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A Compendious Guide to Old World Coachmen
A Compendious Guide to Old World Coachmen
A Compendious Guide to Old World
Coachmen
16
A Compendious Guide to Old World Coachmen
A Compendious Guide to Old World Coachmen
Credits and Further Reading
Article compiled by Dave Allen.
Sources include the WFRP Core Rulebooks for both editions, The Old World Armoury,
The Enemy Within, Middenheim: City of Chaos, Ashes of Middenheim, The Game
Master’s Pack.
An article on Tunnelway Coaches of Talabheim can be found in issue 17 of Warpstone
the independent magazine for WFRP. Further information on Hochland Crossing
Coaches can be found in issue 20 of Warpstone. Hochland Crossing Coaches are an
invention of Luke Twigger and appear in this pamphlet with his permission. Thanks to
him and John Foody. Find out more at
http://www.warpstone.org/
Garett Leper has written an article for Coachmen that can be found on the Strike to
Stun website at
http://www.strike-to-stun.com/WFRP/AtoZ/Coachman1.htm
including some advice on what may motivate a character to take up the career, and
why a Coachman might consider moving on to one of his Career Exits, as well as plenty
of other ideas and Coachman-driven adventure seeds. The article was written for the
career as it was presented in the first edition of WFRP, but is still highly relevant and
useful.
Copyright © Games Workshop Limited 2006. Games Workshop, the Games Workshop logo, Black Industries
and their respective logos, Warhammer and all associated marks, logos, places, names, creatures, races and
race insignia / devices / logos / symbols, locations, weapons, units, characters, products, illustrations and
images from Warhammer are either ®, TM and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2006, variably registered in
the UK and other countries around the world. All Rights Reserved.
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A Compendious Guide to Old World Coachmen
A Compendious Guide to Old World Coachmen
Rufus Finkelstein - Coachman
Rufus was born to one of the Middenheim families who have a notable stake in Castle
Rock Coaches, and is a distant relation of one of the co-owners. He was a bright and
outgoing boy who showed a lot of promise as a potential Coachman, having an almost
intuitive way with horses, a marksman’s eye and a smattering of Tilean picked up from
Marco Tavelli, a childhood friend whose family regularly called on Castle Rock to
transport parcels to Delberz.
Once he was old enough Rufus was employed as a Coachman on the line’s
Middenheim - Delberz - Altdorf run. He was a conscientious worker and was singled out
for particular commendation after a well placed blunderbuss shot ended the career of
an outlaw chief, whose now scattered band of brigands had foolishly ordered the coach
to stand and deliver.
His growing confidence with the Tilean language saw him tasked with some important
jobs, ferrying mercenary captains who were on their way to Marienburg between Altdorf
and Middenheim, and giving exemplary service to a number of tough-looking but softly
spoken men who always tipped him generously.
Only a month ago Rufus was called into Castle Rock’s offices in the Burgenbahn and
was introduced to Direktor Liebrecht Schleicher, the head of the Delberz Guild of Safety
and Sanitation. Herr Schleicher explained that he wanted to hire Rufus to accompany a
group of travellers to Miragliano and Tobaro. He would pay handsomely for Rufus to
drive this party down to Pfeildorf and from there take a wagon over The Vaults and into
Tilea. Having always wanted to visit the country he had learned so much about, and
reassured that he would be well remunerated, Rufus gave his enthusiastic assent.
To his surprise his old friend Marco also got in touch at this time. After treating Rufus to
a few farewell drinks and extended nostalgic reminiscences Marco presented his friend
with a letter to deliver to his family in Miragliano. It wouldn’t be out of Rufus’ way at all
and if he returned with a reply Marco would pay him over and above the normal price
for delivering such a letter.
Travelling the highways of the Old World is a dangerous business, and those who
do it regularly develop important skills.
The Coachman - who bravely runs the gauntlet daily - faces many hazards; the roads
are dangerous and difficult in places, with surfaces seldom adequately maintained, and
travellers can expect trouble from bandits, Highwaymen, irate Toll-keepers and
inquisitive Roadwardens, to say nothing of the occasional monster or marauding band of
Goblins. It is the Coachman’s unenviable task to convey passengers and cargo safely
through all these hazards, and to carry official messengers when called upon. Few
Coachmen stay in the job long enough to benefit from the Teamsters’ Guild pension
scheme, and some take their skills into a life of adventuring.
Whilst there are many terms for a Coachman across the Old World some terms are more
common than others. In the Empire, most are simply called
Coachmen
, although some
provinces, such as Middenland or Averland, prefer older Reikspiel names such as
Kutscher
. Other Old World nations also have their own variant names as well, including
Cochero
in Estalia,
Cocher
in Bretonnia,
Woznika
in Kislevian, and
Cocchiere
in Tilea.
Day to Day Coaching
To be a Coachman is to take on the duties that would be expected of both a driver and a
guard. Their duties are to make sure the coach makes good time to its destination, and
particularly for it to reach the next coaching inn along the route before nightfall. They are
also expected to drive off, or escape from, anyone attempting to assail the coach.
Usually this can be accomplished by levelling a blunderbuss at a Highwayman or group
of Outlaws, but sometimes more desperate measures must be taken, such as when a
band of greenskins, mutants or beastmen attempt to raid the coach.
The Coachmen are expected to look after the comfort of their passengers and the health
of their horses insomuch as this doesn’t interfere with efficiently completing their journey.
Most coaching inns employ Hostlers to look after the horses, so Coachmen don’t worry
overly as to the well-being of their animals unless something is an obvious risk to them,
or if they are showing clear signs of strain or ill-health.
Coachmen know that it is in their best interests to keep their passengers happy, but this
doesn’t get in the way of practicalities. Even important passengers have been spoken to
quite firmly by a Coachman who needs everyone to get out and walk whilst he climbs a
steep incline, or get out and help push the coach free of sucking mud.
Many Coachmen work in teams of two, with one taking care of driving the horses
onwards whilst the other keeps his blunderbuss at the ready, scanning the terrain ahead
for any possible problems and attending to reasonable passenger requests.
Most Coachmen in the Empire work for a coaching house, a company that owns a
number of coaches and sometimes coaching inns along popular routes. To be a
Coachman is a reasonably good living in the Empire, it’s a reasonably steady and
generous wage and the job is relatively secure. Those Coachmen employed to make the
local runs about a city, or to ferry a noble about his estate, can live very well indeed, but
travelling between the cities of the Empire can be dangerous work in the extreme.
Main Profile
WS
BS
S
T
Ag
Int
WP
Fel
32
41*
35
31
32
34
33
38
Secondary Profile
A
W
SB
TB
M
Mag
IP
FP
1
11
3
3
4
0
0
3
* An advance has been taken in this characteristic.
Skills:
Animal Care, Common Knowledge (The Empire), Drive, Gossip +10, Ride,
Navigation, Perception, Secret Signs (Ranger), Speak language (Reikspiel), Speak
Language (Tilean).
Talents:
Excellent Vision, Savvy, Seasoned Traveller, Specialist Weapons Group
(Gunpowder).
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3
A Compendious Guide to Old World Coachmen
A Compendious Guide to Old World Coachmen
The Coaching Houses of the Empire
The roads of the Empire are well served by numerous coaching houses (sometimes
also referred to as coaching lines). There are many small coach houses that run
between the towns and villages of the Empire, and some of these, such as the
Bergsburg-based Hochland Crossing Coaches, seem set to approach the degree of
professionalism and remit of major coaching houses. Other smaller lines don’t even
provide coach services, technically, so much as journeys by wagon or cart at
reasonably short notice.
There are nine major coaching houses which are based in the largest of the Empire’s
cities and dominate the business in the country (and beyond, to some extent). These
nine coaching houses are all quite powerful companies in their own right (though
Ratchett Lines’ star is certainly on the wane), and employ many more people than just
coachmen. Some of them not only own their own fleets of coaches but also own, or
have shares in, coaching inns that can be found along their most travelled routes.
Coaching houses therefore employ Innkeepers, Servants, Farriers, Hostlers,
Blacksmiths, Guards, Cooks and Scribes
responsible for accounts and logistics.
In all but name these coaching houses operate
as guilds (bearing in mind that guilds can
operate in a bewildering variety of ways). This
does mean that in order to become a
Coachman a person would need to approach
one of these lines and convince them that they
would make a worthy member of the profession
who could be trusted. Such an applicant would
probably be asked to prove that they have the
ability to drive a vehicle led by a team of horses
and that they can use a firearm with some
confidence. A letter of recommendation from an
impressive patron (a Priest or a Noble, for
example, or from a high ranking member of
another coaching house that does not directly
compete with the one the applicant is
approaching) is a good way to start, and bribery
helps; nothing greases the wheels of getting
paid work in the Old World like nepotism
though, and many employees of a given
coaching house tend to be related in some way.
Four Seasons
The most famous coaching
house is Four Seasons Coaches. Four Seasons
is rapidly expanding its operation from its base
in Altdorf. All of the main roads leading from the
capital are now served by Four Seasons and
they are establishing a chain of coaching inns
along the main routes.
