Raid on Chateau Fekenstein
Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 9:27 pm
Hello,
I wondered if you’d be interested in playing, not a published gamebook, but an amateur one ? Specifically what I had in mind was the winner of the first Windhammer tournament, Raid on Château Fekenstein ( in my humble opinion it’s the only adventure ever submitted to a Windhammer that is worth playing ).
A rule of the Windhammer contest is that the adventures mustn’t exceed 100§, however as this created problems ( one § to describe two different occurrences… ) I had added a few § when I translated it for a French gamebook site I used to frequent. So that’s the version that would be used here.
As it is so short, I think it’d be better to restart it from the beginning every time we die, so we can try other options.
So what is it about ? basically it’s WWI – the mud, the trenches, the senseless deaths – in heroic fantasy. Rather low fantasy, but we get to play a wizard.
Success or failure is usually determined by rolling 2 die.
Here is the description of the character’s abilities.
As can be seen from your character sheet on the page following, your character has 4 attributes, Endurance, Mental Fortitude, Luck and Education. These four attributes start at the level indicated (although your choice of background skills may change the starting scores). Your current scores will almost certainly go up and down during your adventure, but cannot go above the starting value unless otherwise indicated. Mark any changes in the current score section in the box with each attribute. All your attributes start at full value, including any increases you may have from your background choices below. The attributes are as follows:
Endurance – this is a combination of your strength, hardiness and overall wellbeing. You start off with a slightly higher Endurance than an average person does, although this is almost certainly going to decrease as your adventure progresses. If your current Endurance score ever reaches 0 or below you are dead or dying, which usually means the end of your adventure unless otherwise stated.
Mental Fortitude – this is your ability to focus your willpower (especially useful when casting spells), your determination when faced with adversity and your ability to withstand shocking conditions or sights. Having trained so many years as an arcanist, your Mental Fortitude is unusually strong. Some would even call you a stubborn cuss. If your current Mental Fortitude ever reaches 0 or below your mind is shattered. Normally this means your mind is shattered by the hardships you have endured, plunging you into a state of non-functional insanity. If this happens under the strain of casting a spell the resulting backlash of uncontrolled magic is usually catastrophic. In either case, it typically means your adventure is over.
Luck – ever since Acais Notwen demonstrated via arcane methodology that personal luck is a quantifiable substance that exerts influence on the world, there have been spells and devices that can tap into this naturally occurring form of power. You start off with a normal amount of Luck, although one of your background choices may adjust this. Your current Luck will rarely change and cannot go lower than 0 but apart from having abysmal luck, having such a low score will not otherwise affect you.
Education – your Education attribute primarily measures the degree and depth of your magical training although it does give a general idea of your level of knowledge in other related academic fields. Your many years of study mean you are very highly educated in comparison to the general population. Your current Education score is unlikely to change significantly (if at all) during the adventure and will not be reduced to 0 or below.
Creating the character is made by a series of choices, so I’m posting here up to the first choice.
You were busily trying to fail your first year at the moderately prestigious University of Andringham through of combination of wine, women (at least, your mostly rebuffed attempts to get a woman even talking with you let alone anything further) and the study of the esoteric art of statistics (otherwise known as games of chance), when the lands that make up Talandtar, which is to say the entire world, went to war.
You had been brought up on a steady diet of war stories, like most of your peers. However, the absence of a father (due to a previous, smaller war) and the all too real tales told by your strange Uncle Phelpenton (Phelps to those that know him) had perhaps given your more insight into the realities of war than your classmates. Thus you didn’t cease study to join the war effort. No, in fact, for the first time in your life you started to apply yourself (which is to say you started going to all your classes and studying damn hard) and by dint of this unaccustomed effort (and a very humbling discussion with one, fortunately sympathetic, dean) you managed to pass the first year of your studies... and the second, in fact, all the way to the forth year which left you the proud owner of a Batchelor of Magical Arts (Arcane Theory) and what you thought was a clear path into post-graduate study.
At this stage the war was into its fourth year and your country was struggling; ongoing fighting on two borders, a tense state of not war on another and ongoing skirmishing on the last (although that was nothing new in the Province of Dacros, which had always had problems from the near-humans for as long as it had been established; it’s just that the problems were now worse – men and equipment being pulled out onto other fronts). But (even ignoring what the propaganda was saying for a minute) you knew that it was bad for every country, ally or foe. The countries of Talandtar had locked their horns in a death grip, each side having a greater understanding, ability and stockpile of magic than ever before in history. It was clear (to your young self at least) that even the surviving countries of this terrible conflict were going to be left terribly, terribly maimed. Not to mention the inhabitants and those that waged war on their behalf.
