GM Blog: Episode 7 (Patreon)

I have fallen behind with the GM Blogs because of the well-discussed illness, so it's time to catch up.  Much like Episode 6, during Episode 7 I was still incredibly ill. I was on antibiotics and codeine and was generally not a happy chappy. But, I do love me some roleplay, and this was an important episode - the finale for Enemy in Shadows - so there was no way I wasn't going to be playing.

Episode 7 covered Enemy in Shadows, pages 102-114. Like always, this episode had a mix of cuts and additions to the printed adventure, which we'll cover below.

So, are you ready for that? Let's start the bullet-pointing!

• The Horror of Morrslieb. At the beginning of the session, I spent some time explaining how the terrible increase of Morrsielb seen through the lens of the magical tears in Bögenhafen (this is discussed in GM Blog 6, under Why is Morrslieb so Big?) was perceived by each PC. It was a nice way to show just how differently each of the PCs experienced the world gone mad. So, taking each in turn...
  Elrick: It was all about the Winds of Magic for him, and the Winds he can perceive directly affected his material movement. He can also see the Winds stagnating into dhar.
  Yume: She felt the need to hide in the shadows and avoid the itchy corruption of Morrslieb's kiss. She also felt that this is an event that has happened before, a revelation from the godhead she is connected to. I.e.: Ranald was hinting that the 'End Times' were cyclic.
  Luitpold: As an augur, Luitpold witnessed the 'Bad Moon' event through his visions rather than his material senses. So, for him, it's all about sensing the 'Shadows Over Bögenhafen', an event that had long been prophesied to occur. To his senses, literal shadows were being cast by the clouds that Morrslieb was attempting to push aside, and those pools of darkness brought blessed relief from the worst the Chaos Moon could offer.
  Gerhardt: Gerhardt, a genius, was keen to understand how everything worked, including Morrslieb. This need to know is also the route the Ruinous Powers are likely to take to seize the young noble's soul. And he knows this. But it did not stop him from concluding that Chaos needed to be studied so that it could be effectively tackled.
  Birdie: Birdie, a Skaven Spy and Slave, knew Morrslieb was sacred to the Horned Rat, and immediately knew that seeing it so large in the sky would mark an event of enormous spiritual significance for them. So, she was immediately very worried. The Horned Rat was rising. However, she was not too concerned by the light that Morrslieb shed - she knew that she was effectively immune to the corruption that came from warpstone and similar as she was blessed by the Horned Rat. Or so she believed.
  Alamennowyth: Ah, failure! The prophecy that Alamennowyth had made over two thousand years ago was now coming to pass. She had not stopped it. The Shadows Over Bögenhafen had come to pass. That meant the End Times were still irrevocably coming...

• One Thing After Another. I took the events described in One Thing After Another found on p103 of Enemy in Shadows and significantly upped the stakes, making the event much more 'magical' and potentially apocalyptic than was described in the printed version. However, for all the warnings of a potential Ratman invasion that I sowed, I did not have the Skaven swarm the streets. They were too busy being in awe/terror of the Horned Rat above.

• Griffon Shit hits the Gyrocopter. That phrase still amuses me. Conjured in the moment to justify the 'shit hits the fan' metaphor that I accidentally deployed, the phrase has quickly become somewhat of a meme in our game.

• Elrick Understands. Elrick did well on his Lore (Magic) test, so I let him connect the dots and understand that Bögenhafen was somehow 'different' to everywhere else and was somehow doing something to Morrslieb - ie: the moon itself wasn't so large, it just appeared so because of the unique nature of the city mixed with the ritual being prepared by Teugen. It also provided me with an opportunity to discuss the ways the Winds of Magic work in the Warhammer world. Oh, and it let me say 'That's no moon!' Haha.

• The Blind Man Leads. The blind augur, Luitpold, guided the party through the worst of the Morrslieb corruption, able to perceive 'shadows' of safety with his oracular ability, which allowed the PCs to survive the ridiculous number of Corruption points I was willing to throw at them. Because, really, I went far further on the nastiness that Morrslieb offered than the Bad Moon Rising box on page 85 of Enemy in Shadows suggested. After all, did you see how big that moon was?

• A Daemon is Born. Elrick spends a Corruption point as the Winds wax wild, and he is the reason the first daemon appears in Bögenhafen. And it's a nasty one.
  It's always good to have the PCs be responsible for extreme events coming to pass.

• Luitpold Senses Corruption. As an Augur of Sigmar, I let Luitpold see corruption growing in those walking through the light. This helped the party see the dangers of Morrslieb without having to experience them directly, which raised the stakes.

• Sucked Down an Alley. The Winds of Magic buffeted magically-sensitive PCs down an alley. This was done to show the unexpected dangers of magic, and to directly tie the Winds of Magic to Chaos-related events. Chaos and magic are linked, and it's always good to show this.

• Flaming Nuisance. I used this event largely as described, but made a couple of changes. 1) I had Gideon mistake Gerhardt for Lieberung. This reinforced that the daemon was not omniscient and that it knew of Lieberung. 2) The crowd looking for Gerhardt was described as drawing an enormous amount of magic, which changed the people involved. The party recognised this for the danger it was, meaning the PCs took another route. I also hinted that Skaven would come at this point, but it was a largely empty threat.

