The Enemy Within - Death on the Reik - part 3

Welcome to the Imperial Capital Altdorf. The group didn't stay long.

Here's the link to part 3 of our groups Death on the Reik playthrough.

We left the protagonists in Weissbruck having saved Elvyra the pharmacist from abductors. The group had haggled up a storm and were laden with gold.

The PC's are Walter the halfling raconteur, Esmerelda the reluctant hedge mage, Solomon the halfling smuggler, Joten the dwarf sewerjack and Herdan the odorous gravewarden.

Key Points in part 3

• 1:50 the group came across wanted posters on the outskirts Altdorf and noticed that Herdan, Esmerelda, Joten and Walter were wanted for the murder of Lord Ewer of Altdorf. There were sketches of the group along with vague details of the supposed crime. Esmerelda suspected a set-up and the party kept a low profile, avoiding towns and camping in the forest.

  

  Who did we murder?

• 11:00 Walter used his disguise skill to conceal their identities and the group split up in order to enter Altdorf without drawing unwanted attention. Solomon smuggled in his pharmaceutical contraband successfully despite a cursory search of his wagon by gate guards. The guards extorted 5 gold in 'gun tax' for allowing the group's blunderbuss into the city. Only the halfings were thoroughly searched, an action we put down to racial profiling. Another sign of the oppression halflings suffer. More grist for Walter's antagonist mill.
• 22:00 Solomon got in touch with the thieves guild in Altdorf. He sold his pharmaceutical stash and his smuggling wagon at a huge mark-up. I hate you haggle rules!
• 29:00 Walter went shopping and loaded his dwarven friend Joten up with armour. A disguised Esmerelda chanced discovery as she helped at the Great Hospice of Shallya, an act that further cemented her future role as initiate.
• 31:00 Herdan followed up on leads concerning the hunting of vampires. He purchased a fancy repeater crossbow.
• 38:30 having bought plenty of new gear the group struggled to find enough coin to book passage on a ship to Kemperbad. They hoped to acquire more gold through 'adventure' and set sail with Captain Connor's crew on the ship Belladona leaving Altdorf behind. 

  

  Castle Reiksguard

• 47:00 to pass the time on the boat trip Walter taught Soloman to read and write and Herdan practised with his repeater crossbow, slowly puzzling the contraption out. The group passed Castle Reiksguard but didn't stop.
• 50:30 the group gossipped with the crew and learnt that the Emperor, Karl Franz, is feared to be dieing. His son, Prince Wolfgang is unlikely to be crowned his successor as he is considered either an imbecile or a mutant. With no clear successor the Empire may well fall into civil war.

  

  The Emperor's own signal tower.

• 56:30 the band spotted a partly constructed signal tower. Two dwarves waved their ship down and begged passage on the vessel. Before business could be concluded they were interrupted by a dwarven foreman who labelled the absconding dwarves wetbacks and shamed them into returning to the work site.
• 60:00 the dwarf foreman, Anjel, moaned at the misfortune the site had experienced with a string of illnesses and missing workers. Walter and Solomon suggested not getting involved but Esmerelda couldn't help but offer her assistance, Shallya bless her! As way of compensation, and to sooth the grumblings of the mercenary halflings, Anjul offered 50 gold if they were able to resolve the mystery plaguing the site.
• 69:15 Esmeralda examined an ill dwarf and spotted bite marks on his neck. She partly revived the dwarf and a chat confirmed her suspicion. Vampires!
• 78:30 The group suspected the ruin on which the signal tower was being built as the site of something insidious. Finding no way in they enlisted the aid of the dwarven engineers and their heavy machinery. Together they tried to crack their way in to the signal towers foundation. Unfortunately night fell before they had gained access to the inner ruins.
• 80:30 Disappointed that they couldn't force a battle during the day the group made camp and waited for a vampire. They were not disappointed. A secret entrance opened within the towers foundation and Graf Orlock assaulted them.

  

  Graf Orlock. Recipient of Ulric's fury.

• 90:30 Esmerelda fainted at the sight of Graf Orlock. Joten landed an Ulric's Fury all but felling the vampire early in the battle. The Graf struck out in a flurry of blows bringing the upstart dwarf to his knees. Joten rose and struck off the vampires arm. Graf Orlock turned into mist and fled back into the towers base.
• 100:30 the group gave chase. The inner tower appeared to be a laboratory/observatory. While searching they were assaulted by zombies which were dispatched and some metal rods retrieved. The rods looked like keys and promised access to a sealed hexagonal vault where the group was convinced the vampire hid. They lacked the proper number of keys to access the vault, missing one which they couldn't find despite a thorough search.
• 120:00 the group discovered a magic tome, maps, start charts, text books and a notebook. The notebook was written in a spidery hand they couldn't make sense of. It's astrological gibberish hurt their heads. 
• 130:30 Anjul offered to use Engineering to crack the hexagonal vault. He and his fellow engineers began work immediately.

  

  Dwarven engineers teach a magic seal a lesson.

• 136:00 The engineering equipment broke through the hexagonal seal revealing a library and a large trunk beneath. The trunk was hauled into the morning light and flung open causing the combustion of a crippled Graf Orlock. The group was victorious! Within the secret library further handouts were obtained including notes in an arcane script they cannot decipher.

The Enemy Within - Death on the Reik - part 2

The group contemplate upgrading their wagon

Here's the link to part 2 of our groups Death on the Reik playthrough.

We left the protagonists carting a noble passenger to Altdorf on their 'coach' service. A day or so earlier they had survived a river encounter with mutants where Joten the dwarf was nearly drowned by a tentacled monstrosity.

The PC's are Walter the halfling raconteur, Esmerelda the reluctant hedge mage, Solomon the halfling smuggler, Joten the dwarf sewerjack and Herdan the odorous gravewarden.

Key Points in part 2

• 2:14 Esmerelda deployed her secret mutant detection plan organising a communal bath at the first town they come across while on the road to Altdorf. During the bath she did her best to check her companions and fellow coach passengers for signs of mutation.
• 3:50 Local gossip was that Crown Prince Von Tessernick of Ostland and his expedition were killed in the Grey Mountains. 
• 17:00 Upon arriving in Weissbruck Joten and the group contemplated turning their wagon into a war wagon complete with blunderbuss array and small road clearing cannon. Sadly they did not have the funds to make Joten's dream a reality.
• 22:14 The thieves guild of Bogenhafen had tasked Solomon with delivering a list to Weissbruck's pharmacist Elvyra. Solomon and Walter set off to met her only to find her cottage had been broken into. There were signs of a struggle within. The watch was called.
• 31:00 Herdan had remained in the tavern. While finishing his breakfast he was accosted by two peddlers. One attempted to sell him pots while the second made odd signs. Herdan realised the signs identified the peddlers as part of a secret society. Herdan contemplated killing them but instead insisted that they had him confused with someone else. 
• 39:00 Searching the cottage Walter and Solomon discovered a 'secret door' behind a cupboard. They waited for their companions to arrive and heaved the cupboard aside. Beyond was a young girl called Liza who desperately tried to escape. Esmerelda calmed her down and they learnt the girl had heard a scuffle but nothing of real use. A thorough search of the house turned up a note that mentioned a 'red barn'.
  
• 79:30 The group learnt the location of the 'red barn' from the locals and Solomon gave it a reconnoitre. Walter and Esmerelda hid in the woods at the back of the barn in case Elyvra's kidnappers fled.
• 87:30 Herdan and Jotun forced the barn doors open. They confronted a guard whose "I am a simple farmer" story fooled no one. The guard bolted for the ladder to the loft with the group in cautious pursuit.

  

