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What is the Campaign? 
The Player Characters  
Summaries
The Wheatland Colonies Expeditionary Force  
Publishing the Campaign Updated 04.08.07
Reviews
Copyright Statement 
Fanzines   
The Origin of Tree Worship Index 
What are you up to now?  
Contact Details

For those of you who are familiar with Games Workshop's Warhammer fantasy miniature battle rules, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) will be quite familiar. The game is set in essentially the same world. WFRP was originally published by Games Workshop, at roughly the same time as the third edition of the battle rules and the two shared the same image of the Old World. Later editions of the battle rules have moved away from this in details, but the overall idea behind the world is the same. Games Workshop ceased production of WFRP, and the game slowly disappeared until it was re-issued under license by Hogshead Publishing. They reprinted many of the old supplements and some new ones, but have now also given up.  Games Workshop have released a second edition under their Black Industries label.  This is a WFRP1 campaign.

For further information on the current state of WFRP you should check out the Warpstone site. Warpstone is an amateur magazine for WFRP. Find it at www.warpstone.darcore.net/

For those completely unfamiliar with Warhammer, the game is set in what is described as "a grim world of perilous adventure". In essence, it is a typical roleplaying game with some differences:

• Rather than being set in a quasi-Medieval world, the game is set in the Old World, which is more a Renaissance setting. In a real-world equivalent timescale, it is about 1600AD (although this is a source of some disagreement between gamers!). PCs are based in a country called The Empire, which is roughly equivalent to Germany/ Holy Roman Empire.
• The game is a low fantasy game, with minimal magic and divine power. Characters have to adventure 'the hard way'.
• The game is humanocentric, though there are elves, dwarfs, halflings and gnomes as PC races, and many 'monster' species.
• In WFRP, the 'monsters' often turn out to be human!
• Technology exists on an ad-hoc basis. For example, gunpowder weapons and printing presses exist, but so do knights in shining armour and scribes to copy material by hand.
• The knights in shining armour are usually actually wearing third generation tarnished armour, and very far from being noble figures of romantic legend!
• Character progression is through a career system of advancement, rather than by levels.
• Emphasis is placed upon roleplaying, in terms of both player discussion and solution of problems, and playing your PC in character. Background and context is a very important part of WFRP.

WFRP is often compared with Call of Cthulhu, though it is a fantasy setting. If you imagine an investigative game, where you play the role of a medieval Sherlock Holmes in a world populated by diverse peoples and cultures, you will be close to the mark. Negotiation is usually the best course of action, but you might need to back it up with a little drawn steel. Whilst combat in WFRP can be very deadly, your PCs have a good chance of surviving encounters with sensible play. However, players need to be aware that a low fantasy game often involves fleeing a situation as much as hacking one's way through it. 

The background to the world is the Chaos Incursions. A hideously mutating force of evil has infected the two poles on the Warhammer planet, and rather like a shifting tide periodically sweeps forward engulfing settlements. Fortunately, these are very rare. Unfortunately, a number of philosophers have predicted that one might be due. Fortunately, they were all burnt at the stake on the basis that if you kill the messenger the next news would be good news. What is rather more dangerous to the nations of the Old World, is that whilst they might appear physically strong with powerful armies and formidable castles, there is an enemy within spreading defeatism and messages of hopelessness. They offer an alternative - to worship the forces of Chaos. It is with this insidious internal evil that PCs most frequently become involved. However, not all enemies are necessarily chaotic. Greedy landowners, vicious crimelords, extremist clerics, unscrupulous revolutionaries and scheming nobles all add to this seething melting pot.

Want to know more? Click here to view my PC Briefing notes "What Your Players Know". It describes the world as the PCs see things.

One of my players summarised the difference between D&D and WFRP as follows:

D&D: You're surrounded by orcs.
WFRP: It's drizzling, and you're surrounded by orcs.
Come to think of it, though, I don't recall using orcs in 4+ years of playing this campaign!

The campaign is one of my own design, and was initially proposed to Hogshead Publishing as a sourcebook on The Empire or provinces therein. They rejected it, but we have been playing it for some time now. The four parts that I published are as follows:

Part 1: A Private War
Part 2: All Quiet in Kislev
Part 3: Homeward Bound
Part 4: A Pass Too Far/-side

The Campaign commenced in the Imperial province of Ostland in the year 2512 IC. The scenario initially revolves around a chase from the City of Middenheim to Beeckerhoven in Nordland, and thence into Ostland. The PCs are employed by the Cult of Shallya as their representatives amongst a number of competing groups - including Sigmarite and Ulrican templars - to recapture an escaped academic Professor Stradovski. It is very unclear why the Professor fled, but in the grim reality of the Old World it obviously proves that he is guilty of something - and no-one cares exactly what too much! We have moved far beyond this situation and have resolved the Stradovski chase. You can find game summaries outlined below.  The game has now moved far to the east, to the Farside part of Kislev.

My reference to the concept of the 'private war' derives from the fact that the PCs find themselves in a constant state of uncertainty as to who is fighting whom at any one time. Many groups within the theoretically united Empire are in semi-permanent conflict with each other. The following conflicts have been witnessed to date:

Ulricans hate Sigmarites and vice versa
Certain Sigmarites hate other Sigmarites
Sigmarites and Ulricans unite in their hatred of 'primitive' religions
Nordlanders raid Ostlanders and vice versa
Nordlanders hate elves and dwarfs
Nordlanders like dwarfs who hate elves
Some Nordlanders like elves, and dislike those who hate them
Ostlanders raid each other
Dwarfs dislike Ostland dwarfs as they do not seem to hate elves
The Grand Prince of Ostland despises his Military Commander, who is working to depose him
Ostlanders hate the manufacturers of wood and pot cutlery
Various street gangs hate each other, but they hate PCs more
Everyone hates Kislevans
Gospodar Kislevans hate Ungol Kislevans
Gospodar and Ungol Kislevans hate Norscan Kislevans
Everyone hates Chaos Marauders - most of whom are not actually Chaotic.

You get the idea. These petty intolerances, bigotries and outright fights are motivations for many NPCs and might aid or interfere with PC actions or interests. The PCs themselves must negotiate their way through these conflicts whilst finding clues and following the trail of their quarry. They need to be able to bribe, talk, persuade, cajole, bully and think their way past these groups.

Click here to view my PC Briefing notes "What Your Players Know". It describes the world as the PCs see things.

The Player Characters [top] 

There are five PCs currently playing:

Jakob Stoll, a scholar with humble beginnings and a rapidly developing appreciation of realpolitik.

Thomas Krammer, an ex-servant, is now something shadowy in the new Wheatland Colonies regime.

Wolfgang Zenheim is a one-footed bounty hunter.  A hard man, do not upset him!!  (or he'll fall over).

Rebekah is a labourer under the misapprehension that adventuring is less back-breaking.

Summaries [top]

The following are summaries written for the players after each session of play. After complaints that the mid-20s were too short, I recommenced with Summary 27 a full write-up so that anyone could get a feel for what was happening. Please let me know if these are worth continuing with.

Summary 01    Summary 02    Summary 03    Summary 04    Summary 05    Summary 06    Summary 07

Summary 08    Summary 09    Summary 10    Summary 11    Summary 12    Summary 13    Summary 14

Summary 15    Summary 16    Summary 17    Summary 18    Summary 19    Summary 20    Summary 21

Summary 22    Summary 23    Summary 24    Summary 25    Summary 26    Summary 27    Summary 28

Summary 29    Summary 30    Summary 31    Summary 32    Summary 33    Summary 34  Summary 35

Summary 36    Summary 37    Summary 38    Summary 39    Summary 40    Summary 41    Summary 42

Summary 43    Summary 44    Summary 45    Summary 46    Summary 47  Summary 48  Summary 49

Summary 50    Summary 51    Summary 52    Summary 53    Summary 54    Summary 55    Summary 56

Summary 57    Summary 58    Summary 59    Summary 60    Summary 61    Summary 62    Summary 63  

Summary 64    Summary 65

The Wheatland Colonies Expeditionary Force [top]

For a list of various NPC's have a look at the WheatCEF 'Who's Who'  

The campaign is now published in as far as I am going to be publishing it. There were four parts, outlined below. All copies are now out of print.

A Private War was 98 pages, size A4 in two columns of TNR 10-point print, perfect bound with a front cover drawn by a proper artist and rear cover with a full-size map of the city of Wolfenburg.  It was a campaign plus complete backgrounds and source material for Nordland and Ostland. This included details of all the major settlements and many ostensibly less important ones, the coaching inns on the Erengrad road and a whole section on the customs and peculiarities of both provinces. Want to know what they eat and drink, how they dress, what dances are in vogue or what beard to sport in the latest fashion? It was all here. Are you worried about whether to sit your PCs on a stool or an armchair? Then worry no more. You also get a magnificent map of Wolfenburg and full city write-up. Plus lots more! However, none of this undermines the fact that you received a fully play-tested scenario.

All Quiet in Kislev was the second part of the Private Wars Campaign and continued the adventure into the southern reaches of Kislev with background material on Kislev, the border nobility and many of the petty squabbles between and amongst Empire and Kislevan nobles, peoples and institutions. Key settlements, socio-political background and regional idiosyncracies were described in detail and a number of awesome Ryan Wileman maps included. 

Homeward Bound was the final part of the trilogy (except see below since it was not quite the end!).  It provided more adventures leading up to the conclusion to the campaign, an explanation of what had been happening, a new cult, various deities, monsters for all and full background details on the League of Ostermark (in the same format as before). The PCs travelled southwards into the League, before returning home to Middenheim. They uncovered a great and ancient evil plus the usual commonplace greed, selfishness, complacency and intolerance.

Wheatland Colonies: A Pass Too Far was the final part of the campaign, taking the PCs through the northern Empire, Kislev and into the Wheatland Colonies. It had full background material on all of these regions and served as a complete source book for the Colonies, or at least my interpretation of them, together with an introduction to the apocalyptic campaign that my own group played.

The Magnificent Seven: Things to do in Farside before you die was to have been the final part of the campaign, including more background material.  The PCs become embroiled in civil war, revolution and invasion.  The private war goes public!  This will not be released as a new fanzine, but you can read the write-ups in the summaries above.

A Private War addendum: I did publish some amendments and queries for APW in AQiK.  You can download it here.   58 KB.

Reviews in the Public Domain [top]

Robert Rees writing in Saint Sebastien #8 says "I would thoroughly recommend getting hold of a copy if you are either a fan of WFRP or interestingly put together roleplaying scenarios. Covering the mysterious flight and subsequent pursuit of a university professor Private War sensibly opts for a central storyline around which plenty of background material is arranged to ensure that things are kept far from linear. It is a quality product and at £10 almost insultingly cheap."

In Carnel 17, Robert offers "Tim Eccles' Old World is a damnably dark place … there is a lot of material to digest in the book … It is a solid distinctive book … It certainly knocks most WFRP material into a cocked hat. It is also an invigorating read in its own right and fans of FRP might want to have a copy just to hear an individual voice among the d20 blandness that we have been suffering currently." Details of the availability of Carnel can be found at http://www.geocities.com/shudderfix/carnel

Another review appeared in Warpstone issue 19.

I do have many positive comments sent to me personally as well, but you will just have to take those on trust! However, the following is one that is - genuinely - representative of my mailbag.

"I think that both books are much more 'believable' than anything I have ever seen for WFRP before and on several (nearly all) points they fit very well with my 'own' wfrp world. Good intrigues (along the James Ellroyesque "subplot up on subplot up on subplot that ends up coming together to form a major, very believable and intriguing plot" line). Also, the level of detail nearly made me cry: no blatant chaos worship and rabid mutants and low IQ cultists, more of a CoC feeling to Chaos/evil and a good, thick soup of political and religious problems and friction instead of chaos chaos chaos. I can see why HH didn't pick it up: it's a mature world and one that is very far away from the somewhat stiff and one dimensional 'official' wfrp world. I have played wfrp since 1987 and this is by far the best material I have ever seen. Superb..."

Copyright Statement [top]

