Blood For The Blood God by C. L. Werner

I have the omnibus edition of House of Serpents by Lisa Smedman and had started on Venom's Taste. I don't know why, but it wasn't grabbing me. So I put it down to pick up a stand alone book by an author whose work I've enjoyed in the past; Blood For The Blood God by C. L. Werner.

I'll be pinging some spoilers from the book below. For those who want a brief review, this is a stand alone book where the warriors of chaos find themselves hard pressed to battle a legendary entity known as the Skulltaker. It's very pulpy sword and sorcery fare and if this is the type of material you enjoy, then this book is for you.

Now onto the spoilers.

One, if you ever wonder how to run an evil campaign, this book might provide some solid foundations. There are no heroes here, nor even anti-heroes. There are barbarous murderers who fight among each other for survival and each tribe has its own tricks. The threat of an outside menace is what brings a few of these tribesmen together so that they can attempt to cheat destiny.

By providing an outside force for players to gather against, the GM can provide some reason for such players to travel together. This may not solve all of the problems of an evil campaign, but it does take care of at least the first issue; why should they trust each other.

The next thing, is use the setting elements. C. L. Werner, no stranger to the Warhammer setting, provides us with characters who often suffer the mutating touch of chaos with some of the protagonist having a tentacle for an arm or iron nodes poking through their skin.

Werner unleashes not only flesh hounds, but also blood letters. The weapons that many of the characters use, are demonic in nature and destroy both body and soul. These are standards in the world of Warhammer and by not shying away from them, Werner firmly places his tale of carnage into the setting.

Don't be afraid of the one shot. At the end of the story, the realm that the 'heroes' fought to save is destroyed. Everyone the main character knows is dead. Khorne has had his vengeance. But there is still war to be waged and battles to be fought and the book ends as another epic duel is about to begin.

Perhaps you don't want to run an entire evil campaign. Perhaps you just want to test out Dark Sun and see how those rules mesh with 4e. Perhaps you only want to dip your toe into Savage Worlds. A one shot allows you to up the stakes and push the characters to and past their limits as you are only running a one shot and the fate of worlds can be up for grabs. And if you enjoyed the game, you can run a separate game at a latter time.

My only issue with the book is the name of the villain of the piece; Skulltaker. For those who don't play the tabletop, this is skulltaker;

That massive figure above? He's not at all what is described in the book and the editors should have axed that name right away. When your game setting has dozens of slogans and mottos and you mix the material up, it does the reader and the fan no benefit. Keep the material clean, seperated, and easy to understand. It would be like having a new Forgotten Realms novel feature Elminster, a heroic blade troll who hunts down rogue tornadoes. It might be a great story, but anyone looking for Elminster is not going to be happy.

Warhammer Religions Versus Brunner by C. L. Werner

In the Warhammer setting, there are many deities that are followed. The general ones or the popular ones, would probably be Sigmar, the patron of the Empire, the White Wolf 'cult' in the north, and the Ruinous Powers of Chaos.

While Brunner himself is not given over to active worship, or at least, does not appear to acknowledge it, he does have several incidents or encounters with religion and those who are religious, or at least pay lip service to it that span a bit differently than the standard gods of the Warhammer setting.

Shallya: While Brunner does wind up crossing blades with a worshipper of Uncle Nurgle, the interesting thing was the prespective it puts on that worship. Tear down hospitals not because the help the injured, but because they cure the sick. This in and of itself could easily become a mini-campaign with one faction trying to wipe the other one's forces out. Brunner appreciates the healing but doesn't feel he owes anyone here anything because he earns his keep.

Solkan: I remember when I first bought my Warhammer FRPG book. It wasn't the hardcover first edition, but it was a great edition by Hogshead. Nonetheless, one of the interesting things I remember reading about in those early days, was deities of law. Not as known or as active in the world as those of Chaos, nonetheless, they were there. One of my friends ran a campaign where we were trying to free one of the trapped gods, the Lady of Law or something like that.

In one of the stories, Brunner is visiting a city state where Solkan is ascendant and his worshippers, while not the only faction, do have a lot of leeway in how they deal with sinners. The unfortunate thing is that they essentially come off like flagellants or other heavy handed worshippers of Sigmar so with a little name change, I wasn't seeing a lot of difference.

