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Paths of the Damned: Ashes of Middenheim
All is not well in Middenheim! Corruption eats at the very heart of the City of the White Wolf, and it's up to your heroes to help root it out! Ashes of Middenheim is the first installment of Paths of the Damned, the epic adventure trilogy for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. In addition to the adventure itself, this book also contains a full description of Middenheim, including a detailed city map and descriptions of neighborhoods, key NPCs, and a host of important locations.
94 pages, Hardcover
First published June 24, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 2, 2012
And now, the capsule summary:
"All aboard! All aboard! Paths of the Damned Express, stopping at Middenheim, Altdorf, and Nuln! Have your tickets ready, please!"
Railroads aren't necessarily a bad thing--there are some players whose play style is essentially "wait until the GM tells them the plot and then do what the plot says"--but in this case, it's a bit egregious even for a linear adventure. First the players are suspected of murder, then they're enlisted to investigate the murder they supposedly committed. Why, in WFRP, are dubious adventurers from out of town given investigative authority by the acting Count? It seems more likely to me that they'd be thrown in jail while the investigation was proceeding, or just executed on the spot. I admit that would destroy the progression of the adventure, but it would leave my suspension of disbelief intact.
After that, they're then sent out to retrieve a Chaos artifact before being saved by Mary Sue NPCs, where the GM is specifically supposed to emphasize how badass they are. Said NPCs are later arrested, and there's mutations in the water, and a trial, and a summoning that succeeds no matter what the PCs do, and and and and...
A lot of the connections are either tenuous, forced, annoying, or all three. For example, the PCs are sent to retrieve the Chaos artifact because of a vision one of the priests of Ulric had, and I already mentioned the PCs being deputized as acting Watch members due to their exalted status as murder suspects. There are multiple instances of "succeed on this 'find stuff' roll or the adventure ends." The bad guy happens to be a big shot who happens to be able to steal the artifact out from under the PCs noses and have other people murdered without being detected. While transporting the artifact back, the PCs will fight an infinite number of beastmen until the NPCs show up to save them. The PCs are thrown in the dungeon by the bad guy and expected to find one of the NPCs on the way out--and also to remain in the dark about who the bad guy is, even though he's all but cackling evilly and twirling his moustaches every time the PCs meet him.
Another thing that bothered me is the Skaven. I'll admit I haven't read Children of the Horned Rat yet, but as far as I was aware, the people in power in the Empire know the Skaven exist--as well they should, since they nearly destroyed the Empire and led to a thousand-year period of chaos and anarchy--but they deliberately work to suppress the knowledge to prevent the populace from freaking out because there's an army of scheming ratmen lurking right under their feet. Talking about rats as big as men, or rats that walk on two legs, is enough to get you laughed at. And yet, showing a dart from the murder scene is enough for the Watch captain to tell the PCs all about the Skaven and send them into the tunnels to fight them. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, but after the city was nearly destroyed, a destruction which was brought much closer by traitors from within, it seems ridiculous to me that random vagabonds would be let in on the secret--a secret which the Empire is probably much more interested in hiding to prevent even further unrest.
The tomb the Chaos artifact is in seems more like it's out of a traditional D&D dungeon crawl than a stereotypical Warhammer Fantasy game (yes, I know about the Oldenhaller Contract). There are spear traps, a cursed magical fountain that shoots poison blood, another pool of poison blood, the tomb with its blood-colored armor, blood on the walls, monsters called Bloodcursed patrolling it, a bloody altar filled with bloodstains of blood blood blood blood blood blood bLoOd BlOoD b̸̥̱̟̻̗ͣ͛̊͗ͨl̷͉̱͇̖͐͛̍̌̃ͯ͟ő̴̥̫̖͍̕ȏ̧͇̥̰̼͔̲ͧͥͯ̓̿̈̿̊d̸̻͚̟͕͎̽̉͛̀ ̹͚̘̲̟̝͎̍͝b̟̤͖͉͔̩̘͌̔ͥ̌̂̽̄͆l͒̏͊͊̈҉̥̙̞͍͎̣̜̻̰̀́ơ̴̢̼̥̠͈̺͔͎̱̍̈́ͦͯͥͧo̳͖̣̥̖̦͕̱ͧ̒̔̽̓̔̓͢d̷̸̹̣̳̬͉̥̓ ̨̜͇͖̞͙ͦ͌̋̏̌̅́̚b̟̹̘͈͉̤̺̓̑l̬̼͔͓̞̎ͅo͓͕͉̫̘ͩ̐ͯ̏̾̔̕o̷̩̗̱̩̣̬̿ͬ͋̇̎̑͒ͅd̴̤͚̜̈̃͐͞.
