Timothy Eccles 2000-2005

A Private War Notes and Queries

A Private War: Notes and Queries

This originally appeared in All Quiet in Kislev since the intention was that most buyers
would buy both APW and AQiK. Since GW has stopped me writing and selling anything
else for WFRP, then there are likely to be a large number of APW buyers who cannot
obtain AQiK. From memory, I sold about 550 APW and 250 AQiK. In any event, this
material ought to be with APW, and so I have made it more easily available in this free
pdf download.
I was upset with myself for some of the typos that managed to sneak through into the final
version of A Private War. Because this was purely my own work I had to proof read the
copy myself, which is always a mistake. Whilst errors are inevitable, especially without
the resources to employ an editor, I can only apologise for the mistakes especially as I had
(honest) read the master version through three times. Some of the following are
corrections to these, but most are issues that I have since re-visited, have occurred in my
later games of the campaign or been raised by readers of A Private War (and are
attributed).
I had always intended to evolve the whole campaign with each reprint based on any
feedback. Obviously, this cannot happen, but I did appreciate the time and thought that
GMs put into the game, and in writing back to me with thoughts, queries and stories of
how events had unfolded.
Finally, please remember that this is a first edition WFRP campaign, and all references
are to first edition material.

Any particular reason for the spelling of 'serjeant'? [yvind Wiestad]

Simply that it is the 'official' spelling in the Middenheim book.

Page 3: "Whilst this is the standard of service our heroes can generally expect..." there is a not missing in there, right? [Arne Dam]
Yes, there is. Our heroes should not expect pleasant treatment further on in the adventure!

You give a fortnight's wages as 112/-. At 8/- per day, that should be 128/-. [Arne
Dam]
Correct. That is an error. The Old World week has eight days, and not seven.

Timothy Eccles 2000-2005

A Private War Notes and Queries

The number of NPCs has raised some issues, one of which is expanded upon below.
The simplest way to deal with the NPCs if you do not like them is to delete them, or cut
down their number. I like the NPCs for a number of reasons, but primarily as it allows me
to feed colour and background material to the PCs. It is also a method of fudging issues
should they miss the obvious or get into difficulties. Finally, the NPCs have a range of
skills that might help the PCs, but attitudes that go with those skills. Negotiating with
these NPCs should be part of the fun of adventuring. NPCs are people too! I was probably
influenced to some extent by the small number of players that I had in each play-test, but
NPCs offer me as GM an additional source of enjoyment.
I could not find the date when Stradovski left Middenheim. It should have gone in
the Guild of Legalists' entry. [Arne Dam]
Perhaps, but dates are only really of relevance once the PCs get to Beeckerhoven. He left
on 3rd Nachexen.

The profile for the doorman and thugs (page 14) should have been at least one page
later. [yvind Wiestad]
This was a printing issue, but one that I should have picked up.
On page 21, it says that the Hanged Highwayman is only 20 miles from
Beeckerhoven. That should be Ulric's Vision. [Arne Dam]
That was caused by the publication of the 'official' Fox and Crown Inn after the work was
written, but before I published. I re-ordered my own inns to conform. I obviously missed
the knock on effect in the text here. You are absolutely correct.
If the PCs go to Salzenmund or otherwise wait for the templars, the adventure
changes quite a bit. Given their fighting might and political clout, PCs will be trying
all they can to stick with them. [Toby Pilling]
No scenario can cover all eventualities, and APW tries to cover most. The situation did
not occur in either playtest. If the PCs fall for the ruse and end up in Salzenmund, then I
think they have been very poor, and deserve all that might happen. What happens in the
Salzenmund ruse is covered in the text, and the general templar timeline is described. PCs
should be chasing the Professor and not waiting for the templars, since time is of the
essence. In any case, GMs should already have generated lots of bad feeling between the
PCs and templars, and the party should be aiming to put one over on them rather than
relying upon them to hold their hands. If the PCs do wait, then again it suggests that the
GM has not been sufficiently unfriendly. Remember that the templars think that the PCs
are scum, and the Sigmarites will probably particularly detest them. Finally, the Verenan
templar is there to prod the PCs onwards, and he and the cart - along with the supplies can leave the PCs should all else really fail.

