GuyBoy
Hero
Hey, @HalfOrc HalfBiscuit , love the user name. Do you have a Dukla Prague away kit by any chance?
WFRP 4e The Enemy Within Campaign Book 1: Enemy in Shadows Session #08 My Face Painting Days Are Over.
- Thread starter Goonalan
- Start date
carborundum
Adventurer
Great stuff! We played this about a year ago, looking forward to seeing which direction your guys go off the rails 
HalfOrc HalfBiscuit
Adventurer
LETTERS FROM THE OLD WORLD.
The continuing adventures of the usual bunch of miscreants this time playing Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 4th edition, and The Enemy Within Campaign, of course.
SESSION #02 The Eye of the Tiger.
The PCs
Fergus McClean, Dwarf Scout (Guide) played by Bear.
Looks Like: Rough and ready-for-anything Dawi- a bit unkempt; constantly muttering and grumbling at Seamus his imaginary dog.
Sounds Like: Northern 'I wur down t'mine', although taciturn, and always grumpy.
Fergus is a short embittered (divorced) Dawi from the mining village of Schwartzstein in the foothills of the Grey Mountains. That is until he discovered his best friend Seamus with his wife Cherrie. Fergus left his village and his old life behind and set off in search of adventure, eventually taking up Scouting as a living. He has business in Altdorf, and is at present journeying with three Manlings he has come to trust who are also on their way to the capital.
Frederich Hass, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Jim.
Looks Like: Thick-set, tall with a resting angry face, never too far away from a snarl, otherwise well turned out.
Sounds Like: Whispering menace, accusatory- probing, but charming when he wants to be. Accent is brooding (intelligent) cod-Russian (like a clever but menacing Daktari). Note he sees the hand of the Ruinous Powers behind every untoward event.
Frederich and his brother Olek watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through-and-through, Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Lothar Jurgen Muller, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Kev.
Looks Like: Neat, tidy, clean-cut, perhaps even a little dashing- the boy next door, but doable- and always with a smile on his face, and often in his eyes. Lothar carries his own embroidered place mat with matching knife and fork. Manners and civility are so important.
Sounds Like: Civil, polite, formal, caring- and entirely without menace. He's a Paladin doing Witch Hunter, which may yet prove amusing.
Lothar is a baker's son from Ubersreik that just happened to become a Witch Hunter, he didn't just drift into it, he has a plan (perhaps). Lothar however came to Witch Hunting with the thought that he could perhaps be of help- to the Empire, to his family, to the poor wretches that have fallen into corruption, and possibly to help himself (a little) along the way. He is resolutely nice in a world full of foetid stink and terror.
Olek Hass, Human Artisan- Blacksmith (Apprentice) played by George.
Looks Like: Seven (plus) feet tall, and not too skinny with it- lithe and muscled, he's a giant- with wild eyes.
Sounds Like: A camp Nazi constantly unfolding, expounding and explaining the mystery of ongoing events, and seeing the presence of Sigmar everywhere.
Olek and his brother Frederich watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through and-through- Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Here we go again.
There was a lot more laughter this session, tears of laughter once or twice- for which I, of course, apologised.
Also, this might be a long 'un, a lot went on. Apologies in advance.
Strap in.
JAHRDRUNG, 2512.
THE COACH & HORSES INN, ON THE ROAD TO ALTDORF.
But before that let's start with a word about XP.
I read, I think, in the third book of this campaign that PCs at that point should have approx. 2,500 XP, it was something like that- maybe 2,300 (It could have been 3,500 XP- I can't seem to find the page again). Anyway, I made a spreadsheet and counted up how XP the players could/would (are likely to) get along the way according to books 1 & 2. I then factored in maybe 20 sessions to play through each book, and hey presto... that didn't work, when I added it up it seemed a successful PC could accumulate over 5,000 XP by the end of the second book. Or something similar, don't trust the numbers above but you get my point, there's far too much XP available to the little tykes.
This calculation was based on the GM awarding about 50 XP/PC per session- plus any additions from the book.
So, I cut the XP right down- I'm a bad lad.
And made a better guilt-free (for me) system for distributing XP in game.
And so...
At the end of every session the players vote on two things- Roleplay & Clever(ness), who (in the session) was the best at both of these things, that's two separate votes. Players cannot vote for themselves, and so it's 1 to 3, best to least best (worst) and the DM gives out 45/40/40/35 XP or something similar. That's the base XP for the session.
That's not two lots of 45/40/40/35, just one lot.
Although don't tell the players but after 10 or 12 session I'm probably going to halve this amount.
Shhh.
Our secret.
Then there's some static rewards, the only one of these the PCs have found so far is 1 XP for each rumour discovered, that's not 1 XP each- that's 1 XP for the rumour finder. Get all of the rumours in a section (15 in the first) and there's a bonus 1 XP for every PC!
Wowzer!
Then, some scenes- as indicated in the book, have XP attached to them, after the scene plays out I ask the players to vote- 1 to 3 as above, although just one vote this time.
So, in the first session the opening scene with the ghost of Johann Bauman, the PCs voted and...
Fred & Fergus 3 XP each, Lothar 4 XP and Olek FTW with 5 XP. I just figured 3-5 XP for this particular scene, for the stuff (XP listed) in the book I just halved most things and picked a range.
So, XP for the first session looked like this-
| PC | The Ghost | Rumours | Session Award | Total |
| Fred (Jim) | 3 | 0 | 40 | 43 |
| Fergus (Bear) | 3 | 1 | 35 | 39 |
| Olek (George) | 5 | 1 | 45 | 51 |
| Lothar (Kev) | 4 | 2 | 45 | 51 |
The best thing about it- I'm not to blame, they vote- I don't.
So, that's XP. I'll adjust it as I go on, in line with getting to book 3 with the XP total close to what's written there.
One last thing- because I'm doing some diary bits here in this Story Hour I offered the two PCs without Read/Write (Frederich & Olek) the Talent for just 50 XP. They both had enough to take it after the first session.
The other two PCs (Fergus & Lothar) have been offered a 50 XP Lore skill, whatever they choose- within reason, just to balance things out.
Fergus spent most of his XP on improving his Toughness, and also Consume Alcohol skill, he figures if he's going to drink, well... he's going to drink.
Lothar increased his Toughness and his Initiative by one apiece after the first session.
Last bit before we get on.
There are very few pictures in this Story Hour (& this session) because, it doesn't work (in this instance) how it does with D&D on FGU, there's no slow exploration/reveal of dungeons et al. Later in this session there's a chase sequence (because I wanted one early in the piece- this is a tutorial, right) but there are no pictures of it.
A bundle of description at the time, but after... when I was scolding the players for not taking any snaps (although, it's as much my responsibility to remind them) they said... and this just wont wash- “We were too excited.”
I ask you.
It got very funny towards the end of the chase.
More pictures next time- got that PLAYERS!
Here we go...
SCENE 4. That's Entertainment.
The bar of the Coach & Horses Inn, and Lothar has agreed to put together a package of entertainment for the evening, a show- if you like, this at the behest of Lady Isolde Von Strudelhof, who seems to be getting friendly with the Burner.
Oh, but 'Burner'. It's a common term that the folk in the Old World call Witch Hunters- “BURN HER!” = Burner. I decide early on in the piece to take a little sting out of the Witch Hunter's in the party, what with their being two of them. It wouldn't do to have the general populace just flee in terror, so I very quickly made the decision that Witch Hunters are a bit- resented, (secretly) laughed at, or else treated with something other than outright terror.
Gustav's third line was something like-
“If you don't mind me asking Lords, are both of you Burners?”
Anyway, Lothar is playing impresario, and so he quickly organises his troops- even Phillipe is drafted in to play (improvised) drums, and as we all know- every PC has the ability to Entertain.
Oh, but before we get here- Frederich takes Lothar aside, and has a little word- as dry as you can, angry, laconic and a little cod-Russian for the voice-
“This is... This is unworthy of Sigmar. It is, contemptible...”
To which Lothar replies something like-
“Oh, I don't know my friend, Sigmar is big on Community. How does it go Olek?”
At which point Olek chimes in about the commandments of Sigmar- one of which (I forget) is indeed about the forging of community, or some such.
Frederich is further advised to get the stick out of his arse.
Just to note Frederich thinks lots of things are 'unbefitting' men such as he (& Lothar) serving in Sigmar's holy army etc., and every time he does this Lothar just says something akin to the above, and Olek is always on hand to caution his brother.
Anyway, back to the entertainment.
However, Lothar has not accounted for Fergus McClean's particularly entertaining talent.
The dwarf sidles over to the bar and whispers his request to Gustav there, and then after a few coins change hands the gruff scout has honey and a collection of various powders- all different colours, fetched from the kitchen... Fergus is a Face-Painter.
Or so he says- he can paint two faces- a tiger (he saw one in a book about Ind), and a sort of angry bird.
And so...
Janna, Lady Isolde's maid, is persuaded to be a tiger.
While...
Olek and Lothar go monochromatic.
The dwarf finally face paints himself as the angry bird-thing, although without using a mirror, and so something like -20 on his roll, which isn't very high to begin with.
Truth be told the dwarf doesn't have a great deal of success- Janna looks less like a tiger and more like someone whose face is on fire, Olek looks like a member of the Black & White Minstrel Show (blacked-up, not a troubadour style minstrel) and Fergus looks like he has been shot in the face.
So, a mixed bag.
Remarkably Lothar's paintwork is immaculate (rolled '01' on the check).
Then the show starts with Frederich telling a ghostly story- all atmosphere and dour-dark turn, it goes down remarkably well- several Ostlers and a bunch of other servants of the inn spontaneously assemble to enjoy the narrative.
Then...
Olek does another song, accompanied on drums by Phillipe.
Olek sings Eye of the Sigmar/Tiger.
Of course he does.
You know the words- join in-
Riding up, Valiant and Free,
Bold and Brave, Heldenhammer.
Built an empire, Had the World at his feet,
Just a man and his Will to Survive.
Suddenly, Happened so fast,
In the jungles of Lustria,
A great beast, So Evil and Dark,
Met our lord in a fight to Survive.
He took the EYE OF THE TIGER,
In his Great Mailed fist,
Deadly Wounded, his Terrible Rival,
Victory close at hand here,
Struggled on through the night,
But great Sigmar cannot be deniiiiiied,
His victory.
Bold and Brave, Heldenhammer.
Built an empire, Had the World at his feet,
Just a man and his Will to Survive.
Suddenly, Happened so fast,
In the jungles of Lustria,
A great beast, So Evil and Dark,
Met our lord in a fight to Survive.
He took the EYE OF THE TIGER,
In his Great Mailed fist,
Deadly Wounded, his Terrible Rival,
Victory close at hand here,
Struggled on through the night,
But great Sigmar cannot be deniiiiiied,
His victory.
You know the rest.
So, that's a hit- although the Bretonnian's drums are all over the place.
The song and story are of course accompanied by the face-painted duo being directed around the makeshift stage by Lothar, who also keeps pace with the narrative using his shadow-puppetry.
Yep, shadow-puppetry.
The overall effect is... well, it passed the time.
I think the overall result for all of the checks was -1 SL, which is a bit of a let down because Frederich's opening story was a real hit (+3 SL, and his skill ain't high).
Eventually Lady Isolde and her entourage head up to bed, but not before promising to see Lothar at 'breakfast on the morrow', Note, the student fellow that was reading his book at the bar headed to his room as soon as it started to get noisy.
No XP was give for this scene, because I am a bad man.
SCENE 5. I'm Just Going To Roll To See Who Gets Shot In The Face.
Then, back around the table in the Inn. Gustav has also said goodnight- there's just Erpin behind the bar, the two coachmen- still drinking, and the PCs with their new found friend- Phillipe.
Stories are told, and more drink is consumed, and Phillipe is still buying- isn't he nice.
Several PCs are suspicious, but their Intuition checks are all bad rolls.
Huzzah!
Phillipe over the course of what passes next also tells the PCs another couple of rumours that he has heard on the road. The first about the Emperor's secret shame, his (possibly mutated) sister hidden away in the Great Hospice. Later he discusses the fate of the poor folk of Blutroch village, they all developed red blotches on their skin, and then less than a week later they all died from the same unknown but terrible wasting disease.
He's a bag of laughs the Bretonnian, but he knows how to tell a story, and how to keep an audience interested.
Note, Frederich is a little riled (as is Olek) about the Bretonnian slandering the Reikland's glorious Emperor. Apologies follow, Phillipe wishes to make amends, and eventually he asks the PCs to play a little cards with him. He wants to learn the game Scarlet Empress, will the PCs teach him- “it iz after all ze most pop-u-lar card game in ze Empire, or zo I am told.”
Olek, is not for games of chance, but encourages Frederich to play.
It starts well- Fergus wins the first hand and for a moment gets garrulous- it doesn't last.
Lothar wins the second hand.
Then the two drunken coachmen wander over and get themselves a place at the table, and suddenly every hand is a worth over one and a half shillings.
And so we play a few more hands- between more stories from the road, and Phillipe's rumours- as above, and other chat.
Until, the last hand.
At which point Lothar is absolutely certain that Phillipe is cheating, and this is the third or fourth hand the Bretonnian has won in a row.
Phillipe wins the last hand, which also has a good size pot.
Lothar grabs Phillipe- accuses him of cheating and tries to shake the aces from the Bretonnian's sleeve, alas there's enough pushback from Phillipe to prevent this.
Then everyone piles on employing a variety of skills (with mixed results) to, well... Phillipe tries to calm (and Charm) the situation, Frederich on the other hand is insistent (Intimidate) that Phillipe disrobe to prove he is not a cheating scumbag, while Olek (smart fellow) convinces the drunken coachmen (Leadership) that Phillipe has indeed been cheating.
The result- a lot of raised voices and an argument.
Fergus also isn't happy- “a bluddy CHEATER!”
Phillipe gets free of Lothar, at last (the DM sighs), quick draws his pistol and I deliver the line which serves as the title to this scene-
I'm Just Going To Roll To See Who Gets Shot In The Face.
That's the cliffhanger.
Time for a vote, best in scene, and the DM directs the players to concentrate their efforts on all of the action this evening (including in the last session, although that wasn't much) with Phillipe, from the moment that Fergus persuaded the Bretonnian to join the PCs to Lothar's accusations.
The vote is- Fred 4 XP, Fergus & Olek 5 XP each and Lothar 6 XP.
Note Olek and Lothar have also both gained a bonus 1 XP each for extracting the rumours above from Phillipe.
Then, time for a quick break- make 'em sweat.
SCENE 6. Run, Run, Runaway.
No-one's getting shot in the face, at least not this early in the game, I figured it would just concentrate minds, and leave the players wondering. Generally when a scene ends there's a break in play.
Phillipe draws his pistol and fires a round into the ceiling, engulfing all at the table in a hot ash and smoke, deafening a few and scaring the holy crap out of others.
But as it turns out only Olek and the two drunken coachmen succumb to the Intimidate check with added hand gun blast.
The rest of the PCs are swiftly in hot pursuit of the fleeing Phillipe, up the stairs and through the corridors of the inn, the destination for the chase- Phillipe's room, of course, and the window he has left open there for a quick exit.
I wanted to show the PCs how a chase works, and it's as easy as.
So, there's four or five turns of the chase, although it's only Lothar, Frederich and Fergus in pursuit of the Bretonnian. Lothar gets close enough to make a grab for Phillipe but the hustler manages to shake the Burner off, and then get a little ahead again.
Although the rumpus all comes to a halt when Gustav, dressed in his wee-willy-winky nightshirt, and armed with a blunderbuss comes up the stairs and starts shouting the odds.
Phillipe, Lothar and Frederich each make a heart-felt attempt to persuade the landlord about present events. Phillipe declares that the adventurers are trying to rob him, the PCs tell a different story, of course.
Gustav is convinced- the Bretonnian is a cheat.
Also the foul man shot Blackie, his pet crow.
Phillipe spots which way the wind is blowing and makes a break for cover, away from the blunderbuss wielding landlord.
KABOOM!
But as it turns out Gustav is not a great shot (-5 SL) and succeeds only in filling the open area at the top of the stairs with acrid burning smoke from the discharge, and peppering the ceiling with shot. The recoil also sends the fat man tumbling back down the stairs.
