Warhammer PBeM Campaign

From: Kjetil Friden <cezton@nvg.ntnu.no>

Date: Fri, 02 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Hola!

I have been considering starting a campaign in Warhammer FRP.
I have mastered PBM games before and I am thus sceptical over
how well I will handle this, and thus I start by making it
perfectly clear that I make no promises.  The minute it's not
fun anymore I quit or take a break.

System: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.  Players must be familiar
to this.  You do not have to be expert though, and information
found in WFRP world/sourcebooks is more useless than full
overview of all AD&D campaigns.  Fancy of the warhammer way of
things (careers, fate points, chaos etc) is recommended.

World: Unless the players are very old, you know nothing about
the world outside the dwarven city below the mountain.  Kzakhem
is a fairly large city which is more or less in the midst of
a growing chaos environment, which came after a fatal event
of which you probably know nothing.  Dwarves have for many decades
held out here, and you are actually very proud of the way you
have handled things.  One might actually say that Kzakhem is
prospering.  Deaths are not many, and they are under control.
98% of all unnatural deaths occour in outside raids, and then
usually among those warriors who feel themselves capable of
handling all and sundry.  Kzakhem has 4 links to the outside world.
One is the famous waterfall fortifications, which is designed to
hold for centuries with less than a dozen defenders, and
there has never been that few anyways.  Second is the View,
which is more like a tower constructed for the purpose of
allowing vision for the dwarves but blocking all access.
Visits by giants and winged beasts are events worth a
chatter at some local tavern, but hardly more.  The
dwarves even humour themselves over chanting on when
giants bang the third entrance, a gate designed to never
be opened.  Fourth is the entrance the dwarves tends to
use themselves, the Great Iron Gate, which is so tall that a
Giant could not bulge them alone, should they somehow
be unlocked and unmanned.  Here the dwarves do their few errands outside,
most notably lumber.  The road to the Iron Gate is a shining
parade and goes to the smaller honour town of Ebenzenoor,
where the most honourable dwarf apart from the king rules.
Under the mountain dwarves find almost all they need.  You
will perhaps easily think about their famous mining skills,
and indeed these mountains are rich.  It is said that no
mineral is less than abundant here, and in fact, all metals
are so plentiful that some have considered building
houses of precious metals.  And when you equip for
battle, forget about those quarterstaffs, they are
thrice as expensive as those jewelled broadswords!
However, amazing as it may seem to some WFRP players,
there is no such thing as gunpowder here.  For food,
there is intensive mushoculture.  In deep and moist
tunnels, they grow delicious mushrooms, fungi and
worms.  So, if you didn't like mushrooms before,
you start with a major phobia here.  The dwarves
have built a fairly well structured society here,
and they have help from some humans, who are
discriminated against in employment questions,
though few think negative about this.  It is almost
unheard of for humans to be anything but the typical
academics, so that they fill in where the dwarves have
problems.  In return, only humans have access to
the tower of wizardry, Underhigh.  This is a tower
devoted to the study of magic, and many powerful
mages dwells here.  Of course, much of the work
may be boring and uninteresting, like for example,
to design a new fast growing worm with strawberry
flavour (not succeeded yet I hear).  In the midst of
all this a few daring dwarves and/or humans try to
move away from the little granting parts of life
and tries to employ themselves in adventure from
their base in the local tavern, the "Shaft"  (which
btw really has no name, only a symbol which all
dwarves think is a shaft, humans have quite
different opinions about it).

Characters: Players are fairly restricted in choice
of species and career.  One may be dwarf, fairly unrestricted,
but with a few exceptions like wizards.  Or one may be
human and academic (with a few exceptions).

Practical things: Play will be turn-based, and without a fixed
length of turn.  It may be days, it may be seconds.  In some
cases, we may play some parts via irc (I have never done this).
In between turns, I strongly recommend that players talk
to eachother.  If all goes in different directions, we have
no party.  It can be done of course, but never assume that
your fellow miner is silent because he agrees to your
grand suggestion.

I want about 5 players.  If you die, you're out.  Do not calucate
on getting new fate points.  You need good access to internet,
preferably check mail once a day on average or so.  Characters
will be made via talk or irc.  You need a character sheet
and we will communicate maps and sketches in the most
practical way we find.  I normally use a unix based mail program
called elm.  I may use Eudora, I am not sure.  I will have
web pages where I will put maps and handouts, possibly
a small storyline without any information that is not
considered common knowledge among the party.

Cost: It will be free of charge.  However, players should
consider the fact that this takes time and if you enjoy
it, I'd consider it good etiquette to give me a small
present for next christmas... <g>

If you are interested, get in touch.  It would be convenient
to know a little about yourself, and how you use internet.
I welcome any ideas on practical things, and will get back
to you soon.