I have the core set but have yet to run it (I'm starting The Enemy Within at the end of the month). But I had a question for those GMs who have run it . . . just how gritty is this game? It's kind of a general question but I guess I want a general answer. Kind of how the system "feels". Do your players fear the enemies or is it leaning more toward a D&D hack-n-slash?
How gritty is this game?
It's more gritty than DnD. My players respect the monsters. That said, they also don't run from a fight so it's not they play to avoid combat. The lethalness of this game seems to come from having to fight while wounded. It can be hard to heal and if you enter combat wounded, you should be real concerned about taking a dirt nap. If you are at full health, you are probably going to survive just fine.
It depends very much on the GM. In our troupe the world is very gritty. The fact that I roll my dice openly lets the player know that no divine fiddling with them will ever save them. If they die they die and stay dead. Still durring our almost 20 years of playing together very few characters have died, because they treat combat with the proper respect and will back down or decide to take their chances. But it's always their choice and not mine.
Our world also has a grim mood. Filthy peasants, mistrust in rural areas, swift and unenlightened justice ruled by prejudice and superstition. Corruption among officials, back stabbing... All the bad human characteristics you can think of are dominant in this world. Even the good guys are bad. For us it's about taking fantasy to a human level, where NPCs and players aren't hust a heroes with swords or evil cultists. They are creatures with bad habbits, dark desires, dreams, hopes, despair and a wish to do what it takes to make it in a world where no quarters are given.
My experience has been that combat is very dangerous but I had a more balanced and less combat-focused party. An encounter I ran with the 3 of them included 6 Ungor henchmen and 1 Gor. The Gor let the Ungors charge in first and assessed the combat while taking his time to close the distance. After a couple of the Ungors were slain, the Gor finally waded in with "Fearsome Charge" which did some pretty nasty damage. By the end of the combat, I had to make the Gor "skip" his action (spent a round gloating over a badly injured PC instead of attacking) in the interest of not killing said PC. The party managed to break the beastmen's morale and finished them off on the retreat.
One PC had suffered 8 wounds (no criticals), one had suffered 7 wounds (2 criticals), and one had been KO'd taking a total of 14 wounds (3 criticals). They spent the night at the inn, recovering to 4, 3 and 11 wounds respectively but healing no crits. I'm afraid of what it would have looked like if I had thrown a Wargor at them!
But as said above, the real "grittiness" comes from a lot more than just combat lethality. The world itself should feel dark, dirty and unforgiving. That's the Warhammer way!
Sinister said:
It's more gritty than DnD. My players respect the monsters. That said, they also don't run from a fight so it's not they play to avoid combat. The lethalness of this game seems to come from having to fight while wounded. It can be hard to heal and if you enter combat wounded, you should be real concerned about taking a dirt nap. If you are at full health, you are probably going to survive just fine.
That's my point too.
In Warhammer there are Stress, Fatigue and INSANITIES. That is totally gritty, awesome and frequent.