Phillipe uses the cover to dive into his room, grab his gear and commando roll out of the window and onto a narrow roof, then to drop down into the yard (he rolled '01', that's a great check).
Meantime Frederich has managed to get ahead of Lothar, he bundles into the first room that he can see- remember the place is choked with the acrid discharge from Gustav's shot. Alas the room in question is occupied by the unfashionable fellow from the bar, the student with the book, who is not at all pleased to see a Witch Hunter burst into his room.
Frederich however is semi-apologetic-
“As you were citizen, do not worry we are about Sigmar's work. Wrong room.”
Lothar kicks open the correct door, sees the open window, and is just in time to spot Phillipe in the yard- rushing for the stable.
“So long you Reiklander pig dogs!” Phillipe helpfully states.
Lothar starts shouting too, telling everyone where Phillipe is at.
Where's Fergus in all of this you are asking yourselves, well- chasing involves Athletics checks, and Fergus has no Athletics score to talk about, or else his dice are broken and he keeps failing badly.
Therefore the dwarf, hearing Lothar shouting about Phillipe going out of the window, follows the tumbling Gustav down the stairs. There are more bedrooms down here... Fergus stumbles into the first room that's vaguely in the right direction, which turns out to be Janna's, Lady Isolde's maid, there is screaming. The dwarf bumbles forward, apologising as he goes, and then flings himself out of the window.
But...
Gets wedged.
The next few turns involve a squirming Fergus trying to fall out into the yard while a screeching Janna repeatedly beats the dwarf's window-blocking backside.
So, next up, where's Olek in all of this- the big man after recovering his wits, he hid beneath the table with the coachmen in the bar for a while, heads out into the yard and makes for the main gate of the inn compound, and there he hides- dagger in hand, ready to stab Phillipe if he comes this way.
Which he doesn't, but not for the want of trying.
In the meantime Frederich and then Lothar (with a Fortune Point) have both managed to safely climb out of Phillipe's room and jump down into the yard.
What's more, moments later after Phillipe rolls badly on his Athletics check- and then uses his Luck talent to try again and rolls even worse... both of the Witch Hunters catch up with the Bretonnian who has however also managed to get his pistol loaded (Rapid Reload).
There's a fracas- Frederich punches and winds Phillipe, while Lothar bundles him into the wall of the stables and pins him there (Entangle 2).
Prior to this Phillipe whines a lot and tries to weasel his way out of the situation, but that doesn't work.
The Bretonnian is captured.
Phillipe makes rash offers, he tries to buy his way out of the situation but... it's at this point that Fergus falls out of the (ground floor) window he was stuck in, the dwarf falls on his face (but briefly) gets up swiftly and comes screaming for the card sharp.
“Tha's nowt burra CHEATING bastard!”
Fergus arrives on the scene hand axe in hand-
“Tha's right, 'old 'im down. I'm gunna chop 'is 'ands off!”
Fergus is eventually persuaded not to maim the Bretonnian, he puts his hand axe away- gets a good run up and boots Phillipe in the balls.
Later the Dwarf apologises for his behavior- he really doesn't like cheaters (see his backstory).
Prior to this Phillipe was trying to either a) persuade the Witch Hunters et al to let him go, or else b) try to break Lothar's hold on him. My dice were broken either way.
Lothar & Frederich grapple Phillipe, Fergus puts the boot in.
Thirty seconds later Gustav, Erpin, the drunken coachmen, Olek and a bunch of other folk spill out of the inn and make for the scene.
Two minutes later and two large Ostlers, and the Smith from the inn, have dragged Phillipe away- the Bretonnian is screaming in pain and threatening revenge on Fergus, who he thought was his friend.
And there endeth the scene, except to say that a little later on- after another calming (on the house) drink in the bar, Gustav upgrades the PCs to a room, and gives them a little reward- taken from Phillipe's pockets, this after taking money to pay for the damage to his inn.
Blackie the Crow yet lives, the poor creature has however lost some feathers.
The PCs are the heroes of the hour.
Next, a vote for XP for this scene- although the DM makes clear to the PCs- killing Phillipe would have achieved 0 XP.
Olek 8 XP, Fergus 10 XP, Lothar & Frederich 12 XP each.
To be honest it was pretty exciting and it all moved marvelously quickly in the chase.
SCENE 7. Slow Coach.
Breakfast the next morning, Fergus has healed his wounds (he fell out of a ground floor window) and all is well with the world.
Lady Isolde is very impressed with Lothar and his companions, although concerned that Janna still looks like her face is on fire, the face paint will not come off.
Fergus gabbles at the noble in his dull Reiklander brogue, Lothar is called upon to translate.
“What does he say Lothar? What language is he speaking?” Lady I asks her favourite Burner.
“He says that the face paint should wear off in a week or so, and the language- that's northern.” Lothar replies.
Note everything that Fergus says in is in some odd version of broad Yorkshire.
Then... it becomes apparent that the only people not present and correct in the bar are... the two coachmen- the pair are roused, eventually, and then Lothar gets all of his companions to help get the coach ready so that they can leave on time, or else sooner.
He's so helpful.
Soon after everyone is assembled in the yard.
At which point Frederich spots that there's a spare seat inside the carriage, paid for by Phillipe- who is at present languishing in the Roadwarden's cell here at the inn. The Burner decides to ride inside, although Lady I isn't so keen.
“I will not have you poke me with your dirty knees and elbows!”
A little back and forth follows, with Frederich trying to smooth the way- that doesn't work but then Lothar steps in and somehow makes it all right again.
Lothar has had to make three or four Charm checks so far to persuade Lady I of a variety of things, he's not replicated his first roll (+5 SL) but neither has he failed a check since.
Soon after the coach is ready to depart, only now one of the coachmen is asleep- Frederich gets out and sloshes a bucker of water over the fellow- which isn't appreciated. While the second coachman is just plain missing- Fergus & Olek track the fellow down to the smallest room (the toilet). The coachman there- Gunnar, is suffering some discomfort, Fergus manages to sell the unfortunate some coloured honey he had left from his face painting, (Fergus has, I think, a few points in a Herbalism skill) this in the guise of a digestive tonic.
More remarkably not only does the dwarf manage to make the sale, but... the tonic does the job (from memory there was another critical success roll here), the power of the placebo.
Soon after the coach departs.
Are we all sitting comfortably.
Although, it soon becomes apparent that the coachmen, as hung-over as they are, are not exactly hurrying the horses on.
Lady Isolde is not happy, and when she's not happy...
“Lothar, will you please do something about this tarrying...”
The coach is stopped, and soon after Olek and Lothar take the reins, actually it's Olek at the reins, and we're on our way again- and at speed this time.
At which point the rain comes down,
It really does.
The heaven's open.
The two coachmen in their thick coats manage to wedge themselves in with the luggage and undercover, Fergus attempts to employ a similar technique but is not that successful, for Lothar and Olek there's no cover.
Remind me to make you three take a check for catching a Cold at the start of the next session- all part of the tutorial.
You are welcome.
Anyway, on we go...
And Olek is really getting the hang of things, the coach and horses is getting up to speed.
That is until on a hard right turn both of the stand-in coachman hear a very odd sound, something akin to piece of metal sheering and breaking, and then the pair watch in terror as the front left wheel departs the axle and trundles off towards the forest.
Note, several of the folk on the inside of the coach also watch this event take place.
The coach- natch, overtakes the wheel.
The neophyte coachmen contrive (with the use of Fortune Points) to eventually arrest the coach's progress, while up on the roof Fergus- who has roped himself to the luggage rack (smart fellow) uses his bodyweight as a counter-balance.
The coach skids to a halt, and then teeters on just three wheels.
Alas those inside the coach are forced to make Athletics check or else... remarkably the only failure is from Frederich who is catapulted face first into... well, it's a bit tawdry I know but- into the bosom of Lady Isolde Von Strudelhof.
At which point it really kicks off, although only briefly, Marie (Lady I's bodyguard) is between the outraged noble and Frederich in seconds.
Frederich, in his ponderous and dour way, is apologising- Marie really isn't happy, but... Frederich's dice are on his side, for the first time ever with Lady Isolde.
Eventually all inside the coach retake their seats, and once there they sit and teeter in stony silence.
On the outside of the coach Fergus remains roped and swaying, leant over the opposite side to the missing wheel, while Olek and Lothar fetch the (remarkably) undamaged wheel and re-affix it to the axle. Olek is a Smith's apprentice remember. It takes a while... nearly an hour to get it properly on, but... then we go on.
To Altdorf.
Or else in that direction, the coach has not travelled far so far today.
The sign ahead declares- 120 miles to Altdorf.
But that's as far as we got tonight- two sessions and Chapter 1 is complete.
All of the PCs used all of their Fortune Points this session- that's fantastic.
There was lots of laughter in this one.
The final XP table is below, note as per the book I gave XP (third to last column) for the PCs interactions with Lady Isolde, and with regard to their getting on the coach to Altdorf with her and her companions. Well, I say 'I gave XP' actually I didn't- the PCs decide who gets what with their voting every time.
| PC | Rumours | Phillipe Descartes | Capture Phillipe | Lady Isolde & the Coach | Session XP | Total |
| Fred (Jim) | 0 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 40 | 63 |
| Fergus (Ben) | 0 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 45 | 68 |
| Olek (George) | 1 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 68 |
| Lothar (Kev) | 1 | 6 | 12 | 9 | 45 | 73 |
It's a cracking game.
Stay safe and well.
Cheers goonalan et al.
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LETTERS FROM THE OLD WORLD.
The continuing adventures of the usual bunch of miscreants this time playing Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 4th edition, and The Enemy Within Campaign, of course.
SESSION #03 Massacre on the Altdorf Road.
The PCs
Fergus McClean, Dwarf Scout (Guide) played by Bear.
Looks Like: Rough and ready-for-anything Dawi- a bit unkempt; constantly muttering and grumbling at Seamus his imaginary dog.
Sounds Like: Northern 'I wur down t'mine', although taciturn, and always grumpy.
Fergus is a short embittered (divorced) Dawi from the mining village of Schwartzstein in the foothills of the Grey Mountains. That is until he discovered his best friend Seamus with his wife Cherrie. Fergus left his village and his old life behind and set off in search of adventure, eventually taking up Scouting as a living. He has business in Altdorf, and is at present journeying with three Manlings he has come to trust who are also on their way to the capital.
Frederich Hass, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Jim.
Looks Like: Thick-set, tall with a resting angry face, never too far away from a snarl, otherwise well turned out.
Sounds Like: Whispering menace, accusatory- probing, but charming when he wants to be. Accent is brooding (intelligent) cod-Russian (like a clever but menacing Daktari). Note he sees the hand of the Ruinous Powers behind every untoward event.
Frederich and his brother Olek watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through-and-through, Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Lothar Jurgen Muller, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Kev.
Looks Like: Neat, tidy, clean-cut, perhaps even a little dashing- the boy next door, but doable- and always with a smile on his face, and often in his eyes. Lothar carries his own embroidered place mat with matching knife and fork. Manners and civility are so important.
Sounds Like: Civil, polite, formal, caring- and entirely without menace. He's a Paladin doing Witch Hunter, which may yet prove amusing.
Lothar is a baker's son from Ubersreik that just happened to become a Witch Hunter, he didn't just drift into it, he has a plan (perhaps). Lothar however came to Witch Hunting with the thought that he could perhaps be of help- to the Empire, to his family, to the poor wretches that have fallen into corruption, and possibly to help himself (a little) along the way. He is resolutely nice in a world full of foetid stink and terror.
Olek Hass, Human Artisan- Blacksmith (Apprentice) played by George.
Looks Like: Seven (plus) feet tall, and not too skinny with it- lithe and muscled, he's a giant- with wild eyes.
Sounds Like: A camp Nazi constantly unfolding, expounding and explaining the mystery of ongoing events, and seeing the presence of Sigmar everywhere.
Olek and his brother Frederich watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through and-through- Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Here we go again.
And as with the last session, much fun was had by all, and there's plenty of it- sorry.
Although at the start of the session the PCs collective dice were broken, they didn't make a check in the first hour- any of 'em, at least not without the use of a Fortune Point or three.
Then... their dice started rolling good.
Real good.
JAHRDRUNG, 2512.
120 MILES TO ALTDORF.
SCENE 1.
To Altdorf, or at least the next coaching inn down the road.
That's an Old World style coach down at the bottom of the image, I didn't want the PCs thinking it was some posh/ornate/fragile horse drawn carriage as seen in costume dramas. It's a tank, or rather an APC.
And at last the two coachmen are awake, they slept through much/all of last week's coach-bound activity, even when the PCs had to change the wheel- the coachmen snored on.
So, Gunnar & Hultz (the coachmen) are happy to show Olek and Lothar the ropes, how to drive a coach, this in case they want to take any ranks in the skill later.
The coachmen however are also keen to stop at the next inn along the track- the Five Brothers Inn, they want to make sure that Olek's wheel repair is good, and to get fresh horses- so that they can put a final spurt on for the day, and get as close as they can to Altdorf for the final run to the capitol tomorrow.
And so that's what happens.
Although, gaining the entrance to the Five Brother's Inn is made a little more complicated, while turning into the compound Olek (at the reins) spots that there's another coach coming out of the compound at full throttle. Olek, with help from Lothar (& Gunnar and Hultz) manages to avoid the collision.
“Get out of the way you blithering BLUDDY idiots!” Comes the cry from atop the emerging coach, which is... the same Four Seasons coach that nearly ran the adventurers down way back at the Coach & Horses.
The two parties exchange insults, albeit briefly, as the Four Seasons coach clatters off up the road.
Then, an hour's break at the Five Brother's. The newly repaired wheel is checked over, Olek did a fine job, the apprentice smith helps out at the forge here, but alas his rolls are... bad.
Meantime Frederich tries to soften Lady Isolode's attitude towards him a little, while Lothar tries to engage Ernst in conversation. Ernst is a fellow passenger on the coach, the young lad with the book- he's always reading. Fergus heads to the bar for a pint, and once there attempts to overhear any fresh rumours of the road ahead, and...
Every roll they make is pants.
I don't remember one success here, and Fortune Points were spent, by at least three of them.
An hour later, and none the wiser- save to say that the adventurers have learned that the Four Seasons coach they keep bumping into is having a bad day too. The late running stage has broken down at least twice, hence the coachmen's hurry. The PCs on their Ratchett Lines coach, with all it's passengers aboard, depart the Five Brothers Inn.
At speed.
SCENE 2.
Two hours later, and it's still full pace all the way, although the coach slows to round a bend and...
There's a fellow a little way up the road, bent over something... or somebody.
The two coachmen, with Olek sharing the bench with the pair, and Fergus perched atop the luggage are the first to spot the dishevelled fellow, although their shouts bring Lothar (inside the coach) to the window to witness what happens next.
Which is...
The foul fellow in the road spits something from his mouth (a severed hand several of them make out- that's not good) and then rushes the coach, or else rushes the horses, brandishing a dagger and making grunting feral sounds.
“Row! ROW! ROW!”
The horses panic and bolt, snapping the traces, Hultz- arms wrapped in the reins, is wrenched off the coach and then dragged kicking and screaming in to the dark of the Drakwald by the team of four.
Gunnar slams on the brake.
The coach slews to a halt, stopping just short of the trees.
Those atop the coach cling on.
Those within the coach tumble about, or else Lothar does- the Witch Hunter plunges head-first into the bosom of Lady Isolde (it's his turn it seems).
Then, the disheveled mutant clambers up the side of the coach and stands aloft, menacing the driver, and now for all to see.
This foul fellow's flesh is pocked, ripped and scarred- exposing the body's mechanics to the world in places. Furthermore the foul mutant's eyes exude a green ichor which flecks, spits and seems to glow in the mawkish light.
It's overcast now, and raining- of course.
Here we go, our first combat proper, and this after a thorough re-reading of Fate, Fortune, Resolve & Resilience; followed by the rules for gaining and losing Advantage.
The mutant however is a fearsome sight (Fear 3 to be exact).
The PCs however are clearly unimpressed, in what follows all four adventurers accumulate the three Success Levels they need to overcome the Fear in their first turn (three of them as soon as they see the mutant).
That was three rolls of '0-something' on their respective Cool Tests.
Fergus charges into action but alas flails wildly at the mutant- Miss, spend Fortune Point- Miss again, succumb to the Whispers of the Ruinous Powers (gain a Corruption Point) to get a re-roll and- Miss again.
Olek stabs the mutant- as he screams for Lothar and his brother-
“CORRUPTION BROTHER! A FOUL MUTANT MENACES US!”
Olek's a big lad but with a sub-optimal combat ability (and low Strength), the mutant is unperturbed by his attack.
It ignores Olek and stabs the Surprised coachman, Gunnar, in the thigh- he immediately gains a Broken condition, and moments later whilst voiding his bowels and bladder, Gunnar tearfully attempts to crawl away from danger. Screaming all the while-
“NOOOOO! SIGMAR! NOOOOO! Please, I don't want to die...”
Gunnar gets stabbed again, in the arse this time, he's not doing very well.
And now the mutant has got a couple of points of Advantage.
But not enough.
Frederich climbs out of the carriage-
“I will be back in but a moment lady... Lothar, would you care to join me on the roof. We have work to do.”
The surly Witch Hunter then clambers up onto the roof of the coach, there he spots the feral fearsome mutant (and rolls '04' on his Cool check).
“It is time for you to die!”
He strides over and stabs, and Crits (double roll), the mutant (also reducing it to 0 HP).
Frederich's sword almost severs the creatures shoulder/neck.
There's blood everywhere, an artery is hit.
The mutant tumbles off the carriage and thumps down into the solid wood of the yoke.
He's just in time to encounter Lothar.
The second Witch Hunter, face still stinging from Lady Isolde's slap, exits the carriage-
“My apologies my lady, I must redeem myself...”
Lothar strides out, spots the mutant, rolls '06' on his Cool check and then smashes his mace repeatedly in the miscreant's face.
He doesn't stop smashing.
Even when the mutant, scrabbling and flailing, shouts out....
“LOTHAR! LOTHAR! I'VE CHANGED!”
It's only afterwards that Lothar confirms that this ugly fellow is indeed his best friend from Ubersreik, Rolf Hurtsis.
No tears are shed.
Note, three of the four PCs were given the names of folk (one NPC each) who they would encounter during this adventure, these folk were their friends- they could be trusted, relied upon etc.
Note, the last PC is looking for someone.
But, we'll get to this.
Well, here's Lothar's drinking buddy- Rolf.
Or rather, here was Rolf.
Note we played the combat out in full, Rolf went unconscious because he was left with 0 wounds and several Bleeding conditions, and then Lothar arrived to finish the job.
There follows lots of activity, briefly-
Olek apologises to the coach passengers for the temporary delay, Lady Isolde is very calm- she however insists that the coach be made road-worthy (i.e. get the horses, and the other coachman) as quickly as possible.
The two Witch Hunters discover, simultaneously, that there's another dead body in the road- a coachman (Four Seasons, wouldn't you know it). This poor fellow has a crossbow bolt through his neck. He does however have a leather jack and a sleeved mail shirt- the pair (who have no armour) divvy up the spoils.
I believe Frederich punched the air.
Hardly seemly.
Note, the pair discern that this fellow is one of the Four Season coachmen that they have encountered twice already on the road.
The pair next discover that the coachman has a full money pouch (well, relatively 10+ shillings) there follows a bit of debate about whether this money should be taken. Oleg, who has wandered over to help out, is against it- everyone else is for sharing out the loot. Sense prevails and the adventurers are a little richer.
Then, Fergus- keeping watch, spots that something is coming at speed towards them, crashing through the woods, the adventurers make ready to receive.
But...
“Don't SHOOT! It's Hultz!”
The second coachman is badly wounded and also Broken. He screams, snivels and generally behaves like a man way out of his depth.
Frederich tries to Intimidate Hultz better.
It really doesn't go well.
Hultz crawls under the coach to cry and shiver.
Note, earlier Frederich tried to salve Gunnar's wounds with a Heal check, the result- another wound for Gunnar, he makes the ailment worse.
The coachmen are not in a good place, and both of them are terrified of Frederich.
He seems to have a way with folk- even when he's trying to be nice, also on these occasions his dice hate him.
Then, because Lady Isolde is really starting to get fractious-
“Lothar, THE HORSES! LOTHAR!”
The PCs, of course, have worked out that the coachman was shot with a crossbow, mutant Rolf was not armed with a crossbow, and there's no crossbow to be found hereabouts, therefore... someone else shot the coachman.
The PCs are wary.
Which isn't helped when they plunge into the woods,
The Drakwald is... dark.
There are odd noises here and... it's really not a pleasant place.
Fergus, the Guide, leads the way.
Eventually, after five minutes of wandering- stopping repeatedly after hearing crashing noises, and at last into a clearing.
The horses are here.
They're spooked but Frederich has Animal Affinity, and the other PCs help out, soon after all four horses are calm and being lead back into the road.
There the (still) snivelling coachmen get on with reattaching the mounts, while Lady Isolde has another word with Lothar, in the PCs absence every now and then, she explains, there's a noise, a strangled cry from further up the foggy road.
Note, the road here is in effect a long bend, and what with the rain and fog there's not much ahead to be seen.
Thirty seconds later and the noise comes again.
Fergus thinks it sounds like a horse in pain, dying.
The PCs decide to investigate.
SCENE 3.
Cutting through the woods the PCs discover-
The rest of the Four Seasons coach and its crew, the road is littered with dead bodies, two of the carriage's horses have been slaughtered while the remaining two beasts, still attached to the wagon, are being attacked by a giggling, dancing pin-headed mutant with an axe.
A dog-headed mutant is slumped against the overturned carriage, clutching at his badly wounded leg, while another mutant with a cone-head tears off rags to bind the wound.
A tough-looking scale-skinned mutant, armed with a crossbow, searches the bodies, while a little way further down the road a goat-legged mutant capers in delight as it tears chunks of flesh from one of the fallen.
“Knud, KNUD! This fellow tastes absolutely delicious!”
The mutant adds in a cultured accent.
We review the rules for Surprise, the book says the mutants are Surprised for two rounds in this tutorial combat encounter. I say the PCs can have one turn with Surprise (to throw stones, they don't have any other missile weapons) but on the second turn the Surprise condition goes away (immediately) when a mutant is attacked or else takes a hit.
The PCs also pour over the Combat Modifiers sheet to see what other help they can get, eventually figuring that two of the PCs can get close enough (and still be in cover) to be a Short Range for their stone flinging.
It goes a little like this...
All four PCs take a moment to aim and then fling their various rocks- all at Knud, who they have identified as the leader of this band. Note, Knud is also the only one of the mutants that isn't wounded.
Further note- I doubled all of the mutants wounds remaining. So, if it said 3 wounds left in the book, I made it 6.
It didn't help any.
Three stones hit Knud- two of them big hits (Fergus & Lothar) and the mutant leader is reduced to just one wound remaining before he knows what is happening.
Frederich alas conjures a '99' on his stone throwing attack, and is already out of Fortune Points, and doesn't want any Corruption, we therefore roll on the Oopsie Table. The Witch Hunter tears a muscle (minor) in his off-hand.
Then Fergus rushes in and more or less decapitates Knud (with a '98' on his Crit). The big fellow gains 4 Bleeding and is on 0 wounds. Knud goes unconscious moments later and Fergus finishes the job.
“Reet. Wha's next?” The Dwarf declares.
Meantime Frederich rushes in and Crits (that's a rolled Crit- a double) the pointy-headed mutant, leaving it Stunned and Bleeding (and on 0 wounds). Seconds later his follow up shot ends the beast.
Lothar is equally abusive to the pin-headed mutant who is still flailing wildly at the horses- his first attack reduces the creatures to 0 wounds- a Crit is rolled and the mutant collapses beneath the legs of the wildly bucking horses.
The Witch Hunter smashes the mutant's legs, the only bit he can reach, while the horses stamp the foul fellow's tiny skull to pulp.
Olek rushes in and barges past his brother- to the dog-headed mutant, already badly wounded and now trying to regain his feet. Olek's attack reduces the mutant to 0 wounds, which turns into a Crit that leaves the mutant's already mangled left leg a bloody stump.
The Bleeding condition causes the mutant to fall unconscious, Olek doesn't stop stabbing- climbing up the mutant's body using his small piercing blade like an ice-axe, screaming all the while-
“SIGMAR TAKE YOU FOUL ABOMINATION!”
The mutant dies.
Which just leaves the goat-legged mutant a little ways back down the road.
All four PCs race to see which of them can get there first.
Note, the last mutant is no-longer Surprised, he has however also got the lowest Initiative.
Frederich gets their first, and rolls another Crit, and another double, '88' from memory- Fergus and Fred were both on 5 Advantage each at this point, Olek & Lothar with 4 apiece.
Note, I've capped Advantage at 5, the only way you can get more- have an Initiative bonus that's greater than '5', that's the N/PCs max Advantage.
Frederich severs goat-leg's right arm, and reduces him to 0 wounds and with Bleeding conditions, soon after the Witch Hunter decapitates the last mutant the hard way- holding his blade two handed (one hand on the hilt, the other on the tip of the blade) and pushing/sawing the weapon through goat-leg's neck.
It's not pleasant.
The massacre is complete.
At which point the PCs see what they have wrought.
And then roll for Corruption, from memory only Frederich ends the session without a single stain upon his character, his Witch Hunter honour intact- not a doubt in his mind. Fergus, Lothar & Olek have one point of Corruption each.
But that's as far as we got tonight- we spent a good twenty minutes chatting about how combat went and what lessons the players have learned. George (Olek) summarised it best- 'get in early, get on the front foot and never let up.'
In truth both combats were short and brutal, although the second one took maybe eighty minutes to play out two-and-a-bit rounds of action. The PCs never suffered a hit, not even an attack.
In the first fight I figured that Rolf's Fear effect would keep a few of them at bay, I didn't account for three of them rolling '0-something'. Still, I managed to get a couple of points of Advantage on Rolf by stabbing the coachman Gunner- but then Olek stabbed Rolf and away the Advantage flew, and then Frederich hit with a massive Crit.
The second fight... the PCs just did the math, and built their Advantage; the fact that the mutants were all Surprised (save the last one) for their first melee attack, coupled with the fact that they were all (except Knud) wounded. Well, all of the mutants took a Crit in their first unopposed attack. The PCs were clever, of course, to target Knud- but they had all of the clues due to making good Perception and/or Intuition checks before the fight kicked off.
All of the PCs used all of their Fortune Points again this session- that's fantastic.
There was lots of laughter in this one.
The final XP table is below, note the PCs will each receive 5 XP when they meet their friend (see previous). Alas Lothar's friend turned out to be a mutant, you just can't trust the Old World. Oh, and I gave a bonus 1 XP for every mutant slaughtered. The 'Vs Rolf', 'Mutant Ambush' and 'Session XP' columns were, of course, as voted by the PCs. Nothing to do with me.
�
| PC | Vs Rolf | Lothar's Friend | Mutant Ambush | Dead Mutants | Session XP | Total |
| Fred (Jim) | 5 | 10 | 2 | 45 | 62 | |
| Fergus (Ben) | 4 | 9 | 1 | 45 | 59 | |
| Olek (George) | 4 | 9 | 1 | 40 | 54 | |
| Lothar (Kev) | 4 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 40 | 59 |
It's a cracking game.
Stay safe and well.
Cheers goonalan et al.
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LETTERS FROM THE OLD WORLD.
The continuing adventures of the usual bunch of miscreants this time playing Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 4th edition, and The Enemy Within Campaign, of course.
SESSION #04 A Non-Consensual Face Tigering.
The PCs
Fergus McClean, Dwarf Scout (Guide) played by Bear.
Looks Like: Rough and ready-for-anything Dawi- a bit unkempt; constantly muttering and grumbling at Seamus his imaginary dog.
Sounds Like: Northern 'I wur down t'mine', although taciturn, and always grumpy.
Fergus is a short embittered (divorced) Dawi from the mining village of Schwartzstein in the foothills of the Grey Mountains. That is until he discovered his best friend Seamus with his wife Cherrie. Fergus left his village and his old life behind and set off in search of adventure, eventually taking up Scouting as a living. He has business in Altdorf, and is at present journeying with three Manlings he has come to trust who are also on their way to the capital.
Frederich Hass, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Jim.
Looks Like: Thick-set, tall with a resting angry face, never too far away from a snarl, otherwise well turned out.
Sounds Like: Whispering menace, accusatory- probing, but charming when he wants to be. Accent is brooding (intelligent) cod-Russian (like a clever but menacing Daktari). Note he sees the hand of the Ruinous Powers behind every untoward event.
Frederich and his brother Olek watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through-and-through, Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Lothar Jurgen Muller, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Kev.
Looks Like: Neat, tidy, clean-cut, perhaps even a little dashing- the boy next door, but doable- and always with a smile on his face, and often in his eyes. Lothar carries his own embroidered place mat with matching knife and fork. Manners and civility are so important.
Sounds Like: Civil, polite, formal, caring- and entirely without menace. He's a Paladin doing Witch Hunter, which may yet prove amusing.
Lothar is a baker's son from Ubersreik that just happened to become a Witch Hunter, he didn't just drift into it, he has a plan (perhaps). Lothar however came to Witch Hunting with the thought that he could perhaps be of help- to the Empire, to his family, to the poor wretches that have fallen into corruption, and possibly to help himself (a little) along the way. He is resolutely nice in a world full of foetid stink and terror.
Olek Hass, Human Artisan- Blacksmith (Apprentice) played by George.
Looks Like: Seven (plus) feet tall, and not too skinny with it- lithe and muscled, he's a giant- with wild eyes.
Sounds Like: A camp Nazi constantly unfolding, expounding and explaining the mystery of ongoing events, and seeing the presence of Sigmar everywhere.
Olek and his brother Frederich watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through and-through- Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Here we go again.
It’s over 24 hours later and I’m still laughing about what went on in this session.
Strap in.
Oh, but there are only two pictures here, there was a lot going on (and wrong)- at times, a good chunk of it of the PCs own making.
Read on…
JAHRDRUNG, 2512.
A BIT FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD TO ALTDORF.
SCENE 4. Spell Kastor.
To Altdorf, still.
Last session the PCs coach was attacked by mutant Rolf, Lothar’s ex-best-friend and drinking buddy from Ubersreik, and then the adventurers ambushed, stoned and then hacked apart a bunch more mutant scum.
So, this week we start with the spoils…
And let me just take a moment, the following section represents over ninety minutes of play.
Ninety.
Nine-tee.
Got that.
At one point the PCs were dicing off to see who gets the spare pair of woollen socks that one of the dead coach travellers had in his backpack.
And so, when it comes to the Crossbow, and the Blunderbuss, and the armour… well, there were no actual shouty arguments but there were several attempts by a variety of PCs to try to hide things that they have found (looted) away.
Away from the prying eyes of the other PCs.
Which, as it turns out, is difficult to do with a Blunderbuss.
Or a Crossbow.
So, there are ten bodies in total- five mutants, four passengers from the coach and the last coachman. The PCs pick corpses at random, and rifle ‘em, and gather lots of stuff- right down to socks, and gloves, and rations, and bags of charcoal, and… well, several of the dead folk now look like they were involved in some sort of dark ritual. There’s been an awful lot of blood spilled here, and after the looting stops several of the corpses are well on the way to being naked.
Then… eventually, after (some of, see later) the clamour over the spoils of war is over, the two Witch Hunters discover a blood trail, heading into the woods, into the deep dark Drakwald.
The PCs tool up to head on in.
Note, at this point Frederich grabs up the crossbow and loads it- this causes more arguments to start up, and the trip into the Drakwald is postponed for a while. That is until Frederich points out that although the arguments have not yet run their course regarding who is going to keep the Crossbow. It would however be better, as they are about to enter the Drakwald, for one of them to be carrying the best missile weapon that any one of them can use, or else we’ll just leave it in the road…
He has a point.
