From the mists approaches a massive, terrifying visage- a new book for WFRP! Temple of Spite is not only the newest entry for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th edition, but it’s the first to be compatible with 4th and the upcoming 5th edition! There are some clues to changes coming with the new edition, and they look minimal to me. I’ll deep dive into that later in this entry, but for now we’ll focus on the stars of the show- the Druchii!

Anyone that has read my RPG book reviews before knows how much I love maps, and good news- there are some! There’s the sweet Naggaroth map from the 8th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles Dark Elves Army Book, but I don’t mind it reprinted here, it’s fantastic:

The first portion of the book gives us a brief history of the Druchii and why and how they split away from the Asur (High Elves). If you’ve read elf books before, you know the story. The biggest difference here is the name change. I’ve mentioned this in other recent books, but I think it’s worth it to mention again that Malekith the Witch King is no more- he is now Malerion the Dread King. Personally, I don’t mind the change, copyright laws are finicky and I understand why GW didn’t really have a choice in this matter. (Marvel/Disney owns the name Malekith- he was created as an original Thor villain; and Middle Earth Enterprises owns Witch King of Angmar, which is probably too close to Malerion’s previous title.)

More details are provided about Naggaroth and the seven major cities. Each gets a paragraph, which isn’t a lot, but the focus of the book is the Black Ark Temple of Spite. The next chapter covers this is exquisite detail.

Before I go any further, one thing I want to mention that is not included is rules for Druchii PCs. At least not fully fleshed-out. They do have starting Skills and Talents to build NPCs off of, and you can use the beginning stats for High Elves, but there are no new careers for the elves of Naggaroth. This book is primarily a source for GMs, or cool lore for those that like to collect and look at pretty books.

As for the titular Black Ark has 11 pages of description, including a number of maps! The creation and history of the Black Arks is explained here, which more details on the Temple of Spite, naturally. Two full pages of maps showing exterior and interior details of the floating city made my day when I saw them. I don’t expect a map of every hallway and room of something this massive, but a map like we have for Altdorf or Middenheim would be comparable to these. Over two dozen locations within the ark are detailed. Terrifying places like a Temple of Slaanesh, The Arena, Harpy Aeries, and the Chain Spire, the seat of the leader of the Temple of Spite, Duriath Helbane.

Since this is really a book for GMs there is a ton of information about boarding a Black Ark and what can happen once aboard. A large table of encounters (a Cubicle 7 specialty) breathes life into the place including possible reactions by the Druchii if the PCs are found. A little surprising, and much appreciated, are two possible uses for the Temple of Spite within a campaign. Each of these are written like the outline of a large adventure or campaign, with much to be filled in by the GM, but enough to get started. They’re more than hooks, similar to the outlines we got in Lustria (which I plan on using for a party of Skaven soon in my Sunday game once we wrap up the Ubersreik Adventures). These two outlines take up ten pages, including a map of the Blighted Isle and its surroundings. People (myself included) have been begging for a new long-form adventure like The Enemy Within for WFRP, and while this isn’t that, it’s something for us to sink out teeth into while we wait for the 5th edition campaign (that we’re assuming is coming- I think this might have been confirmed by Cubicle 7, but I can’t find the reference at the moment).

After the description of the history, culture, and structure of the Temple of Spite, we get a bestiary of the Druchii. This includes generic NPCs, creatures, and lots of named characters. 15 profiles are included here and give us our first peek into how 5th edition will differ from 4th.

The new profile looks very similar to what we’re used to with 4th, but with a hint of Soulbound, if you’re familiar with that game from Cubicle 7. There’s no breakdown of the new profile box, but I don’t think it’s necessary either. I appreciate the streamlining here, and while not every trait is fully explained, anything unique to the unit or uncommon has it spelled out- like Regenerate. More common Traits, like a Breath Weapon refer you back to the rulebook (hinting that that rule will be different in 5th edition). Along with ‘typical’ dark elf profiles, a few beasts associated with the Druchii are also included- Cold Ones, War Hydras, Manticores, and the dread Kharibdyss to name a few. Let me know if you spot any other differences or changes from a typical 4th edition profile, I’m sure there are things I missed.

After the full profiles are rules for adavncing the ‘basic’ dark elves. We’ve seen this like from the short publications like The Corsairs of Captain Flariel (which is a perfect supplement to this book) and allows you to quickly make truly deadly antagonists.

15 of these advance schemes are included, giving you tons of options to create your own depraved elves. All of this wouldn’t be complete without new gear, though! Four new weapons, including the spineblade, are detailed, as well as the ubiquitous Sea Dragon Cloaks the Corsairs are famous for. Five ranged weapons, including those that are mounted on vessels, are covered, making sure your NPCs are as “Dark Elf” as they can be. Finally, for gear, we’ve got poisons. Eight new poisons, all deadly or for very specific purposes, are explained here- get ready to coat your blades!

I don’t find it as interesting, personally, but there are also rules for Druchii chariots and ships, keeping up with other releases.

Other New Rules

Magic! We’ve got Dark Magic! A new lore along with lore about magic in Naggaroth takes up an entire chapter. Dark Magic is powerful, but with more risk than other Lores. Any miscast is a major miscast (wee!), unless the caster has the Instinctive Diction Talent (boo). So dangerous is this wind, that any casting roll including an 8 results in a major miscast and the caster gains a Corruption Point! If an opposing mage manages to dispel a Dark Magic spell, the caster must roll on the table for a Complication- that Dhar has to go somewhere! A whopping 25 new spells are included, none sound like you want to be on the receiving end of.

A totally new mechanic- Gifts of Khaine, looks awesome.

This new Talent makes the Druchii literally bloodthirsty, spilling blood of their enemies to empower themselves. A few examples of the 8 Gifts:

What’s a Black Ark Without People On It?

Essentially the rest of the book is full of NPCs that inhabit the Temple of Spite in various factions. Mercenaries, corsair companies, spies and saboteurs, scouts and guerrilla fighters, beastmasters, the Company of the Nightwake (a Druchii vessel that pillages along with the Temple of Spite), and worshippers of Khaine are all detailed in seven groups. Each group has 2-3 characters with full profiles, personalities, goals, and ambitions, as well as story hooks, encounter tables, and ways to use them in your games.

This portion also details the Cult of Khaine, giving it more substance than simply murder and area fights. While this is only a page of lore, it’s nice to see some depth to what is usually shown as a very simple god.

The last bit of the book has guidance on making Druchii NPCs including a name generator. Here you could feasibly combine rules for High Elves and the starting Skills and Talents given for Dark Elves to make a PC, but that doesn’t seem to be the intention here. The tome ends with descriptions and profiles for the most important and interesting characters on Temple of Spite, Fleetmaster Duriath Helbane, Death Hag Kheitalla, and the fugitive sorcerer Kernethar Grimwitch. Again, they’re detailed with goals, motivations, personality, some adventure hooks, and complete profiles with color images. These Druchii will be make great nemesis or patrons for whoever encounters them.

This book was a nice surprise, I didn’t remember seeing it on any announcements until about a week before it went live. Thanks so much to Cubicle 7 for providing me with a PDF review copy! We’re all waiting with baited breath for the Marienburg source book, but this is a great holdover. Even if you aren’t in love with the Dark Elves like some, this book has tons of lore, hooks, and so many characters to include wherever you want! I give it 4.5/5 Ritual Daggers for not including full rules for Dark Elf PCs.

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