The Old World Anew (Part II)

Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide introduced the Old World to roleplaying. The first of the two core books for the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, it began the roleplaying adaptation from Cubicle 7 Entertainment of Warhammer: The Old World, the miniatures combat rules from Games Workshop. This is set in a period two centuries prior to the better-known roleplaying game set in the Old World, that is, the venerable Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition. Its focus is less on the assaults and attacks by the forces of Chaos and on the Chaos within, and more on internal strife, whether political, between the Elector Counts, or religious, between the Sigmarites and Ulricans and others. The Old World as a setting has always drawn heavily from history, particularly the Early Modern period of Europe, but with Warhammer: The Old World and thus Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, the inspiration is more heavily that of the Thirty Years War and its political and religious strife. It covered character creation, the core rules, combat, magic, and more, but as a very player-focused book, it left a great to explained. Primarily, what the Player Characters are going to be doing in the Old World and how that differs from the future of the venerable, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition.

Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide is the counterpart to the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide. What Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide gives the Game Master is a toolkit with which to run a campaign, backing it up with Game Master specific rules and a bestiary of allies and antagonists, creatures and monsters, and more, that all together takes half of the book. It opens though with a description of the setting for Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game—and it is a very specific setting. This is the fortified, if ramshackle river port of Talagaad, perched between the Talabec River and the towering walls of the Taalbaston—the giant crater in which the nearby city of Talabheim sits, which stands on the Wizard’s Way, the road that crosses over the bridge known as the and up over the walls of the Taalbaston and is the only legal route into the crater. Control of Talagaad is important since it is a source of much wealth, whether from the taxes levied on the goods going to Talabheim and from lower prices paid for goods being smuggled into the city. Consequently, the town is rife with crime and corruption, petty and otherwise, whether committed by its ordinary citizenry, criminal underclass, or even its excise officers.

Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide expands upon the description of Talagaad given in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide. This covers the port’s origins and current state, law and order, and descriptions of two notable districts—the docks and the Markebundt, where all the trade occurs. There are descriptions of various NPCs, but more importantly, the tensions and points of conflict within Talagaad. These are primarily political and criminal, but all to do with the wealth that flows through the port. Not just the corruption between the Talagaad Watch and the criminal underworld, but also between Magistrate Raggusera and the local nobles and merchants and between Magistrate Ragguser and Duke Ludwig XII, ruler of the Grand Duchy of Talabec, over what Magistrate Ragguser tells the duke when he is secretly in his employ. There are tensions too between the state army regiments in Talagaad. On the one hand there is the local Talagaad Longsights, which occasionally backs up the Watch and is partly trusted by the locals, and on the other, there is the Talabheim 11th, recently posted to the port by Duke Ludwig following the assassination of several nobles from the neighbouring Duchy of Osterlund, and not at all trusted.

Spread between the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide and the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide, the description of Talagaad is far from complete, but the Game Master should get a good feel for it from the details so far. This is helped by the numerous hooks and scenario ideas spread through the description, but what really helps are the Contacts. These are really only mentioned as part of the character creation process in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide, but here they come into their own as fully rounded NPCs, complete with descriptions of who they are, what their motivations and needs are, what favours they might bestow, their allies and enemies, and what gossip and secret they know. They are each based on a different archetype—a lord, a conspirator, an old soldier, a vagabond, a heretic, and so on—and linked to several of the character types in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide as well as the other Contacts. These are designed as a Game Master tool, a cast of characters that can link the Player Characters together (since there are only twenty and each Player Character has two contacts, there is bound to be some crossover), hook them into a story or plot, bring the world to life, tie the Player Characters to the setting, and more. Above all, they give Talagaad a personal touch and differing views of what the town is like and what is going on.

What is going on in Talagaad is explored through what Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game calls ‘Grim Portents’ and ‘Dark Threads’. Some of the latter may be connected to the former, and some of the Contacts are connected to both, but ‘Grim Portents’ are really events that initiate a plot and bring the Player Characters together—no matter what their background, confronting them with a situation that they cannot ignore and cannot deal with alone, whose consequences will endure long after the problem has been dealt with. Three examples are given, each with a detailed opening scene and then descriptions of what happens next as the plot thickens and its instigators move against the Player Characters, and then grim reminders of that opening scene that will haunt the Player Characters as the plot plays out. The three include an incendiary encounter with an Osterlund noble with a very, very dark family secret; suffering a curse from beyond the grave from a witch whose fiery execution the Player Characters witnessed; and the aftermath of escaping a fearsome band of Beastmen ritualists who captured the Player Characters and were about to sacrifice them. The three are backed with a good explanation of what a ‘Grim Portent’ is, what it is designed to do, and how to run it. This includes how to get the Player Characters involved—either at the start or later with a new Player Character, what to do if the Player Characters just decide to run away, and so on

‘Dark Threads’ are the network of links and bonds which together link and bind the various NPCs—including the Contacts detailed earlier, and factions in and about Talagaad. This includes not just the Grand Duchy of Talabec and Talagaad, but also the neighbouring Grand County of Osterlund and Principality of Reikland, the Red Eyez Tribe of Goblins, the Hexenguilde, a devious band of warlocks, The Sheltered Flame, a band of fanatical Sigmarites, and more. These are all mapped out on a diagram and then further detailed in the Contact descriptions and in entries in the bestiary that makes half of the book. Of course, the Contacts, ‘Grim Portents’, and ‘Dark Threads’ are designed around the default campaign for Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, set in and around Talagaad, and if the Game Master wants to set her campaign elsewhere, she will need to adapt these or create her own.

In addition to the advice on handling the Contacts, the ‘Grim Portents’, and the ‘Dark Threads’ as a Game Master, the general advice in the Warhammer: Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide is also good. Whilst it makes clear that Warhammer: Old World Roleplaying Game could be run as a one-shot, it is designed to be run as campaign, and certainly, the Contacts, ‘Grim Portents’, and ‘Dark Threads’ are all designed to facilitate that. The advice compares the advantages and disadvantages of a sandbox versus a directed campaign, gives guidance on portraying memorable NPCs, help with Player Character creation—especially with tying the results into the Game Master’s campaign, designing adventures, how to create a mystery, and more. The advice on creating mysteries is a good list of ‘do’s and don’ts’ as is that for creating one-shots, and there is excellent advice on handling fights in the roleplaying game to make them challenging, but fun, and also on how to make the game more ‘Warhammer’. The advice on combat includes setting stakes to make the fight both interesting and worthwhile, allowing enemies to run away rather than just be lambs for the slaughter, and knowing when NPCs will decide that it is better to retreat rather than simply give up. The section on making the roleplaying game more ‘Warhammer’ gives fun little pointers, like the eerie green light of Morrslieb appearing from behind a cloud, bathing the street in its baleful glare or the sound of a trumpet heralding a troop of Knightly Order cavalry, trotting down the Wizard’s Road whilst mere commoners scatter to avoid them.

Just as with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Player Characters in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game can suffer Corruption and fall into the swirling, betentacled arms of Chaos. Indeed, the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game all but pushes the Player Characters down this path to Damnation as they are drawn into events by a ‘Grim Portent’. When a Player Character is exposed to corruptive influence, whether that is fighting a battle against Beastmen or mutants, witnessing a Chaos ritual or minor daemon, reading a passage from the Liber Chaotica, or becoming possessed by a daemon, a Willpower test is required. Failure means suffering a condition such as being ‘Drained’ by an unnatural malaise or ‘Deafened’ by the sound of demonic laughter and also becoming Vulnerable. The Player Character has been touched by, but not yet embraced Chaos. At this point the Game Master presents the player and his character with a boon that will give the character an advantage in return for accepting a darker aspect of their character. If this is accepted, the Player Character no longer Vulnerable, but Tempted, and puts him on the Path to Corruption. There are five of these paths described. Four of these—‘Blood Must Flow’, ‘Secrets of Sorcery’, ‘Enduring the Unendurable’, and ‘Dark Obsession’—equate roughly to the four Ruinous Powers, whilst the fifth, ‘Child of the Forest’, takes the Tempted down to the route to transforming into a Beastman! Each path describes the benefits and downfalls gained, all ultimately leading to the Player Character becoming Damned and either lost to Chaos or a new and dangerous, but familiar NPC for Game Master.

There is guidance on gaming and roleplaying with a Player Character on of the five paths, but this most comes down to the other Player Characters not wanting to associate with such a Player Character for very long! Also discussed is the possibility of a Player Character finding his way back up a path, but this is a daunting challenge as you would expect. What is surprising is that throughout all of this, there is only the one die roll—the first Willpower test. After that, it is all down to the choices made by the player and his character. In other words, beyond that first Willpower test, it is about roleplaying and whether the character will give into temptation or not, and not about relying on or blaming the dice for the outcome. The player decides, not the dice, and that has great roleplaying potential.

The penultimate chapter describes some thirty or so magic items—weapons, armour, talismans, and arcane items, but no potions of any kind. Nor are there any rules for creating potions or healing draughts, or for crafting items. The entries are all neatly detailed and many illustrated, but it is noted that they should be difficult to get or find. Given that, their inclusion given the lack of potions and rules for crafting, whilst it is interesting to see what such magical items look like in Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, they are so far out of the reach of the Player Characters that their inclusion seems out of place.

