There are certain milestones during the process of collecting a Warhammer army. For me this is one of them – I finally assembled and based my Nagash model from the 8th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle!
While it was released for the controversial (and badly written) End Times, I still love this miniature. The old Nagash was, let’s just say, really damn bad. Ok it’s a classic, but come one – what is this face? He looks like a clown and not the supreme master of the living dead. I still want to add it to my Vampire Counts collection at some point, but only because I am a hopeless completionist, as well as for tradition’s sake.
Nagash from the front……and here’s his left side……and his back…Even more left side, because why not!Finally here’s a slightly blurry photo of him taken from the front and, again, left side!
Fortunately the newer version of Nagash is much, much better. When I got it from a friend, about two years ago, I was shocked to see just how huge and detailed this bad boy actually is. As you can see, he floats above ground, suspended by his dark magics and the many wailing souls, unfortunate enough to get caught into his blasphemous proximity. Nagash can be assembled in quite a few ways, but in my case he is holding his staff, Alakanash, in his left hand. Meanwhile his right arm grapples tightly with a wayward soul of the damned, armed with an ethereal blade. His famous Nine Books of Nagash are always close, swirling around him on the eddies of Dhar. They contain almost all of the necromantic knowledge that ever existed in the Warhammer World, and each of them was written by the Undying King himself. They are also incredibly hard to utilise correctly, even by the strongest of Necromancers, since Nagash was just on a whole different level when he first penned them.
Aside from the books, the Supreme Lord of Undeath carries a few other, equally deadly (and useful) toys. The aforementioned Alakanash, Staff of Power, allows him to be an even bigger nerd, and collect extra power which he can use for his terrifying spells. Nagash is also armed with Mortis, a powerful, serrated sword, forged by his own hand. Known also as “The Great Blade of Death”, which is just 100% metal, it can only be used by the Great Necromancer. It enhances his already superhuman strength substantially, as well as healing him when he deals wounds with it.
Finally there’s Morikhane – Black Armour of Nagash. Not only is it incredibly stylish, exposing his sexy midriff, but it is also fused with his withered body. No one else can wear it, except its owner! He Who Shall Not Be Named (yes, that’s one of his nicknames – suck it Harry Potter!) forged it from an alloy of lead and meteoric iron, and it allows its wearer to cast spells without any problems. The various skulls of, I presume, long-dead Nehekharan rulers are a really nice touch as well!
Naturally all of these descriptions are from the 4th edition Warhammer Armies: Undead book, which makes them even better and definitely not affiliated with the travesty that is the End Times.
I didn’t really have to do that much work with my Nagash, since he was mostly assembled by his previous owner. I just needed to fix a few broken parts here and there, mostly the spines on his back, as well as a single swirl of power near his feet, and that was it. Finally I glued him on a square base, because of course I had to do that. Even though he doesn’t have any rules in Warhammer: The Old World, I still want him on a proper base, and after he gets some paint slapped on his mighty frame, he’ll go into a nice glass cabinet, where I will be able to lovingly gaze at him from my office chair. Before I eventually buy myself a proper Zombie Dragon, I may even use him as one in TOW, who knows!
Anyway I just wanted to share my excitement with me finally treating the biggest, and most important, mini in my Vampire Counts army the right way. Even though gluing together some of the broken parts of Nagash was a pain in the ass, as the glue, for some strange reason, didn’t want to do its job properly, I am still very, very happy that I did him justice. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post – there are certain milestones in the life of every wargamer. Me finally finishing assembling my Nagash was one of them.
Besides, I don’t want to think what would happen to me if I kept him partially assembled in his box any longer!
As for the next blog post: I am now in the process of finishing “The Lord of the End Times” by Josh Reynolds, the last part of the End Times saga from Black Library. Next time I will write a huge review of EVERY single one of these books, as well as some final thoughts of mine regarding this whole, unfortunate event. Stay tuned.
Until next time!
Xathrodox86
P.S. All of the photos my Nagash model were taken by my wonderful, lovely wife.
I’m going on a holiday in a couple of days, but before I set off towards the Caucasus mountains, here’s a quick review of a WFRP scenario!
More specifically a 2nd edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay scenario called “Beneath the Surface”. It was written by Michael Madsen (not the actor, no) but I only discovered that via the RPGGeek website. There are no credits included here whatsoever.
“Beneath the Surface” takes place in the aftermath of the Storm of Chaos in the small village of Elbing in Ostermark (even though I only learned about this by reading a small entry in an NPC profile). Of course the author suggests that the GM can place it anywhere within the Empire, as long as there’s a forest nearby. It has a non-linear structure but is kinda short at the same time. While I do appreciate some interesting side quests included in the PDF, the whole thing has a few elements that do not sit especially well with me.
First of all, and I am saying that as a non-native English speaker, the language used in this scenario is a mess. “Beneath the Surface” is from 2010 (thanks RPGGeek!) but even back then spell check tools existed. A few times I had no idea what I was even reading. Almost every sentence has at least a single spelling error which is too much even for me.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Onto the premise itself – strange things are taking place in the village of Elbing. The local horse merchant is not selling any horses, even though people can hear them in his stables. The local hunter insists that there’s a large, dangerous creature roaming the nearby woods. Perhaps it is responsible for the disappearance of a local child. And finally, and most importantly, the local priest of Sigmar has disappeared! Given the fact that he was the Village Elder, people are really worried. If the holy man won’t be found soon, a new Elder will need to be elected in a short time.
It’s worth noting that Elbing doesn’t look as pleasant as the village shown on this art… (Fable Concept Art)
Of course the truth is much uglier and darker than one might think. This is the Old World after all! Without spoiling too much, all I can say is that there are dark forces involved with the many problems of Elbing, including the undead and the seductive, eldritch powers of Chaos itself! It is up to the players to discover the truth, find out what happened to the priest and put the many horrors ravaging the village to the sword.
While Madsen states that his scenario is mostly open-ended, it is a very short one as well. Unless the PCs are incredibly dim or uninterested, they will quickly discover the first clues that will hopefully lead them towards the villains of this story. There are quite a few of them, and I must say that the main “big bad” is definitely the highlight of the whole adventure. The only thing I did not like about him was an ability that his kind, according to the lore of Warhammer Fantasy, should not possess. Again, I don’t want to say too much but it was clear to me that the author played rather loosely with the lore accuracy in this particular case.
