Role-playing Rants: My favorite player characters: Part One

Enough with the reviews, enough with the fillers. Let's talk buisness - Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay buisness!

The analitics don't lie. Aside from various Asian porn sites which seem to really like my blog, and re-visit it all the time, the biggest ammount of hits that I generate, come from people who are all about WFRP. This little slice of internet was initially created as a way for me to rekindle my love for this system (which it managed to do), but over the years I also wanted to write about other stuff. World of Darkness, Warhammer 40,000, Delta Green and many other topics have been tackled by me with mixed results, but they never gained the ammount of enthusiasm and popularity, that my WFRP posts managed to achieve.

I'm cool with that, to be honest. There was a time when I was quietly wishing for a more diverse group of followers, but that's in the past now. I am grateful for what I have, for what I was able to build over the years, and I wouldn't change that for anything else. It's damn nice to read mails and private messages from people from all over the world, asking about Warhammer Fantasy, sharing their stories and generally being awesome. Hell, I was even able to interview fantastic and influential writers like William King, Graeme Davis and David Guymer, all weterans of the Warhammer Fantasy franchise. Because of this hobby, this imaginary world, I really proved to myself that sometimes all it takes is to take the first step. Corny, I know, but that's how it is.

I'm ranting a bit now, so let me cut to the chase. This blog needs more Warhammer Fantasy, and I intend to deliver! Aside from the yearly Grimvember event, there will be much more Old World (and beyond!)-related content there will be reviews, rants, analysis, interviews and many other, fantastic things for you to enjoy, starting now!

This article was actually suggested a long time ago by my friend Chris, with whom I've been playing for over a decade now. He approached me and asked if I'd be willing to describe the best and most memorable characters from our sessions. Mind you, we've been gaming together for 10+ years, as I've mentioned before, and I've been RP'ing with various other people as well. starting from 2008. That's a huge ammount of time, and a huge ammount of players characters, which means that there will be more than one post about my favorite ones, the ones that I remember most fondly and vividly.

Without further ado, here are the first four of my favorite PC's of all time. The OGs, the original heroes back from when I was just starting my career of Gamemaster. The first among equals. The heroes of "Pretty Things", "Into the Drakwald" and "Paths of the Damned".

1. Major Jander Mountjoy Standfast, noble soldier of Ostland (played by Martin)

Ok, I cheated a bit. You see this character was Martin's second one, but Sigmar's teeth, what a hero he was! Jander was a major in the Ostland army who was the last survivor of his entire Greatswords regiment. Witnessing all of his men being slaughtered by the creatures from beyond the veil, Standfast decided to dedicate his life to making sure that others won't suffer similar fate. You see, Jander was... surprise, surprise, a lawful good character! In Warhammer, no less! I know, that's crazy, and that's why I've liked him so much.

This is the closest depiction of him, that I've found. Oh and no, I don't care that it's from Age of Sigmar!

He was determined, corageous and dutiful. He took on impossible ods, facing off against a crazy Necromancer riding an undead horror from the sands of Araby, as well as a mighty daemon prince of the War God himself. Standfast was a trusted confidant of Kurt Helborg himself, and, in honor of his liege, he even sported a set of epic facial hair! In the end, disgraced, but unbowed, he met his end in a chilly Ostland forest, fighting to the end against the vile greenskins. He was burried in an unnamed grave, under a mighty tree. Some say that a pair of moustaches appeared on its ancient bark...

Martin continued to create more epic characters in our future games, one of which (my favorite!) was very much inspired by the noble major. I will write about this particular hero in the future, for he is from an altogether different world...

2. Magister Waldemar, fallen wizard of the Light Order (played by Chris)

Master of the arcane and relentless pursuer of knowledge - Waldemar was a country bumpkin who discovered within himself an affinity for magic. He joined the Light Order to unlock his full potential, and discover all the secrets of the universe. His hunger for learning came at a high price, for he drew the gaze of Barzilegius, a greater daemon of Tzeentch, who made Waldemar his puppet, and, ultimately bought his freedom at the cost of the hapless wizard's life.

