So inspired by a question raised by Jesse, aka Gitzman, in our recording of Reckless Dice Ep. 22 I was wondering what the communities favorite aspects of this game are. Also what are your feelings on what could've been done better up to this point and what one thing you are hoping to see in the future.

My thoughts follow:

My favorite aspect of this game is its modular nature. I really am enthralled at how there is so much to this game that can be easily added or removed or modded to create the best experience for your particular group. At first it seem overwhelming with all the cards and chits but over time these have been harnessed to near perfection in my few and far between games. I also love that FFG and GW decided to turn back the clock to before the Storm of Chaos so as to play out that story arc again. Oh and the Disease mechanics are fantastic (Nurgle!).

I feel that FFG could've had a more sound approach to how they marketed this product. The way it has ebbed and flowed over the past year has created an uncertain fan base who jump and the smallest indication that it might be coming to an inglorious end. I feel that these fears are unfounded but I do understand where these fears come from. For the longest time FFG was announcing upcoming products at a smooth and steady rate, and the Sifting through the Shadows document and teaser at GenCon really helped with the atmosphere surrounding game release speculation. However this has fallen flat and has caused many rumors to make their circulations. I also feel that the creators shot themselves in the foot by splitting the direction of the game between the Core and Guides / Vaults, this strategy created a disconnect in the community and seemed to add fuel to some of the critics fire that the chits were unnecessary. In my opinion they should have just stayed the course and been unapologetic about their new fangled approach to RPG's. What are they planning on doing to clean up the loose ends? Are they planning to release Guides and Vaults 2.0 to make up for the vast array of new content? That seems to me to be the case but who knows.

As for the future I'd love to see a printed map of the world and also an Elf expansion if only because WHFRP has never seen an official Elf product in its history. I'm more of a Human supporter but it would be nice for Ulthuan and Naagoroth to get some attention.

Well that's my two cents worth, I look forward to hearing what the other supporters of this game have to say!

¬ LC

Likes:
Lure of Power
Skill check system streamlining. I like that there are fewer skill categories, but with subspecialties. I think the specializations is brilliant.
Like Lester, I like the modular system of it all. I can add and remove stuff without worrying about having to change 700 things (part of the reason I left 4eD&D)
Disease, Insanity
The GMs Guide, The Players guide [but awkward silence when looking at creature guide]
Cardboard stand-ups and dice mechanic
The artwork and art direction
The audience that this game brings to the table. You guys and gals are leagues above anything else!
Corruption and mutation "cards" (the mechanic for practical use in a long-term campaign is not as useful and will see less use..I'll probably use it more for insanities and "ethical judgement calls" for PCs who murder and don't think about the consequences of their actions)

Meh:
Lack of much point to the 'trappings' entries considering that the equipment section of the game is so weak
Talent slotting
Party sheets seem to fall short of being anything more than a mechanical power-gamer tool with a theme title (and they're too small, as well as location cards are too small)
The GM screen (needs to be horizontal and contain more useful info).
Long and extreme range (2 and 3 maneuvers? There's got to be a better mechanic than that?)
Career sheets . I'd rather just have these each get their own page in the book the same way they were presented in the Career Compendium (with an organization to belong to. THank Sigmar for the Player's guide.
Variance in tracking chit types.
The way the text is presented without bold or italics of important words or frequently referenced rules
The organization of the books. I think they should start with helping a player make a character, rather than going over random parts of the rules first.
That traits on action cards don't really mean anything. Either use the mechanic or don't bother.
Sometimes there are "too many" effects on a card so as just to be silly, near-inconsequential, modifiers.
Lure of Power: Artwork for the Daemonette and Seeker of Slaanesh (what happened to this artwork quality? did someone miss a deadline and do a rush job)

Dislikes (and consists of most of my house rules):
The lack of an elf supplement
I think they went overboard with cards (marks especially, career ability card,)..Ironically, I feel cheated that there were NOT cards for: the reiklander ability to add dice once per session ironically..lack of fortune point cards..lack of healing rules cards..lack of a maneuvers reference card..
The official character sheets ("lite" and tear-off).
That Universal Head's rule summary was "banned" rather than them offering to put it up on their site.
Lack of an annual scenario contest, considering that was such a huge part of the old community.
Lack of active participation, by members of the staff at FFG on these forums.(namely comparing with Paizo).
The disconnect between the books and the cards. A reference directly from the books to the cards should exist, not as a seperate download of "components" in an FAQ later. I'm thankful for that components list, but it should have been included, and integrated directly with examples in the books. I don't like having to have print-outs of stuff shoved into the back of my books. Again, this seems better demonstrated in Lure of Power and I hope this trend continues.
The equipment lack-of-list..are weapons and armor the only things that matter?
The advancement system (namely, how advancements are spent; that you get penalized for skill training but not min-maxing your power cards; traits)
Lack of "universal effect" on all cards that don't otherwise have it on there, but should. I think the universal effect is a waste of time otherwise and doesn't add anything to the "roleplaying" of a situation.
The disconnect between encounter mode and story mode is not clear in the books. I'd have preferred that we stick with common terminology such as "in one day a person can heal..blah blah blah." I consider story mode and "act" to be for the GM, not for "game mechanics." I consider this to be the single weakest aspect of the game.
The Creature Guide-Vault debacle and having no guide for what standard creature actions are expected; and having that crap scattered to the 4 winds.
Inability to search, clip and paste from the PDFs. LURE OF POWER fixes this with "suggested action" notes. Thanks for listening FFG
With the game being so "visual," the lackluster or lack-of maps is very frustrating. I don't need maps of baker's houses and princess palaces, but a DECENT, 8x10" map of a town and region should be standard for all products ~ I'm looking at you BFP! If youre worried about not being accurate, get over it and post a statement that says, "maps may vary slightly due to catographic differences." This has been greatly improved in Lure of Power with a nice, big map of Ubersreik with a nice map legend.

Otherwise, thanks for some great product!

jh

..

@Emrikol - Map of Ubersreik? Better than the one in EON? I want an map but don't want to pay for EON as it doesn't interest me how would you rate it?

Likes

Modular nature and the ability to change up rules on the fly.

Cards IN MODERATION I actually like the system as it is easier for new players to learn (this is my first rpg and my regular groups)

Dislikes

The lack of source material (I have a fair majority of 1st and 2nd edition materials so this makes up for it) as I believe for a completely new player the current material doesn't paint a bleak enough picture and doesn't flesh out the nuances of the world that much

I suppose lack of activity on the forums could be a bit of a dislike but at least the people on here are good and helpful

That's about it for a macro level.

Likes

The special dice and the elegant mechanics behind them. Definitely adds fun.

Excellent published scenarios that tend to be rich and multi-dminensional

Grim world of perilous adventure

A decent array of talent and action cards to help individualize characters (although I would like to see double the number of options . . . even if they aren't printed on little cards)

Artwork is gorgeous

Dislikes

In all honesty, I could do without the excessive number of types of cards and markers, etc.

Magic is underdeveloped, in my opinion.

Engagement/Range/Distance is flat

Equipment listing is disgraceful

Would prefer more straight forward stats for foes

Likes:

The dice pool system! It's simple, yet broadly flexible. It allows house rules and "mini-games" to be added more easily than ANY table-top rpg I've ever played.

The setting! I've always been a huge fan of the setting, every since picking up a copy of Heroquest from Toys R' Us when I was 12. Grim and perilous...like someone took Middle Earth during the 4th age, assumed that the Battle of the Pelinor Fields was a stalemate and then ran the clock forward several hundred years (gunpowder exists).

Other components that I like:

The standees! Not owning a lot of miniatures myself, these are a godsend!

Cards! Allow for easy reference of abilities, talents, actions, etc! I refer to the books almost NEVER during a game session.

Trackers and tracking tokens! Allows easy set-up of various "mini-games". Need to set up a chase sequence? Build a tracker! Need to convince a jury to let the innocent person accused of witchcraft go free? Build a tracker! The possibilities are endless!

Dislikes:

Lack of material. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE the material that's been released so far, and I see what they're going for with releasing multi-purpose expansions that included advanced rules, components, fluff and adventures...but I'd really like to not spend $50 a pop on every new release. How's about some stand alone adventures? Or perhaps a "print on demand" option for additional components and the like?

GM's screen. It's great screen for those that have never played a table top rpg before, but it would have REALLY been handy to have wound, healing, rest and recovery rules summaries on this thing, as well as rules concerning insanity checks and the like. Luckily there's a pretty active fan base creating content to fill in the gaps, but it would be nice to have an advanced screen that actually included more crunch.

I've said it before, I am a D&D fan. I love D&D and will probably never stop playing it, but I love WFRP too. This game has an entirely different feel to it. The players aren't heroes, they are super, they are just people. I love how the grim and perilous really presides over everything in the system. The rules for wounds, disease, mutation, and insanity are wonderful fun and I like that they all really mean something that you just can't get when playing D&D.

The dice mechanic is really easy to teach and the game begins to quickly explain its self to new players and veteran RPGers pick it up quite quickly.

I have also always loved the Warhammer setting, but I never could get into the rules system for previous editions.

And honestly, I live the bits and tokens and stand-ups.

I also have dislikes, of course. The book rules layout is in typical FFG tradition and nearly impossible to read cover to cover without getting lost or confused, unlike the Games-Workshop games this world was based on.

Like D&D powers, I feel like a lot of the action cards are just filler. I like the card format, but I don't want to see cards printed that don't do something new and cool or aren't mechanically viable. I have no problem with the cards that require GM interpretation, but those shouldn't be the default.

I really do like the generic equipment list, but I think a little more explanation and examples were needed to really make it take flight.

Likes:

- different and bold approach on a rpg

- cards instead of tables (smart)

- dice pool (so much more narrative than "You get +5% bonus)

- Much, much easier to GMs

- stress and fatigue

- diseases

Nope:

- advancement (confusing... I liked the 1st, 2nd simple approach... feels like power gaming to me)

- too heroic. This is just me being an old fart. But, I liked the "you are at the bottom of the food chain and stay there" from earlier versions. This is what separated it from high fantasy games like D&D. the overall tone changed.

- fluff... this is my biggest NO. Where are the incredible creative, odd and weird ideas from earlier versions. Snotball, moot dart, rotgut, hobgoblins... anyone? But, being fair... how can you top the quality of earlier releases?

- no halflings but two types of elves (stupid)

Not interesting (to me):

- party sheets

- rally step

- monster party sheets

- location cards... really?

- card miniatures for everyone

... hit "send" too fast.

Wanted to add. GREAT product! Brave and - Warhammer like!

My gaming group came up 100% D&D Gamers, if you want to get more specific, we played A LOT of Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms, with the occassional Ravenloft romp in there. So, after high school in the late 1990's we stopped gaming as a collective with a number of upstarts and inconsistant groups in the 11 years since.

So, we all started whispering about gaming again. I joined a couple groups in my new city and picked up some new GM tricks. So, we decided to put it all together again and needed to pick a game. We narrowed it down to Star Wars, Dragonlance 5th Age SAGA System, D&D BASIC (we immediatly ruled out 4E) and Warhammer. After a few months of rules review, we decided to give Warhammer a shot. We all knew the world a little, as we all at some point had or thought about, getting Armies for the Battles game.

Man, am I glad we chose this game. We played a 21 hour weekend long sandbox campaign over a long weekend at a cabin. Everyone, fell in love with the system and the setting. After 21 hours, we all wanted more and here's what we came up with.

Likes:

Monster/NPC stats. We liked the A/C/E budgets and special cards with titles. Kept the Players guessing

Gitzman's GM Screen. If eveyrone had a copy, the game steams forward!

Dice Resolution System. The first night everyone had to understand the system in action. It was slow going, as it wasn't a traditional RPG style that we had ever seen. But, after about 2 hours and intro's the system got faster and faster, leaving virtually no down-time between encounter rounds, which also keep player distraction at bay.

Narratives that the cards tell is a strong selling point. When I, the GM am getting worn down on describing successes, these cards really help me out.

DisLikes:

Player SPACE. This game takes up A LOT OF ROOM!!! If you have a Wizards and a Priest in the group, better go to Office Max and get business card holders!

Basic Action Cards: These are pointless to have as cards, just put them on a character hseet...see Gitzman's Sheet

Did I mention Play space??

Rules Organization could have been better, but this has been addressed Ad Nauseum

NO ELF SUPPLEMENT!! Come On!! D&D has like 1000 different kinds of elves and there's a ton of material...WH has 2 and we have nothing.

I REALLY wish they would keep us up to date on the status of this game. Too much time has been passing between releases and Lure of Power was released in secret it seems, no one even knew about it.

OVERALL: WE LOVE THIS GAME!! Seriously. Awesome, Modern and Unique.

I forgot to Add UNDER LIKES:

ITEM and Location Cards!! These are brilliant and saw A LOT of use

My group has been going at the game pretty strong since early last year and we're completely hooked.

LIKES

The Dice Pool Mechanic - we love the dice and the varied results that can be derived from a single roll. It's easy to use for just about any situation and sometimes leads too...

Chaos Stars - some of the most random amusing moments in the game, and even some spur-of-the-moment NPCs, have come because of the creative interpretation of a chaos star.

Fortune/Misfortune Dice - it's easy to add these in based on situational modifiers and doesn't require looking up a horde of modifiers from a book.

Cards - having most of the pertinent info on a card keeps everyone from having to look up rules all the time. Plus, some of the cards are not just functional, but funny, like the Good Witchhunter, Bad Witchhunter cards from the Lure of Power set.

Talents - having a limited number of talents active at any one time helps mitigate broken combos. It doesn't take care of it, but it does help to reduce it.

Focus on Story - this is what keeps our group engaged in the game.

Ease of Design - this game is very easy to design for. I run a regular Warhammer game every week, but I also run a Dark Sun game using the WFRP ruleset and it works out incredibly well. I was able to create a psionic system, a defiling system, different races, and even environmental dangers without much problem.

IN THE MIDDLE

Party Sheet - the party sheet is a good idea, but doesn't go far enough.

Combat Risk - we like that combats are generally more deadly than other fantasy RPGs, but sometimes it feels like it's not gritty enough. We also have had issues with highly skilled opponents still being easily hit by low-skilled opponents, but we also like that getting outnumbered is not fun and characters can't walk through a field of opponenets with impunity.

DISLIKES

Initiative - we ended up just going back to a D&D 3e style initiative.

Rules Organization - we've been playing the game pretty regularly for almost two years and are still finding out rules that we should have seen early on.

Lack of Communication - it would be great to see some of the designers on here talking about the game occasionally or answering questions.

Lack of Support - I would like to have some one-shots available to run at conventions and game days.

All in all, WFRP 3e has been a huge win for our group. Thanks FFG!

The group and I have been playing from the start and have playtested quite a lot of the stuff. A couple of the group even write for FFG.

Likes:

1. The dice. So flexible

2. The action cards, disease, corrution, insanity etc

3. Some of the adventures. Edge of Night was one of the best Warhammer products ever.

4. The artwork.

5. The stance meter.

Neutral;

1. The stand ups. Too many are too specific to various adventures, but many are useful nonetheless.

2. Many of the talents are either useful or largely useless.

3. Many of the condition cards are either useful or largely useless.

Dislike:

1. Scenarios set around the Empire, without having the ability to have a character from Nordland say, who might actually have a reason for being there. (Omens of War)

2. Talent slots. Very annoying, particularly when the career progression for your character means that they cannot use their favourite talent.

3. Career progression. I think intermediate and advanced careers should take longer to complete, twelve and fifteen advances respectively.

4. Not having the careers available in advance, so that you can get your character to make sense. Some of our party have got few if any options for their fourth career.

5. Some of the adventures. Gathering Storm was possibly one of the worst warhammer products ever.

6. Failure to bring places fully alive. Why haven't they provided more detail for Ubersreik, so that it become a great place for a party to use as a base, with its own politics, guilds, gangs etc?

HITS

Dice Mechanic: As everyone else has said, the dice allows a method of storytelling and no adding up countless modifiers and percentages, etc, etc. Win.

Action Mechanic: This basically ties right in to the dice but this is clever method of removing the need for books though I'm sure marketing had an impact on it as well. Regardless, its fun.

Modular: Keep what I want, throw out what I don't and the game itself doesn't really need to be "modified" to account for what I have removed.

Special Rules: Conditions, Diseases, Insanities, Corruption, etc all seem to flow together while each having a uniqueness to them. Easy to learn.

Setting: This and the dice mechanic are the original bits that attracted me to this game. Grim n Gritty done beautifully regardless of edition.

Fan Support: Because of all the previous work done with 1st, 2nd and even now 3rd edition, there is a treasure trove of original fan and published material, and art that I can draw on for inspiration and help.

Art: Whether fan or official, theres is so much visual gold I don't even need setting material at times to come up with ideas.

MISSES

Setting info from FFG is pretty light as compared to previous editions.

Career transistions / advancement. Though not a complete miss to me, I think these could have been better. Transitions should require prerequisites. I can't put my finger on exactly what strikes me as not right but the advancement mechanic for careers doesn't seem perfect.

Party Sheets don't do it for me.

Range system. I understand not using a grid and all that but I just can't stand the range system as it exists today.

FFG's seems to be far too quiet on this game. They need to keep fighting the fight, this system was a huge change from previous editions. I get that many old fans were irate about the changes but the changes (specifically the dice mechanic) are what caught my eye. Keep talking about the product, many of the gamers looking at this system came in late (like me) and have been blown away by what we have found. Now that Pathfinder and 4e have been around for awhile, many of the players of those games are looking for a change of pace, or something else to play. This system is SO different, it has the ability to scratch that itch so to speak. Talk about it, talk about it, talk about it. It's worth it.