ezradenney
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Posts posted by ezradenney
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We play pretty much weekly, with 2 rotating games (me running TEW, and another GM running Pathfinder.) We play for about 5 hours at a time (heh, of which 2 hours is side jokes, conversations and dinner..) Our little wrinkle is that we rotate the games in 2s. So, WFRP for 2 weeks, then Pathfinder for 2 weeks. It means I have to be conscious of how I am ending things.
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This idea has inspired me for Power Behind the Throne. I think I will do a deck for each person the party can influence, and as they get better with that person they will gain another card from that deck. The final card in each deck will be the person agreeing to offer their influence to help the PCs.
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I recently did character creation for my group, and we took a whole session to do it. That allowed time for everyone to come up with some background & make a group connection. We went with the random roles, but put all the choices in a pool for people to choose from. I did 2 cards per player & then put them all in the middle of the table. I took out the apprentice wizard & initiate card, because I prefer a low magic start. I will allow them to come in as replacement characters or as new careers (if a good roleplaying reason is given..)
The hardest part for my players was actions & talents, and I really love the idea of giving them a small group to choose from based on their character idea. I wish I had thought of that. It will require the GM to be pretty well organized, and to have grouped the cards pretty well in advance.
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I am running a group through a (somewhat modified) version of the Enemy Within, and we had our first session last night. It went pretty well, but there were some things I could do better as a GM. Plus, with 7 players, it is a handful.
Our heroes are: Vilir, a Dwarf agent who works for the Steinhager family in Bogenhafen (he decided that without my prompting - it made me very happy!), Enzo a Tilean scribe, Kate a young girl who wants to become a healer, Thalos a woodelf hunter, Quinn a recently retired soldier, Amaranta an Estalian Gambler and Mateo a pitfighter looking to get out of the pits.
Vilir hired the group to accompany him as he brought some important documents to Altdorf. They all got free carriage fare and 5 schillings up front to go with him. About 3 hours out of their village, they were beset by Goblins who seemed driven into a frenzy by hunger. The greenskins slaughtered all the horses quickly, and made off with one of the bodies before being driven off. This was my intro fight for the group, to get them used to the mechanics. It had some fun moments - like Mateo swooping down to grab Kate and lift her on top of the carriage before Goblins could get her, or the normally cautious Dwarf being driven into a reckless frenzy by his hatred of Goblins. It took a little bit, but it was important to me to introduce the mechanics to folks.
Now, they were stranded, and could not make it to the coaching in by nightfall. They reluctantly started walking. About an hour later, a wagon comes by carrying Ivan Hendrick, the agent of Lord Aschaffenberg, who recognizes the Steinhager sigil, and insists that these travelers be the guest of his lord. They are not too excited by the idea, but it seems better than camping the night (especially with no camping gear or food.)
On the way to Grunewald Lodge, they talk with Hendrick a little but quickly become concerned about the rustling noises in the forest. The elf actually almost plunges into the forest by himself to hunt out the noises (which would not have gone well for him) but demures. To the shock of anyone who has not played the module before, they are ambushed right before reaching the Lodge (where the gate guards are mysteriously sleeping..) This fight is much tougher for them, despite Enzo helping out his boss with his improved defensive position. The beastmen are still no match for the large group of heroes, but they leave some lingering damage, including 2 fairly serious critical hits (the players are learning to respect attacks that cause automatic criticals..) Enzo finds himself alone facing a Gor at one point, and suffers a grievous wound to his stomach, and Amaranta gets her bell rung by a blow to the head. Neither critical can be healed by Kate.
Finally making it inside, they are shocked to see the state of the house, sleepwalking servants, dilapidated walls, and chaos hordes in the forest. Not the place they want to be. They make a deal with Lord Aschaffenberg (who tries to hire the Soldier and the Pitfighter to work for him, but they show their loyalty to the Steinhager family. Heh heh.) that they will look into the weird doings around the Lodge tonight, and then tomorrow he will send them to Altdorf in his coach.
We ended after the tiniest bit of investigation. The PCs are already thinking poison of some sort, but think it is delivered through drink. For some reason (partly my description, partly Kate's innocence) they trust the cook. They do not trust the doctor they meet (and neither does Hendrick who complains about how long healing is taking..) and one of the PCs asks him for something to calm his nerves. None of the PCs want to admit to the doctor they are wounded, for fear of his ministrations...
Next session will be the investigation, and dinner (where everyone is having the delicious vennison! Although the gambler is trying to cook her own meat to somehow swap them. I'm amused to see what will happen there!) And then off to Altdorf to start the Enemy Within!
I spent a lot of time prepping for this session, but still feel like the rules were not solid in my head. I need to get a lot more familiar with them, especially since I have one player who wants to understand why everything happens and starts examining the mathematics of every action. I am definitely more on the fast & loose side of things, and I need to be more grounded in the rules. But, I really enjoy the system - I think of WFRP as a hybrid between D&D (which is what most of my players play) and story games like Fate (which is what I would prefer..)
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That is an awesome idea. I am totally stealing it!
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I have 7 players and one has the core book. I am actually very afraid of getting his stuff mixed up with mine, so I usually ask him not to use his. I don't want him to lose any of his components, and feel it would be far too easy for dice or cards to get mixed up.
