noblesse.pdf

Warhammer

Fantasy Roleplay

Scenario of Investigation

& Intrigue

I ask again: are those blessed with noble birth

not also burdened with obligations? And is not

chief among these obligations the duty to

provide succor to those less fortunate?

Jakob Creutzfeldt

”

Written & Designed by Charles Morrison

Artwork by TJ Adamowicz

Cover Portrait Colors by Alfredo Lopez, Jr.

TABLE of CONTENTS

Introduction ................... page 1

In Media Res .................. page 1

Pressed Into Service .... page 3

A Few Questions ......... page 5

All Good Things ....... page 15

Experience Awards .... page 17

Fold-over Cards ......... page 18

Player Handouts ........ page 22

GM Information ....... page 23

Acknowledgments .... page 24

“

:: INTRODUCTION ::

Noblesse Oblige is a non-linear, investigative adventure

for four to six Player Characters of any experience level.

It is set in southern Hochland, but with little effort can

take place on any major road in the Empire.

to kill a prominent Durrenbach presents itself. Represent-

ing the Durrenbachs are 1) Brigita Durrenbach, daughter

and heir, and suspected member of the cult of Slaanesh,

2) Ruprecht Durrenbach, eldest son (and whose only

obstacle to inheriting the Durrenbach fortune is Brigita),

3) Darathee Durrenbach, widowed priestess of Shallya,

and 4) Everd Setzingen, mercenary captain, who hopes

the talks will fail so that his income will rise. Each of

these people have their own reasons for wanting the

peace negotiations to fail; indeed the families would al-

ready have waged war had the Elector Count not inter-

vened.

The PCs happen upon the rear of this caravan and

soon find themselves fighting for their lives against what

appears to be a random attack by a band of mutants.

Later, however, it becomes

obvious that the attack

served to provide a diver-

sion for the murder of the

Elector Count’s representa-

tive, the Priest of Sigmar. It

should be clear to everyone

that the best -- perhaps the

only -- hope of finding the

killer is an immediate in-

vestigation. Since no sur-

viving member of either

party can be trusted, and the

nearest Roadwardens are hours away, this burden is

foisted upon the PCs by an inexperienced Initiate who

wishes to avoid trouble with the nobility. Together the

PCs must sort through various noble intrigues and false

leads to discover the reason behind the murder, and fi-

nally unmask the true culprit. The investigation is fraught

with much risk and offers little reward, for whomever is

responsible for the priest’s death will likely murder again

to avoid being discovered; and while the PCs may gain

an ally if they clear one family, they will certainly gain

the undying enmity of the family deemed responsible.

The PCs must keep their wits about them, for as they will

soon discover, very few things in Noblesse Oblige are as

they appear.

Background

The roadway that connects Hergig and Talabheim also

acts as the border between the land-holdings of two

lesser noble families, the Creutzfeldts and the Durren-

bachs, who have been bitter rivals for generations. The

recent Storm of Chaos and the absence of Elector Count

Aldebrand Ludenhof from his seat of power in Hergig

has emboldened both families. Indeed, outright war be-

tween them would have occurred but for the Count’s

unexpected return from Talabheim; he has now explicitly

forbidden any

“private wars”

until the current

crisis has

passed. To re-

solve the strife

in the southern

portion of his

lands (as well as

send a message

of strength and

leadership),

Count Ludenhof

has dispatched a Sigmarite Priest as a neutral third party

to broker what he hopes will be a lasting peace between

the two families.

Reluctantly following the Count’s orders, each

family has sent a group of representatives to attempt rec-

onciliation, or at least keep up appearances while placat-

ing the Count. The Creutzfeldt representatives are 1) eld-

est son and heir Jakob Creutzfeldt, who has recently dis-

covered that he is a mutant, 2) youngest son Friderich

Creutzfeldt, who blames the Durrenbachs for the death of

his first love, 3) mercenary captain and longtime friend

of the family Arent Stretstorpe, who believes in recon-

ciliation but does not trust the Durrenbachs, and 4) Frid-

erich’s “consort,” Grethe Rozenow, a trained assassin

who is present in case things go awry and an opportunity

Brigita Durrenbach

:: EPISODE ONE: IN MEDIA RES ::

The adventure proper begins as the PCs are traveling

along the Hergig-Talabheim roadway. Above the ambient

forest noises, a light breeze carries soft sounds of music,

muted lulls of speech, and the intermittent creaking of

multiple wheels from ahead, just past the curve in the

road. As the PCs advance, a caravan of three coaches

comes into view, replete with brightly colored flags bear-

ing heraldry of nobility: a stylized “C” embedded within

a shield and diamond flies from the final coach (nearest

to the PCs), the middle coach bears a flag with a

~ page 1 ~

“I wish you to understand, first and foremost, that I

answer your questions, low-born, not out of any moral

obligation, nor fear of reprisal, nor sorrow for our dear

departed priest. On the contrary, I answer them because

I am blameless, and my family is blameless, and you

will report that to the Count.”

~ Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Noblesse Oblige ~

quartered-shield surrounding a “D,” and two flags fly

from the first (one red-and-green with a Horn and Bow --

the easily-recognized symbol of the Elector Count of

Hochland -- and the other bears a twin-tailed comet). It

should be obvious to the PCs that they are witnessing a

procession of Important People .

At the rear of the caravan is a group of stragglers,

soldiers, and hangers-on: two tall troubadours with long,

straight blonde hair and lutes, a beautiful brunette woman

(Grethe Rozenow) who laughs as

she exchanges stories with the

troubadours, and two bored sol-

diers. The troubadours, milling

about lazily at the rear of the cara-

van, are the first to catch sight of

the PCs. One of them smiles gre-

gariously and waves the PCs forward, yelling “Come!

Walk with us!” He introduces himself as Mathias

Neltzen, troubadour extraordinaire for the Creutzfeldt

noble family. He explains that he and his brother Gunnar

were brought along to entertain the entourage during

their journey to negotiate peace terms with a rival noble

family, the Durrenbachs. His voice drops to a conspirato-

rial whisper as he explains that the two families have

caused so much trouble that Elector Count Ludenhof

himself ordered the negotiations, and to be sure there was

no more trouble, he sent his personal representative (at

this he leans over and motions toward the first coach),

Erasmus Heger, Priest of Sigmar. Gunnar attempts to

hush him -- “It’s none of their business what we’re doing.

They’re lucky we’re sharing the road in the first place!”

-- but Mathias

will not be si-

lenced: “I’ve

been walking for

two straight days

now and be-

tween songs you

are the only

company I’ve

had. Before

these kind folks

happened by I’d begun to long for the rack.”

He turns again to the PCs and says, “So, tell us of

your travels. And don’t leave out the gossip, it’s my stock

and trade.” If the PCs seem reluctant, Mathias will offer a

deal. “Rumor for rumor. I’ll start: I heard tell recently

that Jakob Creutzfeldt, heir and scion of the Creutzfeldt

clan, is being forced to marry Darathee Durrenbach, for-

mer widow and current Priestess of Shallya, as part of the

peace accord. Oh, if only I’d have been a fly on the wall

when Jakob found that out. He’s an even-tempered man

on most days, but we all have our limits, don’t we? Your

turn.” He will continue to run through every rumor in

Appendix C until either he or the PCs have no more ru-

mors to tell. Then he will happily exchange small talk

with the PCs for a time.

found in Appendix C ). Four of them have crossbows

aimed at the caravan. The tallest among them, a six foot

five inch mutant with horns and animalistic legs, steps

forward and bellows in a deep and guttural tone: “We are

poor and have been cast out by society. We only take

what we are unable to earn by honest labor. Drop your

weapons, drop your gold, and keep out of our way.”

The two soldiers who are apparently functioning

as the caravan’s rear guard exchange confused glances,

then draw

their

weapons,

crouch

into de-

fensive

stances,

and await the mutants’ next move. The woman gathers

her dress and quickly scurries to the other side of the

coach. Both troubadours stand transfixed, immobilized

by fear. In the distance, the forward guard is in the proc-

ess of turning their mounts, but will not arrive for at least

three rounds.

