Into the Deep (redux)

[Shandowner]

Welcome
This is the second, and hopefully... more successful version of my warhammer Quest blog which I began almost 2 years ago. Since that time, I had moved away from my primary gaming group, and until recently had no one whom to adventure within the underdark of the Warhammer world.
Fortunately I have moved back home after 18 months, and am eager to get some much needed gaming time in!

Enter the dungeon.


First, I will go over the rules we are playing with, and followed by a synopsis of our characters and games.
The end goal is to eventually have a long-lived campaign, with memorable characters and perhaps a fully painted WHQ box set and monsters.
(At least all the Characters are already painted!)

House Rules.

We use pretty limited house rules, in order not to over-complicate things.

- For the Dungeon

Every Character can take up to 4 actions per his initative.

1 attack
1 Move
2 Free Actions.
Free actions we define as using bandages, Magic items, spells, and other Equipment.

This rule sorts out the the characters from getting to powerful in respect to their peers at later levels. (i.e The Wizard blowing his entire spell pool at the onset of the turn)
We also only allow characters to take actions during their turn only.

We randomize the Lantern holder, and use initiative on actions following that. To Balance it out, we hand out treasure in reverse initiative order.

So if alot of the enemies are killed prior to the Slow Characters getting to go, at least the magic items they gain first can balance it out.

We decided, that any creature damaged by more than one member of the party, gold value was placed in a community pool
Also, for any type of Buff you give you're teammates, and each point you heal a teammate is worth 5 gold.

For Settlements, we allow every character to visit any location (whether special or basic) just once. (to avoid a bog down.)

Narrative/linked campaign story.
We decided to to a mutually Narrative Campaign, where we all would take turns running the back story, and all play against the "deck" together.

In this vein, we are using 2 characters each (for a total of 6 until our fourth player can join us) and picked our warriors.
I decided to go with the Imperial Noble, and the brave Warrior Priest.
I enjoy the Swashbuckler Noble because he is a "light" fighter. While he can't wade into the thickest of fights like the Barbarian and Bret Knight,

The Noble is sufficient to take out smaller threats on the fringes of the battle and has access to guns. Besides, i always like the dashing, skillful sword types.
I went with the Warrior Priest, because, he is often an under-utilized warrior. Not the best at any one thing, but again, very flexible. With some light healing, he is a good secondary healer, and can buff the warriors around him as well. A good second of the line fighter.

My good friend Travis, took the Pit Fighter, and the elusive Wizard. The pit Fighter of course was chosen, for Travis's love of MMA, The Pit Fighter, can selectively level his stats upon gaining higher levels, so that is really helpful, and while he doesn't have the stopping power of the Bret Knight and Troll Slayer, he can clear out weaker foes quite easily.
The Wizard was picked due to almost the need to have him. Travis traditionally plays the Wizard, as the Wizard acts as the ranged artillery, as well as the primary healer. Travis Randomly drew the spells, Shield, Lighting bolt, and Life-force.

My brother Mike decided on his two favorite archetypes of the Warhammer world, the stoic Witch-hunter and the Chaos Warrior.
The Chaos Warrior is Mike's favored class, because since we began playing WFB in 98', Mike has always used Khorne Warriors.
The Witch Hunter was always a favorite as well, as Mike collects and owns, 19th century books on Witch-hunting by the Catholic Church, as well as guides of the named devils/angels of that time. Creepy, but nonetheless interesting.

Well with Characters picked I had about 20 mins (while the other guys smoked) to come up with a reason on why these guys come together, and how to start their first adventure. Since the joint-narrative Campaign was my idea, I got the hard one. (i.e finding a reason for all these dudes to band together!)

[Shandowner]

First the characters Bio's, and back story.


Piotr Rasputin is a Wizard of some renown, elected among his peers from the colleges of magic, to obtain a known magical artifact known as the Liber Chaotica from the hither lands of Leicheburg located in the western arm of the haunted hills, in the dark shadows of the World's Edge mountains, some forty leagues north of the Moot. Picked for his knowledge of the north/eastern states of the empire (as seen by the name Travis picked) Piotr was a part of a regiment sized chaos-hunting party, who stormed a fortified Marauder encampment, as directed by the nobles of Aldorf, to stamp out any evil, before it takes root within the Empire.

His mission complete, the small remainder of his party, upon beginning the return trip to the more "Civilized" parts of the Empire, is set into a running battle, between the hunting party, and foul, marauders intent on reclaiming the Liber Chaotic (which i envision is like a "Chaos for dummies, Getting Started" guide)

The last of the party to escape an ambush (by using shadow magic) Rasputin, thought he had shaken the Marauders of his trail, having not seen any hints of pursuit for days... Upon which Rasputin stumbles upon a Roadside Inn....

But if he only he knew, Broer Folkum was tracking him. A member of the Kurgen tribe, and who's soul is dedicated to Khorne, Broer worships his God through his murderous fighting ability. Not the least bit excited by some of the berserker qualities of his fellow tribesman, Broer, knows he can worship Khorne ever more completely, by having a greater control over his blood lust and perhaps one day leading a great invasion of Chaos into the empire as a chaos chosen general.

But for now, however, he is a lowly scout, and coincidentally the marauder scout whom tracked the wizard's route. Not one to share glory, or accept help, the warrior of Chaos, covered his blacked plate, disregarding any emblems of Khorne to infiltrate the great empire of man, and to reclaim the "Liber Chaotica" With this, he starts for the Roadside Inn as a tired waylaid adventurer, merely bidding his time for his schemes to hatch..






Drunkards and vagabonds is often the term, most affluent citizens of the Empire would sneer anytime one would bring up Gorgeous George and the Flashing Blade. Two rich ne'er-do-Wells by the way of Reikland, the life-long friends squandered most their respective Inheritance on loose women, seedy Bars, and compulsive gambling habits. Once known as Gregory Secundus Whitmire, the one-time son of a noble turned the pit fighter, was convinced by his best friend Archibald Cunningham that the pair of them needed to reinvent themselves. For the love of money and gambling, (and to replenish their dwindling net worth) Gorgeous George and the Flashing Blade were born! The two swindlers, decided that the better fighter, and dashingly handsome Gregory would become a prize-fighter, while the cunning Archibald would become his manager. It was only after a couple months worth of bouts ending with some controversial endings, the gig was up. The pair, then made their way across the Empire hoping that the Pit-Fighter's dark past (of him taking a dive) that has may angry bone collectors on the hunt, will not catch up with them.

But on these particular dark nights, the pair had seen the warm glow of the Inn, and perhaps the inviting thought of cold beverages, and made their way inside.







Meanwhile in the provincial capital of Halstedt, in the western Moot. The town magistrate laid contingency plans in according with the Church of Sigmar. Prior to sending anymore regiments into the dark forests of the toward the Marauder encampment, the Magistrate would allow two agents of the Church investigate if no word is heard in a ten-day time. The deadline came and went, and the agents of the Church, Warrior Priest Heinich Von Stauffinberg and the grim Witch Hunter Solomon Cain began the trek to the northeast, guided by the pale starlight of the Celestial Order to Piotr Rasputin's last known whereabouts. The the older Warrior Priest Heinich, was educated by the Church of Sigmar, and was renown for his refuting critics who deny the reality the Realm of Chaos, thereby hindering the prosecution of suspected cults and covens. In an area, with a known encampment nearby, his skills would be invaluable. Solomon Cain, known as a accomplished Witch Hunter ,and though he has yet reach the rank of Inquisitor, Solomon has garnered many accolades, not the least for his capture of the sorcerer Scavius, a known eater of the dead.

[Shandowner]

Campaign Session 1 "Doboshova's Inn"

For the first adventure, (and since we were short on time, and it was late on a Sunday night) I decided to run the mini -adventure Doboshova's Inn.

The quick plot was that in this back corner of the Empire, a old crone Doboshova rules the land, and upon sensing the distracted Rasputin, entering the region, she magicked up a her old country manor to resemble a comfortable Inn. No sooner then the illusion was in place, a pair of young and extremely brash adventurers walked in, and began ordering spirits and meats. This actually helped Doboshova, and the witch had her slave-girl Newt, prepare food for her guests. Soon, her prey approached, and behind the wizard, a large northern scout with dark eyes. The evening turned into night, and as the Witch prepared he enchantment over the broth and ale, but before it was served, two somber members of the church approached the Inn....

