Some Dude
Explorer
THIS READ-THROUGH/REVIEW IS FOR THE ZWEIHANDER REVISED CORE RULEBOOK, BY ANDREWS MCMEEL UNIVERSAL PUBLISHING.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I WAS SENT A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK BY ITS AUTHOR.
OK, now that we have that out in the open, let me just say that this Let's Read/Review/Commentary (and it will be all three, though mainly it's a read-through) will be impartial and honest.That is all that has been asked, and that is what shall be delivered. I will have no problem dogging this out if it sucks, calling out some goofy rules in an otherwise decent game (some of my favorite games may well fall into this category), or even praising Zweihander, if it tickles my fancy.
I've heard of this game, obviously, I mean who hasn't, but I have no real familiarity with it, its fluff, or its mechanics. I'm also not familiar with its predecessor/inspiration/forebearer, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Heard of both, never played either. It's possible that I have skimmed a WFRP book at some point, but if I have, I don't remember. Most reviews I have seen for Zweihander make comparisons between the two. I'm hoping to offer more of an "outsider" perspective. To come into it blind, as it were.
A little bit about me - not because I'm interesting, but because it helps to understand a reviewer or critic's frame of reference. I am not a professional writer, which will be painfully obvious by the time this is done. I'm old enough to remember listening to Thin Lizzy on 8-track. Played B/X D&D, and later AD&D 1e, starting in the 80s. Never even tried subsequent editions unless you count 3.5-descended stuff like Castles & Crusades. I like Tolkienesque high fantasy just fine. But, I do find world-hangs-in-the-balance plotlines a bit tedious, so I prefer the smaller, earthier tales of Lieber. I have played a lot of different games over the years, from Classic Traveller to Icons. Though I've never been a fan of heavy crunch, I'm also not usually a fan of "narrative" systems. There have been exceptions (1st edition Over the Edge, for example). I have a vague sweet spot of just enough rules to make the system "matter", and to give it its own identity, without bogging it down or making it an exercise in corporate accounting. I'm kind of lazy, and will usually run "off the rack" adventures, though sometimes heavily modified (I write my own once in a blue moon, but I need to really be inspired by an idea for that). These days I prefer older, self-contained systems (i.e., I only wanna buy one book if possible) or retroclones, ideally with rulebooks that are less than a hundred pages in length. I'm also a cheapass who tends to buy used or PDF, because of price. Currently running Marvel Super Heroes for a group of kids, and Labyrinth Lord for some of neophyte twentysomethings who expressed an interest in roleplaying. So, in many ways, it may seem that Zweihander is extremely not my jam. Will it win me over? I dunno, but we're gonna find out!
PHYSICAL PRESENTATION
Before I get into the meat of the book, I want to take a moment to discuss its, er... buns. Despite my preference for slim, cheap volumes, I have to say, this is a really neat book. It looks and feels great. It is, however, almost comically heavy. I passed it around among my family earlier this evening, and they were all a little shocked and/or bemused at how heavy it was. It's not like lifting a bag of cement or anything, but it's over 5 pounds. That's a big Twinkie.
The binding, paper quality and other elements of construction are all top notch. Admittedly, I don't know much about book binding, but Zweihander looks and feels very well put together. The pages are bound to a sort of "hinge" inside (a sewn section binding,I think), that flexes when the book is opened. It seems like it would last a lot longer than some of the other hardcovers I have for, say, Castles & Crusades or D&D, where the pages seem to be more firmly affixed directly to the inside of the spine, and thus more prone to stress. I don't really know how it would compare to other games' core books, like Pathfinder or Starfinder, maybe someone reading this will know.
The cover of the book doesn't have the glossy coating usually seen on hardbound RPGs. It seems to have some kind of matte finish. I'm not sure why this approach was taken, but I'm of two minds about it. On the one hand, it gives the book a nice, muted look, which suits the book. This finish also imparts a hand-comfortable, almost non-slip feel. It doesn't seem slick or slimy, even after you've been holding it in sweating hands for a while. On the other hand, it seems that without an extra layer of plastic sheeting or whatever it is that's typically used, the book may be more prone to scratches. Mine arrived with a couple of minor scuffs that appear to have occurred during shipping (UPS, by the way). Now, none of these marks are very bad, in fact, they wouldn't necessarily have kept me from buying the book, if I had done so. But it does seem to me that this book may show signs of wear sooner than it would if a more conventional finish had been chosen. Maybe I'm wrong. But, just picking it up and putting it down, or putting on/taking it back off my bookshelf seem to be adding small abrasions. Then again, Zweihander seems to be more Denali than Escalade. It's meant to be driven. In any case, I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it, as the book is extremely sturdy overall. I just don't want to leave any stones unturned in this read-through.
