TheSword
Legend
So after discussing WFRP and it’s rules on a few other threads I thought I would post the campaign journal on how we get on. This will be from a DMs perspective and like all campaign journals will contain spoilers. However if you comment please don’t reveal stuff from the campaign that my players might not have got to yet. At least some will probably read this.
We have four characters Luchs von Schwertkrieg a stern and unyielding witch hunter’s interrogator. Hilda con Lustfahrt a down on her luck Riverwarden. Alexis von Falkenberg an ernest noble scion, and Viktor Schaumer an close-lipped bounty hunter.
Session One : Gone Down the Verfulfluss
The adventure began on a rickety river barge called the Trandafir. All the characters had been hired by a young entrepreneur, Rutger Reuter to accompany the barge carrying building materials and its Strigany crew to a building site for a new mill down river. The only stable ground for miles around because of the swamp that lies either side of the river here. Luckily it’s in the direction of Altdorf, where all the characters are heading to for their own reasons. So a couple of days barge duty has to be better than walking, right?
After introductions are facilitated by young Rutgar he returns to his cabin and the PCs are approached by Reiko the Strigani boatman who’s team have been hired to transport the materials and build the mill. He has his concerns but remains optimistic that this job will allow him to return to Ubersreik and let him spend a year or two there with his daughters. He warns to pay his grandmother Vadoma no heed with her talk of curses and doom. She is ensconced at the prow of the ship. Hilda has heard of this stretch of the river and is surprised that they are building as development has always been forbidden by the local lord.
When the PCs approach Vadoma, who is swathed in black scarfs, they find her muttering and rocking. Whispering about the curse on this part of the river, and the beast of the Ortschlamm Marsh. Luchs struggled to get any more out of her, until they pass a bend in the river. At that point she whooped with delight and says that they are now free of the beast. Unfortunately at that point the barge strikes something in the water and comes to an abrupt halt hurling Vadoma into the cold fast flowing water.
Luchs tries to reach out and grab her but his timing was off and he topples into the water after her. Viktor too was thrown over a rail while Alexis and Hilda keep their feet. Getting rope to throw after them Hilda saw something big moving through the water towards the splashing Vadoma. Screaming stirpike at the top of her lungs she shouted for everyone to get out of the water. Alexis leant over the railing ready for someone to pass Vadoma up to her. Meanwhile the stirpike - a vicious river predator 12 feet long goes for Viktor. One savage bite almost kills him leaving him prone and clinging to life. Luchs heaved Vadoma out of the water into Alexis grasp and then drew his sword, wading throw the water to engage the stirpike. Meanwhile Victor mustered his resolve and surges to his feet engaging the beast with his sword. Hilda tied off a rope to the edge of the barge so those in the water have something to help them out and repeated that they should get out of the water.
Alexis instead leapt over the rail to land behind the stirpike and slashed it a mighty cut with his rapier. The Stirpike thrashing in the water appeared to turn on Alexis but only so it could slam Viktor with its fluked tail, knocking him back down. Luchs slashes with his sword but only gets a slash on his cheek for his trouble from a fluked tail. Wiping away the blood he snarls at the mighty fish. A lump hammer taken from a nearby crate, comes spinning over his head and strikes the fish hard as Hilda gets ready to throw another one, her strong muscles flexing.
The fish seems panicked now as Alexis tries again to strike it. And Hilda’s next tool strikes it again gouging a line in its side. Viktor feels the fish crush his ankle as it thrashes and rolls, being knocked back underwater for the third time. While Luchs gets in a lucky hit. The stirpike, bleeding hard, smashes past the group who now outnumber it and swims powerfully upstream. The Strigany are also throwing things from the crates at it as it passes until Rutger comes out of his cabin and begs them to stop wasting his materials.
The PCs climb out of the water with help of the rope and the others on the barge and Luchs prepares to take a look at Viktor’s many wounds.
End of session 1
XP Awarded.
50 for roleplay.
25 for saving Vadoma’s life.
**********
This was a really fun first session. The majority was taken up by character creation but if you know what you want to play this is relatively straightforward. Players chose race, class and career and then randomized everything else. Two players rolled really badly so I let them add +2, +3 and +4 to three stats (not their highest or lowest) which brought them in line with the others. They also got 100 bonus experience to start as the noble character really wanted to be able to read and be of noble blood, which I thought was fair.
The roleplay was fun as can be expected in WFRP. Career gives you far more inspiration to work off than D&D classes.
The combat was very interesting. It was a great first combat. Advantage kept swinging each way as it is supposed to do. Large creatures can be brutal… the stirpike did 22 damage to Viktor in the first round, he avoided the crit by sacrificing his leather Jack. Large monsters can hit like a south bound freight train!
Resolve made a big difference, keeping Viktor up and fighting. He took 2 crits so was two more away from death/ spending a fate point. To be honest the same could have applied to a character with a lot more stats. It was just bad luck.
All in all the combat felt really dramatic and I was very pleased. It gave lots of opportunities to practice the rules and flowed quickly. Advantage was really easy to track with Roll20 tokens and the dice rolling felt really fast. Though of course it was just one creature.
