Creative help needed for An Eye for an Eye

By UniversalHead, in WFRP Gamemasters

Ok folks, I spent ages making a WFRP reference sheet for you all, now help me out in return, please! gui%C3%B1o.gif

We're about to play our second session, and it will be the wrap up of An Eye for an Eye. The only problem is, I need some creative input, because I've run out of ideas. The situation as of the end of our last session is this: the PCs very quickly after their arrival have discovered the temple in the cellar, the hammer, and the bookcase secret passage. They already suspect the butler after his appearance at the window as they entered the house. They also suspect some kind of everyone's-in-it-together 'Wicker Man' scenario. From emails they've been sending to each other, they've indicated they have no intention of eating anything at dinner.

So how am I going to make this session a) interesting and b) long enough to fill 4-5 hours? Personally I can't see how they're going to need to endure social encounter sessions to convince Acheaffenberg of what's going on - I mean "look at this chaos temple in your cellar" is pretty much all the convincing anyone needs, right? So as far as I can see, the next session is going to start with the PCs telling him about the temple, the beastmen attacking, a long chaotic combat, and that's it. What I'd really like to do is introduce something that blindsides them and makes the whole scenario less predictabel.

So does anyone have any good ideas for making this session memorable? Any help very gratefully received! Man, it gets harder and harder to GM as I get older ...

My players didn't achieve any of that in the first session.

Could you have the cultists kidnap the PCs' favourite NPC and take him to the roof. Have another NPC cultist give the PCs a plausible but nonsense wild goose(!) chase to distract them while they do that. Give the cultists a decent headstart and some decent means of defending their position so maybe there could be some sort of stand off and negotiation between the cultists and PCs. But really the cultists are just stalling for time, coz they're waiting for night to fall and Morrslieb to emerge.

I'm going to agree with monkeylite, the cultists are going to try and buy some time. Has anyone spotted or noticed that the PCs have advanced thus far? As the cultist's knowledge might force them to try other tactics. In any case, you'll want to create a distraction. This will give the players something else to do while night time approaches. A red herring if you will.

One distraction that pops to mind is an accident with the blunderbuss hidden in the hayloft. I'm thinking the groom, Franz Lange, sleepy due to the effects of the drug goes up into the hayloft for a nap. Except luck is not on his side and the the blunderbuss detonates and giving the groom an enlightening look into his internal organs.

Depending on how the players react to this distraction you might want to add further complications. So consider the following optional:

While this commotion takes place some of the cultists take advantage of the accident to frame Hans by placing some incriminating evidence among his personal affairs. This is especially viable if they've noticed the PC's meddling.

Albrecht might try to take advantage of the situation by intimidating the innocent Hans into acting suspiciously or fleeing altogether (guided by self-preservation, to hide his hand in the matter). Since Hans didn't report the missing weapon he might already be feeling guilty and in this fragile state of mind might snap easily. Albrecht's suggests Hans should flee by taking one of the steeds, because surely the newcomers will bring him to justice. Albrecht tells Hans that Koch will aid Hans in his escape by opening the gate, they all know he's innocent, but the PC's might not think so favorably of him.

At this point if you feel the players aren't all that interested in the blunderbuss accident step it up a notch. Koch, in addition to helping the coachman escape will also take advantage of the situation to dispose of one of the guardsmen (with help from some of the other cultists). The dead guardsman will increase the tension considerably, as the other guardsmen might want to pursue the murderer (decreasing the defenses for the beastmen attack).

All of these together could help raise the difficulty of the final encounters and keep the players engaged.

Even if they players don't chase after Hans that's less NPC's on their side.

Or take some time and rearrange who's doing what. Come up with some plausible reasons for the suspected cultist to be the innocent and someone else they thought was innocent be in league with the ruinous powers. BAit and switch it up. Maybe the cultists shift their ritual to somewhere else, perhaps a family crypt or whatnot on the property. Maybe the painting isn't all they need to complete the ritual and it'll take the players doing something else to stop it completely.

Maybe instead of the daemon appearing it possesses someone, Aschaffenegen, or some other bystander and now they have to try and save him...or burn him.

The whole thing is a big trap that everyone at the manor is in on. A trap to lure the players to the area of the ritual at the right time (for some reason I haven't come up with yet). There will be something there at that time too powerful for the pcs to deal (chaos Warriors maybe?), the players can get wind of this before the trap is sprung and have to make a run for it.

So, you have them find out the true story, flee into the forest having to dodge the chasing cultists and the beastmen, then either find some way to evade the hunt or to deal with it.

You could stretch that out for a bit, and it could lead into other adventures as the players try and work out who is setting them up and why....

Some great stuff! More ! More! happy.gif

A Rival Noble makes an official visit to Aschaffenbergs haus, whatever the reason is. So after showing Aschaffenberg the Chaos Temple he begs the the party to keep the show for he knows that his Rival Noble would not hesitate a second to call a witch hunter and accuse Aschaffenberg, too, to be a Cultist.

Maybe the Rival detects the Temple... or is murdred by the cultists... or has to be hindered to tell anyone...

What if the party sees no other way to eliminate the Noble??? The bond bewteen A-berg and the "Heroes" will be closer... demonio.gif

Consider, as stated above, shuffling around what is 'really happening'!

With a similiar problem of Pierrson being instantly suspected - I've changed the ACTUAL cult leader to Vern - the Lord's man! He has worked very hard to keep both the cult alive - in this middle of no where lodge - and to ensure he is close to the old magistrates family. Being put in the position of the new Son-in-Laws main man he was put in the perfect position to set it up to sacrifice his 'Master' to his true Lord and reap his vengeance.

Pierrson is actually suspicious and being somewhat paranoid and seeing the players arrive WITH Vern he suspects them and has been trying to find out about them with the few loyal staff he has.

So now - the players will hopefully confront the Lord and call out Pierrson - and while all of that is causing a huge ruckus - they are quietly nicking off just enough other cultists to do the ceremony and choosing the original poor staff member as the sacrifice instead - but feeling the press for time have headed straight to the roof with the picture, the book, and the sacrifice [consider doing it this way might bring the lower powered demon?]! The players will drag Pierrson and others down to the temple to show proof - all while Pierrson is screaming his innocence.

Then at the dramatic point where they realize some staff is missing and rush upstairs out of the cellar - the beastmen are already in the halls and wreaking havoc!

Note: This is my current idea as I'm in a similiar end situation as you though they arrived in a different manner and have just now chosen to burst in the dining room doors at the start of dinner and demand no one eat a thing! The other awesome thing in my situation is that my Grey Wizard apprentice in the party is firmly convinced that grabbing the books they saw in the temple for the betterment of her order would be wise - and knowing the party would not allow it at ALL - is going to try and snag a few in secret and bring them 'home'. Being the good GM I am ;) - I am totally playing 'her point of view' and agreeing her order would greatly benefit from the books [i did have her make a fear roll to thumb through them] - so the road is open for a slow corruption...I'm thinking that I'll let her know that the books contain very similiar spells - but they are easier to cast than the 'normal' version. =D

If I were you, I'd move their temple to the woods and have the beastmen protecting it..hint that someone has been heading off-grounds..OR move it to the roof if they haven't checked that out..just say it needs the stars or something (have patchy clouds opening and closing..just for action). You should just remember to have some indication that there is someone heading off-site (or to the roof)...but have the PC's discover it late. Since it sounds like they "overfocused on finding the dungeon" then I'd make sure that you take adavantage of all the clues they /skipped/ outside and really take advantage of that.

Personally, I thought it was too easy to find the basement so I had the librarian sitting on top of the rug in his office (so the players didn't think to move all his stuff to get under it).

Our group was/is: Boatman (with high nature skill), Pit Fighter, Bounty Hunter, Zealot. During our first session they fought the beastmen, checked out the grounds, smelled herr doktor and discovered he's drugging; they sat down to eat, but one of the pc's excused himself and ended up alone in the sitting room with the cook (who exposed him to the painting). The bounty hunter player says he was watching closely, so I'm going to expose him tonight too. They had discovered the entrance to the underground in the cellar, but didn't get a chance to explore.