Timothy Eccles 2000-2005

A Private War Notes and Queries

The footnote on page 27 concerning Melmoth's book of Khaine is cut off.

I have no idea what happened here, but happened at the printing stage. I have determined
not to use footnotes in future. They are simply too difficult to set up within the text, and
are also too difficult to read. The full text is as follows:
The introduction deals with the theology of Khaine and his origin, embracing the notion
that the god is the son of Ulric and a demon pretending to be Rhya. Whilst Ulric was
forced to accept paternity and that his bastard son was a staunch enemy of the Chaos, he
forever favoured Mrr and made him guardian of the dead. Growing jealous, Khaine finds
that he is able to steal souls for his own kingdom, a mad, demon-filled place. The second
section deals with poisons (and the Prepare Poison skill) and purports to offer means
of avoiding being poisoned (the Immunity to Poison skill) - the latter is flawed and
dangerous. The main section considers the nature of undeath and the psychology of being
dead. There is also an incomplete essay describing a greater demon called Nagash who
managed to steal souls from Mrr's Peace with foul sorcery. It describes this process and
offers some arguments concerning the relationship of Nagash with Khaine. After the
demon's defeat, the captured souls fled back through the Black Gate to the safety of Mrr.
This provides a basis for the skill Identify Undead and also a Cool test to avoid
developing a phobia about death or the undead. The final section provides details of
ceremonies to the god, and incomplete (and erroneous) notes upon how to attain the status
of mummy, vampire and liche. It offers advice on the hate, fanaticism and power
necessary to attain priesthood. It also describes the casting of ritual spells, with notes upon
components and Arcane Language - Necromancy. GMs should refer to Pour La
Gloire d'Ulric for appropriate spells. Reading the book provides the background for the
Theology (Khaine) skill. However, anyone reading this book must pass a Cool test
or suffer from the minor disorder of Nightmares. GMs should develop the effects of
any disorders as they see fit. Needless to say, possession of this tome is an offence of
heresy, membership of a proscribed cult, murder and necromancy - at least!
According to A Private War, Beeckerhoven has an eastern gate leading to
Salzenmund. Salzenmund is to the west. [Arne Dam]
This is a mistake that I missed in both the play-test and in editing. I will blame my players
for not noticing! Clearly, the gate is on the west and should be a western gate.
Torben Pieknich (page 30) - you a Liverpool fan?! - is not mentioned much in the
text. Is he evil as well? Will he have any information for the players or take part in
this ghoulish business? [yvind Wiestad]
I am not a Liverpool fan, but there are a few football (soccer) puns scattered around and
you guessed the source of the name. In fact my team preference will be made clear to
those 'in the know' by examination of the coat of arms of the human Engineers' Guild in a
forthcoming issue of Warpstone. There is a trivia question for you! Torben is (clearly) in
on the situation, though whether through fear or self-interest is a GM call. He will readily
help the ghouls.

Timothy Eccles 2000-2005

A Private War Notes and Queries

The Winter Wolf, page 31, paragraph one, line three ends in 'a'.
Should read "a Kelnore tower". This was another printing issue.

Karl von Kolditz or Klaus von Kolditz (page 38/39)? I assume that this is just a
small oversight, and that it's actually the same person, Klaus? There are at least two
mentions of Karl on page 39. [yvind Wiestad]
All should be Klaus.

The road from Ferlangen to Wolfenburg is very straight. Why? Roads in The
Empire are not like Roman roads. [Alfred Nunez]
It is simply a plank road driven through the forest, aiming for the most direct path as
offering the cheapest solution. Since it is aiming directly for the mountains, orientation is
not a problem and it skirts the base for most of its route as well. It might not be literally
straight, but in order to provide the route as cheaply as possible, the straight line was
intended. It is also worth noting that the rest places are further apart on this road, than on
official roads too. Again, simply cost efficiency in that rest places make no money and so
there is no incentive to force travellers to stop at (profit-making) inns regularly. Whether a
traveller can actually make each night stop is not a problem that the roadbuilders worry
about. In play-testing, this was the stretch that had PCs starting the earliest and reaching
the stop the latest. Particularly devious GMs can simply force their PCs to rest by the
roadside - not that they will be much discomforted compared with the official stops.

