Over 20 years ago I read in a popular (back then) german RPG-magazine called Zauberzeit about a new british roleplaying game which was just published and had an awesome campaign consisting of several boxes with amazing handouts, maps and an extremely great story. What faszinated me even more was the fact that the game-world was not like the other roleplaying games I played back then. It had a gameworld that was loosely based on medieveal/rennaissance Europe and was still fantasy. So in addition to all European cultures it had the typical fantasy stuff like wizards, elves, dwarves and orcs. The most important thing for me was that its main background was placed in a country that was based on the holy-roman Empire. I thought ‘Wow! An english game with german background. Thats amazing!’. I was 15 and the game was of course WFRP. So I bought the game and the campaign and started reading. It was a challenge - my english was not good (to be honest, it was lousy) and there were so many things to read. But I tried and I never regret it. It was so different than anything I’d played before. Apart from the background there was this careersystem that worked so different from all other level based systems. Also the adventures where so different as they were no stupid dungeon-crawls like most of the adventures we used to play. You could even play a beggar or a student if you wanted. WFRP was indeed the first roleplaying game which redefined the term roleplaying for me. So I started to love this game and soon it was my favourite system. I still played other systems like AD&D, MERP, GURPS or Star Wars but WFRP became a constant in my rpg-live.

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According to www.theminiaturespage.com Fantasy Flight Games will publish their line of WFRP products as PDFs at RPGNow beginning on Friday, June 19th. Its interesting though that neither FFG nor RPG announced this on their sites…

What else could be added? Download it here.

Presenting the Karak Hirn sourcebook:

Karak Hirn (pdf)

This version of Pfeildorf corrects a few spelling errors, changes a couple of names, and moves a section of text into a new appendix. I like to think it is an improvement.

Pfeildorf - final version (pdf)

Like every year there will be a TimCon in 2009. This year again it will run as part of Shadow Con III on May 23rd and 24th 2009 at the Northfields Community Centre, London. For more information on this event please visit the website of the Shadow Warriors or the forum thread for Tim Con VIII.

More than a year ago now, I finished the first draft of a project I’d had in mind for some time. This aspired to open up the world of high politics in the Old World by presenting a detailed model of what the Courts of its’ rulers were like. With the overdue addition of careers such as Courtier and Politician in the second edition this seemed an even more pressing consideration. Drawing extensively on historical material, especially from the sixteenth century, the plan was to outline the structure of the organization and elaborate on the departments and officers within it to provide a stable and atmospheric gaming environment in which adventures could be played out.  It seemed highly unlikely that WFRP’s publishers would publish any detailed material on the subject and as I had some interest and enthusiasm for it I took it upon myself to devise a gaming aid for groups hoping to play in this kind of environment. The aim was to provide a useful setting for those without the inclination to study this kind of history and a source of reference with all the necessary details for those who do. The initial idea was to create a blank model devoid of ‘in game’ background specifics around which GM’s could develop their own ideas and build upon. This was to be supplemented by sidebars which would provide a bit of ‘local colour’. Unfortunately, the project eventually became much larger than I had originally intended (over 50 pages!) and as a result became inappropriate for the style in which it was executed. This became apparent in the course of composition and as I slightly altered my approach the results were ultimately something of a hybrid stylistically. I have been planning to rewrite the whole thing in a different format but it is clear that this is going to be a major task and thus more of a long term goal. With that in mind I thought that making the original draft available to a more general audience would be worthwhile until a version that reads less like an essay can be completed. Our divine Server Goddess has graciously offered to host the document once I have knocked it into a presentable shape and sagely suggested that I prepare a short preview containing samples of the dubious delights that will be forthcoming.

The article is broadly split into two parts. The first gives a general overview of the Court, its’ structure and the major departments it is composed of, and also the overarching themes . Here is part of the generalised introductory text:

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Written by Eric Cagle, David Chart, Steve Darlington, Andrew Law, Jody MacGregor, and Chris Pramas.

Like it says on the tin, Shades of Empire is a collection of articles detailing nine different organizations in the Old World. Some of these can be used anywhere but the emphasis is undoubtedly upon the Empire, which should not be a great surprise. Each article follows a similar format with a general description being followed by a GM’s section containing a number of secrets; there are also sample NPC ‘mentors’, locations and some plot hooks. Also included are several Hedgefolk careers as well as the Pamphleteer, Cadet, and Admiral options. All of the articles have been designed so that PCs can actually join the groups should the GM deem it appropriate. The book does contain a considerable number of typos and printing errors but the text remains easily comprehensible. The ‘pick ‘n’ mix’ approach to supplements can easily be a recipe for inconsistency and as each of these articles deals with a separate topic they deserve attention in their own right.

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