I pushed my players towards being more interested in "who was tired and sullen" and exploring the grounds (and the roof).

Tonight I've got to resolve what happens to the two guys in the sitting room and what happens to the two sitting at the table. I'm thinking of just killing them off outright, or giving them 3 insanities from which they'll have to save for perm. I require that my players always have back-up characters because I kill characters early and often (and not only without remorse..but with glee). My other option is to just have the two pc's in the sitting room become the catalyst for completion of the ceremony..and I'll just turn the basement into a workroom -for-creating-the-painting.

..that will take about an hour...then we're ditching to play some other game...

jh

There's some great ideas here guys, I really appreciate it.

I love the idea of another noble showing up; I think the scenario was really missing some 'halfway event' that kicks things up a notch. Another player arriving just as the PCs think they've worked out all the dynamics is excellent. It struck me that a really good candidate for this role would be to bring back von Rothstein. Not only does this explain his prescence in the area, and allow his character to be developed further, but it brings up all kinds of possibilities.

Why is he visiting Aschaffenberg? Here are some ideas:

- in his usual slimy fashion, he wants to get in first with crawling to a previously not-very-important noble who has now been elevated to a more influential position

- he has a business deal with Aschaffenberg that fell through, or was spectacularly successful ... something that requires his personal touch

- more radically, he is connected to the Chaos cult in some way (was it his merchant connections that found the painting?)

In any case, as suggested, he acts as a great 'brake' on the PCs, as Aschaffenberg can take the PCs aside and tell them that von Rothstein is a notorious gossip-monger and general dickhead who will make things very dificult for Aschaffenberg if word gets out about the manor. Thus forcing the PCs to act in a more subtle manner than they may wish to.

It also brings up the possibility of von Rothstein doing something surprising and heroic at the climax? Just to shatter those stereotypes ... or perhaps, he becomes the sacrifice and the demon bursts out of his fat body - that would be amusing!

As for the ritual, I'd love to have it on the roof, though I suspect the PCs will take the first opportunity to scope out the extent of the secret passages and thus have the roof in mind. Moving things to the woods is a little trickier, as you have to get everyone away from the manor. In any case I might have another big storm come up, then when the ritual reaches its climax, the clouds can part in a swirling whirlpool and a beam of light from Morrslieb shines down on the painting etc etc ...

The suggestion to make Hendrick the 'big bad' is brilliant too - for some reason I hadn't thought of it. The PCs have become nicely used to him being around - and his bandaged hand, which could hide a mutation a la Piersson. Because two of my PCs argued quite strongly in Hendrick's prescence after getting the parcel, he may have thought "well, I have to hire some people for Aschaffenberg, but this bunch have just met each other, don't get on, and seem borderline incompetent, so they shouldn't be a threat". Of course I won't miss the opportunity to have him tell the PCs that at the climax.

I could even have Piersson be even more of a good guy - investigating the cult for personal reasons of revenge, or something like that. That explains his suspicious sneaking about.

I also like the idea of the beastmen getting into the house and running about the halls - must try and work that. Perhaps Hendrick slips away and lets them through the wall at some prearranged place while everyone is being distracted at the feint near the kennels.

Thanks very much for getting my creaky old brain working on this one guys - keep them coming if you have more ideas, I think it would be useful for everyone here!

Here's one more wrinkle now that you mention bringing in someone else halfway.

I couldn't quite get my head around the convolutions regarding the manor and who it 'belonged' to but what if one of the relatives from the 'proper' side of the family comes by for a surprise visit to check on their holdings and their wayward heir (if I'm remembering the flow right)? Maybe the relative is the actual power behind the cult and has come to supervise the summoning. Maybe they're just checking up on rumors they'd heard about odd goings-on. Maybe they saw the advertisement for hirelings and wondered what was going on. Maybe their personal bodyguard can pitch in and help the PCs at the right time (or provide additional competent enemies to fight). In fact, I'd rather have somethign like this than the beastmen attack, they seem all too common in these parts.

Just a couple more random thoughts.