Ranald: The patron god of thieves and someone one of Brunner's bounties gives lip service to often.

When using a setting that has a lot of deities, try to focus on some that may not be receiving a lot of attention. It may force the players to pay a little more attention. If in a game where there are special toys different deities provide their worshippers, or different methods of worship are known, use them. Make the game a little different in aspects so that you can get away from the whole Ruinous Powers and Sigmar association that tie up so much of the Warhammer setting.

Keep it fresh and keep the players guessing.

Brunner the Bounty Hunter by C. L. Werner

Brunner the Bounty Hunter is a collection of a trilogy of books; Blood & Steel, Blood Money and Blood of the Dragon. I'm not quite sure what the actual break down is in each book as most of the tales are short stores, framed by an author in the fantasy Warhammer setting who knows Brunner and sells tales that Brunner tells him.

C. L. Werner's work is solid here but may suffer a little from the length of the stories. With most of the contents being short, there isn't a lot of room for character development, and while the overall story continues to build and change and evolve and we see everything in previous tales move forward, it's a much different feel than reading a standard trilogy where there might be dozens of characters with their own goals and motivations.

On one hand, this allows C. L. Werner to put Brunner into a lot of situations and brings a lot of action to the reader. In many ways Brunner would be perfect for a weekly cliff hanger style show where Brunner continues to hunt down bounties and we continue to learn a little more about him.

On the other hand, there's not a lot of supporting cast and well, I can only read about how fierce Brunner looks a dozen times before yawning at his bad assery so to speak.

I think overall I enjoyed C. L. Werner's Witch Hunter series a little more but know that in many ways, Brunner is far more appropriate for gaming inspiration thanks to its shorter tales providing more material to a potential GM.

I've often mentioned that bounty hunters are my favorite type of character in games. They have a quick and easy hook that the GM can use to bait the campaign with a variety of bounties, rival hunters, and organizations that make use of such individuals. The ring of details that can be included varies from informants, bars to gather information in, and the law men who sit back and allow the hunters to do the leg work.

These law men may vary tremendously in terms of their authority and their need. In the standard, Brunner receives many of his 'quests' from a judge. On some of his travels while getting those bounties though, Brunner comes across situations that are tasked of him that come from a different authority. In one instance, he's invited by a noble to kill a were wolf. Normally a man of Brunner's status wouldn't even be allowed near the man, but due to the noble's need of seeing the creature captured or killed, Brunner is allowed into the inner circle.

A short job like this allow the character to brush up against society he might not normally be involved with. Unlike the manga Berserk, where initially Griffin is able to rise in rank and ascend to the highest political levels, the jobs Brunner does are so quick that he's not around long enough to necessarily rise or want to. Staying in one place limits the type of jobs he could take after all.

One of the things that Werner does well, is provides a larger backdrop to the setting. For example, when discussing Brunner. "It was said that the bounty hunter had spirited a buccaneer captain from the sanctuary of the pirate stronghold of Sartosa, that he had brought down a traitor to the King of Bretonnia in the court of an Arabyan sheik, and that he had pursued one notorious smuggler to the depths of Black Crag and returned with his prey from the bowels of the goblin fortress."

In that bit alone we get a brief flare of how large the setting is, and how fierce Brunner is. It's a nice bit of reputation and the GM should allow players to craft their own reputations and incorporate things they've down, as well as things that might sound like things they've done. Exaggeration is always a useful tool to have.

Another bit to consider when running characters who thirst for bounties, is that they will be spending a lot of their time in places knights, nobles, and other aristrocrat races, like elves, would probably avoid. They would need to do this in order to gather information, and it allows the GM to occasionally throw them a small bone in that they may recognize a bandit, a mugger, or a smuggler with a bounty on his head. Of course the players need to be secure in their own prowess least they fall prey to ambush or trap themselves...

When looking at where the enemy might flee to, try to incorporate already existing bits of the setting into it. For example, in one story, Brunner has to hunt down a man known as Bertolucci. Turns out their family, like many, owned villas in the country, but waves of beastmen and orcs drove the nobles out of those homes. But sometimes better the unknown then the sure death that waits if you stay... These little bits allow the players, especially those who are already familiar with a setting with a large fan base, such as Warhammer, Greyhawk, or the Forgotten Realms, a chance to enjoy it.



