Hey guys,

We are starting a new campaign, and new characters. I plan on playing a Ulric Initiate, but I find the character hooks and playstyles suggested in the tome of faith to be sort of opposed. You will have to forgive me, as I am not terribly aware of actual Warhammer lore.

Ulric is a warrrior cult. Ok. They champion the direct approach. Not backing down from a fight, not using strategy etc as much as relying on strength. But they also channel the wolf. An animal that uses pack tactics, an animal that looks for openings to exploit, uses strategy to win its fights etc seems to contradict the suggested playstyle.

Then looking at the spells, there is a lot of movement exploiting spells, or spells that help with surprise initiative rounds etc. I feel that there is a conflict.

I want to play a Priest that is wanting to embody the wolf, vice brute strength. I feel that the nature of a wolf is about stalking, hunting,choosing targets, using surprise, not just brute strength.

Any thoughts on that?

Thanks guys.

Here's what we've got in 3e:

Battle howl-1
Fury fo teh white wolf 1
Sacred flame of the white worlf 3
Duty before dishonour 2
Fury of Ulric 2
Spectral Wolf 3
Endure elements 1
Prey's scent 1
Swiftness of the wolf 1
valour of ulric 1
Ulrics strength 2
Wolf 's cunning 1
Winter's chill 3
Wolfpack 5
Howling mad 4
Fangs of the wolf 4

Here's what we had in 2e that could be exapnded upon:
Tome of Salvation p.235+

Thanks jh,

Question. What supplement are those tier 4 and 5 spells you reference in?

I think I am just going to campaign with our GM to look at Ulric from a different point of view. I just have a hard time with the meathead concept the book tries to sell us, then look at their spell list and symbols.

They're probably from Heros call or Signs of faith.

Like I say though, just having the ability to purchase a spell from outside your order for an extra cost (or same if it just makes sense), really helps get more use out of all the product we have and helps to diversify the characters. As it stands, there just aren't enough spells to diversify one priest from the next.

jh

Searching the web, Heres some notes on Ulric

Ulric is portrayed as a massive warrior, armored in the style of the barbarians who inhabited the Empire several centuries ago. He wears a silver gray wolf-skin cloak and wields a massive waraxe named Blitzbeil. He can take the form of a huge silver-gray wolf. Ulric is a distant, harsh, and unforgiving god, who expects his followers to stand on their own two feet and put their faith in martial prowess. He despises weakness, cowardice, and trickery, and expects his followers to always take the direct approach to solving a problem.

Strictures

Bravery, self-reliance and strength are the greatest virtues. Underhandedness of any kind are dishonorable and at odds with Ulric's nature of directness and honor. Obey your military superiors and never refuse an order unless doing so would break another of Ulric's tenets. Never refuse a direct challenge. Modern weapons, such as gunpowder weapons, artillery, crossbows and fire-bombs, because they do not rely any physical strength are shunned. Followers of Ulric must never allow one of the fires of a shrine or temple to go out. Oppose Chaos wherever you see it. Never flee a fight unless facing overwhelming odds and the greater good would be served by such a flight.

The problem is your thinking of Ulric worship like a wolf with a wolves mindset. What you should think of is him as a Honorable Barbarian who relies on strength to deal with a problem. Funny, I always pictured them like a bear rather than a wolf.

Do wolves sneak up on you? I thought they howled and thus gave advance warning? I know they are fast, cunning and fierce.

This is the my view on a Ulric follower on the way I read how a follower of Ulric acts. = I always pictured them like a bear rather than a wolf.

I also think that a god wouldnt let you access his spells if your of another faith. But back in 1st edition, and maybe in 2nd. There were general Cleric spells anyone could access, as well as worshipper only spells. So you had more choice.

But how could you have a chaos worshiping sigmaritte if all you had to do was ask him to cast a sigmar spell and if he couldnt he was a heretic? Be too easy.

If you look at the Chaos gods their worshippers get access to Dark magic + their chosen chaos gods magic, from the books I read etc.

Maybe have those other gods spells work to a lesser extent than a true follower? I dont know as, I didnt forsee an issue, never played a Priest/Cleric.

Heya,

Thanks for the thoughts. I think your view of the bear versus the wolf is spot on. I am not animal professional, but, I see wolves as slightly sneaky. They definetly are not straight up 'fight' kind of animals. One of the things I do as a player in this game is review the action cards the order has available and then build a story around what inspires me. Ulric has one rank 1 reaction/spell cards that is essentially an ambush card. That stupid spell has me going down this hole of questioning the symbols, the spells and how I should go about playing a priest of Ulric.

Hi simpatikool,

I just wanted to say that I have a lot of sympathy for your views on Ulric. Some aspects of his cult have been used far too literally in order to present his followers as nothing more than heavy metal fans in the WH world. It's not the whole truth. Power Behind the Throne and Middenheim: City of the White Wolf presented his cult in a very different light for instance -far more 'civilized' and in line with medieval Christianity. OTOH the original Enemy Within booklet had that bit about his templars attacking in an undisciplined and mindless fashion which I think was a joke that's had unfortunate consequences. Bits of both are necessary in my view. Ulric's cult should certainly have its own distinctive identity, but not to the point where its nothing more than a bunch of bullying simpletons who disdain thought of any kind (they actually run an academic institution in the Collegium Theologica!).

Being honourable shouldn't mean that they are incapable of cunning or deception, or that they are unbelievably stupid. Certainly my own take on his followers as far as war and strategy is concerned is that they treat it like hunting. They rely on cunning and are extremely harsh and ruthless in the way they wage war. They harry their opponent, pick them off piecemeal, burn or better yet steal their supplies, wear them down and use lures and deception to get them where they want them and set traps to ensure their destruction. The whole chest beating thing seems like a blind alley to me.

It should also be remembered IMO that Ulric isn't just a god of battle but also of winter.

Alfred Nunez wrote some great mythological stuff about Ulric that appeared in Morten Krog's Norsca project, and was reused in jackdays excellent Norsca material (which can be found at http://kalevalahammer.webs.com/norsca.htm ). You might find some inspiration in that stuff.

All this wolf talk has me thinking of a scenario involving the following elements:

Norse ulfenwrer (or more)

Middenheim

Initiates of Ulrich

A local community of Ulrich worshippers in Middenheim that have been mislead

Tension b/c a wolf of Ulric was killed openly by a priest of Sigmar in his attempt to get to his suspicions about the ulfenwrer

Winter Zombies (because everything's better with zombies)

..