The gathered ensemble of NPCs is pleasant enough, although none is truly memorable. There’s the usual innkeeper who knows everyone, the local hunter who insists that there is SOMETHING in the woods nearby, the local wise, old woman etc. While the non-playable characters are nothing to write home about, I like what Madsen did regarding their knowledge. Every single important denizen of Elbing and its surrounding has three tiers of information: public, private and secret. Given their disposition towards the PCs they might share some of what they know, everything or nothing at all. It is also easy to track their potential activities, thanks to these information tiers. That’s a really nice mechanic in my opinion.
The complexity of various plot points, both main and smaller ones, is not too big. Most parties should not have any problems with progressing the story, although a few of the side adventures will require some initiative and outgoing approach from the player characters. I don’t think that any WFRP party which spends most of their time in a tavern, waiting for another plot hook to come to them, will fare relatively well in this scenario.
Regarding combat encounters: there aren’t many and those that are, are rather basic. Madsen didn’t specify the power level of the PCs intended for “Beneath the Surface”, but I’d say that a bunch of heroes in their first careers should do well enough against the dangers that will be thrown their way here. There are a few potentially risky Willpower tests, as well as some nasty rats carrying the Green Pox, which is honestly hardcore. Ok, there’s only like 10% for the player characters to contract it, if bitten, but still – it’s the Green Pox we’re talking about, one of the worst diseases in 2e, except maybe the Nurgle’s Rot itself. I would probably change it for some less-lethal illness to be honest.
Although having a surprise Plaguebearers appearance would be… lovely. And deadly… but mostly lovely. Because Nurgle is all about love! (art by John Blanche)
All in all I mostly enjoyed “Beneath the Surface”. While it has its share of problems, mostly spelling and the not-so-ideal open world approach among others, it is a fun and interesting scenario. It has a few sudden plot twists and surprising revelations along the way, and it takes place in Ostermark, a province that’s been criminally underused in WFRP, no matter the edition. The PDF document also includes a very well done map, an entire list of Elbing’s inhabitants (including Age, Occupation, Family and more) and a complex roster of the most important NPCs, together with their stats, Skills, Talents and the aforementioned information section. All of that is 100% excellent stuff. Michael Madsen did an overall solid job here and I would say that you should give it a try. You can find “Beneath the Surface” in my vast fan-made Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay collection here. Enjoy!
Well, they’re from Ind actually. That said they still stirred a lot of drama in the Warhammer community.
I love a good drama. It’s always entertaining to read and maybe get a laugh or two. The current one, mostly regarding Total War: Warhammer and Warhammer: The Old World, centers around the Tiger Warriors. These big cuddly fellas are causing quite a stir with their feline antics, soft fur and them being anthropomorphic cat-people who are not Chaos-aligned.
Oh yeah, you better believe it. We’re getting Beastmen who don’t obsess about wearing eight-pointed stars all the time. What a time to be alive!
Not to mention they’re stylish as well! (art belongs to Warhammer Studio)
Naturally this little article from the Warhammer Community caused quite a ruckus, just as this entry on the Creative Assembly blog. Both of them state clearly that A) the Tigermen of Cathay/Ind serve Zhao Ming, the Iron Dragon and a son of the Dragon Emperor, as mercenaries, and B) that they’ve been created by the Old Ones themselves! No Chaos shenanigans here, no serving the Great Four, nothing like that. As I mentioned before – the Tiger Men are on the side of justice, reason and harmony.
So naturally there are a lot of people who started hating on them to the point of being totally irrational. Arguments about “good Beastmen not fitting the game” and “World of Warcraft-like nonsense” are only some of the tamer, more polite ones flying on different Warhammer forums and message boards for the last week or so. Lots of panties are in a twist, let me tell ya.
As for me, what do I think about these feline fornicators? Do they add anything worthwhile to the lore of Warhammer Fantasy, or are they a bunch of Mary Sues, created for the ever-expanding crowd of furries and modern Dungeons & Dragons enthusiasts? Should they be in the game at all? Or rather games, given that they will probably eventually make their way to the Old World tabletop title.
I friggin’ love them, that’s what I think and feel. That’s my official stance on the matter.
This is Bhashiva, the female Tigerman who is the current White Tiger of the Tiger Warriors and a real badass! She is also known as the “Desert Tigress”, another really cool nickname! (art comes from the Creative Assembly blog)
Look, it’s very simple for me. I’m a huge Grand Cathay fan. I have a whole army of not-China in my house and the last wave of releases made me even more excited for them. I always enjoyed the lore of Cathay, even back in the day when it was very limited. I liked the mysticism, the fact that there was so little known about this nation and its people, and yet the snippets we were getting were full of interesting details. A powerful and mysterious Dragon Emperor, the Great Bastion which was obviously this worlds’ version of the Great Wall of China, the fact that they used animated stone statues of giant Temple Dogs and magically constructed Onyx Crowmen during war – these are only some of the fascinating lore elements associated with Grand Cathay.
Then there were rumors that this nation will appear in Total War: Warhammer III. I still remember lots of comments from not too bright people bitching about how they don’t fit the game. That it’s all about the Old World and nothing else. I found it hilarious that these same people didn’t have anything against High and Dark Elves, the Tomb Kings or the Lizardmen. However the moment anyone mentioned the Far East they were losing their cool. Completely absurd but also, sadly, completely not surprising when it comes to the fandom.
For years I’ve been repeating the same opinion – Warhammer Fantasy focused way too much on a single region of the world. The Old World is fine, it’s cool, it’s interesting. Hell I’m a hardcore Empire enthusiast and Sigmar is my favorite fictional deity, but I also understand that there are other lands than just the domain of Karl Franz, the fair Bretonnia, icy Kislev, as well as Tilea and Estalia. I am also not talking about the well established places like Ulthuan, Naggaroth and, to a lesser extent, Araby. I always wanted more focus on Southlands, Ind, Nippon, Khuresh and, most of all, Cathay. There are entire cultures residing there, with their own customs, traditions, stories and unique traits. But, of course, they’re not not-Germans or not-French so I guess they don’t count, right?
Well, apparently this is not the case, as we see from the latest Warhammer Community and Creative Assembly blog articles. There’s potential there, new and untold stories waiting to be told, people to be fleshed out and developed, and I am all for it… even if some of those people have long, luxurious tails and like to purr constantly. The Tiger Men and their, admittedly still underdeveloped, lore are a step in the right direction. They bring something truly new to the game. They offer lots of fascinating opportunities for expanding the world of Warhammer Fantasy. Do the Imperials know about these “good” Beastmen? What do they think about them? Did their explorers and traders interact with them? What would happen if a military expedition from Grand Cathay, which included a contingent of these creatures, suddenly arrived in the Old World? Will they be attacked on sight, or will their presence make the people of the Empire and other, classical nations think twice before condemning every half-man/half-animal as a worshipper of Chaos?
The addition of Tiger Man to the world of Warhammer Fantasy can only be a good thing, at least in my books. Also remember that this isn’t the first time that they’ve been mentioned in lore. In the Beastmen army book for the 6th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, as well as WFRP 2e’s “Tome of Corruption”, there’s mention of the Tigermen of Ind, noble but unpredictable creatures who sometimes protect, and sometimes prey, upon the local settlements.
Here’s the official artwork from the “Tome of Corruption”, one of the best WFRP 2e books ever written!
Similar mentions appear in the Rulebook for WFB 8th edition, Aaron Rosenberg’s “Warhammer: Day of the Daemon” novel and a couple other publications. What Creative Assembly did was just expand their lore, making it more fleshed out and interesting. For that they have my thanks and appreciation.
I also have a message to the rabid haters who think that this is the worst thing ever, and a clear sign that Warhammer Fantasy should remain dead and buried: give it a rest. What CA did is called “progress” and it’s a cool thing indeed. The fact that there are intelligent, non-Chaos Beastmen running around a single part of the Warhammer World, doesn’t mean that said world is coming to an end. It doesn’t remove anything from factions like the Empire, High Elves, Orcs and Goblins, Skaven and others. It’s just a cool, new addition to the lore, nothing more. Learn to accept and appreciate new things and maybe, you know, keep a more open mind. It’s a useful skill to have.
I also find it rather hilarious that so many people projecting sheer negativity towards the Tiger Warriors have absolutely nothing against the Skaven. I guess that sentient Ratmen who have access to laser weapons and genetic manipulation are less offensive than humanoid cat-people. Probably because “ThEY’rE nOT GOoD aND NoBLe”. Because Sigmar forbid if there’ll be at least a little bit of positivity in my grim and dark fantasy universe, right?
Oh, and there are also those numbnuts who don’t like them because they’re racist and hate anything Asia-related. To those “people” I have a single message: fuck you. I even read one moron’s mental diarrhea about Creative Assembly and Games Workshop empowering the “nation that presents an existential threat to our civilization”. I honestly think that being this stupid must be physically painful.
Damn, I haven’t used swear words on my blog for quite some time now. Guess I am really emotional about this whole “Tigermen” business. Or maybe I’m just a secret furry, who knows? I also didn’t want to ever mention real-world politics here, but… Well, sometimes it’s impossible not to, I guess. Which sucks as I really wanted to keep “It always rains in Nuln” free from this shit.
Anyway, I can’t wait for the Tiger Warriors to arrive in Total War: Warhammer III, and in the tabletop game as well! With some luck we’ll be also getting some tasty Crow-men in the future too! This is really a great time to be a Warhammer fan in general, and Grand Cathay enthusiast in particular!
I certainly welcome our new Dragon overlords! (promotional art from Creative Assembly)
Until next time and… watch out for those nasty hairballs!
I interviewed Steve for my blog back in 2022. He was one of the authors of the “Night’s Dark Masters” supplement for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition. He also created two additional semi-official bloodlines for WFRP: the Jade-Blooded and the Mahtmasi. Both of them are very interesting, especially the Cathay-based Jade-Blooded.
Aside from various RPGs, Steve worked on a lot of board games as well. Some of his more popular ones are “There’s Been A Murder” and “The Score”. I plan to grab the latter next month, and play it with my friends and family. He also taught other people how to make their own games, which was something truly admirable. It’s always great when industry veterans encourage other folk to try their strength at creating something unique. Steve wasn’t just a game designer – he was also a teacher.
I wanted to share his last Patreon post that he made on the 31st December of 2025. It’s worth reading to discover just what kind of a passionate, fantastic person Steven Darlington really was.
You can find Tin*Star games here, while Steve’s BoardGameGeek profile can be found here. His entire portfolio can be found here.
His passing is tragic. We lost a talented writer, games creator and a passionate man who wanted to share his love of games with others. He will be missed.
First scenario review of 2026 and it’s all about the need for speed! Let’s go!
I love short Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventures. Mostly because I like to use them in between chapters of longer campaigns that I ran so often as a Gamemaster. Mike Hall’s “A Day at the Races” is a perfect example of just such a scenario – it’s short, funny, straight to the point, and can potentially work well as an interlude during a longer campaign.
Excellent, minimalistic cover. I love it! (art by Dani Hall)
Written for the 2nd edition of WFRP, and set somewhere in rural Empire at an unspecified time, it focuses on… racing. Shocking, I know. Although given that this is WFRP it’s not just any boring horse racing. No, no – we are talking about fast carts, cut-throat tactics, big money and some intense drama.
Also Mike Hall was totally inspired by the classic “Wacky Races” cartoon from Hanna-Barbera. I am not even kidding. You’ll see for yourselves.
Anyway the main gist of the scenario is simple. The PCs arrive at a small village of Eisfeld. There they learn of the annual Eisfeld-Cursdorf cart race. The price for winning it is rather enticing, since 20 Gold Crowns is a fortune according to WFRP 2nd edition. Not only that, but there are also some tasty betting opportunities, which can make the winners even more rich! Naturally that kind of wealth, not to mention the high competitiveness factor, tends to bring out the worst from people (and non-humans) involved…
Our heroes can, and should, attempt to participate in the race. A night before they will meet their rivals: Richard “Dick” Dar Steadly and his Mutt Leigh, Penny Grube-Halt, Pieter Perfekt and the Underhill Mob.
Yes, really. I told you that Hall is apparently a huge “Wacky Races” fan. I totally approve by the way.
I grew up on this cartoon, as well as on many other classics. Good times! (art taken from IMDB)
The next day it’s racing time… and that’s about it. The entire adventure consists of only two “acts”. The day before the race, and the competition itself. I told you that this scenario was a quick one, which is not surprising, given that it’s only 12 pages-long.
