Update!

What my workspace currently looks like. See if you can figure out what the different minis are. Hehe!

Just thought I'd make a quick post about some random stuff going on.

First off, I'm getting into swing of this 15mm stuff! My little spacemen are finished and I'm now doing some Earth Gov/UNSC that may or may not appear in round 3 of the LPL. It depends on if I get the other stuff I ordered in time (ie tomorrow!).

It seems like Firestorm: Armada might get an upswing as Spartan Games has released new Model Assigned Rules (aka MARs) as well as rules for the upcoming alliance fleets (you can find it all on this page, just scroll down to Alliance Fleet Documents). The renders shown so far are looking really good, I'm especially eyeing the RSN ships. Also, the additional Stealth Systems rule for Relthoza make them seem a lot more how I envisioned them to be. Good stuff all around!

I got Mansions of Madness the other day and we tried it out this past Sunday. Unfortunately I put a stack of cards in the wrong room so the "rythm" of the scenario went completely out the window, breaking immersion a bit. I really liked what I saw though and I'm looking forward to our next (correct!) game!

That same day we had another WFRP session. I know, I know... I'm running behind in updates. It's that LPL sucking up all my time! Hehe! In any case, I think the next one or two sessions will be the finale of the Gathering Storm campaign, and I'm glad it is. It's not a bad campaign per se, it's just a bit... pedestrian. I'll write a proper review once we're actually done. Oh, and I'll try to get some session reports posted again soon.

This week is Infinity Week over at Beasts of War and to celebrate it Corvus Belli are selling their new(?) Infinity army boxes for half price! They've also updated their website and it's looking very swank, they've even integrated the Infinity army builder. Neat! On top of that Beasts of War have released a bunch of videos on Youtube during the week showcasing all kinds of Infinity stuff. Basically, there's never been a better time to get into the game, and since it's something I've been looking at since it was released in 2005 it's a no brainer for me and I'm getting the Yu Jing army box. I just hope I can get some of my friends interested in it...


So that's a small update on what's happening over here. Stay tuned for more LPL Sundays and WFRP session reports. As well as some other stuff...

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The Last Laugh

Being in the middle of a cemetary full of zombies is probably not how you want to start a session. But that's where we are. :)

SPOILERS below.

Suddenly surrounded by zombies the situation was serious! A quick look back towards the entrance to the Temple of Morr revealed that the zombie horde was thickest in that direction. As the undead were closing in the party quickly took stock of their options, some wanted to try and fight the horde milling about the exit, while others thought it might be a better idea to actully get to the bottom of the undead invasion. Why have the dead risen, and how could they be stopped?

Burgmeister Adler, who was staying close to the grizzled sergeant Balthus, suddenly joined the conversation, "It's imperative that I find Father Grabbe. 50 silver for each and everyone who joins me in this search!" Again the adventurer's thirst for riches settled the matter and they decided to make their way to the Ossuary at the other end of the garden. It seemed to be the only actual building where they could hold up, and it also seemed like the logical place to search for Father Grabbe.

However, although the undead was most numerous in the other direction there were still many on the way towards the Ossuary as well. By this time the party had slain more than a dozen shambling horrors, but the horde was never-ending and they had only managed to actually advance a few yards. One zombie is not a match, but get enough of them in one place and even one of the legendary Troll-Slayers will be hard pressed!

Dead bodies were moving in from all sides and hands were clawing at our heroes. Dieter suddenly found himself prone on the ground with several undead crawling over him. Franz had his longbow ripped from his hands and had to try and fend off the horde with only his dagger. Snorri had left a path of bodies behind him, but he was breathing heavily and his swings didn't come as quickly nor did they hit as precisely as they used to. Mannfred bowled over two zombies with a shove from his shield and clove the skull of a third when he suddenly felt hands gripping him from behind.

Fortunately it seemed like Sigmar had more in mind for our heroes. Hans Fleischman's prayers to his patron God was answered and he felt strength flowing through him! His hammer glowed in the rain and it fell again and again.  Each time a body crashed to the ground and after a few moments he had managed to clear a small area of the undead. It even seemed like the horde was hesitating for a moment which gave the party a little time to regroup. Franz retrieved his bow and Dieter made a hasty tourniquet for his bleeding arm. Snorri kneeled down and tried to catch his breath.

Suddenly it occured to them: where was Waltrout? Adler and Balthus was still with them, both dirty and bloody but alive. However the simpleton was nowhere to be seen. Had he fallen victim to the flesh eating undead? The short breather didn't last long and the party realized that they had to push harder if they were to be able to ever get to the Ossuary. Franz led the attack by felling several zombies with his bow, leaving the rest to the axes, swords, hammers and clubs of the rest of the party.

Slowly they gained ground and the Ossuary loomed ever closer. Dieter realized that Burgmeister Adler was shouting something as he fought the horde and it took him a few moments to hear what it was; "One gold! One gold! One gold if you find Father Grabbe!!". He was obviously panicking and maybe even delusional from fear, but Dieter would be damned if he missed out on a gold coin! He'd never even seen one!

After a few more minutes they had reached the stairs to the Ossuary and managed to get themselves inside. A huge shadow suddenly appeared near the door behind them! Preparing for this new devilry the party was relieved when they realized it was only Waltrout. He slammed the doors shut and barricaded the doors with a heavy wooden beam. It seemed like he'd simply been lucky as he ran away from the party towards the Ossuary. He was shaking and mumbling about how his friends were bad and that they should stay underground as Father Grabbe had told them.

Getting inside the Ossuary didn't seem to be much of an improvement at first glance; every conceivable space had been decorated with human bones. In the centre of the room was a eight feet tall pyramid of skulls and in the corners stood candelabras, each elegantly crafted from hundres of small bones. On the south wall was the coat of arms of the Emperor, composed entirely of bones, and behind it a spiral staircase descended into darkness. The whole room was at the same time both awe-inspiring and unsettling. Perfect place for a rest!

Franz took inventory of his arrows while the rest of the party tried to patch themselves up as well as they could. Hans even called upon the help of Sigmar to cure a grievous wound that Mannfred had sustained during the fighting. Adler reiterated his promise to give anyone who helped him find Father Grabbe a gold coin which boosted morale a bit. The groans from the horde outside could be heard through the door and the constant hammering was starting to get unsettling. Whatever they did, they should do it fast!

It seemed that the only path ahead was the stairs leading into the dark. Only Dietar had his lamp left as the others had dropped their torches during the fight. Fortunately more were available in a basket in the corner. Snorri turned around to head down the stairs when he found himself stairing into the pelvic bone of a fully formed skeleton standing in front of him. With a shout he smashed it to pieces with his two axes, but more were forming around them, dropping from the ceiling and stepping out of the walls. The fight was short but vicious and left Franz Bieber badly shaken. The skeletons had kept reforming even after being destroyed!

With the room in shambles and pieces of bone everywhere the party continued downstairs. The stairs opened up into a chamber with a small desk along one wall. There was two doors, a few drapes along the walls and a book and a skull rested on the desk. Hans decided to have a look at the book which he soon realized was about Morr and his rituals. The skull had some kind of pattern inscribed on it that he couldn't quite make out but when he reached to pick it up it opened its jaws and clamped down on his fingers! Hans called out in surprise and it took the help of both Snorri and Mannfred before he had his fingers free. Several of his fingers were badly chewed and bloody!

