(This scenario is a rough draft. Any criticism, ideas, etc. are welcomed, expected, and alost demanded.)
Ragnar cursed as the toe of his boot caught on a root, nearly tumbling him to the ground for the umpteenth time, "By Nurgle's great one-eyed tit, would someone please explain to me why we're following this fool Elf through the Drak Wald in the middle of the night?"
Gygar helped his friend regain his balance, saying, "You already know that this is the only way that the old Elementalist will meet us. Remember we need him to get that crazy Zoat off our backs." Gygar himself was uneasy. They had killed the Orcs who torched the grove, but the Zoat didn't seem to care. It had already slaughtered Georg and Eustace in its numerous ambushes. There was no telling when it could spring upon them stumbling through the forest, guided only by Aginor's superior night vision.
Suddenly, both Ragnar and Gygar caught their breath as Aginor disappeared from view without warning. Searching about for a trace of their vanished guide, snares caught their feet and whipped them into a deep earthen pit where Aginor lay unconscious.
Tending to their bruises and attempting to rouse the Elf, the heroes froze as muffled footsteps approached. Peering over the rim of the pit was the unmistakable form of a Beastman. Looking over its shoulder, the foul beast cried, "Ho, Piglet! Look what I've caught in my Hefalump Trap!"
Introduction
This light WFRP scenario may be placed in any forested area that the party is about to enter and works well to spice up the journey. The villain is not overly powerful and should not stand up long in a toe-to-toe fight. The scenario offers various ways to make the Chaos Warrior more effective in combat if you wish to challenge your party.
On the Road
As the party travels down the road or prepares to enter the forest, a Roadwarden patrol approaches. The Sergeant (Christopher Robbin), after a few cursory questions, offers to tend to any of the party’s wounds, if any. During his questioning, he encourages the party to stick to the road and progress quickly to their destination. He mentions that an elusive Chaos Warrior has been spotted in the area and that his patrol is there to track him down. (The Chaos Warrior is actually Christopher Robbin; he suffers from a severe split personality disorder.) Christopher Robbin also mentions peaceful Druids in the area who need his protection and that may react badly to strangers. (False, Christopher is protecting the Good and Neutral aligned Beastmen in the area.)
If attacked, the patrol will defend themselves to the best of their ability. Christopher Robbin will hang back, peppering the party with arrows. For every round that he engaged in hand-to-hand combat, he must pass a WP check or flee. In any case, he will Strike to Stun as often as he can and try to make his escape, fleeing into the woods and losing all pursuit within two rounds.
If the party does not attack and the patrol does not have overwhelming reason to detain them, the PCs may continue down the road or into the forest. Christopher Robbin will send his patrol on to the nearest coaching inn or town and will shadow the party, if possible.
Into the Forest
This area of the forest holds a large number of traps. Most were set by Pooh Bear to catch Hefalumps and are snares that whip the party into covered pits of soft earth. The victim’s I is reduced by 20% to avoid the trap and, if spotted, must still make a check to avoid the covered pit trap. The pits are 3 yards deep, but are lined with leaves and soft earth (-1 to falling damage). A few animal traps and normal 3 yard pits are dotted along the perimeter of the area. These were set by Christopher Robbin (the Roadwarden Sergeant) to ward off intruders. The most recent traps were set by Christopher in his Chaos Warrior personality. These include Mantraps, large branches set up as Deadfalls (S 4 attack), spiked 3-yard deep pits (Roll again to avoid spikes or sustain S 3 attack in addition to falling damage.), and saplings bent to fling spears at passer-by touching a trip-wire (S 3 attack). All of the traps are at I -20% to avoid.
Discovery!
There are a number of entertaining possibilities to introduce the PCs to the Beastmen of Hundred Acres:
1) Have the party’s scout (or the entire party) be caught by one of Pooh Bear’s Hefalump snare and pit traps. Pooh Bear and Piglet should happen along within a couple minutes to free the victims and introduce themselves.
2) If a PC is seperated from the rest of the group, let him hear strange hooting and gibbering noises coming from all around up in the treetops. When you have him or her sufficiently paranoid, have Tigger shoot out from the undergrowth and grapple the unfortunate. With Tigger’s high Initiative and three Attacks (two of them may be grapples), he should be able to pin the character before he can attack the Beastman. Tigger will not damage the character, but will introduce himself and try and get the PC to play with him.
3) Following the a loud buzzing sound, the party comes across a huge bee hive in the trees. Pooh Bear, disguised as a rain cloud, is climbing up the tree, trying to get some honey.
Hundred Acres
Assuming the party does not immediately attack the Beastmen, they will be escorted to Hundred Acres. After some fumbled explanations by whichever Beastmen found them, Owl and Christopher Robbin will appear, giving a proper explanation and inviting them to the hospitality of the Hundred Acres. Two large homes dominate the area. Pooh Bear’s burrow home (with the sign: Mr. Sanderz) and Rabbit’s home within a gigantic hollowed-out tree trunk.
