WFRP - Marienburg - Sold Down the River

A city-sourccbook for
Written by Anthony Ragan

This book is not a complete game in its own right, it is a supplement for

the Warbammer Fantasy Roleplay game system. To use this book properly,
you will need a copy of the Warbammer Fantasy Roleplay rulebook
(ISBN 1 899 749 01 2), which is also available in PDF from Cubicle 7.

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By Anthony Ragan

Editing, extra text, layout:
James Wallis

Cover artwork: Danny Willis

Interior artwork: Oliver Bancroft,
Ralph Horsley, Pete Knifton,
Russ Nicholson, Tony Ackland

Maps: Ralph Horsley
Publisher: Dominic McDowall

Scanning: Jon Hodgson

This book has been a long time coming, and I'd like to thank a
few people who have been a big help along the way: Ken
Rolston, Graeme Davis, Alfred Nunez,jr., Patrick van
denBerg,James Wallis, Wendy, the Hot Frogs on the Loose, Craig
Horning, Mom & Dad Ragan, and Harry T. Cat. To all ofyou, a
thousand-million thanks.

Anthony Ragan is a Northern Californian freelance Anthony was co-author of the original Marienburg ar­
writer living in exile in Los Angeles, California. He
began gaming in 1975, when three booklets appeared ticles which appeared in White Dwarf in 1989-91,
in his home town of Sacramento. Since then he has and wrote 'The Colony' for Hogshead's Dying ofthe
built a collection of games far larger than he can ever Light adventure. He also has written a bestiary for
hope to play. Favourites include Warhammer FRP, Chaosium's Elric!. Anthony's other interests include
Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars, Elricl and Lost Souls. speculative fiction, international politics, computers,

gourmet cooking and the search for the perfect cabernet.

Marienburg: Sold Down the River Published by Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd under licence from
Games Workshop Ltd. All contents are copyright ©2018 by
A supplement for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Games Workshop Ltd. All rights reserved. Warhammer, Games
ISBN 1-899749-14-4 Workshop, and the Games Workshop logo are registered
trademarks, and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, the Warhammer
For all enquiries, contact: Fantasy Roleplay logo, Marienburg, Sold Down the River, The
[email protected] Enemy Within, Dying of the Light, Apocrypha Now and Death
cubicle7.co.uk on the Reik and other distinctive names and terms are trade­
marks of Games Workshop Ltd. All are used with permission.

All artwork in all Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay products and all
images contained therein have been produced either in-house
or as work for hire. The exclusive copyright in the artwork and
the images it depicts is the property of Games Workshop Ltd.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, without the prior permission of Games Workshop
Ltd or Cubicle 7 Entertainment Limited

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WELCOME TO MARIENBURC! Position is good and gold is wonderful, butMarienburg would
Hogshead Publishing is proud to present this sourcebook for the just be ruins in a swamp were it not for the acumen and tenacity
greatest trading city in the Old World. Please feel free to explore of its people. The population ofMarienburg- not just Wastelanders
the place: hunt for mutants, make a deal or two, peek in the cor­ but people from all over the Old World and beyond - are re­
ners, break some of the crockery- whatever makes you comfort­ nowned as the sharpest traders and hardest dealers one could
able. This city is your playground. Have at it! ever meet, a fact they'll gladly tell you themselves, at length. Tough­
rninded, practical and with one eye always open for a quick profit,
Marienburg has three advantages that set it apart from the other the people ofMarienburg are constantly scrabbling to better their
Old World powers: its position, its great wealth and its people. lot in life. Whether working for themselves or serving the inter­
These make it an unequalled staging point for Warbammer Fan­ ests of another, player characters in Marienburg will find plenty
tasy Roleplay adventures, whether they are set in Marienburg of opportunities - sometimes profitable, always dangerous.
itself, or whether the city-state is used as a convenient starting
place.Marienburg can support all types of stories, from hunts for USING MARIENBURC
treasure, monsters and secrets, through intrigue and exploration This book is your tool kit. Use it to construct a stage on which the
to power-struggles and international incidents. players can create memorable stories. Dig through the history of
Marienburg and the Wasteland to find hooks for your adventures,
The city's position at the mouth of the Reik makes it a natural things from the past that lead to danger in the present. What hap­
centre of trade. In fact, it has a potential stranglehold over almost pened to JaanMaarten's sword after the battle of Reavers' Point?
all significant travel into and out of the interior of the Old World. Did it sink in the Sea of Claws with his ship, or has it found its
It is the last great natural port east of the GreyMountains till one way into some trove? And did it give him the power to command
reaches distant Erengrad, and the closest one to the luxury-hun­ the seas, as legends tell?
gry cities of the Empire. Almost all of the Empire's exports and The city itself provides all the elements you need to build ad­
imports flow through Marienburg - there are no ports of any sig­ ventures. Dozens of ships arrive and leave every day: who knows
nificance on its northern coast that could handle the traffic, and what they're carrying? Spies? Smuggled Bretonnian brandy bound
the mountain passes are bedevilled by bad weather, outlaws and for the Empire? Rare artefacts of tainted magic from ancient Araby?
worse. At the same time, the rulers of Bretonnia and the other Prisoners of the body-trade bound for sacrifice by some dark cult?
Old World kingdoms see an independent Marienburg as their From schemes hatched in the posh salons of the Export-Import
guarantee of access to the interior for their own goods. None exchange to lives bought and sold alongthe dank canals ofSuiddock,
want the wealth of the city enriching the Emperor's coffers. the daily life of the great port will provide you with innumerable
adventures. Just use your imagination.
The Directors of Marienburg know this, and they use their To help stoke the fires of your fevered mind, this book is di­
position to guarantee their freedom from Imperial control. Even vided into several major sections. First is a general description of
so, the Empire and Bretonnia each scheme to gain control of the Marienburg and the Wasteland, giving you the physical layout of
Reik's mouth, or at least to deny it to the other. And so the city­ the place. Then comes the tale of the city-state's politics and his­
state is a hotbed of intrigue and espionage. tory, how it came to be what it is today. Next is an overview of
major locations and personalities in Marienburg itself, from the
With a position that makes it a focal point of trade,Marienburg palaces to the slums, and from those born with a silver spoon in
has also become a centre of almost unbelievable wealth. Whether their mouth to people barely able to put clothes on their backs.
from taxes and tariffs or the middleman's cut, the profits from And, to get your games off and running, we provide both a full
trade have made the merchants ofMarienburg influential in places adventure and several short adventure chhoaorkasc.teFrisnaalnlyd, there are
far-distant from the cold and windy Wasteland. With surplus gold rules for creating native Marienburger two new
overflowing their counting houses, the heads of the Merchant cults important to the city.
Houses serve as bankers and creditors for noble families all over We've deliberately not described everything in the city, giving
the Old World. When kings and electors need to raise mercenary you room to shape entire districts for whatever purpose suits your
armies, they often tum to the bankers of Marienburg for ready game. We've also taken care to detail the places and people that
cash. These debts in tum give the Directors influence over the are going to be the most interest or use to games-masters and
policies of lands far-removed from their own. And, in an emer­ player characters. Take it for granted that the more mundane parts
gency, they can afford to pay for anything they need, even some­ of life are there as well. They just don't make interesting reading.
one else's army. Marienburg belongs to you and your players now. Do with it
what you will. And enjoy it!
But gold and trade goods make desirable targets, and the ships
that visit Marienburg by sea and river are tempting prizes for pi­
rates, privateers and wreckers. Adventurers in Marienburg may
often find themselves taking ship against these dangers, or en­
gaging in it themselves.

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