  The thugs who took Elvyra

• 92:45 Elvyra's kidnappers threatened to slit the pharmacist's throat unless the group left. Negotiations broke down and just as the lead ruffian motioned to do the deed he was struck on the shoulder by a sling stone courtesy of Solomon. Elvyra twisted free and leapt from the loft towards Herdan's outstretched arms. Herdan misjudged the distance and Elvyra landed awkwardly.
• 107:30 The sour faced leader fled, jumping from the loft out the back of the barn. Unfortunately for him Walter was waiting for just such a move and a sling stone to the cranium was his reward. The thugs head exploded like a rotten sausage. In the ensuing melee a single thug escaped into the woods.
• 118:30 Esmerelda tried desperately to save a crippled ruffian whose arm had been severed by the dwarf Joten. Alas, she failed to staunch the bleeding in time.
• 122:00 Elvyra explained that she was mixed up with a villain in Altdorf who had pressured her into supplying alchemical reagents for foul purposes. The kidnappers had been sent by this evil doer. The pharmacist offered them stock at a hefty discount as a reward. Solomon cleared her out of 'medicinal' black lotus with an eye towards turning a profit in Altdorf.
• 130:00 A search of the dead thugs uncovered 2 silver pendants in the shape of rats heads. Another secret society!
• 133:45 While shopping in Weissbruck Solomon exploited the haggling rules, selling the parties row boat for 150% its normal value. By way of justification it was pointed out that the row boat was the scene of the signing of an important treaty between the Elector of Ostland and the Elector of Middenland. It was no mere row boat but part of Imperial history!

Oldhammer Project: Talisman

Talisman miniatures. 10 of 'em!

I first encountered Talisman when I was in after school care around about grade 4. I had already had a go at reading Fighting Fantasy books and my parents had raised me on board games so Talisman was an easy sell.

As I got older I fell out of love with the game, frustrated with how long it took to finish. Recently I became re-enthused after playing a game of the 40k variant 'Relic'. Given my eagerness for all things role-playing I thought I'd bolt the Talisman archetypes onto B/X D&D and create a unique quick play game. That stuff is still kicking around in my head and on a google doc. If it looks neat enough I might have a go at running it or at least putting it up on the blog.

Games Workshop released mini's to replace the card cut out characters that came in the Talisman box. I am currently trying to collect the initial set of 14 with the intent of playing a game when my birthday rolls around.

Minstrel, Wizard and Elf

Monk (almost as broken as the Prophetess), Troll and Ghoul

Sorceress, Thief and Druid

The Enemy Within - Death on the Reik - part 1

Death on the Reik - By Ian Miller

Death on the Reik, often considered the highpoint of The Enemy Within campaign, is lauded for its open approach. Cruise the Reik on your river boat trading as you go. An interesting premise that falls apart if your party heavily invest in a shiny new coach. Ah the joys of roleplaying.

Here is a link to the recording of part 1 of Death on the Reik. Parts 2 and 3 will follow when ready and the other parts when we resume the game in February. I think there's about 3 x 9 hour sessions worth of play in Death on the Reik.

We left the protagonists in Bogenhafen where they were treated as hero's having purged the leading merchant houses, Steinhager and Teugen, of chaos cultists.

The PC's are Walter the halfling raconteur, Esmerelda the reluctant hedge mage, Solomon the halfling smuggler, Joten the dwarf sewerjack and Herdan the odorous gravewarden.

Key points in part 1

• 1:16 I'm shocked by the amount of gold the adventurers acquired during Shadows over Bogenhafen. Armour is bought and a coaching service launched.
• 4:30 Herdan spent time serving at the Garden of Morr. Heinz, the High Priest of Morr, warns him a Vampire known as Graf Orlock is plaguing the Reikland. Herdan considers a Vampire Hunting career.
• 6:30 Esmerelda donated her wealth to the Temple of Shallya. She also spends many days helping out in the soup kitchen, earning a career change to initiate.
• 17:07 Walter needed to complete two tasks to repay the groups debt to the thieves guild. The thieves guild provided them with plenty of help in the battle against the Bogenhafen cultists. The first task was to deliver a list to a Elvyra the pharmacist in Weissbruck. The second task was to deliver a small casket to 'Luigi' at the 'Cat and Fiddle Inn' in Kemperbad.
• 26:00 The group were summoned to an audience with the bed ridden Albrecht, High Priest of Sigmar, as he had all but recovered from his bout of Purple Brain Fever. In relating the tale of how they saved Bogenhafen the Priest seized on the name Etelka Herzan. He'd heard of her evil and encouraged the group to pursue the witch. On parting Albrecht gave the group a powerful ring forged by the dwarves and said to protect the wearer from the undead. They are also given a warrant authorising them to hunt and slay the witch Etelka Herzan.
• 62:00 Peiter, a bored noble and his bodyguard Deiter are the first passengers of the hero's coach service. They're promised a journey full of adventure. The group head to Weissbruck and encounter a dying boatman.

  

  The trading boat the group left adrift?!?

• 75:19 The boatman gurgled "Mutants" and gestured towards the river before perishing. The group split up. The fighters took a row boat and headed toward the drifting ship while the halflings remained with the coach. Esmerelda spotted a winged creature observing them from the trees, it flitted towards the coach.
• 89:00 The halflings mounted a spirited defense against the winged mutant, hiding around and under the coach, using their small size to their advantage. As their friends raced back to save them, Solomon managed to plug the flying mutant with his crossbow, driving it off.
  
  

  

  Mutants!

• 107:00 Once again the fighters rowed toward the ship. Herdan boarded and was confronted by two mutants. Joten attempted to board next but failed to notice tentacles wrapped around his torso. He was pulled into the river where his fighting prowess was severely curtailed. 
• 113:48 Herdan battled with a beaked mutant while the second mutant, a shaggy brute, leaped into the rowboat capsizing it and tipping Esmerlda into the river. The somewhat drunk nobleman Pieter offered support from the shore with his bow. We learn the drowning rules. Joten feels sad.
• 138:00 Herdan butchered beak face and dove into the river to rescue Joten. The shaggy mutant is felled by arrow fire from Peiter the noble. Dieter the bodyguard waded into the water and grabbed hold of the drowning dwarf to prevent him being dragged under. Herdan speared the tentacle mutant so badly that it retreated letting go of Joten. His companions rushed him to the shore where he vomited up half the river. He's alive, embarrassed and officially hates the river.

  

  Renate: mutant attack survivor

• 155:00 The boat is searched and Renate, a gypsy woman, is found hiding amongst the cargo. Despite the laws of salvage applying the group decide to leave the cargo laden vessel and continue to Weissbruck by coach. They buried the bodies of the boats former crew, took the row boat strapping it to the roof of their coach, and offered Renate a lift to the nearest town.

Review: The Enemy Within - Mistaken Indentity

by Jim Bambra, Phil Gallagher & Graeme Davis
GW and later republished by Hogshead Publishing
Beginning characters.

WFRP finding its identity

As the first adventure for the fledgling Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay line Mistaken identity could have gone in any direction. It could mimic the big players like D&D or Runequest in presenting the safe and familiar. It looked to be doing just that as the adventure in the Rulebook was a dungeon/sewer crawl with a likely TPK at the end. Fortunately Mistaken Identity moved away from dungeons, but not sewers, with The Enemy Within campaign breathing life into Warhammer's Old World. Mistaken Identity is solid and my group had fun, later chapters are better but this sets the tone for the campaign and does a good job at setting up the world. It's a short railroad, but if your having fun you don't notice the tracks.

It's half sourcebook

Being half sourcebook is common for the adventures in The Enemy Within campaign. Each book explores a piece of the Empire. This source book touches on the history, politics and religions in the Empire. The Holy Roman Empire influence is there if you look for it. I see that as a positive. It's great that they based the Old World loosely on the real world. Its easier to run and find inspiration for. Useful parts in the sourcebook deal with movement along the Empire's roads and rivers as well as details on the soon to clash religions of Sigmar and Ulric. There's also two pages on herbs if that's your thing. I didn't find it useful in game. There's a map of the Empire. It's crap with little marked on it. That's OK though. There are plenty of good maps online. 

A good map of the Reikland where most of The Enemy Within Campaign unfolds.

Watch out for pre-gens

The sourcebook has just the right level of detail and lays the ground work for the campaign to follow, but what about the adventure? We begin with pre-generated characters. This is a problem as your players will want to use characters they rolled themselves. Pre-gens are for tournaments and one shots, not a year long campaign. In order to link events the campaign assumes the use of pregens. Repurposing the pre-gen links to PCs is easy with the wizards apprentice potentially the trickiest to re-write. 

What's great about it.

Things kick off in a coaching inn, an iconic Warhammer location. A map of the place would have been handy. The NPC's within are well developed and full of character. They are a cross section of Warhammer society and include Urnst the irritated student with his big book on leeches, snooty Lady Isolde refusing to mix with the common folk, Gunner and Holtz the hard drinking coachmen, an ingratiatingly friendly innkeep and finally Phillipe the larger than life Bretonnian gambler. Phillipe gives you a nice opportunity to ham it up with an 'outrageous accent!' Things get interesting when the disparate group gets thrown together on the coach to Altdorf. There are plenty of opportunities for roleplay with these well realised NPCs.

Adventure highlights

• A well planned battle with mutants that encourages tactics.
• A surprising double identity plot providing a strong hook for the opportunistic adventurer; a plot hook that is followed throughout the campaign. 
• An introduction to the asshattery of the nobles of Altdorf. Nobles are easy to hate and these guys are tools.
• Amusing encounters with pantomiming cult members.
• An attack on a burning boat by a Bounty Hunter and his friends. The set piece combat encounters sure are neat.

What's bad? 

• Its a short string of encounters set one after the other. 
• The NPCs are interesting but need the GM to roleplay them to the hilt. They are the crux of the adventure and if you dont bring them to life the adventure can feel flat and brief. 
• The cultists shadowing the adventures in Altdorf are done poorly with the players given no opportunity to catch a cultist alive as they are always killed just before they are captured. The Thousand Thrones campaign did this as well with Nurgle cultists biting down on a poison boil to avoid being taken alive. This cheap tactic is a crap idea and sadly the campaign continues to take this line with cultists swallowing poison pills to avoid enlightening the adventures as to the broader plot. Bad call. 
• The witnessed deaths of the cultists from a single crossbow bolt is rubbish in the context of the system. One Ulric's fury I can buy into, two in a row is stretching things too far. Such marksmanship raised an eyebrow or two at the table.
• The adventure takes place momentarily in Altdorf and Weissbruck, unfortunately neither location is adequately described. 
• Finally Max Steiner, the protagonist picking the fight in Altdorf, didn't play out well at my table. You might want to ratchet up the insults to force a fight as this better sets up following chapters.

I like this adventure a lot. The Enemy Within campaign is a classic and it starts strongly with Mistaken Identity. It's worth picking up for your 1e, 2e or 3e Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying game. Even if you don't intend to run it the adventure is full of lootable NPC's and ideas. As a nice bonus you can download a 2e conversion of the stats in the adventure at Winds of Chaos.

The Enemy Within - Shadows over Bogenhafen - part 5

Will everything end in chaos and flames?

And so to the conclusion of Shadows over Bogenhafen. This adventure takes a lot of prep prior to play. It's imperative that you take notes as you read it through. The note taking process helps you recall key facts, locations and plot points. By taking these notes you become familiar with the adventure, as if it was one of your own. 

The players shook the plot up, they came up with desperate plans and I scrambled to keep up. The adventure sort of followed the expected course... if you squint your eyes... maybe. The decisive assistance of the watch wasn't planned but was well earned through the players actions.

Here is a link to part 5 of our recorded play through of the classic campaign The Enemy Within. I have the initial recordings of the next chapter, Death on the Reik, and they are equally great. Links to the other recordings and write-ups are on this page here.

We last left off with the adventurers holed up in a thieves guild safe house. They feared arrest by the watch after their failed raid on the Tuegen estate. They had identified the Tuegen's as key conspirators in a chaos plot to bring down the town of Bogenhafen.

The PC's are Walter the halfling raconteur, Esmerelda the reluctant hedge mage, Solomon the halfling smuggler, Joten the dwarf sewerjack and Herdan the odorous grave warden.

Key Points from part 5

• 3:50 Herdan and Joten were identified during the scuffle at Tuegen's house and were wanted by the watch. This limited their movement within the town.
• 10:15 Leaving their easily identified companions behind, the group visit Franz Steinhager at the watch house. The watch sergeant tells them Franz broke when 'questioned' but he allows them to further interogate the merchant. 
• 11:15 Franz admits some of the rituals the Ordo conducted involved the sacrifice of 'scum' that wouldn't be missed. He claimed that he didn't agree with the sacrifices but that Johannes insisted.
• 13:30 Franz tells them the location of his safe and in return begs the adventurers to deal with his brother Heinrich, who he is sure is behind his incarceration.
• 16:00 A remorseful Franz suggests a plan. They release him and he will wait for the Ordo to send him the location of the upcoming midnight ritual. He was told the ritual would bring great wealth to Bogenhafen but he now believes it will bring doom instead. Once he knows the rituals location he will inform the group.
• 22:00 Watch Captain Reiner agrees to the plan and releases Franz. Reporting the conspiracy to local ruler Baron Von Saponatheim and going through official 'legal' channels will take too long. Besides Reiner wants to do things the brutal old fashioned way. 
• 23:00 Esmerelda insists they not kill Heinrich Steinhager despite Franz's request. Heinrich may be a shady character but he wasn't an Ordo cultist. The group is happy to take Franz Steinhager's gold from his safe, despite reneging on the deal to kill Heinrich.
• 25:00 the group realise that this adventure breaks the RPG cliche. Instead of the ritual occurring on the final night of the Shaffenfest, it occurs the following night once everyone has left. Nice one!