One thing i will say is do not be afraid to simply come up with the next adventure - there is nothing wrong with rewarding clever and intellegent deduction with success - the demon fight is a challenging one and there is the element of stealth required - they are aware of the power behind the chaos cult but the 'trust no-one' feeling still pervades.

Your group feeling like the cat that has got the cream is sometimes a good thing, albeit in this instance they seem simply too experienced and switched on for this adventure which is aimed at a much lower common denominator in the gaming world.

You're right - while the adventure is good for beginners, it's too full of cliches and obvious plot points for experienced players. Unfortunately I just don't have the time anymore to come up with my own adventures, and I'm beginning to suspect I'm not as good as I used to be at 'winging it'!

Anyway, the next session is tonight, and we'll see how these changes go. Many thanks for all the input guys!

Fingers crossed, hoping to hear things went well.

Looking forward to hear how it went Universal!

The 2nd Ed of WFRP (i am assuming a lot of you are here under different guises) had fantastic player support for adventures and ideas on the BL forums and hopefully something similar will grow from this community.

I used a lot of the adventures from the old BL site - i'm a good gm but sometimes fresh ideas from a different viewpoint can invigorate your campaign and I for one am grateful for all the help my campaigns have recieved from the community and will continue to nick all your ideas if i like them enough - maybe a forum or available scenario section may help this game get off the ground.

This is arguably one of the richest background worlds in existence and certainly one of the best for fan support and commitment.

If you are listening FFG we would like a fan scenario competition or forum or something so we can all excite each other into buying your products!

Well folks, after all the hard work and angst the game - as usual - was a big success and a lot of fun. A lot of roleplaying led up to a big combat climax. Thanks for all who helped by suggesting ideas, especially the one about making Hendrick the bad guy (I ended up making both he and Piersson cult leaders) and having a noble visit.

If you'd like to read about what happened, visit our campaign diary site at http://www.headlesshollow.com/wfrp ( javascript:void(0);/*1268022336784*/ )

Now, The Gathering Storm needs to be released, quick!

Cheers!

Sounds like an awesome time was had by all! Great job man!

I am preparing to run this adventure as the starting adventure in my campaign, and this post (and many others) helped me a lot so, after thinking a couple things that could serve to add some difficulty to the investigation, I wanted to contribute them to this post.

1. Planting red herrings (Agitator pamphlets).

One thing I will do is plant some Agitator pamphlets in the possessions of some of the NPCs. I think the best option here is to have all the NPCs in the stables and coach house have some (presumably distributed by Heiko Dieter, the wagoneer in page 88), although some of the servants could also have the pamphlets. The pamphlets would be the usual rants denouncing the nobility and the clerics for most problems of the common folk and calling for a rebellion of the masses to topple the actual order and to create a newer better society.

This could help quite well, as the PCs are hired to investigate a possible rebellion, so this should make them spend some time investigating this red herring (or you could make it even more important and tie it to other events in Übersreik or Altdorf).

Useful tools in the Internet for this are the old Agitator Pamphlet career (from 2nd edition of the game) and a website called the Altdorf Correspondent (they have a very nice Pamphlet Template you can use to create your own pamphlets).

2. Trapdoor under carpet too obvious.

I think this clue is too obvious, so in my campaign, there will be no trapdoor under the carpet. Nevertheless, if the PCs investigate, an Observations check (difficulty 2d before the dinner; 1d after the dinner) lets them discover that there is a tunnel under the floorboards (easier to discover after dinner because of the noise made by cultists preparing the ritual).

If the PCs are in a hurry, they can try to break the floorboards to access the tunnels. Prying the planks open needs a Difficult Strength check (3d) with up to three people working together (i.e., two PCs may assist another). The PCs will open the planks in 5 minutes minus the number of successes. If they obtain boons in the roll, they won't make much noise and thus not alert the cultists.

Alternatively, the PCs may use weapons to break through the floor. In this case, the attempt is automatically successful, but you get to roll 1-4 Challenge dice (depending on the weapon; say, a dagger would roll 4; a two-handed Battle Axe only 1). Apply the following results:

  1. Minimum time to break the floor is one minute.
  2. Each failure result in the dice adds one more minute.
  3. Each bane result causes one fatigue to the PC.
  4. A chaos star result damages the weapon used (give the PC the appropriate condition card).
  5. A maximum of 3 PCs can work together (i.e., two adventurers assist another one). Each assisting adventurer adds 1 fortune die, as usual (i.e., the result of this dice would cancel time or fatigue losses).