My Private Wars Campaign was completely unofficial. All relevant trademarks and copyrights are used without permission and in no way meant to challenge ownership to them by Games Workshop. PWC fully recognises said copyright and trademark ownership. My use of the terms does not constitute a claim for ownership. This was simply a fanzine written by a fan for other fans. Fan writing has been a part of RPGing since its inception, and this continued the tradition. There was no desire to start some form of rebellion against 'the Man' as someone has asked. PWC was not aimed at materially affecting GW. There is no axe to grind. More, I do not subscribe to the 'Big Bad GW' Theory either. I might have been as disappointed as anyone else when they dropped WFRP, but their recent support of marginal games shows them as true hobbyists to my mind. I would have been delighted to have PWC officially produced. Initially, PWC was submitted to Hogshead as an Empire sourcebook proposal, and rejected with the comment that they were interested in adventures and not sourcebooks. The adventure, which is a chase, was specifically devised to attempt to satisfy that requirement whilst retaining a lot of the background culture. It was submitted in the adventure form and also rejected. So, the proposal was rejected as both a sourcebook and an adventure. I also offered the manuscript for free (at a Warpstone get-together generously hosted by James Wallis and the Warpstone John's) if he were interested in publishing it in any form. Three rejections clearly (to my mind) were indication of the lack of interest in the proposal. From that my only prospect of disseminating it was Warpstone magazine (and which I did consider, but for which it was too big), the Internet (for which I have no relevant skills or interests) or to self-publish (and try and minimise my losses on the production). Hence, A Private War came into being. In summary, this project is nothing more than a fanzine for Warhammer FRP. It was not a political statement of any kind. It was not-for-profit and therefore no different than any other of thousands of fan efforts in assorted guises in the public domain.  Obviously Black Industries have now released the Second Edition.  My material is regarded as "commercial" activity and against their IP regulations and so I have been asked to stop.  I have.

Fanzines [top] 

The Origin of Tree Worship was initially created as a stand-alone fanzine for WFRP as a forum for me to develop deeper issues and themes in the game that were less 'commercial' than Warpstone, totally unofficial or (as then) undeveloped.

All issues are now out of print, but some articles are printed on the Warpstone site.  You can also read a selection here   90 KB.

I had two other 'fanzine' projects in mind but progress was tentative and has now ceased. The first of these was to produce a Players Guide to Dwarfs of some sort. I like the Dwarf Sourcebook a lot - and it is probably my favourite Hogshead WFRP product - but I think that a real opportunity was missed to develop fully the nature of role-playing a dwarf. My intention was to produce the equivalent of a diary or notebook for dwarf players to act as an aide-memoire to playing their character. This would include role-playing notes based upon the official sourcebook and other material, plus spaces to record grudges, campaign events, notes on adventures etc. It would be disposable, one for each dwarf PC. The second idea was  to release a Private Wars Campaign fanzine. This would include all my notes, old plans, rough maps etc for the Private Wars Campaign, including those that were never developed. I would probably also include my own notes for the post-Pass Too Far events within my own campaign. It would also have been nice to get feedback from everyone else's own campaigns too, including stories about what happened, what GMs changed and how the players did their best to destroy my great adventure!  Obviously these will not now be written.

The Origin of Tree Worship Index  [top] 

The Origin of Tree Worship 1 was an A3 sheet folded in two, reminiscent of the old early printing polemics. It was reprinted in issue 3.

The Origin of Tree Worship 2 was also an A3 sheet folded in two. 

The Origin of Tree Worship 3 primarily reprinted issues 1 and 2 into the normal A5 format and was released to help fund a table at Dragonmeet 2002. Articles include a whole host of short 'position pieces' on minor items (elves, the role of history, templars of Verena etc). More substantial (and new) pieces include the Kislevan borderlands, Carroburg and road wardens.

The Witch- Hunter Cometh was an 'Origin of Tree Worship special', being a convention scenario written by myself and Alfred Nunez Jnr for running at tournaments to support WFRP and Hogshead. It came with pre-generated PCs and everything you need to run the game. I always regarded this as a seminal work that we did, since it has a groundbreaking notion behind it (even if I say so myself!). 54 pages.

The Curse of the Clan Heirloom was an 'Origin of Tree Worship special', being another convention scenario written by myself and Alfred Nunez Jnr for running at tournaments to support WFRP and Hogshead. It came with pre-generated PCs and everything you need to run the game. This is unusual as it is an all-dwarf PC game. 48 pages.

The Origin of Tree Worship 4 was the first issue that really decided me to try and keep the fanzine going on a regular basis. Pride of place goes to a skaven article by Alfred Nunez Jnr and a round table discussion of WFRP after the demise of Hogshead. I wrote a small piece on the Battle of Wolfenburg during the Empire Civil War. 35 pages.

The Origin of Tree Worship 5 was the first issue that attempted to develop a number of the regular sections - letters and the archives of Old World illuminati. The major article is the submission for Realms of Chaos made to Hogshead by Alfred Nunez Jnr and Anthony Ragan. My own pieces include a number of articles on fortifications, some thoughts on GW's 2003 accounts and what they say about WFRP (to dispell some rumours) and the Treaty of Helmgart (more Bretonni skulduggery). 32 pages.

