Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
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| Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay | |
 Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition cover |
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| Designer | Richard Halliwell, Rick Priestley, Graeme Davis, Jim Bambra, Phil Gallagher |
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| Publisher | Fantasy Flight Games |
| Publication date | 1986 (1st edition) 2005 (2nd edition) |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| System | Custom |
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (abbreviated to WFRP or WHFRP) is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. Over the years, it has been through a number of phases and different publishers, most related in some way to Games Workshop. The game is currently licensed to Fantasy Flight Games [1].
The first edition of WFRP spawned a well-known and highly praised campaign known as The Enemy Within. These five episodes were variously bound and collected. The first three episodes generally received the most praise; a rewritten version of the last episode, Empire in Flames, was to be issued by Hogshead Publishing under the title Empire in Chaos, but never saw the light of day.
The second edition focused on new material rather than reprints. A new campaign entitled Paths of the Damned has been followed by standalone adventures, such as Barony of the Damned and Terror in Talabheim, as well as shorter adventures in country sourcebooks (for example Ill Tidings, from Knights of the Grail, the Bretonnia supplement) as well as rules supplements (for example A Brutal Finish, from Realms of Sorcery, the arcane magic supplement).
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[edit] Setting
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For more details on this topic, see Warhammer Fantasy (setting).
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay shares the same Germanic, doom-laden background as the Warhammer Fantasy Battle wargame that spawned it. Being a game devoted to individual characters rather than entire armies, WFRP depicts the setting in much closer detail than does its wargame counterpart. This change of focus also transforms WFRP into a more grim and perilous game than WFB.
The primary setting for WFRP is the Empire, a region of the Old World based loosely on the Holy Roman Empire, with a number of baronies, counties and dukedoms fashioned after the fiefs of elector counts and dukes. Other prominent regions include Bretonnia, based on medieval France mixed with strong Arthurian mythology themes; Kislev, based on medieval Poland and Imperial Russia; and the Wasteland, based on the Low Countries. Other lands not explored as thoroughly but still frequently mentioned include the fragmented lands of Estalia and Tilea, fashioned after Spain and the city states of Renaissance Italy respectively, and Araby (a mixture of Arabic Caliphate and Persia); and to lesser extents Cathay (China), Ind (India), Naggaroth (Canada), Ulthuan (Atlantis), Lustria (South America), Norsca (Skandinavia) and the island of Albion, (a mythological British Isles).
While the setting of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay does share traits with other popular fantasy settings (such as Elves and Goblins); chronologically, the Warhammer setting is slightly later than that of most fantasy games, being closer to the early Renaissance era in terms of technology and society. Firearms are readily available, though expensive and unreliable, and a growing mercantile middle class challenges the supremacy of the nobility.
One of the most identifiable features of the Warhammer setting is Chaos, which is not Evil per se. While the forces of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy Battle are depicted primarily in the form of marauding dark knights and beastmen, Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is an insidious force gnawing at the fabric of society. Secret cults abound among all strata of society, seeking to overthrow the social order or to further their own power. Mutants lurk in the forests outside the great cities, while the Skaven tunnel beneath them.
Magic is widely feared and reviled, and not without good reason. The very essence of magic is derived from and thus corrupted by Chaos, and the practitioners of magic in the Warhammer setting tread a very fine line between death, corruption, and relative safety.
[edit] System
The set of numbers describing a character's abilities in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was very closely based on early versions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The same basic array of characteristics was employed for both games, with some traits rated 1-10 in WFB being rated 1-100 in WFRP. In version 2, all primary attributes are ranked 1-100, though in such a way that the tens digit of these value will still correspond to WFB trait values. Attributes are tested using percentile dice, with penalties or bonuses applied to the roll or the target in response to various favorable and unfavorable circumstances.
One of the most notable features of every version of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is the career system. Characters advance by entering a series of 'Careers' that provide access to a series of new or improved skills, and bonuses to attributes (called 'advances'). The menu of careers available to characters reflects the late medieval/early Renaissance setting of the Old World. Basic careers are those that might be filled by any individual in Old World society with a modest amount of training or instruction. Advanced careers require greater preparation and training, and, in version two particularly, are often more appropriate for the lifestyle of an active adventurer. The career system gives both an idea of what a character might have been doing before embarking on a career as an adventurer (working as a baker, night watchman, rat catcher, or farmer), and how they changed and developed through their career (becoming a mercenary, explorer, ship's captain, etc.).
Combat in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay also descends from the system used for large-scale miniature combat, making it substantially more deadly than the combat featured in many other systems (Dungeons & Dragons being the most common comparison). Most human-level creatures and characters can absorb only one or two hits without receiving a serious injury in the form of a 'Critical Hit' that may instantly kill, cripple, or maim a character permanently. (there are no regeneration or resurrection powers in WFRP.) 'Fate Points', representing a character's fate or destiny, provide a limited number of opportunities to avoid crippling or killing results.
[edit] History
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was first published in 1986 by Games Workshop. The product was intended as an adjunct to the Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop game. A number of early publications- such as the popular Realm of Chaos titles- included material for both WFRP and WFB, and a conversion system was published with the WFRP rules. Following the publication of The Enemy Within and a small number of additional supplements (including a character pack and GM screen, and the aforementioned Realm of Chaos books), Games Workshop made the decision to refocus their business. They had found that the miniatures business was much more profitable than pure publishing; WFRP sold very few miniatures, and adding WFRP material to WFB and WH40K supplements had done little to boost the sales of those products.
Publication of WFRP material was turned over to Flame Publications in 1989, a spun-off division of Games Workshop focused exclusively on roleplaying. Flame published a new series of adventures (the Doomstones Campaign, adapted from a set of AD&D modules written by a freelancer), and published the first issue of what was intended to become a monthly or quarterly publication, Warhammer Companion. In 1992, Flame ceased operations following financial problems.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay remained in limbo for several years. A reported deal with Steve Jackson Games to buy the WFRP license fell through.[citation needed] Fan websites continued to publish new material and adaptations of Warhammer Fantasy Battle materials, but no new official material appeared for several years.
In 1995, British publishing house Hogshead Publications received the license to publish new and reprinted WFRP material. Hogshead published a revised edition of the main WFRP rulebook, as well as reprints of the Enemy Within campaign. New supplements also appeared, including (after having been promised for 15 years) the Realms of Sorcery magic supplement and a number of new adventures. Hogshead was subject to a number of restrictions in its rights regarding the WFRP license; Games Workshop retained extensive editorial control over the line, wanting to ensure that new WFRP material did not contradict the tone and details of the changes to the Warhammer Fantasy Battle line. In 1996 GW brought out Warhammer Quest (WQ) (a game not unrelated to Advanced Heroquest which had been co-produced with Milton Bradley). Besides it basic ruleset WQ had an advanced rule set of some 192 pages with a lot of role-play material which was also expanded upon in White Dwarf for the next two years or so.
In 2002, Hogshead owner James Wallis sold his business and returned the WFRP license to Games Workshop, leaving the future of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay in doubt. Several Hogshead projects were abandoned, including a Skaven supplement and a complete rewrite of the final episode of the Enemy Within campaign.
In 2004, Games Workshop announced that the WFRP line would once again be published. Black Industries, a division of GW's Black Library publishing arm, would oversee the publishing and distribution of a new second edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, designed by Green Ronin Publishing. The new edition uses the same basic system released in 1986, but revises and updates a number of features of the system (replacing the magic system, for instance). The new WFRP version 2 also brings the Old World setting of WFRP up to date with the developments in background story that had taken place in the Warhammer tabletop game since first edition, by setting the events of the game after the Storm of Chaos. The new rulebook appeared in March of 2005, and was soon accompanied by an aggressively published slate of supplements and sourcebooks, including a new epic campaign (the Paths of the Damned series), monster, equipment and setting supplements, and a number of single adventures. Editions of the game have also appeared in German, French, Polish, Italian, Spanish and a Japanese edition is slated for 2007.[citation needed]
Black Industries announced on January 28, 2008 that they would be exiting the roleplaying game market.[2] The Thousand Thrones Campaign (with a planned release date of April 2008) was to be their final planned WFRP publication.[3]
On February 22, 2008, Fantasy Flight Games announced they had acquired the exclusive rights to publish the board games, card games and role-playing games based on Games Workshop properties [4], including Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.
[edit] Awards
At the 2005 Annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards, the 2nd edition's core rulebook, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, won Gold in the Best Production Values and Best Game categories. Old World Bestiary, the 2nd edition's primary adversary publication, also won Gold in the Best Adversary / Monster Product category.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/PDF/pr-2008-GamesWorkshop-Sabertooth.pdf Fantasy Flight Games/Black Industries press release
- ^ Black Industries News Archives. www.blackindustries.com. Black Industries. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ url=http://www.blackindustries.com/?template=WH&content=wfrp-1000-thrones
- ^ http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/PDF/pr-2008-GamesWorkshop-Sabertooth.pdf Fantasy Flight Games/Black Industries press release
- ^ 2005 ENnie Awards Archives. www.enworld.org. EN World. Retrieved on 2007-01-23.
[edit] External links
- Fantasy Flight Games - the current license holder of WFRP and its official forum
- Black Industries - the previous publisher of the 2nd edition of WFRP
- Warpstone - an independent WFRP support magazine
- Strike to Stun - an active and large WFRP forum
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