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Realm of the Ice Queen: A Guide to Kislev
Detailing the land of Kislev in lavish detail, this book presents both the people and the places of the Ice Queen's realm. Inside you will find Kislev careers and creatures as well the secrets of Ice Magic revealed for the first time.
144 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 19, 2014
One of the problems I had with many of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay books I've read is that they're either overly focused on the Empire, like Realms of Sorcery, or so generic that there's not really any Warhammer flavor at all, like Renegade Crowns. Well, Realm of the Ice Queen delves heavily into a part of the Warhammer world that isn't the Empire at all, which is a good and a bad thing. It's good because it shows a non-Imperial society in great detail (though admittedly Knights of the Grail came first), and it's bad because the book isn't really much use for any game that isn't set in Kislev.
As with most parts of Warhammer history, the history of Kislev begins thousands of years ago because fantasy writers have no sense of scale, and much like the Empire, most of the timeline could be condensed into maybe 400-500 years with no problem whatsoever. A long time ago, theMongolsUngols replaced the Ropsmenn in Kislev, living in small villages or roaming as nomads. Then the Gospodars came over the Worlds Edge Mountains and conquered the country using their ice witches, forming a unified society with the Gospodars on top.
Well, "unified." The Gospodars form the nobility and most of the settled population, but the Ungols live in the north and are first in line when the hordes of Chaos come ranging down from the Wastes, and tend to consider themselves apart. The Tzarina of the country is trying to centralize everything under her rule, but has to deal with a lot of towns on the oblast living under the traditional Ungol law code instead of the Gospodar law used in the cities, as well as nobles who don't want to give up their power, foreigners seeking greater privileges, the shamanistic hags of the oblast... At least she has her Chekist secret police to help her keep the peace.
The law could actually lead to some pretty interesting games. For example, Ungol law only punishes groups, not individuals--if a member of a family commits a crime, any member of that family can be punished. Sure, it's better if it's the perpetrator, but it doesn't have to be. That leads all kinds of gameable places, like the PCs participating in a courtroom drama based on a crime someone else committed (foreigners are all one "group" to Ungol law), or a family hiring the PCs to track down the real criminal before little Oyuun suffers the punishment.
Gospodar law is more traditional, but allows dueling. And since the PCs are going to get into unnecessary fights anyway, might as well formalize it!
There is a large section about the three major cities of Kislev that takes up most of the middle of the book and is far more comprehensive than I can get into. Notable bits that stood out to me include Kislev City having a tavern frequented by the literati called Raskolnikov's or the machinist Fabor known for making delicate eggs and clockwork toys, or how in Chaos-tainted Praag there's a street where thick blood wells up every night from the stones, and in classic fantasy Russian fatalistic fashion, the Praagers just send out people to mop it up every morning.
There's plenty of new careers, including bear tamer, steppe rider, and chekist, but the real rules standout for me were the magic rules. I complained back in my review of Realms of Sorcery that the big problem with Warhammer is that all the magic rules are filtered through the Imperial colour wizardry paradigm. Knights of the Grail teases the possibility of non-Imperial wizardly traditions with the Grail Maidens but doesn't actually have rules for them, but Realm of the Ice Queen gives us the hags and the ice witches, who practice "Witch Lores" and have rules indicating that "Colour Magic" and "Dark Sorcery" are not the only possible slots for magic to go into. The ice witches draw on floes of ice magic purified byMother RussiaThe Ancient Widow and so don't have to worry about Tzeentch's Curse while in Kislev, but in summer they have to spend extra time drawing on the magic to gather it. The hags are prematurely aged, and they cannot cast their spells without ingredients.
The magic seems really strong to me, though. Like, there's a spell called Death Frost that does a number of Damage 8 hits equal to the caster's magic, ignores armor, and can only be resisted with a Toughness Test at -20. That's almost enough to kill a dragon in one spell, even if it does require a touch to cast. There's also a lot of visible magic that was pretty surprising to me and a bit out of character for WFRP, like a whole wing of the Tzarina's palace being made of magical ice or there being a magical ice fountain just hanging out in one of the town squares. It probably fits in with the wargame, but not really with the RPG.
Finally, the book ends with an example adventure that puts oblast codes of justice together with Imperial pride, the Tzarina's law, the hag witch's power to curse, bears, and the dangers of winter. It's relatively short and mostly a litany of misfortunes, but leaves a lot up to the PCs. Do they keep going in the face of the spirit's disfavor? Do they murder the witch who attacked them even if she has an honored place in the local community? Do they accept a false verdict to keep the peace, or push for justice even if alone and unaided?
The only problem with this book is that the scope is relatively limited and a lot of Warhammer games won't have any use for it. But for games set in Kislev or with Kislevite characters, or as an example of how magic isn't quite as limited as Teclis or the Imperial Colleges of Wizardry would want you to believe, it's excellent.
As with most parts of Warhammer history, the history of Kislev begins thousands of years ago because fantasy writers have no sense of scale, and much like the Empire, most of the timeline could be condensed into maybe 400-500 years with no problem whatsoever. A long time ago, the
Well, "unified." The Gospodars form the nobility and most of the settled population, but the Ungols live in the north and are first in line when the hordes of Chaos come ranging down from the Wastes, and tend to consider themselves apart. The Tzarina of the country is trying to centralize everything under her rule, but has to deal with a lot of towns on the oblast living under the traditional Ungol law code instead of the Gospodar law used in the cities, as well as nobles who don't want to give up their power, foreigners seeking greater privileges, the shamanistic hags of the oblast... At least she has her Chekist secret police to help her keep the peace.
