Backroom politics

Musing the nature of secret deals, I spent some time this week reorganising my collection. This presents so much temptation to gush about collecting Citadel miniatures, perhaps mentioning a few of my own backroom deals. Trades done to acquire rare items. Resin, plastic, lead or white metal to pursue conversion projects or simply round out some of my favourite sculpts from across the years to represent the Mordheim and Marienburg personalities.

What I need to be doing right now is updating links for sharing player aids. A lot of the Mutiny in Marienburg files being circulated currently are years out of date, been hijacked by third party writers who I spent no collaborative time with, or were left incomplete. Recently I have updated the campaign again during the global pandemic by referring to all of my unedited campaign notes. I made so many notes! I mean, a lot! Living lockdown life like a druidic cave hermit means this is the perfect time to get organised. One of the major breakthroughs was my collaboration with Nuno Martins on the Boatyard! Our player guide completes the Marketplace chapter by proposing some intense modelling opportunities.

What follows is a list of confirmed chapters with links to my Google Drive. The first section is devoted to background information. I am setting this part out still so most links won't be active yet. You don't need it to play MiM campaigns! The 'fluff' section is largely based on collating relevant content in the form of knowledge gained from every published source. It provides motives, commissions and scams to provide inspiration. Since I have been enjoying messing around with the Gazetteer this month, I may as well include a preview for that. The rest is the stuff you need to play. You will also need access to a copy of the Mordeim Rulebook, Empire in Flames, Border Town Burning and the Mordheim Annual. Remember all of these can be resourced online by visiting somewhere like Broheim.

An Epic Maritime Adventure Setting for Mordheim
01. Greatest Port in the Old World
02. City of Secret Deals
03. The Grand Sewer Network, Canals & Districts
04. An Almanac of Marienburg Crime
05. A Gazetteer of the Wasteland Country
06. Imperial Calendar Guide

Maritime Campaigns
07. Epic Campaign Rules
08. Unknowable Cargo 'Marienburg's Manifest'
09. Adventure Seeds 'Campaign Objectives'
10. Core Scenarios 1-10 / Special Scenarios 11-18
Wasteland Scenarios 21 - Bilespit's Folly / 22 - As A Final Resort
11. Waterfront Encounters 'Random Happenings'
12. Undertown / Metal-Mongers 'Skaven Armada'
13. Daemon Swamp / Lords of the Marsh 'Fimir Ambush Parties'
14. Wasteland Exploration
15. Marketplace
16. Infamous Haunts
17. Corrupted Characters

Crimefighters & Cons
18. Miracle Workers 'Priests of the Empire'
19. Watchmen 'Constabulary Patrols'
20. Channel Rats 'Strigany River Gypsies'
21. Sea Ghosts 'Elf Rangers'
22. Militant Mootlanders 'Halfling Rogues'
23. Shallows Beasts 'Cult of Stromfels'
24. Low Kings 'Marienburg Crime Cartels'
25. Specialists 'Hired Swords'
26. Topical Issues 'Marienburg FAQ'

Hired Swords Compendium
Swords of the Empire

It was my intention to reintroduce concepts by pinning useful guidelines to memorable themes particularly by demonstrating their practical applications, throughout the campaign scenarios. This encourages players to apply the same rules for starting fires, entering buildings, making arrests, going underground, transporting cargo, sailing ships and more, if they become familiar.

Special rules tackling crime, boats and cargo are sometimes split between different chapters. This breaks down advanced gameplay into bite size chunks for players to explore, unravel and piece together as your campaign narrative unfolds.

This campaign revolves around the power of commerce. Major themes are crime, punishment, trade and piracy. Cops and robbers are played by the watch patrols and river pirates operating around the complicated canal network. All of the traditional warbands will have their roles to play alongside the gangs of Marienburg.

