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Simon Crowe
United Kingdom
Sheffield
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Skaven are fairly iconic WFRP villains. It's no wonder, the rat-men are opponents who are both monstrous and cunning, they can fill roles both of unstoppable evil and comic relief. Of course the joke goes that no-one in the Empire knows about Skaven, despite the number of adventurers who might run into them or the soldiers who face them on the battlefield. Skaven are the Empire's worst kept secret.
Still should you still be keeping Skaven as a mysterious threat in your WFRP campaign you might want to look away, as during Terror in Talabheim they rise up and take over an entire city. But if that doesn't worry you Terror is a pretty good scenario, with a unique idea amongst the Black Industries WFRP adventures.
Plus it has my favourite of the WFRP2 covers.
The City of Talabheim
The first third of the book is given to describing the city and its surrounding area. It's definitely an intriguing location, set in a vast crater, which sets it aside from other cities of the Empire.
Compared to the gazetteers of other Imperial cities from the Paths of the Damned books, Talabheim is given a lot more character with plenty of interesting details. The section on bizarre tax laws is particularly fun, but the whole section bristles with plot hooks.
The only disappointment comes from a couple of maps that have too much detail to be squeezed on one page, and are oddly cropped to cut out some of the city. At least maps are provided, early Black Industries adventures were lacking these.
The Adventure Begins
Terror in Talabheim starts with a classic situation. The PCs are looking for work, this time in the docks of Taalagad, the settlement outside the Talabheim crater. A short journey accompanying refugees away from the city and the PCs return to find the docks in chaos. There is plague among the populace and rioting in the streets and the way into Talabheim is closed. A small investigation ensues for the PCs as they look for a cure, and then they must find away under the crater walls and to the main city. It's a good start to the adventure, with a mix of roleplaying, investigation and combat.
In Talabheim the players find their cure, but are drafted in the militia. This gives the GM a good chance to get them used to the layout of the city and it's many peculiarities before the second half of the adventure when things really get going.
Vermintide
Talabheim is invaded from below by a host of Skaven and the PCs are invariably caught up in the action. The most interesting part of the initial invasion is that the PCs cannot win, which may be something they're not used to. Will they flee the city or defend it? Where will they hide or where will they fight? These choices will have a big impact on the PCs and how they proceed through the rest of the adventure.
After the Skaven victory the PCs are forced into hiding (or perhaps enslaved by the victors) and must act as a local resistance force. They must look for allies, food and hiding places whilst they strike back against the occupying rat-men. This is very open ended and certainly the most interesting part of Terror in Talabheim, and not something seen in any other WFRP adventures. It's a great chance for players to come up with their own ideas, but such vast possibilities comes with a few problems.
This section of the adventure feels very underwritten and lacking in detail. It is probably not surprising as there are so many possibilities, but I would have liked a bit more detail on certain areas. The adventure suggests that the PCs will be fighting in the resistance for over a month, and there certainly isn't enough here to cover such a period of time.
The adventure also needs something a bit different from both GM and players than they may be used to. The players will need to be pro-active to get the most out of it, coming up with ideas without much prompting. Some players who are more used to following leads and striding through adventures may feel a little lost. Meanwhile the GM will have to both do a fair amount of preparation and think fast on his feet. This might be ok for some GMs but intimidating for others.
The ending is a little abrupt, with things culminating a final battle with the leader of the Skaven. This gets only a couple of pages of explanation and again requires pro-active players and a GM who can figure out how to wrap the adventure up.
The aftermath is also a rather disappointing, with things returning to normal and people forgetting all about the Skaven. There's also a bit of a 'screw you' to the players as they are forced to leave rather than get an credit or glory. Some players might feel a bit aggrieved at that, but then again it's definitely the WFRP way.
Conclusion
Terror in Talabheim presents an interesting and original adventure for WFRP players. It feels a little under-written in some places, and may require some deft GMing to give the players plenty to do, but is sure to be memorable for the players.
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Lowell Francis
United States
South Bend
Indiana
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I forget- was Talabheim the center of any earlier WHFRP adventures?
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Wouter Dhondt
Belgium
Anzegem
My armor is contempt. My shield is disgust. My sword is hatred. In the Emperor's name, let none survive.
When I now saw this Coppelius, the frightful and terrific thought took possession of my soul, that indeed no one but he could be the Sandman.
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Thanks Simon. I love reading your reviews. You always seem to pick an item I like reading about and your review is always spot on.
I'm currently running this for my group. They've just been drafted in the militia. I wonder what they will do next session. I suspect they will try to fight the skaven. My only hope is I don't get a TPK.  . I will probably have to kill one of them before they'll think about running. I'll try to explain the vastness of the invasion so that should at least give them a clue.
Quote: Of course the joke goes that no-one in the Empire knows about Skaven, despite the number of adventurers who might run into them or the soldiers who face them on the battlefield. Skaven are the Empire's worst kept secret.
I love this. It's fun to roleplay everyone being in denial. Someone saw skaven butcher their family? "It wasn't rat-men who killed my family. Probably mutated beastmen. Or a wizard enchanting a pack of rats and ordering them to do it. But no rat-men sir, no siree. They don't exist."
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Jim Patching
United Kingdom
Cardiff
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I loved running this for my group. The initial Skaven assault came as a real shock to them. I think I'm normally a bit too much of a 'nice' games master but I really went for the throat with the Skaven assault. I managed to get in one of the few proper cliff-hanger endings to any session I've run, with the heroes completely paniced, hiding in the cellar of the inn they'd been staying at while the building burned above them.
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Maurice Tousignant
Canada
Windsor
Ontario
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That sounds rather good. The underwritten nature of this sounds similar to sections of the old Enemy Within modules. Where entire months of gameplay had to be filled in by the GM (I'm looking at you Death on the Riek).
Thanks for the review.
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Rich P
United Kingdom
Sheffield
United Kingdom
I didn't know what to do with my UberBadge, so I left it as a GeekBadge.
Back home after a world tour. How quickly a year goes...
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edige23 wrote: I forget- was Talabheim the center of any earlier WHFRP adventures?
It's in 'Empire in Flames' very briefly, but nothing else official. Warpstone magazine had a long series of excellent articles and adventures set in the city.
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Simon Crowe
United Kingdom
Sheffield
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woodnoggin wrote:
It's in 'Empire in Flames' very briefly, but nothing else official. Warpstone magazine had a long series of excellent articles and adventures set in the city.
Thanks Rich, I was sure we'd visited but couldn't remember the adventure.
Thanks for the comments everyone.
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