I'd just like to say, given the tendency of threads to imply they go on the light side of wfrp, that I've been using nearly all the stated rules for wfrp from the beginning, and it's works pretty well for us. I'm not trying to say that everyone else is wrong or such, but I would like people coming onto the boards to see that there's more than one way to skin a cat. I'll probably post up whatever variants I tend to use in the near future.

Peace out.

I know 3 ways to skin a cat..... will send post shorty!!!!

Yup I use all the mechanics with only Party Sheet not getting much love, and like it just fine.

Rob

I use all the rules as written and the Party sheet (which is definitely the GMs friend to help reward players for figuring things out) and I like it as is... I have been playing since 1989 through all the versions and this one is my favourite in terms of rules. I also feel like the released adventures have been far superior to what was officially published for 2nd edition... Thanks for letting the board peeps know about us satisfied types...

I like to use pretty much everything included as well, except some of the token-tracking as a GM. The Party Sheet doesn't get used as much, but it does get some use, which is good enough for me. I haven't felt bogged down by much of it so far, especially after a few sessions, when people know what they're doing (hopefully). Can take some getting used to, but once I'm used to all the parts and pieces, I feel like each part adds to the experience, instead of detracting.

I would play the "Lite" version as well, and can understand most of the changes, but give me the "Heavy" (<-- reminds me of some bets in college...)!

In comparison to other systems I've GMd (Rolemaster, GURPS), I can operate wfrp3 "heavy" quicker than most other systems, except wfrp2, perhaps, which is pretty much the same speed. And I'm even not using henchman rules (perhaps the only rule element in wfrp3 I don't apply at all), but treat each creature as a separate individual.

The real difference - for me - is that, with wfrp3, I'm managing a greater amount of information created by the mechanics, i.e. the interaction between the dice and the cards & sheets. The rules themselves are not "heavy" or difficult to learn, at least when I compare them to other systems I know.

The GM's task is, of course, to manage the information flow and when the going gets intense, I often find myself filtering some of it out, but at least it is there to be used in story telling.

With other systems, much of this information doesn't even get created, or if it does, it is done by means of a time-consuming mechanic (for example, the hundreds of pages of tables in Rolemaster).

So, yes, I'm satisfied with the system. Now, get me more adventures!

I use everything in the game, just not everything at once. Not every session has a nemesis sheet for example. Our games flow pretty fast (at least fast as any other RPG we've played that isn't 90% narrative).

We use it heavy, also.

Same with my group. We use everything, though the tension meter on the party sheet often gets forgotten.

It's not that alot of people don't use all/most of the rules, but there are many things I'd rather just track on scratch paper is all.

Initiative order? Paper. Stress/Fatigue/Wounds? Paper. Favor/Power? Paper. A PCs stance? Paper as well.

Other things I can see tracking on the card/whatever to be more useful and handy, such as action recharging.

Scratch paper is generally kid/dog/fan/accident proof, tokens would just more easily become a scrambled mess when some kind of incident with the table occurs.

How to you 'all components' folks mitigate that kind of thing?

As mentioned earlier, I don't use henchmen either, gives the players a better respect for each enemy and makes battle more "perilous" when groups of enemies don't seem to get mowed down, but survive to strike back.

As far as managing all the tokens, try tracking things like favor/power with a die instead of tokens. We actually moved to this some with those and with actions recharge times, it keeps less pieces on the table if you find it is getting too cluttered.

To be honest, we have not come across situations where the table has been compromised to the extent where tokens went all over the place, so I cannot speak to that.

I'm an "all components" guy myself, and I love it. I took a couple of sessions to figure out how the different currencies worked (fortune points, black and purple dice, etc.), but once we got the hang of it the game really gelled. It's now my groups go-to game and we're about six sessions in to our second long term campaign.

That's not to say that there aren't elements of the game that don't get a lot of attention. The Party Sheet doesn't get a lot of action at the table, and that's not because I'm not throwing fortune points on the thing constantly. My players tend to find one or two talent cards that they like and wind up socketing them in there permanently.

There's not much else from the basic set that we don't use regularly. We still track Stance and Power/Faith with tracker bits, Stress/Fatigue with those bits, etc. I wind up making tracks just about every session for all kinds of different things, from ships burning down to the awakening of a rat ogre. I've considerd switching over to glass beads for fortune points but haven't done so yet. I do like the sound of using dice to track recharge on action cards; seems like it might really help keep things clean on the table.

There's not a whole lot from the expansions that see regular use. I don't use the nemesis sheets that much, but that's really because the current campaign is a world travelling one and the players aren't up against one big bad. I still haven't picked up the Magic and Faith expansions (what can I say, I'm poor), so corruption and mutation haven't hit the table yet.

All in all, I really like the amount of detail that comes out of engaging with the "heavy" rules. Me and my players get excited every time the dice roll.

