Ok simply put how does this play? I saw a tiny, tiny bit of info on it so I don't know much other than 1) it uses cards, and 2) it uses different dice.

I did play the old WFRP and obviously I can see this is a big change from it (also played dark heresy, rogue trader, etc) so again my main question is just how well does this play and are there any comparisons you can make to other games so I might get a general idea.

Few other minor questions:

1) Is it all card reliant. By that I mean is your character creation very limited to, say, specific race/class combo's or is it more free as it used to be?

2) Is your gear very limited? (again seeing how this seems to use cards)

3) Any good tutorials you know of online?

Oh and the reason I ask for tutorials is so that I might get a general play through before shelling out $100 on a very different looking rpg I know little about rule wise.

The game plays very differently to WFRP (obviously) because the rule set has completely changed.

Having said that the career system is still there and even more free form than before in many cases - specific career exits have been replaced with groupings of keywords, the more keywords two careers have in common the cheaper it is to move from one to the other.

There are still a number of proper career paths presented, but currently, they are mainly the well defined iconic careers and those that need a genuine career paths to work - priest, wizard, with hunter, zealot, slayer, etc

There is a less defined carrer path for more general types like fighter, thief etc

We haven't found this to be an issue with our games but i guess it could be if you had a very clear idea of the sort of character you want to create (based on 1st/2nd ed concepts), and those careers have not yet been released for 3rd.

The game is very card centric as advertised and suggested to be played, but cards are really limited to careers or races, so it offers up a wealth of character customisation - more so than in previous editions, I think.

You can play without the cards, and I know some people advocate this as a way of keeping the table clear of clutter, which basically amounts to having the card results written down on a sheet. There are also lots of other new ideas in the system, such as party cards, that again some people don't use, to keep the table clear, or because they find them unneccessary.

The dice mechanic in my opinion is where this system, really shines, it is pool based, but with each die representing something specific - skill, luck, the environment, your armour, your dodging abiltiy etc etc, so when you roll not only do you know if you succeed or fail, but the dice help the story along by helping define why you succeeded or failed.

The dice mechanic, also allows for success but with complications or failure but with benefits.

Its not a straight success/fail.

You can play the game from a rule book, but I expect it would lose a lot from doing so.

I'll give you a quick list of things I love about the game:

• Careers, you can swap careers as you like or dedicate (longer) for a bonus. It means you can shift between similar careers with ease, but makes it expensive (xp wise) to switch to a completely un-related career. Also you can hop into one career for a certain skill set then move on without the long process of completing the career. (each Career has a special ability that you get while in the career and once dedicated, if you leave early you lose it).
• Dice - The dice make it less 'Ohh I rolled a 20 I hit', your roll can be 'used' in several different ways depending on your skill card.
• Cards - The card make it easier to track the abilities you have, a visual aid and a place to put tokens when abilities are on 'cool down'. But you can play it from the book if you want.
• Stances - The way your stance your characer (reckless/conservative) not only reflects in your RP style but in your actions. All actions can be used in either stance but some abiities suit one stance better than another.

I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting, but these stick in my mind.

I really liked the critical wounds system of old WFRP since it was really brutal. But with the new expansion, there are not perminant injury cards in the wounds deck, which is a step towards defining characters and their experiances (good or bad!).

Thanks for the great answers, I'll definately be checking it out. I'd still like to try and experience it before shooting down all the money, but maybe eventually if I get some unexpected boost in income haha.

One more question though. I did watch someone do a slight youtube explanation of some of the mechanics and they mentioned there's only enough cards for 3 players. I have a large group of players and I like the idea of having the visual aids (though not neccessary we could just scan / print if absolutely neccessary) is this true, are there "card expansions" that just give more copies of the cards without having to buy the whole set again?

The reason I ask is I have around 6-7 players typically.

Dark Bunny Lord said:

Ok, the core set comes with enough basic actions for 3 players. The adventurer's tool kit provides another set of basic actions, as does player's vault and i think GM's vault.

FFG also provide a printable sheet on the support page that covers the basic actions, so you can print as many of those as you have players, anyway so that really isn't a problem anymore (it was more of an issue before FFG provided the printable sheet, so the you tube clip is probably from before the printable sheet was released)

Therefore with the remaining cards you have options - use the copies of cards as limits, so if one PC has chosen the thunderous shot action for example, then no other PC can select it and they have to choose something else. This helps to make each PC unique as they all have a different selection of actions, talents etc

Or let players share cards if two or more players want the same action - not a major problem, but can be a bit more tricky co-ordinate; scaning can also work in this case, especially if you use card sleeves etc

I'd be inclined to go with the former though (using cards as limits) except under exceptional circumstances, such as you have two players that both want to be priests (of different gods) but you only have one set of priest basic action cards.

Having 6-7 players can use up a lot of room on the table, especially during combat, but i think the core set (plus the printable basic action sheets) can support that number of players, althuogh a few extra dice sets would come in handy - that's likely to be the rate limiting step rather than cards.

Try and get as many people to get their own dice sets as possible, it simply speeds up play if dice don't need constantly passing from one player to another

one other thing, there is a typo in my first response in relation to action cards - i should have said "...but cards are N'T really limited to careers or races, so it offers up a wealth of character customisation - more so than in previous editions, I think."

Yeah I'd likely just print then, I don't like the idea of limiting my players options (unless of course some option breaks the game or is to easily munchkined) by some obscure "only one person can learn it" ruling. My players typically know how to balance themselves out anyways so any one player isn't playing the same thing and know if they don't they have to live with the consequences of having an unbalanced party.

scrubbless said:

This should be read as 'there are NOW' permanent injury cards in the wound deck... (But I think the meaning was clear anyway.)

6-7 players is quite a lot. You will need a lot of dice, and the dice sets are quite expensive. My strong recommendation is that if you're considering getting lots more dice, to get another copy of the core set instead. It's pretty good value (especially if bought from Amazon or some such) and for not much more than the price of 4 packs of dice you get the same number of dice AND all of the cards you'll need repeated to add a further 3 players to the game.

This would also give you copies of all of the core set actions meaning that you'd have less of an issue with two players wanting the same action.

Angelic Despot said:

The permanent injury cards are in Omens of War ?

Yeh sorry, that was a typo. The permanent injury cards were added in Omens of War, nice addition!

I think you will get a lot of answers here: RecklessDice

They have a number of play sessions recorded on the podcast and more. Check it out.

Angelic Despot said:

JasonRR said:

Odd, I'm seeing different sets of this online. The store near me has one big box with a few books (3 I think) tokens, cards, dice, etc for $100. Is it possible to buy these seperately? I'm seeing something called the adventurers tool kit online for only $20 (looks the same as the 100 one at the store, but not sure what alls in it).

That said which books are neccessary and is it possible to buy them seperately?

Dark Bunny Lord said:

I'm a newb too that went through the same questions recently. So, below is my opinion:

Get the Core set first. You can find it online for lots less then $100, but I understand you may want to support your local game store.

Adventurer's Toolkit if you are going to have more then 3 players.

I was told over and over to get the Creature Vault since it implements and better creature system with cards. It's in the mail though, hope to get it tomorrow.

I didn't get the Player's Guide, but if I were you it would be my first purchase after Core but BEFORE you attempt to learn the system. The Core set has small softbacks but are poorly written. If money is an issue, you can still learn the system with the Core set + FAQ + Awesome Answers This Forum, but if I had to do it over I would have gotten the Player's Guide before I started reading.

Sturn said: