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Showing posts with the label Games Workshop

Xathrodox86 reviews: "A Brutal Finish" by T.S. Luikart

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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...

Xathrodox86 reviews: "Warhammer Quest 2: The End Times" for Steam

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Yeah, I know that I was supposed to review "Ironclad", but stuff happened and y'all get something else. Almost five years ago I've managed to finish the first "Warhammer Quest" on the PC, and now I'll tell you all that you need to know about its sequel! Let's not beat around the bush here - this title takes place during the End Times, the final death troes of the venerable Warhammer Fantasy. Now, as most people I consider the finale of WFB to be some of the worst written fiction of all time. Fun fact, I haven't read a single positive comment about it! Really, not even one. There were a few people who liked the army lists they've prepared in the ET books, but I haven't met a single person who said: "Yes, the End Times were fantastically written. Can I have some more, please?" That said there were a few good things about them, mainly the "Vermintide" games. "Vermintide" 1 & 2 are seriously some of the coole...

"Beat the boredom!" Episode 8: "There are no Such Things as Skaven" by Sami Uusitalo

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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 ...

"Beat the boredom!" Episode 7: "Blood Is Thicker" by Sean Korzeniewski and Russell Thurman

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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 ...

"Beat the boredom!" Episode 5: "The Oldenhaller Contract" by Richard Halliwell and Graeme Davis

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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...

"Beat the boredom!" Episode 4: "The Madness of Baron Von Richter" by... Bob?

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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...

Role-playing Rants: My honest thoughts about the current state of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th edition

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Last week Cubicle 7 dropped a bunch of info about their future WFRP releases. It's quite impressive, and it actually made me rethink a lot of things about the current edition of the game. Yeah, no scenario review this week, sorry. You see, on the 30th of April we've been given a long and impressive list of upcoming 4th edition titles from the developers at C7. You can find it here . Among these we have a bestiary of sorts, a book about magic, both human, elvish and dwarf (in the form of runes, naturally), more parts of the "Enemy Within" remaster and a bunch of other sourcebooks. All in all, that's pretty impressive. Is it finally time for the 4th edition to pick up the pace a bit? Yeah, I'm not even kidding. That is genuienly impressive stuff. Mind you, I don't believe that we'll see any of these titles this year, but kudos to the C7 team for giving us a long and easy to read list of books which we might see... someday. Perhaps. You see...

"Beat the boredom!" Episode 3: "Pretty Things" by Alfred Nuñez Jr.

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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 ...

"Beat the boredom!" Episode 2: "Cold Comfort at the Tsarina's Gate" by Philip Davies

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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...

"Beat the boredom!" Episode 1: "Schwarzehund" by Bill Beers

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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...

My hobby summary of 2019. 2020 can't arrive soon enough!

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2019 came and went, but it was one of the most intense, hobby-filled years of my life. First of all - I got married! It was, to this very day, the happiest moment of my life. What can I say? Being married rocks! Here;s to my wife, Lia - I love you baby, more than anything else on this world. Hobby-wise, 2019 was intense as hell. I've continued to explore Delta Green, the modern, para-military system, centred around the dreaded Lovecraftian Mythos. I can safely say that this is one of my favorite RPGs of all time, and that in 2020 I intend to play it a lot. A few months back I've started to regularly (once a month, usually) enjoy it via Roll20, with a couple of very nice people from Sweden. Johanna, Jim and Martin - here's to you. Fhtagn! Just keep those SAN points high! When it comes to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, it definitely regained a place in my heart, as my all-time favorite roleplaying game of all time. A few years back I couldn't look at the ruleb...

Grimvember 2019 is here! "Burn After Printing" is a fine work indeed!

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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 ...

Grimvember 2019 is here! Will you do it "For Love or Money"?

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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 2019 is here! "Eureka!" is a classic tale, worth checking out!

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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...