When list of greatest RPG campaigns are made (and playing them long enough you see these lists OFTEN) a certain few will almost always make the list. Year in, year out, Call of Cthulhu’s Masks of Nyarlathotep and Horror on the Orient Express always seem to garner placement on these list as does Pendragon’s The Great Pendragon Campaign. The other epic campaign that is all but guaranteed to place into this pantheon is Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing’s The Enemy Within campaign.
The Enemy Within was originally published as 5 supplements for WFRP between 1986 and 1989 by a team at Games Workshop who were instructed to create something that blended Dungeons and Dragons with Call of Cthulhu in the grim “Old World” of WFRP. The 6 modules that constituted the campaign were The Enemy Within, Shadows Over Bogenhafen, Death on the Reik, Power Behind the Throne, Something Rotten in Kislev, and Empire in Flames. The general consensus at the time is that the first 4 parts (the first 2 were frequently sold together, and that tradition continues to this day) were brilliant classics of tabletop role playing, while the final 2 segments kinda fell apart, especially with Something Rotten… sending the PC’s out of the action only to come back to everything falling apart for the finale.
And so this is how it was for the last 30+ years across the multiple editions of WFRP where the campaign was republished. However, Cubicle 7 has seen to do right by the Enemy Within in their 4th Edition version. They have pulled Graeme Davis and some of the original creators back in to do a Director’s Cut of the campaign. This version is in 5 books with Enemy in Shadows and Bogenhafen constituting one book and Something Rotten in Kislev being replaced outright by The Horned Rat.
Cubicle 7 were kind enough to send over Enemy In Shadows, Death on the Reik, and The Horned Rat plus their respective companion books to review. That is parts 1, 2, and 4 of the campaign so while not everything is covered I feel I was able to get a solid overview of the changes so far. I believe the physical copy of Empire in Flames comes out in August. If we receive I will update this to give a view on the conclusion.
Enemy in Shadows is split into 2 sections. The Enemy Within and Shadows Over Bogenhafen, and I’ll say that this review won’t be entirely spoiler free. Basically your party is traveling across the Empire, and finds a carriage that has been attacked, in this caravan is a corpse who bears an uncanny resemblance to one of your party members. On this corpse is a note that he is traveling to Bogenhafen to collect an inheritance. And this is how the campaign starts, not with an attempt at some great heroics, but an attempt to cash in. Upon arriving in Bogenhafen the PC’s begin to get drawn into the goings on in the city, and find that coming upon the inheritance will be more difficult than they imagined.
The opening half of the book is a masterclass in getting a party invested in an adventure scenario, and introducing them to the world and rules. This includes combat, travel, but even other things like character interactions, and test of skills via playing card games and light chases. The book itself has a very high production value with solid images and graphics throughout. For those that have played through before Cubicle 7 and their team have included Grognard Boxes, with suggested changes to the game to add surprises. There is also a nice amount of detail supplied on the NPC’s and various locations that the campaign is set on. For those who want more information there is also the Enemy in Shadows Companion.
Now here is a nifty thing that Cubicle 7 is doing. They are creating companion pieces for every edition they publish. I’ll state upfront that none of these are necessary for play, but they provide fantastic background and additional extras for those that want more. I am running Call of Cthulhu’s Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign right now, and I would have loved a Chaosium approved companion to help with some of the more complex sections of the campaign (looking at you Gray Dragon Island).
So the first one is the Enemy in Shadows Campanion (of course). This is a really intense book, with a lot of depth to it. It kicks off with commentary by Graeme Davis and Phil Gallagher, and then we get chapters on “The Empire” and the “Old World”. This gives a high level overview of the WFRP world, politics, and things of that nature and is a really helpful way to get a solid look at things before delving in. The second, third, and fourth sections deals with roads/travel and vehicle and mounts. These deal with how travel works in the Old World from inns and roads to other similar minutiae. Vehicles and mounts deals with various modes of transportation including various types of animals you may have access to.
We then get an epic chapter on Bogenhafen itself, this is largely focused on NPC’s and splits them into type and is very helpful on bringing the city and it’s people to larger life. The following section is a more data based section on mutants, and goes into details on mutant creation as well. The next section is a nice elaborate detail on the Purple Hand cult that gives depth to the “cult in residence” and the primary villains thus far. We then 2 get brief encounters and instructions on where to slot them, and 2 cool unrelated modules The Affair of the Hidden Jewel and the Pandemonium Carnival. I appreciated these (and the other one-shots strewn about the companions) as they gave me something to run since I don’t always have time to run an epic campaign for my party. The book itself and this is the way I feel even about the other companions is chock fill of information that would be helpful even if you’re not running Enemy in Shadows.
Death on the Reik is the 2nd part of the Enemy in Shadows campaign, and in the view of many (myself included) could be very well considered the greatest and most memorable part. So here is the thing. If you completed Enemy in Shadows, one of two things happened, Bogenhafen was destroyed, or the cult was. Either way you are in trouble, and on the run (SOME REWARD). This is when you run afoul of a conflict that involves death on a ship, which you will then acquire. The book is broken into 8 chapters which take you from Bogenhafen and Altdorf all the way to a Castle that is having “issues” after having centuries dealing with warpstone exposure.
If your party plays it straight most chapters can be handled in 1-2 sessions, but this section of the campaign is meant to be played in a fashion that is anything but. Each chapter has hooks and side quests that will take you all over the Reik and the regions adjacent. The book like the prior has a load of excellent background details, and the “Grognard Boxes” are back so that experienced players can have new challenges. The final chapter Carrion Up the Reik was not previously included in any edition, but was setup here so that players could more easily connect to Power Behind the Throne.
Now, I’ll say this right off the bat, the companion books are OPTIONAL for all of these. However, they are super insightful source books, and if you are a fan you’ll probably want them. Death on the Reik’s companion I will say is completely and utterly necessary for play.
The main thing of importance here is a chapter on trading on the river. This was previously included in Death on the Reik proper, but is separate here. Trading will likely be an important part of your Reik-life, so players and GM’s alike will probably want to familarize themselves with these rules. Also, there is a section on herbs and their uses that is similarly insightful. There is background on one of the two big cults in this section “The Red Crown” that will help add detail.
There is also sections on monsters, pirates, etc that will be of great help. In addition there are additional encounters, modules (including one called Vengeance of the Gravelord which will resolve in further companions and might make a solid mini-campaign in its own right).
So now I’m skipping ahead, to the Horned Rat. This is the section that replaces Something Rotten in Kislev. I’ll be forthright in that I’ve never played Something Rotten… so I’m not sure how that slots in, and how this fixes it so I’m sort of reading this as an individual piece at the moment (in 2 days since I didn’t have Power Behind the Throne to go off of).
So this definitely retains the Call of Cthulhu investigative vibe of the earlier Enemy in Shadows. This one involves the PC’s finding themselves in the city of Middenheim. In this city there are rumors of a creature type called the Skaven, basically humanoid rats, that are so legendary, but unseen that parents use them to scare their children. However, rumors are becoming more and more out there about them, and the party must begin to investigate if they exist and what they’re up to. Once they find out that they are indeed REAL, and they are hatching an evil scheme, they must put a stop to it.
So like a lot of these adventures it’s a mix of sandbox and linear adventure. The first part lets the PC’s investigate at their leisure and find out what is going on, while the 2nd half really pushes at them to get to the epic Skaven based conclusion. The mix is well balanced, and the weird science elements really make this one a treat. As per usual there are solid background details, maps, and graphics here, but I do feel there might be less here than in prior volumes.
The companion for the Horned Rat is not as necessary as Death on the Reik, but has some great stuff (including 2 classic WFRP modules Horror in the Dark and a Little Help from my Friends). There is a huge section on the Skaven, of course, and weapons and spells to outfit them with. There is additional encounters should you need them, an additional module with the Gravelord, and a guide to the cult in residence “The Yellow Fang” and that barely scratches the surface of what’s included in this 120 page volume.