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

My trip down the memory lane continues with even more, memorable WFRP characters! Let's take a look at a few of them, and enjoy the tales of their deeds.

This time we're covering the heroes of my first playthroughs of "Terror in Talabheim" and "The Thousand Thrones", as well as the Polish-written campaign - "Lord of Winter". There are quite a lot of them, so I will describe the most interesting ones, the ones that I still think about to this very day. Let's take a trip down the memory lane, shall we?

1. Lukyan Aleksandrovitch Yakov, Kislevite spy master (played by Martin)

To this day one of my favorite PC's of all time. A ruthless Kislevite Checkist (posing as a Imperial merchant) with low moral compass, and a low tolerance for fools, Lukyan survived 6 chapters of "The Thousand Thrones", one of the hardest WFRP campaign ever written. His task was to find the miraculous child and asses the threat that it posed to Kislev and the Empire. Along the way he proved to be incredibly resourceful and cunning, using his party members to further his own needs abd agendas.

No one was safe from his tender "ministrations". No one...

Lukyan was no slouch in combat as well, killing a mutated chaos slug of Nurgle with a single thrust from his sabre, and holding his own against a bunch of bandits in the middle of the forest at night. He met his match, when a Asrai warrior, whom he poisoned previously, returned to enact vengeance and decapitated the veteran spy. Lukyan was a quintesential anti-hero, someone who would do anything to accomplish the task given to him, while also making sure that he'd survive to fight another day. What an absolute legend.

2. Orzad Drokli, foul-mouthed dwarven warrior (played by Mark, rest in peace)

When Pieter the coachman got a bad case of death, courtesy of some swimming beastmen, Mark rolled a new character. A dwarf! But not just any dwarf, oh no. Orzad Drokli was the dwarfiest Dawi this side of the World's Edge Mountains. He loved to drink, eat well and get himself in a solid scrap. He famously saved the ass (quite literally) of major Jander Standfast, after a Slaanesh-influenced Vladimir, the Kislevite dwarf, wanted to have his way with him. Their midnight duel on the corridor of a dingy tavern in one of Nuln's poorest districts was nothing short of epic. It took nearly two hours to conclude this intense and very balanced duel, but in the end it was Orzad who decapitated Vladimir, saving his party member's dignity.

Orzad Drokli in his natural state of not-giving-a-shit-until-something-needs-killing (artwork by Bob Kehl)

Orzad had quite a few adventures in Nuln and post-war Ostland, but he finally met his end during the events of "Lord of Winter", when a daemonically-infused goblin shaman unleashed a powerful spell which froze the mountain lake, through which the party was currently travelling. Half of them managed to escape the wave of killing cold, chasing them, but Orzad was caught by the spell, his legs severed cleanly by the instantly frozen water. He managed to utter a single "fuck" before dying. I think that we can all agree, that this was a perfect way for him to go. Proud, defiant and foul-mouthed to the very end.

3. Don Diego de la Vega, Estalian Diestro (played by Mark, rest in peace)

Yes, Mark played a character named after Zorro. Yes, he was awesome. Taking part in the events of "Terror in Talabheim", Don Diego de la Vega was a quintessential Estalian. Expertly trained with a sword, and possessed of a sharp wit, the mysterious Estalian took the party's hearts by storm. He was present in Talabheim during the Skaven invasion, and fought valiantly against the vile ratmen. I remembered Diego mainly because Mark tried (and failed hilariously) to portray him as a sofisticated and nuanced soul, but his usual gruff demeanor, penchant for foul and morbid humor, as well as inappropriate jokes, turned Diego into a delightful caricature of Zorro, perfectly fit for the equally morbid and darkly humored Old World.

"Hello. My name is Don Diego de la Vega. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Diego eventually ran out of luck, after a Skaven sharpshooter managed to put a warpstone bullet in his eye. He survived the ordeal, but his eye mutated, turning black and huge, emerging almost full from its socket. de la Vega tried to cover his mutation with a scarf, but the rest of the party eventually found out. In a display of solidarity and brotherhood, they let him run away back to the Skaven-occupied Talabheim, where he most likely found his doom.

4. Murder the Hare, half-mad halfling (played by Lukas)

Wooo boy, this character was a tough one, and not in a strictly positive way. Murder was halfling field warden, with a rather short fuse and a hilarious name. He didn't take no shit from anyone, and was generally a pain in the ass, always threatening people, foul-mouthing anyone crossing his way. He even killed an inquisitor, albeit a fat and useless one and couldn't shut up about this fact for days to come.

To be fair, he kinda earned this reputation... (artwork by Berezka)

Murder was a very interesting character because he proved that halflings can be badass too, and not just act as comic relief. Unfortunately this was the last character that Lukas played in our group for a long time, due to his toxic behavior and complete disregard for other people around the table. Eventually he returned, a couple of years later, but... it wasn't the same as before.

So here you go - another four memorable WFRP characters from my early days of roleplaying. Not gonna lie, these retrospections bring me lots of fun and happy memories, and I will continue them. Especially since you lot seem to enjoy them as well! Take care people, and...

...until next time!

Xathrodox86