Trapped somewhere in the past

Last month was Spieltage 2018 in Essen. A gang of British tabletop gamers from Dorset attended with the purpose of purchasing lots of hot new board game releases. I was there to meet with old tabletop friends from across the years and make new acquaintances. In hall 6 were Games Workshop as well as Cubicle 7 who have licensed Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay for it’s 4th edition release. They are in the process of fulfilment for pre-orders and copies of the new rulebook were onhand. I had a nice chat with their staff about upcoming plans which in addition to the director’s cut rewrite for legendary campaign The Enemy Within, will include another module for Marienburg. This was my first chance to put my fingers on the limited edition embossed version which I have prepaid for my collection.

Towards the end of the fair weekend there were a ton of incoming messages and alerts hitting me about Mordheim interest from the community in my hometown of Poole. Firstly this reminded me that I needed to post here as it’s been over 3 years since the last MiM campaign phase ended. Secondly I keep meaning to include a reference to the public Dropbox account with my shared player aids contributions for this game we all adore.

Werekin folder is found here:
*MiM campaign player aids*

There is new terrain being created by members of the hobby community in my town and various captains are conspiring to raise enough gold crowns to hire swords for a campaign.

It’s too early to tell what exactly will be happening or whether I will put up my guilders to do the same. There are so many distractions yet we do have the fantastic new Entoyment Hobby Centre that has opened in my hometown and the temptation is always there to get back on the campaign trail.

Underworld dreams

Heroes thrive off dangerous pursuits – Sold to the pits, held captive by a rival gang, or an illegal drug addiction. The underbelly of the city is where pleasure houses, drug parlours and baiting pits can be found. This is where hedonistic warriors will be able to entertain their darkest desires in godforsaken dens of vice and misery. It is said that more people die every year around the wharfs than on all the glorious battlefields of the Empire! Here is an exhaustive tour of Marienburg's renowned waterfront hostelries and most notorious havens of ill repute.

During the Trading phase of the post battle sequence Heroes may attempt enter one of the taverns, casinos, drug dens and bordellos of Marienburg instead of searching for a rare item.

The following chapters expand post battle sequence options in the Trading phase:

Download - Infamous Haunts (PDF, ca. 1.5 MB)
Download - Marketplace (PDF, ca. 0.8 MB)
Download - Unknowable Cargo (PDF, ca. 0.5 MB)

Mutiny in Marienburg is a narrative campaign for Mordheim. A lot of the flavour for the setting is pulled from tomes published for Warhammer Roleplay. Finely quilled novels from Black Library add layers of detail to existing source material. Compiling as many flavourful notes from as many stories as possible I've been building a pattern of activities. Infamous Haunts contains 14 locations in Marienburg's underworld. The risks are steep. The rewards are great. Players whose warriors pay the underworld a visit are sure to have a story to tell. This could be just the twist in your campaign you were looking for! Here is where Heroes from your warbands may dare to visit in the the post battle sequence instead of pursuing traditional activities.

In your campaigns some players will fuss over gathering up the best equipment, others may realise that visiting an Alchemist to tap into the power of wyrdstone is the best course of action to take. What if there were other options available? Would your Witch Hunter search for a Holy Relic or would he visit the Sanitarium? Would your Necromancer search for a Lucky Charm or cajole a Dreg into visiting the Graveyard with him?

Before I realised what I had on my hands I was working on a compilation article called 'Marketplace'. My intention was (and still is!) to adapt the best material from the Encampments articles published in Town Cryer. This is partly what led me into the seediest corners of the city. Sometimes the outcomes will introduce new rules where guidelines need to be followed. There might be penalties to pay. Rewards vary sometimes revealing a secret location from the Marienburg campaign or a special character such as Trancas Quendalmanlïye at the Casino in Elftown.

On my desktop I still have another document being bashed into shape by referring to my campaign notes plus those old Town Cryer magazines. I have elaborated considerably. Anything that develops a wild campaign story. Anything that encourages modelling opportunities. If it inspires, it's being tied in! For instance that building with the green roof above Three of a Kind casino, if you recognise it, is being well represented. Marketplace will offer safer options to players than visiting the city's underbelly. This should pose further tactical choices in campaigns. Play it safe by visiting the Cartographer or take a chance by visiting one of the locations beyond Three Penny Bridge.

Of course not all warbands will benefit from these options. Enemies of mankind, elfkind, dawi or halfling folk are not permitted entry to legendary parlours of ill repute such as Golden Lotus drug den or Molly's knocking shop. As compensation for this I have a more concise set of (two) locations where the likes of greenskins, beastkin and vermin may think about heading to chill out after the battle. These will work on a completely different set of (very basic) principals to any of the other charts normally used in campaigns. Of course such primitive creatures could be too preoccupied with their wyrdstone trinkets and ceremonies of sacrifice to think about setting off in the right direction!

Best fight scene

The Mutiny in Marienburg campaign uses new core scenarios written for this setting. Each scenario treats players to a taste of what life if like in the city-port for their warriors. While not every scenario is combat-centric, the waterfront adventure features violent turf wars! The best fight scenes ever.

Mutiny in Marienburg follows the same structure developed for the Border Town Burning supplement. This is different than in the Mordheim Rulebook.

For players using the standard campaign rules these Core Scenarios replace the scenarios found in the Mordheim Rulebook. Refer to Border Town Burning supplement for scenario rules to 'Last Orders!'

2D6 Result
2 ....Scenario 1: Rolling Fog*
3 ....Scenario 2: Black Market Lagoon
4 ....Scenario 3: Powder Bridge
5 ....Scenario 4: Pit Of Blood*
6 ....Scenario 5: Stockade
7 ....Scenario: Last Orders!*
8 ....Scenario 6: Silk Market
9 ....Scenario 7: Illegal Salvage Operation*
10 ...Scenario 8: Burrow Town Collapsing*
11 ...Scenario 9: Dead Freight**
12 ...Scenario 10: The Sting

Scenario 13: Midnight At The Mausoleum*
Scenario 15: All Hands On Deck!
Scenario 16: Swap Meat*
Scenario 17: Colony of Plenty*

*optional multiplayer scenario
**multiplayer scenario

All core scenarios are now illustrated. Scenarios are accompanied by Marienburg campaign charts. Also included are two of the special scenarios which found their way into the Marienburg campaign story. These will be updated periodically to include more new campaign scenes. Any downloads found elsewhere outside of the Liber Malefic blog do exist and they have at this time not been completed to my full satisfaction.

An additional player aid for enhancing your campaigns can now be downloaded. Epic Campaigns Rules features a selection of important guidelines to help your maritime city adventures.

All published resources from the Marienburg manifest can be downloaded here.

Fell cargo

Dealers in strange unknowable goods bring business to Marienburg.

Representatives of every nation and race can be found there, and it is rumoured that if something exists, no matter how rare, a trader with money will find it in Marienburg, find someone who knows where it is, or be swindled into buying something that looks just like it.

Running a Mordheim campaign set in the trade capital of the world means there is wider scope for deals to be struck. Smugglers are interested in opportunities for moving more than just shards of wyrdstone. Click on the image below to expand detail for the two main charts being used when determining physical objectives in Marienburg campaign scenarios.

The tender is gold guilders which are Marienburg's equivalent to gold crowns. Gold is not the only currency and wyrdstone-hunting is not the only source of revenue available to warbands. Mercantile gangs featuring a trader and vehicle can flaunt their illicit wares on the black market. Violent gangs operating in a slaver ring could be set on taking hostages and capturing rival warriors. Ghoulish warbands collect corpses for vile purposes. All different types of commodities are being shipped down the River Reik.

The Cargo Chart can be used for determining objective markers when playing scenarios. Value for each cargo marker is decided in the post battle sequence to maintain the flow during games. Whilst a Hero might realise he is moving a barrel rather than a crate, he won't expect to lever the lid off to inspect its contents until the shipment is safely secured.

The Booty Chart expands the themes for piratical rewards when warbands are committing 'wet' or 'dry' crimes. Specialist charts such as the Profane Books Chart add a further level of detail allowing players to capitalise on an archive of existing merchandise or discover strange unknowable goods from the Marienburg manifest.