Thus your desire for further study (but not your only reason as the study was more than a little rewarding in itself), and thus both your excellent marks and your carefully cultivated contacts within the facility. You were sure to be able to go on and study for at least another three years (possibly as much as another five if you were to load the dice in your own favour) and by then, surely by then, the conflict would be over (one way or another) and if your county was not sacked and its people put to the sword, well, then you could live out the rest of your (long and surely prosperous) life. But you were not selected for further study, despite your marks (and your contacts). You even know (or think you know) the reason, rather the person, behind this (shocking, at least to you) decision. The facility second professor, Professor Gaulire, was in a position to influence the choice of student to go on and, well, it would be little surprise if he held a grudge against you for the little piece of unpleasantness you involved yourself in, the third year of your study. Thus you went to war.
At this point in time your skills consisted of the following:
BMA (Arcane Theory) – already included on your character sheet, the Batchelor of Arcane Arts gives you a very good understanding of the creation and formation of both spells and magical equipment. You have also mastered a number of small (generally not very useful) spells and rituals.
In addition to this field of study, you had an interest in two further minor areas of study. Select two of these skills and add them in the first minor and second minor areas of your character sheet.
Arcane Manipulation – this minor field of study taught you about the magical manipulation of objects (primarily objects as it is extraordinarily difficult to manipulate within the field generated by living creatures) from a distance. A very practical course of study, you learnt a number of moderately useful spells and rituals.
Divinatory Means and Methods – you were taught about many of the seeming endless ways with which you can magically sense your surrounding, determine the truth of what you can sense and divine both the past and the future. In theory this minor field of study should have been a great help with games of chance but it is almost impossible to use undetected amongst fellow students – they knew all the tricks also.
Elemental Studies – one of the easier and more practical fields of study and one in which you have quite some natural talent. This minor course of study taught you the basics about manipulating, refining and summoning the five basic elemental substances (and some of the lesser tertiary substances). You were also taught a number of not very useful spells and rituals.
History of the Arcane Arts – this minor gives you a good idea of where the magic that exists today came from and at which points in history major discoveries were made. A very studious course of study, selecting this skill increases your starting Education score by 2 (adjust your character sheet).
Life Systems – this minor specialization taught about using the arcane arts on living creatures. The skills you learned were the very basics of what arcane healer and changers are required to learn for their studies. Interestingly enough you learnt that even dead creatures contain living creatures inside them (you were given a very dead piglet to study, that is dissect, at the beginning of one term – those that were unable to arrest the decay of the piglet by mid term were very unpopular with the rest of the students). You learnt many spells and rituals, none of which were particularly useful except possibly the one that stops infections in minor wounds. You have used that.
So, if someone is interested…
I wondered if you’d be interested in playing, not a published gamebook, but an amateur one ? Specifically what I had in mind was the winner of the first Windhammer tournament, Raid on Château Fekenstein ( in my humble opinion it’s the only adventure ever submitted to a Windhammer that is worth playing ).
A rule of the Windhammer contest is that the adventures mustn’t exceed 100§, however as this created problems ( one § to describe two different occurrences… ) I had added a few § when I translated it for a French gamebook site I used to frequent. So that’s the version that would be used here.
As it is so short, I think it’d be better to restart it from the beginning every time we die, so we can try other options.
So what is it about ? basically it’s WWI – the mud, the trenches, the senseless deaths – in heroic fantasy. Rather low fantasy, but we get to play a wizard.
Success or failure is usually determined by rolling 2 die.
Here is the description of the character’s abilities.
As can be seen from your character sheet on the page following, your character has 4 attributes, Endurance, Mental Fortitude, Luck and Education. These four attributes start at the level indicated (although your choice of background skills may change the starting scores). Your current scores will almost certainly go up and down during your adventure, but cannot go above the starting value unless otherwise indicated. Mark any changes in the current score section in the box with each attribute. All your attributes start at full value, including any increases you may have from your background choices below. The attributes are as follows:
Endurance – this is a combination of your strength, hardiness and overall wellbeing. You start off with a slightly higher Endurance than an average person does, although this is almost certainly going to decrease as your adventure progresses. If your current Endurance score ever reaches 0 or below you are dead or dying, which usually means the end of your adventure unless otherwise stated.
Mental Fortitude – this is your ability to focus your willpower (especially useful when casting spells), your determination when faced with adversity and your ability to withstand shocking conditions or sights. Having trained so many years as an arcanist, your Mental Fortitude is unusually strong. Some would even call you a stubborn cuss. If your current Mental Fortitude ever reaches 0 or below your mind is shattered. Normally this means your mind is shattered by the hardships you have endured, plunging you into a state of non-functional insanity. If this happens under the strain of casting a spell the resulting backlash of uncontrolled magic is usually catastrophic. In either case, it typically means your adventure is over.
Luck – ever since Acais Notwen demonstrated via arcane methodology that personal luck is a quantifiable substance that exerts influence on the world, there have been spells and devices that can tap into this naturally occurring form of power. You start off with a normal amount of Luck, although one of your background choices may adjust this. Your current Luck will rarely change and cannot go lower than 0 but apart from having abysmal luck, having such a low score will not otherwise affect you.
Education – your Education attribute primarily measures the degree and depth of your magical training although it does give a general idea of your level of knowledge in other related academic fields. Your many years of study mean you are very highly educated in comparison to the general population. Your current Education score is unlikely to change significantly (if at all) during the adventure and will not be reduced to 0 or below.
Creating the character is made by a series of choices, so I’m posting here up to the first choice.
You were busily trying to fail your first year at the moderately prestigious University of Andringham through of combination of wine, women (at least, your mostly rebuffed attempts to get a woman even talking with you let alone anything further) and the study of the esoteric art of statistics (otherwise known as games of chance), when the lands that make up Talandtar, which is to say the entire world, went to war.
You had been brought up on a steady diet of war stories, like most of your peers. However, the absence of a father (due to a previous, smaller war) and the all too real tales told by your strange Uncle Phelpenton (Phelps to those that know him) had perhaps given your more insight into the realities of war than your classmates. Thus you didn’t cease study to join the war effort. No, in fact, for the first time in your life you started to apply yourself (which is to say you started going to all your classes and studying damn hard) and by dint of this unaccustomed effort (and a very humbling discussion with one, fortunately sympathetic, dean) you managed to pass the first year of your studies... and the second, in fact, all the way to the forth year which left you the proud owner of a Batchelor of Magical Arts (Arcane Theory) and what you thought was a clear path into post-graduate study.
At this stage the war was into its fourth year and your country was struggling; ongoing fighting on two borders, a tense state of not war on another and ongoing skirmishing on the last (although that was nothing new in the Province of Dacros, which had always had problems from the near-humans for as long as it had been established; it’s just that the problems were now worse – men and equipment being pulled out onto other fronts). But (even ignoring what the propaganda was saying for a minute) you knew that it was bad for every country, ally or foe. The countries of Talandtar had locked their horns in a death grip, each side having a greater understanding, ability and stockpile of magic than ever before in history. It was clear (to your young self at least) that even the surviving countries of this terrible conflict were going to be left terribly, terribly maimed. Not to mention the inhabitants and those that waged war on their behalf.
Thus your desire for further study (but not your only reason as the study was more than a little rewarding in itself), and thus both your excellent marks and your carefully cultivated contacts within the facility. You were sure to be able to go on and study for at least another three years (possibly as much as another five if you were to load the dice in your own favour) and by then, surely by then, the conflict would be over (one way or another) and if your county was not sacked and its people put to the sword, well, then you could live out the rest of your (long and surely prosperous) life. But you were not selected for further study, despite your marks (and your contacts). You even know (or think you know) the reason, rather the person, behind this (shocking, at least to you) decision. The facility second professor, Professor Gaulire, was in a position to influence the choice of student to go on and, well, it would be little surprise if he held a grudge against you for the little piece of unpleasantness you involved yourself in, the third year of your study. Thus you went to war.
At this point in time your skills consisted of the following:
BMA (Arcane Theory) – already included on your character sheet, the Batchelor of Arcane Arts gives you a very good understanding of the creation and formation of both spells and magical equipment. You have also mastered a number of small (generally not very useful) spells and rituals.
In addition to this field of study, you had an interest in two further minor areas of study. Select two of these skills and add them in the first minor and second minor areas of your character sheet.
Arcane Manipulation – this minor field of study taught you about the magical manipulation of objects (primarily objects as it is extraordinarily difficult to manipulate within the field generated by living creatures) from a distance. A very practical course of study, you learnt a number of moderately useful spells and rituals.
Divinatory Means and Methods – you were taught about many of the seeming endless ways with which you can magically sense your surrounding, determine the truth of what you can sense and divine both the past and the future. In theory this minor field of study should have been a great help with games of chance but it is almost impossible to use undetected amongst fellow students – they knew all the tricks also.
Elemental Studies – one of the easier and more practical fields of study and one in which you have quite some natural talent. This minor course of study taught you the basics about manipulating, refining and summoning the five basic elemental substances (and some of the lesser tertiary substances). You were also taught a number of not very useful spells and rituals.
History of the Arcane Arts – this minor gives you a good idea of where the magic that exists today came from and at which points in history major discoveries were made. A very studious course of study, selecting this skill increases your starting Education score by 2 (adjust your character sheet).
Life Systems – this minor specialization taught about using the arcane arts on living creatures. The skills you learned were the very basics of what arcane healer and changers are required to learn for their studies. Interestingly enough you learnt that even dead creatures contain living creatures inside them (you were given a very dead piglet to study, that is dissect, at the beginning of one term – those that were unable to arrest the decay of the piglet by mid term were very unpopular with the rest of the students). You learnt many spells and rituals, none of which were particularly useful except possibly the one that stops infections in minor wounds. You have used that.
So, if someone is interested…