Of course the main focus is on the racing itself. The author created a very easy and intuitive scale which the GM can use to track the position of every contestant. It reminds me slightly of the similar mechanic from the excellent “The Temple of Tepok”, an adventure which I reviewed last year. There are also some scripted encounters along the way, which are unavoidable, but which also spice things up quite a bit. Without spoiling too much, let’s just say that Players who are more combat-oriented, should have some fun while participating in “A Day at the Races”…
I really don’t want to write too much about this scenario because it’s super short. Like “a single session” short. Again, that’s not a complaint from me, quite the opposite in fact! Mike never pretends that his work is some massive epic with Chaos Cults or the Skaven planning to take over the Empire. It’s a great, fun little adventure, ideal for a single afternoon gaming session with friends. It is very linear, however, and there are quite a few scripted events which feel kinda ham-fisted at times. The author makes it perfectly clear when the PCs HAVE to do something, and there’s no escaping that. Also, during the pre-race night at the local inn, I felt that some of the potential NPC interactions felt… kinda forced. Especially the one with Penelope Pit…, errr, I mean – Penny.
Although it needs to be said that the NPCs in “A Day at the Races” are all very well described, especially for such a compact adventure. I like that the other racers clearly possess character traits of their cartoon-based inspirations. It’s a very nice, little detail in my opinion.
That said, I don’t think that any of the aforementioned, ostensibly critical, remarks actually detract from the overall quality of this module. I had lots of fun reading through it, and I will surely enjoy GMing out one day. Hopefully my Players will do as well. You can find “A Day at the Races” here, in my WFRP fan-made collection. Enjoy!
Until next time!
Xathrodox86
P.S. All of the artwork for this adventure was done by Dani Hall and it is very lovely. It perfectly captures the obvious “Wacky Races” inspiration for Mike’s scenario. Good stuff.
I’ve been waiting years for this to happen – Cathay finally arriving on the tabletop was a dream come true for me!
The title is slightly misleading – I started Grand Cathay at the end of 2025. I decided to make a deep dive into this new faction for my beloved Warhammer: The Old World, and so I grabbed the Battalion, Miao Ying, a Sky Lantern and, finally, a majestic Cathayan Sentinel! Oh and I bought their Arcane Journal and dice set as well!
Not a bad haul, if I say so myself!
My lovely wife actually helped me start this whole ordeal by gifting me ten Jade Lancers on my 39th birthday in October. These were the first Cathayan minis that I ever owned. Later she grabbed the wonderful Gate Masters of the Celestial Cities set for me, for Christmas. Before that the only commanders I had for the army were Miao Ying and the Lord Magistrate from the Sky Lantern box. The Gatemasters are glorious, full of character and intricate details. They’re definitely one of my favorite Cathayan miniatures released to date.
Here we can see their from the front…
…and here from the back!
Currently I am finishing assembling the last models for my Vampire Counts. They’re awesome to play in TOW. Even though they are a Legacy Army List, the general quality of their rules is very high… yes, even after removing the Regeneration save for crumbling! To be 100% honest I never understood why they introduced that rule in the first place and I’m actually glad that it’s gone, after the last errata.
As much as I enjoyed playing the VC last year, I also still need to finish my Empire. When I’m done with the spooky skelies, it’s time for me to assemble my Steam Tank, a trio of Demigryph Knights, some Witch Hunters and, finally, add a whole lotta bits to my already existing models. Swords, pistols, daggers, pouches etc. – I have a lot of trinkets to glue onto my existing miniatures. Oh, and there’s still a bunch of Frostgrave minis that I need to assemble. These will make some fine Free Company Militia. Seriously, if you want some cheap Imperial or Bretonnians, you can’t go wrong with Frostgrave.
Not to mention that I also have a couple of old Mordheimers to take care of. I found out that most of them work well as unit sergeants for Imperial State Troop units. I already glued all of the models from the Undead Warband for my Vampire Counts. Even though I was never a huge fan of von Carsteins, their Mordheim miniatures are simply gorgeous, done in a style that reminds me of the Hammer horror movies from the 1950s-1970s.
Only when I’m done with the Empire and the Living Dead, will I start working on my Nan-Gau Cathayan army. Hopefully it’ll be soon, at the end of February at the latest. I am generally rather quick when it comes to assembling models, which is something that always had a calming effect on my nerves. Given the current state of the world, a rather stressful job, and a little kid in the house, Sigmar knows that I could use any stress relief that I can get.
Fortunately collecting and assembling little plastic men definitely helps!
I’ve written this post mostly to remind myself of my, not so large (yet!), backlog of miniatures that I need to take care of. I don’t like gazing at closed boxes full of, let’s be honest, expensive stuff, which are slowly collecting dust. I love Warhammer, I love building armies, customising them, and fielding them on the table. I don’t enjoy passing by my hobby space everyday, and looking at my ever-growing pile of shame.
Next post will be a WFRP scenario review. I have a bunch of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventures that I want to write about in 2026. This will be the first one and trust me – it’s really good.
First review of 2026 and it’s a Black Library story. What can I say – I’m a sucker for good Warhammer fiction.
SPOILERS AHEAD! You have been warned.
I read “Portrait of my Undying Lady” last year, in the “Tales of the Old World” anthology. It can also be found in the 21st issue of the venerable “Inferno!” magazine and the “Lords of Valour” anthology. Written by Gordon Rennie, it tells a tale of Giovanni Gottio, a Tilean painter who’s seemingly down on his luck. One day he’s approached by a man working for the beautiful and mysterious Lady Khemalla, a rich noblewoman living in an abandoned villa in the hills above Trantio. She wishes to commission a painting of herself. However there’s a catch – she’s a Vampire of the Lahmian Sisterhood, a trusted servant of Neferata! Khemalla wants to be painted “as she is”, without any sugar coating. But will the Tilean truly dare to show her inner darkness, or will he decide to present her as a perfect being, not wishing to incur her immortal wrath?
She definitely looks like someone that you do NOT wish to cross! (art taken from the issue 21 of “Inferno!”)
Rennie knows his stuff when depicting Vampires in the Warhammer universe. Khemalla, while being a Lahmian, is 100% terrifying and… monstrous. That said, the author does a great job of only hinting to us about her true nature, making the reader feel uncomfortable and uneasy when reading about her. The dread and menace that she emanates are almost palpable at times, but, thankfully, are also not overt and vulgar. Khemalla is no Strigoi after all! It is a nice change to read about one of the Lahmian Sisterhood who, despite being a beautiful and elegant woman, is, without a shadow of a doubt, a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. Way too often are Lahmians described as polite, charming people, with very little of their true nature as Vampires being focused on. A good example is the Ulrika trilogy by Nathan Long. While a decent series of books, it only focuses on Queen Neferata’s progeny’s talents for spying, statecraft and subterfuge. Gordon Rennie goes beyond these obvious traits, something for which I am very grateful. I like my Vampires complex, with extra focus being placed on their bestial natures. What can I say – being a huge Vampire: The Masquerade fan means that my preferences for all things bloodthirsty are rather complex.
