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That Damned City

That Damned City - A Warhammer Quest

That Damned City - A Warhammer Quest

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Mordheim, City of the Damned.
For many that come it is an opportunity, riches and power await those that dare the ruins of Mordheim and live to tell the tale.

For you however, it is a duty to stop those fools from getting themselves killed, mutated or driven insane and making Ostermark a worse place in the process.

CKII-ish system
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    • Artemis1992

    Artemis1992

    Location
    Germany
    The year is 2010 I.C., just over ten years after a great comet destroyed the pride of Ostermark, second richest city of the Empire, greatest center of learning besides maybe Altdorf or Nuln, cultural heart of the eastern imperial provinces.

    For years Ostermark has been in dissaray, the death of the Elector Count and destruction of the capital having caused a great upheaval until finally the League of Ostermark has formed and managed to take control of the state's remaining cities and armed forces.
    Spreading from the new capital Bechhaven the Leagues influence reaches now through most of the country, Essen is again reinforced against the Silvanian threat, the trade with Karak Kadrin is reestablished and the northern and eastern borders are as the secure as one can hope for such long and wild borderlands.

    There is just one place left that is distinctly unsecure and a grave threat to Ostermark's safety and prosperity.
    Mordheim.

    Monsters are coming out of the ruins, scum is drawn to the riches there, the Wyrdstone is a plague that has driven several alchemists and the nobles enjoying their products to mutation and madness and worst of all the travel on the Stir has become highly dangerous, less than half of the ships daring the path under the mist-covered Middle Bridge making it out of the city intact. This threat to trade and military support along the river can't stand.

    This is where you enter the picture, the newly named Captain-General of the Mordheim Guard.
    Your tasks are:

    • Secure the safety of the River Stir, Ostermark cannot afford the interruption of support for Essen, particularly not if Count Vlad continues to gather forces that he can only plan to use against the rest of the Empire.
    • Contain the spillage of monsters and daemons from Mordheim. The Dead Wood was never safe, but now it is nearly as hostile as the Forest of Shadows our neighbours have to contend with. There have even been attacks on Bissendorf.
    • Reduce the Wyrdstone-smuggling to a minimum, while we have outlawed the substance our southern neighbours have been less wise. While Stirland's nobility are fools to stand against the Ottilian Emperors, there is no doubt that the Wyrdstone's corruption can make them worse
    Before we get to the current situation though, first thing is who are you?

    [] Write in Name

    [] General of Ostermark
    You have led the armies of old Ostermark before this whole mess and when things went to hell you did not leave your post to join some claimant to the Count's title, but rather you did your job.
    And this is how they thank you, by sending you to the most accursed place in the land, on a post little better than city-watchman, where not only you will have to contend with a large variety of abominations, madmen and traitors, but also where word of your victories will hardly make it to the people of Ostermark.
    Still, duty is duty and there has to be someone doing it, wether here or on the northern border.
    • Starts with 20 Favor
    • Experienced Commander Trait (+2 Martial, +1 every other stat)
    • Army Connections (Can pick one additional support-unit to your army when deciding on your starting-composition)
    [] Guard-Captain of Bechhaven
    When the League formed you were among the first to support it, keeping Bechhaven safe against infiltrators, rabble-rousers and more than a few would-be assassins. Your guard even held the gates against Count von Struck when he tried to strangle the alliance of burghers and city-living aristocrats in its crib.
    For your services you have been granted a General's rank and a small army to contain the evils of Mordheim. It is an honor to fight for the League!
    • Starts with 30 Favor
    • Experienced Guardsman Trait (+2 Intrigue and +1 Diplomacy)
    • Smuggler Connections (You start with a rumormill on Mordheim without spending actions on it)
     
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  • Informational
    • Captain-General Hans von Karlov

    Appearance: As one would expect of a proper Ostermarker. A stout, broad figure, black in hair and thick mustache. Your skin carved with deep lines by the winds from the mountains and plains, your eyes brown as the earth of the Veldt and the slightest bit slanted to hint at a drop of Ungol-blood in your ancestry.

    Devout follower of Verena.