It is said that the road to damnation is often paved with good intentions...

Waldemar was a great character. He was kind and inquisitive, but also a bit of a doofus. I still remember the botched concealment roll in Middenheim, when the part was preparing to lay a trap for the cultists of the Purple Hand. Waldemar decided, after said roll, that he will stand in the open, right next to the well which the cult planned to poison with Warpstone. He was the party healer and saved his friends on numerous ocassions. He even got himself a familiar, a flying ape, affectionaly named "Sultan". His most famous miscast involved setting himself ablaze on the road to Altdorf, and getting covered in melting, Stirland cheese!

In the end, Waldemar had to make a choice. One of the party members got horribly mutated by a sorceress of Slaanesh, and Barzilegius offered to cure the man, if Waldemar would pledge himself to Tzeentch. He did so to save his friend, and damned himself in the process. When he finally died under a mountain in Ostland, the energy that he released, leveled the entire peak. Thus Waldemar went out with a bang. A big, fucking one. What a legend!

3. Feisty Vladimir, the infamous dwarf from Kislev (played by Lukas)

Whooo boy, this character was special. Played by Lukas, who unfortunately wasn't the easiest player to have around a table, Vladimir was a very unique dwarf, in that he hailed from the frozen Oblast of the far away Kislev. He served in the Cossars and fought against the northern hordes during the Storm of Chaos, eventually reaching the southern lands of the Old World, where he found some unlikely friends, and decided to join their party. He helped in freeing a little girl from the clutches of goblins, fought against the skaven assassin under the streets of Middenheim, and even faced off against a blood-crazed minotaur in the forests of Middenland. At one time he even bought a cat, beacause "it was cheap". Unfortunately he kinda forgot to feed it, and soon his backpack (in which the poor feline was stashed) started to smell rather horribly.

He sure loved to stash unreasonable ammounts of loot, that Vladimir!

He had a penchant for drink, wenches and good fight. Unfortunately his vices proved to be his downfall, helped by his willingness to get into trouble. When the party discovered a small, jaded statue of the Serpent God, Vladimir fell under its power. He wanted to defile one of the party members, a man to whom he made an oath. Before he was able to break it, he was killed by other party member, a "true" dwarf from the mountains. Their epic duel in a dingy corridor of a seedy tavern in Nuln is still fondly remembered to this day.

4. Pieter the Coachman, the best of men (played by Mark, rest in peace)

A devout follower of Sigmar, a blunderbuss enthusiast and a the man who feared nothing - Pieter was truly an epic character through and through. He was with the party from the very beginning, and his often sarcastic and inappropriate sense of humor got him and his friends into trouble, many, many times. With his trusty blunderbuss he blew away scores of goblins, beastmen, undead and ruffians, and he even survived the partial manifestation of a Lord of Change in one of Altdorf's poorer districts (believe it or not, but the army had to be mobilized to deal with this threat!).

If there was ever an artwork that depicted Pieter, it's this one. I even made a mini of him, based on this drawing!

He was valued by the party for his driving skills and his stubborness, and he could always be counted upon - much like the man who RP'ed him. He managed to grab an epic mount, named Snowball, and he took no shit, not from anyone - be they Witch Hunters, thugs, army officers or Warp Spawn. In the end it took a phalanx of swimming, armor-clad Bestigors (don't ask, we still have a laugh from this fight to this very day) to bring him down, and even then he managed to took a few of them to the grave, before finally being torn to shreds by the vile creatures of Chaos.

Pieter would be later referenced in a couple of our other games, and Mark, his player, will always be in our hearts. Rest easy my friend.

So that's it, the first batch of my favorite player characters that I had the privilege to include in my games. The fact that I was able to see my players, my friends, create such interesting, well developed and fascinating heroes, and share them with me, is one of the reasons why I will always love this hobby and the time that I've spent on it for almost twelve years now. In my next post I will describe even more PC's, for there are many that I wish to share with you, and tell their tales. They need to be remembered, and their stories passed on.

Until next time!

Xathrodox86