I'm going to host a PLAY BY POST beginners encounter to teach the basics of WFRP3 game. Ask any questions you like. Anyone else on the boards is free to chime in to ask questions or make comments (as long as you reference a rule-page in the books). Join at any time, preferably at the beginning Just tell me you're interested and tell me which character you are playing.

What's required?

1. A character: Make your own or Grab a pre-generated character from either Day Late, Shilling Short or Liber Fanatica 7 . Also get your special abilities in order: Talents, Basic Actions, Advanced Actions, Career Ability Card, and Career Sheet. You can use cards, the player's guide, or write them down on a sheet.
2. The rules (core set, the player's guide, or a rules summary)

How do you post?

We get around to responding as we are able (maybe twice a day). Ask any questions you need along the way. You post both your in-character and out-of-character comments in the SAME POST. IN-CHARACTER comments should be in quotation marks. EXAMPLE: Rredclaw argues: "Birgitta, I think you're nuts for waiting for reinforcements. Those things are coming for us tonight."

How do you post your dice rolls?

Use this website . Copy and paste the results of your rolls in text at the bottom.

Example: REDCLAW ROLLS HIS ATHLETICS: Rolled: 3 Characteristic, 1 Conservative, 1 Expertise, 1 Fortune, 1 Challenge, 3 Misfortune Result: 2 Successes, 1 Boon

Here's what we'll cover:

1. How to use the basic and advanced actions. Download the SUMMARY SHEET from the FFG support page. It has all the "basic" actions on one sheet so you don't have cards all over the place.
2. Social interaction rules (i.e. how to "influence" an npc)
3. Non-combat skill checks
4. Brief combat
5. Any Q&A you need

=========================================================================

Introduction

"About an hour ago, you and your group were ambushed by goblins on the Old Dwarf Road just south of Talabheim. The Greenskins' superior numbers resulted in several of your allies being killed or captured, and all of your rations and horses were taken. Your route back to Talabheim has been cut off and you've been forced to head south to Wurtbad on foot. This portion of the Great Forest is dark, hilly, and the road has not been well-tended. Its raining and you're legs burn from fleeing the goblins."

What to do now?

1. Tell us your character name, race, and why he was headed to Wurtbad in the first place.

2. You begin with 3 Fatigue leftover from your previous battle and running away. Mark that on your character sheet.

3. Next, look at your PERFORM STUNT basic action card. Your character is running on pure adrenaline away from the Goblins and we'll just gauge how he's doing by the effects on that card. Make a (2d purple) Resilience skill check to see how you're doing. Your dice stack is made up of those dice below. Click them into the dice program , hit roll, and post the text of your dice results (as well as any color commentary you want

• Blue di ce equal to your Toughness characteristic
• Yellow dice equal to the number of check marks you have next to the skill "Resilience."
• 2 Purple d ice (this is the difficulty of the check)
• If you fail your check, you are forced to stop running and suffer 1 fatigue. If you get a chaos star, you twist your ankle in a hole in the road and suffer a wound. We will adjudicate any other effects.

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Thanks for doing this Emirikol. Just a bit of fair warning: This is my first time playing WFRP and I haven’t read through any rules yet, so I won’t know what I’m doing most of the time. Also, I’m not too familiar with Warhammer lore, so my roleplaying might be a bit weak.

My character’s name is Eldred Backer, a human commoner (a pre-gen character from Liber Fanatica 7). Eldred grew up on a family farm next to some nameless small town in the middle of nowhere. Eldred, being the middle child, knew he would never inherit the family farm from his father. He doesn’t mind though, as he has little interest in farming for the rest of his life. Growing up he visited with many travelers who would pass by on the road, each on their own unique journey. Filled with the dreams of high adventure, one day Eldred packed up all his belongings into a rucksack, said goodbye to his family, and struck off on his own. Along the road he soon came across a group of men and women who were traveling to Wurtbad. Since Eldred sees the advantage to traveling in numbers during these dangerous times, he decides to join the group on their way to the city.

