Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: A Grim World of Perilous Adventure [Paperback]

Richard Priestly (Author), Richard Halliwell (Author)

Book Description

"The Old World. On the surface, it is a civilized and cultured place, where only the occasional conspiracy, assassination, revolution or invasion by orcs, goblins, beastmen, or mutants disrupts the feudal order. Yet a shadow hangs over the world, cast by the corrupting hand of Chaos. From the Imperial court in Altdorf to the pirate-ridden coast of south Tilea, a few heroes strive to hold back the forces of howling Chaos, while it's hidden servants scheme from within to bring the world to it's knees before the Dark Gods." Warhammer FRP is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer world, a background developed by Games Workshop and used in the best-selling Warhammer Fantasy Battles and Warhammer Quest games. The three games are compatible, and characters can be transferred between them with a little fiddling. The Warhammer world is a grim place of perilous adventure. It's a little like Europe at the time of the early Renaissance, with all its corruption, villainy and opportunities for adventure; but this is a world of inhuman races, wizards, mutants, terrifying monsters and the dread shadow of Chaos, which stretches over the entire land. In WFRP, Chaos is not just a force of nature, but a living, malevolent thing supported by demonic princes who will not rest until the entire world has been enslaved or destroyed. It's a dark game with an atmosphere of psychological and visceral horror, and a subtle seam of dark humour at its heart.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Games Workshop (January 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1869893581
• ISBN-13: 978-1869893583
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #594,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A classic fantasy roleplaying game, May 2, 2000

By 

Andrew Limsk (Kuala Lumpur, MY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: A Grim World of Perilous Adventure (Paperback)

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay This book was originally published by Games Workshop to compliment their popular Warhammer Fantasy Battle miniatures game. It has long been a gamers' favourite (including this reviewer) despite the lack of supplementary material. A complete system in one volume, this book covers all the rules and background required to play: characters, monsters, combat, magic, religion, and the history and geography of the Warhammer game world. A short adventure 'The Oldenhaller Contract' is also provided to introduce new players to the game.

WFRP introduced the unique 'career' system where the players advance through progression in a series of careers. More than 100 varied careers are detailed, each with its own skills. This system allows players to create a truly unique character and offers more flexibility than the typical Fighter/Mage/Thief/Cleric choices common in other fantasy roleplaying games. Combat is deadly and realistic (at least as much as is possible in a fantasy game), which quickly teaches new players to seek less violent solutions to problems. The standard mechanics are simple percentile based which is both a plus and a minus. They greatly speed up play (no reams of tables and modifiers to consult) but have been criticised as being too simple especially as regards to non-combat skills which do not allow characters to improve over time. The magic system is the weakest section in WFRP, being slanted towards the more martial applications - possibly since it was inherited from the Warhammer Fantasy Battle game.

While the mechanics are not without its faults and the magic system could stand a complete rewrite, Warhammer fantasy RolePlay (WFRP) succeeds due to its gothic, dark fantasy background where cultists and conspiracies lurk in every shadow. It also has one of the most intriguing game settings ever published: a renaissance-era 'Germanic' Empire full of roleplaying potential. Combined with what many players feel to be the finest roleplaying campaign series 'The Enemy Within' (published separately), this game is a classic that deserves a place in every rolegamer's collection.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You must buy it, October 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: A Grim World of Perilous Adventure (Paperback)

I can only agree with all the other reviewers: This is by far the best rpg ever! In my humble opinion..... Well, you got your skill list, about 100 careers instead of levels, 150 spells(oh, and soon Realms of Sorcery comes out too) and enough monsters for some time. But what you must remember is that this is the original dark fantasy game. Your players save the world? Yes. And get fame and fortune? No. In fact, they were the only people who knew about the grave danger. And there is a warrant on them for killing the evil demonologist, who everybody thought was good. Get it? You might prefer your politically correct, heroic rpg's, but many, including me, find it refreshing to see a realistic world, with races who hate each other, noblewomen who are beaten, and adventurers who are broke. To make it even better, the system and the world, in some way or another, outright FORCES the game to get based on roleplaying instead of combat. You may have your AD&D's, runequests, and Castle Falkensteins: I don't care. I got the real goodie.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Game, June 27, 2000

By 

ConorH (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: A Grim World of Perilous Adventure (Paperback)

I have played many role playing systems and I would have to say that by far Warhammer is the best system. It was recommended by a friend, I had never heard of it before.. but I'm glad I took the chance on buying it.

The system of career advancements, skills and the *one* tome of rules (not 5 different books that you need to collect) makes for an excellent game.

Buy this book, you won't regret it!