They found Father Grabbe's bedroom and study but so far no sign of the old man when Franz heard some low moaning coming from nearby. It seemed to be coming from behind one of the doors. He drew his bow as the others took position around the door. Dieter pulled it open and they all peered into the short corridor ahead. It ended in a room and on top of a dais Father Grabbe was half lying, half sitting in a coffin. Above him loomed the corpse of a woman who held Grabbes head in her hands. She had once been beautiful but now her face was a sunken ruin that split in a macabre grin as she saw the adventurers.

"Well, it took you long enough" she croaked, "Don't look so shocked, you pathetic simpletons! Yes, I'm wearing the festering body of a feeble and weak-willed woman, but that is only temporary, I assure you. One of your bodies will serve my purposes well, I'm sure". The dead woman fingered a black gem around her neck and let out a gurgling laugh. "I am Lazarus Mourn and I can never die. Would it that I could say the same about you..."

Then several things happened at once. Adler who had stayed back pushed himself forward and when he saw the corpse that called itself Lazarus Mourn he cried out "Madriga!" and collapsed to the floor. Waltrout also amde it past into the corridor and started talking gibberish about his "master" and how he'd always been loyal. He ripped open his shirt to reveal intricate symbols tatooed into his chest and back! Clearly something was wrong here, but no one really had time to react to it as a giant in full plate armour and shield, weilding a huge sword stepped into the opening.

Balthus drew in a sharp gasp of air, "That is Olaus Stichelm! I would recognize that dragon crest anywhere." For a while the skeleton of Stichelm just stood there while Lazarus Mourn bent down over Grabbe again. Franz loosed his arrow which found its' mark in a chink in the giant's armour. Stichelm responded by taking a couple of shuffling steps forward and swinging his huge sword. Franz narrowly avoided it and Mannfred stepped up to face undead hero of Stromdorf. He noticed that the thing Stichelm was using as a shield was in fact his own gravestone, and that it was glowing with a strange blue light...

They traded a couple of blows and Franz sent another two arrows into Stichelm, when suddenly Mannfred was wracked with pain! A green miasma flowed around him and they could hear Mourn laughing from the room beoynd. Appearantly he was not staying out of this fight. Mannfred hunkered down and with a great burst of strength he bowled into the hulking skeleton in front of him, shield first. The two fighters stumbled for a moment then Stichelm fell backwards, crashing to the ground! Suddenly the path to Lazarus Mourn was open and Dieter and Snorri hurried past to get at him. "The necromancer is the key! Kill him and the others will fall!" shouted the Warrior Priest behind them.

Snorri hacked at the necromancer while Dieter tried to free Grabbe. Mannfred stepped over Stichelm to lend his weight to the fight with Lazarus, but even outnumbering him three to one they couldn't seem to land that final killing blow! Mannfred heard something move behind him but was too late to bring up his shield as the enormous sword of Stichelm came down upon him. He almost collapsed to the ground as the sword hit him and it left a huge gash in his mail shirt! Stichelm raised it for the killing blow when Snorri finally managed to hit Mourn with a clean cut, ending the unlife of the necromancer. As the body of Madriga fell to the ground so did Stichelm's skeleton. Everyone just stood there for a while, breathing heavily and listening to Waltrout's gibbering.

Adler who had come to was crying profusely and rushed to Madriga's corpse. He cradled it and kept mumbling about how sorry he was. "It doesn't seem much use in keeping it from you any longer", sergeant Balthus said, "Burgmeister Adler had an affair with Madriga Brenner a few months back. But it ended when she took her own life by throwing herself down the town well." He sighed, "he hasn't been himself since. Yesterday he dreamt about Madriga coming back to him, whispering to him, and he wanted to ask Father Grabbe about adive. I just hope we're not too late."

Grabbe suddenly stired and opened his eyes. "Dark... so dark" he mumbled while Hans tried to help him up. Franz was seeing to the heavily wounded Mannfred while Snorri was investigating the silver amulet that Mourn had worn around his neck. The moment he had killed Mourn the black stone in the amulet had flashed, "A damn magic trinket I bet" he mumbled and nudged it with his boot. "Maybe, or maybe not. All I know is that it's a month's food and lodging!" Dieter quipped and scooped it up with a grin. The dwarf shook his head, but left he ratcatcher to it. A deadly mistake.

Talking to Father Grabbe didn't make the group much wiser. The last thing he remembered was trimming some bushes in the garden when he heard a voice behind him. After that it was only darkness and pain. The old man was still very weak, but could at least walk by himself. Having made sure that Grabbe was alright, relatively speaking, the group wanted to see what had happened to the zombie horde outside. But first they had Burgmeister Adler and the simpleton Waltrout to take care of. After some discussion it was decided that Waltrout would be brought with them back to down to face judgement. To everyones surprise Adler seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, "I understand what she tried to tell me now. It was a warning. A warning to me that Lazarus Mourn had risen again to terrorize Stromdorf". He looked over the adventurers, "and he would have succeded were it not for you my friends. Me and Balthus would have been cut down by the undead hordes and who knows what would have befallen my city. You are all true heroes of the Empire!"

As they were preparing to leave Hans called out for them to wait, the headstone Stichelm's skeleton had used as a shield was still glowing blue. Turning it over they saw that part of the headstone looked familiar and they suddenly realized it looked the same as the Lightning Stone they had taken from the beastman chieftan! The same strange writing and about the same size. The cracks even seemed to match up. "This calls for further investigating" Snorri remarked as he hefted it up on his shoulders.

Outside the garden was full of the dead. Fortunately the plain unmoving kind this time. It seemed like the death of Mourn had broken the spell that had animated them in the first place. Grabbe sighed as he realized the days of work he had in front of him, but Adler promised to send men to help him out. Soon the party was back in the Temple of Morr where they had left the body of Heinrich. It still lay on the stone altar in the center of the room.

Father Grabbe was approaching it when a sharp flash burst from the black amulet in Dieter's pocket! They all stared in shock and horror as Heinrich's corpse started to levitate off the altar and grin down at them. "I told you I could never die!" Lazarus Mourn said as he reached out towards Mannfred. The soldier felt his strength leave him as it flowed into the newly animated body of Mourn and he fell to his knees. "No!" the others shouted in unison as they threw themselves at Mourn but it was too late, as they cut him down for a second time he just laughed. Mannfred lay dead on the floor, his face ash grey and sunken.

Grabbe hurried forward and uttered a blessing of Morr over his body, "So that Mourn will not be able to enter him." he said. "That is an evil artifact you have there. I would hazard a guess that it contains the soul of Lazarus Mourn and he can use it to possess nearby bodies." Dieter looked paler than the rest as he sat down beside the body of Mannfred "my fault..." he mumbled.



Phew! That was a lot longer than I thought it'd be! Oh well, I hope you enjoy reading it. :)


The second character death in just a couple of sessions! Anyone who've said that the third edition is less deadly I hope is reconsidering it now. The thing is, and I've touched on this before, 3rd ed. kind of slowly grinds you down instead of killing you outright. Coming into this session Mannfred was already suffering from a critical wound and he picked up a couple more when fighting Stichelm, so when Mourn rose again and targeted him* with his Drain Life spell the few wounds he inflicted was enough to finally push him over the edge.


However, I think it was a GREAT way to go! Very Warhammerish! Having your dead friend get reanimated by a necromancer you just put down who then proceeds to kill you?! Awesomely ironic! 


Also, there might be some context missing in this session report. Lazarus Mourn was a warlock that lived in Stromdorf. A year ago he was caught and sentenced to burn at the stake for his deeds. People in Stromdorf still talk about it as that day the rains stopped so his pyre could be lit properly. A sign from Sigmar they say.


We'll probably have the next session on Saturday next week, so expect an update around that time.

2017 EDIT: Actually we played and finished the rest of the campaign many years ago but I never got around to typing out the session reports. As WFRP4 is releasing next year I'm going to try and at least summarize the events of the final third of the campaign and post my thoughts on it.




*Mourn did target Mannfred because he was the most heavily wounded character, but not with the direct intent of killing him, but simply because the Drain Life spell is more effective the more critical wounds a character is suffering from. So no, I'm not trying to actively kill my characters. :)

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To the Garden of Morr

After having faced death in the giant Oberslecht marshlands our heroes are in possession of a magical stone that attracts lightning. They need to figure out what to do with it, but first they have a friend to bury...

SPOILERS below!

The rain beat down heavily and the wind ripped at loose clothing. Hans Fleischman pulled his cloak tighter around him, but it didn't make much of a difference. Between the constant downpour and the mad dash through the marshes he was soaked through. Just like his companions. The only one who didn't seem to care that much was the dwarf, Snorri. He simply huffed and pulled some twigs from his beard.

Standing by the Hag Tree on the outskirts of the Oberslecht the party had started to discuss what to do next. Some wanted to consult again with the Holtz family while others thought it'd be a better idea to return to Stromdorf and then send out the militia to arrest them instead! During the argument Mannfred noticed something glimmering in a pile of bones near the tree... a ring... attached to a hand!

Investigating the macabre find more closely they discovered that the ring in question was the official signet ring of the Merchants Guild, seemingly belonging to one Florian Wechsel. "Florian who?" Snorri blurted, leaving Dieter to remind him that the original reason that they'd come out here was to find the missing merchant. With this new development the party unanimously decided to head back towards Stromdorf and talk to the watch captain.

The rain was worse than ever as they trudged back northwards. After a couple of hours a lone figure in billowing robes could be seen approaching. Coming closer it was obvious that he was some kind of wizard as his sky blye robes was adorned with various arcane symbols, and for some strange reason the rain didn't seem to make him wet! He introduced himself as Niklas Schulmann, Celestial Wizard, and said that he had seen a series of lightning strikes that were slowly making their way towards Stromdorf. He suspected they had some kind of unnatural origin and went out to investigate. At first the party seemed hesitant about revealing the Lightning Stone, but Schulman simply waved away any protests and made his way to the cart.

At first he was distressed when he saw a fellow collegue lying dead in the cart, but he was also excited when he saw the Lightning Stone. "I knew it was something like this!" Schulmann exclaimed and kept prattling on about his research in the region as the group made their way back to Stromdorf. Back in town Schulmann managed to pesuade the group to part with the stone for a while so he could study it. He would also start construction on a device that would render the occiasional lightning that the stone attracted harmless.

After this Dieter wasn't slow to try and exploit the locals by taking money for showing them the head of the feared beastman chieftan! Which actually worked for a while until two watchmen showed up and started asking questions about the corpse in the nearby cart. "You need to take him to the Garden of Morr you know. If you can't or won't pay for a decent service Waltrout will have to guide you there." Suddenly remembering their dead friend the Glory Hounds decided to give him a proper burial. After a couple of hours rest that was.

After a steady meal the rain didn't seem so bad and when they got back outside they found a tall lanky man with dull eyes and a strange grin on his face waiting for them. This was Waltrout Glöckinger, the village idiot, and he was going to be their pallbearer. You get what you pay for in the Empire and so far no one had paid anything. Waltrout told them that they wouldn't be able to bring the cart over the river anyway so he might as well carry the corpse of Heinrich on his back. The wizard didn't weigh much, and Waltrout seemed to possess strength beyond his looks, so the burial company left for the Garden of Morr.

Outside the gates they were joined again by Franz Bieber, the local hunter. He told  them that the beastman tribe was still in disarray and should be less of a threat from now on. However it was only thanks to the heroic sacrifice of Heinrich the Grey Wizard that the attack succeded and Franz said that the least he could do was to honour him at his funeral.

After less than an hours walk they reached the river Tranig which they had to cross to reach the Garden. To their surprise two other persons were already there; some sort of soldier and a gentlemen with rather fine looking clothes but with a haggard look on his face. They introduced themselves as Sergeant Balthus and Burgmeister Adler(!) and said that they were waiting for the ferry. Normally you'd ring the bell and Father Grabbe would take the ferry from the other side to collect you. However, the Burgmeister and his bodyguard had been waiting for a while now without a sign of the old priest.

Adler was preoccupied with a locket that he seemed to be talking to, all the while Balthus was looking concerned. After waiting a bit longer, and ringing the bell a few more times Adler was loosing his patience "I have to speak to Father Grabbe today! Five shiny silver coins to whoever dares to cross the stream and bring back the ferry." Fortunately for him our glory hounds are just as hungry for wealth as they are for fame so Mannfred threw himself in the cold water and within a few minutes he'd brought the ferry back from the other side.

Looking around on the other side they could see no sign of Father Grabbe and proceded towards the Liche Gate - the entrance to the Garden of Morr. Normally this is a place where you'd rest for a moment and the priest of Morr would bless the dead. With no priest around though the party continued down the stairs and into the dark tunnel that lead under the great wall and into the garden proper. The sound of the storm outside was muffled by the great stone walls and soon it was eerily quiet. Dieter lit his lamp and several of the others lit torches, but as they advanced into the tunnel the fire grew weaker and weaker until it finally went out completely! There was a quick moment of panic as they all fumbled around in the freezing darkness but the steady voice of Hans Fleischman comforted them, "This is perfectly fine. Morr is reminding us of the darkness and coldness of death. Press on".

After a couple of minutes that felt like hours they could see light ahead and suddenly the lamp and the torches burst back into flames again. They had entered the temple of Morr where the dead would be left to be attended by the priest. Waltrout simply laid the body of Heinrich on the altar in the middle of the room and stood back, looking slightly nervous. Adler again insisted that he needed to see Grabbe as soon as possible and commanded the large black door at the other end of the room opened. Unfortunately it was locked and when Adler started speaking of breaking it down Dieter and Hans looked shocked; desecrate a temple of Morr?! But when reminded that it was with the safety of Father Grabbe in mind that this should be done they relented, however Dieter volunteered to try and pick the lock so they at least wouldn't have to destroy the door!

