THE INDEPENDENT MJ@AZINE FOR WARHAMMER FANTASY ROLEPLAYEDITORIAL By John Foody After our promised break in service we return once more, ready to take on the world. The Old World anyway. We haven't been idle however, sailing around the world on money embezzled from ‘Warpstone Incorporated. We were hard at work getting Corrupting Influence: The Best of Warpstone finished. We are very pleased with the results and the feedback we have received suggests that you are too, We hope it will help attract some new readers to Warpstone, and maybe even WFRP. We have had @ number of comments recently calling for more background. So, alongside our continuing Talabheim series, we bring comprehensive coverage on the Sea of Claws. This is in addition to the usual mix of articles. Again, we do feel we have been squeezing articles in, From next issue we are Jooking at increasing our page count ~ but we shall see. As always, the feedback we do receive, and there is never enough, is always useful. For this reason we have decided to undertake another readers survey. We hope you'll take the time to complete it. ‘Afier much waier under the magic bridge, we are happy to say that we can finally bring you a review of Realms of Sorcery. As you'll see my thoughts on this long awaited book are mixed. Have a read of the review, and then let us know what you think. If we ‘get enough, we'll publish next issue. The next release from Hogshead is due to be the Dwarf sourcebook by regular Warpstone contributor Alfred Nufez Jr Over the next couple of issues we'll be bringing you some additional background on the dwarfs, some by Alfred himself. We'll also be doing the same for Realms of Sorcery, filing in some of the gaps left by the book. Our second review, is of the unofficial supplement A Private War, self published by our regular columnist Tim Eccles. Although I usually review all new WFRP products for Warpstone, | have refrained from doing so here. Our reviews have to be, and be seen to be, completely fair. Thus we asked someone independent to do this one, The same will go for all other products where we have had some input, With the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter movies doing big business, it seems fantasy is everywhere at the moment. Games Workshop have had hug success with their Lord of the Rings game. However, so far it seems as if RPGs are gaining little from this raising of the genre’s profile. There seems to be no ‘way to attract new blood to the RPG hobby in any large numbers. Wizards of the Coast's D20 revolution already seems to have largely died. So although there are enough players to keep roleplaying going for some time, it seems there is no way to pry the coffin lid off. So, on that sombre note, I'll with the rest of the issue fe you to get on E mall warpstoneabgfotcom bios Job Fody John Keane ‘Associate Bitors: Martin Olver & Mel Taino Joes Cove: Olver Berger Sitemeter Re fate ME crn’ ec, Hin, yan Wieman, Cake Tiga. Tom MeGrenn Mark Bel Zeno Colas, Kone Schober Rskrd Leon Joy MacGregor, Anos, Adan & Peter, Demon Nigh Font on pages 17-27 © Bri ater Font Cotrany SUBMISSIONS een ee Souter cane Ware yo nd sin ad ee ch ‘rem sin goo tine ple rope toremindisFaeo rep singly syne ofthe chats nae Ofte warplane aniston utah ete with a submsio we wil ate ie spond Payment [A poh conto cre you scopy of Wars foun Dass maton PCa mated prea eerie ane ‘Weare alway looking for ass, You mst ve a esting ofthe “ara "(which ove «broad rags ofsp lene our cuentas wl sf) bt we aha float tal Kins of work, we Telaed in Warstons, and sme examples of ny cer wok you have done sever ot sd ‘iil bat only copies ‘ne we at loking for sew monte. caer sills, ps. (Tht sli yu have sain god sn in) Wear loking fr artikes hat expand ofthe wrk of Warharr iing ithe gape hat ar presen. We to ok thw the game played csi es rear ol panes ‘Seimei would be nfl ba mt ese, Regular Articles ‘Comment drier: We ae lay looking fr aries where you pu across your pol of vew on parc ‘bjt Cimon: Bre encanta aver eines, ticle charter pois nly rs Scouring eld adverts. We ae epi ike in cron ht not de hos | of creatures tf mai or ds of Chaos cls. Whe the tended thy shu be an egal uo the sry Abe of goblins wih + suo al ound il rove te age ha te ear ep 8 might cs you want to ee any WRP eae artic then let us know We wil a0 the article ist Ont the folowing on the Uist tthe moment ‘Carers As metond in esc 1 Not new ones bt she ut cles and backround forthe cr cayrea) CONTENTS enw REPORTS FROM THE HEART OF CORRUPTION The Order of the Ram rd “The St. Bernards of the Dwarf realms, The ‘of dwarf you ate happy to met when hig an orc that ‘Cold, bleak mountainsides stared back at them.” Brescia EI 7, ‘A look st the main criminal group ia the tity and 4 couple more districts The Kislevites of Talabheim have, to a great Ws been over fifteen years, but we finally {get to review Realms of Sorcery. Also, the supplement A Private Wat. just one question that needs to be answered: Was it worth the w News of the Best of Warpstone, + review of Lord of the Rings and loads more. There has been much demand for the early jong sold out, and now inflated prices xeon BD) Crean 38 EPs ay "I ‘on to their belief in the Old “Tim Eccles regular column takes + look at ‘A look at the orgaaisition of physicians the se of language in WFRP. and others. The first of our guild artcl “it is something that was neither initially Twill assume thatthe clergy is limited and -xplained, nor has clarification overworked, toa deep " suspicion of magical heal AUT eco aR od Bt Just how far will someone go for profit? toe a sO 2 From the author of the Dwarf sourcebook ‘ comes background on the Diwikoai, humans Find this Talabheim scenario. who live with the dwar Asis the way, there are those willing to risk ‘Some argued that it would be folly to admit their, and others, lives for money the Manlings into the Dwarf realms. ¢ Ronen U ona been forthcom ‘There be mossters! Bickgrou ‘A prisoner of Chios, forced to fight in this of Claws, its coasts full of stra short st 7 and people, its waters dangerous and They stood silhouetted against the sk redictable. horseback, their horned helms and lane “Ulric saw the great crack and jutting out from the horizon. shatter:REVIEWS REALMS OF SORCERY By Ken & Jo Walton Published by Hogshead Publishis Reviewed by John Foody Fall. after sixteen yearsin the making. Reals o Sorcery hasarived. Famously promised as "coming soon” inthe original rulebook. an cartier attempt by Someshing Rouen in Kise autor Ken Rolin Was ejected by Games Workshop fornotbeing “Warhammer enough. With he game in limbo. tated Hopshead to tke up the baton aguin. Although they commissioned the book some seven years ago it was held op again and again. Nevertheless its with we now and ‘here just one question that neds to be answered: was it worth the wat? WFRP's magic system ha ben much derided over the years, with many players saying tha they would lke it changed. {have never relly ad this problem, Although not perfect it suited my syle of game (one with litle magic) fine It ‘was simple and easy to play [had two major doubts approaching Realms of Sorcery, The fist was tht it would be litle mote than ast of new spells and secon that Warhammer Fantasy Bate woul adversely influence i. This was 4 problem wit the original magic rules. and since then Games Workshop have released numerous supplement detailing how magic works, mos controversially ‘sith the intdcton of the colours of magic. Using the background and ies fiom the Batle game is nt problem, for tix an obvious benefit to fink the ames to some deprec. The real test would be how Realms of Sorcery chose modify itto ft WFP's unigue se Twas hoping to sce Reals of Soren concentrating on the background of ‘magic and those that wielded is power. | would be happy to sce new spells and arcers long as they were Fly placed inthe context of the world and dde't unbalance the game. It is lich to say that you can pick and choose pars of any supplement you wish to use but it holds trac, especially in a Book ofthis size. However, Realms of Sorcery docs have a esponsibility wo ensure Ut WFRP's (Od World remains interesting and balanced nme, a book like this wil alfet 2 ‘many other supplements and cannot but change WERP. ‘One ofthe problems that | don’t fel Warhammer, among most other games, thas yet wo gett grips with ste exstnce of magic In a world where magic is real systems and laws have be made to counter and use it while beliefs wil spring up around those who practice. Again, Realms of Sorcery would be judged ‘how Wel it could follow through on this “Available in hard and soft Back, the book itself isan impressive two hundred and fifty sx pages. Using fll-page at instead of smaller piece, the layout looks 00d. Theat someby Warpstone artists) s mixed but generally ofahigh standard, although one orto pises are reprints The first chapter ook tthe very origin of magic in the Old Wold particulary as seen by the Elves. Human wizardry was dominated by Elemental util 140 hundred years ago when the face of Magic nthe Empire really changed. With the coming of Chaos, Magnus the Pious dispatched an envoy tothe Elves for hop. and they ent the wizard Tei twas he who taught the mans how to ase that the Power of Chios could be seen as rainbow of colours. Each ofthese could Be ‘welded ina diferent way. This colour magic isthe most potent that humans can ould learn hos to wield it He also taught them about colour magic tse although ina limited way ~ unlike the Eves The next chapter details the nature ofeach of these Colours a well asthe other lsciplines available to humanity Battle Magi and Elementalism among them, Ie then gives an overview of Dask magic and the different arms wielded by Non Introducing the system of Colour Magic was always going tobe problematic. asit changes the way that mage is perceived in WERP. Having Elemental as the native human mage isan interesting vist one that ike. Tam less keen on the introduetion of colour and hate mage. but ony inthe execution a opposed to the theory. With these changes, the emphasis of magic remains ily roted in earfre This. mistake ast iva ditt transfer of emphasis from the Bate ‘me rather than a desire to ook tho it could be used inthe wider OM World However this leaning has now been given a slid context wo pace i within, one ‘hat suits the background its, However while thi works a abroad level, it falls down once you look a the detail, While is important to the background of “Magie inthe Emit. Realms of Sorcery shouldn't have Been so heavily Tocused hee Apart Tels seting up of th colleges systems of control were introduced. looking to stop wizards tuning tothe dark ars. As pat of this, Hoences were implemented. These are detailed as part ofthe background on “A Wizard's ile" isthe only part to rally stand ont, Licences are an excellent idea, Firmly Within the Ol! World mili. Wizards who donot carry a valid Ticence are open to accusatios of among other things neromaney chaos worship. Eventhough ‘most peopl cannot read it does takeaway from the concept a it gives eas for forgeries thet or ignoring thm fr political or personal reasons. It reminds reo the fact that Pads and thers wer required to arty Licences ia Elizabethan limes to stop them being areested. Another snippet I Tike is that Wizards are responsible forthe crimes other apprentices, in an effort to stamp out the darker Side of magic. Such controls on Wizards and their movements and setions is welcome. It answers o my erie thowght that society would have to deal with them in some way They mabe fered and distrusted but they ares useful in many situations. Sueh beliefs ppl tothe village wise woman as well asthe mot powerol Colour ‘sian There are problemi this chapter, however. The main one ithe recommended ‘numberof wizards in The Empire. Its commendations fora low magic game ‘mean that there will be atleast to hundred and forty fourth and filth level mage ‘users in The Empire. This isa huge amount and should be considered by GMs ‘when ntducing various aspects fom this book, Although ts open for GMs to change. this does unbalance the woe concept of mage nthe Empire, especialy ‘where the head of the Wizards & Alchemists Guid is only 3 Level (see Midenheim: City of Chaos. Late it states that wizards renew their Hieences ely at the nearest colle. with Imperial Wizards retuming to Aldo to sear allegiance to the Empire. This means that all thse oserfal Colour wizards live ‘within a short distance of Ado. Ihave to say tha did get confused here with the terminology. Colour Wizards ae also called Imperial wizards, but Battle ‘Wizard are not even though they also swear allegiance tothe Empire, ‘One ofthe Best chapter is that on Hedge Wizardry. The result ofall the como placed on wizards means there wil be those who fill outside the I, even how they are not involved in forbidden magic. This encompasses a wide range of Warpstone - Issue Nineteen‘magic uses from healers to wis-women. Is harder for Hedge Wiards wo gin pover outside the structured college approach but they can us variety of spells from different disciplines. With this comes some solid reasoning foe why there are spel ist in the frst plac. The ies of Hedge-Wirardry isan interesting and ‘welcome addition tothe background, More could have been made of the, but nevertheless it til makes a perfect PC carer in many ways. The mest common form of magic inthe Old World is Bale Magic, detailed in the next chapter. It begins with the story ofa group of Druids choosing vo become Battle Wizards at the time of Tees. On one side this introduces an interesting Sehism, bat onthe other it looks lke an ate to fit everything ino ideas of Colour Magic. Colleges in Nuln, Talabheim and Altdort are desribed, most ‘offering an “ficial” Imperial curriculum. This makes it very dificult for tend these colleges. On reaching fourth level a wizard may attempt to join one ‘ofthe eight colour colleges to learn colour magic up t ith level Allocated in Aldor, there is a description ofeach Colour College including the buildings and principal wizard. Where to begin? The descriptions of the colleges are possibly the wort thing writen for WFRP. We have fourth level ‘wizards cleaning pigeon shit of ledges, and occasionally falling to thet deaths. There is a pyramid that extend hundreds of feet underground, ‘wizards walking around with Sthes| and generally ideas far too close to| “erry Pract “The authors do succeed in making cach college different, but mostly because they are so simplified. Its extremely unlikely that PCs cou join the colleges as there is around a years training and various commitments be upheld do like afew ideas, such as Jade magic being related tothe Scasoal changes, but in the end these se just snippets. Sadly, tebe Overall the Battle Magic chapter doesnot convince, Not enough space is spent looking at what a Battle ‘Wizard sand des or hohe does i Instead this is, and I use the phrase inthe worst posible ‘ay, to high fantasy. Colour magi itself snot necessarily bad, but the way itis handled here unbalances the tackground, misses mich ofthe sit of the game, and is unatmospric ini outlook I Fecstagged on when should have been merged into the system at every level. The introduction of ith level wizards is pointless addition, ‘when spell lists and carers could have been incorporated ‘more closely. Some of the functions ofthe Colour Wizards impinge on aspects of the Old World Gods (such as Jade wizards and the cult of Me) and more could have been made ofthis ‘Next follows the “older” fos of magic. Firsts tusionism, wit slink to the Theatre and the underworld. There is good background here with a few interesting twists. The chapter on Alchemists begins with some background on ‘what they do, followed by detail of what they make and how Simple rules are tiven for this - making solvents and acids among others. The whole chapter suffers from areal lack of atmosphere. Thee ae good ides but ti dry and undeveloped, 'As the human magic that predates colour and Bate magic, Elementi i sven far more prominent place inthe Od Wold background. I could fuely be called humanity's naturel magic. However Elemental are now seen as second ‘ate wizards despite being powerful manipulators of nature. fit level advance isa intradced the Flementalist becoming specialised in one ofthe clement. “There is some interesting materi here but its hampered by ick of imagination lemetalists are shochorned int college system (and ther main college located ina city) when there should have boon something more suited t their own characte. Firmly linked Kislev isthe new creer of ce Shaman. Inspired hy Warhammer Fantasy Bate, they are also similar in many ways to Hedge wizards, although there are more respected and tolerated. You could also see them as specialised Elements. Mostly Female they are descended fom the Gospodars harnessing the power of ee and cold. As with colour wizards they eather together yearly ‘which Tct’t help but thnk would cause all kindof problems. tia’ a problem ‘with them mecting but every year Seems fr to often. Some wl spend moths ‘eting there I they are only one month away. then thy are away from the lands fortwo months pls the meeting iself. All hee enemies ean just wat for them to head off as expected to get on with their evil deeds (and there i mileage in that ides too). Why not have them summoned when there is something to tak bout = summonses sent out on the sind, messengers dashing trough the soe to try and find them hidden away? This is heavily an NPC career. Overall nota ‘bad addition, but in part, thsi because i is brand new to the game. 