Winds of Chaos

I recently received an email from one Rolph Segers, who has completed the enormous task of converting the NPCs from Alfred Nuñez Jr’s brilliant alternate conclusion to the Enemy Within campaign, Empire at War. Empire at War, originally written for v1, is an option for those fans of the campaign who either cannot find the elusive (and expensive) official conclusion Empire in Flames, or desire to play through a conclusion that smoothly bridges the two versions of WFRP.

You can find Segers’ conversions here, and Nuñez’s original at Strike to Stun.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Life has been quite hectic over the last several months.

My previous post on solving the problem of unlimited healing is itself problematic, because it would increase the likelihood of rampant chaos effects with healers, primarily followers of Shallya. Since witch hunters would not tolerate the existence of Shallyan priestesses who, in their eyes, routinely traffic with the forces of Chaos (as evidenced by common chaos manifestations), it does not seem to make sense to attempt to limit the casting of healing spells by increasing the likelihood of calling down the curse of Tzeentch.

So, back to the drawing board. Fortunately, I may have hit upon a simple, elegant solution that does not involve Chaos at all: healing spells tamper with the recipient’s life force, and thus should come at some cost. I propose that every time a successful Heal spell is cast upon a wounded PC, that PC suffers a -10% to his or her Toughness score.

Read the rest of this entry »

Patrick Fungerlings strikes again! This time he has completed the mammoth task of converting all of the NPCs from the 3rd (4th?) installment of the Enemy Within campaign, Power Behind the Throne. For those of you who have been running a v2 TEW campaign or are planning to, the wait is over.

You can find the PBtT NPCs in all their v2 glory right here.

Josef sent me revamped versions of the main crit charts, which follow the lethality of the chart in the WFRP rulebook and should shorten combats considerably. I’d like some feedback on these charts, because if there’s enough call for it I’ll offer similar versions of my own.

You can find them at the usual place in Josef’s section.

The sketches keep rolling in. This time TJ submits a creature the PCs may (or may not) meet up with at some point during the first installment. Internet fame and fortune await the first one to guess what this creature is. Anyone have their Old World Bestiary handy?

It’s been quite a while, but the Firearms Critical Effects are finished. These are a bit more lethal, but then they are firearms. Next up on the docket is the Spell/Energy Chart, which hopefully will not take quite so long.

Also, due to a recent combat against a low-level Wizard which took way too long, I’ve added some notes & modifications to the Main Critical Hit Chart specifically dealing with combat against magic-users. Now, that pesky Wizard will feel Critical Hit penalties where they hurt — right in the Will Power and Mag score — rather than in the relatively less important Weapon Skill.

Also up is another “Stones & Sigils” sketch from TJ, this time featuring the titular stone (TJ assures me that the final version will be riven with runes). Work progresses apace on this scenario, and I plan to have it available for download by January of 2007 — depending, of course, on how busy the rest of my life gets.

Three quick updates for the Critical Hit portion of the Downloads Section:

1) In response to feedback I’ve received from several quarters, I’ve added a critical hit chart that follows the conventions of v2. This means that you now have the option of downloading a chart for both my effects and Josef’s effects whose crits get nastier the lower you roll, just like the chart found in the core book. Of course, you can still download the old, ascending charts (still my favorite!).

2) If you haven’t checked Josef’s crits in a while, he’s made major revisions on nearly every one. I’m going to go through and start implementing a version system if and when he makes any more major updates. For now, consider the current charts to be “version 2.0.”

3) Joseph has added a new critical hit chart specifically designed for use during combats with large monsters. Take a look, it’s available now.

It’s been a while since I updated last and I figured you might want to know what I’ve been up to. Between adding and revising entries for the Firearms Criticals I’ve been working on a larger project: a v2 campaign called, coincidentally enough, “Winds of Chaos.” TJ Adamowicz, the artist who provided the sketches for Noblesse Oblige, is hard at work doing the same thing for “Of Stones & Sigils,” the campaign’s first installment.

Here is a peek at TJ’s first sketch:

What is that, you may ask? Why, a sigil, of course. Maybe we’ll get to see the “Stone” portion of the title at a later date.

One of the nice things about running a website is the stuff you get sent entirely out of the blue. Josef Tham, a physician hailing from Sweden, has finished a complete set of Critical Hit Charts, based on my own, and granted permission to host them online. His tables include:

· Arrow & Bolt
· Blunt
· Bullet
· Cutting
· Energy & Flame
· Explosion & Shrapnel
· Piercing
· Teeth & Claw

These tables answer many of the requests I have received for more charts, and you’ll find that Josef’s tables are lengthier and more descriptive than my own.

I will, of course, continue working on my own tables (Firearms Effects are shaping up as I post this), as well as the “Winds of Chaos” campaign and another scenario. Busy times!

… are finally finished. There has been a lot of demand for these, and they’ve been a long time coming, but hopefully the results are worth it. I added rules for removing arrows/bolts fixed within various body parts and special rules for the abdomen, where the danger of pierced internal organs or major blood vessels is ever-present. This should complete the minimal set of Critical Effects necessary for combat (other weapon-specific effects can be derived from the bladed, blunt, and arrow effects), and I’m going to take a break for a while and work on other projects. But I do mean to return and finish the effects for Firearms and Energy Criticals — it will just take some time. Critical Hit Effects for Arrows and Bolts can be downloaded from the usual place.

UPDATE: Due to feedback I received from this thread at the BI forums, I’ve changed some of the Critical Effects for Arrows & Bolts to reflect a more realistic approach. The new file has been uploaded and replaces the original, so if you keep getting the old file, clear your cache and try again.