The lock was old, and although it was of good quality Dieter had come across several like it during his travels and had it open within minutes. Beyond was stairs that led up into the actual Garden of Morr, a place normally only allowed to priest of Morr. The storm had grown worse since they entered the Liche Gate and the sharp cracks of thunder almost came as a shock after the quiet stillness of the temple. Reaching the top of the stairs Snorri noticed that lightning strikes seemed to be attracted to some kind of metal rod attached to the southern corner of the garden.

Slowly making their way forward among the graves they were approaching the tomb of Olaus Stichelm, great saviour of Stromdorf. However, as they got closer they could see that something was awry; the front of the tomb had been smashed asunder and sharts of marble was strewn about the place. Peeking inside revealed only a growing puddle of rainwater! Where had its former resident gone?

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Mannfred mumbled when suddenly a hand burst through the rain drenched mud at his feet! He hacked at it with his blade, but no sooner had he chopped it off than three more had taken its place. Looking around they saw that the entire garden was crawling with the undead! "To arms!" boomed the warrior priest while Snorri readied his axes and Franz drew his bow!

Yepp, ended with a bit of a cliffhanger there! As I was typing it out it kind of grew and grew so I decided to split it into two parts. Click here for part two. 

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Would you care for some tuft sir?

A while ago I came across some really nicely painted Germans for Dust Tactics, courtesy of Patrick D (check out the whole set at Flickr. Great stuff!). However, although I found the paint job inspirational it was the little tufts of grass on the bases that intrigued me. I had seen and made similar stuff myself before, but these looked like ready made little patches. And so they are! Made by Army Painter no less:

So I made my way over to Maelstrom Games (can't beat free worldwide shipping!) and ordered a sheet together with some other flock and I got them earlier this week. Today I had the day off so after meeting up with an old friend and playing half a game of Space Hulk: Death Angel (we had lost almost half the squad as that point so it wasn't going well) I decided to try out my new little tufts. They're really easy to apply; just put some PVA glue on the base, use pliers or some tweezers to grab a tuft from the sheet, stick them on the glue and done!

I think you get a lot of bang for your buck. Really quick to use, but it adds a lot to the model. Some quick shots:

Franz, Mannfred and Dieter posing for the picture. 

I normally paint static grass after I apply it but I think these tufts look good as is.

Speaking of flock, the static grass I got are packaged in little plastic tubs, and they're literally filled to the brim! Sure it's nice with a lot of product for your money but this does make it impossible to open the lid without spilling static grass all over your workplace. Hrmpg...

Well, now I'm actually going to be a disciplined little painter and sit down with my Relthoza battleship and actually finish it. Tonight.

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Into the Oberslecht...

Finally, I'm back writing about some actual gaming stuff. This month has been insanely busy with visits from Japan (twice!), trips to the absolute north of Sweden, lots of birthdays and me being bedridden for a week. Anyway now it's time to catch up with our boys in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. This time with some added out of character comments!

SPOILERS below!

After some investigations in and around Stromdorf our band of merry men are getting ready to enter the marshland called the Oberslecht in search of the so called Lightning Stone. According to a mysterious individual named Foaldeath it is what gives the current beastman chieftan, Izka Madtooth, his power and if he's allowed to keep it Izka will soon wage war upon the settlements nearby and eventually Stromdorf itself!

According to Foaldeath the Lightning Stone is fairly big and although one man can lift it they might be better off bringing a cart. Fortunately the Holtz family has just aquired one and are willing to help the heroes by lending it to them. Foaldeath tells them that he has some preparing to do, but that they should try and enter the marshlands at first light next morning, then he disappears back into the mists.

It is already late so they decide to simply try to rest a few hours and then head out. Heinrich asked about Tristan but only got some mumblings as answers so he let it go. No use antagonizing their hosts at this delicate time...

It was hard to tell when dawn actually came. The heavy rains contiues so the difference was minimal. Upon entering the Oberslecht it was even worse. Old gnarled trees and a thick mist obscured the miniscule sunlight even more, it might as well have been night time! The group quickly fell into a routine with Dieter scouting ahead making sure they weren't ambushed, Heinrich acting as a guide since he had a fair (although academic) knowledge about swamps, and Mannfred and Snorri worked the actual wagon, being the two with any actual muscle. [Basically Dieter made Stealth checks, Heinrich made Nature Lore checks while Mannfred and Snorri made strength checks. Racing a marker representing the beastmen they had to accumulate enough successes not to get discovered and/or reach the encampment.] This worked rather well and they found themselves nearing a large open area in what they deemed was the middle of the swamp without too much trouble.

Sneaking closer they could see groups of beastmen scattered around a large area with a large monolith in the middle. It was decorated with all kinds of unholy symbols as well as bones and pieces of armor - a beastman Herdstone! Suddenly a giant thunderbolt struck the stone and the heroes realized that the lightning stone was actually tied ontop of the herdstone. Beneath it a giant of a beastman clad in heavy armour and carrying an axe seemed to pray to it. He raised his arms to the monolith and another lightning bolt struck from the heavens! This was obviously Izka Madtooth, leader of the Oberslecht beastmen tribe.

Izka Madtooth! Not happy about being disturbed. Art by freejimmy at Deviant Art.

There were groups of other beastmen here and there around the stone, but it seemed like they were sleeping. And after Heinrich noticed a few barrels of Thunderwater Ale lying empty around the encampment the explanation was clear. After some quick (and hushed!) discussion the group decided to simply make a break for the stone while the tribe was mostly sleeping and try to hold of Izka while one of them cut down the lightning stone. 

Dieter, tried to sneak ahead while Snorri and Mannfred approached behind him, and then Heinrich behind them. When Snorri and Mannfred were about halfway to the stone Izka raised his massive head, sniffed and turned around slowly. Although it didn't seem like he'd noticed Dieter the wizard and the two warriors were caught in the open. Izka raised his axe and bellowed a challenge and the Trollslayer was not late to respond, charging ahead and screaming at the top of his lungs. Mannfred, momentarily stunned by the size of the chieftan, was slightly behind and the three crashed together just below the great monolith!

At the same time Dieter ran around to the stone and started cutting the ropes with his knife. Heinrich summoned a bolt of shadow energy that he flung at Izka but when it merely scorched his armour a little he decided it might be a better idea to help out Dieter with the rope cutting. Although being two against one (or three counting Rex!) Snorri and Mannfred found themselves hard pressed by the bestigor. His giant axe fell again and again and Mannfred soon found his armour bucked and his shield in splinters! Snorri had blood running into his eyes from a cut in his forehead and no matter how many times they hit Izka he simply refused to go down. [With a soak of 9 and plenty of ACE dice to throw at defence Izka is a tough nut to crack. And he can dish out a lot of damage too!]

As Dieter frantically worked on the ropes he could see some of the beastmen in the clearing start to stir and look around. Obviously the commotion had woken them from their drunken slumber. One of the groups were even standing up and pointing towards the fight. Time was starting to run out! Suddenly a giant blow from Izka smashed Mannfred off his feet and Dieter decided to join the fray, leaving the last couple of ropes for Heinrich to cut. Although Mannfred made it to his feet again things were starting to go pear-shaped. The quick raid to get the stone was turning into a major melee! 

[As the adventure is written there should actually be a group of two regular gors and three ungor henchmen per player more or less ready to join the fight. Naturally not all at the same time, but still. Had I even had one group like that attack the party there'd been a total party kill! So be careful to gauge this part of the adventure when you run  it so you don't simply steamroll your players.]

The Grey Wizard finally managed to cut the last strands of rope and heaved the lightning stone down. It was heavy, but not too heavy for him to carry it alone. A short distance in any case. Seeing as Izka was focused on the fight he decided to try and sneak back to the cart with the stone. A fatal mistake. 

Izka quickly noticed that his source of power had been removed and looked around. Seeing the wizard moving away ponderously he let out another roar. Bowling over Snorri and pushing Mannfred away with his axe the giant beastman levelled his head charged! Heinrich barely had time to turn his head to see what was bearing down on him before Izka slammed into him full force. Heinrich found himself cradling two horns that was coming out of his ribcage. "This feels... strange" he thought, and died.

For a moment everyone just stared in disbelief but then Snorri let out a ferocious roar and buried his two axes deep in the neck of Izka. After two more quick chops the chieftan's head came completely off. By this time several gors and ungors were closing in on the party but the death of Izka had an interesting effect on them. Two of the closest gors seemed to suddenly loose all interest in the humans and started fighting each other! It seemed like the fight for leadership of the tribe had already started.

Realizing that this was their only chance the group quickly moved towards the cart, carrying both the lightning stone and the body of Heinrich. The confusion among the beastmen was not total and they saw a group coming their way quickly. Their only chance was to try and loose the beastmen in the swamp. The cart hampered their progress but they decided it was better than trying to carry the stone and the body. Another lightning bolt struck, but this time not the stone itself but rather behind them, for a moment scattering the pursuing beastmen.

Although pushing hard through the marshes the group could still see the beastmen not far behind them! Suddenly arrows flew through the air, cutting down two ungors and forcing the others to take cover. A voice that they'd heard somewhere before called out, "This way! Continue past me and to the north and you'll get out!". It turned out to be Franz Bieber, the hunter and woodsman whose guidance the group had decided was too costly. Franz continued to pelt the beastmen with arrows from his longbow as Snorri, Mannfred and Dieter pushed the cart ahead.

Soon after they reached the borders and left the Oberslecht behind. After a couple of minutes Franz came up to them, quiver gaping empty, and said the beastmen won't follow them further, not with the tribe leaderless in this way. They should be safe for the moment. Now... what to do with that stone...

So... our first character death! And I've got to say it was quite spectacular, and... fitting in a way. It also demonstrates how this edition of WFRP differs from the others in the way damage works. In first and second edition you could go into a fight with full health and still know that a good critical hit would still kill you. In third edition a critical hit is usually not that debilitating. It's definitely something you want to avoid, but it's not the almost-death sentence that it used to be. However! Critical hits stay with you and even with plenty of rest and medical assistance you can't be sure when you'll actually get rid of it.

And this is what happened to Heinrich. He had one critical hit since the fight at Grünewald Lodge (wich was a fairly long time ago!) and another one from the fight with the cultists. Then he got two more from Izka's charge and well... that was that. Basically, there are a lof of things in third edition that sticks with you; critical hits, insanities, corruption, disease... and if you're not careful it slowly grinds you down until you're only a single critical wound from a too early death. I like it!

Our next session is scheaduled for January 8th. So expect another update somewhere around that time. EDIT: And here it is!

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Investigations in Stromdorf

Continuing from last time:

SPOILERS below!

Returning to Stromdorf  with their prize our lovable adventurers started by going to the town square and proclaiming themselves great heroes for slaying the foes of humanity! When trying to make some money by having people pay to view the hideous mutant didn't work out very well they decided to take the corpse the the city guard. They met captain Arno Kessler, a no-nonsens man who was more or less running the town since burghomeister Adler had turnet into a recluse. He heard them out, inspected the body to confirm it was indeed a mutant and agreed to pay a few silver as a reward. Then he asked to be left alone.

Having taken care of the loose ends from the Grünewald lodge the party thought it was time to give their attention to the case of the missing merchant, Florian Wechsel. However, it was getting late and first it was time for a good nights rest. After a short stop at the Thunderwater Inn they decided to stay at the slightly more reputable Stewpot Inn, run by the halfling Keila Cobblepot. Taking the opportunity to ask around it turned out that herr Wechsel had actually stayed at the inn just a fortnight ago. According to ms Cobblepot he'd left very early the morning after, leaving without his two bodyguards to, apparently, start a new life! The next morning they kept asking around town, talking to guards at the different gates as well as a few locals at the two inns. Among them Eduardo Rodrigues of Estalia who said that before he fell into a drunken sleep outside the Stewpot Inn that night two weeks ago, he'd heard the merchants cart pass by around midnight and he'd seen the two body guards head out north later in the morning. Something seemed fishy indeed...

One of the guards at the Nuln gate had also mentioned seeing the merchants cart pass by, but with a farmer named Reiner Holtz at the reins. So with this as their most promising lead the group decided to pay a visit to the Holtz farm! Talking to the locals they learnt that it was located near the Oberslecht, a great marshland to the south. They tried to get a local hunter named Franz Bieber to act as a guide, but when he wanted five silver for his troubles they quickly changed their minds. For one silver he pointed it out on a map for them though.

That afternoon the glory hounds set out for the Holtz farm. Only Hans Fleischman chose to remain in Stromdorf as he had some business to take care of and wanted to talk to the local Sigmarite priest. The journey took a couple of hours, all the while the rain falling hard and thunder rumbling overhead. Although the constant downpour obscured vision Heinrich suddenly made out a glow at the horizon. Moving closer they could see that the light came from a farm in flames! Dieter scouted ahead and soon called out for the others to join him. There wasn't much left to save as most of the farm had been reduced to rubble. On the ground all around the farm tracks from cloven hoves could be seen and they lead towards the Oberslecht looming in the distance. Mannfred also spotted another farm a bit further south and the party decided to investigate to see if the inhabitants perhaps knew what had happened here.

As the party approached they heard raised voices and Dieter again snuck up ahead to see what was going on.  A small group of people were gathered in front of the barn, clustered around two young men who were in a heated argument. One of them was dirty and blood spattered. He had a wild look in his his eyes and screamed "It was all your fault! They're dead because of you!". "My fault?!" the other one shot back "What did you think would happen when you stopped Tristan?". The shouting match continued and suddenly Dieter could see a knife glinting in the hand of Tristan! Before the situation turned bloody he decided to reveal himself and his companions to try and calm everyone down. With all eyes at the newcomers a huge bald man with dull, slow-looking eyes grabbed Tristan and made him let go of the knife.