'A number ofthe more minor and interesting magie colleges in the Empire are so looked at. These range from one specialising in Zone spells toa college for robles, faking in a sceret society orto. This is good chapter, with some nice ‘das which immediately made me thik ofa few scenario plots. Nothing bere too overpowered and it slots easily into the background. "Necromancers, Daemonologiss and Chaos wizards are all covered ina single chapter All ae given some background with the origins of Necromancy linked to Nagash, the strengthening of Daemonology to Chaos, and the magi granted bythe Chaos gods to their followers. Descriptions are given for three Chaos gods that follow the form in the main rulebook and generally don't add anything tunexpected. There is aso the ntodtion of Dark Magi, a form of pure Chaos that pools in areas causing a large chance of mutation. This isan extremely Aiseppointing chapter It should have been fr more deta in scope, with more details on how these wizards operate and how they ean be incorporated inthe background, Fr example we ae told that worshippers the Chaos Gods ceive "Marks of Chaos bt litle guidance is given am how to use these ‘Many of the non-human races use thei own forms of magic and these are covered inachaptr each. Fachs given adffeent syle inked tothe personality ‘of the race. The first isthe Elves ~ both Wood and High Elf magic. Wood Et ‘magic is linked tothe Treemen and the forest, taking the form of Tree Songs. Together with the spl lists, this works ‘wel. even though the pls are powerful at lov level. The High EIF form of magic isthe purest in the Warhammer World, However, i isso briefly covered as 1 he almost useless, consisting mostly of a profil of «High Elf mage. The few spells given for High Elves are powerful, one incredibly so. Despite the signs of interesting ideas this is so sketchy asto be pointless, something that bods for many ofthe other non-human chapters. “The Dwarfs version of Magic isthe most unique. They use Runes, each with a different power, which ae inscribed upon items - often ‘weapons or armour For example a Rune of Protection would give & bonus of extra Armour Points These nes were said to have been discovered by the Ancestor god Thungni and are cast by Runesmiths. This is as much about smithing 88 magic, and its secrets are jealousy guarded bythe Dwar This is another carcer largely unsuitable for PCs although theres Some useful background here However, it is again sketchy. (Casting tunes is also highly MH | canzerous ~ inscribing even a ‘second lve re his one in chance of doing a minimum of ‘ele damageto the Smith, However no where is this constant danger dincused ‘iret related to the Dwarf Rune magic isthe inferior human copy.Awizard ramped Klauser aban the knowledge fom the Dvarsin dubious circumstances nd became the frst Rune Master Highly illegal inthe Empire these Rune Masters ‘re hated by the Dwarfs and are forced to live double lives, This i a solid Tckground idea. 1 Hke the idea that the Dwarfs couldnt contain thee secrets tnd thatthe humans” knovsledge now acs 38 point of cont between the 660 races. There ae some immediate ieas for background and plos, making this 3 ‘ery use part oF the Sourcebook. Heavily reliant on the poser of Warpstone, Skaven wizards are extremely power in ther society. The background forthe wizards i thas an introduction to the Skaven asa whole ~ especially Clans Skyre and Pestilens. Background is tiven onthe Horne Ratan rules fr various Skaven weapons. Rulesaredtiled for Warpstone infection. and while simple the chance of mutation seems fa 00 high. An example is also given ofa Skaven Sorcerer. Again. thi chapter sufers fom a oo rel background and lack of development onthe ideas. and fel oo rooted tothe Bate background SS 3 Warpstone - Issue NineteenLasly forthe aces comes Goblin magic inthe form of Waaaght Needing lots of greenkins to work, the Shaman draws energy’ directly from them, something dangerous for them to attempt. The Shaman are messengers ofthe Goblin gods, “Mork and Gork. nd shaman ofthe different golinid races are looked at. There isalsoa look atthe sight diferent Snoling magic, aswell sa brie deserption ‘0 Ogre Shamans who use human tye mage, Sad this chap isjust depressing. ‘The goblinoids are those from Warhammer Fantasy Battle mix of infantilism and thuggery Their magic is plain comedy and compleely unsuited to WFRP. Tt Sscems to have beva transferred from one gxme to another without any’ idea or Intention of how i shouldbe mesifid tof Asurprising but welcome addition isha of Witch- Hunters. Surprising because they ae non magic-users but welcome because they are an essential part ofthe new background. Here they are recast ina mould different othe often-pereived ‘Warhammer Witch-Hunters, indeed in similar way to their treatment in arpsione (sce Corrpting Inftuence). As pat of thet duty, there ate required 19 hunt down and police wizards, especialy those with no licence, Up uni Mags they were jade jury and exscutoner bit now they can only Bing to trial A mice touch is that anyone found guily of Chaos Worship has all heir property taken hy the cult tha prosecuted them with only four hiving such powers. The new caer of Exorist is also described and they make for goed, teresting characters ‘with many possibilities. The next chapter looks atthe cating and cretion of spells. This isthe nuts and-bltsofthe system. and thee ia discussion on ingredients. gestures targeting ‘e-Rles fr spell creation are detailed, although the book recommends avoiding this unless you are sure it won't unbalance the game. Finally comes thoughts on Ingredient and buying mage items. Over. this isa very god chap, expanding ‘on the system useflly~ adding real depth to a previously dey set of ules ‘Slighly less success isthe chapter on Magic lems. Simple rules are given forthe creation of Magi lems although itis made clear that they ae dificult rake. There ae some excellent ideas hereon how a wizard creates an item. If GMallows a PC wizard 1 create items, they will need wo be careful a itis not hain pre numer terms isthe roleplaying side that makes it cult. More fan (oe GMS) i that bolding a magic item is basically egal, etiton that canbe put oall sorts of uses. After the rules for cretion come some vey powerful magic items. These are unique, witha desription of thee history, and could make an intersting focus fora campaign. Finally there salon list of potions, which reveals how easy itis to make a healing potion and just how useful the corpse of a Dragon really i. Thee is even the truly tebe Potion of Trt! ‘Agu, there re some interesting ideas here even for those who wouldn't allow Cs to make their ow items, Taking a full quarter ofthe book, the Spell ists begin by saying that those in the rulebook are the most commonly available, while these ae rarer. Beginning wth Petty Magic, there isa good selection of minor spells some especially useful forthives. Indeed, those pels are among the moe interesting. having asa whole, amore WFRP fel. The Batle Mage pels ar, a you'd expect i the same vein ‘as those inthe