TEXT:  
  1 
  A BITTER HARVEST 
   
  A WFRP2 adventure set in the rural Empire for 3-6 second-career characters, by ‘Ovid’. 
   
  A Bitter Harvest is a completely unofficial, fan-written adventure for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. All relevant 
  trademarks and copyrights are used without permission and in no way intended to challenge ownership of 
  them by Games Workshop. A Bitter Harvest fully recognises said copyright and trademark ownership.  
   
  May Sigmar’s blessings fall upon the valiant playtesters, who fought back the Chaos to give this work form. 
   
  INTRODUCTION 
  (GM’s eyes only from the start) 
   
  A Bitter Harvest is designed for 3-6 
  characters in their second careers, 
  although the difficulty level can be 
  changed for groups of other sizes and 
  experience levels. It can be run 
  independently or inserted into an 
  existing 
  campaign. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  rural 
  adventure, involving social interaction 
  amongst commoners, outdoors travel 
  and some magic. A party without stealth 
  skills will have a very hard time. 
  Familiarity 
  with 
  Greenskins 
  and 
  someone with Magical Sense would help 
  but are by no means necessary. Careful 
  roleplayers can complete the adventure 
  with only one easy combat. Clumsy ones 
  and/or PCs with an overwhelming 
  hatred 
  of 
  Goblinoids 
  (e.g. 
  an 
  uncontrollably deranged Trollslayer) will 
  risk losing Fate Points in a full-scale 
  battle. While most kinds of characters 
  can contribute, very urban-focussed or 
  upper-class characters will need careful 
  roleplaying and gamesmastering.  
  The adventure can take place in any hilly 
  area within a day’s travel of a town on a 
  major river, although if the campaign is 
  set after the Storm of Chaos it should be 
  placed towards the West and South of 
  the Empire where the economy is 
  relatively undisturbed. It takes place in 
  late summer or early autumn. 
   
  The players will need to show initiative 
  to get the most out of the adventure. 
  The first part is linear, but with 
  numerous 
  roleplaying 
  opportunities 
  during which the PCs can learn what is 
  going on. What they discover will then 
  inform their decisions in the much more 
  open conclusion. Completion should 
  take 2-4 sessions (8-16 hours of play). 
   
  Shaded text denotes extra options, 
  background and GM tips. 
   
  Note that this adventure contains adult 
  themes.
   
  PLOT SYNOPSIS 
   
  The idea for this adventure was inspired by a real event. The thirteenth-century ‘Baltic 
  Crusades’ were characterised by tit-for-tat raiding between German and Baltic Christians 
  on the one hand and pagan tribes on the other. The summer of 1215 was especially 
  bloody for the pagan Estonians. After suffering two attacks from Latvian Christians, an 
  unexpected third army, “caught people coming out of the woods to the fields and 
  villages for food, and, burning some of them alive and slitting the throats of others with 
  their swords, they inflicted various torments until the Estonians gave up all their money 
  and led them to all the hiding places in the woods and handed over the women and 
  children into their power. But this did not soften the spirit of the Latvians... they spared 
  no one, but killed everyone of the male sex, took the women and children captive… and 
  returned home happy with their plunder.” – The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, c.19.3 
  
   
  2 
   
  Maximilian Steiger is a very big deal in 
  the village of Vorberg, but he has a 
  bigger secret. Twelve years ago the 
  village was threatened by a Goblinoid 
  warband. 
  The 
  villagers 
  hid 
  their 
  womenfolk and infants in a cave in the 
  hills and settled in for a siege. One of 
  their number, a young man called Willie 
  ‘Harefoot’ Treumann, was sent for a 
  help but returned with the rescuing 
  army a day too late: although the 
  Greenskins had abandoned the siege, 
  they had found the women and babies 
  and taken them away as slaves. Willie 
  was a broken man, especially when he 
  found out what had actually happened. 
   
  The day before his return, the villagers, 
  thinking he hadn’t got through, parleyed 
  with the Orc boss. In return for sparing 
  the village, its leadership, unbeknownst 
  to the rest, betrayed their womenfolk to 
  the Orcs. The main instigator of this 
  agreement was Max Steiger; two of its 
  victims were his wife Johanna and 
  young daughter Kati. The men involved 
  in the parley, including Willie’s brother 
  Erich and the innkeeper Horst, swore 
  each other to secrecy and gradually got 
  on with life, remarrying and raising the 
  surviving male children, such as Max 
  and Johanna’s son, Max Jnr. The village 
  prospered 
  under 
  Max’s 
  leadership, 
  developing a thriving hemp industry. 
   
  Although the Greenskins killed almost 
  all their slaves before long, Johanna 
  survived and learnt from her new Orc 
  ‘husband’ how they had been captured 
  (as well as, falsely, that her son was 
  dead). She had been brought up as a 
  herbalist and also had a small amount of 
  magical talent. Using a combination of 
  her own cunning and a mind-influencing 
  brew called Mother Knows Best, she 
  brought the Orc boss and much of his 
  warband under control until, with the 
  help of her allies, she killed her 
  ‘husband’ and took control of the tribe. 
  Many of the Greenskins have since been 
  killed in various engagements but she 
  has now led the remnants back to the 
  village, set up base in the hidden cave 
  and is planning a slow revenge. 
   
  Timeline 
  26 years ago Max & Johanna marry 
  25 years ago Max Jnr (‘Maxli’) born 
  20 years ago Klaus born 
  16 years ago Kati born 
  12 years ago The first Orc attack 
  10 years ago Erich & Enid marry, 
  Dieter born. 
  8 years ago 
  Gregor born, Beate 
  returns to Vorberg 
  7 years ago 
  Horst & Liselotte marry  
  4 years ago 
  Johanna becomes boss 
   
  The PCs get involved when Max Snr 
  tries to get married again. It’s part of a 
  business deal with Franz Raffke, a major 
  purchaser, who has a young daughter, 
  Helena. Unfortunately the dowry, which 
  was supposed to be following Max to 
  the town where the wedding takes place, 
  hasn’t arrived. Franz demands that he be 
  able to send agents back with Max and 
  his new wife to ensure that payment 
  comes. Max agrees so long as both pay 
  for neutral third parties – the PCs. 
   
  The party travels to Vorberg, but 
  discover that the wagons carrying the 
  dowry had been attacked by Goblinoids 
  and the village is in a state of fear. They 
  learn that these Goblinoids are the same 
  warband 
  that 
  previously 
  attacked, 
  costing the village its women and babies. 
  Sent to reconnoitre the Greenskins’ 
  camp, the PCs discover that they are 
  now led by one of those women and 
  may learn of the original betrayal and 
  that this attack is motivated by revenge. 
  The PCs must then decide what to do. 
   
  The theme of this adventure is how 
  women, in a society where men have the 
  power, can be treated like tools to be 
  used and discarded, how those women 
  try to accommodate themselves to, 
  
   
  3 
  escape from or end up being twisted by 
  that dynamic and how the next 
  generation then bears the legacy. It seeks 
  to 
  provide 
  a 
  memorable 
  playing 
  experience by presenting players with a 
  complex moral situation which can’t be 
  divided into ‘good vs. evil’ or ‘Empire 
  vs. Chaos’, but instead with one whose 
  horror 
  results 
  from petty human 
  selfishness and cowardice and where 
  selling out humans to Greenskins might 
  be the right (or least wrong) solution. 
  CHAPTER ONE: THE WEDDING 
   
  While visiting a river port, the PCs 
  encounter the wedding celebrations of 
  Maximilian and Helena Steiger. Either 
  the reception is held in the inn where 
  they are staying or they become 
  involved 
  in 
  some 
  other 
  set 
  of 
  celebrations (see the shaded text). 
  There’s very good reason for getting 
  involved – the beer is free. Remember 
  to keep track of the PCs’ drinking (see 
  WFRP, page 115). 
   
  Depending on how quickly the GM wants to get to the ‘meat’ of the story, this might be 
  a good time to fill in details of this region’s marriage customs. Some suggestions include: 
   
  • The bride and groom approach from opposite ends of town in two processions, one 
  of women distributing flowers for luck and one of men distributing copper pennies. 
  They meet in the town square before the wedding party enters the temple of Sigmar. 
  Once they emerge, the festivities begin. 
  • The bride’s family pretends to ‘kidnap’ the bride and the guests (including PCs) 
  compete to find and ‘rescue’ her. The winners are rewarded with a cask of the local 
  ale. Lutz Wassertraeger (see below) might offer to tell the PCs where the bride is in 
  return for a ‘small consideration’. 
  • The men compete in a running race around the village, each carrying one of the 
  village maidens on his back. The winner is ‘married’ to ‘his’ girl until dawn the next 
  day. There’s no shame in anything that happens in that time and any children 
  conceived are considered blessed. This would be a good opportunity to introduce 
  Freudig Bumsen (see below). 
   
  Before long Max has his arm round the 
  PCs’ shoulders and is pressing drinks 
  into their hands. He takes on his role as 
  man of the hour (and, of course, centre 
  of attention) very enthusiastically. Being 
  a sharp businessman, he is using this 
  opportunity to get to know people in 
  town. The fact that the PCs might be 
  disreputable won’t bother him, since he 
  is well aware such people can be useful. 
  The GM might allow him a Charm 
  Test on the PCs as he apparently takes a 
  genuine interest in who they are and 
  what brought them to town.  
   
  If the PCs look for his bride (or if the 
  GM requests an Average (+0%) 
  Perception Test and they pass), they 
  will see a heavily pregnant and much 
  younger woman sitting nearby, sipping 
  occasionally from a tankard of small 
  beer and looking very shy and unsure of 
  herself. Next to her are another young 
  woman, apparently her maid-of-honour, 
  and a very unhappy-looking man of 
  roughly Max’s age. A Very Easy (+30) 
  Gossip Test will get the information 
  that the bride is Helena and the man 
  Franz 
  Raffke, 
  her 
  father 
  and 
  a 
  prominent boat-chandler (supplier of 
  ropes, equipment and stores). Two or 
  more Degrees of Success (DoS) tells the 
  PCs that the marriage is part of a 
  business deal between him and Max and 
  that both want a boy-child to inherit the 
  business. A Routine (+10%) Common 
  
   
  4 
  Knowledge (Empire) Test reveals that 
  it’s not unusual for the bride to be 
  visibly pregnant on the wedding day: it 
  ensures that the marriage will be fertile 
  before any binding commitments are 
  made. The PCs can’t immediately find 
  out why Franz looks so unhappy, 
  however. 
   
  The GM can deliver information either quickly through skill rolls or can insist on 
  roleplaying. In the latter case, here are a couple of NPCs with whom the PCs can 
  interact. Use Villager profiles (see The Cast, below), if necessary: 
   
  • Freudig Bumsen is a pretty, plump young woman who’s out for a hunky man (or, 
  even better, a Dwarf) to bed and one of the PCs is a candidate. She’ll pretend to be a 
  friend of Helena’s and although they did grow up together, Freudig always resented 
  Helena for being a bit more popular (and respected) among the town lads. Freudig 
  will put up a very bad façade of pity for her “dear friend” for being “married off to 
  some fat, old hick just to seal a silly business deal”, but in truth she is rather 
  spitefully gleeful about it and will dish on how Franz is using his daughter to ensure 
  his own future because he failed to sire a male heir. 
  • Lutz Wassertraeger is a dogsbody for Franz, running his errands, passing on 
  messages etc.. Franz pays little attention to Lutz, and the latter takes the opportunity 
  to pilfer small amounts of money. Lutz is sly, but not as sly as he thinks he is, so he’ll 
  start by selling bits of information for pennies, but will quickly get drunk and run his 
  mouth off about how Franz wasn’t man enough to have a son and how he’d like to 
  get his hands on Helena. From Lutz, the PCs can learn that Max has in recent years 
  become a significant supplier of hemp in the region and Franz hopes the marriage 
  will lock his competitors out of this supply. In addition, they could get on Franz’s 
  good side by exposing Lutz as the resentful, pathetic little toad he is. 
   
  Later in the celebrations, Franz and Max 
  get into an altercation, which starts as a 
  heated discussion and escalates into 
  raised voices. An Average (+0%) 
  Perception Test (Acute Hearing grants 
  +10%, as does an additional Average 
  (+0%) Speak Language (Reikspiel) 
  Test to pick out the slurred words) will 
  tell the PCs that the conversation is 
  about a missing dowry, before the two 
  men leave to continue the discussion 
  somewhere in private. 
   
  While it’s clear that the two don’t want 
  to be followed, any PC that does so 
  should make a Routine (+10%) Silent 
  Move Test, Opposed to Max’s Hard 
  (-20%) Perception Test, since the two 
  men are distracted. A success means the 
  PC can listen in to the conversation for 
  a bit. It is clear that Franz is somewhat 
  drunk and very angry with Max. 
  Apparently a large delivery of hemp was 
  supposed to have arrived by now as a 
  dowry. The PC overhears Franz say that 
  he, “could have given that girl to any 
  respectable businessman in town” but 
  that Max had promised him the best 
  prospects, even though his friends had 
  warned him not to deal with an uppity 
  peasant like Max. If Max isn’t to be 
  trusted, though, Franz will sue the shirt 
  off his back and ensure his daughter 
  divorces him and that their child grows 
  up in a Shallyan orphanage where no-
  one can find it. Max tries to calm Franz 
  down, reassuring him that the dowry 
  will be his and asking him not to spoil 
  his daughter’s ‘happy day’ (a point about 
  which Franz is noticeably scornful; Max 
  doesn’t particularly care either, but 
  wants to look like the good guy). 
   
  A failed test means the men spot the 
  PC, who can then either leave or decide 
  to intervene. Alternatively, a PC can just 
  decide to approach them openly before 
  being spotted. An intervention requires 
  
   
  5 
  an Average (+0%) Charm Test with 
  various situational modifiers (-10% if 
  the PC was spotted sneaking around, 
  although this can be negated by good 
  roleplaying, e.g. “Sorry, I was just 
  popping out for a smoke. Can’t have a 
  puff of pipeweed indoors any more. 
  Bloody Shallyan do-gooders.”; +10% if 
  the PC had previously made a good 
  impression on either man; +10% for a 
  good argument, like pointing out that 
  this is best resolved in the morning). If 
  the PCs have made a good impression 
  before, then an offer to help the next 
  day will be welcomed (an additional 
  +10%). Obviously, penalties might be 
  incurred 
  for 
  particularly 
  tactless 
  roleplaying. A successful roll means that 
  the men calm down and thank the PC(s) 
  for their help. On a failure (or no 
  intervention at all) the men still stop 
  arguing but part angrily and only turn to 
  the PCs later out of a lack of other 
  mutually tolerable options. 
   
  After the incident, any PC who might 
  reasonably 
  be 
  thought 
  to 
  know 
  something about marriage rights (e.g. 
  lawyers, priests, roadwardens) will be 
  approached by Max and/or (separately) 
  Franz and asked whether a marriage is 
  valid without the delivery of the 
  promised dowry. Max will leave the PC 
  happy if the answer is yes, and Franz 
  will be happy if the answer is no. The 
  GM should take the opportunity of 
  putting the PC in an awkward position. 
   