• Gerhardt's Corruption. Gerhardt went over his Corruption limit (more than once this session) and almost mutated. Is the great change coming?

• Dice of Doom. We use a simple mechanic for when things may go wrong. Every PC rolls single d10, and if any roll 8s, bad things happen. The more 8s, the worse the result. Further, if danger is high, if any doubles are rolled, they may also result in events, but of a somewhat less magical nature. I also let fortune points change the roll by + or - 1.

• A Daemon Attacks. A Tzeentch Horror, amorphous and horrible, attacked the PCs when the Dice of Doom roll went badly. It attacked Elrick first, the wizard that accidentally summoned it (see A Daemon is Born above). Whilst horrendous, it didn't do much Damage, but did give the party an opportunity to prepare for the finale. The event taught the party how to tackle Daemons when some of the PCs' attacks worked and some of them did not, which changed how the PCs acted when they eventually arrived at the warehouse and confront Gideon et al.

• Sense Loss. One of the random Curses the Daemon inflicted as it died was the loss of one of the PC senses. Which was a bit nasty...

• Warehouse 13. Our Warehouse 13 was given a different map from the one in Enemy in Shadows. This wasn't done for any reason other than I wanted to mix things up a little for the players who had played the adventure before. It also let me fix some of the internal issues I felt the existing maps had. I decided to increase the internal size a little to provide more space for combat later, too. I'll post the map later for you to all use.

• The Ritual. The PCs, after scoping out Warehouse 13, decided to lie in wait and ambush Teugen, Gideon, and the others. In general, I played this out as I described in Enemy in Shadows. However, I boosted the capabilities of the NPCs. Significantly.

• Marienburg Sales Pitch. When the NPCs were discussing between themselves before the ritual began, Tuegen let slip one of the ways he persuaded the Ordo Septinarius members to support him: he claimed that Marienburg was only the greatest city in the Old World because its burgomasters had conducted a magical ritual, and that he, Tuegen, had secured that ritual. So, once Tuegen's ritual was complete, Bögenhafen would follow in Marienburg's footsteps and become a centre of trade for the Old World. Given just how successful Teugen since taking over the town council, it was no surprise that the Ordo members believed him. Teugen also mentioned that an alternative site for the ritual had been prepared (a location of last resort: Teugen's basement).

• The Sacrifice Happens. Eeek! The PCs did not succeed in stopping that. So, the ground ih the warehouse was sanctified to Tzeentch and the circle was activated. Hence the nasty Eye came later...

• The Ritual Fails. The PCs succeeded at disrupting the ritual. So, no Chaos Gate in Reikland. That would have been fun, eh? But, instead, victory was claimed and some Fate points were spent. The collapsing ritual killed all the cultists, all of whom burst into coloured feathers. As you do.

• Fate. On Fate being spent, has anyone noticed how we're representing that in the show, yet?

• Teugen and Gideon. Both were taken by the Greater Daemon that is currently in Altdorf. And, yes, both will be back later.

• The Vigilant Eye. As the PCs healed and then fled (with Gerhardt protesting), forces brought into place by the Vigilant Eye cult (more on that in the last GM Blog) made their move. There were 5 cultists and almost 50 Bögenhafen citizens that the cultists manipulated lying in wait. As soon as the ritual failed, the cultists want to terrify the party into fleeing. The Vigilant Eye was looking to blame the PCs for the events in Bögenhafen, but also keep them alive to combat other Tzeentch cult activities in the Empire, so they immediately opened with calls of 'stop the murders' and 'summon the magisters' to warn the party of what was about to happen.

• What is Happening? The Vigilant Eye was manipulating the party since it first arrived in Bögenhafen (the VE organised the room for the 'Jungfreud' party, for example, and was supporting the party from the Temple of Verena). The cult wanted Teugen to fail, because it believes Bögenhafen has a different and hallowed purpose in the End Times. It also wanted the Town Council removed. The PCs resolved both of those issues for the VE, and the party were then chased away.

• Magic! As the party ran, a VE Cult Sorcerer (from the Light College!) cast two important spells. 1) A Chaos spell to reincorporate the many-coloured feathers in the warehouse back to the bodies of the councillors. 2) A Light spell that obliterated all non-living materia in the area (this spell does not obliterate flesh, alive or dead, but does vibrate almost all objects to dust), revealing the corpses. The second spell also deafened Luitpold completely as he bleds from his ears. Which was nasty

• Yume Uses Her Special Rule! At the end, Yume called upon the special rule I Know You... I created for Episode 3. This caused Jaq drop in (first introduced in Yume's Altdorf Tale) at the end of the episode to give the party some help to escape Bögenhafen. The PCs then fled through the sewers to avoid the 'Kill the Jungfreuds!' calls ringing behind them...

And that will do for Episode 7. The PCs are on the run. The authorities in Bogenhafen are looking for them. And rumours begin to spread that House Jungfreud was responsible for taking out the ruling Council in Bogenhafen.

And into that power vacuum, the Vigilant Eye then moves (thanks, PCs - couldn't have done it without you!).

Bogenhafen may not have a Chaos Gate, but control of the city has about to Change hands.

Oh, and the party finds poor Lukas tied up on a barge at the end of the episode!

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this blog or feel I missed some important stuff from Episode 7 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!

Another GM blog coming very soon!