I preordered my copy of WFR and should be getting it this week, hoorah! The only problem is that I my play group really wants to get started with a game as soon as possible, but I don't really know a lot about the warhammer universe. I know I could always make stuff up and just go with a home-brewed campaign, but I'd really rather run the game in the Old World if at all possible.

Here's what I need from you guys: I have an adventure idea, and I was hoping you could help me decide where the adventure could take place in the old world and help me think up ways to make some of the key components of the adventure fit into the Old World.

The adventure needs to take place in a somewhat out of the way, but decent sized town. In this adventure, there will be a group of human shape-shifters or werewolves or something like that who, despite all kinds of nasty reputations and scary folklore, are actually good stand up folks. Basically this group are the chosen of some obscure old god. They are like holy dog paladins or something. Their purpose is to fight witches who would make the peasants crops grow downward to hell to feed demons rather than upward to feed people.

Ideally, I would like the players to slowly discover all these facts one by one. In the mean time, there will be an Inquisitor who is also investigating these strange sightings and battles between witches and wolves. The final scene of the adventure will be a trial where judgement will be passed on the leader of the wolves. The adventurers will be called as witnesses, and can even defend or prosecute the wolves depending on how the adventure goes.

I need help figuring out where this will fit. What god would do this kind of thing? What kinds of enemies would the witches be in the warhammer universe? I imagine the inquisitor will be a witch hunter. What town could all this stuff happen in? Are there even courts of law in warhammer? Setting guru's please help!

Try Stirland. It's a great place for the undead and werewolf type themes.

Sigmar's Heirs supplement and Night's Dark Masters supplements have really great ideas in this regards.

Jay h

I think there may already be something similar to what you describe, the Children of Ulric. I believe they are shapeshifters and devoted to Ulric, but there is not a lot of information on them in the book I have. Ulric is by no means an obscure god in the Empire, but he is an old one - arguably ranked #2 now, he was the original patron god of the Empire until people started worshiping Sigmar.

There are a whole slew of courts and law systems, since the Emperor, Elector Counts, and rulers of smaller territories can all make laws. Some places just have judges, some places have juries. There is also a system in place to settle a trial by combat. So, you can run the courts and trial system just about any way you want and it can fit.

my idea would be as follows...

Start with one player let the others watch....

Put them in what ever setting suits there character then have something happen were they are attacked the attacker or the attackers botch the job there leader gets away however several sketches are dropped. One is of the player attacked the others of coarse will be the other players with information on were they are...

This sets up the player tracking down the other players before they are also victims...

Who is attacking them and why are they wanted dead...

Just an idea...

NewTroski said:

The children of Ulric are covered in a little more detail in the expanded power behind the throne for 1st ed (hogshead edition). They are pretty much as you describe, except that they aren't really upstanding folk, more like religious fanatics who think that all sigmarites are heretical. Depending on the campaign outlook, they are more likely to be advesaries.

There are however numerous back water, secluded areas of the Empire and perhaps the old god could be some specific aspect of Taal (in reality... even if the back water villagers don't see it as such, and in fact would take great offence if the PCs suggested as much...), this specific aspect allows it's devout followers to shape change, and could throw a third faction into the mix as a priest of Taal gets wind of the situation too and wants to bring the worshippers into the official fold (again, which the worshippers may be loathe to do) whereas the inquisitor wants to put them to the stake!

zmobie said:

I must admit this was a tough one, checking all my second edition books to see if I could find anything to support your campaign idea. The results were meagre. All I can offer are some explanation on the terms of "witches", and such along with some ideas how this can work.

Witches
Are Hedge wizards who have survived practising their homegrown arts without going insane or dying. They have begun to use Dark Magic without realising it. The use of dark magic inevitable takes its toll upon the Witch`s mind and soul. They tend to be amoral rather than imoral, but the promise of chaos magic may alter that distinction.
Advice: really no problem making witches that destroy the farmers crops and things like that. Or even make a small sect of witches living togheter out in the wilds, maybe they have an old grudge against the villagers?

Werewolves or were-creatures
Are basically creatures of chaos corrupted with ability to change forms. And are at best advesaries. natural lycanthophy doesn`t seem to excist in warhammer other than myths, like the one of the children of ulric.
Advice: Use priests of Taal & Rhya instead. Taal being the god of wilderness and nature. I have formed a concept around using extremes of faith, based upon the Celebrant outcasts.

Wild-wolves of the Sacred forest (change it if you like)

The wild-wolves of Talabecland, are humans venerating Taal in his most primal and ancient form, that of the Great Wolf. They seek out remote stretches of wilderness to better commune with their deity. In their isolation they perform the ceremonies and rituals that celebrate the wild nature of Taal. By ingesting strange herbs and chemicals to enter trances and experience bizzare visions the Wild-wolves believe they actualy are reaching into the essence of their fanged deity.
During some of these ritual dancing, the Wild-wolves turns into a wolf by shape-shifting. Some doing it only halfway and thus looks very much like a werewolf. In this form they are very formidable opponents, and Wild-wolves use this ability to fight beastmen that enters their domain. Wheter it is the consumation of herbs and mushrooms or ritual magic that makes them able to shape-shifting is open to debate, as they are very secretive, and little is known of their ways. Almost all members of this outcast cult, wear a necklace or some other ornament showing a wolf`s tooth. They also seems to abhor modern items like fabricated clothes and metal.

Besides this i can`t offer anything more, but you seems to have a good grip on your campaigns idea, now you only have to connect the dots, sort of speak.

The witch-hunter is indeed the closest you come to an inquistior, and being a member of the Silver hammer grants you the rights to eradicate heresy wherever you find it. It always amuses me to think that there actual excist secular witch-hunter in warhammer, that have been granted their rights by authorites instead of the church.

well enough ranting from me, good luck with your campaign, and let me know how it pans out.

Wow! Thanks for helping me out with this everybody! I now have more than enough info to connect my adventure to Warhammer. I won't have time to write it all up until the semester is over (Finals and everything), but when I do I'll share it with the forums. Thanks again!