  Helena will leave for bed fairly early 
  (much earlier than her husband), but 
  eventually the various guests will trickle 
  away or pass out. The PCs are woken in 
  the morning by a fresh-looking Max and 
  a not so fresh-looking Franz. 
   
  CHAPTER TWO: THE JOURNEY 
   
  They want the PCs to go with Max and 
  Helena to Vorberg (Max’s village) to 
  check on what happened to the dowry 
  and, if necessary, escort it back. Each is 
  willing to pay the PCs 10 gc (or an 
  amount appropriate to your campaign’s 
  economy). PCs can try an Opposed 
  Haggle Test to get more money. The 
  GM rolls Max’s Routine (+10%) 
  Haggle Test, to reflect the help he gets 
  from Franz, with the PCs rolling at 
  Routine (+10%) if one or more of 
  them made a good impression the night 
  before, Challenging (-10%) if they 
  made a bad one, and otherwise Average 
  (+0%). A success for the PCs raises the 
  payment to 12 gc plus one more for 
  every DoS. A failure leaves the reward at 
  10 gc. If it looks like the PC’s might turn 
  down the deal, Max or Franz mentions 
  that there might be more work in the 
  future if the PC’s carry out this job well: 
  these men are both good local contacts 
  to have (and bad ones to anger). 
   
  Assuming 
  the 
  PCs 
  accept, 
  Max 
  introduces them to Andreas Kessler, 
  who is in charge of Max’s security. If 
  any of the PCs are still the worse for 
  wear, then Andreas takes them to an inn 
  (if they’re not there already) and gives 
  the barkeep a pouch of herbs to dissolve 
  in hot water. The concoction is 
  disgusting, but allows the character a 
  Toughness Test (with a -10% penalty 
  for Resistance to Poison, since the herbs 
  are, in fact, a toxin). On a success, the 
  alcohol’s 
  effects 
  are 
  banished 
  immediately. On a failure the PC 
  undergoes several minutes of vomiting 
  and 
  explosive 
  diarrhoea 
  before 
  recovering entirely.  
   
  Andreas leads three guards, who will be 
  riding next to the newlyweds’ rented 
  coach. (For the guards use the Sell-
  Swords profile in WFRP, page 235.) 
  PCs with horses can ride with Andreas 
  and the guards. There is room for two 
  more on the box next to the elderly 
  coachman and another two could fit 
  
   
  6 
  into the coach with Max, Helena and 
  Helena’s maid-of-honour, her (genuine) 
  childhood 
  friend 
  Barbara 
  ‘Bibi’ 
  Emmerich. If there are more PCs than 
  will fit, assume that Max has arranged 
  another small cart and its driver for the 
  wedding gifts and the PCs can ride 
  perched on that. 
   
  It will take about a day to reach 
  Vorberg, and the PCs may want to make 
  small-talk on the way. The ordinary 
  guards and the coachman are hired 
  labour and know little. The coachman, 
  Ernst, is ancient and gloomy, while the 
  guards vary between Andreas’s right-
  hand man Juergen, who is hung-over 
  and sullen, Markus, who is boastful of 
  old exploits, and Udo, a fresh-faced 
  youngster who’s half-wanting, half-
  fearing any action. 
   
  Talking to Helena or Bibi is difficult 
  because both are quiet around Max 
  (Helena out of shyness and Bibi out of 
  consideration for her friend). Female 
  PCs will get a chance to talk to them in 
  private during the morning when the 
  coach stops to allow people to relieve 
  themselves and again when it stops for 
  lunch. A Gossip Test (Average (+0%) 
  for Helena; Routine (+10%) for Bibi) 
  shows that Helena is putting a brave 
  face on a situation she has no control 
  over, and her friend is just trying to be 
  supportive. Helena is most concerned 
  about the baby and hopes for a boy, 
  since that’s what Max and her father 
  want from her. In private Bibi can be 
  rather cutting about Franz but tries to 
  be polite about Max for Helena’s sake. 
  Bibi does let slip, however, that Max 
  already has a son, just not one willing to 
  take over the business. 
   
  Max is very easy to talk to. He will 
  happily regale everyone with stories of 
  how he made it as a businessman and 
  how much he’s done for his village. As 
  regards Helena, he’ll play the doting 
  husband. He expresses concern about 
  the missing dowry if asked, but also 
  confidence that his trusted bailiff, one 
  Erich Treumann, will have had good 
  reason not to have brought it and that 
  everything will be all right in the end. An 
  Average (+0%) Perception Test will 
  tell the PCs that Max is more worried 
  than he’ll let on. If asked about why he 
  has married so late or about his family, 
  Max will look sad and will admit that he 
  had been married once but that his wife 
  tragically died. He has one grown-up 
  son, Max Jnr (‘Maxli’), who is however 
  not interested in the family business. 
  The older Max wishes his son would be 
  a bit more grateful, but what can he do? 
   
  At lunch, if any of the PCs have set up a 
  particularly good relationship with Max, 
  they will find that he leads them aside 
  and, after thanking them profusely for 
  taking the job and talking about how 
  awkward the situation is and how it 
  would be ideally solved quickly and 
  painlessly, he will offer a 5 gc bonus to 
  the PC he’s talking to if that PC makes 
  sure that they report back to Franz in 
  terms favourable to Max. If the PC 
  accepts, Max will be very happy. If the 
  PC refuses out of principle, however, 
  Max will look shocked that he might be 
  thought to have intended anything other 
  than practicality and his wife’s peace-of-
  mind. He will be quite obviously 
  displeased with the PC, however. 
   
  Andreas Kessler cuts a very professional 
  figure. A devout follower of Myrmidia 
  after a long stint fighting in Tilea, he 
  moves and acts efficiently and does not 
  tolerate foolishness on the job. He’s 
  curious about other people, however, 
  and will happily chat with PCs who 
  seem serious people. He’s only worked 
  for Max for a short time, having been 
  hired at the beginning of the summer. 
  Max had to bring in a lot of outside 
  workers to help with the hemp harvest 
  and needed someone in charge of 
  security.  
   
  
   
  7 
  If the adventure takes place after the 
  Storm of Chaos, then these casual 
  labourers are refugees from the North 
  who need work. Max is genuinely happy 
  that he can combine the virtues of 
  business and charity by employing 
  people in need for everyone’s mutual 
  benefit. Andreas, however, doesn’t like 
  or trust them – he views Northerners as 
  violent barbarians and the fact that these 
  ones survived when others died makes 
  them even more suspicious in his eyes. 
   
  Andreas respects Max as a fair boss, 
  although he generally isn’t fond of 
  wheeler-dealers. An Average (+0%) 
  Charm Test will get Andreas to admit 
  that he actively dislikes Erich Treumann, 
  whom 
  he 
  accuses 
  of 
  being 
  unprofessionally 
  harsh 
  with 
  his 
  employees. He thinks especially little of 
  the man because Andreas once caught 
  him beating his young son, Dieter. If 
  asked about Maxli, however, Andreas 
  will bluff an off-hand appreciation for 
  the young man, whom he describes as 
  nothing like his father, being instead a 
  woodsman who spends little time in the 
  village but is a good drinking companion 
  when he does come into the local pub. 
  Andreas 
  will 
  look 
  noticeably 
  uncomfortable 
  (Routine 
  (+10%) 
  Perception Test) if questioned more 
  closely about Maxli; PCs should be 
  allowed to draw whatever conclusions 
  they wish. Andreas will simply shrug if 
  asked about the appropriateness of the 
  match between Helena and the older 
  Max: it’s sad, perhaps, but it’s just the 
  way of the world for young women to 
  be passed from one old man to another. 
   
  CHAPTER THREE: THE BATTLEFIELD 
   
  After lunch, the terrain turns into rolling 
  hills and the forests become thicker. It’s 
  late afternoon, a couple of hours before 
  dusk and not far from the village, when 
  Andreas returns from scouting up 
  ahead, visibly disturbed. If he has 
  befriended a PC on the way, then he will 
  first go to that PC with his news: around 
  the next curve the road is filled with 
  abandoned wagons and many dead 
  guards. If he hasn’t befriended any PCs, 
  then any of them outside might be able 
  to 
  listen 
  in 
  (Average 
  (+0%) 
  Perception Test; +10% for Acute 
  Hearing) on Andreas’s conversation 
  with the other guards. The people inside 
  the coach feel it come to a stop and 
  soon Max will look out of the carriage 
  and demand to know from Andreas and 
  the nearest PC what’s going on. Andreas 
  will hesitate for a moment, so any PC 
  will have a chance to answer. They need 
  to be tactful so as not to scare either 
  Max or, especially, Helena. Some story 
  about there seeming to be a blockage in 
  the road would do (which is what 
  Andreas will come up with if given a 
  chance). 
   
  Andreas is aware that the PCs are there 
  to secure the dowry and so will be sure 
  to take one of them with him back to 
  the scene of the crime so that they can 
  consult on what to do. 
   
  The PCs walk into the remnants of a 
  battle. There are four wagons, their 
  horses butchered, and all around them 
  about a dozen human corpses, peppered 
  with short, black arrows. Information 
  should be given in response to PC 
  actions and questions: 
   
  • the arrows are crudely made, with 
  viciously barbed iron heads; 
  • most of the humans have been shot; 
  • they have been only partly stripped 
  of weapons and armour, and money 
  and valuables have been largely left 
  behind; 
  • there are no other corpses other 
  than those of the guards (Andreas 
  can confirm this); 
  
   
  8 
  • Andreas can confirm/point out that 
  Erich Treumann should have been 
  with the convoy but his body isn’t 
  among the dead; 
  • the wagons are still full of hemp – 
  there was no attempt to steal the 
  goods. 
  • the convoy needed to set out early 
  to make it to town in one day and 
  was stopped not far from the village, 
  so the attack must have taken place 
  in broad daylight. 
   
  Further information can be gleaned by 
  certain types of characters and from 
  Skill Tests: 
   
  • Dwarfs, 
  characters 
  in 
  military 
  careers (including Roadwardens), 
  those 
  with 
  Trade 
  (Armourer, 
  Bowyer 
  or 
  Weaponsmith) 
  or 
  Common Knowledge (Greenskins) 
  skills will automatically recognise the 
  arrows as Goblinoid; others who 
  voice this suspicion can have that 
  confirmed on a successful Average 
  (+0%) Intelligence Test. 
  • a Common Knowledge (Empire) 
  Test (Routine (+10%) for anyone 
  from this area of the Empire; 
  Challenging (-10%) for outsiders) 
  will tell the PCs that this region has 
  suffered Greenskin attack before, 
  but there’s been nothing serious for 
  a while; 
  • an Average (+0%) Academic 
  Knowledge 
  (Strategy/Tactics) 
  Test reveals that the convoy was 
  attacked from both sides of the road 
  and the attackers avoided melee; 
  • an Easy (+20%) Follow Trail Test 
  reveals that the attackers came 
  through the woods roughly from the 
  direction of the village and returned 
  the same way; if the PCs try to 
  pursue the attackers, Andreas will 
  remind them that they need to 
  protect the carriage. 
   
  The question then becomes how to 
  proceed. Andreas will listen to PCs’ 
  suggestions, although he will make clear 
  that neither returning to town nor 
  bringing the hemp shipment with them 
  are options. Ultimately he’ll have to go 
  back to Max and report. He’ll beckon 
  Max out of the coach before he does so, 
  in order not to scare the ladies, although 
  Bibi in particular will demand to know 
  what’s going on and only be stilled by an 
  embarrassed and worried Helena. When 
  told of what’s happened, Max will go 
  sheet-white and ask Andreas what they 
  should do. Andreas will recommend 
  shutting the blinds on the coach so the 
  ladies don’t witness the scene and 
  making for the village as quickly as 
  possible. Max will ask if Erich’s body 
  was found and when told that it wasn’t, 
  he’ll breathe a sigh of relief that at least 
  Erich seems to have escaped. An 
  Average (+0%) Perception Test will 
  tell the PCs that Andreas looks sceptical 
  at this.  
   
  Assuming things proceed as Andreas 
  recommends, Max gets back into the 
  coach and draws the blinds, claiming 
  there is a long-dead horse on the road 
  ahead and that he wants to spare the 
  ladies the sight. The carriage will start up 
  at speed and Andreas, along with either 
  one PC or Juergen (who becomes 
  markedly more alert once there’s 
  danger) rides ahead. Have the PCs make 
  Perception Tests to keep them on 
  edge, but nothing happens in the hour’s 
  journey to the village where they arrive 
  just as the sun dips behind the line of a 
  hill. 
   
  CHAPTER FOUR: ARRIVAL 
   
  The first sight of Vorberg is striking. 
  Rounding the top of a wooded hill, the 
  group looks down on a village nestled 
  amongst fields and, behind it, the local 
  ‘mountain’ (in fact a particularly large 
  hill). The latter is unusual because it juts 
  
   
  9 
  quite suddenly from the ground and, 
  although its sides are forested like the 
  other hills, the tree-line ends below the 
  summit, which is topped with a ridge 
  and two rock peaks. Andreas heard that 
  the resemblance between the twin peaks 
  and the twin-tailed comet was once used 
  to sell the hill as a pilgrimage site called 
  Sigmarsberg, but it never caught on and 
  most people know the mountain as The 
  Horned Monk, because the tree-line 
  with the bare top looks like a tonsure. 
   
  ‘Horned’ was once a euphemism for ‘cuckolded’, since men who were cheated on by 
  their wives were said to have ‘horns’. An Academic Knowledge (Theology) Test 
  (Average (+0%) for followers of Shallya or Ranald; Hard (-20%) for others) might 
  allow a PC to recall a Venerated Soul (a sort of saint – see Tome of Salvation, page 95) of 
  Shallya known only as ‘The Horned Monk’. His legend says he was a particularly brutal 
  count from far away (some say Bretonnia, some Estalia) who insisted on the letter of the 
  law being carried out without mercy. In vengeance, Ranald came to him in a dream 
  disguised as Shallya and seduced him, promising to be his wife and lover if he would 
  only commit to her. The very next morning, he abdicated his county and became a 
  Shallyan monk. But everything he tried went sour. Wherever he went, Shallyans shunned 
  him since they sensed his motives weren’t pure. People he ‘healed’ would come to grief 
  immediately afterwards. Criminals who were released due to his pleas for mercy went on 
  to commit even greater crimes. Meanwhile Ranald continued to plague him with fevered, 
  erotic dreams of Shallya, who seemed to promise him so much but then always favoured 
  others over him, no matter what he did to prove his love. Finally, pursued by Witch 
  Hunters and mad with despair and paranoia, the monk found refuge in a cave under 
  twin peaks. There, a broken man, he begged Shallya’s forgiveness for whatever he had 
  done wrong. Finally she took pity on him and lifted his madness. Some say his heart was 
  then so filled with love that it burst in his chest and his soul joined her in a pure, 
  spiritual union. But others say he left that cave and wanders the Old World still, kept 
  immortally alive and working true healing miracles by his now-genuine love for Shallya. 
  People pray to the Horned Monk for help in controlling their own or their partners’ 
  jealousy, in not acting out of selfish motivations, to escape from criminal punishment 
  and (unofficially) to cure impotence. 
  After sighting the village, the party and 
  the carriage quickly come out of the 
  woods and start crossing the fields. A 
  Routine 
  (+10%) 
  Common 
  Knowledge (Empire) Test (characters 
  with a rural background get another 
  +10%) tells the PCs that this is harvest 
  season and people normally work as 
  long as possible – now, at dusk, people 
  should be packing up and leaving the 
  fields, but in this case they are already 
  deserted. Andreas and any PCs with him 
  arrive at the village gate first, where they 
  are challenged by a guard. When 
  Andreas identifies himself, there’s an 
  audible commotion (an Average (+0%) 
  Perception Test to hear someone say, 
  “Thank Sigmar! Max made it through!”) 
  and the gate opens to let everyone into 
  the village, then is shut very quickly 
  behind them. The carriage is soon 
  surrounded by a crowd of scared and 
  happy villagers. 
   