After talking with Otto Holtz, head of the family, they learnt that their neighbours, the Eigels, had been attacked by beastmen just an hour before. Tristan Eigel was the only one to escape alive and for some reason he blamed the Holtz family. When asked about the merchants cart they said that Reiner had bought it fair and square but they seemed reluctant to actually show it or the white pony that had pulled it. Feeling that something was wrong our heroes put on the pressure. And when a crazy looking trollslayer and a wizard starts asking questions you better answer! Otto's wife Marie decided to reveal what was really going on; the two families had made regular offerings to the beastmen tribe in the Oberslecht for generations. This seemed to placate them and people around Stromdorf were left relatively unmolested. The Eigel family had decided that it was time for change however and had not put up the customary sacrifices last time.

The party members didn't really know what to make of this, but seemed to understand the farmer's situation and accept it as a necessary evil. Had the warrior priest been here it might have been another story though. Feeling that the adventurers were relatively open minded Marie decided to take a risk. She lead the group to the Hag Tree on the outskirts of the Oberslecht. This was obviously where the Holtz family made their offerings as the ground was covered by skeletal remains of... animals. She called out into the marshland and told the group to wait. After a short while a figure emerged from the mist. It didn't come close enough for them to make out many features, but it was wearing some kind of robe and clutched a staff. With a rasping voice it presented itself as Foaldeath...

Foaldeath told a story about the beastman tribe living in the Oberslecht, the Madteeth, and their leader Izka Madtooth. Although the tribe was normally satisfied with the offerings and only raiding infrequently, not too long ago Izka had found what he called the Lightning Stone; some kind of mysterious artifact that he believes gives him great powers. The stone attracts lightning and Izka views it as a sign from the gods for him to lead his tribe on a great crusade against the human blight. It won't be long until he leads a great horde towards the very city of Stromdorf! Foaldeath now asked for the adventurers help to deafeat Izka, or at least steal the Lightning Stone. He said that he'd be able to somehow take control of the tribe and turn them back onto their less warmongering path if this happened.

If it was because they had some glimmer of altruism within their hearts or simply because they saw gold and glory from slaying a beastman chieftan we will never know, but in the end the glory hounds decided to go along with Foaldeath's plan...


Next time: Into the Oberslecht

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Cultists in the rain

Now, where was I?

SPOILERS below!

Ah yes... our intrepid troublemakers had just left the Grünewald Lodge to track down three cultists that had escaped the night before. The party headed south, reasoning that their quarry would most likely head towards Ubersreik. As the road past through villages and settlement they heard from the locals that three individuals with haggard looks on their faces had indeed past this way the night before. The hunt was afoot!

Hans Fleischmann the Sigmarite warrior priest and Snorri Kurgansson the troll slayer had decided to join the party. Hans wanted to make sure no Chaos worshippers managed to escape, while Snorri simply wanted to take revenge for what the cult had done to his cousin.

After a forced march they reached Ubersreik at midnight where they decided to rest. Mannfred's wounds in particular made it impossible to continue. Asking around they didn't have much luck discovering where the three cultists had gone (or even if they'd left the city at all), but they did recieve a job offer from the Merchants Guild; one of their members, a herr Florian Wechsel, had gone on a business journey to the small city of Stromdorf to the north and had not been heard from again. The guild wanted our heroes to find him or at least find out what had happened to him. Seeing this as a sign they decided to head out towards Stromdorf and at the same time keep an eye out for the cultists.

They didn't have to wait long. Just a few hours beyond Ubersreik Rex the mutt started barking and ran out on a nearby field. Dieter immediately followed him and discovered a pair of legs sticking out from under a haystack! The party approached carefully but soon discovered that it was Otto the librarian and that he was dead as a doornail. His throat had been slit and he had been ransacked of his valuables. After this a discussion followed about what to do with the corpse. Dieter wanted to hang him, preferably upside down, in a nearby tree to show others what happens to heretics! Hans opposed this as being to grisly and in the end they simply left him where he lay. Obviously this showed that the cultists had been taking the same road. The question was simply what had happened. The party came to the conclusion that there'd been some infighting in the group. Maybe Otto, being old and fat, had slowed them down too much and paid the price for it...

As they made their way north along the river Teufel the weather was steadily growing worse and soon Snorri felt raindrops on his naked skin. Heinrich tried to use his arcane powers to stay dry, but the rain was simply too heavy and soon he too was soaked to the bone. When they arrived at the bridge leading across to Stromdorf they discovered that the rains had made the river overflow and the rickety bridge seemed to almost buckle under the pressure from the stream. Heinrich, Mannfred and Hans quickly made it across, but as Dieter ran across a couple of planks fell away and he almost fell into the water. Only Snorri was left and he eyed the bridge with suspicion, "well then... here I go" he said to himself and started running. If it was because of the weight of the dwarf's muscled frame or simply because of his clumsiness we will never know, but half way across the bridge crashed into the river and with it Snorri! The swift current pulled him along and before the others had time to react the slayer was disappearing beyond a turn in the river. After a bit of panicky improvisation and some creative magic use from Heinrich Snorri was pulled spitting and sputtering onto the shore.

An hour later our troublemakers finally arrived at the Sigmarforsaken city of Stromdorf. Sure their thunderbrew beer was famous, but who'd actually want to live in this rainy  backwater?! Outside the gate they were greeted by two corpses hanging from the local gibbet, apparently cattle rustlers. Asking the guards at the gate they were told that no one had passed through during the last couple of days so obviously their quarry had some other destination in mind. Backtracking they noticed a smaller path branching off from the main road going south west. Following it the party soon arrived at a garden of Morr that they had spotted from across the river as they made their way north from Ubersreik. As they were pondering what to do next a wizened priest of Morr suddenly appeared from behind a small shed next to the main gates. He seemed to be tending to the weeds growing near the wall and didn't notice he had company until Hans called out to him.

The priest's name was Theoderic Grabbe and he actually had seen two strangers approaching the garden only a few hours before. They seemed agitated and in the end they turned around and kept walking south. He decided not to approach them as the large one had a wild look in his eyes and kept scratching his neck in a "alarming manner". Hans quickly thanked his colleague and the party continued south post haste!

At this time the weather had turned from bad to worse and thunder bolts lit up the sky again and again. Even so Heinrich and Snorri still could hear the loud voices of two people in a heated argument. The party decided to approach carefully with Dieter and Rex doing a flanking maneuver. They had finally found Albrecht and Pieter!

It seemed like the two were disagreeing about something and had Snorri not kicked some loose stones, alerting the cultists of his presence, the two might have come to blows. Spying the group, Pieter suddenly pulled out a blunderbuss and miraculously it fired in the pouring rain! The effect was limited however, as Snorri took most of the brunt, which only made him angrier. Our fearless heroes charged and even though the huge Albrecht put up a fierce fight it wasn't long until the cultists lay dead on the moor. Desperate shouts of "take them alive!" had obviously fallen on deaf ears...

Ransacking the corpses they discovered that Albrecht was actually a mutant as his entire back and neck was covered by thick, bristly, greenish hair! Considering this a great price the group decided to carry (ie drag) Albrecht with them back towards Stromdorf.


Jeez, I just don't seem to be able to keep these nice and short. Continue reading here.


Oh... and congratulations to me for my 100th post on Fire Broadside! Wooo!!

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Beasts at the gate!

Art by Piotr Chrzanowski. Check out his amazing Warhammer stuff over at Deviant Art!

Recently the members of our little gaming group have been really busy and there hasn't been all that much gaming going on. However, last Monday the adventures of the troublesome trio (quintet) continued! Actually we did manage two shorter sessions last month, but they weren't all that eventful so I thought I'd wait to write about them until I had some more material to work with.

SPOILERS below!

So, when we left our heroes they had just managed to thwart an attempt to summon a minor daemon by a Chaos cult. However, Dieter the ratcatcher was left alone to try and defend against a beastman assault!

Dieter, with Rex the dog at his side, tried to wake as many of the slumbering guards as possible and readied his sling. When Anders Blucher, captain of the guards, drew his greatsword, stumbled outside and started barking orders the other guards seemed to realize the dire situation they were in. But even so most of them had been poisoned during the dinner and were far from fighting fit. Soon beastmen scaled the walls and the battle started in earnest.

Olver the kennel master and his mastiffs fought bravely and together with Dieter and captain Blucher he formed the core of the defence. However it was not long until the lodge stood ablaze as more and more beastmen entered the grounds. A great wargor that was obviously the leader of the tribe bellowed his triumph as he clove yet another skull. Dieter had almost run out of rocks for his sling and had still not heard anything from Heinrich or Manfred . Things were looking grim indeed...

Suddenly a mighty voice rang out; "In the name of Sigmar! Back! Back into the pits that spawned you!". A warrior priest of Sigmar had entered through the broken gate, accompanied by what could only be one of the infamous Dwarf troll slayers! They launched themselves into the fray and the ferocious attacks of the slayer and the glowing hammer of the warrior priest rallied the remaining defenders, suddenly turning the battle in their favour. Captain Blucher fell and several in the party received grievous wounds but before the night was over the wargor lay dead and the rest of the beastmen were routed.

As the fires were put out Dieter met up with Heinrich and the badly wounded Manfred and they had a chance to thank their saviours. The dwarf was a cousin to Kordan Kurgansson, the dwarf blacksmith at the Grünewald lodge, and had came to visit him during his quest for an honourable death. The priest had come upon the slayer as he defeated a band of goblins and considered it a sign from Sigmar to accompany and aid him in his journeys. (of course, these were the characters of Nicke and Gille who were introduced into the campaign a little late)

As the party together with lord Aschaffenberg took stock of the situation they discovered that there were a few people missing; Otto the librarian, Albrecht the coachman and Pieter the guard. As it turned out a servant had seen the trio actually climb the wall and flee during the battle. At this point the party knew that Otto was a cultist and infered that the other two were as well and that they had decided to flee when their ritual failed. Lord Aschaffenberg was horrified that an actual Chaos cult had existed beneath his very nose, but also happy that it had been exposed and defeated. However, he certainly didn't want to leave any loose ends and asked our heroes if they could track down and bring the last three cultists back to justice. For a generous fee of course...

You can read the next part of the adventure here.

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Adventures of the Troublesome Trio!

Yesterday we had our second session of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay wherein our heroes got involved in a sinister plot at the Grünewald Lodge...

SPOILERS below!

As you might remember Heinrich the Grey Wizard, Dieter the rat-catcher and Manfred the soldier had fought off a beastmen attack and were resting at the Red Moon Inn. Manfred in particular was in a bad way and was recovering from his wounds very slowly. The next day they were approached by Vern Hendrick, manservant to Rickard Aschaffenberg, who had heard about their heroics. He had a job offer for them and as both Manfred and Dieter are a couple of penniless bums they promtly accepted. The Grey Wizard decided to go along as well for... other reasons presumably.

After having geared up (as well as being seen to by a proper barber-surgeon) they were on their way, riding in the wagon hired by herr Hendrick. It was a pleasent enough trip at first as they were rolling through the farmlands of southern Reikland, but the atmosphere changed as the wagon entered the Reikwald. Dark, oppresive and silent the great forest doesn't invite to lively conversation. Hendrick was even more nervous though, constantly watching the treeline and jumping at every sound. However, his suspicions proved true when the wagon was ambushed by a beastmen war party just in front of the gate to the Grünewald lodge!

A great Gor and his Ungor henchmen burst through the forest unto the road very close to the wagon and another group was closing in from behind. Taken completely by surprised our heroes were slow to react and suffered a few blows because of it, but they had soon killed a couple of the ungors. The Gor proved more of a match though and Heinrich suffered a nasty blow from it's axe! In the end it was slain by a powerful but reckless blow from Manfred. By this time the second group of Beastmen had entered the fray and things were starting to look dire. Dieter barely held his own thanks to his desperate defensive maneuvers and trusty dog, Rex, and the wizard was a blow away from unconsciousness. But thanks to some covering crossbow fire from the gatehouse they managed to break the beastmen's nerve and drive them off.

Once inside the lodge they met with Lord Aschaffenberg who could tell them in more detail about what their actual job was here. The Lord had recently moved to the lodge and felt that there was something wrong with the servant folk taking care of the place. Many of them seemed just plain lazy but he had also heard mutterings about rebellion. So, under the guise of being hired hands with some time off our three heroes started snooping around the lodge...

This is an investigative adventure with quite a big cast of supporting characters but even so they soon decided to talk to all of them and look for anything out of place or general lazyness. They started out a little tentatively, but after discovering a horrible artifact of Chaos in the form of a painting in the sitting room things started to heat up! Some seemed more suspicious than others, (everyone that seemed the least sleepy ended up on Dieter's "death list" for example!) in particular Otto the librarian caugh the party's eye. They had seen him scribble unnatural hybrid creatures in one of his books and they wanted to take a closer look at the library. Alone.

After getting Otto out of the way with the help of Vern Hendrick and one of Heindrich's little cantrips they started searching through the library. Only one of them being able to read hampered their efforts somewhat but Dieter helped by accidentally toppling over one of the bookcases and discovering a hatch hidden under the carpet! Feeling right at home in festering, claustrophobic tunnels Dieter took point with Manfred behind him, while Heinrich stayed behind to clean up the broken bookcase.

The two subterranean explorers found a small network of tunnels with other exits leading to the wine cellar and Lord Aschaffenberg's bedroom. They also discovered what had to be a Chaos temple! As they were exploring the dinnerbell sounded and Heinrich was forced to leave the library to attend. Dieter and Manfred were afraid of being discovered if they used the library or wine cellar exit so they decided to use the one in Aschaffenberg's bedroom. As they were making their way down do the main hall they saw one of the servants dropping a paper note. Although being far from educated men, the two of them managed to spell out the words "Goose is good". By this time they had figured out that someone was drugging members of the household and that this was probably some kind of code, but they couldn't decide wheather it meant that the goose was or wasn't drugged!

Chancing on the latter Dieter and Manfred both ordered the goose and although they discretely tried to tell Heinrich about their suspicions he didn't get at all what they were getting at and promptly ordered the (poisoned) venison! After dinner they were supposed to meet with Lord Aschaffenberg and tell him about their progress but the lord fell asleep on top of his bed, and the wizard wasn't far behind. At this point, the beastmen launched their assault!

