[Closed] Grim Times in Altdorf (Hack100)

Perilous sandbox adventuring in The Empire's capital city

The Game: This is a player-driven sandbox campaign set in and around the city of Altdorf in the world of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP). Characters start the game as struggling citizens indebted to one of Altdorf's notorious gangs. Through fair means or foul, they strive to find a better life amongst the city’s guilds, gangs, religions, cults, schools, politicians, military, enemies and crackpots.

The game is best described as a mashup of WFRP and Grand Theft Auto. The primary NPC will be Altdorf itself, and the GM and players will work together to bring the city to life.

Tone and Content: The game will lean very much towards the grim fantasy / dark humour of WFRP and away from the more extreme excesses of GTA. There will be nothing in the game’s content that you wouldn’t reasonably expect to see in a typical WFRP adventure.

Game Style: I’m aiming for an experience similar to a round-the-table game. In other words, more a game and less an exercise in creative writing. Long, highly descriptive posts are neither required nor expected. It is anticipated that most posts will be no more than a couple of sentences in length, a short paragraph at most. The example play sessions that are often found in rulebooks are a good illustration of the play style we are aiming for.

As GM I favour an "old school" approach to play. Death is a real prospect for reckless or unlucky players. It should not be assumed that encounters are carefully balanced to ensure that opposition strength is well-matched to the player characters. Knowing when to run away or surrender is a vital skill. Clever play and well-executed plans are often more successful than relying on the whims of the dice.

Posting Frequency: The game will proceed at a relaxed but consistent pace. The expectation is that each participant will make around 3-4 posts per week.

Game System: To keep things suitably streamlined for a play-by-post format, we will use the simple Hack100 game system and its WFRP-inspired "Catching Rats & Robbing Graves" supplement. You can download both for free at hack100rpg.com.

Players: I am looking for creative, proactive players who are willing to work with me to "fill in the gaps" in the game world. It is expected that the campaign direction will be entirely player-led.

Please post any questions or expressions of interest below.

Sign me up! Any particular restrictions on character creation?

Tobias looked across the room, the three tables of cards were full of eager players. It looked like tonight would be a good take. With a nod towards Rax'l, his one real employee, he eased out into the street. The busy street bustled and he noticed the brothel a couple doors down seemed extra busy. He wondered if it's owner would be interested in 'selling'...


If that's the game you're peddling, I'm in :)

We'll do character creation together as a "Session Zero" once everyone's assembled. But "Catching Rats & Robbing Graves" borrows the WFRP 4th Edition approach of rewarding players with XP for randomly rolling their character's species, abilities and career. So, whilst you can choose to select these aspects, you'll get an initial boost if you submit to the whims of dice and play the hand fate deals you.

Assuming you're the rat catcher sitting in the gutter watching that scene unfold, then that's the game I'm peddling.

Nice, so really starting at the bottom and maybe with a chance to rise into something. Sounds good.

Exactly. It's the route you choose to bettering yourself that will be the nub of the game.

If anyone needs\wants, I have the WFRP Ultimate Careers List so where if we need a massive list to roll on for Specialisms!

If anyone needs\wants, I have the WFRP Ultimate Careers List so where if we need a massive list to roll on for Specialisms!

OK, great! I think the career descriptions in the WFRP 4th Edition book capture the feel of the setting best, but I'm happy for you to use any relevant source as the basis of your career rolls. Given that the characters will be starting in the lowest echelons of society, we may find some of the careers don't fit with that, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I'm just waiting to see if we can tempt another couple of players and then I'll send invitations out.

I love the premise but am unfamiliar with the system. If you'd consider players new to the WFRP rules then I am interested.

WFRP, and in particular the most recent 4th Edition, is way too fiddly for play-by-post. So we'll be using Hack100 and its Catching Rats and Robbing Graves supplement. It's a simplified d100 system that should still allow the distinctive Warhammer setting to shine through. You can download both for free at hack100rpg.com.

Sounds good- downloaded and am checking it out.

Sign me up!

Invites have been sent out to those who expressed an interest. See you over in the game forum.