jpatterson
05-22-2010, 02:43 PM
Mine are from WFRP2 and I won't even go into the whole dropping it for third edition.
Character creation.
For a so-called “classless” game, there is a gob-load of “careers” to slog through. For new players, I can only imagine this would be overwhelming, as it still can be to me, and I’ve ran it a number of times. Say what I will about D&D, Fighter, Thief, Cleric, Wizard has a certain simplicity, and even the more current 10 or so class framework with Paladins and such is still a good mix of manageability and variety. Warhammer’s Rat-Catcher and Toll-Keeper, while surely historically accurate, are completely irrelevant and definitely not worthy of being actual significant player career choices, set apart by themselves. There should be maybe a Peasant class (which there is in a later bit) and sub-types given and broken down into things like this if a player wants, but it would still use the same template). This would severely curb the authors’ fetish for careerizing everything under the sun into an adventuring motif, and cut the career part of character creation in half, at LEAST. You could still buy a Small But Vicious Dog as a pet or a special ability or something.
Stats.
Oh boy, a max of 2D10 + 20 for all my stats if I’m a human. Out of 100. So up to 40%. So not quite half. Neat… You know, “gritty” is one thing, but incompetent is another. Combat is already still potentially deadly at any level of achievement, proficiency, experience or armament, so why give me less than a 50/50 shot to hit the broad side of a barn? And don’t say that the enemies and other citizens also have that, that doesn’t help, that just means EVERYBODY will be rolling dice a LOT and saying “Damn I missed AGAIN too, your turn”. I think this was a horrible, HORRIBLE mis-calculation and mistake on the part of the creators. It takes SO long to up stats significantly, and they’re split into either your main stats or your secondary stats. You also have to choose to do that instead of buy abilities.
Those secondary stats, which are the tens digit of your main stats (Toughness Bonus, which reduces damage, is taken from your Toughness) are also superflous. Just ALWAYS use the tens column and you won’t even have to have this on the sheet, just look half an inch up and see that your toughness is 32 and know your TB is 3. Presto! But no, you can increase these, which begs the question – what the f*k is Toughness for?!
Percentiles.
Yeah it’s 100% but I don’t like it. It’s not a roll and sum system, it’s not even a count successes. It’s roll two dice and read them, it’s essentially purely random, more random than random, if you know what I mean, and if you don’t, I’m not going to go into the math. It’s not bad, and if you have a 72% Weapon Skill, you’re still going to hit a lot of the time, but it feels so cold and spartan, there’s no dominance like 5D6 in Weapon Skill, where you just know you’re gonna roll a shitload at some point and be like “Oh yah, that’s 52, out of 19, suck it!” Their critical hit system is a mess, you reverse the dice for hit locations or use doubles or – it’s complicated and steps over its own feet and my group tends to use the old BRP system of 10 or less is a critical hit, or 10% of your skill is, depending which is better or more dramatic at the time and/or the old Warhammer every time you roll a 6 (well 10 now that is uses D10 for damage) it “explodes” and you roll an extra die – Ulric’s Fury I think it’s called now.
Trappings.
Couldn't get away from enumerating everything but the ten foot pole and the spikes and pitons, thanks so much D&D, for continuing to infect other games with your anal retentiveness . Nobody can just put "adventuring pack" in a book - every time you make a new character, you have to write down "dagger, traveling clothes, pack, sturdy leather boots, cloak" etc. What a waste of time and effort. I think we can assume some things safely, mmmkay? Do I buy a shovel and pry bar and hand ax and fishing line? What if I need to camp? Oh noes?! Decisions! WFRP - Old World Camping Simulator!
Advance Schemes.
WS +10% T +1
If you take another scheme that has +10%, you don't get the +10%, but if it has a +5% or +20%, you get it, because you can't copy an earlier advance, for reasons never explained to any degree of legitimacy.
Careers.
These aren't like classes, that's what sets WFRP apart from D&D. Your career is what you did BEFORE you started adventuring, not what you're doing now - you've left your old life behind to pursue a new life of seeking fame and riches through adventure! So says the book.
Okay, so why am I advancing in the career's advance scheme and gaining the skills and getting the bonuses for it after I've started playing and am clearly no longer cutting hair as a Barber-Surgeon, but am killing Blood Sedges and cutting Orcs in half? Why, when I "buy" up all my advances and skills, can I exit to a fittingly appropriate step up from that to something else? Am I an adventurer, or am I a Barber Surgeon? You really can't do both, especially not in the Old World. You can't just hang up a sign on your blacksmith shop and that says "Gone Adventuring, be back next month" and stay in business.
Character creation.
For a so-called “classless” game, there is a gob-load of “careers” to slog through. For new players, I can only imagine this would be overwhelming, as it still can be to me, and I’ve ran it a number of times. Say what I will about D&D, Fighter, Thief, Cleric, Wizard has a certain simplicity, and even the more current 10 or so class framework with Paladins and such is still a good mix of manageability and variety. Warhammer’s Rat-Catcher and Toll-Keeper, while surely historically accurate, are completely irrelevant and definitely not worthy of being actual significant player career choices, set apart by themselves. There should be maybe a Peasant class (which there is in a later bit) and sub-types given and broken down into things like this if a player wants, but it would still use the same template). This would severely curb the authors’ fetish for careerizing everything under the sun into an adventuring motif, and cut the career part of character creation in half, at LEAST. You could still buy a Small But Vicious Dog as a pet or a special ability or something.
Stats.
Oh boy, a max of 2D10 + 20 for all my stats if I’m a human. Out of 100. So up to 40%. So not quite half. Neat… You know, “gritty” is one thing, but incompetent is another. Combat is already still potentially deadly at any level of achievement, proficiency, experience or armament, so why give me less than a 50/50 shot to hit the broad side of a barn? And don’t say that the enemies and other citizens also have that, that doesn’t help, that just means EVERYBODY will be rolling dice a LOT and saying “Damn I missed AGAIN too, your turn”. I think this was a horrible, HORRIBLE mis-calculation and mistake on the part of the creators. It takes SO long to up stats significantly, and they’re split into either your main stats or your secondary stats. You also have to choose to do that instead of buy abilities.
Those secondary stats, which are the tens digit of your main stats (Toughness Bonus, which reduces damage, is taken from your Toughness) are also superflous. Just ALWAYS use the tens column and you won’t even have to have this on the sheet, just look half an inch up and see that your toughness is 32 and know your TB is 3. Presto! But no, you can increase these, which begs the question – what the f*k is Toughness for?!
Percentiles.
Yeah it’s 100% but I don’t like it. It’s not a roll and sum system, it’s not even a count successes. It’s roll two dice and read them, it’s essentially purely random, more random than random, if you know what I mean, and if you don’t, I’m not going to go into the math. It’s not bad, and if you have a 72% Weapon Skill, you’re still going to hit a lot of the time, but it feels so cold and spartan, there’s no dominance like 5D6 in Weapon Skill, where you just know you’re gonna roll a shitload at some point and be like “Oh yah, that’s 52, out of 19, suck it!” Their critical hit system is a mess, you reverse the dice for hit locations or use doubles or – it’s complicated and steps over its own feet and my group tends to use the old BRP system of 10 or less is a critical hit, or 10% of your skill is, depending which is better or more dramatic at the time and/or the old Warhammer every time you roll a 6 (well 10 now that is uses D10 for damage) it “explodes” and you roll an extra die – Ulric’s Fury I think it’s called now.
Trappings.
Couldn't get away from enumerating everything but the ten foot pole and the spikes and pitons, thanks so much D&D, for continuing to infect other games with your anal retentiveness . Nobody can just put "adventuring pack" in a book - every time you make a new character, you have to write down "dagger, traveling clothes, pack, sturdy leather boots, cloak" etc. What a waste of time and effort. I think we can assume some things safely, mmmkay? Do I buy a shovel and pry bar and hand ax and fishing line? What if I need to camp? Oh noes?! Decisions! WFRP - Old World Camping Simulator!
Advance Schemes.
WS +10% T +1
If you take another scheme that has +10%, you don't get the +10%, but if it has a +5% or +20%, you get it, because you can't copy an earlier advance, for reasons never explained to any degree of legitimacy.
Careers.
These aren't like classes, that's what sets WFRP apart from D&D. Your career is what you did BEFORE you started adventuring, not what you're doing now - you've left your old life behind to pursue a new life of seeking fame and riches through adventure! So says the book.
Okay, so why am I advancing in the career's advance scheme and gaining the skills and getting the bonuses for it after I've started playing and am clearly no longer cutting hair as a Barber-Surgeon, but am killing Blood Sedges and cutting Orcs in half? Why, when I "buy" up all my advances and skills, can I exit to a fittingly appropriate step up from that to something else? Am I an adventurer, or am I a Barber Surgeon? You really can't do both, especially not in the Old World. You can't just hang up a sign on your blacksmith shop and that says "Gone Adventuring, be back next month" and stay in business.