  Max will leave Helena behind in the 
  carriage to go and find out what is going 
  on and will be met first by Horst 
  Prahlhans, the village innkeeper. Bibi 
  will object strongly to Helena being left 
  behind and will demand to know what is 
  happening. If necessary, she will try to 
  enlist the PCs to find out for her since 
  she will stay resolutely by Helena’s side.  
   
  It requires only a Very Easy (+30%) 
  Gossip Test to discover what is 
  happening. The dowry shipment left in 
  the morning two days earlier under the 
  
   
  10 
  command of Erich Treumann, who also 
  took his 10 year-old son Dieter with 
  him. For a day nothing seemed out of 
  the ordinary. This morning, however, 
  people who went into the fields to work 
  ran back when they discovered the 
  mutilated bodies of Erich and Dieter 
  tied up in the fields where the 
  scarecrows had been. The village is now 
  in a state of siege, although no one has 
  seen any possible perpetrators. 
   
  In addition to or in place of the Gossip 
  Test, the PCs might decide to ask 
  specific people. Depending on their 
  actions and their success in the test, they 
  will 
  get 
  some 
  spin/additional 
  information: 
   
  • Andreas will, after speaking to Max 
  and Horst, be able to relay the above 
  information to the PCs, but will urge 
  them not to reveal any details about 
  the 
  battlefield, 
  especially 
  the 
  Greenskin involvement – Max has 
  decided (and Andreas agrees) that it 
  is important for the villagers’ morale 
  to think that the enemy are human 
  bandits who could be bought off; 
  • Max will make the same point if 
  asked directly; 
  • if the PCs made their Gossip Test 
  with one DoS or less, then they 
  meet Beate, Max’s sister, who will 
  relay the information and bitterly 
  criticise him for being a cheapskate 
  and not providing enough guards – 
  in fact Beate uses every opportunity 
  to criticise her brother, including for 
  leaving Helena in the carriage if the 
  PCs don’t take the initiative in 
  getting her lodging; 
  • if the PCs made their Gossip Test 
  with two or three DoS’s, then they 
  meet Maxli, who expresses his grief 
  for Erich, Dieter and Enid (their 
  wife and mother who is currently 
  praying in the village’s Sigmarite 
  shrine) and will let slip that he thinks 
  this is a Greenskin attack, but agrees 
  with his father that this should not 
  become common knowledge; an 
  Average (+0%) Perception Test 
  allows a PC to notice that when 
  Maxli talks of Greenskins and the 
  tragedy of a mother losing her son 
  he fondles a pendant round his 
  neck: a Hard (-20%) Magical 
  Sense Test (or Average (+0%) if 
  the PC holds the pendant in his 
  hand) tells the character that it was 
  once magical (see the shaded text 
  below for more detail); 
  • if the PC’s made their Gossip Test 
  with four or more DoS’s, they meet 
  a scruffy-looking man with stale 
  alcohol on his breath and dressed in 
  the robes of a Sigmarite Initiate who 
  claims the attack is punishment for 
  the villagers’ sins; this is Wilhelm 
  ‘Willie’ Treumann who has come 
  out of the Sigmarite shrine to see 
  what was going on but returns to it 
  quickly to continue consoling Enid. 
   
  Maxli’s pendant is of copper and silver 
  wire intertwined to form a crude 
  humanoid figure and was given to him 
  as a baby by his mother Johanna. She 
  has given similar pendants to other 
  members of her family. The intertwining 
  of two metals into one figure represents 
  how love makes two people into one. 
  The maker must give the pendant to the 
  recipient at a significant occasion 
  (typically a 
  birthday, 
  dooming or 
  marriage) and can only ever do so once 
  to any given individual, who can only 
  ever have one functioning pendant (later 
  gifts supersede older ones). The pendant 
  magically protects the recipient who 
  wears it from one life-threatening 
  occurrence (in game terms, gaining one 
  Fate Point), so long as the maker and 
  recipient love each other. An Average 
  (+0%) Academic Knowledge (the 
  Arts, Philosophy or Theology) Test 
  will reveal the symbolism of the wire. 
  An 
  Average 
  (+0%) 
  Academic 
  Knowledge (Magic) Test indicates 
  that the pendant is at least supposed to 
  have protective power; a success of 2 
  
   
  11 
  DoS or more indicates that this power 
  works only for a specific person. The 
  Magical Sense Test regarding Maxli’s 
  pendant reflects the fact that he used his 
  Fate Point during the last Orc attack, 
  but a sensitive mage can still detect the 
  remnants of his mother’s love on it 
  (which also, incidentally, provides a hint 
  that she’s still alive). 
   
  Eventually Helena steps out of the 
  carriage, either because the PCs have 
  intervened to get Max to attend to her 
  or because Beate does so, all the while 
  insulting her brother about his lack of 
  grace, much to his embarrassment. 
  Conversation about the attack will 
  suddenly cease and all eyes will be on 
  Helena. With Bibi and Max/Beate by 
  her side, she will be guided through the 
  crowd to Max’s large house and on the 
  way she will be greeted in a friendly, if 
  slightly pitying manner, by the village. 
  The crowd then slowly disperses. 
   
  After this, Horst will introduce himself 
  to the PCs and offer to show them to 
  their lodgings in his inn, ‘The Cowardly 
  Orc’. As they enter they will be met by 
  Liselotte, his much-younger (22) wife, 
  who will note that they must be tired 
  after their journey and offers to make 
  them a good, hot meal to have once 
  they’ve settled in. A mentally slow 
  young man called Klaus Einfaeltig, 
  whose parents died in the last attack and 
  whom Horst has taken in, will help 
  them with their luggage. Everything is 
  paid for by Max. 
   
  CHAPTER FIVE: ASKING AROUND 
   
  For the rest of the evening the PCs are 
  more or less free to roam the village. By 
  this point they ought to be wondering 
  how they are going to complete their job 
  and, more to the point, get back to town 
  without getting killed. They will find no 
  support whatsoever for the idea of 
  fetching the hemp and taking it to town 
  or to the village – it’s far too dangerous. 
  Even if the PCs suggest combining this 
  with escorting Helena back to safety, 
  they will have no luck: Helena is scared 
  and Max has no intention of giving 
  Franz the chance to renege on his 
  arrangement. Suggesting everyone leave 
  en masse will also be rejected: people 
  want to stay to protect their homes. 
   
  If the PCs don’t decide to investigate 
  options themselves, thinking they can 
  leave it up to Max and/or Andreas to 
  resolve the issue for them, have them be 
  approached in private by Bibi. She tells 
  them that Helena is scared and that 
  although 
  Max 
  and 
  Andreas 
  say 
  reassuring things, they’ve kept both 
  Helena and Bibi in the dark. She wants 
  the PCs to find out what’s happening 
  and a way to get Helena back to town. If 
  the PCs don’t seem inclined to act out 
  of concern for Helena, then Bibi can 
  remind them how grateful her wealthy 
  father would be if she got back safely 
  and was rescued from marriage to a man 
  who couldn’t even guarantee her life, 
  quite apart from the delivery of a dowry. 
   
  The PCs have a number of investigative 
  options. The two Maxes and Andreas 
  are initially nowhere to be found: asking 
  for them (from, say, Horst or one of 
  Andreas’s guards) reveals that the three 
  men have withdrawn in private to 
  discuss options. But there are other 
  potential 
  sources 
  of 
  information 
  elsewhere. The Cowardly Orc is the 
  home of Horst and Liselotte (Klaus as 
  well, but he doesn’t know anything) and 
  is also a good place to meet the other 
  men of the village (who can also be met 
  guarding the stockade). The Sigmarite 
  Shrine is where Erich’s widow, Enid, 
  and his brother Willie are currently 
  praying and seeking solace. The Big 
  House is where Max lives, but its 
  ground floor is currently occupied by 
  
   
  12 
  the women of the village, who have 
  gathered there with their children. From 
  the drawing room they are presided 
  over, not entirely to their delight, by 
  Max’s sister Beate. This is also where 
  Helena and Bibi have been brought to 
  be 
  plied 
  with 
  questions 
  and 
  commiserated with. Finally, most of the 
  bought-in 
  labourers 
  keep 
  to 
  the 
  Labourers’ Quarters so as to avoid 
  trouble with the natives, but some can 
  also be found on guard at the stockade. 
  Vorberg is a fairly ordinary village inside a stockade, but it has four significant buildings 
  alongside the usual cottages, workshops, gardens and a well. Relevant Trade skills can 
  provide details of architecture, age, upkeep, etc.: 
   
  • The Cowardly Orc – The village’s inn, run by Horst and Liselotte, is frequented by 
  every male villager, and occasionally the casual labourers. It is small, but clean. The 
  PCs share a single room. There is no lock on the door, but it does contain a storage 
  chest with a key that the PCs can borrow. 
  • The Sigmarite Shrine – A small domed building, not particularly ornate but neatly 
  kept. It was built in the previous generation by Max’s and Beate’s father as part of 
  his failed attempt to turn ‘Sigmarsberg’ into a pilgrimage destination. The altar is 
  covered in aging mementoes of the village’s dead women and children. Prominent is 
  a portrait of a woman and a young (roughly three year-old) girl with a Classical 
  subscription, reading: ‘To my Johanna and Katharina in grief and regret. Max.’ 
  Draped over the portrait is a pendant of the same type Maxli is wearing (see above). 
  An Average (+0%) Magical Sense Test detects no magic: Johanna gave this to 
  Max on their wedding day, but it never worked. 
  • The Big House – The largest and fanciest building in the village, fitted out with 
  expensive, carved wood panelling. It even has a fashionable drawing room, newly 
  built especially to receive Helena, but now where Beate is holding court. The two 
  Maxes and Andreas, meanwhile, have retired upstairs to the Master Library (in fact 
  Max’s smoking room, although there is one shelf of ornately bound but never read 
  books) to consult. 
  • The Labourers’ Quarters – Flimsy structures erected as dormitories for the 
  labourers, set up against the side of the stockade, away from the centre of the village. 
  When not working (or on sentry duty), the labourers wile away their time here, 
  drinking and gambling on small tables between the rows of cots. 
  • The Stockade – A standard wooden affair, although poorly maintained. Most parts 
  have a walkway along the inside, although breaks mean that it’s impossible to walk 
  the entire circuit without clambering down one ladder and up the next. 
  What the PCs learn will depend on what 
  they ask (which will, in turn, depend on 
  what they’ve already found out, so co-
  operation and networking will help). 
  The information is given below in the 
  text box as a series of PC questions and 
  what each NPC person/group would 
  answer. Require Gossip and Charm 
  Tests, modified by the quality of the 
  roleplaying and nature of the interaction: 
  e.g. the women are likely to confide 
  more in a female PC, Horst would be 
  flattered to have his bravery praised by a 
  hardened warrior, and Beate will react 
  poorly if she thinks low-born characters 
  are showing insufficient subservience. 
   
  When the PCs talk to the women in 
  Max’s house (or whenever the GM feels 
  it’s appropriate) have them make a 
  Routine (+10%) Perception Test. On 
  a success they notice that, although the 
  men of the village are of all different 
  ages, almost all the women (except 
  Beate) are young (under 35). A Hard   
  (-20%) Speak Language (Reikspiel) 
  
   
  13 
  Test reveals they are from this general 
  region, but not the immediate locality: 
  they’ve 
  clearly 
  married 
  in 
  from 
  elsewhere. 
   
  Who do you think was responsible for the attack on the wagons? 
  • Horst: “Bandits, probably, trying to snatch what they can and scare us into 
  giving up more. It won’t work – we’ve survived worse… much worse.” 
  • Liselotte: “It’s horrible, all horrible. My husband says it’s bandits and not Orcs 
  like Beate and some of those filthy workers are saying. I keep saying: it doesn’t 
  matter anyway. Horst, Max and the rest of the men will sort these people out. 
  It’s just such a shame about Dieter. Poor lad!”  
  • Male villager: “It was bandits, wasn’t it? That’s what Max says. Yeah, that’s right 
  – bandits.” 
  • Enid: “Does it matter? My little Dieter is dead and it’s all my no-account 
  husband’s fault. I told him he was too young to go, but Erich wanted to make a 
  man of him. A man?! Don’t make me laugh! Real men keep their wives safe; they 
  don’t go round beating everyone they want to control and who’s too weak to 
  resist. Dieter was always looking out for his mama. *sob*” 
  • Willie: “If Max is saying it’s bandits, then it must be bandits, right?” [If spoken 
  to alone:] “You ever heard of bandits that did something like this? No. This is 
  Sigmar’s will. We failed him and he is punishing us for our failure. This day had 
  to come.” 
  • Beate: “My idiot brother’s saying it’s bandits? Don’t be ridiculous. These are 
  Orcs, you mark my words. I knew all that stuff about Max scaring them away 
  last time was nonsense. If my brother did it, there was no way it was going to 
  stick! I just hope I can help poor Helena.” 
  • Women: “Well, Max is saying it’s bandits. And Andreas is backing him up. That 
  Beate is just a bitter old woman. Just because her husband died and left her 
  penniless, that doesn’t mean she has to take it out on her brother.”  
  • Labourers: “They’re saying it’s bandits, but that’s nonsense. No bandit does that 
  to a little boy. My bet’s on Orcs or mutants. Beastmen? No – Beastmen 
  would’ve eaten them.” 
   
