Hi all,

Despite having had the Core game box sat on my shelf for about a year, I am finally in the process of reading the rules and preparing to run the game for the first time in the next 2-3 weeks. I am not a novice gamer, having started roleplaying in 1977 and GM'ing in 1979, but I was wondering if some of you that have played for some time had any tips on what might be the rules/things that are most easily overlooked in the first few sessions. I figure having some ideas from you all might help me avoid those common early mistakes with a new system.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Hi,

If you're a component player - be organized. For example, stack cards in a fashion that you can find what you want (and what players want) easily. Also, organize your NPC stands and/or location cards ahead of time if you know what kind of encounters you are going to have. Setting up trackers takes very little time, so this can be done on the fly if you have the pieces handy. Chits and dice should be placed in easy-to-access bowls or containers.

Practice interpreting dice pools. Give yourself a scenario - setup the dice pool, roll it X times, and come up with X different "here's what happened" stories for each roll. Stories can be as short as a few words, or as long as a paragraph (though dice pool interpretations should remain on the shorter side, except for dramatically important die rolls).

Make sure you can justify the differences between manuevers and actions in your mind - so you can explain the differences to the players. Inevitably, the question will arise - how do I use action cards outside of Encounter mode? This issue will most likely be resolved by the guides, but work up a resolution for yourself and your players otherwise.

Try to explain (and justify to yourself) how the components and game mechanics enhance role-playing. Without this, you run the risk of "gamey" players trying to min/max the system (which is likely to frustrate such players, as the system isn't easily min/maxed except with a few exceptions, e.g. ironbreakers). Encourage players to take actions, talents, skills that "sound cool for the character" - rather than having them think deeply about dice rolling probabilities. On a related note, really get the players to flesh out their characters by answering the "10 questions" referred to in the Core rules.

If you can make the Episode/Act structure fit, use it, as many of the game mechanics (i.e. action cards that refer to "end of Act") will require less house-ruling. One of the hardest things I had to figure out how to make fit was the "rally step" - read up on it's use, look-up examples. Then practice introducing it to your players - you may find that the players will appreciate the rally-step as a temporary break in the action.

Happy GMing!

As above and...

Learn the healing rules and mark the page.

Download UHead's rule summary. Make sure that each of your players have one. (especially the basic action sheet..then you don't need the extra cards on the table).

Remember the following things go together:

Fatigue/fatigued/maneuvers

Stress/stressed/stance

distressed (both stress/fatigue)

fortune can reduce action recharge

Talents have a recharge of 4 (not on the cards..but should be).

Regarding game play, it is IMPERATIVE that you use a tracking method for social encounters. just letting the troll slayer do all the talkign when you have an envoy in the party should ALWAYS GO BAD. This is crucial because the non-heroic characters need something to help them shine and typically it is the social encounters.

I recommend grabbing a couple pre-generated characters either from the DEMO or Liber Fanatica #7 and imagine how situations would play out. If you run the DEMO for yourself and/or your players, you will be all set for anythign you need to do. It will take the players approximately 4 rolls to figure out how to cancel out the results.

As a Gm, it is important to add colorful commentary to the dice roll effects. If there are emo-tears coming up that are adding stress and fatigue to a roll, play it up. Troll slayers who try to negotiate and talk too much SHOULD be getting stressed and frustrated.

One last thing: I'd leave out the party sheet until your group has figured out the base rules, but mention it. I'm not a fan of punishing people with the stress meter on the party sheet and instead use it backwards..as the party gets closer to their goal, I give them benefits (instead of it's original design..which is to punish the group..which is the opposite of fun imho).

best,

jh

Emirikol said:

Not to get into a fight about this Jay, but I couldn't disagree more - and I think it's important to log at least one dissenting point on this.

Consider the "Journey to Blackfire Pass" official scenario. When traveling from one destination to another, one member of the party rolls a fortune (white) die, and based on the result, the party either: (roughly, going on memory here, but the details are of little importance)

1. Arrives with no incident

2. Located a shortcut (everyone in the party regains one stress and one fatigue)

3. Got lost, and were delayed in arriving (increase the party tension meter by 1 space).

Played this way, it's not punishment - it's simply a mechanical reflection of group tension as the game progresses through normal obstacles.

