A Life Full of Adventure

The Warhammer world has a few defining creatures, like the beastman , the skaven, and the warriors of chaos. They also have unique creatures, or at least creatures I had not seen in my gaming experience. Some of these include the fimir , amphisbaena, and the zoat. A zoat is a reptilian centaurish creature with the upper body of lizardman (but with more of a turtle-shaped head) and the lower body of what can probably be best described as an ankylosaurus. The rule book describes them as rare, even more so than elves, creatures mostly of legend. They are quite, reclusive, yet powerful, forest-dwelling magicians. I have no idea what the basis is for this creature, but they are incredibly tough. They can move silently through dense undergrowth, they use magic, and they are stronger and tougher than an ogre. They cause fear in goblinoids and lizardmen. Their weapons alone sound like items of adventure: Their characteristic weapon is a long wooden staff tipped with a metal-bound cyl...

Zoomorphic familiars, elementals and plants Wizards are always looking for way to increase their power or reduce the logistic of running a laboratory. Some solutions involve dark magic or apprentices, but the most common one is to have a familiar. These can be an animal bound to the wizard’s psyche. Or constructs and homunculi replicating a living form. Experts in the domain explain that constructs replicating shape and partial functions of an animal are the best choice. They don’t age, don’t eat, don’t sleep and are robust given that they can be partially repaired. The process is complex but can be eased by observing and even dissecting specimen of the targeted animal. Such zoomorphic familiars are usually owned by members of the College of the Golden Order or of the College of Amethyst Order. When wizards grow in power, they have the option to enhance their familiar. Rumors tell that the mechanical monkey of the master of the golden college is now completely made of gold and even m...

Yellow mold is a projectile weapon used by the smallest form of goblinoid, the Snotling.  Much like Tucker's Kobolds, Snotlings have to use deceit, trickery, traps, and cunning to overcome foes. This cunning includes throwing dangerous items at the enemy. Since Snotlings are so small, about the most dangerous thing they can throw is Yellow Mold. Yellow mold is found on decaying matter, and is a fungi that releases spores on contact. The spores fill a 10 yard diameter sphere and last for d6 rounds. Any creature caught in the sphere must make a toughness check or fall unconscious. Also, any creature caught in the sphere takes d3 points of damage per round, whether unconscious or not. And the best part is? Snotlings are immune to the effects of mold. Unfortunately there were appropriate careers to write about for the letter S, or you would have heard much more about the Snotling and it's ingenious ways.

Yaks, chamois and alpine cows - domesticated mountain animals  The Empire is mainly about rivers crossing large forests. Hence most of the entries were related to that. This time we concentrate on the mountain ranges defining eastern and southern borders. These areas are the ancestral home of the dwarfs and lately of the greenskin tribes and clans. How do humans, dwarves and orcs interact with the chamois, mountain goats and mountain cows living at different altitudes? Mountains can sustain a lot of life, more than what you can see and imagine. But this environment enforces survival strategies. We can define two main ones: mountainsides and cold winter. Living on mountain slopes, Yaks and mountain cows need to have a strong balance, low gravity point and strong legs. They also need to survive the winter by storing a lot of excess energy during the summer, grow protective fur, hibernate during the cold seasons, have feet allowing safe movement on the snow or migrate to lower alt...

With a complete dearth of Xs in the career, skills, bestiary, or locales section of the first edition book, I deviate to a term that is very appropriate for the WarHammer world. Xenophobia is ubiquitous in the Empire...and beyond. Chaos is rampant in the Warhammer world. The forces of chaos are responsible for war, mutations, and cults. The person next door to you, the one you've lived beside your entire life, could be a cultist or a mutant. It's difficult enough to trust your neighbors...there's no way you can trust people you don't know. And there are plenty of people in the wide world you don't know. For the most part town and cities are insular. Expansive travel is only for the rich and/or the daring. Those you don't know are considered 'other'. Others can be hiding any number of secrets, most likely ones that will get you killed. And that's just other humans. Surely the other races are out to get you, too. Dwarves are about as violent a ra...

Xylophage - the beaver case The old world is covered by dark and huge forests. These places are dangerous but they are the main source of heating to survive long winters. They also contribute to the food and furs supply required during the cold season. Any animal disrupting or helping collecting these resources from the forests is to be considered with great caution and care. Beavers and coypus are a very special case as they are both destructor and benefactor to Imperial woodmen. Beavers are very common in the Empire. Abundance of rivers and forests supports a very large population. They are a great source of troubles but also of wealth. Their furs used for winter clothes, their meat even if not tasty is better than nothing. They can deforest or lighten large area, making them easier for forestry or to convert in farming land. On the other hand they are aggressive, sometime deadly and their huge structures change rivers flow or flood fields. The timbers they produce can escape into ...

(Remember, I'm trying to keep to starting careers this time through, which means I can't just on W for Witch Hunter like I really want to.) A watchman is almost like a beat cop, patrolling the cities of the Old World and keeping the peace. Theoretically. Realistically, watchmen can be drafted from the seedier citizen of the city in order to keep the peace against other seedy citizens. While it may work to recruit the Hatfields to protect against the McCoys, innocents may also be caught in the cross fire. Watchmen are also perfect racketeers (which is actually one of their career exits). As they patrol the city, they could stop shop-to-shop demanding protection money to "guarantee nothing happens to the place." The violence, brutality, and crookedness of these types of watchmen drive honest ones from the job and into a life of adventure. To an honest watchman character, I'd probably throw in the Law skill, too, or at least a percent chance of the character k...