"In collections and museums in Marienburg and Brionne, you may see such things, scavenged from the field of battle and carefully preserved."
— Ehrhard Stoecker, Exiled Imperial Novelist

There are all sorts of useful charts to roll on in Marienburg, especially when it comes to Heroes escapades in the post battle sequence. Nothing has been included for the sake of it and anything can start the next big conspiracy between warbands!

Lots of vital material has been carried over from Mordheim articles and one priceless chart comes courtesy of the Warhammer General's Compendium. Click on the chart below, it may look familiar. These rules need to be referenced when gaming some of the forthcoming maritime scenarios which will be appearing on Liber Malefic in the coming days.

Believe in miracles

Sweet Myrmidia, Morr's bones, Ulric's beard, Taal's teeth, Shallya's teats, Sigmar's sausage, Manann's cockles, Ranald's balls!

Each of the above are popular curses from the Old World. Believe me, I'm needing to use them all upon swearing in a new article entitled 'Miracle Workers'. This is a Mordheim gaming aid all about Priests.

Download the article here:
Miracle Workers (PDF, ca. 1.8 MB)

Swords of the Empire, trusting in their faith, can withstand and turn back the tide of enemies that face them, needing only to hear the priests reciting liturgies to inspire them to heroism. It falls to the priests to contend with the foe on the spiritual and magical planes and they do this with prayers and invocations, almost equal in potency to the spells of wizards, and with the strength of their unflinching minds.

Some existing game rules for priests in Mordheim have been changed here so this is my opportunity to point out the change only affects two priests. There is no change to Warrior-priests of Sigmar or Priests of Taal aside from the enhanced material herein allowing all priests to receive the 'Mark' of a respective patron.

Wolf-priest of Ulric by Enrique Durand originally appeared in Town Cryer #8. In my article the Ulrican priest has undergone more of a rewrite than I would have liked. This seemed necessary in fitting the character more faithfully to the game background as it is portrayed in releases for the Warhammer roleplaying game.

Priests of Morr featured in the White Dwarf mini-campaign 'Thy Will Be Done' but they had previously appeared in Town Cryer #12 courtesy of Todd Estabrook. Todd was a freelancer who had the right idea in his portrayal of priests. The Priest of Morr was described as a new Hero that could be used in mercenary warbands replacing one of the warband's Heroes. Favourable revisions inspired by Tome of Salvation appear in the article to enhance the flavour of Morr's servants.


Priest of Morr conversion painted by Werekin

Heretics beware! Within this document download you can find rules to play any priest from the nine patron Cults of the Empire. These include new prayers and special rules for a Trickster-priest of Ranald, Priest of Verena, Priestess of Shallya, War-priestess of Myrmidia, and Mariner-priest of Manann.

In Marienburg, some faiths are more dominant than others. There are annotations promoting how you might hire priests faithful to other gods like Handrich, God of Trade and Commerce. Additional guidelines describe the infamous War-priests of Solkan!

This article is intended to be used in all campaigns set in Mordheim, Marienburg, and beyond. It was conceived as a counterpart piece to the Corrupted Characters article which was completed ages ago hence I'm thankful to finally get this off my desktop!


Priest of Manann conversion painted by Werekin

I hope Miracle Workers inspires many hours of zealous modeling activity in the Mordheim community! My own Citadel miniature conversions for Priests will be appearing over on Tom's Boring Mordheim Forumhere. I now invite you talented craftsmen and women to post your own hobby offerings on the same thread.

Thanks to Bob Whetton for photographing the miniatures.

Salvation from corruption

Border Town Burning is a lot more than a bumper campaign pack. It's an epic adventure and like every great quest, sadly, it had to come to an end.

We had to draw the line somewhere and any undeveloped ideas were put on ice. Because the campaign wasn't an official release we benefited from having no marketing staff telling us what we could or couldn't do. We generally only had that known heretic Cianty advising me my ideas were ridiculous (or worse), and myself telling Cianty what was not fitting to do or say in accordance with the Warhammer World background.

