This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Nembers: Bit's from the MMO are starting to leak into the main tropes. Do we need a separate entry like the RPG game has?
Brickie: Well, if you're going to "fix" it, then at least fix it right. The intro now talks about the RPG, the body about the battle game.
Ouroboros: Well, instead of bitching about it, you could have just fixed it yourself. But that's just too much effort for some, hence why it took so long to be changed in the first place.
Brickie: Apologies, was having a bad day. Actually, I went back, re-read and it wasn't as silly as it looked. I came back here and removed my comment, but must have hit "Cancel Edit" or not saved it or something. I'm usually pretty easygoing...
Ouroboros: Its cool. To be honest you were right, the opening was a bit out of sync with the rest of the article. Its fixed now, and the page looks better for it.
- Seriously, is anyone going to fix this or not? Fuck it I will.
- There, done, easy as cake.
- Is it me, or does the gameplay description describe the roleplaying game rather than the (original and more popular) wargame and not make this clear? Unless there's any objection I'm going to rebuild the page and try to make it a bit clearer.
- By the way: "Combat can be particularly dangerous and even a backstreet scuffle with a knife-wielding mugger can endanger a character's life" - seems nobody heard of "naked dwarf syndrome", an infamous example of powergaming where experienced dwarf character can stand bigger punishment naked than a rookie in heavy plate armour. However, if the mugger is particularly lucky, he may score a critical hit...
Large Blunt Object: Yeah, this has nothing to do with the wargame. Doing a proper description now, but putting the old one here:
Warhammer is the generic name of a number of tabletop battle and roleplaying games marketed by UK firm Games Workshop. "Warhammer" on its own tends to describe the battle game of that name, currently in its seventh edition and previously known as Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB).
History
Warhammer Fantasy Role Play (WFRP) was originally published in 1986 as a single-volume rule-book, and numerous source and campaign volumes followed. Games Workshop's core business, however, is in the sale of miniatures and other battle-game periphera, and Roleplaying publishing has never been as profitable. WFRP was passed around various publishing subsidiaries, before being mothballed in 1992.
Independent publishers Hogshead obtained the rights to publish WFRP in 1995, though GW retained editorial control to ensure any original material remained true to their canon. Hogshead reverted the license to GW in 2002 when they came under new ownership, and in 2005 Games Workshop published a new edition of the rules.
All of this means that, despite being 20 years old, the game is only in its second edition and indeed the original rulebook was often praised for its remarkably bug/exploit-free game engine.
Setting
The Warhammer World is closely based on our own world, with continents laid out in a similar pattern, and the action is mostly located within "The Old World", roughly analogous to 16th century Europe.
Standard fantasy elements are also present - Elves used to dominate but are a shadow of their former selves; Dwarves occupy the few mountain strongholds that have not yet fallen to Orks and Goblins. Chaos is present, both in the form of great warbands of mutated and corrupted warriors and as cult activity in the heart of society.
The overall darkly humorous and bleak feel of the setting and game is what sets it apart. If you were to combine equal parts Tolkien, Moorcock's "Elric" stories, and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," you would find something not unlike WFRP.
There is also a science fiction tabletop miniatures wargame set in a universe having much in common with WFRP: Warhammer 40000. Think of it as WFRP In Space.
Gameplay features [All data from 1st edition]
Gameplay is accomplished without a board and pieces, or without a map as for Dungeons & Dragons - essentially, the GM can fill in any information the players need verbally, though for potentially complicated or time-critical fights, models and graph-paper can be used for clarity.
Most dice-rolling is based on a percentile system, with players' characteristics (Weapon Skill, Leadership, Dexterity etc) given out of 100 and players needing to roll under their characteristic value on a D100 to succeed.
Combat can be particularly dangerous and even a backstreet scuffle with a knife-wielding mugger can endanger a character's life, so players are encouraged to adopt a more thoughtful, strategic approach - indeed some of the published campaign books were essentially investigative in nature with very little combat if any at all.
Experience is not a fixed value per monster killed, but is awarded at the GM's discretion - most of the published campaigns give guidelines as to how much should be given.
One unique feature of the game is the career system. Each character has a career - this might be the job they gave up to go adventuring or even the "day job" they maintain in between quests. A character's career affects what stat increases/skills they can acquire and which careers they can move into, as well as defining their initial skill set and trappings.
Characters cannot simply spend experience and move careers or acquire skills; they must rather find a job opening or a teacher for the skill or some other way of plausibly acquiring the job/skill. This has been praised for its immersiveness and realism, but equally criticised for forcing players to roleplay the boring periods between quests as well as the exciting adventures themselves.
Bring The Noise: Is someone actually going to rebuild the opening text?
Filby: I think I'm gonna put the basic information about the RPG back in the article at the bottom of the main text.
Allandrel: Took out the following entry under Retcon:
- Don't forget Nagash- when The Undead were all one army, Nagash was the inventor of Necromancy, who was pretty much single-handedly responsible for the downfall of the Nehekhara civilisation, succeeded in his quest for immortality (albeit at a terrible cost and creating the race of Vampires in the process), led numerous wars against the various races of the Old World over the course of the intervening centuries, ending up in the centre of his own undead kingdom in the towering necropolis of Nagashizzar. This was all retconned away when The Undead were split into The Vampire Counts and The Tomb Kings.
All this is still canon, found in the main rulebook, the Tomb Kings book, and the Vampire Counts book.