rulebook ~ heavily influenced by Warhammer Fantasy Bate. The Colour Magic spcls are an extension ofthese and very powerful, some absurdly so. However, many are atmosphere and interesting, but do boi dove wo diferent ‘ways of doing damage. For use by NPCs they will be spectacular and fearsome but for PCs they wil probably be unbalanced The Ice Magic. Alchemist and Elemental spells sem prety well balanced and suited to tee carers. One Elemental spells that most in-WERP of ideas the ‘is dead spel. However, its limited version and does succeed in beng weful and suited. The Chaotic spells, ne per level foreach Chaos God, ar interesting in themselves. However they did reinforce for me that thse spells would prove interesting if wsed in a scnaro but if versed would soon bosome tous, The chapier on wizard familias approaches thm ina iferent way to Dec families. There are four Kinds of failing, ech crested to perform different functions. The authors succeeds in making them interesting, with many opportunities for fun roleplaying moments. An extemely useful chapter help Mesh ou the various Create Familiar spells “The final chapter pives guidance for GMs on how to se Realms of Sorcery This is an excellent chapter with ideas and discussions on how to place magi ito the WFRP setting. I Took to draw inthe various elements from the book and examine how they shouldbe played. The only downside is tht it should fave been so mach longer. To finish off the book, there are listing of spell i alphabetic order and by iscipline takes in the spell seated around the various supplement and is a ‘efi resource, ‘Ar reading Realms of Sorcery 1 ind myself in two minds to its worth. On ‘ome hand it contains host of ine ideas bat onthe other itis deeply awed. The tuckground on human wizards (ouside Colour Colleges) isthe highlight, sis the advice given to GMs on how tous the material, | Youd inspiration fora host ‘of scenarios, background and NPCs her, instead of ways of simply making characters more powerful. Obviously every group wil take something different from these pages, bu the all alu is going to be gained by Roleplaying what is hore. A good example i tha ofthe Necromancer spell tht crete Lich. The Jong process of moral and pysical decay and desire for immorality is, ina basi ‘way thrown away in a fourth level spell: However. itis fr the GM to ensure that, the spell becomes part ofthe storytelling and not just use of Magie Pints. Yes, the physical and mental eoreupion inherent in reaching fourth level eapires his «quest for immorality, but more guidance on roleplaying soch a fll should have boon given oral the good ideas, Recs of Sorcery fils aba whole and it some places i simply not WFRE. Magic remains too roted to Warhammer Fantasy Bate with CColourmagic tacked on instead of incorporated. The attempt to mould ito WFRP. has been unsuccessful and potentially wounding to the game. Yes, arts ean be ignored but thsi now the fabric ofthe game that many will work from. Using ‘the Batl background is not a problem but it has to be changed to it WFRP. Just ‘one clement ofthis isthe lack of religion in the book, Yes, this isn't Reals of Divine Magic but religion pervades the WFRP world and that jst st reflected here. Yes, Realms of Divine Magic will cover the religious sie of magic, but ‘wizards worship too. This is even more tu, now that Colour Magie's scope ‘overaps with that of certain gos Fora book wo hundred and fifty six pags lng. itsems odd to accuse Realms of Sorcery of ackof detail. However itstoo thinly spread appreciate there was 8 dificult balance Hogshead had to walk. No inclding everything means that ‘eaple would complain about tha, but covering everthing dosen't work ether. “More advice and background was needed to flesh out the ideas given especialy concetning “evil” magic and race magi. Race magic should perhaps have been ‘wth under the various forthcoming souresbooks, instead ofthe sksthy ‘utines given here. Hogshead's remit may have been to cover everything, butt Seems too much to have placed into one book. We now need to buy Realms of (Chaos, the race books eo gel the full background, However, these should do thei respective subjects far more justice ‘With al is Naws and drawbacks, Reams of Sorcery sill remains a useful purchase. However they are going have to work wth it-GMs firmly controlling ‘what i and st permissible in their game. There isa much better book hidden Ibchind what itis here, andi is ad we never goto see REALMS OF SORCERY ERRATA ‘This eratum applies tothe first edition of Realms of Sorcery. It hhas been amended in the second printing. Page |: Additional text: Jonathan Green / Additional material by Graeme Davis, Phil Masters, Andrew Mortis, Alfred Nunez, Martin Oliver / For inspiration, discussion and outright help the authors would like to offer thanks to: Nina Baur, Graeme Day Rob Fey, Sebastian Graubner, Peter Huebner, Chris Jackson, Phil Masters, Andrew Moris, Alfred Nunez, Martin Oliver, Oliver Rosenkranz, Graydon Saunders and James Wallis. Finally, special, ‘thanks to the Blades Street Tribe; Erik Engnok, Artemis Fortune, Jed, Kai Gildhorn, Smoky Hargreaves, Siegfried Sassoon, and special guest star, Diem Manstrock. Page 103: The example forthe Rule of Combination should be regarded as incorrect Page 104: Under Learning Runes, third paragraph: It should read “Therefore a runesmith can only learn runes of level 1, A Master Runesmith of levels 1 or2, and a Rune Lord of levels 1,2 0r3." Page 105: Under Learning Master Runes, fourth paragraph: *, ‘The seventeen described on pp224-226 are the only ones that are iving runes’; Rune Lords exist who know how to make them. ‘There are actually twenty three Master Runes listed. The six new ‘ones were added after the release ofthe WEB6 Dwar book. Page 141: Exorcsts at Level | are given advances of +2 W (instead of +2 Tas printed), Page 148: In the ‘Spell Creation Table’, the last entry under “Degree’: It should read “Physical laws can be flouted, and people's thoughts and actions directly manipulated.” 4 Warpstone = Issue NineteenA PRIVATE WAR By Tim Eccles Reviewed by Luke Twigger —_ A Private War Selfpublishing does not sound like something for the faint-hearted. 1's also rot for those without a sizeable wad of cash to pay all the up-front costs. So let's start the review by congratulating Tim Becles on having the bravery and conviction to literally pu his money where his mouth i, Even moreso when we realise thatthe purchase price of this tome, £10, is merely sufficient to ‘cove the costs, not to generate a profit forthe author. However, the punter i the stest, who wants to know whether they should spend their hard-ammed ‘ash on A Private War, probably doesn't much eare about the principles involved. ‘They most likely want to know they'd be geting value for money, whichis ‘where this review comes in Let's start with the ppearance. Counting the cover, i's 100 pages and perfect, ‘bound (i. no staples). Te printing costs are higher per copy forasmall private Print run than fora commercial release, but even so, £10 is broadly comparable ‘with other WERP supplements and beter than many of the new d20 modules ve seen. This includes the stark but effective cover, dane ina sithouete syle. Having read the book I'm hardpressed to link the cover directly tothe adventure, ‘bu then a common criticism of roleplay books is forthe story tobe spoiled by ‘player glimpsing the cover, o ths isn't necessarily a bad thing, Tnside, the text is clean and straightforward, clearly the work of a word processor rather han an at package. There's ite space wasted on margins or blank space, the apparent emphasis being on content rather than presentation From the perspective of slfpublicaton, without the resources and professional artists and designers, 1 would say this was definitely the corect approach to take, There area few places where the main text disappears behind a boxed sidebar but I generally found less typos and spelling mistakes than in many ‘commercial releases Te town maps, drawn by Ryan Wileman, are bilan, very intricate in their presentation. The rca map onthe other hand looks very amatcursh scanned incopy of one of The Enemy Within maps with hand-drawn labels annotating the extra features. ‘So