The cover depicts four very dour-looking human adventurers standing in front of a veritable wall of spears, as smoke rises in the background. Though these people differ in appearance and apparent age, each has a grim look in their eyes. They also bear scars. The message here seems to be that no one gets out unscathed, and glory has its price. These people remind me more of characters from the movie Queen Margot than of characters from The Fellowship of the Ring. The color scheme is a mixture of brown, black and red, and the overall effect is that of a portrait painted with blood that has long since dried. Not a very dynamic picture, but it sets a mood.
Inside the book there are red endpapers framing 669 dense-looking pages, nearly every one framed with a full-page border. I imagine that if Mad Magazine's Sergio Aragones sold his soul to the devil, the result would look something like this. I noticed that the borders connect, and are different on each side. The right side has stonework, armor, and weapons, with neatly framed page headings and numbers. On the left, these neat and tidy elements give way to skulls, mist, half-formed creatures and what appears to be blood, this latter surrounding the header and page number. Order and Chaos, I presume. Because these borders run all the way to the edge of each page, they give the paper a gray color when shut. It's another nice touch.
Inside, Zweihander is laid out two columns per page, in a manner instantly familiar to any gamer.. The text and fonts are clear, but the text seems smaller (a bit too small, IMO) in the tables. I'm old, your mileage may vary on the table-text size. I mean, it makes sense to keep the tables small, it's a huge book already. But for me, reading them is less than comfortable.
The book is largely black & white, with the tables being alternating lines of white and sepia, which really makes them stand out nicely, small print notwithstanding.
It is heavily illustrated throughout, in an old-school, "pencil sketchy" style that I like a lot. There is also a very cool two-page, full-color illo in the middle of the book, which I think was an alternate cover for the Kickstarter version or something (I like it better than the current cover, to be honest). The interior drawings do not seem hastily done, if that makes sense. There is a real sense of careful and deliberate design in this book, from the art to the layout. It's quite dense as well, there isn't a lot of wasted space inside. To me, it stops just short of being "cluttered". There is a consistency of style in the art, and it sets the tone of the game well.
The physical presentation of this book has been much-ballyhooed, often by the author himself. However, in this, he seems to be justified. Zweihander Revised is big, beautiful and well made. But, is its beauty only skin deep? Let's open it up and see...
First, there is a bit of fiction in the form of a monologue, given by one Danziger Eckhart, grizzled veteran and ex-con. He's seen some, er, "stuff". Literally, he tells of men defecating as they die, and of his own bloody, sordid history. He tells of his loss of faith. Faith in the gods, faith in his country, faith in his fellow man. But he also relates three important lessons from the world of Zweihander:
- You can't earn anything in this world
- A man will do anything he has to to survive
- Life is pain and death
Succinct and cynical, as it should be. I don't think this part is bad. It's in-game flavor text. Some people roll their eyes at stuff like this, but I survived the White Wolf 90s, so I ain't bothered. They could have just put these lessons in the introduction, but they did this instead. Doesn't really make much of a difference to me.
Next up are a Designer's Note, which briefly explain the genesis and history of Zweihander, and its journey to the Revised Core Rulebook, along with a stylized drawing of the author. Again, kind of indifferent here. It's informative, I read it, that's it.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
And now we get to the Introduction proper. Here, we find the usual suspects, such as an explanation of what roleplaying games are, and how they are played in a general sense. The roles of player and GM are clarified. But we also get another(of many) reminders that Zweihander has no implied setting (nudge, nudge, wink, wink), and can be set in any gritty, low-fantasy world you choose. There is also another (of many) reminders that Zweihander isn't about beautiful, golden-maned heroes and heroines. No, it's about cynical, hardened people who have done terrible things. People in sweat- and blood-stained finery. Dangerous people, with greasy hair, dirty fingernails, stained teeth and stinky butts.
There follow admonitions to have fun above all, and to navigate the game not only by rolling dice, but by breathing life into your character through your performance of the role. Good stuff all around, even if we've read it all before.
