D&D 4E Warhammer fantasy 4E D&D - Proposed House Rules?

[Emirikol]

Since I've burned out on FR, GH, ebb, and whatnot. I've been searching for a new world that I can start 4E in. I've settled on the Warhammer Fantasy RPG Old World. I think it's one heck of a game world (without the rules). There's nothing in the d10 rules that the D&D rules don't do just as well, which surprised me when I read the book the other day.

Other than house ruling the curse on wizards and divine spellcasters as a 1 on a d20 roll and requiring a "profession" for role-playing, I don't see much for hangups. Other stuff like schools of magic can be winged (or done away with in rule form actually for as far as I'm concerned).

It seems it will fit very well with 4E D&D's "points of light" concept..and probably better than our current options.

Thoughts on 4e HOUSE RULES?

Here're the world and regional maps btw:
http://uk.games-workshop.com/warhammer/wallpapers/images/6-1024x768.jpg

http://nexusx.wanadooadsl.net/ayudas/Warhammer_World_Map.jpg

jh

 

[Pozatronic]

Make it so!

And as your so making it, let us know how it's going. This is something I wanted to do waaaaaaay back in the 2e days, although I only thought about it for a week or so. I especially like the idea of giving the PC's professions.

Also, if a new world is something you're looking for, have you glanced at any of the Paizo products. The Pathfinder monthly is all taking place in a part of their world (Golarion) called Varisia. The Gamemastery products are all over the place world wise, I'm lead to believe (I don't actually own any of them). The gazetteer will be out next month, but the Campaign setting hardcover won't be out till later in the year. Just FYI.

Other than these comments I have nothing to offer.

 

[Vradna]

Since I've burned out on FR, GH, ebb, and whatnot. I've been searching for a new world that I can start 4E in. I've settled on the Warhammer Fantasy RPG Old World. I think it's one heck of a game world (without the rules). There's nothing in the d10 rules that the D&D rules don't do just as well, which surprised me when I read the book the other day.

Other than house ruling the curse on wizards and divine spellcasters as a 1 on a d20 roll and requiring a "profession" for role-playing, I don't see much for hangups. Other stuff like schools of magic can be winged (or done away with in rule form actually for as far as I'm concerned).

It seems it will fit very well with 4E D&D's "points of light" concept..and probably better than our current options.

Thoughts?

Here're the world and regional maps btw:
http://uk.games-workshop.com/warhammer/wallpapers/images/6-1024x768.jpg

http://nexusx.wanadooadsl.net/ayudas/Warhammer_World_Map.jpg

jh

If you can lay your hands on Warhammer Quest Boardgame, the GMs booklet has some handy maps of the world as well. If you look on the internet carefully enough, you may find a PDF.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I suppose Dragonborn will make pretty good Lizardmen.

Though you'd need to create a skink sub-species.

Or just not bother with those sort of exotic elements of the Old World at all.

 

[Emirikol]

Things like Slann, Saurus and Skinks should be easy enough with simple bump of a standard lizard man's stats. The players are never going to see those numbers (just like in a regular D&D game) so it shouldn't matter much. I think those exotics are what will make the world interesting and bumping a few stats up/down are a fun and easy way to make it work.

I"m hoping the 4.0 system will be as easy to do this as it is in 3.x

jh

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

The thing is:

I would love to play a skink or saurus, or even better a skink priest and an Oldblood Saurus as a matched set.

The way they describe the psychology of the Lizardmen is just really interesting to me, and I like the way they reverse the tropes of New World vs. Old World where the Lizardmen are way more advanced than everyone else they're just utterly alien, largely disinterested, and slowly collapsing.

And I like the way they describe the caste system of the Lizardmen with each caste, save perhaps for the rapidly generalizing skinks, getting an intelligence, personality, and memory system unique for its role and its body.

Roaming around playing one or a couple as adventurers who are heroes by the song in their blood and the blessing in their spawning rather than as choices made or obligations to be fulfilled? It just seems cool and novel.

 

[Mortellan]

Coincidentally WHFRP is an option on my table instead of switching to 4e. I agree that WHF is a good setting for PoL and I wouldn't be surprised if the desigers were awfully familiar with GW's fluff. But anyhoo, I like the WHFRP d10 system for its simplicity in that it already does what D&D constantly strives for. Plus its brutally unforgiving combatwise whereas D&D is too coddling to PCs.

 

[Frostmarrow]

One thing to remember though is that magic-users in WFRP are really really lousy. That's part of the charm. However, if you just substitute warhammer wizards for D&D wizards then the wizards of the game will be magnitudes better and infinitely more useful. You might want to keep the Warhammer spells (and colours) and tie their difficulty to spell level somehow.

Don't bother porting Fate points. They are just extra lives patched on a broken combat system. Sure, WFRP is deadly, too deadly, but that doesn't count since PCs have extra lives. While you have Fate points you cannot die.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I don't know, I think one of the attractions of Warhammer is that the fluff + many game systems give you a lot of options about where you want to put the power level.

WHFRP is just one way to describe the setting and between it and the miniatures game, blood bowl, and various computer games I don't think you have to put in things like professions, weak casters, or super deadly combat at all.

All of those are cool, but they're just one way to interpret the setting systems wise.

On the other hand you have things like heroes of a 1,000 battles, wizards who can level mountains, and dragon riding generals who can face whole divisions of battle.

And both of those use the same fluff and both do a pretty good job of preserving the grim feel from very different gamist perspectives.

On that spectrum I think it's perfectly possible to just put bog standard DnD rules in as just one more system playing with that fluff.

 

[Witchfinder General]

I ran a 3E campaign in the Old World. This was set in the Empire during the Age of the Three Emperors, with civil war and lots of opportunities for mercenary action. The adventures were mostly inspired by Mordheim, the Thirty Years War and of course sinister Chaos plots. Great fun!

Such a campaign would probably work better in 4E, since the rules allows for all martial heroes and there is less depency on magic items. Of course, if I go back to the Old World, I may use WFRP2 rather than D&D, but that edition was not available when I ran my campaign.

In the end, it is the fluff that matters, and not the rules.

Edit: I agree that the Old World is an excellent PoL setting.