  What happened here before?/Why are there so few older women? 
  • Horst: “Ah, now that’s a horrible story. Twelve years ago the Orcs came and we 
  thought we’d all had it. I was a younger man then and wanted to fight it out, but 
  Erich said we had to hide the womenfolk first. I said it was too much of a risk, 
  but Max agreed and his first wife, Johanna, led them up the Old Hill Road to the 
  cave at the top of the Horned Monk. The road was overgrown and impossible 
  to find, so he reckoned the Orcs would never find them there and they’d survive 
  even if we were overrun. Willie went for help. We didn’t know whether he got 
  through, but we fought as long as we could. I killed twenty of ’em myself! Finally 
  Max had the idea of bluffing the Orc boss about help coming and, what do you 
  know, the old dog did it! The Orcs ran for their very lives and that’s why my 
  inn’s the way it’s named. Willie got back the next day with some troops and we 
  all went to collect our women. But they were gone. I was lucky – my dear old ma 
  had already passed and I wasn’t yet married. But Max lost his wife and little baby 
  daughter, and Willie never forgave himself.” 
  • Liselotte: gives a similar account to her husband’s, but with even more 
  exaggeration of his role.  
  • Male villager: “Twelve years ago the Orcs came. We hid our women up in the 
  
   
  14 
  cave on the Horned Monk and sent Willie for help. But Max is a slippery one: 
  called the Orc boss to a parley and said to him, bold as brass, that the army was 
  coming and he should hop it before he got wiped out. Old Orc boss was 
  terrified and off he went! But they found the women. Every single one of them. 
  Don’t like to think about what happened. Willie got back with help one day late. 
  He never forgave himself. Some of us have married since then as best we can, 
  but we don’t forget.” 
  • Enid: doesn’t really know what happened then and isn’t interested in discussing 
  it; grew up poor and was married to the relatively well-off Erich by her father 
  when Erich showed he liked the look of her, even though she always found him 
  disgusting. 
  • Willie: “It was twelve years ago. The Orcs came and Max sent the women into 
  hiding. We needed someone fast to get to town and fetch help and I 
  volunteered. Thought I’d be the hero! I slipped out, managed to avoid the 
  Goblin guards and reached town, but I still failed. I didn’t know how many Orcs 
  there were and I wasn’t able to persuade the authorities to put together a big 
  troop. I was just a kid, not a politician. Eventually a commander saw I was an 
  initiate of Sigmar and recognised a brother in the faith. I remember riding out in 
  front, guiding this army and thinking I’d be the big hero. But I wasn’t. I was a 
  fool.”  
  • Beate: “I wasn’t here – I’d married out. But I know my brother. Do you really 
  think that useless lump could parley with an Orc boss? Don’t make me laugh! 
  Sigmar forgive me, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d sold those women out in 
  return for being left alone. I heard he’d had enough of Johanna by the end, 
  although I can’t imagine he wanted to lose Kati as well. Why are the women so 
  young? Ha! Why do you think old men marry young girls? Because they can!” 
  • Women: “It was a terrible tragedy what happened then. I hear they scared the 
  Orcs off, but not before those beasts had taken their wives and babies. It’s just 
  too horrific to think about. We all made the best marriages we could. Sure, we’d 
  all like someone who’s young and can support us, but in the real world the two 
  don’t usually go together. These are decent men, for the most part. Enid drew 
  the short straw.” 
  • Labourers: “I don’t believe half the things I hear about what happened back 
  then. If they were so heroic, how come their women got snatched? Still, if you 
  had the chance to marry over again, wouldn’t you pick a nice young thing?” 
   
  What do you think of Max Snr/Erich Treumann/Willie Treumann? 
  • Horst: “Max is the best a man could be. It’s fantastic that he’s finally found a 
  lovely wife, just like I did. He wouldn’t be where he is today without myself, of 
  course, but I’m happy here with my inn and my ’Lotte, so I don’t begrudge him 
  his success. Erich was a good man to have by your side, although too stern at 
  times. Willie’s a tragedy. He was the golden boy, completely devoted to Sigmar 
  and everyone thought he’d become a priest and go a long way. He was once 
  voted ‘Villager Most Likely to Become Grand Theogonist’. But not getting help 
  in time turned him bitter. He started drinking and never left the village. He’s 
  always kept the shrine nice, though, I’ll grant him that.” 
  • Liselotte: “Max is a good man and a good leader of the village, but he couldn’t 
  do a thing without my Horst. If he’d listened a bit more to Horst and not to that 
  tyrant Erich, we might not be in this mess. Why not? I don’t know, but I’ll tell 
  you one thing: my husband never beat a woman black and blue. As for Willie, 
  
   
  15 
  he’s just a drunk. I know he went through a lot, but so did Horst and he didn’t 
  fall apart.”  
  • Male villager: “Max is all right. Brings a lot of money into the village, although I 
  could do without the foreigners coming in to work the land. It’s good that he’s 
  marrying again. At least this one’s too young to have much of a say – his first 
  wife was a bit of a handful, may Morr bless her rebellious soul. As for Erich, I 
  know it’s not right to speak ill of the dead, but he was a bastard to the core. His 
  wife would be glad to be rid of him if the old tyrant hadn’t taken Dieter along. 
  The boy was always a bit soft, but he didn’t deserve a dad like that. Or what the 
  Or-, uh… bandits did to him. Willie’s a sad case. He was Sigmar’s favourite, no 
  doubt, but never self-important or self-righteous about it. Sigmar forgive me, 
  but maybe if he’d been less devout he wouldn’t have taken it so hard when he 
  failed. No wonder he’s bitter, but his boozing doesn’t help.” 
  • Enid: “Max is a good man. A little too interested in money and not enough in 
  people, otherwise he’d have noticed how rotten Erich was. But so long as my 
  husband was running things well, I don’t think Max wanted to see what he did 
  to me and Dieter. Willie’s always been too deep in ale and nightmares about the 
  past to care about the here and now, but it looks like he might have snapped out 
  of it – he’s been a great help today.” 
  • Willie: “Max wants to be good, but he is weak. Like most ambitious men he has 
  a lot to lose and that turns you into a coward. He pays for it in his own way, I’m 
  sure. Erich was my brother. Not a good brother (or a good husband or father 
  for that matter) but he was my brother nonetheless. I pray that his soul has 
  found the rest it never had in life.” 
  • Beate: “Max thinks he’s the centre of the world but he’s a failure, just like our 
  father was. He’ll never amount to anything. Trying to marry up is just the latest 
  pathetic attempt to put on airs. I feel sorry for the girl, Helena – she’s got proper 
  breeding and he’s just dragging her down. Erich had potential, but between that 
  low-born peasant girl he married on the one hand and my brother on the other, 
  he never got to use it. I think he had a soft spot for no-hopers. That’s probably 
  why he stayed by his drunk of a brother as well.” 
  • Women: “Max is a gentleman. We’ve always felt a bit sorry for him, what with 
  him losing his wife and baby daughter all those years ago. There had been a bit 
  of tension between him and Maxli over taking over the business, but he always 
  respected his son, maybe for his mother’s sake, and Helena should solve any 
  inheritance issues! Erich was a vicious thug. Enid said nothing ’til now because 
  she feared Erich would take it out on Dieter, but everyone knew what was 
  happening. Occasionally, if she heard Erich had been drinking, she’d send Dieter 
  to stay with one of us and she’d get beaten twice over: once for herself and once 
  for the missing boy. Sigmar help me, but if anyone deserved what was done to 
  him, it was Erich. We don’t see much of Willie, because he’s either in the 
  temple, in his cups or sleeping it off. But by all accounts he used to be as 
  different from Erich as day from night.” 
  • Labourers: “Max is a decent boss. Pays a fair wage and sometimes even stops by 
  to ask how we’re doing. Good riddance to Erich, though: we’re workers, not 
  slaves, and he didn’t treat his little boy much better. It’s just such a shame about 
  that kid. Willie’s a harmless drunk, really, but no fun to share a pint with – he 
  just gets bitter and depressed and starts crying. Seems to have sobered up today, 
  though. And not a moment too soon!” 
   
  
   
  16 
  How are we going to get out of this situation? 
  • Horst: “Don’t you worry. Max and I will work out a plan. Why aren’t I talking to 
  him now? I’ve got work to do here – Max knows that! He’ll call me soon 
  enough.” 
  • Liselotte: “Horst and Max will sort everything out. Don’t you worry.”  
  • Male villager: “We stay put. We defend our lands. Try running if you want – see 
  how far you get.” 
  • Enid: “What do you mean, get out? It’s already too late for me.” 
  • Willie: “We will pray, and if needs be fight. But always pray. We learnt once that 
  mortal powers alone cannot help us.” 
  • Beate: “Maybe my brother will buy them off like last time.” 
  • Women: “The men will come up with some plan. We’ll fight alongside them, if 
  we have to. We’ll not let them get their hands on us or our children – not after 
  what they did to Dieter and his dad.”  
  • Labourers: “We’ll fight on the stockade, if it comes to it. That’s the safest 
  option. But there’s no way we’re sticking our necks out for a stranger, no matter 
  how fairly he’s treated us.” 
  The PCs may also enquire about the 
  village’s defensive provisions. They 
  consist of little more than sentries, both 
  villagers and labourers, patrolling the 
  stockade. In an emergency they are to 
  shout to a runner who is to ring a bell 
  hung up outside the door of The 
  Cowardly Orc. The men in the village 
  will then gather with their weapons to 
  be told what to do. PCs with 
  suggestions for improving the system 
  will be referred to Max and Andreas. 
  Volunteers for sentry duty will be 
  welcomed with a shrug, but they must 
  use their own equipment. 
   
  CHAPTER SIX: THE PLAN 
   
  As the PCs start to wind up their 
  investigations, or earlier if they’ve 
  strongly insisted on seeing Max or 
  Andreas, they will see Klaus running 
  towards them. He insists they come with 
  him to the Big House, because Max 
  wants to talk to them. He doesn’t know 
  anything more than that. 
   
  The PCs are led through the ground 
  floor, crowded with women, and 
  upstairs to the Master Library where 
  they see the two Maxes and Andreas 
  sitting round a table. The older Max is 
  smoking a pipe and, after tipping Klaus 
  a shilling and dismissing him, beckons 
  the PCs to come inside and sit. There is 
  one fewer chair than needed, so Andreas 
  gets up and stands by the window 
  instead. Max introduces his son (again, if 
  the PCs have already met him) and 
  explains that no one knows the woods 
  like Maxli does. He gestures his son to 
  speak and Maxli explains what they 
  know so far: 
   
  • as the PCs probably know, the story 
  about the bandits is a lie – the 
  convoy was attacked by Greenskins 
  (if the PCs somehow failed to work 
  this out at the battlefield, this is the 
  opportunity to rectify that); 
  • when the bodies of Erich and Dieter 
  were found, Maxli was able to track 
  their killers back as far as the Old 
  Hill Road – he is sure the 
  Greenskins are camping in the cave 
  under the summits of The Horned 
  Monk, where they would be in a 
  strong defensive position since that 
  road is the only approach a large 
  group could take; 
  
   
  17 
  • there were no reports or even 
  rumours of a Greenskin band in the 
  area – wherever they came from, 
  they came directly to Vorberg, 
  bypassing any other targets; 
  • the only Greenskins who are familiar 
  with Vorberg and who know about 
  the cave are the ones who attacked 
  twelve years ago and killed his 
  mother and sister. 
   
  Characters should make a Routine 
  (+10%) Perception Test. On a success 
  they notice that all the time he’s talking, 
  Maxli is playing with the pendant round 
  his neck (see above; if the PCs have not 
  noticed it before, let them make the 
  relevant rolls now). Any PC keeping an 
  eye on Andreas or who makes a Hard  
  (-20%) Perception Test notices that 
  while Maxli is talking, Andreas observes 
  him intently, with a pained, emotional 
  expression on his face. 
   
  After Maxli has summarised what they 
  know, he pauses to allow the PCs to ask 
  any questions. Then Max has a proposal. 
  He says they don’t know why the 
  Greenskins have come back and why 
  they don’t attack directly like before. It 
  could be that they are playing with the 
  village, terrorising them. Or it could be 
  that there aren’t as many and so they are 
  attacking opportunistically. Either way, 
  it is important to find out as much about 
  them as possible: how many they are, 
  who is leading them and so on. Max 
  suggests that his son lead the PCs on a 
  reconnaissance of the camp. Maxli 
  knows one other, secret way up The 
  Horned Monk that’s accessible to a 
  small group and will bring them up 
  behind the ridge, granting a view of the 
  cave where the Greenskins are expected 
  to be. Because the approach is round 
  the side of the hill, the entire sortie 
  should take a day. Once the PCs have 
  come back with the information, they 
  can collectively decide what to do. If 
  they see a 
  chance to 
  undertake 
  something, they should, of course, try it. 
   
  The PCs probably have questions, 
  although at this stage neither Maxes nor 
  Andreas have many answers. Andreas 
  and the guards have to stay in the village 
  to help protect it if there’s an attack, but 
  Max stresses how well his son knows 
  the woods. Maxli will modestly concede 
  that he knows his way round. If the PCs 
  try to get payment, Max will look angry, 
  his son disappointed and Andreas regard 
  them with utter contempt, but promises 
  of unspecified reward will be made. 
   
  CHAPTER SEVEN: THE SORTIE 
   
  The PCs spend the night at The 
  Cowardly Orc, but are woken by Klaus 
  before first light. They should now say 
  what they are taking with them on the 
  journey. Going downstairs they see 
  Maxli 
  and 
  Andreas 
  breakfasting 
  together. As they enter the room, 
  Andreas says a few words to Maxli and, 
  laying his hand on his shoulder, leaves 
  the building. A hot, nourishing breakfast 
  has been prepared for the PCs and 
  Klaus is an attentive server, both to 
  them and to Maxli, who often has a kind 
  word for him. 
   
  As soon as they’re finished eating, Maxli 
  leads them out into the first light. After 
  leaving the village and a short walk 
  through the fields, the party enters the 
  forest. PCs with appropriate skills (e.g. 
  Trade (Farmer) or Outdoor Survival) 
  will notice that this part of the forest is 
  cultivated for firewood, fruit and for 
  pigs to roam in. Light has dawned in 
  earnest by the time they reach a 
  charcoal-burner’s cottage. The cottage is 
  well-tended but currently unoccupied: 
  Maxli goes to check on the owners, Old 
  Tom and his wife Lady Johanna, but 
  there’s no sign of struggle so Maxli 
  assumes (correctly) they just went to 
  
   
  18 
  town. PCs can search the cottage for 
  items they might have forgotten or not 
  have, although Maxli will insist they 
  leave payment on the kitchen table. The 
  GM can make available anything s/he 
  thinks 
  is 
  reasonable. 
  Suggestions 
  include: rope, axes, arrows, traps, 
  lanterns, rations, herbs and one or two 
  healing poultices. 
   
  Old Tom is not really old – that’s just a 
  name traditionally given to whoever 
  owns this cottage. Old Tom’s wife is 
  always a herbalist and is given the 
  honorific Lady Johanna. She tends to 
  the village’s sick and delivers the babies. 
  If you have Shades of Empire, then treat 
  Lady Johanna as one of the Hedgefolk 
  (pages 55-71). Max’s first wife is the 
  daughter 
  of 
  the 
  current 
  Lady’s 
  predecessor, who died some years ago. 
  She is not related to the current one. 
   
  After the cottage the forest turns wild 
  and soon a rock ‘wall’ rises to their right 
  – the edge of the Horned Monk. They 
  continue through the forest, keeping the 
  wall on their right until, about two hours 
  after they left the village, Maxli seems to 
  disappear behind a rocky outcrop. As 
  they follow him round, they can see a 
  crack in the cliff face up which they can 
  clamber. 
  PCs with Scale Sheer Surface skill make 
  the climb automatically. Others must 
  make an Average (+0%) Agility Test. 
  A failure means the PC takes 1 Wound, 
  ignoring TB and AP, to a random 
  location: he’s hit his head, fallen on his 
  arm, been generally beaten up or twisted 
  his ankle or knee. Only the last result 
  (leg) has any further effect: if the PC has 
  to run during the subsequent day, he 
  must 
  pass 
  a 
  Routine 
  (+10%) 
  Toughness Test or else suffer -1 
  Movement. A successful test means the 
  PC can run normally, but even then, just 
  the attempt means the PC cannot 
  naturally heal that Wound on the same 
  day. 
   
