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Warhammer is an interesting game. For a while, it was one of the most popular fantasy competitors to Dungeons and Dragons and it was well supported. The game took a traditional Tolkien-style high fantasy (elves, dwarves, dragons, etc) and added some nifty twists. The struggle between law and chaos became the central motivator of the game world (ala Michael Moorcock). DnD had this too, but never so explicitly. Two, the world had advanced to the Renaissance, meaning there were black powder weapons, a rising urban middle class, and printing presses. Three, the game world was strongly based upon the Holy Roman Empire, meaning lots of pseudo-Germanic names and political structures. This meant that the game world was gritty and realistic. At the same time, the game’s origins in a high-fantasy war game meant tensions in design goals.

For a while WFRP and WFB lived happily together and the two expanded upon each other. It was not to last. Despite its popularity, GW decided that selling miniatures was more popular than RPGs, and killed off the line. For a while, the game was licensed to someone else (Black Flame, later Hogshead), which kept the game on life-support rather than simply becoming a footnote in RPG history. During this time, GW retconned significant details in its war game, creating significant contradictions between the war game and the role-playing game. Now, a new edition is out (published by Black Industries, a subsidiary of GW), but designed by the good folk at Green Ronin press. By GW fiat, the new edition subscribes to the current canon. Let’s compare the two and see what’s improved, what’s worse, and what’s still the same. I’ll give each game a score out of 5 for each section.

Appearance and Layout

In the left corner, weighing in at 368 pages, is the black and white, WFRP, 1st edition*. And in the right corner, weighing in at 256 pages in full colour hard cover glory, is the shiny new second edition. Obviously the first edition has more stuff in it, but I’ll deal with that on a section by section basis.

*Originally, GW released WFRP as a hardcover book. I think it might also have had colour art plates, but I can’t be sure. In any case, I have a copy of the 2nd printing by Hogshead, which is just black and white, and soft cover.

I’m surprised by how decent the 1st edition looks, despite its age. Most of the art is simple pencil drawings that I think look pretty decent. In particular I like the illustrations in the careers section (more on careers below). Some of the art is more “heavy metal fantasy” – the kind of thing you might see on a van – lots of heavy armor, oversized axes and spiky bits. A game of 80s Britain, punk is an influence, so most of the dwarves seem to have mohawks. The garish cover is a key offender. We can literally see the struggle for the soul of WFRP between historicism and high fantasy here. I also note that other than a few female deities, there are NO pictures of women at all. Guess in the 80s, only boys got to role-play.

Everything is formatted in two or three columns with a small font – plain but functional. Organization could be better – there’s no index, though each section has its own mini table of contents. Equipment, for instance is found in Chapter 7, which is actually the gazetteer.

The new edition by Green Ronin is beautiful. Tasteful borders line each colour page. The two column, small font layout is information dense, but easy to read. Callouts make important details easy to find. And there is a decent index. Overall, the new art is decent. About half the art is in the style of the war game, meaning massive armor and oversized weapons, and about half follows a more realistic, historical look. I like the Careers pictures in 1st edition better, but I don’t have a problem with the art in 2nd edition. In the 21st century edition of the game, both male and female adventurers are present. The dwarf on the cover still has a mohawk. Guess it wouldn’t be Warhammer without that.

1st edition: 3 points 2nd edition: 4 points

Character Races and Attributes

WFRP uses the fantasy staples, humans, elves, dwarves and halflings. No half-races, nor gnomes. (Gnome rules were provided in a 1st edition supplement, but I believe have been-retconned out of the Old World). One of the problems with 1st edition is that elves were far better than any other race in terms of weapons skill, agility, ballistic skill, etc. This has been toned down considerably. Humans have the most variability in terms of starting talents, and the table they get to roll on has some nice stat-boosting choices, like Very Resilient or Warrior-Born. Plus, given the Empire-centric nature of most campaigns, humans are always a decent choice. Interestingly enough, there is no random table for race, considering that you normally have to roll for everything else, including your name.

In WFRP, you have a number of primary stats that range from 0-100 (humans typically range between 20-50). Stats are rolled randomly. For humans, you roll 2d10+20 for everything. Elves get a+30 bonus to Ballistic skill and Agility. Dwarves get a +30 bonus to Weapon Skill and Toughness, but take penalties on their Agility and Fellowship.

