Hilda takes her first steps to becoming a star in Middenheim. The Starting Scenes of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2e using Mythic GM Emulator 2e.
Following on from the RPG Intro and Char Gen.
WFRP 2 solo - intro | start | partway | finish | all season 3 | all rolling solo
Disclosure - I'm a DriveThru RPG affiliate
Starting with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2e
wfrp 2e thoughts | solo tools | starting scenes | characters | threads & npcs
Adding to initial introduction of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2e.
I like WFRP 2e. It flows easily, has a good skill list and rules for degrees of success if needed. Plus some player agency with Fate Point re-rolls.
The career system gives a easy way to categorise NPCs if needed, and a random table of careers for ideas.
I'm not sure where the story is going, but that's fine. It seems to be more cosy but sure that will change.
I do want to show off / revisit the magic system, which gives an idea for a possible extra star at the garden party!
Solo Tools - Mythic Gamemaster Emulator 2e
wfrp 2e thoughts | solo tools | starting scenes | characters | threads & npcs
Following on from Solo Tools notes.
I used Mythic GM Emulator 2e and my own WFRP Name List generator.
Mythic is running along smoothly, giving twists and turns, providing suggestions and options.
One thing I'm not convinced by is marking people and threads that appeared in a scene or were significant in the scene. This makes it more likely that a thread or character who appears in the story will reoccur due to an Event or other pick of a random Thread/Character.
I understand the logic of increasing the likelihood of these elements recurring, and focusing the narrative, I just regard it as a bit of complexity that doesn't fit what I want from an emulator. Which is fine, as Mythic is meant to be tailored. I'll keep doing it for this Rolling Solo, as I might have come to appreciate it more by the end of the adventure.
I tried the 2d10 Fate Check (Mythic 2e page 25-26), an alternative to the Fate Chart which doesn't need a table. But I don't like the much-reduced chance of Extreme No for Very Likely and Certain odds (and vice versa for Extreme Yes).
I instead reduced down the Fate Chart to a few Entries. Because I'm using a fixed Chaos Factor of 5, and only using five of the "Odds" categories, the full Fate Chart of 81 entries became a minimised Fate Chart of 5 Entries.
Reduced Fate Chart
| Odds | % chance of NO! / Yes / YES! |
|---|---|
| Certain | 18 90 99 |
| Very Likely | 15 75 96 |
| 50/50 | 10 50 91 |
| Very Unlikely | 5 25 86 |
| Impossible | 2 10 83 |
Adventures of Hilda
wfrp 2e thoughts | solo tools | starting scenes | characters | threads & npcs
The viewpoint character is Hilda. Which makes sense as she's the only Player Character currently.
Starting Threads
- (1) Find a new animal performer partner
- (2) Consider why her group of entertainers split
- (3) Avoid old trouble in Middenheim
Starting Characters
- (1) Hilda's former entertainer group
- (2) Previous friends and foes in Middenheim
Scene 1 - Performer at the Platz
"Ahh, Middenheim...City of my family and youth. Built on a rock with lovely forest views. Of Ulric and the White Wolf. Ravaged by war and recovering well. A place for a handy halfling to find fame and make a name for herself..."
Hilda is in a plaza in Middenheim, a couple of years after the Storm of Chaos [the default setting of WFRP 2e)
Mythic Meaning - Destroy Pain
The square is packed with people come to see a rumoured healer of Shallya (Goddess of Healing and Mercy). Hilda mingles in with the crowd, taking time to assess the mood and chatting with folk. She learns that priests of Ulric hunt a thing of Chaos in the sewers, people are worried about failing harvests driving up food prices (Mythic meaning - Impending Failure) and there's a dwarf selling pets for cheap.
Hilda gets to work, attracting a crowd with jokes about priests of Ulric, pies and bread. She earns enough to keep a few gold crowns and buy some pies. Among the many halflings here, several recognise her and news soon travels she's back in the city. (Mythic Meaning - Abandon Possessions + Warm).
An old human friend approaches her, someone she used to perform with. Katerine trades Hilda's mace for juggling sticks, fire globes and ways to light them. They talk for a while and Hilda gets an invite to join next evening at a rowdy performance space that's popular. The Loud Whistler. (Thread Added)
Hilda picks up a sling from the stalls and a crow from Doralikina, an ancient dwarf with a rapid turnover of strange animals at her cart-stall. Hilda names the crow Franz, hoping to train as part of an act. (Thread Removed)
While trading Hilda finds out her old companions are in town, performing as the "Pienose Players". Her group hadn't split at all! They had just pretended to to get rid of her...!
Scene 2 - Baker, Baker...
"If I'd stayed in Middenheim, I'd probably be shacked up now, with a bakery and several little ones. I had to leave to make my name, with groups like the Pienose Players. Now I'm ready to see the city again and make my name known as a proper performer"
Expected Scene - Trouble Comes to Find Hilda. Mythic gives Scene as Expected.
Mythic Meaning - "Lonely Struggle" - (Family, Average, Caring, Vocal, Heavy)
As Hilda makes her way through cramped streets, a loud voice calls her name.
