Here is a campaign setting that i would like some input on!!

my friend and i run a league in NJ, i have been working on a way to increase the roleplaying aspect for our group and i came up with some alternate rules and some flavorful additions. i basically compiled alot of this info from this forum, and UCI's campaign setting but added and edited somethings out
the following is the email sent to everyone in the group:

This new campaign is a work in progress with the hopes of achieving a more in depth role-playing aspect to the city of Mordheim. The reason we play campaigns, design and keep tract of war bands is to add the role-playing experience to our miniature gaming, with all being said there are a few changes and several additions that will be put into effect starting this new campaign.


1. The campaign will combine war band rating and infamy points in order to determine an overall winner for the campaign. Infamy points will be awarded when players win scenarios, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, and playing to the narrative. A normal game will always provide 3 infamy points to the winner and 1 to the loser.

2. .All official Core rulebook, town crier, fanatic Mag., and Border town Burning war bands are legal for the campaign except any elf lists (wood, High, or Dark), and Ogres.

3. We have noticed that missile weapons namely black powder weapons are a little over powered without having any drawbacks to using them. The alternate rules for black powder weapons will be used in this campaign( IE pg 120 Mordheim core rulebook

4. Armor in Mordheim is often too costly to justify buying, in order to make it more valuable this new rule is being implemented. If any hero is equipped with Light, Heavy, Ithilmar, or Gromril armor is taken out of action, the hero gets a save during the post game injury rolls. Whatever save the armor provides the hero must roll equal to or higher, if successful the hero counts as rolling a ”Full Recovery” if the save is failed then roll as normal on the serious injury chart.

5. I wanted to increase the importance of the captain of the war band. This character is supposed to be the most hardcore guy in the group and too often is held back not gaining experience because players are afraid to lose the high leadership in case of a rout check. Every captain will gain additional traits from this list below as the campaign continues and the war band gains infamy in the city of the damned
Infamy points needed:
5- The captain gains one of the following skills: Battle tongue, Haggle, Wyrdstone Hunter, and Streetwise. (Even captains that normally cannot take academic skills can use these skills)
10- The leader is growing keener of his surroundings. Choose: +1 INT or +1 LD
15- The effective leadership inspires his band of warriors. Choose one: Inspiring Presence, Rallying Cry, and Encouraging Shout
25-The Leader spots talent in the ranks and decides to take the lad under his wing. If there is a spot for an additional hero on your rooster randomly select a henchmen group that hasn’t already rolled a Lad’s got talent result and immediately promote a henchman from that group to a hero. If there is not an available hero slot, the lowest experienced hero gains experience until he levels up.
35- The notoriety of the War bands leader is spreading throughout Mordheim. Gain +1 max war band size
50- Captain becomes privy to guild secrets. Gains access to special scenario.


Mordheim has lay in ruins for a year - at first, unorganized mercenary warbands arrived to
scavenge what they could from the city. It soon became clear that there was too much Wyrdstone, too much treasure, and too many secrets to allow this to continue. Larger organizations soon moved in and it became more and more beneficial for warbands to become allied with one of these entities. They offered protection and benefits that simply could not be obtained from remaining independent. However, there were cost to this as well - you were at the beck and call of the organization and they frequently had secret agendas.


The major factions currently operating in this corner of Mordheim are:
The Office of the Grand Theologian
The College of Magic
The Merchants’ Guild of Marienberg
The Thieves’ Guild
The Servants of the Dark Lord
After a war band has been established (one or two games), they will be noticed and offered to join
One or more of the factions. Joining a faction has benefits and costs - it will also determine
Partnerships in multi-player games. Depending upon the success and failures of warbands in
each faction, the scenarios will change (i.e. they will all be related to a meta-story driving the
campaign).
There may also be additional benefits and penalties to your war band if you win or lose a scenario,
depending upon your affiliation. To keep things interesting, each week, there will be a few
scenarios to chose from - the scenario you play will be determined by a die roll, so you’ll never
know what you are playing until the last minute.

The Office of the Grand Theologian
Alignment = Good
Affiliations = Good, Neutral
The Grand Theologian has recognized that comet that stuck Mordheim was Sigmar’s way of
testing the resolve of believers in the Empire. Chaos abounds, and must be burned to be purified.
To this end, he has hired Witch Hunters, mercenaries, and even swallowed his pride and struck a
bargain with the Sisters of Sigmar to purge the ruins of their taint.
Benefits:
Healing - once, during the campaign, you may reroll an injury roll for a hero or
henchman (obviously, you’ll probably use it when the hero dies...). The second
result stands, even if it is worse.
Access to holy items - The following availability rolls and costs apply to members
affiliated with the Office of the Grand Theologian
Item Availability Cost
Lucky Charms Common 10 gc
Holy/Blessed Water Common 10+3D6 (10+2D6)*
Holy Tome Rare 6 15+3D6 (15+2D6)*
Holy Relic Rare 7 90+(D6)*10
Healing Herbs Common 20+2D6 (20+D6)*
* Price for Witch Hunter or Sisters of Sigmar Warbands
Drawbacks:
Tithe - 10% of your wyrdstone findings must be paid to the organization (note that if you
find gold and other goodies, you are free to keep this as booty)
Intolerance of Chaos: if a member becomes tainted by chaos in any manner, they will be
hunted down and killed (i.e. removed from the roster). Note: there may be a
chance that mutations can be hid... see scenario listings for details
Joining:
In order to join the Mordheim Chapter of the Office of the Grand Theologian, warbands
must prove their piety, their resolution, and their combat prowess. A champion
has to fight either a Witch Hunter champion, Sister of Sigmar champion, or a
captured beast of chaos (see the chart)
A war band affiliated with the office of the Grand Theologian gain +1 Infamy when they beat a war band affiliated with the servants of the Shadowlord
-1 infamy point if the war band voluntarily routs while a enemy caster is still in play

The College of Magic
Alignment = Neutral
Affiliations = Good, Neutral, Evil (no Witchhunters or Sisters of Sigmar)
The College of Magic has long understood that chaos and magic are two aspects of the same
coin. The amount of wrydstone present for “research” is not to be missed. Thinly veiled
competition and contempt underlies the apparent harmony in their dealing with Grand
Theologian. Publically, they condemn the practice of necromancy and chaos worship, but
secretly, they will support these and other forms of magic, if only to fully understand their arts.
Benefits
Access to Witches and Warlocks - these hired swords are ½ priced (normal upkeep,
though)
Wyrdstone Hunter - the party may roll 1 extra die and then discard one die when rolling
for wyrdstone at the end of the game
Spell Acquisition - when rolling for a new spell, you may roll twice and choose the one
you like best. (may roll once when joining guild with the option of replacing current spell)
Access to College Libraries- The following availability rolls and costs apply to members
affiliated with the College of Magic:
Item Availability Cost
Halfling Cookbook Common 30+3D6
Mordheim Map Rare 7 20+4D6
Tome of Magic Rare 10 200+D6*25
Treasure Map Rare 9 75+4D6
Drawbacks:
Library Fees: 5% of your wyrdstone findings must be paid to the organization (note that
if you find gold and other goodies, you are free to keep this as booty)
Greed of Magic Items: some scenarios may have the party searching for a magic item - if
they find it, they may have to turn it over to the College (see scenario rules for details)
Joining:
In order to join the Mordheim Chapter of the College of Magic, warbands must prove
their combat prowess and their mastery of magic. They have to fight either a
witch or a warlock
A war band affiliated with the College of Magic gains +1 infamy when they beat any war band affiliated with the Merchants Guild of Marienberg
-1 infamy point if the war band voluntarily routs before two spells have been successfully cast throughout the game