Then comes one of the most hilariously misunderstood passages in the book: a section about "Gender Neutrality". I have seen people post in various places about shutting the book right here, vowing never to play the game. But, if you actually read this paragraph it says that in the examples throughout the book, male characters will be referenced as "he", female characters will be referenced as "she", and characters whose gender has not been stated will be referred to as "they". Uh, yeah. Don't get me wrong, it's obvious that throughout the text that Zweihander is attempting to be inclusive. But I just don't get the hysteria about this particular passage (well, okay, I don't get the hysteria about any of it, but whatevs).
We are again reminded of the lack of implied setting, but told that there are definitely implied "thematic elements". They don't list these elements, but I get the feeling they're referring to violence, cynicism, treachery, evil, corruption and similar "grimdark" stuff. The reader is then encouraged to consider what type of game they specifically wish to play. Several examples are given, outlining some of the different types of adventures one might have using these rules.
CHAPTER 2: HOW TO PLAY
This chapter, all of 9 pages long (not complaining, just relieved) outlines the core Mechanic of Zweihander. But first, we are treated to another picture of the author, and his (I'm assuming real-life) friends playing, I dunno, probably Runequest or something, while over their heads, there is a depiction of the in-game action that is unfolding
The basis of most action in Zweihander is the Skill Test. Characters have Skills, each one related to a Primary Attribute (Combat, Brawn, Agility, etc.). When using a skill, you determine your Base Chance by taking that Skill score (a percentile number) adding Attribute Bonuses and Bonuses conferred by Skill Ranks, these latter in increments of ten percent. Then, take any applicable penalties from your Peril Condition Track, which is a measure of how shaken your character is by their current struggles.There may then be other bonuses from Talents and/or Traits (any of these terms that are unfamiliar will be explained in the next chapter). The total of all bonuses or penalties may never be greater than +30%, or less that -30%. Any excess in either direction is ignored. A further modifier is applied by the GM, called the Difficulty Rating. here are seven possible modifiers, in increments of ten percent, from "Arduous" at -30% to "Trivial" at +30%. After all of these calculations are made, the player rolls percentile dice, hoping to roll [/i]under[/b] their Total Chance For Success. But the order of all this, as I understand it, is as follows:
-Player announces intention. They are now committed.
-GM announces Difficulty Rating. Player is still committed, regardless of the odds. There may be haggling, pleading and the like over the Difficulty Rating, but there is no backing out once the intended action of the player has been stated.
-Ya rolls the dice and ya takes yer chances.
So, a roll-under percentile-based system, got it. Not terribly innovative in and of itself, but tried and true. However, Zweihander has a few tricks up its sleeve.
There are Critical Successes and Failures, which occur when the percentile dice both show the same number. So, if your Total Chance For Success is 62%, and you roll a 55, that's a Critical Success, as is a 33 or 11. If you had rolled a 77 or 99, that would be a Critical Failure. Also, a 1 is always a Critical Success, and a 100 is always a Critical Failure. This seems fun to me, and has a neat internal logic. If you have greater Skill, you are more likely to achieve amazing things. Lesser skill levels are more likely to experience crushing failure. Again, I don't know if this specific part is descended from WFRP or not, but I like the idea.
It is noted that some mundane skills and actions will automatically be successful. There are guidelines for Skill Tests that may take longer. Similarly, there are situations in which taking extra time can increase your Chance of Success. There are suggestions for using one skill to assist another of your skills, for a single 10% bonus, called Skill Synergy.
The rule for Assisted Tests is next. One character can Assist another, while doing nothing else. This allows the player rolling a Skill Test to roll and "Assist Die", or extra "tens" die when making their roll. They must take the lower "tens" die, unless it would result in a Critical Failure (if I'm reading that right). In other words, "assume the best result".
Opposed Tests are handled thusly: Two characters make the appropriate Skill Test roll. This need not be the same Skill for both characters, depending on what is being done by each. For example, to characters may engage in a tug of war, both using Athletics. Or, one character may be attempting to sneak (using the Stealth Skill) past another (using the Awareness Skill). In these cases, a character can prevail by both succeeding at their Skill Test, and generating Degrees of Success equal to their tens die, read as a d10, to the Primary Attribute Bonus. The player with the highest Degree of Success wins. Players who fail the Skill Test generate no degrees of success. Such a contest may be instantaneous (i.e., a single test). Alternately, it may require a certain number of tests be performed, and the total Degrees of Success accrued by each player compared. The GM may also assign a Target Number of Degrees, granting success to the first character to achieve that many Degrees.
Tests may be kept secret, for situations in which the GM is aware of Things The Players Are Not Meant To Know.
Another twist on the die-rolling mechanic is the "Flip". Certain circumstances msy cause you to "Flip To Succeed" or "Flip to Fail". Which means that after rolling, you will "Flip" the tens and ones dice to generate a different result. You will then accept whichever result is better or worse, depending on what kind of "Flip" you are doing. Certain Abilities will allow you to "Flip to Succeed", and attempting a Test in some - but not all- Skills in which you have no Skill Ranks, will cause a "Flip to Fail".
I am not normally a huge fan of games that use "universal mechanics". But I do enjoy a game that uses a single type of roll, and varies the way in which the result is read, interpreted or applied in order to allow for a variety of outcomes (like Task Force Games' original Prime Directive - if you haven't checked it out, you REALLY should). Zweihander seems like such a game.
Moving away from the percentile rolls, the book now discusses the two types of 6-sided dice that are rolled in the game. These are Fury Dice and Chaos Dice. The Fury Die is rolled when dealing damage, and "explodes" upon rolling a 6. The Chaos Die is assigned by the GM during certain situations, and deals some ill circumstance to the player when a 6 is rolled, either immediately or at some later date.
Finally, Zweihander uses a "Fortune Pool", a kind of in-game currency. Not everybody digs this kind of thing. Me, I usually just forget to use it. But there is a twist here. At the beginning of each session, the GM places tokens on the table. 1 for each player, plus 1 extra. These represent Fortune Points, which can be used freely by any player to:
-Re-roll a failed Skill Test (unless it's a Critical Failure)
-Gain an additional Action Point (to be explained later) on their turn
-Cause a Fury or Chaos Die to be read as a 6
However, every time a player spends a Fortune Point, they hand the token to the GM, who now has a "Misfortune Point", that can be used to do the same things listed above, but for NPCs under GM control.
Catching a couple of minor typos and grammatical errors. My general take on that is, if it doesn't interfere with playability (and so far, it doesn't look like it does), I'm not really bothered. But, some people might be. Especially in such a fervently-hyped premium book, which goes for between $40 and $60, depending.
Alright, that's it for now. I'll continue this as soon as I can.
NEXT - CHAPTER 3: CHARACTER CREATION
FULL DISCLOSURE: I WAS SENT A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK BY ITS AUTHOR.
OK, now that we have that out in the open, let me just say that this Let's Read/Review/Commentary (and it will be all three, though mainly it's a read-through) will be impartial and honest.That is all that has been asked, and that is what shall be delivered. I will have no problem dogging this out if it sucks, calling out some goofy rules in an otherwise decent game (some of my favorite games may well fall into this category), or even praising Zweihander, if it tickles my fancy.
I've heard of this game, obviously, I mean who hasn't, but I have no real familiarity with it, its fluff, or its mechanics. I'm also not familiar with its predecessor/inspiration/forebearer, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Heard of both, never played either. It's possible that I have skimmed a WFRP book at some point, but if I have, I don't remember. Most reviews I have seen for Zweihander make comparisons between the two. I'm hoping to offer more of an "outsider" perspective. To come into it blind, as it were.
A little bit about me - not because I'm interesting, but because it helps to understand a reviewer or critic's frame of reference. I am not a professional writer, which will be painfully obvious by the time this is done. I'm old enough to remember listening to Thin Lizzy on 8-track. Played B/X D&D, and later AD&D 1e, starting in the 80s. Never even tried subsequent editions unless you count 3.5-descended stuff like Castles & Crusades. I like Tolkienesque high fantasy just fine. But, I do find world-hangs-in-the-balance plotlines a bit tedious, so I prefer the smaller, earthier tales of Lieber. I have played a lot of different games over the years, from Classic Traveller to Icons. Though I've never been a fan of heavy crunch, I'm also not usually a fan of "narrative" systems. There have been exceptions (1st edition Over the Edge, for example). I have a vague sweet spot of just enough rules to make the system "matter", and to give it its own identity, without bogging it down or making it an exercise in corporate accounting. I'm kind of lazy, and will usually run "off the rack" adventures, though sometimes heavily modified (I write my own once in a blue moon, but I need to really be inspired by an idea for that). These days I prefer older, self-contained systems (i.e., I only wanna buy one book if possible) or retroclones, ideally with rulebooks that are less than a hundred pages in length. I'm also a cheapass who tends to buy used or PDF, because of price. Currently running Marvel Super Heroes for a group of kids, and Labyrinth Lord for some of neophyte twentysomethings who expressed an interest in roleplaying. So, in many ways, it may seem that Zweihander is extremely not my jam. Will it win me over? I dunno, but we're gonna find out!
