Crossover idea between Warhammer and the Iron Kingdoms

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Knight of the Lady
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I'm thinking of an idea to spring a suprise on my players and throw off their idea of knowing the setting well, by getting in a humanoid race, modified for the Warhammer universe from the Iron Kingdoms setting, and let them introduce an element that the players probably don't know all about before meeting it since its not part of standard Warhammer lore. Just like the characters are not supposed to know exactly what Clan Skryre brings to a fight and what to attack in what order, now the players will also be among the ones that simply don't know in advance but must learn the hard way.

My basic idea is that these guys would go along the caravann trade route between the Old World and Cathay and so set down their homes, at least initially, in the Border Princes. Where they may stay or move on to the north or west.

And my question is: Could there be a better route for coming to the Old World from the east and setting up shop than the Border Princes? I also welcome any other comment or idea about this that you may have.

An outright invasion of the Empire from the start could also be interested but it would, I fear, force a quick resolution and possibly reduce the newcomers to just another set of enemies that wanders in and attacking the Empire/Bretonnia/Kislev just like the Kurgan/Norsce/Greenskins/Druchii/Beastmen/and so on. As opposed to a new race with which different kinds of interaction is possible, and which I may even allow to be playable in the future. A bit similar to Ogres who can be total jerks, but not in the Greenskins and Beastmen league.

My intention for the greater campaign with this new addition is also to add competition for a resurgent Bretonnia as in my campaign the Storm of Chaos happened and Archaon reduce Kislev and kicked the Empire in the groin, while Chaos cults almost overran Estalia, gave Tilea a beating and throw Bretonnia into chaos when almost the entire adult male population of the Bretonnian royal house was slain outside of Middenheim . So when Bretonnia gets its act together, and the Empire is still lying on its face and moaning after Archaon's kicking, these new arrivals will show up and prevent the Bretonnia from become the main power in the Old World by savagely expanding its influence abroad without serious opposition from other organized realms.

EDITED

For those interested in checking things up, my idea is to use the Skorne as basis for the new arrivals from the east.
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Hyarion
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Coming into the Border Princes is fine. But you could probably get away with just saying that Malekith got usurped by a new radical Khaine/Slaanesh hybrid faction that played off of the normal politics between the usual Khaine/Slaanesh parties and replace the Dark Elves with a new faction of Skorne Elves? Their goal is to refocus from the futile efforts to retake Ulthuan, but to capture land and resources and the disorganization/weak sea defences of Bretonnia/Estalia is a great place to start.
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Orin J.
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i mean, it's not a bad idea but i have to warn against hyarion's suggestion. without the witch king the dark elves don't have any real point and you wind up with a lot of weird plot holes a canny player might exploit (i mean i would).

anyways, given skorne's design they'd work well as either a fragile ally of chaos dwarfs looking to expand into the rich lands of the old world or an old foe of settra that's found a route around the tomb kings and is seeking resources/land. possibly an early ally of nagash that was betrayed and nearly destroyed, which would help explain why they just now began showing up as they were rebuilding for ages to be able to properly conquer distant lands.
Knight of the Lady
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Hyarion wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 4:36 pm Coming into the Border Princes is fine. But you could probably get away with just saying that Malekith got usurped by a new radical Khaine/Slaanesh hybrid faction that played off of the normal politics between the usual Khaine/Slaanesh parties and replace the Dark Elves with a new faction of Skorne Elves? Their goal is to refocus from the futile efforts to retake Ulthuan, but to capture land and resources and the disorganization/weak sea defences of Bretonnia/Estalia is a great place to start.
Now the politics of the Dark Elves is certainly an interesting subject. I know that I would like to run something related to the Slaanesh vs Khaine divide including the Cult of Pleasure and the, I think they were called, Annointed who were essentially immortal elves of Chaos under the influence of Slaanesh and caught my eye back in the "Storm of Chaos" campaign book. Seeing these guys in action would be something.

But I must agree with Orin.J that removing Malekith would be a significent alteration of the setting and could impact my ability to use the Druchii in the future. As such I think that he shouldn't be removed for the sake of introducing the Skorne.

I do however think that you are right in that something could be done with Bretonnia's and Estalia's long and mostly undefended shorelines. One idea I have is that the western shores of the Old World has in recent times becomes a kind of nesting ground for Druchii exiles. Dark Elves who can't stay at home, for one reason or another, set sail for small islands off the coast and from where they can easily reach Bretonnia and Estalia to plunder what goods and slaves they might need or desire as they plot their return or just living high off the Old Worlders.

I had an idea that a Dark Elf noble in exile had set up a kind of pirate court at the Dragon's Maw outisde of L'Anguille. From where he can terrorize both Sea of Claws and the waters further south while being shielded by natural defences and superstition. Definietly material for an adventure there.
Orin J. wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 9:45 pm i mean, it's not a bad idea but i have to warn against hyarion's suggestion. without the witch king the dark elves don't have any real point and you wind up with a lot of weird plot holes a canny player might exploit (i mean i would).

anyways, given skorne's design they'd work well as either a fragile ally of chaos dwarfs looking to expand into the rich lands of the old world or an old foe of settra that's found a route around the tomb kings and is seeking resources/land. possibly an early ally of nagash that was betrayed and nearly destroyed, which would help explain why they just now began showing up as they were rebuilding for ages to be able to properly conquer distant lands.
Making the Skorne allies of the Chaos Dwarfs is an interesting idea but I intend to run them as not aligned with Chaos, although with some severe corruption problems from Khornate influence, so I don't know how close they could then be to the Chaos Dwarfs? An old foe could also work and explain why they are coming west, as they are in their own eyes moving back to their ancestral homeland.

The idea I had on the Skorne were that they were originally situated in the east, perhaps between Ind and Cathay, but that pressure from many sides made them decide that it was more honorable to move out, and continue the veneration of their ancestors, their customs and history, rather than die in glorious battle and be lost and forgotten. Hence they hit the road and struck out west.

Or maybe this could be combined? The Skorne started out in the west and fought with the Nekhari (or however its written) and were gradually driven east, before Nagash really put them to flight and they disappeared off the records, presumably destroyed by scholars in the Old World who might know something about this history. Then the Skorne set up shop in the east before they, during the Storm of Chaos got his by both internal Khornate revolts and attacked from without by Beastmen and local Chaos followers, until they decided that staying where they were was only to delay their destruction and so started moving west to find a new homeland where they could live on. And following the caravann route between the Old World and Cathay they wandered into the Border Princes.
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Orin J.
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Seem to be onto something there, i think. i don't know the full plan you have for this, but best of luck!
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Hyarion
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Rather than come from the East, could you reflavor the Skorne to be a faction from what we would call west africa (Morocco, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Mali, etc) who have been displaced from the south moving into the old world via Gibraltar/Estalia and Tilea?
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Knight of the Lady
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Thanks guys, lots of good ideas and thoughs to chew on. :)
Knight of the Lady
Posts: 184
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 11:04 am

Hyarion wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 5:37 pm Rather than come from the East, could you reflavor the Skorne to be a faction from what we would call west africa (Morocco, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Mali, etc) who have been displaced from the south moving into the old world via Gibraltar/Estalia and Tilea?
I feel like I owe some kind of comment on this.

The reason as to why I favor the east rather than the south as a direction for the Skorne to arrive from is that I am both want to put some distance between them and Bretonnia and also that I am thinking of introducing more Horde and Warmachine factions, like Cryx (but with less tech), Legion of Everblight (and perhaps other Iron Kingdoms dragons as well), Trollbloods and Circle of Orobos. The idea is to place the Cryx, and the Dragonfather, just to the south of the Old World while I don't want the Bretonnians, being the central nation in the meta-campaign, to easily reach the Skorne but rather see the Skorne so defensible that a resurgent Bretonnia can't just march in and crush them after the Skorne's long journey. With the Border Princes I feel that I can explain this by distance and by the fact that the Bretonnians would need to come in by the Blackfire Pass (I think its called) thus making it much easier for the Skorne to defend against any Bretonnian aggression.

Another problem with moving the Skorne from the Southlands up to the Old World is that there really isn't to my knowledge any Gibraltar strait in the Old World. Its a a rather vast ocean there so it would necessitate a seamanhip and access to ships which I don't know if I want give the Skorne. If they come by the land route then it can be explained why they don't field much of a navy.

And finally it would mean that the Skorne would need to travel all over Araby, so the question would be why the Skorne would continue to the Old World rather than put down stakes in Araby?
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Hyarion
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Thanks for the clarifications! I have a better idea of where you're coming from now. I really look forward to seeing how you integrate that into WFRP!
I hold the glaive of Law against the Earth.
Knight of the Lady
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Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 11:04 am

Hyarion wrote: Tue Apr 16, 2019 7:05 am Thanks for the clarifications! I have a better idea of where you're coming from now. I really look forward to seeing how you integrate that into WFRP!
You're welcome. :)

I am also looking forward to this and is full of ideas. Time will tell how it goes, and I'll be happy to tell you guys about it.
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