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Young Freud
Nov 25, 2006

DalaranJ posted:

Ha ha ha, "Okay, but if we designed this high caliber gun so it can only be fired while braced against the user's abdomen?"

My guess is that's it's a rip-off of the "Stomach" rail-gun Leon McNicol uses in the first episode of Bubblegum Crisis.



There's no stock, so the only way to fire it was from the hip, so it's called the "Stomach" because you had to have the literal intestinal fortitude to withstand firing it.

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MonsterEnvy
Feb 4, 2012

Shocked I tell you
There are some talents the Witch gets that can make their lore better. But Its so much less risky to just go and become a wizard.

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
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WFRP 4e - GM Advice: Actually Present

This chapter explains that the biggest, most important thing that the GM does is make sure everyone, including the GM, is having fun. Make sure everyone gets autonomy and spotlight time, tell a fun story, move things along if people are getting bored. Describe the world, and understand both the rules and how to change what you do and don't need based on your group's style. Make sure you know about what's going on in your world and adventures, and encourage everyone else to play well by giving them chances to participate. Remind players that rules discussions are outside the game itself, and that having fun with the game is more important.

The chapter provides some advice from Cubicle 7:
  • Get to know this book well.
  • Give the players what they want from the game without ruining your own plans.
  • Make sure new groups of characters have reasons to be adventuring together.
  • Consider how to handle or bypass content a player might not find to their taste.
  • Bookmark sections you'll be referring to often, like the magic chapter if a wizard is in the group.
  • Be aware of plot devices and how to use them to good effect.
  • Ensure the challenges you set your players are achievable and that any enemies that need to be defeated can be.
  • Intersperse some light relief into horror-heavy games.
  • Decide which parts of the adventure should be easy and quickly resolved, and which should be most dramatic and challenging.
  • What parts of the adventure need to be successful to make the story satisfying, and how will you ensure this happens without making players feel too railroaded?
  • When it comes to the results of tests, be firm but fair.
  • Be ready to make a big deal of players using or gaining Fate or Resilience points.
  • Make a list of descriptive phrases appropriate to an adventure, to help handle improvised scenes.
  • If in doubt, err on the side of fun.
  • Give characters challenges that require improvisation or creative thinking.
  • You can't detail everyone, but a single feature like an accent, tic or catchphrase can help make them memorable.

It also gives a list of simple rules reminders, and a note that if PCs refuse to defend themselves for fear of rolling fumbles, you should treat them as Helpless, because that's dumb. (I'd say you should just go 'that's dumb, Frank, roll your dang defense.')

We then get a section on travel, and the dangers of travel. Reikland's roads are generally crude but reliable, with routes between major cities being patrolled and well-maintained. Far-flung roads, however, may be little more than a muddy track, and most roads have tolls to pay for maintenance. There is an extensive coach network in Reikland, and the busiest routes iwll have several coaches per day. The Coaching Houses are fiercely competiative, so the prices are generally reasonable and the coaches generally reliabile - around 2p/mile inside the coach, or half that for an outside seat on the roof or at the front. Roadside inns are usually placed for the convenience of the Coaching Houses, and so foot journeys run the risk of not reaching an inn before nightfall, especially off major routes. River travel is usually straightforward, even relaxing, if you can find a boat heading where you want to go. Dedicated passenger barges travel only between the major towns and cities, but a good bribe can get them to drop you off along the way. Getting to a more obscure location usually means hitching a ride on a cargo ship, which isn't easy if you have too many people.

Prices listed for travel don't includ meals, lodgings or animal care, though coaches and passenger boats will typically include those as package deals for longer trips. Cargo barge costs are generally individually haggled with the bargemaster, and you may even be able to travel free if you're willing to work and actually know what you're doing. High-class travel exists and is expected by nobles, and may cost many, many times more - often ten times more at the least. Opulent passenger vessels move between the great cities, most famously the Emperor Luitpold, a riverboat on the Talabec that moves between Altdorf and Talabheim.

Movement speed is in (lowest Movement among the party) mph on foot, and a party can be assumed to travel six hourz a day without Endurance tests, factoring in rest stps, bathroom breaks and normal topography. To go further or faster, you must take a Fatigued condition if you fail the Endurance test, with more conditions if Encumbered. It is good, we are told, to throw in a few events on any given travel, to show off different aspects of the Old World and give a change of pace. An intrigue-focused game might benefit from a clearly defined good vs evil fight in a Beastman attack, or a bleak session might be improved by meeting a traveling circus. Burned-out caravans from the circus later on might be a good way to make an antagonist's actions suddenly personal, and travel events can be excellent foreshadowing. You can come up with your own, and either decide they happen when you say so, or some GMs roll a d10 each day and have an event happen if they roll an 8 (for the 8-point mark of Chaos). Others like one event per journey of a day or more. Printed adventures will have suggested events and travel times, and they give a 1d10 random events table here that assumes one event per journey, with stuff like 'nothing much happens' or 'you meet some interesting people or a neat location' or 'you find something usefully relevant to the adventure,' or 'suddenly, thieves'.

There's a table that suggests how much XP to award during sessions, depending on how well the party did during the session, if they got in the spirit of things, and if it's the end of an adventure or major arc. Fate and Resilience wards are, we are told, meant to be rare and special. You might earn one Fate point at the end of a long adventure or campaign of great importance, while a character achieving a major personal milestone could get Resilience. Printed adventures will have spots marked for Fate awards and, more rarely, REsilience ones. (Rarely because those are more personal.)

Next time: The Reikland

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Where the hell did it come up in playtesting or whatever that players were refusing to roll defense for fear of tripping the (admittedly, kind of lovely) fumble rules? I'd think getting stabbed is slightly worse.

Seriously though, fumble rules are a bad idea in every game that's had them. No-one likes them. I'm not sure why they added them.

E: I've been thinking about why they bug me so much and I think it's because of the double jeopardy effect. A: You're more likely to Fumble if your chances were low to begin with, so a character who is bad at defense is both now more likely to get hit, but also more likely to roll on the 'dumb bad poo poo happens to me' table that includes losing turns or suffering crits and B: They're another sort of effect that discourages players from taking risks in general, since again, you get higher Fumble odds the worse your base odds were.

Night10194 fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Sep 22, 2018

megane
Jun 20, 2008



DalaranJ posted:

Ha ha ha, "Okay, but if we designed this high caliber gun so it can only be fired while braced against the user's abdomen?"

The best part is that they went out of their way to add the silhouette, in case it was unclear to the viewer that you can't even hold, let alone fire, this thing without it clipping into your torso.

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
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WFRP 4e - Welcome To Not Germany

The Reikland sits in the shadows of the southern Grey Mountains, the lowlands almost entirely forested but for the cleared regions around the many prosperous towns and villages of the province. While it has no coastline, the River Reik, the largest in all the Old World, forms most of the twisting eastern and othern provincial boarder, and is so wide and deep that an entire navy and merchant marine is dedicated to it. Most of the land near the Reik is waterlogged and marshy, with long stretches of bog and swamp, the largest of which is the Grootscher Marsh that forms the border with the Wasteland in the west. Inland, the land heads into the Skaag Hills and the Hagercrybs, two forested and very hilly regions full of isolated areas largely untouched by Humanity. The forests eventually give way in the south to the Grey Mountains that form the natural border with Bretonnia and open up to the central foothills and grassland of the Vorgbergland.

