I recently purchased the 2nd Ed WFRP core rulebook (in large part due to the praises being sung in this thread) and am in the process of learning the game in order to run it while the majority of my D&D players are away at school. There is one thing that I cannot figure out, though... How do I judge what is a easy/moderate/challenging/sure death encounter for the PCs?
Experience in GMing the game. Unfortunately, there are no CR or Challenge Level guidelines.
General things to consider about combats in Warhammer (I never DMed Warhammer, so others might be able to give you more specific advice.)
- Characters get one parry and one dodge roll per round. Superior numbers hurt a lot.
- Keep the hit/parry percentiles of the PCs in mind. You can "guesstimate" them usually, they start around 31 and go up around 10 points per career finished. But the more advances you have, the more divergence is possible, so it's a good idea to just check the stats.
- Consider the armor available to the PCs. This can and will stay divergent, so don't base things on the toughest PC - mix your enemies so that only few have a chance to easily go through the PCs armor and toughness bonus.
You could try "experimenting" a little - if you think a fight is too easy, add more combatants, if they are to hard, add some allies. (Nice if they have been established as in the area, but also a potential plot hook.) For example, you could have your first combat set up with a group of other adventuring heroes or imperial military in mind that can enter combat. If you see it's going well for the PCs, these just arrive as the last monster is dispatched. If it's tough, they arrive earlier. If it's too easy, have support for the enemies come in, possibly mixed with the appearance of the PCs allies.
