Black Powder Week

As always I'm lacking official info and turn to those how know it better. Is there any other info on Black Powder Week than what it says on FoN (which isn't much). It's supposed to be this big thing but only thing there actually seems to be of it is "big ball at Emmanuelle's place" and fireworks. I already have some ideas and will be using random encounters from Shadow over Bögenhafen. But if someone has anything more I would certainly except it.

Wellentag - Small rockets and black powder are granted as gifts for citizens of Nuln. Freedom to use this in the citylimit is granted and the patrol numbers of cityguards are tripled.

Aubentag - ?

Marktag - Huge market is held at Reik Platz. Carnivals from all over the world gather to perform

Backertag - Backers are expected to give pies and sweets to children so that they wouldn't destroy the whole city with their practical jokes. Naturally some halflings had the idea of making exploding pies and some dwarfs bake cakes with powder in them to prove how though they are.

Bezahltag - Explosion tax is forced to cover up the damage done to public property. Everyone caught with black powder has to pay a modest sum. Naturally this means that street children behave most badly during this day. Most markets stay closed.

Konigstag - The images and statues of current and past Emperors are carried around Nuln by Engineer Guild who grant free rockets to each household who comes to pay their respects to Emperors and Sigmar to be ignited at Festag.

Angestag - To give the nobles last change to find a perfect suit for Festag a fashion show is kept at the Opera House. Famous tailors present their most luxurious dresses and gowns.

Festag - The Day of Emmanuelle's Ball, huge fireworks that end the week.

Any comments and/or ideas?

On Aubentag, any buildings that have burnt because of the previous day's festivities are cleaned up or repaired by friends and neighbors. The volunteers often bring lots of alcohol and sing traditional songs while they work. If someone has died in the fire, the volunteers wear red masks and build a shrine on the site.

I think the lenght of festival is 6 days.

- Magisters (Shows),
- Pit-fighting
- games of money (this mighty be something connected to some fireworks, like Musket target practice)
- opera & theatre

All of the travelling shows will probably head to Nuln for the Week, so I would think most of the events mentioned in the 1st edition City of Chaos and the 2nd edition Warhammer Companion could be used.

jackdays wrote:I think the lenght of festival is 6 days.

How's that?

Also DagobahDave's idea got immidiately on to my menu. Companion I have so will be checking it. What's in City of Chaos?

doc_cthulhu wrote:What's in City of Chaos?

Absolutly nothing, vbecause I of course ment to write "Power behind the Throne"

Lost of stuff, Targeteers, Red Arrows, Minotaurs, Boating events and stuff.

Heh. Okay. My friend has that so will be checking that too. Thanks. And also. Got the whole "six days thing" from FoN. Silly little me.

Remember in Forges of Nuln the riots, disease and murders put the dampers on a lot of the festival atmosphere and events.

It has been awhile since I read FoN, so I don’t remember if something similar can be found there, but here are a few ideas that spring to mind.

- Regiments from the Nuln Gunnery School and Militia parade through the streets on their way to the banks of River Reik. Once there, they have their annual Black Powder Week Cannon Shooting Contest. Several barges painted with bright colours are afloat on the river. The contest is a speed and accuracy competition where the gunnery crews earn points for every hit. The competition lasts until all the barges are destroyed. The winning crew is carried around the town and earn bragging rights for the year as well as the rest of the week off. Many officers see the competition as a matter of pride and are ready to resort to dirty tricks and sabotage to assure victory.
Now all you need to do is have the PCs aboard one of the barges as the competition is about to start

, or you could also have Cultists pose as a gunnery crew in order to kill some officer etc.

- Ambassadors from Tilea, Estalia and Kislev present official gifts to the Countess and the city.

- The many forges and foundries of Nuln have a rowing contest. Each foundry mans a boat and they row across the Reik in a fierce competition. All the boats are decorated with braziers and torches. There will be much singing and drinking.

- A local Dwarf Engineer reveals his latest invention based on steam-technology. He does this every year with much bravado, despite the fact that his inventions rarely work (some failing with nearly catastrophic consequences).

- Black Powder Cooking Contest is held on one of the larger city squares. This is for Halflings. The idea is to prepare a dish using black powder in an inventive way. This could be anything from using it to spice up the food to speeding up the cooking process.