"The crowd of the Inn that night was sparse. The patrons consisted of a pair of young warriors, speaking drunkenly loud, a towering north man in a booth sitting in back corner, a couple of farmhands huddled around a table, and a serving wench. The aroma of spiced potatoes and firewood was a welcome scent to the two weary heroes. In not many places that the followers of Sigmar could go, and not be reminded of the dark storm clouds to the north, and the talks of Chaos.
With a slight nod, Heinrich approached the serving maid behind the bar, with Solomon going to an open table, who noticed the farmhands speaking nervously, and in low voices. Heinrich returned to the table with a loaf of bread, days old, and a small glass of wine for himself, and water for the Witch-hunter. Solomon was a sombre and gloomy man of pale face and cold eyes, all of it shadowed by a slouch hat. His eyes missed very little, and the Inn seemed unusual for him, in this place away from any crossroads. The two sought guidance from the star-wizards, with the moonlight guiding them here. But, there was no wizard. No sign of the missing regiment. "Damned place", Solomon muttered, his complaint muffled by the benediction of Heinrich over their food. A loud bang, interrupted the prayer, a chair being knocked over, the two nobles drunk seemingly acting out a vicious fight scene that they perhaps had seen somewhere." Disgraceful", remarked Heinrich, a slight smile cracking his weather-worn face as he watched Solomon, take a swig of his water, seemingly disgusted by the brash youths. "If ever these men knew the nature of the demons, perhaps they wouldn't be so carefree in such times." Heinrich nodded, seemingly agreeing with his co-patriot, and felt a sudden reluctance to speak to the Witch Hunter, before opening with a full grin, "Well, if they did my brother, i guess yours is the last face they'd see!" The Warrior priest laughed at his own jest before looking up, detecting the strange sense of foreboding that had come over Solomon. The pair exchanged glances as thoughts passed wordlessly between them, It was a rare moment only found in great difficulty or danger which made their senses razor sharp. Solomon drew on the table with his finger the lessor key of Vassago, a demonic symbol of the followers of chaos. Heinrich nodded his understanding, reaching for his hammer before bursting from his chair. Vertigo overcame him, a sidewards glance told him the same appeared true of Solomon, the Witch Hunter stumbling down as quickly as he stood. Solomon gasped for breath, croaked weakly.. "the water.." Darkness fell."

The first adventure found our characters locked in a dungeon with each other, and with servant girl Newt. It was a small deck we played, consisting of just 7 cards, and an objective room. In this mini adventure, the bad guys are largely pre-set, The girl Newt, was tired of being a slave to the witch, and in the cover of darkness, sneak by the guard (the broad beastman Hroth) to free the party.

Some slight rule modifications. Any random event monsters generated, were automatically giant spiders. (To stay in the creepy witch theme.) And of course our heroes began without any weapons. (located in the first room with the guard. Also, The Warrior preist took charge of Newt (after all if the heroes bring her back to town unhurt they gained 1d6 x 100 gold apiece!) We decided in any room, Heinrech instead of moving could "castle" the serving girl, swapping places with the girl (to maybe defend her if she is based by a monster.

The adventure began, and the heroes burst out from the cell, with Archibald, running to the rear of the hulking beast man, Solomon flanking him, with George and Broer charging the monster in the front. Almost immediately the heroes knew something was amiss, Rasputin, and Heinrich detecting an unnatural field in the place sapping the room of the winds of magic. (Travis never rolled above a 3 for power in this room.) Two hordes of giant spiders joined the fray, the Beastman wielding his magic spell eater sword in wide arcs keeping the heroes at bay. With the spiders dead, the witch hunter jumped on the Hroth's back only to be tossed onto a nearby desk, smashing it. but seemingly the nearby broom began to float?... Next up the Flashing Blade, rolled to escape pinning (success!) from the beastman, only to charge back into the fray after spending movement to for a kick-flip off the wall attacking the beast man agin. The beastman ducked and Archibald crashed across the room. (we rolled on a 1-2 you move through the square holding the beastman as the beastman ducks..)

Finally the Beastman and Chaos warrior, began a life/death struggle in the middle of the room, the other heroes, dazed of fighting more spiders.. Hroth, sensing that perhaps this human was a follower of chaos such as himself, ceased attacking.. (failed to hit twice.) Broer, grinning to the beastman attacked savagely snapping the creatures neck, keeping his secret. Meanwhile it seemed the WitchHunter had his own private duel on, the animated broom, seemingly more than a match for the witchhunter. The witch hunter drew back and in gritted teeth, decided he knew where his next vampire stakes were coming from, snapping the broom. (we decided that Solomon, gains 3 stakes that do 1d6-2 damage with no modifier for str, unless the creature is undead where they do double damage plus str. each are one use only.)

The next couple rooms were a bit less interesting, the warriors walked down a long hall way, at who's end was a black cat that seemed to grow in size to a panther! The Duelist and Witch Hunter looked at each other, shrugged and pulled out their pistols and shot it stone dead.

Finally the heroes, fought their way to the exit, the path blocked by Doboshova herself, the old crone raising a blacken finger, readying an atonement. A swarm of spiders dropped from the ceiling, as well as the witch's pet cave squig who horribly injured Solomon. But before the battle was joined Gorgeous George spring loaded reflexes catapulted him into action, smashing aside the witch's defenders, smashing her already crooked nose with a right straight across the face! The warriors bellowed charge, and the north man, and wizard cleared out many of the spiders, the duelist shooting the squig-hound and Heinrech healing the unconscious Solomon. the witch Doboshova, croaked one last attempt at a pitiful spell, before George maneuvered into a full mount, using his ground and pound on the hag till she was a bloody heap. With that the first adventure was won!!!

We decided that the characters, would stick together and try to get back to Halstedt with the "Liber chaotica" in tow. The only thing left was to roll on the Objective room treasure (where we rolled all 6 characters, with the one winning it, unable to get another until the remaining party each successful get one.)

Solomon won the roll, and seemingly he discovered what the crone's squig-hound was protecting... THE HAMMER OF SIGMAR.

Post Game sequence

The journey to the city was 6 weeks journey away at least, a the party began their trip. over the first week, the Solomon showed Heinrich the discovery of the Hammer, and the two perused their holy books to see if the weapon could be the actually Hammer of their warrior deity, if their Emperor Karl Franz could possibly have a fake, and what they should do. Not a man to use such weapons, the Witch Hunter gave it to Heinrich for safe-keeping, and the Warrior Priest then sent word via runner to his senior priests on orders of what to do. The Witch Hunter, named the weapon Malleus Maleficarum, or the Witch's Hammer, until the true secret of the weapon can be revealed. The Journey was taken at a leisurely pace, and no hardships confronted the party, until the final leg of their journey. It was then that the northern adventurer Broer, suggested that they take a shortcut through a pass, which then was subjected to a avalanche. (chaos at work, i tell you! Mike is never allowed to roll the random event chart again!) or was it purposely caused by the secret chaos warrior...hmmm

The party discovered that the way back through the pass to Halstedt was blocked, and with supplies dwindling, they made it to the village of Enzesburg.

Depressed and knowingly there is only so much fun to be had in this backward town, Gorgeous George and the Flashing Blade made a bee-line to the nearest alehouse to get inebriated. Broer went along, looking pleasant, but inside trying to determine his next move. The Agents of the Empire were a bit more responsible, the Wizard and Witch Hunter collecting a pool of money from everyone to purchase two mules, and two wagons. While Heinrich turned Newt over to the local consiable and purchased bandages from the general store. (found 6 whoo-hoo) The remainder of the town was uneventful, with somehow the entire part (sans the warrior priest) getting hit by a run-away beer cart.

So our first adventure ended. No level upgrades (spiders aren't worth very much) And I'm on the hook to give an outline for the next 2 adventures on where the party is going before i hand it over to the other guys.
This much I determined already.

Gorgeous George and the Flashing Blade are staying with the agents of the Empire, because all the crooks and bettors they pissed off by throwing fights will be less likely to attack once they see them with a stern warrior priest and stoic witch hunter.

The chaos warrior being a scout will be valuable to the group, as they are in the backwater of the empire and a guide is always needed (although his "shortcut" didn't workout mwahaha. Broer on the other hand, sees this as a way to infiltrate the heart of the Empire. (and get back some artifacts)

Heinrich, Solomon and Rasputin, will be attempting to return the book, make their report, and discover the true nature of the Malleus Maleficarum

Maybe, the agents of the Arch-lector capture Heinrich in a political power struggle for the real hammer of Sigmar, and the others must rescue him?

Or perhaps the fabulous duo pissed a thieves guild off, resulting in a chase to the coast. Or maybe Newt is really Doboshova the witch?...

I haven't figured it out yet, but stay tuned for the next adventure, but hoped you enjoyed reading.

[Eboli]

Great intro and writing. Makes me yearn for a game.

Looking forward to reading more on your future games!

[Purplebeard]

Ditto what Eboli said.

Great writing. Some more pictures would be great too.

Your house rules look quite interesting - I do think the current 'unfair' system of rewarding warriors for killing monsters makes for some fun situations though

[Shandowner]

Ditto what Eboli said.

Great writing. Some more pictures would be great too.

Your house rules look quite interesting - I do think the current 'unfair' system of rewarding warriors for killing monsters makes for some fun situations though

Well, the House rules aren't but soo constricting. The players still get what monsters they kill, but if someone else assists in the slaying of the monster, the money goes into a pool.

I am getting ready for the second game myself, but because we all have families, we are looking at every other week, so one week from today will be our next game.

And i do intend to insert "in Game" shots, but i didn't know i was actually going to make a blog, till i was up and typing! lol

[Purplebeard]

It's all good.

Looking forward to updates!

[constant_ones]

Nice painting, did you use heavy body acrylics or oils? They remind me of the one artist who kept winning golden demons in the early 2000s, he had a similar heavy feel to his painting, really captures John Blanche for me, excited to see more!

[Shandowner]

Nice painting, did you use heavy body acrylics or oils? They remind me of the one artist who kept winning golden demons in the early 2000s, he had a similar heavy feel to his painting, really captures John Blanche for me, excited to see more!

Thanks!,
Neither, I use the standard GW/Reaper paint lines, but have covered the models in "ard-coat." so we wouldn't bang them up (drinking and playing)
I think the Ard'coat, combined with my painting style, gave them that unusual look/texture. strangely enough, my armies usually don't get that effect (except my witch-elves)

If i was better at painting, perhaps i'd know the whys and what for(s).

[Shandowner]

And we are back... The intrepid travelers journey found them in the tiny village of Enzesburg, located in the eastern reaches of the Empire. After an avalanche blocked all paths south for the party, the group discovered only two trails led out of this region. The first was a highlands trail that curled up the bleak hills, that was guarded by Blackmoor Keep. Currently the tower was held, our heroes were told, by "the Dark guard" a band of ex-soldiers of the Empire turned bandits, supposedly over low pay and increased hazards while stationed in the dangerous lands so near to the haunts of Sylvania. The other pass led the heroes to a road called the "the low way" that borders the Marshes of Madness. The low way gets habitually flooded during the high tide, as the marsh water raises to ankle and shin deep along the road. The road is home to a few gloomy villages, and their inhabitants, whom are always on guard against the howling voices located somewhere out in the swamp.
The heroes put it to a vote, and decided that the "low way" would be the direction they'd be taking which leads them eventually past the Marshes of Madness, and later Jagerforst forest to the town of Steinbachthal.
A decision they would later regret, as that the party would pushed to their limits, and beyond.

Campaign Session 2. " The Terror"

The party, had traveled the "Low way" for two days before coming to a tiny unnamed hamlet on a mound, with the dark swamps surrounding the pitiful few buildings.
The inhabitants seemed to scratch out a living growing "saw grass" a particularly sharp variety of vegetation, sold to farmers to dissuade rodents from eating their seasonal harvests. The rain and wind particularly made the journey difficult, and a small taverns warm lights, beckoned the party invitingly inside. Once inside, (and a bit in better spirits due to Ale) our heroes learned of a ghastly voice on the wind, as told by the villagers, where many a traveler or villager would go missing. The haunted voice comes from somewhere deep inside the swamp, and if the heroes were determined, treasure could be had exploring and conquering the evil presence. With that, the confident warriors shouldered their weapons and packs, heading into the marsh, unknowing that one of them would never return....

With this session, I ran another adventure i found online named "The Terror". This adventure was a bit different than a typical dungeon crawl, with the party having to roll first on a event table 6 times. Some of the results would have the party, navigate that part of the marsh easily, while other results had the party attacked by Zombies, or skeletons, the remains of fallen travelers and felled warriors, who's doom it was to walk the marshes of madness forever.

Anytime the party rolled monsters on the event chart, i'd set up the board as the following. I used the objective room tile known as the throne room. (the one with the pillars and throne, obviously) The characters were set up by picking a square, and rolling a D6 and a scatter die, to see where they end up. (the broken terrain of the swamp, prohibiting a nice orderly column. The Pillars would represent trees (no attacking inbetween or moving a through them. the Marble dais, would be deep marsh water, where characters could only move 1 square, and suffered penalties to hit. Of the 6 chart rolls, the party was attacked by the vicious undead 3 times, and before, even getting to the lair of the banshee, the party expended all their resources of bandages.. not a good sign.
The final hurdle before entering the tower, was a dark pool of murky water, chest high. It was here, the final guardian of the swamp attacked. Broer was guarding the rear, when a slimy tentacle reached out and dragged the chaos warrior into the dark depths.

The rules for this encounter were simple, the chaos warrior needed to roll a d6 plus his current level, vs the tentacle's 2D6, and beat it once. Everytime he didn't, 1d6 unmodified wounds would be inflicted on the chaos warrior until he was freed or dead. Now many, many players dislike how WHQ can just "kill" a character due to a bad dice roll on a random chart, be it in a dungeon, travel hazard or town. But we set out on this campaign to play it as fair as possible, as pure as possible.....