  

  Its a trap!

• 33:02 Late that night the group receive a message telling them to visit Franz urgently. The message boy gives them a bad vibe. Everything screams trap but the group cautiously play along.
• 37:24 Walter suspects the message boy is Gideon disguised with magic. The whole "PCs are framed for the murder of Franz Steinhager" subplot unravels. Gideon escapes to the ethereal plane as the group find Franz's body.
• 47:14 Watch Captain Reiner and four watchmen arrive at the murder scene. They agree to accompany the group to warehouse 17. Franz's final act, prior to bleeding out, was to spell the ritual location in his own gore. It is not clear if he scrawled 'warehouse 13 or 17'. Three watchmen are sent to warehouse 13 just incase. 
• 52:36 The heroes, Reiner and a single watchman plan a direct assault on warehouse 17. They quickly scatter the stevedore guards who had formed a ring around the warehouse. The sound of chanting force their hand before additional watchmen arrive.
• 61:10 Warehouse 17's doors are kicked in and the cultist's ritual disrupted. The villains unleash a barrage of sorcery momentarily seizing control of Watch Captain Reiner's actions and having him hack at his former allies. Joten is stunned by tormenting visions. The group quickly surround Johannes Tuegan.

  

  "Hello, mighty Tzeentch? A little help here". - Johannes Tuegen.

• 79:54 Gideon drops his human guise and reveals his true demonic form. It dawns on the meta-gaming players that the demon's flameresque arm means dire news. They are right. Soon Joten, Walter and Reiner are human torches, writhing in multi-coloured flames. <On listening back to the recording I noticed that I was so keen to use the flamer ability that I forgot how it worked. You can't move and flame, its a full round action. The rules for being on fire were hard to parse in the main book so we used the Dark Heresy rules which are crippling.>
• 86:00 Johannes became desperate as his most dangerous spells fizzled. He contented himself with spitting burning blood at Esmerelda, who fell and began the long process of bleeding out. A fate point kept her alive despite Solomon's repeated frantic first aid attempts
• 92:35 The three Watchmen, who had been sent to investigate warehouse 13, arrived and began to smother any human torch they found. A fate point saves Walter from permanent paralysis caused by his horrific burns.
• 93:46 The group are confused as to why Gideon hasn't burnt the tempting group clustered around the embattled Johannes. Little do they know that Johannes is critical to Gideon's plans and must survive so the ritual can be completed.
• 105:00 The nameless watchman who had been with them since the battle was joined, lands a critical blow to Johannes' arm, severing it and slaying the wizard. Gideon became enraged having nothing left to lose.
• 116:00 Watch Captain Reiner had been set alight, had his mind controlled and been blasted by warping magics; he would have his revenge. Charging a battered Gideon, he dealt a savage blow knocking his foe to the ground. Herdan followed with a mighty slash which destroyed the demon's flamer arm. A final blow from the nameless watchman banished the demon to the realms of chaos. This watchman had slain both Johannes and Gideon Tuegen!
• 126:00 More watchmen arrived on the scene and arrested the remaining cultists huddled at the back of the warehouse. The group looted Johannes and found an incriminating note. They are now widely regarded as the hero's of Boganhafen.

A note plucked from the dead hand of Johannes Tuegen.

The Enemy Within - Shadows over Bogenhafen - part 4

Busy weekends mean we manage to game once a month. To make up for the gap between sessions we overcompensate on the time we game, around 7-8 hours. I've recorded the sessions for fun and to help me remember events. I break the long recordings into manageable, bloggable chunks. 

Here is a link to part 4 of our recorded play through of 'The Enemy Within' campaign. Part 5 is on its way.

We left off with the adventurers aware that there's a wide ranging conspiracy within the trade town of Bogenhafen and that key conspirators would be attending an important party that night at the Teugan household.

The PCs are: Walter the halfling raconteur, Joten the dwarf sewerjack, Esmerelda the reluctant hedge witch, Solomon the halfling smuggler and Herdan the odorous grave warden.

Key points from part 4

• 3:54 The group encounter the watch dragging away the crazy Lady Alexa. She gibbers doom laden nonsense that seems to relate to current odd events. On seeing Herdan she freaks out, claiming the grave warden was 'marked by chaos'. She implored the group to kill Herdan before its too late. She also claimed that Bogenhafen was going to be swallowed by chaos soon. The group assumed she had Herdan confused with his doppelganger from the very first adventure 'Mistaken identity'.
• 22:30 The band visit the watch barracks hoping to work out what happened during yesterdays fateful meeting between the now poisoned High Priest of Sigmar, the merchant Franz Steinhager and Watch Captain Reiner. The Watch Captain denied being at the meeting. The group took a chance and decided to trust him with the whole story starting with demons in the sewers and ending with Franz's revelations about the Ordo. The group speculate that magic was involved in the impersonation of the Watch Captain.
• 27:20 Watch Captain Reiner believes their story and orders the immediate arrest and questioning of Franz. He insisted that no lawyers be involved till they learn the 'truth'. Reiner seemed intent on establishing his authority and taking the merchants down a peg or two. The group witness Franz's arrest from a discrete distance and saw Franz angrily accuse his brother Heinrich of being behind his arrest.

  

  Teugen's house. Scene of what can only be described as a debacle.

• 59:30 A party is clearly being held at the heavily guarded Tuegen estate. The group wait for it to be in full swing and then scale the townhouse wall and attempt a break in.
• 61:38 Mike demands a meal that isn't pizza. The table is shocked, roleplaying and pizza is the most sacred of combos, to have anything else would be un-Australian. We settle for kebabs which is awesome as well!
• 76:37 Tuegen's patrolling guards spot the rope the group used to scale the wall. An alarm is raised and combat breaks out in the estate's garden. During the conflict some of the party make it to the house and do a small amount of exploring while holding the kitchen staff at bay. As more guards arrive and the call for the watch echoes through the streets of Bogenhafen, the group determine it's time to run. Windows were smashed, guards crippled and an escape is made.
• 114:30 After the failed foray into the Tuegen estate our heroes contemplate leaving town. Their enemies know they stay at the Vexed Pig inn so they head to the bolt hole of the thieves guild, the Crossed Pikes. Feeling they can trust Franz Bauman, head of the thieves guild, the group tell him the whole story. He puts them up for the night while they ponder their next move.

Oldhammer - Skrag, the ogres and some halflings

Skrag the slaughterer is the last Jes Goodwin ogre I completed in 2013. He is almost all armour and didn't take long to finish. I used GW's new corrosion pain in the armour recesses. I think it turned out alright, I would probably do it again. The Secret Weapon blue black ink was used for the stubble. I was very hapy with the result. Finally I contemplated using the new GW blood paint on the axe but wimped out and left the slaughterer blood free. I sure he and his patron god Malal are displeased. One of these days I will have the courage to really bloody up a model.

Old sculpt Skrag is so much better than his current GW incarnation.

Group shot of the Jes Goodwin Ogres. I will buy 1 or 2 more in 2014 to round out the unit.

I painted these Perry Halflings to see if I had improved. I'd knocked out 16 last year. Sadly my painting is neater but not that much better when it comes to halflings.

The Enemy Within - Shadows over Bogenhafen - part 3

We continued our monthly marathon game sessions in December finishing Shadows over Bogenhafen. This is a challenging adventure to run. I recently added my thoughts on how best to run this adventure on the WFRP Google+ community. Here's what I said:

If your players know about the warhammer world probably the first thing they do once they work out chaos is involved is head to the Temple of Sigmar. You'll need to write something up for the priest Priest of Sigmar. 

Also write down a list of all the names and a brief description of each character for your reference. Do the same for the major locations. Include a page reference back to the book so you can find more info in a hurry. All this should fit on a page, be very brief.

