I have played different RPGs, some with very simple combat systems, like The One Ring or The Call of Cthulhu, others with complex systems like Rune Quest or Warhammer 3.

In my opinion it does not matter that much how many (apparently) different things you can do (D&D or Warhammer 3) during a combat, what makes a combat interesting for the players is

1) Relevance. In the combat there is something at stakes. The combat has an important meaning for the players or the plot.

2) Risk, adrenaline. The players must have the feeling that their PCs can die (or be seriously maimed) during a combat.

Agreed above. One fight was "epic" because of the "epic fail' of a player making a move leaving everyone saying "you do what" and his PC dead end of round - in a climax fight. Another climax fight epic because a random ubernasty magical effect hurts both sides at times and nail-biting who it goes after this round. Another was epic because that miscast was just so "right", of course an imp appears in front of the mob and pretends the spellcaster summoned it....

Most of that is not WFRP-mechanics specific though the double chaos star imp was something definitely WFRP.

Ok, thank you for your input. This makes me wonder what is the point of "random" fights i.e. on the road? I cannot hurt the PC too much (they must be fit for the main part of the adventure) and nothing is really at stake. The fights in this system are quite time consuming, so why not resign from random encounters?

I generally do not have random encounters. No matter the system it takes a lot of time for little benefit for the story.

However, I have sometimes had them all make a roll to see how a minor fight on the road went. Usually a Weapon skill or Ballistic Skill test with a difficulty based on what kind of enemies, their numbers and if they have some other advantage/disadvantage that grant fortune/misfortune. Then resolve the rolls based on something like this:

1 Fail = 6 wounds - Soak

2 Fail = 10 wounds - Soak

2 Bane = 2 wounds without soak

Chaos = Critical Wound

It lets you put a small fight into the story, but doesn't take up a lot of time. It can still hurt though.

I have to say, it could be a bad idea to get rid of random encounters completely. As I have participated in quite a few epic random encounter fights.

One example was when we were camping out doors (I know, Warhammer survival 101 - never do this!) on the way to Middenheim and a Giant attacked. We were taking it in turns to keep watch and so one of us was awake when the giant began to get close. The character (a Wood Elf) woke up his fellow Wood Elf and together they attempted to draw the giant away from the camp and the other PC's still sleeping, using distracting techniques and trying to keep at a fair distance. It was all going smoothly until I underestimated the reach of the giant, he was not engaged with me, but could attack because he had a long reach weapon. This knocked my unarmoured Wood Elf straight down to his final wound and now well within the giants reach. My fellow Wood Elf attempted to draw the giant away from me, but he had his sights set on me and came after me again. The others had also woken up by this point and the least combat oriented of our group (a Halfling) charged in and managed to draw the giants attention away from me and onto himself - just before I was KO'd. This then resulted in the Halfling taking a big hit and going unconscious in one! But it did enable the two Wood Elves to regroup and take down the giant. My character was then eternally grateful to the Halfling (who recovered) and it showed him even the little ones had some worth!

This all meant that we arrived at Middenheim a little worse for wear and some of us had to spend time recovering whilst the others could pursue the main quest. Which added greater peril to the quest and a tighter time frame for the fit PC's to investigate within. It also meant that we were never going to take any journey lightly and although we always thought we were pretty well vigilant when outdoors, this showed we could still be surprised by giant!

Another example was against a group of goblins, the thing that made it epic was that the Wardancer, (not me, the other Wood Elf) who can regularly add 12+ defence dice to opponents rolls, was taken down by a lowly goblin who was rolling numerous challenge and misfortune dice and only a few characteristic dice and yet still managed to score a hit. So this was the one-in-a-million-hit that came off, even though it was against one of the PC's.

Reading through what I have read, I would have to surmise that what makes a random encounter epic is when something unusual or unexpected would happen.

"Random" encounters, if you want to have them in your game, can be made to matter for the PCs.

For example:

• Maybe it's cultists from that same cult that the PCs have been hunting that attack instead of some random bandits.
• It could be an encounter that forshadows events to come in some manner, for example if you encounter some undead on the while traveling they might be raised by a necromancer which will be introduced later in the adventure. That could create a moment of realization when they finally understand where the zombies came from, allthough it would seem very random at the time of the encounter.

Something can be at stake in a "random" encounter as well, with a little tweaking. I use the classical bandit encounter as an example of tweaks that can make fights memorable.

For exampe:

• Bandits beating and robbing (or worse) a Shallya priest and her traveling companions, while one of the PCs is a devout Shallyan (or even a priest him-/herself). Forcing the PCs having to act fast to defeat/chase away the bandits if they want to save the life of the priest. If the PCs succeed they will have a greatful Shallyan as an ally (and a future PC maybe?).
• One or more of the bandits who attack manage to steal something valuable (a horse, a purse with lots of money, a superior tool, or something of largely sentimental value to the PC etc) from the PCs during the fight and run away while the other bandits keep fighting the PCs. Use a chaos star to make the PCs drop something of value without noticing it. Forcing the PCs to decide if they want to risk splitting up, or keep fighting together and then try to track the thieves but risk loosing them.

For me it's very much about pacing. If the combat system is too shallow, it's not believable and it's hard to immerse yourself in it. But if it gets complex or detailed to the point where the pacing suffers, you lose any chance at epic. I found EotE combat to be more on the sweet spot, but the system has issues with a few things that annoy me. TOR is a bit too simple and one dimensional in some ways, but has a great pacing and with some interresting concepts. Can feel a bit boxed in though the way it's handled though. But for pure pacing and options, I think the One Roll Engine is the best. It handles multiple actions, initiative, defence and hit locations with a very gritty damage level and a good number of tactical options very elegantly. Plus the math of the dice system is a thing of beauty

I can't put percentages on it, but for me it's about finding the perfect sweet spot between pacing, abstraction and detail, that puts combat in a state of flow, allowing for those YAY BAM HEADSHOT moments without the detail slowing the game down. Check out the One Roll Engine if you don't know it. The way you handle success and combat can really, with the paths, disciplines and combat maneuvers from Reign, give a feeling of controlling dice more than just reading them.

I also think "random" encounters can be useful though never really just as "roll and pull out of hat" but "maybe happens, maybe not" and "one of a range, let's see which one".

If they happen because a chaos star came up in your roll to pass safely etc, then it makes those rolls matter more.

If what happens then "demonstrates" something about the overall plot, what's up with things, or is really a nice "this is the grim world of WFRP and this is how things roll" education it's good.

So, for example, PC's in my campaign may shortly have a "random encounter" with some zombies. Because, as they will learn later, a nasty dhar-soaked Undead problem is brewing and "calling" to lesser undead to rise and come to it.

Similarly, meeting goblins when a "goblin horde" is going to figure, or simply meeting beastmen "on their way to join the fight in the north" such as in Enemy Within 3rd, can be "part of the story". For some PC's this matters too, as "the beastmen you kill then weren't able to join the fight in the north".

It becomes a bit much if "everything is part of the plot" woven too tightly, but everything can "have a reason".

There are also random positive encounters (say that comet on the roll for travel) such as merchants with a bargain healing draught or superior sword to sell, shallyans making pilgrimage who offer healing, entertainers with rumours etc., or of course that strigany fortune teller who can give obscure foretelling hints etc etc.

Oh, and One Roll Engine, yes I've never played with it but it looks really cool. Reign and Dirty World are things of beauty (and I have used the Dirty World noir scenario one roll creation system to create WFRP stuff at times).