    Diplomacy : 14 +1 =15 (Long experienced with settling minor disputes at the northern border and talking sense into your men)
    Martial: 14 +2 = 16 [+2 vs Chaos, +2 if you had time to plan a fight ] (Not a young, talented and bold officer anymore, but instead a capable general and fighter, particularly if you know whats coming)
    Stewardship: 15 +2 = 17 (You can keep a camp better organised than most bureaucrats their own desk and if supplies are lacking, you will have reserves)
    Intrigue: 15 +1 = 16 (You have seen every trick there is to cross a border in secret, take a coin from the paychest or hide a woman in the military part of the camp)
    Will: 13 +2 = 15 (A will tested against witches poisoning your mind with and beasts making a hardened fighter shake in his boots)

    Traits:
    • Experienced Commander: +2 Martial, +1 every other stat
    • Foe of Chaos: +2 Martial and Will against chaotic forces, more experience with discovering Chaos-based corruption of body and mind
    • Diligent: Whenever you do something of import, you plan it thoroughly and execute it accuratly. +1 Stewardship, +2 Martial if you had time to plan (and enough knowledge to do so)
    • Faithful: All men pray to the gods at times, most when they need something. Your devotion goes deeper than that. +1 Will, +1 Diplomacy with members of your faith

    Witchhunter Captain
    Jonas Scharfauge
    Diplomacy : 11 +1
    Martial : 10-16
    Stewart: 10-16
    Intrigue: 14
    Will: 14 +1
    Witchhunter: +2 Intrigue and Will
    Hunter of Heresy: +2 on applicable stats against cults of Outlawed gods and heretics of established ones
    Hesitant Approach: Not quick with the torches, for a Witchhunter. +1 Diplo, -1 Will
     
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  • Informational
    • State of the Mordheim Guard
  • Informational
    • State of the Mordheim Guard

    Morale: Good (The men have heard of your service or even served under you before and are optimistic you'll lead them well)

    Major Yegor Selm (An old soldier, risen through the ranks. Lately he has spend much more time keeping camps in order than actually fighting or training and it shows)
    1000 Infantrymen (Brave soldiers of Ostermark, not quite uniformly armed or armored, but the average amounts to light armor and a forest of spears)
    500 Crossbowmen (A considerable mass of bolts when used correctly)
    50 Jäger (Experienced hunters, woodsmen and scouts)
    50 Cavalry (Lightly armored but highly skilled outriders)
    2 blessed Priests of Taal and Rhya (A married pair in Service of Taal and Rhya, come to fight the obvious corruption spreading from Mordheim)
    Witchhunter Captain Jonas Scharfauge and his retinue (The men are covered in blades and crossbows, looking around suspiciously, but their captain has a surprisingly open smile and seems well-versed in the local area)

    Knights of the Scroll
    70 Knights of the Scroll (Heavy Knights, usually on horse but unlike some knights used to fight on foot when the circumstances demand it)
    Knight-Captain Jeremias Alfeld (A veteran of the the order, white-beared and scarred, but with bright eyes still curious)
    Priestess of Verena Alexandrine Duvall (A tall and proud young woman, quick to argue and debate at the slightest reason)

    Artillery
    5 simple cannons (They'll have to be moved on wagons and build up in a wooden construction before use. Worth it, when they manage to fire)
    10 Engineers (Men who know the tempramental cannons well enough to use them with relative safety)

    Bechhaven Halbediers
    100 Halbediers (Well armored and trained fighters to a man)

    Longshanks
    50 Longshanks (Highly experienced Taalite Witchhunters, sneaky and deadly on all terrain)
    Wanderer Simon Waldgeboren (The old wanderer doesn't talk much but you are sure he watches. Always)
     
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  • Informational
    • Information and Map
  • Informational
    • Mordheim

    Ostermark

    Favor:
    Favor means your current standing with the League of Ostermark and its leadership.
    It is your most relevant ressource, as the state pays you and your men and sends you reinforcement, equipment and basic necessities. You can spend favor on additional support in various forms, from more soldiers, over specialists or trainers to political support if someone tries to apply pressure on you.
    Your most straightforward way to get more favor is to have successes to show, but there might be other ways.

    Current Favor: 6

    Stats:

    Diplomacy: influences persuasion, how much people like you.
    Martial: influences your military skills on a tactical and strategical level
    Stewardship: influences your householding abilities, setting up a permanent encampment under more than military considerations and skill with money
    Intrigue: influences chances to detect plots and the likelihood of your own schemes succeeding.
    Will: Helps resist corruption, fear and mental influences, as well as mundane temptations

    There will be no learning stat, as you do not engage in research.
    Your religious leanings can influence some situations, but will not be tied to a piety-stat.