  At this point, the party needs to 
  determine a marching order (Maxli goes 
  in front) and the PCs should tell the GM 
  what equipment they have ready, but 
  they will need one hand free because of 
  the terrain.  
   
  It’s approaching mid-morning by this 
  stage and the weather is getting warm. 
  In addition, the slope is steep and 
  treacherous underfoot. Inexperienced 
  outdoorsmen will be slipping and 
  cursing their way up the hill.  
   
  CHAPTER EIGHT: AMBUSH! 
   
  After about an hour of hard scrambling, 
  Maxli tells the PCs that they’re almost at 
  the tree-line. Just beyond that is the 
  ridge, from which they’ll be able to look 
  down on the Greenskin camp. 
   
  At this point the PCs should make an 
  Average (+0%) Perception Test. 
  Those who succeed by less than 3 DoS 
  hear someone following them. Those 
  who succeed by 3 or more also notice 
  movement up ahead (but further away). 
   
  If the PCs mention the noise behind 
  Maxli, he nods, whispers for them to 
  stop, then slips away. If not, he tells 
  them to stop and slips away on his own 
  initiative. A few minutes later they hear 
  someone shout in surprise and see Maxli 
  drag Klaus out of the brush. Klaus has 
  been following the party because Maxli 
  is his hero and he wants to help. He 
  simply refuses to go back and any more 
  vigorous attempt to persuade him runs 
  the risk of provoking a loud outburst of 
  rage. Let the PCs debate what to do 
  with Maxli, but Klaus won’t go back 
  alone and they have no one to spare to 
  go with him, so ultimately he will have 
  to come along. The PCs should 
  
   
  19 
  determine where Klaus is going to be in 
  the marching order. 
   
  Shortly after setting off again, the PCs 
  glimpse gaps in the trees ahead: the tree-
  line before the ridge. The PC directly 
  behind Maxli should then make an 
  Average 
  (+0%) 
  Perception 
  Test 
  (+10% if he previously heard a noise up 
  ahead or if another PC did so and 
  mentioned it). If the PC makes the roll, 
  he sees someone release an arrow 
  towards Maxli and has half an action to 
  react. If he pushes Maxli out of the way, 
  then the arrow still strikes home but 
  Maxli is only badly injured and will need 
  medical attention. Otherwise, Maxli is 
  killed. If the PC fails the roll, then he 
  sees Maxli shot and killed and the 
  shooter make a break for it up the hill. 
   
  The shooter is a humanoid figure, 
  somewhat under average human height, 
  and is in a line of fire for half an action 
  before trees prevent a shot. Even so, 
  shooting him is Very Hard (-30%) due 
  to cover and terrain and the target is 
  over 40 yards away. 
   
  It will take the shooter and any pursuers 
  5 rounds to reach the tree-line. In each 
  round roll an Opposed Agility Test. 
  Characters with an appropriate outdoor 
  skill or talent (e.g. Rover) get a one-off 
  +10%. A pursuing character must win 
  two more contests than the shooter in 
  order to catch him, modified by one up 
  or down for every difference in 
  Movement (remember potential injuries 
  from climbing the cliff). For every 
  round the PCs fail to pursue, the 
  shooter automatically wins the contest 
  (note: checking Maxli is dead or binding 
  his wounds takes one round). 
   
  If the shooter wins all 5 contests, then 
  the PCs reach the tree-line just in time 
  to see him disappear over the ridge, 
  shouting for help. 
   
  If the shooter wins 4 contests, then the 
  PCs see the shooter up ahead in the 
  open. They have half a round to act 
  before he makes it to the ridge, perhaps 
  giving them time to shoot him (no 
  terrain or cover penalties; he’s about 38 
  yards away). 
   
  If the shooter wins 3 contests, then the 
  PCs see him up ahead in the open. They 
  have one round to act before he makes 
  it to the ridge. They can either continue 
  the pursuit for one round in the hope of 
  catching him just before the ridge or 
  they can try shooting him (no terrain or 
  cover penalties; he’s about 26 yards 
  away). 
   
  If the shooter wins 2 contests, then he’s 
  just ahead of them as they come out of 
  the trees. They can either continue the 
  pursuit for two rounds or try shooting 
  him (no terrain or cover penalties; he’s 
  initially about 10 yards away, then 24 in 
  the next round). 
   
  If the PCs fail to catch him, the shooter, 
  who is Johanna’s Half-Orc child, 
  Gregor, warns his mother about them. 
  The PCs have a bit of time. If they flee, 
  they will have failed and will have to 
  outrun a small group of Goblin 
  pursuers, leaving Maxli and Klaus to 
  their fates. If they don’t run, either 
  Maxli (if alive) or alternatively an Easy 
  (+20%) 
  Academic 
  Knowledge 
  (Strategy/Tactics) Test reveals that 
  the best option is to fortify the ridge and 
  send Klaus for help. They then face a 
  Thermopylae-style battle until help 
  comes from the village (led by Andreas 
  and a reinvigorated Willie) several hours 
  later. Depending on how well the PCs 
  do, the villagers will take more or fewer 
  casualties, although they will eventually 
  win. Max Snr will have stayed in the 
  village with the older men to ‘protect’ 
  the women. If Johanna survives, the 
  truth about the past may come out. In 
  this case, she and Willie then confront 
  him and the outraged village quickly 
  
   
  20 
  turns violent. The labourers refuse his 
  calls for help, so he offers the PCs 
  money to save him from the mob.  
   
  Gregor’s pendant prevents his killing by 
  burning its Fate Point, so he will 
  probably end up the PCs’ captive. In any 
  case, the GM should describe him 
  roughly in the following terms: 
   
  He 
  looks 
  like 
  a 
  powerfully-built 
  teenager, but his skin is sallow and his 
  heavy brows are topped by a sloped 
  forehead, which in turn tapers off into a 
  head of sparse, greasy black hair. He has 
  a pronounced under-bite, so that two 
  overly large, sharp teeth poke up over 
  his top lip. His nose is snout-like and he 
  has deep-set, piggish eyes. 
   
  Allow the players to speculate on what 
  Gregor is. The description should leave 
  open the possibility that he’s a mutant 
  or Turnskin (see Tome of Corruption, 
  pages 
  101-2). 
  Someone 
  with 
  the 
  Common Knowledge (Greenskins) skill 
  (see Old World Bestiary, page 77) or, if 
  you’re not using that skill, with 
  experience 
  of 
  Orcs 
  or 
  the 
  pit-
  fighting/criminal world will recognise 
  him as a Half-Orc. An Average (0%) 
  Test against the skill or Intelligence 
  reveals that he’s about half the age he 
  looks (Orcs grow up fast). 
   
  For more on Half-Orcs in WFRP see 
  Warpstone 
  #20, 
  although 
  it 
  isn’t 
  necessary to run this adventure. The 
  detail about Orcs growing up quickly 
  has been added by the author, who feels 
  that Orcish society would not have 
  survived in such a violent form if Orcs 
  went through a lengthy period of 
  weakness. 
  Needless 
  to 
  say, 
  this 
  precludes theories about fungus. 
    
  Gregor will have to be restrained and 
  stopped from screaming somehow and 
  if Maxli is dead, then a devastated Klaus 
  will have to be kept from killing him. If 
  Gregor is searched or given medical 
  attention, then the PCs find a pendant 
  like Maxli’s. An Easy (+20%) or 
  Average (+0%) Magical Sense Test 
  indicates that the pendant is magical or 
  has recently exhausted its magic, as the 
  case may be. 
   
  In order to interrogate Gregor the PCs 
  should keep him away from the ridge so 
  that any cries for help can’t be heard. 
  The 
  GM 
  should 
  remember 
  that 
  Gregor’s just a kid. He’ll be fiercely 
  protective of his mother, but Easy to 
  intimidate or trick (+20% to Intimidate 
  or Charm Tests to deceive). He’s also 
  not very bright. He’ll let slip various 
  relevant comments if questioned, with 
  more information to be given for good 
  roleplaying and successful use of 
  relevant skills: 
   
  • he’ll keep threatening that his 
  “mama” will zap the PCs and that 
  Morkar will eat them; he might also 
  refer to his sister;  
  • he claims there are ‘hundreds and 
  hundreds’ of Orcs in their group: an 
  Average 
  (+0%) 
  Common 
  Knowledge 
  (Greenskins) 
  Test 
  shows it’s unusual for Orcs to use 
  numbers beyond one, two, ‘loads’ 
  and ‘loads and loads’;  
  • he’s very offended if called a 
  Greenskin or Orc – mama says he’s 
  better than them; 
  • if asked where he got his pendant, 
  he’ll first refuse to answer but then 
  say his mama gave it to him; 
  • doesn’t know why they came to the 
  village: mama brought them here 
  and she’s always right, no matter 
  what Morkar and the others say – 
  after all, the stupid Orcs normally 
  fight each other all the time but they 
  not when mama’s in charge; 
  • mama has told him that the villagers 
  deserve to die, but he doesn’t know 
  more plans, just that they’ll “be 
  sorry”; 
  
   
  21 
  • he didn’t like what happened to 
  Dieter, because he liked him, but 
  mama knows best; 
  • (if the PCs have reconnoitred the 
  camp and ask about the stew:) he 
  doesn’t know anything about it – it’s 
  something Mama and Kati take care 
  of and it’s only for the Greenskins. 
   
  It might occur to the PCs to use 
  Gregor’s and Maxli’s pendants to show 
  them they’re linked somehow. The PCs 
  will have to go about this very cleverly 
  for it to have a good outcome: even if 
  they accept that the pendants must be 
  from the same person, both parties will 
  assume that the other has somehow 
  robbed or exploited their ‘mama’ and 
  become very angry and upset. 
   
  CHAPTER NINE: RECONNAISSANCE 
   
  At some point the PCs will have to do 
  what they were sent for: reconnoitre the 
  camp. They can get a partial view from 
  the ridge down to the base of the peaks, 
  where the camp is set up outside a cave, 
  but in order to get a better look 
  someone will have to sneak closer. The 
  camp is about 200 yards away and the 
  slope is steep and overgrown with 
  bushes (The Horned Monk is only ‘bald’ 
  from a distance). The PC can approach 
  the camp in six roughly 30-yard stages 
  and 
  each 
  time 
  must 
  make 
  a 
  Challenging (-10%) Silent Move Test, 
  Opposed 
  to 
  the 
  Goblin 
  guards’ 
  Perception. 
  (Use 
  the 
  profile 
  for 
  Goblins, modified by the Sneak career 
  as per WFRP pages 228-9.) The guards’ 
  Perception Tests start at Very Hard (-
  30%), with the difficulty level dropping 
  by one for every further stage the PC 
  approaches. Even if the Goblin hears 
  something, 
  however, 
  it 
  may 
  not 
  understand what’s happening. No attack 
  is expected from that direction and 
  things 
  frequently 
  move 
  in 
  the 
  undergrowth or dislodge from the slope 
  anyway. In this case, the PC should 
  make a Routine (+10%) Concealment 
  Test, 
  Opposed 
  to 
  the 
  Goblin’s 
  Perception Test (rolled at one less 
  difficulty than the original Perception 
  Test). If the PC wins, the Goblin 
  dismisses the sound as unimportant. If 
  the guard wins, he raises the alarm and 
  gives chase. 
   
   
  At each stage of approach the PC 
  should also make Perception Tests. 
  For the first 4 stages, the PC can only 
  check against sight – it’s too far to make 
  out any words. For the last two stages, 
  he should check separately against 
  hearing as well, although what is 
  understood depends on the PC’s 
  language ability. 
   
  The Perception Tests for looking 
  begin at Average (+0%), with the 
  amount 
  of 
  information 
  learnt 
  determined by the DoS according to the 
  table below – each result also gives the 
  information listed for lesser DoS. The 
  PC gets +10% to these Tests for every 
  stage of approach after the first (so 
  approaching 90 yards would grant the 
  PC +20% to the Perception Test). 
   
  The GM should adjust the number of 
  Goblinoids according to the strength of 
  the party. There should be far too many 
  to tackle en masse, but few enough that 
  they must divide their forces in a way 
  that gives piecemeal attacks a chance of 
  success. One more Orc than there are 
  PCs, plus 5-8 Goblins per Orc, in 
  addition to the named cast, ought to be 
  suitable. About half the Goblins should 
  be Sneaks and half the Orcs Brutes. 
  Otherwise use the standard profiles 
  from WFRP pages 229-30. Note also 
  that Johanna is not an experienced 
  military commander, so the GM should 
  let her make mistakes. 
  
   
  22 
   
  DoS 
  Information 
  0 
  A rough figure for the number of Greenskins (e.g. 30-40). 
  1 
  A rough figure for the numbers of Goblins and Orcs (e.g. 5 or 6 Orcs and 
  about 30 Goblins) 
  2 
  You can make out some activity: some are packing equipment, some are 
  eating, and there is no violence. 
  3 
  The Goblins are divided into groups, each ordered about by one Orc. They 
  are very disciplined. There are also three figures (one noticeably bigger than 
  the others) in the centre of the camp, outside the cave, around a cauldron. 
  4 
  Exact numbers for Goblins and Orcs; the group at the centre consists of two 
  humans and a Black Orc. 
  5 
  You can make out the activity in detail: each group of Goblinoids is taking 
  turns to have breakfast from the cauldron; as one group eats, another 
  prepares to move out and another seems to be about to sleep; they are very 
  disciplined. The two humans are one older and one younger woman and they 
  are serving stew from the cauldron. 
  6 
  The humans aren’t restrained and the older woman seems to be telling the 
  Greenskins what to do. 
   
  Listening in to the camp is resolved 
  somewhat differently, since it partly 
  depends on the PC’s language skills. If 
  the PC is in the fifth, penultimate stage 
  of approach, then he can hear the 
  Greenskins’ conversation. If he can 
  speak Goblin Tongue, then he should 
  make a Challenging (-10%) Speak 
  Language (Goblin Tongue) Test: 
   
  • on a fail, he can’t make out anything 
  because of cross-talk; 
  • on a success of fewer than 2 DoS he 
  understands that the Orcs are telling 
  the Goblins to eat up their stew and 
  arranging guard duties and patrols; 
  • on a success of 2 or more DoS, the 
  PC can make out exactly where the 
  guards will be and hears references 
  to “mum an’ ’er luvverly stoo”. 
   
  The stew in fact contains a herbal 
  concoction called ‘Mother Knows Best’. 
  Anyone who eats it must make an 
  Average (+0%) Willpower Test. Note 
  that these herbs affect the mind, not the 
  body, so the Resistance to Poison talent 
  provides no bonus (although the GM 
  may provide a +10% bonus for talents 
  like Strong-Minded instead). On a 
  failure the victim regards whomever he 
  thinks made the stew with filial loyalty. 
  He’ll follow her instructions and defend 
  her to the hilt. This does not make him 
  stupid, anymore than a son’s loyalty to 
  his mother makes him stupid, and he 
  won’t necessarily agree with what he’s 
  asked to do and may object. But 
  ultimately ‘family’ comes first. The 
  effect lasts for a day and is renewed 
  automatically if the victim eats more 
  stew by the end of that period. If not, 
  the effect gradually weakens, starting 
  with a more conditional loyalty in the 
  second day (and another chance to resist 
  the effects of eating the stew, but at a     
  -10% penalty), to reluctant consent in 
  the third (no penalty) and finally 
  freedom on the fourth, after which the 
  character gets +10% bonus for future 
  Tests against the stew, cumulative for 
  each time he’s ‘freed’ himself.  
   