Reikland is a rugged province, its forests broken by crags, peaks and rocky ridges, many of them topped by ruins of castle or watchtower from prior eras when war was more prevalent. Above them are the minor mountains of the haunted Hagercrybs and the Skaag Hills in central and northern Reikland, whose heavily fortified mines produce much of the province's wealth in recent years. In the south, the trees thin out to plains and foothills in fertile Vorgbergland, between the Reikwald forest and the Grey Mountains, which offer wealth and danger equally. The Grey Mountains are immense, forbidding peaks full of ancient tunnels and broken skybridges, dating back to the period when Dwarfs ruled the area. That time is long past, and only a handful of clans remain to deend their ancestral holds, having recently reclaimed Karak Azgaraz as one of the two largest dwarfholds of the region, the other being high Karak Ziflin. The tunnels and mountains are overrun by Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Skaven and worse. While this means that they are very dangerous, many say the fallen holds are home to treasures long lost, and so the greedy and desperate are drawn in like moths to flame. Few survive.

Along the edge of the mountains, southern Reikland has many mines seeking the vast mineral wealth of the range. These are protected by watchtowers and fortresses against attack from the mountains, each surrounded by rubble from older, failed fortifications.The spine of the Grey Mountains reaches so high that it is all but impassable, an impenetrable wall between the Reikland and the duchies of Bretonnia in the southeast. There are but two reliable passes - the Axe-Bite pass, well-guarded by the fortress Helmgart and Monfort, and the winding Grey Lady Pass from Ubersreik to Parravon. Both are heavily patrolled and taxed, so some poor merchants and smugglers hire mountain guides to seek out lesser passes like the Crooked Corridor and Durak Way - not a great idea if you can avoid it.

The Hagercrybs are mist-shrouded foothills that run through the center of the province, extending from the Princedom of Altdorf all the way to Ubersreik, and so heavily forested that no road crosses them east to west, requiring long journeys around them. They are largely populated by sheep and shepherds, but the historians say they were once the sacred burial grounds of the Unberogen tribe of Sigmar Himself. Several ancient cairns can be seen rising from clearings in the highlands, some of them marked by huge menhirs. Perhaps due to this, the Hagercrybs have a dark reputation for being haunted, and few will stray in too deepyl in the woods. It is said that those who do find thick fogs rising out of ancient barrows, calling forth with moans of the dead. Locally, this is nervously dismissed as the ravings of drunk shepherds, as the alternative is believing in stories of ancient kings, thirstiny for living blood. The lords of the Hagercrybs ignore such tales and often order mines sunk into the hillsides in search of minerals. Most such mines fail, their miners vanishing without trace, but a handful succeed beyond wildest imagination, bringing much wealth to the region.

The Skaag Hills in the west of the River Bogen run along the southern bank of the Reik until they hit the forests of the Duchy of Gorland. N ear their center, the Reikwald recedes from the crags, and layers of rock rise up to form the Prie Ridge. One road crosses the gentler slopes of the Skaags, headinng from Trosreut and the Castle Grauenberg, making its way through to Holthausen, but with many minor tracks and tarils in the area, most of them starting life as goat tracks. Once, the Skaags were full of small, rich mines of silver and iron. Most have been played out over the centuries, their settlements abandoned and reclaimed by the forests. Locals now approach these ruins with caution, as they are said to be infested by hunters, outlaws and more sinister folk.

Between the forests of the Reikwald and the mountain peaks of the Grey range is the hilly Vorbergland, known for its fertile valleys, grasslands and plains. The productive areas around Bohrn, Ubersreik, Stimmigen and Dunkelberg are known lukely as the Suden Vorbergland, the most heavily cultivated region in the province. It is full of flourishing towns, villages, farms and vineyards, often called Ranald's Garden for the sheer quantities of wine produced and exported. The western areas of the Vorgbergland are plagued by Greenskin attacks from the mountains and are more sparsely populated as a result, serving largely as wild land for animals and monsters from the peaks. The local baronies and duchies are, however, popular vacation spots for game hunters and scouring grounds for the natural historians of the Imperial Zoo seeking out rare creatures for capture, though only the foolhardy come hunting without heavy guard and clever guides.

The mighty peak of Drachenberg soars high over the central Vorbergland, its base wrapped by the river Bogen. The Drachenberg is easily spotted for miles around, and whenever trouble comes, the folk of the town of Wheberg turn their gaze towards it and make the two-tailed sign of Sigmar to ward off eivl, for the mountain has an evil reputation. Its name is, after all, the Dragon Peak, and it has long been a favored lair of the great dragons and other monstrous beasts like the Basilisks, Wyverns and Manticores. The Red Dragon Caledair, the Scythe of Fire, once made her lair in caves near the mountain peak, hunting across the Vorbergland for countless generations. She has not been seen in over a century, but none can say surely if she is really gone or if she merely sleeps. The mountain is treacherous, with steep sides that prevent climbing and no easy routes to the summit. While trees clog its foothills, they are rare on the high slopes and the topsoil is loose, sending many climbers to their deaths. Despite this, the brave and stupid still make the climb, seeking out the treasures that may have been left by ancient dragons.

The Reikwald forest covers almost all of the non-Vorbergland parts of Reikland, thinning out only around the Skaags or where the towns and villages have cleared regions along the Reik and its tributaries. Most travellers prefer the relative safety of the river to the more uncertain roads, and the Reikwald is a favored lair of outcasts, cutthroats and the lawless. While all of the major routes are patrolled by the road wardens, their numbers are too few to cover the long roads entirely, and it is not uncommong for coaches to be attacked and robbed. Most of the open clearings or ruins have been used by outlaws or Beastman herds as lairs, and forays to clear out these regions by the Reikland State Army are not rare. In most areas, the Reikwald is not so overgrown as to block out sunlight, but its depths are often gloomy and foggy, especially on the marshier stretches of the Reik. Scholars say that before the Empire was born, the Unberogen tribe of Humans ranged the forest alongside older tribes whose names are lost. Rings of carved standing stones, called oghams, are still found from this era, mostly overgrown and impossible to spot without a guide. Isolated communities that still follow ancient, pre-Sigmar ways are said to hold these sites as sacred. College wizards believe that terrible battles were once fought over these ancient sites, and it is not uncommon for richer magisters to fund expeditions into the depths of the Reikwald seeking the secrets of the mystic stones.

South of Altdorf is a stand of pine that frows from the southern face of the Amber Hills and spills into the Reikwald. This is known as bloodpine for its deep maroon color, and bloodpine lumber from the so-called Bloodpine Woods is gfreatly desired by the craftsmen and artisands of Altdorf, used to make exquisitely carved furniture for the wealthy markets of Marienburg and Nuln. Recently, bloodpine has been hard to get, as the Woods are plagued by the Spiderclaw tribe of Forest Goblins, who have managed to tame some Giant Spiders. Few now work the wood for fear of being taken by the goblins or vanishing in the mists. This has driven the price of bloodpine through the roof, which has pissed off many buyers, some of whom have taken to hiring mercenaries to clear out the Goblins in the belief that this will be cheaper than to pay so much more for a filing cabinet.

The far southeast of Reikland, near the Stirland border, sees the Reikwald thin out as it approaches Nuln upriver. This area is locally referred to as the Grissenwald, a woodland of distorted trees and twisted undergrowth, said to be swarming with Beastmen, Witches and feral mutant tribes. Because of this, local woodsmen travel only in groups and refuse to stay outdoors after nightfall. It is common to find reward offerings posted on roadside trees, offering cash for retrieval of missing family and friends in the deep woods.

Next time: The Rivers

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
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#1 Builder
2014-2018

Night10194 posted:

E: I've been thinking about why they bug me so much and I think it's because of the double jeopardy effect. A: You're more likely to Fumble if your chances were low to begin with, so a character who is bad at defense is both now more likely to get hit, but also more likely to roll on the 'dumb bad poo poo happens to me' table that includes losing turns or suffering crits and B: They're another sort of effect that discourages players from taking risks in general, since again, you get higher Fumble odds the worse your base odds were.

Yeah...I'm more fine with miscast fumbles because anyone casting is likely to have a pretty good score at doing the thing; combat fumbles are nastier. (Also because the miscast table is usually less immediately crippling and more entertaining.)

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Mors Rattus posted:

Yeah...I'm more fine with miscast fumbles because anyone casting is likely to have a pretty good score at doing the thing; combat fumbles are nastier. (Also because the miscast table is usually less immediately crippling and more entertaining.)

Also miscasts are tradition and really important to the flavor of Warhammer magic, narratively. Having Fumbles as they work now only be a thing with magic to replace the old double, triples, and quads would've been fine, to adjust to changing the magic rules and removing variable Mag.

E: It just really raises alarm flags if they felt they needed to put in a specific GMing advice section to force players to roll dice more in combat because players were that worried about fumbling.

Night10194 fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Sep 22, 2018

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
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Fortunately, combat fumbles are easy to drop from the game entirely.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Agreed, and certainly what I'll be doing if/when I pick up 4e to try. It's just weird when something that feels otherwise well designed doesn't notice why lots of modern games have dropped fumble rules. Especially when 2e didn't even have them officially.

MonsterEnvy
Feb 4, 2012

Shocked I tell you
I would probably keep fumbles for Blackpowder weapons. Cause they are currently in their early and dangerous phase.

MollyMetroid
Jan 20, 2004

Trout Clan Daimyo

MonsterEnvy posted:

I would probably keep fumbles for Blackpowder weapons. Cause they are currently in their early and dangerous phase.

Then you're penalizing black powder weapon users for flavor, not mechanical, reasons. Don't do this.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Actually, it's the case in 2e, too, that their gun can explode because guns are supposed to be extremely mechanically powerful but slightly dangerous, in a parallel to magic. Just didn't quite end up that way due to action economy with guns. It's like a 1% chance per shot and doesn't happen with Best guns.

Robindaybird
Aug 21, 2007

Neat. Sweet. Petite.

MollyMetroid posted:

Then you're penalizing black powder weapon users for flavor, not mechanical, reasons. Don't do this.

Honestly this.

You have to ask "Is it Realistic? Would it be fun for the players?" if it's Yes, but No - don't do it.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Like if Guns are actually as mechanically powerful as they were meant to be (and were early on, before you could multiattack; a starting PC with a gun hits like a train in 2e) then guns having a chance to backfire is fine. Depending on their damage rating, availability, and if they have anything to make up for Impact not being a thing anymore. But that's a matter of mechanical risk and reward, not 'the gun explodes because it's 1630'.

Night10194 fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Sep 22, 2018

megane
Jun 20, 2008



"Overpowered, but has a 1-in-100 chance of exploding when fired" is a terrible design idea too.

MonsterEnvy
Feb 4, 2012

Shocked I tell you

Robindaybird posted:

Honestly this.

You have to ask "Is it Realistic? Would it be fun for the players?" if it's Yes, but No - don't do it.

Then it's fine. My players enjoy risks like that. As well as the fact that guns are good in 4e.

Plus they are not the only people with access to them. Enemies can use them as well, and honestly I would keep the fumbles around anyway, cause none of them are really devastating and they apply to enemies as well. Plus my players enjoy them.

megane posted:

"Overpowered, but has a 1-in-100 chance of exploding when fired" is a terrible design idea too.

I disagree.

Robindaybird
Aug 21, 2007

Neat. Sweet. Petite.

Okay, that works for your group, that's fine, I just find in my experience players tend to be risk adverse.

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


I'm fine with blackpowder fumbles/misfires as long as they don't completely wreck the gun or blow the shooter's hand off (at least as long as it's a player, background characters exist for that stuff to happen to them.) Making it useless for the rest of the fight or until you dodge enough swords to quick fix it is a better implementation. You shouldn't ever strip players of their important things due to random chance.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Really, the problem is much more 'destroys the weapon', especially if they're still as expensive as they were, rather than the damage to your PC. Because holy poo poo were guns expensive in 2e. For reference, a firearm was 400 GC in 2e. That's the same price as a suit of full plate armor, and I've been over a LOT in the 2e reviews how powerful and valuable plate is to a fighter.

Of course, guns might be a lot less expensive and more manageable to supply in 4e.

Night10194 fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Sep 22, 2018

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
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WFRP 4e - Life On The Water

The Reikland's mercantile ambitions have led the nobles and merchant houses to invest heavily in their rivers, of which there are many, and extensive canals have been planned and built by Altdorf's best engineers. These have had a huge impact, moving goods faster than they ever have before, but they also need costly maintenance and protection. To ensure that wreckers and pirates have minimal impact, the road wardens, guards and riverwardens are employed as needed, but they're often little better than the actual criminals. The Reik carries more traffic than all of the other rivers - indeed, more than all other rivers in the Old World combined. It drains not only through the Reikland, but most of the Empire and beyond. By the time it hits Reikland, it's so wide that it often seems more lake than river, so it's impossible to bridge using normal engineering. As it approaches Altdorf to meet the Talabec, both rivers split into a vast and complex channel network that spreads outwards to form the Altdorf Flats. Many of the the thinner tributaries here are bridgeable, so that Altdorf becomes a natural trade centre as the only place the Reik can be crossed on foot for hundreds of miles. This is the single thing that has always ensured Altdorf's total military and financial dominance of the region. Beyond the Flats, the boggy rivers reconverge and the Reik heads west to the sea. By then, it is so wide that the opposite bank is sometimes invisible in the mists, and so deep that even the largest sea vessel can navigate it safely. Warships of the Imperial Navy, some large enough that their crew outnumbers the population of smaller towns, are often built along the river out of Reiksport, a deep-water harbor on Altdorf's shores. Rocky islands are common in this final stretch, most secured by ancient fortresses, ruled by river pirates or entirely abandoned save for old smugglers' coves.

The people of Bogenhafen say that their patron god, Bogenauer, is responsible for the financially blessed state of the River Bogen. It is a placid river by Reikland standards, clear and smooth, not too fast, and easily allowed traffic upriver as well as down. Its depth allows for larger river vessels from the Reik to travel safely all the way to Bogenhafen, and while its source is deep in the chilly Grey Mountains, it turns warm as it flows through Vorbergland, causing heavy mist on its banks. Most evenings are foggy along the Bogen, often thick enough to block vision, and so thieves and smugglers often make use of it.

Grunberg Canal is a recent addition to the Reikland's waters, commissioned by Emperor Luitpold III as part of his dowry to the Baron of Grunberg. It was finished in 2506 and has been used heavily ever since. It bypasses the treacherous Reiker Marshes by Castle Reikguard, and so now it brings much of the River Teufel's barges into Altdorf. The canal walls protect the tollhouse at its southern end, and any barge passing through must pay a tax based on its length. Lines are common at dawn and dusk, but otherwise it is only infrequently used. At the north end is the lock-keeper's house, on the outskirts of Prieze, which doubles as a barracks and stables for the twelve road wardens that patrol the canal road and help barges. Typically their 'help' is in the form of impromptu protection taxes, which if not paid leave the barge open to an attack by bandits. Which, naturally, always happens.

The River Teufel flows down from the mountains into Ubersreik, then north to the Reik via Auerswald and Grunberg. Its waters have a distinct red hue due to iron deposits in the mud and the silt, though storytellers say it is due to the endless wars between the mountain Dwarfs and the Goblins staining the river with blood. A great deal of rain feeds the river and makes it overflow regularly, especially in spring. Inns are usually built high to avoid the floodwaters and are quite common along the Teufel, along with bandits - not a surprise, since most of the river is in the Reikwald. Road wardens patrol the banks regularly and are not fond of loiterers.

The Vorgbergland Canals are an engineering marvel, built on the funds of the former Archduke of Upper Teufel and the merchant houses of Nuln and Marienburg. They are the pride of southern Reikland, bringing trade from Wissenland and back. There are five canals connecting five major Reik tributaries, and the system links Nuln to Carroburg, allowing the merchants to skip Altdorf and its high taxes entirely. The Dwarfs of Karak Azgaraz have recently sent delegations to the Suden Vorgbergland demanding the canals be closed due to old treaties being broken by "unacceptably large display of shoddy workmanship." This has caused a massive uproar in the Imperial School of Engineers, who see the steam locks and water pumps as a new height in Human engineering.

Weissbruck Canal links the Bogen and the Reik, bypassing Carroburg and therefore Middenland taxes. It sees constant traffic due to Altdorf trade, and requires only one toll, paid upon entry at either end. The canal is 25 feet wide and has frequent berthing points and inns along its length. The locals don't discuss it often with strangers, but there are many unusual stories about the canal. Supposedly, the Dwarfs that designed it found pre-Unberogen artifacts when they dug the canal, and things haven't been right ever since. Some say that if the smaller of the two moons, Morrsleib, is full, then you can take the canal north and end up somewhere that isn't the Reik. No one is sure where, and few generally test it.

While northern Middenland has more famous marshes, like the Furdienst, Midden Marshes and Shadensumpf, Reikland's rivers leave the land no drier and no less full of fens and mires. The largest of these is Grootscher Marsh, spreading on both banks of the Reik. It extends fifty miles into both Reikland and Middenland from the Wasteland border and is usually seen as cursed, due being the site of one of the Empire's most famous defeats in the last century - the Battle of Grootscher Marsh, in which the Wasteland secured independence from the Empire. Nowadays, it's mostly a foul-smelled wetland full of noisy birds and River Trolls. In the lean years, when they cannot find sufficient meat, the Trolls grow hunger and, according to rumor, slip into the Reik to kidnap people. Being sent to clear out the Grootscher is one of the worst punishment details the Reikland army has, and even the best soldiers hesitate to enter. Travelers occasionaly mention the sound of strange, ominous horns in the fogs of the marsh, and the locals note that Trolls don't use horns. Then they quickly change the subject. The area has also recently been discovered to contain three rare species of Wastelander fungus, once thought only to grow in Cursed Marsh near Marienburg. Daemon's Tand, Rood Puffball and Dodeshors Polypore have all been sighted in Grootschers Marsh, and the merchant Klaes Adaans of Oberseert has begun hiring brave souls to go pick mushrooms, which has attracted not only River Trolls looking for food but Goblins trying to capture the Trolls. Klaes doesn't especially care and never tells his hired hands about it - all he wants is the valuable fungus.

The Altdorf Flats form between the Reik and Talabec as they split around Altdorf, wide wetlands full of rushes and reeds, notorious for the River Troll infestations of its bogs. They lie twenty miles west of Altdorf. They are crassed by six main roads, each wth several stone bridges, some of which are Dwarf-made and date back to Sigmar's age. The roads are always busy with coaches and merchant caravans, so they're heavily patroled by the road wardens. The waterways are also known to be home to many smugglers, so the riverwardens are also frequently spotted in the marshes, driving back criminals and monsters.

Reiker Marshes lies between Reiker Heights and the Hohesesienen Hills between the Reik and the Teufel. They are notoriously treacherous, and inexperienced ship pilots often run aground in the shallow waters. While tattered flags and rotting signs mark the worst areas, they're nowhere near sufficient, and local huffers are constantly in need to guide boats through for a reasonable price. Most work out of the towns of Prieze and Babenborn on the Reik, and a few in Buxhead on the Teufel. The waters are most dangerous in the five mile stretch where the rivers meet, known as Leopold's Folly after an emperor that repeatedly tried and failed to dredge the area and make it safe for larger ships. Wise captains avoid the area entirely and pay tolls to pass through Grunberg Canal.

Uhland Bogs is a wide peatland in the south of the County of the West March, pierced by the river Westerfluss, which forms the natural border between the Wasteland and Reikland. Huge peat towers cut from the bog are found in the villages nearby, dried and used to fuel local fires in winter or sold downriver. In the southwest are a number of ancient carved stones in the bog, which draw Rhya's cultists and those of older deities to worship during the equinoxes. One group of stones, called the Crowstones, has a foul reputation, and the bog near them is permanently black. Locals warn never to go near those stones on the festivals of Geheimistag of Hexenstag, for the say crows gather in impossibly huge numbers, while unspeakable monsters arise from the bog to terrorize the living.

Next time: Reikland Timeline

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

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WFRP 4e - History of the Reikland

