In the absence of any RPGers in my benighted area I've decided it might be interesting to solo through some of my stack of old WFRP1 scenarios using the WFRP2 rules that have been sat unused on my shelf.

I've already found various conversion notes rescued from the wreck of the old Black Industries site so this shouldn't involve much work to set up.

I am also toying with introducing Pendragon-style traits and passions to make soloplay more interesting.  

Purely for old times sake (so I don't really care if you think it or WFRP1 or WFRP2 or anything else is crap) I want to run the Oldenhaller Contract first and have found a very nicely done WFRP2 conversion booklet.  

But re-reading the adventure after 20 years I am still puzzled by Oldenhaller's motivation and what happens after the gem gets delivered.

Is he a Chaos cultist, an eccentric collector of chaotic curios, an armchair chaos fighter who likes to casually hire complete strangers and send them off on potentially lethal missions or what?

My first thought is that he is a Tzeentch cultist engaged in a complex intrigue against the rival cult of Nurgle.

However while this has real possibilities in that the Nurglers are seriously under-developed as opponents in the WFRP1 canon and the PCs finding themselves in an unlikely alliance with Oldenhaller's cult to prevent some horrible plague-plot from devastating Nuln has potential, the fact that I want to run The Enemy Within with its whole cast of intriguing Tzeentch cultists rather puts me off introducing yet another one.

Dedicated collector of chaotic artifacts seems to be a hobby which should have a particularly short life span associated with it - but IIRC the Forges of Nuln still has Oldenhaller alive and kicking a decade later - which seems just a little implausible if he keeps curios in his cabinet that can turn you into a plaguebearer.

The FoN reference also precludes the obvious sequel of having my characters have to hunt down their former patron when he grows a horn and starts spreading Nurgles Rot.

Unscrupulous politician aiming to use the gem against his rivals also seems implausible given that it is about as double-edged a weapon as you can get and that he's already risen as high as any commoner can in the Old World.

Armchair chaos fighter (maybe a Shallyan Plague-Warden from ToS?) is probably the simplest option but again seems rather unsatisfying.

Anyone actually played this scenario and come up with something more interesting?

EDIT - An old WFRP FAQ I just googled at http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~rossi/Wfrp/FaqWfrp.html has an rather gnomic reference to a fan-published Warhammer Conpendium to include:

"The Oldenhaller Contract Part II: The Pied Piper"

Having read China Mieville's King Rat (a very nasty modern take on the Pied Piper story) this title very much appeals - anyone ever come across this scenario or the author (who seems to be Ray Rich)?

Wow, as luck would have it, I ran a party of players through Oldenhaller a few weeks ago, using DnD4.0 rules. I've played it through at least half a dozen times before, using WFRP rules, but, hey, they wanted DnD4.0.

Anyway, it's funny how player attitudes are different. The DnD4.0 group just went and slaughtered everything in sight, killing every human being they found, without even trying to discuss things, or figure out what's going on. By the time they made it to the chaos cultists, they were too burned out and had to run away (keep in mind, they're supposed to ally with at least some of the people there, or at least avoid a few combats, instead of killing everything in sight).

I have an AAR, I guess I could put that up on my blog, so show how horrific it was (lemme know, and I'll get to it by Friday).

Anyway, asking about Oldenhaller's motivations has never come up--in WFRP, the players are happy just to have survived and gotten some gold. If he's in some 10-year later module, just go there to find out what his purpose could be. I just looked at him as a cog in a great wheel, apparently one that lasted longer than many.

I'm in the same boat, played this scenario many times with many different groups and never once has his motivation ever been questioned.  It's never been important to the goings on.

Fair enough - IIRC first time I played in it motivation didn't come up either.

Its only because I am soloing it to test-drive the WFRP2 rules and am thus thinking of it almost as part of a collaborative novel (I would say story-game but that might set Pundit off on one of his rampages) that I wanted to dig a bit deeper.

So why on earth would a perfectly respectable pillar of the community need a plague-carrying chaos-gem?

I can hardly imagine anyone would buy it at a price any merchant would consider fair recompense for the high risk of the several horrible deaths that owning it so could easily bring about...

Quote from: Hubert Farnsworth;336897Purely for old times sake (so I don't really care if you think it or WFRP1 or WFRP2 or anything else is crap) I want to run the Oldenhaller Contract first and have found a very nicely done WFRP2 conversion booklet.

If it's the one I did, Thank you. ;o)

I always though that making Oldenhaller essentially a self serving merchant with no allegiance but to himself was the most interesting option. Basically he will do anything if he thinks there is profit in it. As for what profit, I would imagine a lot of Wizards, nobles and even priests would want a magic item, just the study the magic if nothing else.

Quote from: Hubert Farnsworth;336921So why on earth would a perfectly respectable pillar of the community need a plague-carrying chaos-gem?

C'mon this is the Chaos riddled Old World.

In Power Behind the Throne there's a group of Slaanesh worshipers called the D&Ders - Deviants and Decadents. They, for instance would buy this cursed item just to cause a little bit of havoc in the whorehouses of Middenheim.

Regards,
David R

But for a merchant - and according to the FoN write-up Oldenhaller is a big merchant with interests across the empire - surely plague is always bad business as it will kill your customers.

Of course being found out and burned alive by Witch-hunters - not unlikely if you consort with thieves and employ vagabonds straight off the boat to do all your dirty work - is even worse for business .

And if Oldenhaller is as rich and important as represented what would a group of degenerates in Middenheim have to offer him in exchange for endangering his life, his position and his very soul? (that's a genuine as well as a rhetorical question).

Thinking along these lines perhaps blackmail or kidnapping of a loved one might provide a better source of motivation as then the rational balancing of risk and profit no longer applies.

I was under the impression the Oldenhaller FAMILY is big, but that this guy was just one member of the family.

So, I guess they call this "thread necro-"somethingorother, but I'm going to do it anyhow...

...Anyone ever come up with a decent motivation for Oldenhaller?

Cheers,

WP6

I'd go with the motivation to bring destruction to his mercantile adversaries abroad.

Quote from: Doom;336903Wow, as luck would have it, I ran a party of players through Oldenhaller a few weeks ago, using DnD4.0 rules. I've played it through at least half a dozen times before, using WFRP rules, but, hey, they wanted DnD4.0.

Anyway, it's funny how player attitudes are different. The DnD4.0 group just went and slaughtered everything in sight, killing every human being they found, without even trying to discuss things, or figure out what's going on. By the time they made it to the chaos cultists, they were too burned out and had to run away (keep in mind, they're supposed to ally with at least some of the people there, or at least avoid a few combats, instead of killing everything in sight).

I have an AAR, I guess I could put that up on my blog, so show how horrific it was (lemme know, and I'll get to it by Friday).

Anyway, asking about Oldenhaller's motivations has never come up--in WFRP, the players are happy just to have survived and gotten some gold. If he's in some 10-year later module, just go there to find out what his purpose could be. I just looked at him as a cog in a great wheel, apparently one that lasted longer than many.

I love how the Oldenhaller Contract ports well between systems, I've run it 3-4 times with WHFRP 1E, once with D&D 3.0 & once with 5E.

Quote from: Wolfpack Six;988084So, I guess they call this "thread necro-"somethingorother, but I'm going to do it anyhow...

...Anyone ever come up with a decent motivation for Oldenhaller?

Cheers,

WP6

Welcome to theRPGsite!

I suppose that works.

How about the Cultists?  Of course, they're trying to get the gem back.  But why is Jonas Whitespore trying to summon a Beast of Nurgle?