Wahammer RPG

[Stone Dog]

I actually liked the random career paths.

Me too. My favorite character was a ratcatcher. He worked damn hard to become a druid and actually managed to keep the mongrel terrier alive for most of the game. The little thing got eaten by a skaven just before the final test to become a full fledged druid. He doesn't remember what happened after that, but he was told that he walked back into the sacred grove half dead with a bag of skaven heads.

 

[Jonny Nexus]

My FLGS still has a copy of the WFRPG and Enemy Within and I was thinking of getting them after all I have heard about them but I haven't decided yet because I want to know what is so great about Warhammer FRPG. Can you guys break it down for me, how does the system work etc? How does it stack compared to Arcana Unearthed (my favourite fantasy game of all time) and how does it compare to D&D or Earthdawn?

Well my gaming group played through the whole of The Enemy Within - with a few detours for Dying of the Light and the Doomstones - and we loved it. I actually ended up writing a few (not particularly serious, and not necessarily relevent either) articles about our experiences, and also managed to get a very funny reply to my first article from James Wallis (boss of Hogshead, who were then publishing WFRP).

How James Wallis Ruined My Character's Life (Warning:- Some very minor spoilers to the Enemy Within Campaign)

James Wallis Replies

Wolfgang's Guide To Screwing Your Fellow PCs

Semi-Sentient Bipedal Pack Animals

 

[ruemere]

Well my gaming group played through the whole of The Enemy Within - with a few detours for Dying of the Light and the Doomstones - and we loved it. I actually ended up writing a few (not particularly serious, and not necessarily relevent either) articles about our experiences, and also managed to get a very funny reply to my first article from James Wallis (boss of Hogshead, who were then publishing WFRP).

Beautiful.

My campaign lasted 3.5 years, the characters grew in strength until, on a certain fateful day one of them, a Wardancer Elf, has faced a Keeper of Secrets (the rest of the party were banding on the door trying to come to the rescue) in a altar chamber of Castle Drachenfels. On that fateful day the Elf singlehandedly defeated a Greater Demon.

Once it happened, I knew I had to end the campaign with a bang, because there was nothing short of total armageddon I could threw at them. And I would not have done it because that would have spoilt the game. So I have devised a sect of decadent aristocrats (a few of them had had a few problem with the characters before). And a fortress. And a private army. And a few nasty Dark Elf priests. And a return of Witch King in a middle of the Empire (along with a new gate to Chaos opening).

But first I had to build the tension (and make them visit the place of their own free will, and have them arrive late enough for the excrements to hit their plates... sorry). And let them rest for a few sessions. Castle Drachenfels proved to be very challenging (though managed to contain Mr Drachenfels himself... barely, of course, only because they had a few allies).

So when the time came, they were hunted by legitimate forces of Empire. Wanted by most authorities (nothing like a nice aristocrat to frame a PC) for various crimes. Oh, and they met a witch hunter, who wanted to interrogate them a bit about certain past transgressions.

There was nothing left for them to do. Except to try something noble, stupid and deadly by themselves (when you are a Mercenary Captain, the "You and what army?" query may receive a positive response). Out of fate points and friends, with almost no resources and no one to help them (who'd believe that a gate to chaos could open on their doorstep?), they went in... They came too late. The witch hunter believed them... too late. They tried to kill Witch King... they could not (the guy was a part of the gate, and as such, all attacks passed through him straight into chaos).

And so they died. One by one. Each one sacrificing in order for the others to survive a few seconds longer. The wardancer, for example, has thrown himself into raw chaos in order to try to catch a sword flying through midair (the sword was the only thing which could kill Mr Gate). And he did it. And then he disappeared.

Two characters (out of eight) lived. One, who finally managed to slay with the sword the Witch Hunter. And the one who shielded the slayer with his one body. And, possibly, the witch hunter, now a fine stone statue.

Regards,
Ruemere

PS. The finale lasted 5 months since the preludes (like putting together the pieces of the plot) took some time. Also, the framing (and careful resource wasting) required a few dangerous stories to tell.

PS.II. I have never GMed any of the Enemy Within scenarios as another of the GMs in our club already did it. However, the fashion tips, maps, loose ends, NPCs from the original sourcebooks helped a lot.

 

[Testament]

I'm just hoping for a few things in the new WHFRP book:

1. The 4 True Gods of Chaos. I wants me my Tzeentch and Slaanesh. Their Greater Daemons as well. I will burn every copy of the book I find if there's nothing on The Prince of Chaos and the Changer of The Ways.
2. More Skaven! I loves me my Ratties.
3. Lizard Men done properly, as they are in WHFB. Same goes for all races.
4. No Zoats or Fimirs. Especially not the Zoats.