The last section in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide, ‘Allies and Antagonists’, is the longest in the book. Although it does categorise its entries as Minion, Brutes, Champions and Monstrosities, this is no mere bestiary, since it is designed to do two things. One is to provide NPCs and threats for the Old World in general, allowing the Game Master to use them in her own scenarios and campaigns, whilst the other is to provide NPCs and threats for the default campaign and its set-up for the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, much of it tied into the Contacts, the ‘Grim Portents’, and ‘Dark Threats’. So for Grand Duchy of Talabec, there is a description of the noble house of Feuerbach, it goals and methods, what it is like as an enemy, and what might be the cause of the feud with it, and then there are stats and details of citizens and subjects of Talabec—from peasantry and footpads to the nobility and state troops, knights, Ogres and Halflings, Imperial Dwarfs, and more. It then does the same for the Grand County of Osterlund and the Principality of Reikland, adding different groups and NPC types, so that a Priest of Ulric and Knight of the White Wolf are described under the Grand County of Osterlund, whilst the Sigmarite Cultist and Witch Hunter are described under the Principality of Reikland. This does mean that entries are not organised alphabetically how a bestiary might arrange it, but rather done thematically.

There are other sections of ‘Witches and Warlocks’, ‘Pets and Mounts’—the latter including the Giant Spiders that Goblins might ride in the woods, but also enemy groups which are effectively organisations and so presented treated in the same format as those for Grand Duchy of Talabec, Grand County of Osterlund, and Principality of Reikland. Thus, for the Beastmen there is the ‘The Slaughtered Stag Warherd’; for the Orcs and Goblins, the ‘The Red Eyez Tribe’, and for the undead, the ‘Dominion of Dusk’. There are some really nasty creatures here, especially amongst the ‘Dominion of Dusk’ and the ‘Monsters of the Great Forest’ which in the case of the latter mean that the Player Characters are really not going to want to go down the woods with each other, let alone. All of the entries in the ‘Allies and Antagonists’ section have very clear and simple stats accompanied by a lot of useful information about how they might be used in a scenario or how the Player Characters might run into them. What is missing from the options available, are any real Chaos creatures beloved of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and the Old World, although some of the ‘The Slaughtered Stag Warherd’ do count. This is intentional, since the threat of Chaos is not a big part of the setting, which instead focuses on internal conflicts and tensions. Overall, this really is not just a good bestiary, but a further source of background material and advice on use the contents of that bestiary.

And yet, for all that is presented in the pages of both Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide and the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide, there is something missing, and that is an adventure. An adventure that comes complete with a plot and a beginning, a middle, and an exciting end. In other words, we do not quite know what a Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game scenario looks like. There is no denying that the Contacts, ‘Grim Portents’, and ‘Dark Threads’, combined with the contents of the bestiary, are all really good. Yet they only lay the groundwork for the campaign to come, whether that is the one published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment or the one developed by the Game Master. To be clear, an experienced Games Master will be able to take what the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide provides and develop that into the start of a campaign, but a less experienced Game Master is likely to have some difficulty without more of a helping hand.

Another issue with the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide is the way it is organised. The ‘Grim Portents’ are followed by the Contacts, followed by the advice for the Game Master which after a few pages covers the ‘Grim Portents’ and the ‘Dark Threads’. Then there is a table of ‘Events in Talagaad’ placed oddly at the end of the section on advice for the Game Master, when ideally that should have been placed earlier in the book with the description of Talagaad. Given that this book is for the Game Master, the advice and the subject of that advice could have been better placed, ideally following on from each other rather than sperate. Everything is there, but simply not in the right place to use as easily as it should have been.

Physically, the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide is very well presented. The artwork is excellent, and the book is easy to read. However, it could have been better organised in places, and it does need an edit here and there.

If you want to play Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, then the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide is absolute must. It provides a setting, it provides the beginnings of stories, and it provides friends and enemies as well as solid advice for the Game Master. However, it does not provide a ready starting point for Game Master and that limits its utility to Game Masters who are less experienced, and it very much focuses on Talagaad as a setting, which limits its utility to the Game Master who wants to set her Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game elsewhere. That said, where it shines is in the tools provided to make Talagaad and the beginnings of the campaign come alive—the Contacts, the ‘Grim Portents’, the ‘Dark Threads’, and numerous entries in the lengthy ‘Allies and Antagonists’ section. The Game Master will need to do some development work in terms of actual adventures and even a campaign to bring all its great content into play, but the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide gives the Game Master all that she needs to work with to make a start.

Heroic, But Perilous

Time has long since passed since the Old World was destroyed in the End Times. Since that time, eight Mortal Realms have arisen from their remnants, each keyed to one of the eight Winds of Magic and connected by the magical portals known as Realmgates. Sigmar survived the End Times and was borne to the Mortal Realms, uniting the survivors and bringing the gift of civilisation, as well as finding the other gods and appointing them divine protectors of the Eight Realms. Grungni taught mortals metalcraft, Nagash imposed order on the spirits of the restless dead, the savage twin-god Gorkamorka cleared the wilderness of monsters, and Sigmar established a great Parliament of the Gods. It was a new golden age under the protection of the Pantheon of Order, but it was not to last. Rivalries and sins caused cracks and fractures in the world and it is though these that Chaos entered the Mortal Realms. Their worship spread and spread untold, until the emboldened Dark Gods unleashed their legions on all of the eight realms. The gods of the Pantheon of Order together had the strength to stand against the Chaos, but riven by rivalries and jealousies, they failed and what remained of the Pantheon of Order was catastrophically defeated at the Battle of the Burning Skies. Thus, was ushered in the Age of Chaos… It was compounded by the Necroquake, a great ritual by the Supreme Necromancer, Nagash, to harness the Winds of Magic that was undone by Chaos and forcing the dead to rise and changing the nature of magic as it flowed into the realms and unleashed devastatingly predatory living spells that stalked the lands.

All was not lost. Sigmar, the God-King still yet faced the forces of Chaos, rampaging Greenskin Hordes, and Nagash’s legions of spirits and undead servants, for he had his Stormcast Eternals, paragons of humanity whose mortal souls are reforged with the celestial energies of the Cosmic Storm and hammered into living weapons of Azyr upon the Anvil of Apotheosis. Yet they are few in number, and so he put out calls to former allies. Yet it was not enough, for not all answered his call, and so he turned to the people of the Mortal Realms. The mightiest of souls and most powerful of realms came together and entering into Bindings which bound small bands together to fight for the Mortal Realms. Together, they are SOULBOUND, and as a new era looms, the Age of Death, they are needed more than ever!

This is the set-up for Warhammer Age of Sigmar – Soulbound: Perilous Adventures in the Mortal Realms, a roleplaying game published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment based upon Warhammer Age of Sigmar, the miniatures wargame from Games Workshop. Warhammer Age of Sigmar was originally published in 2015 as a replacement for the venerable Warhammer Age of Sigmar—upon which Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition—and as of 2024, is on its fourth edition itself. Although perilous as the roleplaying game’s subtitle suggest, this is not as grim or as grotty as other roleplaying games set with the Warhammer universe, certainly not like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Instead, it is a world of high and heroic fantasy, one in which the Player Characters are bound—or Soulbound—into small groups, or Bindings, which last a lifetime. They embody hope against the death and chaos, and Chaos, and this can be expressed through Soulfire, that collectively, they can make them do amazing and truly heroic things!

A Player Character is primarily defined by an Archetype, which sets his starting Attributes, faction or cultural heritage, Species, and initial options in terms of Skills, Talents, and equipment. The five Species are Human, Stormcast Eternal, Aelf, Duardin, and Sylvaneth. A Stormcast Eternal is a reforged soul, the Aelf and Duardin are similar to the Elf and Dwarf, but not the same, and the Sylvaneth is a living tree. A Player Character has three attributes—Body, Mind, and Soul—which typically range between one and eight, with two being considered average. There are several different factions, such as the Daughters of Khaine, devoted to the Aelven god of battle and bloodshed, and the Idoneth Deepkin, said to have been saved from Slannesh’s gullet and now reside in the most hidden place of the Mortal Realms, its ocean floors; and the Duardin mercenaries of the Fyreslayers and the scientific privateers in their great airships, the Kharadron Overlords. There are twenty-three Archetypes. For the Human there is the Battle Mage and Excelsior Warpriest; For the Aelf there is the Black Ark Corsair, Darkling Sorceress, Hag Priestess, Witch Aelf, Akhelian Emissary, Isharann Soulscryer, and Isharann Tidecaster. For the Duardin there is Auric Runesmiter, Battlesmith, Doomseeker, Aether-Khemist, Endrinmaster, and Skymaster. For the Stormcast Eternal there is the Knight-Azyros, Knight-Incantor, Knight-Questor, and Knight-Venator. For the Sylvaneth, there is the Branchwych, Kurnoth Hunter, and Tree-Revenant Waypiper. Lastly, anyone can become a Trade Pioneer.

What is missing here is options for Orruks or Ogors and other Species. Not all other Species are suitable as Player Characters, the options are limited, as those especially for Humans, although the Stormcast Eternal are a variant of Human, one initially idealised, but each time a Stormcast Eternal dies and is reforged, he loses some of his humanity. To create a Player Character, a player selects an Archetype, several Talents from the Archetype’s list, and spends some given Experience Points on improving the Archetype’s skills. He also sets long and short term goals for his character and together with the other players, sets long and short term goals for the party. Completing these is a major way to earn Experience Points. Connections between the Player Characters are determined, either making them or rolling on the given table, and each player also has a set of questions to answer that help round out his character.

Krylla Heartseeker
Faction: Daughters of Khaine
Archetype: Hag Priestess
Age: 110
Height: 6’ 9”
Eye Colour: Gold Eye Type: Mesmerising
Hair Colour: Deep Red
Distinguishing Feature: Strange arcane markings on chest

Body 2 Mind 2 Soul 4

Melee 3 (Average) Accuracy 2 (Poor) Defence 3 (Average) Armour 1
Toughness 8 Wounds 4 Initiative 3 (Average) Natural Awareness 2 (Poor)
Mettle 2

Core Skill: Devotion (Training 1 Focus 1)
Skills: Awareness (Training 1 Focus 0), Determination (Training 1 Focus 0), Guile (Training 1 Focus 0), Reflexes (Training 1 Focus 0), Theology (Training 1 Focus 1), Weapon Skill (Training 1 Focus 0)

Core Talent: Blessed (Khaine)
Talents: Fearless, Forbidden Knowledge, Blood Binding, Red Mist

Equipment: Ceremonial armour (Light Armour), sacrificial blade (Dagger), a bloodstained ritual chalice (Holy Symbol), a whetstone, manacles, pestle and mortar, and 280 drops of Aqua Ghyranis.

Mechanically, Soulbound uses a dice pool using six-sided dice. The basic aim is for a player to roll dice and get results that equal or exceed a Difficulty Number to generate successes. Both the Difficulty Number and the number of successes required will vary. A Test adheres to the format, ‘DN X:Y Attribute (Skill), where ‘X’ is the Difficulty of the Test, ‘Y’ is the Complexity, or the number of successes required to succeed, and the Attribute and Skill indicating which should be used. For example, a Dexterity Test of Difficulty 4 and Complexity 2 is shown as DN 4:2 Body (Dexterity); a Channelling Test of Difficulty 3 and Complexity 4 is shown as DN 3:4 Mind (Channelling). Most Tests only require a single success, but Tests with greater Complexity will require more. Advantage and Disadvantage will adjust the Difficulty down or up as appropriate.

The number of dice a player will roll to perform a Test will depend on the appropriate Attribute for his character and the degree of Training the character has in the skill. If none, or Untrained, the player just rolls a number of dice equal to the Attribute. For each level of Training—either one, two, or three—a player will add an extra die. In addition to Training, a Player Character can have Focus in a skill, again, either one, two, or three levels. For each level in Focus, a player gains a single +1 bonus. These bonuses are used to adjust the results of the dice after they have been rolled.

For example, the high priestess is testing Krylla Heartseeker to determine if she is worthy of being assigned an important. To prove her worthiness, the Game Master sets the Test at DN 4:2 Soul (Devotion), meaning that Krylla Heartseeker’s player must roll two successes of four or more. Her player assembles her dice pool of four from Krylla Heartseeker’s Soul and adds another one for the single level of Training she has in the Devotion skill. In total, she is rolling five dice. Krylla Heartseeker’s player rolls two, three, four, five, and six. This gives Krylla three success, more than enough to success, but she also a level of Focus in the skill, so uses it to adjust the result of three to a four, and this gives her four success. Enough to succeed and Kyrlla to a give a very impressive answer that persuades the high priestess that not only is she worthy of the task, but is given some secret information about it as well.

In addition, all Soulbound have access to Mettle. This partly regenerates every turn after use and can be used to take an extra action, use a Talent or Miracle, and temporarily either double the Training or Focus in a skill. The Binding as whole has access to Soulfire that can be spent to achieve the maximum successes on a Test instead of rolling, to reroll as many dice as necessary, to recover Toughness or all spent Mettle, or to cheat death. Soulfire is a shared resource and every member of the Binding must agree to its use. If a Binding does not agree, a player can still use the Soulfire, but this increases Doom by one. Doom is measure of the hopelessness in the Mortal Realms and it grows as the levels of fear, envy, doubt, and anger rise. On one level it reflects how bleak or tense the current state of the Mortal Realms, but on another, as it grows it draws the enemy to the Binding and will make them powerful foes, increasing their armour, giving them extra attacks, and granting access to powerful abilities. Doom can be decreased, but it takes time and effort.

Combat uses the same mechanics. Initiative is done in a fixed order according to Initiative values, each Player Character can act and move once per turn, and the engagements are fought out in zones. It is not overly tactical, but terrain and cover will be factor, and combatants can undertake actions such as charge, called shots, defend, dodge, grapple, improvise, dual wielding, and more. An attacker’s Melee or Accuracy values are compared with the defendant’s Defence to determine the Difficulty Number of an attack. Weapons inflict a base damage, plus the number of Successes rolled. Armour worn reduces damage and damage reduces a defendant’s Toughness and then his Wounds. Having no Wounds left means the defendant is mortally wounded. Wounds can be minor, serious, or deadly, depending on much damage they inflict. A mortally wounded defendant is stunned, cannot recover Toughness, and must death tests on subsequent rounds. Alternatively, a Player Character could choose to make a last stand, in which case, he is no longer stunned, regains all his Mettle, is immune to all damage, his Melee and Accuracy get better, and his damage ignores armour. This lasts only one turn before the Player character dies, so it had better count.

Beyond the basic rules, there is guide to the endeavours that the Soulbound can do between missions, though never lasting longer than a week, because Chaos never sleeps! This can be to increase the Bond between a Binding, Cleanse Corruption, Create a Spell, Repair Equipment, Train a Companion, and others. There is a full list of equipment, including Aetheric Devices, such as Kharadron devices, weapons, and armour wielded by the Kharadron Overlords and their forces. These include Aetheric Lenses, Arkanaut Armour, Rapid-Fire Rivet Gun, and a lot more. Most have a power requirement and can be plugged into the Basic Aether-rig used by the Kharadron, limiting the number of devices that can be wielded over the course of an adventure. The Regular Maintenance Endeavour is required to maintain an Aether-rig between adventures.

Background is given for the Mortal Realms—Azyr, the Realm of Heavens, Aqshy, the Realm of Fire, Chamon, the Realm of Metal, Ghur, the Realm of Beasts, Ghyran, the Realm of Life, Hysh, the Realm of Light, Shyish, the Realm of Death, and Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow—and the Realm Gates as well as daily life, safety, entertainment, and so on. These are accompanied by various adventure hooks, details on the Realm of Chaos, various factions, and a deeper description of The Great Parch. This is located in Aqshy, the Realm of Fire, where Sigmar first unleashed his Stormcast Eternals, and covers its geography and history and is designed to provide a starting region for the Game Master and her players. Religion is given a similar treatment, including such gods such as Gorkamorka, and Nagash, and the Chaos Gods—Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, and Tzeentch. These traditional four, all of whom fear the rise in power of Nagash and his undead hordes, are joined by the Horned Rat.

Just as the Mortal Realms are divided into eight, so is magic lore, with each lore being tied to a specific realm. Magic energy churns and swirls throughout the Mortal Realms as it has done since Nagash’s Necroquake, empowering even the weakest of spellcasters. Worse, this roiling wave upon wave of aetheric energy have created Endless Spells that have proven to be danger to the original caster, his enemies, and anyone else they come in contact with. (Unfortunately, only one Endless Spell, the Purple Sun of Shyish, is given in the book.). Arcane spellcasting requires a successful Mind (Channelling) Test and extra successes can be used to Overcast a spell, often to increase its duration or the damage it inflicts. Bonus dice are rewarded when attempting to cast spell of a Magic Lore in its associated Realm, for example, casting Amethyst Magic in the Realm of Death, Shyish. If a Channelling Test is failed, then a player must roll on ‘The Price of failure’ Table, which can be anything from the caster simply losing control and suffering damage to inadvertently summoning an Endless Spell! (Depending on how unlucky your spellcasting Player Character is, again, the Purple Sun of Shyish is not enough.) Some ninety spells are listed across all eight Magic Lores and there is even a guide to creating new spells.

In comparison, Miracles are treated as individual Talents that require the ‘Use a Talent’ action to cast and one or more points of Mettle. There are some generic Miracles, but most are tied to particular god and his worship. Rounding out is a decent bestiary of nearly fifty entries, which covers automata, beasts, daemons, mortals, spirits, and undead, from minions, swarms, and warriors to champions and chosen in terms of power levels. They include the People of the Cities of Sigmar, pets and mounts, monstrous beasts, disciples of the Dark Gods, the legions of Nagash, and Greenskin hordes. This is a solid selection and provides a lot of depth in terms of NPCs and threats.

One of the best descriptions the mechanics in of Soulbound—and any roleplaying game—in the core rulebook for Warhammer Age of Sigmar – Soulbound: Perilous Adventures in the Mortal Realms is, “The dice and the rules are tools for you to use to create memories. They are little cuboid wildcards that can completely flip a story on its head, and turn a moment of crushing despair into one of joyous celebration.” There is further advice for the Game Master later in the rulebook, which actually suggests that if the prospective Game Master has not yet learned how to be a Game master, then she learn using the Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Starter Set. The Game Master advice covers the rules, but also looks at setting up a game and making it feel like the Age of Sigmar. It states that Soulbound has four tones—mythic, hopeful, tragic, and dark—and takes the Game Monster through them one by one. Besides talking about humanising the setting despite it being about a continuing, often epic war against Chaos, it provides various tools for the Game Master to adjust Soulbound to get the game she wants. This includes using a Point Buy system to create Player Characters, setting up different campaign frameworks, such as making it grim and perilous rather than heroic and perilous, and more. Overall, the advice is good, but it does leave the basics to the Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Starter Set. This does leave Soulbound with a disparity between the ease and lighter nature of the rules and the more advanced nature of the Game Master advice, as if the Game Master should be able to pick this book up and easily run a game from its pages without needing to refer to another product in order to learn how to use it.