We enter the Drakwald, Fergus- the Scout/Guide, leading the way…
Only, the body at the end of the blood trail is less than twenty feet or so into the woods, so that was a lot of kerfuffle for nothing.
But then it gets interesting…
Fergus turns the body over- it’s face down initially, and the gathered crowd discover, the dead fellow with two crossbow bolts in his back here… looks (looked) exactly like Lothar.
Exactly.
I mean… exactly.
This guy could be Lothar’s twin.
Fergus spots a piece of paper, and a purse, in the dead fellow’s top pocket- he’s also wearing a very nice coat, and clothes, and shoes, and is also toting a hefty-looking backpack.
The PCs eyes light up- more loot to snaffle.
Anyway, the piece of paper seems to be some sort of legal document- Fergus reads it out to his friends- this itself (he roleplays all the while does Ben) involves much stopping and starting, and the slow stumbling over the difficult words.
Basically, the document states that the two signed witnesses to this statement- the head of the Merchant’s Guild & a Priestess of Sigmar (both in Nuln) attest that the bearer of this document is Kastor Alyiosus Lieberung. The document was written, and is also signed, by a lawyer from Nuln.
It’s ID.
Note the PCs attempt various checks to try to figure out the exact purpose, or else the name, of this sort of document. Their dice are alas broken.
Note, none of the players could remember the real-world name of such a document either.
The adventurers discuss this find, while Fergus continues to go through this fellow’s gear, some of which is high end, see above, including- woollen socks, a pewter hip flask full of booze (Fergus grabs this), some very nice-looking rations- salt pork, fresh bread, apples etc.
They really are a pack of wolves.
Anyway, eventually hidden away at the bottom of Kastor’s rucksack is a second pouch full of money- there are over thirty shillings in here.
And keep in mind these guys are/were all dirt poor.
Their dice failed them (all of ‘em) when it came to rolling up their silver and brass at the start.
Although they found two gold crowns and a bit of jewellery on the mutants they slaughtered in the road last session, so… they’re starting to think about things that they want to buy when they eventually get to Altdorf.
But that’s not the showstopper, the thirty shillings are soon forgotten, because hidden away in the money pouch, folded up real small, is yet another document.
Another legal document.
The second document, also written by a lawyer- this one in Bogenhafen, is addressed to Herr Lieberung. There follows a sea of legalese- and keep in mind that it’s Fergus stumbling through the text again. But the gist of the document is this- Kastor Alyiosus Lieberung is the ‘sole beneficiary’ to the ‘Title and all Lands and Estates’ of the late Baronet Lieberung of Ubersreik.
And is also due to inherit twenty thousand gold crowns.
All Kastor needs to do is to turn up at the lawyer’s offices in Bogenhafen with a signed affidavit confirming his identity.
It’s a funny Old World.
Do you see what I did, I put the documents the other way around.
Anyway…
There is some whooping, a modicum of doubt, and then… Frederich goes all glassy eyed for a moment.
Remember to inject a fair amount of menace into the following speech-
“With this money, Lothar. Think what we could do… We could build an army. An army for Sigmar!”
Lothar looks much less certain.
“I can’t even spell Kastor.”
The discussions rumble on.
And on…
And then the final winner-takes-all main-event for the dicing off for the spoils, Lothar gets the Crossbow- he suggested the dice off, and then rolled first, and… rolled- ‘100’. Which, oddly enough, remained unbeaten.
Fergus gets the Blunderbuss, he’s a very happy Dawi.
KABOOM!
All he has to do now is to learn how to use it.
Kastor, I mean Lothar, is made- after much cajoling, to dress just like… well, Kastor.
But then Olek has a thought- what happens if someone else finds this body…
Frederich is all for a pyre, but Olek points out that citizens of the Empire need to be buried within the precincts of Morr. That was the lesson learned in Session One of this adventure- Johann Baumann, remember.
Frederich however is not to be dissuaded, he starts work on a pyre for the mutants, and soon seems very content, he even takes to humming a happy tune as he works.
But back to dead Kastor…
Lothar cannot bring himself to further mark the face of dead Kastor (as he puts it- ‘it’s my face’), and so… he defiles the corpse, by shaving off its moustache.
A little later Fergus begins to harbour doubts, even without a moustache dead Kastor looks a lot like living Kastor (Lothar).
The Dawi therefore decides to make sure, he grabs out one of his handy rocks- he keeps a couple in his pockets these days (after the last session), and caves dead Kastor’s face-in.
That’s settled it.
Then… just as Fergus is about to get the blaze started…
The sound of horses on the road- approaching at speed.
Then, and inevitably, the shouting and the waving of guns.
That’s the end of the first scene for the session, and 5 XP (the max) for every PC. I had tears in my eyes for a good chunk of it.
Particularly when one of the players said- “are we really arguing over socks?”
And their reply- “Yes, they’re really nice, and woollen, and besides (back in character)- I’ve never owned a pair of socks.”
SCENE 5. The Po-Po.
The title refers to the fact that about five minutes before we got to the end of the scene above Jim (who plays Frederich) said OOC, ‘you know what’s going to happen next? The Po-Po are going to turn up.’
The Po-Po, for those not down with the kids (which oddly enough was just Kev/Lothar at the VTT), are the Po-Lease. The 5-0.
And sure enough clattering in to the adventurers lives come six heavily armoured, and armed, mounted members of the Road Wardens, led by Sgt. Magnus Pflaster, who has a pistol and is not afraid to wave it in folk’s faces.
Note, back at the Coach & Horses Inn Philipe Descrates made clear to the PCs- the Roadwardens are trouble, all of them worse than bandits.
And so…
The word trepidation springs to mind.
Back to the action…
Where were we?
Oh yes, Sgt Pflaster is waving his gun around.
While shouting at the PCs.
“GET INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD- DROP YOUR WEAPONS, MOVE! NOW!”
And when men and women on big horses with halberds are herding you- well, you do as your told. This is the last picture for the evening.
Sgt Pflaster takes it in turns to shout at various PCs- to get them to tell their story, from the beginning. Getting each new PC to pick up the tale.
“YOU, WHAT IN SIGMAR’S NAME IS GOING ON HERE- START FROM THE BEGINNING, COME ON- SPEAK. NOW!”
That kind of thing.
And the Mrs had to come in from the room next door to tell me off for shouting so loud, so…
I enjoyed myself.
And the PCs have to tell their story and answer a variety of other questions.
With a few checks thrown in to see if Sgt Pflaster is buying their spiel.
The last question, of course, is-
“HOW, IN SIGMAR’S HOLY NAME, DID IT COME TO PASS THAT ALL OF THE TRAVELLERS IN THE COACH WERE LEFT LYING IN THE ROAD IN THEIR UNDERCRACKERS?”
“The mutants.” Olek states- quickly, and confidently, “they were looting the bodies when we ambushed them.”
And that’s just one example of George in action this evening, Olek is a smart fellow, he always has an answer and quite often that answer is great, because it takes the sting out of things. And it’s an easy lie because it accounts for reality, and no-one is to blame, certainly not the PCs.
Great play Olek/George.
The other PCs rely (mostly, not Fergus) on simpering, and sucking up to the men and women on horses with big pointy weapons.
Then there are more dice rolls, and it’s all okay in the end.
One of the Roadwardens, Baldwin, has already been sent up the road to locate the Ratchet Lines coach, and Lady Isolde.
Meantime, after a bit of blather with Sgt Pflaster, Frederich gets his mutant corpse pyre burning- the Witch Hunter is on cloud nine, his first ever mutant pyre.
The rest of the PCs are tasked to clear up the scene, right the coach, and…
Then, the thunder of hooves and Baldwin is back.
Sgt Pflaster and Baldwin whisper and confer, Fergus tries to get close enough to hear what’s going on, but…
Seconds later and the gun is out and being waved about again, and soon after and the other Roadwarden’s are back on their mounts- and suitably armed and back to being shouty too, and once again the PCs are lined up in the road, their weapons cast aside, etc.
See previous.
Oh, and the sarge is back to shouting.
Although that doesn’t last long, next each PC is made to step forward for close inspection, by Baldwin and Pflaster.
The PCs, all of them, pass this somewhat odd close inspection- the Roadwarden pair spend a good minute staring hard at each PC in turn, particularly looking at their faces.
Although at this point none of the PCs have the first clue as to what is going on here, and when they ask someone shuts them up by digging them in the back with a halberd, or else shouting and pistol waving some more.
I’m having a hoot.
But then it gets serious. Pflaster apologises, a little, for his last tirade- and then explains,
“One of the citizens in the coach on which you were travelling has all the signs of a deadly contagion. A disease we are very familiar with…”
The PCs, of course, are concerned, they have questions, particularly as they have just spent the last Sigmar knows how many hours in the company of the other travellers.
Pflaster further explains that he and his patrol are new to the Altdorf Road, their previous ‘patch’ was on and about the roads near the village of Blutroch.
At which point several of the PCs remember that Philipe Descartes, back at the Coach & Horses Inn, also told them that Blutroch was wiped out by a virulent disease. And the signs of the disease? Bright red blotches on the victim’s face.
Sgt Pflaster, sombrely, states-
“It’s the young girl, Janna- Baldwin here has no doubt, she’s got the Red Pox. Even as we speak Trooper Willirun is taking her into the woods to give her a swift and merciful death. Sigmar have mercy on her soul. We cannot allow the contagion to spread.”
It’s a touching moment.
Well, save for the laughter, as first one, and then two, and then… well, the PCs work it out.
Fergus’ Tiger face paint has still not worn off.
The dwarf tries to explain, but he’s very northern, very plain speaking, and with all the that’s going on, and all that he’s trying to say- well, he doesn’t really make any sense.
“I wuz…”
“I jus’ painted ‘er Tiger.”
“It’s the paint!”
“On ‘er face!”
“She’s not…”
It’s at this point that Frederich saves the day.
“If I may Sgt Pflaster, Janna does not have the Red Pox, she was- last night- subject to a non-consensual face Tigering. By this dwarf.”
Five minutes later, when Frederich has explained further, well… all heck breaks loose, all of the Roadwardens spur their mounts and charge off down the road- back towards the Ratchet Lines coach.
All of them screaming and shouting as they go- “No, Willi- NO! Don’t kill her! NO!” and variants on this theme.
The PCs are suddenly left alone again.
Bewildered.
Olek summarises.
“It seems they have ordered Janna slaughtered because Fergus painted her face like a Tiger last eve.”
Which works for me.
Frederich goes back to his pyre, Fergus shrugs and then mooches about a bit, checking the bodies some more- just in case he missed anything.
Lothar and Olek however remember that they took a short cut through the woods to this point, and if they run…
They run.
This pair therefore arrive at the next scene, which is chaos, far in advance of Frederich and Fergus.
SCENE 6. She’s a Wytch.
Back at the Ratchet Lines coach, well… there’s a lot of shouting, and as it turns out Lady Isolde is even louder then Sgt Pflaster.
Olek and Lothar get to the scene and start making sense of things.
However, it seems Trooper Willirun has already the woods with Janna a while ago, Lady Isolde’s maid may in fact already be dead.
There’s lots of shouting.
But the Drakwald is… dark.
Very dark, and there’s no sign which way the Trooper and Janna went in.
Lady Isolde takes charge, although she is helpfully advised to a course of action by both Olek and Lothar, basically they know which side of the road Willirun and Janna entered the woods, and so all able bodies should move forward into the woods in a line- shouting for Willirun and Janna, while also staying in contact with each other.
It works, but only slightly, at which point- at last, Frederich and Fergus make it to the scene, and the Guide, with a little help from his friends, has a much easier time of it.
He finds a trail. Or else- it’s the same trail as they followed last session to recover the horses, to a clearing- the same clearing.
And there they find the body of…
Trooper Willirun.
But no Janna.
Note, it’s only the PCs that are in this scene, they are (initially) the only ones to find this spot- funny that.
Frederich ascertains that Willirun is just stunned, or else out cold, and using an item from his torturer’s kit inflicts (with a pinch) enough pain to instantly wake the Trooper.
Who is groggy, then flustered, and finally very wary.
Frederich tries to explain the situation- Fergus and his Tiger face-painting.
Somewhere along the way it all goes very wrong- I think, from memory, it started to go bad when Fergus began trying to explain himself, let me illuminate. Fergus said something like this-
“I turned ‘er into a Tiger, a great big cat. I used paint on ‘er face so that she wud become the Tiger. I don’t mean a real Tiger. She’d not changed, not really- just become the Tiger. You get me? She were a Tiger. I painted her a Tiger. But not a real Tiger. Jus’ a painted one.”
Then, as usual, he rolls something beginning with ninety.
Willirun is suddenly screaming, she believes that Fergus has the ability to turn people into Tigers by painting on their faces.
To make clear- Willirun doesn’t really know what a Tiger is, or what it looks like, she knows what a great cat is however…
Anyway, Willirun’s confusion is somewhat understandable because, that was pretty much exactly what Fergus told her.
The PCs scramble to come up with some other explanation of events.
Olek gets to it first.
“It is clear that this Janna is a witch! A practitioner of the Dark Arts!”
And the accompanying dice roll is an astounding success (+6 SL).
Willirun goes with it.
As do the other PCs.
“She was a wytch. She was a wytch.” The Trooper murmurs over and over as she relives the events in the clearing, which she of course imparts to the PCs.
Which culminates in the following line from Trooper Willirun…
“She was a wytch, that’s why she turned into a Great Cat.” Willirun is certain, she even nods several times to confirm this.
But now the PCs are on much less firm ground.
Frederich gets to the line first-
“What do you mean ‘she turned into a Great Cat’?”
Willirun further explains that just as she got Janna to the clearing, and her sword drawn- the young woman suddenly spun around to face her, and “her face, her body, it was shaping and changing… into a Great Cat.” Overcome by the sight of the transformation Willirun continues somewhat sheepishly, she leapt back and… hit her head on a branch of a tree.
The last thing she saw was Janna the Great Cat bounding away into the Drakwald.
Which takes a bit of time to recover from.
For the PCs.
Fergus doesn’t recover from this revelation for a good long while, I think he was still confused initially, believing that Willirun was seeing things, or else addled, or else…
It’s at this point, while Fergus is floundering “I jus’ painted ‘er, I never, I… jus’, I jus’, I mainly jus’ do Tigers”, that Frederich steps close to the dwarf and lets him (and everyone else) know-
“I will be watching you Fergus, I will be watching you for further signs of the taint.”
Which made everyone laugh at the time, well- everyone except Fergus.
It’s at this point, of course, that Sgt Pflaster and the rest of the troop make it to the spot, further explanations ensue.
Another twenty minutes RP and explanation for Lady Isolde.
But soon after, we are on the road again- the coaches and horses are all hooked up, the dead bodies of the coachmen and the other travelers bundled into the second (previously rolled) coach.
To the Seven Spokes Inn.
SCENE 7. Mainly admin.
The Seven Spokes is a lot like the Coach & Horses, except it’s busy here, but we are blasting through this bit, it’s admin- mostly.
The following events occur-
The PCs have to complete their individual statements/interviews with Sgt Pflaster, note I sent each PC a note in Fantasy Grounds with eight questions on that they had to answer, as if in interview.
These may surface sometime later in the narrative.
Then, after a few tense moments in the Haggle- the PCs are still not sure how much to trust the Roadwardens, the adventurers receive their reward, for the slaughter of the six mutants. Another thirty shillings, although the PCs very quickly agree that 10 shillings should go to the Roadwardens, for their aid in this matter.
Then, an hour drinking in the Seven Spokes barroom, this time guest of Sgt Pflaster- three of the PCs learn new rumours about the road ahead.
Then. The Roadwardens head off, they have business it seems at the next inn down the road- this after the PCs let them know all about their encounter with the Bretonnian card cheat- Philipe Descartes, at the Coach & Horses. Sgt Pflaster is keen to meet this fellow.
And now the PCs (I think it was Olek again) are learning how to deal with folk that piss them off- grass them up to the authorities.
Frederich meantime is looking for someone to help him with his torn muscle, and as at turns out there’s a doctor staying at the inn, she’s called Anika Pflaster, and sure enough she is related to the good Sgt, although she’s happy to have missed him. The good Sgt, according to his sister, is a ‘loud-mouthed bore’.
