Eye for an Eye Notes

By Romus, in WFRP Gamemasters

For anyone starting a new game, some suggestions:

  • Suggest starting with A Day Late and replacing the "Package" and "Elven Envoy" with Lord Aschaffenberg’s Luggage, and Vern Hendrick. Vern is waiting for the late coach and overhears the Roadwarden talking to the PC's. He offers coin if they can bring back the luggage safely (he does not go with them). The coach is delivering more of Aschaffenberg's things from Altdorf.
  • Vern is also busy buying supplies in town for the lodge, so if the PC's fail in bringing the luggage back, the scenario can still play out with the supplies. Vern also can mention how the lodge was also attacked by Beastmen, if the PC's tell him what happened on the road.
  • When Vern supplies 6 silver up front, he asks the players to buy some average clothing to better disguise themselves as servants. If any player gets through the beastmen encounter without blowing his cover (not casting spells as the guards watch from the wall) award a fortune point. Casting a spell does not screw over the mission, but it may make the staff wonder what is up, and you may want to move the Cult progress token a space or 2 as the word spreads.
  • Some of the supplies Vern has purchased may come in handy to the players if they look in the crates (healing draughts for the hospice, for example). You can bring these or other items into play if you feel the need. Have one of the NPC's drop a crate, exposing what is inside, for example.
  • If you want a PC to go to a particular area, you can lead them there by having someone ask them to move some of the supplies to that room (a crate full of wine to the cellar for example).
  • If a player is wounded in the Beastmen encounter, they will not have a chance to rest overnight. You may need to give them a good chance to get fixed up at the hospice or get a healing draught so they will have a better chance of survival after the dinner.
  • Vern Hendrick should refuse to let anyone look at his hand, to increase their suspicion of him (wrongly).
  • The two wounded Guards in the hospice are not wearing their armor. Perhaps you want the player's to find it (poor condition from the battle?).
  • The players may question how a beastmen attack would drive a dwarf mad, you may want to come up with a good lie for the doctor.
  • When they visit the hospice, you may like the idea of having Gregor Piersson having his head bandage looked at just as the PC's walk in. Both the doctor and the gardener can see what is under the bandage, but the players cannot. As they walk in, the doctor lowers the bandage and mentions something about the wound is healing up nicely. This could lower the players suspicion or perhaps make it worse?

More notes later....

Those are some very practical, helpful notes; thanks.

Thanks, hope they are useful to anyone who is about to run it for the first time.

  • Another approach with Gregor Piersson is you may not want him bandaged at all, to avoid players instantly suspecting him. Later, at the cult temple you can have his shirt off, revealing a mutation on his torso (like a black eye-like orb at the bottom of his neck, just above his chest). I really hate the first image on the fist page of Eye for an Eye, anyone flipping through the book can see that and it reveals too much (great drawing though).
  • If none of the players can read, the note "Goose is good" will not do them much good, if you feel they still deserve a hint, you may need to come up with something else before dinner time. If they show the note to Lord Aschaffenberg or Vern, you need to think of how they would react to it. If they show it to one of the cultists, they may read it an entirely different way, a wine list or something.
  • "Goose is good" is too big of a hint in my opinion, I think it would be better to just have "goose", or "goose tonight".

We are continuing "turns" through email between sessions, I thought this portion may be interesting to post. 2 (of 4) characters entered the sitting room as they wait for dinner to start. One player, a mage disguised as a servant named Rylan, says he is activating magic sight, and a barber surgeon names Arz says he is going to look behind the curtain.

Here was my response...

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Rylan activates magic sight as Arz approaches the blue curtain with the chair facing it. Arz reaches out for the curtain curiously, but a chill dread comes over him. He hesitates, as an uncanny feeling that he should not look behind the curtain comes over him.

Rylan sees the winds moving through the room, they are strong winds. But nothing he has not seen before, as the winds of magic move throughout the land and its strength can vary like normal wind. He sees Arz, his hand inches away from the curtain edge, hesitating. "Arz?" Rylan says, which triggers Arz to continue.

As the curtain moves back Rylan almost has to cover his eyes as a bright aura is revealed behind the curtain; as though sunlight was being let in through a window into a dark room.

Arz pulls the curtain to one side as it slides along the curtain rail above, and almost stumbles back in shock at what he sees. Mounted upon a heavy frame carved with a series of startling geometric patterns, is a disturbing portrait of a great eye, distended, with a pale blue iris and a large dilated pupil. surrounded in a mist of purples and blues.

The great eye is disturbing to look at, yet captivates both of you with its disquieting stare, and icy dread scratches at the recesses of your minds.

Arz backs up from the painting, and stumbles into the chair, his hand scraping something on the arm of the chair, he looks down and sees almost half of someones fingernail dug into the wood, and small blood stains, as though someone had been gripping and scraping against the wood with all their strength. [[Note to viewers: This is a bit of fingernail left by the dwarf, who was being interrogated here and driven mad.]]

You both failed your Discipline checks and take 3 stress and 3 fatigue.

Before you even realize someone entered the room, you see the curtain being pulled back by Dr. Stefan Sieger. "Gentlemen, if you can stop snooping around, it is time for dinner." He seems quite irritated. As you are about to say something back to him, the sounds from the other room come into focus of many people talking, quite loudly. As tough coming out of a dream, you realize several people have gathered in the great hall. How much time had passed? You see some of them looking through the door at you as though they are waiting on you to join so that dinner can begin.