The description of the Wolfenburg walls seems to contradict Empire in Flames. A

Private War describes modern defences whilst Empire in Flames mentions old and
decrepit ones.
The whole section upon the Battle of Wolfenburg does not make any sense to me. The
military rationale of the position just does not hang together. In addition, we know that
Wolfenburg has been an important bastion for The Empire, and I was a little tired of the
lazy repetitions that anything provincial must be inadequate. Therefore, I was happy to
ignore that section in the needs of my own development of Ostland. However, the Empire
in Flames version can still be seen as valid within its own terms from two perspectives.
Firstly, since Yorri has been wrong about everything else, he can easily be mistaken about
the state of the walls. His distrust of the provincials can be extended to their fortifications,
especially as - to a layman - the squat walls might look undefendable since they are easier
to scale. The people of Wolfenburg might worry about a defeat, but they might worry
even more about a long siege and bombardment. They might be glad to be rid of 'their'
army, especially if Ar-Ulric has managed to get messages to them guaranteeing that a

Timothy Eccles 2000-2005

A Private War Notes and Queries

victorious Ulrican army would not enter the city. Secondly, the PCs approach from the
north and the Ulrican siege, and later battle, is primarily aimed at the southern section of
the city. It is likely that the walls are primarily fortified on the northern side, both as the
likeliest direction of attack and also to defend the citadel first and foremost. It is also true
to say, that despite the positive characteristics mentioned in A Private War, defending
the city is always going to be difficult, given the long lengths of wall and limited
strongpoints (towers). There has been some attempt to utilise overlapping arcs of fire, but
stretches of the wall are very exposed. Perhaps Yorri is correct after all.

What is the story behind the half orcs searching for a Prince of Khypris? [Toby
Pilling] Are half-orcs 'legal'/acceptable in The Empire? [yvind Wiestad]
There are many examples of such 'colour' within all three parts without any definitive
explanation. The idea is to offer GMs plot hooks to develop as they wish - or not. Khypris
is in my view sadly neglected. Despite appearing in Plague Daemon there has been no
effort to place it in the Border Princes within other fan material for no reason that I can
deduce and this is a nod to it. With reference to half orcs, I never made it clear that the
three were anything other than humans when playing the game and so they would not be
treated as 'goblinoids'. I have always thought that ghouls and goblinoids are sadly
neglected in WFRP. I developed The Forest Inn to portray the decline of a community
into ghouldom through poverty rather than malice. Goblinoids, it seems to me, are
actually allies in the face of chaos, since they are affected similarly to dwarfs, elves and
humans. Of course, most goblinoids are never likely to realise their long-term interests or
transcend their genetics, nor would dwarfs (in particular) overcome their racial bigotry.
However, if half-goblinoids exist then they might be able to act as intermediaries - or
more likely as manipulators - between the two (or at least with the more pragmatic
humans). All Quiet in Kislev develops the idea of hobgoblins along these lines, and the
three half-orcs mentioned in the plot line within Wolfenburg are simply a nod to the
possibility of an intelligent goblinoid chieftain (or shaman behind the throne) capable of
recognising the true menace in the world. Whilst it is only inferred here, many human
lords in the Colonies to the east, faced by the desertion of their Tsar, have sworn fealty to
the hobgoblins in order to protect them from their enemies - in my current campaign. The
concept of humans as willing vassals of hobgoblins is in my view plausible and
consistent. Alliances with goblinoids are not completely impossible, though are highly
unlikely and need to be kept unique to avoid becoming a clich. Here, should the GM so
wish, we simply have an orc chieftain who wishes to add legitimacy to his tenure and also
obtain agreements (if not actual alliances) with neighbouring humans for non-aggression
pacts so that they might all put their resources into defending themselves from other
(mutual) enemies. My campaign set in the Wheatland Colonies expands upon humanhobgoblin relations and the Hegemony.

Timothy Eccles 2000-2005

A Private War Notes and Queries

How does a caravanserai work? Is the unloading of caravans done here? Is it a sort
of coaching inn, in the sense that it provides accommodation and food/beer for
drivers and guards? What are the costs? [yvind Wiestad]
It is essentially a compound for convoys at which all these things take place. In my
campaign, guild labour monopolises the unpacking of shipments from outside carts (left
in the caravanserai) to internal ones allowed inside the towns and cities. Charges are not
terribly relevant in this campaign, but conform to normal campaign standards for
expenditure.