The PCs are free to act now; if they charge the

mutants, they can engage them this round, but they’ll

face four crossbow bolts before they can cross the gap. If

magic is used in any obvious fashion, two of the mutants

must pass an Average (+0%) Will Power Test or flee on

the spot from fright. The rest of the mutants will stand

their ground as long as possible, but will flee if any of

their number is critically wounded. If the PCs follow the

soldiers’ lead and wait, the mutants will continue to clang

their weapons as

loudly as possible. If

by the second round

no one has dropped

any gold, one of the

mutants will fire its

crossbow into the

cargo compartment of

the third coach -- a

warning shot. The

leader will repeat his

orders, and threaten that people will be harmed if they do

not comply. When the forward guard arrives at the rear of

the caravan (Arent and Everd will argue over who coor-

dinates the response), the mutants will stage a fighting

retreat, firing their crossbows as they slowly fade into the

forest. If one of the mutants is left behind, he should die

before he is questioned -- it will make the rest of the sce-

nario go more smoothly.

“ Twere up to me, I’d start my search with Everd Setzingen,

the Durrenbach sellsword. A bit of advice, however: if it’s

information you want out of that one, coin’ll get you further

than pain. ”

Arent Stretstorpe, Creutzfeldt Mercenary Captain

What ’ s Really Going on Here?

If the mutant’s speech above sounds strangely scripted, it

was: in reality, these mutants are friends of Jakob

Creutzfeldt, who has set up a secret sanctuary for them in

a secluded portion of the Creutzfeldt hunting grounds.

They are under orders to make a scene and get noticed,

but not to harm anyone -- Jakob desires to broach the

subject of the plight of mutants with the Elector Count’s

representative, but does not wish to arouse suspicion or

the attention of Witch Hunters by appearing to sympa-

thize with mutants. He hopes that an attempted robbery

by indigent mutants will help him frame this conversa-

tion. When the caravan arrives at their destination, Jakob

Alms for the Poor

After a brief period of conversation, Mathias is inter-

rupted by a loud clanging noise emanating from the for-

est to the east. A quick glance reveals five mutants

dressed in tatters who stand at the edge of the forest,

screaming and clanging rusty weapons against their

shields (if needed, the mutants’ characteristics can be

~ page 2 ~

“ Come, travelers! Walk with us awhile and barter your

tales of faraway places for shelter and companionship. ”

Mathias Neltzen, Troubadour

~ Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Noblesse Oblige ~

plans to say that the mutant attack has been the center of

all his thoughts since it occurred, and he believes he has

struck upon a unique solution to the mutant dilemma:

perhaps if mutants were housed, fed, and taken care of in

a place where they could be supervised by a responsible

party, they would be less of a threat to travelers and, in-

deed, the Empire itself. Jakob is pragmatic enough to

know that the reception to this idea will likely be cool,

but it is important to him that the seed be planted.

the tensions between the two families. Mathias will give

any nearby PC running commentary on the events that

follow, introducing the major players with a sort of glee

at the havoc they cause. At some point, Brigita Durren-

bach will attempt to order Arent Stretstorpe to give her

an account of his actions during the attack. Friderich

Creutzfeldt will take immediate offense to this and shout

at her that Arent is a Creutzfeldt hireling and does not

answer to any Durrenbach. As Jakob attempts to restrain

his younger brother, Ruprecht Durrenbach responds that

if the situation had come to battle, their soldiers were

under orders to protect only Durrenbach people and

equipment -- and if the look of the Creutzfeldt soldiery

was any indication of their skills, Friderich would be

better off turning his coach around and heading back to

his father for protection. Friderich wrestles away from

Jakob’s grip and draws his sword, offering to show Ru-

precht firsthand the skill of Creutzfeldt swordplay. Ru-

precht draws his sword and moves toward Friderich, but

is halted by a scream from the first coach. Heads turn

toward a Sigmarite Initiate who is running toward them.

A Death in the Caravan

In the aftermath of the attack, the two mercenary captains

will question those at the rear of the caravan: “Was any-

one hurt? What did the mutants say? What did they

want? Did anyone recognize any of them? What kind of

weapons did they have? Did they have any distinguishing

features?” and so on. Everd appears to worry more about

how authoritative he looks to his troops, but Arent seems

to actually care about the people of the caravan. After a

time, members of the nobility of both families will

emerge from their respective coaches and drift to the rear

of the caravan to discover what happened.

“He’s dead!” he shouts in a panic. “Herr Heger

is dead!”

