I awoke with a start. It was in the middle of the night, again. It seems as if my sleep here in Altdorf is destined to be interrupted. At first I didn’t know where I was, and after groping around for a candle and some flint and tinder I had some time to wake up. The events of the last couple of days came back to me, and I remembered where I was. In one of the towers of the University of Altdorf. Again I heard the noise that had awakened me, something was moving outside my window. I struck light and made my way to the south window, from which the sound was coming. I leaned forward, shielding the light with my free hand, so that I could spy that which was moving. Then with a crash, something threw itself at the window. Through the snow and sleet I saw a nightmarish face, a woman as pale as a corpse, her features distorted into a hideous grin. Claws scratched at the window panes. I screamed out and the candle fell from my powerless hands. The monster’s hideous laughter overwhelmed me and I sank to my knees, begging to Sigmar for protection against all evil powers. Then the monster was gone, and as I write this, I’m not sure if I dreamed the entire incident.

Adolphus Altdorfer
Wellentag, Nachexen 5, 2522 IC

There are monsters in Altdorf. It’s just a case of figuring out which monsters are appropriate for the capital. There are powerful military forces stationed in and near Altdorf and a fairly active (albeit also fairly corrupt) City Watch which should be able to deal with most threats. And the city is the home of the Emperor so no open threats to him, or to the nobles of his court would be allowed.

From this follows that the monsters that are known to the public of Altdorf, are monsters that will be under the direct control of an upstanding and respected citizen, such as the beasts in the Imperial Zoo. Maybe a noble has a ferocious warhound, a warhawk or even a wolf to boast about in front of his friends. But such beasts will only be a problem if they escape, and if they do they will surely be hunted. Such a situation can provide a good short adventure for one session.

Of greater alarm, and far more dangerous are the hidden monsters. Altdorf is a large city, and there are plenty of places to hide. Dank cellars, secluded mansions, derelict towers, abandoned sewers or dark water fronts. Even the parks or the forest just outside Altdorf can be the home of monsters that bring peril and fear to the citizens and the characters. And even though most monsters are supposed to live in the wild, a bit of creative thinking can give you lots of ideas for urbanising beastly foes. A great example of this can be found in issue 26 of Warpstone. The adventure The Harpies of Vindell’s Folly, written by Robin Low, introduces … hmmm … well, harpies to a city environment. Although I’d likely rework the plot and the background of the adventure before using it in Altdorf, the basic premise is sound and showcases an interesting use of a monster that supposedly only lives in the wilderness.

For sure, not every monster is suitable for adaption to an urban setting. The undead, Skaven, Mutants (anyone can be a Mutant), Cultists and Giant Animals of ordinary animals seem most likely to be of use for a Game Master. Looking through the Old World Bestiary, I can immediately think of ideas that would involve the following monsters in an Altdorf campaign;

Chaos Cultists (obviously)
Giant Rats
Giant Spiders
Great Eagles
Harpies (see Warpstone issue 26)
Skaven
Undead of all stripes (especially Ghouls)
Vampire Bats
Warhawks
Werecreatures

Of course, there is always room for a random attack by crazed beastmen infiltrating the city, or a chaos beast such as a manticore to descend on the poor folk of Altdorf, but I prefer to use monsters that can be a long term threat. Who is responsible for the latest upheaval in the cemeteries? Grave robbers or Ghouls? Or even Strigoi Vampires? Who is to blame for the disappearance of many children in the Drecksack slums? Slavers, Giant Rats or Skaven? Or are they carried away by Harpies or Great Eagles?

So expect to encounter some monsters here and there in my version of Altdorf. They are always there, hiding and biding their time … and there’s a fog rolling in from the river.

Magnus

The accounts of life in Altdorf are many and varied. Taken together they speak of wretched slums and indulgant luxuries, steam powered engineering marvels and mystical winds of magic, of high and low. It’s the imperfect jigsaw of a city seething with life and passions, filled with dreams come true and nightmares come to life, uplifting hope and crushing despair, and I can never hope to paint one true picture of the city. I can offer glimpses, I can lay the puzzle with a myriad of pieces. But I can never paint the whole picture, never show the endless layers of life that lie beneath the surface. So I’m sad to realise that my work will be just one voice in a crowd of others.

Adolphus Altdorfer
Festag, Nachexen 4, 2522 IC

Much like Adolphus, I can only hope to cover bits and pieces of Altdorf. That is one of the reasons I chose a blog as a vehicle for this task, since it is eminent for laying out little pieces one at a time. But I have to limit my scope, I have to decide what goes into my entries, who to describe and what to cover.

At its roots this blog comes from the work I do preparing my own WFRP campaign. So that campaign will be the basis for everything I do. And I have made some … let’s say … non-canon … decisions which will influence this blog. High magic is right out. So I will not cover the colleges as they appear in Realms of Sorcery. I will not cover magic as a common occurrence in Altdorf. If I touch upon magic, it will be as a force unknown and feared. Halflings are gone, they don’t exist. Elves are fantastically rare (rumoured to be a race of vampiric ghosts). Chaos is a threat, but I emphasise an enemy within, rather than a storm of chaos.

So 99% of the NPCs you will see here will be humans. The occasional dwarf, like Krag Jorgensen the famed dwarven weaponsmith, will make appearences and become a part of my jigsaw puzzle. Also, the subplots (of which I already have hinted at) will mostly concern human behaviour and implications of that. With the taint of chaos ever present, of course.

Magnus