This is our timeline! It's a timeline solely of the province of the Reikland, but by default that also makes it a timeline of a lot of the Empire.
C. -500 IC: The Unberogen tribe settles the area later to become Altdorf and begins to fortify. The area will be sacked multiple times by Beastmen Orcs, Goblins and so on. However, the site is strategically important as the confluence of the Reik and Talabec Rivers, and conquest and trade both bring prosperity. Soon, the fortified town becomes known as Reichsdorf, "the rich village." Over time, this will become Reikdorf, with the area around called Reikland.
-30: A twin-tailed comet streaks through the sky, heralding the birth of Sigmar, son of Chief Bjorn of the Unberogen tribe in Reikdorf. A crazed warband of Orcs follows it to Sigmar's birthplace, and his mother, Griselda, dies in the attack. Sigmar is left with a life-long hatred of the Greenskins.
-15: A merchant caravan from Karaz-a-Karak is ambushed by Orcs, who take King Kurgan Ironbeard prisoner. Sigmar rescues the king and is named dawonger, Dwarf-friend. He is given the king's greatest heirloom, the warhammer Ghal-Maraz.
-8: Chief Bjorn dies. Sigmar becomes chief of the Unberogen.
-7: Sigmar realizes that the threat of the Greenskins is too much to fight for his tribe alone. He begins a campaign to bring all nearby Humans under his rule.
-2: Sigmar binds twelve Human tribes under his rule after years of war, allying with several more.
-1: The First Battle of Black Pass occurs. The largest Greenskin horde ever seen in the world is defeated by an alliance of Dwarfs and Humans led by High Chief Sigmar and King Kurgan, ending the centuries of Goblin Wars.
0 IC: Sigmar is crowned emperor of the twelve tribes. The Empire is born. The Dwarf Runesmith Alaric the Mad is hired to produce twelve runeswords, one for each chief, as symbol of office and thanks for their sacrifices.
1: The First War Against Chaos occurs. The Empire comes under attack by Morkar the Uniter, Everchosen of Chaos. The war is short but desperate. Morkar is slain by Sigmar in a day-long battle that, legend says, split the earth and rent the sky.
c. 2: Sigmar titles the 12 chiefs his 'counts,' which modern scholars believe derives from the Classical word comes, 'companions,' for they were his battle-companions against the Greenskins and the Chaos tribes.
c. 7: Sigmar kills the Necromancer Morath and seizes the Crown of Sorcery. He recognizes its evil power and locks it away beneath Reikdorf.
11: The Battle of Drakenmoor occurs. The Great Enchanter Constant Drachenfels leads a Greenskin army against the capital, suffering his first defeat in his entire life. This loss will haunt him long after his reformation in several centuries.
15: The Battle of the River Reik occurs. Nagash, Lord of Undeath, leads an Undead horde in an attempt to claim the Crown of Sorcery. The Undead nearly overwhelm the Reiklander army and their Dwarf allies, but Sigmar eventually destroys Nagash, causing the Undead army to disintegrate.
50: Sigmar vanishes. To avoid the destruction of the Empire, the chiefs eventually agree to elect one of their own number as Emperor, selecting Siegrich of the Asoborn tribe. Thus, they become the Elector Counts, each swearing to be companion and protector of the Emperor.
51: Emperor Siegrich I dies in a hunting accident. After one month of chaos, Prince Hedrich of the Unberogens becomes Emperor Hedrich I, returning the seat of Empire to Reikdorf.
69: Johann Helstrum arrives in Reikdorf, claiming to have holy visions involving Sigmar. He preaches that he witnessed Sigmar's Ascension. The Unberogens believe him, as they loved Sigmar so much.
73: Johann Helstrum builds the first Temple of Sigmar. He becomes the first Grand Theogonist as well as the first man to recognize the divinity of Sigmar.
c. 100: Emperor Hedrich I recevies the twelve runeblades made by Alaric the Mad, commissioned a century earlier. Each of these Runefangs is a unique weapon of great power, and they are passed out among the tribal chiefs. In time, they become the symbols of the Elector Counts.
246: The High Temple of Sigmar is completed in Reikdorf, serving as the center for the burgeoning Cult of Sigmar. This leads to open conflict with the cults of Ulric and Taal.
990: Emperor Ludwig I, the Fat, grants the Grand Theogonist a vote to select the next Emperor. Some Elector Counts and cults object to this blatant favoritism, but Ludwig is more interested in the banquets prepared for him by the Sigmarites in Reikdorf.
1000: As celebration of the thousand year anniversary of Sigmar's crowning, a new High Temple is completed in Reikdorf. It is the largest temple built in the entire Empire so far, cementing the cult's power as chief faith of the Reikland. Emperor Ludwig I renames the city Altdorf as a demonstration of the capital's age and importance.
1053-1115: The reign of Boris Goldgather. Emperor Boris I proves to be both unpopular and ridiculously corrupt, with his rule remembered for extremely high taxes, weak leadership and complete neglect of the military.
1106-1110: Beastmen and other vile monsters emerge from the Drakenwald forest, sacking towns and forts across Drakwald Province. When the final heir of the Drakwald throne is slain in battle with a Bestigor of immense size, Emperor Boris I places the Drakwald Runefang in his palace at Altdorf. Publically, he claims he will pass on the Runefang when a suitable heir is found. Privately, he has no such plans.
1111-1115: The Black Plague sweeps through Reikland, killing 90% of the population and debilitating half of the survivors. Skaven erupt from beneath the Empire to attack. When Boris I dies of plague in 1115, no replacement is prepared.
1115-1124: The Rat Wars. Skaven systematically enslave the Empire's remaining population, effectively wiping out all Human life in Drakwald Province. Elector Count Mandred of Middenland attempts a desperate defense with the aid of Elves from Laurelorn Forest. He succeeds, driving the Skaven below ground once more. The surviving three elector bloodlines elect Mandred Emperor.
1152-1359: The Age of Wars. Emperor Mandred II is assassinated by the Skaven in 1152, and the Elector Counts cannot agree on a successor out of fear of invasion by rivals. The interregnum lasts over two centuries. The Princes of Reikland rule over the province as civil war erupts in the Empire.
1359-1547: The Time of Two Emperors. In an attempt to end the bloodshed, the Electors meet in Altdorf, eventually agreeing on Elector Count Wilhelm of Stirland as Emperor by a majority of one. Elector Countess Ottila of Talabecland becomes outraged and declares herself Empress without a vote, supported by the Cults of Taal and Ulric. She outlaws the Cult of Sigmar in Talabecland, which remains in force for almost 1000 years. The civil wars escalate.
1421: Shipbuilding becomes prominent in the natural harbor of Reiksport in Altdorf. Reikland vessels fill the Reik.
1489: The Prince of Reikland formally commissions a navy due to fears of ships from Talabheim, Carroburg, Nuln and Marienburg. Several low bridges are built across the Reik and Talabec in an attempt to reduce these cities' influence by blocking ships and controlling trade.
1547-1979: The Time of Three Emperors. Sigmarites attempt but botch an assassination after the Electors refuse to back their choice of Emperor. The Elector Count of Middenland denounces the elections as a sham and declares himself Emperor with the support of the Cult of Ulric, which has recently broken away from the Talabecland Emperor. There are now three seated Emperors - the Electoral Emperor supported by the Cult of Sigmar, the Ottilian Emperor supported by the Cult of Taal and the Wolf Emperor supported by the Cult of Ulric. The civil wars intensify again.
C. 1450-1550: Knights return with great wealth from the crusades in Araby, founding new orders and chapterhouses across the Reikland. They also fund the first Altdorf temple of Myrmidia, sponsored by the newly made Knights of the Blazing Sun.
1681: The Night of the Restless Dead occurs. The dead stir in the Gardens of Morr, and corpses rise to sow terror. Entire towns are overrun before dawn sends the dead back to their graves.
1707-1712: The WAAAGH! Gorbad and the First Siege of Altdorf occur. Orc Warboss Gorbad Ironclaw takes advantage of the civil wars and invades with a horde of Greenskins, destroying the Grand Province of Solland, sacking Nuln and most of Wissenland and sweeping through Reikland, razing one in three settlements before eventually breaking against Altdorf's walls. Electoral Emperor Sigismund IV is slain.
1940: The Poisoned Feast occurs. The Great Enchanter, Constant Drachenfels, invites the Electoral Emperor Carolus II and his entire imperial court to a feast at Castle Drachenfels. The guests are all poisoned and paralysed, then starved to death, a banquet set before them. Several important noble lines are wiped out, Reikland is destabilized and the Electoral Emperors are placed under threat.
1979-2303: The Dark Ages. Countess Magritta of Westerland is elected Empress, but the Cult of Sigmar refuses to crown her - or any Elector Count. The Electoral Emperors have no voted emperor. The electoral system collapses entirely, and most provinces are left to deal with only themselves. Petty warlords invent and claim titles on a whim.
2010-2146: The Vampire Wars. The Empire has collapsed into thousands of factions, and the Vampire Lords of Sylvania exploit it. Three major wars result as three different vampire counts attempt to destroy the Empire. Each time, they are driven back by a mixture of unlikely alliance, desperate plans and clever strategies.
2051: The Second Siege of Altdorf occurs. Vampire lord Vlad von Carstein is destroyed, and his wife Isabella commits suicide. Their armies splinter and factionalize, ending the First Vampire Wars.
2100: The Battle of Four Armies is inconclusive, ending in multiple assassination attempts by treacherous former allies in the Empire's forces. It is decided that an emperor must be elected. Elector Count Helmut is the most popular candidate until he is revealed as a zombie thrall of Konrad von Carstein, the vampire lord the alliance was meant to defeat. All plans for elections are abandoned.
2135: The Third Siege of Altdorf occurs. Vampire lord Mannfred von Carstein launches a surprise winter attack on Altdorf after a summer of civil conflicts. He is driven back after the Grand Theogonist uses a forbidden spell to break his necromancy.
2203: A rift into the Realms of Chaos opens at Castle Drachenfels, annihilating almost every living soul between Bogenhafen and Ubersreik. After a week, it closes as mysteriously as it opened.
2302-2304: The Great War Against Chaos. Asavar Kul, Everchosen of Chaos, leads a massive horde to Kislev, laying waste to everything in his path. Magnus von Bildhofen, a young noble of Nuln, claims inspiration from Sigmar and rallies the fractured Empire into an army to relieve the Kislevites. He defeats Asavar Kul at the Gates of Kislev, alongside Kislevite, Dwarf and Elven forces.
2304-2369: The reign of Emperor Magnus the Pious. Magnus von Bildhofen is elected Emperor Magnus I, the first truly elected emperor representing all Grand Provinces in nearly a thousand years. He initiates massive reforms to end corruption, creating laws to limit the powers of the nobles, cults, guilds and more. He founds several new institutions, including the formal creation of the Empire State Armies, the Imperial Navy and the Colleges of Magic in Altdorf, legalizing magic for the first time ever in the Empire.
2308-2310: The Third Parravon War. The Bretonnians of the Duchy of Parravon invade the Reikland via the Grey Lady Pass, claiming that military escalation in Ubersreik due to the new State Army breaks an ancient treaty. They are driven back and Parravon is quickly besieged within a year. Eventually, after a year of skirmishes and a lot of shouting, the King of Bretonnia offers a treaty to Emperor Magnus I, ending the war.
2402-2405: The Fourth Parravon War. The Bretonnians of Parravon invade again. Ubersreik is sieged twice but does not fall. Emperor Dieter IV brokers peace by offering a vast sum of money to the Parravonese to retreat, drawing much criticism.
2415: The Night of a Thousand Arcane Duels occurs. The Eight Colleges go to war with each other, razing much of Altdorf and killing six of eight Patriarchs. The Cult of Sigmar pressures the Prince of Altdorf and Emperor Dieter IV to lock the Colleges down; they do, executing many mages. Legal magic use is ended, and many survivors flee the Colleges never to return.
2420-2424: WAAAGH! Grom!. The Goblin Warboss Grom the Paunch leads a horde of Greenskins to assault the Empire, sacking much of Reikland before heading west to the sea, undefeated, and heading out on ships. The lack of mages and suspension of the Colleges is blamed for the repeated military defeats.
2429: Westerland purchases its independence from the Empire via a bribe to Emperor Dieter IV, reforming itself as the Wasteland, with Marienburg as its capital. The Elector Counts invoke anti-corruption laws set in place by Emperor Magnus I to depose Dieter. He is replaced by Grand Prince Wilhelm of House Holswig-Schliestein of the Reikland, Emperor Wilhelm III. The current ruling dynasty still descended from Emperor Wilhelm III. Shortly after, the Battle of Grootscher Marsh occurs as Wilhelm is pressured to respond to the Wasteland's secession. He attempts to invade Marienburg, meeting Wastelander forces at the Marsh outside Siert. The Empire is routed by the Marienburg navy, along with mercenaries, trained militia and the Wasteland's High Elf allies, who supply mages. Wilhelm begrudgingly recognizes the Wasteland's independence but refuses to ratify it with a formal treaty. Marienburg accepts this and draws the new border at Siert.
2430: Emperor Wilhelm III reinstates the Colleges of Magic out of anger at the State Army's inability to handle the Elven mages and Wastelander navy. He also invests significantly in Reikport shipbuilding.
2431: The Great Fire of Altdorf occurs. The newly reinstated Bright College accidentally sets the city ablaze due to a misfired spell. Many lobby to suspend the Colleges again, but he decides to keep them open, even though many buildings have been lost. He does, however, grant greater oversight from the Cult of Sigmar.
2453: The Fourth Siege of Altdorf occurs. The Liche King Arkhan the Black invades Reikland with an apparently endless swarm of zombies, heading for Altdorf. Once the siege begins, Arkhan breaks into the High Temple of Sigmar and steals the Liber Mortis from its vaults. Minutes later, after he escapes, his army collapses, leaving thousands of bodies rotting outside Altdorf.
2480: In Drachenfels Castle, Constant Drachenfels is slain a second time by Crown Prince Ostwald von Konigswald of Ostland.
2483: Emperor Luitpold III signs treaties with the Wasteland to allow warships of the Imperial Navy to pass through Marienburg. The Reiklanders may now reach the high seas for the first time since the secession, albeit at exceptionally high tolls.
2502: Emperor Luitpold III dies in his sleep. In a close vote, his son Karl-Franz is selected as his successor, crowned Emperor Karl-Franz I in the High Temple of Sigmar in Altdorf.
2505: The playwright Detlef Seirk is hired by Imperial appointment to stage a play in Castle Drachenfels for the Emperor and the gathered nobles of the Empire. It goes extremely wrong.
2508: The Doomfire Dragon Malathrax the Mighty attacks the Vorbergland, razing many villages and seizing much livestock, before it is driven north to the Hagercrybs. After months of pursuit and the deaths of the entire Knightly Order of the Ebon Sword, the dragon is finally slain by Imperial Huntsmarshal Markus Wulfhart with three arrows through the heart.