3. Eye painting behind curtain in sitting room too obvious .

In order to make this a bit more exciting, I plan on doing the following:

  1. Entering the sitting room (I'll make it a tobacco room) has a Fear2 effect.
  2. Behind the curtain, there are four portraits of, purportedly, the sons of Lord Heissman von Bruner: Heinrich, Andreas, Otto and Leopold von Bruner...
  3. But Lord Heissman only has three sons: Heinrich, Andreas and Leopold (this the PCs learnt if they passed their Education or Folklore tests related to Grünwald Lodge (pages 71-72).
  4. So, the painting of Otto von Bruner conceals behind the painting of the Unblinking Eye. If the PCs realize of this, then discovering that there is something behind the Otto von Bruner painting is automatic... otherwise, they'll need to pass an Average Observation Test (2d) to detect it (each bane result causes 1 Stress; each Chaos Star result causes 1 Stress and 1 Fatigue).

I'll be running this adventure tomorrow and I'm glado cogollo replied to this thread since it made me find it. As I have a group of experienced players, I'm guessing the adventure wouldn't be as exciting as I'm hoping it will be if I hadn't read your opinions and started planning some changes.

Just to share what I'm planning:

- I like Piersson being the sole leader of the Cult. Even if the PCs suspect of him too soon, I hope I'll be able to paint him as an upset servant, loyal to his late Lord and treacherous to the new, or just a greedy bastard that is trying to bring his new Lord down. That won't diverge the PCs attention from him, for sure, but maybe will make them deal with him in ways that don't expect him of being a Chaos Cultist, and who knows what that will mean...

- I'll bring another noble, a political enemy of Lord Aschaffenberg, to the manor as suggested. He will arrive a couple of hours after the PCs. He'll say he just came for a visit, but he is hoping to get any information that might bring a halt to Lord Aschaffenberg's rising and gain the respect of Von Bruner family. His timely arrival is not by chance: he was waiting for Hendrick's departure from Ubersreik. What happens is that he and Piersson have been exchanging letters for the past few months. Piersson contacted him after he learned who was going to take over the manor. The Cult Leader was trying to get some extra force to take his new patron out of the way in the event it was needed. He told this other noble Lord Aschaffenberg was bringing a lot of boxes with the Von Bruner sigil on them, and keeping them hidden. He told the other noble he feared his new patron was stealing from the powerful family. As the date of the ritual came near, he wrote to the other noble inviting him in, hoping he would be a good diversion. Also, he plans to use this other noble as the ritual sacrifice, for, if an unrelated noble dies in Von Bruner property, he expects his revange will gain another level of complexity on top of everything else.

- This other noble will come with two servants that will work as bodyguards and one coachman. I'll bring them in as extra cards on the sleeve. They could be another problem for the PCs to deal, they could be drugged and out of the scene, or they could help. Both bodyguards will be at the dinner and eat venison, and the Coachman will remain at his wagon, thus free to help with the Beastmen attack. The noble will try to contact the PCs as soon as he can, and bribe them to share any information about the things they have been carrying for Lord Aschaffenberg (he will take the PCs as servants and no more). Also, he will try to keep an eye on them all the time, specially if they don't agree in helping them.

- The PCs form a group of three brothers and I nicknamed them "The Three Scoundrels", as they are a Thug, a Smuggler and a Grey Apprendice Wizard. I think they'll enjoy meddling with all intrigue that will be rolling on the manor, and they'll try to get the best of every side. I hope that will make them see the adventure more intrigue oriented, and this new layer could mean finding and dealing with the Cult activities become a little harder. I'll make them see the other noble in what appear to be clear intrigue encounters to encourage this layer. Maybe they'll see Piersson as just that, an angry manservant who lost his old Lord. Let us see...