Eldred rolled: Rolled: 4 Characteristic, 2 Challenge Result: 1 Boon, 1 Chaos Star

Does that mean I subtract 1 fatigue for the boon?

"As Eldred flees, he glances backwards across his shoulder to see if they are being pursued by the murderous goblins. Eldred believes he sees something ominous in the dark dense forest, and in terror he yells out “They’re right behind us!” and begins sprinting as fast as his tired legs can carry him. Unfortunately one of his feet finds a large hole, and Eldred tumbles down to the muddy ground. In a daze because of the intense pain in his ankle and suddenness of his fall, Eldred rests for a moment as he is sprawled out on the muddy path."

Another new-comer. First time with third edition but I played first back in the day. Looking forward to trying out the new system. I've "rolled" up a new character to try out the character creation process.

Jan-Eric is a watchman from a small town on the outskirts of Talabheim. He joined the party as a favor when one of the men became sick on the journey south. Someone must have know the local constable for Jan-Eric soon found himself enlisted to aid the party during their travel south. Though poor and down on his luck, he is tireless to his duties and is know as likable and observant by his fellows. He has a somewhat fearless reputation earned for beating back and staring down a small mob of thugs that had gotten out of hand over a missed shipment of ale.

Rolled: 4 Characteristic, 1 Expertise, 2 Challenge

Result: 3 Successes, 2 Banes

"Jan-Eric couldn't quite figure how it all went wrong so quickly. The goblin raiding party caught them completely by surprise - too easily in fact. It wasn't long before half their party were dead and the rest fleeing into the woods. He found himself running to keep up with the remaining survivors."

Good to have you two on board.

Any latecomers are welcome. We'll just assume they're "catching up after escaping the goblins."

I'll get to a full response post tonight, but just to get a jump on it, here's the first "Action" we just used for the Resilience skill check. I'll try to put up pictures like these to help things as we go:

jh

The winding forest road is dark. Footsteps are close behind you. You have not stopped or looked back to see who (or what) is following you. Suddenly someone darts out of the darkness and you have stumbled into another survivor. Jan-Eric manages to stay on his feet, but Eldred has fallen to the ground and is injured with twisted ankle. The rain is cold and coming down with a spatter through the tree leaves above. Gnarled trees surround the road and have forced it to wind and twist. You're not actually sure you're if still on the road. A short moment of listening into the distance seems to indicate that no one else is following (for now), but the rain hampers any good listening.

Eldred: Your check is a failure (no un-canceled successes) so you have to stop running or your next check would be a 3d/3purple Resilience check. You got a boon, which means you don't suffer the fatigue from your failure. Your chaos star means that you have twisted your ankle and ran into your companion (Jan-Eric) (suffer 1 wound; take a normal wound card and lay it face down on your character sheet).

Jan-Eric: You have been able to keep up a good pace, but you had exerted yourself more than you thought (RULE NOTE: suffer 2 fatigue for the two banes-- Universal Effects Rule page 45). Your 3 successes means that you have nimbly avoided being knocked down when Eldred stumbled in front of you. You could keep running for a significant amount of time if you want, with another Resilience check, but you would be leaving your only ally behind. If your fatigue is greater than any physical ability, all checks with that ability will suffer from a black dice equal to the number over (p62).

Would you like to do any of the following?

Notice that for regular skill checks, you usually don't need perform stunt. You just make a general skill check to see if you pass or fail and use the Universal Effects to see if you would suffer fatigue or stress. The GM will judge additional effects.

You're going to want to bookmark pages 62-64 for healing. You'll reference it often.

Also bookmark the UNIVERSAL EFFECT p.45. Your players will usually forget because it's not on the action cards. It's just there if you have no other effects.

Jay H

New to 3rd edition. Just found this and welcome the opportunity to play. I may not be able to get back on until late tomorrow as I am travelling all day tomorrow.

