So... what about WFRP?

[Grazzt]

In D&D, you save the world and end up an epic hero, loved by Kings and dripping with jewels and magic items. In WFRP, you save the world and end up dying alone. In a ditch. Eaten by rats.

And it's fun!

That about sums it up. Very well put PC. And I agree with ya. Also agree with the points Henry made above.

 

[shilsen]

Reading Henry's post reminded me of a comparison I heard once. In D&D, you save the world and end up an epic hero, loved by Kings and dripping with jewels and magic items. In WFRP, you save the world and end up dying alone. In a ditch. Eaten by rats.

And it's fun!

I remember that comparison too, though I have no idea where it's from. I do have to say, however, that my experience of WFRP just doesn't fit it, or some of the other things I've heard about how deadly it is. Admittedly I only started playing about six months ago, and only PbP, so that might change the perception somewhat. But I'm in three games (two with one DM and a third with another) and running one, and while WFRP combat seems deadlier than in D&D, it's not appreciably so. I haven't had a single PC even go unconscious, and I don't think a single PC in any of the three games I'm in has ever lost a Fate Point to stay alive. Admittedly the game I run seems deadlier than the others, with PCs regularly going down and one guy having lost a Fate Point recently to survive an attack that would have killed him.

In short, maybe the quoted description was true of WFRP 1e, but I think it's not that accurate about 2e. I'm curious to hear if other people's experiences bear that out or not.

 

[Piratecat]

I haven't had a single PC even go unconscious, and I don't think a single PC in any of the three games I'm in has ever lost a Fate Point to stay alive.

Wow! I ran a one-shot several times, and fate points were the only thing that kept PCs alive and whole.

 

[pawsplay]

Admittedly I only started playing about six months ago,

Give it time. People will start losing limbs at some point. The last time I played, one of the PCs ended up literally as a one-armed bandit.

 

[shilsen]

Wow! I ran a one-shot several times, and fate points were the only thing that kept PCs alive and whole.

Were they fate points (the ones that don't reset) or fortune points (which you regain daily)? I've found the latter come in very handy, but the former rarely come into play.

Give it time. People will start losing limbs at some point. The last time I played, one of the PCs ended up literally as a one-armed bandit.

I've noticed that the crit charts only have a couple of places (2 out of 10 each on the arms and legs charts) where that's possible, and each is avoidable with a successful Toughness check (which you can spend a fortune point to reroll).

Maybe the DMs I'm playing with are just nicer guys than the norm, because - as I noted above - I do find combat to be much deadlier in the game I run. Part of it may also be because one game has PCs already well into their 3rd career, with one PC in his 4th. When you have a dwarf champion who has a 85% chance of hitting, makes 3 attacks a round, does 1d10+6 damage (rolling 1d10 twice and taking the better roll each time) and has combined toughness/armor points of 12, it's hard to hurt him, even in WFRP.

 

[Numion]

In short, maybe the quoted description was true of WFRP 1e, but I think it's not that accurate about 2e. I'm curious to hear if other people's experiences bear that out or not.

My experience with 1E is that while deadly, it's not overtly so. I DMed the definite WFRP campaign, The Enemy Within, and there were some deaths, but not too many. Fate points are lost at some rate, but they can also be gained by accomplishing something. (If you believed everything you read about WFRPs lethality, playing campaigns would be impossible. However, The Enemy Within is just about the best campaign ever written, IMHO (up until Kislev part, which was crap).)

In fact, it wasn't usually the damage that did PCs in, but the insanities. One part of the campaign was made really hard because the groups wizard (pretty accomplished by WFRP standards) suffered from amnesia, forgetting all his magical skills in the process. He started a new career as a herbalist, and he wasn't cured until 10 sessions later (by a blow to the head, I think).

It wasn't easy to cure wounds in 1E, but curing insanities was even more difficult. So when you got hit with something nasty, it could wreck a character. But they made for really great RPing. I still wonder how such a dysfunctional group of madmen ever saved Middenheim..

 

[shilsen]

I still wonder how such a dysfunctional group of madmen ever saved...

Isn't that what we wonder about every D&D group of PCs?

 

[Numion]

Isn't that what we wonder about every D&D group of PCs?

There's a difference between obsessive killing and stealing, and genuine mental disorders .. oh, crap, no there isn't

 

[Parlan]

Were they fate points (the ones that don't reset) or fortune points (which you regain daily)? I've found the latter come in very handy, but the former rarely come into play.

I guess we have different players. Mine are like, "A Black Orc Chieftan surrounded by Orc underlings? I charge them... ...*alone*!!"

He hits once. An ork mook got Ulric's Fury-- confirmed and rolled two more 10's. PC was looking at 43 points of damage.

They go through a *lot* of Fate Points!!!

Gawd I love my players!

 

[Wik]

Yeah, I have a feeling my group is gonna get eaten alive. After rolling a few PCs, to get an idea of the CharGen process, only one character wound up being any "good" - an Elven Kithband Warrior that had a Bow Skill of over 50% and some pretty good other abilities.

I think our group would try to enter fights, and just die, Die, DIE! Which, I think, could actually be a lot of fun. Call of Cthulu d20 went over very well with my group. Though I imagine I'll be tweaking the rules a lot to fit my style- which is also pretty cool.

I'm picking up the bestiary next pay day, and then the magic book payday after that. I decided to cancel my Pathfinder Sub in favour of this (not that Paizo is bad... it's the postal service... I have to call them each and every issue to browbeat them into sending the danged thing, and I hate that!).