Lure of Power (2011)

Never wear white after Sigmarzeit.
Swords are to be worn on the right hip if a gentleman; on the left hip if a lady.
To wear the skull of someone who’s name you don’t know is extremely gauche.
–Von Güten’s Rules of Right & Proper Behaviour, briefly fashionable in Nuln

Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce Lure of Power for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. This supplement delves into the world of nobility and the insidious influence of Slaanesh, the Dark Prince, youngest and subtlest of the Ruinous Powers.

Lure of Power offers pleasures for players and GMs alike, increasing the opportunities for noble and social characters as well as background material on Slaanesh and his minions. This expansion details rich new mechanics for social encounters, making them every bit as engaging and important as combat. You will also find new careers, enemies, and secret societies.

Verbal sparring
The nobles of the Old World live in a complex feudal system. Although the system imposes a degree of order upon those enmeshed in it, there are many incidents of disorder and conflict, especially between nobles of comparable rank. There is often no set notion as to which noble outranks the other, and the slight differences in rank have prompted bitter conflicts.

The Old World is a violent land of constant war, but some conflicts, even the most bitter, are fought with words. Lure of Power explores the intricacies of heated social encounters, providing guidance and examples for GMs, including optional mechanics that let player characters shame their opponents into submission. Simple insults and name-calling won’t win these complicated interchanges, but perhaps your character will show up for an event escorted by the former paramour of a jilted, broken-hearted lover. Best your opponent in a duel of words, and he may live with the humiliation for years.

Nobles have more to do than nurse old hostilities, of course, and Lure of Power offers several new careers focused on noble privileges and responsibilities.

Slaves to desire
Lure of Power explores the secret pleasures and vices that corrupt many of the Old World’s populace in Liber Ecstatica, a sourcebook aimed toward GMs. Slaanesh spreads his influence within the Realm of Chaos by fueling and feeding upon the extremes of mortal emotion and experience. The Dark Prince provides a particular allure to nobles, as their positions of power and idle time afford them greater opportunities to explore rare luxuries and sensations.

The minions of Slaanesh give in to their dark passions, and they excel at luring others to join them. The greatest and most terrible of their abilities is that to corrupt and seduce the most loyal and pure. Those marked by Slaanesh are said to be able to gaze directly into the most hidden depths of a mortal’s soul and rip out his most secret desires and fears. The Dark Prince’s marauders are vain and obsess over their rippling muscles and taut sinew. They adorn themselves with tattoos and aspire toward physical perfection. Beastmen view Slaanesh as the power that grants them virility. Sorcerers of Slaanesh focus on coercion, domination and submission.

Liber Ecstatica includes an adventure that leads characters into a world filled with the temptations of physical and aesthetic pleasures. In the world of the nobles, power can lead to corruption, and heroes may pave a smoother road to success with words than with swords.