Frederich gets some healing; he will be 23 more days with -10 to any skills that involve the use of his left hand. This after an Oopsie with a torn muscle outcome when he was throwing rocks at the mutants.
Then, more drinking- and eating, and a room for the night. Two more of the PCs manage to learn a new rumour each. They only have four more to find in this section of the adventure.
Note, there’s 1 XP for each new rumour learned, Lothar has earned 5 XP this way, Olek 4, Fergus 2 and Frederich- zilch. That’s not a slight on any PCs, Fergus isn’t a Gossip (his skill is real low) and Frederich keeps rolling rumours that have already been heard- he’s done this at least three times to date. Twice tonight.
I’m not sure who used what with regard to Fortune Points this session.
Lots more laughter in this one.
The final XP table is below.
| PC | Looting & Documents | Janna is a Great Cat | Title | Rumours | Session XP | Total |
| Fred (Jim) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 50 |
| Fergus (Ben) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 35 | 45 |
| Olek (George) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 57 |
| Lothar (Kev) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 45 |
I gave Frederich/Jim 1 XP for the line that became the title of this session and will again for the same in future sessions.
It's a cracking game, and very different from D&D, the players celebrated twenty-four hours (game time) and no deaths in the Old World yet, at the start of this session.
Stay safe and well.
Cheers goonalan et al.
GuyBoy
Hero
Great account once again.
The looted blunderbuss is still an item of great import in our game, many sessions on from you. The PC, Hilda Von Lustfahrt, the formidable river-warden, has used it with great effect. She’s even named it: Grosse Wilhelm. (Yes, we do still have the odd instance of teenage humour!)
TheSword
Legend
That’s pretty terrifying. Someone needs to spend a couple of weeks at the Great Hospice of Fredericksheim.
LETTERS FROM THE OLD WORLD.
The continuing adventures of the usual bunch of miscreants this time playing Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 4th edition, and The Enemy Within Campaign, of course.
SESSION #05 ALTDORF!
The PCs
Fergus McClean, Dwarf Scout (Guide) played by Bear.
Looks Like: Rough and ready-for-anything Dawi- a bit unkempt; constantly muttering and grumbling at Seamus his imaginary dog.
Sounds Like: Northern 'I wur down t'mine', although taciturn, and always grumpy.
Fergus is a short embittered (divorced) Dawi from the mining village of Schwartzstein in the foothills of the Grey Mountains. That is until he discovered his best friend Seamus with his wife Cherrie. Fergus left his village and his old life behind and set off in search of adventure, eventually taking up Scouting as a living. He has business in Altdorf, and is at present journeying with three Manlings he has come to trust who are also on their way to the capital.
Frederich Hass, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Jim.
Looks Like: Thick-set, tall with a resting angry face, never too far away from a snarl, otherwise well turned out.
Sounds Like: Whispering menace, accusatory- probing, but charming when he wants to be. Accent is brooding (intelligent) cod-Russian (like a clever but menacing Daktari). Note he sees the hand of the Ruinous Powers behind every untoward event.
Frederich and his brother Olek watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through-and-through, Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Lothar Jurgen Muller, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Kev.
Looks Like: Neat, tidy, clean-cut, perhaps even a little dashing- the boy next door, but doable- and always with a smile on his face, and often in his eyes. Lothar carries his own embroidered place mat with matching knife and fork. Manners and civility are so important.
Sounds Like: Civil, polite, formal, caring- and entirely without menace. He's a Paladin doing Witch Hunter, which may yet prove amusing.
Lothar is a baker's son from Ubersreik that just happened to become a Witch Hunter, he didn't just drift into it, he has a plan (perhaps). Lothar however came to Witch Hunting with the thought that he could perhaps be of help- to the Empire, to his family, to the poor wretches that have fallen into corruption, and possibly to help himself (a little) along the way. He is resolutely nice in a world full of foetid stink and terror.
Olek Hass, Human Artisan- Blacksmith (Apprentice) played by George.
Looks Like: Seven (plus) feet tall, and not too skinny with it- lithe and muscled, he's a giant- with wild eyes.
Sounds Like: A camp Nazi constantly unfolding, expounding and explaining the mystery of ongoing events, and seeing the presence of Sigmar everywhere.
Olek and his brother Frederich watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through and-through- Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Here we go again.
And not a lot of pictures as usual, but we’re improvising.
Altdorf at last.
Oh, but just to say ahead of time- we found a picture of Olek in the WFRP 4e rulebook-
The image was clearly shot from very low down, because Olek has to stoop to get through every door he encounters.
Read on…
JAHRDRUNG, 2512.
ALTDORF!
SCENE 1a. Konigplatz-a-go-go.
Why Scene 1a, well, you’ll see- but if you don’t spot Lothar in what comes next then you’ll know why. In a bit.
And so, after a pleasant night in the Seven Spokes Inn, followed by a hearty breakfast and then a hell-for-leather dash down the Altdorf Road, and…
We are in the capitol, and the last hour of the journey- which takes the time to around four bells, is spent squeezing the carriage through the heaving streets of Altdorf, and to the Konigsplatz at last.
All roads, or at least carriages, lead here.
With a bit of scene setting along the way, of course-
Altdorf? Altdorf. Altdorf! It’s only a few pictures nabbed from the web, shush!
And all the way to the Konigsplatz, spot the circle.
Altdorf is rammed.
There are masses of people everywhere.
The Konigsplatz is the confluence of several major thoroughfares, and the stopping point for literally hundreds of carriages, it’s also a market (temporary), a place to shout and harangue others, and- well, a brothel, a place to get a fix, a place to settle a bet, or a fight.
It’s all of life.
The coach pulls up, and the inhabitants of the vehicle are instantly beset on all sides by a tide of humanity, all of whom- seemingly, have something to sell, or to say.
“Spare a…”
“DR. RICTUS’ HEALING LOZENGES!”
“Drink at…”
“Eat at…”
“… the best beds in…”
“Down with the big NOBS!”
“PRAISE BE TO…”
“LOZENGES, THEY’RE LOZENGY-GOOD!”
That kind of thing.
Then…
Trumpets blare, the crowd surges and…
The emperor arrives, at the head of a two-hundred strong column of soldiers, cavalry and knights. Karl-Franz turns up to welcome the heroes to his fair city.
Or else to parade through the square with drum and fife to… well, to somewhere else.
It’s quite a show.
The crowd surges some more, the characters climb up on top of the coach to witness the spectacle.
Olek is overcome, the big man weeps- not quietly but with great yawning jagged sobs.
“It is something- no! To be in the sight of our Glorious Emperor!” Frederich adds, and then shouts, “Hail Karl-Franz!” like he’s a stormtrooper, or at least until he sees, and then hears, Fergus grumbling.
Fergus is lectured for a while- about solemnity, about dignity, about power…
The dwarf eventually concedes, and he too pays his respect to his majesty-
Fergus salutes the Emperor, Karl-Franz.
And so now to the action-
A small hand snakes out and grabs one of the bags from the rack atop the coach, as it turns out the disappearing pack belongs to Fergus.
Perhaps he should have shown a little more respect.
“Oi! Tha’s mine!”
Fergus spots the small (a halfling or a child) person that ducks back into the seething crowd with his belongings- the dwarf is quickly in hot pursuit, although… that doesn’t last long.
Fergus very quickly realises that he’s a dwarf in a crowd of humans, he can’t see anything- not where he’s going, and certainly not the thief that just nicked his pack containing his beloved face-paints, and his even more beloved whiskey flask.
This section is a tutorial (sorta) for what’s coming next, you’ll see.
The point being that someone needs to stay atop the coach, or in some other raised position, to direct the chase.
It takes a while for the PCs to think of this- their first turn sees Fergus, Olek and Frederich all dive into the crowd and… well, even seven-foot-tall Olek can’t see which direction the thief went.
Frederich starts shouting “STOP THIEF!”, which a majority of the nearby crowd greet with a friendly cheer, followed by uncontrolled laughter and ridicule, all aimed at the ‘dumb’ Burner.
“Da fat burner got summats snaffled!”
“PRAISE BE TO SIGMAR!”
Olek’s pursuit is…
Well, the big man attempts to recreate the scene from Crocodile Dundee (I don’t remember which one) in which Mick reaches his lady love by standing on the heads and shoulders of the various folk crammed together on a subway platform.
Well, similar to that… only with a seven-foot giant, and no permission granted from the human steppingstones.
Olek doesn’t get far…
And soon after he’s being confronted by two angry citizens, and being pelted with horse manure by several others, which is, of course, when Frederich gets involved with things.
The situation is however soon resolved, Frederich starts shouting threats and then rolls incredibly well (‘01’) on his Intimidate check, the jeerers retreat sharpish.
Meanwhile Olek has climbed back aboard the carriage, and once their quickly figured out how this works, and so is soon after directing Fergus to his quarry.
The dwarf barges his way through the crowds and… eventually (three turns later) he stumbles into an alley- the thief, just ahead of him, is but a young lad.
Eventually the urchin pulls up and spins around- there follows a stream of invective, the degree of foulness- well, even I was a little ashamed of the things I said.
In short- “gi’ us two shimmies or we’ll fork yer stuffin, ya muther-cluckin’ short-armed cork-licking bar steward!”
Fergus works out who the ‘we’ in the above sentence applies to.
There are a dozen faces- in doorways, windows and snickets hereabouts. More urchins, all of them armed either with either handfuls of stones, or else lengths of wood.
Fergus pays his two shillings, and after a little bit of invective of his own, retreats with his pack intact.
Note, there was more to this scene, but… we didn’t get there.
So, where’s Lothar in all of this.
SCENE 1b. To me. To you.
Well, Lothar- right back at the start and atop the coach still, has his eyes on two suspicious looking individuals, one of whom is staring intently at him while performing some very strange actions- signalling him he thinks, maybe?
Lothar is entirely engrossed, which is why he’s missing from Scene 1a.
The odd pair he espies are nondescript burghers of the city, to look at- slightly older than he is, and clearly both related. One of them spends all of his time scanning the crowd thereabouts, while the other stares daggers at Lothar and continues to signal him.
The fellow seems to be exaggeratedly itching his left ear with his right hand.
And repeating this awkward action endlessly.
Lothar fails to make any headway- parroting the gesture back, trying to indicate to the signaller that he cannot reply because Olek is standing by his side (directing traffic in the scene above).
And…
Lothar is really not sure what to do for the best, and getting exasperated, and the strange fellow’s strange signals are getting, well… stranger still, and even more exaggerated, and are now accompanied by a gurning visage.
As if the poor fellow was straining to be understood, or else to be acknowledged.
It’s at about this point that Frederich arrives on the scene, having seen off the rest of the folk that were flinging horse-poo at his brother.
And Scene 1a meets Scene 1b, as the rest of the gang filter in- Fergus is the last to arrive, of course.
“What is he doing Lothar?” Frederich asks his fellow Burner, as Lothar points at the strange fellow.
“Signalling me, or else the man he thinks I am- Kastor Lieberung. Perhaps he is some sort of rogue, or else a spy- perhaps Kastor was…” Lothar rambles.
“NO!”, Frederich interrupts, and then patiently explains- as if to a child, “You are so naïve, my friend. They are cultists Lothar, and not of the Holy Church of Sigmar. I smell corruption.”
Just to note- when Frederich says, ‘my friend’, he means, well- the exact opposite. I’ve never heard ‘my friend’ sound so much like a threat before.
Also, to keep in mind, Lothar doesn’t just look like Kastor, he’s dressed in the dead man’s clothes too.
At which point both Burners dive into the crowd and discover… as per Scene 1a, that running into the crowd just gets you lost.
Eventually Olek turns up and gets back to directing traffic- the Burners are, soon after, in hot pursuit of the signaller and his mate.
But then the two strange men duck into the crowd and they too disappear from sight, at least for a short while- they’re lost in the still seething crowds, until… they’re spotted again, they’ve repositioned- and the same fellow is back to franticly, exasperatedly, signalling in Lothar’s direction.
Note, we repeat this formula once more, the Burners go in pursuit- directed by Olek, they get close to the odd pair and then… the signaller (and co) disappear into the crowd again, only to pop up…
The PCs get it.
At least that is until the frantically signalling fellow is suddenly thumped on his shoulder by his erstwhile wordless neighbour, and now the signaller takes to messaging someone else, or at least making the same gestures but this time in a new direction. Not at Lothar.
Most odd.
Soon after the pair duck back into the crowd- they’re heading in a new direction, towards the very edge of the Konigsplatz.
Note, at this point all of the PCs have made it to the last spot, the plinth of the great statue of Magnus the Pious, at which the strange pair were formerly settled.
It’s a very slow, very odd chase.
And now, with Fergus in scene too, the PCs are, of course, still trying to figure out who these people are, what the signal is about, and now where the hell did they just go again? Just… WTF?
There’s a lot of confusion as the PCs continue to move from high ground to high ground- mainly the plinths of the various statues here in the Konigsplatz, trying to track the strange duo’s progress across the square.
It’s Olek who gets the last glimpse of the duo- who briefly become a trio, the two strange men follow a thick-set man in black leathers into a nearby inn, the Cat & Fiddle as it happens.
The PCs therefore gather together while Lothar explains ongoing events re the two strange fellows, and then the four PCs mostly bicker about what to do next for maybe ten or more minutes (real time, no really).
Strange faces indeed.
The Cat & Fiddle is packed.
Let’s keep it brief- the two odd fellows, and the guy they met with here are… no longer here. They went out the back way, not even stopping for a drink.
Lothar switches into suave mode, and also palms a silver shilling to the barman who informs him of the above (and below).
The PCs are too late, much too late.
The two odd fellow’s new companion- the man the pair met here in the inn, was indeed a thick set guy in black leathers, with slicked back black hair, and a nasty scar at his throat- maybe 40 or so years of age, the rough-looking fellow was also toting a crossbow- strapped to his back. He looked like he meant business, and that is how the barman earns Lothar’s shilling.
The PCs have a description of the man they didn’t properly see, and yet, still not a clue as to what’s going on here.
A little more searching around the rear of the inn, and… they’re gone- the trio are no-where in sight.
To compound the PCs misery the adventurers decide to ask the friendly barman here, Herberk Flugel, about the task that drew them to Altdorf in the first place.
Remember this?
The PCs just need to find the residence of the Crown Prince Hergard Von Tasseninck, but… oh dear,
Herbert explains- the Crown Prince departed Altdorf for the Grey Mountains three days past, it was quite a sight. The prince, his grand retinue, and his hired adventurers paraded through the district and down to the docks, then on barges to… Bogenhafen.
Bogenhafen.
That’s where Lothar’s (Kastor’s) fortune is to be found.
SCENE 2. Hey Joe!
So, next up- back to the Konigsplatz to get the rest of their gear from the coach, alas all of their fellow travellers have already departed, not even a goodbye for Lothar from Lady Isolde.
What now to do in Altdorf?
Funny you should ask.
“OLEK!”
“OLEK!”
“OLEK!”
And I’d love to show you a picture of Olek and Frederich’s favourite uncle- Josef, but it seems no-one took a snap.
Josef Quartjin is delighted to see his nephews, and particularly now that they have escaped from the dungeon that is Ubersreik, and very specifically the ‘wretched’ monastery in which they were raised…
Josef is a wild one.
“Olek, Lothar- look at you two. You rapscallions, you dogs you- escaped the service of those thuggish, dunderhead, priests of Sigmar, at last. It must feel like paradise now that you are out- wine, women, song…”
But then, alas, Uncle Joe notices the attire of his two favourite nephews.
And their demeanour.
And countenance.
Frederich is as cold as ice.
“Yes, Uncle Josef, by the blessings of Holy Sigmar it is good to see you again, so… very good.”
Olek is a little more effusive, or else… well, just a lot more normal, in comparison with Frederich, of course.
Note Olek and Uncle Joe both suffer from giantism- Olek is seven feet tall and muscled (but thin), Josef is six feet eight and looks like a slightly less kempt and more over-weight Hagrid (from the Potter nonsense).
The rest of the gang are introduced to the garrulous Josef, he has a kind word for all.