PHYSICAL PRESENTATION
Before I get into the meat of the book, I want to take a moment to discuss its, er... buns. Despite my preference for slim, cheap volumes, I have to say, this is a really neat book. It looks and feels great. It is, however, almost comically heavy. I passed it around among my family earlier this evening, and they were all a little shocked and/or bemused at how heavy it was. It's not like lifting a bag of cement or anything, but it's over 5 pounds. That's a big Twinkie.
The binding, paper quality and other elements of construction are all top notch. Admittedly, I don't know much about book binding, but Zweihander looks and feels very well put together. The pages are bound to a sort of "hinge" inside (a sewn section binding,I think), that flexes when the book is opened. It seems like it would last a lot longer than some of the other hardcovers I have for, say, Castles & Crusades or D&D, where the pages seem to be more firmly affixed directly to the inside of the spine, and thus more prone to stress. I don't really know how it would compare to other games' core books, like Pathfinder or Starfinder, maybe someone reading this will know.
The cover of the book doesn't have the glossy coating usually seen on hardbound RPGs. It seems to have some kind of matte finish. I'm not sure why this approach was taken, but I'm of two minds about it. On the one hand, it gives the book a nice, muted look, which suits the book. This finish also imparts a hand-comfortable, almost non-slip feel. It doesn't seem slick or slimy, even after you've been holding it in sweating hands for a while. On the other hand, it seems that without an extra layer of plastic sheeting or whatever it is that's typically used, the book may be more prone to scratches. Mine arrived with a couple of minor scuffs that appear to have occurred during shipping (UPS, by the way). Now, none of these marks are very bad, in fact, they wouldn't necessarily have kept me from buying the book, if I had done so. But it does seem to me that this book may show signs of wear sooner than it would if a more conventional finish had been chosen. Maybe I'm wrong. But, just picking it up and putting it down, or putting on/taking it back off my bookshelf seem to be adding small abrasions. Then again, Zweihander seems to be more Denali than Escalade. It's meant to be driven. In any case, I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it, as the book is extremely sturdy overall. I just don't want to leave any stones unturned in this read-through.
The cover depicts four very dour-looking human adventurers standing in front of a veritable wall of spears, as smoke rises in the background. Though these people differ in appearance and apparent age, each has a grim look in their eyes. They also bear scars. The message here seems to be that no one gets out unscathed, and glory has its price. These people remind me more of characters from the movie Queen Margot than of characters from The Fellowship of the Ring. The color scheme is a mixture of brown, black and red, and the overall effect is that of a portrait painted with blood that has long since dried. Not a very dynamic picture, but it sets a mood.
Inside the book there are red endpapers framing 669 dense-looking pages, nearly every one framed with a full-page border. I imagine that if Mad Magazine's Sergio Aragones sold his soul to the devil, the result would look something like this. I noticed that the borders connect, and are different on each side. The right side has stonework, armor, and weapons, with neatly framed page headings and numbers. On the left, these neat and tidy elements give way to skulls, mist, half-formed creatures and what appears to be blood, this latter surrounding the header and page number. Order and Chaos, I presume. Because these borders run all the way to the edge of each page, they give the paper a gray color when shut. It's another nice touch.
Inside, Zweihander is laid out two columns per page, in a manner instantly familiar to any gamer.. The text and fonts are clear, but the text seems smaller (a bit too small, IMO) in the tables. I'm old, your mileage may vary on the table-text size. I mean, it makes sense to keep the tables small, it's a huge book already. But for me, reading them is less than comfortable.
The book is largely black & white, with the tables being alternating lines of white and sepia, which really makes them stand out nicely, small print notwithstanding.
It is heavily illustrated throughout, in an old-school, "pencil sketchy" style that I like a lot. There is also a very cool two-page, full-color illo in the middle of the book, which I think was an alternate cover for the Kickstarter version or something (I like it better than the current cover, to be honest). The interior drawings do not seem hastily done, if that makes sense. There is a real sense of careful and deliberate design in this book, from the art to the layout. It's quite dense as well, there isn't a lot of wasted space inside. To me, it stops just short of being "cluttered". There is a consistency of style in the art, and it sets the tone of the game well.