The first couple rolls, saw the mighty Broer, struggle to free himself before he drowned, but the monster pulling him down was too strong, the chaos warrior taking 5 damage from his 13 wounds early. The mighty warrior kicked up reaching for his comrades; who were on dry land but could do nothing to help but call to him words of encouragement, though Archibald and Solomon, both fired their pistols into the depths trying to free him. The creature of the black lagoon squeezed even harder, inflicting 6!!! more wounds on the hapless marauder in one roll reducing him to a critical 2 wounds!! The stage was set, for a final roll. The dark water seemed to still on the surface, some of the party looked on with concern at the depths, while others looked nervously at the growing number of forms staggering toward them from the swamps, distant, but nonetheless attracted by the rounds fired. Under the water Broer gritted his teeth and in one explosive motion erupted into a Khorne-inspired frenzy.. hacking and biting, slaying and flailing!!! but it wasn't enough. Mike again failed to roll high enough to free his character, and with a glance around the table, i tossed the damage dice..... "1", the one result on the dice that didn't kill the warrior of chaos.
Mike, Travis and I cheered, and laughed! the epic battle wasn't over! Then Mike/Broer began on the infamous "Conan the barbarian" speech

Khorne, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That's what's important! Valor pleases you, Khorne... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you!

With that the blood god, granted his request (and next dice roll), and the chaos warrior broke free, escaping the carrion call of death.
Now we can finally enter the dungeon!! Whew!

[Shandowner]

The dungeon was a small one (because of the added hazard chart included in the adventure) and turned out only to be 6 cards deep. The first two rooms were a stair well into a fighting pit, and it was here that the monsters from the swamp caught up to the party, with additional lurking undead hidden inside. Archibald, Solomon, and Rasputin where in the lead of the group, already down in the fighting pit making their way to the far wall, Broer, George and Heinich had still let to climb down the rope. Skeleton Archers, shot from the rear of the stair way (being the first tile) at the party, grievously injuring Heinich, Broer swung his mighty axe in wide arches, smashing skeleton warriors that got in the way. Then George, before he could assist the embattled Chaos warrior, was webbed, by spiders descending from the ceiling. The group in the pit faired no better with raised skeletons cutting the noble down and Solomon fairing badly against three skeletons himself. Rasputin gnashed his teeth in frustration , no winds of magic seemingly could penetrate the gloom of the swamp. However, a new development occurred, Malleus Maleficarum, the witches' hammer, glowed with an subdued blue glow, and in a flurry of swings, the warrior priest turned the skeleton warriors engaging Broer into bone dust. George then managed to free himself , and smash the spiders in front of him, finally swinging down to Archibald's aid. The Party soon forced through the ambush, and went further into the tower. One short corridor later, the warriors found the Banshee's lair. (we drew the orc lair, from the expansion as the objective room.)
In this adventure's final room, We rolled up monsters, and we rolled a bit too high...(10 Zombies, 8 Skeletons, a Banshee and some spiders) unfortunately, i didn't realize what the rule "terror" did in Warhammer Quest. Due to the banshee, our Characters vs the Zombies had a -2 to hit. Against vs Fear causing skeletons, we were basically hitting on 6's. Solomon, and Archibald were the first to open the door, and a banshee's scream greeted them, turning all our warriors resolve into jelly, the the green fiery glow of the undead horde began to lurch toward the heroes....

" The Darkened chamber was alive with slow, staggering shapes. The soft glow of arcane magic shined in the skeleton's eyes while decaying limbs of zombies scrapped along, a soft moan escaping their lips. Faced with this shambling horde of undead, The steely eyed Solomon fired pistol shot into the nearest zombie, While Archibald, deftly avoided the claws of another. We can't hold them! snarled Heinich from the back of the column. For a moment there was no reply, and the until the shrill scream of the Banshee, again washed over the heroes like a wave, one of terror. George feinted left, then smashed a zombie with a spiked fist, while Broer; lashing with overhead chops with his axe, had his aim shaken due to the necromatic magic. Hissing and spitting the zombies seemingly enveloped the Solomon and Archibald, whom in turn fought with the fury of doomed men, unloading the last of their pistol shot, at the while slashing with wild abandoned at the undead monsters. "Fall back to the fighting pit", George roared, heel pushing a zombie backward into another monster, "we need to decrease their numbers somehow!!!" Piotr Rasputin nodded his understanding and incinerated two undead with a lighting bolt, with the priest of Sigmar Heinich then batted another, "path is clear, fall back!!" In the front of the column, the fighting was more desperate, and the horde thickest. Broer shouldered a skeleton off of the Solomon, whom scrambled up, cut from a dozen wounds, and now favoring his right leg, the Witch hunter desperately reloading. The Flashing Blade wove a dance of death against the Horde, his rapier exploiting every opening given to him, but the swashbuckler was now slowing, with clothing torn from his body, and the teeth of a creature still latched on his now broken left arm. "Fall Back!" bellowed George again, The pit fighter, seeing his ages old friend, fighting desperately backpedaling as the rearguard. Then as if they could sense his pain, the heroes looked back to see Archibald, felled by two black arrows. A stutter of fear ran through the party, seeing the zombies, knowing that creatures couldn't be kept bay any longer. Archibald Cunningham known by and large as "the Flashing Blade" gritted through his teeth at his companions "Go!" then turned to the undead horde and stared into the abyss and charged"

