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As your cart races into the safety of the high walls surrounding The Hooded Man Inn, your story and survival against the Beastmen is about to be put to the test. What follows is a bit of color and backstory for some of the NPC's who are currently residing at the tavern for the night.

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Being a religious man, Volker was never certain masquerading as Clerics of Morr was a very good idea. This damned rained storm that had come out of nowhere was proof of it. The Gods were displeased, most notably Taal (or maybe Rhya). It was never good to displease the Gods. Hartwig, Volker's companion at arms, did not share his friend's concern for such things. To him, this was just another job and a means to an end. He'd play the part of the Emperor himself if it meant a healthy payday. Besides, it was much easier to conceal their 'cargo' in the casket they carried without any worries about snooping Roadwardens interrupting their affairs.

"Come in, come in Brothers!" The Innkeep of the Hooded Man had exclaimed. "You'll catch your death of cold out there in the rain. What secrets from the road do you have for us tonight?"

The light thud from inside the coffin the two men dragged behind them gave the Innkeep a bit of a start as his eyes widened in sudden curiosity.

"No worries, good man." Hartwig raised his hand as he spoke. "We'll just store our fallen brother here in the stables if you please. I'm sure he won't mind. One can only die once, or so our teachings do suggest."

Inside the rough wooden coffin, a small drugged Halfling stirred slightly, his eyes swimming in the dark.

"Oh goodness..." the young Halfling still under the effects of Krutz muttered to himself, his mouth and limbs bound by tight cords. "Where on earth am I?!"

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Gustaf Rechtshandler had always lived a fortunate life. Schooled at the finest universities in Altdort, it did not take long for him to rise in the ranks of his fellow students. He didn't truly come into his own until his appointment as the Graf of Grunburg's personal attorney. Much of his success was due in part to his membership in an organization called The Ordo Ultima. The Ordo was a secret brotherhood with sweeping power, especially in the provincial domains of Altdorf. Gustaf had realized too late that there were some in the Ordo (many) with nefarious designs, and while he had left as quickly as he could, eager to be free of their machinations, his involvement with them has dogged his steps ever since. Even now he could see one of his Ordo brothers at the bar, two fingers pressed against his ale cup. This was the telltale sign that he wanted to communicate with Gustaf; a sign that he wanted something from him. Gulping down the last of his drink, Gustaf slowly made his way across the bar room floor and approached this man from his past.

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Otto the Innkeeper had a strange feeling about his guests on this dark and rainy night. Perhaps it was that "thing" in the basement that had always been there, a waxen garish statue of some unholy man (or was it a woman)? It was a family heirloom and there was no escaping its power. As it had been explained to him, a bargain had been struck generations ago. In return for the passing secrets of those who came to stay at the Hooded Man, good fortune would follow. If secrets were not given, misfortune (and sometimes death) followed. Otto had learned quickly to never doubt the validity of his family curse. Even now he wondered what secrets he and his staff might be able to ply from this evening's guests. He'd be sure to have the barmaids spike the drinks to help loosen wagging tongues.

"Fifteen years have passed since the necromancer Heinrich Kemmler was trapped and defeated. But his evil is about to begin anew.

High in the Grey Mountains, chance - or fate - brings the meeting of a madman and a Chaos Daemon. And thanks to that chance, an Undead Army masses among the high peaks, preparing to roll down on the settlements below.

In the isolated monastery of La Maisontaal, one senior monk suspects the truth. But when - and where - will the Undead appear? Where will they strike first? How can they be stopped? And how can all these questions be answered without causing blind panic among the living?

Designed for WFRP adventurers in their first careers, Lichemaster is a 104-page adventure that will test roleplaying and combat skills to the limit."

"Fifteen years have passed since the necromancer Heinrich Kemmler was trapped and defeated. But his evil is about to begin anew.
High in the Grey Mountains, chance - or fate - brings the meeting of a madman and a Chaos Daemon. And thanks to that chance, an Undead Army masses among the high peaks, preparing to roll down on the settlements below.
In the isolated monastery of La Maisontaal, one senior monk suspects the truth. But when - and where - will the Undead appear? Where will they strike first? How can they be stopped> And how can all these questions be answered without causing blind panic among the living?
Designed for WFRP adventurers in their first careers, Lichemaster is as 104-page advventure that will test roleplaying and combat skills to the limit."

RULES DISCUSSION THREAD AND OTHER MAJOR OOC EVENTS:

I'll be posting our current Warhammer LITE rules and any amendments we make to them here. This should keep our main thread clutter free and enable us to focus on the story.

As the eye of the raven spins downwards from the uncaring sky, I bid each of you greetings. This great day we embark on an adventure that pits you (our epic heroes) against the perilous forces of Chaos and the ruinous powers of the Great Enchanter.

Then again, perhaps not. We shall soon see. So, with three legendary words we begin our mighty tale of times long past:

"THE OLD WORLD..."

To your west, the Middle Mountains loom like a silent guardian, brooding and oppressive. The snow capped mountain rises like a spear of ice into the cloud filled sky. As your eyes trace the lines of the mighty peaks, you can already see that this will be another cold and unforgiving day.

"Blasted frost," Captain Tillman mutters, "Ulric is holding nothing back. This will be a hard winter."

Looking about the shattered line of men who trail behind you, it's easy to understand the grim look of concern that haunts the face of Captain Tillman. A sturdy officer with Ostland blood, the events of the past week have greatly reduced his once near legendary confidence.

War has come to the Empire and each of you had been called up to fight. Some of you rallied to the horn of Middenheim and the Graf more readily than others. You had been attached to the Gray Wolves, a strong brigade of fighting men with a dozen victories beneath their belt. Now, nearly all the veterans and officers are dead. It had been the Kurgen.

"Inbred horse born ass rompers," a black haired man to your left mutters, his breath freezing in the wind. "How them bloody raiders managed to get this far inland past tha northern defenses, it's a wretched mystery."

"Aye," mutters another. "They hit us hard. Never seen em' comin."

You remember how it had been. The command had come from the Graf himself. Ostland was under siege and the Gray Wolves had been detached to assist in the defense of Wolfenburg, it's formidable capital. You had been called up as reservists to augment the standing fighting force.

But on the march to relieve the besieged city, the Kurgen had struck with hammer force, striking at night and using the cover of a raging snowstorm to conceal their movements. The resulting bloodbath had routed the Gray Wolves and decimated their numbers. For the past week you've been harried by skirmishers and scouts from the Kurgen horde.

"Who wages a campaign in winter?" another man asks, spitting into the low burning fire. "Tis' madness..."

Captain Tillman, circling nearby leans over the wrapped forms of several soldiers, one of which had been his lieutenant and lifelong friend. A sad look crosses his scarred face.

"Hold strong," you can hear him whisper. "Today I pray to both Ulric and Sigmar that we find a way out of this mess."

Standing, the ice blue eyes of the Captain find you. The sadness and softness that had a moment ago consumed him vanishes in an instant as he resumes the mantle of command.

"You there!" he snaps, pointing in your direction. "Any of you know the healers craft?"

The calculating eyes of Captain Tilmann sweep across each of you in turn.

And on this note, let the story begin!

(Going Out of Character for the duration of this post)

Hey guys, Gabriel here (GM Drachenfels). So as promised I'm in the process of starting a play by post Warhammer game. In this way I hope we can bring our Brotherhood back together once again.

In order for this to happen you'll need to get familiar with this website and how to use it. Some of you are veterans of the system, while others are seeing this for the first time. In truth I'm somewhat of a novice here, but it seems easy enough to wield. That being said, here are a few things to note:

1) Create an account and your main user name. From there you can pick an Avatar (image) and then create additional aliases (and avatars) which represent the current character you plan to roleplay.

2) This will be a 2nd Edition Warhammer game. You'll be responsible for maintaining your own character sheets and assigning the XP you earn in a proper way. We all know the rules, but I'm always available to answer any questions. Also keep in mind that this will essentially be "Warhammer LITE". Rules will be fast and furious (and will probably develop as we go).

3) The main focus here is on story. Let's avoid Power Gaming. What's the bother? We have nothing to prove. Let's combine our creative minds and create some dark and impressive tales of the Old World!

4) The tools on this forum are very easy to use. You should see an area below that says "How to format your text". It uses standard HTML commands. You'll be able to use quote, bold, italic and roll dice. A bit on this:

BOLD: Bold will be used for character speech. An example of this, "Ahhh, the darkness rises once again in the old forest. I wouldn't suggest ye enter...dark things lurk within."

ITALICS: Italics will be used to describe movement/action. Drachenfels lifts his gloved hands and with a horrific incantation unleashes a wave of demonic energy!

OOC: The Out of Character tags will frame your speech so you can ask questions or discuss the game in way your character would not. So are you telling me that on my first game I'm facing Drachenfels himself? Are you kidding me?!

DICE ROLLS: As any good Warhammer game, you'll be called upon to offer up dice rolls. You can also volunteer them yourself for situations that seem fitting and I'll respond in kind. I'm working on simplifying Warhammer combat a bit so that we don't get bogged down in a 5 day combat to resolve a few swings. More on that soon. But here's how it would work:

The Chaos Warlord raises the mighty blood runed axe of Khorne above his head, striking with a fury unseen! 1d100 ⇒ 99

So that's it for now. I'm going to begin framing a story and putting together players. I'll probably do a little play testing with Cody to get some bugs worked out.

Learn these forums, sign up and get ready for some grim adventure! Don't think too hard about your characters yet. I may go with pre-assigned characters and have you bring them to life. I may not. We'll see.

I know we're all very busy so all I ask is that we try to update at least once per day. I think we can all manage that :)