Power Behind the Throne

— Padraig Murphy
 WA R H A M M E R FA N TA S Y R O L E P L AY
DEVELOPER DIARY XVI
POWER BEHIND THE THRONE
by Padraig Murphy
‘It’s not just all flying wizards, garden parties, and mythical beasts, there’s also operas, seething clerics, and the sordid
lives of opulent nobles to take your mind off the taxes, even temporarily.’

Five days of carnival entertainment is enough to tire anyone out, even more so when it’s the Middenheim Carnival.
Any seasoned Old World traveller will know that this is an event not to miss! We’ve been so immersed in the City
of the White Wolf that we thought now might be a good time to throw off our purple-stained pelts, put down our
tankards and update you on what’s really going on behind the scenes…

Middenheim: City of the White Wolf has got exceptional feedback. Though it’s been an extraordinary year, the
team at Cubicle 7 really pulled together to ensure that it was worth the wait. It’s also a brilliant introduction to
some of the incredible chicanery that’s going on right under Karl-Franz’s nose. Enough, we hope, to whet everyone’s
appetite for the increased and audacious machinations that take place in Power Behind the Throne! The city of
Middenheim is a fabulous location — from its imposing seat on the Fauschlag, its Ulrican culture and character, its
Dwarf stonework, and its place at the heart of many great events in both WFRP and Warhammer Fantasy Battles
lore — it provides amazing opportunity for adventure.

All of this came about due to Power Behind the Throne, the late Carl Sargant’s legendary adventure, and part three
of The Enemy Within Campaign. Graeme Davis has done a great job of updating the text for a modern audience,
and I’m very excited to see your reaction to it.

First off, I need to admit that the first time I played Power Behind the Throne as a player, we didn’t finish it. This
is much more of a reflection of my younger self than of the adventure, but after the daring escapades of Death on
the Reik, with its freeform exploration of the waterways that still did an excellent job of keeping you on the path to
its conclusion, we didn’t know what to do with the contained sandbox that is Power Behind the Throne. How, and
indeed why, were we to address the problems facing Middenheim. What is this issue with taxes? We’re adventurers,
what’s bookkeeping to us? A good deal of Gold Crowns, as it turned out.

We set upon the trail of the last of the Wittgensteins and searched high and low for the Purple Hand, studiously
ignoring the intricate web of personal connections that had been woven in front of our faces. If I’m being honest,
we were probably looking for a problem that could be solved with the quick thrust of a blade or, as was our modus
operandi, setting some substantial structure on fire. It likely didn’t help that our very put upon GM was doing their
best to memorise a dozen NPC’s descriptions, motivations, and locations at the time, only to find most of it we
would never get to.

Power Behind the Throne is not an adventure that can be best experienced with that mindset. When I later ran the
campaign, a good deal older and arguably wiser, a much better time was had by all. The Graf ’s troubles were seen
to, Middenheim was saved (in the most part — thankfully good Dwarf stonework doesn’t burn quite so well as dry
Reikwald timbers), and we all knew we had just experienced something rather special. There was a sense of knowing
something of each NPC, of their strong identities in part because of their detailed motivations and attitudes, and
in part because of their interwoven relationships to other NPCs. Everything felt so coherent in a way that very few
other adventures ever have.

So, putting aside the past, what has changed in this edition of Power Behind the Throne? Well, new art aside,
Graeme Davis has done a fantastic job of restructuring much of the original content in a way that makes it accessible.
Anyone who has GMed the adventure knows that there are a good deal of moving parts, and numerous NPCs to
recall. We have reordered information on the city, the characters, the plots, and the powers to make a GM’s life
easier. We have kept every major NPC as a two-page spread towards the back of the book for quick reference, so
that it is easy to get to mid-game when one player unexpectedly decides to ask Dieter Schmeidehammer what he
thinks of Gotthard Wallenstein.

Taking a cue from a clue planted in the original adventure, we’ve also put together our own Web of Influence,
showing every major NPC, their major connections and affiliations, and a few small notes on each. I do believe that
this graphic has the highest density of spoilers per page of anything we have done thus far — keep it far away from
your players! The general size of location maps has been increased (and will be made available to our VTT players

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DEVELOPER DIARY XVI
in both player-safe and GM versions too!) to make them a bit easier to use. The Carnival itself has gotten a good
selection of new props to put to use, as I love a good handout and, while they were memorable, the original adventure
had very few of these when compared with earlier editions.

Graeme’s now familiar Grognard Boxes make an appearance, with some frankly Daemonic advice on how to change
the main villain of the piece, should you wish to shake things up. These can also be incorporated into a game with
entirely new players too, so if you feel your antagonist should have some fellow agents among the great and the good,
there is advice on how best to achieve this. We have also added some sections detailing the Cults of the Ruinous
Powers operating in Middenheim, and added some suggestions on how a canny ‘Kastor Leiberung’ might finally be
able to work their dubious association with the late Magister to their benefit.

A good deal of all of this has been woven in with the Power Behind the Throne Companion content, and between
the three books detailing Middenheim, there is enough content to satisfy even the most demanding adventure. I don’t
want to give away too much Companion content just yet, but suffice to say if you ever looked at Power Behind the
Throne and thought, ‘Hum, this needs even more highly detailed NPCs’, then we have just the book for you.

For my own contributions, I have tried to remember the feeling of uniqueness that Power Behind the Throne
engendered on that second playthrough — the first time we actually finished it — and bear it in mind at every step
taken in bringing both Middenheim: City of the White Wolf and Power Behind the Throne to this edition of
WFRP. I hope that we have done justice to the work that so many have contributed to over the years. In particular,
Graeme Davis and Dave Allen deserve special recognition for these editions of Power Behind the Throne and
Middenheim, respectively. Without understanding both of their Trojan efforts, I do expect both would agree that
their work stands on the shoulders of giants, some of whom are no longer with us. I hope that all would be happy
with how their work has been brought to a new audience.

Enjoy the Carnival.

Padraig Murphy
WFRP Producer, 2020

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DEVELOPER DIARY XVI
ART REVEAL
The Minotaur Fight!
Throwing aside all notes of how Power Behind the Throne is an intricate web of social intrigue, you can also fight
this Minotaur — and quite possibly the Slayer too, if you play your cards especially wrong!

Portraits
This edition of WFRP has, I think, become known for it’s especially good portrait art, and we have continued that
thread into Power Behind the Throne, where the NPCs are particularly well developed and deserving of special
treatment. Sam Manley may never forgive me for the number of portrait briefs he was handed for this project, but
I can rest easy in the knowledge that he is probably seeing the faces of Middenheimer’s in his sleep. Here are two
particularly lovely portraits that I will leave without naming — I think many will be able to place them without
too much trouble, and for the rest it may be better to meet them at the Grand Carnival of Middenheim than here.

Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2020

Art by Sam Manley

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