Klaus Beyer, a human Reiklander, is a freelance Scout currently working out of Talabheim. He has scouted for merchant caravans and several of the more prosperous families in the empire. Most recently he had hired on to help this group on its trip to Wurtbad where he hoped to seek greener pastures in his quest for adventure.

Rolled: Resilience-- 3 Characteristic, 2 Challenge Result: 2 Banes

Perhaps Klaus should have moderated the number of mugs of ale he drank the evening before. But how was he to know that he would be chased by greenskins the next day. His head was already pounding when they attacked the group, probably the reason he failed to notice the ambush. Where had his mount run off to? No time to find out as he runs in the direction of Wurtband with the remaining who weren’t cut down by the nasty goblins. Each step he takes as he flees magnifies the pain in his head until the pounding is too much and he must stop and rest, heaving up the previous night's dinner of mutton and black bread at the base of the tall, thick tree he hopes to use as cover.

A terrible noise emerges from behind Eldred and Jan-Eric. The sound of a ghost, or spectre, or creature of chaos growls at you from the dark. A wet sloshy sound and a horrifying moan echoes in the dark..then you spy the cause of that noise..another survivor emerging from behind a tree, wiping his mouth of vomit.

Klaus has joined the group. He has the INTOXICATED condition until tomorrow morning, but still holds his sword. The extra ally is a much welcomed sight. The effect of that is: Intoxicated (Lingering) (Drinks > Toughness) Add two Black dice and one White die to all checks. Become unconscious/passed- out when drinks > 2x Toughness. Recovery is 1 hour per drink.

Which book are you referencing when you're specifying page numbers?

The core rulebook.

jh

My choice is to rest for an hour and hope to ease the effects of the hangover. I then would like to search for a suitable campsite before tending to Eldred’s needs and then to rest until morning. If I understand it correctly for the 1 hour's rest (end of encounter) I recover 3 fatigue(toughness of 3) from the 5 total I had (3 for running and 2 for the 2 bane I rolled)—leaving me with 2 Fatigue. With the Nature Lore success roll below I assume I would also get a full night’s rest and recover up to 3 more fatigue for a net total of 0 fatigue in the morning and hopefully fully recovered from my hangover.

Since I won’t be able to return until late tomorrow (around the time or a couple of hours earlier) I will leave my stats in case you need to use my character to attempt to help in treating Eldred.

S: 3, T: 3, A: 4, I: 4, W: 3, F: 2

Thresholds: wounds-15, Crticals-2, Corruption-8, Shame-3, Insanities-3, Diseases -12, mutations-3

I have (level 1?) training in Ballistic, Stealth, and Observation.

2 fatigue after 1 hour’s rest

0 fatigue if set up camp and get a full night’ rest

Klaus Rolled: Nature Lore--- 4 Characteristic, 1 Fortune, 2 Challenge, 2 Misfortune Result: 1 Success

Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Klaus leans back against the tree closing his eyes not even bothering to see if the goblins were still following. After a moment of catching his breath he looks around and sees two fellows that were part of his travelling group. What were their names? He had failed to really interact with them prior to the ambush as he quietly dealt with his hangover. At least he wasn’t alone. He motioned to them to remain silent as he quietly listened for the sounds of pursuit. The continual rain drowned out any noise so he gave up in this endeavor. He approached the two, one who was on the ground.

"Jan-Eric comes upon the prone form of Eldred. He recognizes the unfortunate villager from the party and sees the poor man has fallen and injured himself during the chaotic flight from the goblin raiding party. Soon after, Jan-Eric notices a miserable figure emerging from the woods. The bedraggled form turns out to be one of the party's scouts. He looks worse for wear and after spying the party he quickly settles down to recover his breath. Jan-Eric can't help but wonder how the goblins were able to surprise the caravan so easily, but with most of the party missing or dead it doesn't seem like the place or time to inquire."