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We just did character creation last week (spent a whole session making characters & establishing relationships.) We did the 2 per player random draw, and then let everyone choose from the pool. We have an Agent (who is going to be the nominal party leader since he hired them all..), a scribe, a soldier, a pit-fighter, a commoner, a gambler, and a wood elf hunter. (Yes, I have 7 players. I know, I know. Happily we can usually count on at least one no show..)
I also took out several basic careers to start (but will allow them as career changes - mainly wizards & initiates), and reduced creation points by 5 across the board. Low power is my favorite WFRP!
It was fun to have them pick things that interested them (I didn't let them see any of their career abilities until they chose) and then slowly build a web of connections.
This Saturday we start playing for real!
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Interesting. I am actually planning on using the Thousand Thrones in place of Something Rotten in Kislev in my current Enemy Within Campaign. I like your take on it more than the Black witch stuff. Especially since I currently have a wood elf in the party (although, he has a long way to go to survive to TTT..)
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Those are all awesome! I especially like the 2nd one, because it is pretty mechanically unique. Good stuff there. Now, he just has to survive 9 more sessions, and find someone who will train him to be a lawyer. Should I call it Lawyer, Barrister, Solicitor or Bailey?
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I'm a firm believer in letting the PCs create the chaos & reacting to it. I generally plan out 3 scenes that I want to have happen, and see how they get me there. It is usually quite entertaining. I try to drop some hints for stuff that will happen down the road, so that when it does happen they are excited (especially if only one PC knows about it) and think they have some leverage. Then, I crush them.
Of course, I am a long time Paranoia GM, which might effect my GMing style some. Heh.
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I have a character who wants to become a lawyer for his character, and I am trying to figure out what I want to do with the lawyer (or perhaps solicitor) talent card.
I was thinking of allowing an automatic fortune die in any social action with lower class (intimidated by lawyers) and a misfortune die with upper class (hate lawyers..) But that is sort of boring.
Any clever ideas I might borrow out there
PS - I don't have Lure to Power, does it include a lawyer career?
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Romus, I am in the same boat. I have been working on converting the old TEW to 3rd edition for my group (this will be their first WFRP game!) and now I am tempted to sort of tread water & do a bunch of smaller things. Alternatively, depending on how "inspired by" it is, maybe I try to run it after I am done with the big daddy?
Hmm. But, I am super excited for the new module, it looks awesome!
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Are you familiar with Endgame? The excellent game store in downtown Oakland? I'm actually planning on starting a group there sometime in the next few months. Looking for an extended campaign that would focus mainly on roleplaying.
There's a good chance that the campaign proper won't start until the New Year, but might try to get together a one shot or two before then.
Oh, and I will definitely be running 3E at the next Endgame minicon in January.
Build an Adventure Path!
in WFRP Gamemasters
Posted
I am doing the same thing right now, and so far so good. I am taking the old Enemy Within, and tossing in some current stuff, and also some of my own stuff. So far, I used Eye for an Eye to intro the game & the characters. They were all given background info that will tie into various parts (including one who is an agent for the family that is one of the bad guys in Shadows Over Bogenhafen!)
After Eye for an Eye, it was right into Mistaken Identity where it became clear that (for now..) the agent was going to be the glue of the party. He hired them to guard shipments from Altdorf to Bogenhafen. Also in Altdorf, the gambler got in a fight with two nobles, who will happen to be the two nobles found dead the next day.
On to Bogenhafen. They end up thinking the Bounty Hunter following them is a Witch Hunter, and during the fight with him (which he escapes) they feel very conflicted. I am now running Shadows over Bogenhafen (which is going very well! Including the agent learning that his boss is evil, which might drive the agent to become a Troll Slayer!), and that will segue into the adventure in the Winds of Magic, as one of the characters becomes schooled in the arts of Shadow Magic.
After that, it's Death on the Reik, but I have modified Etelka to be a Necromancer, and the part of the adventure in the Barren Hills will actually be a very modified Lure of the Lichemaster. After that, it's Power Behind the Throne. Instead of Something Rotten in Kislev, I am going to use a very modified Thousand Thrones to take up the time needed to lead into a finale for the whole campaign that I will likely crib from Empire in Flames.
Sprinkled in here & there will be some one offs (any WFRP campaign must include Rough Night at the Three Feathers, IMO) and some interludes that will come from the players themselves.
The conversion and such is a little work, but it's so worth it. The PCs have done some really inventive things that make me redesign ideas I had for them (there might not be a lot of riverboating going on with this group..) Being able to tailor your campaign to your players makes it more fun for everybody.
PS - My favorite thing that has happened is that the Demon from Shadows Over Bogenhafen has become a recurring villain, who keeps popping up in various doppleganger forms, recognizable to the PCs by his distinctive *sniff* *sniff* speech pattern. I made that up on the fly, and it's been a lot of fun so far. 2nd favorite thing was the purge of nobles that the PCs did in our last session, carving a path of carnage through many of the higher ranking members of Bogenhafen society, including one actual murder! The next session might start with a full on class war in Bogenhafen!