I started a solo adventure with WFRP (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay) 1st Edition, the beginning of an exploration of British RPGs using solo play. There was a part 2 check-in and this is the final part.
Below is a summary of Trasci's final adventures, more thoughts on WFRP 1st Edition, some solo notes and what's next. Plus final stats of Trasci.
Rolling solo with wfrp 1e - intro | partway | finish
The Latter Adventures of Trasci of Altdorf, Brief Version
We left Trasci last time ready to try and find a wolf near the von Stirhesse estates, accompanied by the bounty hunter, Danilo, who hunted a bounty on a minor noble.
After failing to find wolf tracks, they hear howling, and while having an argument a dire wolf, as big as a horse, interrupts them. Trasci rooted in fear as his companion is ripped apart, before our footpad flees into the trees.
After praying to Ulric, Trasci gets a vision he interprets as a new path, protecting others. After burning and looting Danilo's body, he finds a strange gem that has a weird glow. After a few days in the woods he finds and slays a wolf, badly skinning it.
Growing bolder, Trasci approaches the von Stirhesse estate, bribing a guard with a few crowns to help him find work. Turns out the noble with a bounty is desperate for a guard. The pariah of the family, Urica quickly takes to Trasci and he enters a new phase of life as a bodyguard. He is concerned by the axe she carries, as he recognises it as belonging to his foe, the dwarf Fredek.
Trasci finds he is in luck, as his new employee reveals a plan to get the maps for herself, reason unspecified. A couple of days later Urica and Trasci meet allies at night, a couple of Tilean mercenaries (unknown to them are doppelgangers). They are interrupted by Reinholt, a family rival of Urica, and his guards, guided to them by a halfling servant of the estate. Things go horribly wrong in the confrontation, resulting in a dead Reinholt, three surrendered guards and a couple of them fled.
Deciding to abandon other plans, Urica orders Trasci and the Tileans to head to the temple where the maps are kept. Someone has raised the alarm and search parties look for Reinholt, coming on the group in a graveyard. Trasci steals a noble's horse in the dark to serve as a distraction, riding away only to quickly be dismounted and knocked out by a guard (losing a Fate Point)
Trasci wakes up in the dark in a ditch, still armoured but down a sword. Thanking Ulric he heads to a Twisted Oak he was to meet the others there, only to find his enemy, the dwarf Fredek, waiting there with three mercenaries. He'd heard rumours of them while at the estate, and watched as mercenaries sent after Ulrica and her Tileans. Trasci follows Fredek into the estate, where the dwarf deals with halfling servants he recognises as Bukin family (rivals of his), and they appear to have a copy of the maps!
Trasci ends up following Fredek and some halflings at a distance. Ambushing the dwarf as he camped away from the others, he knocks him out, leaving Fredek bleeding as he flees with the maps, but the halflings don't give chase in the night. The next morning Trasci comes upon signs of a struggle, along with some of Urica's clothes and her hat and assumes her companions betrayed her.
After resting Trasci headed to the Muddy Leg, temple of Ulric. Here meets the priest Raniyeh, who was expecting him. Accepted into the fold of Ulric with his wolfskin cloak, he is told to travel to Middenheim and escort another. When he insists on going to Nuln, his maps are burnt and he does not need the lowlives of there.
Realising this is a chance to break from his former life, Trasci bows to the will of Ulric, meeting a Norscan who seems familiar and he will escort to Middenheim and the seat of Ulric. He says a goodbye to his former life and sets out on the path towards serving as a warrior.
Final Thoughts on WFRP
Adding to the thoughts from the last article.
Initiative is such an important skill, helpful for sneaking, perception and who goes first in Initiative. Lots of odd skills can be useful for characters, such as Bribery for Trasci. Many of the skills are binary in nature such as Ride (you can ride or not) and Scale Sheer Surface.
Characters can go down so fast in combat in this edition, especially if they aren't so tough. Trasci was quite good on the offence, but took wounds so easily too.
Lots of the lore is a hodgepodge, but cool. Such as the druidic magic which gets lots in future versions of WFRP, or at least wrapped up into a couple of colleges of magic. It was easy to get lost reading the lore instead of playing the game.
Cool magic ideas but not a great magic system (not that I used it this time round with Trasci).
And the rules are buried and scattered, which can make playing solo take longer.
The careers system is fairly forgiving in allowing you to move around, relying on GM fiat to say yes or no. Also characters can go from an average combatant to a powerful in a relatively short time. The step from Attacks 1 to Attacks 2 is huge for melee combat.
Final Thoughts on Solo
Offline as always, Using One Page Solo Edition. and some Story Cubes
Ideas from OPSE were sometimes okay, sometimes clunky. I didn't like rolling separately to see if altered scene and then for next bit.
Also printed off a names list using a small image and my own random generators site. Using screen shot from mobile.
Useful and needs more investigation
What's Next
I'm going to continue with the 3-part format, although with a little more introduction of setting and initial session in the Part 1. I already do enough not to want to do a full-transcription / video or other format of covering my solo games. So something flexible like this works for me.
I think I need to work on ways to make the blog-posts interesting, but that will take time, practice and polish. Or it might just be a confidence thing!
The next game will be Dungeoneer, an RPG version of Fighting Fantasy and the first ever RPG I ever played or ran.
I plan on trying out story cubes and a custom d20 solo system to start, probably trying out a couple of other solo tools too.
Trasci Updated
Trasci of Altdorf, Human Bodyguard, Ex-Footpad (Warrior), Fate 1, Insanity Points 4, 6'0", 34 yr-old
Trasci seeks to prove himself a loyal and worthy follower of Ulric, putting his subterfuges behind him. He needs to keep himself occupied or becomes bored. Has wolf scars on leg and face marked by Ulric.
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Dex | Ld | Int | Cl | WP | Fel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 35 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 41* | 1 | 30 | 32 | 31 | 37 | 27 | 26 |
| +20(ii) | (i) | +1(i) | +2(ii) | +10(i) | +1(i) | ||||||||
| 55 | 40 | 5 | 9 | 51 | 2 |
Skills - Acute Hearing (r), Ambidextrous (r), Bribery (r), Dance (r), Lightning Reflexes* (r), Ride (r), Silent Move Rural, Silent Move Urban, Speak Language (Old Worlder), Strike Mighty Blow, Strike to Stun
Gear - sturdy worn clothes, rough wolf pelt, sling bag, boots, knife, bow and ammo, mace, leather jack, shield, mail shirt, rope, glowing gem (from Danilo), 14 gold crowns.
Unfinished Threads and NPCs
Unfinished /Ongoing Threads were..
- Escort Sigmund of Norsca (Siggy) to Middenheim and temple of Ulric
- Evade attentions of Gaspar and his outlaws and Dahlia
- Find out who is hunting for the gem found on Danilo
- Find the Tileans (doppelgangers) and their maps
Final NPCs list was (no stats listed)
- Sabina Grasser, Merchant. Hostile to Trasci, romantic history with Trasci
- Rudolph Grassser, Innkeeper of the Reaver's Return. Cousin of Sabina.
- Burkin Family, halfling criminals who don't like Trasci
- Logan the Scribe. Glutton, works for Sabina.
- Von Stirhesse noble family. From Stirland, interested in maps
- Neftu Burkin, halfling Scribe. Works for acution company, at odds with family.
- Dahlia, Mercenary, former Ratcatcher. Quiet, greedy, big axe, dog
- Gaspar, Outlaw Chief. Has box, chaos cultist / mutant, 5 outlaw followers including Dahlia
- Raniyeh, priestess of Ulric, former Outlaw. Doesn't like people of the south, loyal but dominated by a fear.
- Two Tilean mercenaries (Doppelgangers), Luigi and Maria, with the maps
- Berthilda Fuchs, Guard, formerly worked for von Stirhesse family, wants to make it to the city, albino
Locations
- Lowly Chance, underground gambling den, run by a Kislev woman (dead), magic gambled for.
- Reaver's Return
- Von Stirhesse Estates
- Muddy Leg, a roadside meadhall and temple to Ulric.
Finishing Up
"On a tree stump on the edge of a minor forest trail, Trasci sits and listens to wolves chasing something in the distance. His companion has fallen into a fitful slumber, leaving the Bodyguard to think on how far he has come.
"A few weeks ago, he entered Nuln desperate to prove himself in some way Now he is leaving everything behind to escort a wolf-like Norscan who makes his scar throb. But he has found a purpose, in the faith of Ulric, and left the lies and subterfuges of the past for a truer, simpler path. Blood and fire await."
"On the trail behind, a band of outlaws trails their leader, who sniffs the air, smiling at the faint scent of the gem he seeks..."
"In a shabby inn in Nuln, two shapeshifters consume the remains of two cousins, taking on their identities as merchant and landlord of the Reaver's Return, making a home for themselves here in the underworld..."
Happy gaming!
