Several of the early WFRP adventures have become well-known classics. Scenarios like ‘Night of Blood’ or ‘A Rough Night at the Three Feathers’ have been reprinted in anthologies such as The Restless Dead and Apocrypha Now, and even been converted to later editions of the game.

There are, though, a number of early scenarios that have (for various reasons) largely been forgotten. I thought I would take a look at some of them in this series of posts.

THE BLACK KNIGHT

‘Night of Blood’ is usually regarded as the first WFRP adventure to appear in White Dwarf. However, there is another scenario that can claim to be the first. ‘The Black Knight’ appeared in White Dwarf 83 (November 1986), four months before ‘Night of Blood’. It is not a pure WFRP scenario. It contains statistics for three systems: Pendragon, AD&D and WFRP1. In fact, the context makes it quite clear that the adventure was originally written for Pendragon. But it is the first White Dwarf adventure playable with WFRP.

Life before sewers and skaven

Warning. Spoilers follow.

A black knight has stationed himself at a ford and is blockading the village of Oakhelm (I’ve a feeling we’re not in the Old World anymore). He is demanding the return of “swords”.

In fact, there are seven knights, each guarding the ford in turn. They are members of the Order of the Silver Moon and are seeking vengeance for Oakhelm’s historic betrayal of other members of the order. When passing knights had saved the villagers from invading trolls, the villagers repaid them by leaving their wounded to die. The knights also believe the villagers stole the wounded knights’ swords.

The truth is that the swords were taken by a wizard who had driven the trolls to attack. The wizard was subsequently killed by a rockfall in the caves where he lived.

All this sets up a familiar and unremarkable trawl through a small dungeon. There are a few nice touches (I quite like the undead fish), but it is easy to see why this adventure has largely been forgotten. Nonetheless it is an interesting window into the beginnings of WFRP1 and a time before its setting and tone was established.

The next post in this series is here.

Title image from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Used without permission. No challenge intended to the rights holders.