I also really like Khemalla’s reason for commissioning so many portraits of herself. As a Vampire she’s unable to see her own reflection, and thus can only view her own visage via the work of others. She’s afraid that if she’d forgotten how she looks, she would eventually go mad. It’s a really nice touch on the author’s part, emphasising that there’s a tiny bit of humanity even in the oldest of the bloodsucking monsters of the night, and that many of them will go the extra mile to make sure that it won’t die out completely.
“Portrait of my Undying Lady” is a great read not only because of Khemalla, but also (if not mostly) due to its main hero. Giovanni Gottio is such an ordinary, unassuming protagonist that it would be hard to find someone more common and mundane. He’s no Felix Jaeger or Brunner the Bounty Hunter. He is a short, washed out painter who, at the beginning of the story, believes that other people don’t want to hire his services because he only paints the truth, and not the idealised visions that they wish to see. It’s a very refreshing thing to read about a flawed man who’s no fighter, doesn’t carry a magic sword, and is not fighting Orcs, Chaos Warriors or Skaven on a daily basis. Giovanni is very “human”, which makes him relatable and likeable. Again, huge props to Gordon Rennie for creating such a grounded and at the same time interesting hero… if he can even be called that!
The story itself is not overly long, clocking in at ten pages, but the entire plot is very engaging and fascinating, easily making “Portrait of my Undying Lady” feel much lengthier, which is a good thing. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and is a perfect afternoon read if you’re down for some horror-themed Warhammer adventure, with art and immortality being the main focus of the story. There’s virtually no action here, no clashing of swords or casting of spells. There is however a tragic tale of keeping one’s humanity and sanity from disintegrating completely. The question of if it’s better to describe someone in an idealistic, but not completely honest way, is the main plot point of the story, and the final answer was surprising, at least to me. Gordon Rennie managed to create a clever and thoughtful tale that is only ten pages long. That in itself is impressive and I highly recommend that you read “Portrait of my Undying Lady”. It truly is one of those rare Black Library gems that are certainly worth experiencing.
As for any potential criticisms? I don’t really have any. This is one of those stories that are nigh on perfect to me. That’s why I enjoyed it so much and I hope that you will as well.
2026 is already here and so it’s time for me to take a look at my life and hobby endeavors in 2025.
Did a post like this one at the end of 2024, so why not make one at the beginning of 2026? I wanted to make a quick summary of all my hobby-related activities in 2025, as well as some major life changes.
The biggest change in my daily life was the birth of my daughter, Amelia. She’s now almost a year old and I completely lost my head for her. She’s the sweetest and cutest little pumpkin on this planet, and everytime she smiles the world gets a little brighter. Given what’s currently happening all around the globe, having this tiny human be a spark of pure joy is a godsend.
Obviously her arrival slightly changed my hobby schedule and gaming time, at least for the first few months. Now it’s mostly back on track, and I continue to run games and enjoy some tabletop Horus Heresy and Warhammer: The Old World from time to time. Not as much as I used to do, but I don’t mind. She’s 100% worth it.
Ok, now let’s get to some hobby-related stuff, shall we?
When it came to RPGs I mostly stayed in the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay lane. In my Roll20 group I finished my fan-made demi-campaign called “Crimson Shades of Altdorf”, which started as an impromptu scenario. It was a real blast and I loved seeing my players save Altdorf from a massive Dark Elf invasion. After that we switched to the “Ill Met in Bögenhafen” adventure, which was written by Chris Pramas and Robert J. Schwalb. It can be found in the 2e’s sourcebook “Sigmar’s Heirs: A Guide to the Empire”, and is seriously worth checking out. While ostensibly easy and rather straight forward, it ended with my players losing their hard-won inn in Altdorf, and deciding to travel to Lustria, to earn some riches! That’s when we switched to the fantastic scenario called “The Temple of Tepok”. It was written by Pip Hamilton and is a true gem in the world of fan-made WFRP material. I reviewed it not too long ago, and I highly recommend trying it out, especially if you’re a Lizardmen fan.
How can you not love the Lizardmen? They’re just jawsome!
In my second IRL/Roll20 group I played in a friend’s Kislev campaign, which sadly had to be ended prematurely. That’s where I went back to GMing, with my first ever playthrough of “The Temple of Tepok” (the aforementioned one was actually the second time when I ran it). My players loved it, and after finishing it I ran John Foody’s “Eternal Guard”, a short, horror-themed scenario in Marienburg. From there we ended our 2025 WFRP endeavors with “The Tears of Myrmidia” by Brian Gillatt and Paul Mackintosh, a very well written adventure set (mostly) in Araby, one of my favorite locations in the entire Warhammer Fantasy setting. I still need to write a review of this module…
Interestingly enough, these last two scenarios came from the venerable “Warpstone”. Anyone remembers this independed, WFRP-focused magazine?
Oh and I even enjoyed some “Vampire: The Masquerade” as a player. Loved RPing a Toreador that was 100% rude and crude, rather than a refined and pretentious fop. Creating such detailed, unique characters is really one of my favorite things about Classic World of Darkness.
There are very few things that I dislike about the Classic World of Darkness. It is, after all, my favorite fictional setting of all time!
With my third group, which actually is the first and oldest one chronologically, we finished a Classic World of Darkness “Project Twilight” chronicle and returned to our old playthrough of “The Enemy Within”, the OG one. Sadly we only played it for a couple of months, before real life obligations forced us to halt our meeting for the foreseeable future.
I only bought a single TTRPG-related product in 2025, which was a Nuwisha sourcebook for the classic Werewolf: The Apocalypse. Here’s hoping that in 2026 I’ll expand my role-playing collection much, much more.
A very interesting tome. I love those Classic World of Darkness books so much!
As for the tabletop wargaming experience things have slowed quite a bit for me. I did play some Horus Heresy 2.0 and 3.0, and I really enjoy the new edition of the game. 2.0 was, in my opinion, the worst iteration of the game to date. 3.0 is much better, if slightly too simplified in some areas. Still it’s an improvement over the second edition, a game that I will definitely not remember fondly or with any sympathy (even though I played a lot of it!).
I really got massively into Warhammer: The Old World though! Not only did I greatly expand my Vampire Counts, but I also started collecting Grand Cathay, one of my favorite factions in the game. For many years I dreamed of the day when Games Workshop would eventually release Cathay as a fully playable, standalone faction, and here it is. The minis are gorgeous, assembling them is great fun, and I can’t wait to field them on the table.
I took a real deep dive into the Empire of the Celestial Dragon!
I also played some 2 vs 2 games during my Autumn RPG/tabletop trip with a bunch of friends. I can safely say that Warhammer: The Old World is one of my favorite games that GW ever made, much better than the final two editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. I probably still prefer WFB 6th edition, if for the nostalgia factor alone, but WTOW is a magnificent title, really well made, reasonably balanced and with rules that are relatively easy to master. Good stuff.
Oh and I got some Demigryph Knights for my long-neglected Empire of Man army, which I still need to test in Warhammer: The Old World. After all, it was my first major fantasy force that I started to collect as an adult, all the way back in 2014.
I also enjoyed quite a bit of video gaming. First of all, I finally finished the “Mass Effect” trilogy! After years of hearing about it, reading about it and being told by my friends how good it is, I gave it a shot in June and… finished the entire thing in early September. I played the Legendary Edition on Steam, of course, and what an experience that was! Despite having one of the worst endings in any media fiction that I witnessed, it was a true masterpiece, an epic saga that I was very happy to finish all the way. I sincerely hope that Mass Effect 5 will expand upon Shepard’s story, and that maybe it’ll give us a proper explanation on how part three canonically ended.
Hopefully not with any of those stupid “choose your favorite color” resolutions. How could they screw the finale to such a magnificent tale so much?
That was one of the best gaming experiences of my whole life!
After finishing the entire “Mass Effect” saga, I jumped straight into the first “Dragon Age”. While a very well made game, I can’t muster the same levels of enthusiasm that I had for the ‘”ME” trilogy. Perhaps it’s the general fantasy genre fatigue that I’ve been feeling lately, or maybe it’s the mechanics (they are rather… archaic) – I don’t know. I will certainly finish it, but won’t be starting part 2 anytime soon after that.
I also watched quite a few TV shows and movies which worked well as inspiration for my WFRP games. Among them were Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood”, “Warcraft: The Beginning”, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”, “The Great Wall” with Matt Damon and the entire “Castlevania” series on Netflix, including “Nocturne”. I enjoyed most of them, especially “Robin Hood” left a lasting impression on me. It’s one hell of a movie and I highly recommend watching it, especially if you’re massive history buffs like me. Come to think of it, I should probably write a review of it in the near future…
Seriously, this is such a good flick. It’s rather long but totally worth the time to watch it from beginning to end!
Finally we get to my blog, which turned 11 years old in the Autumn of last year! 2025 was the year of the reviews. I did a bunch of them, including the aforementioned “The Temple of Tepok” and “Eternal Guard”. I squeezed a couple of Black Library reviews, and I even wrote my thoughts on Zack Snyder’s cult classic, the epic “300”! I wrote my thoughts on the new “Warhammer: The Old World” RPG by Cubicle 7, a game that I eventually plan to try out someday.
I also conducted an interview with Zekiel from “Ill Met by Morsslieb”, one of the best Warhammer-related blogs currently on the web. He did an interview with me, back in 2024 so it was only natural that I’d return the favor. Chatting with him was truly delightful and I sincerely hope that we’ll be able to collaborate on some cool projects in the future.
Zekiel’s work is truly inspiring. Definitely give it a look, you won’t be dissapointed!
There were a couple other cool things, like the “Elector Counts” Card Game review, but mostly I focused on the unofficial WFRP scenarios’ reviews, since that is something that both me and my readers (the majority of them at least) find most interesting.
So there it is – my 2025 retrospective… or a year in review, if you will. Despite being a rather wild ride with the little one, it was still a very productive time for me, hobby-wise. I will write about my 2026 “roadmap” soon, since there will be a few changes in my standard role-playing repertoire and scheduling. That said, I didn’t want to write about these things in my first post of 2026, especially one in which I reminisce of last year’s endeavors. This whole article would end up being just too damn long.
The last post of 2025 – let’s make it memorable, shall we?
What better way to achieve this than by writing a review of a scenario created by Hectorius. His impressive array of fan-made WFRP supplements is long and distinguished, and “Molti’s Falcon” is another excellent example of why he’s one of my favorite Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay creators. You can check two of my previous reviews of his work here and here.
“Molti’s Falcon”, a WFRP 2nd edition scenario, takes the players into the post-war Middenland, right after the conclusion of the Storm of Chaos. The author even suggests using this adventure as an intro for the classic “Paths of the Damned” campaign, instead of the official “Through the Drakwald”, which can be found in the 2e rulebook. While this is a definitely interesting idea, the structure and scale of “Molti’s Falcon” makes it better as a standalone experience, or as an interlude between chapters of a larger campaign.
The scenario’s cover and tagline are both pretty epic!
Obviously there will be slight spoilers ahead.
Devised for Player Characters in their first careers, it focuses on… well, quite many things! I am not kidding, this is one plot-heavy scenario. High Elves, Dwarfs, the Undead, Skaven, Mutants, Beastmen, Tzeentchian Daemons, senile, alcoholic Grey Wizards and more – “Molti’s Falcon” sure includes A LOT of elements from the world of Warhammer Fantasy. Sometimes I had a feeling that there were perhaps a bit too many of them packed into the 46 pages of this adventure, but in the end I think that Hectorius did a perfect job of integrating them into his work.
The plot seems relatively simple at a first glance. Our heroes have been hired in Middenheim to escort Tatharic, a haughty High Elf, to a nearby small hamlet of Falkenheim Manor, where he wishes to hire a guide that will take him to a place very special to his ancient family, the House of the Obsidian Pinion. Somewhere in the Middle Mountains he wishes to scatter the ashes of his grandfather, who spent his youth there. Or at least that’s what he claims…
From the very beginning the PCs are thrust into a huge intrigue whose roots date back to the apocalyptic War of Vengeance, or “War of the Beard” as it is known to the Elves of Warhammer World. Tatharic has a much more sinister reason for travelling to the Middle Mountains, than the one he ostensibly presented to the party and their companions. Ancient elven Kiths, old, forgotten gods, and sinister rituals will soon plague the PCs’ lives, as they move ever closer to their final destination.
Despite being a relatively short scenario, “Molti’s Falcon” is, as I mentioned before, a very complex work. This is undoubtedly one of its strong suits, even if it requires the gamemaster to be very careful and meticulous when it comes to running this module. Having lots of extra notes is a must, especially for all the myriad NPCs that have been included on the pages of this adventure. I kid you not – there are 21 pages dedicated only to various non-playable characters’ profiles… and “Molti’s Falcon”, as I mentioned before, is 46 pages-long. The amount of work that Hectorius put into character creation, their personalities, motivations and unique traits, is more than impressive. I love the “Dirty Little Secret” system that he included here. Each of the NPCs has, to put it plainly, some sort of secret. While not necessarily dangerous or deadly, it can nonetheless mean trouble for said non-playable character, if it ever sees the light of day. Such a simple yet effective writing trick. I love it.
When it comes to combat encounters this module shouldn’t really pose any major threat to the party, especially since they’ll be supported by a small, yet well-armed and armored, escort of Middenheim soldiery. There’s a single tougher enemy that the PCs can encounter at the very end of the scenario, but it’s a solitary threat. Together with their NPC allies they shouldn’t have any trouble defeating that monster.
Even though its statline is impressive!
There’s a single new Talent and a new healing spell introduced at the very end of the document. Both are interesting and quite useful for both players and gamemasters. Hectorius also used one of the excellent Gitzman maps showing the general area around Middenheim, including the western Middle Mountains where the bulk of the scenario takes place. Since I’m a sucker for all things Gitzman-related this was definitely a plus for me.
I can only recommend playing “Molti’s Falcon” as it is, despite the massive amount of lore crammed onto its pages, a damn good adventure. Hectorius never fails to deliver a high quality WFRP product, and this one is no different. You can download it from my huge Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay fan-made collection here. Also here’s a reminder that I will update it in the first half of 2026. At least that’s the plan, since it’ll require a lot of work from me, but I haven’t done any updates for it for the past few years, and I’ve amassed a lot of new fan-created WFRP content since then. I will surely let y’all know when I’ll eventually do it, you can count on that.
Oh and if you’re wondering if the scenario actually has any Raymond Chandler-inspired elements in it… you’ll have to check out for yourselves!
Oh and watch “The Maltese Falcon” if you haven’t already. It’s one of the best noir movies of all time!
One of the last WFRP scenario reviews for 2025 is here, and it’s a real treat!
I love Lustria as a setting. It’s like South America but a hundred times more dangerous, full of savage lizard people and hiding all sorts of secrets, treasures and ancient artifacts. It’s also practically uninhabited by Old Worlders and other mortal nations (the Undead have a stable enclave on the Vampire Coast!). To sum it up – in my opinion it is a perfect setting for a lengthy Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventure!
Which is a shame that there are no official ones available. I mean, there’s this very old, very inappropriate White Dwarf scenario which includes Pygmies – “The Floating Gardens of Bahb-Elonn”. While interesting in a sort of “how did WFRP adventures looked way back then”, it aged really poorly, mostly because of the aforementioned Pygmies. That said, what about some unofficial scenarios or campaigns set in Lustria?
There are a couple of them. Roysten Crow made his legendary “Lustria” campaign for the 1st edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (which you can get from my fan-made collection here). It’s huge, it’s impressive, it is also slightly outdated in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, it is a solid module. It just uses vastly outdated lore and since I’m a stickler for that, I never intended to run it myself.
Fortunately there’s “The Temple of Tepok”, in my opinion the most ambitious and well-written 2nd edition adventure set in the New World. It’s a damn impressive piece of fan-made work, including custom maps, a whole Lustrian bestiary, stats for various types of Lizardmen, unique artifacts and more! It is, without a shadow of the doubt, one of the best unofficial scenarios that I ever had the pleasure to run.
Seriosuly, it is SO GOOD! (art by Pip Hamilton)
Which is why I GMed it twice this year! With my Roll20 group we are currently in the second part of “The Temple of Tepok”, while with my IRL group we finished it around early October. It’s not super long, taking approximately 11-12 sessions, about 3,5 hours each, to finish. I would say that this is a respectable length for any WFRP adventure that’s not an interlude between chapters of a fully-fledged campaign.
Spoilers ahead. You have been warned.
The premise is relatively simple here. In Marienburg an expedition is being prepared, with its goal being Lustria, the fabled Land of Gold… or Green Hell. It depends whom you ask. Anyway the Imperial College of Light is organising the expedition to bring back riches beyond the wildest dreams and they need good, dependable men. They already hired an elite company of Reikland mercenaries, a seasoned sea captain and they are even sending one of their own magisters to join the trip. The pay is good but, of course, it’s the potential treasures that will make everyone involved richer than the Elector Counts themselves.
At least that’s how the recruiting officers spin their high tales of the upcoming journey to Lustria. The reality is much, much darker and more perilous. I don’t want to spoil too much but let’s just say that in “The Temple of Tepok” nothing is obvious, everyone has a hidden agenda, and there are no good guys involved. Which, this being a Warhammer Fantasy scenario, is nothing strange, to be completely honest!
Pip Hamilton divided his adventure into five acts, each of them lengthy and with multiple branching plot elements involved. This is a module in which the player’s actions really matter and they will have repercussions at the end of the whole thing. I absolutely love that, even though I normally prefer simple, linear games. What the author did here feels organic and natural, being etched into the frame of the scenario effortlessly and subtly.
I also need to mention the endings. Yes – endings. There’s not a single, definitive one, but four of them! Two of them are “the best endings”, albeit without any major fireworks. Another one has potential repercussions for the PCs, but relies heavily on the gamemaster to describe “what happened next”, which isn’t a bad thing, mind you. The final one is the real deal. It’s bloody, it’s chaotic and it’s bloody awesome! While also being the worst one… I loved it the most. I was very happy that my players did everything in their power to reach that very hectic finale. Here’s hoping that my Roll20 group will “choose” this one as well.
Again, I can’t spoil too much, so do excuse the vagueness in some of my descriptions.
This adventure is not necessarily easy, especially once the party reaches Lustria. There’s a mechanic for dealing with the heat, humidity and tropical diseases. Pip included even a brand new sickness called Swamp Fever. It is 100% nasty and I can easily see it being modified for usage in the colder climates of the Old World. There’s also a new insanity, Cosmic Insignificance, which is very fitting. After all, the expedition will deal with alien, cold blooded monsters guarding ancient secrets of a long dead creator race. This is just asking for trouble… or some good, old fashioned mind-shattering.
The author also created a whole Lustrian bestiary. Cold Ones, Terradons, Stegadons, Giant Lustrian Leeches and even Blot Toads, so loved by Ripperdactyls as snacks – all of these creatures, and more, are included in the scenario. With full stats, skills, talents and special rules. But that’s not all! The Lizardmen have also found their way onto the pages of “The Temple of Tepok”. While there’s not a full roster of them included in the scenario, with some of the more unique specimens that can be found on the pages of a Warhammer Fantasy Battle Army Book, the amount included is still impressive. We have Skinks (and Skink Priests!), we have Saurus Warriors and even the mighty Temple Guard have been fully stated. These last ones are incredibly nasty to throw against the PCs, with how utterly deadly they are. What I love about all of those creatures present in the adventure is how detailed and faithful to their tabletop battle game they feel. Kudos to the author for taking the effort of creating probably the best Lustrian bestiary for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay to date. It even includes lore passages similar to ones found in the “Old World Bestiary”, which is beyond cool!
Yes, the mighty Kroxigor can also be encountered during the gameplay! (art taken from the Lizardmen 8th edition Army Book for Warhammer Fantasy Battle)
Without giving too much away, I can also tell you that there are other fantastical races from Warhammer Fantasy, included on the pages of this module. That said I don’t want to spoil too much…
That’s not all however, for Pip also included a full roster of new poisons, artifacts and jungle hazards. Each of them feels unique and 100% fiting the setting of Lustria. Some of the hazards are fairly easy to avoid though, which makes encountering them by the PCs during the adventure tricky. I had to adjust a few of these to actually pose a challenge to my players. The various herbs and poisons, as well potential, dangerous repercussions of gathering/brewing them, are very well done. Again, just like in the case of the new Swamp Fever illness, these can easily be modified to fit the “default” setting of the Empire and its neighbouring countries. The artifacts are all relatively powerful, even being called “Treasures of the Old Ones”. One of my players got his hands on a single one of these trinkets and it saved his life more than once!
One of the best elements of “The Temple of Tepok” for me is the combat system. Make no mistake, it is a combat-heavy scenario and while there are major pauses between armed engagements, when they eventually come they are bloody. The author created a very cool and unique system of combat trackers, which, well, keeps track of how well the PCs are doing during a fight. Almost all of the hostile encounters make use of it and focus only on the party. Around our heroes a furious fight rages, but it’s their individual combats that can turn the tide of battle – for better or the worse. Often they get some friendly NPC help, but at the end of the day they are the heroes, and it is their deeds that will shape their fate. Depending on how well or poorly they’re faring, the tracker can go up or down. Once it reaches a certain point the battle is won… or lost. Again, a truly great addition to the game that I’ve been using in my other WFRP adventures.
Here’s an example of a combat tracker used in “The Temple of Tepok”. It’s even very fitting visually! (by Pip Hamilton)
The fights themselves are usually demanding and relatively difficult. Often they’ve been divided into multiple phases, each of them well described and expertly used for tension building. For the combat system alone it is worth reading through “The Temple of Tepok”.
But what about the overall difficulty? While Hamilton advises a more experienced party to be used for this scenario, my first group that finished it were 100% fresh characters, and relatively non-combative either. They did just fine, only losing a few Fate Points and two out of four characters at the very end of the adventure. The second party, the Roll20 one, is composed of some very experienced, but completely non-combat PCs, and so far they’re doing even better. They are in the middle of the scenario and so far only three Fate Points were burned, with plenty left. In fact I had to tweak the difficulty level at some points of the story to make it slightly more challenging, like adjusting the heat and humidity tests for them to actually make a difference. That’s not a jab at the author, but I think that in the end “The Temple of Tepok” can be easily finished with a band of not too experienced adventurers, and that is probably a good thing. Perhaps it’s the fact that PCs are often accompanied by some very experienced NPCs, most of whom fare really well in combat, and have access to healing.
Daily reminder that the Light Wizards are completely busted in the 2nd edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay! (art belongs to Games Workshop)
The Non-Playable Characters themselves are expertly described and presented. They feel like real, living beings, with their own agendas, motivations and secrets. They even have unique character traits and interesting, complex personalities. The most important ones received their very own portraits that are drawn in this wonderful stick figure-like style. At the first glance one might think that it doesn’t fit the theme of the scenario, but it is, in fact, really cool and kinda sweet! Pip did all the artworks himself, which is truly impressive in my opinion. He also created lots of handouts, including maps (general and combat-oriented with square grids), adventure timeline graph, the entire cross-section of a Lustrian temple and more. The fact that he’s not using any official art pieces from Games Workshop is impressive and just shows how this is clearly a passion project for him.
Some examples of NPC depictions found on the pages of this module, with some truly fitting quotes! (art by Pip Hamilton)
I love “The Temple of Tepok”. I could probably write at least twice the amount of praises for this scenario than I already did. This adventure is a perfect example of why I adore the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay fandom – it is capable of incredible feats of creative master and genius. Pip Hamilton gave us one of the best, most ambitious WFRP adventures of all time, and you’ll be seriously missing out if you don’t try it out. Even if campaigning in Lustria is not your cup of mezcal, you should at least read it from beginning to end. It’s a lengthy one, clocking at a whooping 139 pages! And it’s not even a campaign, just a scenario! Yeah, like I said, it is beyond impressive. Additionally it also includes some lesser known locations of the Warhammer World, like Estalia, Araby and Sartosa. I love when places other than the overused Old World nations are used in WFRP adventures and campaigns, so that’s definitely another positive thing about “The Temple of Tepok”.
Are there any really negative things about it? No, not really. I wish that the author would include more Lizardmen units from Warhammer Fantasy Battle, like Bastiladons, Dread Saurians and the Slann for example. The creature roster, as I mentioned before, is really impressive, but even more Children of the Old Ones would be awesome to have in the scenario. Also there are no rules for making the Skink Priests better at magic than your usual human wizard, which I found kinda strange. There are sadly no new spells at all – again, it’s a real shame in my opinion. The lack of any rules for the use of High Magic is also a missed opportunity, I think. Sure, they would probably be busted and should not be allowed for the players to utilise, but they would fit the overall theme of the adventure. Again, that’s no big deal, just a light remark from yours truly.
You can find this fine scenario in my vast WFRP fan-made collection here. I plan to update it in 2026, since the last time I did so was a couple of years ago. It will take some time though.
Until next time… and watch out for those Swamp Fever-carrying mosquitoes!
Although to be fair, they are the least of any hapless explorers’ worries… (art taken from the Lizardmen 8th edition Army Book for Warhammer Fantasy Battle)
It always rains in Nuln 