what's the actual adventre like? Is dseried in the introduction as 8 chase but 'd describe it more lke a road movie aT didn't get much sense of ‘urgency, but you certainly visita lt of places in a pat ofthe Empire barely featured in official WFRP material. The adventure begins in Middnhcim where the PCs are employed by the Temple of Shallya to track down a doctor who has mysteriously fled the ety. The PCs then progress north and eat to Feriangen before heading south to Wolfenburg. Also pursuing the doctor are representatives ‘of various ther religous and political factions, each with their own agenda, Middenheim acts s the starting point for the adventure and Tim has thoughtfully provided references (including page numbers) for any locations that are described in the Middenbim sourcebook. Middenheim sa good place for the ection to start - its a big city so there's many easons forthe PCS to be present and i's described in detail n published WFRP supplements so it doesn't {ake up to much space inthe book to explain and describe it The time in Middenheim i pent sting upthe adventure ntroducing NPCs and organisations and giving the PCs opportunity to ind out weful extra clues Details ae provided of who might say what at many obvious destinations such ‘8 various temples, guilds, te. After the introduction in Middenheim, the PCS ‘become associated withthe Temple of Shallya and are sent otto track down the erant doctor, who vas last ssen boarding a coach for Beeckerhoven, a smal town to the north of Middeneim, Tt wasn't immediatly obvious to me ~ in fact you ned to read as far as the Appendices before it gets clearer - but joining the PCs in thee journey are a large number of NPCs, and not just any old NPCS ether. They include templar, ‘witch hunters and other Important People! As a GM 1 wasn't looking forward ‘ojuggling somany strong personalities who would probably vastly overshadow the PCs. Thankfully the very first village outside Middenheim features an encounter designed to slow down the PCS and give the NPCs a head start Reference is made throughout the rest ofthe adventure to where these NPCS elke tobe, based on their speed and probable decisions inluding calendar dates, which sa very useful way forkeeping tack of where the different groups have gotto The main blk ofthe adventure then essentially consists ofthe PCs travelling slong, sopping at various coaching inns and villages, picking up information bout where the doctor was headed next and following his tril as best they ca, There are ed herrings and side events a almost every location enroute. Iwas these that made the adventure lose is urgency, ait seemed very easy wo sidetrack the PCs for few days here anda few days tere and before you know it i'd be winter. The side events are generally entertaining: some ae totaly unrelated to the main plot but some diversions are deliberate acts of alles ofthe doctor. ‘Without the chase to worry about, many of the side events could be expanded intomuch longer episodes, With lite work it shouldbe possible to fun some ‘ofthem in such a way thatthe PCs can etn to flly resolve them later ‘One thing likes the way tha the autho drops extra details into much ofthe text, rom desis ofthe nomenclature of an Imperial Knights entourage to a discussion on slavery | got the impression that many of these are based on historical facts, but represented in such away that hey provide versimilitude rather than boring you withthe academic niceties. "As mentioned, ane problem | had was the large number of NPCs and remembering who was who, whete the PCs had met them, etc. Too often I'd read an NPC name and then find myself Aipping randomly through the book trying to figure out who they were. People Were not always well introduced, ‘which confused me, as I read the book fom front-to-back, In hindsight, the appendices are fairly useful at sorting out who's who, While the author obviously ‘new who all the NPCs were, where the locations were and what the overall story was it wast obvious othe reader ust how tall ited together, certainly fot on first reading. So if you intend to GM it, Pd recommend reading it thoroughly a few times, make notes and using the calendar. Finally the ending, of lack thereof. The book ends a the Ksley border, with the doctor sill well out of reach. Let's hope we find out how the campaign continues in a futur book! In addition information about many ofthe NPCS and organisations featured inthe adventure, the appendices also contain lots of useful background. Much ofthis applicable tothe rest ofthe Empire, such as details on religious aspects life, witch hunters, laws, coinage anda Guide tothe Empire (very usefl for new players and good for reminding experienced players of the difference between player knowledge and PC knowledge). “Tims supplies background for Ostland and Nordland, areas ofthe Empire teatonally neglected by oficial WFRP material These could be used to assist any father adventures inthe region and provide details of topes touched on in the adventure but not otherwise described, sch a the hospice at Seuchensdot. ‘Overall then, tis isa very impressive eff. The presentation is more than ‘uequate and value for money comparable or bette than most commercial roleplay books. The organisation ofthe text could be better though, ait can get confusing with sa many NPCs and locations. There's much opportunity for heroic adventure, many side events to distract the PCs and extra appendices of background material you can refer to even ater the adventures long-fnished, ‘ORDERING DETAILS A Private War is available for £10 i the UK (chaque payable to Timotty Fccles) or UKEIS/E20/USSI7 in the EU or USSIB8 elsewhere (lin notes; For safety the purchaser should send insured). Lam using the following address: Tim Eccles, Nu University, Knights Park, Kingston, Surrey, KT12QJ, UK. Any queries can be emailed 10 imothyeccleahormail com a fll details are at vwiwshndow-warriors.co.uk 5 Warpstone - Issue NineteenWARPSTONE FRAGMENT BRIEF REVIEWS AND NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF WARHAMMER ~ CON UPTING CORRUPTING INEL INFLUENCE IS HERE! The Best of Warpstone: Volume One is out now! We are pleased to © is the full article listings, jennounce thet ¢ Fighting Chaos: Why Bother? Corrupting + To Fight or Not to Fight? Influence: The Best} ¢ Secrets of the Warhammer Artists of Warpstone « Volatile Magick Volume One is now | ¢ The entire Templars’ series (voted readers favourite available, There article in our last questionnaire. It does also include has been much Templar orders forthe smaller cults and non-human. demand for the ‘These were never published in Warpstone but in Legi ‘early issues, most | issue One, which can be downloaded free from our being long sold website) fu andceeranly | ¢ Low Lik on th Highwry evilbleat ¢ Discos the Wartanmase Wold (Por eons of pace infnedpeces, | sme disease descriptions wee cl bu these ae reece | evalabl tom our webei) printed around one hundred and ify of sue one, and four hundred of | A Gelemen's Gide o Marienburg issue nine. Since issue ten, when Hogshead began to distribute ¢ Prosthetics in Warpstne the citclation has increased bags ¢ Wiebke ecimia With colour cove by John Keane, Corrupting influence contains | * TH: Final Adventure of Ursula Usingrad the best atte from sues one tone Theres no new material oir] ¢ 4 Hunde yetubave eves ae to nine thea You can spend your money lara. However, we have taken the opportunity to revise some of the articles a well as commissioning some oar As with the magazine isl, Hogabeod Pubshing ee deibuting he book, sits widely avaiable inal good game shops. However, tint available directly ffom Warptons Corrupting Influence (ISBN: 1-899749-34.9 PRODUCT CODE: HOG 220) 128 page softback. Cost is £12.95/S18.95. For the Love of Justice For Swashbuckler by Jolly Roger Games Reviewed by Tim Eccles Daring to risk my head above the parapet again, I came across tis supplement in an Ore's [Nest bargain bin. Iam left wondering what on earth it was doing there. This san excellent lite book. For your money you get two adventures, one set in the Prussian marches and the cater in Sicily. Both are wonderfully devious and multi-layered and would transfer easily into ‘¢ Cameos (Flea Circus, AWOL, Rough Justice, Save the Village and You Make Your Own Luck) The Eternal Guard ‘¢ One Hour (to) Mérr ‘¢ The Cannon Ball Run ‘¢ The Missing Children of Regensdorf A Buried Past + Full index of issues one to nine REVIEW! aa Josh Kthy famous for his ilustrations.on the covers of Tery Pratchet's Discworld books, died on the 26% Octaber 2001, He alo did some work for Games Workshop and one of is pices {ppearson the cover of dpacrypha Now! ath RPG. have announced that thatthe fist sue oftheir cain journal, XPS Online fs now WERP. You will struggle to peta better thought-out adventure for your money. Sure, there are some gripes but they are more about the production than the basic ideas. For $12, there is not ‘much mass for your money there being only print and with spacing padding. to have had the strength oftheir own conviction, as there are some truly tedious “random” encounters thrown in and the b denouement is a litle simplistic. However, none of this undermines the asics of what is an excellent par of adventures that a WERP GM can build upon and fix o their own playing | siyle. Having been taken in by & numberof truly awful D20 prodocts, I can flly recommend this and assure you tha the resulting games wil be definitely vale for the money 6 ‘vllabl fre fom thei website includes background materi, and articles fo re perusal at wnvedngeath com im We wil have a review of The Dying Earth RPG. Competition Winners Congratulations to ast issues competition winners Nigel Rich and Marco Crosa. Nigel isthe winner ofa eather bound Realms ‘of Sorcery and Macro wins a complet of signed Getrek ond Felix novels, Thanks tal those who entered Wirare ia the Age of Sigour Tim Eccles and Ryan Wiletan have told Wapstone that they are eating Bate Rules based around thei ibs of Sigma article "Warprlone isso 17. More as we gti Warpstone - Issue Nineteen"* ‘The Fellowship of the Ri JORD RINGS treet Fence Pde eee Hogshesd News Hogshead is busy celebrating the success of Realms of Sorcery already into its second J printing. The next WERP release will be Dwarfs ‘Sione and Sigel by Alfred Nunez Jr. Due in July 2002, i is curently being edited by Graeme Davis. After this, The Skaven sourcebook and Empire in Chaos are promised for next yeat. The RPG Nobilis should bein shops by the time you read this. You ean download free chapters from Hoghead’s website if you want to get an idea what i's all about. ‘WARPSTONE WEBSITE REVAMP ‘The Warpstone Website at www.warpstone.darcore.net has undergone a dramatic change. Konrad Schubert has done an excellent job at revamping the site. As the newest member of the Warpstone team, Konrad will be keeping the site regularly updated. ‘Check out the site for downloads of player handouts, free issues of Legion, out of print articles, the latest Warpstone news and loads more. We are looking forward to expanding the site in the near future. Let us know what you think. Warpstone - Issue Nineteen Slayers Guides by Mongoose Publishing REVIEW! Penumbra: Touched by the Gods by Atlas Games Review by Tim Eccles have recently bought a variety of D20 products that I thought might be useful for my WFRP campaign. | was generally disappointed, but some are worthy of mention. My primary problem is that D20 (like AD&D ‘and D&D before it) seems to rely solely upon new gods/monstersitems to develop the ideas rater than story line r social context. There is also a tendency to ignore world setting in products, presumably with the intention of achieving a larger audience. Value for money is limited also, given the propensity to pad the books with margins, spacing and weak art. The Slayers Guide to Hobgoblins (Mongoose Publishing, £4 9) offers ideas on hobgobln physiology, habitat, society, warfare and role-playing applaud the move towards “monster cultures” and at under a fiver the book has promise. To my ‘mind, one could do better with ‘Something Rotten in Kislev and a basic eader on nomad cultures such asthe Scythians, Pechnegs, “Mongols or Huns. That sai, by no means a “slayers guide” and i's a move tobe applauded 'D20. If you are in need of ideas forthe Hegemony and cannot face reading about historic template forthe hobgoblins, then this is definitely worth consideration for its “monsters are people too" message, Spurred on by ther half-price clearance atthe end of Dragonmeet 2001 and my optimism in the premise ofthe series, invested in hnumber of additional Slayers Guides. As a whole they are unambitous, but | would prefer to dwell on the positive, which is essentially that they ‘continue their attempt to portray monsters as ‘people’. The Troglodytes (or Lizardmen) and Centaurs (for Kislev) are clearly of some interest to WERP, and Gnolls (fr beastmen) is far from useless. As before, Iam left wishing more about what could have been than what actually is but these are a genuine effort at producing alien cultures. Priced as ‘magazines, I found them much beter value than the magazines that 1 reviewed in Warpstone 17. Overall, think the series deserves a guarded ‘welcome. One definitely to miss though, is Ships ofthe Goblinoids. A river-based goblin culture is, to my mind, a definite omission from the (Old World but this book provides details of ore ships of which the Royal Navy would be proud. Charitably, one might describe the product as high fantasy; in any event, WFRPers should avoid “More promising, and ultimately more disappointing, is the Penumbra: Touched by the Gods sourcebook. At £15.99 ($23.95) this is very expensive and most definitely not worth the money. The cults and cabels presented (fifteen of them) are not bad per se, they just lack imagination and originality - and at that price, | expect much more for my money. I'm not familie with Penumbra, though it claims to be a modular bolt-on system for any campaign. Asa WFRP supplement, would suggest that you give ita miss unless you are very wealthy and desperately short of ideas. There are some good themes and a couple of convertible cults, but nothing that eannot be had elsewhere far cheaper. At about £1 per cul, it is tempting to say that one cannot go far wrong. Sadly that s not the ease, but if you are desperate for an off the-shelf cult, here i a product with idea that ean be utilised for WFRP by the desperate or the lazyTHE WARPSTONE QUESTIONNAIRE II ‘Welcome tothe second Warpstone Questionnaire, the first being printed in issue 7 withthe results turing up in issue 9. We hope as many of you will ake the time to complete and return it. We are looking for feedback (on Warpstone (and Corrupting Influence) to help us see what we're do- ing right and wrong. All those returned by I November 2002 will be entered into a prize draw. Prizes to be decided but it will include a ‘Warpstone subscription somewhere. We are happy to accept comments by e-mail. The survey is also available on the Warpstone Website. Feel fre to add additional comments on a separate piece of paper. ‘What the frst issue of Warpstone you purchased How many people read your copy of Warpstone How many years have you played Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay | ‘Where do you normally get your issue. ‘Where did you first hear about Warpstone. Are you a GM, player or both. ‘What to you think ofthe following (from I (poor) to 5 (Excellent), Warpstone Scenarios & Cameos Layout ‘The Forum An Interviews Ealtorial Covers Reviews ‘The Correspondent Fragments Talabheim Fiction Aaicles ‘Answer Yes (¥) or No (N) to the following: Is Fragments useful for news Do you think our reviews are fair Is Warpstone too expensive Do you play any Games Workshop games Do you buy WFB Army Books for WFRP ‘Are you currently playing WERP Have you used articles in Warpstone for any other game Have you ever played in or run a Warpstone scenario Should we have more or less of, Mors Sao Lett Themed Issues Careers Rulles Articles Ant Background Articles ‘Areas outside the Empire Scenarios Anything else Fantasy (magic, monsters ete.) What have been our best scenarios or cameos 1 2 What have been our worst scenarios or cameos 1 2 ‘What have been our best articles of fiction 1 ‘What have been our worst articles or fiction 1 2 (One thing that would improve Warpstone One article we should write in Warpstone (One thing we should stop WERP on the Web Do you belong to the WFRP E-mail list (Y/N) Do you visit any WFRP Forums (Critical Hit ete.) I Yes, which ones: ' 2 Have you visited the Warpstone website site (Y/N) Iso, what do you think (1-5) What would you like to see on the Warpstone website ‘What i the best (non Warpstone) WFRP website Roleplaying ‘What are you favourite RPGs (including WFRP) What other RPG magazines do you buy Your favourite WFRP supplement ‘One supplement you would like to see Corrupting Influence Have you bought Corrupting Influence ‘What did you think (1-5 Personal Your name. Your address. 