Farwit Mugwort is an uncle who runs a bakery that's struggled for years and happy to see his niece. Everyone likes Farwit, but since his wife passed on, he has struggled to run the bakery, helped out by family when they can.
Hilda absolutely refuses to help in the kitchen (Mythic said Extreme No), since she swore not to work in any Middenheim halfling kitchen years ago after the Fire Pie Incident. But she convinces Farwit to let her sleep at his bakery, and next morning drum up custom by performing. If she does well enough he can sponsor her. (Threads Added, Farwit added as character).
She enjoys an evening catching up with her uncle, eating plenty and getting to known Franz (Franz added as character). Tells Farwit how she's planning to make it big in Middenheim as a performer.
Scene 3 - The End of the Whistler
"Family can be boon and bane. Everyone loves uncle Farwit, but he's always in need of help. He'll take in strays and outcasts like me. He's got a big heart but sometimes he gets burnt. Now that auntie Cloga's not here to help out, I'm not surprised to see the bakery still going at all."
Expected Scene - Attracting Customers for Farwit. Mythic give an Interrupt Scene of Close a Thread (Find Opportunity at Loud Whistler), "Decrease Home"
Next morning, there's a buzz about the Loud Whistler, with signs announcing it's been sold and closed. Gossip turns up entertainers living there turfed out and the Knights of the White Wolf have bought it, which makes sense to no-one.
Hilda tries in vain to find Katerine, among uneasy streets. Hilda recruits a couple of performers to work in Farwit's bakery, persuading her uncle to take a chance. She teams up with one of them, Ida Hoch, an actor who claims to have been all over the seas.
Together Hilda and Ida work well. After a slow start they get attention of many passersby, sending several to Farwit's bakery. Things start to look up for Hilda and she finds that Farwit has taken in more performers from the Loud Whistler. But she has a restless sleep as her mind is busy thinking of options in the city.
Katerine turns up the next morning, as the players are getting business for Farwit. She has an opportunity for her and Hilda (Mythic Meaning - Beautiful, Cold), to play that evening in a garden of Kislevites (Cold country to north of the Empire). Together with Ida, they practice for later.
Asking around, Hilda finds out that her old troupe, the Pienose Players, are at a rival event that evening.
Next Expected Scene - Playing at Kislevite Garden Party
Character and Notes
wfrp 2e thoughts | solo tools | starting scenes | characters | threads & npcs
Still just the one character, going it alone to become famous.
Brunhilda "Hilda" Mugwort
Halfling female Entertainer. " Humorous", 3'7", 130 lb, corn hair, dark brown eyes, a large mole on her face, four brothers, Star Sign of Wymund the Anchorite (endurance), 50 years old.
Accompanied by Franz the Crow
| WS | BS | S | T | Ag | Int | WP | Fel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 41 | 20 | 23 | 49 | 31 | 26 | 48 |
| +5 | +10 | +10 (i) | +5 | +10 (i) | |||
| 54 | 53 | ||||||
| A | W | SB | TB | M | Mag | IP | FP |
| 1 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| +2 | |||||||
Skills - Academic Knowledge (Genealogy/Heraldry, Int), Animal Care (Int), Charm, Common Knowledge (Int, the Empire, Halflings), Gossip +10 (Fel), Perception (Int), Perform (Fel, Comedian, Storyteller), Speak Language (Imt, Halfling, Reikspiel +10), Trade (Int, Cook)
Talents - Luck, Mimic, Night Vision, Public Speaking, Resistance to Chaos, Specialist Weapon Group (Sling)
Equipment - common clothes, tattered cloak, leather jerkin, dagger, sling, backpack [costume, tankard, wooden cutlery set, blanket, trade tools (performer), fire juggling sticks, fire-making gear], purse with 9 gold crowns
(Those abbreviations stand for Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Strength, Toughness, Agility, Intelligence, Willpower and Fellowship. Plus secondary characteristics of Attacks, Wounds, Strength Bonus, Toughness Bonus, Move, Magic, Insanity Points and Fate / Fortune Points.)
Threads List and Character List
wfrp 2e thoughts | solo tools | starting scenes | characters | threads & npcs
I'm updating the list of characters and threads as I go. In Mythic GME a thread or character involved in a scene is marked. These gain importance, weighted to have a higher chance of appearing on a random roll for Thread or Character.
Threads
- (1-2) Find out why her old performer group abandoned her
- (3-4) Avoid old trouble in Middenheim
- (5) What was the Fire Pie Incident?
- (6) Make it as a performer in Middenheim
- (7-8) Find a way to help Farwit and his bakery
- (9) Find somewhere to stay
Characters
- (1-2) Hilda's former entertainer group, the Pienose Players
- (3) Previous friends and foes in Middenheim
- (4-5) Katerine, former performer friend, human, from forest village, combative
- (6) Doralikina, dwarf female, seller of animals, old, aggressive in buying and selling
- (7-8) Farwit Mugwort, halfling Militiaman, cook, merchant, caring, large, loud, liked by Franz
- (9) Entertainers from the Loud Whistler
- (10) Ida Hoch, ex-Seaman, Rogue, actor and storyteller.
Finishing Up
Let's see if they survive their first escapade. And if their rival turns up...