The Hundred Acres is a refuge for Beastmen who are too kind-hearted to follow the murderous Chaos Gods. Here they live as a classless and non-violent society, living off the land and helping one another survive. Chasing off a Mutant band that had successfully attacked a coach, the Beastmen found an infant child who they adopted and named Christopher Robbin. Christopher now uses his influence as a Roadwarden Sergeant to assure the safety of the Hundred Acres from Human interference and misunderstanding. He is hoping that the party will assist him in this.
Unfortunately, Christopher Robbin’s mother was a minor Chaos Cultist who had pledged her child to the service of Tzeentch. Last week the Changer of the Ways called in that pledge, warping Christopher’s mind and granting him a suit of Chaos Armor and a Chaos Bow (which are currently hidden in the forest). Every so often, Christopher goes off alone into the forest, puts on his Chaos Armor and stalks the same Beastmen that he normally protects. He has no memory of these activities and is currently leading the search to destroy the Chaos Warrior who has been recently tormenting the area. Christopher Robbin and the Beastmen are very concerned by the Chaos Warrior in the area and will seek the party’s help in confronting it.
Playing Christopher Robbin As A Chaos Warrior
Christopher Robbin is a rather low-powered Chaos Warrior and should not stand a chance in a straight combat with the party, much less if the Beastmen assist them. His main strengths are his speed, unlimited arrows, and strong unarmed combat ability (especially Wrestling). For an especially deadly encounter, give Christopher some Manbane or other poison to rub on his arrowheads. For an especially weak party, remove Christopher’s Aura of Dread or only let him wear the armor a limited amount of time before his Roadwarden personality begins to reemerge.
Make it extremely difficult for the party to engage the Chaos Warrior in close combat. He will Flee! nearly any combat in which he is outnumbered, leading the party into traps and dangerous creatures of the area. These creatures may range from Lashworms to Jabberwocks, depending on the party’s strength. If any party member is seperated, Christopher Robbin will try to kill him as quickly as possible, by arrows and/or wrestling. All in all, play the Chaos Warrior side of Christopher Robbin as intelligently as possible.
To provide clues, have the party lose track of the Chaos Warrior only to catch a glimpse of Christopher Robbin (as the Roadwarden Sergeant) stalking through the woods, trying to catch the Chaos Warrior. If they successfully backtrack his trail, the party will find the Chaos Armor and Bow concealed in the undergrowth. If they attempt to kill Christopher Robbin as the Roadwarden Sergeant, the Beastmen will show up just in time to defend him from the party and will not believe that Christopher is, in actuality, the Chaos Warrior. Otherwise, limit the combat involvement of the Beastmen severely; they are non-violent and mostly depend on Christopher Robbin for their protection.
Aftermath
This scenario is short and sweet, but may have some long-term effects. First of all, a number of the Beastmen are likely to survive the encounter and, even if they are chased off, will keep the ideals of Hundred Acres alive. Without Christopher Robbin and his Roadwardens to protect them, it is very possible that they will be threatened by misunderstanding villagers and/or a Chaos Warband that sees them as an abomination against all Beastmen.
If things went well between the party and the Hundred Acres Beastmen, the PCs will be befriended by the Beastmen who will help the characters in any non-violent way they can. There are always the mysterious Hefalumps. Does Pooh Bear simply call every big woodland animal a Hefalump or are they a previously undiscovered species?
STATISTICS
Christopher Robbin
Roadwarder Sergeant/Warrior of Chaos
M 5; WS 59; BS 49; S 4; T 5; W 10; I 60; A 2; Dex 89; Ld 89; Int 89; Cl 89; WP 89; Fel 29
Skills: Concealment Rural; Fleet Footed; Flee!; Follow Trail; Heal Wounds; Night Vision - 12 yards; Orientation; Ride – Horse; Set Trap; Silent Move Rural; Shadowing; Street Fighter; Strike Mighty Blow; Strike to Stun; Wrestling
Possessions: Bow and ammunition; Horse with saddle and harness; 10 yards of Rope; Shield (1 AP all); Sleeved Mail Shirt (1 AP Body/Arms); Sword; Helmet (1 AP Head)
Chaos Attributes: Cowardice - Must pass Cool test or flee if outnumbered by foes; Light on Feet - attempts to track him are at –20%; Aura of Dread (only when Chaos Armor is worn): any seeing him must make Cl test or have their mental scores halved and their WS, BS, and I lowered by 10%
Additional Possessions: Chaos Armor (2 AP all locations; no movement penalties; Silent - cumulative -10% to Listen tests against character; Living Armor - the armor is constantly seething with silently howling faces and hands which bite and grab at any flesh they can reach, added +20% WS and +1 damage to any grapple); Chaos Weapon - Bow, +10% WS (ES 4; Range 32/64/300 Rld 0), shoots black-fletched arrows whose shafts disappear upon impact leaving only the head (halving chances for successful removal of arrow, if that optional rule is used).
