61 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A terrific, fresh system that builds on the latest RPGs have to offer, December 24, 2009
This review is from: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Core Set (Paperback)
I'm a fan of the Warhammer universe and though I own the 2nd edition of WHFRP, I haven't played it much. My mainstay game lately is D&D 4E, though I've played or run most of the major RPG systems from the last two decades.
I find WHFRP 3rd edition to be a splendid mix of some of my favorite aspects from other RPGs combined with a few new mechanics and unique game concepts. This game pushes the bar up for quality and design thinking and I hope it influences future RPGs.
I know the MSRP is a little high, but at Amazon prices, this is a steal! This box is HUGE and beautiful. Of course everything inside is high quality material and full color, as you'd expect from a company like Fantasy-Flight. The books are not hardcover, but they are full color with thick, glossy pages.
Certainly the books could have used another run at editing, there are lots of typos, but none so far that make the rules confusing. That's the only quality issue I've noticed so far.
The rules are simple but powerful. They offer a wealth of options for players and plenty of flexibility for the GM. I feel the rules sit somewhere between Savage Worlds and D&D 4E in complexity. The core of the rules is easy to remember: you create dice pools and roll them to determine results, the specifics and exceptions are noted on cards in front of the players. You rarely reference the books during play. Cards are used to great effect throughout the system.
Though there's a boardgame feel to the components, this is very much a true RPG. It's a nice mix between the freedom and danger offered in older RPGs and the tactical options and balance that a system like D&D 4e presents.
The system and components are tightly integrated. Everything fits together really well. The feel of the Warhammer world is definitely stitched into the rules but the GM can easily run any type of campaign he wants, not just dark and dangerous. There's plenty of room to take the system and suit it to your group's style of play.
For those of you who dislike grid combat, you're in luck. For those prefer D&D 4E style combat, it's not difficult to adjust the rules to accomodate a grid.
There's very little math involved in the game. You're not constantly rolling numbers and adding modifiers and comparing to other numbers. This is all accounted for in the construction of dice pools. The options players and GMs have in building dice pools really make the system shine.
I could say so much more. I could go on about the party system, the stance system, the way the game supports narrative play, or how fast it plays, but I'll stop here. The game does a much better job of explaining itself, and you owe it to yourself to at least check it out at your FLGS if you're on the fence.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting game design tied to a classic setting that should appeal to old and new, January 28, 2010
This review is from: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Core Set (Paperback)
I apologize in advance for the rather lengthy review. I will try to avoid retreading what has been mentioned in previous reviews and instead wanted to expand upon several of the interesting designs of the new game.
The dice system is as good a place to start as any, as it forms the foundation of the game. WFRP3E uses a unique dice pool mechanic where a player gathers a number of both "positive" and "negative" dice which derive from various sources. The beneficial dice come from things like your character's attributes, skills, current stance (whether your character is acting aggressively or cautiously) and any situational advantages they may have. The "harmful" dice stem from the innate difficulty of a task (the more difficult the action, the more "bad" dice are rolled) and any disadvantageous circumstances.
All of this might sound intimidating or complicated to a new player but the dice pool becomes very intuitive and flexible in play, thanks in part to the fact that the dice are cleverly color-coded which tells you at a glance what each is for. Also, because the results are so easy to visualize, players and GMs are given a clear sense of the factors that lead them to victory or defeat and thus how their decisions have impacted the end results.
WFRP3E's dice mechanic is a "one roll" system, which is to say that once you assemble and roll the appropriate dice pool, that single roll resolves everything you need for an action or test. The results of the die pool tell you not only whether the action succeeds or fails but also how well or poorly your character performed, any potential positive or negative side effects, and even possible critcal successes or fumbles. This is all done at a glance in a way that is very easy to read. It is also worth noting that these additional levels of detail are available but not required for every roll. If a GM only needs to quickly determine whether something succeeds or fails, the rest of the information can be easily ignored.
There are almost no "true" contested rolls in the system (where two players both make a roll and compare results). Instead, when two or more forces compete, one side influences the others' die pool by adding "negative" dice, which will reduce the chances for success. In a combat example, a character who attempts to dodge, parry or block an attack adds penalty dice to the attacker's pool. This might seem a bit odd to a GM or player not used to it but it is done in a very intuitive way that is quickly picked up.