In 1st edition, some stats used a 1-10 scale, but these convert directly into the 1-100 scale. Most of these scores neatly correspond to a similar skill in the GW miniature games. Thus if you have a Weapon Skill of 35 in WFRP, you have a 3 in WFB. 1st edition had a few extra stats that have been eliminated in 2nd edition, such as Cool, Dexterity (it’s not what you think it is), and Leadership. And Initiative has been renamed Agility, which better describes what you use the stat for. Overall, 2nd edition is cleaner.

1st edition: 3 points 2nd edition: 5 points

Character Careers

In WFRP, your starting career rolled randomly - you're born to your lot in life, and it's up to you to make your own fate. You have little control over how your character starts, BUT you do control where he goes afterwards and how he improves. The career system is the heart of the game. Some of these are glamorous (noble, apprentice wizard), many are miserable (rat catcher, camp follower). Most fall in between (mercenary, cut purse, hunter, etc). Probably the reason you became an adventurer is your general dissatisfaction with your lot in life. Your starting career determines your starting skills, equipment and an advancement profile.

The advancement profile is a list of stats you can improve by spending experience points (You get one free advance to customize your character). Thus, if you start as a bounty hunter, you can improve your weapon skill, ballistics skill, strength, agility, wounds, etc. Once you have completed your advancement profile, you can exit the career and enter a new one. Eventually, you can end up in much better careers like assassin, wizard lord, judicial champion, or outlaw chief. New careers provide a new advancement profile and new skills you can learn. Thus, the bounty hunter could become a mercenary, a scout or a vampire hunter. Normally, you can't improve a stat or gain a new skill unless it's listed in your current career. By adventuring, even the lowest in society can improve their lot in life.

Both editions feature a wide range of basic and advanced careers. Most careers overlap between the two editions, with a few additions and deletions in the new edition. (I do miss the starting career of beggar though). The 2nd edition drops the % rolls to see if you get a skill (no more 25% chance of Very Strong). In 1st edition, some beggars are better than other beggars.

In 2nd edition, all the advanced spell-casting careers are merged into the chapter with the non-spellcasting careers, which is handy. Generally, the 2nd edition careers tend to be more balanced with each other than some of the 1st edition choices. Overpowering careers like Assassin have been toned down (going from +3 A to +2 A), while some of the poorer careers have been improved. Many of the advanced classes in 2nd edition tend to be more useful adventuring as opposed to wealthy merchants and craftsmen types. In short, better for adventuring, but at a slight hit to specificity.

Another nice feature of 2nd edition is that it provides explicit possibilities for non-empire human characters. So you can be a boater from Marianburg, a Kilsevite Kossar or an Estalian Diestro. A big plus for me is that there are finally pictures of female characters in the career section, suggesting that adventuring isn’t just for the boys. If you want to gloss over sexism in the Empire that’s fine, and if you want to play the game with more historical and oppressive, that’s ok too. (Seriously, what do you think a camp follower really is?)

1st edition: 4 points 2nd edition: 5 points

Character Advancement

Character advancement works similarly in both games. Each career includes an advancement profile. Every time you gain 100 xp, you can purchase one of the advances on your profile, or pick up a skill for that career. Once you complete the profile, you may move into a new career listed in yoru career exits by spending 100 xp, or into any other basic career by spending 200 xp. Before you take the new career, you also need to acquire its trappings (so, in order to become a ship’s captain, you need a ship, etc).

A big problem with 1st edition is that characters advanced too quickly, and you could easily run out of things to spend XP on (unless you were a wizard, cause their careers cost extra). In 2nd edition, each advance is only a +5% bonus, rather than a +10% bonus, so it costs almost twice as much XP to advance. Plus, the option to purchase masteries in skills you already have means that advancement is at a much more reasonable pace (though I do think that long term campaigns will still run into the same problem eventually).

One problem for both games is that the advancement system is often a pain when actually gaming. Trying to actually work a new career into your game can bring the adventure to a halt or go off on a tangent. This isn’t always a problem depending on how you play, but if you’re trying to stop an insidious threat before it topples the empire, you might have some issues. Furthermore, advancement isn’t tied to what you do adventuring, but your profile. So if your scribe is forced to fight cultists and beastmen, he gets to improve his or her Willpower and Fellowship, but not the weapon skill or ballistic skill he relied upon.