The physical presentation of this book has been much-ballyhooed, often by the author himself. However, in this, he seems to be justified. Zweihander Revised is big, beautiful and well made. But, is its beauty only skin deep? Let's open it up and see...
First, there is a bit of fiction in the form of a monologue, given by one Danziger Eckhart, grizzled veteran and ex-con. He's seen some, er, "stuff". Literally, he tells of men defecating as they die, and of his own bloody, sordid history. He tells of his loss of faith. Faith in the gods, faith in his country, faith in his fellow man. But he also relates three important lessons from the world of Zweihander:
- You can't earn anything in this world
- A man will do anything he has to to survive
- Life is pain and death
Succinct and cynical, as it should be. I don't think this part is bad. It's in-game flavor text. Some people roll their eyes at stuff like this, but I survived the White Wolf 90s, so I ain't bothered. They could have just put these lessons in the introduction, but they did this instead. Doesn't really make much of a difference to me.
Next up are a Designer's Note, which briefly explain the genesis and history of Zweihander, and its journey to the Revised Core Rulebook, along with a stylized drawing of the author. Again, kind of indifferent here. It's informative, I read it, that's it.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
And now we get to the Introduction proper. Here, we find the usual suspects, such as an explanation of what roleplaying games are, and how they are played in a general sense. The roles of player and GM are clarified. But we also get another(of many) reminders that Zweihander has no implied setting (nudge, nudge, wink, wink), and can be set in any gritty, low-fantasy world you choose. There is also another (of many) reminders that Zweihander isn't about beautiful, golden-maned heroes and heroines. No, it's about cynical, hardened people who have done terrible things. People in sweat- and blood-stained finery. Dangerous people, with greasy hair, dirty fingernails, stained teeth and stinky butts.
There follow admonitions to have fun above all, and to navigate the game not only by rolling dice, but by breathing life into your character through your performance of the role. Good stuff all around, even if we've read it all before.
Then comes one of the most hilariously misunderstood passages in the book: a section about "Gender Neutrality". I have seen people post in various places about shutting the book right here, vowing never to play the game. But, if you actually read this paragraph it says that in the examples throughout the book, male characters will be referenced as "he", female characters will be referenced as "she", and characters whose gender has not been stated will be referred to as "they". Uh, yeah. Don't get me wrong, it's obvious that throughout the text that Zweihander is attempting to be inclusive. But I just don't get the hysteria about this particular passage (well, okay, I don't get the hysteria about any of it, but whatevs).
We are again reminded of the lack of implied setting, but told that there are definitely implied "thematic elements". They don't list these elements, but I get the feeling they're referring to violence, cynicism, treachery, evil, corruption and similar "grimdark" stuff. The reader is then encouraged to consider what type of game they specifically wish to play. Several examples are given, outlining some of the different types of adventures one might have using these rules.
CHAPTER 2: HOW TO PLAY
This chapter, all of 9 pages long (not complaining, just relieved) outlines the core Mechanic of Zweihander. But first, we are treated to another picture of the author, and his (I'm assuming real-life) friends playing, I dunno, probably Runequest or something, while over their heads, there is a depiction of the in-game action that is unfolding
The basis of most action in Zweihander is the Skill Test. Characters have Skills, each one related to a Primary Attribute (Combat, Brawn, Agility, etc.). When using a skill, you determine your Base Chance by taking that Skill score (a percentile number) adding Attribute Bonuses and Bonuses conferred by Skill Ranks, these latter in increments of ten percent. Then, take any applicable penalties from your Peril Condition Track, which is a measure of how shaken your character is by their current struggles.There may then be other bonuses from Talents and/or Traits (any of these terms that are unfamiliar will be explained in the next chapter). The total of all bonuses or penalties may never be greater than +30%, or less that -30%. Any excess in either direction is ignored. A further modifier is applied by the GM, called the Difficulty Rating. here are seven possible modifiers, in increments of ten percent, from "Arduous" at -30% to "Trivial" at +30%. After all of these calculations are made, the player rolls percentile dice, hoping to roll [/i]under[/b] their Total Chance For Success. But the order of all this, as I understand it, is as follows:
-Player announces intention. They are now committed.
-GM announces Difficulty Rating. Player is still committed, regardless of the odds. There may be haggling, pleading and the like over the Difficulty Rating, but there is no backing out once the intended action of the player has been stated.