However - the rulebook isn't really clear on how to use the party tension track well, so it's easily viewed as a punishment meter - especially if used heavy-handedly (i.e. GM: You're not being good role-players, increase party tension!).

Consider another mundane scenario: The party has nearly run out of food. There is enough for one character to eat for a day, but not all 3. Characters must decide what to do:

1. If characters decide one character eats - then the other two take 2 fatigue tokens, and party tension increases (the effects of starvation and social anguish within the party)

2. If the characters decide to split the food, then all characters take 1 fatigue, and no party tension increases (until later in the day, when stomachs start rumbling!)

When used carefully, the party tension track captures what individual fatigue and stress do not - namely the morale of the group - and can be a visual que to the players to do something about it (and roleplay it!)

That's definitely different (and better) from the original intention on the video was that you can punish the group if:

a) they don't get along

b) there's a slow player

c) players debate stuff too long

I've found that's a quick way to lose friends and alienate people.

I just like the idea of the meter going both ways more than leaning towards the negative. I like your method better and will experiment on my group soon enough

Jay

I would never look at the "party tension" meter as "punishment". It will give it a very negative connotation to the players. I would also never play without a party sheet. The party sheet is one of the greatest devices that WFRP has to offer. It adds another way to reward players first hand for excellent roleplay. It also promotes the play experience not being limited to a single player interacting with other players and a GM, it strongly adds the element of a player interacting with a party and each individual unit and the party interacting with the GM. The tension meter only gauges the tension/stress/problems within a social group. It can also reflect the tension of a situation between the characters and an event (such as being strongly outnumbered in a fight can justify raising party tension and maybe a step or two more if the party is reluctant/afraid). It is not a punishment device rather a roleplay tool. The great thing about the entire mechanic for 3e is the way the entire system enhances play with a series of rewards and risks. Don't forget that tension goes both ways as well.

Dice interpretation is really important as well. However, do not feel that the dice are only limited to the GM to interpret. Players love interpreting their rolls. They love to interact with them. Give them the opportunity to do so. The great thing about Warhammer is it creates a game that is very cooperative between GM and players. I feel it is one of the few "big games" that creates a sense of the player and GM working together to create a great story/scene rather than the players vs. the GM. The dice give them a great deal of ways they can influence and interpret the story as they wish. It may not necessarily be necessarily a direction you wanted to go as a GM, but it does give them an element of "creation" in the story if you allow them to play with dice-interpretation. Of course, the GM has a final veto power.

I would also say pay close attention to the section on trackers. I have been gaming forever too and found these really change the entire format for the gaming experience. Trackers give a way for players to gauge their success in encounters. Instead of keeping things vague, it gives a clear impression of how well they are doing. They also give you a number of new and exciting ways to create encounters. For instance it allows you to represent an escape without large maps. It allows you to manage events in fights. It can be used to foreshadow events. They are great in social scenes and I find their options are limitless.

I also echo the idea of not feeling limited by the action cards. Always remember that they are "one way" a player can access the system. You have as much freedom to create/interpret rolls and modifiers however you wish.

I really do hope you enjoy this game. Myself, after playing it, there are many elements I cannot fathom gaming without in the future. I've been playing this for a year strong and have no intention of stopping. Any questions or clarifications needed, just ask. Until then...

Good Gaming,

Commoner

Well that's great looking advice from you all.

I already had the Universal Head guide downloaded as I know the value of his board game play aids. I will give it some careful study along with the other points you have all made.

Components organisation is the area that I really hadn't considered that highly yet, but did like the look of a number of the "new" things, like the trackers and party sheet so I am keen to try them out. It looks like this is an area I need to put lots of thought into.

Really looking forwards to trying this now, and will be creating some characters myself as a trial along with testing combat and learning to read and describe the dice actions.

Once again, many thanks and enjoy your gaming

Remember to give the players first option to describe dice results from their own pools, and also from your pools if they come up with good stuff.