Hey, all! I've run the demo for a few players to get the feel of the rules, and I'm about ready to start playing seriously with our group. One of our members, though, is new to RPGs and knows relatively little 'fantasy setting common knowledge' and absolutely nothing about the Warhammer world. I'd like to give him a brief introduction to the world, something short and sweet so he isn't overwhelmed. I can, of course, share the relevant pieces of the rule books, but is there a resource that might be an even better introduction?

5 of the 6 players in my group know nothing about warhammer. Here's wait I said:

"It's a world that mirrors our own. Where europe is, is what's called the old world. The dark elves live in the US and Canada, the lizards in south america, the high elves on an island in the pacific. Theres a group of humans, that follow basically the beliefs of knight and chivalry in france."

Then add layers....

First session. "Tonight I want to talk a little about chaos and the runious powers"

Next Session "Tonight I want to discuss the empire cults...."

If you add it in layers and take just 5 minutes a session to teach something new, your players should absorb it just fine.

I also recommend the Warhammer online wiki, which is pretty good at providing general info.

In this case, let Wiki be your friend...here's a short excerpt:

The Warhammer world
Main article: Warhammer Fantasy (setting)

Warhammer is just one of many games set in a fictional universe. Warhammer is notable for its "dark and gritty" background world, which features a culture similar in appearance to Renaissance Germany crossed with Tolkien's Middle-earth.

The geography of the Warhammer world strongly resembles that of Earth. This is said to be due to the actions of an ancient spacefaring race known as the Old Ones. This mysterious and powerful race visited the Warhammer World in the distant past. Establishing an outpost, they set about manipulating the geography and biosphere of the planet. Assisted by their Slann servants, they moved the planet's orbit closer to its sun, and arranged the continents to fit their standard geomantic template.

The Old Ones were subsequently expelled from their colony when the polar "Warp Gates" that they had created collapsed and chaos gained entry to the world. Before leaving however, they had established the Lizardman empire, and had conducted numerous genetic experiments, which had led to the races of elves, dwarfs, men, ogres and halflings.

The elves and dwarfs eventually founded empires of their own, and were initially allies. The early elven empire later splintered, with a sect of elves secretly corrupted by Chaos taking refuge in the northern lands of Naggaroth, leaving the still uncorrupted elves, or High Elves on their island home of Ulthuan. The alliance between the High Elves and the Dwarfs broke down due to the machinations of the newly formed Dark Elves, leading to the War of the Beard between the two powers. The elves who stayed behind during the waning of elvish influence in the Old World established a realm within the forests of the old world, most notably Athel Loren and became known as Wood Elves.

The men were the slowest to develop, but eventually formed several strong realms, able to resist both the forces of Chaos and the older powers. Chief amongst these are The Empire, Bretonnia, and Cathay. Nehekhara, a former empire of men to the south of the Old World, has since become undead via a curse. Its long-dead armies now march to war under command of the Tomb Kings.

The forces of evil are often depicted as not a localised threat, but a general menace. The Skaven exist in an "Under Empire" in extensive tunnels beneath the other races, while the Orcs and Goblins are nomadic, and regularly attack without warning. Chaos and the Undead also routinely infiltrate the other nations, especially the Empire.

I know it's not quite what you're after but I emailed my players with some light suggested reading on:

The Old World

The Empire

The History of the Empire

Excellent excerpts, Dramatic Exit and Eldenward. Exactly what I was looking for! And that's a great idea about breaking it up into 5-minute sessions each game, Sinister. I appreciate the help!

I'm a big fan of omitting things to preserve the mystery, surprise, and future reveals. I'll do a lot to convince new players that the skaven don't exist or are a fairytale, ignore Lizardmen and make other continents vague, unknown places, obfuiscate the differences between Dark and High Elves (except for to High Elf players), and deliver conflicting information to various players depending on what they know.

The best part is when you have a mix; like in my group, where I've got one player who's a big WFB fan and has a Lizardmen army, and another who knows nothing of the setting. When they entered a Lizardmen temple, he began to freak out (his character a studied wizard with some idea what it might be), which really usettled the new player (and her dwarf) who had no idea what was making him so nervous.

morskittar said:

This is why in my game the party isn't going to know about the comet hitting mordhiem because 5 out of 6 have never heard of the city. And the sixth one I swore to secrecy.

Sinister said:

I like your style!

I am in the (perhaps enviable) position of running a campaign for a bunch of new comers to the setting. So I am writing a campaign that slowly and purposely reveals all of the standards from WFRP lore.

morskittar said:

That must have been fun to watch unfold. Limiting peoples in gma eknowledge probably also helps with preserving the sense of awe and or fascination.

simpatikool said:

It was quite enjoyable. I'm playing again tonight and can't wait to see half the party's faces (and the new half's reactions) when they figure out they're being pursued by Dark Elf raiders.