Merchants’ Guild of Marienberg
Alignment = Neutral
Affiliations = Good, Neutral, Evil
The Merchants Guild of Marienberg is always looking for new goods and new people to procure
them. The Merchants aren’t picky, they only worship one god, that of commerce. If you help
them make money; they will let some of the gold trickle down to you.
Benefits
Signing Bonus - warbands are given 50 GC when they join to spend on equipment and
personnel - GC’s not spent are lost
Market Access - warbands gain +1 to all rarity rolls they make (cumulative w/
Marienburger bonus)
Association w/ Merchants - any merchant hired sword may be purchased at ½ cost
(normal upkeep costs, though)
Haggle Skill - any hero may learn the Haggle skill
Disadvantages
Guild Dues - 10% of your wyrdstone findings must be paid to the organization (note that
if you find gold and other goodies, you are free to keep this as booty)
Joining:
In order to join the Merchant’s Guild of Marienberg, warbands must prove their combat
prowess. They have to fight a pit fighter (see Mordheim rules for stats - this is the
same as the injury roll “sold to the pits”)
A war band affiliated with the Merchants Guild of Marienberg gains +1 infamy when they beat any war band affiliated with from the Thieves’ Guild
-2 infamy points if the war band voluntarily routs from any of the following scenarios: Wyrdstone Hunt, Hidden Treasure, and Chance Encounter.

The Thieves’ Guild
Alignment = Neutral
Affiliations = Neutral, Evil
Where there is money, there will be thieves, and the Thieves’ Guild. There are many branches of
the Thieves’ Guild, the largest being in Altdorf, but they branch out wherever necessary. The
location of the Thieves’ Guild is a closely kept secret, but rumor has it that it is located in the
central bank, ironically enough.
Benefits
Access to Stolen Goods - warbands can enter the Black Market, Foreign Wares, and
Fencers as per the Arabian Merchant
Skills Access - Any hero may learn the Scale Sheer Surfaces, Leap, or Acrobat skills
Association w/ Thieves- any halfling scout, halfling thief, or assassin hired swords may
be purchased at ½ cost (normal upkeep costs, though)
Pickpocket once per game any single hero model may attempt to steal an item from a knocked down or stunned enemy model in lieu of attacking. On a roll of 4+ the hero may take any one item that is valued equal to or less than 20 GC
Disadvantages
Guild Dues: 10% of all post game loot (Wyrdstone or gold receive through all means of exploration)must be paid to the organization (note this includes any rolls of duplicate numbers rolled thatresult in additional gold or Wyrdstone)
Joining:
In order to join the Thieves’ Guild, warbands must prove their combat prowess and their
sneakiness. They have to fight an assassin.
A war band affiliated with the Thieves Guild gains +1 infamy when they beat any war band affiliated with the Grand Theologians
-1 infamy point if the war band voluntarily routs before attempting to pickpocket a enemy model

The Servants of the Shadowlord
Alignment = Evil
Affiliations = Neutral, Evil
The Servants of the Shadowlord is one of the many groups that takes credit for the destruction of
the fair city of Mordheim. They claim to have chaos sorcerers who are in direct communication
with the Shadowlord - no one know if this is true or not, but no one can deny the rapid success
and power of this group. Normally an extremely secretive cult in the Empire, they operate quite
openly in the City of the Damned.
Benefits
Rewards of the Shadowlord - the leader or a spellcaster / tainted one / champion in the
war band may roll on the Reward of the Shadow lord table (p 118) instead of taking
a skill. A non-chaos war band (i.e. human mercenary) gets -1 to the roll, a chaos
war band (skaven, carnival) is a standard roll, while a Possessed war band gets +1
to the roll (however, if they roll snake-eyes, they are still mutated beyond
recognition and removed from the game... the Shadow lord is a tough master)
Fearsome - any hero can take the Fearsome skill, not just those w/ access to strength
skills
Wyrdstone Hunter - the party may roll 1 extra die and then discard one die when rolling
for wyrdstone at the end of the game.
Disadvantages
The Cost of Failure - if the war band leader loses the scenario, 1 wyrdstone shard must
be sacrificed to the chaos gods and not exchanged for gold (there is no cost if the
war band wins or it is a draw)
Joining:
In order to join the Servants of the Shadowlord, warbands must prove their combat
prowess and their dedication to the forces of Chaos. They have to fight a either a
Magister or a Possessed (see Chart)
A war band affiliated with the Servants of the Shadowlord gains +1 infamy when they beat any war band affiliated with the College of Magic
-1 infamy point if the war band voluntarily routs before causing an enemy war band to take a Leadership test of any kind (the enemy doesn’t have to fail the test but as long as the war band forces a check such as Fear, all alone, and rout)