Physically, Warhammer Age of Sigmar – Soulbound: Perilous Adventures in the Mortal Realms is very well presented with lots of excellent artwork. It is well written and benefits from lots of examples.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar – Soulbound: Perilous Adventures in the Mortal Realms offers both a new set of dice mechanics for playing in the Warhammer universe and a new—to roleplaying—setting within the universe. With it comes a lighter, faster set of rules and a more heroic style of play as well as a setting that is nicely detailed, but not as accessible as others in the Warhammer universe. This is due to the lack of familiarity with it and the differences between it and the Old World, as well as the lack of a scenario which would have provided a way into the setting of the Mortal Realms. What this means is that it requires some adjustment, because Soulbound really is its own thing in terms of roleplaying and has relatively little in common with its forebear, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. The easier, faster style of play could have been eased with advice on why player would want to roleplay a particular archetype and there could have more options for humans compared to the other species. Lastly the lack of scenario also hampers that process, intentionally speedy, of getting into the game.

For the player and the Game Master who wants to get out of the mud and muck of a grim and perilous world, and take a heroic stand, push the fight forwards, and face the forces of Chaos, the Dark Lords, and the undead in righteous fury and make a difference—as heroes—in the Warhammer universe, then Warhammer Age of Sigmar – Soulbound: Perilous Adventures in the Mortal Realms is exactly what they want. High fantasy in a heroic and perilous world.

The Old World Anew (Part I)

The Empire, located at the heart of the Old World, has stood for two thousand years, ever since it was founded by Sigmar following his alliance with the Dwarves and defeated the hordes of goblins and orcs at the Battle of Black Fire Pass. Yet for half that time, scholars and Elector Princes have been muttering that it has been in decline, ever since the time of Emperor Boris Hohenback, divided into a series of independent counties, duchies, and principalities, feuding and occasionally skirmishing with each other. Unity between them is rare, the last time being during the Vampire Wars a century ago. Now, in the year 2276 IC, the Empire stands without an Emperor and four claimants. Count Sigismund Ulric of the Grand County of Osterlund and the great city of Middenheim, descendant of the Wolf Emperors of the north, who must contend with his own independently-minded subjects. Empress Elspeth Magritta VI rules the Barony of Westerland from the wealthy port city of Marienburg, but nicknamed the Empress of Coin, she is dismissed for her youth and the influence that the rich Burgomeisters of Marienburg and the volatile cult of the Sea God Manann have over her. Prince Wilhelm I of the Principality of Reikland and his subjects live in the heartlands of the Empire, but are often regarded as being fanatical Sigmar worshippers, ready to fall upon the neighbouring Duchy of Talabec which they claim to be rife with witches! Duke Ludwig XII of the Grand Duchy of Talabec looks to be a fool who prefers hunting and drinking, but his private political manoeuvring is limited since he cannot leave the city of Talabheim and the surrounding forest that filled the Taalbaston, the giant crater in which they stand, lest he lose his right to return. This is despite the fact that Talabheim and the lands within the Taalbaston remain independent. Internal strife is not the only threat that the Empire and its ordinary peasantry, who rather focus on the day-to-day, a good day’s pay for a good day’s pay, cold ale, and solid boots, let alone a warm fire, faces. The County of Sylvania and the marsh Hel Fenn remain sinister regions on the border, despite the Vampire Counts having been defeated a century ago. Orcs and Goblins skulk in the mountains, Beastmen and Undead lurk in the woods despite only being seen as old wives’ tales designed to scare children, and worshippers of the Dark Gods run rampant in the north and practise their vile entreaties in secret elsewhere…

Perched between the Talabec River and the towering walls of the Taalbaston, Talagaad stands on the Wizard’s Way, the road that crosses over the bridge known as the Wizard’s Crossing and up over the walls of the Taalbaston and is the only legal route into the crater. It is a rough, grimy port, its inhabitants working the docks and the ferry crossings and servicing the merchants and other visitors, but seeing relatively little of coin that is raised through sales or taxes. It is a town rife with crime and corruption, petty and otherwise, the town’s notorious ferrymen ready to transport goods and people across the river as much as they are stop mid-river, exhort additional payment, or toss passengers and cargo alike into the river. Smuggling operations closely guarding knowledge of other routes into the Taalbaston that can be followed to avoid paying taxes, whilst Talagaad’s excise officers have garnered a well-deserved reputation for corruption that rivals that of any other port in the Empire.

Taalbaston is the default setting and starting point for Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, with the game referring to it again and again. Published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment, this is the roleplaying adaptation of Warhammer: The Old World, the miniatures combat rules from Games Workshop. This is set in a period two centuries prior to the better-known roleplaying game set in the Old World, that is, the venerable Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition. Its focus is less on the assaults and attacks by the forces of Chaos and on the Chaos within, and more on internal strife, whether political, between the Elector Counts, or religious, between the Sigmarites and Ulricans and others. The Old World as a setting has always drawn heavily from history, particularly the Early Modern period of Europe, but with Warhammer: The Old World and thus Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, the inspiration is more heavily that of the Thirty Years War and its political and religious strife.

Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide is the first of two core rulebooks for the roleplaying game. It provides the means to create characters, the core rules, a guide to what Player Characters can do between adventures, details of both magic and religion, and some background on the setting. Essentially, it introduces the Warhammer: The Old World – Roleplaying Game, which combines an earlier setting in the history of the setting with lighter, faster playing rules than those presented in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition.

A Player Character in Warhammer: The Old World is defined by his Origins, Characteristics, Skills, and Careers. The six Origins, which provide the base value for Characteristics, consist of Dwarf, Halfling, High Elf, Human Bretonnian, Human Imperial, and Wood Elf. Each Origin provides a random Talent, base Skill ratings, Lores, and beginning Fate, plus it suggests some names. There are nine Characteristics which are Weapon Skill, Ballistics Skill, Strength, Toughness, Initiative, Agility, Reason, Fellowship, and Fate. Each Characteristic has two associated skills, for example, the skills for Weapon Skill are Melee and Defence, and Willpower and Recall for Reason. Both Characteristics and Skills range in value between two and six. Each Career adds further Skill bonuses and Lores, plus Trappings, Assets, and Contacts, as well as Career Recipe. The Careers range from Apothecary, Artisan, and Boathand to Wildwood Ranger, Witch, and Wizard. Many will be recognisable from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, such as Bounty Hunter, Charlatan, Labourer, Rat Catcher, and Road Warden, whilst others are less so, such as a Lothern Sea Guard or Waywatcher. In addition, a Player Character has some connections and assets. Most of the Origins have a unique career. Thus, there is the Knight-Exile for the Bretonnian, the Brewguard and Slayer for the Dwarf, Lothern Sea Guard and Shadow Warrior for the High Elf, Priest for the Imperial, and Waywatcher and Wildwood Ranger for the Wood Elf. Sadly, nothing for the Halfling.

To create a character, a player rolls for his Origins, three random Characteristic bonuses, applies the bonuses from his Origins and rolls for another Talent, and then rolls for his Career. Contacts—all of which are tied into the roleplaying game’s NPCs in Talagaad, and assets—based on the Player Character’s Status are rolled as is physique, demeanour, extra quirks or accessories, and character relationships.

Name: Britta

Origins: Dwarf

Physique: Red-nosed, vigorous, bright as steel Demeanour: Angry, vengeful, fierce as brightstone

Career: Engineer

Characteristics (Skills): Weapon Skill 3 (Melee 3, Defence 3), Ballistics Skill 3 (Shooting 3, Throwing 2), Strength 4 (Brawn 2, Toil 4), Toughness 4 (Survival 2, Endurance 3), Initiative 2 (Awareness 3, Dexterity 3), Agility 3 (Athletics 3, Stealth 2), Reason 3 (Willpower 3, Recall 2), Fellowship 2 (Leadership 2, Charm 2), Fate 2

Lore: Blackpowder, Engineering, Literacy, Lore: Dwarf Mountain Holds, Smithing, Extra Modifications

Talents: Intense Scrutiny, Hatred: Orcs

Assets: Armoury

Trappings: Warhammer, handgun, burgher’s apparel, worker’s leathers, engineering kit, blackpowder kit, writing kit

Contacts: Hunter Lord Leonard Van Obelmann, Commander of the Talabheim 11th regiment occupying Talagaad; They ignored your advice and lost a critical battle as a result—a fact you never let them forget. Malko Matasca, A reputed druid, tortured by visions of dark futures; You have fought alongside them, and seen what happens when they get angry.

Mechanically, Warhammer: The Old World uses a dice pool system. To have his character undertake an action, a player rolls the number of dice equal to the associated Characteristic, aiming to roll equal to or lower than the character’s skill on one or more dice. Each roll equal to or lower than the character’s skill counts as a success. The difficulty of the task will add or subtract dice depending upon if it is easier or harder, and various Lores, Talents, trappings, and Status expectations can also modify the number of dice a player has to roll.

Depending on the circumstances, a test can be Grim or Glorious. If it is Grim, then the player rerolls all successes again and determines his character’s success from that outcome, whilst if Glorious, the player rerolls all failures and determines his character’s success from that outcome. Typically, only a single success is required, but in certain situations, a Player Character might require as many as three successes for a Total Success. In this case, if only one success is rolled, the Game Master can impose a Complication, such as forced expenditure or the Player Character becoming flustered in front of someone important. If the player rolls a Total Success, he can suggest an extra bonus, such as the task being done more efficiently or impressively. If a task is going to take time or require the expenditure of resources, then an Exacting Test is rolled, which requires multiple success over time.

For example, Britta is a gunsmith and her Engineering Lore enables her to invent, operate, and build prototypes of experimental mechanisms, whilst her Smithing Lore means that she knows how to work metal to produce weapons, armour, or tools. Her Blackpowder Lore means that she is used to using and firing blackpowder weapons. She wants to create a clockwork device that will automatically reload her pistol up to two times before it needs reloading. Her Game Master tells her that this will be a detailed test. On a marginal or one success, it will work, but there is a chance that it will take an extra round time to reload rather than doing so ready for the next round; with two rolled success, or a Success, the clockwork mechanism will reload without any problem; and three success, or a Total Success, there is a chance that the reload mechanism is so fast, it enables the pistol to be fired twice in a round!