    Applying Stats:
    The full value of a stat will be added to a 1d100 roll for most actions.
    Reaching the DC of the roll is a success, falling below it a failure. Natural results of 1-5 and 95-100 are critical results and will add a little extra on a success or failure.
    There are no artificial crits (reaching 100 or more by including stats or boni gives no special results.
    Sometimes there might be directly opposed rolls where you and an opponent will both roll 1d100 plus stat and the higher result wins.
    There can be situational boni.

    Situation in Ostermark at the start of 2010:
    The inner regions are relativly secure right now, grain from the fields and lumber from all forests except for the Dead Wood are helping Ostermark to slowly return to the wealth it knew before the Cometfall. Trade along the Talabec has picked up what the Stir-trade has suffered due to Mordheim.

    The Kislev Border is finally back under control after the last marcher lords have sworn loyalty to the League. It is not safer than usual, with Northmen and occasionally Ungols raiding in summer and Trolls and Yethi striking in winter, but General Hertwig has it under control.

    The Worlds Edge Border is as quiet as it has ever been after a throng from Karak Kadrin has pacified the mountains north of Peak Pass and driven back most of the foul creatures to the ruined Karag Ungor. General Kriston has time and leisure to let his men maneuver and train, rather than desperatly try to stop the greenskins or beastmen from passing between his border forts and raiding the state's breathbasket behind them.

    The Silvanian Border is increasingly beset by undead creatures. A migration of ghoul-tribes has broken through the border near Essen and went into the Dead Wood and there are ever more bats and direwolfs attacking travellers and small hamlets near the border. So far there has been no organised attacks from the vampiric lords of the land, but General von Slechkova has started building up Essen in case this unrest is followed by a true storm.
     
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  • Informational
    • So, I'll be trying to use the most of the normal CKII quest system for this, though you won't get a full group of advisors, at most some subordinates with varying talents.

    I'm not an expert on Warhammer, if something is wrong in regards to the setting please tell me. I can't promise I'll change things (lore being a mess and all that), but I'll be happy for the additional information and will consider if and how to use it.

    The next vote will be on details of the PC, then comes the starting army.
     
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    [X] Hans Von Karlov

    Ok so the reasoning for this one, as far as such a thing is needed is that it is a vaguely German name with a hint of Slavic influence which fits the province, maybe we have ancestors from Kislev

    [X] Guard-Captain of Bechhaven

    People smuggling malicious dark magic uranium is the more immediate of our problems
     
    DragonParadox said:
    People smuggling malicious dark magic uranium is the more immediate of our problems
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    A note on that, you do not know how bad Wyrdstone really is right now. The Empire doesn't yet have the colleges and the various alchemists of very uneven skill and training say various contradictory things about them stuff.
    From those that won't touch it to those that are sure they only need a few more samples to create the panacea or the elixier of youth from it.
    Some priests (including what little remains of the Sisters of Sigmar) can tell that it's bad news, but that's about it.

    I guess if you talked to necromancers instead of burning them you could find out that it is congealed dark magic, rather than just some dangerous mineral.
     
    Nigerian Duck said:
    I must ask, what setting is this? I'm new to the platform, and am probably new to the setting as well. Without background information I fear my choices may hurt more than they help.
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    Warhammer Fantasy, specifically Mordheim.

    To give a short summary, the city of Mordheim was one of the biggest and richest cities in the Empire. And the capital of the state Ostermark in the Empire.
    Until it got hit by a big comet in 1999 I.C.. Many people died and much of the city was destroyed, but thats not even the worst part.
    You can rebuild after natural disasters, but this comet was appearantly made of Warpstone and a large amount of the stuff has been spread around the entire city in chunks of different sizes.

    This had the consequence that not only many of the surviving citizens mutated or were driven insane (or both), but also that daemons could manifest easily in the city and that various evil factions with uses for the stone send troops into the city to plunder it. It's a problem that both spreads out from Mordheim and draws all kinds of trouble towards it, making the surrounding regions, particularly the Dead Wood, practicall uninhabitable.

    Now, eleven years later, the state has reorganized and recovered far enough to send an army to try and contain the problem.
     
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    Artemis1992 said:
    A note on that, you do not know how bad Wyrdstone really is right now. The Empire doesn't yet have the colleges and the various alchemists of very uneven skill and training say various contradictory things about them stuff.
    From those that won't touch it to those that are sure they only need a few more samples to create the panacea or the elixier of youth from it.
    Some priests (including what little remains of the Sisters of Sigmar) can tell that it's bad news, but that's about it.

    I guess if you talked to necromancers instead of burning them you could find out that it is congealed dark magic, rather than just some dangerous mineral.
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    Well yeah but I the player know how bad warpstone it... evil uranium about cover it. :V
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    Warhammer Fantasy, specifically Mordheim.

    To give a short summary, the city of Mordheim was one of the biggest and richest cities in the Empire. And the capital of the state Ostermark in the Empire.
    Until it got hit by a big comet in 1999 I.C.. Many people died and much of the city was destroyed, but thats not even the worst part.
    You can rebuild after natural disasters, but this comet was appearantly made of Warpstone and a large amount of the stuff has been spread around the entire city in chunks of different sizes.

    This had the consequence that not only many of the surviving citizens mutated or were driven insane (or both), but also that daemons could manifest easily in the city and that various evil factions with uses for the stone send troops into the city to plunder it. It's a problem that both spreads out from Mordheim and draws all kinds of trouble towards it, making the surrounding regions, particularly the Dead Wood, practicall uninhabitable.

    Now, eleven years later, the state has reorganized and recovered far enough to send an army to try and contain the problem.
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    Ahhh I see! I've heard of Warhammer before. The big crazy thing where everyone is super-powerful, and either evil or apathetic, and the only 'good' ones are the (f)Orks, because they have fun.

    Christ...this sounds like a pretty bad situation. And what are we supposed to do about it?
     
    Nigerian Duck said:
    Ahhh I see! I've heard of Warhammer before. The big crazy thing where everyone is super-powerful, and either evil or apathetic, and the only 'good' ones are the (f)Orks, because they have fun.

    Christ...this sounds like a pretty bad situation. And what are we supposed to do about it?
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    Not quite that bad, this is the more lighthearted Warhammer Fantasy, not Warhammer 40K. There is plenty of evil done in the good realms, but it usually has some kind of reason if not excuse. Like there is a lot of religious fanaticism, but that is in line with what would happen if a medieval world had to deal with very real malicious eldritch abominations from beyond the veil of space and time, or wizards get burned at the stake... but then an untrained wizard pocking his power is almost guaranteed to go mad and evil and/or explode into daemons, that kind of thing.

    Also unlike with 40K there is a lot more canonical support for things getting better with work and luck and effort.
     
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    Nigerian Duck said:
    Christ...this sounds like a pretty bad situation. And what are we supposed to do about it?
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    How you approach the issue is somewhat dependant on who you choose here and of course mostly on the players decisions.

    But generally you can start with things like trying roadblocks at the city gates, patrol-boats on the river, maybe forcibly dissolving the sattelite-settlements that have formed in a short distance around the ruins, if you feel up to that.

    In less direct actions you can also try to find out who buys most of the Warpstone that gets smuggled out and then hope that your reports allow the Chancellor and Elector Count of Ostermark to do something against these patrons.

    Actually cleansing Mordheim will be far out of your initial reach (canonically it stood about 300 years longer until a full imperial army under Magnus the Pious destroyed the ruins for good), but you can do your best to minimize the impact the accursed ruin has on the rest of Ostermark.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Not quite that bad, this is the more lighthearted Warhammer Fantasy, not Warhammer 40K. There is plenty of evil done in the good realms, but it usually has some kind of reason is not excuse. Like there is a lot of religious fanaticism, but that is in line with what would happen if a medieval world had to deal with very real malicious eldritch abominations from beyond the veil of space and time, or wizards get burned at the stake... but then an untrained wizard pocking is power is almost guaranteed to go mad and evil and/or explode into daemons, that kind of thing.

    Also unlike with 40K there is a lot more canonical support for things getting better with work and luck and effort.
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    Oh, theres two versions of Warhammer? Good to know. But...erhm...why'd a wizard explode into (off-brand(?)) demons? And...is the setting like a 'gritty' kind of medival, which is why magicians are burned at the stake? The Eldritch horror is expected, as a campaign like that has to have soem mind-violating.

    Oh, so it means there's at least hope for a brighter future, and existence isn't just a pointless thing in which you can't make your mark on the world. Good, good.

