Earlier this year I began running demos of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay in my friendly local game store, Go4Games . It was a lot of fun and brought the game to a new audience.
During that time I tried to maintain somewhat of a plot synopsis so potential new players could see what was going on. I thought it'd be fun to collect them together and post it here.
Note: Some of these are more complete and thorough than others. This synopsis uses the characters I've posted here . Reading their backstories might help when reading this (especially Leopold Fiegler).
Sunday, March 17th
My Warhammer session just ended. We had a full table of players and had a blast! Who knew "mere talk" could be so fraught with peril?
The party began their adventure dealing with a nobleman by the name of Steinreik. As they attempted to wrest important information from his shrewd grasp, he made it clear that there was another agenda he wished to pursue. He would tell them what they needed to know, but only if they would first handle some shady business for him.
As the social encounter unfolded, angry words were exchanged, clever ruses were planted, blatant lies were told, and outright violence was only narrowly avoided (and all of this happened thanks to the way this awesome system works!). Yet, despite the challenges of dealing with Steinreik and his loyal steward, Manfred, the party managed to pry the needed information from his iron grip without becoming the nobleman's lackeys.
Now the party has enough information to pursue their quarry. Specifically, they know they're hunting down a seller of I'll-gotten academic goods who might know more about what happened the night the book was stolen from the university (see the backstory of Leopold Fiegler for details). Most importantly, they now know the fence's name is Tobias Clem and they know where he will be at noon today.
Next stop... the back streets of Nuln's marketplace to find a fence!
My thanks goes to Brandon, who RSVP'ed for this event on Meetup.com (and who played the morally upright and logical scribe, Leopold Fiegler, so well!), and to my three renegade Pathfinder Society players who joined in to make this session so very interesting!
Sunday, March 24th
This Sunday, March 24th at 1 PM, I'll be running another demo of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition. This time out the party will be hunting down an elusive criminal in the markets of the great city. But little do they know that sinister forces are hunting them as well.
Will they find him? Will the hunters become the hunted? Will there be a massive amount of property damage? There's only one way to find out!
Join us for more weekly big-time mayhem in the wondrous city of Nuln, the so-called "Jewel of the Empire"!
===================================================
This weeks game session just ended and it was awesome. The party visited the marketstrasse (i.e. the market place) to find Tobias Clem. They found him easily enough. However, thanks to Kazgan, the Dwarven troll slayer, he was terrified and ran for his life with the party in pursuit.
Meanwhile, a group of dangerous thugs observed the situation and followed, intending nothing but harm towards Tobias and our heroes.
The chase was wild, wending through streets. Some highlights include Tobias running atop the shoulders of the packed crowd, Leopold siccing the guards on Tobias by convincing them he was a thief, Kazgan starting a near riot after smashing through a funeral procession for a beloved priestess, Tobias leaping onto a crate that hung from a winch and smashing it through the second story of a warehouse... and a WHOLE lot more!
Once Tobias was caught, the party was confronted by the thugs and were told they'd all pay for getting caught up in investigating the disappearance of the book. The fight went poorly for the thugs. After Kazgan horribly mangled their bruiser and routed most of the henchmen, Leopold was easily able to make their leader see reason... and send him running.
Tobias told Leopold that the person who had been seeking the book was none other than Herr Barrow, the governor of the Faulstadt Orphanage. Leopold knew this place for its terrible reputation. He also knew of the strange children who call the place home. Pale, unhealthy looking children who never speak and only ever travel in pairs. When these children appear, holding hands in their eerie, emotionless way, people tend to move out of their way.
The party arrived and investigated this terrible place of despair and found much to be concerned with. A kitchen that has seen no use in years, a storage room lined with sound-proofing and a heavily bolted door, and a feeling that small, dark shadows are always moving behind your back.
Though the party has left, they fully intend to return after hours to find out what is really going on.
Sunday, April 7th
This Sunday, April 7th at 1 PM, I’ll be running my continuing demo of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition. This time out the party will be investigating the Faulstadt Orphanage, run by the mysterious Herr Barrow.
It is a dark, brooding place, filled with dusty hallways that seem to never end and a sinister presence that lurks around every shadowy corner. Oddly, in their brief look through the place, the characters found no children but were assured that they were “around”.
This week the party seeks to gather evidence that something terrible is going on inside that orphanage. If they can find the evidence they’re looking for, they will then sneak back inside and try to learn the truth!
Will the party be successful? Will they disappear behind those dark doors and never be seen again? Don’t wait to find out! Come on down and take part in the adventure yourself!
Join us for more weekly adventures in the dark, wondrous city of Nuln, the so-called “Jewel of the Empire”!
===================================================
We had a great game today. Secrets were discovered, blood was spilled, and a good time was had by all. I'm looking forward to the next session!
Sunday, April 21st
This week our heroes hope to gain the final few pieces of a puzzle that will tell them what is going on in the Faulstadt orphanage.
So far the adventurers have been pursued, ambushed, lied to, threatened, and beaten. Of course, they have also done quite a bit of pursuing, ambushing, lying, threatening, and beating with extreme force. As a result they've learned a lot about the mysterious goings-on in the sinister orphanage.
Is evil present within those dark walls? Find out this Sunday!