Well our party was horrifically over matched (i made a game known as difficult to players starting parties, even harder..like a jackhole.) As it was, we couldn't find a way to extract Archibald from base to base with the zombies and skeletons, (kept failing his pinning roll) and to save the party from this mess, but we saw that if we have 4 characters on the top of the "fighting pit" tile, only two monsters could attack back. By mitigating the attacks back, our heroes, would have a slight chance to survive, as long as our luck held up. And held up it did, the power phases began to be strong with high dice rolls, every turn, and Rasputin thundered lighting bolts into the bottle necked undead, The ones that made it through then had the option of fist spike, axe, warhammer or saber. (we moved the zombies/skeletons out of the objective room as they pursued the heroes, including the banshee!) Eventually we were down to just the banshee, whom by herself, again almost brought the party down, until Heinich, blessed by his own prayer brought the monster down, with sigmar's judgement. (pair of 6's with Sigmar's hammer! for quadruple damage, twice.)

With that the party lost our first hero (only on the second adventure btw)

Post game sequence.

The party made it through to Steinbachthal. George, sullen by the lost of his dear friend began training rather than drinking in town, but first employing a courier he sent Archibald's family Heirloom, rapier and dueling pistol to his ancestral home in Reikland. Rasputin, went to a mages guild, to explore his new love of lighting bolts, and to see what similar magic he could discover. While Heinich and Solomon, prayed for Archibald's soul, ending the session.

After game thoughts... Well I think the adventure was a bit difficult, again at first we were unconcerned, until, we realized what some of the rules could do.
If i did it again, i'd tailor the adventure to be a bit easier, but I have no one to blame but myself for the loss of my favorite character.
That said, we are playing the game without cheating, so we expect that we might lose a couple guys on occasion.. That said, the next character I'm leaning towards is the Barbarian........

Next up, my Imperial Noble review.
What he does well, what he doesn't, and his role in warrior parties..
Also I will include photos of the game sessions and "action shots"

[S_A_T_S]

Good tale, especially those tension points like the tentacles and fighting pit. They are always the best bits about WHQ. Looking forward to some action shots!

[Eboli]

Thanks for the story Shandowner. Enjoyed the read and you and your players have the right attitude in realising that the game is deadly and favourite characters will be lossed. If the character loss is that heart felt maybe a speciail quest to get some special magical device/component to bring back your character to life.

Keep this blog going. We don't get a huge amount of posts here so everyone one of them is precious. Message to myself to get some more done!

Cheers!
Eboli.

[HereBeDragons]

That was an excellent read! Im definitely going to have to get my WHQ stuff sorted out and a quest going!

[Shandowner]

Well, althought these are from the 3rd session's adventure (not finished yet, was super long and got bogged down in the objective room till 230 am oon a work night..wives weren't happy..)

Here are some action shots!!! (and going forward, these will be in the session synopsis's..)









Yes, i know i need to paint the back of the shields and the doorways...(grumble,grumble)

[Shandowner]

Warrior Review: The Imperial Noble





The Imperial Noble is best represented in the fluff, as a brash, cocky empire noble, who survives on his wits and skill rather than his brawn.

So let's delve into this character class to see if this character really fulfills this role in the party, and how he plays.


The Noble himself, begins the game with what i consider a "light" equipment stack. Compare him to the 4 original warriors, and he gets some cool toys, but if compared to the warrior packs released later (Bret Knight, War Dancer, Witch Hunter) He's light on special rules and abilities.


First of all his starting values aren't the greatest for a front of the line fighter (ala Chaos warrior, barbarian, dwarf)

He begins with a relatively low wound count (1d6 +7) and a distinct lack of armor. So this clearly tells us, do not have him rocking up to the meanest enemies, in the thickest of the fighting. (something I clearly ignored!)


Where he shines, at least in the beginning is with his duelist skill. This ability, in short allows him to keep attacking, as long has he scores a "hit", and with starting WS of a 4, typically means 66% of the time against lvl 1 and 2 enemies. BUT the disadvantage is that the skill can only be used with the slim and dangerous rapier, which unfortunately gives a tiny +1 str to each blow.