The law could actually lead to some pretty interesting games. For example, Ungol law only punishes groups, not individuals--if a member of a family commits a crime, any member of that family can be punished. Sure, it's better if it's the perpetrator, but it doesn't have to be. That leads all kinds of gameable places, like the PCs participating in a courtroom drama based on a crime someone else committed (foreigners are all one "group" to Ungol law), or a family hiring the PCs to track down the real criminal before little Oyuun suffers the punishment.
Gospodar law is more traditional, but allows dueling. And since the PCs are going to get into unnecessary fights anyway, might as well formalize it!
There is a large section about the three major cities of Kislev that takes up most of the middle of the book and is far more comprehensive than I can get into. Notable bits that stood out to me include Kislev City having a tavern frequented by the literati called Raskolnikov's or the machinist Fabor known for making delicate eggs and clockwork toys, or how in Chaos-tainted Praag there's a street where thick blood wells up every night from the stones, and in classic fantasy Russian fatalistic fashion, the Praagers just send out people to mop it up every morning.
There's plenty of new careers, including bear tamer, steppe rider, and chekist, but the real rules standout for me were the magic rules. I complained back in my review of Realms of Sorcery that the big problem with Warhammer is that all the magic rules are filtered through the Imperial colour wizardry paradigm. Knights of the Grail teases the possibility of non-Imperial wizardly traditions with the Grail Maidens but doesn't actually have rules for them, but Realm of the Ice Queen gives us the hags and the ice witches, who practice "Witch Lores" and have rules indicating that "Colour Magic" and "Dark Sorcery" are not the only possible slots for magic to go into. The ice witches draw on floes of ice magic purified by
The magic seems really strong to me, though. Like, there's a spell called Death Frost that does a number of Damage 8 hits equal to the caster's magic, ignores armor, and can only be resisted with a Toughness Test at -20. That's almost enough to kill a dragon in one spell, even if it does require a touch to cast. There's also a lot of visible magic that was pretty surprising to me and a bit out of character for WFRP, like a whole wing of the Tzarina's palace being made of magical ice or there being a magical ice fountain just hanging out in one of the town squares. It probably fits in with the wargame, but not really with the RPG.
Finally, the book ends with an example adventure that puts oblast codes of justice together with Imperial pride, the Tzarina's law, the hag witch's power to curse, bears, and the dangers of winter. It's relatively short and mostly a litany of misfortunes, but leaves a lot up to the PCs. Do they keep going in the face of the spirit's disfavor? Do they murder the witch who attacked them even if she has an honored place in the local community? Do they accept a false verdict to keep the peace, or push for justice even if alone and unaided?
The only problem with this book is that the scope is relatively limited and a lot of Warhammer games won't have any use for it. But for games set in Kislev or with Kislevite characters, or as an example of how magic isn't quite as limited as Teclis or the Imperial Colleges of Wizardry would want you to believe, it's excellent.
December 7, 2022
Still the definitive treatment of Kislev for WFRP purposes, due to the rather muddled approach of Something Rotten In Kislev. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
January 16, 2009
This is a well done country book for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying. You'll want the core rulebook to make use of this supplement.
The nation of Kislev is stuck between Chaos and the Empire. The culture is an uneasy blending of Russian and Mongolian.
There are many new professions, including new magical ones, such as "Ice Witch."
The art is well done, mostly Gothic pen and ink.
The country, government (or lack thereof), and major cities are well described. New creatures that roam the steppes go along with new backgrounds.
The adventure in the back is very quick, two sessions at most. There are rules for handling either a group of characters from Kislev or the Empire. However, it was too brief for my tastes. It did give examples of some fine Kislev challenges, and I think it's worth more for mining ideas than anything else.
However, if you are the Games Master of a WFRP game, this book will only be useful as background if you ever plan on sending your players to Kislev. Or let the players come from Kislev. Or just want to read up on Kislev. Otherwise, it won't impact your play.
As a player, you might want this book if you want to be from Kislev, or your GM has placed you there and you want to try some of the new professions. "Hag" and "Ice Witch" are my favorites.
If you are running The Thousand Thrones campaign, this will be very useful, as that campaign concludes deep in the Kislevian wilderness.
The nation of Kislev is stuck between Chaos and the Empire. The culture is an uneasy blending of Russian and Mongolian.
There are many new professions, including new magical ones, such as "Ice Witch."
The art is well done, mostly Gothic pen and ink.
The country, government (or lack thereof), and major cities are well described. New creatures that roam the steppes go along with new backgrounds.
The adventure in the back is very quick, two sessions at most. There are rules for handling either a group of characters from Kislev or the Empire. However, it was too brief for my tastes. It did give examples of some fine Kislev challenges, and I think it's worth more for mining ideas than anything else.
However, if you are the Games Master of a WFRP game, this book will only be useful as background if you ever plan on sending your players to Kislev. Or let the players come from Kislev. Or just want to read up on Kislev. Otherwise, it won't impact your play.
As a player, you might want this book if you want to be from Kislev, or your GM has placed you there and you want to try some of the new professions. "Hag" and "Ice Witch" are my favorites.
If you are running The Thousand Thrones campaign, this will be very useful, as that campaign concludes deep in the Kislevian wilderness.
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