I love that game. I love the token and stuffs. I bought all the material and I ran over 50 sessions yet with more than 10 players.
though, there are somes aspects of the following subjects players and I dislike in our games :
- token/fatigue/stress/fortunepoints/Power/blessing : Too many different token manipulations slows the game.
- Dice pools : Too many black and white dices in every roll slows the game (dices interpretation) for few effect (50% nothing).
- Fortune point : too weak (50% chances to do nothing), GM has to give a lot of them to balance.
- Damages : Not enough violence makes combats a bit long compared to Warhammer standards. Requiring too much blows feels d&dish/videogamish.
- Fatigue/stress : unless you're WP distressed or strained, you don't feel it a lot. Black dices are weak, and makes the pool bigger.
- Wounds Cards : Among wounds cards, a lot of them have weak critical effect or add more black dices to the game.
- Insanity Cards : Among Insanity cards, a lot of them have weak effect or add more black dices to the game.
- Career Card : takes place on the table, shaken by dice rolls, could have been on the career card... When you choose your career you must search for it elsewhere.
- Talent Card to exhaust : why don't write it requires 4 token on it ? More token manipulation.
- Stance : takes place on the table, shaken by dice rolls, could have been on the player sheet.
- Basic Defense Cards : always required for the token (not like other basic cards), but it takes place on the table, shaken by dice rolls, could have been on the player sheet.
Our Houserules or adjustments to correct these aspects that bother us :
- Token/fatigue : use only one kind of token on cards and characteristics. We use the Fatigue/stress chits. It's less messy and faster.
- Lighter Dice Pool (white dices) : put out of the game every Talent that only add some passive white dice everywhere. If people want more white dices, they may tran specializations. There are a lot of other interesting talents than these one.
- Lighter Dice Pool (black dices) : Use black dices only when abilities requires it (defense, etc). Otherwise, adjusting Challenge dices is more simple and effective.
- Fatigued/Distressed : You retire one characteristic dice from the pool per fatigue/stress over the tested characteristic (no black dice, big effect, and lighter pool).
- Fortune Points : Spending a point give you a BLUE dice, not a white one. no 50% effect no more then.
- More Damages (critical hits) : I use the GM Toolkit option. Moreover, when a critical hit is scored, it had a number of normal wounds to the damages equal to its severity.
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More memorables Wounds (wounds cards) : There is A LOT of wound cards now. Why don't you select them and put out every wound care with "minor" black dices effects, "flesh wounds", lighter fatigues/stress stuffs, and keep the more violent ones. We are talking CRITICAL aren't we ?
- More memorables Insanities (Insanity cards) : Same as Wounds cards. Put out black dices effects, lighter fatigues/stress and keep heavy effect and roleplay based effects.
- Career talent : you may write it on your character sheet or put in on the career sheet advancement table.
- Talent cards to exhaust : When you exhaust a talent, turn the card face down until the end of the encounter. You may use it again if you asses the situation or if you pay a fortune point. Don't use 4 token and try this way, it is really quick, nice and effective. Keep your token for real action cards.
- Stance and Basic Defense cards : I modified the Official character sheet (and translated it in french) to make them appears directly on the sheet.
- Basic cards : don't use them... Moreover we don't roll no more guarded position and assess the situation because you never miss and the side effect are minors and may be automatic.
My GM Tricks to adjust difficulty :
- Range attack : 1 black dice per range to balance it makes as much damage as melee attack.
- Chaos star = 1 failure + reroll (like the Hammer Plus on yellow expertise dice).
- A/C/E : fatigue retires aggression dice, you may use Cunning dices to defend yourself instead of managing basic defenses cards. You may use aggression dice to make 1 more manoeuver (GM toolkit).
I'm interessed you shared your view about these points. Good gaming.
