 ornate long bows
>Raise the reik longbow to 30+. 25 for a bow that will already hit nearly every time is bit cheap.
>Midden hammer- may I suggest you change it from "stuns on 1-4" into "concussion, ignores helmets." auto stun is pretty nasty.
>Not a fan of the fully enclosed rule, personally... armor is weak as it currently is, but a 2+ armor save is pretty hard to beat.
>my rules for throwing axes, in case you were interested, are same as throwing knives, except they use the skill AXE thrower instead of knife thrower. Axe thrower: may throw 2 axes, at +1 strength each. It makes this the same as the existing norse axes, and only changes them when combined with shooting skills (which the norse can't get.)

That's all the recommendeded changes, really. Although, to point things out
>If you follow the optional blackpowder rules, the prices are lowered - handguns become 24, pistols 12... not bad buy, really
>Some players use the +2 in combat with shields already (though I recommend it only applies on FOOT.... a knight with a 1- armor save is SICK.

Dude, of course you can use it. Use whatever you like, thats one of the reasons why I'm posting here.

I agree that at first the ornate stuff can seem iffy, and trust me, while creating them the temptations of letting them run away with modifiers and special rules was there. It kind of even made it through in the Ornate Repeating Crossbow, though I think it got balanced out by being more than twice the price of a regular one.

*Thats a very good idea. In our group it seemed like it was basically understood that only heroes would end up with them, at least I don't remember seeing any henchmen with them, but it would probably be best to make it more clear.

*The longbow certainly was one of the most used ornate weapons, it probably should be more expensive.

*Probably right on the Hammer one too. It didn't see alot of use in our campaigns, but i think that was just because A) We didn't have too many power gamers, as they were more interested in 40k, and B) No one started out as Middenheimers, and I think it was just kind of forgotten about

*A 2+ save is really nasty, but basically no one will start with it, and by the time they do get it, their will almost certainly be someone in the opposing warband that can deal with it. We never had any complaints about it, but I could see why someone would want to not play with it.

*I like your axe rules, but we included the upgrade to axes because of the complaints of certain players over the lack of any sort of firepower in their warbands. Namely norse and beastman who don't have access to shooting skills, so the norse couldn't take full advantage of the throwing knives.

*I'm not a huge fan of the optional black powder rules, as they are used seldomly enough without them maybe blowing up too

*Another good addition. A -1 save would be ridiculous. Like Khorne Herald on Jugger ridiculous.

Heres all the new skills we came up with. I was always a little bummed that we couldn't come up with any more strength and speed skills, but there are really only so many special rules you can think of without them really getting either too complicated/too redundant/too powerful

New Skills -
Combat:
Halberdier: If armed with a halberd, the character may choose to use it as a spear instead in the 1st round of combat
Riposte: When the character parries a blow, he gains a free attack against the attacking model. The attack is carried out after any other attack the attacking model have is resolved. If any of those attacks knock down/stun/take the character OOA, he loses the free attack. The attack is made with the same weapon that was used to make the parry, unless the parry was made with a buckler, in which case it will obviously be made with whatever weapon is in the other hand.
Puncture: (requires a spear or halberd) When attacking, if the opponent fails their armor save, roll a D6. On a 5+ one piece of their armor of its owners choosing is damaged.
Adaptive: If armed with a variety of weapons, the character may switch the equipment he is using during the same combat. For example, if the character is armed with a spear, a sword, and a buckler, the first turn of combat, he may use the spear to strike first, then during the next round of combat, he may switch to the sword and buckler.
Blacksmith: If the character is not OOA, instead of exploring post game, he may repair 2 pieces of the Warbands equipment that are damaged. Requires a Blacksmiths Hammer.
Ambidextrous: The character is a master of multi-weapon combat, and can wield a weapon in each hand as easily as he can use a single one. A character with this skill does not suffer from the -1 to hit penalty for using two weapons.

Shooting:
Fletcher: If the character is not OOA, instead of exploring post game, he may make 1 quiver of Hunting Arrows, which may be used by any member of the warband, in any future game.
Gunsmith: If the character is not OOA, instead of exploring post game, he may make 1 batch of Superior Black Powder, which may be used by any member of the warband, in any future game.
Expert Gunfighter: (Required Skill: Pistolier) If armed with a brace of pistols, the character may split his shots between 2 opponents within his range
Armed to the Teeth: (Required Skill: Pistolier) The warrior prefers to cover himself in pistols, believing that if one or two is good, than 4 or more is unbeatable! If the warrior already has a brace of pistols of any kind, he may buy as many more as he likes and carry them into combat with him, though each pistol after the first two must be bought and used in braces; an odd number may never be carried (old world folk are a superstitious lot). If he owns at least 4 pistols, he may fire two shots every shooting phase, and ignore the regular reloading rules. In addition, he may use the pistols special close combat attacks in as many combat phases as he has braces instead of only once per combat. IE: if he carries 2 braces, he may use the special attacks in two phases, 3 braces in three phases, so on and so forth. In a battle that a character makes use of “Armed to the Teeth” they may not be armed with any weapons other than their pistols.
Heavy Draw: The warrior has trained for years to use bows with a much heavier string than is typical, making his arrows strike with much more force than what most are capable of. When using a bow of any type (not a crossbow), +1 strength is added to the attack.
Selective Targeting: The warrior has excellent instinct, and knows that the closest enemy is not always the most dangerous. The warrior may shoot at any target within his line of sight, not just the one closest to him.
Risk Taker: The warrior is known for taking shots that few others would dare to, as the risk to their fellow warband members is too great. The warrior may shoot into combat. Roll to hit as normal. If a hit is made, roll a D6. On a roll of 3-6, the warriors aim was true, and he has struck the opponent. On a roll of 1-2, he has hit his team mate.

