Skaven are the murderous–deadly rat-things in Warhammer, yes yes! MyMMO editor and human-thing Benedict Grothaus loves-adores the rats and was able to play-test Age of Sigmar: Deathmaster at gamescom. A small but bright highlight-favorite, yes yes!
I probably don’t need to tell you anymore, that Skaven are one of my absolute favorite races. The nasty ratmen are the pinnacle of the twisted world of Warhammer with their completely insane nature and their totally exaggerated weapons, at least in the fantasy realm.
What some of you may not know is how important the number 13 is to the Skaven. It is considered the sacred number of the ratmen and their own god, the Horned Rat. The Council of Thirteen leads the Skaven, they follow 13×13 commandments, and the 13th bell toll marks the birth hour of the Skaven.
When Deathmaster started with a bell tolling 13 times, and I asked the game chef about it, he immediately recognized me as a Warhammer nerd – and asked me what I love about the game and Skaven in general. In the end, he concluded that I am exactly the person for whom he wants to develop Deathmaster.
Deathmaster tells the story of a worthless rat becoming one of the deadliest assassins
Clan Eshin, the ninja and assassin clan of the Skaven, is also my absolute favorite among the rats. So of course, I was already hooked when Deathmaster was announced during the Warhammer Skulls fest.
You play as Vihneek, a clan or slave rat, who is believed to be dead or dying and simply dumped with other corpses into the gutter. Too stubborn to die, you fight your way out of the pile of corpses, free yourself, and try to escape.
The prologue ends with a Deathmaster, one of the chief assassins of the Skaven (but not from Clan Eshin), saving and taking you in to train you. And it’s right here that the game absolutely hooked me.
Instead of just playing a stealth game where I have to manage mechanics like sound and darkness – like many other games of this type – there’s a skill system with progress where I can slowly rise through the different ranks of rat assassins, yes yes!
In the levels, Warpstone is hidden, a sacred substance for Skaven, which they can use to cast magic or mutate. Warpstone makes the rats incredibly strong, albeit … unstable. Simply sneaking through the tunnels, hiding from the guards, distracting with corpses, and assassinating the other rats, just to get to the next warpstone, is absolute Skaven feeling!
Details that will delight every Warhammer fan – if they can spot them
After the bell tolls, I noticed a few things in the game. Right at the beginning, you can see Vihneek’s tail, which has apparently been cut off and sewn back on – a devastating sign among the rats, as the tail partly indicates social status.
Throughout the levels, Skaven are still hanging in cages or mutant rat-ogres and other abominations are being assembled from parts of other, some still living Skaven. Brutal, disgusting, and absolutely fitting for Warhammer!
The number 13 also appears almost everywhere. Right in the prologue, a rat-ogre chases you through 13 gate arches. In conversation, the chief told me: He told his employees to incorporate the 13 as often as possible. Everywhere. Always. Even he himself doesn’t know all the references, there are so many in the end.
What do you think of the idea of a Skaven game of its own? Which faction would you wish for more – and why is it the Skaven? Leave a comment!
Deathmaster is set to release in 2027 on Steam, PS5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch 2 and looks like a game that probably won’t require too much gameplay time but will certainly provide me with a lot of enjoyment during that time. I strongly hope that the spark will jump over to others as well, as Age of Sigmar is a world where really good games have so far been missing, but one that has been getting better lately: Age of Sigmar was long considered the least popular Warhammer, now it delights fans: “High Fantasy meets Heavy Metal”
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