Mordheim TTRPG (Witch Hunters)

Introduction to Witch Hunters

Within the Empire there resides a faction of fanatics bent on cleansing the land of all Chaos, Orcs, and Witches. These fanatics are merciless, feared, well funded, and above all, committed to follow Strictures at all costs. When the events of Mordheim took place, it was only a matter of moments before the Cult of Sigmar would turn its head towards the City of the Damned in order to undertake the greatest challenge they have every faced.

For anyone interested in more lore and background regarding the Witch Hunters, please refer to page 211 in the WFRP crore book, or this article in the Warhammer Wiki. There is a ton of information about them in the greater Warhammer lore, so when adapting this group to your game of Mordheim, feel free to use this in order to add a little more flavor to an already exciting group.

Setup

• Unlike a traditional warband, the Witch Hunters are backed by the Cult of Sigmar and have a far reach throughout the Empire. For this reason there are going to be some changes regarding initial setup
• Character Creation – When creating a party member for the Witch Hunters be certain that the fall under the following guidelines:
  • Race = Human only with one exception… a Dwarf Slayer is allowed to join!
  • Careers = Nun, Priest, Hunter, Flagellant, Witch Hunter, Knight, Pit Fighter, Slayer (Dwarf Only) Soldier, Warrior Priest.
  • Other = No spell-casters outside of the approved list!

The Warband

1. The Name of the Warband – Make up something that is fitting to Witch Hunters. It’s has to be fiery and fierce. Something like the The Cleansing Flame, or the Sworn Brothers of the Ember. There is no humor amongst Witch Hunters, so also avoid puns.
2. The Banner – They must use the banner of the Cult of Sigmar, or whichever suborder they arose from. Again, see the core book for examples.
3. The Captain – One of the player’s will become the captain (preferably a Witch Hunter or Warrior Priest).  They are the de facto leader of the warband and responsible for its operation.  Additionally, the Captain will act as the deciding vote on any mission.  Should the Captain fall, another must be chosen immediately. 
4. The Patron/Starting Money – In this case the Patron is actually The Cult of Sigmar. They will fund the Witch Hunters in the same way as outlined in the previous article. +100gc to each player, etc.
5. Additional Equipment/Gear – In addition to the money, the players will have access to: 
   • A large cart (pulled by some sort of domesticated animal), 
   • A secured chest – Either on the cart or in the camp
   • The Banner – Located on the Cart
   • Camp Gear – This includes tents, provisions, etc. 
   • Servants – Cooks, squires, and other specialists who are paid for by the Cult of Sigmar. They will never go into the city, and their only purpose is to handle the needs of the camp and the warband. These will often be Cult of Sigmar fanatics.
   • Zealots – There are a few low level guards made up of Witch Hunter fanatics who protect the camp from looters and the like.  Also, like the servants, they will only stay at the camp and never venture into the city.
6. The Debt – Follow the same rules as outlined in the original post. This group will still owe that same amount to the Cult of Sigmar. This is seen as holy work as the group will literally be removing chunks of Chaos from the city to be dealt with accordingly.
7. Camp Location – Again, follow the rules about choosing a starting location in either the Black Pit Settlement or Cutthroat’s Den.

Additional Rules or Restrictions

• Hounds! – Witch Hunters can employ hounds in the warband. See page 315 in the rulebook for statistics. If purchased during downtime, each dog must be purchased for 50gc each. The warband cannot have more than one dog per party member (excluding NPCs). Dogs do not gain experience, but can be equipped with armor
• Equipment – Witch Hunters should always have access to purchase black powder weapons, silvered weapons or anything dealing with fire!
• Hired Sword – Witch Hunters will never “purchase” a hired sword full time, nor will they ever hire a non-priest spell-caster.
• Restrictions on Wyrdstone – Witch Hunters will never “dabble” in the use of Wyrdstone and will instead treat each piece like an infection.
• Witch Hunter warbands will always send back their wyrdstone to the Cult of Sigmar and will automatically receive 10gc in return for each pound sent (The gc amount can be increased, see bellow).
• Interrogations – If the players capture a heretic, rival, cultist, or the like, they may “interrogate” this person for intelligence regarding the city. This information will add +30lbs of wyrdstone to the next mission, or provide some cirtical intel towards the endgame scenario.

Cult of Sigmar Missions

Once in a while, the Cult of Sigmar will demand service of the warband.  This will often be something very specific to their mission and will require the commitment of the entire warband.  If successful the Cult of Sigmar will reward the warband with something of use.  Here are some ideas for potential missions:

• Cleanse (often with fire) a specific site in the City
• Loot a Holy Relic
• Locate an allied Witch Hunter Warband gone missing
• Destroy a mercenary company that has been corrupted by Chaos.
• Destroy/Burn a corrupted site/relic/person, etc.

The rewards for such endeavors should always be worth the risk, but unknown to the players.  A substantial XP reward is absolutely given in addition to the monetary rewards. Here are some ideas:

• A magical weapon or armor 
• A black powder weapon or several of them!
• More dogs!
• A chest of gold crowns (like 100gc or 200gc) 
• Specialists added to the camp (surgeon, apothecary, craftsman, etc.)
• Increasing the value of removed wyrdstone by 5gc or 10gc per pound
• A large addition of other needed supplies or gear (weapons, armor, etc)
• Additional Status
• Random amount of wyrdstone found in the area: 1D20+30lbs (they will always receive this one)

Example Long Game Scenarios

• Witch Hunter warbands have a very specific goal in mind. They must cleanse the realm of corruption, especially Chaos. So if the entire city is covered in chunks of solidified Chaos, and there are abominations running around everywhere, how could you make a single mission to cover everything? In short, you cannot, but here are some good examples of where to focus such a campaign:
• Acquiring an Item – The Witch Hunters could be focused in acquiring either an item of great corruption or holy renown. This shouldn’t just be a single item, but it could be broken into parts. Perhaps those parts are being used in some sort of greater scheme.
• Taking out a rival – This is much more straightforward. The warband should spend their time tracking down a rival threat. The GM needs to make this one personal. Perhaps a warband of corrupted mercenaries formed together to take out Witch Hunters and the Sisters of Sigmar, and have been defiling holy sites around the city. This group should also be well equipped and always ready for a fight.
• Cleansing the City – In a reversal of one of the previous scenarios (see Example 2). It could be the Witch Hunter warband that pulls together resources and allies in order to perform a gigantic ritual in order to cleanse the city of Chaos. Something like this would require gathering many component parts, all the while gaining the attention of every abomination in the city. The last mission could be a Helm’s Deep like siege in order to give the ritual time to work.

Regardless of what is chosen as the end game scenario, make the stakes high and the mission meaningful to the Witch Hunters. They don’t care about gold, they care about the mission…

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