Blood has stopped looking like a real word to me now.
My favorite part that actually emphasizes the "grim and perilous" part of the Warhammer world is the part where the PCs stumble on a little girl, who has been mutated by drinking the tainted water, being pursued by the Watch. Do they help the girl? Do they do the right thing (in the Empire's view) and let the Watch burn her? Do they stand aside? Except then the book ruins it by suggesting that a mob shows up and tries to lynch the PCs if they fail to help the girl because they were "with that mutant." Then they get arrested and accused of consorting with the Ruinous Powers, etc etc.
While the adventure is not particularly good, the information and map of Middenheim at the beginning is excellent. Each district is broken down, sketched in broad strokes, and several key areas of importance are mentioned. It's not worth buying the book just for this, but it is a definite bright spot among the confusion and iron rails.
With a lot of work and some redoing of the connections, ditching the random Skaven appearance, making the adventure more about the conflict between the Sigmarites and Ulricites with Chaos trying to fan the flames and less about BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, I think it could be really good, but as it is it's mediocre and definitely dissuades me from reading the other adventures in the series.
"All aboard! All aboard! Paths of the Damned Express, stopping at Middenheim, Altdorf, and Nuln! Have your tickets ready, please!"
Railroads aren't necessarily a bad thing--there are some players whose play style is essentially "wait until the GM tells them the plot and then do what the plot says"--but in this case, it's a bit egregious even for a linear adventure. First the players are suspected of murder, then they're enlisted to investigate the murder they supposedly committed. Why, in WFRP, are dubious adventurers from out of town given investigative authority by the acting Count? It seems more likely to me that they'd be thrown in jail while the investigation was proceeding, or just executed on the spot. I admit that would destroy the progression of the adventure, but it would leave my suspension of disbelief intact.
After that, they're then sent out to retrieve a Chaos artifact before being saved by Mary Sue NPCs, where the GM is specifically supposed to emphasize how badass they are. Said NPCs are later arrested, and there's mutations in the water, and a trial, and a summoning that succeeds no matter what the PCs do, and and and and...
A lot of the connections are either tenuous, forced, annoying, or all three. For example, the PCs are sent to retrieve the Chaos artifact because of a vision one of the priests of Ulric had, and I already mentioned the PCs being deputized as acting Watch members due to their exalted status as murder suspects. There are multiple instances of "succeed on this 'find stuff' roll or the adventure ends." The bad guy happens to be a big shot who happens to be able to steal the artifact out from under the PCs noses and have other people murdered without being detected. While transporting the artifact back, the PCs will fight an infinite number of beastmen until the NPCs show up to save them. The PCs are thrown in the dungeon by the bad guy and expected to find one of the NPCs on the way out--and also to remain in the dark about who the bad guy is, even though he's all but cackling evilly and twirling his moustaches every time the PCs meet him.
Another thing that bothered me is the Skaven. I'll admit I haven't read Children of the Horned Rat yet, but as far as I was aware, the people in power in the Empire know the Skaven exist--as well they should, since they nearly destroyed the Empire and led to a thousand-year period of chaos and anarchy--but they deliberately work to suppress the knowledge to prevent the populace from freaking out because there's an army of scheming ratmen lurking right under their feet. Talking about rats as big as men, or rats that walk on two legs, is enough to get you laughed at. And yet, showing a dart from the murder scene is enough for the Watch captain to tell the PCs all about the Skaven and send them into the tunnels to fight them. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, but after the city was nearly destroyed, a destruction which was brought much closer by traitors from within, it seems ridiculous to me that random vagabonds would be let in on the secret--a secret which the Empire is probably much more interested in hiding to prevent even further unrest.