Academic:
Apothecary: If the character is not OOA, instead of exploring post game, they may make a single vial of either Crimson Shade, Dark Venom, or Black Lotus, which must be used in the following game.
Bless Water: (WH & SoS Only) If the character is not OOA, instead of exploring post game, they may make a single vial of either Holy Water or Blessed Water, which must be used in the following game.
World Traveler: Instead of exploring, may roll a D6. On a 4+ the player may make any 1 rare item common. Only applies to that post game. After subsequent games, the item will return to rare status.
Inspiring: May only be taken by a warbands leader. The leader is a master of using his soaring rhetoric to raise the spirits of his battered followers. As long as the leader is not stunned or out of action when it is taken, the warband may re-roll their first failed route test. If the leader is also wearing Cathayan Silk Clothes, the warband may re-roll two failed route tests, but may not re-roll a failed re-roll.
Occult Historian: The character is well read in all manners of the occult, and is decidedly more prepared for the horrors such things can offer than his peers. The character may re-roll any fear or all alones test he or she may have failed.
Voice Thrower: The character is adept at throwing his voice, and makes good use of it to confuse his enemies, making them think that maybe an order, such as a call for retreat, was given, when it wasn’t. However, even the dimmest enemies will only fall for this so many times. Once per battle, as long as the character with this skill is not currently stunned or OOA, on a roll of 5+ the player may force his opponent to re-roll a successful route test.

Strength -
Shield Bash: If armed with a shield, the character may make 1 extra attack with +1 to enemy armor saves.
Endurance: The character gets the strength bonuses from Morning Stars and Flails for two rounds of combat instead of one.
Execute: If armed with a two handed weapon (Halberd, Flail, GW, etc) may forgo all attacks in favor of 1 that Crits on a 5+, ignores armor, and adds +1 to injury rolls. Characters must have more than 1 attack available to them to use this skill.
Hammering Blows: (requires a club type weapon, not including BP weapons) When attacking, if the opponent fails their armor save, roll a D6. On a 5+ one piece of their armor of its owners choosing is damaged. Helmets will only prevent stun on 5+, LA/ toughened leathers are destroyed, Heavy Armor and Shields are reduced to 6+, Full Plate to 5+. Gromil & Ithilmar are uneffected.

Speed -
Wall Hike: The character is adept at using his agility and the surrounding terrain to his advantage. When he charges, if the enemy is within 1” of any terrain (buildings, fountains etc) then the character is at +1 to hit, and the enemy is at -1 in the 1st round.
Fancy Footwork: During combat, the warrior is a never ending cavalcade of motion, never stopping even for moment. While he’s standing, enemies are at a -1 to hit him in close combat. (Does not combine with Wall Hike)
Quick Strike: The warrior is so fast, that as long as he doesn’t have something pesky like a weapon weighing one of his limbs down, he can almost always slide a strike in before his enemy has a chance to react. The warrior gains an extra unarmed attack that strikes first. If the enemy has strike first and a higher initiative, this attack is added to warriors attacks if he gets the chance to strike back.

Some nice ones. Again, few small ideas:

~Wtih the items, I recommend you add the rules "must be used next game" to ALL items, not just the holy water and poison, as well as the added rule, "may not resell". Otherwise, you'll just have them churning it ou for profit. (Also, if you're interested, the Dark Elves had a rule to create 1D3-1 Dark venom, meaning you get 0, 1, or 2. I copied that when I did the Sartosa/Pirate campaign (with a skill that grants you 1D3-1 superior blackpowder, can't stockpile, can't sell.)

Endurance: why not make it last ALL rounds? Compare to Strongman: with strongman, you pay 15gc for a weapon that gives you +2 strength- with a skill, there's no drawback. With a flail, you pay 15gc for a weapon that gives you +2 strength- with Endurance, there's no drawback. (That's one of my pet ideas... make morning stars better by allowing them to be used with a strength skill.)

Ironically, several of the skills are similar to the pirate skills we came up with for Sartosa - riposte, gun smith, armed to the teeth. Kinda funny.
https://sites.google.com/site/styroheim/