Next time: Politics.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

So it's 2508 or so.

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

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Side note, it is hilarious to me both that the Drachenfels novel made it onto the timeline and got summarized as just 'a play goes horribly wrong.'

Pollyanna
Mar 5, 2005

Milk's on them.


Lupercalcalcal posted:

Not done one of these before, but this game needs more love. Like any loving love at all.

SPELLBOUND KINGDOMS PART 1: WELCOME AND CORE MECHANIC


That's a pretty nice cover. I like that cover.

The thing to note there is the bit at the bottom: Frank Brunner. That's not just him showboating, oh no.


There's no doubt about it: Spellbound Kingdoms is one guy's loving obsession. Games like that are sometimes just masturbatory heartbreakers, but occasionally it means you just get one very cohesive vision (hint: that’s what this is).

He used to work for Wizards of the Coast, writing supplements for D&D back in the 3.5 era, but according to one interview he left because he was frustrated at having his work cut back and mucked around with – “I decided I was tired of my baby’s arms being torn off”.

Reading the book, he’s got a point. Wizards should have just let him done his thing because holy poo poo, this is gold.

It opens with a welcome text, and you’re immediately dropped into the thing I probably like least about the game – the incredibly casual way in which it’s written. He’s clear about the rules (most of the time), but everything else is done in this really chatty style, often with interjections about how the game isn't very good. It’s frustrating, because the game is actually really good, and having Brunner tell me every other page that it sucks just annoys me. Take some drat pride in your work.