The Origin of Tree Worship 6 was a "Tim Con" special, outlining the games etc being run and was produced for all the attendees. It is 55+ pages long. Of more general interest, the majority of space was given over to the usual type of articles. These included a review of WFRP rules (by John Foody, Warpstone editor), thoughts on the then unknown WFRP 2nd edition (by Clive Oldfield) and Robert Rees offered an excellent viewpoint and mini-campaign centring on the GW Khemri undead. There is also a full Alfred Nunez convention scenario (the official WFRP adventure from GenCon 2003, which was also run by Ian Noble at TimCon 01).

The Origin of Tree Worship 7 contained articles on the Old Faith (by Alfred Nunez, the Dwarf Book author), character generation ideas for a new WFRP edition (by Robin Low, written prior to WFRP2), apothecaries (by the Dark Knight), a review of the new WFB Bretonnia army book (by Clive Oldfield), thoughts on Language in WFRP (by me) and a number of new departments by myself (including a rant on Ice Wizardry, some notes and queries and more).

You can read the editorial here   29 KB.

The Origin of Tree Worship 8 was a Tim Con II special on merchant houses, the soul, NPCs and a great adventure run on the day.

You can read the editorial here   23 KB.

The Anatomy of Melancholy contained a long discussion of WFRP2, GW and the poor state of the RPG 'industry' together with a review on new releases, and those that I have just come across. The core of the fanzine was a review and discussion of the Storm of Chaos campaign, and what it means for WFRP. Imperial Kislev river wardens and some WFRP2 cameos rounded off the issue.

You can read the editorial here   28 KB.

Hope That Clears This Issue Up Chaps! was the TimCEPTION convention free fanzine, and a double-first. It was the first ever WFRP2 fanzine for the first ever WFRP2 convention. An excellent look back at Leopoldheim and the Southlands by Dark Knight offered us a last glance at the old, whilst Alfred Nunez attempted to make sense of the new political order. Rangwe from Strike-to-Stun forum offered his varied thoughts on WFRP2 and Black Industries.

Wonderful Prodigies of Judgement and Mercy was the free fanzine for TimCON III convention attendees. It included a Clive Oldfield WFRP2 "Choose Your Own Adventure", Robert Rees on his first experiences of WFRP in Web of the Eldaw, Steve Moss bought us all a drink in the Rusty Barnacle, and I spent some time in the marketplatz again. Plus more, including Simon Dennett on Blood on the Reik and my editorial ramble on all things GW.

The Man That Corrupted Bergsburg was the free fanzine for TimCON IV convention attendees. It included my ‘lost’ and last Correspondent, the one that was dropped from Warpstone 24 because of assorted nefarious and underhand backstabbing. Or that’s what my autobiography will say! This discussion of combat in RPGs generally and WFRP2 in particular was complimented by a timely discussion on WFRP2 artwork by John Foody. I spent a couple of minutes in the marketplatz again, and there was various TimCon material, including the game that I didn’t dare run. It was only available to attendees, free of charge at my expense.

War Damage In Ostland: The Destruction Of Historic Monuments During The Storm Of Chaos - A Survey was the free TimCon V fanzine, explaining the games being run. There was also my usual editorial, more from 'Overheard in the Marketplatz' and a discussion of my visits to the sales.

What are you up to now? [top] 

My largest and most interesting project is for a figures game that I am co-writing with Ryan Wileman. We have entitled it Warfare in the Age of Sigmar. This is a set of skirmish rules for figure battles at 0IC, based upon Warhammer. We have developed a series of tribes and others to fight, an army list for each and some minor amendments to the rules. It will include quite a lot of detail about the various peoples in the Old World at around -50 to +50 IC.

I have completely failed to run a Farscape RPG game at the club but I have posted some background here on the Shadow Warrior website. I am also - very slowly - working on a separate page for my fanzine for this, called Lac Ta. Click here to have a look at the background material and find a link to that site.  A new fanzine is underway.  Just very slowly!

I am also playing a number of different games, some of which you can read about elsewhere on this site.  Click here to read my 7th Sea PC diary.

Contact details [top]

My WFRP2 page.

My new Campaign, Things to Do in Carroburg Before you Die.

You can find out more about Warpstone magazine at www.warpstone.darcore.net/

And check out when we are playing next here.

All trademarks acknowledged.