Coffee, Code, and Chronicles

Atop the Fauschlag sits the City of the White Wolf, Middenheim. The Fauschlag itself is the god Taal's gift to his brother Ulric. 2300 years ago on the Imperial Calendar, Wulcan, High Priest in the cult of Ulric was visited by the deity. Striking the ground with the butt of Blitzbeil, Ulric's personal great axe, a great flame erupted. Ulric commanded Wulcan to build him a grand temple, saying, “On this spot, as long as this fire burns in its hearth, your people shall endure." Today, the temple is a castle as well as a cathedral. The flame burns in front of the High Altar in a high vaulted roof of awe inspiring architecture. The grand nave and chancel hold more than 1000 worshipers and the acoustics said to be so fine that the High Priest may whisper and the worshipper in the furthest corner of the nave may hear perfectly—and an Ulrican priest is not one to whisper. The flame itself is a center piece of the temple and is often used in important state functions and high prof...

Dankmar. Stevedore, Vampire Hunter, Troll Slayer, Ranger, Warrior Priest, and Dentist. Dankmar was, past tense, a respected member of the Stevedore guild houses, though freelance. As such, Dankmar picked up work small and large, navigating the many gangs of equally skilled laborers in the warehouses and on the piers of the River Reik in Übersreik. Need to tie off your skiff or load and balance the dozens of crates on the ship? Dankmar's boat hook, strong back, and quick hands were ready to be of service. In the months since meeting his companions, he has traveled further than anyone he knows closely, not counting any career sailor Dankmar may have passed on a gangway or cellar bar in Übersreik. Dankmar, for a period, decorated his boat hook with the teeth of a nascent vampire haunting the tenements of Übersreik and a troublesome River Troll in the River Reik. His companions called him “the dentist" as these trophies were collected. Sadly, the boat hook was lost in a flood. Tod...

A decade ago I probably blogged “C is for Career," or discussed Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay's Character development systems and subsystems—“subsystems?!, yes, subsystems, especially in newer editions." Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) is unique for character advancement in many Table-Top Role Playing Games (TTRPGs). Most will be familiar with the phrase “leveling up." Character levels in a Character archetype, or “class," is ubiquitous in TTRPGs and even in video games. Since WFRP's introduction in 1986, when I first encountered the game in my Friendly Local Gaming Store (FLGS), where I also happened to work, WFRP stood out with Career-based advancement. There were games before it that hinted at the use of career advancement. Traveller's 1977 ruleset used a “lifepath system" famous for player's characters dying during creation. Traveller's “lifepath system" is beloved and some gaming conventions even host Traveller Character Creation ev...

The cosmopolitan city-state of Marienburg, capital of the “Wasteland," is home to scores of respectable taverns, clubs, and restaurants, catering to an ever growing merchant class calling the largest port of the River Reik home. Serving the lower classes in the districts of Marienburg are hundreds of watering holes, dives, dens, and snugs. One such Kneipe  is the Brickskeller, or in the common tongue, Brick Cellar. Here the criminal boss Pit van Kars, a priest of Ranald, the patron deity of all rogues, and his gang, all acolytes to be sure, runs his city wide operations. As a priest, if part-time, he evangelizes to all that seek meaning to their behaviors and absolution for the actions on the streets and canals of Marienburg. Herr van Kars influence is far reaching, as far north as Almshoven and very likely with cult contacts deep in the Empire itself. His operation is without boundaries in endeavor or entrepreneurship. Herr van Kars is known to employ the finest forgers in Marien...

In the 200 years since the Great Chaos Incursion that left the village of Almshoven mostly in ruins, save its well known lighthouse looking over the Manaanspoort Sea, Almshoven is again inhabited. It is also known for its massive Garden to Morr, still in use, but largely overgrown and permanently shrouded in a mist or fog the clutches at the weeds and headstones, defying even the hottest day. The centuries old ruins invited treasure hunters, or grave robbers, depending on which side of the calculus one viewed the participants. The character of these opportunists naturally invited others and Almshoven is almost a proper village again with a functioning port.  It's having your bare feet on the ground in Almshoven that one finds the details disquieting. Almshoven is run by a brute of a man known as “The Gut." His laws are simple: Permitted to duel; if challenged, you get to choose the weapon. Until death or submission. No interference. Or you’re dead. No magic. Or you’re dead. No...

It's that time of year: when I dust off my writing brain and start thinking about my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge. In all the years I've been doing the A to Z Challenge, I've been pretty consistent: table top roleplaying game (TTRPG) themes and related grim, dark fiction with a decidedly Warhammer feel, and I think I'm going to be leaning into this theme again. I've blogged about my player's characters, my setting, my campaign, my take on playing the game. This year, we will revisit one of those campaigns from 11 years ago: The Gigantic Melancholies of the Princeps . An almost five year campaign set in a “border princedom" in a stretch of territory south of the World's Edge mountains of the Empire. Here Orcs and Goblins raid hard scrabble settlements of disaffected Elves, entrepreneuring Dwarves, outcast Humans, and shifty Halflings. Every settlement is run—ruled?—by a wannabe Prince (or Princess); often strongmen (or strongwomen):  some tyra...