I'm for resting to recover some fatigue. Jan-Eric is exhausted (down 5 fatigue). I'm a little unsure how specialty works, but I'm hoping my "recover fatigue" specialization will come into play here. Jay, I'm not sure what you mean when you say resting is associated with the assess the situation basic card. In any case, I think resting would recover my fatigue (+4) and perhaps some amount for the specialization. At that point, feeling somewhat recovered, I'll live up to my profession and take first watch after Klaus finds a suitable spot to camp. Hopefully, we can find a spot where the goblins won't find us too quickly. Also, I'll wait for Klaus and Eldred to decide on a first aid attempt -- I'm not trained in it so they might be better to try if it's worth the attempt.

"After a short rest, the scout is back on his feet and seemingly checking for pursuers. Conferring with the remaining men, they decide to look for a place to camp for the night. The smell of alcohol is heavy on the third man, Klaus, but he seems to know his way about the woods -- he quickly finds a suitable place out of the rain. It even appears somewhat defensible. Jan-Eric assists Eldred into camp and volunteers for the first watch. He wonders if the gobos were tracking them or if they were sufficiently distracted by the spoils of the caravan. Unfortunately, it appears his employer, the caravan, and the goods they were carrying are victims of the green-skins -- he doubts they took any prisoners."

--

Jan-Eric, Human Reiklander Watchman

S: 3 T:4 A:3 I:3 W:3 F:4

Trained Skills: Resilience (Recover Fatigue Specialization), Leadership, Observation

Actions:Steely Gaze, Beat Back Talents: Fearless (Reputation)

1 fatigue after 1 hour's rest (no mod for specialization)

Regarding asses the situation, that is generally only used during encounters. [edit: in an encounter, this would be like an automatic success in "Assess the Situation" basic action card.]

Your group will need to know what happens with a night of rest, so mark the fatigue and healing pages.

Otherwise "a rest" amount of time needs to be decided by the GM. I usually say about an hour. Sometimes I drag recovery of fatigue or stress out a bit longer if I need it for the story.

Eldred, lying prone on the ground, picks himself up just enough to allow him to look in the direction where he thought he saw a greenskin emerging from the dark and twisted woods. He is relieved to see that it is just one of the men he was traveling with before the ambush. In relief Eldred shouts out “Thank goodness it-,” before being cut off by the man’s signal to keep quiet. Feeling foolish at himself for possibly betraying their location, Eldred snaps his mouth shut. Eldred struggles as he tries to stand. Moments of pattering rain and silence pass before he feels safe enough to speak in a whisper. “My ankle’s in bad shape, and he sure looks like he could use a rest too.” Eldred nods to the man with vomit smeared across his tunic. The three men verbally agree and properly introduce themselves to each other. Eldred limps off into the woods along with Jan-Eric and Klaus to have a rest near a wiry old tree.

Eldred is relieved to finally be able to rest. This is not what he had in mind when he set out for adventure. “I should have stayed on the farm just like mother wished of me,” Eldred thought to himself. Eldred tries to stifle his sobs as he begins to cry. “I’m a man grown now, just turned 16 several months back…I can’t let these men see me cry.” Eldred buries his face in his sleeve and pretends to sleep. When Klaus comes back from successfully searching for a more hospitable place to sleep, Eldred is grateful to finally be able to get out of the drenching rain.

Do each of us now have to roll for how the night of rest in the camp went, or is Klaus' roll sufficient?

In case each of us need to roll, Eldred Rolled: 3 Characteristic, 1 Expertise, 2 Challenge

Result: 3 Successes, 4 Banes, 1 Comet

Great story so far

As there's no "group tent", each PC should make individual Nature Lore skill checks to find a decent enough place out of the cold rain. I'll give you each a bonus WHITE die now that there is a scout and commoner in the group who can help point things out (this is the ASSIST maneuver).

1. A COMET on the nature lore check will also indicate that you have found some food (mushrooms or game) and/or a place dry enough to start a fire (if you think that's wise).
2. Your first two banes result in 1 stress that we'll say lingers until your next encounter (hence his uncertainty). Your second two banes mean that your searching around finds you a spot that appears really great, but if you light a fire, it would possibly be seen by hostiles (unbeknownst to you) and you have to chase some animal out of that spot.

