WFRP 3 Review

[MortonStromgal]

So I finally finished reading and understanding the rules. We have not played yet but I have run some mock combats and have a generally good handle on the core box.

It is in fact a roleplaying game and not a board game. The art and pieces are all fantastic, the mechanics are a mix of many dice pool games (oWOD, Ubiquity, etc) and some new good ideas. If they had stopped there I could have given it 5 out of 5 however the editing, writing, and presentation of the mechanics is horrible. The failure of this game is not in the cards, tokens, dice or anything like that but in the 4 books that while very pretty are one of the wost RPGs to read ever. Why are they so terrible? Because without the cards the books are useless.

First off you cant skip a chapter because the examples are incomplete and if you didn't read the previous chapter you'll have no idea what they are talking about. Next they reference cards but don't tell you what is on the cards. There is also no option not to use their dice in the books (which would have been an easy table to create) So basically if you loose cards or dice your screwed because you need them (you can buy new dice, but still). The character sheet is horrible but I can forgive this as many character sheets are. They also don't put all the information needed for your profession on you profession card which is asinine. No you have to find your second profession card for your profession ability. So here is the deal. Its a pretty good update to WFRP 2e and a quirky but solid system but rather than making their props a bonus to make the game easier they made them required (a basic melee attack is a card for example) So over all I can only give it a 3 outta 5 because of the required junk on the table, even though this could have easily (by the rules) been optional.

[edit] I've been asked if I think the game is an improvement itself, once you get the hang of the rules. I would say yes, but I have never been a fan of percentile systems so for me moving to a quirky dice pool is an improvement.

The new dicepool works as follows (sorta) for WFRP 2 people

for every 10% you had in an attribute you gain one d8 50% die
for each training you had you gain one d6 33% die
The GM will select how many difficulty dice you get (50% again but some sides count as double)
You trade in your attribute dice for stance dice if you wish (d10s with 50% but doubles on some sides)

There are two other dice that come in based on particular things but I wont go into

Roll attribute+training+difficulty, count the icons, if your attribute+training > difficulty you succeed.

There are a lot more complications and special icons but thats the basics.

If I ever buy a video camera I'll put up a youtube of how it all works and maybe some play sessions so you can judge for yourself.

[emirikol]

We played for a lot of games in the new system. I really enjoy it. It's got all the dark-fantasy stuff of the original WFRP game, but the rules are a lot more diverse (WFRP2 was a little flat for mechanistic players). Since switching back to Pathfinder/D&D3.75, I REALLY miss the dice mechanic and having the rules on the cards (and also minions..which were introduced in D&D 4e and were a nice fit in wfrp3e).

We've stopped our campaign temporarily however because we are waiting for some more Advanced careers to come out. The book of magic/winds of magic just came out and it is excellent

My own review summarized:
1. Great dice mechanic
2. Rules for players all on cards...I'm a GM. I think it would be just as easy to have them on a sheet of paper, but the cards are nice. They're harder to catalogue, but there are a LOT of summaries out there done by fans (as well as torrents of the cards) so you can reference them anyways. We've always just used a summary sheet for the basic actions. It takes up less space and it's not like you have to put recharges on those actions.
3. Rulebooks: the main rulebook is not well-written because there few examples..plus, after years of playing over-ruled games like D&D, I was simply expecting more /rules./ There simply aren't a lot of rules in this game. The GM and the dice make up the rules instead of the books telling you what YOU do.
4. Price: for all the stuff you get, this is priced correctly
5. Careers: those of us who had Jay Littles prior book for WFRP2e, "The Career Compendium" miss all those redundant careers like lamplighter and chimneysweep (adventuring careers to be sure!!!). Mostly what's coming out slowly in the supplements is the advanced careers..otherwise your character is limted to lateral moves as he levels/ranks up. Nothing like going from soldier to peasant!
5. Tokens and tokens and tokens. I personally think that 4e D&D got one thing right: per-encounter, daily, and at-will. Although it's nice to be able to "recharge" an ability faster than in D&D, it's kind of dorky to have to track with the tokens..my players seem to like them, but as a GM looking in from the outside, I'd rather just have the D&D-way.

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[MortonStromgal]

#2 is my big gripe. I'm fine with them including cards but that information should have been in the book.