Customer Reviews
Essential - By: Robert Bailey, 22 Dec 2008 
This new edition provides everything you'll need to play an enjoyable session except 10-sided dice & other people!!
As a vivid introduction to the Old World, WFRP gives superb account, though for deep detail of any kind you are well advised to seek out the numerous expansion books & novels, especially those that cover monsters, magic & further new adventures, although these three areas are well shaped & nicely deliveredin this, the core rule book.
In any case, WFRP is a well-balanced Role Playing system with an approachable & evocative rule set & history.
The rules themselves are immaginativein that they provide enough structure to get going fairly quickly without being super-strict, (arguably the lack of hyper-detail here worksin it's favour), allowing for fairly rapid adaptation to the needs of the players + GMers.
Those previously unfamiliar with WFRP, Warhammer Fantasy Battle & Warhammer on-line (but excluding the ubiquitous World of Warcraft), are likely to find the Old World is geographically familiar (particularly if you're European).
Regarding the various myths, monsters & magic, anyone familiar with the writing of J.R.R. Tolkein or Mary Stewart is likely to feel at homein this fantasy world, less soin the case of lovers of J.K. Rowling & C.S. Lewis.
"Chaos" & all its macabre potential is a major element of the super-structure of the story behind WFRP, & is a strong thread running through the whole of the Old World.
This so called Chaos isin a nutshell what Sauron might have named "Total & Unpredictable Dark Power", & what Frodo could well have described as "There & not neccessarily safely back again - a challenge to one's very soul".
All due praise should be given to Games Workshop, Black Industries et al, for their consistencyin creating & fleshing out a cohesive & believable Fantasy world.
This book could have done with a dozen more pages given over to the business of actual role-play & what it meansin practice for those not already accustomed to it. A great many bold adventures are had by people who write their own rules as they go along, so it would have been good to hear more of their experiencesin changing the game to suit them, but aside from this fairly minor niggle, WFRP is the core-rule book to beat all others! By turns inventive, amusing & engrossing, no serious RPG-lover should be without it.
Highly recommended.
Impressive - By: Mr. M. P. Hides, 03 Jan 2008 Having played the Warhammer Fantasy Battles tabletop game for many years I thought I'd finally give WFRP a go. I've been playing various roleplaying games such as AD&D 2nd edition, D&D 3rd edition, LOTR & Star Wars for nearly 10 years I must say that WFRP is the most interesting & colourful to date.
The background is rich & colourful, perfectly describing the grim lands of the Empire whilst injecting plenty of black humour to boot. The game system is easy to pick up & nicely streamlined & the career/class options are fantastic with bundles to choose from.
I would not only recommend this for Warhammer fans, but for all roleplaying fans alike. It's a fantastic game. *****
Hardly indispensible - By: C. J. Hutchins, 24 Nov 2007 
The character pad is certainly a very handy investment & includes enough sheets to keep you going for several campaigns. Unless you kill your players an awful lot.
The rest of the information is so-so. The name generator is great for NPC names, especially mid-game, but all but the most unimaginative players will probably prefer to come up with their own.
The rest of the tables provide random generators for a selection of pointless information. Not exactly something you really need. And the character 'portraits', though nice, aren't really very useful. They are printed on the inside of the cover sleeve which tends to get damaged quite easily.
Basically, buy this if you want a bunch a character sheets - expect something 'indispensible' & you will be dissapointed.
A Book Less Grim! - By: Levi R. Bianco, 05 Nov 2007 
Well, I have to say, Green Ronin & GW have done well this time.
The book sets any aspiring players or GM's up nicely, giving them an idea of the flavour of the Warhammer World, with some great artwork, awesomely funny writing, & a solid set of core rules.
The rules for combat, character creation, equipment & magic are all very good, well thought out, & are easily accessible to any who choose to tackle them. There are some fiddly bits to get you're head around, but around the table they are quickly worked through, & you soon find yourself playing with a vengeance!
My four star rating relates only to the fact that there is a lack of contentin some areas of the book; the Game Master section, for example, certainly struck me as one big sales pitch for the Warhammer FRP system & how exciting it can be, & didn't really tell me alot about anything! I feel that first-time GM's using this book as thier sole resource (for whatever reason) for springboarding a campain, may find it difficult to shake the feeling of bieng swamped by the expansive wilderness that is the Warhammer World!
That said however, it is a very good book, & will certainly get the adventurous juices flowing - no matter how long you've been role-playing, the system has something to offer everyone, & this book is a great first step. So go ahead; draw steel, & stride forthin search of adventure, fame, fortune & fate! It's well worth it.
Oh, & by the way: fans of the GW model games will be pleasantly suprised!
Cheers!
A grim world indeed! - By: S. Connolly, 17 Jul 2007 I was really glad to see that Warhammer had been rereleased once more especially by such a credible group as Ronin/Black industries who have been responsible for some of the best supplements recently.It aslo is at a good prce for a core rulebook if purchased from amazon. I have 'happy' memories of the Death on the Reik campaign when I was younger roleplayer though I never semed to fiunish it- I think we got up to Power behind the Throne.The system seems to have been streamlined so that only D10 are used whichin the current campaign I'm reffing has worked extremely well(most if them being vampire players!). The system for magic is good though I think they could have provided more spells/items etc especially on the Chaos front.
Character creation is easy & good fun & a wise GM may allow some players to reoll. However non humans are still overpoweredin creation & this needs to be looked at. In my current campaign all players are human so it doesn;t become an issue.
I suppose the only real gripes is experience stinginess & the newish setting of the storm of Chaos. In the old version it was too easy to get experiencein this version it seems too tight.However a ref can always alter this.Fortune points are a good addtion thoughin many cases especiallyin the published campaign this stacks things too muchin the players favour.I find the new setting slightly confusing especially when playing the set campapign.All the most important peoplein the country are fighting off Archaon - when do they come back, whats the result? Perhaps this will be a later campaign adventure.
The criticals system is good & always makes the players laugh(or wince).
Overall a good system especially if you favour a simple system easy to run set up with a realistic-ish edge.I can only hope that some one will release Death on the REIK!