All in all, I think the Mordheim community has done rather well out of us. The fruits of our toil continue to inspire players to start new campaigns in the Northern Wastes, collect a new Maneaters warband etc. At the same time it's important to remember that without a community this campaign could never have happened. A lot of the inspiration came from our peers and fellow gamers plus the ideas for a number of rules were produced by the Mordheim community itself! After a break from all that Cathayan cuisine I managed to complete a pet project which had been bugging me since long before we journeyed home from Shang-Yang.

The 'Corrupted Characters' article was released just over a year ago. It brought a fitting end to the Border Town Burning saga and marked the beginning of a new adventure which we hope you will all join us on in Marienburg. The intention of the treatise was to give cultists and northern tribes some amazing campaign options by raising the awareness of two forgotten articles from Town Cryer written by Dan Carlson. On top of the updated content from 'Power in the Stones' and 'Sawbones' you will find special rules promoting mutation among all warbands. Fully explained is how the warp-touch affects your unsuspecting warriors! Also included are new mutations, and Chaos Gifts for those of you who would give yourselves over entirely to the Ruinous Powers.

Download the article here:
Corrupted Characters (PDF, ca. 2.2 MB)

I dislike writing new rules for the game. It's not fun to me! There, I got that off my chest at long last!! Yes the evil necessity of this part of the campaign hobby is something which I'd happily leave to someone else, usually meaning Cianty. Luckily it's not always necessary to produce rules from scratch to make a campaign fly. There are plenty of existing rules which are being neglected and ideas that weren't fully researched, playtested, and developed which are wonderful to adopt for posterity. I've also noticed a lot of superb stuff in the 2nd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay books which after a lot of consideration and head-scratching can be converted to fit the Mordheim system magnificently.

The next article we have in store is a counterpart piece to foil all of this corruption. Heretics and the forces of darkness beware! Priests are readying themselves to storm the tabletop! Armed with little more than faith, these devout holy men bring salvation to your campaigns whether set on the streets of the City of the Damned or the wharves of the City of Secret Deals.

Old Swords on new contracts!

In this post I introduce you to a new way of promoting Hired Swords in your games of Mordheim and present a new massive article by the infamous Werekin.

What I like most about Mordheim is the diversity of the various warbands and the possibility to personalise your own band of shady adventurers. Aside from the character evolution of your Heroes and Henchmen one great way of adding character to your warband is by including Hired Swords. With these specialists the Mordheim rules set provides a flavourful way of not only adding depth to your warband but also to adjust it further to your own style of play. Thus you can choose the warband that fits your style of gameplay best and deepen this even further with the inclusion of one or two specialist Hired Swords. Unfortunately, as cool as this system is at first sight, it does have one major flaw: The upkeep costs for Hired Swords (with a few exceptions) are very prohibitive and often times you are better off investing in better gear or actual henchmen than in a pricey sell-sword. However, with what they add to campaign play it would be great to promote the use of these characterful individuals and encourage players to hire them more often. But fiddling with all upkeep costs or, even worse, re-writing the overall fine system for using Hired Swords is not an option. Instead, all it sometimes takes is a tiny additional rule on top to put things in balance and provide new possibilities.

Some time ago Werekin told me he was working on a compilation of all Hired Swords ever published, which I thought would be a wonderful thing as a convenient piece of reference - albeit a somewhat crazy task with all the stuff that has been published in past issues of Town Cryer and various supplemental materials. Yet, the idea went further: What he was mostly concerned with was the lack of use of Hired Swords in Mordheim campaigns as we have experienced it in our gaming groups. In his article "Swords of the Empire" he thus not only compiles all the Hired Swords you could ever want, he also introduces a system for tying them to the warbands, based on the allies rules in the bestiary of the Border Town Burning supplement. Also, some Hired Swords are categorised as Traders, which lends additional useful functions to their warband. Thus, the article takes a fresh perspective on the use of Hired Swords, provides a handy reference of the many different sell-swords and takes a peek at what awaits the players in the upcoming supplement.

Download the article: Swords of the Empire (PDF, ca. 3.2 MB)

All published resources from the Marienburg manifest can be downloaded here.

We'd love to hear your thoughts so feel free to leave a comment, get in touch or post in this thread on the Boring Mordheim Forum.

Raise your Swords!