Collecting bounties may provide some challenges to characters. For one thing, if they are employed as more than just assassins, a lot of their victims may have to come back alive. This is something the GM can play on the characters with by providing bounties of various costs that may be worth less than half, or even a fourth dead. Keeping the characters on their toes, and actually providing them with a sound reason for keeping an enemy they've defeated alive.

Another benefit of having a setting like Warhammer, is that little things can be done to customize it further that incorporate the already existing elements. For example, "Farmers in Bretonnia would train hogs to hunt truffles and they held that the noses of their hogs were sharper than any hound. He was counting that the snouts of the Empire's swine were no less keen. If there was one thing a pig enjoyed eating more than a truffle it was a snotling."

Snotlings are a race of goblinoid in the Warhammer setting and by putting that little touch of character there, it provides just a touch more of being somewhere that isn't Earth in a dark ages setting.

Another benefit of running a bounty hunter style campaign, is that the players should be on the alert for the unusual. Brunner is often noted for having a great memory and always examining his surroundings. "I have both three-toe and the one with the clubbed foot here. There can't be two orcs with feet like that rampaging about in your father's domain.'.

A fine example of knowing what to look for and where to look for it.

In terms of these unique elements though, Werner doesn't pause when detailing out monsters, bandits, dragons, vampires, or others. His vivid imagery showcases an interesting bit though when compared to gaming. There are several enemies Brunner quickly bowls through thanks to the use of his crossbow pistols, his actual pistol, and other weapons he's mastered. But from a quick read, you might not know which foe was supposed to be which. Treat every enemy the players face as if it was the preordained winner in the fight when describing it. The players won't know who is a minion and who is the real deal.

Werner is also entertaining. The Warhammer setting is strange in its use of fire arms and dueling and knights and wizards. There are often unspoken honorable agreements about how such things are to be used. But he does manage to capture what I'd call an Indiana Jones moment here when a famous duelist challenges Brunner, the bounty hunter goes outside and shots the man. It's entertaining but also gets the point across that most often, unless restricted by some limitation, Brunner, like many players, will do what he needs to win.

Keep that in mind when coming up with adversaries and foe men. The players might not be bound by the same rules of honor. They might be so slipper on the morale chart that those around them keep a wide distance.

But at the same time, unless you've completely changed the fantasy setting you're running, this should have the occasional benefit allowing them to get the drop on a knight, on a noble, on an elf, or another variant whose honor is held in such high regard that they would never think the players would sink to some dastardly level.

At the same time, the players, engaged in bounty hunting, may be involved in locations that only the most vile murderers and scum may call home. For example, "Will you be needing more salt, master?' the boy asked, a tone of eagerness in his voice. Even at his tender age, he had witnessed death often enough, and heads of criminals adorning pikes set before the town's main gate were commonplace." Remember that no matter how shinny the armor of a knight, that knight is still probably ruling over peasants and dispensing harsh justice that may take the form of entertainment for the common folk. No television, no radio, and no form of instant communication with people around the world makes for some people who in their limited experience have already seen a lot of things that others would consider truly horrid but to them is mild entertainment.

There are some more bits I'll pull from Brunner, but I'll leave off with the recommendation to pick it up in trade paperback as the individual books run quite a bit higher.

Brunner The Bounty Hunter by C. L. Werner

I know I'm bouncing all over the place with books. At the start of The Monks of War, deep in The Religion, and finished the first short story in Brunner, not to mention whatever RPG books I'm messing with as well as various digital comics through Marvel.

But I love me some bounty hunters. One of the first times I remember them in AD&D was a Non-Player Class in Dragon. They loved to pull that. Here's a class so awesome and overpowered, but so limited in scope, that it makes a great NPC but should never be used as a player class. My other reference to them is from The Complete Adventurer, a book from Bard Games, the people who did the Atlantis trilogy, by the guy who later went on to do Talislantia. I owned at least two different printings of the game, one with a green outline, and one with the solid green border as seen here at Troll And Toad.

Bounty Hunters, like Mercenaries, to me, make perfect sense as a default for an adventuring party. The initial goals are already there. The targets of said goals allow the GM to pull an enemy of the week deal and allow the players to go where ever they need to in order to find and capture their foes.

