A few things I really like about WFRP

[TheSword]

I'll give an example. One of my players is playing an Ogre Butcher. I was worried that this would be OP. But it hasn't been. Part of this is that their tactics generally have him as the tank while the squishier (all of the other three) characters try to keep their distance, use ranged attacks whenever possible, and farm for advantage.

Ogres can take a lot of wounds for low XP characters. Their tactics work well. But 24 hours of play time into the game and the poor Ogre has broken arm and a broken leg, walking around in casts. -20 on his attacks. Halved movement. -20 on any test the rely on mobility. About all he can do in combat is be a meat shield.

We are coming up on a long period of down time so he will finally have a chance to heal up. Also, because they are in a sizable city was access to proper medical attention, he's not going to suffer permanent disadvantages. But if they were out in the wilderness and/or in very hostile territory, there is a good change he'd be done for.

For country music fans, WFRP the experience fighter is well represented by the protagonist Tiger Man McCool in Shel Silverstein's "The Winner". I won't spam the thread with the lyrics. If interested you can read them here: The Winner lyrics chords | Bobby Bare

Fights can take a lot out of you and have lasting negative effects in Warhammer.

I haven’t tried ogres yet… very brave.

It’s also worth saying that the metacurrency can help stop this turning into a death spiral because you can spend resolve points to ignore the effects of your critical injuries for a round or remove a single level of condition that is afflicting you. A fate point will keep you in the game if you die. A fortune point will let you re-roll that terrible attack that sees the enemy roll 05 and you roll 95. If of course you have any metacurrency left.

 

[Crusadius]

It’s interesting with crits. The game has the reputation for being so deadly that you lose an hand or leg or get a lobotomy. But I find crit table rolls are relatively rare.

1st Edition had the “Additional Damage” rule. When any creature rolled a 6 on the D6 damage roll, WS was rolled again and if successful another D6 was rolled to add to damage. If this roll was a 6, you then just rolled another D6 etc.

I think it’s this that helped give the game a reputation for being deadly. Just one creature had to get lucky and the mightiest character could be laid low.