As always, we invite you to join us for more weekly adventures in the wondrous city of Nuln, the so-called “Jewel of the Empire”!
===================================================
Today was a good game. The party had found out that there was a priest in the city named Father Braeger who had attempted to renovate the Faulstadt Orphanage, but abruptly disappeared. Gothard and Adred found the old priest in the a hospice run by the priests of Shallya, goddess of mercy. He was an emancipated wreck of a man, unable to communicate, but once he heard the name "Faulstadt" he let out a blood curdling cry.
Father Braeger managed to convey that Adred should take a mysterious pile of papers that was upon his bed. Later, when they examined them, Adred and Gothard found that they were all rough, desperate drawings of a clock face with e 12 o'clock position circled hundreds of times, sometimes nearly tearing through the paper.
The question now is: what happens at 12 o'clock? And where does it happen?
Sunday, April 28th
We had a great game tonight. The time for intrigue is over and the time for action has arrived. Deep beneath the streets of Nuln the party has discovered the remnants of an ancient, massive city whose mere architecture makes their skin crawl. Traveling to the area in which the Faulstadt Orphanage would be located on the streets above, they have found a massive barrow containing thousands of unnatural looking sarcophagi!
Next week: the party will try to learn the secret of these evil barrows!
Sunday, May 19th
Wow, a lot happened in the last two sessions, but it leads us to a GREAT time to join this game!
The party managed to investigate the sewers below Nuln. There they found an ancient, hidden city (or something that looked like a city) and a sinister looking barrow that defied description. The barrow was located right below the orphanage they had been investigating all along.
They soon uncovered a tremendous evil called, "Caliphrae, the Undying", learned that there were cultists that sought to wake him up, and that there were dozens of factions--from Imperial witch hunters, to Bretonian knights, and even Chaos warbands (!)--who were ALL trying to stop this from happening!
The last session ended with a battle between the cultists of Nurgle, the plague god, who had infiltrated the Temple of Shallya (goddess of healing) and a veritable army of Skaven that were boiling up from the depths of the sewers. In the middle of it all were our brave characters!
Now that the Skaven have been routed (largely due to Kazgan the Dwarven Trollslayer), and the Nurgle cultists revealed and slain (thanks to Leopold), the party sets out for the lost city of Mordheim!
As always, we invite you to join us for more weekly adventures in the terrifying blight that is Mordheim, city of the damned!
===================================================
The Tale of Mordheim
The terrible tale of the city of Mordheim begins in Imperial Year 1999, some 500 years before our present day. At that time the Empire was a place torn: it had been in civil war for untold years – there was no Emperor sitting on the throne, and various powers were vying for control. In that fateful year, a great, twin-tailed comet was sighted in the sky – the sign of Sigmar! Astronomers predicted that it would fall in the city of Mordheim.
It was believed that the comet would herald the return of Sigmar, and that he would restore the Empire to its former glory, ushering in a new golden age. Endless throngs made the pilgrimage to Mordheim, filling the city well beyond its capacity. Such were the times that lawlessness soon grew out of hand and gave way to anarchy. Debauchery became the norm as the citizens of Mordheim chose increasingly degenerate pursuits, giving themselves over to their own worldly temptations. As the comet’s arrival drew closer, more and more people made the journey to the city, and the situation escalated. People gave in to acts of horrifying depravity and daemons began to walk the streets alongside men; the seeds of Chaos and corruption had taken root and clearly claimed the souls of the pitiful thousands who now called Mordheim their own.
As predicted, the comet fell on New Year's Eve, but it was not to be the coming of Sigmar as was hoped. Instead, the comet smashed into the city, instantly killing all within the city walls, save for the Sisterhood of Sigmar in their high fortress on an island rock in the middle of the river Stir. The event could be seen for miles. It was not long before the people began to say that Sigmar had passed his judgment, that he had smote those who he deemed unworthy.
A foul mist hung over the city for a week. By the time the first of the curious entered the city, they found the destroyed city crawling with shadows and mutant creatures. Those entering the city alone were almost certainly never seen of or heard from again. From that day on, Mordheim became a place of fear.
However, Mordheim was not truly abandoned. Soon after, word spread of a mysterious stone that lay scattered about the city, known as Wyrdstone, which had all manner of reputed qualities. It was discovered that factions would pay incredible amounts for this precious stone, whatever their motivation. So warbands began traveling to Mordheim, now dubbed The City of the Damned, hoping to find this precious stone and make their quick fortune. The streets rang with the sounds of combat. Evil filled the air. Chaos began to take hold again… and even worse things began to stir.
By now word of this evil reached the Empire’s greatest hero since Sigmar himself—Magnus the Pious. It was he who had ended the civil wars, rallied the Empire in the Great War against Chaos, and saved the Empire. Knowing that such a pit of horror could not be permitted to remain within the borders of the Empire he turned his attention to Mordheim and razed the place to the ground. He then had the name “Mordheim”, and all references to the city of the damned stricken from every historical record available.
This then was the account of Mordheim as gathered from the great book recovered by Leopold Fiegler. However, the party well knows that it takes more than mere fire to abolish some evils.
Sunday, May 26th
Last week the party entered the lost, cursed city of Mordheim. This week they uncover the mystery of its past!
As always, we invite you to join us for more weekly adventures in the terrifying blight that is Mordheim, city of the damned!