Tolls: Is not 'a crown a leg' a bit expensive to enter a city (or in some cases exit)?
That means 2GC for a man and 4GC for a horse, or am I getting this all wrong? I
usually only charge 10/- for towns and 1GC for cities per person but my players
never have much money. Exactly what expenses will be reimbursed? Tolls are
mentioned; does that also include entry to towns and cities? [yvind Wiestad]
Crown a leg is the 'official' charge. I would completely agree that it is expensive and most
people have negotiated discounts through their guilds, residency, overlord etc. Only a
stupid PC would likely be expected to actually pay this! My players also rarely have
money. I know that I have the right level when they loot a killed enemy for his boots!
PCs will get all such expenses reimbursed; indeed, once the novelty wore off, I shelved
the tolls as too much paperwork for us and simply accepted that the money would be
reimbursed. Mind you, that did not stop me putting a sting in the tail - but that is in
Homeward Bound!

My PCs captured one of the apprentices, Hugo from the Minter's. Now what I am
wondering is how much he knew about Elfrieda's business. He was charmed to help
her with her theft from Manfred so he will know about that scheme, but does he
know about the Medical Union? The same question holds true for the other
apprentice. [Arne Dam]
Like all cults, I would suggest a very fragmented structure. APW states that Elfrieda was
principally an ally of Stradovski and only then Medical Union. Only she would have any
real idea of what was going on, and she would not know any other members of the
Union; Stradovski is her contact. The apprentices are very unimportant members, but
they will clearly be aware of some of the unsavoury and highly illegal things with bodies
and the like at the base. This will encourage them to fight, flee or talk as they know that
they will hang. As in all things, if you want to do things differently or drop hints about
the Union, then that is fine.

The background player information is quite good, though I feel that I have to
restrict some of this information to my players. I will 'censor' certain parts for my
group, as I feel there is too much there that I want at least initially hidden from my

Timothy Eccles 2000-2005

A Private War Notes and Queries

players, especially information that is not obviously connected to their occupations

(I've pre-generated characters for them). [yvind Wiestad]
An alternative version of the guide was sent out to subscribers in Warpstone 20.
However, I agree that a 'dumbed down' version as an alternative is a very good idea. One
of the (many) basic omissions from official material that Hogshead failed to supply is a
serious outline for players. This was one effort, given some of the assumptions that I
make about the world in writing the campaign. After all, this was originally written for
my players and me.

Do criers walk around crying out their information or are they usually found on
central places, markets, plazas etc? [yvind Wiestad]
Both. 'Official' criers have set times in certain locations, but they also wander the streets.
I would always fudge this so that my players do not miss the notices! Private criers are
employed as needed by their employers.

Travel Permits: I have never used this idea before, but like it very much and will use
it from now on. Do you use it in all your WFRP adventures, will the PCs for
instance need a permit to travel between, say, Nuln and Altdorf? How do you
handle it? Price, where to get it etc, how important is it, how serious are the
consequences of not having one, who can demand to see your permit? [yvind
Wiestad]
I use permits in all adventures, but here the situation is essentially fudged as the PCs have
their warrant. It is a useful method of controlling PC armament, and I use permits on all
aspects of life - armour, (war) horses etc. Permits (or warrants) are excellent rewards,
cheap and yet very useful. As for penalties, these would vary but are quite severe. To be
honest, my players are so indoctrinated for the need, that a punishment has never been
necessary - they know it would be serious. It is also a useful opportunity for forgers or
similarly 'illegal' classes to have their uses. Any legitimate authority can request to see a
permit, but as many do not read this is only a cursory examination of seal. Costs etc is
something that depends upon the game that a GM runs. Where feudal order remains
strong (such as rural areas) warrants would not tend to be for sale, but where
bureaucracies and merchant-nobility are to be found (urban), anything has a price.

Weapon Permits: Do you use permits for weapons in the same manner as travel
permits? Again, could you let me in on how you handle it? [yvind Wiestad]
As I state above, I use permits for most things.