Britta has a Strength of four and a Toil of four. Her player will be rolling four dice, equal to Britta’s Strength, the aim being to roll four or less on each die as per her Toil skill of four. Unfortunately, Britta’s player rolls a four, seven, eight, and ten, resulting in one or a marginal success. Britta’s player decides that the Dwarf thinks the spring is not strong enough and a new one needs to be fitted to get the right tension.

Despite the majority of inhabitants of the Empire not quite realising that they are living in an age of relative peace and prosperity, their fears are not totally unwarranted. Some have begun to detect signs and patterns and for the Player Characters, this means that their fates are bound to a Grim Portent of things to come, having come to the attention of a powerful, probably evil person or entity. When this happens, it results in a life or death or struggle that will leave the Player Characters scared if they manage to survive. In game terms, a ‘Grim Portent’ is an adventure or session in itself, and really the only discussion of what a Player Character is going to be doing in Warhammer: The Old World. Even then, its description is obtuse.

To survive a Grim Portent, a Player Character will likely need to rely on Fate, of which he will have several points. Fate can be spent or burned. It can be spent to make a test Glorious, to gain a second action, or to help make a tactical retreat. It can be burned, thus reducing the Player Character’s total Fate permanently, to succeed on a test outright, to suffer a near miss and negate a wound, or to make a last stand, and do something incredibly heroic and memorable, but die in the attempt.

Combat is fought in Zones to handle range and each combatant can act and move once per turn. Athletics Tests are required to cross difficult or hazardous terrain without falling prone. It is possible to set up actions, like aiming or helping to set a trap, which will offer bonuses on a subsequent round, and it is also possible to Run to move an extra Zone, to Charge into combat to gain a bonus die on the melee attack, Move Quietly, and even Move carefully to better move around difficult terrain. The Improvise action covers everything else, including shoving a bandit off a cliff or disarming a drunk or taunting an opponent. Combat rolls themselves are opposed. So, an attacker will use his Melee skill to attack with a sword, whilst the defender will use Defence to parry or Athletics to dodge. Whichever combatant rolls the most successes is the winner, with ties going to the attacker.

Failed attacks will actually stagger the attacker, but successful attacks inflict damage equal to the weapon’s damage value plus the number of successes rolled. The resulting value is compared to the defender’s Resilience, which is equal to his Toughness, armour worn, shield carried, and any other abilities. If the total damage is greater than the defender’s Resilience, the defender suffers a wound. If not, the defender is just staggered. If the target is already Staggered, he must either Give Ground, fall Prone, or suffer a Wound. The Give Ground response enables the defender to put some space between himself and his attacker. If all else fails, Retreat is an action all of its very own.

Wounds and their effects are rolled on the ‘Wounds Table’ individually. For example, a ‘Battered Leg’ gives “Your legs buckle as the impact threatens to pitch you to the floor. Test Endurance to avoid suffering the Prone condition. You can remove this condition by using your free move, or the Recover action.” whilst ‘Decapitation’ gives “Your head is struck from your body — if your killer is in Close Range, and has a hand free, they may opt to catch your head and hold it aloft as a trophy. You are dead.” A ten-sided die is rolled for the first Wound suffered, two ten-sided dice for the second Wound, and so on and so on… In this way, damage suffered has the potential to escalate in severity and effect. The table is only used for Player Characters and Champion NPCs. Minions are defeated after suffering one Wound, whilst Brutes and Monstrosities are not, but how they suffer Wounds depends on their profile.

The combat rules also cover mounts and vehicles, whilst the other rules cover investigation, exploration, social encounters—including the class divide, and what the Player Characters do between adventures. This covers various endeavours, including aiding a contact, banking money, changing career, formalising a spell and inscribing it into your grimoire if a wizard, gathering information, investing money, laying low, labouring or crafting, rekindling fate—if the Player Character’s Fate is lower than starting Fate because it has been burned, study lore, test might, and so on. There are a lot of options, or endeavours, here that will definitely keep the Player Characters busy. However, undertaking endeavours is the only way to increase skills rather than from adventuring. Failures on associated tests are tallied and when they exceed the current skill value, the skill will increase.

Religion and belief is covered in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide with a particular emphasis on how the different gods—Ulric, Taal, Rhya, Sigmar, Manann, Morr, Ranald, Verena, Myrmidia, and Shallya—are worshipped and regarded in Talagaad. The gods of the Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings are also discussed, though to a lesser degree. A Priest Player Character does not immediately gain the ability to call upon his god for miracles. The Faith Talent grants him the favour of his god. For example, Ulric’s Favour grants immunity to the cold, recognition as an equal by any wolf, and after suffering a Wound in battle, makes the Favoured one’s next attack Glorious. The second time the Faith Talent is chosen, the Priest gains the blessings or prayers of the god and the third time, the miracles of his god. Each time the Faith Talent is acquired, the Priest is expected to undergo a trial of faith. Whilst several prayers are given for each god, the player is expected to talk with the Game Master to determine what is possible. In general, miracles are more narrative in nature than mechanical. In return, the Priest is expected to adhere to the strictures of his faith. Should he not do so, then there is the possibility of his losing the right to call for miracles, pray, and so on.

Name: Simonius

Origins: Human (Imperial)

Physique: Charmless Demeanour: Brash

Career: Wizard

Characteristics (Skills): Weapon Skill 3 (Melee 2, Defence 4), Ballistics Skill 3 (Shooting 2, Throwing 2), Strength 3 (Brawn 2, Toil 2), Toughness 3 (Survival 2, Endurance 2), Initiative 3 (Awareness 3, Dexterity 4), Agility 3 (Athletics 2, Stealth 2), Reason 3 (Willpower 3, Recall 4), Fellowship 2 (Leadership 2, Charm 2), Fate 3

Lore: Lore: The Empire, Lore: Altdorf,

Talents: Thirst for Knowledge, Touched by the Winds, Arcane Study

Assets: Library

Trappings: Staff, dagger, burgher’s apparel, arcane paraphernalia, writing kit

Contacts: Ambrosia Waxwing, Halfling librarian, studying the threat of the northern marauders; They pay you to bring them information, be it local gossip or scrolls from the Great Library of Altdorf. Valda Kracht, Devoted of Sigmar, spreading the proscribed faith in secret; Be they a fanatic of Sigmar, Ahalt the Drinker, or stranger gods still — you believe you can save them

The status of magic varies across the Empire. It is outlawed in the Reikland and its users are accused as witches and burnt at the stake, whereas in Talabecland, Wizards enjoy greater freedom to practise magic. However, Wizards everywhere are looked upon with superstition and distrust. Most are self-taught, but the recently founded Hexenguilde, attempts to protect and teach Wizards. A Wizard or a Witch has the career Talent of Wizard. Each level in the Wizard Talent grants the Wizard three spells from their Magic Lore. Every spell as a Casting Value, as well as a Target for the spell, and its Range and Duration. A Casting Test is needed to cast a spell, the caster’s player aiming to roll a number of successes equal to the Casting Value with his Willpower skill. No matter the total number of successes rolled, the final number of successes rolled determines a spell’s Potency. It is possible to keep rolling a Casting Value in order to get a better Potency value. The Potency value determines the actual effect of the spell, which will vary spell from spell. Rules are provided for improvised magic, but a selection of spells, organised Lore by Lore is also included. The Lores include Battle Magic, Elementalism, Illusion, and Necromancy.

Not rolling enough successes does not mean that the spell is miscast and a wizard’s player can continue making a Casting Test from one round to the next until the wizard has sufficient successes equal to the Casting Value. However, when the Casting Test is interrupted, the wizard adds a die to his Miscast Pool. As does rolling a nine, since this exceeds the Eight Winds of Magic. If the Miscast Pool exceeds the wizard’s level in the Wizard Talent, the Wizard’s player rolls all of the dice in his Miscast Pool and consults the Miscast Table. The results do not always mean that the spell fails, but rather that the Wizard has drawn too heavily on the Winds of Magic and the backlash causes noticeable side effects.