-Ya rolls the dice and ya takes yer chances.
So, a roll-under percentile-based system, got it. Not terribly innovative in and of itself, but tried and true. However, Zweihander has a few tricks up its sleeve.
There are Critical Successes and Failures, which occur when the percentile dice both show the same number. So, if your Total Chance For Success is 62%, and you roll a 55, that's a Critical Success, as is a 33 or 11. If you had rolled a 77 or 99, that would be a Critical Failure. Also, a 1 is always a Critical Success, and a 100 is always a Critical Failure. This seems fun to me, and has a neat internal logic. If you have greater Skill, you are more likely to achieve amazing things. Lesser skill levels are more likely to experience crushing failure. Again, I don't know if this specific part is descended from WFRP or not, but I like the idea.
It is noted that some mundane skills and actions will automatically be successful. There are guidelines for Skill Tests that may take longer. Similarly, there are situations in which taking extra time can increase your Chance of Success. There are suggestions for using one skill to assist another of your skills, for a single 10% bonus, called Skill Synergy.
The rule for Assisted Tests is next. One character can Assist another, while doing nothing else. This allows the player rolling a Skill Test to roll and "Assist Die", or extra "tens" die when making their roll. They must take the lower "tens" die, unless it would result in a Critical Failure (if I'm reading that right). In other words, "assume the best result".
Opposed Tests are handled thusly: Two characters make the appropriate Skill Test roll. This need not be the same Skill for both characters, depending on what is being done by each. For example, to characters may engage in a tug of war, both using Athletics. Or, one character may be attempting to sneak (using the Stealth Skill) past another (using the Awareness Skill). In these cases, a character can prevail by both succeeding at their Skill Test, and generating Degrees of Success equal to their tens die, read as a d10, to the Primary Attribute Bonus. The player with the highest Degree of Success wins. Players who fail the Skill Test generate no degrees of success. Such a contest may be instantaneous (i.e., a single test). Alternately, it may require a certain number of tests be performed, and the total Degrees of Success accrued by each player compared. The GM may also assign a Target Number of Degrees, granting success to the first character to achieve that many Degrees.
Tests may be kept secret, for situations in which the GM is aware of Things The Players Are Not Meant To Know.
Another twist on the die-rolling mechanic is the "Flip". Certain circumstances msy cause you to "Flip To Succeed" or "Flip to Fail". Which means that after rolling, you will "Flip" the tens and ones dice to generate a different result. You will then accept whichever result is better or worse, depending on what kind of "Flip" you are doing. Certain Abilities will allow you to "Flip to Succeed", and attempting a Test in some - but not all- Skills in which you have no Skill Ranks, will cause a "Flip to Fail".
I am not normally a huge fan of games that use "universal mechanics". But I do enjoy a game that uses a single type of roll, and varies the way in which the result is read, interpreted or applied in order to allow for a variety of outcomes (like Task Force Games' original Prime Directive - if you haven't checked it out, you REALLY should). Zweihander seems like such a game.
Moving away from the percentile rolls, the book now discusses the two types of 6-sided dice that are rolled in the game. These are Fury Dice and Chaos Dice. The Fury Die is rolled when dealing damage, and "explodes" upon rolling a 6. The Chaos Die is assigned by the GM during certain situations, and deals some ill circumstance to the player when a 6 is rolled, either immediately or at some later date.
Finally, Zweihander uses a "Fortune Pool", a kind of in-game currency. Not everybody digs this kind of thing. Me, I usually just forget to use it. But there is a twist here. At the beginning of each session, the GM places tokens on the table. 1 for each player, plus 1 extra. These represent Fortune Points, which can be used freely by any player to:
-Re-roll a failed Skill Test (unless it's a Critical Failure)
-Gain an additional Action Point (to be explained later) on their turn
-Cause a Fury or Chaos Die to be read as a 6
However, every time a player spends a Fortune Point, they hand the token to the GM, who now has a "Misfortune Point", that can be used to do the same things listed above, but for NPCs under GM control.
Catching a couple of minor typos and grammatical errors. My general take on that is, if it doesn't interfere with playability (and so far, it doesn't look like it does), I'm not really bothered. But, some people might be. Especially in such a fervently-hyped premium book, which goes for between $40 and $60, depending.
Alright, that's it for now. I'll continue this as soon as I can.
NEXT - CHAPTER 3: CHARACTER CREATION