- I'll let the entrances to the underground similar as they are in the book. I think letting the PCs know there is something below the manor is a good thing. But I'll make it harder for them to get access. Those tunnels were build to keep the residents safe in case the manor was attacked by too large a force. The Von Bruner ancestors who ordered them did so from a group of dwarf engeneers from the mountains that are so near. Thus the hidden doors that give access to the tunnels are locked by a dwarf locker installed on the stone doors. That are three keys to the locker: one with Piersson, one with the librarian and noe with the doctor. To try to pick any of the lock is a Hard test, with 3 difficulty dices. Putting oil on them adds 2 fortune dices to the test. I don't have any idea how they are going to pass through those doors if they need it. Maybe they'll rob one of the keyholders, maybe they'll get one of them after the dinner. Maybe they'll see the cultist accessing the underground just in time to hold the door opened. Let us see... To break one of the doors they'll need to deal 20 wounds with a bludgeoning weapon against a DR of 7. Or I'll do something similar to cogollo's idea of floor breaking...

- I liked the idea of four paintings a lot, but I'll try another approach: the painting of the Eye will simply be hidden on the other side of a painting of Andreas Von Bruner. Entering the room is a Fear 1 situation, and revealing the painting of Andreas is a Fear 2. I expect that will make the PCs imagining there is something about the late Lords death, maybe his ghost still roams the manor or anything like that - anything that is, it's the reason that the paiting is hidden behind the curtain. I hope it will give some mysterious feel to the story, opening a gap in the intrigue focus. How they'll react to that is a mystery to me right now. I just expect they won't take the picture out of the wall right away, thus revealing the true source of the Fear effect - the picture of the Eye (seeing the Eye is the original Terror 3 situation described in the book).

That's it, I guess. I'm eager to see how all of this turns out!

How it went for your group, cogollo?

Well, we are now in the middle of the scenario, and so far things are going at a good pace, not too fast, not too slow. In a 3 hour session, the players have advanced their investigation marker twice (discovering the painting and detecting the strange smell surrounding the Doktor), while the Cultists token has advanced three times (time they took to investigate and one of them arouse the suspicions of Gregor Piersson).

My comments on what has happened so far:

1. The Agitator pamphlets worked very well. A couple of my players are investing some time investigating the matter, thus giving some more depth to the scenario. The advantage here is that you can add more fluff to the story (in my case, the pamphlets denounce the poor safety conditions of the mines near Übersreik and that the Graf Sigismund is not investing enough money, considering all the riches recovered from the mines). I also plan on continuing this thread in my campaign, giving the PCs contacts in Übersreik (possible allies or enemies depending on whether the PCs decide to rat the person distributing the pamphlets... in my case, the coachman Dieter).

2. The encounter with the painting was also satisfactory. My players were happy to recall the fact that von Bruner had only 3 sons. This made the encounter more satisfactory and enjoyable for them... Here I also added marks of nail scratches and dried blood drops in the armrests of an armchair standing in front of the paintings... This allows the players to make the connection of Korden's madness with the painting... One of my players made that connection, which made it also a fun experience for him... By the way, my players left the room without the painting, as I made it quite clear (Fear1 entering the room, Terror3 seeing the painting the first time) that the painting was something truly horrendous to behold... If your players try to get the painting, my suggestion is to force them to make more Fear/Terror tests, and put them in situations where they risk getting caught with such an obviously chaotic artifact in their hands...

3. Also, I have decided not to use the note "Goose is good", as it seems a bit too obvious a clue (plus, in my campaign almost no servant would know how to read)... Instead, I have added the same smell to gortsiete plant in the kitchen... emanating from one little pouch hidden in one drawer...

4. Finally, I suggest to other GMs (that's what I'm doing in my campaign) that you send out any player whose character is not participating in a particular scene. This also makes the interaction between the characters very important and can produce all kinds of funny/weird/party tension increasing situations... In my group, we are lucky because one of my players owns an IPad, so the players not participating in a scene may still have fun while the other players conduct the investigation... if you plan on allowing your players to separate to investigate, I advice preparing beforehand something they can keep occupied with so that you don't have "ostraziced" people.

Great ideas, cogollo! I'm now really inclined in adding the pamphlets.

