GM Blog: Episode 6 (Patreon)

As I mentioned in the last GM blog, I found Episode 6 super tough. I was very ill and you can maybe see that if you watch the full video. At the beginning, I was bouncing with energy even though I was dealing with more camera issues than anyone has any right to; by the end, I was dripping with sweat and feeling super rough. I was not in a good place, for all I tried to hide it. The next day, I was in a lot of pain and wiped out hard.

Fortunately, I'm in a far brighter place than I was at that point. So, let's get GM Blog 6 in place given that Episode 7: The Darkest Hour is already live and the VoD for Episode 8: Death on the Reik goes live in just a few hours!

Episode 6 covered the remainder of Chapter 8 and the beginning of Chapter 9 of Enemy in Shadows, pages 86-102. Again, this episode had a mix of cuts and additions to the stated adventure, but many of these were covered in Blog 5, so this time I'll discuss more of the extras the PCs faced.

And, for that, let's start the bullet-pointing!

• The (not-so) Silent Disco on the Adel Ring. The PCs decided to use lead-lined boxes as make-shift Morrslieb SPF hats, and that was kinda ingenious, so I was more than happy to let that work. Sure, it was utterly ridiculous, but it was also super fun and memorable, and that's what we're all here for right? Do I recommend you all add that to your version of Enemy in Shadows? Well, no. Am I happy it was in this one? Yes, yes I was!

• A Comedy of Ill-conceived Plans. The entire first section of the session, as the PCs attempt to gain access to the Steinhäger estate, was basically a farce. There was no solid plan, and I was happy to point out how ridiculous they all looked to the onlooking Watchmen (who, by the end of the episode, would be chasing them out of the Steinhäger estate). Morrslieb looked on and was greatly amused. This was pointed out to us by Vali Valison the 7th Son of Vali on Discord...

• Watched on the Adel Ring. The party drew so much attention to themselves while fumbling around the Adel Ring that Gideon eventually arrived to watch the farce personally. Luitpold was alerted to this, Seer that he is, although the father didn't exactly know how to interpret the signs he was receiving. Luitpold verbalised his insights to the party, and hearing that massively concerned Gideon. The daemon had no idea how it was detected. It immediately started to pilfer things from the party so it could curse the players later with spells, if required. Luitpold continued to mention that he could hear singing, and Gideon grew increasingly more concerned, so withdrew as the party bickered about what to do next. Gideon then followed the party at a distance before retreating when the PCs neared the Temple of Verena. Gideon had resolved it had to do something about the troublesome party and began to hatch schemes.

• Alamennowyth's Past. Alamennowyth has a long history in Nuln, and has met many of the NPCs from the adventure during her time there. She was led into the Path of Shadows in the City by her 'master' (who popped up in her Tales of Altdorf City), and spent almost two decades there as a Courtesan, Spy, Bawd, Sewer Jack, and more. We put this background in place for multiple reasons. The primary of two of which are:
  Lindsay Knows Too Much. Seriously, Lindsay has forgotten more about this adventure than many people will ever remember. She's played it with me about five times and was a part of the writing team that put the current book together. Rather than view this as a bug, I instead made it a feature, and had Alamennowyth know most of the primary players so that Lindsay didn't have to pretend to not know everything that she already knew. Thus, she had met Teugen in the past. And, as you'll find out later, she also knows other major NPCs, like Sigismund of Ubersreik and Zenechar of Tahme.
  Ties to the Primary Plot. It's always good to have your NPCs directly tied to the plot points being raised in the adventure at hand as it personally ties them to the outcomes, so having Alamennowyth personally know Teugen? Or Magistrate Richter? Or others? Well, that just adds an extra personal element to the story.

• Bobbly Walls. Poor Lukas. Will he ever be comfortable again? Not in a cursed temple he won't - which manifested as him mentioning physical discomfort. In short: this was a GM hint that not all was as it seemed.

• Birdie Theorising. It was great to see Birdie doing a bit of theorising as to what was going on. It shows Cath's increasing confidence with the setting and the game. She knows almost nothing about Warhammer, but that's slowly changing. Yume is still a little quiet on that front, but Sage knows even less about Warhammer than Cath and has been playing our game for far less time, so I'm sure this will balance out as we progress.

• 'I've Got A Disease But No Handkerchief To Show For It!'. Gerhardt was exposed to a disease after Yume dropped one of Magistrate Richter's handkerchiefs on him. This is #NotGood. He's contracted a rather nasty parasite that has burrowed into his flesh via a small wound by his ankle. The parasite is now happily heading for Gerhardt's brain. It won't make itself known until a month or so has passed as it has a long way to go. So, I imagine it won't be spotted until about 2 or 3 episodes into Death on the Reik. Its visible symptoms will start as a rash on his neck. Watch for that...

• Magistrate Richter's 'Death'. No matter what the Mourners' Guild may have claimed, the magistrate did appear to die in his home. His in-house help, Gertie, was horrified by this and certainly did not want to see him dead, for all the Mourner's Guild representative claimed otherwise, primarily because long-winded Gertie annoyed him. So, why did the magistrate appear to die? Well, unknown to all, he was already riddled with parasites when the Purple Brain Fever struck. Fortunately for the magistrate, the new illness caused his temperature to spike, saving his life from the previous infection. Nevertheless, this still almost killed him. By the time the PCs find him at the Physicians' Guild, Richter's parasites are gone, and the Purple Brain Fever is now taking its toll. Fortunately for the magistrate, the PCs pass over the correct cure to the Physicians' Guild and his life is saved. This will be of benefit later in the campaign.

• Gerhardt's Parasites. Unfortunately for Gerhardt, he is now infected with the same parasites that were trying to kill Richter, but he doesn't have Purple Brain Fever (or should I call it PBF?) to protect him. You may have noted that the Ruinous Powers were rather interested in ensuring that Gerhardt was infected (using Corruption points to make it happen). There will likely be more on this later...

• Mutants. The effects of Morrsielb were personified by the house of Mutants the PCs encountered surrounded by an angry mob. It also presented an opportunity to remind the group of the febrile politics around Mutants. On a personal note, it was good to see them bringing in the Shallyans to help resolve the issue. Particularly as that also brought the PCs to Ulthar who had spouted nonsense at them in the previous episode. As noted in the last blog, Gideon tried to silence Ulthar with Purple Brain Fever. And, in turn, it seems the PCs have saved him. Like the magistrate, this will have ramifications later in the campaign.

• Lukas and the Tzeentch Priestess. When the party were away, Lukas was seduced by Else Überraschung, the Priestess of Tzeentch who was posing as the High Priestess of Verena (for more on this, check Blog 5). Lukas has had a very tough time these last few weeks, and the opportunity for a little release was too tempting for him to ignore.

• Why Is Morrslieb So Big? Bögenhafen is special, the skein between the Mortal Realms and the Realms of Chaos is extremely thin in the city. This was caused by Drachenfels more than three centuries ago, and Tzeentch cultists have moved in to take advantage of this weakness. It is also why Gideon was sent to attempt the ritual to open a Chaos Gate there (because, in short, a gate can be opened there). To cut a long story short, Morrslieb isn't actually huge in the sky, it just appears that way, its appearance massively amplified by the weakening of the veil between realms. For more on this weakening, check Enemy in Shadows, pages 142-143.

• Gerhardt's Fumble. Gerhardt bathed in the light of Morrslieb for an entire night and gained 1d10 Corruption. Hahahahaha. Of course, the Priestess of Tzeentch posing as the Verenean watched on, keeping Gerhardt hidden from Alamennowyth's care with some subtle magic to ensure the young noble corrupted. Job done, she 'wakes' Gerhardt in the morning and ensures no one else is aware of what happened.

• Skaven Marks. Birdie attempted to make contact with the Skaven by leaving a Queekish mark by the High Temple of Sigmar (Skaven? What? If you don't know what this is about, check Birdie's Tale of Altdorf City). That means she has to be by the Temple of Sigmar the next day to await contact. Do you think she'll be there? Hint: she will not be, and this is likely to come back to bite-bite her in the arse-arse...

• The Party Discovers Mother Harnokken. The party eventually discover the dead Priestess of Verena. When this happens, the geas over the Verenean temple hiding the corruption there breaks and Luitpold and Yume finally sense just how bad the place is. The party then incorrectly assumes the priestess they encountered was a daemon, which does not please Lukas given his recent activities with her. Indeed, he panics and resolves to say nothing of it. At all. Creating a small divide between him and Gerhardt.

• The Forgotten Temple. Alamennowyth was concerned the party would be framed for Mother Harnokken's murder, but she was incorrect in this instance. Instead, if the PCs don't tell anyone significant about the temple's corruption, The Vigilant Eye, the Tzeentchian cult responsible for the awfulness in the temple, will use it to spread their influence locally. Given the cult's leader, Drauchen, has already set up events to hopefully ensure the party leaves the city swiftly and their claims are discredited, he thinks the temple will be of great use to him yet. More about that in Episode 7...

• Freaky Orphan. The humming orphan that the PCs interviewed was not under the daemon's spell as the party suspected. It was simply a child sensitive to magic that was seeing much more than normal because of the sudden and massive rise of magic in Bögenhafen. That NPC may return later in the campaign...

• Ubersreik Party. The arrival of the Jungfreud party and Gerhardt's brother to Bögenhafen is a complete fake that Lukas fell for. The delegation Lukas espied was organised by The Vigilant Eye to drive the party away from the hotel where they had been staying and hopefully push them more firmly towards stopping Teugen. More on that next episode...

• Steinhäger Turns. As mentioned in the previous blog, Magirius is not the member of the Ordo Septinarius that bottles it in this playthrough, it's Steinhäger. As mentioned before, I chose to do this to both befuddle those who knew the adventure well and also simplify affairs to keep the pace swift for the stream. Largely, the Steinhäger's sections played out as presented in Enemy in Shadows, but with the addition of all the Magirius extras. So, it's Steinhäger that is murdered by Gideon at the end of the episode, and it's Steinhäger that the PCs are framed for killing. Ooops. Seems Birdie was right to be worried for him earlier in the episode...

And that should do for Episode 6. The Corruption is piling up! The PCs are accused murderers on the run! And a ritual is about to start. Exciting!

We'll have Episode 8 up later today. I'll pop up the GM Notes for Episode 7: The Darkest Hour, in the next few days.

Lastly, as always, if you have any comments or questions about this blog or feel I missed some important stuff from Episode 6 that needs to be discussed, post here on Patreon, where the PCs can't see, or in the #all-access-lawhammer channel in LAWhammer, where, again, the PCs can't see!