In most sessions, you could do a single, group check, but when there are limited resources, individual checks are best and are good practice for new players.

jh

placed inline lower post

Following the lead of his companions, Jan-Eric looks around for a decent spot to make camp for the night. Feeling somewhat out of his element in the deep woods, he makes a silent prayer to Sigmar that he might make it through the night.

Without Nature Lore, I believe Jan-Eric simply rolls against his INT and adds 1 white die for his companions' assistance.

Rolled: 3 Characteristic, 1 Fortune, 2 Challenge

Result: 1 Challenge, 2 Boons

Looks like poor Jan-Eric found a root to sleep on -- at least that will keep him alert for any enemies.

Summary so far:

Seems like we have a chance to catch these guys by surprise. It appears the snotlings aren't too into this fight so perhaps a coordinated effort to eliminate the Goblin might turn the tide? Sounds like our options are to hide and maybe sneak attack or charge in since we have the initiative. Jan-Eric isn't very stealthy so I'm inclined to take a couple maneuvers to rush in and engage the goblin. Too bad I don't have a ranged weapon -- I do have my trusty watchman's lantern and some torches. A question, is it 3 maneuvers from here? Draw weapon, and two to get in close? Or did my previous boons indicate I was lucky to be sleeping with my weapon last night?

I'm a little unsure how this play-by-post works for posting the next couple actions. I think I'll leave it here and follow your guys' lead.

After waking his companions, Jan-Eric makes a few gestures to Klaus and Eldred, indicating he intends to attack the leader. He begins to slip towards the edge of his camp to prepare to attack the Goblin.

To enter melee combat: Medium is 2 maneuvers. 1 to move from medium to close. 1 to move from close to engaged. Here's an article on movement (also in your book): http://fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=799

Just tell me what you want to do. We are now on turns. You can all go at the same time, or you can wait for others.

The characters on the left are:

Top: Eldred, the Commoner

Middle: Klaus, the Scout

Bottom: Jan-Eric, the Watchman

Eldred still hasn't been healed of his sprained ankle (1 wound). How would that impact his dice rolls for combat?

Regarding Eldred: Since he was successful in finding shelter overnight, he heals his toughness in wounds, so that is wound is healed up today. Normally there is no effect from wounds until they become criticals (as you can see from the backs of the wound cards).

You guys haven't declared if you are going to enter combat yet, but here's how COMBAT works :

REPORTING YOUR COMBAT ACTIONS ON PLAY BY POST

Use your rulebook and just walk through your steps. Indicate the following:

1. STANCE: If you shift your stance (more reckless or conservative)..and if you spend stress to shift an extra one in the same round (maximum is how ever many you have available for your character).
2. MANEUVER: If you move into combat (engaged and with which enemy), or do any other maneuvers (see maneuver list in your rulebook). Some skill checks are free actions. Some require a "maneuver" to pull off.
3. ACTION: What your Action will be (for example: Run up and make a Melee strike vs the goblin)
4. DICE RESULTS
5. Don't forget to remove one recharge from your action at the end of your turn. (example: if you have an ability that takes 4 rounds to get into position to use again, when you finish your current turn of using it, it goes down to a 3).

Here's how you put your dice pools together:

(For example: Run up and make a melee strike vs. the goblin)

1. BLUE: Blue dice equal to characteristic (strength for melee, agility for ranged)
2. YELLOW: yellow die if Trained in Weapon Skill (or ballistic skill if ranged attack)
3. PURPLE: Always 1 purple die for combat difficulty.
4. MONSTER DEFENSE SCORE: 1 black die because of the goblin's DEFENSE score. Other monsters listed below.
5. STANCE: Exchange one blue die for each stance shift either red or green (if you shift your stance).
6. DARKNESS: 3 black dice because it's really dark in the woods and barely light yet

Example: Strength 4 blue, untrained (no bonus yellow), 1 red reckless (exchange for 1 blue), 3 black for darkness, 1 black for monster defense..and always 1 purple for base combat difficulty.

