Warhammer Fantasy vs. 40k roleplaying
- Thread starter daddystabz
- Start date
Obryn
Hero
Personally, I'd go with WFRP - but that's just personal preference.
I think the Dark Heresy setting is pretty awesome, but it's a much more constrained game than WFRP is. If you don't want to play an Inquisitor, there frankly isn't much for you to do.
The rules are quite simple - simpler than either 3e or 4e, by far.
-O
I think the Dark Heresy setting is pretty awesome, but it's a much more constrained game than WFRP is. If you don't want to play an Inquisitor, there frankly isn't much for you to do.
The rules are quite simple - simpler than either 3e or 4e, by far.
-O
daddystabz
Explorer
There is a wonderful website dedicated to Dark Heresy with downloadable adventures, GM tools, rules, etc. for the game by the community. I downloaded a 73 pg set of rules for playing SPACE MARINES!! It is professional quality and has the full career paths and everything. I am amazed. I plan on running a Space Marine campaign with it now instead of the default Inquisitor-Acolyte campaign inherent in the core rulebook.
One difference we didn't note until we'd already played through most of a fight was that you didn't "yo-yo" back up to 0 wounds after each hit the way you do in WFRP. This meant that we first thought you were almost unkillable - sure, you got lots of fatigue points and was out of the fight, but you weren't dead. Then I read the rules a bit closer and didn't see anything about treating each crit as its own thing, and realized that my character was WAY dead.
Or did they remove that rule from WFRP 2nd ed as well? (Edit: Checking the books, I see that they did not)
Or did they remove that rule from WFRP 2nd ed as well? (Edit: Checking the books, I see that they did not)
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jdrakeh
Front Range Warlock
FWIW, I just finished playing in a Dark Heresy game and liked it a lot — though there was one initial complaint shared by nearly all of the players. You ostensibly play competent members of an Inquisitorial retinue but the rules don't really support that premise out of the gate.
I think the problem is that the rules are a little too closely tied to WFRPG in that regard and that what works in fantasy games (i.e., beginning the heroic journey as little more than normal folks just off the farm) doesn't work well at all in what is supposed to be a game centered around elite papal soldiers in service to some of the most feared people in the universe.
We found that the 'fun' factor increased a great deal once we all had about three advances under our belts and we collectively decided that the next time we played Dark Heresy, we would probably be starting all of the PCs at that level of skill to avoid several weeks worth of failed rolls (we failed rolls so frequently at the beginning of our campaign that it felt almost like slapstick satire and, appropriately, spawned many jokes to that effect).
I think the problem is that the rules are a little too closely tied to WFRPG in that regard and that what works in fantasy games (i.e., beginning the heroic journey as little more than normal folks just off the farm) doesn't work well at all in what is supposed to be a game centered around elite papal soldiers in service to some of the most feared people in the universe.
We found that the 'fun' factor increased a great deal once we all had about three advances under our belts and we collectively decided that the next time we played Dark Heresy, we would probably be starting all of the PCs at that level of skill to avoid several weeks worth of failed rolls (we failed rolls so frequently at the beginning of our campaign that it felt almost like slapstick satire and, appropriately, spawned many jokes to that effect).
A bit more clarification of what I meant about the damage systems above. Let's say you have 3 wounds left, and then get hit in the arm for 5 wounds after armor and such.
In WFRP, you would be at 0 Wounds, and roll a d100 on the critical table with a Critical Value of 2 (for going 2 over your Wounds). This would give a Critical Effect of 2 to 7, which you would then look up on the Arm critical table. This would lead to a variety of results, ranging from just being unable to use your arm for a round, to turning your hand into a bloody mess that might never be usable again and having a 20% chance of dying from blood loss each round.
In Dark Heresy, you'd just look up the "-2" result on the arm critical damage table, which probably isn't all that bad (I don't have the table here to check).
Now, let's say you get a second hit for 3 points of post-armor damage. In WFRP, you never go below 0 Wounds, so you'd treat that as a new injury, rolling with a critical value of 3 (for 3 points left after your Wounds are gone). In Dark Heresy, however, you'd keep going lower, so you would check the critical tables for a value of -5.
In WFRP, you would be at 0 Wounds, and roll a d100 on the critical table with a Critical Value of 2 (for going 2 over your Wounds). This would give a Critical Effect of 2 to 7, which you would then look up on the Arm critical table. This would lead to a variety of results, ranging from just being unable to use your arm for a round, to turning your hand into a bloody mess that might never be usable again and having a 20% chance of dying from blood loss each round.
In Dark Heresy, you'd just look up the "-2" result on the arm critical damage table, which probably isn't all that bad (I don't have the table here to check).
Now, let's say you get a second hit for 3 points of post-armor damage. In WFRP, you never go below 0 Wounds, so you'd treat that as a new injury, rolling with a critical value of 3 (for 3 points left after your Wounds are gone). In Dark Heresy, however, you'd keep going lower, so you would check the critical tables for a value of -5.
I feel the need to reiterate that these critical charts are the greatest charts in the history of awesome charts.
You will start finding ways to try and encorporate these charts into other games, they're so awesome. I mean, let's look at the last two critical effects for energy attacks to the head.
9) Superheated by the attack, the target's brain explodes, tearing apart his skull and sending flaming chunks of meat at those nearby. The target is no more.
10) As above, except the target's body catches on fire and runs off headless 2d10 meters in a random direction (use the Scatter Diagram on page 196). Anything flammable it passes, including characters, must make an Agility Test or catch fire (see Special Damage).
How many games lets you run around headless and covered in flames, lighting your team mates on fire? Huh?
You will start finding ways to try and encorporate these charts into other games, they're so awesome. I mean, let's look at the last two critical effects for energy attacks to the head.
9) Superheated by the attack, the target's brain explodes, tearing apart his skull and sending flaming chunks of meat at those nearby. The target is no more.
10) As above, except the target's body catches on fire and runs off headless 2d10 meters in a random direction (use the Scatter Diagram on page 196). Anything flammable it passes, including characters, must make an Agility Test or catch fire (see Special Damage).
How many games lets you run around headless and covered in flames, lighting your team mates on fire? Huh?
Fallen Seraph
First Post
LMAO! Now that is pretty awesome.
Raven Swords
First Post
Do you have a link to this site?
Jürgen Hubert
First Post
The charts in WFRP 1E came pretty close, though. The ones in WFRP 2E were a bit of a letdown, despite the other mechanical improvements in the game...
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