House Goliath
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House Goliath is one of the six Hive City Houses of Necromunda, making it one of the six original playable factions for the game when it was debuted.
House Goliath has been one of the two "introductory" gangs in both the original and the relaunch edition of Necromunda. In the original launch, they were paired up against House Orlock, whilst the relaunch matched them up against House Escher, which made for better contrast and played into their established enmity.
Description
Occupying some of the deepest, harshest areas of the Hive and extensively involved in heavy industries, House Goliath has developed a culture defined by machismo; they pride themselves on stubbornness and their ability to endure hardship, looking down on the other Houses as "soft" and "slack" by comparison. Size and strength are the measure of a man, and thus their style of dress emphasizes a preoccupation with physique; chains and massive, spiky metal bracers are the ornamentation of choice.
In the relaunch, House Goliath makes heavy use of stims and gene-tweakers in pursuit of their goals, pushing their bodies to unnatural limits and reaching near-Astartes levels of bulk and savagery; some observers have proposed they may even qualify as abhumans. The downside to these enhancements include a drastically reduced lifespan, even by the poor standards of Hive living. Goliaths also need to wear a chem-leash auto-rig for the rest of their short lives; this item maintains the delicate balance of stims and chems which fuel their enhanced bodies. It also acts as a measure of control by the House authorities, as without the chem-leash the Goliath's bodies will destabilize and die, or go into overdrive and enter a state of uncontrolled growth and lead to eventual death anyway. Either way it acts as a powerful disincentive to rebellion. However, rumor has it a few Goliath gangs have found ways around this, usually via black market remedies but sometimes by using xenos drugs or even cannibalism.
The other Houses look down on House Goliath as barbaric, unsophisticated and dangerously unpredictable - this attitude is especially potent in the members of House Escher, and the two Houses have a centuries-old vendetta between them. Ironically, in the relaunch version, they actually depend on Escher-produced pharmaceuticals to sustain their culture.
Unique Mechanics
1998 Edition
In the first edition, House Goliath's specialty is Muscle Skills; every member of the gang has access to them. Ferocity and Combat are close seconds; Juves can't learn Combat and Heavies can't learn Ferocity. However, they have no ability to learn Agility at all - even in House Escher, gang-leaders can learn Ferocity and Heavies can learn Muscle - and their Stealth skills are abysmal, with only Goliath gang-leaders able to learn Stealth.
2017 Edition
House Goliath maintains its focus on brute strength and physical domination over all other forms of combat. As such, the Brawn and Ferocity skill trees are available to all gang members (though Juves treat Brawn as Secondary), but Agility is only available as a Secondary skill tree for Juves. No gang member has access to Cunning or Savant trees as standard, which is in keeping with their "Brawn over Brains" philosophy. They specialize in ranged weapons with short range but high firepower, as well as melee weapons that rely on sheer force over finesse. These weapons include the "Krumper" rivet cannons, grenade launchers, and power hammers.