- The Twin-tailed Comet. The local Wizards' or Engineers' guild uses fireworks to conjure up a huge twin-tailed comet that flies across the night sky. Many more conservative Sigmarites see this practice as bordering on blasphemy and may try to stop it.

Ah.

The esteemed inquisitor, Samael von Neuhauser (d6 Evil Men), makes his voice heard for the first time in the FFG forums.

"Welcome"

And with an interesting post one might add. Thank you very much.

jackdays wrote:- Magisters (Shows)

No offence, but I think that due to the magic rule changes in v2, the wizardy "shows", shouldn't appear anymore. Tzeentch is a fickle friend at it's best

Moracai wrote:

jackdays wrote:- Magisters (Shows)

No offence, but I think that due to the magic rule changes in v2, the wizardy "shows", shouldn't appear anymore. Tzeentch is a fickle friend at it's best

Really? To me it makes more sense now, it is an obvious way for the self funded collages to rake in more cash by risking the odd Journeyman. (Which after all, is what Journeymen are for.)

@jadrax

Ahem.

For example, should an attending noble catch a nasty rash on his crotch while watching the show, the college(s) could face some consequenses. Nasty business, that.

Moracai wrote:@jadrax

Ahem.

For example, should an attending noble catch a nasty rash on his crotch while watching the show, the college(s) could face some consequenses. Nasty business, that.

I don't really think applying 21st century models of health and safety law due to litigation is really a good idea. The decision comes down to the Graf, if people officially complain about it, they are explicitly complaining about Him and would have to face him in his court.

This is why you can Firework displays in Nuln that routinely trash people's houses, nobles or not.

@ jadrax

OK, if you can't take a subtle hint, I'll give you a more obvious one.

Take a look at the quadruples T's curse table and imagine the consequenses with a crowd. Then imagine the college-heads stance on public relations.

And as said many times on different books and threads, magic in WRFP2 is not to be used lightly.

P.S. MANDATORY DISCLAIMER!!!

Do whatever you want within your game, this is how it goes in my game. I don't make magic shows to happen, feel free to do so yourself.

A one off display once a year is the exact opposite of Lightly. At the end of the day, the Colleges are there to show the Empires Magical superiority to the populace (and beyond), this therefore is a direct part of their actual purpose.

Secondly, why you need the position the wizard within 30 yards of the crowd is beyond me?

jadrax wrote:A one off display once a year is the exact opposite of Lightly.

I don't see it so.

jadrax wrote:At the end of the day, the Colleges are there to show the Empires Magical superiority to the populace (and beyond), this therefore is a direct part of their actual purpose.

Hm. The populace seeing the T's curses isn't exactly a show of "Empires Magical superiority", quite the opposite

jadrax wrote:Secondly, why you need the position the wizard within 30 yards of the crowd is beyond me?

Ah. Here you have me at a disadvantage. I don't have my book with me. I just remember some of the nastier ones, like the wizard being sucked into the warp to be the plaything of the daemons.

Again, if happened, hardly what I'd consider to be "a show of Empires Magical superiority".

And then there's the critters mentioned in GM section that are attracted to such major mgical occurences...

Could we please agree to disagree, and stop de-railing the thread?

Moracai wrote:

jackdays wrote:- Magisters (Shows)

No offence, but I think that due to the magic rule changes in v2, the wizardy "shows", shouldn't appear anymore. Tzeentch is a fickle friend at it's best

To be fair NPC's and events such as this should not suffer half as much from the curse as much as chance would indicate by the rules... Unless it forms part of the plot/adventure.

Moracai wrote:

jadrax wrote:A one off display once a year is the exact opposite of Lightly.

I don't see it so.

I fail to see how you can even propose that the major festival organised by perhaps on the the top ten wealthiest and most powerful cites in the world, can qualify as lightly.

jadrax wrote:At the end of the day, the Colleges are there to show the Empires Magical superiority to the populace (and beyond), this therefore is a direct part of their actual purpose.

Hm. The populace seeing the T's curses isn't exactly a show of "Empires Magical superiority", quite the opposite

jadrax wrote:Secondly, why you need the position the wizard within 30 yards of the crowd is beyond me?