I've thought long and hard about the note about the goose, specially because none of the servants would be able to read or write (just one of the three PCs is literate, actually). I figured even someone who doesn't know how to read properly should know some words or others. I was going to go ahead on that premise... I also thought about the note having a crude duck drawing...

I'm going to consider doing just like you with the smell in the kitchen. That would create a clear connection between the chef and the doctor, if the PCs manage to smell the doctor or it's brewing potions in his room. It would also fail to give a direct clue on which meat will be poisoned.

As for the progress tracker... I don't really see why it is so useful. I'm planning to give my players the whole day to investigate. They'll get to the castle at dusk, fight the beastmen, talk with the Lord, dinner, have some time to investigate (thought completely exausted, e.g., with a lot of misfortune to every roll - also, thjey are a bunch of scoundrels, they'll want to take as much time as they can, since they are being paid by day of work), sleep (listen to Kordens screams through the night, even if the cultist doesn't take him from the Hospice, afraid to call unwanted attention) and then have the whole day.

The cultist will act at night (the other noble will get at the manor after lunch). If they grow too suspicious of the character's investigation, they'll simply rush things. So I'm failing to grasp the tracker's utility, since I'm imagining everything the tracker could track as being clearly directed by the pace of the story itself.

Could I be wrong? Are you, cogollo, or any of you, finding much utility in the tracker?

Cheers, good gaming!

The main utility I find in the tracker is that it is easier to focus on the successes/failures of the PCs. I mean, it is a practical way of taking into account the passage of time... the same could be done with pen & paper, true, but it would be easier to forget about it.

After reading the scenario and before the game, I wrote a list of situations that would warrant the advance of a token in the tracker. Still, the advance of the PCs tracker is a bit awkward... for example, what is the meaning of the investigation marker being in the 4th or 5th space?

To summarize, I am using the tracker mainly as a way of taking into account the passage of time, because I want the PCs to have a risk of failure if they take too much time in their investigation. In our case, the group arrived at Grünwald Lodge at around 10am, so each advance of the tracker represents approximately 90 minutes.

On the other hand, the investigation marker gives me a slight idea of how many of the clues the PCs have found, but I concede that its use in the Eye for an Eye scenario seems a bit forced. Why should I give any extra clue to the PCs just because they have found 5 clues?

UniversalHead said:

It struck me that a really good candidate for this role would be to bring back von Rothstein. Not only does this explain his prescence in the area, and allow his character to be developed further, but it brings up all kinds of possibilities.

Why is he visiting Aschaffenberg? Here are some ideas:

- in his usual slimy fashion, he wants to get in first with crawling to a previously not-very-important noble who has now been elevated to a more influential position

- he has a business deal with Aschaffenberg that fell through, or was spectacularly successful ... something that requires his personal touch

- more radically, he is connected to the Chaos cult in some way (was it his merchant connections that found the painting?)

In any case, as suggested, he acts as a great 'brake' on the PCs, as Aschaffenberg can take the PCs aside and tell them that von Rothstein is a notorious gossip-monger and general dickhead who will make things very dificult for Aschaffenberg if word gets out about the manor. Thus forcing the PCs to act in a more subtle manner than they may wish to.

It also brings up the possibility of von Rothstein doing something surprising and heroic at the climax? Just to shatter those stereotypes ... or perhaps, he becomes the sacrifice and the demon bursts out of his fat body - that would be amusing!

Cogollo , I love your idea for the painting and would similarly be interested in using your pamphlet idea. Unfortunately, Eye for an Eye is my first exposure to Warhammer and first time running it, and while I have been immersing myself in WFRP lore I do not yet feel competent to write an agitprop rag for Reikland using the very cool Altdorf Correspondent template. Are there any examples of this type of writing or something someone else has used that I could use for inspiration or outright borrow? The sample .jpg that introduces the template discusses the Storm of Chaos, which seems wholly inappropriate for a canonical 3e campaign, else I would use that.

Thanks for the excellent suggestions, everyone!

Klaus Von Rothstein appears in the demo scenario (the "A Shilling" thingy...), so you can download it from FFG.

I think the OP just developed him some more, and gave him more personality/background.