In case anyone is an Enemy Within aficionado, you’ll notice this isn’t the normal start to the campaign. I’ve added a prologue module to help us pick up the rules.
We have four characters Luchs von Schwertkrieg a stern and unyielding witch hunter’s interrogator. Hilda con Lustfahrt a down on her luck Riverwarden. Alexis von Falkenberg an ernest noble scion, and Viktor Schaumer an close-lipped bounty hunter.
Session One : Gone Down the Verfulfluss
The adventure began on a rickety river barge called the Trandafir. All the characters had been hired by a young entrepreneur, Rutger Reuter to accompany the barge carrying building materials and its Strigany crew to a building site for a new mill down river. The only stable ground for miles around because of the swamp that lies either side of the river here. Luckily it’s in the direction of Altdorf, where all the characters are heading to for their own reasons. So a couple of days barge duty has to be better than walking, right?
After introductions are facilitated by young Rutgar he returns to his cabin and the PCs are approached by Reiko the Strigani boatman who’s team have been hired to transport the materials and build the mill. He has his concerns but remains optimistic that this job will allow him to return to Ubersreik and let him spend a year or two there with his daughters. He warns to pay his grandmother Vadoma no heed with her talk of curses and doom. She is ensconced at the prow of the ship. Hilda has heard of this stretch of the river and is surprised that they are building as development has always been forbidden by the local lord.
When the PCs approach Vadoma, who is swathed in black scarfs, they find her muttering and rocking. Whispering about the curse on this part of the river, and the beast of the Ortschlamm Marsh. Luchs struggled to get any more out of her, until they pass a bend in the river. At that point she whooped with delight and says that they are now free of the beast. Unfortunately at that point the barge strikes something in the water and comes to an abrupt halt hurling Vadoma into the cold fast flowing water.
Luchs tries to reach out and grab her but his timing was off and he topples into the water after her. Viktor too was thrown over a rail while Alexis and Hilda keep their feet. Getting rope to throw after them Hilda saw something big moving through the water towards the splashing Vadoma. Screaming stirpike at the top of her lungs she shouted for everyone to get out of the water. Alexis leant over the railing ready for someone to pass Vadoma up to her. Meanwhile the stirpike - a vicious river predator 12 feet long goes for Viktor. One savage bite almost kills him leaving him prone and clinging to life. Luchs heaved Vadoma out of the water into Alexis grasp and then drew his sword, wading throw the water to engage the stirpike. Meanwhile Victor mustered his resolve and surges to his feet engaging the beast with his sword. Hilda tied off a rope to the edge of the barge so those in the water have something to help them out and repeated that they should get out of the water.
Alexis instead leapt over the rail to land behind the stirpike and slashed it a mighty cut with his rapier. The Stirpike thrashing in the water appeared to turn on Alexis but only so it could slam Viktor with its fluked tail, knocking him back down. Luchs slashes with his sword but only gets a slash on his cheek for his trouble from a fluked tail. Wiping away the blood he snarls at the mighty fish. A lump hammer taken from a nearby crate, comes spinning over his head and strikes the fish hard as Hilda gets ready to throw another one, her strong muscles flexing.
The fish seems panicked now as Alexis tries again to strike it. And Hilda’s next tool strikes it again gouging a line in its side. Viktor feels the fish crush his ankle as it thrashes and rolls, being knocked back underwater for the third time. While Luchs gets in a lucky hit. The stirpike, bleeding hard, smashes past the group who now outnumber it and swims powerfully upstream. The Strigany are also throwing things from the crates at it as it passes until Rutger comes out of his cabin and begs them to stop wasting his materials.
The PCs climb out of the water with help of the rope and the others on the barge and Luchs prepares to take a look at Viktor’s many wounds.
End of session 1
XP Awarded.
50 for roleplay.
25 for saving Vadoma’s life.
**********
This was a really fun first session. The majority was taken up by character creation but if you know what you want to play this is relatively straightforward. Players chose race, class and career and then randomized everything else. Two players rolled really badly so I let them add +2, +3 and +4 to three stats (not their highest or lowest) which brought them in line with the others. They also got 100 bonus experience to start as the noble character really wanted to be able to read and be of noble blood, which I thought was fair.
The roleplay was fun as can be expected in WFRP. Career gives you far more inspiration to work off than D&D classes.
The combat was very interesting. It was a great first combat. Advantage kept swinging each way as it is supposed to do. Large creatures can be brutal… the stirpike did 22 damage to Viktor in the first round, he avoided the crit by sacrificing his leather Jack. Large monsters can hit like a south bound freight train!
Resolve made a big difference, keeping Viktor up and fighting. He took 2 crits so was two more away from death/ spending a fate point. To be honest the same could have applied to a character with a lot more stats. It was just bad luck.
All in all the combat felt really dramatic and I was very pleased. It gave lots of opportunities to practice the rules and flowed quickly. Advantage was really easy to track with Roll20 tokens and the dice rolling felt really fast. Though of course it was just one creature.
In case anyone is an Enemy Within aficionado, you’ll notice this isn’t the normal start to the campaign. I’ve added a prologue module to help us pick up the rules.
Last edited:
