It always rains in Nuln

Today was supposed to be James Purefoy day, but to be honest I didn't had time to fully watch "Ironclad". Too much things going on at once! That said, I did finally managed to read "A Brutal Finish", the official adventure from "Realms of Sorcery". I've been running various scenarios for the 4th edition of Warhammer Fantasy roleplay for some time now. Most of them have been adapted from the 2nd edition, and before we jump into "Rough Nights & Hard Days", I wanted to run "A Brutal Finish", the scenario from 2nd edition's "Realms of Sorcery" book. Is it worth checking out? You may want to pour yourself something to drink first... Taking place in Averheim, shortly after the death of Marius Leitdorf, the "Mad Count of Averland", the adventure is centred around a series of mysterious deaths. Apparently the capital of the province has been plagued by a series of mysterious spontaneous combustions. People fr...

Yeah, about that official adventure review - it ain't gonna happen. At least right now. For you see, I've finally read "There are no Such Things as Skaven" by Sami Uusitalo, and have fallen in love with that scenario. Metaphorically speaking, of course! This 2nd edition scenario is probably in my personal top 3 WFRP modules of all time, and the fact that I haven't GMed it yet is a travesty. Fortunately that will change in 2 days, as I'm about to unleash this masterpiece on my unsuspecting players who've just entered Averheim (the change in location is the only alteration I'll make here). Anyway, what is this scenario about, exactly? Skaven! Skaven, and all of their vile schemes! A prosperous town of Ashendorf, near the great city of Nuln, was visited by the evil ratmen some 150 years ago. The mythical beasts brought with them a horrible plague that decimated the populace of the city, and its ruling elite decided to make a devil's bargain. In order ...

The "Beat the boredom!" series is slowly coming to an end. I've enjoyed it immensely, but it's time to return to my usual writing schedule. Plus I want to write about other things than scenarios! That said, today I will review another WFRP adventure - "Blood Is Thicker"! Written by two authors, it takes place in a small village of Neubühl, which normally isn't even present on any map. Yup, it's that small. Just a tiny hamlet, somewhere in one of the deep forests of the Empire. Lately there's been something going on with the villagers living within its premises. They've begun to act strangely and hostile. Once Neubühl was a welcoming site to any traveler, but now it's full of unpleasant people who don't like strangers and are generally unwelcome to almost everyone. That's not all, however, as more and more citizens of this village go missing, and there is talk of rampant mutations amongst the populace of the town... The PCs find a ...

You know what I really love? Cheese. Hard, soft, blue, cottage - doesn't matter. I am a dairy man through and through, and so when I've stumbled upon the "Strange Harvests" scenario, I knew that I had to GM it! Professor Eggburger, the author of "Strange Harvests", tells a very interesting tale with with this adventure. It takes place in the south of the Empire, where the sun is always worm, the fields are always green, and the rich, healthy climate allows for the people living there to experience a modicum of joy and peace. No wonder that no one likes Averlanders, eh? They just have it too easy! Anyway, the party visits the idyllic and rich city of Edelpilzen, where a trial is taking place. A beloved noblewoman has been murdered in the most brutal way imaginable, and the two suspects are awaiting the final verdict of the judges - all of whom are the ruling members of the town, as well as masters of the Cheese Makers guild. The party can partake in the trial...

Welcome to another episode of my weekly WFRP scenario review! This time I'll be taking a short look at the timless classic - "The Oldenhaller Contract" by Richard Halliwell and Graeme Davis! Let's not mince words - most Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay enthusiasts have played this adventure at least once in their lives. It is an introductory scenario for the 1st edition of the game. I still remember reading it back in the days of elementary school and being freaked out by the creepy fly guy at the end. Mind you, back then I've mainly played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in a weekly club, organised by one of my school friends' older brother. Warhammer was something completely new to me, and at first I... didn't liked it that much. Yeah, it was too dark and gritty, and back then I was mainly playing heroic elves in a forgotten realm of the classic fantasy world, created by Gary Gygax. It was great fun, but a couple years later I've finally managed to catch t...

This week's scenario is a real treat for any horror fans out there. I kid you not, this one is genuinely creepy... and it has zombies! Before we begin - I don't really know who wrote this adventure. In the credits at the end of the PDF there's a mail, from which I've gathered that the man's name is "Bob", but that's it. So Bob - if you read this, give me a call. Oh, and you've written one, damn fine scenario! "The Madness of Baron Von Richter", written for the 2nd edition of WFRP, takes place in a small village in Todesburg, somewhere in the Empire. The PC's travelled for a long time and they're obviously tired, hungry and thirsty - not necessarily in that order. They will surely decide to visit the "Long Rifle" inn, where they can eat a hot meal and rest their weary bones. What they don't know is that very soon they'll have to defend this place from a huge horde of shambling dead. You see, our heroes have arrive...

For this week's "Beat the boredom!" episode I'll be writing about a favorite classic of mine - the WFRP 2nd edition starter adventure, called "Pretty Things"! It was included in the GM's Pack, which was sold with the GM's screen. I still have both of these products, even though they're quite battered. After all, I've been using them for almost 12 years now. Anyway, this scenario was written by Alfred Nuñez Jr., who's one of the WFRP veterans and is still active in the fandom. You can find his website here , and it is definitely worth checking out! As for the adventure itself - it's a perfect introduction to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, as it details the PCs quest to reunite a small, frightened girl with her father. On a lonely, Talabecland road, our heroes encounter a scene of utter carnage and promise a dying woman to rescue Bianka von Radische, a little girl kidnapped by vile bandits. Little do they know, that these hoodlums will ...

Welcome to the second episode of "Beat the boredom!". Today we'll be looking at a 4th edition scenario which takes place in the frozen reaches of eastern Kislev! "Cold Comfort at the Tasrina's Gate" won the first WFRP Game Masters Facebook group, scenario writing competition. Together with my fellow admins, Jim and Elie, we've decided that Philip Davies, the author, made a fantastic job writing this piece, and I definitely think that it's worth playing. Given that a lot of us have more time on their hands, why not try this one out? But let me tell you more about the "Cold Comfort at the Tsarina's Gate". The adventure takes place in the far-eastern parts of Kislev, in the World Edge Mountains, in fact! The PCs are on their way to a small dwarven hold of Kazid Irkulaz, where they hope to score some sweet merchant deals. Their earlier trip to the legendary Slayer Keep of Karak Kadrin ended in a disaster, and this gig is their last c...

Welcome to the brand new RPG series - Beat the boredom! What is it about, exactly? Well, stick around and I'll tell ya! Since most of us are currently hunkered down, waiting for that whole COVID-19 shite to pass, boredom became a very real issue. One of the best ways to beat it is to engage in some fin TTRPG experience with your friends. Naturally I'm talking about playing exclusively online. Roll20, Digital Playground, Skype and Discord - these are some of the perfect tools, one might need to organize a web RPG game. But there's also the issuse of WHAT to run. To this question I only have one answer - Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay! I've been on a huge WFRP drive lately. I'm reading everything about the new edition, running two Roll20 games simultaneously, and can't enough of the Old World! I've figured that starting a new series, focused on easy to run scenarios (and maybe even short campaigns) would be a decent idea. That's how "Beat the bored...

What better way to end this year's Grimvember, than to review one of the best, one-shot scenarios for 2nd edition WFRP? "Burn After Printing" by Alexander J Bateman is a textbook example of a intrigue done right. Taking place in Altdorf, it throws the PC's against the machinations of a necromancer, a chaos coven, and even some stevedores! Employed by wealthy and beautiful Michaela von Jänke, our heroes need to destroy a cache of, supposedely, pronographic pamphlets, which besmirch the good name of their employer. It soon turns out that there's more to to this task, than meets the eye, and our intrepid adventurers will have to travel the winding and ever-shifting streets of Altdorf, and even the sewers below, to find out the ultimate truth. This being a WFRP scenario, the truth in question is more than horrifying... This fair city hides many a dark secret... Separated into four parts, "Burn After Printing" takes place during a relatively short ...

This year's Grimvember is almost over, but there I still have a couple of scenarios to cover. Today I take a look at Brian E. Kirby's "For Love or Money", which can be found in the 2nd edition's "Plundered Vaults" anthology. This is a tough one to play. Not because it's overly hard, or badly written - quite the contrary. Kirby made a fine job of weaving a tale of a father who hires a bunch of heroes to find his missing daughter. No, it's the ending. I'm not a squeamish person, and I don't mind "difficult" topics in my games, but "For Love or Money's" ending really got me shuddering with unease. But first things first... The heroes have been hired by one Bela Dustermann, a noble living in a Wissenland village of Mittleresdorf, who needs them to find his daughter Julianne. Apparently the girl ran away with a young, handsome rogue, Rudiger Kaltblut. Herr Dustermann really wants his daughter back, and is willing...

Grimvember is in full swing, and I've decided to revisit an old favorite of mine - a classic adventure by Paul Hargreaves, called "Eureka!". Gotta love this old school font...  Taking place in Nuln, the best city in the entire Old World (no, I'm not biased), this scenario finds the PC's employed by an eccentric inventor, Wolfgang Kugelschreiber (yes, really). He needs their help with dealing against a bunch of thugs, who want to extort money from him. Kugelschreiber is slightly manic, but a genius none the less, and he promises the party a large sum of money, if they'll help him with his "problem", while he continues working on one of his many, fantastic inventions. Unfortunately for the heroes, it soon turns out that the extorsionists are not whom they seemed at first. What's more, is that the goverment of Nuln has also taken interest in the engineer's work... "Eureka!" is a very short, but also extremely entertaining sc...

Grimvember 2019 continues as we take a look at Ben Counter's "Carrion Call". Will it reach the standard of his Black Library work? Ben Counter has penned a lot of stories for both Warhammer Fantasy and its dark, futuristic sibling. His work includes the Grey Knights trilogy, a bunch of Imperial Fists stories, the grim tale of Egrimm Van Horstmann, and many more. Until recently I've just learned that he also wrote for the Black Industries! "Carrion Call", a spooky scenario from the "Plundered Vaults" anthology was penned by Mr. Counter, and it does not dissapoint. I've originally ran it almost a decade ago, during a time when I still had the capabilities to organize a all-night session, from time to time. I fondly remember this adventure for actually being genuinely creepy (something that very few WFRP scenarios can actually accomplish), and challenging - both things that I hold in high regard, as a Gamemaster. It starts with the players ...

It's that time of the year again! The fourth edition of Grimvember is here, and so, throughout the whole month, I will be reviewing some of my favorite WFRP modules, both official and fan-made. This year we're starting strong, with one of my favorite adventures of all time - "Everybody's Talking at Me"! Penned by Georgios Panagiotidis, this scenario takes place in a small, sleepy village of Nordfels, that had just been shaken up by a brutal murder of a certain halfling entertainer. With this unfortunate's grisly demise, the town became a boiling point of resentment, paranoia and suspicion. The heroes are offered a job of Schlichters, arbitrators whose job is to settle various arguments between the memebers of Nordfels' community, and to difuse the tense atmosphere, before the village tears itself apart. It's not as peaceful, as it looks! WARNING! Minor spoilers ahead. Panagiotidis' short scenario is a perfect example of how well can ...

It's time to end this year's Grimvember and I've decided to do so with a review of one of my favorite short scenarios - "Sing For Your Supper" by Nathan Greavey. I've GM'ed it only once, many years ago when I was still a fresh Gamemaster, learing the necessary ropes and niuances of this fine hobby. I've decided to run it right after the finale to the "Paths of the Damned" campaign (which actually references the "Sing For Your Supper") and was not dissapointed. My players also liked it a lot. They've liked it almost as much as this little fella enjoys getting grinded into a sausage! The premise is rather simple. The PC's have been hired by a rich man from Nuln to find his missing daughter. Along the way they will meet all sorts of unique and colorful characters, visit the Great Elm Deutz, eat a ton of sausages and uncover a truly nefarious plot, which could threaten the entire city. "Sing For Your Supper...

There are a few official WFRP scenarios that I really like. Most of them have been written for the 1st edition of the game, and "Eureka!" by Paul Hargreaves is no exception. It first appeared in the 93rd issue of White Dwarf and was later included in "The Restless Dead" anthology. It's a favorite adventure of mine, as it's simple, tense and has that classic WFRP humor which really distinguished the very first edition of the game. Welcome to the 80's. Enjoy your stay The premise is simple. A band of unemployed adventurers, satying for a time in Nuln, have been hired by an eccentric inventor, one Wolfgang Kugelschreiber (I see what you did there Paul). Together with his plumpy assistant Fatboy Smallnose (sic!) he's being blackmailed by a band of thugs, who want to extort money from him and will not settle for empty threats. During their time as bodyguards for the inventor, the PC's will have a chance to examine some of his fantastic ...

Welcome to the third edition of Grimvember, where I review my favorite WFRP modules - both official and fan-made. Let's kick this year's grim & dark event with a look at "Chaos in the Rye" by Jeff Mason. I've GM'ed this adventure at the beginning of this year. It was sort of a prelude to the "Thousand Thrones" campaign that we're currently playing. Well, a prelude is perhaps too big a word. Simply put, I wanted a short scenario between "Terror in Talabheim" and the "TTT". Did "Chaos in the Rye" managed to satisfy my snobbish taste? I really dig that climactic art. It simply fits the tone of this scenario Yes. Yes it did. Jeff Mason managed to craft a really nice, cheeky horror-like scenario with this one. It has everything: cultists, chaos, daemons, beastmen and rye, which is the main antagonist of this adventure. Sadly, beside the title, Jeff's work has nothing to do with J.D. Salinger's excel...

Whooo boy, what a time to be alive, eh? GW is in full swing, releasing tons of new minis, tie-in games and... children books? Wait, what? I know what you're thinking right now, after reading these first, few lines of intro text. "I bet that you hate them children's books, ya cranky sod!" No, no I do not. I honestly think that the upcoming "Warhammer Adventures" series is one of the best things that Games Workshop ever made. No joke, no irony on my part, I'm 100% serious here. This is simply awesome and a clear sign that the Nottingham company thinks a couple steps forward. Simply put - they are making sure that today's children will, at the coming of age, jump from adorable kids stories to stuff like Gaunt's Ghosts or the Ciaphas Cain series. Sure, Warhammer as a whole is marketed towards children, but let's be honest - some of this stuff is not suitable for youngsters. Daemonculaba? Slaanesh? Hell, even the Imperium with its totalitar...

Let's end this year's Grimvember with a bang. So far I've only reviewed scenarios and campaigns, but now I'll take a closer look at a sourcebook of sorts - the "Order of the Feathered Lord" by Sami Uusitalo. Every scenario is only as good as its villain, or maybe that's just my opinion. Anyway, I love a well-written bad guy in my adventures. Boring, one-dimensional villains are usually more harmful to the overall structure of the scenario, than they're to the PC's themselves. Fortunately the "Order of the Feathered Lord" presents gamemasters with a right bunch of evil a-holes, who are incredibly well written and very cool to use in almost any game of WFRP. They also serve the coolest Chaos God of them all! The "Order of the Feathered Lord" is the first part in the "Blasphemous Cults" series, created by Sami Uusitalo. Unfortunately I only have volumes 1 and 3 (Cult of  the Possessed). If anyone out there has th...