Stranded
It’s a dangerous run between Salzenmund and Wolfenburg. Rumours
abound of a vast Chaotic monolith that lies in the Forest of Shadows somewhere in the
area, and the villages along the route often complain of assaults by beastmen bearing
the panoply of the dreaded Blood God. To drive a coach on this route is to be among
the bravest and most able of all the Empire’s Coachmen, or to be really out of favour
with the bosses of Wolf Runner Coaches.
Werner Wurtbader has been a Coachman on this line for nearly five years, and has
seen off many a mutant with his coach gun in that time. He and his fellow Coachman,
Ernst Gaffwig who has only been working with him for a month, have been given a very
important letter from the Midden Marshals. It purports to be in reference to a gathering
of dark forces in the northern wastes, and the Coachmen are to see it delivered to
Wolfenburg as soon as possible and pressed into the hands of a senior member of
Ostland’s military forces.
The travellers in the coach are an odd bunch, all off to Ostland for their own unspoken
reasons. A Halfling Herbalist with a slightly cleft lip, an academic with a red beard and a
missing eyebrow who pores over a book of lore written in classical, a young nobleman
with a hook nose and piercing blue eyes and a girl with a thick black bob and a pierced
nose who has recently been inducted into the Myrmidian priesthood.
They had left Salzenmund and were on their fourth day of travel when the horses
trotted over some wickedly barbed caltrops, and pandemonium ensued. The
passengers salvaged what they could from the wrecked coach, and the Halfling tended
to the wounds that Werner and the odd academic man received in the crash. Werner
sent Ernst off on the back of the one horse that hadn’t been lamed and now he and his
strange companions wander along the road, hoping to make for the next settlement or
coaching inn before night falls and listening to feral cries that emanate from the forest.
This could make for a decent party-forming episode for a campaign, an alternative to
the usual “all meet up in an inn/at a post advertising work” type of episode.
A Pile of Fliers
For the past 6 months Dietmar Denkmann has been carrying a very
odd passenger between Wurtbad and Flensburg, one of the stages on the Imperial
Expressways route to Nuln. The chap is clearly able to afford regular coach trips, but he
doesn’t look the type - if Dietmar wasn’t such an open minded Wissenlander he would
assume the man was a jobless oik. The man usually seems somewhat sullen, but he
can be brought out of his shell by talking politics, and has some unusual opinions on
the subject, full of admiration for how the Tileans of Remas run things for some mad
reason. Dietmar, a devout follower of Sigmar, has had to bite his lip on more than one
occasion, and now rarely bothers to be more than curtly civil to the man.
On return journeys from Flensburg Dietmar has noticed that the man often carries a
rather odd package, a pile of pieces of paper all bound together by string. One time
when Dietmar was brushing the floor of his coach clean he found a couple of these
pieces of paper under one of the seats. Dietmar isn’t able to read, but he can tell the
writing was produced by one of those new-fangled presses they have in big cities
nowadays, and he also recognises the term “Vintner’s Guild”, which is familiar to all
who spend any amount of time in Wurtbad. If he sees the man again Dietmar will have
to ask him what the letters C O R R U P T I O and N spell.
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A Compendious Guide to Old World Coachmen
A Compendious Guide to Old World Coachmen
Adventure Seeds for Coachmen
A Downward Spiral
Markus Hagridsson has been working Four Seasons’ Altdorf -
Kemperbad - Nuln run for three years now, and in all that time he has never had to fire
his blunderbuss. In the wake of the recent incursions of Chaos the prices of firearms in
certain parts of the Old World has risen considerably and those with a decent gun to
sell can rake in a small fortune in gold, if they find the right buyer that is.
The guns Four Seasons equips its Coachmen with are very decent indeed, beautiful
works of art with a reputation for accuracy and reliability.
Markus had a bit of a problem. He enjoyed betting, and had run up something of a
gambling debt with one Luigi Belladonna, a Tilean racketeer based in Kemperbad. Luigi
was willing to find a fence for Markus’ blunderbuss in return for a small pouch of gold
and a clean slate as far as the Coachman’s debts were concerned. Markus was soon a
much richer man, though he soon lost a fair bit over bare-knuckle boxing bets.
Later that month a group of altered bandits emerged from the Great Forest and ordered
the coach to a stop. Markus’ fellow Coachman, Rudi, let fly with his blunderbuss and
shouted at Markus to do the same, which of course Markus couldn’t. A short but vicious
battle was fought between the Coachmen, their passengers, and the mutants. When
the coach finally limped its way into Altdorf a heavily wounded Rudi made sure that,
before he even set foot in a physician’s, he complained to Four Seasons’ armourer
about the missing blunderbuss.