He does, however, also cover some useful stuff in the welcome. He points out that his game doesn’t do things that a lot of other games do, and there’s a bunch of stuff people might not expect to find in it. Usually this is just pretension, but actually he’s not wrong. When he says there are “integrated culture, war, shadow war and economy rules”, he really means that.

He also talks about how the layout to the first edition was poo poo, and he’s tried to make it less poo poo this time around, but it’s still kinda poo poo. For gently caress’s sake Brunner, have some god-drat pride.

He also drops the obligatory rule zero bullshit that games tend to fall back on, and that does annoy me, and it’s weird because reading over the whole text it’s clear that he’s made a decent effort to genuinely handle 99.9% of issues you might have. He kinda doesn't need rule zero.

There’s also a note about materials you need (all the polyhedrals and notably copies of the “fighting styles”), and then a note saying “I think you know already know what an RPG and a GM is, so skip that. Otherwise, loving Google it (seriously, that’s what it says).

Now we hit the first proper section of the book – chapter one: rules.

It opens with a sort of odd discussion of the artwork for the chapter, explaining what it is, what it means, and explaining that it’s the kind of thing the game is looking to support. It's this bit of artwork:

Like, that's cool and all, but it's a bit weird to spend the opening paragraph of your rules chapter talking about your artwork. He goes onto say that it represents what he wants out of a game which is to


That's a pretty ambitious brief.

Next up is an overview of the core mechanic , which is basically roll over the target number, with different polyhedrals to represent different levels of ability. He also calls out inspirations, that work a bit like action points, but are represented in the world directly – so if someone kills your wife, you get worse at sword fighting.

That’s the first time that Brunner explicitly calls out what ends up being a major theme of the game, because that’s not an out of character metagame conceit. That’s in character and in world. People know drat well that if your wife gets murdered you’ll be worse at sword fighting – until you shift your personality around enough to use “get revenge on the fucker who killed my wife”.

Spellbound Kingdoms is also weirdly a dice pool system. Basically, when you roll to do something, you might end up rolling several dice, each for a different thing (one because I’m strong, one because I’m a skilled sword fighter, one because I love my wife, that kind of poo poo), and you get to roll all of them. But you don’t add them together – instead you take the highest result off all the dice you rolled.

Dice also explode, but not in the way they do in lots of other games: if you max out a die, you roll the nice die step up as a new die in the pool, but you still only pick the highest number out of all of them. If you think that rolling a 12 on a d12 sounds loving broken, well, Brunner thinks you might think that:



The thing is, he's not wrong. Rolling a d20 in this game is more satisfying than it ever was in years of playing D&D, whatever edition. You know when you break out that d20 it's time for someone to be your loving bitch.

What polyhedral you roll is basically the biggest one you can “fit” into the number of the attribute, skill or whatever. If it’s a 7, you roll a d6. If it’s an 8, you roll a d8.

Modifiers are basically advantage and disadvantage from D&D 5th – you roll a bonus die in your pool for a positive modifier, or you roll a bonus die in your pool and take the lowest value for a negative modifier. That makes penalties pretty loving brutal. If you have both penalties and bonuses, you get to roll the bonus die last and so it’s not all lost.

If you tie on a contested check, the higher die type wins. If they’re the same, reroll. Contested checks are just two people rolling off, but that’s not how most checks are made. Most are made against the doom.

The doom is measure of… well, I’ll let Brunner explain it, because it's another one of those moments where it's not clear right away that this isn't just a concept for the players, it's a concept for the characters. In-world stuff later in the books talks about the doom as if everyone knows about it.


That's right, in this game, people have come up with an objective measure for how lovely your town is. And that directly impacts on whether you can swing on a chandelier and kick someone in the face. Because plague-ridden children being miserable outside makes your swashbuckling nonsense harder.

This ain't anywhere near the extent of how weird this idea gets. Buckle up, because next time we're going to talk about how really hating a motherfucker or how being an obsessive stamp collector can make you immortal.

Next up: MOOD, INSPIRATIONS, FEAR AND BEING loving IMMORTAL AT FIRST LEVEL

I just wanted to say that someone linked this in a different thread and now I really really want to try playing this at some point in the future.

Ronwayne
Nov 20, 2007

That warm and fuzzy feeling.

Mors Rattus posted:

WFRP 4e - History of the Reikland

2505: The playwright Detlef Seirk is hired by Imperial appointment to stage a play in Castle Drachenfels for the Emperor and the gathered nobles of the Empire. It goes extremely wrong.


Hmm?

Mors Rattus
Oct 25, 2007

FATAL & Friends
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This is the funniest entry on the entire timeline because it's referencing the novel Drachenfels, which is very, very silly.

Very silly indeed.

MonsterEnvy
Feb 4, 2012

Shocked I tell you

Night10194 posted:

So it's 2508 or so.

At mimimum. Not too many major events happen in Reikland to the big warhammer events in 2522.

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


The REAL question is, are Gotrek and Felix canon? (Of course they are.)

MonsterEnvy
Feb 4, 2012

Shocked I tell you

wiegieman posted:

The REAL question is, are Gotrek and Felix canon? (Of course they are.)

Yes.

MonsieurChoc
Oct 12, 2013

Every species can smell its own extinction.

Still good, though.

Freaking Crumbum
Apr 17, 2003

Too fuck to drunk


does anyone else feel like the warhammer chat is eating up a lot of oxygen in this thread? i know night10194 has been reviewing hams for a while, and mors has more recently gotten involved with additional hams material, but it feels like most of the discussion is 99.9% hams stuff. is it just a side effect of hams being nerd-cocaine, or the result of a dearth of non-hams content? i see ARB cranking out Rifts updates and PurpleXVI laying down SenZar content, but it feels like anything not related to warhammer gets next-to-no engagement from the thread.

i admit that i am biased because i have zero interest in warhammer material. it just feels like there was a better variety of conversation even a month or two back, but somehow lately it's been pages and pages and pages of warhammer conversation.

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


Partly it's hams being nerd cocaine, partly it's Rifts not being particularly engaging (ARB's heroic update-fortitude aside), mostly it's that 4e is The New poo poo of a long-running franchise that a lot of people are familiar with and were pleased to see return.

Terrible Opinions
Oct 17, 2013



It's also because 4e is the first new material for good actual warhammer for quite a while. For years all we've had is the abysmal Age of Sigmar poo poo.

OvermanXAN
Nov 14, 2014
Yeah, Rifts is hilarious to read about but there's not really much to discuss, anything of value to be said on the subject is said in the write-ups, especially since most of it's been said with regards to previous books.

PurpleXVI
Oct 30, 2011

Spewing insults, pissing off all your neighbors, betraying your allies, backing out of treaties and accords, and generally screwing over the global environment?
ALL PART OF MY BRILLIANT STRATEGY!

Yeah, at this point, to me, RIFTS is just like... a dense mess of words, numbers and megadamage. There's been so much goofy poo poo from RIFTS already that it's impossible to get baffled by anything else from it, at this point the interesting things are when it manages to actually generate a half-decent anything. As for Warhammer, I honestly tend to skip over everything but Night10194's reviews because they're entertainingly written and tend to do good and interesting analyses of the mechanical high and low points of a given Warhammer RPG.