  If the PC makes an additional Average 
  (+0%) Perception Test (+10% for 
  Acute Hearing), he can make out 
  Reikspiel being spoken by the older 
  woman, although at this distance he 
  can’t understand what is being said. 
   
  If the PC gets as close as he can (the last 
  stage of approach), then he can make 
  
   
  23 
  another Speak Language (Goblin 
  Tongue) Test, this time Easy (+20%), 
  with possible results as above. In 
  addition, the PC can make a Routine 
  (+10%) Speak Language (Reikspiel) 
  Test (with an additional +10% if he also 
  speaks Goblin Tongue): 
   
  • on a fail, he can’t make out anything 
  because of cross-talk and occasional 
  mixed-in Goblin phrases; 
  • on a success of fewer than 2 DoS, 
  he understands generally that the 
  woman is berating the Black Orc, 
  calling him an ‘idiot’ and referring to 
  ‘newcomers’ and ‘until nightfall’; 
  • on a success of 2 or more DoS, the 
  PC understands that the older 
  woman (who is referred to as 
  ‘mama’) is berating the Black Orc 
  for having left his post early the day 
  before: scouts have reported that 
  people might have slipped into the 
  village before sundown. The Black 
  Orc, who’s called Morkar, is not to 
  leave the road until nightfall. 
   
  This is the information available upon 
  first investigation. If the PC waits to 
  observe a little longer, have him specify 
  roughly how long (a few minutes, 
  several minutes or longer – although the 
  PC can change his mind at each stage 
  and leave): 
   
  • after ‘a few minutes’ half the 
  Greenskins leave the camp along the 
  Old Hill Road under Morkar’s 
  leadership; 
  • over the course of ‘several minutes’, 
  another quarter follows in a series of 
  small 
  groups, each under the 
  command of an Orc (they’re going 
  to set up sentries); 
  • in those same ‘several minutes’, the 
  final quarter are divided between a 
  few guards and the rest who sleep; 
  • if the PC stays longer, then on an 
  Average (+0%) Speak Language 
  (Reikspiel) Test, he overhears the 
  older woman telling the younger 
  one, ‘Kati’, to go look for Gregor, 
  who’s wandered off again; in any 
  case, Kati starts to walk in the 
  direction of the PC! 
   
  Should the PC leave before Kati starts 
  heading his way, he must repeat in 
  reverse order the Silent Move Tests, 
  Opposed to the guards’ Perception. If, 
  however, Kati is on the move, his 
  position becomes much pricklier. The 
  PC must make an Average (+0%) 
  Concealment Test, Opposed to Kati’s 
  Perception Tests. She is actively 
  looking for a humanoid figure and thus 
  gets +10% to her rolls, with the base 
  difficulty determined by the relative 
  distances (if the PC had advanced two 
  of the six stages, then Kati rolls first 
  against a base difficulty of Hard (-
  20%), 
  then 
  in 
  the 
  next 
  round 
  Challenging 
  (-10%), 
  etc.). 
  It 
  is 
  particularly dangerous for the PC to try 
  to move in these circumstances: instead 
  of Concealment the PC must make a 
  Hard (-20%) Silent Move Test, 
  Opposed to Kati’s Perception Tests. 
  A clever PC will let her pass and then 
  follow her, in which case he must make 
  Average (+0%) Silent Move Tests, 
  Opposed to her Perception Tests (at a 
  -20% penalty because she’s looking 
  elsewhere). Kati’s clamber up the slope 
  also disguises any noises the characters 
  make as far as the guards below are 
  concerned, 
  so 
  they 
  don’t 
  get 
  a 
  Perception Test. 
   
  CHAPTER TEN: GIRL INTERRUPTER 
   
  Once the scout returns, the group has a 
  wide range of options. Strictly speaking, 
  they only have to return to the village 
  and report. But a good group will have 
  worked out by now that Maxli’s mother 
  is the head of the Greenskin band and 
  she is the one who is inflicting the siege 
  on the village. Remember too that Max 
  
   
  24 
  has told them to take action if they see 
  the opportunity. This should all require 
  discussion, but if that drags or begins to 
  go round in circles or if the GM 
  otherwise feels it would be dramatically 
  appropriate (e.g. if the PCs still haven’t 
  discovered 
  that 
  there’s 
  something 
  unusual about these Greenskins), then 
  they are interrupted by Kati’s arrival. 
   
  Obviously, depending on what the 
  party’s scout did, Kati may be on the 
  way anyway or even ahead of him. 
  Adapt the encounter appropriately. 
   
  Kati has no reason to suspect anyone 
  hostile is up here, so she is calling out 
  Gregor’s name, and the party will get 
  two Perception Tests to hear her 
  before she is likely to notice them. The 
  first is Challenging (-10%) but the 
  second Routine (+10%). If they make 
  the first, then they hear her coming in 
  time to take action before she can spot 
  them. If they only make the second, 
  then any activity (e.g. setting an ambush) 
  has a chance of being heard or spotted, 
  requiring the PCs to make Routine 
  (+10%) 
  Silent 
  Move 
  and/or 
  Concealment Tests, Opposed to 
  Kati’s Routine (+10%) Perception 
  Test (although the trees provide cover 
  to the PCs, Kati has the advantage of 
  actively looking for someone). If the 
  PCs fail both Perception Tests, then 
  Kati automatically finds them and sees 
  they have Gregor. She will try to sneak 
  away and warn her mother: she must 
  roll a Routine (+10%) Silent Move 
  Test, Opposed to the PCs’ Perception 
  Test at Average (+0%), or Routine 
  (+10%) if they have explicitly said 
  they’re setting a guard. 
   
  If the PCs fight Kati, they will find her a 
  more dangerous opponent than she 
  looks (although an Average (+0%) 
  Magical Sense Test will reveal that 
  she’s a magic user and passing it by 2 
  DoS or more will identify her as a tribal 
  shaman), but they should be able to 
  catch her. Fortunately the sounds of 
  battle will not carry to the camp unless 
  the PCs are foolish enough to engage 
  her near the ridge. Note that the magic 
  in Kati’s pendant was used up when she 
  was four years old: if the PCs do 
  something that would kill her, then she’s 
  dead. 
   
  If they capture her, she turns out to be a 
  tougher nut to crack than her half-
  brother but also knows much more 
  about her mother and the village. The 
  interrogation should be roleplayed, and 
  backed up with Intimidate and Charm 
  Tests modified by that roleplaying. For 
  example, Kati cares about Gregor, so 
  threatening him will net a bonus to an 
  Intimidate test, or pointing out the 
  parallels between the fates of Dieter and 
  the children twelve years ago might get a 
  bonus to a Charm Test to get her to 
  talk. Kati knows that: 
   
  • her father betrayed the women and 
  infants twelve years ago; 
  • Erich was part of the betrayal and 
  deserved what he got; 
  • the villagers are to feel the same 
  terror the women did before they all 
  die; 
  • the stew pacifies the Greenskins; 
  • her mother will lead the tribe to 
  glory (in this case, Kati isn’t so sure 
  – she’s trying to reconcile the spirits’ 
  promises to her with not having to 
  take the leadership from her mother; 
  in fact she knows that the tribe has 
  been heavily depleted since her 
  mother repurposed it for her 
  vengeance crusade). 
   
  The most effective way of getting Kati’s 
  help, however, is using Maxli’s pendant 
  to prove he survived the original attack. 
  (If Maxli is alive, he will also be willing 
  to believe she is his sister when he sees 
  her pendant, and thus also begrudgingly 
  accept Gregor.) Kati has fond early 
  memories of him and if he is alive she 
  will be eager to tell her mother and if 
  
   
  25 
  not then she will be horrified at what 
  has happened. In any case, she will be 
  willing to act as go-between in a parley. 
   
  CHAPTER ELEVEN: RESOLUTIONS 
   
  In the end the PCs face a wide range of 
  options as to what to do next. It is 
  hoped that the GM has enough detail on 
  the NPCs’ motivations to craft an 
  appropriate, 
  morally 
  complex 
  and 
  maybe even moving resolution. There 
  follow some suggestions, which the GM 
  should adapt and combine as needed. 
   
  Returning to the Village 
   
  Going back as a whole group is only an 
  option if Maxli is dead, since even alive 
  he is in no fit state to travel and it isn’t 
  safe to leave him there. The other 
  problem is that the PCs probably have 
  Gregor and possibly Kati captive. Either 
  they can bring the captive(s) back to the 
  village with them or some of them can 
  stay behind with the captives/Maxli. 
   
  If some of the party stay behind and 
  Kati has not yet come looking for 
  Gregor, then the GM might have this 
  happen while the others are away, 
  switching between the two halves of the 
  group when each reaches a cliff-hanger. 
   
  Unless they follow a different route back 
  to the village (requiring a Challenging 
  (-10%) Navigation Test to avoid 
  getting lost in the woods), the PCs 
  encounter 
  Morkar 
  and 
  half 
  the 
  Greenskin warband burning Old Tom’s 
  cottage down en route to the road. It 
  requires two Routine (+10%) Silent 
  Move Tests to pass by unnoticed or 
  one Routine (+10%) Concealment 
  Test to wait for them to leave, 
  Opposed to the Orcs’ Hard (-20%) 
  Perception Test (they are distracted). 
   
  In playtesting the PCs sent Klaus back 
  alone, later finding his disembowelled 
  corpse nailed to the remnants of the 
  burnt-out cottage’s door. 
  The 
  PCs’ 
  reception 
  when 
  they 
  eventually reach the village will strongly 
  depend on what news they bring. The 
  villagers will gather as they arrive and 
  pester them with questions about Maxli 
  and his absence. Whatever they answer, 
  the PCs will soon be asked into a private 
  meeting with Max and Andreas in the 
  Master Library. If Maxli is dead then 
  both will be emotionally shattered, 
  although it takes an Average (+0%) 
  Perception Test to notice this in 
  Andreas’s case. If Maxli lives, then their 
  first priority will be getting him back and 
  Andreas will personally lead his guards 
  with the PCs to do so. While the others 
  are putting together a stretcher for 
  Maxli, Andreas will ask to be taken to 
  reconnoitre the camp for himself. 
   
  When deciding what to do, Andreas will 
  counsel the decapitation of the tribe (see 
  below) on the theory that without 
  leadership the Greenskins will move on. 
  He will order all the men armed and 
  onto the stockade, leaving either Juergen 
  or the wounded Maxli in charge of the 
  village’s defence. The other guards he 
  will take with him and the PCs to 
  execute the decapitation. It may well be, 
  of course, that in the process they and 
  Andreas discover more about Johanna, 
  Kati and their history than the PCs had 
  previously (perhaps by capturing Kati if 
  she hasn’t been captured already). If 
  Maxli is dead, then Andreas will dismiss 
  any thoughts of parley or similar and 
  just want to kill (although he’ll justify it 
  by pointing to Dieter’s death as evidence 
  that Johanna can’t be reasoned with). If 
  Maxli is alive, Andreas might be 
  persuaded to behave differently. 
   
  Even if the PCs have found out the 
  truth of what happened twelve years 
  ago, 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  under 
  most 
  
   
  26 
  circumstances a huge mistake to publicly 
  accuse Max. They simply won’t be 
  believed, except perhaps by Enid (Beate 
  will turn on any stranger who accuses 
  her brother), and may find themselves 
  driven from the village with a warband 
  of Greenskins outside. Even Willie will 
  keep silent out of renewed shame, but 
  that night will go back to the bottle. 
   
  If the PCs have Gregor with them, this 
  won’t be accepted as proof and nothing 
  he says will be believed. Max will order 
  him locked in a tiny cage in case they 
  can use him as a hostage. 
   
  If the PCs come back with Kati, then a 
  different scenario is possible. Kati is 
  clever and will remain silent unless the 
  PCs have a plan that requires her to 
  speak. She will, however, take a good 
  opportunity to kill Max (with no care for 
  her own life), assuming she isn’t privy to 
  some other plan. Meanwhile, both Max 
  and Willie will recognise her and, 
  depending on how the PCs play the 
  situation, Willie may gather the courage 
  to expose Max. Even here, though, the 
  village might split down the middle 
  between those who believe Max and 
  those who believe Willie and internecine 
  fighting might make it too weak to resist 
  the Greenskins. Alternatively, the GM 
  might rule that the village turns against 
  Max, who is abandoned by Horst in fear 
  and Andreas in disgust, and is chased 
  into his house, where he is burnt alive.  
   
  Parley 
   
  This is the most obvious option if the 
  PCs have captured Kati. They also have 
  Gregor, so they can use one as a go-
  between (or to ensure safe passage for a 
  PC envoy) and another as a hostage. 
  Any PC who enters the camp will be 
  offered 
  stew 
  by 
  Johanna. 
  Again, 
  pointing out that Maxli is still alive (or 
  that he was until Gregor killed him) is 
  probably the best way of bringing 
  Johanna round. In one point she will 
  not give in, however: she must see Max 
  suffer and die. She will also demand 
  guarantees from the PCs that any 
  agreement will be held to, perhaps by 
  holding one of the PCs hostage.  
   
  This 
  was 
  the 
  option 
  chosen 
  in 
  playtesting. One PC went with Kati to 
  parley with Johanna and became her 
  advocate after eating the stew, but 
  Johanna was devastated when she 
  discovered that one son had killed the 
  other. She agreed to leave the village in 
  peace, so long as the PCs delivered Max 
  to her ‘for trial’. The PCs returned to the 
  village and, after telling a distraught Max 
  of his son’s death, persuaded him to 
  visit the grave. There they notified 
  Johanna and handed him over after a 
  stand-off between the entire Greenskin 
  warband and Andreas’s guards. Helena 
  inherited Max’s property and Franz used 
  the threat of exposing the PCs as 
  Goblinoid collaborators to get out of 
  paying them their reward.  
   
  Decapitation 
   
  The PCs may try to assassinate Johanna, 
  assuming that she’s the one who cares 
  about the village and so without her the 
  Greenskins will go elsewhere. There is 
  some truth to this, but only if Kati is 
  killed (or already dead) as well. If they 
  only kill the mother, then the tribe’s 
  spirits will tell Kati that the time has 
  come to fulfil her destiny. Her first goal 
  will be to avenge her mother and no 
  parley will be possible, partly because of 
  her rage and partly because she will have 
  committed herself entirely to the tribe 
  and the spirits. Killing only Johanna, in 
  other words, will make the villagers’ 
  situation worse. 
   
  In any case, assassinating one or both is 
  possible, but, of course, difficult. It 
  would have to be done during the day 
  because at night the Greenskins are at 
  virtually full strength and, naturally, have 
  Night Vision. But during the day both 
  
   
  27 
  Johanna and Kati are awake and often in 
  the cave which has only one entrance. 
  Disguise, perhaps magical, would likely 
  be essential, and even then the chance 
  of getting away is slim. A safer option 
  would be to shoot one of the two from 
  some point on the slope above the camp 
  (see the rules for approaching the camp, 
  above). It would take some time for the 
  Greenskins to arrange a proper pursuit, 
  but on the other hand the PC would 
  likely only have one shot at one target. 
   