In terms of Brunner, the opening sequence has one part that makes sense in a setting where so much relies on having a skilled operative.

"I agree the Tileans would certainly discover an armed force sometime before they themselves were in peril. But a single man? One man could discdover their hiding place, infiltrate it and recover the child."

And there's one perfectly valid reason why sometimes a small group of adventurers may be better than sending in an army. And of course the other reason? Unlike a standing army you may need in a few weeks that you could suffer serious losses on should you attack the goblin caves, the mercenaries are 100% disposable! It's a double win.

Witch Killer by C. L. Werner

Witch Killer, while it stands as the third book in the omnibus Mathias Thulmann Witch Hunter, isn't necessarilty the close of the story started in the first book. Indeed, it almost seems like one of those old serial movies that keeps going and going and going.

C. L. Werner brings back most of the characters from previous books including Mathias, his loyal yet troubling henchman Streng,some loathsome ratmen, the necromancer, his new ally, the vampire Gregor, first introduced in book one, as well as more of the internal politics and signature setting material that indicates this is a Warhammer book and not a generic fantasy book.

1. The Never Ending Battle: As I mentioned, C. L. Werner brings a lot of the previous cast back, even when that previous casts interaction with the main characters here is minimal. On one hand, if you're writing a series that has to be kept open ended because you don't know what the next novel, indeed, if even there will be a
next novel, will bring, keeping things open and 'breezy' allows you to bring those fan favorite elements back at a later date.

This works well, to a point, in super hero comics. Superman, is noted as fighting a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way. Comics are often fighting a battle for readership and utilizing old elements to appeal to older fans. Even game systems aren't above this, rehashing old names and ideas.

But in a role playing game, you have to keep your direct audience in mind. How well are the adventurers going to link together and how closely will they be tied together. Paizo speeds out twelve modules a year in two adventure paths. In my early days of playing, anything purchased would rarely have any direct ties or lead ins to anything else purchased in terms of 'story'. There were exceptions but I didn't pick up one adventure or issue of Dungeon expecting that adventure to be continued next week so to say.

Know your audience. If they're getitng tired of the same cast of characters and the same subplots, move on. You as the GM are not writing a novel or a comic. Your ability to react to the players is immediate.

2. The henchman.  Once again, back in 'the day', many characters would have allies and henchmen who might be greater than the other rift raft out there, but not as awesome as the main character. Comics tended to do this by introducing younger versions of the heroes, Captain America and Bucky, Human Torch and Toro, Batman and Robin, Superman and Supergirl... but in novels, you had Elric and Moonglum, as well as Michael Moorcock's other Eternal Champions and the Eternal Companion.

The henchman had a unique set of rules tied into Charisma back in the day. Later editions have kind of gone away from that idea. One of the reasons why is probably character complexity. Another reason is that the literature that the game is based on tends to focus on characters as equals.

The nich thing about having 'lessers' around though, is you can use them to cast a nice contrast to the characters they follow. While Streng has no blessings of Sigmar upon him and no magical silver sword, he is a brute and a loyal ally. He is a quick thinker able to use his dishevelled looks to his own advantage. While Mathias is pious and tried and true and enjoys his work, Streng enjoys getting paid, enjoys getting the better of someone else, enjoys bringing pain to others... in many ways, the dark reflection of Mathias work given flesh and enjoyment in that work.

3. The Turnaround: I've mentioned before that failure should not necessarily be the end of the game. If the characters have to make a skill check to beat a monster and fail, perhaps that just results in them being captured by a trap. If they have to overcome a particular foe, perhaps they are held hostage in hopes of exchange for funds or future assistance. Part of this will depend on how much the characters want to fight against the dice and how much they want to go with the story. If the players are outmanned left right and sideways because of poor decesions they have made and you offer them the chance to surrender and they want to fight it out, take off the kid gloves and play the monsters as intelligently as possible.

This doesn't mean that opportunities for survival aren't there. For example, if the players are surrounded by ogres and trolls, perhaps the side that suffers the worst of the player's initial attack decides to help the players out and wipe out their enemies. After all, they can always take care of the players later right?

4. The Intelligent Magic Item: Game books are filled with intelligent magic items. Fiction abounds with them. Elric's black blade, Stormbringer, is probably one of the more famous. In the three books of Mathias Thulmann, Das Buch die Unholden, speaks not a word, but its actions make clear that it is alive in its own way, possessing its own malevolvent intelligence and purpose. One of the problems with 4th edition D&D, and to a lesser extent, 3rd edition, is that they are games with hard written rules. Without spelling everything out, there may be room open for different interpetations of how powers and abilities work. Run with those possibilities. Describe a sword of berserking as seaking to leap out of the blade, of rattling around in the scabbard. Describe a vorpal blade as always pulling to the neck of the opponent. Describe a weapon of unholy magic as emiting an atmosphere of toxic unholy energy.

These things don't need game stats. Atmosphere and feeling are there to cater and create just that, atmosphere and feeling. If you want to reward a player for doing the description and taking advantage of those things in specific skill checks, go for it. "Listen friend, the sword of berserking is about to shatter my scabbard so either you start talking or I feed you to it." might warrant a +2 bonus on bluff or intimidate but shouldn't be an excuse to give character access to abilities they don't have.

While Witch Killer is a good popcorn novel, it is the weakest of the three but still worthy of ideas to pillage.

Witch Finder by C. L. Werner

A brief synopsis: Many threads are woven together as new complications make life more than interesting for Mathias Thulmann and his hencman Streng. C. L. Werner throws politics, city adventuring, and other elements into a book that is distinctively Warhammer in nature.

For those who want to avoid spoilers, read no further.

1. City Life

Mathias and his comrade Streng return to Wurtbad in order to hunt down a book that was not found at the end of their previous adventure. In doing so, Mathias becomes involved with several churches of the city, including Morr, god of death, as well as the goddess of mercy. This does not count his involvement with the politics of his own witch hunter temple, those of the ruler of the city, or those of the lawmaker of the city.

In short, there are a lot of things going on here and it makes life more interesting for Mathias because no sooner has one ball hit the hand than the other one is in the air. This is part of the lure of the city for me. You can have several, if not outright dozens of things happening that may involve the character and may be things that they can become involved with.

2. Plauge

What makes city life more interesting? Why, city life under the plague. C. L. Werner goes to town in a setting with a plague god, mad doctors and skaven and does with with a plague. The role of the priestess of mercy come clearer here, as they try to give succor and healing to those who need it, while those of Morr, the god of death, provide sanctity to the dead. This is a very real threat to the setting as the undead are not an unknown menace so making sure the dead stay at peace is indeed a vital part of the duties. Why they would not simply burn the bodies on the other hand...

Anyway, plague makes for some great elements in a setting. It can create mass change, depopulate whole regions, take out allies and enemies alike. However, the one thing that C. L. Werner does, as I've tried to do myself when running such situation, is avoid taking it out on the main characters. Mathias and Strength, despite being deep down in the plague ridden areas the most, are untouched by it. When you make the disease more about how its effecting the region around the characters, the effects on the character's shouldn't be some penalty to an ability score or the use of wealth to purchase a cure disease. It should be shops closing because the owners are dead. It should be the city being held in quarantine until things are cleared. It should be social breakdown as even those in the higher reaches of society fall victim to plague.

3. Signature Setting Elements

On one hand, the Warhammer setting is generic. Armored knights ride around using great weapons to cleave into the undead or trolls or goblins. Wizards engage themselves in the art of magic. Clerics tend to the flocks but really, they smash the heathens and often have the blessings of the god and a different type of magic. Could be D&D right?

On the other hand, Warhammer is one of the first, if not the first setting to codify ratmen as anything other than lycanthropes with their Skaven who worship the Horned God, use Warpstone, have strange technology powered by sorcerery as well as Rat Ogres and dozens of other unique elements about them.

While they do have pagan gods and cults, the Four Ruinous Powers that serve as the setting's Chaos Gods have their own chants such as "Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne", in addition to signature creatures of other sorts.

It is in these fields, even when describing the different types of vampires and their strengths and abilities, that C. L. Werner makes this a Warhammer novel and not some generic fantasy adventure. By playing off the vast material and the huge scope of the Warhammer setting, even as things change and the table top moves away from Vampires being several subbranches to other variants, and the Undead have moved from being a generic undead army to Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings to begin with, the fact that a setting has all of this information waiting to be used allows the setting to sing with its signature strengths.

