Alright, it's a bit of thread necromancy, but since you guys have read it, there are a few questions I had a while ago that I think would help everyone understand the system a little better if they were answered. Please, could you answer them for us so we don't have to spend most of the day reading rules and instead can get to playing the scenario instead. Also, this thread is intended for anyone to post up their questions, that way we can have them all under one roof.

I'm sure many others and I would be happy to have some of these points answered. There are as follows:

1) How does fatigue/stress work?

We've gotten a short rundown from Dvang and thanks much, but like the wound post Nezzir through up, I'd like to know the nuts and bolts. How much fatigue/stress can a character take? What happens with each point? Does it work like the wound threshold, or is it a different mechanic entirely? You know, just the nitty-gritty with it.

2) How do contests between character's actually work?

Again, it's a nuts and bolts question...but how do these go down? How does one character effect the other? How do they determine things like their base defense (I think?) or the amount of penalty they put on an opponent?

3) Is Arcane Magic similar to the Divine Magic? How does it work, in terms of pool?

4) Lastly, What is on the dice. Lenaianel did an awesome job with the video feed, but can you confirm he's right or not and what's on the sides from what's missing here:

blue dice :

- succes *4

- boon *2

- blank *2

purple dice :

- challenge *2

- 2 challenges *2

- skull

- 2 skulls

-chaos star

-blank

white dice

- blank *3

- succes

- boon *2

black dice :

- blank *3

- challenge

- bane *2

Gren dice :

-blank

- succes*3

- succes + boon

- succes + delay *2

- boon *2

- one unknown

red dice :

-blank

- 2 succes *2

- succes + exertion *3

- 2 boons

- skull

- 2 unknown

yellow dice

- boon *2

- succes

- righteous succes

- sigmar's comet

- blank

I can help a bit:

Opposed checks (like sneaking or lying):

Compare the primary characteristics involved (such as Agility for Stealth vs. Intelligence for Observation)

< half = <0>
< = <P>
= = <PP>
> = <PPP>
> x2 = <PPPP>
+ for Trained Skill
+ for Skill Specialization
+ for Aggression or Cunning points the GM spends out of the opponents ACE budget.

The chart listed above are the negative dice a GM adds to your pool.

So, with the stealth example, a person trying to sneak with an agility of 4, opposed by an NPC with an intelligence of 3 would add <P> to the roll. He would add an additional to the pool if the NPC was trained in Observation. He might add a further if, for example, the NPC were specialized in Keen Vision (a specialization option for the Observation skill).

The 'Sneaker' would then build his pool. His agility dice, trade out for stance, perhaps [Y] if he were trained in sneak, and maybe a fortune die or two if he wanted to spend some fortune points on the roll. He would then add the opposition dice. <P> from the sample above and a from the GM spending ACE budget and/or maybe from the trained skill of the opponent.

I made that sound complicated didn't I... It's actually pretty easy when you see it in front of you.

Confirmed:

blue dice :
succes *4
boon *2
blank *2

purple dice :
challenge *2
2 challenges *2
bane
2 bane
chaos star
blank

white dice :
blank *3
success *2
boon

black dice :
blank *3
challenge *2
bane

Gren dice :
blank
success *4
2 success
success + delay *2
boon *2

red dice :
blank *2
2 success *2
success + exertion *2
success + boon
2 boons
bane *2

yellow dice
boon *2
success
righteous success
sigmar's comet
blank

Thanks NEZZIR for those replies. I really love that mechanic. It's simple enough and straight forward enough, it should work out easily. So it takes 2 times the skill level to get zero dice. I guess we won't see that too often, but then again...a guy that level of skill should be able to simple "school" the little guy most of the time.

Is that how character defense is also determined for combat then? Your base defense is equal to the difference. I guess on average it will be just one, but it definitely adds another step....not that I'm complaining, just curious is all, and processing with my fingers.

Anyway, thanks, now if only I could get those answers about Fatigue that are just driving me crazy!

One last thing, man if that's the same chart for difficulty in the game I'd really love this. It basically says straight up front, a guy opposing you to do something makes something more difficult, period. His skill then translates straight into the difficulty. What a simple, but great idea that is, rather than having to compound two modifiers, stats are simply compared! Fantastic.

I think we need to be careful of giving away too much info before the weekend.

Oh... Sorry. I didn't think mechanics were spoilers. I was thinking information on the Demo scenario was spoilers. I was kind of thinking a leg up on mechanics would help GMs running the event.

But yes, if you have a stat of 6 and he as a stat less than half that, 2 or less for example, then there are zero <P>, or <0>

-or-

If you have a stat of 3 and he has a stat more than twice that, 7 or more for example, then there are <PPPP>

Unopposed rolls have standard challenge difficulties:

Simple: <0>
Easy: <P>
Average: <PP>
Hard: <PPP>
Daunting: <PPPP>

That's great that it works this way. It's very easy and intuitive in every way. Thanks for letting me know.