Rushing downstairs (or sleepily stumbling as the case might've been) they discovered that the corrupted painting was gone and they were just in time to see someone slink down through the secret hatch in the library. Fearing both the beastman attack and whatever the sinister cult might be up to our heroes decided to split up, with Dieter heading outside to warn/wake up the guards while Manfred and the Wizard headed into the catacombs.

Dieter at first ran out to the kennel only to find Olver, master of the hounds, already preparing the defence. He went on to the guardhouse where the situation was more dire; almost all of the guards were asleep or stumbling around groggily! He started to wake as many of them up as possible, but even when realizing the danger they were in the guards acted slowly and sluggishly.

In the meantime Manfred and Heinrich heard chanting voices in the catacombs. Sneaking slowly forward they could see a group of people in robes in the Chaos temple performing some obscene ritual! Ears aching painfully from the blasphemous litanies Manfred charged into the chamber and smashed in the head of Karla the cook with the dwarfen warhammer they'd found earlier! The impetuous soldier continued his advance into the chamber, flinging a crazed cultist away with his shield, aiming for the leader of the group. Heinrich, being a Grey Wizard, drew power from the shadows around him and flung bolts of magical energy the the remaining cultists, trying to cover Manfred. A couple of them charged him in return but as they didn't want to break off their chant they had a hard time focusing their attacks and when Heinrich retreated back into the tunnels the cultists didn't pursue. Instead they returned to their appointed positions around the temple.

Manfred now saw that the cult leader actually was the lodge's butler, Piersson, and attacked him with righteous fury. The hammerblow hit Piersson hard in the chest, who in return used his dark powers to open up a terrible wound across Manfred's left eye! With blood clouding his vision and the other cultists closing in on him Manfred felt hard pressed. Another litany of evil-sounding words from Piersson left his head ringing, but Heinrich had returned and felled two cultists with shadowy bolts of magic. This gave Manfred the chance he needed! He dispatched the last cultist and crashed Pierssons skull in with the hammer!

As silence settled over the chamber the two heroes could hear the noise of battle coming from upstairs. They had managed to stop the chaos cult, but at what cost...


We ended the session at this point, not knowing what had happened to Dieter and Rex. Time permitting me and Anders (Dieter's player) will have a short session before the next real session to see if he'll manage to stave off the beastmen assault. Keep reading in the next part!

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Mordheim

I came across this amazing Mordheim terrain on Strike to Stun and felt I had to share.

There's a lot more in the galleries here and here. Or head to the main site, here.

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The return of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay!

After a few busy weeks moving house and travelling I've managed to squeeze quite a bit of gaming out of this week. Last Sunday we played a game of Planet Steam and then Runewars, both with three players. We played Planet Steam incorrectly so there was no real winner in the end, but in Runewars Micke managed a surprise win, even after my undead armies had ground his into the dust. I really thought I had it in the bag, when it turned out he actually had managed to get a sixth rune! Next time we'll try the Epic variant.

However, the big news is that we finally got rolling with our long planned Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition campaign! We've decided to try to run shorter sessions more often (during weekdays) rather than trying to squeeze in marathon sessions during weekends. So we had our first session this Tuesday and then the second on on Friday. Actually it was more or less the same session though, as we decided to do a restart. More on that later.

I hadn't really touched the books for a couple of months when Anders suggested we get going with WFRP so I started flipping through them to refresh my memory and re-read the demo adventure "A Day Late, A Shilling Short". It's really no more than an encounter and not a complete adventure, but considering this was our first foray into the 3rd edition I thought it'd suit us just fine. Some SPOILERS coming up below. You have been warned!

The group consited of Manfred the mercenary, Dieter the thief and Heinrich the Grey Wizard. Although the characters only knew each other briefly they each had different reasons to stick together so when the coach they all had been waiting for didn't arrive they decided to go investigate. After a few hours walking through the Drakwald forest they found that it had been ambushed by beastmen and as one of the passengers was still alive and fighting they drew their weapons and charged!

Or actually, the thief drew his dagger and charged(!). The wizard advanced more slowly and the most heavily armed and armoured in the party stayed back and used his crossbow. Here things kind of started to break down as Dieter found himself hard presses, all alone against three ungors and Manfred and Heinrich weren't having much luck with their ranged attacks neither.

In the end they managed to dispatch the four chaos monstrosities and discovered that someone was still alive inside the coach. They were just about to smash the door in with a tree trunk when three more ungors led by a giant wargor came stalking out of the forest! As all of them were already wounded this turned out to be a tough fight. In the end Manfred and Heinrich were knocked out but Dieter actually managed to kill the beast with the mercenary's crossbow.

At this time it was getting late and we ended the session. We decided to play again on Friday so I had a couple of days to read up on the rules till then. And I discovered that we'd played a bunch of things incorrectly. This combined with it being the first time and everyone getting to know the system I decided to restart the campaign and to let the players modify their characters as they saw fit. This resulted in the Manfred the mercenary becoming a much more defensively oriented soldier and Dieter the thief became Dieter the ratcatcher! Heinrich the wizard stayed more or less the same though.

Although everyone knew what was coming this time around it was good practice for us all. The group of Glory Hounds approached the fight more tactically and made good use of actions such as Guarded Position (that gives bonus to defense to both yourself and nearby allies) and Assess the Situation (which lets you recover from Fatigue, Stress and also gives bonus to defense. However, they also discovered what can happen when a wizard use the aggresive stance!

The Grey Wizard generated a lot of power through his Channel Power action (which is good!) but also rolled a chaos star which meant that he'd loose all power in excess of his Willpower and for every point lost he'd get one point of Stress. Since he had some Stress from before as well this led to him being more or less unable to do anything for fear of generating more Stress and hence falling unconscious.
Although this was very bad news for the characters we all loved how the mechanics really helps fuel the imagination and roleplaying. It was very easy to visualize the grey wizard biting off more than he could chew, making him kind of dazed and confused. Great fun!

In the end the wargor smashed poor Manfred over the head again and then ran off into the Drakwald as the storm broke in earnest. Now the party had to deal with Klaus, the burgher who had locked himself inside the coach during the fighting. At first it seemed like wasn't going to let them in but Dieter had some good arguments and they could continue the discussion out of the cold rain. However, in the end the wizard lost his temper and used his Veil of Fear to put Klaus in his place. This had the opposite effect though, as Klaus bolted out of his seat, darted out of the coach and ran straight into the woods! Never to be seen again, probably.

They returned to the Red Moon Inn where they were greeted as heroes! As I write this they're resting there and seeing to their wounds, thinking about what to do next now that their first act of glory is complete.

Things ran much smoother the second time around and I can really see this new rules system becoming a favourite in our group. The rules are very simple and actually very concise. There's a rules summary sheet at RPGG that actually sums up all the rules on just six pages! I think it's this minimalist approach that appeals to us the most. After you learn it it kind of fades into the background while still promoting roleplaying.

Hmm... I'm kind of raving here. I'm sure we'll discover things as we go along that we don't like, but so far it's looking pretty good! Now we just need to get some figures painted so we can use something other than the standups.

For the next part of our Warhammer adventures, follow this link!

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