  Terror Against Terror 
   
  Combat-hungry players might want to 
  fight a guerrilla war against the 
  Greenskins. This might look like suicide, 
  but it has a better chance of succeeding 
  than is immediately apparent. The 
  Goblins strongly outnumber the Orcs 
  and aren’t courageous. Things have been 
  going poorly for the warband for some 
  time anyway, and only the stew is 
  keeping them loyal to Johanna. In 
  addition, Morkar is not happy with the 
  current conditions and would gladly take 
  over himself. Should the PCs manage to 
  sow fear and terror within the tribe by 
  selective ambushes, psychological tricks 
  etc., then confusion would reign. 
  Somehow interfering with the daily 
  ration of Mother Knows Best would 
  break the tribe very quickly. A coup 
  against Johanna would be in the offing 
  and Kati, divided between loyalty to her 
  mother and the whisperings of the 
  spirits, would act indecisively and too 
  late to stop Morkar taking over, then 
  plundering the village fields in one 
  night’s orgy of destruction before 
  moving on. 
   
  EPILOGUE 
   
  The possible outcomes fall into three or 
  four broad classes, each of which 
  implies a different epilogue. The PCs 
  could fail to stop the Greenskins; they 
  could 
  get 
  rid 
  of 
  them 
  without 
  uncovering and exposing Max’s crime or 
  they could both get rid of the warband 
  and expose Max. There is also the 
  question of whether Maxli survived. 
   
  If the PCs fail to stop the Greenskins, 
  but themselves survive, then they’ve 
  probably fled. After a terrifying pursuit 
  and trek through the forest, they 
  eventually reach civilisation, bruised, 
  battered and perhaps fewer than they set 
  out. Conscience-stricken PCs might try 
  to fetch help. Unless they’re very well 
  connected, this will take some time. In 
  any case, they arrive back to see carnage 
  on the road. Driven to desperation, the 
  villagers tried to break out and make 
  their way to town but were hacked to 
  pieces. The GM may want to let 
  Andreas somehow survive and have him 
  haunt the PCs’ steps as he seeks 
  vengeance for the death of his beloved. 
  A mix of guilt, shame and frustrated 
  professional ambition will also make 
  Franz eager to avenge his daughter. 
   
  With luck, however, the Greenskins are 
  gone and the key question is whether 
  Max has been exposed or not. If Max is 
  alive and neither betrayed nor exposed, 
  then he pays the PCs the agreed amount 
  plus a bonus to escort, alongside 
  Andreas and his guards, a new dowry of 
  hemp to town. There the PCs can 
  collect Franz’s share of the reward. 
  Andreas and his guards then bid them 
  farewell and return to Vorberg to 
  complete their contract. 
   
  Blackmailing Max is unlikely to work: 
  witnesses 
  are 
  either 
  compromised 
  (Johanna and Kati) or a known drunk 
  (Willie) and any other evidence requires 
  someone to vouch for its authenticity. 
  Only the word of extremely well-
  connected PCs might be believed over 
  Max’s. Instead, the group will just make 
  an influential enemy. 
   
  
   
  28 
  If Max is killed or disgraced, then 
  Andreas, the guards and the PCs (along 
  with the now unemployed labourers) 
  escort Helena back to her father, who 
  still only pays the PCs his half of the 
  reward and nothing at all if he can 
  leverage 
  their 
  parleying 
  with 
  the 
  Greenskins. If both Maxes are dead, 
  then Helena inherits Max’s properties. If 
  Maxli is alive, then he sells them to her 
  soon after at Andreas’s urging and he 
  and Andreas leave Vorberg together. 
  The GM may have the PCs encounter 
  the two of them at some later date. 
   
  The PCs might also meet the Greenskin 
  warband again, whoever is leading it. 
  They might hear wild rumours about an 
  Orc boss who is not really an Orc but 
  an ordinary human woman. This ‘Joan 
  of Orc’ is either said to be a tragic 
  human serving girl who was betrayed by 
  her aristocratic lover or their daughter 
  who has taken her mother’s name in 
  tribute. To avenge the betrayal, ‘Joan’ 
  has 
  united 
  a 
  hundred 
  Greenskin 
  warbands for the greatest WAAAGH! 
  the Old World has seen in a century.  
   
  Lastly, if the PCs parleyed with the 
  Greenskins, 
  this 
  might 
  somehow 
  become 
  known 
  and 
  they’ll 
  find 
  themselves the target of vicious rumours 
  and even Witch Hunters. 
   
  EXPERIENCE 
   
  The values below are suggestions designed to be awarded differentially so as to 
  encourage initiative. Alternatively the GM should give 200-350 xp for the successful 
  completion of the adventure. 
   
  Chapter One: The Wedding 
   
  Good roleplaying at wedding (e.g. taking part in competition): 10 
  Impressing Max and/or Franz: 5-10 
  Successfully calming the two men down: 5 
   
  Chapter Two: The Journey 
   
  Good roleplaying on journey: 5-10 
  Befriending Andreas: 5 
   
  Chapter Three: The Battlefield 
   
  Each piece of information deduced without help: 5 
   
  Chapter Four: Arrival 
   
  Taking care of Helena without prompting: 5 
  Speaking to Maxli/Beate/Willie: 5 each 
  Assessing the significance of Maxli’s pendant: 5 per detail (up to 20) 
   
  Chapter Five: Asking Around 
   
  Investigating on own initiative: 10 
  Investigating at Bibi’s request: 5 
  Investigating after a promise of more reward: 0 
  Finding out what happened 12 years ago: 10-20, depending on the detail. 
  
   
  29 
   
  Chapter Six: The Plan 
   
  Assessing the significance of Maxli’s pendant: 5 per as-yet unidentified detail (up to 20) 
  Posing good questions: 5 
   
  Chapter Seven: The Sortie 
   
  Picking up something that later proves useful: 5 
   
  Chapter Eight: Ambush! 
   
  Hearing Klaus: 5 
  Hearing Gregor the first time: 5 
  Saving Maxli: 20 
  Catching Gregor: 10 
  Finding Gregor’s pendant and realising its significance: 10 
  Questioning Gregor: 10 
   
  Chapter Nine: Reconnaissance 
   
  Sneaking up to the camp: 5-20 
  Gathering information on the camp through observation: 5-20 
  Gathering information on the camp through listening: 10-20 
   
  Chapter Ten: Girl Interrupter 
   
  Killing Kati: 5 
  Catching Kati 10 
  Questioning Kati: 10 
  Getting Kati on side: 20 
   
  Chapter Eleven: Resolutions 
   
  Successful resolution: 100-200 
   
  
   
  30 
  THE CAST 
   
  Maximilian Steiger Snr 
   
  Career: Merchant (Ex-Peasant, Ex-Tradesman) 
  Race: Human (age 50) 
   
  Maximilian Steiger never knew his mother, who died giving birth to him, but he had 
  nothing but contempt for his father. Max wasn’t treated badly, but his father paid him no 
  attention at all, instead expending all his energies on futile get-rich schemes. The only 
  bright spot in Max’s childhood was his friendship with a pretty and fascinatingly 
  precocious charcoal-burner’s daughter called Johanna, but even there part of the charm 
  was his father’s disapproval of such a lowly friend: it was one of the few occasions where 
  he seemed to care what his son did. The last straw for Max was a scheme to turn 
  Vorberg into a pilgrimage destination by claiming that the hill’s appearance was a sign 
  that Sigmar once slept in the cave and renaming the hill and village Sigmarsberg and 
  Sigmarsruhe respectively. It swallowed the family’s fortune and as the bailiffs arrived, 
  Max slipped away and started a new life working the boats of the empire as a handyman. 
  He still regales anyone who listens with stories about his one visit to the great city of 
  Marienburg. Max soon discovered a talent for wheeling and dealing and relished the fact 
  that where his father had been incompetent, he was a master. By the age of 24 he was 
  wealthy enough to return to Vorberg and buy back his father’s house and lands in 
  triumph. His father had died of grief and shame, but Johanna was still there and eager to 
  marry. The independent streak that so attracted a trapped and unhappy child, however, 
  soon rankled with the newly confident merchant. When the Greenskins came, Max did 
  his best to lead the village’s defence and he hoped for Willie’s return with help. But the 
  fear grew that he would lose everything he had worked so hard for, and, trusting to his 
  abilities as a dealmaker, he called a parley with the Orc boss. It was not an easy decision 
  to betray the women – he still has nightmares about his little daughter and he’s become 
  noticeably more religious since the attack – but ultimately he can justify it to himself as a 
  necessary if unfortunate cost of doing business. Max is desperate for respectability and 
  with that sort of woman by his side he would never have attained it.  
   
  Use a similar profile for Franz Raffke. 
   
  Main Profile 
  WS 
  BS 
  S 
  T 
  Ag 
  Int 
  WP 
  Fel 
  34 
  29 
  35 
  44 
  47 
  66 
  55 
  62 
  Secondary Profile 
  A 
  W 
  SB 
  TB 
  M 
  Mag 
  IP 
  FP 
  1 
  13 
  3 
  5 
  4 
  0 
  3 
  0 
   
  Skills: Charm +10%, Common Knowledge (Empire +10%, Wasteland), Concealment, 
  Drive, Evaluate +10%, Gamble, Gossip +20%, Haggle +10%, Outdoor Survival, 
  Perception, Read/Write +10%, Ride, Row, Secret Language (Guild Tongue), 
  Speak Language (Reikspiel), Swim, Trade (Merchant +10%, Shipwright) 
  Talents: Dealmaker, Hardy, Flee!, Mimic, Savvy, Streetwise, Suave, Super Numerate 
  Weapons: Short Sword, Knife 
  Trappings: Slightly Out-Of-Fashion Fancy Clothing, Big House. 
   
  
   
  31 
  Andreas Kessler 
   
  Career: Sergeant (Ex-Tradesman (incomplete), Ex-Mercenary, Ex-Veteran) 
  Race: Human (age 34) 
   
  Andreas has experienced a lot in his relatively short life. He grew up in Pfeildorf and was 
  indentured at a young age as an armourer’s apprentice. The man was cruel, but Andreas 
  was thrilled by the stories of the tough warriors who frequented the workshop and had 
  visited so many places and done so many things. One day, when a mercenary company 
  was in town, Andreas stole some arms from his employer and joined up. The company 
  was on its way to Tilea and over the next years Andreas grew up under canvas, fighting 
  the wars of the city states. He lost his romanticism about war but became a devout 
  follower of Myrmidia, whom he venerates for civilising his personal vocation of war and 
  giving it some sort of meaning. Eventually the mercenary company was dissolved and 
  Andreas took his share and returned home to the Empire, determined to make his own 
  way. Since then he has made a good living arranging small-scale security for affluent 
  clients and has three people working for him. Andreas values his professionalism above 
  all else, but that is being unexpectedly tested now that he has fallen in love with Maxli, 
  the serious, honest young son of his latest employer. Although Andreas has a history of 
  passionate relationships amongst the mercenaries of Tilea, the risks of battle always made 
  them as short and casual as they were intense. With Maxli, Andreas has, for the first time 
  in his life, a chance at more lasting love, and that has this very independent, very self-
  controlled man caught in an unwonted turmoil of hope and fear. 
   
  Main Profile 
  WS 
  BS 
  S 
  T 
  Ag 
  Int 
  WP 
  Fel 
  62 
  51 
  51 
  52 
  52* 
  39 
  46 
  52 
  Secondary Profile 
  A 
  W 
  SB 
  TB 
  M 
  Mag 
  IP 
  FP 
  2 
  17 
  5 
  5 
  4 
  0 
  2 
  0 
   
  Skills: Academic Knowledge (Strategy/Tactics), Animal Care, Command, Common 
  Knowledge (The Empire, Tilea), Consume Alcohol, Dodge Blow +20%, Drive, 
  Evaluate, Gamble, Gossip, Haggle +10%, Intimidate +10%, Perception +20%, 
  Ride, Search, Secret Language (Battle Tongue), Speak Language (Reikspiel, Tilean), 
  Trade (Armoury, Weaponsmith) 
  Talents: Dealmaker, Disarm, Seasoned Traveller, Specialist Weapon Group 
  (Gunpowder, Two-handed), Street Fighter, Strike Mighty Blow, Strike to Stun, 
  Warrior Born, Very Resilient, Very Strong 
  Armour: Helmet, Sleeved Mail Coat (Ag: 42*) 
  Armour Points: Head 2, Arms 2, Body 2, Legs 2 
  Weapons: Sword, Dagger, Shield 
  Trappings: Riding Horse, 11 gc cash 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  32 
  Villager 
   
  Career: Peasant 
  Race: Human 
   
  Use this profile for male/female villagers, labourers and (with adjustments) minor 
  characters like Lutz, Bibi and Klaus. Labourers have the profile of male villagers, plus the 
  characteristics/skills marked with an asterisk. 
   
  Main Profile 
  WS 
  BS 
  S 
  T 
  Ag 
  Int 
  WP 
  Fel 
  31/22 
  34/32 
  35(40*)/29 
  38/36 
  34/39 
  29/33 
  27/36 
  22/35 
  Secondary Profile 
  A 
  W 
  SB 
  TB 
  M 
  Mag 
  IP 
  FP 
  1 
  14 
  3(4*)/2 
  3 
  4 
  0 
  0 
  0 
   
  Skills: Animal Care, Charm, Common Knowledge (Empire), Concealment, Consume 
  Alcohol*, Drive, Gamble/Performer (Dancer or Singer), Gossip, Outdoor 
  Survival*, Set Trap, Scale Sheer Surface*, Silent Move, Speak Language (Reikspiel), 
  Trade (Farmer/Cook, Other*) 
  Talents: Hardy, Flee!, Warrior Born (WS: 36)* 
  Weapon: Hand Weapon, Knife 
  Trappings: Sturdy Clothes, d5 gc. 
   
   
   
  Maximilian ‘Maxli’ Steiger Jnr 
   
  Career: Hunter (Ex-Woodsman) 
  Race: Human (age 25) 
   
  Maxli remembers his mother well. He remembers the arguments between her and his 
  father and the more frequent silences and careful attempts to stay out of each other’s 
  way. It was good that he loved the woods, because otherwise he would have had 
  nowhere to escape to. Maxli loved his parents, but he respected them more, and when 
  the Orc attack came he was proud to be able help the villagers fight. He was proud of 
  how his mother led the women to apparent safety, and he tried to be strong as he bid 
  farewell to his little sister. He was also proud of his father when the latter went out to 
  meet the Orc boss and intimidated the creature into leaving them alone. Maybe his father 
  lacks genuine warmth under his glib merchant’s charm, but he had what it took at the 
  right time and that is more important than any sentimental bleating. For the same reason, 
  Maxli accepted it when his father showed little emotion over the death of his wife and 
  mourned that of his daughter privately. Maxli is very conscious of his responsibilities 
  (and bears Klaus’s hero-worship of him with patience and a self-deprecating smile) and is 
  thus sorry to disappoint his father over his disinterest in the business. He understands 
  the cold calculation of his father’s marriage to Helena, but himself has recently been 
  plunged into emotional confusion by the arrival of Andreas Kessler, whose understated 
  confidence and glamorous background have stolen his heart entirely. Maxli is seriously 
  considering leaving his home for the first time to be with Andreas when he goes. 
   
