Review after first demo

By Karl R, in 2009 WFRP The Emperor's Decree Event

I ran this last night at our store (Dragon's Lair Comics and Fantasy, San Antonio).

First, the good....the players all loved the game. I ran the event after receiving the rules on Tuesday. I had to explain pretty much all of the rules the day of event and one of the players pretty much learned the Magic rules an hour before we started, but the event went perfectly. Two people had played Descent, which apparently has similar mechanics. The players had so much fun that they are ready for more.

The Good:

--Dice: The dice pools were very cool. We did get a lot of results that did not have any effect..multiple banes or boons that did not seem to matter. However, we might house rule certain results to give extra dice or effects somewhere.
--Cards: Actions, Talents: We had four players so we shared some of the basic action cards, however, after a brief explanation, people got them pretty easily.
--Cards: Effects: We loved the wounds, insanity and miscast cards! The table cheered when the Grey Mage miscast a spell!
--Combat: We all liked the abstract feel of the combat, and the lack of a 'whiff' factor seen with WHFRP and Dark Heresy with new characters. The dice pools really shined here.
* Social: The social mechanic was very cool. Though all seemed pretty competent in combat (the Trollslayer stole the show there, really), the others were able to shine in the social aspect.
* Quality:Beautiful box and bits!
* Bits: lots but they work well!

The Bad:

--I had a hard time finding rules judgments, etc, because there was a lack of an index in any of the books, or a rules summary section.

--Monsters were hard to figure out.

--Advancement looked complicated.

In summary, the game seemed to maintain the Grim, Funny of WHFRP, but with a new and dynamic mechanic...

Ok..have to go for now..next demo is starting....

The second session was run smoother on my part, but certain criticisms did come up. The players this time around seemed to more in the RPG camp than in the Boardgame/Miniatures camp.

There were some comparisons to D&D4E with the card-system for Actions and Talents

One player figured out on a table a way to convert the Proprietary Dice to Regular Game Dice.

I noticed this time around that while the box was very nice, it was already starting to show wear (ie the sleeve) after less than a week.

The buy in for the game..a retail of $99, could be a dealbreaker for players, and GMs would have to shore the bill.

Is this the intention?

A player's only book would help.

The lack of a comprehensive index did stick out as new complications arose from different outcomes than in the previous demo.

Some new good things :

Social Interaction was a big hit.

They still liked the dice mechanic. It did seem though, when compared to WHFRP2, that the characters were more competent. I personally think that this is a good thing, but others might feel it takes away from the Grim&Gritty, sometimes Keystone Cop feel from previous editions (esp for PCs starting their careers.).

That's all I can think of for now.