For example, Simonius, the ‘Worst Wizard in the Old World’, is in a fierce fight with some goblins. His long-suffering companions are putting up a strong resistance and driving the goblins back, with many lying about in pieces from the Slayer’s axe or decapitated from the Halfling’s surprisingly deadly punches, but now a big brute is charging him. He attempts to cast Lightning Blast at the goblin, which inflicts four damage (or five if armoured) plus the casting Potency. It has a Casting Value of two—so unlikely to be too difficult, thinks Simonius’ player, who will be rolling four dice for Simonius’ Reason characteristic and attempting to roll equal to or under his Willpower skill of three. As the goblin charges at Simonius, his player rolls one, seven, nine, and ten. So, one success, but also three failures, one of which is a nine. A die is added to Simonius’ Miscast Pool. The spell has not yet attained its Casting Value, and on the next round, the charging goblin attacks, forcing Simonius to dodge. He is successful, but since this interrupts the casting, it adds a second die to his Miscast Pool. This means it exceeds his Wizard Level and forces a roll on the Miscast Table. Simonius’ player rolls the two dice in his Miscast Pool and gets the result of thirteen: “A hideous stench erupts from you. All those within Short Range of when you rolled this Miscast must immediately Give Ground or suffer a –1d penalty to their next Test. All your Fellowship Tests are Grim until you can next bathe.” This resets the Miscast Pool to zero and even though the goblin is used to horrible stenches, it gives ground. Simonius still has one success and continues his attempt to cast the Lightning Blast. His player makes a second roll with the results of three, six, seven, and nine. This means that Simonius has gained successes equal to the Casting Value and can cast the spell, but the Potency is only one, equal to the number of successes on this round. His Miscast Pool rises by one also. With the goblin on the ground, Simonius’ player decides to roll one more time to increase the Potency. Unfortunately, he rolls one, two, nine, and nine. This not only means that the spell succeeds with a better Potency of two, but it also means that Simonius’ Miscast Pool increases by two to a total of three because of the two nines rolled. This is, of course, a rare result, but then Simonius is the ‘Worst Wizard in the Old World’. Simonius’ player has to roll again on the Miscast Table and the result is twenty-one, or “An unnatural wind whips up around you. Anyone within Medium Range, including you, must make a Hard (–1d) Endurance Test or be knocked Prone.” This includes most of the other Player Characters and the goblins they are fighting, including the goblin that wanted to chop Simonius to bits. Simonius finally decides to unleash the spell and the goblin is blasted for four damage plus the Potency of two. Meanwhile, the other adventurers, now lying on the ground, are once again looking at Simonius askance…

Overall, Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide presents a set of options that are Warhammer through and through, all set in the Empire, and backs it up with a fast playing, easy to use set of rules. The combat mechanics are straightforward and whilst they do not cover every eventuality, they do allow for some flexibility, especially under the Improvise action, which offers more options than just hitting things. In comparison, the magic rules are more complex, but not overly so, but they are still fast-playing whilst also being more than just a simple matter of casting a spell and triggering its effects. There is some nuance as the player attempts to balance the potential effect of the spell versus the possibility of a miscast and side effects. In comparison, the magic rules are better explained than the combat rules, primarily because as a player’s book, there are no monsters in the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide and so there is not an effective example of combat to help the player or Game Master better grasp its play. A table giving the likely outcome for differing dice rolls would also have been useful.

Of course, Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game is not Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition. It even states this on the cover with its subtitle, ‘Grim and Glorious Adventures in the World of Legend’ as opposed to ‘A Grim World of Perilous Adventure’. It does not have the options or the detail of the latter, but at the same time, it does not have the complexity of the latter either. To be fair, whatever its edition, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay has always been a relatively complex game, but to have a faster playing and easier ruleset will be an attractive feature to many players and Game Masters.

One of the big problems with Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide is that it does not really tell you what it is. The introduction to the setting is slight and it does not expand upon that until the very end of the book when there is more detail on the setting and on the four claimants to the Imperial throne. So, it leaves the reader wondering when, and to some extent, where, it is set. It is obviously a Warhammer roleplaying book, obviously not a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition book, but it lacks context. If you are coming to the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide new to the hobby there is a little note to explain what a roleplaying game is and that the best place for the reader to find out more is to look at the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Starter Set. However, if you coming to the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition—which is a distinct possibility—then the reader is likely to be at loss due to the lack of context and a direct explanation of what he is holding in his hands. When is this set? How does this differ from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition? What does it offer that is different from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition? What is it that the Player Characters will be doing that sets it apart from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition? These are really simple direct questions whose answers could have been used to really sell the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game.

Physically, Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide is well presented and has some excellent artwork throughout. It does need an edit in places and in others the explanations need more careful read throughs than they necessarily should.

Ultimately, at this point, the main problem with the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide is that it does not have its counterpart, Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Guide. Or even the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Starter Set. There is nothing for the Game Master to run or the players and their characters to react to or fight. That will, of course, change, but even then the Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide does not really explain what it is that the Player Characters are going to be doing, what its differences are between it and its older forbear, and so on. There is a lack of context which means that it is not as grounded as it should be and means that it is not as easy for the Game Master to pitch the roleplaying game to her players as it should be.

The Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player’s Guide is everything that a player needs to get started in a version of the Old World and the Empire that is both older and newer. It promises ‘Grim and Glorious Adventures in the World of Legend’ and with its faster playing, easier mechanics it offers a more heroic, more knockabout style of play.

Your Imperium Maledictum Starter

The light of the Emperor’s divine might reaches everywhere—but not always. Only in recent years has the Great Rift begun to unseal and the mysterious Noctis Aeterna begun to recede, the Days of Blinding ended, and links reforged with worlds in the Marcharius Sector lost under its pall and beyond the sector itself. As communication, trade, and psychic links have been reestablished with Terra, the Imperium has worked hard to restore its rightful authority and ensure that no deviancy from creed has taken place in the Days of Blinding. Despite this still, heretics turn to the Dark Gods with their promises and falsehoods and corruption is rife, wasting the Emperor’s resources and wealth, and from without, there is always the danger of raids by Orks or worse, Tyranoids. Yet routing out such heresies and corruption is no matter, but an issue of politics and influence as well as loyalty and devotion. The Emperor’s great servants search out those they deem worthy to serve them and the Imperium, directing them to investigate mysteries and murders, experience horror and heresies, expose corruption and callousness, whether in in pursuit of their patron’s agenda, his faction’s agenda, the Emperor’s will, or all three. In return they will gain privileges far beyond that imagined by their fellows—the chance to travel and see worlds far beyond their own, enjoy wealth and comfort that though modest is more than they could have dreamed of, and witness great events that they might have heard of years later by rumour or newscast. This though, is not without its costs, for they will face the worst that the forces of Chaos has to fling at them, the possibility of death, and if they fail, exile and loss of all that they have gained. In the Forty-First Millennium, everyone is an asset and everyone is expendable, but some can survive long enough to make a difference in the face of an uncaring universe and the machinery of the Imperium of Mankind grinding its way forward into a glorious future.

This is the set-up in Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum, the spiritual successor to Dark Heresy, the very first fully realised roleplaying game to be set within the Warhammer 40,000 milieu and published in 2008, the very first roleplaying game that Games Workshop had published in two decades. Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum is published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment and now it has its own introduction to the setting in the form of the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Starter Set. Given that this is from Cubicle 7 Entertainment, there is the likelihood that this is going to be a good product. After all, since the publication of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Starter Set, the publisher has been releasing one good starter set after another. Which begs the question, what is a good starter set? Essentially, it has to provide everything that the Game Master and her players need to play a good scenario that showcases the nature of the setting and what the players and their characters do in the game, explains the rules, and provide content that can be played beyond the confines of the box.

Open the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Starter Set and the first thing that the reader sees is a set of nice percentile dice and a gatefold pamphlet that screams, “READ THIS FIRST!”. This starts with a broad overview of the setting, shows you what is in the box, what Imperium Maledictum and a roleplaying game are, how you get started and what you need to play, and where to go next once the contents of the box have been played through. In four pages, it provides the reader—both player and Game Master with a solid introduction to the setting. As an introduction to roleplaying games, it is more basic, so the reader might want to look elsewhere. Nevertheless, this does not mean that it does not do a good job. Below this are six Player Character sheets, again done as gatefold pamphlets. On the front they explain who the character is and why a player might choose to roleplay that character, gives the character some quotes that player could use in play, whilst inside the actual character sheet for the character is presented, along with a breakdown of the sheet alongside it and a list of the character’s goals, connections to the other characters, and secrets. Lastly on the back of the character sheet is a full-page illustration of the character. These pack a lot of information into their three pages—four including the illustration—but the layout never threatens to overwhelm the reader, keeping everything to hand whilst the focus remains on the character sheet at the centre. The six include a Zealot, a Penumbra (a stealthy assassin and infiltrator), an Interlocutor, a Psyker, a surgeon of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and a warrior.

In addition, the box also contains a set of tokens that include the Inquisitorial Seal, a prop that is used to indicate who has possession of it in the game, Character Portrait and Environmental Trait tokens for use on a map (there are no maps provided Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Starter Set), Superiority Tokens to track the party’s Superiority, and Fate Tokens. There is a set of reference sheets that in turn explain the basic rules, combat, criticals and wounds, conditions and environmental hazards, factions and influence, Warp and Psykers, and trading and gear. These are done on sturdy cards and contain rules and background needed for each aspect of the game, and all together serving as the rules booklet in the set.

The meat of the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Starter Set consists of two books, ‘Adventure Book: The Blazing Seraph’ and ‘Rokarth: A Guide to the Hive’. The ‘Adventure Book: The Blazing Seraph’ provides a full investigation in the depths of Hive Rokarth where the Player Characters’ patron, Inquisitor Halikarn, assigns them to investigate the site of a purported miracle, Acid Refinery Delta-64, which has exploded, leaving behind a possible survivor. The Adeptus Ministorum is investigating to determine if this survivor is a saint. The Player Characters have three days to investigate, locate the survivor, and confirm whether or not he is actually a saint, or merely very lucky. Inquisitor Halikarn also provides them with the details of a contact who can help, but before he does that, the Player Characters will need to find and rescue him. This is an opportunity for the Game Master to show how the game system works and how combat works in it, and thus for the players to get used to both it and their characters. The investigation takes the Player Characters from the dank industrial confines of the hive deep into its bureaucracy and out again to the governor’s table and further into the foul, fetid bowels of the hive to confront heresy and corruption.

The adventure is designed to provide a learn as you play experience and it certainly does that in its opening steps. It is a relatively straightforward investigation, though with marked changes of pace as the Player Characters navigate the labyrinthine bureaucracies of the Hive Rokarth and particularly in the council with the governor they have to attend. This is probably the most difficult scene to run. In the later scenes the Player Characters descend into the depths of the Hive are quite detailed and require careful preparation that perhaps might have been easier with the inclusion of a map. One element that the Player Characters do need to take into account of, is the fact that their patron does not want to reveal his involvement in the investigation. He does give them an inquisitorial seal as a sign of his authority, but he is never happy with its use. Further, its use will attract the attention of those who are likely to take exception to Player Characters’ presence.