Olek however wants to know what Uncle Josef is doing in Altdorf, the answer being stocking up on wine, he’s heading out in the morning on his barge to the Schaffenfest, to…
“Bogenhafen!” Olek finishes.
“Tha’s right!”
“I don’t suppose you have space on you barge…” Olek asks and is interrupted right back.
“I’m looking for four crew! That’s incredible Olek!” Josef finishes.
The PCs don’t say ‘yes’, yet to Uncle Joe’s offer, but they do allow Josef- who knows the capitol well, to show them some of the sights of the city, here goes.
SCENE 3. The Blessings of Sigmar.
The first stop on the tour of Altdorf… the Grand Temple of Sigmar, and not the Street of a Hundred Taverns, which was Fergus’ hot pick.
The Grand Temple is… well, no words (or pictures) can do it justice.
Even Fergus is impressed.
“Big!” He states while helpfully waving his arms about to indicate the vaulted chapel, that at capacity, can hold nearly four thousand souls at devotion.
The PCs wander the place, some of them eyeing suspiciously the Grand Theoginist Soap-on-a-Rope and other tawdry religious gewgaws.
Olek finds a place away from his friends, he has come here to say a prayer to his Lord, and to (without notice) leave a tithe, only- a moment later, after depositing the money, he feels suddenly very weary, a cloaked stranger steps quickly towards him, he’s about to feint…
The cloaked man, Olek notices (but barely), is heavy-set, and very strong… the good Samaritan guides the dizzy Olek to a pew, and then takes a moment to whisper something in the blacksmith’s apprentices’ ear.
But the moment is too much for Olek, he closes his eyes and… the next thing he sees is Frederich, his brother’s face wracked with concern, gently speaking his name to him…
“Olek? Olek?”
“I am at peace brother. I just met Sigmar. He came to me, he told me…”, and it’s at this point that Olek realises that the whispered words of the good Samaritan have completely fled his mind.
What did he say?
However, Olek is certain-
“I just met Sigmar!” He states much more confidently, and with a smile that lights up his whole being.
“Of course, you did, Olek- that is why we are here.” Frederich simply states.
Soon after the PCs depart the Grand Temple.
On to more serious matters, shopping…
SCENE 4. Shopping.
And so with a little more help from Uncle Josef the PCs are directed to a variety of retail establishments, they have some jewellery to sell, and some excess clothing- a pair of leather jacks, and a few ugly/shoddy weapons.
Just to note Olek does the talking (and the rolling) for all of these transactions, he’s a Dealmaker, and his Fellowship (& Haggle) are higher than his companions.
Then… shopping, and a tutorial about Critical Deflection and the importance of being armoured.
This goes on for a while.
I am slightly ashamed to say nearly ninety minutes, we go through a great variety of Old World fare, from armour and weapons (and ammunition)- and their qualities and flaws, to clothing, and bags, and then to an apothecary- to see what they do, and… Well, it took a while, and keep in mind all of the players save my bro Kev (playing Lothar) are new to WFRP. Kev only played a couple of games back in the 80s/90s (1st edition).
Forgive us, but we’ve devoted eight sessions (I estimated ahead of time) to get done the first four chapters of this book.
At the end of the shopping expedition- well, all of the PCs have armour now, the Burners have leather and mail combos (they got two mail coats from the dead coachmen remember). The crossbow, the subject of last sessions furore is… sold. Bows are cheaper, and besides Lothar already has advances in the weapon.
Note, Fergus retains the Blunderbuss, even though he still cannot use it.
Further note, Fergus also gets directions to the dwarven enclave in Altdorf, it’s called Metallschlacke, although the place he’s actually looking for lies beneath the streets there- Niederwind, but we’ll get to that, maybe- sometime in the future.
Then, there’s only ten more minutes left of the session.
SCENE 5. Manic Street Preacher.
Josef has had enough, and time is getting on- and so the next stop on the journey is… well, down the Street of a Hundred Taverns to Josef’s favourite pub in Altdorf, the Boatman.
“Best beer north of the Reik!”
However, en route to the inn, and just to make clear the Street of a Hundred Taverns is pretty much always Friday night- the crowds are somewhat boisterous, and the Watch have got their work cut out- there’s a lot of chaos going on, drunk and disorderly barely covers it.
Then, a wide-eyed, wild-haired head pops up, above the crowd, and then harangues the assembled masses. Although, at times, it seems the wild fellow doing the haranguing is concentrating his spittle-flecked efforts in the direction of our four colleagues.
A face for radio, the Manic Street Preacher.
‘I see Darkness Gathering as the Last House of Joy Falls –
beware, for Shadows Over Bögenhafen stir!
Then Beloved Morr, resplendent in Vestments of Green,
stands astride Sigmar’s Great River.
Yea, I see Death on the Reik and I despair!
For then the Stained Hand guides the Once Mighty Lord,
and this Power Behind the Throne curses us all.
Lo, the Horned Rat then claims the Broken King atop his Throne of Lies,
and the White Walls Fall, leaving our Empire in Ruins!
Tremble in fear, ye mighty, for the End Times have come.’
beware, for Shadows Over Bögenhafen stir!
Then Beloved Morr, resplendent in Vestments of Green,
stands astride Sigmar’s Great River.
Yea, I see Death on the Reik and I despair!
For then the Stained Hand guides the Once Mighty Lord,
and this Power Behind the Throne curses us all.
Lo, the Horned Rat then claims the Broken King atop his Throne of Lies,
and the White Walls Fall, leaving our Empire in Ruins!
Tremble in fear, ye mighty, for the End Times have come.’
And after the last line, the just revealed prophet falls from his perch (he was stood on a stool) and is caught by Lothar, the fellow twitches and spasms as his bloodied lips gnash and gnaw. The Burner lays the fellow gently down.
Eventually, settled by the Burners ministrations, the fellow at last opens his eyes… and demands a shilling, at least, for his prognostication.
Lothar pays the man a shilling, and helps him back into the world…
Note, Lothar is, I think, the only PC that has a shilling left. They all, mostly, spent up on their shopping spree.
Lots more laughter in this one.
The final XP table is below.
| PC | Konigsplatz-a-go-go | Here’s Josef! | Uncle Joe | Session XP | Total |
| Fred (Jim) | 4 | 5 | 5 | 40 | 54 |
| Fergus (Ben) | 4 | 5 | 0 | 35 | 44 |
| Olek (George) | 3 | 5 | 5 | 45 | 58 |
| Lothar (Kev) | 3 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 48 |
Note Frederich and Olek got an extra 5 XP each for meeting up with their Uncle Joe, the same as Lothar got an extra 5 XP for meeting mutant Rolf again. Fergus (like Bono) has yet to find who he is looking for.
Stay safe and well.
Cheers goonalan et al.
LETTERS FROM THE OLD WORLD.
The continuing adventures of the usual bunch of miscreants this time playing Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 4th edition, and The Enemy Within Campaign, of course.
SESSION #06 One Less Witch Hunter.
The PCs
Fergus McClean, Dwarf Scout (Guide) played by Bear.
Looks Like: Rough and ready-for-anything Dawi- a bit unkempt; constantly muttering and grumbling at Seamus his imaginary dog.
Sounds Like: Northern 'I wur down t'mine', although taciturn, and always grumpy.
Fergus is a short embittered (divorced) Dawi from the mining village of Schwartzstein in the foothills of the Grey Mountains. That is until he discovered his best friend Seamus with his wife Cherrie. Fergus left his village and his old life behind and set off in search of adventure, eventually taking up Scouting as a living. He has business in Altdorf and is at present journeying with three Manlings he has come to trust who are also on their way to the capital.
Frederich Hass, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Jim.
Looks Like: Thick-set, tall with a resting angry face, never too far away from a snarl, otherwise well turned out.
Sounds Like: Whispering menace, accusatory- probing, but charming when he wants to be. Accent is brooding (intelligent) cod-Russian (like a clever but menacing Daktari). Note he sees the hand of the Ruinous Powers behind every untoward event.
Frederich and his brother Olek watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through-and-through, Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Lothar Jurgen Muller, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Kev.
Looks Like: Neat, tidy, clean-cut, perhaps even a little dashing- the boy next door, but doable- and always with a smile on his face, and often in his eyes. Lothar carries his own embroidered place mat with matching knife and fork. Manners and civility are so important.
Sounds Like: Civil, polite, formal, caring- and entirely without menace. He's a Paladin doing Witch Hunter, which may yet prove amusing.
Lothar is a baker's son from Ubersreik that just happened to become a Witch Hunter, he didn't just drift into it, he has a plan (perhaps). Lothar however came to Witch Hunting with the thought that he could perhaps be of help- to the Empire, to his family, to the poor wretches that have fallen into corruption, and possibly to help himself (a little) along the way. He is resolutely nice in a world full of foetid stink and terror.
Olek Hass, Human Artisan- Blacksmith (Apprentice) played by George.
Looks Like: Seven (plus) feet tall, and not too skinny with it- lithe and muscled, he's a giant- with wild eyes.
Sounds Like: A camp Nazi constantly unfolding, expounding and explaining the mystery of ongoing events, and seeing the presence of Sigmar everywhere.
Olek and his brother Frederich watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through and-through- Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Here we go again.
Last session I said this-
Note, Lothar is, I think, the only PC that has a shilling left. They all, mostly, spent up on their shopping spree.
Well, I’ve checked, and Lothar & Olek have a few shillings each, while Fergus and Frederich- they’re down to a handful of pennies each. The pair really did spend up on their shopping spree last session.
Also a word about where we are at- XP-wise; Frederich has advanced all of his stats & skills et al to be ready to advance to Witch Hunter proper, which he is now saving up to do. Fergus & Olek are in a similar position, except both of them are now saving for Talents (Sharp & Very Strong respectively) which are available in their present careers (Scout & Artisan respectively). Once they have the Talents the next step will be to go to Level 2.
Lothar has a few Characteristics that he needs to advance yet to complete his Interrogator career.
However, read on…
JAHRDRUNG, 2512.
ALTDORF!
SCENE 1. The Boatman Inn.
We’re in the Boatman Inn, on the riverfront, and Josef’s favourite bar, and more importantly Olek and Frederich’s uncle is paying- half a pheasant each, and with all of the trimmings, and a bottle of Cabinet Savage, a cheeky Bretonnian plonk, each.
That’s right, a bottle each.
Lothar, to begin with, is suspicious- how can Uncle Josef afford to spend so much?
As it turns out, Josef supplies the wine here at the Boatman, it’s what he does- he ships wine up and down the Reik, mystery solved.
Then, much chatter.
Uncle Joe has much to say on three specific subjects, which are-
- the fact that all nobles are either corrupt or else bonkers.
- Wizards (particularly those here in Altdorf) are also corrupt and/or bonkers.
- Corruption can get you late in life, Uncle Joe tells the story of a riverman he knew that turned (a bit) into a frog-man-thing.
But we press on, more chatter- the PCs even extract another rumour they have not heard so far out of Uncle Joe- it’s the silver-tongued Lothar that gets another 1 XP. Note the PCs have discovered twelve of the fifteen rumours that are available in this section of the campaign. If they get all fifteen before they hit Bogenhafen the saintly DM has said he will give them an additional 1 XP each.
And about Bogenhafen, all of the PCs have signed up to crew on Uncle Josef’s barge to this place, after all they have business there- Kastor’s inheritance, the Schaffenfest, and Crown Prince Hergard Von Tasseninck was also heading there. The PCs were initially trying to get a job with this fellow.
So, the PCs are all signed up to travel, and Joe is set to leave at first tide tomorrow morning, and so this is their first and last night in Altdorf, and some of them are drinking.
Note, Fergus McClean has some things to do yet in Altdorf, he is however of the opinion that his other task can wait until his next visit, he’s up for Bogenhafen, he likes Uncle Joe (he keeps on paying for things) and he likes a drink.
So, back to the Consume Alcohol checks- and Fergus, even after two bottles of Cabinet Savage (-30 check to consume the whole bottle quickly) is not even tipsy. He rolled an ‘06’ and an ‘04’, and neither of these were his best roll this evening.
Olek & Lothar both get a little tipsy but then decide to stop drinking, Frederich isn’t drinking much either. The players are still very wary of Consume Alcohol checks, they now figure that they very often precede the ‘action’, when a -10 on everything is least wanted.
Would I do that?
Josef is getting smashed.
And the evening in the Boatman is getting on, a pleasant night until a pair of nobles, with four threatening looking bodyguards in-tow, start acting the giddy goat. The pair are drunk and very insulting to the bar’s clientele.
Note, earlier in the evening a black leather clad tough also took up station near to the bar. The PCs first instincts on seeing this thug was to think it could have been the same guy that met with the two odd fellows who spent an age signalling Lothar in the Konigsplatz earlier. The fellow Olek saw disappear into the Cat & Fiddle there was also wearing black leathers and had swept back black hair- and a scar. Although that’s the sticking point, the fellow from the Konigsplatz had a scar on his neck, the rough in the Boatman has a scar on his right cheek.
A lengthy discussion develops on the back of the tough’s arrival at the inn, but the accompanying dice rolls all point clearly to the fact that this isn’t the same guy they saw earlier.
But back to the two ill-behaving nobles, Fergus is at the bar, and clutching a gold crown given to him by Uncle Joe, along with the instruction- ‘more booze… (Hic)’.
Fergus is suitably delighted, he’s even showing it every now and then, that is until one of the nobles starts shouting “Brandy Bounce!” and the other, seconds later, yacks up all over his trousers.
Remarkably the dwarf is a lot more sanguine about events then anyone at the Virtual Table expected.
“Better out than in, I s’pose. You’ll wanna watch what thar’s doin’ a less ‘appy fellow could’a tuck umbrage”, then there is pushing, it’s mostly the noble’s four bodyguards securing their charges.
However, lots of other things happen quickly-
Frederich is to Fergus’ side, and the man in black- the tough that intrigued the PCs earlier- he’s also in Fergus’ face, and happy to hand out a few choice insults, both to Fergus and Frederich,
It all looks very threatening, things are getting heated, and so it’s a little bit odd that it’s Lothar that actually starts the fight. The Witch Hunter explodes into action, dashing from his table- at which he was previously sitting quietly, and delivering a hefty thump (with knuckledusters) to the antagonist’s kidneys.
It kicks off.
But it only takes two turns to play out.
Max Ernst, the bad man in black, punches Frederich hard in the gut and then smashes the bottle he is drinking from into Lother’s head. The first Witch Hunter is left sucking in air, the second- Lothar, is Stunned (1) and sent reeling, down to about half of his wounds.
I get up to three Advantage with Max.
But it doesn’t last.
Frederich has to gain a point of Corruption- Miss, Fortune Point- Miss, the Whispers of the Ruinous Powers (courtesy of the DM- and yes, I’ll do it!)- Hit, in order to connect with the villain, but it’s only a glancing blow. But that’s the end of Max’s Advantage.
Note everyone here is fighting with fists (knuckledusters), so far.
Fergus hits Max hard, real hard- something daft like six Success Levels (my dice were broken) plus all the rest.
Max is quickly down to just two wounds, and so goes for a dramatic Intimidate check- remarkably only Lothar is affected, but the Burner is still also Stunned (1).
Fergus smashes Max again, an uppercut to the jaw, and for a daft amount of damage (even more success levels than the last time- he rolled ‘01’ and I rolled ‘98’).
Max’s jaw is broken- teeth fly, and he’s Stunned (lots) and also after a failed Endurance check- Unconscious.
There is cheering, and the bodyguards grab their noble charges and swift-exit the Boatman Inn.
Soon after the following events occur, in no particular order-
Max gets robbed.
Note, as soon as Max hit the deck Olek started shouting something like- “Remember to rob the deviant fool, Sigmar needs to get paid!”
Things have changed very quickly.
Lothar decides to leave Max with enough money to pay for someone to fix his broken jaw, he’s all heart.
Next...
Several patrons from the bar help the PCs to make the unconscious Max disappear, the body is dumped in an alley.
And...
Frederich attempts to help Lothar to recover some of his wounds, the Burner’s magic touch doesn’t fail him- Lothar takes an additional wound.