The real advantage to the Imperial noble in the beginning levels however is his "Dueling Pistol" This piece of kit is a mighty weapon, that shells out an enormous +6 str to an attack. But that's not the strenght of the weapon. It is the fact that it is the easiest missile weapon in the game to hit with (provided you aren't pinned.)

To hit, simply count the number of squares in between you and you're target and roll over that number. if you consider that you move before you shoot..you more than likely will only need to roll over a one to hit.


The Noble is gifted with a int stat second only to the elf(s) with a 5. So most the time he should be moving just after the lantern bearer (we randomly decide on character with the lantern each game) The problem with this is a trap many players can (and in my case did) make.

It is the nature of WH questers to want to gain as much treasure for their character as possible. As such, often rather than use tactics, players will at times jeopardize their character, and the party pushing their luck too far (wandering too far from the group, taking on too many monsters, rushing headlong into a room)


The Imperial noble will almost always be the second character to move. So often will be on the very front lines when the nasty objective rooms and and dungeon rooms are uncovered. The benefit is you don't have to miss a turn of movement waiting on a slow int charatcer to move. but, if the player is wise, and huddles near the center of the group, the noble can unleash with his dueling pistol, from behind the beefier characters who can take a blow, then scoot out to the flanks as the battle develops using his duelist skill to take on the weaker monsters that appear on the fringes (missle armed troops)

Finally the Imperial noble is given the ancient heirloom, as a bit of Kit starting out. A minor ability really, that offers some protection (-1 to hit) against a randomly determined monster starting off (giant spiders, orcs, rats, etc) Good for back ground purposes i think mainly. but sometimes it can help in a jam!


Leveling


The Imperial Noble will more often than not fall behind the heavy hitters of the group when it comes to leveling and gaining gold. Again, this is ok. you will not be able to keep up with the barbarian, bret knight, wizard and pit fighter, in killing and obtaining treasure but as you level, the Imperial noble can get nasty.

First his skills are all based around his ability as a duelist and can stack, often two skills per level (one "sword skill" and a regular skill) So our noble, might be able to quick reload his black powder weapons, or give himself a "parry save (6+ ward)" The Imperial Noble also gets the second attack at second level, and has access to options giving him +1 to hit. Im sure you can start to see how rapid fire his rapier can get!!


In Town


The Noble has expensive habits, and taste and in settlements the character reflects it!! First you spend a min of 10 gold "per night" you stay in a settlement, rather than the 1/2/3 village/town/city gold everyone else can use. Secondly you will want to stop by his special location "Luigi and Salvatore" a chain of high fashion clothing and equipment for the more affluent denizens of the warhammer world. As this character wouldn't be anything without style, he must roll a dice, anytime he is in that special location, to avoid purchase the "newest fashion" a relieving you of a hard earned 100 gold!!! But this L&S does have some wondrous black powder weapons like the blunderbuss (think medieval shotgun) and the hunting-rifle for some sniping abilities!!


The Noble, is dashing, heroic, and flexible to play. Be sure to acknowledge his limitations at first (that he shouldn't be surrounded by orcs in the very front)

and he should do any player well. If you like a womanizing, compulsive gambling, alcoholic characters like I do.... or simply the next Errol Flynn, you can't go wrong with the Imperial Noble.

[Eboli]

Good summary Shandowner. This class sounds like he can complement a team of adventurers quite well - following he is careful.

Many thanks for the write up!

[talion]

@ shandowner - loveing these tales, and the photo's it good to see full back stories for quests.

If you are looking for additional ideas for quests, i have made a number of new dungeon boards you can download and use on my site.

www.quests-of-legend.weebly.com

Do you ever play GM style with a preset dungeon?

I'd love to put up a quests page up on the site for GM's to use with a full map of the tiles and back story.

keep up the good work.

[Shandowner]

Hey Talion! You make those (as in print and sell?)
If so, how much? i want a set. PM me

[talion]

Hey Talion! You make those (as in print and sell?)
If so, how much? i want a set. PM me

Hi shandowner, all the tiles are on the site for you to download and print including the dungeon cards. I have printed them and made them into tiles myself, but would only do the same as you would, print them through a home printer and mount it on card-stock.

All of the tiles are designed by me, with others that i'm making for future sets. Currently about 50% through my next set "Dwarven Mines" with most of the corridor sections done, and a objective/dungeon room in progress.

There are also extras on the site including new doorways to use with your current dungeon tiles, some of these are still WIP. Time is a big factor, if you read my poll page you'll see why.

Glad you like them, if you have any cool ideas for rooms or sets, let me know.

Talion