The second book, ‘Rokarth: A Guide to the Hive’, describes the setting for the adventure given in ‘Adventure Book: The Blazing Seraph’, the hive of Rokarth on the world of Voll. Surprisingly, it is only six centuries old, home to thirty billion souls who dedicate themselves through the Cult Imperialis to work that sees hive manufacture material and materiel for the Imperium of Man’s continuing war efforts. However, the facilities are being constantly corroded from without from Voll’s caustic environment and from within by the caustic waste product, as well as the corruption and criminal activity. The supplement provides details of the factions within the Hive Rokarth from House Castyx, the governing family on down. This includes the other noble Houses, the Adeptus Terra, which constitutes the vast bureaucracies and organisations that actually run the Imperium and to which every Player Character and their Patron is associated with, the guilds that hold monopolies on certain goods, and all the way down to the Infractionists, the gangs that control parts of the lower depths of the Hive, some of which have ties to the noble Houses. There are notes too on how commerce, the manufactorums, and how both the open and black markets work, noting that there is a silent trade in xeno artefacts smuggled into the Hive. There is a complete description of the hive from top to bottom, breaking it down from the Spire at the top down through the Upper Hive, Lower Hive, and into the Bowels & Beyond. All of these sections include a lengthy encounter table and descriptions of places and locations found there. Each of these locations is accompanied by a plot hook, and there are almost fifty of them! For example, the Player Characters might be asked by Sister Celestia of the Orders Hospitaller in the Upper Hive to move the last victim of the plague known as the Shivers so she can conduct further research; to find out for Lawrenca Parnam why her family secretly donates to the Cathedral of Obligatory Modesty—out of loyalty to the God Emperor or a shameful history; or either put down a gang war or broker a truce between in the wake of the events of the scenario in ‘Adventure Book: The Blazing Seraph’. Lastly, ‘Rokarth: A Guide to the Hive’ describes the presence and activities of the four Ruinous Powers and their cultists in the Hive. Of course, the plot hooks need development, but for the Game Master willing to make the effort, there is a lot to work with here.

Physically, Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Starter Set is very well presented. The artwork is good and the books are well written. The inside of the box is illustrated with a map of the Marcharius Sector, whilst the inside of the box cover shows an image of Hive Rokarth, though it is not very clear.

There is a lot to like about the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Starter Set—the production values, a meaty scenario, and the combination of setting and extra plot hooks, but it is not quite as good as the earlier Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Starter Set. This is because it does not have the extended content, the mini campaign that is further supported with content in Ubersreik Adventures: Six Grim and Perilous Scenarios in the Duchy of Ubersreik and its sequels, instead giving the Game Master numerous plot hooks that do require development. What Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Starter Set very obviously does provide is something that the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum rulebook does not and that is a ready-to-play scenario. Hopefully, Cubicle 7 Entertainment will develop scenarios for the Marcharius Sector from this starter set in the same fashion as the Ubersreik Adventures.

Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Starter Set is another good starter set from Cubicle 7 Entertainment, providing the Game Master and her players with everything necessary to start playing and learning the rules, along with a dark investigation into heresy and corruption.

Medicae Misconduct

Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum is a roleplaying game in which the Player Characters, in the service of their patron, have the opportunity to travel and see worlds far beyond their own, enjoy wealth and comfort that though modest is more than they could have dreamed of, and witness great events that they might have heard of years later by rumour or newscast. In return, they are directed to investigate mysteries and murders, experience horror and heresies, expose corruption and callousness by their patron, whether in pursuit of their patron’s agenda, his faction’s agenda, the Emperor’s will, or all three. This takes place in the Macharian Sector, catastrophically isolated from the rest of the Imperium of Mankind by the Great Rift for far too long, and only recently have communication, trade, and psychic links been reforged and the Imperium begun to re-establish its authority. Who knows what has happened in the time when the connections were broken? What Dark Gods, with their promises and falsehoods, have heretics turned to, how far does corruption run with its waste of Emperor’s resources and wealth, and when will Orks, or worse, Tyranoids, take advantage of the Imperium’s weak grip on the sector to conduct deadly raids or murderous rampages? What this means is that the Macharian Sector is a dangerous place and there is the possibility that the Player Characters might get hurt. Or rather, the Player Characters are definitely going to get hurt. Eventually. When that happens, they are going to need a Medicae Technician.

Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum: Diagnostica Obscurus is there to fulfil that need. It presents ‘Three Mendacious Medicae Technicians for your Grim And Treacherous Adventures in the Macharian Sector’. There for when a Player Character suffers more Critical Wounds than he can cope with, the supplement not only describes three NPCs in quite some detail, but it also provides their stats, information as to where they might be found and what their facilities are like, their background—and of course, secrets, and a Treatment Table listing the typical effects of their medical attention. Lastly, each NPC description includes a set of scenario hooks that ends with an apex mission. The latter to be played out once the previous scenarios have been played through and the Player Characters have earned the NPC’s trust—or enmity. In each case, the Game Master will need to develop the scenarios into something that can be readily played, but if she does so, she will have an ongoing story, lasting a session or two each time, which can be slotted into her campaign and played out over time.

The supplement’s three Medicae Technicians consist of Noxia Vex, Karzinth Half-Hand, and Genetor Erudir Phi-VI. Noxia Vex runs a back-alley clinic in the depths of Hive Rokarth, providing cut-rate medical care to all, heedless of their faction, and is protected by well-armed and intensely loyal guards with strangely milky eyes. For some patients though, she will offer her services in return for a favour and this ultimately, will put that patient in a dangerous situation as he is tasked with investigating a viral vector that Noxia is researching in the hope that she can find a cure for the guards who protect her before they go on a murderous rampage!

Karzinth Half-Hand is noticeably missing two fingers from one hand and why he does not replace them with bionics is the subject of some speculation amongst his rich patrons and secretly, a source of shame for him. He primarily offers his surgical expertise to the Mavins of Hive Praemiosus on Asterion, having fled his former position as a Chapter Serf to an Apothecarian and is deeply paranoid that his former masters are still looking for him. Currently he seeks wealth and the means to protect himself, which includes blackmail using information he gathers from certain patients whilst they are anaesthetised and under his knife! Karzinth Half-Hand might become a patron for the Player Characters or he might blackmail them with information gained whilst under his care to work for him. The hooks for Karzinth Half-Hand are not connected, but the apex mission is connected to his activities and is quite detailed in comparison to the others.

Genetor Erudir Phi-VI is an arrogant surgeon with some highly unorthodox ideas that verge on heresy. A member of Adeptus Mechanicus, he has established a clinic at the Grand Docks of Harjus where conducts radical surgical experiments whose subjects find themselves supposedly ‘improved’ with transplants harvested from xeno beasts! This lends itself to the possibility that the Player Characters might find themselves on ‘bug hunts’ looking for specimens to capture for Genetor Erudir Phi-VI’s experiments and one of them involves such as task through the tunnels of the Spear on which the surgeon has his clinic. His associated apex mission involves protecting him against a black mail attempt and like the one for Karzinth Half-Hand is longer and more detailed than that given for Noxia Vex.

The length of the apex missions for Karzinth Half-Hand and Genetor Erudir Phi-VI in comparison to that given for Noxia Vex does unbalance her entry in Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum: Diagnostica Obscurus slightly, though she has four missions as opposed to their three. The situations for all three NPCs in the supplement are quite flexible in that they can be as written or shifted to other worlds in the Macharian Sector, and the NPCs themselves used as patrons, as straightforward NPCs, or even as NPCs to be investigated on behalf of the Player Characters’ actual Patron. The latter option will need more development upon the part of the Game Master as it is only suggested in the text.

Physically, Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum: Diagnostica Obscurus is well presented and the artwork is excellent. It does need a slight edit.

Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum: Diagnostica Obscurus is a great addition for Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum. Using all three of its entries might be a challenge, but three skilled, but imperfect Medicae Technicians to add to the Game Master’s campaign complete with secrets and scenarios to be developed and brought into play is exactly what this completely unqualified not-a-Medicae Technician recommends.

Your Wrath & Glory Starter Set II

In the far future of the 41st Millenium, the Gilead System has been isolated from the Imperium of Man by the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Great Rift that unleashed waves of supernatural darkness and malignant power from the Realm of Chaos. The system, rent by internal strife and disagreement from within as to how to survive and threatened by the Ruinous Powers and its allies from without, teetered on the edge of collapse, but hope arrived in the form of the Varonius Flotilla, a Rogue Trader fleet under the command of Jakel Varonius, bringing ships and forces which could ensure the system’s survival. The only vessels to have made contact since the opening of the Great Rift, the Varonius Flotilla is seen across the Gilead System as its saviour, but the fleet alone can only so much. There are wars across the system, the chances of starvation grow daily, and alliances have to be made, even with xenos. This is a time for heroes, for ordinary men as well the Imperium’s genetically enhanced super soldiers, the Space Marines, Psykers, scribes, and others to work together to withstand the Chaos and protect all those it would suborn and destroy. Under the command of Jakel Varonius himself, such agents will become the most distant, but worthy arm and blade of the Emperor himself! Can the agents save the Gilead System? Will ‘wrath and glory’ be theirs?

