Designer’s Notes
Fanning the flames
So it is here at last! After a development phase of a little over four years I am happy to be finally at the point where I can write these last lines for the anticipated Border Town Burning supplement. Looking back it is incredible how the project evolved from a small set of house rules we came up with in my four man gaming group to a fully fledged supplement.
The seed was planted early on in one of our first Mordheim campaigns. Andi, a dirty Skaven player, was done with developing his warband. He had a rat that could run something like 20”, see and walk through walls and was near impossible to take out. He was so wealthy that he was buying Opulent Coaches just for kicks! I realized that there should be an end to a campaign. It was clear that he was the best and had effectively won, but how could this be measured? I also figured that the life of a daring adventurer facing daily death in the City of the Damned is not as fulfilling as it should be. Heroes can train to gain great stats and accumulate their many riches. Is there not something more to life than an endless struggle for gold crowns, with the omnipresent fear of permanently losing a limb? I knew what I was looking for: I wanted a clear-cut goal that I could achieve. I wanted game mechanics that allowed me to triumph over my rivals after becoming the wealthiest adventurer in Mordheim. I wanted rules for following the lure of fortune and thus winning a campaign.
Now that I look at the finished product and after playing a complete Border Town Burning campaign I believe that we have successfully managed to do just that and thus taken Mordheim campaigning to another level. At the core it still is what I had in mind initially when starting to work on the project: a rules set to allow Chaos players to follow their path to glory. It began with the Chaos Marauders warband I wrote for Andi. He was playing Chaos Warriors in Warhammer and sorely missed an adequate equivalent in Mordheim. Figuring that it is not feasible to play a group of Chaos Warriors I came up with a warband list where the player controls the fate of an aspiring marauder chieftain. In Warhammer you are used to shoving regiments of mighty Chaos Warriors and Knights but Mordheim is the perfect game system to have a closer look at the ‘career’ of such a Chaos servant. So while the rise from a lowly marauder to a dreaded Chaos Warrior – or even Champion – is possible with the warband’s mechanics, I wanted more and reached for daemonhood. This greater goal made for a perfect objective along with the Lure of Fortune.
It took another three years to complete the objectives, even though they may look so simple now. The various objectives had to be interwoven with the exploration charts, random happenings and scenarios. In the end, you have a game system that enables you to play narrative, yet non-linear campaigns, where each participant can effectively pursue their own aims and ultimately influence the course of the campaign.
My goal was to make Border Town Burning as complete as possible. By that I mean that I wanted it to include all the additional rules that I would require during game play, such as the additional rules for ladders and exploding powder kegs, the bestiary and any other useful stuff that is inside. We also included the house rules we are using and the reference sheet. I wanted the supplement, when combined with the rulebook, the Annual and Empire in Flames to be all the resources you need for running the best Mordheim campaigns possible. In this unity the package we developed is to me the perfect Mordheim game, preserved in a timeless inviolability that I will be able to enjoy for years to come, irrespective of changing editions and errata.
Dramatis personae
There are a number of people I want to thank explicitly as they influenced this project significantly with their contributions and support. Firstly, I have to thank my small gaming group for bearing with my ideas and especially Andi, for having even weirder ideas (it’s true!). I learned that the best way to spark imagination and to be creative is by talking about your ideas. The iterative process of outbursts from immediate crazy thoughts and building on your interlocutor’s replies cannot be replaced by email or forum communication, less so by pondering in private.
A big thank you goes to my partner in crime Stuart Cresswell. He got in touch with me in January 2007 and invited me to join the Nemesis Crown development team, which marks my return from tabletop teetotalism. Without him I would probably still be locked away playing (and losing) magical duels (some of you will know what legacy I mean). Stu is a literate sage and knows an unhealthy amount about Warhammer background. His knowledge of the Black Library and every other relevant Warhammer tome has been indescribably helpful. In large part the high quality of this supplement – which I believe it has – is due to his attention to detail in proof-reading and editing (he does own the Eye of Tchar!). We had quite some heated discussion about certain rules and ideas, which did show me how passionate he is about the project. That is quite extra-ordinary considering he joined the project later on. In the end he had the greatest influence on the supplement next to my own humble scribble.
Another big thank you goes to Nemesis Crown contributor rev larny (his real name remains a mystery to us unworthy mortals – maybe because it is said that you gain control over a daemon if you know his true name). His exceptional storytelling talents really bring this supplement to life.
I have to mention Chris de la Rosa, who is Stu’s predecessor in a way. Chris contributed numerous articles such as the Restless Dead warband, the Lesser Artefacts and some of the Hired Swords, as well as doing the project proofreading in the early days. He always said that such an ambitious project could not be done by one man alone and he sure was right.
There are so many people who played their part in helping and supporting this project. I’d like to mention Mark Havener and Nick Kyme for kind words and support. Thanks to Sean Maroney, who incorporated an objective box into his great alternative Mordheim roster sheet for us and to Robert E. Waters for writing some exclusive and outstanding story-telling.
Many thanks to Thomas List of Tom’s Boring Mordheim Blog fame and the friendly folks of Tom’s Boring Mordheim Forum for their encouragement in sharing and spreading the euphoria.
I want to give a shout out to the Chaos Dwarfs community at Chaos Dwarfs Online and Hand of Hashut, especially Brad and David Clarke. Rarely have I seen such a dedicated community and I thank them all for their support of Border Town Burning.
Lastly, I thank all those in the community who enjoyed previews of the project during the months prior to its release. You have encouraged us by sending in many emails. A few hobbyists, notably Marek Ziolkiewicz, have improved the book by spotting minor inconsistencies in the initial fortnightly releases.
End times
The Border Town Burning supplement has been completed but this is only the beginning. The website will remain alive and updated with new photos as more and more players convert new warbands. We will publish more hobby articles there now and then and, of course, be ready to answer whatever questions you may have.
Furthermore, there are plans for an exciting global campaign experience for gaming groups running Border Town Burning campaigns so be sure to check out the website for more information on that.
I hope you enjoy reading and, more importantly, playing with these new rules. It was quite a ride and now I am happy to just lean back and have my Battle Monks fight off any approaching warriors of Chaos. Happy gaming!
- Christian ‘Cianty’ Templin