4 Roadwardens
M 4; WS 41; BS 35; S 3; T 3; W 7; I 30; A 1; Dex 29; Ld 29; Int 29; Cl 29; WP 29; Fel 29
Skills: Ride - Horse
Possessions: Bow and ammunition; Horse; Saddle and harness; Mail Shirt (1 AP Body); Rope - 10 yards; Shield (1 AP all); Sword; Helmet (1 AP Head)
Pooh Bear
Alignment: Good
M 4; WS 41; BS 25; S 3; T 5; W 11; I 30; A 2; Dex 30; Ld 29; Int 24; Cl 29; WP 24; Fel 60
Mutations: Bestial Face: face of a bear, +1 Attack, bite;
Blood Substitution: Plush and Stuffing - T +1 blunt weapons cause no damage;
Cute and Cuddly: Fel +50;
Brightly Patterned Skin: Yellow and Fuzzy;
Addiction: Honey - WP -20 to resist
Skills: Begging; Blather; Climb Sheer Surface; Clown; Consume Food; Disguise (as stormcloud); Embezzling (Specialty: Honey); Set Trap; Sing
Piglet
Alignment: Good
M 3; WS 41; BS 25; S 3; T 5; W 11; I 30; A 2; Dex 30; Ld 29; Int 24; Cl 29; WP 14; Fel 60
Mutations: Bestial Face: face of a boar, +1 Attack, gore;
Blood Substitution: Plush and Stuffing - T +1 blunt weapons cause no damage;
Cute and Cuddly: Fel +50;
Brightly Patterned Skin: Pink and Black alternating stripes;
Low Will Power: WP -10
Chaos Attribute: True Friend, will follow Pooh's orders as if he had Ld of 89;
Skills: Dodge Blow; Sixth Sense
Owl
Alignment: Good
M 2; WS 59; BS 0; S 5; T 4; W 17; I 50; A 2; Dex - ; Ld 66; Int 43; Cl 66; WP 89; Fel 43
Mutations: Wings: 12 foot wingspan;
Flight: Flies as Swooper;
Patterned Skin: covered with brown feathers;
Bestial Face: face of an owl;
Razor Sharp Talons: +1 A;
Superior Night Vision: 50 yards;
Skills: Astronomy; Etiquette; Evaluate; Fish; Herb Lore; History; Identify Plant; Law; Public Speaking; Orientation; Read/Write; Story Telling
Rabbit
Alignment: Neutral
M 5; WS 41; BS 25; S 3; T 5; W 11; I 50; A 1; Dex 50; Ld 29; Int 24; Cl 29; WP 24; Fel 35
Mutations: Bestial Face: face of a rabbit
Blood Substitution: Plush and Stuffing - T +1 blunt weapons cause no damage;
Cute and Cuddly: Fel +25;
Agile: I +20, Dex +20; Brightly Patterned Skin: Pale yellow fur;
Skills: Animal Care; Brewing; Cook; Drive Cart; Fleet Footed; Herb Lore; Identify Plant
Eeyore
Alignment: Neutral
M 8; WS 41; BS 25; S 3; T 5; W 11; I 30; A 1; Dex 30; Ld 29; Int 24; Cl 29; WP 24; Fel 50
Mutations: Bestial Face: face of a donkey, bite at S 2;
Blood Substitution: Plush and Stuffing - T +1 blunt weapons cause no damage;
Inspires Pity: Fel +40, characters must pass WP test to resist trying to cheer up Eeyore and give him a hug, much less attack him;
Brightly Patterned Skin: Purple-gray with shaggy black hair;
Addiction: Thistles;
Chaos Gift: Tough Stomach - can digest any organic material, completely immune to ingested poison;
Detachable Tail: Whenever damage is caused to the tail location, it merely falls off, causing no damage. Eeyore must pass a WP test or begin searching for it, maknig an Int test every minute to find it.
Skills: Pull Cart
Tigger
Alignment: Chaotic (Neutral tendencies)
M 8; WS 41; BS 25; S 3; T 5; W 11; I 75; A 3; Dex 30; Ld 29; Int 24; Cl 29; WP 24; Fel 50
Insanities: Manic;
Mutations: Bestial Face: face of a tiger, +1 A bite;
Blood Substitution: Plush and Stuffing - T +1 blunt weapons cause no damage;
Agile: I +30;
Brightly Patterned Skin: Orange and Black stripes;
Prehensile Tail: +1 A weapon or grapple or add 2 yards to a Leap, Jump, or Fall;
Cute and Cuddly: Fel +50;
Special Move: Bounce - May Leap and Jump contiuously, doubling the distance leaped and safely jumped
Skills: Acrobatics; Blather; Having Fun ("'Cause that what Tiggers do best!"); Lightning Reflexes; Luck; Scale Sheer Surface; Wrestling
Hefalumps: various Woodland creatures ranging from Boars and Bears to small Elephants and Jabberwocks
Honey Bees: treat as a Swarm
Oh, the places you'll go!
This page is constantly under construction as the glorious Online Lemko Empire gathers more and more under its benevolent and enlightened rule. have escaped the cold and blustery weather to find shelter in Mr. Sanderz since July 29, 1997. Send any comments, flames, threats, praise, fan mail, and honey to danielriegler@usa.net
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