Oh, come on Dvang, the fatigue/stress system isn't that much to ask for is it? I mean, we've seen most of the combat system and know how that runs, but the fatigue plays such a huge part in the system and it's come up dozens of times. God, I'm totally begging, but hey, I've got no grace here...it's just been driving me crazy ever since it was put forward in the system.

Anyway, hope it's not personal, LOL.

Yes, I do think it would also give a leg up for the GM'S, especially having someone else there to help explain rules questions as they come up. Plus, it would make for a way more interesting forum, you know to have actually something to talk about more than conjecture on the boards.

NezziR said:

I hate division! My group always rib me for the fact that I'm a qualified maths teacher and my mental arithmetic is terrible. I put it down to laziness!!

It all seems pretty simple really, and the "Nez Notation" has already come into it's own eh!?

I like the idea that was suggested in a few other placeson the boards that the dice the GM adds to the roll can be passed over as he describes the scene...

PC: I sneak past the beastmen guard

GM: OK, you move furtively forward. The Beastmen stands alert and ready for action, scanning the area for any sign of movement (passes over <PP>)

PC: Gulp

GM: Suddenly he stops and sniffs the air (passes over a ), then peers into the darkness in your direction; he seems to be staring straight at you (passes over another ), roll your pool to see if he notices you....

pumpkin said:

That is an awesome idea, and I will definitely do this when I GM!

I can't see how mechanical questions could be considered spoilers.... I don't have the books in front of me, and I've slept since I read through the rulebook, so take this with a grain of salt...

1) How does fatigue/stress work?

If I remember correctly, you place fatigue on the physical attribute side and stress on the mental side. If you have more f/s counters than one of your attributes, that attribute is "fatigued". When using that attribute you have to add a number of misfortune dice to your pool... one for each f/s counter over your attribute value. If you get a certain number of stress counters (I think it was twice your willpower, but I could be wrong) you feint... get a certain number of fatigue counters (twice toughness maybe?) you are knocked out.

2) How do contests between character's actually work?

I think this has been explained well by other posters... basically you look at the little chart (which should take about 2 minutes to memorize) and add a number of challenge dice to your pool.

3) Is Arcane Magic similar to the Divine Magic? How does it work, in terms of pool?

I only skimmed the magic book, but it looks pretty straightforward. You use the "channel power" action card to build up power tokens. When you get enough power tokens to cast your spell you play the spell's action card, making a spellcasting roll. If you get a chaos star in your roll, draw from the deliciously evil miscast deck.

My initial impressions of the whole set are overwhelmingly positive... I cannot wait to try it out! I am a little worried because 5 people have signed up for my session... maybe I'll roll up a couple of characters tonight just in case...

In a basic nutshell (just a quick sentence or two), how do Fear, Horror and Insanity work?

I honestly can't remember how fear and horror work... although I do know there's a test and I think there's a "fear" condition. As far as insanity, there's another deliciously evil deck for that... and I do remember a rule that if you have enough insanity cards on your character you have to turn them over to the GM... Call of Cthulhu style. I was very pleased to see that some careers start with an "insanity" socket on their career sheets. I love this game.

Don't forget that the GM can also impose extra for things like lighting conditions (bright light), ground conditions (harder to sneak in mud), etc

Well NezziR, yes and no. I'm not a FFG employee or anything, so I can't speak for them. I'm just saying that I think some of the "fun" of this weekend is finding out more about the mechanics and gameplay, besides seeing and playing the demo. So, I was just saying we don't want to spoil too much and I think we should be careful. I wasn't saying we couldn't answer mechanics questions, I'm just saying before just jumping to answer, we might want to make sure we don't spoil too much. That's all.

@ commoner:
I admit the Fatigue/Stress mechanics were an interesting puzzle to me as well. Then I read the rules for them, and they are freakin' awesome IMO.

So... to press on and answer some questions:

Fatigue and Stress basics:
You gain points for these during the course of a game, sometimes willingly to perform extra maneuvers or to power some action, and sometimes as the involunatary effects of cards. Fatigue covers your 3 physical stats (S, Ag, T) and Stress covers your mental (WP, Int, Fel). If your Fatigue/Stress count goes over any of the appropriate stats, you suffer one on all tests related to that stat per point you are over. I don't recall off-hand, but there is a point when you will fall unconscious/pass out if Fatigue/Stress get too high. Additionally, if both Fatigue AND Stress counts are greater than at least one of their related stats, the PC is Strained, and you start gaining temporary insanity. This is interesting especially since PCs can voluntarily cause Fatigue and Stress to themselves. How close do you ride the line, when some banes or a Chaos could give you additional and put you over, or an enemy's return attack could add Fatigue/Stress and put you over? Way cool stuff, IMO. Fatigue and Stress stick around for a while, kind of like Criticals too. Only with some rest do you start removing counters (some actions can remove them as well, as well as some spells/blessings), and they don't all go away at once.

Fear and Terror basically cause amounts of Fatigue and Stress if you fail the test ... thus they can put both F/S over a stat causing insanity or unconsciousness at worst, or causing some (unless you're fresh without stress/fatigue). Insanity has cards, which I believe are semi-randomly drawn (although there are "types"). I didn't dig into the rules fully, but there is a way for insanities to become permanent too.