This is an excellent time for the GM to play up

:: EPISODE TWO: PRESSED INTO SERVICE ::

The caravan is plunged into an immediate frenzy by this

revelation. A surge of people rush to the first coach,

where three initiates are carefully withdrawing the life-

less body of Erasmus Heger from inside and placing it on

the road. The Priestess of Shallya, Darathee Durrenbach,

rushes to his side and places a hand at his neck to check

for a pulse and a small mirror above his mouth to check

for breathing. After nearly a minute passes without any

fog on the mirror, she shakes her head sadly. “He is

dead.”

Jakob pushes his way to the front of the crowd

and asks, “How did this happen?” But Darathee shakes

her head: “I don’t know. We would need a Priest of Morr

to determine that. But he was not a young man.”

A hush falls over the crowd for a brief time, but

then accusations begin. Ruprecht wants to know who was

in the coach during the

time of death, Friderich

wants the location of every

Durrenbach and every

Durrenbach hireling,

Everd shouts that the for-

ward guard was under

Arent’s responsibility and

should never have left the

first coach -- and then the shouting grows so loud that

individual accusations can no longer be heard above the

din.

At this point the GM should grant each of the

PCs a Perception Check. The PC with the lowest roll will

spot a small red mark on the right side of the neck of the

corpse. The crowd is arguing so heatedly that no one will

notice if the PC moves in to look. Upon closer inspec-

tion, it is clear that not only is there a red mark on his

neck, but that mark encloses a tiny puncture wound. This

death was obviously no accident -- Erasmus Heger, Priest

of Sigmar and Personal Representative of the Elector

Count of Hochland, has been murdered.

Now the PC must decide what to do with this

information. The most obvious course of action is to go

immediately public and announce what s/he knows; this

will cause a second hush to fall over the crowd as multi-

ple members of each noble family press forward to ver-

ify. Brigita will be the first to question the PC: “Who are

you? You are not part of my entourage, are you with the

Creutzfeldts? How long have you been here? Where were

you when the mutants attacked?” and so on. Jakob will

state that he has not seen any of the PCs before, but

Mathias will

vouch for the

PCs, stating that

they happened

along shortly

before the mu-

tant attack and

remained at the

rear of the cara-

van the entire time. If the PCs engaged in any heroics

during the attack, he will re-enact them in all their glory.

Jakob will then point out that the attack was aimed at the

Creutzfeldt coach, and so if there is anyone who had mo-

tive for that, it would be the Durrenbachs.

If the PC decides to remain silent, the accusa-

tions will continue until Mathias glances at the corpse,

~ page 3 ~

“ Why, you don’t suppose I had anything to do with it, do

you dear? I am not interested in any priest or silly peace

talks. I just want my Friderich to be happy.”

Grethe Rozenow, Creutzfeldt Consort

~ Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Noblesse Oblige ~

cocks an eyebrow, and moves in for a closer inspection.

He will hush the crowd by revealing this information

himself, and the scene above will play itself out with the

following change: Brigita will initially question Mathias,

then her gaze will fall upon the unfamiliar PCs and she

will pounce on them as possible suspects.

Grethe Rozenow will interrupt the interrogation

of the PCs and suggest that perhaps one of the mutants

was responsible. However, Everd and Arent will both

agree that none of the mutants ever got within blowdart

range of the first coach. Therefore, whoever killed Eras-

mus must have been within the company of the caravan

itself.

After a few more questions and many suspicious

glares, one of the initiates steps forward. “I am Erasmus’s

personal assistant, Reymer Kremptze. The responsibility

falls upon me to make a report of this ... incident ... to the

Count. I will be conducting a full and immediate investi-

gation,” he says, glancing about. “I require assistance,

but to be frank I don’t know who to trust.”

swer in the negative, he clasps his hands together. “Sig-

mar be praised, for he has sent me the answer before I

even asked the question! You will be my eyes and ears

during this investigation.” He turns back to the crowd.

“Neither coach nor horse shall move until the investiga-

tion is complete. Creutzfeldts and Durrenbachs, you shall

extend your cooperation to these men (and women) as

representatives of the Elector Count of Hochland. Any

interference shall be duly noted in my report to the Count

himself.”

If the PCs refuse to help, Reymer informs them

that his “request” for assistance has the same legal stand-

ing as an order from the Count. If they still refuse, he

will threaten to arrest them (using soldiers from one no-

ble family or the other) until the culprit has been discov-

ered, and that without their aid, he might well be duped

into thinking that they are responsible for the priest’s

death, and he would hate to have to report that to the

Count. This should signal to the PCs two things: not only

is the initiate serious about involving them in the investi-

gation, but he is more politically astute than he first ap-

pears. It should also give them pause as to why he is so

desperate to involve them. The truth can be found in the

GM Note to the left.

Brigita Durrenbach is stunned by this turn of

events. “Certainly not!” she spouts. “As a member of one

of the most distinguished noble families in Hochland, I

will not stoop to be questioned by those of lower birth.

The Count may send a noble to investigate. I will not

cooperate with this farce.”

Jakob listens dutifully to her tirade, then gives a

slight smile. “Herr Kremptze, for our part, the Count will

have the full cooperation of the Creutzfeldts in this inves-

tigation. I am confident that not only will you find our

family innocent of any wrongdoing in Herr Heger’s un-

fortunate and untimely demise ...” He pauses and turns

his gaze to Brigita. “But I am certain that you will dis-

cover the true culprit as well.”

Ruprecht frowns and whispers into Brigita’s ear.

After a moment’s consideration, she sighs heavily and

says, “You will of course forgive my earlier outburst. My

grief at the death of the Count’s representative temporar-

ily overwhelmed me. Of course you will have the full

cooperation of the Durrenbach house during your inves-

tigation. If there is anything you need from any of us,

please let me know and I shall see to it personally.”

When everyone is in agreement, Reymer will

send some of the initiates to begin searching the three

coaches for any pertinent evidence. He explains that he

will take responsibility for interviewing the servants of

both families. He asks the PCs to interview each of the

following: Jakob Creutzfeldt, Friderich Creutzfeldt, Gre-

the Rozenow, Brigita Durrenbach, Ruprecht Durrenbach,

Darathee Durrenbach, and the two mercenary captains,

Arent Stretstorpe and Everd Setzingen. He instructs them

to pay special attention to their whereabouts during the

mutant attack (since it occurred at approximately the

same time as the death of the priest) as well as any possi-

ble motives they may have for wanting the peace accords

to fail. They are allowed to question only; searches of

person or property are forbidden without Reymer’s ex-

press approval. When the PCs finish, they are to report

back to him and relay their findings.

GM NOTE

This next part of the adventure is crucial to the play-

ers’ continued suspension of disbelief. To make it

plausible that unknown PCs who just wandered up to

the caravan moments before would be asked to par-

ticipate in an investigation involving two noble fami-

lies and the death of a highly respected priest, three

things need to be made clear:

1) Reymer Kremptze, the initiate responsible for mak-

ing the report to the Count, is inexperienced and

wishes to avoid any missteps with nobility (in truth,

he is reluctant to carry out the investigation at all but

realizes that it cannot be avoided. He hopes to make

the appearance of investigating thoroughly but does

not actually desire any results; he believes that the

PCs have been hand-delivered by Sigmar himself for

precisely this purpose). Certainly, if any of the mem-

bers of either noble family are upset with the investi-

gation, Reymer will refer them straight to the PCs.

2) The rivalry between the families is so great that the

political advantage gained by pinning the blame for

this death on the other family far outweighs the af-

front to their egos caused by being investigated by

mere peasants.

3) The investigation cannot be delayed until more

qualified people arrive. Reymer will state that the

best chance of catching the killer is to investigate the

scene and interrogate the people while events are still

fresh, but the real reason is that he wishes to dispense

with the investigation as quickly as possible and pro-

ceed on his way before night falls.

It is the Gamemaster’s duty to play up the

tensions between the families, to display Reymer’s

investigatory inexperience and reliance on the PCs,

and to impress upon the players the need for immedi-

acy. The more skillfully these three ideas are por-

trayed by the GM, the more plausible and enjoyable

the scenario becomes.

At this point he stops abruptly, his gaze fixing

on the PCs. “You! Did I hear correctly that you are not

party to either family? You owe allegiance to neither the

Creutzfeldts nor the Durrenbachs?” When the PCs an-

~ page 4 ~

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