No, you’re not seeing double. This is another post about my Gamesmaster’s Aids for Enemy in Shadows. It was pointed out by Burbage in the comments to my last post that I had made an error in the original version of the Gamesmaster’s Aids. I had assumed the distances travelled in Enemy in Shadows were the same as in the original Enemy Within campaign. This evidently is not the case. The Empire of WFRP4 is substantially larger than that of WFRP1. This meant the chronological scheme I presented on p7 of the Gamesmaster’s Aids was incorrect. I have therefore revised it so that it should now match Enemy in Shadows accurately. The new Revised Edition can be downloaded from the same place as before.
If you have any problems downloading the files, please read this post. Alternatively, for the PDF version use this link instead.
Title art used without permission. No challenge intended to the rights holders.
AWESOME LIES 
Can you elaborate a bit on the Empire in 4e being larger than in 1e? I thought so far that the 1e version of Warhammer world was the biggest one, with the diameter of the planet explicitly assumed to be twice that of earth, while later editions would scale things down a little to make the Old World a bit closer to Europe (and the geophysics of Warhammer world somehow similar to that of a real planet and thus, well, POSSIBLE without the need for heavy supernatural mumbo-jumbo which isn’t explained anywhere). Since the authors of WFRP are aware of this – and also of the difficulties to administer an Empire of that size with the infrastructure as it is described – I find it hard to believe that they would choose to make the world even larger in 4e than in 1e instead of going in the opposite direction with a conciliatory approach.
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The scale on the region map at the end of Enemy in Shadows implies greater distances than in the original adventures for WFRP1. The journey from the Coach and Horses to Altdorf is 105 miles, not 50 as in the first edition. The journey from Altdorf to Weissbruck is 70 miles, compared with 45 in the first edition. From Weissbruck to Bogenhafen is 100 miles, not 60 as in the original. It is about a 75% increase, on average.
It does, as you point out, raise the question of why the Empire has got bigger. I am aware of various scale issues in Warhammer maps (and suspect several more), but haven’t looked into them in enough detail yet to have an answer. Andy Law made the map, so he might have the explanation.
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That is as interesting as it is confusing! I believe it’s more likely that there is an error (or an unresolved inconsistency) than a conscious plan to enlarge Warhammer world again. One thought: If you do not factor in the distance from the Coach and Horses (which may simply have been put in a different location in the new version), the enlargement factor is pretty exactly 1.6, and thus could be explained if distances were originally calculated in kilometres, but then expressed in miles without getting converted.
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Might be worth checking Mad Alfred’s site. He has as ton of maps, maybe all the published ones so far. It might be possible to determine when the changes occurred.
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And like that, he’s observed a similar phenomena…
” These movements, which are reflected in the gazetteers, incorrectly moved the nearby settlements, such as Kiel in Ostermark. In the maps and gazetteers that I will be uploading to this site, I will defer to the descriptions in the text of Sigmar’s Heirs as these were written by the author based on the provincial boundaries that appeared on page 215 of the WFRP2e corebook. Moreover, I am using the map from WFRP1e as my base. The scale of the Empire as depicted in “Sigmar’s Heirs” makes the land roughly 2/3 the size as that depicted in the original sourcebook. I prefer a larger Empire. “
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Where was that from? Could you link?
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Sure, http://www.madalfred.com/Maps.html
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Appreciated.
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The scale thing is a major headache – or it would be if I cared about using the books straight as written. 😉
But I’m not sure it’s right that the new version shows longer distances? From my counting, reading of the new maps and references in the adventure text, the distances seem to be about the same as in the original.
The Weissbrück canal is mentioned to be 60 miles long (EiS, p. 44), which is about the same length as on the hex map in Hogshead’s 1E Shadows Over Bögenhafen (nearly 12 5-mile hexes). The journey from Altdorf to Bögenhafen is also said to take a week – “almost three days” on the Weissbrück canal (p. 44), and another four from Weissbrück to Bögenhafen (p. 49). This is the same travel time given in the 1E version (p. 54 & 57 in the Hogshead edition),
It checks out with the map at the end, where the Weissbrück canal indeed seems to be about 60 miles long, and the Weissbrück-Bögenhafen distance also seems similar (roughly about 70 miles in 1E, about 80 in 4E – but the map itself is a bit different of course, especially the 4E map including tons more towns).
The Coach & Horses is indeed nearly twice as far away from Altdorf as in the original, but I wonder if that might be because Delberz, the implied starting point, has moved much further north?
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The distance of 45 miles (approximately) from Altdorf to Weissbruck is derived from the poster hex map in the original boxed set edition of Death on the Reik (1987). I have also checked the hex map on the inside cover of the original Enemy Within (1986), which shows a distance of 48 miles (approximately). I don’t have a copy of the Hogshead edition, and don’t know why that would show greater distances.
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I measured a bit more carefully, rather than just counting 5-mile hexes as I did first, and it looks like you’re right – apologies. I’m pretty sure the Hogshead version has the same maps as the original.
Still, the new edition does suggest the same travel times as the original.
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Right, I finally got around to printing this off and reading it. It’s now forming a kind of appendix to my print off of The Enemy in Shadows Companion.
Overall, I think this is a useful aid to GMs, and I’m certainly intending on making use of it when our campaign starts off within the next month or two.
As with the Companion, the flowchart is very useful to any GM who isn’t complete au fait with the events in Shadows over Bogenhafen. I’m tempted to print it A3 and add my own annotations when playing, but I may need a larger GM screen.
The timeline is also useful and I think will be nice to see expanded when we get DotR. I’m not so sure the distances are too important, but that probably depends on the GM. I tend to think of time being quite elastic to needs. Fade to black if you want to press-on, or delve into any of the endless short scenarios that exist for WFRP, or add your own. YMMV, as always, but I think others will likely make use of it. It has triggered an interest in me to find out exactly where and when the Warhammer World started rapidly shrinking and contracting.
The Twist in the Tale section is a good touch in the vein of the Grognard boxes. “A Man of Letters “and “A Good Read” are two suggestions I will use if the opportunity arises. As you’ve pointed on a few occasions, one shortcoming of SOB is a lack of explanation for the PCs however well they play, and I think those two ‘hooks’ do help in that regard. A few look better for veteran players, but I think they’re all good ideas and any GM/group would likely benefit from some of them.
Excellent work with the handouts. I particularly like the return to the ultra-bloody fake letter to Kastor Lieberung. To anyone else that thinks about printing it, I suggest high gloss paper!
Good work and I hope to see what more you do with the series!
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Thanks.
The “ultra-bloody” handout is particularly difficult to read in this iteration. The amended text in Enemy in Shadows seemed to line up with the darker blood patches no matter how I arranged it. Of course, it is supposed to be difficult to read, but if it’s a problem, the original version of the handout in The Enemy Within: a Companion is slightly more legible.
As for the expansion and contraction of the Warhammer world… that’s Chaos for you!
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It looks good on gloss photo paper.
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I’ve just tested them on desktop and mobile, and had no problems with them myself. Could it be something your end?
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Don’t seem to be able to download it sadly
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The link seems to be working fine.
Can you expand on your problem?
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I can download the word document, but not the PDF.
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You’re right. Somehow the PDF file seems to have become corrupted on OneDrive. I am not able to fix that straight away, but have instead updated the post with an alternative download link, which is working fine.
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Fantastic, thanks mate.
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Unfortunately, it seems there is a technical fault with OneDrive, which means none of my PDF files can be downloaded unless you are logged in to a Microsoft account. Curiously you can still download other file formats without logging in. I am unable to fix the problem, as it also affects new uploads. The only solution is to log in to a Microsoft account. If you don’t have one, they can be set up for free.
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