This is a guest article from the fantastic Xanthrodox86, owner of the top-notch TTRPG blog It Always Rains in Nuln.

My first guest post… Wow. I never thought that a day like this would come. You know, I started this whole blogging thing with no real plan in mind… except sharing my passion for roleplaying with other people.

Now, almost ten years later, I’m still going strong, met lots of fantastic people and, well, just having lots of fun! When Isaac contacted me and offered for us to write guest posts for each other’s blogs, I was kinda surprised. Not because of the offer (it was really flattering!), but because… I didn’t know what to write about. That was rather unexpected.

Fortunately, Isaac came to the rescue and offered a very cool topic – trying to showcase to D&D players the benefits of trying out Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. This is something I’ll be more than willing to do.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was the very first TTRPG I played, almost 30 years ago. Earlier this year I enjoyed a cool game of D&D 5e, where my Paladin heroically died during his sleep… Come to think of it, that was a very WFRP-style death! I wasn’t able to even land a single blow with my freshly-acquired, magical longsword!

This game made me realise that WFRP and D&D are not that different, contrary to what many people in the hobby believe. I will try to list a few reasons why Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts might enjoy Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

I will write about the game in general, without mentioning any particular edition. That said I am, and always was, a WFRP 2e enjoyer. For me, it is the best version of the game.

You Are the Hero and the Gods Are On Your Side… But There’s a Catch

That’s right. The world of WFRP is, in general, a crappy place to live.

Interestingly enough it would be considered a High Fantasy setting (wide presence of fantastical creatures, widely available magic, including artifacts etc.) but is usually portrayed in the most down-to-earth, grim and dark way.

That said, while your ordinary Old World peasant will be lucky to reach adulthood, the Player Characters are chosen by the higher powers… literally! There’s a system called “Fate Points”. It literally allows the PC to avoid death. Every time a critical hit lands, an Orc’s Choppa gets dangerously close to removing your hero’s head from its shoulders, or that nasty Daemon’s claws tear out your armour to reach the flesh beneath, you can spend a Fate Point.

Doing so allows you to cheat death, albeit at the cost of a single FP. Lose them all and your character will eventually fall. Sometimes the GM can reward crafty players with additional Fate Points but that doesn’t (and shouldn’t) happen often.

The world of Warhammer is a cruel and dangerous place, and death lurks behind every corner. Giving away too many get-out-of-jail-free cards would cheapen the whole experience.

This is double true since, lore-wise, Fate Points really do mark out your hero as a chosen of the fates. Of course, it doesn’t have to be one of the gods of order who is really interested in your PC succeeding in their quest, but hey – divine attention is always good, right?

Fate Points also grant Luck. It can be used to re-roll failed rolls, both during combat, as well as exploration, social interactions and crafting endeavors. The number of Luck depends on the number of remaining Fate Points, so be careful. Lose Fate, and things get worse for you.

Magic Is Cool but Consumes Your Soul. Magical Weapons Are For Everyone Except You!

Magic is a large part of the Warhammer Fantasy setting. It can be powerful and world-changing or pretty low-level and only useful for wise people and folk magicians in the Old World.

That said, magic, all magic, comes from the Realm of Chaos, a place of infinite possibilities, which is also inhabited by daemons. Oh, and their eternal masters, the Gods of Chaos. You can probably guess that they’re not the good guys.

Because of the warping power of the Aether, as raw magic is sometimes called, its usage is strictly forbidden for the ordinary humans of nations like the Empire, Bretonnia and Kislev. Each of these countries has several harsh laws governing the control and applications of the mystical Winds of Magic, especially the Empire of Man, the de facto main heroes of Warhammer Fantasy. The Empire actually banned any sort of magical properties for centuries (excluding the miracle-performing Anointed Priests of various legal religions) and burned Aether weavers at the stake (Witch Hunters are specialists when it comes to this sort of thing).

Eventually, they decided to allow gifted people to be trained in the usage of the Winds of Magic, with small help from the High Elves. Now the Magisters of the Colleges of Magic are some of the most powerful and useful additions to the Emperor’s armies.

The magic system in WFRP is rather strict in its application, given the fact that humans (the “default” playable race) can’t really control it in its purest form. That’s why their spells are static and can’t really be improved upon.

While it might seem boring, the fact that there are eight distinct Winds of Magic in WFRP, all different from each other, is a really cool thing. Do you want to summon wild beasts and transform into a giant bear? Try the Amber Wind of Ghur. Like the old-fashioned fireball spam, as well as summoning deadly flaming swords? Aqshy, the Red Wind, is just a thing for you!

You can even read the portents of the future, while also summoning deadly comets from high orbit, by practising Azyr, the Celestial Wind. The Realm of Chaos is your oyster.

But be careful… a careless magical user risks his very soul. Every time he weaves his craft, he risks the attention of daemons and their terrible masters. Possession, mutation, death and even worse fates can be the bounty of careless mages.

That, and it’s worth remembering that normal humans can only master a single Wind. Trying to control more than one would mean the end of the hapless fool, attempting such a feat.

Unless, of course, you’re willing to use Dhar, the Dark Magic, which is all the Eight Winds “crushed” into a single force. A force of great power but also great corruption. Daemonologists, Necromancers and madmen are the sole enthusiasts of Dhar, for to use it is to damn one’s soul for all eternity.

As for magical items – sure, there are plenty of those in the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay world. Some of them won’t even kill you or attempt to possess you the moment you touch them. Remember what I said about Warhammer Fantasy being a rather crapsack place to live, despite falling into the category of a “High Fantasy setting”? Yeah, magical items are tricky.

First of all, in most “normal” places like the Empire, you can’t really own one without a special permission. If you don’t have permission, it’s half-past pyre for you. If you do have it… chances are the magical item is just a small trinket, almost not worth the hassle.

The mightiest artifacts are reserved only for the greatest of heroes. Like Ghal-Maraz, the runic warhammer of Sigmar, founder of the Empire. It can only be wielded by the Emperor himself. Or the Runefangs, 12 legendary swords of the Elector Counts. Each one is a powerful weapon of war, as well as a symbol of office for those wielding them. Chances are that your hero will not be one of the lucky few to even touch them.

So what can you do when it comes to magical items? You can RP a dwarf and learn the art of  Runic Magic.

WFRP dwarfs do not use magic as elves and humans do, casting magical missiles from their outstretched hands. Instead, they imbue items with the power of the Aether, by placing powerful runes on them. Some of them can be quite basic in how they work, granting more attacks or a better chance to deflect an incoming blow.

Other, more specialised and time-consuming ones, can protect their wielders from fire, no matter its intensity. Or they can mitigate the damage taken, by forcing the GM to roll twice for monsters’ attack and choose the lower number.

Rune magic is super cool, and definitely one of the more interesting parts of the setting. It also takes a lot of time to learn and apply in-game, but hey – it’s WFRP. Nothing’s easy in this setting, as I mentioned a few times already.

The Monsters Are Familiar but Oh-So-Different

Also, they hate you and will do everything to kill you. Twice. On a good day.

We have Dragons, we have Giants, we have Orcs and we have Hydras, not to mention more, “standard” fantasy creatures. But each of them has a twist!

Our dragons can cast magic, just like those in D&D. Most of them are also fast asleep, since there’s a magical, Aether-syphoning vortex in the middle of the world, and since Dragons are magical creatures… Yeah, they love their centuries-long naps.

The Giants are degenerate descendants of a mighty race known as Sky Titans, who dwelled in fantastical cities, located in some of the tallest mountains of the world. Then came the Ogres and conquered them, killing most of the Sky Titans, and enslaving those that survived.

Nowadays the remainder of that once proud race consists of pitiful, stunted creatures, simple in mind and often losing themselves in alcohol… or the darkness in the North, where Chaos reigns eternal.

As many people know, even those who only barely heard about Warhammer Fantasy, our Orcs are also different! They’re fungoid creatures, simple at first glance, but undoubtedly dangerous since they only live for one thing – combat. The longer a Greeskin fights, the bigger he gets, and he can only really die in battle.

They might appear comical with their ape-like physique, constant references to British Football hooligan culture, and clunky-looking weapons and armour, but lore-wise they’re one of the biggest threats to the civilised races of the world.

Their WAAAGHS!, as huge gatherings of Greenskins are called, can burn their way through entire nations and civilisations, and it often takes multiple factions (both “good and “bad”, even though there’s really no such thing in Warhammer), to stop them. Be wary when fighting Orcs and Goblins, for there is more to them than meets the eye. Underestimate them at your own peril.

Finally, I wanted to talk about the Skaven, one of Games Workshops’s best additions to the overall fantasy genre.

These Loathsome Ratmen (And All Their Vile Kin) are a subterranean race of hyper-intelligent rodents, hell-bent on world domination. Separated into multiple clans, four of which essentially rule their entire society, they are base creatures, ruled by paranoia, megalomania and the utter need to consume and rule.

For most people in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay‘s Old World, they are a myth, a belief enforced by the ruling classes and governments. More than once, however, they have played their hand, almost conquering the surface world.

Despite slaughtering each other in countless internecine wars, the Skaven have almost unlimited armies to throw at the so-called “lesser races”, as well as technology with which to further their world-domination agenda. Energy weapons, genetic engineering and powerful magic are only a few of the tools available to the Scions of the Horned Rat, a powerful daemonic deity, which some scholars of the Warhammer World consider the fifth Chaos God…

There are, of course, many more creatures and factions to discover in the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay TTRPG, from Lovecraft-esque Daemons of Chaos to bloodline-based Vampire Counts and prehistoric Lizardmen, the ultimate guardians of order and enforcers of the Old Ones’ will.

The Old Ones were god-like beings who created the entire world, by the way. Unfortunately, they didn’t take the Chaos Gods into account, and now the whole setting is the epitome of the “this is why we can’t have nice things!” trope.

Good thing that their remaining servants are here to fix things up, even if it means slaughtering millions and literally changing the geomantic structure of the entire planet overnight (with all the consequences associated with something like that).

No, we can’t have nice things in the Warhammer World. But we can try. You can try, heroes. With every new quest and every bold deed, you can make a difference by making the setting a little bit brighter, if only for a short time.

That’s why I love Warhammer Fantasy in general (I also play the battle game with friends).

Yeah, it’s a nasty place to visit, to be a part of. But there’s still hope, still something good to fight for, something noble to strive for.

And I hope that if you give WFRP a chance, you will also find that special “something”. I know I did, more than 15. years ago, and I haven’t let go of it to this day. I probably never will.

Take care and I’ll see you all on one of the abandoned trails of the Old World.

Xathrodox86

A huge thank you to Xathrodox86 for this article. Please check out their other work, particularly on It Always Rains in Nulm. I hope to return the favour soon.

To see my own thoughts on the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay TTRPG and others, check out ‘Five Fantasy TTRPGs That Aren’t D&D 5e‘.

As always, I really appreciate people sharing articles and reading other Artificial Twenty work. Thank you.