  
   
  33 
  Main Profile 
  WS 
  BS 
  S 
  T 
  Ag 
  Int 
  WP 
  Fel 
  40 
  57 
  45 
  47 
  42 
  34 
  41 
  31 
  Secondary Profile 
  A 
  W 
  SB 
  TB 
  M 
  Mag 
  IP 
  FP 
  1 
  15 
  4 
  4 
  4 
  0 
  - 
  0* 
   
  Skills: Common Knowledge (Empire), Concealment +10%, Follow Trail +10%, 
  Outdoor Survival, Perception +10%, Scale Sheer Surface, Search, Secret Language 
  (Ranger), Secret Signs (Ranger), Set Trap +10%, Silent Move +10%, Swim 
  Talents: Hardy, Lightning Reflexes, Marksman, Night Vision, Orientation, Rover, 
  Specialist Weapon Group (Two-Handed, Longbow), Very Resilient 
  Armour: Leather Jerkin 
  Armour Points: Head 0, Arms 0, Body 1, Legs 0 
  Weapons: Two-Handed Axe, Longbow & 10 arrows, Knife 
  Trappings: Worn Outdoor Clothing, 5 gc cash, Pendant (exhausted)* 
   
   
   
  Beate Steiger 
   
  Career: Peasant 
  Race: Human (age 56) 
   
  Beate was married off to a priest of Sigmar so that the latter would help her father in his 
  pilgrimage scheme. She hoped for the life of a society lady, but the priest turned out to 
  be dissolute and miserly. He used her as little more than a housemaid and died leaving 
  her penniless. By that time Max had returned and was able to pay off her debts. Beate 
  resents Max’s success, her vanished dreams and her reliance on him and does everything 
  she can to make herself feel she’s better than he is. 
   
  Use the female Villager profile above. 
   
   
   
  Wilhelm/Willie ‘Harefoot’ Treumann 
   
  Career: Initiate of Sigmar 
  Race: Human (age 33) 
   
  Where Erich was vicious and resentful, Willie was bright, confident and hopeful. A 
  devotee of Sigmar, when the Goblinoids attacked he secretly thought his time might 
  have come. Arriving at the vanguard of the rescuing army was the greatest moment of 
  his life. The subsequent fall was that much farther. Willie simply couldn’t understand 
  how the Greenskins could have found the cave and pestered Erich for answers. 
  Eventually his brother told him: because Willie had failed to return on time, the real men 
  had to make the hard decisions needed in the real world, not the fantasy one of heroism 
  in Willie’s head – it was all Willie’s fault and he should never forget that. He didn’t and 
  there followed twelve years of alcoholic self-degradation. Now, however, the Greenskins 
  are back and Erich is dead. Willie is pulling himself together and the knowledge that 
  
   
  34 
  there were in fact some survivors and that this attack is in some sense a just punishment, 
  might be enough to break through Willie’s shame and get him to confess. 
   
  Main Profile 
  WS 
  BS 
  S 
  T 
  Ag 
  Int 
  WP 
  Fel 
  37 
  32 
  30 
  37 
  42 
  37 
  24 
  39 
  Secondary Profile 
  A 
  W 
  SB 
  TB 
  M 
  Mag 
  IP 
  FP 
  1 
  13 
  3 
  3 
  5 
  0 
  4 
  - 
   
  Skills: Academic Knowledge (History, Theology), Charm, Common Knowledge 
  (Empire), Gossip, Heal, Perception, Read/Write, Speak Language (Classical, 
  Reikspiel) 
  Talents: Fleet Footed, Flee!, Lightning Reflexes, Public Speaking, Suave 
  Weapons: Warhammer (in lockbox in shrine) 
  Trappings: Worn Initiate’s Robes, Hammer Symbol, 4 gc  
   
   
   
  Horst Prahlhans 
   
  Career: Proprietor 
  Race: Human (age 42) 
   
  Horst inherited the Sigmar’s Rest, as it was then called (and from which Max’s father got 
  his pilgrimage idea), but he always thought he should be someone who mattered. He was 
  a few years older than Erich, but growing up he made sure to keep on the right side of 
  the more violent boy. When Max returned to Vorberg, Horst was always by his side and 
  ready to help. It was Max, Erich and Horst (plus two others who have since died) who 
  went to parley with the Orc boss. Horst was shocked at first when Erich suggested 
  selling out the women, but when Max agreed Horst started to see the sense. After all, 
  better them than everyone. But Horst’s conscience nags him and to silence it he took in 
  Klaus and tells himself so many lies about his own bravery back then that he’s almost 
  come to believe it. Certainly his young wife does, and having his own opinion of himself 
  echoed back and amplified has done little to tether Horst to reality. It is unclear how he 
  would react if undeniable evidence of the truth emerged. 
   
  Use the Proprietor profile from WFRP page 235. 
   
   
   
  Gregor ‘Mama’s Boy’ 
   
  Career: None (Child) 
  Race: Half-Orc (age 8 but looks 16) 
   
  Gregor doesn’t remember a time before Mama led the tribe. For him, the tribe is home 
  and he would do anything for his mama. She has told him he’s better than the Orcs and 
  Gobbos, but he knows there’s a difference between him and Kati and he sees how much 
  time and attention their mother gives her. He often has to get away and be by himself in 
  
   
  35 
  the woods that he loves. But one day he’ll prove himself to his mama and this attack on 
  the village might be his chance – she seems to hate it so much and if he brought a 
  villager’s head back for her she would be happy and love him as much as she loves Kati. 
   
  Main Profile 
  WS 
  BS 
  S 
  T 
  Ag 
  Int 
  WP 
  Fel 
  30 
  33 
  31 
  32 
  30 
  25 
  23 
  18 
  Secondary Profile 
  A 
  W 
  SB 
  TB 
  M 
  Mag 
  IP 
  FP 
  1 
  11 
  3 
  3 
  4 
  0 
  0 
  1* 
   
  Skills: Concealment, Outdoor Survival, Perception, Silent Move, Speak Language 
  (Reikspiel, Goblin Tongue),  
  Talents: Excellent Vision, Night Vision, Rover, Very Strong 
  Armour: Leather Jerkin 
  Armour Points: Head 0, Arms 0, Body 1, Legs 0 
  Weapons: Short Sword, Knife, Bow & 10 Arrows 
  Trappings: Shabby Clothes, Pendant* 
   
   
   
  Katharina ‘Kati’ Steiger 
   
  Career: Shaman (Ex-Hedgecraft Apprentice, Ex-Hedge Wizard) 
  Race: Human (age 16) 
   
  Kati’s only memories of Vorberg are happy ones of playing with her big brother. Later 
  childhood was a nightmare of marches and hard labour, although her mother’s position 
  as the boss’s concubine meant Kati was spared the abuse that killed the other human 
  children. She is well aware of this and would give her life for her mother. By the time 
  Kati manifested magical talent, her mother had gained control of the camp whenever the 
  boss was away and she used the time to train Kati as well as to fill her with hate for the 
  father who betrayed her. Unbeknownst to Johanna, however, Kati has been hearing 
  voices from the spirits of the tribe, who have been whispering to her of a destiny as 
  tribe-mother and granting her the magical powers to fulfil it. Kati is afraid that she will 
  one day have to choose between her human origins and the Greenskin totems who have, 
  apparently, adopted her. 
   
  Main Profile 
  WS 
  BS 
  S 
  T 
  Ag 
  Int 
  WP 
  Fel 
  26 
  30 
  35 
  41 
  41 
  46 
  56 
  39 
  Secondary Profile 
  A 
  W 
  SB 
  TB 
  M 
  Mag 
  IP 
  FP 
  1 
  12 
  3 
  4 
  4 
  2 
  3 
  0* 
   
  Skills: Animal Care, Channelling +10%, Charm Animal, Common Knowledge (Empire, 
  Greenskins), Concealment, Gossip, Outdoor Survival, Heal, Magical Sense +10%, 
  Prepare Poisons, Perception +10%, Performance (Storytelling, Dance, Sing), 
  Read/Write, Speak Arcane Language (Magick), Speak Language (Reikspiel, Goblin 
  Tongue), Silent Move, Trade (Apothecary, Herbalism) 
  
   
  36 
  Talents: Aethyric Attunement, Coolheaded, Divine Lore (Spirits), Meditation, Petty 
  Magic (Hedge), Rover. 
  Weapons: Staff, Knife 
  Trappings: Worn clothes, Spell Ingredients, Pendant (exhausted)* 
   
  Divine Lore (Spirits) is from the Old World Bestiary, page 81. If that is unavailable, assume 
  Kati’s spells work like the following: Radiant Gaze (Light), Vision of Torment (Chaos), 
  Spear of Myrmidia (Myrmidia) – but grants Kati’s staff SB damage and Impact quality 
  instead of Armour Piercing, Cure Disease (Shallya), and Beacon of Courage (Sigmar). 
   
   
   
   ‘Mother’ Johanna Steiger 
   
  Career: Witch (Ex-Hedgecraft Apprentice/Ex-Hedge Wizard) 
  Race: Human (age 47) 
   
  Johanna’s father was Old Tom, an ordinary, kind-hearted charcoal-burner, but her 
  mother was Lady Johanna, the village’s Hedgewise. Although her mother was not 
  blessed, she recognised her daughter’s magical talent early and sought to bring her up in 
  the ways of the Hedge. Unfortunately, the girl grew up arrogant and headstrong and ill 
  bore her mother’s attempts at discipline. Instead, she set her sights on the young, 
  ambitious Maximilian Steiger, whom she had run with as a child. Max proposed to her 
  (some say helped along by a love potion) and young Johanna started living a life of 
  (relative) luxury as a kept woman. Max soon started to resent her, however, perhaps 
  because his increasing success meant that he would soon have been able to marry to 
  better advantage and Johanna was not one to be subservient to her husband. She is sure 
  that Max’s insecurity and ambition contributed to his betrayal and she holds him in 
  contempt for it. By luck and by magic, Johanna and their four year-old daughter survived 
  the initial nightmarish months of captivity while all the other women and children died 
  or were sold on as slaves. She made herself the Orc boss’s favoured concubine, especially 
  since a particular brew she put together seemed to make the tribe less fractious and more 
  loyal to him. When she bore him a son, her position was sealed. Little did he know, the 
  brew actually made the Orcs and Gobbos personally loyal to her and, with the support of 
  her loyal faction, she killed the boss and his remaining allies and took over the tribe. She 
  has since led it back to the village that betrayed her and wants a revenge that will reflect 
  the uncertainty and terror she and the women experienced while hiding in the cave, 
  before it finally ends in pain and death. 
   
  Main Profile 
  WS 
  BS 
  S 
  T 
  Ag 
  Int 
  WP 
  Fel 
  26 
  31 
  34 
  43 
  41 
  48 
  50 
  46 
  Secondary Profile 
  A 
  W 
  SB 
  TB 
  M 
  Mag 
  IP 
  FP 
  1 
  16 
  3 
  4 
  4 
  2 
  8 
  0 
   
  Skills: Animal Care, Channelling +20%, Charm Animal, Consume Alcohol, Gossip, 
  Haggle, Outdoor Survival, Heal +20%, Magical Sense +20%, Prepare Poisons, 
  Perception +20%, Read/Write, Speak Arcane Language (Magick), Read/Write, Set 
  Trap, Trade (Apothecary) +20%, Trade (Herbalist) +10%, Intimidate +10%, 
  
   
  37 
  Charm, Search +10%, Common Knowledge (Empire, Greenskins), Ride, Swim, 
  Speak Language (Reikspiel, Goblin Tongue). 
  Talents: Strong-Minded, Night Vision, Coolheaded, Petty Magic (Hedge), Rover, Hedge 
  Magic, Mighty Missile, Witchcraft (Aethyric Armour, Acceptance of Fate, Fires of 
  U’Zhul, Earth Blood, Bewilder) 
  Special Rules: 
  Choppa: after murdering the previous Boss, Johanna kept his Choppa to symbolise 
  her new dominance – it counts as a Hand Weapon with the Slow quality. 
  Weapons: Ex-Boss’s Choppa, Knife 
  Trappings: Robes, Fake ‘Magical’ Jewellery & Trinkets, Spell Ingredients 
   
  Witchcraft allows a character to learn individual Arcane spells of a Casting Number up to 
  15. When casting, the caster must roll an extra die which counts towards triggering 
  Tzeentch’s Curse but not towards the casting total. See Realms of Sorcery, page 128. 
   
   
   
  Morkar 
   
  Career: Sneak 
  Race: Black Orc 
   
  Morkar is the tribe’s last surviving Black Orc and was the only one to fall under the 
  influence of Mother Knows Best, becoming the leader of Johanna’s rebellion. He has 
  recently missed his daily meal, however, and is beginning to look askance at the depletion 
  of his tribe’s ranks and their strange fixation on this irrelevant village. He may decide it’s 
  time to show Mother who the daddy is. 
   
  Main Profile 
  WS 
  BS 
  S 
  T 
  Ag 
  Int 
  WP 
  Fel 
  52 
  50 
  54 
  55 
  46* 
  36 
  55 
  25 
  Secondary Profile 
  A 
  W 
  SB 
  TB 
  M 
  Mag 
  IP 
  FP 
  2 
  17 
  5 
  5 
  4 
  0 
  0 
  0 
   
  Skills: Command +20%, Common Knowledge (Greenskins) +10%, Concealment, 
  Dodge Blow, Follow Trail, Intimidate +10%, Interrogate, Navigation, Outdoor 
  Survival +10%, Perception +20%, Ride +10%, Scale Sheer Surface +10%, 
  Shadowing, Silent Move, Swim, Speak Language (Goblin Tongue). 
  Talents: Menacing, Mighty Shot, Orientation, Rapid Reload, Rover, Sharpshooter, Strike 
  to Stun, Strike Mighty Blow, Night Vision, Street Fighting, Strike to Injure, Sure 
  Shot, Specialist Weapon (Entangling, Two-Handed) 
  Special Rules: 
  Choppa: Heavy blade which does SB+1 damage in first round of melee and SB 
  thereafter. 
  Quell Animosity: May quell infighting among Goblinoids within 12 yards with a 
  Routine (+10%) Command Test. 
  Armour: Helmet, Mail Shirt, Shield 
  Armour Points: Head 2, Arms 0, Body 2, Legs 0 (Ag: 36*) 
  Weapons: Choppa, Dagger 
  
   
  38 
  SKETCH MAP OF VORBERG 
  AND THE HORNED MONK 
   
  This sketch map is strictly a guide to relative locations and cannot to be used to measure 
  distance. Or, admittedly, for much else. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Warhammer/Fantasy Roleplay/4e (C7)/Cato Contribution/Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay/2nd Edition/Homebrew & Fan Material/Strike-To-Stun Forums/Adventures/A Bitter Harvest.pdf