And at the same time, remain all purpose enough to plunder from. A mad noble whose transformation into a thing of horror and chaos would fit well in most fantasy settings. A vampire sorcerer looking for his book of spells that were bound in his own skin? A mad doctor using magical elements to warp humanity about him? These elements could be applied to most fantasy settings, or indeed, even more modern or steam punk settings, with little difficulty.

In Privateer Press own setting, perhaps the mad doctor uses dragon blight instead of warpstone. Perhaps in the Forgotten Realms, it is a Shade who is a Shadovar seeking an ancient tome from the time of Nethril's prime.

The general ideas can be crafted into specific points for your own campaign if you're willing to put the polish into them.

4. Timing

Here, C. L. Werner may have pushed his luck. While I don't have any problem with the way things all came together in the end, the various threads, plots, characters, and events may be so crammed in a game, that the GM tries to resolve them in one big party.

If you are comfortable with this, if you can quickly change the scene, if you can quickly take action from one character to the next, to the next to the next with little pause between, then go for it.

If you cannot handle the quick pace of multiple elements coming together, if the issue of making multiple enemies from different factions come out, if the resolution of several plots might be more than you want to run, the goods news is you don't have to. Allow the players to try and set the tone and the pace and if necessary, throw a red herring or two at them in order to keep the pace of the game one you're comfortable with.

C. L. Werner provides a lot of material in the second book of Witch Hunter for the reader who wants a little variety.

Witch Hunter by C. L. Werner

It's been busy around here. At work we're moving almost a thousand parts from downstairs to the second floor and this requires someone to do the moves in the system while someone else physically does the moves. Thankfully I'm one of the few left who knows how to do the system stuff so the slave labor went to others. On the other hand, it means I've already started working on the weekends again so my reading, painting, gaming and most importantly, drinking, have all suffered.

Nontheless, I have managed to finish the first book in the Witch Hunter trilogy of Mathias Thulman by C. L. Werner. If you're looking for a good read that's set in the Warhammer setting and is loyal to the setting with some strong character archetypes, it fits the bill.

For gaming, I didn't write down as much this time for a few reasons, the first being that I lost my stupid transparent bookmarkers. Argh. Anyway, quotes are taken from the trade trilogy edition.

Character Knowledge Default

While on a wagon, the witch hunter, his hencman, and others are taken to a ruin of Slyvania. For those who are familiar with the Warhammer setting, this is a vampire kingdom plagued by the undead. Mathias, the start of the series, knows what it is.

Sometimes GMs are so intent on focusing on making everything new and wonderful and unique for the players, that they forget some of them are experienced old hands or more importantly, that their characters are and common knowledge and lore, even uncommon bits of information, may already be in their possession. When possible, allow the players to take the lead in sharing that information with the other players so that it showcases the breath and depth of those characters. Not everyone is a farmer that can only shoot big rats with impressive accuracy. Some are already seasoned knights.

Resource Management

During their encounters with ghouls in the ruins of the dead, one of the characters Mathias has met, a dwarf, reveals that he has explosives in the wagon they've left behind. Not explicitly mentioned earlier, it reminded me of a game I played, which I believe is Trail of Cthulhu, where you can make resource rolls to see if you have specific equipment need to overcome challenges as they crop up. Instead of following all recommended guidelines in the game in terms of magic items and abilities, think about allowing the players to pull out extras in exchange for giving up parcel drops. It will add a lot more random elements and creativity to the game then allowing them to pay for bonus fortune cards.

Signature Items

Mathias has a slver blade blessed by the highest source of religious power in the land. This blade serves him well in many instances. However, he didn't get it from an ancient tome. He didn't travel the planes to prevent someone else from getting it. He didn't pull it from a stone. It's part and parcel of his job essentially. Not every weapon has to be Stormbringer or Caliburn to be potent. Sometimes having friends in the right places and times can make all the difference.

Change it Up

If there was an annoyance with reading the first book, it was that every time Mathias spoke, the author described it as silky. Pay attention to how you talk and how you describe things. If you find yourself going over and over the same material time and time again, get a thesaurus. Try out different catch phrases. Watch different movies. Do something to shake yourself out of repeating yourself over and over again.