Other Optional Dice:

1. SPECIALIZATIONS: 1 white die IF you have a specialization in a particular weapon: If any of you have a specialization in your particular weapon skill (example: if you have weapon skill specialized for great weapon and you're using a great sword).
2. FORTUNE POINTS: If and when you decide to use these, they are worth 1 white each. Declare them before you roll.
3. SPECIAL ACTIONS: Your special action card might have a variable difficulty as listed on the card in the upper left hand corner. Some tricks are just harder to pull off than others.
4. CHARACTERISTIC FORTUNE DICE: As you advance, you can gain characteristic fortune dice. You don't have any of these yet.

Other than that, there's no worrying about massive charts and variables, but the GM can add white or black dice on the fly. It's narrative after all. Make your action and declare according to your results

MONSTER DEFENSE DICE (black misfortune dice)

Goblin: Defense 1 black

Snotling: zero defense

Small Squig: 1 defense

INFLUENCING an opponent works in a very similar way except instead of inflicting wounds, you're trying to get them to do something

"Seeing Klaus ready his bow and let fly at the goblin, Jan-Eric pulls his buckler close, raises his sword, and charges down the short hill at the gobo leader. Ready to visit some vengeance on the greenskins for their earlier carnage he hopes they will be able to break this group before they can rally together or call for reinforcements."

Stance: move one to reckless

Maneuvers: spend 1 fatigue to close from medium range and engage the goblin

Actions: basic melee attack vs the goblin

Rolled: 2 Characteristic, 1 Reckless, 1 Challenge, 4 Misfortune

Result: 1 Success, 2 Banes, 1 Chaos Star, 1 Exertion (!)

Wow. Interesting roll. Maybe I should have added some fortune dice. I'll let you adjudicate the result. One question, how does one use the basic defense actions like block? Do I have to forgo an attack or is that a response action?

Sure, here's how you come to your dice. Let's break it down:

1. Using BULLSEYE action, it doesn't matter which direction you go (green or red) as the effect appears the same either way. You indicate that you'll be going one into Red/Reckless stance.

2. Talents: Both of your talents are active and constant (they don't say "exhaust" which means recharge of 4). You can use any talent that is "socketed." You just take that card and "socket" it to that particular slot on the side of your career sheet. During encounter mode, a character can exchange a talent or socket a talent into an empty slot by performing a maneuver. Notes on your talents:

• CONSTANT EFFECT IF IN MELEE:a Flanking maneuver only works if you enter melee. As you are attacking ranged, we can ignore that one for now.
• CONSTANT EFFECT: Shadow Stalker: Add white to Stealth checks. This applies at all time, so this synergizes well with the Bullseye action.

3. You are absolutely correct how you exchange one blue die for a more beneficial red die when you move into reckless stance. The red/green dice increase your chances of successes, and the red die increases your chances of double successes.

Your dice pool will look like this: 3 blue, 1 red, 1 yellow (trained in ballistic), 1 white for specialization in bow, 1 purple for base combat difficulty, 3 black because it's really dark out, 1 black for the goblin's natural armor, and two more purple because you're using Bullseye (has the benefit of getting a critical more easily). The extra purple dice make this a tough action to pull off, but if you do, you'll practically blow the goblin's head off because you get to pick the best critical wound from 3 drawn. This is a pretty big stack of dice! Roll 'em and see how you do!

One question, how does one use the basic defense actions like block? Do I have to forgo an attack or is that a response action?

When you get attacked, you will automatically use them. They are usable every other round (recharge 2). I think you're eligible for dodge and parry. If you have a shield, you can also use block. For play by post, I'm not going to have you track them. I'll just give you a 1 black bonus constantly added to your defense..

jh