Hey guys,

I have a gaming group that is veeeery much into D&D, playing in Eberron at the moment. They keep chatting about their feats, their powers, they like to throw giant fireballs and spend healing surges and conjure shadows or angel guardians and whatnot (and, worst of all, they don’t want their characters to die ;-)). So be it. Now… Eberron. I really like that setting; I think it’s by far the best you could get for D&D. So, I’d like to convert some of my high-fantasy-loving players to Warhammer. But one (rather provocative) question bugs me:
Is Warhammer/the Old World boring compared to Eberron? (No, it isn't, I know that... :-)) But I'm still quite new to the setting, so:
What can/should I do to evoke a special, distinct “Warhammer” feeling – something you cannot, except by bending the setting to an extreme, achieve in anything D&D/Eberron?

Thanks very much for all your input!

Stefan

Well, the issue you're going to face is that D&D in general, and Eberron especially, is a high power setting. People throwing fireballs is commonplace, as are massive crafted machines.

Warhammer is generally a low power setting. Spellcasters usually get burned at the stake, or, at best, are feared and encouraged to hurry along from a town lest they bring doom upon the townsfolk. Healing is not quite as commonplace either; usually if you get hurt, you need to arrange some bedrest rather than having one of the hundreds of Clerics or Druids heal you up (though my group has a Priestess of Shallya that is causing me to up the strength of encounters significantly). The simplest way I can put it is you take the standard D&D world, make the humans fairly xenophobic, remove 95% of the arcane and divine casters, and make sure that the world of humanity is actually threatened by neighboring forces. D&D tends to have groups of Orcs that don't really pose a significant threat, rather than the situation in the Warhammer world where if those Orcs ever decided to attack in one army, they'd wipe out humanity and the Dwarfs.

I'd certainly read some of the fiction from the Black Library, or at least some of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle army books (The old ones are quite cheap). Barring that, just bear in mind that Warhammer has more to do with actual medieval settings than D&D; people generally are poorer, many are sick, superstition runs rampant, travel is dangerous, and enemies are everywhere. The other bit to remember is that the bad guys are very bad, and the good guys are pretty bad too.

If they aren't literate characters, give the players handouts written in gibberish. (I keed, but could be fun and lead to some good roleplaying as they have to find an NPC to translate for them).

keltheos said:

That is an idea I like. Thanks Keltheos, you just gave me a plan that will surely annoy my players.

Warhammer is black humour, mature content and mystery. Grey zones. Paranoïa to a certain extent. Not knowing for sure who the enemy is and what he's up to. Also, Warhammer is premodern, so it is much closer to our world regarding things like bureaucracy, printed books, the structure of the Church, hired armies of soldiers, letters of change for money, and German sounding names. No more Darkmore or Flingor the Dwarf or any other cheesy Fantasy name.

Warhammer culture is directly inspired from our own European premodern cultures, so you have tons of inspiration to look for in RW history !

Lastly, the Orcs speak in East London slang or something like it... That you will never find in D&D !

I've read enough material over the decades that I have a solid image in my head about what the Warhammer world is like (to me). It's a gunpowder civilization, but still superstitious. There are machines, but there is magik. There is medicine, but there is poverty. There is dirt and grime and misery brought on by ignorance. You have to form your own image.

Once you have that image strong in your mind, it's your job to lend it to your players. I accomplish this by using subtle details. I add textures and smells and sounds to my descriptions. Example:

"Ahead is the town of Bromhagen. You are weary from travel and the wet mud on the road sucks at your boots making every step seem like 2. There is a sign ahead proclaiming that Bromhagen has a population of 37. There are many larger numbers crossed out. Above the sign is a wheel, the kind used to punish criminals. Perched on the crooked wheel is a large black crow that ***** his head at you as it caws loudly. Other crows respond, hidden in the bare skeletal trees.

You enter town, past leaning, clapboard houses and barely hidden rats all too used to humans. The town smells of rotted food and human waste and seems much larger than the population sign would suggest. You catch the eye of a bent crone as she hobbles across the road, the bottom of her dirty, patched dress soiled with mud. She snarls at you, forks the sign to ward off evil, and rushes in doors only to reappear peering out the window as you pass.

Ahead is what passes for Bromhagen's Inn, The Savage Dog. The sign hangs askew from one broken chain and the weathered painting of the one-eyed hound stares balefully at you as you approach. For the first time, something overpowers the stench of the town. Someone is cooking. You belly grumbles, against your better judgement, as you ascend the splintery stairs. "

It's all about presentation. This is just something off the cuff. It's a typical description I use to set the mood. When I'm done with that, I'll have my players full attention and they will be in the place I took them. The place you take them is up to you and comes from the vision you have in your head. Get that straight and the rest will fall in line.

Edit: I also use lighting, a soundtrack, and occasionally props. I've even been known to bring in guest players from other groups to play parts.