Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st edition

A few weeks ago, I started my very first role-playing session with the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP), published in 1986 by Games Workshop. 

Not having the original book, I bought the PDF version available from DrivethruRPG, which I had printed and bound for more practical use. 

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First of all, this imposing game manual is a marvelous introduction to the genesis of Warhammer Fantasy, a universe created barely three years earlier, whose lore seems familiar, though still in the making. 

I can't make technical comparisons with other role-playing games of the time, but it's clear from interviews with the creators that the universe of this first edition of WRFP was intended to be more realistic and gritty. 

Indeed, this is evident in the character creation stage, a chapter I particularly enjoyed. No powerful sorcerer or flamboyant paladin to start the adventure here, but amateur heroes with varied, sometimes trivial professions: beggar, coachman, grave robber, herbalist, raconteur, rat catcher and so on. 

These careers, with their varied skills and equipment, illustrate very well the game's bias, which is to launch into adventure apprentice heroes who are not at all superhuman, but certainly motivated by a taste for risk!

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Like for most other games, I will play this WFRP campaign solo using the Mythic Game Master emulator,  about which you can find more information here. In a nutshell, this system lets me play solo, setting the scene and the details of the action by using a d100 on various “oracle” tables, and finding out whether a piece of information is validated or not, among many other things.

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​But enough technicalities, let's get down to the action in the Old World!

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Scene 1  

Humble beginnings (chaos factor 5)

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Of course, I started by creating my very first character. I wanted to start off in a rather banal way, deciding that he would be a rather young man, the rest of his characteristics being decided randomly by my dice rolls, a rather chaotic but amusing method. 
Thus was born 18-year-old Aldred Richtheir, a ranger whose profession is boatman. His starting profile is rather average, although he can count on a decent ballistic skill and willpower, as well as an acceptable number of wounds:

M5 WS29 BS32 S4 T3 W7 I24 A1 Dex35 Ld34 Int32 Cl29 WP36 Fel30

His BS of 32 allowed me to choose the ranger career class, and I then randomly obtained the boatman profession for Aldred. I am not sur at the moment if the special set of skills of the boatman like river lore will be useful, but you never know... This also certainly adds to the character's background, which I imagine to be a young man who grew up in a lakeside region, and with a definite taste for adventure. Not bad!

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The next step, and not the least important, is to set the initial stage for the action. As I didn't have a precise idea, I decided to use Mythic Game master's “4 W” method, which consists in asking the Who? What? Where? and Why? questions and using a d100 on the meaning tables to gather elements to interpret and tie up the plot.
Here are my results:
Who : seclusion - mistrust 
What : change - power
Where : helpful - purposeful
Why : proceed - nature
After thinking about the implications of these terms for my upcoming adventure, (using Mythic requires a fair lot of imagination, which is part of the fun!) I decided on the following plot:

Aldred is secretly a member of a discreet group of opponents to the current government. He joins the other members at an inn on the outskirts of the city of Marienburg, where they are discussing the best way to put an end to the corruption and decadence affecting the city-state's elite. Aldred volunteers to roam the Wasteland in search of allies and maybe artifacts useful to the cause.

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The location of the action was obtained using Mythic's fate chart, to which I first asked if the action took place within the Empire, with a negative answer. I then asked again about the city of Marienburg, and this time got a positive answer. A very interesting place indeed!

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I finally asked the fate chart if there was a potential ally in the assembly, something I thought likely (and very useful so that poor Aldred wouldn't be alone in saving Marienburg!) and fortunately got a positive answer. 
Thus was born Fudge, the halfling who would be my second character of the adventure (which would probably not be too much to ask).
Fudge is a 31-year-old halfling, his career class is rogue and his profession....tomb robber! Which is pretty cool from the perspective of exploring dark dungeons of the Old World...
Here's his full profile:

M3 WS29 BS37 S1 T2 W6 I50 A1 Dex38 Ld15 Int29 Cl27 Wp40 Fel49

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An interesting profile, with decent ballistic skill and initiative, although his strength is minimal.
The tomb robber profile also promises to be useful, with skills such as silent move rural / urban and spot trap.

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Scene 2 

Gear searching - and looting (chaos factor 5)

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With my adventuring duo selected, it's time to stock up on the right equipment.

I got an altered scene by rolling the die after the chaos factor, and Mythic's event focus determined that this interruption had something to do with the current context.
As we were about to equip ourselves, I determined that the secret opponents group had offered Aldred and Fudge meals, one each that could prove useful on the road.

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The duo then ventured to a nearby armory in the outskirts of Marienburg, where Fudge successfully stole a slingshot and a leather vest. Aldred buys a shield, while the Halfling completes his equipment, this time legally, with a leather helmet.

 

The adventurers are thus all set for the start of their adventures in the Old World, or so they hope!

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Scene 3  

To the dungeon ! (chaos factor 5)

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Now it's time for some old fashioned action!

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Equipped and determined, Aldred and Fudge set off to the site of a supposed dungeon, not far from the Cursed Marshes, north of Marienburg.

An ancient stone staircase descends deeply, surrounded by the autumn-tinged forest.

(I used Mythic's meaning table cavern descriptors and obtained Hole & Ancient)

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Fudge notices the door trapped by venomous snakes, successfully using his spot trap skill.

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The first room contains a creature (I used Mythic's fate chart to find out), a Giant Beetle (meaning table creature descriptors: mandibles & simple).

According to the bestiary in the WFRP rulebook, this creature is neutral, and a successful roll on the fate chart indicates that it doesn't attack.

 

A trapdoor is spotted by Aldred, leading to another room containing a chest (success on the fate chart with unlikely odds).  It contains a fragment of the dungeon map and a mysterious shiny crystal (meaning table objects: information & bright).

A corridor leads to another door. Fudge can't spot the projectile from the booby-trapped door, but his protection means he doesn't take any damage (strenght 3 - toughness 2 + 1 leather).

Beyond this door, Aldred and Fudge come face to face with a disturbing creature: a Doppelganger!  

(meaning table creature descriptors: shifting & strange)

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The creature wounds Aldred twice, causing him to lose 5 hit points, despite the young ranger's attempts to attack.

Fortunately, Fudge manages to wound it severely with his sling, and the heroes escape after this fast and furious confrontation, with Aldred staggering but still on his feet.

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