The Enemy Within - Developer Diary #15
The Enemy Within - Developer Diary #15
The Enemy Within - Developer Diary #15
When Power Behind the Throne was in development at the Games Workshop Design Studio, we quickly realised
that the city of Middenheim had the potential to be a lot more than just the setting for one adventure. A couple
of successful city supplements had been published for other roleplaying games over the previous few years, and we
knew that WFRP would need a city supplement of its own in order to claim its place as a leading RPG. Given the
wealth of Middenheim material that Carl Sargent had written for Power Behind the Throne, it made sense to build
on that and present the City of the White Wolf as WFRP’s first fully detailed city.
For a while City of the White Wolf was that book’s working title. It was a reference to the symbol of Ulric, the ancient
god of battle and winter who is the main god of the north, and whose temple in Middenheim is the heart of his
religion. The name was changed before publication, because ‘White Wolf ’ was one of the nicknames of Michael
Moorcock’s popular fantasy character Elric of Melniboné, and since Games Workshop was preparing to publish
a new edition of a roleplaying game set in the world of Elric, management worried that there might be some
confusion over which game the book supported. Warhammer City, simple and unequivocal, became the final title,
with the subtitle ‘A complete guide to Middenheim, City of the White Wolf ’ as a nod to our original intention.
Art by JG O'Donoghue
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By today’s standards, of course, the original Warhammer City is a little dated. Like all WFRP products it was filled
with in-jokes and pop culture references, and not all of them have aged well. References to the burgeoning cocktail
culture and club scene of the 80s may get lost on present-day readers. The book’s black-and-white interior and simple,
pre-digital layout were praised at the time, but are not up to the standards of today’s games industry.
In addition, Middenheim has grown and developed tremendously since Warhammer City was first published.
Successive Empire army books for Warhammer have detailed its forces and defences, as well as some of its history.
Most notably, the city was besieged in the 2004 Warhammer campaign Storm of Chaos. Added to that are a number of
novels and stories in which Middenheim has featured, and new characters have been introduced.
All in all, then, there was a lot to do in order to create a Middenheim sourcebook worthy of WFRP 4th edition. That
task fell to Dave Allen, who takes up the story…
Nik Vincent, Dan Abnett and James Wallis had written a number of short stories, collected as Hammers of Ulric,
that had used Warhammer City for reference but expanded on or invented aspects such as the Knights of the White
Wolf, the Low Kings of Middenheim’s underworld and Babrakkos, an ancient undead entity who had threatened the
Teutognen people repeatedly over the centuries. Details taken from descriptions of the inhabitants of Middenheim
helped us to flesh out several sections of the book, and the threat of Babrakkos is now detailed in such a manner
that Player Characters can confront and defeat him (or die of Spotted Green Brain Pox in the attempt). Criminal
Characters may consider that working for a Low King takes all the fun and profit out of burglary, but it is preferable
to taking a long walk off the Cliff of Sighs.
Characters such as Old Otto and Lukas of the Vermillion Pawn appeared in supplementary material for WFRP
in White Dwarf magazine. We considered the wider impact a group of Verena-inspired agitators like the New
Millennialists might have on the city, and the Vermillion Pawn gives a taste of how we will be going on to handle
magical items.
The Elves in Graf Boris’s court were considered in light of the development of their culture since the game’s first
edition. Now Rallane and Allavandrel have their parts to play not only as members of the Graf ’s court, but as émigrés
from the Laurelorn Forest (a place we will detail in Archives of the Empire I which is due for release in 2021). This
also gave us the chance to consider some intrigues in Middenheim that might be of particular interest to Elves,
particularly the Queen of the Laurelorn.
Anthony Ragan’s article on crime and punishment in Apocrypha Too provided insight into the Kärzburdger Grafs who
ruled Middenheim prior to the Todbringers. We’ve built on this and other noble families in the city to give a sense
that the Todbringers are not the only power in Middenheim, even if they are the preeminent family. The relationship
between the Todbringers and Middenheim’s branch of the Order of the Knights Panther is also discussed. Many
folks have suspicions about the nature of the connection between the noble family and the knights, but few come
close to the truth.
The Storm of Chaos campaign focused on Middenheim and the Cult of Ulric. Boris Todbringer had been represented
by this time as a somewhat more heroic and vigorous man who had lost his eye to the Beastlord Khazrak One-
Eye. Tying this to the Red Crown, who have an important headquarters in Middenheim according to Death on the
Reik, seemed logical. The successor to Ar-Ulric and several other characters who might be somewhat, shall we say,
compromised by the end of Power Behind the Throne was also made clear around this time, so an appendix on how
Middenheim’s government changed between 2512 IC and 2522 IC is included in the book.
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The Red Crown aren’t the only dangerous group who call Middenheim home. The Purple Hand have an important
base there (but not necessarily their most important), the Crimson Skull are establishing a presence, the Tinean
Fellowship recruit from the city’s less ethical healers, and the Jade Sceptre play their games. But what to make of
the occultist Volans’ Oath of Devotion Society, the revolutionary radicals at the fringes of the New Millennialist
movement, or the benighted Eaters of the World?
Quick Middenball rules were included in Rough Nights and Hard Days, but only scratch the surface of the drama
integral to this beautiful game. A second appendix deals with optional ideas for managing a more detailed match.
The Cult of Ulric also gets a closer examination, alongside individualistic Wolf Kin and the embittered Sons of
Ulric, who believe themselves descended from Ulric himself. Whilst they are all fervent worshippers of Ulric, these
groups find themselves in opposition more often than not.
Middenheim: City of the White Wolf features 25 NPCs to help define typical and atypical residents of the city. Most
of these are new characters though there are some old favourites among them. There are also four pregenerated
Player Characters to represent adventurers from the city or the surrounding lands. The Wolf Kin career has also
been detailed so that Players who want to play a fanatical follower of Ulric aren’t tied to the more Sigmarite flavour
of the Flagellant career.
Finally the decision came to what to call the book. Seeing as confusion between this work and another roleplaying
property were no longer a concern, we plumped for the original intention. Middenheim: City of the White Wolf it is.
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WA R H A M M E R FA N TA S Y R O L E P L AY
DEVELOPER DIARY XV
EXCLUSIVE COVER REVEAL
Check out the beautiful covers for the Collector's Edition of Power Behind the Throne below. The printed elements
have been kept to a minimum tonal palette in keeping with WFRP’s distinct style and Volume 1 and 2.
The Collector’s edition takes more time to finish as there are additional elements you can see in the mock-up below:
0 Matt-black cover
0 Silver foil elements on the cover, book title and book number on spine
The beautifully finished, exclusive Collector’s Edition set includes Power Behind the Throne and the Companion
presented in a slipcase featuring the artwork from the standard editions.
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