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I kept looking for the punchline. Are we sure it's not April 1st?
__________________ "If your will is not strong, if your thought does not oppose injustice, you will fritter away your life stuck in the commonplace, silently submitting to the bonds of emotion, forever cowering before mediocrities, never escaping the downward flow."
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Oh noes! This is the death of all that is good in RPG games. Again!
Sigh. You may not care for the previews you've seen, but to declare with vehemence that this product is from the devil is just another example of cranky gamer syndrome.
Now, once it's published, and you've gone over to your friend's house to check it out . . . you know, the guy who buys everything so you don't have to, then the wailing and gnashing might actually have some basis in reality.
I have the utmost confidence in Fantasy Flight Games to pull this off, no matter how different from earlier editions this might (or might not) be. Every product from them that I've ever got my hands on has been beyond fantastic. From board games to card games to roleplaying games, these guys know what they are doing. That's not to say they can't screw this up, but I'm betting on FFG, not the cranky gamers.
__________________ Brian Zuber
Proud Member of ENWorld since 2000 (under several lost screen names). Gaming since the mid-80s!
Favorite Settings: Love all of the official settings, Mystara is my nostalgia fave! Trying to create a homebrew that blends the best elements of the various settings. Favorite Edition: Can't decide between 3rd Edition and 4th Edition, like them both!
Knowing this is Games Workshop here, I wonder how they will extend the line after this $99 set is bought by customers. What kind of expansions are planned and what price, and how often they get released.
This isn't Games Workshop. This is Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) under license from Games Workshop. World of difference! Find some friends who've played FFG's version of the Warhammer 40K RPG and ask them what they think of that, it may give you some hope (or not).
__________________ Brian Zuber
Proud Member of ENWorld since 2000 (under several lost screen names). Gaming since the mid-80s!
Favorite Settings: Love all of the official settings, Mystara is my nostalgia fave! Trying to create a homebrew that blends the best elements of the various settings. Favorite Edition: Can't decide between 3rd Edition and 4th Edition, like them both!
This isn't Games Workshop. This is Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) under license from Games Workshop. World of difference! Find some friends who've played FFG's version of the Warhammer 40K RPG and ask them what they think of that, it may give you some hope (or not).
Errr... the 40k RPG in the form of Dark Heresy really isn't that different from FFG than the one from Black Industries. Just some eratta in the FFG one as I recall. The rules themselves... the stats at least in Dark Heresy aren't that different than what I see in my old Rogue Trader book... the 40k wargame Rogue Trader book that is.
And given how protective GW is of its properties and all that? Yeah, it _is_ GW. I can't imagine that GW would allow FFG to do something like this without their stamp of approval.
And FFG can certainly screw it up... they've got a fondness for doing rpgs and then dropping them with no warning or any real indication of why. Dragonstar, Fireborn, Blue Planet... for a while I was starting to think of FFG as "The place where rpgs go to die". Midnight was the only product line to really get "support" and to my knowledge it's now dead and there's no plans that I'm aware of for it.
Don't get me wrong though... I'm betting this will be successful enough for FFG. In part because I think GW wouldn't have allowed this sort of thing to be done without being convinced that it'd make money.
Wow, when I first read the description I was quite shocked.
Cards? Special dice? No percentile rolls? No playing camp followers or rat catchers? I had a thought that maybe this will be more board-gamey, 4ed style.
And then I thought - I can understand the reason why. On the surface, playing a camp follower doesn't seem that cool. Until you play the game, that is.
Who knows for sure? I'll have to wait till it comes out here before I continue any gnashing of teeth.
Basically, the (eight-sided or six-sided) dice have custom symbols on them. When you attack, you compare the dice symbols to the power card to see the result.
"You hit for normal damage"
"You hit for +2 damage"
"Perform a manouever for free"
"One enemy within close range of you who is not engaged with an opponent may engage you"
Very odd.
Cheers!
That kind of reminds me of the old Heroquest game where the dice had skulls on them?
Yeah, it definitely looks like they exited Stage Left on this game, but I'll probably still pick it up just to see what it's about.
I don't know how I feel about this. Mainly I'll be let down if I can't be a rat catcher. And if career isn't random. I mean, doesn't that change the point of the game to some extent?
It looks like it might be fun, but they seem to be taking a serious board game route. That may be cool, I don't know.
EDIT:
Also, I think it'd be interesting if RPGs get more and more based around the same assumptions board games use--especially the whole "elegant rules" schtick of eurogames. It may be a good idea. I mean, the whole thing started with ideas taken from wargames, and I'd certainly prefer the simpler, more accessible rules of modern board games to the fiddly goofiness of wargames.
But anyway.
EDIT II:
Looking at it, I'm sure I'll buy it. :-(
Also the idea of a party tension mechanic seems weird to me.
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Last edited by Sandwich; 13th August 2009 at 08:35 AM..
Dang, that's pretty expensive. I would really love to see what the fuss is all about, but there are fair chances I won't really play the game often, so it is a bit expensive.
It certainly doesn't sound like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2E, but... I have Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2E already. So I certainly applaud them for trying something new and interesting.
Will there be playtests report or something like that? Test plays at GenCon? I'd love to hear some information on how this actually works.
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This doesnt look like the WFRP I know and love. I thought the change from 3E D&D to 4E was good, simply because I had some problems DMing 3E (but not playing it, mind you). However, WFRP 2E was by far my favorite game to GM. I hoped they would refine 2E instead of tossing it out the window and going for something radically different. And also, if they are hoping to bring lots of new players to roleplaying, shouldn't they have gone for a more affordable solution? 99$ is a lot to shell out for the core box.
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If it was named Talisman RPG, i'd be fine with that. Heck it even looks more like a Talisman RPG akin to Descent's Road to Legend expansion.
It could have plenty of depth, but it certainly looks to me like the "Create a new game and give it the old name" design philosophy plaguing newer RPG editions.
That's not the character sheet; it's just a character/career card. From the description, character sheets are probably still going to be like normal ones.
I find it really interesting. It's always good to try something new and this looks really fun and something to get new Players into our Hobby. I mean it looks much less daunting (for new players) than standard dices and overcrouded Charactersheets full of complicated Numbers and Stats of the usual systems.
But the 99 Bucks (where is that from?) Price Point would be a real showstopper.
Also the custom made stuff (Dice and Cards) make everything easier but are hard to replace if lost.
Looks interesting. Historically boxed sets are a brave move, so FFG must be very confident in the quality of the product. This might be one I have a sniff at.
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Looks interesting. Historically boxed sets are a brave move, so FFG must be very confident in the quality of the product. This might be one I have a sniff at.
Well I am basing this assumption on little information but: TTRPG box sets may (I don't know) sell low but board games don't, it is the standard. This game really really looks like a board game/ttrpg combo.
As I said assumption (the mother of all co*k ups, I know) but it sure looks like it!
FFGs prices tend to be inflated; you can get their products much cheaper else where. For example, War of the Ring is listed at $80 in their site, I got it from thewarstore.com for around $50 not too long ago.
The usage of special dice reminds me of the old Throwing Stones RPG - which apparently never had any success.
Interesting marketing idea, btw. Imaging buying Career Boosters, with the special cards and dice needed for characters belonging to a career. I wonder whether the system actually encourages you to change careers everey so often.
Hey, and we have a parallel to WFRP 1st edition (don't know how 2nd edition handles this): You had to get all the trappings for the new career for your character before he could change to it. The only difference is now that you have to buy the trappings for him at a shop.
I'm not saying it's the Devil. I'm just saying I don't understand, and I fear things I don't understand. I mean, I LURV Warhammer FRP, so I can guess it's unlikely I will lurv anything else as much. This could also be cool, but it's very confusing that it's called WFRP. Also, I'm still not over the whole D&D 4e thing.
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