Dear Gurus,

I just purchased the Warhammer Fantasy Role Play core set (WHF01). Can any one tell me if there is new material in the "Guide" and "Vault" sets not included in the core set.

For example The Creature Guide sounds like it contains new creatures but does not say how many. Is the same as the Tome of Adventure with just one or two new enemies or is it a completely new set of beasties.

Also are the "Toolkit" sets worth the extra purchase? They at least seem to contain new material and not just reprints of core set material.

After the hefty core set purchase, campaigns, and print on demand sets I want to make sure not to repurchase anything that is included in the core set. (I do realize the guides are hardback that is not important to me.)

Sorry this is not a rule question but none of the other categories fit any better and it would not let me post in archive. Thank you in advance for any and all help on my behalf. Peace.

You will find a lot of useful information in the Creature Guide and Creature vault (vault only if you want your monsters on cards instead of in a book).

The GMs guide is nothing new. The Player's Guide is incredibly handy because you can loan it out to your players.

Honestly, you're better just picking up the standard boxed sets (winds of magic, signs of faith, etc. plus the player's guide). They've got scenarios in them as well. The vaults and guides just reproduce core, winds of magic, adventurer's toolkit and signs of faith. They don't cover the Khorne, or Slaanesh, Dwarf, Witch, or hero's call.

jh

Thank you very much for this helpful response

The Player's Guide is riddled with new information not found in the original core rules. Most of it is in sidebars explaining why things work the way they do and how you might patch or house-rule things that are a little iffy in the original rules. For example, there's a suggestion that PCs be required to spend at least four advances in a career before switching to a new career, to limit the ability to cherry-pick specific advancement types. In another part of the book they reccommend the GM limit any healing spell to once per day per target. Those are the two patches with the greatest impact, but there's lots of other little things that will make it worth your time to read it. It's a $50 book with probably less than 3 pages of new content, so I won't claim it's necessarily worth the money, but it's certainly game-changing and useful.

I haven't picked up the Game Master's Guide yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it also has hidden easter eggs in the forms of optional rules and GMing advice. I mean, if the Player's Guide had GM advice in it, then hopefully the GM's Guide will too. I'm currently planning to buy it soon to find out for certain. Fingers crossed and hoping I won't regret it.

The only Vault I've bought is the Creature Vault . I found it to be extremely useful and helpful. Well worth the money. It did feature some redundancy with cards that already existed, but surprisingly little overlap. Some of the early products (like the Tome of Adventure in the Core Set) didn't always put everything on card that they probably should have, and this vault fixed that. I didn't pick up the Creature Guide though, because I had the 2nd Edition equivalent and know the setting pretty well. Problem is, the Vault, as printed, wasn't initially completely usable without the Guide. Some of the monsters had keyworded abilities listed on their cards, which weren't explained on them. FFG did eventually release an FAQ that explained those keywords, so if you pick up the vault, make sure you've got the latest version of the FAQ.

My understanding is that the Player's Vault includes fixed versions of the core set cards that have received errata. Other than that it's just reprints, as is the GM's Vault . Personally I passed on both of them. If you've got access to a color printer, the errata cards can be found on FFG's website.

If you pick up any of those products, make sure you download the latest FAQ and Errata document. In addition to the missing explanation of keywords in the creature vault, all three of the guides are chock full of typos. The FAQ is a must.

Assuming you're not getting the Vaults, you probably should pick up the Toolkits. The Player's Toolkit has some really good careers and actions. The GM's Toolkit includes a book with a lot of optional rules and discussion. Good stuff.

The toolkits basically build on top of the core set. Careers, characters, creatures, cards and counters. The guides are a bit weird. As mentioned above, the GM guide just repeats Core info, while others actually contain some new stuff. The guides mostly exist to give a classic option with books and handling everything on paper. It's a different presentation of the core rules for non-card users. I'm happier with toolkits and vaults on top of the core box, personally. I recommend reading every review on RPG Geek. Twice, just to be certain that you want/need any of them

The general recommendation on these and other forums align with mine: Core, both toolkits (to increase the number of players, or allow 3 players + a copy of basic actions for NPCs), then the four great ones (The Winds of Magic, Signs of Faith, Omens of War, Lure of Power). Maybe Creature Vault if your group uses visual aids a lot.

Intersperse the purchases with interesting PoD expansions. They include magic/skills for all ranks, so they really expand the options for the relevant careers. I got Core + toolkits first, then the first three PoDs. I'd consider WoM and SoF essential, but LoP has plenty of ideas for the more cerebral groups.

The Players Vault can be skipped since you have the Core Box. I've found value in practically everything else.

One thing I forgot to mention in my post was that there are pre-generated characters (using actual point spreads) in Liber Fanatica 7. Some guy did them up and they're really handy for a number of purposes. Here's the link:

http://www.liberfanatica.net/LF7download.html

Yes, the Liber Fanatica volumes are well worth having, and you can't beat the price

Again, thank you all for these very helpful replies!