Be prepared to substitute plot points to different Characters. I had Steinhager replace Magirius' role in the adventure as I couldn't see Magirius slotting in. I also had the purple brain fever hit the Priest of Sigmar as the group were using him to romp towards victory.

Be prepared for the players to hate Dr Malthusius despite him being written as somewhat sympathetic in the module.

And cut them some slack, not every lead needs to be a dead end.

If you have time search the strike to stun forum or rpgnet for threads about Bogenhafen or the Enemy Within.

There are 5 parts total to the whole of Shadows over Bogenhafen. I have posted links to part 1 and 2 in prior posts. Here is the latest part 3 of the recordings. Part 4 and 5 to come.

Key points from part 3:

• PC Walter's regulary performance at the tavern, The Vexed Pig, was interrupted by a group of thugs, whom he'd later learn were stevedores. They delivered a warning to get out of town.

  

  'You had better leave town.' - Stevedores.

• Anton, the warehouse guard the group had earlier interrogated about the crate falling on the 3 legged goblin, was re questioned late in the night. They learn that Gideon Tuegen supplied him with quality brandy in return for running with the goblin death by crate story. They also learned from Anton that the head of House Teugen died some years ago under mysterious circumstances.
• Searching for information on the Tuegens the group made the acquaintance of a Ruggbroeder family merchant who had spent time attending the same university as Johannes Tuegan. <It was a pretty amazing gossip check so I ran with it>. They learnt Johannes studied philosophy and that Gideon is meant to be a distant relative. Gideon seems to give everyone bad vibes. This merchant also told them that he had heard there was a private party planned for the Tuegan's the following night.
• Day three, the final day of the Bogenhafen Schaffenfest dawns. Word on the street is that two bodies were fished out of the river. Anton the warehouse guard and a itinerant dwarf whose heart had been cut out. The dwarf had been found washed up against a sewer grate.
• The Vexed Pig's cook, a woman on friendly terms with Solomon thanks to his help in the kitchen, slips word to the group that the stevedores are waiting for them in the common room. The group ponder escaping out a window and across the roofs but instead head downstairs to try their luck.
• Eight stevedores seemed too much to handle. After some round about banter and blathering from Walter the group convinced the thugs that their food had been poisoned earlier by Solomon, who had indeed spent some time in the kitchen. The stevedores raced to the temple of Shallya stopping only to gag and vomit, ah the placebo effect. The hero's arranged through various contacts that the thugs be sent on a wild goose hunt through Bogenhafen so that they would not interfere with their plans.
• The day earlier the group had managed to arrange a meeting with Franz Steinhager at his offices. Franz went on to explain that the whole demon in the basement affair was some great misunderstanding and that the Ordo Septenarius was in turn misunderstood. It was a secret consortium of merchants who use an element of harmless ritual to keep new recruits in line. They were on the whole a benefit to the town and did many charitable things.
• During the conversation with Franz they managed to trick him into confirming the Tuegan's membership in the Ordo as well as the fact that there was a party at the Tuegan's that night, to which 7 others were invited.
• Franz's hatred towards his brother Heinrich was also played upon with the group explaining how Heinrich had all but asked them to murder Franz. The Steinhager brothers had been set on a collision course.

Oldhammer - Hrothyogg Ogre Captain

Credit where it is due, the paint scheme is a direct copy of the fine work by Stone Cold Lead. His work is always exceptional and I can browse his blog for ages soaking up the inspiration.

This is Hrothyogg, he is an Ogre Captain. In the warhammer armies book you could hire ogres as mecenaries. They come in squards of 5 + the Captain and cost a truck load of points. Back when I was a kid I would use the plastic ogres from hero quest in my Orc and Goblin army. Those plastic ogres are long gone and looked crap to be honest. 

I have Skraag the slaughter still to paint and in a pinch could strip and repaint 2 of my maruader ogres. I can't say I like the puff and slash marauder ogres but there are enough fans out there that they go for crazy prices. If I am honest I will probably scrounge up 2 more Jes Ogres from ebay to complete the unit, but not this year. I have spent too much already.

I can improve the basing but otherwise I am stoked with this model.

Not much going on at the back.

3 Ogres, on the way to a unit of 6.