Whispers From The Pit: A Narrative Mordheim Event

I was recently fortunate enough to help organise (in a minor capacity) and attend a narrative Mordheim event, “Whispers from the pit” down at The Clubhouse in Newcastle upon Tyne. I wanted to share some of the details of this with you in case you are in the area for our next event, or just fancy joining in with the campaign on a club night. Would love to see you there.

This event was part of an ongoing Mordheim campaign happening at the club. The intention behind the event was to freshen up the campaign, introduce some new ideas and allow us to make some changes to the campaign as a whole. Players were divided into two factions, one group fighting to release “The Shadowlord” from his prison (the Shadowlord being a Chaos daemon), while the other side was attempting to stop this. Once split into factions the players then played through four scenarios during the game, the first three games giving one side or the other an advantage in the final battle, which was a joint effort across four boards that would decide the course of the day.

Heed the call of the Shadow Lord, true patrician of this city of the damned. Attend his sordid court and declare your allegiance, or prepare to wilt beneath his onslaught. Manlings, elves, dwarves, flee the city or be swept asunder by his glorious horde!

Hearing tell of Mordheim’s great fall from grace, Grand Theogonist Vilgrim III has declared a great crusade in the name of Sigmar against the so-called Shadow Lord. May all faithful peoples converge to quarterise this wound in the heart of the Empire, staunch the spread of this dread corruption. Heed Vigrim’s call!

It was a genuinely fantastic event, and I think everyone had a lot of fun. The standard of terrain was excellent, as can be seen from some of the photos here. We also encouraged everyone to bring their own Chaos Spawn, and it was great fun to see what horrible beasts people had dreamt up!

I think the narrative campaign day approach to refreshing an ongoing campaign is a really good one, and has definitely reinvigorated older players while also having the benefit of attracting some new gamers too, which is always an excellent result. Attendees received a goody bag with some tokens, dice, plus a miniature from Northwing Minis.

Finally, just to give you a bit more flavour of the event, I wrote the following narrative explanation, which I am sharing with the gaming group via the “Town Cryer”, a campaign newsletter I produce for the campaign. Enjoy!

The Shadowlord Rises!

The bells toll black across Mordheim this week, dear readers, for the Shadow Lord has risen!

What began as scattered skirmishes amidst the ruins soon descended into outright war as rival bands clashed across the damned city. Mule trains laden with precious supplies were ambushed in the streets, isolated settlements put to the torch, and desperate treasure-seekers fought knee-deep through a howling wyrdstone storm for shards of the cursed comet. Though the servants of Grand Theogonist Vilgrim battled bravely in Sigmar’s name, the minions of the Shadow Lord proved ever more vicious, their victories swelling the ranks of the cult with fresh zealots and hooded madmen.

The conflict reached its terrible climax around The Pit itself, where the Shadow Lord’s followers sought to enact four profane rituals of sacrifice to shatter their master’s prison forever. Warbands loyal to the Theogonist hurled themselves into the fray with righteous fury, yet confusion, sorcery, and bloody infighting doomed their efforts. Three of the four rituals were completed amidst screams and fell chanting before the defenders could intervene.

Only at the final ritual site was disaster briefly delayed, when Gorbad's Wanderers crashed through the melee in a thunder of iron and brutality. After a savage battle the black orcs snatched the sacrificial victim from the altar at the very last moment (potentially to eat later…), scattering cultists and breaking the rite. Alas, this lone triumph came too late.

Now the Shadow Lord walks once more beneath Mordheim’s shattered skies.

The once-noble City of the Damned has fallen fully beneath his sway. Daemons cavort openly in the streets whilst mutation and madness spread like plague through the ruins. Honest folk bar their doors and cower in candlelit hovels as the corrupting gaze of Chaos settles firmly upon the city. Only the purest souls may yet survive long enough to reclaim Mordheim from the legions of the damned… though this humble reporter would not wager a single brass penny upon it.