As the thread-title shares: I'm planning to run the Enemy Within campaign for WFRP3. I was wondering if any of the other GMs can answer some of my questions related to that campaign.

Since I don't have it in my possession yet, can someone give me the rundown? I know it starts with the death of an Averland noble during the Blackfire something skirmish, but other than that. . .

What are the adversaries players will face? Merely cultists, bandits and ilk of that kind (Humans and Demons)? Or is there room for Skaven, Goblin and the other more fantastical races?

Lastly, how good is it? My players enjoyed TGS immensely, I am hoping the Enemy Within is of similar quality.

MASSIVE SPOILERS

* At SOME POINT during the campaign, you should choose one of the major NPCs to be the black cowl. I waited until book three and implicated all three throughout the entire campaign until the bitter, bitter end. I chose Marcus Bauerfast.

* You start in Averland at the docks, investigating some things and then helping out some merchants in a menagerie party. There are a LOT of rumors floating around and several avenues of interest to follow. You will face standard creatures here (and even some kind of rumored tailed creatures from the sewers)

* There is some travel and some encounters

* Then you move to Middenheim where there is some more investigation and a trial of a man you can't figure out if is guilty. Lots of NPCs, not much monsters.

* Book 3 is in Altdorf, where all kinds of stuff with nobles happens, including more investigation and culmination of the campaign (IMHO)

* Book 4 you can chase the Black Cowl (b/c you have to have him get away if you want to play this section) and you travel to the chaos wastes and chaos realms. This part is highly underdeveloped and I have chosen not to run it (sadly

It has all kinds of creatures and stuff, but is primarily investigation with a lot of human opponents and LOTS of skill checks rather than "just murdering stuff to be told the solution of the mystery," which I had grown tired of in other games _{^{(cough..Pathfinder..cough..D&D)}}

I think my players enjoyed it.

jh

As a further note, your players will face 3 skaven antagonists, 1 demigryph, chaos spawn/mutants, cultists, human NPCs, and an optional quest to the chaos wastes that will pit them against all kinds of different daemons from each of the chaos powers (although I believe there's only one Khorne daemon).

The campaign features a fair bit of travel in the empire, and you can feel free to add in things during this travel such as beasts, beastmen, greenskins and trolls/giants. I don't know that there would be anywhere that would specifically be vulnerable to undead, though. You could certainly have a zombie attack against a coaching inn, however.

As a player who played in Emirikol's game, I found it to be fantastic. He sums everything up very well. Definitely a good bit of investigation and intrigue, with some combat thrown in. About the balance of play that I am looking for.

I suspect there was a lot we missed and things we passed by in the game, and minor things we spent way too much time on(Leper Colony)...

-Ed

Thank you for the answers guys.

The previous characters of my group ran The Gathering Storm, and they didn't do a real good job of it. They allowed one of the weird inbred girls escape. They performed alright against the undead former-hero of Stromdorf, and they managed to defeat the main enemy, but they completely forgot to take care of the amulet/phylactery so there ultimately, there was an undead presence near stromdorf.

I plan on adding a few of their failures to the current turmoil. It is great to hear I can have some sidetracks during the campaign.

Just FYI:

There are a couple other things going on near Ubersreik (if you felt like using that area a bit longer):

* Scenario: Revenant - in Liber fanatica 8 (google it)

* Scenario: Edge of Night

I've read over Revenant, it is definitely intriguing enough to run and it also seems quite easy to convert for use in a different location. Although I like the idea of Edge of the Night, I want to focus a little more on Marienburg (being Dutch and all). I guess the Witch's Song would be a better choice?

Is TEW3e easy to follow up with the Thousand Thrones from 2nd Edition, or would that require new characters?

And about Strange Eons, is it possible to make location cards with the software? I still need to download and play with it a little.

I've read over Revenant, it is definitely intriguing enough to run and it also seems quite easy to convert for use in a different location. Although I like the idea of Edge of the Night, I want to focus a little more on Marienburg (being Dutch and all). I guess the Witch's Song would be a better choice?

Is TEW3e easy to follow up with the Thousand Thrones from 2nd Edition, or would that require new characters?

And about Strange Eons, is it possible to make location cards with the software? I still need to download and play with it a little.

You can absolutely make location cards.

I also played in Emirikol's game and absolutely loved it. First off, we average about 2 sessions per month (usually around 3.5 hours in length) and it took us over a year to get through book 4. Lots of social interactions.... probably the strongest aspect of the campaign. Some nights ended with no combats and we still had a blast (surprise, surprise).

An element that really helped was the character backgrounds. The campaign includes cards that grant a talent depending on the background. Prior to starting the campaign players answer several questions as to how their character relates to the political situation in Averland AND how they relate to each other. This generated some roleplaying aspects that endured for the entire campaign.

Highly recommended.

You need the OLD version of Strange Eons. That works with all the OLD seext files. The new one is missing a lot.

For the NEW TEW, I would highly suggest new characters. The backgrounds will work better and it is a long campaign so a fresh start is probably a good idea. It will also balance the game a lot better.

jh

Yes, back from vacation or would have chimed in sooner, it really works best with characters woven into the story the way the start up suggests and is geared to start 1st rank.

You can fiddle ranks of foes easily enough etc but would really want to work on weaving existing characters into it. I ran 1000 Thrones into epic levels, we retired those PC's and then started Enemy Within.

It is a nice shift as vampires are not a big deal in it.

The backgrounds (like gently born above) and 'questions' for Players to answer that bind them as a group and also give them a reason to naturally be interested in threads that when pulled lead into the adventure are great techniques to use generally in campaigns. This is my favourite part of the whole campaign really, though it has some nice bits in it and pays some homages to past novels etc. (the author being a long time warhammer author).

For new characters, I gave Players using a background 1 less starting CP to create a PC with (the advantages with a background are actually worth slightlly more than what one CP generally gives). I created "background talent cards" to reflect the ongoing ability advantages, along with other cards and materials for the campaign which I can share if you like.

It has some of the "across the Empire" flavour of 1000 Thrones (from the other end, so nice change for Players) but is more tightly woven (having one author) and thankfully has no "chicken hunt".

It may be an interesting idea to start characters out a little weaker and give them a bit more rapid advance over the first 4-5 sessions.

For example: Imagine if your character started out with 5 fewer build points, but over the first few sessions you got 2 xp per session. It might allow players to start out in a more humble place, rather than starting in the "glass cannon" situation right off the bat.

jh

The problem with that is Advances are not equal to build points. Advances have limits that build points do not, and build points have restrictions as well.

As the thread-title shares: I'm planning to run the Enemy Within campaign for WFRP3. I was wondering if any of the other GMs can answer some of my questions related to that campaign.

I highly recommend this thread:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/76119-enemy-within-for-gm-thoughts-prep-ideas-etc/

It's got nine pages of people's notes, ideas, and prep work for The Enemy Within. I've had a lot of success with the campaign, mainly by stealing ideas from everyone there.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I won't have TEW until August so I'll have plenty of time to look over things and prepare.

Thanks again all!