Family Matters

In the first novel, Mathias is charged with finding out about varous murders in a land ruled by a retired Witch Hunter. C. L. Werner introduces the retired witch hunter, his wife, two sons, and the history of witch hunting that spans some odd five hundred years. The characters in the faimly are different and unique in their ways and this helps the exploration of Mathias into the history complelling and drives the reader forward. If the GM can showcase that the settings are populated by people, he can try to engage the characters with these people for both good and bad consquences. The more rich and diverse the cast of NPCs are, the larger their list of contacts are, the more the characters will feel that they are engaging a real setting as opposed to a point and click event.

C. L. Werner does a good job of brining Mathias to life and those looking to expand their lore of Witch Hunters in the Warhammer setting should pick up the omnibus.

Witch Hunter by C. L. Werner

Started reading the old Witch Hunter. The prose style is easy to read and the Warhammer world is well described here. The book falls under my 'popcorn' reading. Below are some quotes taken from the first short story in the book so beware of spoilers for those who detest such things.

On The Use of Holidays:

"The Festival of Wilhelmsag brought many travellers to Kleinsdorf... Gustav again sipped at his wine, silently toasting Wilhelm Hoess and the minotaur lord which had been kind enough to let itself and its horde of Chaos spawn by slaughtered in the streets of Kleinsdorf two centures passed." (pg 18 of the Witch Hunter Omnibus)

With the recent passing of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and of course New Year, I've mentioned a few times that creating holidays, holy dates, and festivity days can be an important part of world building. One thing I didn't hit on, which C. L. Werner does here, is that the scope of the holidays do not have to be all emcompassing. In the dark and standard fantasy settings most D&D style games takep lace in, a lone village that defends itself from an advancing army is going to celebrate that victory.

In terms of connecting it to the campaign, make it not an army of goblins or orcs, but an army of invaders from a nearby neighboring lord that wanted the resources of the land. Beaten back, every year those intruders have to hear of the victory dances and celebrations held one town over. Perhaps they eventually decide to do something about it...

Where Ever You Go, There You Are

"It was Gerhardt Knauf...He was afraid you had come.. seeking him." (pg. 28).

I've mentioned it before, but adventure, action, or events, happen where the characters are because of who the characters are. When a Witch Hunter comes into town, those not prepared for it may panic and do things that normally they'd be more cool-headed and avoid. Same thing for bounty hunters or press gangs or military come recruiting.

Whatever the players make and how they interact with the world, they may be known by things as simple as their garb, choice of weapons, or holy symbols. And when you need to kick start an adventure, just decide that someone where they're going doesn't particularly like that.

The Little Touches

"the grimoire of a centuries-dead Bretonnian witch;p the abhorred Ninth Canticle of Tzeentch, its mad author's name lost to the ages;" (pg. 29)

I hate coming up with names for libraries but the players are always asking what the titles of the books are. Try to keep a list of book names and other useful references nearby so that when they go seeking out knowledge or come across that lich's library, you've got some space covered. And then whatever the players don't inquire about on the list, move it to a new list.

Keep The Action Moving

"The monster crashed into Thulmann sending both man and fiend plumeeting down the stairs." (pg 33)

Authors have to keep the reader's attention on the page. Despite complaints or critcism, R A Salvator has managed to keep Drizzt on the market for decades and one of the things his fans clamor about are the fight scenes. While the fight against this pink horror isn't so long, it does involve a lot of movement from room to room in the manor. Let the monster take a few attacks of opportunity as it bodily hurls the character down the stars. Let the monster take some damage from landing under the character if they make an agility test to put it on the bottom. Keep the action dynamic.

Player Restraint

"If we meet again I may not be so restrained." (pg 37)

Mathias has the opportunity to take out an enemy, but it is one driven by lose of love, not greed, chaos, or any of the other potential reasons a witch hunter might strike someone dead. Well, at least a righteous witch hunter.

Recently, Dragon magazine on the DDI, had an article basically about cripplining and maming your enemies instead of killing them. In the above instance, Mathias has not done that but he has won. think about asking the playersi f they are going for a 'fatal' blow. Allow the damage and other factors to be calculated normally but if the enemy goes down, ask them if they're out for blood. Sometimes their response may surprise you.

C. L. Werner keeps the action moving and provides the little touches that tell you this isn't the Forgotten Realms, it's the world of Warhammer.