Remaining Independent
Warbands may choose to remain independent (or not pass the test, in which case they remain
independent). There are many challenges to remaining independent, but then again, you are
beholden to no master and may keep more of the found booty for themselves.
The main danger of remaining independent is having other rival warbands either attempt to steal
your stuff or kill your leader and assume control of you war band. After ever game, roll a D6. On
a 4+, your war band is safe and “downtime” is uneventful. On a 1-3, something happens (note
that this theoretically takes place after exploration but before wyrdstone selling, so if the robbed
result occurs, you can use your winnings to buy more equipment). This roll is modified by the
following circumstances:
Lost last game +0
Last game was a draw +1
Last game was a victory +2
If something happens, consult the following chart:

D6 roll Event
1-2 Leadership Challenge - another war band leader challenges your leader
for control of the war band. For simplicity’s sake, assume the challenger
has the same stats and abilities as you do (but no injuries if your leader has
sustained them). If you defeat the challenger, the leader gains +1 exp and
D6x10 GC worth of swag. If you lose, then your war band has a choice -
either follow the new leader or remain loyal to the old leader. However,
the old leader has his Ld stat reduced by one until he either wins another
scenario or wins another leadership test

3 Robbed - D3 randomly determined heroes are ambushed and robbed.
They escape unharmed, but all of their equipment is lost.

4-5 Captive - a randomly determined hero is captured and held for ransom.
The ransom is D6x5 plus the accumulated experience of the hero. If the
ransom is not paid, the hero plus his equipment is sold into slavery

6 Sold to the Pits - see the injury roll result of the same name

I'm not going over it all but here are some things I noticed.

1: BtB has probably the best system. Using Warband Rating to set a winner only helps those warbands that allow more models (Skaven, O&G) and hurts those that are set at a lower cap (Dwarves, Elves, Witch Hunters) as they get for gold a higher ratting in the game and thus can buy a win... and with cheap henchmen (Goblins) you can boost your ratting with ease.
Also your wanting the campaign to have more RPing to it... victory over all by Warband Ratting + wins I think isn't the best way to do this. But objectives based on your alliance like in BtB is a great way to do this. Winning a battle is good but getting out with the Chaos Artifact (or stopping the other guy from getting it) is better fluff wise and thus fits into your stated objective better for your campaign.

2: Ogres are tough as nails but I trust the play testers on this that they work. If you have seen and/or tested them then you got your opinion from play testing but I think allow them as they only look bad on paper from what I have seen/heard.
Elves of course are broken as is well documented... there are options out there to house rule nerf them that you may be interested in to make them more balanced and allow people to use them.

3: really? I have never seen this to be the case. I actually have only seen them suck! More expencive and slower to shoot then there counterparts I don't see how black powder weapons are better with out house rules.

4: I have seen this option be given before and I thik this is the wrong path for boosting armor. Why? not all models/warbands can use armor. You are allowing those models/heroes a huge advantage over those that don't have the option... Dwarf Slayer (yes fluff wise they want to die but for game balance this is not the issue).
I have seen cheaper armor with a larger armor save (+1) is a huge help to making it used. Add to that making armor canceled by crits happen less is also good.

5: I understand what you are saying but I think this will just make people hold back with there leader even more. why? He now gives even more to the warband by being alive and all your giving him are non combat bonuses thus encourages him to stay back.
If you want to draw the leader out more I don't know what can help you there but my instincts on what you wrote would make me keep him back even more.

Factions:
Like this a lot

OoGT:
-Tithe: 10% of captured Shards... I think this will become a book keeping problem. How will you track if a warband brings in 1-9 shards. must they still give up 1? If so what if they bring in just 1 shard?
I think an easier and more fair way to handle this would be 10% of all gold after the shards are sold but before you can spend the gold. Thus you allow the warbands there gold but skim off the top.
Unless I miss read and you do this already but not including the gold gained from exploration.

TCoM:
-Library Fees: See Tithe above.

