I have played the first two editions and a plethora of other RPGs but this will be my first time playing the 3rd ed, Me and my group are looking to start our own gang of thugs and move up in the ranks to more of a mob-esk organization where we will ultimately have our hands in not only commerce but in politics as well. We are starting off as Thugs and it will most likely be combat heavy, muscling in on other gangs turfs and such and I really don't want to be the standard board and sword/great weapon combat monster so I decided to go with a more Diestro style character that is looking to impose conditions on a target rather then straight up damage him. So this brings me to my questions...

1) I'm thinking of taking Twist the Knife as my one talent, how exactly does it work and is fatiguing an enemy really a good option or is it just wasted time?

2)Three actions: Riposte, Setup Strike and/or Disorienting Strike, is it worth taking both Setup and Disorienting? Is one really any better than the other?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Sounds like you guys are in for some fun!

1) Inflicting fatigue is very effective - because almost all NPCS will have this converted straight to a Wound. Very nasty.

2) I don't have my book with me at the moment, but all three of those are good actions. Kind of depends upon your personal preference and your character.

Check out the following:

http://www.liberfanatica.net/LF8download.html -Liber Fanatica VIII: The Criminal Empire

As for tricking out your Diestro, here are some serious suggestions:

1. You should look at Improved Dodge

2. SOAK trumps everything. It is more important than dodge. Get armor and/or a main gauche.

3. Specialization (after training) adds another white die

4. There is a Diestro action ability card for NPCs. Get your GM to let you use it.

5. You'll have more fun with more skills trained than messing around with talents. You should look into that concept.

jh

I thought the improved line (dodge/parry/block) were listed as advance. Does this not mean you have to be in an advanced career to take them?

No. You can see if Improved Dodge has the advance trait, the few words as descriptors below the name of the card. If any card has it, ask your GM how he is handling it.

But as there are Advanced active defences (Advanced Dodge, Parry and Block) which are better than the Improved ones, and as the basic ones comes for free if you meet the prerequisites to each, usually this last are considered alright for any character that meets the prerequisites. If you are aiming at a Diestro oriented Thug, you probably has raised your Agility to 4 or more. If you train Coordination (I suggest you find a way to do it), you met the prerequisites of the card.

Twist the Knife is a great talent. The Thug in my group has it. What he does with it? Usually he teaches the rest of the group how to improve the effectiveness of your weapon to at least annoy the target more. Like twisting a knife. So he puts the talent at the Talent Slot in the Party sheet, and everyone gets the benefit of it. Sweet.

So maybe you'll do that and want another Talent for yourself. Take a close look and you'll see some minor factors that can be incredibly practical, like the ones dealing with fatigue or stress.

Riposte is based on Parry, right? That's a clue to get Improved Parry (maybe in place of Improved Dodge) to make Riposte more useful. One thing you have to look when you decide on Actions is how much recharge each require. If you have two actions that require 3 turns to get recharged you'll get to a turn in every three in which you'll only be able to do a normal Melee Attack. Also, there are more than a couple of actions that influence recharges on other cards, the majority of them directed to your allies, but some to yourself. You'll have a more effective group, and one that works really well as a team, if some of you pick cards that fit each character and has some benefits to the others. Like that one melee attack in which you make a vey scenical blow that gives some damage and also helps your friends recover, I don't know, recharge tokens or stress and/or fatigue. This effects really have a not so obvious impact in the game, and this one card has a lot to do with a style like a Diestro.

And, at last... Convince your GM to get Omens of War. It will really be helpful in a game with everybody being Thugs, and you'll get a lot of Diestro cards there to eventually improve your character. And your friends can see where they will be able to grow if they choose to get specialized in some fight style.

Agree re synergies, there are for example several cards for "sword and board" fighter that set up a nice "engine" that speeds its own recharge (in that case based on exploiting block not parry). Narratively, it can reflect someone really mastering a tecnique.

ugh... I just bought Omens of War through Drivethru RPG thinking it would include a pdf of the cards (we play online so we don't need the actual cards anyway) but nope the file didn't contain the cards at all, was pretty much useless. (Well at least I can read the fluff.)

And rules for cavalry... :T

What softwares do you use to play online?

Fantasy Grounds II, first session is tomorrow night.

A great place to advertise for players and find online games:

http://ffgvirtualrpg.prediger.at/

Google+ also has games for WFRP3: https://plus.google.com/communities/115475153946956545789