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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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BoneyM said:
The Warboss approaches with a massive axe in each hand, but the creature is caught unprepared as Belegar lashes out. With supernatural speed, the hammer that gives Belegar the name of Ironhammer catches the unsuspecting Warboss in the stomach, driving him to his knees; a second blow on the chest causes black blood to spill from the orc's lips, and a third blow caves the creature's face in with a crunch that resounds over the din of battle. The warboss collapses forward, and a groan of dismay sounds from the Black Orcs
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It is kind of a shame that we don't get to see Belegar involved in combat often, because this scene was rad as hell. This super strong Black Orc Warboss comes out looking like a big deal, and statistically he very much was, and Belegar smashes him in 3 hits in one of the most statistically unlikely rolls I've ever seen. It was amazing.
 
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Well, it was narratively necessary for Belegar to establish his badassitude on-screen, to show why he could afford to kick back and let this one henchmanling go and grab so much of the rest of the luck glory, without his leadership position feeling threatened.
With that established, however, it'd just have dropped the stakes if he'd decapped every enemy column in a one-on-one duel with their champion.
 
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Narrative would have been served whatever happened, which is why I felt comfortable leaving it to the dice. Either Belegar dunks on a Black Orc and establishes his bona fides and therefore Mathilde can take centre stage, he has a long drawn-out brawl with it that leaves him wounded and winded and therefore learns a lesson about doing everything solo, or he's the one that gets dunked on and Mathilde gets to do an encore to the 'Govibarazak' bit.
 
Codex said:
It is kind of a shame that we don't get to see Belegar involved in combat often, because this scene was rad as hell. This super strong Black Orc Warboss comes out looking like a big deal, and statistically he very much was, and Belegar smashes him in 3 hits in one of the most statistically unlikely rolls I've ever seen. It was amazing.
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About .9% chance if you're wondering. Dice are weird like that though.
 
Jyn Ryvia said:
I have always felt 'what were the odds' numbers are deceiving in RPG's and quests. its always 'what where the odds of that set of rolls after the fact'

you don't need the exact same rolls to get the same results: any roll that passes and fails at the same point as its counterpart will work.
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No, the odds of getting that exact combination of dicerolls would be much less than that, about one in ten million. The calculation is that Belegar needed to get three 4+ hits, three 4+ wounds, and the Orc had to make no 6+ saves. That's (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2) x (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2) x (5/6 x 5/6 x 5/6), or 1/8 x 1/8 x 125/216, which works out to 125/13824, or about 0.9%.
 
That particular moment might have been the flashiest thing Belegar got to do, but it's important to remind myself that despite not having a lot of flashy moments like Mathilde where she gets to do crazy wild stuff, Belegar's contributions are just as if not more essential to the success of his expedition.

Sure he didn't get a lot of kickflip smashing moments, but his diplomatic and economic wizardry with Barak Varr is what got us a steady supply route that bypassed Karak Drazh and Karak Dron as well as the badlands while securing their support for supplies, eliminating our logistical concerns. It's his decisions to employ devious tactics such as letting Clan Mors win in Karagril (at our suggestion) that helped reduce attrition on his forces, and it's his actions and decisions that lead to him forming so many powerful bonds with his fellow Kings and allies. It's hard to look at any one action and say "this is the turning point" when it comes to Belegar, not like Mathilde where you can point to her assassinating a Warboss or sabotaging the Trolls or ruining the Doom Divers or killing the Shamans. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to acknowledge that I doubt Mathilde could have done nearly as much as she's done without Belegar's steady support.
 
If Belegar asked Mathilde to do something as a favor to him and said "please" then I'm guaranteed to vote for it no matter what. No boon necessary.
 
Codex said:
If Belegar asked Mathilde to do something as a favor to him and said "please" then I'm guaranteed to vote for it no matter what. No boon necessary.
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Alliterate said:
That's kind of what I'm getting at. And I don't think you'd be alone, either.
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Those are not really boons, boons are an admission on both parts that there are settling a debt. We do not feel we owe Belegar anything for the library, because it was itself settling a debt. By contrast if Belegar asked us to do something for him personally and we did, even if Mathilde did not feel a dept was owed, he would.
 