This is the set-up for the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set. Published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment, this is the second attempt at a starter set for the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, previously published by Ulisses Spiele in 2019. It follows the same format as the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Starter Set in providing everything needed to play and get started in action, horror, and intrigue of the 41st Millenium. This includes ‘Traitor’s Hymn’, an adventure set aboard the Varonius Flotilla; ‘The Varonius Flotilla’, a guide to the fleet; six character sheets; three reference sheets; Wrath, Glory, and Ruin; and a set of eight six-sided dice, including a Wrath Die. ‘Traitor’s Hymn’ is a detailed adventure designed to introduce both the setting and the mechanics of Wrath & Glory, but ‘The Varonius Flotilla’ is designed to not only detail that setting, but also support further play with both background and further play with extra scenarios that will extend the usefulness of the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set.

Open the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set and the first thing that you see is a gatefold sheet with the words ‘READ THIS FIRST’ on it. This introduces the basics of everything about Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, essentially preparing each player for his first choice—what will he roleplay? Underneath is a sheaf of six gatefold character sheets, each of which details a Player Character or Agent. A lot of thought has gone in terms of the design of these gatefold character sheets. On the front of each, there is a summary of who and what the Agent is, as well as warning not to open the character sheet up unless the player is definitely planning to roleplay that character. Inside, the character sheet presents the stats and details in easy-to-read fashion, plus a background, and possible connections with the other Agents, secrets, and objectives. It includes notes on each Agent’s talents, abilities, and equipment too. There is a full-page illustration of the character on the back. None of the secrets are heretical, but they are often dark and may make life difficult for the Agent. The Agents consist of a Sanctioned Psyker, a Sister of Battle, a Rogue Trader, a Skitarius, an Aeldari Ranger, and a Space Marine Scout. The inclusion of an Aeldari Ranger, a Xenos, indicates the desperation which is driving the surviving factions and forces in the Gilead System to work together.

‘Traitor’s Hymn’ is the beginning scenario. It is designed to introduce the setting, the Agents, and the concepts behind the roleplaying game in a step-by-step process. As play begins the Agents are aboard The Herald Varonius, a voidship transporting notables to the Varonius Flotilla. They are attending a grand banquet for the guests aboard when everything goes awry. Before that, each Agent receives a flashback which allows his player to make a choice, roll some dice for the first time, and have some time in the spotlight. The events of all six flashbacks tie into the adventure. There is the chance to learn a few more clues before the action begins and the voidship is inexplicably thrown into the Void. However, the Geller Field which would normally protect the crew and passengers of The Herald Varonius is fluctuating, which means her Geller Field Generator is malfunctioning. Which means the Agents are going to make their way into the bowels of the ship in order to find the cause and if they can, fix it. Between them lie Chaos infestations and manifestations, cultists, and worse, via an entrail-strewn library, a combat turned execution arena, twisted hydroponics gardens, and more before they reach the bowels of the vessel and discover the real culprits behind the situation The Herald Varonius finds itself in.

Mechanically, the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set, and thus Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, is a dice pool system using six-sided dice. Rolls of four and five are counted as ‘Icons’, and a roll of six as ‘Exalted Icons’. Tests are typically rolled as combinations of an attribute and a skill, or just the attribute, the latter being fairly broad, with a Difficulty Number of three being ‘Standard’ difficulty and a Difficulty Number of five being ‘Challenging’ difficulty. If a player rolls a number of Icons equal to the Difficulty Number, the task is successful. Any ‘Exalted Icons’ rolls are worth two Icons rather than one. However, if enough Icons are rolled on a test and there are any ‘Exalted Icons’ left over, they can be ‘Shifted’, or removed from the dice pool. A ‘Shifted Exalted Icon’ can be sued to gain more information, make the Test exceptional and give an extra beneficial outcome, add an extra Effect Die in combat, or add a point of Glory to the party’s pool.

Included with any roll, is the Wrath Die. This is of a different colour. It works like a standard die, except when one or six is rolled. On a one, it adds a complication to the task, whereas a roll of six is counted as an ’Exalted Icon’, but also adds a point of Glory to the party pool. In combat, it indicates that a Critical Hit has been scored. A player also has access to Wrath Points. These can be spent to reroll all dice that rolled a one, two, or three on the dice in a Test, add a minor element to the narrative, or to take an Action to recover Shock which has either been lost through combat or misadventure. The party as a whole, has access to the Glory Pool. Glory Points can be spent to add dice to a test, to add more damage to a successful attack, to improve the effect of a Critical Hit, or to seize the initiative.

Combat uses the same rules, with an Agent able to take a Combat Action, a Simple Action, a Reflexive Action, a Movement Action, and a Free Action on his Turn. Initiative simply passes back and forth between the players and the Game Master until everyone has acted. Both Armour and an Agent’s Resilience stop damage, any left over being suffered as Wounds. The Wounded Condition means that the Difficulty Number for Tests increases, but a player can roll his character’s Determination. Any Icons from this roll convert Wounds to Shock, but suffer too much Shock and an Agent may end up exhausted.

Fear Tests are based on an Agent’s Resolve, failure giving the Agent the Fear Condition. Corruption Tests are based on the severity of the source of Corruption, a player rolling his Agent’s Conviction to withstand its effects. Corruption will increase the Difficulty Number for future Corruption and Mutation Tests. The latter will occur when the number of Corruption Points exceeds an Agent’s Conviction. The Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set only provides a few options for Mutations, there being a more extensive list and advanced rules in the core rulebook for Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory.

Whilst the Players have access to Wrath and Glory, the Game Master has Ruin. Points of Ruin are gained when an Agent fails a Corruption Test or a Fear Test, or the Game Master rolls a six on the Wrath Die. She can expend it to reroll failures on Test, to Seize the Initiative or have NPC act in an ambush, to restore an NPC’s Shock, and to make a Determination roll. Ruin is also spent to activate certain abilities on NPCs and creatures of Chaos.

‘The Varonius Flotilla’, the second book in the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set, details both the Varonius Flotilla and the Gilead System. This includes the major NPCs with their goals and agendas and their quirks and secrets, and the various ships of the fleet, the last being The Herald of Varonius. The latter is where ‘Traitor’s Hymn’ is set and it is also the reward which the Agents are assigned at the end of the scenario. What that does, is give them the means to travel back and forth across the Gilead System, undertake further missions, and do both with some agency. ‘The Varonius Flotilla’ notes that of Jakel Varonius, the rogue trader and commander of the fleet, has brought the shuttles across the whole fleet under his command to lessen individual ship control, tie the fleet together, and to give him an information network in the form of the shuttle pilots. Besides bringing support and relief to the Gilead System, the Varonius Flotilla is also searching for resources in the system to exploit, despite it having been settled and worked for millennia.

The ’Ports of Call’ section details the eight worlds of the Gilead System, including the major locations, NPCs, threats faced by the world, and important features. Notably, there is one of each major type of world found within the system, thus, Gilead Primus is a Hive World, Ostia an Agri World, Enoch a Shrine World, and so on. Each world is given a couple of adventure hooks as well. Lastly, there is a discussion of the Warrant of Trade that Jakel Varonius holds as a Rogue Trader, before ‘The Varonius Flotilla’ presents six further adventures that will take the Agents back and forth across the Gilead System. In terms of play, these are relatively, offering a single session each unless the Game Master wants to flesh them out further. In comparison, ‘Traitor’s Hymn’ will probably take tow to three sessions to play through.

One issue in terms of play between ‘Traitor’s Hymn’ and six extra scenarios is that the Agents are not going to improve or learn from their experience. To do that, the Game Master will need access to the core rulebook for Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory. That said, a starter set is typically not designed to facilitate that aspect of play, the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set being no different here, and of course, the Game Master can adjudicate the rewards as necessary if her players want to continue playing beyond the confines of the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set.

Another issue is the player count required for the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set. There are six Player Characters or Agents, but ‘Traitor’s Hymn’ requires a minimum of five players. It can be played with four players, but one of the other Agents becomes a communal NPC. It is a high demand, and perhaps it could have been written with the lower player count in mind and allowed for an adjustment in terms of more rather than fewer players.

In terms of setting, the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set draws the Game Master, her players, and their Agents in a couple of steps. First, ‘Traitor’s Hymn’ gives an immediate experience of the milieu and sets them to explore the setting of the Gilead System detailed in ‘The Varonius Flotilla’. Together, the two books do the same for the wider setting of the Gilead System detailed in Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory. However, there is a third thing that it should do as well, and that is follow in the footsteps of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Starter Set which is supported by its own series of scenario anthologies, beginning with Ubersreik Adventures: Six Grim and Perilous Scenarios in the Duchy of Ubersreik. That enables the Game Master and her players to continue playing with the same Player Characters and in the same setting.

Much like the earlier Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Starter Set, the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set is not a good introduction to roleplaying and nor is it designed to be. It just does not start from the first principles to do that, but that is fine, because as an introduction to Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, it does a very good job and does so in an attractive package. Similarly, the rules presented have been stripped down from the core rulebook, but there is more than enough to play through the contents in the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set. If the Game Master and her players have access to the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory core rules, it would be possible for the players to create their own Agents and play through the scenarios included here, but unless they adhere to the archetypes given in the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set, some of the nuances of the pre-generated Agents and their ties to the Gilead System and the events of the scenario in ‘Traitor’s Hymn’ may be lost.

Physically, the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set is a handsome boxed set. Everything inside is of good quality—the gatefold character sheets are particularly well done—and vibrantly illustrated. It does, unfortunately, need an edit in places.

Overall, the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set is an impressive introduction to the setting of the Gilead System and Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, its playthrough preparing the Game Master and her players for wider adventures. For anyone wanting to roleplay the action, horror, and intrigue of the 41st Millenium, the Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory – Starter Set is the perfect place to make that stand against corruption, chaos, and Chaos!