I guess we use most of the mechanics most of the time, mostly right. As a more "numbers" guess I'd say that we use 90% of the stuff (not purposely excluding things, just that they don't always get used or are remembered) and that we do stuff about 90% right. So, that comes out to about an 81% use/use properly average for whatever that means. While staying as true as we can to the mechanics I'm much more concerned with everyone having a good time.

Mark

i use it all, though haven't had a need to use a nemesis card to date.

replaced the tracking tokens with beads as the official ones are aweful to manipulate and are hard to distinguish. ditto the fatigue/stress tokens.

Maybe make a house rule so the socketed party talent has to be changed every day, with a cooldown of a day or two or something. Or each player takes turns socketing something - better yet, give party tension when the players don't rotate evenly.

bigity said:

An interesting idea that could get more use out of it.

An alternative idea we had while first playing with it: Any party member can socket an appropriate talent for as long as they want, but it must either A) already represent the party OR B) All party members must now roleplay that characteristic. We figured that the talents represented actual characteristics of the party (ie if you socket Well-Read, your party all better be able to read!). If someone does not fit the mold or does not roleplay the characteristic in interactions, the tension meter goes up. This can create a way for the GM to actively think about it, and causes the party to use more discretion when deciding what to socket.

If you have a party talent sheet of Brash Young Fools with Confident and Instinctive, those should be easy to fit in and roleplay, while Brash Young Fools with Contemplative and Gregarious will take more of an effort to roleplay as well, where the tension meter may come into play more. Just another idea to throw on the list.

@bigity
It's not that alot of people don't use all/most of the rules, but there are many things I'd rather just track on scratch paper is all.

Initiative order? Paper.

Really? IMO, paper is more work than setting up a 5 piece track and using two or 3 different colors of tokens. Plus, with paper, how do you show the slots to your players?

Stress/Fatigue/Wounds? Paper.

I suppose I can see this ... but I don't see it any harder to use tokens for fatigue/stress and cards (or tokens) for Wounds.

Favor/Power? Paper.

See above. Is it really harder to add or remove tokens to track your power/favor? Seems like paper requires more work. Besides using up paper ...

A PCs stance? Paper as well.

IMO, makes it more difficult for other players, and the GM, to know what stance your PC is in, though. The stance track in front of you also helps you remember to shift stance.

Other things I can see tracking on the card/whatever to be more useful and handy, such as action recharging.

Scratch paper is generally kid/dog/fan/accident proof, tokens would just more easily become a scrambled mess when some kind of incident with the table occurs.

This is true , and I think it is perhaps the best argument to removing the use of tokens. Then again, my group plays at a table, and even with food and drink on the table accidents are few and far between, so I've never felt a need to address this.

How to you 'all components' folks mitigate that kind of thing?

We have fun. People are careful. We play at a large table, out of the reach of pets and kids. Most people are also pretty good at remembering how many tokens were on a card, or how many fatigue/stress tokens they had, etc. So, even if things get bumped occasionally, it has never been an issue to reset.

I like that idea as well. I think I'd do something like for every party member that doesn't mean your 'common sense' criteria, you add tension, something like that. Makes for some more thought/team building type stuff.

I use most of the rules as written with most of the components. Where I differ is enemies, many enemies are enhanced or use similar rules to pcs (such as action cards, weapon damages and with criticals etc). I don't use tracking tokens to determine range when using standees, I use pen and paper for npc wounds and initiative but as far as I am aware I use everything else.

Games run fun fine but I am disorganised by nature so it looks like a mess but a mess in which I can understand

I tend to use the tokens more so than scrap paper, it means I can essentially forget about something until I need to look at it again, if I had to write stuff down, I imagine it would get lost or be undecipherable to me later. I have the game down now to a stage where I am not letting too much stuff slip by me, by which I mean I don't lose track of an ability and feel forced to rule in favour of a player, therefore allowing the slimy little parasite to escape my filthy wrath.

I like the token mechanics, especially having the actual wounds your character is suffering from sitting in front of you. It also meant that when my troll slayer recently kicked the bucket he handed me back about a third of the wound deck! But tracking the info by dropping a counter in place suits me just fine.

My only other current house ruled mechanic, (nerfed recently thank you very much mister tension track dropping seargent) is the slot an insanity into one of the party talent slots when tension reaches the top. Should prove pretty severe considering the reckless player's reliance on the "clever" talent. If I ever get to use it.

I use all the bits and pieces and I love it!.

Concerning the rules I love the system, I really do. Nonetheless, I have heavily house ruled many things, using my previous experiences (and my players experiences) from 1st and 2nd edition (which by the way I also house ruled heavily). In my current games many enemies are buffed up or use similar rules to PC's (such as action cards, weapon damages and with criticals etc); encumbrance, heavy armour rules, and many more.

But let me say it again, I love the game and I am checking may inbox daily waiting for the email from the gamestore saying they already have my Lure of Power supplement!