The dice are interesting by themselves but there are several other innovative ideas at work within the game. The game introduces a "henchmen" mechanic (inspired by similar mechanics from Spirit of the Century) which allows for a simple way to throw large groups of enemies against the PCs and make them easy to manage by the GM. Groups of minions have a "shared" pool of wound points, attack as a group (using a single roll) and work better in numbers (adding to their combined dice pool based on how many are working together). This is balanced by the fact that the individual minions have lower wound thresholds, have to share "special actions" and attacks made against them can (and often will) affect more than a single henchmen (by way of attacks reducing the total "wound pool" rather than an individual's wound total).
There is also a very clever initiative mechanic in which players can switch their positions in the turn order from round to round based upon the changing needs of the scene. When a player rolls initiative, they can either have their character act on that result or they can give it to another player instead. So, even if the Troll Slayer rolled poorly on his initiative, if the party needs him to go first to draw a big nasty orc's attention, someone can swap their turn for his and let him go to town. This is a very fun idea and eliminates the need for a bunch of complicated "delay", "hold" and "refocus" tactics. Each round, the group can re-analyze and change their initiative order accordingly. Of course, this also means that the bad guys can do this as well.
The Advancement system is great and offers a lot of options for character improvement. The most exciting part for players is that they essentially gain something new after every session. Whether they purchase new actions or talents, increase their wounds or change careers (classes), they have the option to bring something new to the table on a regular basis. They can (and may want to) save up some of their points to purchase certain other kinds of abilities, but there are always several options available to a character for even a single Advancement Point, regardless of what kind of character they are playing.
There is also the "Party" system in which the players all share a sheet which represents the dynamics of their group. It not only helps define why the characters are working together, what their attitudes are and what the GM can do to motivate them but it also introduces a very simple way for characters to share some of their special talents with each other and teach the group how to perform certain feats.
With all that is good about the game, there are a few things which the game desperately needs. For one, there are 8 schools of magic within the Warhammer setting and the Core Set only provides rules to play 3 of them. Rumor has it that the other colleges will gain support later on, but it does mean that magic is slightly limited at present. To be fair, the 3 colleges provided cover a broad sampling of the different types of wizards (Bright Wizards= fire and destruction, Grey Wizards= shadows and deceit, and Celestial Wizards= prophesy and storms).
Likewise, only 3 of the 8 churches of the Empire are fully playable (being priest of Sigmar, Morr and Shallya). Again, at least they cover a decently broad range of options.
The available bestiary is solid and very workable but begs to be expanded. There is enough here to provide for most of your "baddie" needs but there are some omissions which players will be iching for. There are also a few sample "regular" NPC types provided, but this really, really needs more support (NPC wizards and priests are prime examples). If there was one thing the game would really benefit from (besides more mages and priests as noted above) it is a really thorough bestiary supplement.
On the whole, this is an excellent game and has climbed into the #1 spot as my "go-to" game when it comes to the fantasy genre. The grim and perilous setting of Warhammer's Old World shines as much in this edition as it has in the past and the innovative, solid, intuitive and often clever mechanics really make for a visceral, engaging and fun experience. My only hope is that the game will live long enough to see the development of the extra support that it deserves to turn it into a real gem of an RPG.
Due to some of its shortcomings and its rather steep MSRP (though the Amazon price is more than reasonable), I would have rated this game a "4.5". Since there is no "inbetween" scoring system, I bumped it up to a "5" based on the fact that it is really something bold and unique in the RPG industry and deserves the benefit of the doubt if you are even half curious about the Warhammer setting or about new and progressive game design.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Roleplaying as It was meant to be, January 5, 2010
This review is from: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Core Set (Paperback)
Like many US gamers, I was not familiar with the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Game (FRPG). The boxed set by Fantasy Flight Games is fantastic. It captures the essence of role-playing without trying to fit into the massively multi-player on-line universe. I was able to get a group of players (who had never played a table-top RPG before) into the game within 30 minutes.
The box is full of useful items from the punch-out to the reference cards. You literally get everything that you need to run a campaign in the boxed set. You are definitely getting your money's worth on this purchase.
The system is intuitive and is set at the right level of abstraction. Distance is divided into commonsense bands. Movement is not measured in squares per round. You do NOT have to buy new battle mats and card sets for every new encounter or adventure. The core mechanic is simple; you succeed if you have at least one more success result than challenge result. The Game Master (GM) increases the difficulty by adding challenge dice.
I was particularly pleased that the Games Workshop and Fantasy Flight Games designers resisted the urge to make the Warhammer FRPG into a table-top version of a massively multi-player on-line game. There are no Manga looking characters. There are no damage per second effects.
If you are looking at getting back into FRPGs after a break or looking for a new system that has the feel of a gritty fantasy novel then you owe it to yourself and your gaming group to purchase the Warhammer FRPG boxed set.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