Yeah I wouldn't help Belegar out in expectation of a boon or reward, but there is no way in hell that Belegar asks for a favor from Mathilde, she fulfills it and he doesn't repay it. Belegar may not be as grudge obsessed as other Dwarfs, but he cares a ton about debts.

Chances are the repayment would be in books. You can never go wrong with books.
 
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Codex said:
Yeah I wouldn't help Belegar out in expectation of a boon or reward, but there is no way in hell that Belegar asks for a favor from Mathilde, she fulfills it and he doesn't repay it. Belegar may not be as grudge obsessed as other Dwarfs, but he cares a ton about debts.

Chances are the repayment would be in books. You can never go wrong with books.
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Get that Mathilde a BOOK Mathilde's love BOOKs.
 
BoneyM said:
The East Gate, according to legend, was the site of the final battle of the fall of Karak Eight Peaks, when the last king sealed the armouries, treasuries and tombs and cleared a path out and to Karak Azul for the survivors of the two-century siege.
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BoneyM said:
When it became clear that Karak Eight Peaks would fall, King Lunn and a team of Runesmiths fought their way through the invaders until they reached the Tomb and King Lunn held the entrance until the Runesmiths could seal it, saving the Tombs from being looted but also sealing themselves inside.
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So K8P lore question: did King Lunn manage to cut his way out of K8P's siege and lead refugees away, or did he seal himself inside the Karag Yar tombs to prevent its desecration? Bit confused about these two conflicting statements.
 
While a far cry from this Tumblr thingy, it turns out dwarves liking spicy food is now canon in Warhammer.

The following quote's about imperial dwarves. WFRP 4e: Archives of the Empire, page 54
A tavern's kitchen is large, as Dwarfs have hearty appetites. While a number of taverns have Halfling cooks, the majority are staffed by Dwarfs who make heavily spiced dishes. Dwarfs are fond of food with sharp tastes to compliment the potency of their brew.
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The following quote about karak dwarves mentions dwarves making bread, but I think the rest of it might fit into Divided Loyalties. WFRP 4e: Archives of the Empire, page 69
Fortified farms grow the mountain hops and barley used by the Brewer Clans and supply wheat to make bread in dwarfen kitchens. Turnips, beans, mustard, parsnips, and fire peppers (the latter brought by Elf traders during the Golden Age) are also grown in their fields.
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Now I'm weirdly curious about what the halflings in Eight Peaks are growing and how that meshes with the dwarf immigrants' palates. If the halflings are making their usual fair, are the dwarves bothered they're not getting their usual food anymore since Eight Peaks' food growers aren't dwarves? Do they import food as a result? Alternatively, have the halflings taken to planting new crops to cater to the karaks' dwarves appetites?

Then there's the Stirlanders. While writing the above I remembered this bit of this funny video and decided to go see what Stirland's cuisine actually was. I found only one thing, and was quite surprised to see that the meme video was 100% truthful about it.
WFRP 2e: Sigmar's Heirs, pages 85 and 87
"The entire province is insane, I tell you! Why? They like their ale hot! It's nothing short of blasphemy against good beer!"
—A Dwarf of Karaz-a-Karak
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Most of the Empire regards them [Stirlanders] as savages, simply for their custom of drinking hot ale. Taverns Stirland over have a large iron poker kept by the fire. Cold travellers and old soaks thrust the poker into the fire whilst awaiting their drink, and then plunge it into their tankard—warming the drink and making an alcoholic cloud of steam.
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Then a shock hit me as I realised Mathilde was a Stirlander! And had her Dooming and became a legal adult before going to the Colleges! But I calmed down when I remembered she said she hasn't practised her village's traditions in decades. However, I'm now held in the grips of fear as I've realised she still has Wurtbad Townsfolk as one of her Connections in her character sheet. I don't know Mathilde's tastes in beer and I dare not ask.
 
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If Mathilde ever needs a power move during negotiations, plunging a red hot poker into her ale and then quaffing the whole thing while staring straight into someones eyes is certainly one way to do it.
 
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