As always when Frederich gets involved.
Also...
Fergus doesn’t pay for another drink all night and is later chaired around the bar by its inhabitants.
“Am ‘avin’ a grert night!”
Inevitably...
Lothar, when recovered, manages to hoover up another errant rumour from the happy punters in the bar, that’s just two left to find, and another 1 XP for the silver-tongued Burner.
And finally, the Boatman closes its doors and the PCs follow a drunken Josef back to his barge, the Berebeli.
SCENE 2. To Me…
The back alleys and narrow passes between warehouses and flophouses, and other low class Dockside establishments, the PCs following the staggering Josef to his barge, only…
Lothar can hear someone following behind them, trailing them… and a little while later Fergus concurs.
The PCs corral the wandering drunken Josef and keep him occupied, and shushed, while they hide out, waiting to see who is following them- a figure appears at the top of the alley/street in which they hide, but passes over and across- not tempted in.
A second shadowy figure, only a few steps behind the first- the pair are clearly together, takes the bait. He heads into the alley and towards the hidden PCs.
Eventually, after a sudden clattering sound- which briefly arrests all action- nothing happens, the shadowy figure continues to creep forward and at last steps into a convenient shaft of light from the gibbous moon o’erhead.
Lothar instantly steps forward, also into sight.
“To me?” The familiar odd fellow (from the Konigsplatz) asks.
“To you.” Lothar confirms with a nod and starts forward- towards the strange man.
The Burner gets within six feet of the fellow, when-
“Huh!”
A crossbow bolt suddenly erupts from the odd fellow’s eye- pointy-end first.
The man falls into Lothar’s arms, although the Burner is quick to let go of the fellow, and suddenly all of the PCs are in a panic.
The fallen fellow with a crossbow lodged in his head (and poking out of his right eye) is dead.
Lothar cautiously heads forwards, towards the end of the alley- it’s Fergus that spots the shooter there, a big man with, of course, a crossbow.
Olek and Frederich dismiss all thoughts of finding cover and charge straight out of the alley, at which point- with Lothar et al catching up, the second body is discovered.
It’s the second fellow from the Konigsplatz.
The PCs are keen to find the shooter, particularly when they espy that the second body here has a crossbow bolt lodged in its neck and is obviously also very dead.
But the PCs, who are still having to look after the drunken Josef are stretched thin here, and rolling high when they’re aiming for low- the shooter is very quickly away. In truth they didn’t spot anything at all, save Fergus’ glimpse- this wasn’t an amateur hour event; this was clearly a professional at work.
There follows a lengthy and somewhat fractious discussion, which in retrospect could have gone quicker/better. This after the two dead bodies are dragged into a much smaller and lonelier alley, for further inspection, then to the discussion.
Frederich is certain that these two odd fellows are/were cultists, Fergus- for whatever reason, is not convinced, and equally happy to let Frederich know this- the pair bicker for a bit. Right up to the moment that Lothar and Olek discover that the pair both sport matching tattoos on their right breast, a five-fingered purple inked hand each.
At which point everyone is convinced that these two fellows were indeed cultists, and not of the good kind, not of Sigmar variety.
This is what actual card-carrying members of the Ruinous Powers look like.
The PCs take a good long look at their enemy.
Frightening.
For a variety of reasons.
There are no other clues to be found, although Olek also makes sure that the two dead folk are relieved of their purses, and then… after another twenty minutes of addled wandering Uncle Josef eventually locates the Berebeli. Here we are…
Hammocks up, and then sleep.
Although…
SCENE 3. Isolation.
So, OOC all of the players are aware that Olek caught a Cold all the way back on the road to the Coach & Horses Inn, we did all of the checks out in the open- as part of the tutorial, anyway Olek’s Cold will begin its effect in a few hours.
Simply put Olek will start Coughing & Sneezing (making him contagious), develop a Malaise (Fatigue 1).
Lothar wants to avoid catching the Cold, and so the DM decides that if the PCs can make a difficult Perception check then they can wake up when Olek starts coughing, and then attempt to isolate him somehow.
And so it comes to pass, and guess who it is that awakes in time to save the day- Lothar. Lothar, for some reason has gone all Howard Hughes at this point, a germaphobe. He awakes when the coughing and spluttering starts, wakes Olek and convinces him to isolate and then… MISTAKE awakes Josef and tries to explain to the bargemaster that Olek needs his cabin, because- he has a Cold.
Uncle Josef is not happy at all- and still flailing drunk, eventually Lothar is kicked out of Josef’s cabin- many more PCs awake, and eventually the contagious Olek is stuffed in the storeroom of the barge.
Job done.
The DM tells the PCs, if Olek stays fairly well isolated for the rest of the day (the duration of his Cold is only 1 day- good roll) then I will allow the other three PCs to make a +40 Endurance check, now- to see if they’re going to also succumb to the infection.
Fergus and Frederich are all good.
Lothar rolls a ‘100’.
He’s already used all his Fortune Points today.
The word ‘reciprocity’ shuffles into my brain.
It’s a very good word.
SCENE 4. The Morning After the Night Before.
The Berebeli is on the river early doors, this after Josef awakes the PCs at the crack of dawn- he has a few last errands to run in Altdorf, and then they’re off.
So, it comes to pass.
But Uncle Josef is in a foul mood this morning, eventually the Berebeli gets into the channel, and the PCs have been introduced to the other crew members- Wolmar and Gildar and little baby Elsa, and… Josef wants a word- “NOW!”
The PCs, somewhat sheepishly, are herded into a cabin-
“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?”
And then the PCs get to explaining, mostly Lothar doing the chat, in short- Olek had a Cold and, but, “NO!” Joseph doesn’t mean then, he wants to know what happened earlier in the evening, or else later in the evening. Did the PCs head back into Altdorf when he was asleep?
Uncle Joseph is furious.
The PCs are not sure what they are being asked to explain, although they’re not trying to work it out either- they’re mostly just talking over each other to tell a variety of stories about last night’s events.
It is chaos.
And so Josef stops the bickering.
“Olaf the Giant, Wanted!” Josef berates his young nephew, “for the murder of a noble”, Josef asked around, “a Georg Von-Somethingorother! What the hell happened last night?”
Eventually an explanation takes shape, the PCs have no idea who killed Georg, although some of them have their suspicions, they are however certain of their actions last evening, and explain to Josef all that occurred.
Lothar even managed to extract one of the Purple Hand tattoos from one of the fallen cultists, he used his special interrogation tools. He shows Josef his work- grisly!
It’s all coming back to Josef, and the PCs checks, now they have decided to try and make some, are all good to great.
Normal service is resumed.
We’re on the Berebeli bound for Bogenhafen.
What could possibly go wrong?
And that’s all she wrote this session, except to say in the final moment, Lothar delivered the following-
“I’m sorry about last night Josef. I’d like to make amends, I’d like for you to teach me how to be a Boatman, Josef. It seems an honest trade, and perhaps one to which I may prove suited. I think I’ll leave the Witch Hunting to your nephew Frederich for now.”
Josef shakes Lothar’s proffered hand whole-heartedly.
Note, I made the offer- a free (0 XP) transfer to Boatman if you join the crew of the Berebeli, Kev (playing Lothar) has decided, he’s going to try and take every free opportunity that comes up along the way- and see where it takes him.
Note, back at the beginning when we randomly rolled these PCs up Jim (playing Frederich) did everything he could to become a Witch Hunter. Kev (playing Lothar) took the first roll of every dice and lucked into Witch Hunter.
He’s going to try to continue that approach it seems.
The final XP table for this session is below.
| PC | Rumours | Max Ernst | To Me? | Berebeli | Session XP | Total |
| Fred (Jim) | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 45 | 59 |
| Fergus (Ben) | 0 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 45 | 60 |
| Olek (George) | 0 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 40 | 53 |
| Lothar (Kev) | 2 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 35 | 51 |
Stay safe and well.
Cheers goonalan et al.
I've got the Oldenhaller Contract and my thought is I may run it later for these guys, as a kind of flashback, or else... well, something like that.
I've DMed the Oldenhaller Contract previously, but that was back when it first came out- a lot of fun, I enjoyed it tremendously.
So, it's an option.
Thanks for the kind words- no game tonight, next session 16th.
Cheers goonalan.
HalfOrc HalfBiscuit
Adventurer
Loving the story so far.
I suggest trying to disguise Olaf ... maybe as a giraffe.
I suggest trying to disguise Olaf ... maybe as a giraffe.
LETTERS FROM THE OLD WORLD.
The continuing adventures of the usual bunch of miscreants this time playing Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 4th edition, and The Enemy Within Campaign, of course.
SESSION #07 Slow Barge to Weissbruck.
The PCs
Fergus McClean, Dwarf Scout (Guide) played by Bear.
Looks Like: Rough and ready-for-anything Dawi- a bit unkempt; constantly muttering and grumbling at Seamus his imaginary dog.
Sounds Like: Northern 'I wur down t'mine', although taciturn, and always grumpy.
Fergus is a short embittered (divorced) Dawi from the mining village of Schwartzstein in the foothills of the Grey Mountains. That is until he discovered his best friend Seamus with his wife Cherrie. Fergus left his village and his old life behind and set off in search of adventure, eventually taking up Scouting as a living. He has business in Altdorf and is at present journeying with three Manlings he has come to trust who are also on their way to the capital.
Frederich Hass, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Jim.
Looks Like: Thick-set, tall with a resting angry face, never too far away from a snarl, otherwise well turned out.
Sounds Like: Whispering menace, accusatory- probing, but charming when he wants to be. Accent is brooding (intelligent) cod-Russian (like a clever but menacing Daktari). Note he sees the hand of the Ruinous Powers behind every untoward event.
Frederich and his brother Olek watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through-and-through, Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Lothar Jurgen Muller, Human Witch Hunter (Interrogator) played by Kev.
Looks Like: Neat, tidy, clean-cut, perhaps even a little dashing- the boy next door, but doable- and always with a smile on his face, and often in his eyes. Lothar carries his own embroidered place mat with matching knife and fork. Manners and civility are so important.
Sounds Like: Civil, polite, formal, caring- and entirely without menace. He's a Paladin doing Witch Hunter, which may yet prove amusing.
Lothar is a baker's son from Ubersreik that just happened to become a Witch Hunter, he didn't just drift into it, he has a plan (perhaps). Lothar however came to Witch Hunting with the thought that he could perhaps be of help- to the Empire, to his family, to the poor wretches that have fallen into corruption, and possibly to help himself (a little) along the way. He is resolutely nice in a world full of foetid stink and terror.
Olek Hass, Human Artisan- Blacksmith (Apprentice) played by George.
Looks Like: Seven (plus) feet tall, and not too skinny with it- lithe and muscled, he's a giant- with wild eyes.
Sounds Like: A camp Nazi constantly unfolding, expounding, and explaining the mystery of ongoing events, and seeing the presence of Sigmar everywhere.
Olek and his brother Frederich watched their parents burned alive, prior to this a normal childhood was in progress. The Cult of Sigmar (with the help of the state) who burned Ma & Pa Hass then took the newly orphaned pair in and raised them to be model citizens. The orphans are Sigmarite through and-through- Frederich the crusader, he likes the power that it brings; Olek the instrument (or else Prophet) of Sigmar. They're not zealots, not warped and broken inside, no... not at all.
Hmmm…
It’s an odd one this one, a very good session, in part, but… at times they’re still not getting WFRP, they keep playing D&D. They think a trip to the inn is downtime.
You’ll see.
I had a long chat with my bro (Kev, playing Lothar) after the session and it was him that brought it up, to paraphrase he said something like-
“We’re still not getting it, we arrive in a scene and… don’t really get on with it, we just do our own thing. We need to start treating scenes like combat in D&D, we need to have a plan- and to recognise earlier that there’s stuff we need to get done, that there’s something to achieve.”
We’ll have a chat in game in the next session, which is on the 30th, and remember it’s a late start because Kev is driving back from York.
And so…
Here we go again.
JAHRDRUNG, 2512.
From Altdorf on the Weissbruck Canal.
SCENE 1. The Roadwardens.
So, the PCs are aboard the Berebeli, having been hired by Josef Quartjin (Uncle of Olek & Frederich) to help him transport a variety of fine wines to the Schaffenfest, in Bogenhafen. However, the adventurers are keen to leave Altdorf, this because of the fracas the previous evening in the Boatman Inn, or else whatever happened after that on the docks- at present Olaf the Giant (Olek Hass to his friends) is being sought by the Altdorf Watch for the murder of a young noble last eve.
He didn’t do it of course, but that’s really not the issue.
As I say, the PCs are keen to be elsewhere.
The Empire map shows the PCs journey so far- all the way from Ubersreik, although we only catch up with their story on the road to Altdorf.
There follows ten minutes of scene setting as the Berebeli moves through the Reiksport, and then onto the Weissbruck Canal proper, the PCs are keeping busy on the boat- although there’s not much for them to do yet. Josef will be teaching them how to Sail the Berebeli (if they make the checks) in the next scene.
However, soon after on the Weissbruck Canal, Josef spots horsemen approaching along the towpath- Olek makes himself scarce, hiding below decks, and… Roadwardens, lots of them- at least a dozen, all on horse- all armoured and armed, and they are all tough looking SoBs.
Particularly the Road Captain, Heinrich Steele, who quickly introduces himself.
Josef and Heinrich pass the time of day for a while, note the PCs (all of them except Olek, he’s hiding) are busying themselves about the boat.
I asked them repeatedly while the conversation between Josef and Heinrich was going on- “What are you doing?” My attempt to get at the essence of ‘busying’.
‘Busying’, for Lothar & Fred, involves endlessly and repeatedly coiling a (singular, although one each) length of rope- really really neatly, they are in competition it seems- neatest coiled rope wins.
Fergus meantime is walking his imaginary dog ‘Rufus’ around the barge.
Just to note Fergus has developed over the last few sessions a marvellous new way of obfuscating anything he says, he employs this technique particularly when he is replying to a would-be interrogator, and particularly someone like Heinrich Steele, someone in authority.
His marvellous new method?
Everything he says sort of makes sense but is, mostly unintelligible, the listener must strive to fathom out his answers, and yet even then…
Remember bluff northern accent.
“I wer’ sayin’ yer, but a meant- nah, if yer get me? It’s comp-li-cated, but at tha’ same time, not- but nah simple. If yer get me?”
In between his mile long mean nothing answers he weaves his secondary formula for success (or else incomprehension)- he just replies “yer” or “nah”, and often says both in a way that leaves the questioner still unsure as to whether Fergus was agreeing or disagreeing with whatever was being said/or else asked of him.
And so, Heinrich Steele, Road Captain is very keen to pass the time of day, with Josef and with his crew- who are (eventually) introduced to him.
The Road Captain is obviously keen to learn how this motley crew- including a Burner, most odd- came to be travelling on a barge down the Weissbruck?
It’s a good question, or else a series of good questions, as Heinrich has other queries.
Note, Heinrich is garrulous, and polite, and well-spoken, although his gimlet eyes burn holes, silently, in those being interviewed.
Heinrich further reveals, casually and in passing, that he’s aware of the bad business on the Altdorf docks last night, including the murder of three folk- two burghers of the city (To me… To You) and more importantly a fine young noble in the prime of his life, Georg Somethingorother.
The PCs begin to fret, as does Josef.
Note, throughout the chitter chatter so far the PCs are doing the following-
Fergus- answering questions but not making a lot of sense, see above.
Frederich- being as nice as pie, courteous and considerate- very helpful, and very respectful- he loves a bit of proper (nasty-ish) authority does Fred, he aspires to be like these people, I think.
Lothar- much more relaxed, off hand- like he belongs here (he’s a Boatman now).
Olek- terrified and in hiding.
The chatter goes on, with the dozen or so Roadwardens tracking the barge, that is until Heinrich asks to come aboard.
Just him, and again- it’s all very polite.
And so it comes to pass, at the next docks/jetty the Berebeli gets close enough for Heinrich to leap on to the deck.
The tension goes up a notch as the conversation continues, although a little later Heinrich is clearly enjoying himself when Josef allows him to take the tiller, under instruction he makes a good show of steering the vessel. Impressive.