    Old Man Jainkeins, enslave the children!

    Edited: That was a joke. Please do not hate me.
     
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    Nigerian Duck said:
    Oh, theres two versions of Warhammer? Good to know. But...erhm...why'd a wizard explode into (off-brand(?)) demons? And...is the setting like a 'gritty' kind of medival, which is why magicians are burned at the stake? The Eldritch horror is expected, as a campaign like that has to have soem mind-violating.

    Oh, so it means there's at least hope for a brighter future, and existence isn't just a pointless thing in which you can't make your mark on the world. Good, good.

    Old Man Jainkeins, enslave the children!
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    Not all magicians explore into daemons just the ones that miscast or touch the bad magic, the trouble is without proper training (which no one in our state has) you will (almost) inevitably do one or both of these things. As it is spun from the realm of Chaos from the hell gates at the poles magic comes in colors and it comes in moods. If as a human you stay just within a single color you will be mostly fine, it will change you, but in a way that lets you stay sane. The trouble is that staying within just one of the eight takes either training or a literally inhuman monomania. Since this quest is set long before the elves helped the Empire found the Colleges of magic well (almost) any arcane mage is on the path to damnation.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    How you approach the issue is somewhat dependant on who you choose here and of course mostly on the players decisions.

    But generally you can start with things like trying roadblocks at the city gates, patrol-boats on the river, maybe forcibly dissolving the sattelite-settlements that have formed in a short distance around the ruins, if you feel up to that.

    In less direct actions you can also try to find out who buys most of the Warpstone that gets smuggled out and then hope that your reports allow the Chancellor and Elector Count of Ostermark to do something against these patrons.

    Actually cleansing Mordheim will be far out of your initial reach (canonically it stood about 300 years longer until a full imperial army under Magnus the Pious destroyed the ruins for good), but you can do your best to minimize the impact the accursed ruin has on the rest of Ostermark.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Thank you for the information. That seems like a pretty good start, and I'd suggest somethign similar for the next turn. Do you think also establishing a temporary base of operations and outposts in strategic places would be good?

    DragonParadox said:
    Not all magicians explore into daemons just the ones that miscast or touch the bad magic, the trouble is without proper training (which no one in our state has) you will (almost) inevitably do one or both of these things. As it is spun from the realm of Chaos from the hell gates at the poles magic comes in colors and it comes in moods. If as a human you stay just within a single color you will be mostly fine, it will change you, but in a way that lets you stay sane. The trouble is that staying within just one of the eight takes either training or a literally inhuman monomania. Since this quest is set long before the elves helped the Empire found the Colleges of magic well (almost) any arcane mage is on the path to damnation.
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    Ohhh, I see. That link's pretty useful. By the way...miscast? I'll assume that magic must be unstable soemhow, to be have it be such a common occurence. Or is their a lack of complete rules and safe guidlines those who wish to use sparkly-death junk adhere to? And you say we'll be ine as a human ifwe stay in a single color...but what of other races? Oh, also, so I'm guessing there'll be a character sheet for this, by the way?
     
    Nigerian Duck said:
    Thank you for the information. That seems like a pretty good start, and I'd suggest somethign similar for the next turn. Do you think also establishing a temporary base of operations and outposts in strategic places would be good?


    Ohhh, I see. That link's pretty useful. By the way...miscast? I'll assume that magic must be unstable soemhow, to be have it be such a common occurence. Or is their a lack of complete rules and safe guidlines those who wish to use sparkly-death junk adhere to? And you say we'll be ine as a human ifwe stay in a single color...but what of other races? Oh, also, so I'm guessing there'll be a character sheet for this, by the way?
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    Broadly speaking and for any sort of spellcaster we are likely to meet arcane magic is very unstable. Training helps, the aid of gods helps (spellcasting priests are much more stable, but they also have less power) but to get to the point where you literally can't miscast on some sort of powerful spell the remedy is 'centuries of experience' so basically are you undead or an elf (or a magic superfrog but they live across the ocean from us and are isolationists)
     
    Nigerian Duck said:
    Thank you for the information. That seems like a pretty good start, and I'd suggest somethign similar for the next turn. Do you think also establishing a temporary base of operations and outposts in strategic places would be good?
    Click to expand...
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    You'll get options what to do first in the first proper turn, after chargen is done.
    Establishing a permanent or temporary camp near Mordheim will be among the options.
     
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