Where to begin!? I love the Dooming! It is a simple character trait that has no real or direct mechanical value, but is all about character role play.
If you're reading this as part of the
Blogging A to Z challenge, but don't play
role playing games (RPGs), e.g., Dungeons and Dragons (still the title that most can find context and relate), then know that Dooming is a game element for
WFRP 2e. It is a character trait randomly determined at character creation.
It is mentioned only in passing of
the core rulebook:
Should a person survive to their tenth birthday, it is considered traditional to offer a sacrifice to Morr. Meat, blood and sometimes milk are thrown upon a sacred brazier, whilst special candles are burnt. The dense black smoke from these candles supposedly hides the child from Morr's sight, whilst the meat and blood reputedly takes the child's place in Morr's realm, serving the Death God until the child's true timecomes. On this day, most folk receive a foretelling of what it is that will end their life--their "dooming."
Players and gamemasters will often seek out more detail about this "rite of passage." The first official sources to pay it any detail is the
Character Folio, the
Character Pack, and the
Tome of Salvation. It receives a great deal of attention in the
Expanded Characters Module edited Dave Graffam (available now at
Winds of Chaos).
Doomings are random, often humorous, often Catch-22's, or an equal mix of unrelated events (doubling down on the humor aspect). Take this sample from the
Expanded Characters Module:
- Cheese, yea, or other product of the dairy, shall be thy undoing
- The death is wrought by chamber-pot, or midden
- One day you'll sleep with the fish
- Watch thy step! Aye, and where thou sittest down too
A player of RPGs will see the immediate value add to both character and game play. Imagine a character that was "doomed" as described above for dairy being offered wine and cheese at an important negotiation with nobles of Bretonnia. Or the character that becomes the reluctant insomniac aboard the river barge, seemingly more crazed each sleepless night and burning red-eyes to all that observe him, only because he does not want to "sleep with the fish."
So many reasons to love Dooming. Tease your players in every session with something so personal as his character's Dooming!