Arcane Magic is similar to Divine, but with some subtle but important differences. Mainly, Divine casters choose a blessing to cast, attempt it, and then build favor up to finish casting it (if need be). Arcane build up power and then attempt to cast a spell. Thus, arcane casters have a more dangerous job, since they must hold the additional power in, causing Stress and stuff, and also risk damage from gathering/holding too much power (especially when trying to cast a spell with a high power cost). Pretty good balance, IMO.

I can't say how VERY excited I am to run this Saturday. It seems like a great system.

Are there monster creation guidelines?

Dvang I agree with you that I really do like the Fatigue/Stress system, that is frinking awesome.

I was thinking about the "opposed check" resolution system and how do they make that work for players? Who gets to roll? I know it won't come up all that often, but I was wondering how they define it in the rules. Is it something like when you act on your initiative, you make all the rolls so their value factors into the difficulty of your roll? If that's the case, then how does it work if you're doing something without initiative, lets say, two Troll Slayers are racing each other to a Blood Thirster...how is the roll accomplished to see who gets to the Greater Demon first!

If there's not a table of the result of 1 vs 1 in the books, I just whipped one up in excel in about five minutes that I can pretty up and publish if need be.

If you'd care to recreate it and make it pretty yourself, paste the following into C3:

=IF(C$1=$A3,"<PP>",IF(C$1/$A3<0.5,0,IF(C$1/$A3<1,"<P>",IF(C$1/$A3<=2,"<PPP>","<PPPP>"))))

C1 is 1, D1 is 2, etc, A3 is 1, A4 is 2, etc. A2 says Actor, B1 says Challenger. Copy C3 and paste it over C3:L12 (or whatever.) The formula follows what is in this thread though, and no one has the books in front of them, and hopefully there is a direct table as the above creates available in the books anyway for those who hate division. (My webhost was acting up or I'd just put a picture in here.)

commoner said:

It appears that your probability of success is potentially different if you are the actor versus the person challenging the actor. If this is the case, which will be easily determined, determining who is the actor is a very relevant question. I imagine it goes to either the player who initiated the contest, or to the player with the higher stat. Players with equal stats competing highly favors the acting player if their stats are higher than 4, I believe... with this in mind, for a race, you might want to have both players roll the same roll (athletics or whatever) and compare successes.

I don't know if that is what the game suggests, however, but the game might just simply not be focused on the party being competitive with one another.

Regardless, hopefully I've illustrated why the answer to this would be helpful.

commoner said:

Ah! The magic wonder that is the WFRP TRACK mechanics FFG has provided. Just set up a track with a number of spaces, and each player has a token. Using your example of a pair of Trollslayers racing to reach the Bloodthrister ...

Set up a track 9 pieces long, with event spaces on 3,5, and 7. This assumes there is a small river, and then the Bloodthrister is on a small cliff.

So, event space 3 represents the start of the river, that the Trollslayers will need to swim across, 5 is the end of the river, and 7 is the start of the cliff.

Each PC rolls, and based on the outcome of the rolls (up to GM) their token gets advanced along the track. This can be done openly, or secretly by the GM and narrated as to how close to the river/far across the river, up the cliff, etc they get. The different stages will require different skills to most effectively navigate (run, swim, climb). Whomever reaches the 'end' space on the track has gotten to the BT first.

Additionally, the GM could use a token for the BT, perhaps reprsenting the BT's patience or a timer before the BT leaves/kills the hostages/etc (in which case the Trollslayers both lose!). It could be passive (every chaos {C} symbol rolled by the players advances the BT token, or if 3 banes {B} are rolled, etc), or the GM could roll for the BT. Say once the BT token hits the 5th spot on the track, his event occurs, etc.

An excellent event for the players, and with lots of opportunities for the GM to design and narrate!

EDIT: Never mind. There's a subforum for rules questions now.

I am really curious about magic in the new system.

I am really happy and satisfied with the system as presented through the v2 corebook, Realms of Sorcery and Tome of Corruption (plus bits form supplements). There was a lot of wonderful detail and mechanical support for hedgewizard, college wizards, dark magic users, etc. How deep does the treatment go in the core set? Are there concepts of Rituals (a system I adored in v2)?

How do power levels escalate for mage/priest types?

No rituals, yet, as far as I can tell. There are a set of "basic" generic spells, plus each college has their own set of spell cards. Spell cards are ranked, with higher ranked spells costing more power and having better effects.

There is information about hedge wizards, dark magic, Dhar, Necromancy, etc. Remember, though, this is the Core Set. So, like v2, a lot of the detailed information will probably need to wait until the "Realms of Sorcery" and "Tome of Corruption" for 3e get produced.

One last question, bit of a dispute we're trying to clarify really, do Boons count as successes if there are no effects on the action card? I'm saying no (because I've never read it) my friend says yes (something with the dice roller or other). Could anybody clarify please?

commoner said:

They do not.