Markus told his superiors that he was really very sorry and that he thought he left the
blunderbuss with a friend the last time he was carousing in Kemperbad. They have
suspended him from work for a fortnight and if he doesn’t return with the weapon at the
end of that time they will set about having him tried for theft of company property.
The Cannon Ball Run
Cannon Ball Express Coachmen have come up with a way of
adding a little spice to their regular Nuln to Kemperbad run. When the coaches leave
Nuln they pick up a stamped card with the time of departure on it, and this is handed in
to a man at a coaching inn on the outskirts of Kemperbad. Every four months the
Coachman who made the run in the shortest time is awarded a crate of Bugman’s
Special Brew at a secret Teamster’s Guild party in one of Nuln’s many fine hostelries.
It’s just a bit of fun really, though Cannon Ball Express accountants and administrators
certainly wouldn’t approve if they caught wind of it, so it’s all very hush hush. Everyone
in the Teamster’s Guild is in on it, really, and contributes a few shillings every time
there’s a party in order to help organise the next one.
It’s not something that the Coachmen take too seriously, or too much to heart, but if,
say, a couple of Coachmen on their way to Kemperbad weren’t transporting anyone or
anything too important, and the weather was good, one of them might wink to the other
and the other wink back. That is the unspoken signal that they are up for the race, and
they’ll then do everything within reason to reach Kemperbad in prize-winning time.
Bruno Poppe is the chief Cartwright of Cannon Ball Express. He is bewildered as to
why he and his men have to perform so many repairs these days, and is determined to
find out what’s causing so many damaged wheels and axles.
Along minor routes, Four Seasons still call at the independent coaching inns, but it only
a matter of time before they open their own coaching inns and threaten the livelihoods
of the independents. This can lead to a frosty reception and minimal standards of
service for Four Seasons coaches who still call at independent coaching inns (on the
other hand this is precisely the sort of reception Coachmen from other coaching houses
can expect if they have to stop at a Four Seasons inn).
The very name “Four Seasons” is something of a manifesto. Most other coaching
houses run a very limited service between the months of Kaldzeit and Nachexen, and
some of the more northerly services cease entirely during the winter months.
Four Seasons take a very professional attitude to who they employ, and proof of
considerable prior experience in some kind of relevant role is usually needed in order to
become a Coachman with the company. In return good wages and job security is pretty
much assured.
Cartak Lines
Another coaching house that is based in Altdorf.
Ratchett Lines
This coaching house is also based in Altdorf. They are an old company
who are struggling to survive in the face of competition from Four Seasons Coaches.
The condition of their coaches is becoming very poor, though they do try to hide the rot
and woodworm under bright paint and polish.
Ratchett Lines Coachmen tend to be badly paid and can suffer from low morale, and as
a result they have been known to act less than professionally at times, getting drunk
whilst on a journey or arbitrarily picking up extra passengers en route should the
opportunity present itself.
Ratchett Lines don’t hire much in the way of new staff, but if an opening does appear
they aren’t too fussy about who fills it. Wages and prospects are poor though.
Red Arrow Coaches
A coaching house based in Averheim. Red Arrow Coachmen are
the only ones to make the notorious runs to towns and cities in Sylvania, and have a
reputation for stoicism, or foolhardiness, as a result.
Castle Rock Coaches
A coaching house based in Middenheim. Castle Rock coaches
are co-owned by Gunnar Guildenstern and Rudolf Finkelstein. The former is also owner
of the Showboat, a restaurant and cabaret bar in the city, and he sometimes uses the
Coach company’s haulage division to smuggle in wines for that establishment.
Castle Rock coaches run to Altdorf and the south. The company’s offices, repair depot
and terminus are situated on the Burgenbahn; there is a large coaching inn, The Castle
Rock, and a courtyard with stabling and a small smithy. The yard can accommodate up
to four coaches at a time, and there is sufficient stabling for a dozen or so horses.
In times of unrest or increased activity by bandits, greenskins or beastmen along their
routes the company hire guards to protect their coaches until order is restored. Anyone
with coaching or military experience and the ability to handle a gun or crossbow may
apply; pay is comparatively low (a schilling a day and room and board at Coaching Inns
along the route) but can be supplemented with tips from appreciative passengers. The
guard normally rides atop the coach, besides the driver, but in areas where recent
attacks have been reported, Outriders may also be hired.
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