How are the games that you run/play in? Do they resemble more Tim Burton-style or Lord of the Rings? (or other)

jh

Thankfully neither.

Probably more like medieval fantasy David Lynch or QuentinTarantino.

I'd say mostly inspired by Howard and Lovecraft and our own ancient and dark ages history

I like to think mine are more of a "Warhammer" style

Seriously though, I mostly keep my adventures in an urban setting, with not too much combat and very few encounters with anything non-human. Can really say what style it is, but it sure isn't Lord Of The Rings. I'm not even sure what a Tim Burton style would be. Would it have a lot of people in black, pumpkins and skulls?

If you mean more like Sleepy Hollow, then perhaps a tad bit.

But as long as it isnt Hercules ande Xena I think you are ok.

When I run WFRP (granted I run 2E), I try to keep it more grounded in reality with the supernatural being rare and major events. A single skaven or orc shoudl scare the bejesus out of the starting players. A grotto full of beastmen should terrify them for weeks.

I like to add a mix of mystery and action. In my last WFRP 3rd edition campaign I ran a large combats with an army of orcs and the PCs were backed up by an army of Reiksguard knights and various other Empire troops. I do think my campaigns can be a bit high powered at times (which has more to do with my GMing style then anything else) and yet at other times it can be grim and gritty adventures with long treks though the wilderness and in-depth investigation (either involving chaos cults or some imaginary rat-men). So I guess I like a mix of styles and run whatever kind of adventure my group feels like at the time.

Lucas Adorn said:

This lower-powered, sword & sorcery feel is what I go for, though often I am pulled towards heroic (and epic) fantasy as games go on.

To the OP: More LOTR than Burton, for sure.

Depends on the mood my group is in at the time. Usually fairly low fantasy, emphasis on the "grim and dark" aspects of the warhammer world, with Lovecraftian influences but every now and then we drift into "epic high fantasy" (usually when elves and demons show up).

Personally I think this is a strength of WFRP, the Warhammer world in its 25+ years of existence has been many things from the very dark and dangerous world of WFRP 1st ed to the high fantasy of many of the tabletop editions. It allows for every type of hero, every act moral or immoral,and provides a very deep world to get lost in that is more about possibilities than limitations. If a group wants to run a high fantasy game with Ironbreakers, Swordmasters and overt evil to fight they can. If a group wants fantasy horror then that is also possible; as is a low magic world of corruption and human weakness.

There are even times when our games have a bit of Jim Henson to them; think Labyrinth, David Bowie and headless puppets.

regards,

ET

I would say it's"we're mostly playing it like straight men who think it's Sharp (cf the books/series by Cornell) but really we're in a Blackadder series (and make occassional in-character nods to that).

Rob

More "Game of Thrones" or "Conan" than World War Tolkien.

valvorik said:

Hahah yes, I too notice that in the end, no matter which game we play, it always ends up being comedic in tone. It's what happens when you put old friends together, I guess And Blackadder II does take place in Renaissance London, not too far from the WFRP atmosphere after all.

Tim Burton has a very distinct flavour that I wouldn't associate with Warhammer and the same goes for Tolkien, even though of course WFRP owes a lot to his world, like all fantasy of this type does.

Nevertheless, Middle-Earth is very much a mythical past whereas Warhammer is clearly rooted in much more recent, tangible real-world material.

So in the end, all I can say is our games feel like Warhammer... And if I would have to compare it to anything else... I would say The Witcher.

Oh there are definitely a Sleepy Hollow'esq feeling to my game, with some Black Adder and some Name of the Rose. Not so much LotR. We are gearing up for our first large scale battle, having had the second act in Stromdorf go so, so wrong they now have a horrible undead scourge on their hands, an army coming from Altdorf to fight them and other stuff. I'm planning on having them play it out as a WFB game (2 on each side) and the side that wins their characters will get something special, hehe, hehe.

Tim Burton is cool. I'm cool and so my warhammer is cool too!

Tim Burton = personal stories, dark, mysterious and funny.

LotR: = epic quests, majesty, great evil vs good.

good gaming

One of my players has described the game I'm running as Blackadderesque, so I'll take his word for it. I don't actually have a great background in the Warhammer universe, so may main sources of inspiration are a history of the Thirty Years War, The Medieval Underworld, and various books by Umberto Eco, most notably The Island of the Day Before.

Apocalypse Now meets Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Isn't everyone's?

I just wanted to thank you guys for introducing me to BLACK ADDER. I've been watching them on Netflix and it's fricking hilarious! I'm up to episode 6 season 1..

6 "The Black Seal" Rowan Atkinson, Richard Curtis Martin Shardlow 20 July 1983 (1983-07-20)

When all of Edmund's titles are removed except Warden of the Royal Privies, Edmund is furious and decides to raise an army of six of the most ruthless bandits in all the lands to seize the throne and become king.

Blackadder is awesome. It puts a nice comic bent on some of the worst situations and environments in history. Rowan Atkinson is without the doubt one of the most articulate actors I've seen and can make you laugh just by raising an eyebrow. The last episode of the last series was very poignent and emotional (set in WW1). All in all they are great to show how the down-trodden can strive to raise their station - but probably not succeed, Costume of the period and the abject poverty - all with a comic slant that could be transferred, in part, to RP.

Completely Off Topic but if you find the humour good try some of the Mr Bean episodes - virtually no dialogue, but I can guarentee you will wet your self laughing and cringe at the same time (every body knows someone like Mr Bean from school, or a distant relative that no-one speaks about, etc!).

Alp

Speaking of Blackadder, I think it awesome and yet very strange to know "House", from the show if the same name, used to play the part of one of Blackadder's lackey, George.

As to "Mr. Bean", I was not terribly impressed ... I'm not a big fan of buffoonery and slapstick.

Jack of Tears said:

Same here. I found it funny when I was a kid, now it rarely produces more than a chuckle. Black Adder is still funny though, though I find it mostly funny because of the writing.

A truly brilliant program, especially the series finale.

Between Black Adder, fawlty towers, and monty python's flying circus (with a little red dwarf thrown in) it is suprising an entire generation did not grow up absolutely mad....

regards,

ET