With SenZar capped off, now I'm just waiting for the next terrible/hilarious/bizarre RPG to come along to review, unless Todd King decides to re-release the lost Campaign Builders 2 and 3.

Kavak
Aug 23, 2009


Someone was doing a Sigmata review but they abandoned it, IIRC.

Cooked Auto
Aug 4, 2007

There is also the part where Mors also posts regularly and not sporadic as in many other cases which makes it look like the Ham of War discussions take up a lot more space.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

It also helps that 4e looks like a mechanically considered/interesting enough update, with a lot of material to compare it to already, so there's a lot to discuss about its design.

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Alien Rope Burn
Dec 4, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!


Rifts World Book 19: Australia, Part 14 - "The name is an Outback joke inspired by legends of the old Glitter Boys and the clean, shiny power armored troops of the Tech-Cities — the joke being that power armor in the Outback have lost their sparkle and shine."

Power Armor

As one can guess after the rest of the equipment section, power armor is pretty rare in the Outback and pretty well prized, sometimes being passed down through families. They tend to be either stolen from the tech-cities or cobbled tother from foreign or pre-rifts suits. Often they look properly post-apocalypse ramshackle with spikes or monster teeth attached. Few have nuclear power sources of any sort. The cities actually offer to buy any power armor suit for a solid price, in the hopes of keeping that technology outside of outsiders. Very rarely they will provide them to valued Outback agents at a high price. While there are Glitter Boy suits (from American military bases in the Pacific) and suits of armor originating from Asia and Japan floating around, they're extremely rare.


"Rusty" was taken a little literally, I suppose.

We get two main suits of power armor listed. The first is the "Rusty", aka the tech-city APAA/Assault Power Armor Alpha, so named because it's just a pale shadow of the legends of Glitter Boys and their ilk. While the tech cities produce them, some have emerged from the Outback or Pacific Rim region as knock-offs. There's a rumor there's some secret Outback manufacturer, or that the tech-cities sell them with bugs so they can be tracked and watched. In any case, they're pretty low-grade, being on the bottom end (200 M.D.C.) compared to power armor from any other supplement, but it's possible to upgrade their armor as much by 50%. The generally have vibro-blades in the arms, but generally vary otherwise - they might have arm weapons (taken from the bionics weapon list) or things like jet packs and other gadgets. We're given a wide variety of shoulder weapons that are typically mounted on them, most of which are pretty middling. Lastly, though I rarely talk about the combat bonuses armor gets, the Rusty's are notable in that its bonuses are so low they're not worth describing.


Unleash the bellybutton of war!

The second suit is the "Bushbasher", aka the X50 Assault Power Armor Beta. It's slightly better armored, and comes with "concealed" forearm lasers, vibro-blades, a belly flamethrower ("fear my navel flames!"), a small mini-missile launcher, and a shoulder weapon like the Rusty. It's generally just an upgraded version of the Rusty, though I have questions about having a flamethrower fuel tank right on your chest or stomach.

Rifts World Book 19: Australia posted:

There are a few heavier, larger types of power armor, including the Platypus and Security Commando, as well as other vehicles, but space limitations prevent us from presenting them here. See Rifts® Australia Two: Mystic Australia for their descriptions and more world information, along with magic and Aboriginals.

Nope.


Why I don't usually copy the boat art: 80% is like "modern boat + turrets= future boat".

Notable Vehicles

We're told that there are a lot more vehicles available, and suggests we adapt stuff from other books. However, we do have some vehicles manufactured by Perth and Melbourne.
  • "Devil" 4x4: Personal transportation is rare inside the cities, and only the military or rare elite have vehicles like this. Despite the self-destruct mechanism built into military models, a fair number of these have fell into the hands of Outbackers who have learned to disable it. It's honestly pretty weak (225 M.D.C.); the military model has a grenade launcher and rail gun, though it can have up to two more weapons mounted.
  • "Crawler" APC: A decently tough (440 M.D.C.) half-track used to transport troops with a mini-missile launcher and a turreted gun (rail gun, laser cannon, or particle beam; you want the particle beam). Nothing too special, otherwise.
  • "Slicer" Patrol Boat: The most heavily armed and armored of the vehicles here (500 M.D.C.), this has rail guns or lasers (you want the rail gun), mini-torpedoes, and mini-missiles. It's used for patrols and light transport, like you do. Also this has been true of other vehicles, but it's quaint to see each one has a CD player for "one-inch" CDs. Quaint!


Looks nothing like the city helicopters from earlier, of course.

  • "Viper" Attack Chopper: The iconic response vehicle for the tech-cities, theses often patrol the region around the tech-cities. While not terribly durable (210 M.D.C.), their rail guns and mini-missiles seem pretty average... but the medium-range missiles they carry are one of the biggest damage dumps we've seen in Australia. They also apparently often equipped with tripod weapons for door gunners to use. They have "limited stealth capability" that has no rules effect, and reserve rotors. That is, it can eject a failing set of rotors and unfold the backup ones if necessary, though it might still crash if it's too low to the ground.
  • VR-500X "Stinger" Robot: These are small, man-sized drone choppers (60 M.D.C.) that are seen as disposable, with rail guns and mini-missiles, and often sent out alongside Vipers or on patrols. They're usually piloted through a VR system - they can also operate as autonomous robot drones, but "all bonuses are reduced by half". Wait, what bonuses? Like, does the robot brain have a set of bonuses that are always halved? Well, nothing is listed. It's confusing.
  • One & Two Man Flyers: A vehicle obviously just copy-pasted from the Sand Fiend and other Kent Burles art, and is deeply, deeply :effort:; I get a feeling Siembieda slapped it in at the last moment to fill page count. It isn't even given consistent M.D.C. (200-300), and has a "nose gun" and "secondary guns" of an undetailed nature, as well as mini-missiles and medium-range missiles (I sometimes think Siembieda forgets short-range missiles exist). Why, if the tech-cities have this anti-grav hover tech, do they gently caress around mostly with helicopters? :iiam:


Unleash the RC of war!

Conclusions

Australia is kinda neat in the way it tries to rebalance Rifts a little with a lower-tech, more "post-apocalypse" setting (as opposed to post-post-apocalypse), and actually has some interesting hooks for most of its supernatural shenanigans. However, it falls back on the typical Rifts notion of magical indigenous people in the usual tiresome fashion, and it's probably a small mercy we didn't get Mystic Australia. However, there is enough unique stuff like mutants, songjuicers, and kwarla to at least keep it interesting. While it's not the best ever, it's at least an interesting book that's genuinely trying to do something different, and though I give the sideeye at the notion of further Australia books making noble magic special people out of Aboriginal Australians, I would have liked to have seen Ben Lucas try some more writing on the line.

However, rumor has it that Palladium actually got two manuscripts from Ben Lucas for the next two Australia books that were then shelved by Palladium, to his chagrin. Another rumor says that Mystic Australia and Dreamtime were shelved by Siembieda, who felt it went too far and would likely offend people. (Which sort of people is less clear.) There's also talk that Siembieda made some last-minute changes, like changing the Molokoi from an S.D.C. race with acid guns to the terrifying (for the Australia setting) techno-wizards they became. But all that's - and I'll emphasize this - only rumors. It also could have been fan backlash on the lower power level and frog-based villainy that caused Siembieda to want to turn things back towards the Americas, or just generally low sales on the book. Either way, it's likely the last we'll see of Rifts Australia in the foreseeable future.

Toodle-oo.

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