Basically, I want the fluff and aesthetic brought more or less up to date with the current storyline in WHFB. Around the end of "Dark Shadows" or so will suffice.

Oh, and less John Blanche artwork and more from say Kev Walker and his ilk.

 

[Warp Demon]

What I meant is that the randomness of the starting career is a very minor annoyance. You're stuck with a career you don't like - for, what, the first adventure?

QUOTE]

Actually the book states that this is an optional rule for enexperienced players and GMs. If the players and the GM want, they can choose freely from the list.

 

[pogre]

I'm just hoping for a few things in the new WHFRP book:

1. The 4 True Gods of Chaos. I wants me my Tzeentch and Slaanesh. Their Greater Daemons as well. I will burn every copy of the book I find if there's nothing on The Prince of Chaos and the Changer of The Ways.
2. More Skaven! I loves me my Ratties.
3. Lizard Men done properly, as they are in WHFB. Same goes for all races.
4. No Zoats or Fimirs. Especially not the Zoats.

Basically, I want the fluff and aesthetic brought more or less up to date with the current storyline in WHFB. Around the end of "Dark Shadows" or so will suffice.

Oh, and less John Blanche artwork and more from say Kev Walker and his ilk.

Good lord friend! What are you saying? Leave those new-fangled ideas to the folks with buckets of 6-siders.

You do realize Slaanesh and Tzeentch were invented after the release of the original WFRP - right? BTW the Realms of Chaos tomes more than covered these two including stats for WFRP.

No Fimirs! No Zoats! Blasphemy!

Lizardmen are the slaves of the ancient Slaan, end of story.

Blanchitsu is the king of chaos illustrations - he is the Warhammer Atmosphere.

I guess I disagree with all of your points eh?

 

[frankthedm]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GREEN RONIN TO DEVELOP RPGS FOR BL PUBLISHING

April 30, 2004—Seattle, WA: Green Ronin Publishing is proud to announce that it has concluded a deal to design and develop roleplaying games for BL Publishing, a subsidiary of Games Workshop. Green Ronin has been named exclusive RPG developer for Games Workshop's intellectual properties, including Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. The games will be published by Black Industries, the new RPG imprint of BL Publishing. Work has already begun on a new edition of the classic Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play game.

"Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 are two of the best properties in gaming," says Green Ronin's President Chris Pramas, "and they deserve top quality RPG treatment. We are honored to be working with BL Publishing to make these games a reality."

Pramas, winner of multiple Origins and ENnie Awards for his design work, is no stranger to the worlds of Warhammer. He contributed several Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 short stories to Inferno magazine, and wrote for the previous edition of Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play. "Designing the new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play will, in many ways, be the culmination of my career as a game designer," adds Pramas.

"I am delighted to announce this new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play," says Simon Butler, head of Black Industries, "and in Green Ronin we have a developer who shares both our passion for the world of Warhammer, and our commitment to producing innovative and immensely enjoyable roleplaying games of the very highest quality."

Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play, 2nd edition, is scheduled for Spring, 2005. Games based on other Games Workshop properties, as well as major licensed products, are also in development.

Games Workshop, Warhammer, and Warhammer 40,000 are trademarks of Games Workshop Ltd registered in the UK and elsewhere in the world.

Company Information:

Green Ronin Publishing was founded in 2000 by game industry veterans Chris Pramas, Nicole Lindroos, and Hal Mangold. The company has published over 50 books since then, establishing a reputation for innovation and quality that is second to none in the RPG industry. Its award-winning products include Mutants & Masterminds, Book of the Righteous, and Freeport: The City of Adventure. Point your browser to www.greenronin.com for more info.

Green Ronin Media Contact:
Nicole Lindroos
nicole@greenronin.com

here is an old FAQ about the hog's head version. Seemed at the time GW was keen on ALL new releases having the CURRENT WarHammer fluff. I have a hunch that may be required by the new devil's contract Green Ronin signed to get WHFRP.

3. What is Hogshead Publishing, and what WFRP material will they publish?
Hogshead Publishing is a British games company. WFRP is the company's major product line, but it also publishes a roleplaying journal called Interactive Fantasy. They also publish the FRUP roleplaying game. James Wallis, director of Hogshead, is happy to answer questions from eager WFRP-players, and he may be reached at this e-mail adress: wfrp@hogshead.demon.co.uk

There have been several changes to Games Workshop's Warhammer World since the dissolvment of Flame Publications. With the new fourth edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, major changes to the Warhammer World were made. In the first Warhammer Armies book, Emperor Karl Franz has been called "the greatest statesman in the Old World", which is far from the truth as told in The Enemy Within, where Karl Franz has been elected Emperor because he is "(...) unambitious and the safest bet for the continuation of their (ed. the Provincial Electors) own privileges.

The Warhammer world now appears in three games - WFRP, WFB, and Warhammer Quest - as well as in novels and computer games. Games Workshop is trying to make sure that all Warhammer products have a consistent background; meaning the WFB4 background. While Hogshead has the right to reprint any previously published WFRP material in its original form, any new material it produces must be compatible with the WFB4 background.

In practice, that means that Hogshead won't be publishing anything that contradicts the WFB4 background, but at the same time it won't be changing any part of the existing WFRP background or rules. Future releases will simply steer clear of any areas of incompatibility between WFRP and WFB4, such as the emperor Karl-Franz, the Hobgoblin Hegemony, the existence of the Slann, or the renegade Chaos-God Malal.

The terms of Hogshead's licence also means that it cannot describe parts of the Warhammer world unless it has already been documented or described by Games Workshop. Anyone awaiting books set in Tilea, Norsca, Albion, Lustria, Nippon or Araby may therefore have a long wait. On the other hand, as soon as Games Workshop's long-awaited Bretonnian Armies book is published for WFB4, Hogshead can immediately start work on background books and adventures set in Bretonnia.

To be safe i picked up the hog's head WHFRP at the fox valley mall's Gamer's paradise today. All warhammer stuff was 40% off and the clerks saw the games workshop logo on the book. They had the second and third Enemy within books, but i decided against those two.

This way i have a copy incase there are too many changes to the upcoming edition or the book is at a higher retail price point than i am willing to pay

 

[Testament]

Good lord friend! What are you saying? Leave those new-fangled ideas to the folks with buckets of 6-siders.

Are they not a valid part of the Warhammer story though?

You do realize Slaanesh and Tzeentch were invented after the release of the original WFRP - right? BTW the Realms of Chaos tomes more than covered these two including stats for WFRP.

Yeah, I am aware of that, but not all of us are old enough to have access to those hallowed tomes. Or have enough money to get them off of E-Bay.

No Fimirs! No Zoats! Blasphemy!

I hope you're kidding on the Zoats. What in the heck were they supposed to be?! Fimirs I can live with, I think they're pretty interesting and could have been taken further.

Lizardmen are the slaves of the ancient Slaan, end of story.

Still are. They've just been developed more.

Blanchitsu is the king of chaos illustrations - he is the Warhammer Atmosphere.

I guess I disagree with all of your points eh?

I like some of his work, his concept art and the like for =][=nquisitor was brilliant. Some of it way too heavy on the line work. I'm not saying cut his work altogether, but leave illustrations of monsters and the like for the crunchy parts of the book to artsists who can show it CLEARLY.

Let him go sick on the magic and Chaos sections of the book though. I agree that he's the king of Chaos illustrations.

 

[pogre]

Testament,

I was just playing the role of the old gaming fart than I am .

Honestly, I think newer Warhammer fans and us old ones alike are going to embrace the new edition when we all see it. I'll say it again - Chris P. and the gang did a nice job.

take care,

pogre

 

[the Jester]

tell me more.

how much damage does a troll do with their acid vomit, Is it an area [cone or line] or a range touch?

Have never actually met a troll in this campaign. I suspect it would be a standard dnd troll for convenience, but the WFRP beasties are out there- we've fought skaven more than once, and we're always meeting weird chaos-warped versions of creatures. Good times!

As to how much WFRP stuff is in the campaign, I'd say that the flavor is pretty darn close to that of Warhammer proper. I'm much less familiar with the mechanics, but we've found techie stuff once or twice (sometimes melded into an enemy's form).

gots a link to that enemy within conversion?

Dude, I ain't the dm of that game! I'm just a lowly pc trying to stay alive! I don't even know if the dm has converted it all on paper or if he mostly wings it as he goes along- I suspect somewhere in between. But the dm in question is omrob, who hangs out here once in a while, so you might get the chance to ask him about it one of these days...

Actually, we just played the campaign again for the first time since 3.5 came out- I was overjoyed to do so, too! It's one of the only dnd games I've played in with a higher fatality rate than mine, but everyone seems to love it (sucks to die three games in a row, but hey, what can you do... and if you're lucky, the next pc lasts a while.)