1st edition: 2 points 2nd edition: 4 points

Skills & Talents

Success is determined by rolling d% and comparing to the relevant stat (plus/minus modifiers). In 1st edition, skills were a hodgepodge of special-case rules. For instance, dodge blow allowed you to avoid one attack a round if you roll under your Initiative score. Pick pockets would allow you to roll under your dex to succeed, and if you failed by 20%, you were detected. Hypnotism caused your opponent to make a Will roll or be mesmerized. Strike Mighty Blow increased your damage by 1. Some skills could be taken more than once, but others couldn’t.

In 2nd edition, character abilities are broken down into skills and talents, which are very much like skills and feats in DnD. Skill checks are still % tests against attributes, but the rules are consistent across the board. Simple skills (ride, search, etc), may be attempted by those without the skill at ½ of the related attribute. All skills may be purchased up to 3 times (basic purchase, +10%, +20%).

Talents are all the special-case abilities, like night vision, a whole bunch of stat boosters (like Very Strong), additional combat abilities like two-weapon fighting, or qualities that provide skill bonuses in specific circumstances. For instance, tunnel rat gives you a bonus to your concealment and move silent when underground.

1st edition: 2 points 2nd edition: 4 points

Equipment, Weapons & Armor

Both games offer a decent (but not extensive) range of weapons to hurt and kill with. Weapons don’t vary much in terms of damage (in fact, “hand weapon” covers most swords, axes, maces that people use without differentiation), but some get bonuses/or penalties. In 1st edition, you had a chart for this (so rapiers do –1 damage, but get +10% to parry). In 2nd edition, weapons have qualities that are standard across the rule set. So all entangling weapons work the same, all impact weapons work the same, etc. It’s an elegant feature that can easily be expanded upon. (So if you want to add new qualities, like Reach, you could easily). Most weapons can be used by any character without penalty, but generally the better weapons (the ones with qualities) require special talents to use effectively.

Black powder weapons are available- noise, dangerous but more damaging than other missile weapons (except for rare elfbows). 1st edition also had rules for small bombs and incendiaries. 2nd edition doesn’t, but does include a rather anachronistic rifle that has a superior range to any other missile weapon (I believe it’s an addition from WFB) – I can’t say I like this, but if you can accept repeating crossbows, I guess rifles aren’t too bad. Firearms are very expensive, so if will be hard for PCs to acquire them unless their career starts with the right trappings.

Both games feature a decent list of period-appropriate weapons, armor and other adventuring equipment. Unlike many modern games, the coinage system is not metric (no 100 cp = 10 sp = 1 gp), but instead is 240 brass pennies = 20 silver shillings = 1 gold crown. Adds flavour to the game, though some people might find it difficult to use.

Armor reduces damage in both games. In 1st edition, leather provided 0 or 1 point of protection; chain or plate provided 1 point each (the two could be layered). In 2nd edition, leather provides 1, chain provides 3, and plate provides 5. This makes for a nicer range of armor qualities. There are two rules for armor, the simple system (which I’ve listed above) where you have complete sets of armor, and advanced system where you buy components piecemeal (and need to use hit locations). 1st edition was all piecemeal. While I like the advanced system, it’s nice to offer GMs a choice.

Equipment (both martial and “miscellaneous”) is listed in terms of availability. Depending on the size of the community, it may be hard to acquire.

1st edition: 3 points 2nd edition: 5 points

Combat

1st edition, combat is simple. Characters act in order of the Initiative score (no rolling). You can move and attack. You roll either your WS or BS to hit (your opponent’s skill has no bearing here). Damage is a d6+STR (the d6 is an exploding die). Subtract the damage from the opponent’s armor and toughness cores, and take the rest of your wounds. Simply invert your attack roll dice to see where you hit (a hit location chart is provided right on the character sheet). Once wounds gets to 0 or below, roll on the critical hits chart for limb maiming and death due to shock and blood loss. One problem, called the naked dwarf syndrome is that high toughness characters (particularly dwarves) can be almost immune to damage. Furthermore, armor-less dwarves (i.e., the naked ones) can be harder to hurt than humans decked out in full plate (remember, plate only provides 2 points of armor).

2nd edition is more structured, and heavily reminiscent of the D20 rules. Roll a d10 and add it to your Agility score to determine initiative. You can take 2 half-actions/round. Move is an action, attack is an action. If your A score is >1, you can take a full-round action to make multiple attacks. In fact, it’s virtually identical to D20, except that there is no 5’ step rule. You can also go fully defensive, making no attacks, but reducing the chance of your opponent to hit. A shield or an off-hand weapon allows you one free parry. You can still only dodge 1 blow/round no matter what your agility is, and you can only make one parry if you attack, regardless of your weapon skill, shield, or # of attacks.

Rolling to hit, damage, and criticals work basically the same as in 1st edition, though now you roll a d10 for damage, rather than a d6. (character wounds have been increased slightly). This makes the exploding die less frequent. This and the improved capabilities of armor (max 5 points now, instead of 2) obviates naked dwarf problem since the damage range is greater. In both games, healing is slow, and surgery can be almost as deadly as a sword.

1st edition: 3 points 2nd edition: 4 points

Magic

1st edition used a plain Jane spell-point system. Most of the spells were pretty uninspired, and taken right from WFB. In fact, most wizards were called “battle wizards”. There also weren’t very many spells to choose from. You could also be an elementalist, necromancer or diabolist, but their spells were pretty lame too. Necromancers or diabolists also had to worry about becoming insane or corrupted by their magic. Priestly magic was basically the same as wizard’s magic, though they could get a few unique spells. Druids also had their own spell list that had a little more utility outside of combat.

2nd edition adopts a system from a newer version of WFB. Wizards are divided into different colours of magic, each with a different theme. (There are also some “Petty Spells” that don’t involve killing people). If you’re human, you also need to belong to the Imperial College of Magic or risk being sanctioned with extreme prejudice. There are more spells now, but they’re all still pretty much taken right from WFB (fireball and cone templates are provided in the back of the book). Priests have their own spell lists now, but nature magic is absent.

Magic no longer uses spell-points, but instead requires a spell-casting roll, based on your magic attribute. If you fail, you can gain insanity points. If you succeed, you might suffer “Tzeench’s Curse” and gain a mutation or some other unintended side effect. This does add some flavor to the new edition. Hopefully the dangerous of spellcasting will provide an adequate balancing force now that spell points are gone (My group has no spell casters so I haven’t seen this in action yet).

In 1st edition, you could expect to find magic items, though never so frequently as in D&D. Thus, there were rules for enchanted ropes, potions, and magic weapons (about 8 pages worth), which provided a basic but adequate spread). In 2nd edition, magic items are now “beyond rare”. Thus, there are exactly 2 magic items (1/2 a page), which definitely feels inadequate. In both editions, you’re going to want the magic supplement. Hopefully, in the new edition, it won’t take 18 years to get published.

1st edition: 2 points 2nd edition: 3 points

Religion

Both games provide a decent description of the human deities, their priests and their cultures. 1st edition has 18 pages on religion. The human gods are described with fair detail, as well as the chief god of the dwarves, elves and haflings. Also described is the Old Faith of the druids, an older religion that is dying out in face of competition from Tall and Rhya. One interesting idea is that there is a doctrinal dispute between the followers of Sigmar (god of the Empire) and the followers of Ulric, the god of battle that mirrors the struggles between Catholicism and Protestantism. The game doesn’t really delve into theological matters, but the schism is great fodder for adventures (and used to great effect in the Enemy Within Campaign).

Also described are three Chaos Gods (Khorne, Nurgle and Malal) and three Law Gods (Alluminas, Arianka, and Solkan), with one paragraph each. Slaneesh and Tzeench are missing, and appear in the Enemy Wtihin Campaign. Malal and Arianka have interesting stories making them ideal for adventures. Malal is the renegade god who rebels against the other Lords of Chaos, and Arianka is imprisoned in a crystal coffin supposedly beneath the city of Praag. Sadly both have disappeared from the Warhammer world.

2nd edition has 19 pages on the subject, which is pretty generous given the size of the book. For humans, there is plenty of description of rituals and customs. Haflings, dwarves and elves only get 1 single page between them. Interestingly enough, for a world with such a problem with Chaos, the 4 big Chaos gods only get 1 paragraph each. There is no mention of the Law Gods, Malal or the Old faith.

1st edition: 4 points 2nd edition: 3 points

GMing stuff

1st edition provides about 32 pages of GMing rules, overland movement, traps, hazards and advice. It’s fairly comprehensive, but marred by the sometimes inconsistent task resolution system. 2nd edition provides a shorter selection of useful rules, campaign ideas and GM advice (21 pages), but it’s more unified. About ½ of these pages are devoted to different insanities that characters can develop. It’s nice, but given the short thrift given to other topics, I don’t think I would spend so long on the subject.

1st edition: 4 points 2nd edition: 3 points

The Empire

In the center of the Old World, is “The Empire”, which is reminiscent of the Holy Roman Empire. Mysteriously, the Empire lacks a proper name. Founded by the hero Sigmar (now worshiped as a deity), the Empire is a collection of duchies and city states. Much of the land remains heavily forested (and filled with vicious beastmen). The Emperor (currently Karl Franz) is not hereditary, but is instead elected by the great nobles of the land (called Electoral Counts). The nobles are wealthy and haughty, while the peasants are poor and miserable. Recently, a new middle class has begun to emerge in the cities. Some are even wealthier than the nobles, though they lack the privilege and power of the nobility. Although the Empire is the most powerful nation in the Old World, it must remain vigilant against threats from both without (ors, chaos men) and within. Witchunters scour the lands, looking for heretics, necromancers and the taint of Chaos. Wizards are feared, as they bear the taint of chaos.

In general, the 1st edition description of the Empire is more nuanced than the 2nd edition, which draws heavily on WFB. In 1st edition, the emperor, Karl Franz is not a strong leader. (The electoral counts ensure that a weak and ineffectual leader is placed on the throne so their own realms aren't interfered with. Is). In 2nd edition, he is a great statesmen and general who rides into battle on a griffon. In 1st edition, Sylvannia is a poor province on the periphery of Empire life that is troubled by fell beasts and the undead. In 2nd edition, it’s ruled by Vampire Counts and has no significant Imperial presence. In 1st edition, the forces of Chaos work insidiously to corrupt the Empire and cause it to break into civil war. In 2nd edition, the forces of Chaos invade as a massive army from the north, and nearly destroy the city of Middenheim.

There are some differences in provinces and cities between the two. If you’re new to the game, you probably won’t notice. If you are 1st edition veteran, you’ll probably be annoyed. If you want to run classic adventures like Death on the Reik, you probably can without too much trouble. The starting year of the 2nd edition is eight years after the starting year of the 1st edition, leaving GMs room to maneuver and adapt their own campaigns, if they desire.

The map is prettier in 2nd edition, but much more useful in 1st edition.

1st edition: 4 points 2nd edition: 3 points

The rest of the Old World

Other major nations of the Old World include Bretonnia (France), Kislev (Russia), Estalila (Spain), Tilea (Italy), Marianburg (the Low Lands) and Albion (England). In the mountains to the east, hordes of orcs threaten the realms. To the north, the hordes of Chaos threaten all. To the south, the restless dead haunt ruined nations. Once again, 1st edition has more details on all of these places, with the possible exception of Marianburg.

One big change is the characterization of the 2nd largest nation, Bretonnia. In 1st edition, Bretonnia is much closer to pre-revolutionary France, filled with the most decadent nobles and desperate peasants. You only get 4 pages of info, but you do get descriptions of people and places. In 2nd edition, Bretonnia has been changed to a land of Arthurian knights who worship the Lady of the Grail (it’s not all peaches in cream, but definitely different than before). While this was done to sell miniatures for WFB, I find the original description riper fodder for role-playing. There are only 1.5 pages of detail on Bretonnia, which I suppose is a blessing. I suppose with players who are ignorant of the orignal Bretonnia, the new description is fine.

1st edition also has some basic information on more distant lands: the New World (North America), Lustria (South America), Cathay, Nippon, Araby, the Southlands (Africa), and the Elven continent of Ulthan. None of this is in 2nd edition. So, if you’ve taken the explorer advanced class, you don’t get much support. Again, the maps are prettier, but fair less useful in 2nd edition. 1st edition also provides you with an extensive history and timeline, which are entirely absent from the 2nd edition. 1st edition: 4 points 2nd edition: 1 point

The Bestiary

1st edition includes over 100 monsters (about 46 pages), from animals to griffons to demons. Most are pretty basic, but there are some nifty original creations like the Fimir. 2nd edition has approximately 30 things to kill (about 8 pages). It does includes a decent selection of normal animals, and common human encounters (bandits, soldiers, etc). On the negative side, it’s short on everything else. No fimir, no trolls or giants (despite the fact that dwarven troll slayers need to kill one to enter the giant slayer class), no vampires for the vampire hunter, etc. A bestiary will be out soon – GMs will want definitely want it.

One problem with both editions is the relatively condensed scale that creatures use. Strength only ranges from 1-100 (2nd edition) or 1-10 (1st edition). So a human can be as strong as a dragon. Sure you can fudge it and say that’s only the damage bonus due to strength, but there really are no rules to adjudicate this (say, a tug-of-war between a dwarf and an elephant). This really should have been addressed with the 2nd edition, and in the core rules, not the bestiary.

1st edition: 4 points 2nd edition: 2 points

Starting Adventure

Both editions come with a starting adventure (spoilers ahead). 1st edition comes with “The Odenhaller Contract”. PCs travel to Nuln, possibly get mugged, burglarized, get into a roof-top chase, get hired to steal a cursed gemstone from a bunch of thieves, and eventually descend underground to battle with organized crime, a horde of rats, and diseased cultists. It’s not perfect (the underground section doesn’t make much sense in terms of layout), but it’s a very decent adventure with both role-playing and combat potential. Probably takes 4-5 hours to finish. I’ve probably run this game five or six times, and it’s a lot of fun to play, and a good introduction to the Warhammer world. There are also pregenerated characters if you want/need them.

2nd edition comes with “Through the Drakenwald”, which is set in the woods and a small village. It’s a little rail-roaded, and it’s very short. Basically, you protect a bunch of refugees traveling from a small villiage the city of Middenheim (the adventure takes place after the big chaos invasion). You may or may not prevent a witch from attempting revenge on a noble that the PCs have no real contact with. The witch does have very human motivations (and isn’t a chaos cultist, which can get clichéd pretty quickly). Depending on how much talking goes on, probably 2-3 hours to play. It’s not terrible, but not so great either. No pregens.

1st edition: 3 points 2nd edition: 1 points

Extras

1st edition comes with lots of goodies, including: *an appendix of old buildings maps and descriptions. Included are are a coaching inn, a toll house, a river lock, a shrine and temple, a farmstead, and a villiage *a summary of character creation rules, careers, weapons and equipment, critical hit charts, *a character sheet

2nd edition comes with designer notes, fireball template and a character sheet. Black Industries is preparing to provide some building descriptions and maps, but you’re going to have to purchase the GM screen for it.

1st edition: 4 points 2nd edition: 1 point

Conclusion

The result – it’s a virtual draw, with 49 points (out of 75) for the 1st edition vs. 48 for the 2nd edition. Using RPGnet scores, I'd give 2nd edition a 5 for style and a 3 for substance. 1st edition would get a 3 for style and a 5 for substance. The 2nd edition dominates in terms of organization and rules, and edges out in terms of character creation. If I were a player, as opposed to a GM, I would argue that the new version is definitely superior. But it gets hammered in terms of comprehensiveness and campaign background, and this matters to me as a GM. And personally, I find changes to the game world to be ill-conceived though not catastrophic. I suspect that I’ll want to avoid the upcoming Middenheim and Empire books, and rely on older materials found in the Enemy Within and the original Middenheim sourcebook.

Despite my complaints, 2nd edition is a very good game, particularly if you’ve never played the 1st edition. A new edition keeps the game alive and might even bring in some new players. The upcoming bestiary and magic sourcebooks are pretty much “must-haves”. An aggressive publishing schedule suggests that there will be lots of books to fill in the holes created by the relatively short length of the core rulebook. Interestingly enough, if you take the best score from each edition, you get a 61, making it a damn fine game. The rules are close enough that conversions will be almost no problem at all. My advice to people is to get the second edition for the rules and the first edition for the setting information.