8 Warpstone - Issue NineteenTHE CORRESPONDENT Parlez Vous Warhammer? Language: The Spoken and Written Word By Tim Eccles’ In this atte 1 wil consider language in all its forms, oth as « medium of communication between players, and between their PCS. This continues the (Correspondent themes of culture (and the world environmen), (softer) WERP rules andthe implication of each upon the other. In addition this is also a wider taming ise. have many concems about the rules of WFRP, mot of which the background makes up fr. However, language remains a major concem of min, since iis fundamentally important to any society. I is something that was not Consistently explained atthe outset, not has clarification been forthcoming. The Principle questions I want to consider revolve around exactly what Old Worlder is. and whether a speaker of Rikspel automatically speaks Old Worlde a wel, or whether an Esalian speaker of Old Worder can be understood within the Reikspel islet. In addition, where language is writen rather than spoken, the language simply Old Worier or do dialects also have writen forms? LLangeage snd the CM ‘An intersting isue is whether a GM should utilise Reikspel in their exme ‘escrptions, and adopt accents in their NPC-PC interaction. My ecing is that this should be ano’. Proquetly when I name a dst, street, house or region 1 do so witha view to aiding description. For example (and if may be excused & Tite seiéadverising in my description of Wolfenburg in Prive War V have rimed the distrits in English Matket, Docks, Estas tc. This is because | think naming an area as (say) the “Docks” immediately informs the players what is there, and prevents me having to repeat and spell the German’) name, and then answer the question “what's that?. It immediately conveys a basic understanding. Of couse am as ver, inconsistent, because T do use Reiki ‘names for purposes of atmosphere. However | think the balance of use has to reside with "geting on with game over simply adding det for the sake of it 1 tend to use Reikspel only for NPC names athe ike, wher the description is ‘ot part of the tile. Personally I find thatthe duality works, and that the Old World theme is maintained without slowing the game down too much with repetition of spelling tests. We can simply get on with the game and imagine ‘what those docks actualy look, sound and sell ke Tam similarly oppose to the use of accents, though this might be because of _my complete inability to successfully carry one. know some GMs do French’, allan’ and ‘Spanish’ for Bretonnian, Tilean and Fstalian NPCS, and this is advised in some ofthe adventures, I ave to concerns with this Firstly, this ‘would also suggest hat we do “German” fo Imperial NPCS, and that PCS join in Since I make a great deal of use of regional accents, this would necessitate me Teaming regional German accents and also making clear to my players which of these was linked to which Imperial province. This is nt very feasible My second concem is the “Manvel problem’ Fawlty Towers might be allowed Manuel, and Mont Python and the Holy Gril some very idiosyncratic Frenchmen, ‘but in this day’ and age both are very close to Being offensive. Cartoon accenting isin my view highly problematic and has no part in my games. One certainly ‘would not perform such versions ofan African, Asian or Arab acent, 0 why’ European one? On the other hand, when done well Iam certainly prepared to ‘sccept that languages can help the humorous side of WFRP ~ an issue tht as Ssaaly been neglected. Now that WFRP isan essentially Trans-Atlantc aff, ‘much of the Ealing Comedy humour seems to have seeped out of the system, That aid, humours always very dificult wo achieve, and I emai unconvinced that simplistic lampooning can ever be humorous. “The concept of rams also puzzles me. Why do we take a place or person from isto. change eter around and think we have created completely original idea? For example, Marienbure’s Arkat Foogers clearly the real life Jacob Fugger of Augsburg. If players are unaware of Fugger. then why bother changing hi name, since they would still be unaware tether way? On the other hand, if players are familie withthe person who financed the Habsburg Empire then wy pretend thatthe source isnot him, since players are hardly not going to realise? In the case of people currently alive, can understand the legal implications though | am unsure that alter changed would offer realistic legal protctio}, but someone dead over 500 yeas? I find the RPG 7 Sea terribly ‘Serivatve inthis vein but WFRP also has a tendency to take something from history, change some eters around and then pretend to have prodced something ‘ew. Lam guilty ofthis to! T wonder why we doit? Common Toagees - Old Worlder snd Clasical Tis prety self-evident thatthe idea of universal language like Olé Worler is anillopical construct introduced toad gameplay. Similar, the iden ofa universal Classical tongue provides the same fenton as Latin in Medieval Europe as the language ofthe intelligentsia and priesthood. The fet thatthe Old Word has 0 ‘equivalent tothe pan-European Roman Empire to provide such a language can also be exeused in the name of playability. Plasible explanations might be contrived forthe language's existence. Early Tilean trading and colonisation (in the mane ofthe Phoenician) might be able 1 explain the tongue, since we ‘now from Dogs of War thatthe city of Tyls existed whist Elves were still ooking to expand inthe Old World. Utilising WFB, Kher might bea suitable ‘origin The roots ofthe Classica anguage can perhaps be seen asa ade language developed bythe early human wba groupings in their dealings with High Et and Dwarf civilstions. It might, therefore have developed as a hybrid ofthe ‘wo, Altematively, perhaps linked tothe most sophisticated human tbe, i ight be een as simply the regional tongue of local group that became a developed language due to that ibe's status, “The link betwoen Classical and Old Worlder remains unclear, as does the university ofthe eater tongue. Any universal tongue would most immediately ecm to have some genetie imprint of the Slana, who needed ther human rootypes to be able to converse wth ach othe. Over time this common single toague becomes divided into regional dialects. Ths also pethaps explains the “eommon’ tongues in other regions ofthe world - the Slann having perhaps developed differen laboratory workshops forthe Ot Word, the New World and the East. One interesting possibilty i hat the Slann might have engineered a very restrictive brain architeture into their experimental subjects, providing language centres tht are less plastic than those in real ie human brains, with ‘more than just basic grammatical rules or deep structure “Gxed". This would ensure that human languages (oF atleast those used by humans originating fom the Old World research centre) could never diverge to far from eachother. For those interested in grand storylines, the reasons for this might be the basis fora ‘eampsign ad linked tothe Woeld Plan in some way. ‘Altematively, and implicit in the Dwarf understanding of language it might be linked with human interaction sth the Dwarfs, since OM Worle sa common tongue for them as well It might be assumed that they learnt the tongue out of| necessity, butt might be a root a Dwar-sructured language. This plausibly leads to a comparison between the two, whereby Clase is El-elated and Olt ‘Worler is Dwarf-related. 1 am unconvinced at grandiose claims of Dwart supremacy in general, and personally prefer ether a mixture of non-human influences upon them, or a more indigenous development. We know from Dogs ‘of War that humans in Tiles traded with both. Doar superiority’ might play’ we ‘asparto the racist culture of Dar, butt ess convincing a plausible reality Sata the British Empire might have claimed itself superior to Affcan cultures, today we would recognise the wales of indigenous cultures without assuming the superiority ofthe Empire. I is right to poreay some Dvvarfs as having & superiority complex: the elit sdifeent as WFRP tells us (pg. 267) I would tend to regard the history of language a also beng less Dwar sponsored. “Aside fom this speciation, there are few glenings to be hal from official material. The languages of The Empite and Norsa are stated as being heavily influcnced by Khazalid, This ia peclar state of as, since i implies that Reikspel and Norscan are not derivative of Old Worldr, since if they wer, the ‘other dialect languages would also be rooted ia Khuzalid. als seemstoovetiook the dea ofthe Old Worlder - Dart dialect. The omy osion that Ian conceive to explain this stat Od Worlderpost-dates the varios diets, and is actually ‘common language built upon interaction between humans and ths takes words ftom each of the dialects a eeates a single language from them. Tis would not then be realy language with dalcs, but as iseussed below is dificult 9to acualy se these national tongues as diaees in any event. I also clearly ‘contradicts WFRP, which hs the dilectsas accents and idioms of the common {ongue. Personally. think that this is simpy another contradiction. It appears to ‘be assumed as given that Elves had lite todo with human development and thos itis to Dwarf that humans looked fr tad, ideas and evilsation inthis contest, the need for language and literacy would develop from dealings with Dwar However, | do retain the idea tht Elves, a theoretially good" race, might ‘maintain missions within the Old World to trade with and aid human. Indeed, side from their good alignment, it might be good polities to keep humans fom ‘coming too close othe Dwarfs, in addition to being a way of winding up the Dwarf litle, This ides conforms tothe impression given in Dogs of Wat. AST stated above, am also wary of any portrayal of Dwarfs. a a completely superior ‘ace who besiow upon humanity various gifts of civilisation, including language [Even more interesting i that both Ore (hough T assume it means all goblinoids ‘andthe mother language Goblin Tonge) and Dark Tongue have bee influenced by Khazali, which opens up many questions indeed as tothe reasons for this. Did Ores and beastmen lean language from dwarfs? (And ifs, how?) Dialects Dialect as presented in WFRP ate effectively national tongues, and not srmply regional diaeets ofa common national tongue as we might ake them to mean in ‘ea lif. find the dea ofa matinal tongue within very diverse regions unlikely. ‘Afterall n moder Brita canbe found the likes of Welsh, Comish echnically ‘western Wels) and Scotsh Gaelic, whilst Germany has High German and Low German. If even modem countries can retain regional tongucs, I suspect The Empire. with poor transport and communication and strong regional identity. would have lea! languages, dialects, or accents. As things stand, someone in stand is beter able wo understand someone across the county in Wissenland tana minute across the border in Kislev. Aga, we might be willing to accept a tational language for reasons of simplicity and gameplay but | personaly ind thisuniverslig al rather at odds with he decentralised nature ofthe Old World, andthe Empire in particular ~ an image which has been carefully built up by ‘uch ofthe source material Arcane Langaages “The fact that Khazlid is described asthe root language for so many modern Tanguages implies strongly that al the arcane languages are separate from the ‘cument oot By some break, since aterwse they would be the ancient source of| ‘modern languages. We know that Arcane Duar i a runic language. implying separation from the other languages. However, only wizards know arcane languages in modern times, which implies a strong relationship between the languages and magic, but not communication. However, the very fat that the sncient Dwarf and EIT tongues are not related to thei modern tongues is an interesting and suggestive area in itself Real Languages and WFRP Nispossibleto follow real word language derivation to develop abighly evocative (albeitcomples alterative system for WFRP languages A dialect canbe regarded 5a variety of language, although this isa subject of some debate amongst linguists. A spoken language i collection of muvally intelligible dialects. The hierarchy’ of mutual intelligibility is taken to be as follows: Language, Dialect, ‘Accent, & diolet. The distinction between diaeet and language is further confused by dialect hain (or contin). For example, the West Germanic dialect continuum covers both Netherlands and German. The varieties spoken along the border are very simi, yt those on the Dutch sie ofthe border are considered bs thor speakers torte dalets of Dutch, whilst those on the German side of the bordee are ‘considered to be dialets of German - even though they may be more similar to ‘ove ancter than each isto ether standard language: Norwegian, Danish and ‘Swedish ae mutually iteligible but are often thought of ak Separate languages ‘Similarly Swiss German ie not intelligible to Standard German speakers, Socio- political factors influence this definition in many cases ~ suchas Serbian and Croatia leary being ists that both nations refuse to acknowledge as anything ‘but separate languages. Tiss all perfect material forthe Old Word “The simplest method of determining when a dialect become a language isto define language as dalet supported by an army and a nay = thats suitably ‘universal o be theofficial language of a tat, Clearly the transition fom dialect to language ia factor of thre processes: |. Evolution fom the root langage through geographical isolation 2.Ossfcaion though Iieratire, grammar and dictionaries 5Osstcation through political unity Case. ignoring its posible origins, certainly scems to occupy the second ‘category oulned above. To this end, seems most plausible that OM Worider i 10 derived directly from Classical (which was orginally a spoken language) and was then dispersed thoughout the Old World alongside it ait was rece to ‘becoming scholarly language Classical isthe language of scholarship literature and law - which i why the regional variations of OW Worlder are sl technically alets and not yet ull "languages’. Write forms ofthese dialects have only ‘gun to emerge in the lst few centres as iteracy expands slightly Beyond the religious and clerical classes. Therefore, Reikspel and the other dialects ate well ‘on thee way to becoming languages in thei ou ight, bat are not quite there. OF course, much ofthis does not tie up with official material either. Under this ‘system, Imperial and Norcandilets are heavily influenced by Dwarfs, whereas the westem and southern cultures retained more of the "Castical” elements of (Old World. Classical ossifeda longtime ago as its rarely spoken outside of ceremony. ‘rom his, there ae several dialect chains that might be recognised across the (04d World, For example: Southern Slavic = Olander Reiksplel ~ Eastern Reispiel - Wester Reikspiel ~ Highland Repel» Eastern Bretonnian Norscan = Nordland Reikspe - Western Reikspie ~ Southern Reikspiel 7 Sudenlander Repel - Border Reltspit - Miraglano Tilean ‘Other interconnections can equally be developed, allowing mutual (and ‘lasile intelligibility beaween geographically proximal populations and almost ‘otal incompechension hetween distant dialects of Old Worle. ‘Nations (particulary those with state religions such asthe Empire oe Bretonnia) wills haven interestin maintaining the “national dialect as discrete langue and patriotic movements woud probably try to enforce it. They would inevitably) tbe fighting a losing bate in the Tong run, but this might lad to some interesting developments by NPC. Equally, amusing languages canbe add in the Fem of “court anguages (such as Norscan in Kise). pidgns(Cathayans in Marienburg) and minority dialets (Kslevite descendants in Talabhcim) Linguistica ‘Leaning language in game tems is explained inthe rules, but I suggest that