But the chatter goes on… and Heinrich is very much about wanting to know where exactly the PCs were on Altdorf docks last night, and when. Note, they put themselves in the frame earlier on in the chatter.
Also, every now and then and throughout this conversation Heinrich, repeatedly, asks Frederich for his full name. The Road Captain even makes Fred spell his second name, at least twice.
“Hass, you say? H-A-S-S. Yes, I have it now. Good. Sorry, citizen- I interrupted you, you were saying…”
Eventually the conversation turns to bribery (it didn’t have to- there were other routes), although Frederich has been trying to steer the chatter in this direction for quite a while now.
It seems a Roadwarden’s lot is a tough one, and a little wine to wash away the dirt of another day spent in the saddle… Josef is as keen as the PCs to get Heinrich off his barge, and so a case of the good stuff is shuttled to the riders on the towpath.
Then, at the next jetty along Road Captain Steele is let off, his last words.
“Say farewell from me to your brother Olek”, are whispered in Frederich’s ear.
Well, here’s the thing- there was more to be had from this scene but, the PCs missed it.
Here’s a clue.
Over the course of the scene Heinrich asked maybe a dozen questions, more or less everything he said was a question, or else required reply.
What questions did you ask?
It was a difficult one, I’m happy to admit, but… you missed it.
There’s always a point to a scene, and the point is usually something more than just what’s going on. You have to figure it out, or else ask questions…
Questions are always good.
This is the second time you’ve missed the point of a scene.
The other one you missed?
The baggage thief in Altdorf, again it was a difficult one, but- you missed it.
What was the baggage thief scene for?
To steel a bag?
Nope.
We’ll have a brief chat about this next session.
SCENE 2. Slow Barge to Weissbruck.
Check this out-
That’s right- a worksheet and instructions, ex-bloody lecturer wouldn’t you know it.
So, here’s the deal, I didn’t think anyone would change career to Boatman (Lothar surprised me) but regardless I wanted to show the PCs how they can go about learning a new Skill, in this instance the Advanced Skill- Sail.
It’s three days on the Weissbruck Canal to… well, Weissbruck. Then a stop to unload/load the Berebeli, then- four more days on the River Bogen to… well, Bogenhafen.
The PCs have seven days on the barge and the opportunity to garner one free point in the Sail Skill.
Note, the initial reaction to this was groans, and laughter, and then…
They really started to get into it.
I mean they really started trying- even spending Fortune Points to re-roll skill checks.
I believe at least one individual spent all of their Fortune Points for the session doing this.
So, the PCs need to accumulate five successes (at various tasks) to get a free point in Sail.
The PCs can attempt a variety of things/skills to gain a success, but each attempt takes six hours of hard honest work. So, six hours on watch, six hours foraging/fishing etc. These activities can account for three successes maximum.
They each however also need to accumulate at least two successful Sail tests, although none of them have Sail right now so that’s a plain old Agility test.
Note, for Lothar this is his intro to the Boatman career, and thus he has not been allowed to spend any XP on his new class skills yet including Sail.
So, spreadsheet update time, and keep in mind by the time we get to Weissbruck several of the PCs (Frederich & Fergus) are doing 18-hour shifts trying to stack up the required 5 successes.
Note, for other DMs I treated learning a new skill by mixing up Skill Challenges (4e D&D and elsewhere) with Endeavours (WFRP 4e).
That’s Weissbruck in the background, and the spreadsheet is complete, and at the halfway stage of the journey-
Olek has accumulated 2 successes so far, both in Sail- the reason, his other skills are shot, his Agility (for the Sail check) is much better than any of the others he could try to attempt. He needs three more successes on the trip on the Bogen, in any applicable skill, although the likelihood is he’s just going to keep on trying to Sail the damn barge.
Fergus has also accumulated 2 successes so far, alas neither of them in Sail (his Agility is something like ‘19’). Why this is more remarkable is the Dawi has a couple of useful skills in the 50s, he just keeps on rolling high, and even when he Fortune Points it… he rolls high again. I think he made five checks in in a row that were all 80+. He needs three more successes on the trip on the Bogen, in any applicable skill. Note Fergus also has two points of advantage on his next Sail check.
Frederich has accumulated 4 successes, including one in Sail. He needs one more Sail success on the trip on the Bogen, and with that in mind he also has one point of advantage on his next Sail check.
Lothar has also accumulated 4 successes, including the required two in Sail. He just needs one more success in any applicable skill during the remainder of the trip.
Just to note, each evening on the Weissbruck Canal the Berebeli is moored at a canal-side inn, supper is taken at the establishment, although Josef is no longer paying and so the fare is much simpler; also, the PCs get a chance to snoop around for hot gossip.
Lothar, as usual, also manages to learn a new rumour, they only need one more now to get the full house.
SCENE 3. Hey that’s…
The Berebeli makes its way through the last lock and onto the River Bogen, and from there across to the docks at Weissbruck. The barge is just approaching its mooring spot and…
Three of the PCs are taking in the sights- the bustling docks with stevedores hard at work, and beyond the cobbled streets leading up and into the town proper. A short way up the throughfare the PCs spot the Black Gold, a dockside inn that Josef has told them about, he plans to eat at the inn this evening.
However, one of their number has seen something else.
Fergus spots a thickset fellow in the doorway of the aforementioned Black Gold, it’s the guy with the scar around his neck- the Man in Black that the PCs are looking for, and… their eyes meet. The thickset fellow swiftly turns and enters the inn, the last glimpse showing the big man’s crossbow. This is the same fellow, and that was the same weapon, that Fergus saw (and only Fergus) in the dockside alley back in Altdorf.
He’s certain.
And…
Fergus lets his comrades know- and that he’s certain that this was the same guy from the Konigsplatz, and the same guy that shot and killed the two would-be cultists on the docks in Altdorf (To Me… To You), just standing in the doorway of the Black Gold watching them arrive.
The PCs chatter/bicker/stew for… well, maybe fifteen minutes.
The Berebeli has moored and is in the process of being unloaded by the time the PCs decide what comes next, which is- to get their fighting trousers (and all other arms and armour) on, and then head for the Black Gold.
The module book presumes the PCs, on spotting the bad dude, will immediately jump ship and go after him, but…
Not so much.
The PCs get to the Black Gold, order drinks- and in the case of Fergus meet and then get talking to a group of Dawi miners that are already ensconced within the bar. In short order, and by his own volition, Fergus has failed three Consume Alcohol checks. Then, only a short while later- as the hard drinking continues, he fails another, and he has to roll on the Bad Drunk table, or whatever it’s called, and ends up capable of only performing either a Move or an Action on a Turn, but not both.
The other PCs… I can’t really remember what they did.
I can remember what they didn’t do.
They didn’t have a look around the bar- for the bad guy, and they didn’t really ask any questions about the guy that Fergus just saw, the guy that they just had a meeting about, the guy they are looking for.
Fergus, having established a rapport with the dwarf miners, well… asks them how they are.
The PCs settle in for dinner.
Oh, and Olek went off into town to find the Temple of Sigmar.
I realise that according to the book I should have tried to shoot and kill Olek at this point but… I just didn’t have the heart to do it, the stuff in the bar was going so badly I just thought- do you know what, they’ve not figured out that they are in a scene and… they need to be doing something.
The PCs were just- roleplaying, relaxing. They’d forgotten, or else weren’t that bothered about the guy that Fergus spotted.
I didn’t get it at the time, I don’t really get it now- I can make it much more overt, which I had to do in the end- in this session, but you are going to have to be smarter than this.
I set up the scene- bad guy spotted.
I made sure you had connected the dots- that you knew that this was the guy that you were after.
I said you were in a scene, and…
You collectively chose to do something else, or else nothing else.
It’s a little frustrating to watch. I kept saying things like- ‘are you looking around the bar?’, ‘is there anything you want to ask the barman?’
But it wasn’t until I said something like- “think of this as a sort of skill challenge…”, and then suddenly you were up and at ‘em.
To the Players-
WFRP requires (at least the version I am trying to get going here) a bit more thought, possibly also a bit more discussion.
And a bit more risk.
So, as above- I set up the scene, there’s the bad man.
You had a chat with each other- and went around the houses, trying to figure out who this guy is looking for- Olek the Giant, or else Lothar/Kastor, and this chat went on for a while.
You seem to like chatting about what you think you know, a lot.
Why not go and ask the feller?
To be clear, if you had got off the boat and gone after him as soon as you saw him- then there was a clear and distinct chance that you would be able to find him.
But you missed it.
Then, here’s the thing- you spend five minutes tooling up, which I get- cautious.
But ask yourself why you are being cautious- because the man you are after is very tough, he shot two guys down while you watched on.
Then you go to the bar and… don’t ask, or look, for the guy- he was the reason you were there, right? The reason you all got tooled up…
So, incredibly cautious.
Then one of you gets drunk, and so drunk that he is not going to function well at anything else- chatter or combat. Fergus is -30 on everything atm.
I don’t understand.
You do something incredibly (incredibly) cautious and then you risk it all on a random roll, or three.
Also.
Do you remember me getting you to make lots (and lots) of Perception and Intuition checks while what followed in Weissbruck went on, when you were moving from bar to bar- trying to follow various leads.
Why do you think that was?
I did this repeatedly.
And I do mean repeatedly, at least a dozen rolls for Perception between the four of you, and nearly as many Intuition rolls.
Why did I keep doing that?
I think WFRP is harder to play than D&D, because you have to clever a lot more of the time, or else you’ll just miss it.
I have regrets, I truly do.
I should have shot Olek when I had the opportunity, that would have concentrated minds.
I will try harder next time.
I promise.
Back to the scene.
So, eventually the guys start asking questions- this soon after I had explained that it would be judicious to ask questions if you want to find out the answers, or else if you want to locate the Man in Black.
And so eventually the PCs learn after buying drinks and questioning a number of folk in the Black Gold that the Man in Black is called Adolf, and the scar around his neck was from when someone tried to hang him.
Furthermore, the feller has been in Weissbruck for a day at least already, and that he seems to be on the look-out for someone, always hanging around the docks. Then the breakthrough- the PCs learn that the Man in Black is staying at another tavern in the town- The Happy Man.
Just to say- once you got into it, finding things out, it was glorious to behold.
I’m not just being an arse here, I just don’t understand what you are doing at times, and from observation neither do you.
It’s the same every time (in every scene), if you don’t know- have a chat (even OOC is fine with me, WFRP is harder/cleverer) and come up with a plan. It is your job to make sense of what’s going on- this story is happening to you.
And I get that some people may think that they are roleplaying, but they’re really not- they are making things harder for their PCs to play a part in the game.
WFRP is a hard enough game already, you are expected to die- or to suffer, don’t make it any harder for yourselves, pretty please.
But again- when you get going you are superb, a delight.
And so, the PCs head to The Happy Man- which is a nicer, a more local sort of bar, and there they spend a little more money and time, doing more of the same- Gossiping, and Charming, and chatting to various folk, and in some cases Intimidating them into telling them what they know, and it works beautifully.
Once it gets going it really is great- with PCs backing each other up, helping with the use of supplementary skills, and lots and lots of great roleplay.
You are great at this stuff, you got through the challenge in double quick time, and even with Fergus having to be propped up, or else sat down and/or left slumped in a corner.
Anyway, in the Happy Man the PCs learn that Adolf, if that’s his name, is- several folk here think, travelling from Altdorf to Bogenhafen, the same as the PCs. Odd that.
It’s all going very well when a fellow drinker in the Happy Man declares that he heard that ‘Adolf’ was staying at the Black Gold, and so now the PCs are getting suspicious- they figure, because they are very clever, that ‘Adolf’ has laid a trail for them to follow. Therefore, after another discussion and more chatter with the locals they learn that the only other proper tavern in Weissbruck is a place called The Trumpet, which is a bit more up-market.
The PCs are going to take a short cut.
Genius.
They head to The Trumpet to continue their enquiries. The Trumpet, as it turns out, is much more expensive, and has a restaurant with a maitre’d and liveried waiting staff, and… the PCs get a table and straight into action anyway.
Frederich scores highly by speaking very slowly, and in a menacing whisper while all the while looking like he is moments away from putting whoever he is addressing on a pyre. This works well on several of the waiters, and a couple of the garrulous merchants dining here.
And again (this to the players), you are very good at this stuff- you should probably try to do it more often.
So, more info is learned, although pointedly not where ‘Adolf’ is staying in Weissbruck, the PCs however are made aware that the fellow has been asking around a lot on the docks- talking to lots of folk there and has been seen conversing with some of the rougher and/or shadier sorts.
The PCs eventually head back to the Berebeli, it’s getting late- and Fergus is a mess, however it’s at this point that they actually succeed at a few Perception and/or Intuition checks, and… they’re certain that someone is following them.
Or else the checks just got easier for some reason.
An ambush is prepared, like back on the Altdorf docks, and… a fellow is caught in their trap, although the fellow is definitely not the guy that they are after- it’s not ‘Adolf’, the Man in Black. It’s one of the waiters from The Trumpet, and this fellow has more info- and the desire to trade what he knows for ready coin.
The PCs buy in and learn from the waiter, Ruprick, that the Man in Black/’Adolf’ is actually a fellow called Adolphus Kuftsos, and he’s a very nasty piece of work.
Years past, so Ruprick’s story goes, Adolphus and his travelling companions (on a coach) were held-up and captured by bandits- robbed, beaten and abused, and then hung, only Adolphus didn’t die- he escaped with his life. From then on, he made it his life’s purpose to hunt the bandits that hung him down. Which he did, and he killed every one of him- and received the reward for each, it was at this point that Adolphus became a Bounty Hunter, but that was some time ago. Since then… well, Ruprick speculates- he’s just got tougher, and nastier, and even better at his job. Ruprick, as it turns out, worked alongside Adolphus a few years back, although he didn’t know at the time that he was an undercover Bounty Hunter- he got his man then too. It was only later, after Adolphus had moved on, that Ruprick picked up the rest of his story.
The guys are… I think a mixture of things, intrigued- certainly very way, and more than a little bit relieved.
Adolphus may be one of the good guys, but now they really do want to talk things through, and so back to the Berebeli and straight into their cabin for much more chatter.
SCENE 4. Burning Man.
We’re on the Berebeli, it’s gone midnight- everyone else is in bed asleep, and yet the PCs are very much not for sleeping, they have much to talk about.
The mystery they are trying to solve is why Adolphus is after them, if indeed that is what he is doing.
There are a variety of explanations offered, some of the PCs think that Adolphus is following Lothar (or else Kastor Lieberung) while some others thing that the Man in Black is after Olek, for killing (not) the noble in Altdorf.
The discussion gets lengthy and has more than a few brief moments of tetchy.
Then Fergus, remarkably, and a few of the others spot that the smoke from the boiler in their cabin is no longer escaping up the chimney, it is instead spewing into the room.
Note, this was a difficult Perception check (-10) more remarkably three of the four PCs made it.
Then Lothar hears footsteps, there’s someone moving around on the deck above the cabin (where the chimney is), and someone else moving around on the deck of the boat proper- they’re just outside of the door to the cabin in which the adventurers sit, Olek thinks.
Moments later big man rushes out of the door and onto deck.
It’s at that moment that a weaselly fellow, just ahead of Olek, hurls what looks to be a burning bucket of pitch at the giant man, only- well he doesn’t. At all.
Six failures on that check.
The idiot intruder windmills the bucket and while doing so connects with a stack of crates by his side- the burning bucket’s rotation is swiftly curtailed, the container splits and breaks, and showers the weaselly guy with burning pitch.
He’s on fire.
His screams bring the rest of the PCs running, or else they will at the start of the next session, which will probably be the last for a while as we are going back to D&D, just as soon as we get the guys to Bogenhafen.
The final XP table for this session is below.
| PC | Rumours | Roadwardens | Finding Adolf | Session XP | Total |
| Fred (Jim) | 0 | 2 | 4 | 45 | 51 |
| Fergus (Ben) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 44 |
| Olek (George) | 0 | 2 | 3 | 40 | 45 |
| Lothar (Kev) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 40 | 46 |
Stay safe and well.
Cheers goonalan et al.