I like much of the concepts here with the factions. I like the extra point that you can gain for beating somer rival gangs so thats nice.

i thought a posted a reply earlier but i guess it didnt go through
1. i want the infamy points to be a way to balance the league. there will be signifigant infamy available during the weekly game(we play one in the store on thurdays and one pick up game throughout the week) we play alot of multiplayer games maybe some suggestions on balanced scenario ideas for 4 players?
2. we have alot of newbie players and we didnt want them using those warbands to learn the game. the elf lists just really have no place in mordheim i havent seen any nerfs that i ever liked but admittedly ive only recently started to assmeble my mordheim bible of information lol(alot stolen from links off this site so thanks guys!!!!!)
3,by getting rid of the elf lists i didnt want to unbalance shooting so thats the first reason why i nerfed BPW, the str 4 shoot againist new warbands is pretty powerful and i want to encourage H2h instead of a 40k shooting gallery. if i notice that this is to unbalanced it will be changed back or modified
4. the armor decision was decided by the group, when i writing the rules i gave them the option of a reduced armor cost with +1 SAVE(which i saw on this forum a couple weeks back) or the seriuos injury table save almost everyone perfered that option so thats why it was added. i wonder if i should add a additional rule" if the serious injury save is made roll a d6 on a result of 1-2 the armor is destroyed"
5,i see ur point but when looking through the different skills like combat strength and speed i thought the skills could influence the game to much so i wanted to make the guy better without making him broken. other then th skill lists do u like the other traits? i also plan to make a series of senarios that work like normal core rulebook senarios but with leader only additions that must be accomplished by the leader and he will gain extra exp. and infamy
6.this was the one i was most concerned about i found this campaign setting from some site online but it had several issues i thought. so i changed some of the benefits and drawbacks to be more balnced. my cheif concern is that one is more overpowered than the other. ithere is also a different needed wording, the guild dues/tithes are only 10% of the total gold recived after selling wyrdstone during exploration(so if u sell 5 shards for 70 gd, 7gd must be given to the guild. the only exceptions are the theives guild which i think needs to be more balanced i want to take more gold as "punishment" for the pickpocket ability.
i also am worried if the benefits/ drawbacks are to extreme for the servents of the dark lord

1: Infamy is IMHO better alone with out warband rating. Warband Ratings to me is only good for the underdog rule, beyound that it's not balanced for figuring a winner.
My only problem with Infamy in your setting is based on your desire to run a more role played campaign... the only ways to gain Infamy as you list is to win battles (or lose them). Thus there is no/little role playing involved in decision making.
To fix this add an option or two to each of the alliances to gain based on fluffy objectives.

2: understood. my main point is that the most fun comes from the most options to the players... and a player can find a fluff reason to have there elves in or great city.

3: elves aside look at the shooting rules as writen. X-bow is S4, Range 30 for 25 gold with Move or Shoot rule.
Hand Gun is S4, Range 24 for 35 gold with move or shoot, prep shot (shoot every other turn), and -2 save mod.
so for +10 gold (and rare you get -6 Range, half as many shots and a -2 armor save.
X-Bow blows the Hand Gun away and thats on base rules with out nerfing BP.
Your desire is to see more H2H, the best way to do this is with out hampering warbands (finding nerfs to other shooting) is to use more cover in the set up.

4: understood, the group must agree to the rules. I am simply pointing out the major problem with using armor as a post game bonus to make it more valuable.

5: the top three are fine. The others all give the leader a boost that highlights keeping him out of a fight. I think if your desire is to see him get into battle more or at least closer to the front then look to the BtB suplament with the Scurge of the Relm objective.
I think what would probably work best is maybe have your chart tied to the indavidual alliances... Some one allied with the Magic School is more likelly to want a magic related bonus well some one tied to the merchent guild getting gear cheaper. You could just re work it some to get it all tied together and make the fluff more fun when chosing your alliance.

Warbands: I'd get rid of the Carnival of Chaos as well.

Shooting and Black Powder. What rules do you guys play by? I do congratulate you as being the first group to post on this forum to want to nerf Blackpowder as a balance issue. A welcome change from all the threads on making Gunpowder weapons more powerful.

If your group actually PLAYS with Black Powder weapons and uses the normal rules, you have already nerfed shooting and increased the likelihood of HtH. Banning elfs already nerfs shooting, too, doesn't it?

