What do you think?
Rate this book
Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play, 1st Edition
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: A Grim World of Perilous Adventure
"The Old World. On the surface, it is a civilized and cultured place, where only the occasional conspiracy, assassination, revolution or invasion by orcs, goblins, beastmen, or mutants disrupts the feudal order. Yet a shadow hangs over the world, cast by the corrupting hand of Chaos. From the Imperial court in Altdorf to the pirate-ridden coast of south Tilea, a few heroes strive to hold back the forces of howling Chaos, while it's hidden servants scheme from within to bring the world to it's knees before the Dark Gods." Warhammer FRP is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer world, a background developed by Games Workshop and used in the best-selling Warhammer Fantasy Battles and Warhammer Quest games. The three games are compatible, and characters can be transferred between them with a little fiddling. The Warhammer world is a grim place of perilous adventure. It's a little like Europe at the time of the early Renaissance, with all its corruption, villainy and opportunities for adventure; but this is a world of inhuman races, wizards, mutants, terrifying monsters and the dread shadow of Chaos, which stretches over the entire land. In WFRP, Chaos is not just a force of nature, but a living, malevolent thing supported by demonic princes who will not rest until the entire world has been enslaved or destroyed. It's a dark game with an atmosphere of psychological and visceral horror, and a subtle seam of dark humour at its heart.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
5 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 22, 2011
1st played this system back in the 80's. Advancement of characters a bit slow overall, but allowed you to move from class to class, learning skills such as Rat Catching, Bottle Washing, and other esoteric things. You then build on these and segue into other class skills, bottle washing into test tube cleaner, working towards alchemy, surgeon, etc.
It takes a while to progress into the tougher higher class characters, but still fairly fun getting there.
It takes a while to progress into the tougher higher class characters, but still fairly fun getting there.
May 6, 2012
An influential, landmark roleplaying game set in the grim fantasy world of Warhammer by Games Workshop. Still beloved by hardcore fans decades after its original release. Still fun.
June 14, 2022
Whoa baby! Where have you been all my life? Actually, I can answer that question - in a box in a storage unit.
I originally bought this book in 1989 at a Hobby Town in San Antonio. I read it several times in middle school and high school but never actually played it. When Warhammer 2nd Edition came out I ran several games but essentially forgot about the original game.
After being disappointed by the recent Warhammer 4th release, I decided to go back and read the original: what a game. More creative than later editions, Warhammer 1st’s setting is somewhat different than the later canon, but is ultimately more playable and interesting.
The system is quite clever in that the authors tried to really create a list of potential actions and attach specific mechanics to each one. Although this can be time consuming on the fly, it’s really helpful for new players who can just look up what they want to do.
Combat is highly lethal as is to be expected with Warhammer - especially at the beginning where you aren’t playing hardened adventurers but instead students, scribes, militiawomen, etc.
A dark setting, Warhammer can sometimes appear hopeless, but it also contains a dark Monty Python style dark humor that alleviates the oppressive atmosphere of the Olde World.
I originally bought this book in 1989 at a Hobby Town in San Antonio. I read it several times in middle school and high school but never actually played it. When Warhammer 2nd Edition came out I ran several games but essentially forgot about the original game.
After being disappointed by the recent Warhammer 4th release, I decided to go back and read the original: what a game. More creative than later editions, Warhammer 1st’s setting is somewhat different than the later canon, but is ultimately more playable and interesting.
The system is quite clever in that the authors tried to really create a list of potential actions and attach specific mechanics to each one. Although this can be time consuming on the fly, it’s really helpful for new players who can just look up what they want to do.
Combat is highly lethal as is to be expected with Warhammer - especially at the beginning where you aren’t playing hardened adventurers but instead students, scribes, militiawomen, etc.
A dark setting, Warhammer can sometimes appear hopeless, but it also contains a dark Monty Python style dark humor that alleviates the oppressive atmosphere of the Olde World.
February 5, 2021
Ken & Robin Talk About Stuff put it succinctly: the American template for a wandering group of violent men of action in the lawless wilds is the cowboy Western. The European version is the 30-Years War.
In D&D, you're a romantic hero slaying monsters, finding treasure, and bringing civilization to the wilderness. In Warhammer Fantasy, you're probably a half-starved brigand or mercenary rolling in the mud with two orcs and a knife in the flaming ruins of the town you were trying to rob.
Play D&D in default mode and you get a kid's fantasy novel. Play Warhammer in default mode and you get a cautionary tale about the terror of the unknown, the corruption of the known, and the omnipresence of disease, death, and suffering in pre-modern times.
Plus it's fun, crazy, gritty, and a solid if occasionally lookup-heavy mechanical system besides.
In D&D, you're a romantic hero slaying monsters, finding treasure, and bringing civilization to the wilderness. In Warhammer Fantasy, you're probably a half-starved brigand or mercenary rolling in the mud with two orcs and a knife in the flaming ruins of the town you were trying to rob.
Play D&D in default mode and you get a kid's fantasy novel. Play Warhammer in default mode and you get a cautionary tale about the terror of the unknown, the corruption of the known, and the omnipresence of disease, death, and suffering in pre-modern times.
Plus it's fun, crazy, gritty, and a solid if occasionally lookup-heavy mechanical system besides.
March 9, 2014
We used to have a blast playing this game. The rules were easy enough to understand, but were flexible enough to let imagination be more important than pedantic rule-keeping.
Character creation was easy enough, that even our newest members could create characters with minimal help.
I still pull this one from the bookshelf, just to read the extra material.
Character creation was easy enough, that even our newest members could create characters with minimal help.
I still pull this one from the bookshelf, just to read the extra material.
July 8, 2009
good back ground info. But could've improved combat system
November 4, 2014
Started running this eleven years ago and still going. Game night tomorrow.
December 3, 2022
1st Edition WFRP didn't quite take on its full shape until the Enemy Within campaign better defined the Empire and the unique atmosphere of the game, but the outlines of this can already be seen in the core book. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
April 11, 2020
System bardzo niezbalansowany i ma kilka dziur ale swego czasu sie rzucało kościami i tępiło sługusów chaosu ;) Polska edycja ma zdecydowanie lepsza okładkę.
June 1, 2013
The best book for teaching me about what I did and didn't want in a game. The system goes into detail about the voluminous amounts people are to have on their character sheets including 9 major attributes and 5 secondary ones. The system also hinges on the idea that people will stick with an occupation for a while, but then will have to move on to another occupation if they want to continue to improve. The system also went with the idea that there were certain occupations you couldn't get to if you weren't in the ones that led to them, meaning that if you were a master wizard, there was no way you could learn to fish if you hadn't already learned it. Insanity!
July 19, 2008
Geeks are good at art.
June 18, 2022
Fantastic world information and some neat ideas here, but the system itself is very dated.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews