Addressing The Tired Trend of Flaming the New Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

Way back in August, right as GenCon was kicking off, Fantasy Flight Games announced the upcoming release of an entirely new edition of Warhammer Fantasy RolePlay.

This wasn’t going to be your standard revision + enhancement of a time-tested, fan adored product. I don’t even know that you can call this new beast a “revamp.” It is undeniably a re-imagining of the line, and Fantasy Flight let people know from the get-go that they were going to pull out all the stops. Here is the publisher blurb released at that time:

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is a new, exciting way to experience the popular Warhammer Fantasy setting. It is a grim world, constantly at war. As one of the adventurers, you will take up weapon, spell, or prayer and do your best to combat the might of enemies terrifying to behold. As the Game Master, you will make the lands of the Old World real as you craft the story, the people, creatures, and the mysteries the other players will encounter during their adventures.

Everything your group needs to begin its adventures in the Old World is included in the Core set. This Core set is an excellent way to bring new players into the fold, as well as to reward experienced roleplaying with new and exciting innovations.

•4 comprehensive rule books provide all the knowledge you will need on the Old World
•36 Custom Dice give you unprecedented game depth and numerous options for story-telling
•Party sheets provide new skills and abilities to keep everyone engaged
•30 different careers and 4 different races offer a multitude of character options
•More than 300 cards keep you in the game, no need to look up skills or abilities

The real eye-opener, though, was the announced MSRP of $99.95 US.

$100, for a role playing game starter set?!?!

And so began the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

“FFG are ripoff artists!”

“This is a blasphemy against the greatest rpg of all time!”

“This isn’t an RPG; it’s a board game!”

“$100 and it doesn’t even include halflings!”

“This was going to be the Descent RPG and they rethemed it!”

“They’re killing the old world! It’s just D&D heroic fantasy rehashed!”

“WFRP 2.0 wasn’t broke! Why are they ‘fixing’ it?!?!”

First off, let me point out that while I basically disagree with virtually all of the sentiments paraphrased above, they are not completely without merit. There are some bold new concepts here. Some of them clearly have been inspired from mechanics in other types of games, with the dice in particular being somewhat reminiscent of those used in Fantasy Flight’s Descent and Doom board games.

Also, $100 is a hefty price for a game. There’s no denying that. However, there’s also no denying that FFG is packing a lot of value in that $100 box — but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The idea that FFG is abandoning a very good system in 2E is also valid. That is a justifiably well beloved game that has always successfully done what it says on the tin, delivering “A Grim World of Perilous Adventure.” It is also true that the initial marketing materials seemed to contrast sharply with the dark, doom-tinged atmosphere of WFRP, which from the first edition strove to deliver a Call of Cthulhu-meets-Fantasy feel. In particular there was language that seemed to suggest player characters would be bold, nigh-invulnerable heroes out to save the world. For all the players who still wistfully tell tales of the time their Warhammer character barely survived a mugging or a single encounter with a large rat, this was cause for outrage.

Now, with all of that being said, why am I firmly in the “I want this — NOW” camp?

Well, let’s start by responding to the arguments.

First, people who are complaining that Fantasy Flight is trying to cash in on a property they inherited from the disintegration of Black Industries are missing a couple of important points. One – When B.I. folded, there was no promise that WFRP would live on at all. When Fantasy Flight was announced to have obtained the license from Games Workshop there was much rejoicing.

Now stop for a second and read that again. Fantasy Flight acquired the license. Does anyone think that was free? How much did they invest to obtain the rights to publish WFRP, Dark Heresy, Talisman, Chaos Marauders and other games from the Games Workshop IP? Given the popularity of those titles (WFRP as a long-standing presence in the RPG world and Talisman and Dark Heresy as releases that sold out their initial B.I. production runs), you have to believe the price tag was not insubstantial. Why then, would they do it? Is it just because they loved these games so much?

No. While I believe FFG really was passionate about what they could do with these titles, they are a company. They are in business to make money. How much money could they have continued to make off of WFRP with the lion’s share of the integral manuals and supplements sold under the B.I. brand many moons back?

Were new splatbooks going to pay for their enormous outlay to GW? Clearly, they needed to print a new edition, and to make that edition attractive to gamers, new and old, they were going to have to do something new. Knowing this, it is clear that they asked themselves what they do well — and at the top of that list are these qualities: Stunning presentation, innovative resolution systems, and components that enhance the narrative.

I’m giving Fantasy Flight credit for not resting on the laurels of what Games Workshop, Hogshead Publishing, Black Industries and, indirectly, Green Ronin did before them. They decided to make WFRP theirs, and went balls out on filling that $100 box up with what they do best.

And that takes us to price. I defy any gamer who balks at an MSRP of $99.95 to look at their shelves and tell me they haven’t spent at least that much on collections of books or expansions for other games. I know my own Dark Heresy collection far outstrips that total, and while only the $50 core book is “required,” there is much of it that I could not consider doing without.

Heck, I spent about a hundred bucks on two Delta Green books that I do, in fact, consider required to play in that setting, and that doesn’t take into account the necessity of the Call of Cthulhu core book as well. Heck, D&D, which is the gold standard of RPGs, offers a fairly hefty price tag for its truly mass-produced trio of core books.

To those who play video games, you’d drop $100 on a couple of titles. And while some video games have enduring replay value, there are just as many that a player will never pick up again after “beating them.” I don’t know of a single role playing game that loses the totality of its compelling nature after a mere 40 hours of play time.

But the real argument, I think, comes from remembering where the Warhammer IP comes from in the first place: Warhammer Fantasy Battles, a money-suck of unparalleled proportions. Given the hundreds of dollars one must spend to assemble an army for the game that gave life to The Old World in the first place, what you get in the WFRP 3.0 box seems downright thrifty by comparison. I can have as much or more enjoyment pursuing adventure and intrigue in the Old World with that $100 rpg box as I can that single $300+ mid-sized army.

As to the argument that FFG’s approach is not being true to the Warhammer Fantasy RolePlay experience, I think it is important to remember a couple of things. One, the initial marketing material clearly struck the wrong cord, and doesn’t seem to reflect what Jay Little has since described in detail in his designer diaries for the game. The vaunted career system, with professions like “rat catcher,” is still there. A lethal critical hit system is still there. Everything that makes The Old World special is still lovingly detailed in the fluff of the materials that come with the core box.

Even so, the other thing that has to be mentioned is perception versus reality. Yes the Old World has a reputation as this war-torn land with dark and cosmic horror seeping through the cracks. But it’s also the setting that inspired Blood Bowl. It’s also the world of William King’s over-the-top cheesy Gotrek and Felix adventures. It’s also the IP that gives us wacky Goblin Fanatics and Shamans who blow their heads off with miscasts. For Sigmar’s sake — the Skaven Doomwheel is a giant hamster wheel for ratmen!

Now, what I’ve always liked best about the setting is the high lethality and that quasi-Lovecraftian flavor, affording a chance to play in a fantasy world in which man was not meant to know the dark, lurking secrets. I’m not arguing folks should accept that it’s a zany four-color fantasy setting comparable to old school Greyhawk or anything. I am saying: One — Tone will always be the primary responsibility of the game master and the group playing the game and: Two — There’s always been more to the Warhammer world than just the gritty John Blanche-esque darkness.

Now, for those who complain that this is basically some board game / role playing game hybrid and that the WFRP system is perfect as is, I admit that I have been a fan of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay setting and system since first edition. It is an excellent, streamlined system, and I was impressed by the fine-tuning Green Ronin did on the second edition. I couldn’t say that I have had complaints about the game as it has existed until now.

That being said, I’ve seen lots of mechanics and other design elements in boardgames, miniatures battle games and card games over the years that I thought could be successfully dovetailed into an RPG.

I’ve actually been playing a Descent: Road to Legend campaign with my best friend that incorporates numerous RPG elements into the game. We role play out the tavern scenes and confrontations with the “bosses” in the dungeons. We come up with all new names and back stories for our characters and really bring that narrative depth to the game. It’s a very satisfying incorporation of role playing into a board game.

Now, Fantasy Flight is flipping this, bringing elements from their incredibly successful background in board games to the tried-and-true role playing game. And after watching the videos from GenCon and reading the material on FFG’s site, I believe this will be a true RPG — It simply offers a 21st century interface and an innovative approach to components.

There’s quite a bit to be said for having all of the information on your character and their abilities in front of you in detail, without having to flip through the books for details of abilities or effects. It is also true that custom dice can do more than tell you whether or not you succeed or fail in a given check, adding more wrinkles and giving you a solid foundation for imagining and describing the entirety of the success or failure.

FFG does this exceptionally well with the dice like those in Doom, Descent and those for movement in Runebound. They are far more interesting than achieving some numerical goal, adding flavor and detail to the roll without being cumbersome.

Another element to be excited about is the attention to the “party” dynamic and having elements of play that are tied concretely to the construction and “personality” of the party. I’ve enjoyed similar devices in Exalted with Solar Circles and Ars Magica with Covenants. The idea of an innovative execution of this all-important concept is something that I, for one, am very interested in exploring.

I am unapologetically a fan of Fantasy Flight Games. I don’t love everything they’ve done, but the things I do appreciate, I am passionate about. That doesn’t change the fact that I came to the hobby through role playing and still hold that as the most sacred gaming experience. I’ve been playing Warhammer for a dozen years and that IP is something I care a great deal about as well. I could be completely wrong about all of this, but I have confidence in FFG as a company to innovate and improve upon a game I already love.

If they don’t, they sure as Hell aren’t going to break into my house and steal all of the Second Edition materials I have, which represents more than enough to go on enjoying the game as-is in perpetuity. At the very least, I’m going to wait until I see it and play WFRP Third Edition before I pass final judgment.

It might just be that the guys at Fantasy Flight know what they’re doing.