The Leader: Your fixes for hiding leader syndrome do seem to promote more hiding leaders.

As far as the factions go its your version of Mordheim, but the Colleges of Magic don't appear in the Empire until they are founded after the Great War Against Chaos several hundred years after the Comet destroys Mordheim. The organized study of magic isn't possible at all in the Empire as all magic is seen as evil by the Sigmarites.

Von Kurst wrote:

The Leader: Your fixes for hiding leader syndrome do seem to promote more hiding leaders.

I agree. You only give the leader non-combat-related skills, making him even more useful as a non-participant in actual fighting. Perhaps you should either give them some close combat skills, or a save against death when they get taken OOA or something.

Oh and Les, glad to see the Super Storm didn't knock you out. Hope you're warm and under a good roof.

Hi,
I like your ideas, the factions are cool, and i really like how infamy can be lost if someone does not act in character! One thing i did not get: if the only way to join the college is to fight a witch or warlock, what if nobody hires one for you to fight? Same with the possessed, if there is only one possessed player he can't fight another magister or possessed to gain recognition... if i read it correctly.

And as Von Kurst pointed out the magic colleges did not exist in the time of Mordheim (I actually had quite a dilemma with the warhammer tower terrain kit, and whether of not to cover up the magic circle on the base floor). Just rename the college to some super secret magic organization working underground if anyone in your group brings this up

To address the leader upgrades, you can make these benefits transferable to a new leader if the current one dies, this will make things less painful when the current one dies, and hopefully help alleviate the hiding leader syndrome.

Warband rating is not always the determination of strength, there are several threads related to this, some people suggest using a more complex formula to calculate it. Of those unhappy with the current rating system, all agree that a fraction of equipment cost should be factored in. Counter arguments say equipment is priced not strictly on effectiveness, but flavor (armor, longrifle, ect).

lesdog1470 wrote:

Leadership Challenge - another war band leader challenges your leader
for control of the war band. For simplicity’s sake, assume the challenger
has the same stats and abilities as you do (but no injuries if your leader has
sustained them). If you defeat the challenger, the leader gains +1 exp and
D6x10 GC worth of swag. If you lose, then your war band has a choice -
either follow the new leader or remain loyal to the old leader. However,
the old leader has his Ld stat reduced by one until he either wins another
scenario or wins another leadership test

This was a really interesting and, I believe, unique idea. It really fired my imagination! I think it could be used for all kinds of fun. What if your champion defeats your opponents and forces him to become your vassal? In a campaign this could be so cool!

hey sorry for not responding faster its been a hectic weekend.
@ Von kurst- i live in cape may county so the storm missed us completely other than some rain, thanks for the concern. the store owner plays the carnival of chaos but that has already been nerfed so not so crazy. the BPWs just dominated our spring season and many ppl hated it. because we decided to get rid of elves the elf players wanted to deal with BPWs also. we are just using the core rulebook alternate rules so its pretty lax. the campaign hopes to make the leaders more important. we have a weekly multi-player game those games will have scenarios that the leader will have to personally accomplish for the faction. they will gain additional exp., we have been talking about making the 2 skill lists into combat lists but i was afraid of making some warbands overpowered. the original faction idea was done by UCI i just took what they started and expounded it, so the college of magic might not exist in warhammers timeline but my group understands what is trying to happen lol.

@Elisazar i like the idea of giving them a OOA save maybe something that can stack with the armor save?

@pathfinder dubstyles- in order to gain admission into the different factions you must beat a base lvl hired sword witch, warlock, or possessed model. because i'm running the campaign i have made a warband for each faction that will gain exp. through the weeks and will be making appearances randomly throughput the campaign. i also have models for each of the factions to duel so no matter who they have to face the model is there ready to fight lol and yes if the leader dies the next leader gains these skills because the infamy doesn't disappear if the leader dies. fluff wise its a lil harder to explain but ill make up some bulshit.
@ alex i like your idea of a vassel im gonna suggest that to my buddy and see what he thinks. we were trying to discourage people from being independent. but that might be a cool revision

everyone hope i answered all your questions or concerns lol, thanks for all the comments