Ah. Here you have me at a disadvantage. I don't have my book with me. I just remember some of the nastier ones, like the wizard being sucked into the warp to be the plaything of the daemons.

Perhaps directing me to look at material you are not actually familiar with was not a good idea then.

Again, if happened, hardly what I'd consider to be "a show of Empires Magical superiority" :roll:

The chance of generating 4 matched Die on a glorified light show is low at worst - and even then, how is it any different to watching the firework display malfunction and set fire to it's operators exactly? Or watching a knight muck up in a mock joust and get trampled to death under his own horse?

In a game where Realms of Sorcery says that Court Wizards have become very fashionable throughout the Empire, and where Journeyman Wizards have to travel the Empire finding work to do, and finally where Battle Wizards are stored in lead lined containers, What exactly is it that you think wizards do do?

Could we please agree to disagree, and stop de-railing the thread? :?

You don't get to ague against my points and then expect me to accept you posting that. If you wish to agree to disagree, you should perhaps simply stop arguing rather than what comes across as trying to insist that you get the last word.

jadrax wrote:trying to insist that you get the last word.

That's exactly what I think you are doing :wink:

You probably missed one thing, becouse I edited my post after you hit the quote button.

There are those magical beasties mentioned in the GM section of the corebook, that are said to be attracted to such heavy consentrations of magic. Every wizard knows about them, how could they risk one appearing in the middle of the city?

Moracai wrote:

jackdays wrote:- Magisters (Shows)

No offence, but I think that due to the magic rule changes in v2, the wizardy "shows", shouldn't appear anymore. Tzeentch is a fickle friend at it's best

Personally, this wouldn't be allowed in Nuln in my game at all. According to the Sigmarite Cult magic is the stuff of chaos and its use is banned anywhere within the city walls, by anyone, even a licensed colour mage.

So, in my own game such things would be replaced with fireworks and illusions, which are more in keeping with the tone of the festival anyway.

Pheew! You guys really got it going!

Wizardry in city-limits is actually very interesting point to discuss and certainly a part of festivals. At least in my games. And after this conversation there's going to be some major malfunctions...

But seriously I would argue that schools of magic actually need to make public appearances in events like these. The "school system" is still relatively new and the fear of magic is strong in people. Now what would be better way to show that not all magic is evil than a major festival where there are lots of wonders everywhere you turn your head. Because if people get to know the magic they might not stone to death potentially huge assets to imperial army and Empire.

Then again this ofcourse creates a problem if you see the game as a mundane setting which IMHO is quite impossible. If people worship possibly hundreds of household gods, get their "medical care" from wise women and priests, KNOW that there are beastmen and other creatures in the woods the "unnatural" should quite easily turn into "seminatural".

I'm not saying that there should be divinations from stars at the market because common peasant would be quite impressed with mere "look I'm in the rain and don't get wet" and "look at this sausages! It glows and then DISSAPPEARS!" kind of spells.

Then to the topic? Any other ideas to be included for Black Powder Week?

Moracai wrote:There are those magical beasties mentioned in the GM section of the corebook, that are said to be attracted to such heavy consentrations of magic. Every wizard knows about them, how could they risk one appearing in the middle of the city?

Only viewable by witch sight, and only appear when the GM thinks magic is being abused. Essentially they are irrelevant for the purposes of this.

doc_cthulhu wrote:But seriously I would argue that schools of magic actually need to make public appearances in events like these. The "school system" is still relatively new and the fear of magic is strong in people. Now what would be better way to show that not all magic is evil than a major festival where there are lots of wonders everywhere you turn your head. Because if people get to know the magic they might not stone to death potentially huge assets to imperial army and Empire.

But the official view is that magic IS dangerous.

According to Sigmarite doctrine magical energy is pure concentrated Chaos, and anyone who uses it is acting as a beacon for the Chaos Gods. Therefore, any attempt by the Colour Colleges to promote or even suggest that this is not actually true would lead to a direct conflict with the Cult of Sigmar, who happen to have two Electoral Votes and therefore huge political influence.

The potential political backlash would be enough to persuade any sensible College to keep a low profile and its opinions to itself.