The tomb the Chaos artifact is in seems more like it's out of a traditional D&D dungeon crawl than a stereotypical Warhammer Fantasy game (yes, I know about the Oldenhaller Contract). There are spear traps, a cursed magical fountain that shoots poison blood, another pool of poison blood, the tomb with its blood-colored armor, blood on the walls, monsters called Bloodcursed patrolling it, a bloody altar filled with bloodstains of blood blood blood blood blood blood bLoOd BlOoD b̸̥̱̟̻̗ͣ͛̊͗ͨl̷͉̱͇̖͐͛̍̌̃ͯ͟ő̴̥̫̖͍̕ȏ̧͇̥̰̼͔̲ͧͥͯ̓̿̈̿̊d̸̻͚̟͕͎̽̉͛̀ ̹͚̘̲̟̝͎̍͝b̟̤͖͉͔̩̘͌̔ͥ̌̂̽̄͆l͒̏͊͊̈҉̥̙̞͍͎̣̜̻̰̀́ơ̴̢̼̥̠͈̺͔͎̱̍̈́ͦͯͥͧo̳͖̣̥̖̦͕̱ͧ̒̔̽̓̔̓͢d̷̸̹̣̳̬͉̥̓ ̨̜͇͖̞͙ͦ͌̋̏̌̅́̚b̟̹̘͈͉̤̺̓̑l̬̼͔͓̞̎ͅo͓͕͉̫̘ͩ̐ͯ̏̾̔̕o̷̩̗̱̩̣̬̿ͬ͋̇̎̑͒ͅd̴̤͚̜̈̃͐͞.
Blood has stopped looking like a real word to me now.
My favorite part that actually emphasizes the "grim and perilous" part of the Warhammer world is the part where the PCs stumble on a little girl, who has been mutated by drinking the tainted water, being pursued by the Watch. Do they help the girl? Do they do the right thing (in the Empire's view) and let the Watch burn her? Do they stand aside? Except then the book ruins it by suggesting that a mob shows up and tries to lynch the PCs if they fail to help the girl because they were "with that mutant." Then they get arrested and accused of consorting with the Ruinous Powers, etc etc.
While the adventure is not particularly good, the information and map of Middenheim at the beginning is excellent. Each district is broken down, sketched in broad strokes, and several key areas of importance are mentioned. It's not worth buying the book just for this, but it is a definite bright spot among the confusion and iron rails.
With a lot of work and some redoing of the connections, ditching the random Skaven appearance, making the adventure more about the conflict between the Sigmarites and Ulricites with Chaos trying to fan the flames and less about BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, I think it could be really good, but as it is it's mediocre and definitely dissuades me from reading the other adventures in the series.
December 11, 2018
An interesting and in-depth introduction to the Warhammer world, but as has been pointed out in Brian's excellent review, not a great way to design the game-play. It's an interesting storyline, but I think it would make a much better background event to give color to other happenings in the city, or for the players to engage with if desired.
Run as written, it would be boring and leave them little choice. Though the format of the trial portion of the game was interesting. I like the idea of giving the PC's main arguments and then a secret motive/argument and letting them play different characters, but the game assumes a specific order of information to emerge, which makes it much less fun.
If the GM is ready to improvise heavily or has another storyline on the back burner, the brewing conflict between the cults of Sigmar and Ulric would make an interesting long-term story. But now I'm rewriting it to make it better. I'll stop before I have to add a star.
From the depth of the world, I'm not giving up on the Warhammer game or world, but I don't think I'll be running this as written anytime soon.
Run as written, it would be boring and leave them little choice. Though the format of the trial portion of the game was interesting. I like the idea of giving the PC's main arguments and then a secret motive/argument and letting them play different characters, but the game assumes a specific order of information to emerge, which makes it much less fun.
If the GM is ready to improvise heavily or has another storyline on the back burner, the brewing conflict between the cults of Sigmar and Ulric would make an interesting long-term story. But now I'm rewriting it to make it better. I'll stop before I have to add a star.
From the depth of the world, I'm not giving up on the Warhammer game or world, but I don't think I'll be running this as written anytime soon.
March 27, 2018
Didn't think too much of this campaign, to be honest. It relies too much on events that have to be hamfisted into the game no matter what the players do. But it does cover many of the WH cliches that might make it a pretty good starting point for new players, who are not familiar with the setting as much.
The added description of Middenheim is probably the most valuable thing about it.
The added description of Middenheim is probably the most valuable thing about it.
December 3, 2007
I GM'd the adventure, and my players did not enjoy the railroading. They were very happy to for it to be over. I never ran the follow ups.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews