Help with my FH to WHFRP conversion

[tunglashr]

For those who are acronym challenged thats Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Its from long ago when GW actually made games instead of excuses to buy their figures. Its a really good dark fantasy system with a lot of strengths and few weaknesses. Until this new version of FH it was my favorite fantasy system.

So I decided this would be a good time to revisit the most successful fantasy campaign I had ever run, and to change it up I decided to convert it to FH.

The project was relatively light at first. The first major obstacle was the magic system. The spells are so wildly varying in power even at the same level, but eventually I just rolled with it and made due.

Now that I am a few sessions into it I notice that its hard to challenge the players without taking a chance that they will die. The 20 STR dwarf with a 2 handed axe cuts through most monsters easily, yet the halfling bounty hunter is much lesser powered in combat.

I have never run FH before, but Ive been playing and running other Hero games for 15+ years. So what am I asking?

If you have knowledge of the WH world and want to convert some stuff or offer ideas Id love to hear from you, on the board or in email. If you have some campaign ideas or general things that might spice up my game, send them on over.

Fantasy has always been my least favorite genre, but for some reason this particular campaign was a resounding success in the last incarnation. I dont want the redux to be a failure. Any of you fantasy nuts out there who can help me, I most humbly ask for it.

[Rhys]

It's been almost 20 years since my last encounter with Warhammer, but I have to wonder if you aren't asking a little much. If the dwarf is anything like the Trollkillers I remember, he SHOULD be able to destroy almost anything on the planet. Also, what is a halfling bounty hunter doing involved in actual melee combat to begin with? He should be picking around the edges and using halfling type skills. I'd be a lot more worried about the conversion if the halfling was able to even think about standing up to something that would give a 20 strength dwarf a fight. Seems to me that what you've got is probably pretty balanced if your dwarf and halfling can't handle the same things.

[tkdguy]

I can't remember the threads offhand, but a few players have made a WFRP to FH conversion. Try the search function; it should point you to the right direction.

[Killer Shrike]

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14355&highlight=warhammer

[tunglashr]

Thanks you guys, exactly what I needed.

[Captain Obvious]

Game mechanics aside, an in genre fix would be to encounter more orcs and goblins. They hate dwarves, and would swarm him, while only the one or two who can't reach him would worry about the halfling at all.

[tkdguy]

Here's a crazy idea I thought of today. If there are (or will be) any Wardancers in the party, how about allowing them moves from Capoeira (see UMA p. 22). Of course you'd have to make a few modifications, but those would be mostly cosmetic. You should allow weapon elements, though.

[tunglashr]

Youre right, it would be cool. No elves in the party though. I do happen to have a friend who is a Capoeira instructor...

[tkdguy]

I'm using a modified map of the Old World in my (on hiatus) campaign. I'll keep the names of the cities but maybe change the names of the countries. Also I have a few changes. Tell me what you think of them.

1. There's no magic in this world. Priests have no special powers, but may be warriors, nobles, or politicians (or all of the above). Wizards do not exist, although there may be those who dabble in the occult arts (alchemy, astrology, etc.). Whether they're actually on to something is another story.

2. Only humans live in the world. I was thinking of making elves, dwarfs, etc. subraces of humanity, but I may just throw them out altogether instead. Orcs could just be a tribe of marauders in the Badlands. They paint their faces green before going to battle, which is why they are called greenskins. Likewise, Skaven are not a race of ratmen but an evil cult. There could be humans living in Athel Loren or the World Spine Mountains, but again, I may just discard the entire idea.

3. There are lots of armed and unarmed styles. I was thinking of adding Resplendent Dragon Kung Fu and Taikijutsu (from the UMA) as available styles. Trade with Cathay and Nippon has introduced these styles.

4. Technology is 16th or 17th century level. Musketeers replace Knights in Bretonnia and the Empire.

5. I may add my own church, but I may stick with the Warhammer religions instead.

[tkdguy]

Another wild idea I had about elves was to use Moorcock's Melniboneans as the template for High Elf (or Dark Elf) culture. Even if you don't have any elves in your party, you can always have elven NPCs.

Addendum: In the same vein, you can add Arioch, Xiombarg, and the rest of the Lords of Chaos to the Warhammer Chaos Gods. For example, maybe Arioch is a servant of Khorne.

[tunglashr]

I'm using a modified map of the Old World in my (on hiatus) campaign. I'll keep the names of the cities but maybe change the names of the countries. Also I have a few changes. Tell me what you think of them.

1. There's no magic in this world. Priests have no special powers, but may be warriors, nobles, or politicians (or all of the above). Wizards do not exist, although there may be those who dabble in the occult arts (alchemy, astrology, etc.). Whether they're actually on to something is another story.

2. Only humans live in the world. I was thinking of making elves, dwarfs, etc. subraces of humanity, but I may just throw them out altogether instead. Orcs could just be a tribe of marauders in the Badlands. They paint their faces green before going to battle, which is why they are called greenskins. Likewise, Skaven are not a race of ratmen but an evil cult. There could be humans living in Athel Loren or the World Spine Mountains, but again, I may just discard the entire idea.

3. There are lots of armed and unarmed styles. I was thinking of adding Resplendent Dragon Kung Fu and Taikijutsu (from the UMA) as available styles. Trade with Cathay and Nippon has introduced these styles.

4. Technology is 16th or 17th century level. Musketeers replace Knights in Bretonnia and the Empire.

5. I may add my own church, but I may stick with the Warhammer religions instead.


I think this is a sweet idea and I wish I could play in it. I am wholeheartedly anti magic and xenophobic normally, but I understand others are not so inclined. I guess thats why fantasy is my least favorite genre.

[tkdguy]

Other ideas I got:

1. There are websites out there that came up with a Remean Empire, the Old World's equivalent of the Roman Empire. In my world, Sigmar fought against the Remean Legions instead of the orcs.

2. Likewise, Gilles le Breton fought against invaders from Araby, after they had conquered Estalia. It could be the Lady of the Lake was either an actual person who was later deified or a minor goddess before she gained preeminence in Bretonnia. Of course, spouting off such theories in most of Bretonnia would get you lynched.

3. I would probably call the "elves" the Sidhe or Alfar and the "dwarfs" the Dvergar, which are more traditional names for them. They would instead be subraces of humans. Alfar would be tall and fair, but their ears wouldn't be pointed (well, maybe a little, but not much). Likewise, the Dvergar would be short, but not that short. Think of the dwarf in the (ugh) D&D movie. My best friend thinks they should have made him much shorter. The War of the Beard probably never happened, as the two groups would never have been powerful enough to build great empires. Their civilizations simply waned over time. In fact, the Alfar and Dvergar probably lived together peacefully in Norsca, since traditional Norse mythology often lumps elves and dwarfs together.

4. Halflings (or Mootlanders) would be short, maybe a bit taller than pygmies. But they would definitely be human.

5. Keep in mind that while there won't be any magic in this campaign, people may still believe in its existence. Therefore, the burning of "witches" would still be around.

6. "Mutants" would be a term for those unfortunate people who are deformed either by birth, illness, or accident. Mutants aren't necessarily deformed physically; those who go mad are also considered mutants. These people are often abused by the rest of society. The only exception is the Cult of the Horned Rat, where many of its followers are deformed. Unfortunately, these people make the rest of their kind look bad...

[tunglashr]

Other ideas I got:

1. There are websites out there that came up with a Remean Empire, the Old World's equivalent of the Roman Empire. In my world, Sigmar fought against the Remean Legions instead of the orcs.

2. Likewise, Gilles le Breton fought against invaders from Araby, after they had conquered Estalia. It could be the Lady of the Lake was either an actual person who was later deified or a minor goddess before she gained preeminence in Bretonnia. Of course, spouting off such theories in most of Bretonnia would get you lynched.

3. I would probably call the "elves" the Sidhe or Alfar and the "dwarfs" the Dvergar, which are more traditional names for them. They would instead be subraces of humans. Alfar would be tall and fair, but their ears wouldn't be pointed (well, maybe a little, but not much). Likewise, the Dvergar would be short, but not that short. Think of the dwarf in the (ugh) D&D movie. My best friend thinks they should have made him much shorter. The War of the Beard probably never happened, as the two groups would never have been powerful enough to build great empires. Their civilizations simply waned over time. In fact, the Alfar and Dvergar probably lived together peacefully in Norsca, since traditional Norse mythology often lumps elves and dwarfs together.

4. Halflings (or Mootlanders) would be short, maybe a bit taller than pygmies. But they would definitely be human.

5. Keep in mind that while there won't be any magic in this campaign, people may still believe in its existence. Therefore, the burning of "witches" would still be around.

6. "Mutants" would be a term for those unfortunate people who are deformed either by birth, illness, or accident. Mutants aren't necessarily deformed physically; those who go mad are also considered mutants. These people are often abused by the rest of society. The only exception is the Cult of the Horned Rat, where many of its followers are deformed. Unfortunately, these people make the rest of their kind look bad...


Thats all very cool. Maybe Ill move to your town so I can play. I have a whole mess of great old world maps and history downloaded from warhammer.net, which seems to no longer exist. I like having a low magic world with dangerous beasts but with other 'men' being the biggest threat to players. Our current game is going alright, but the players always seem to throw me curves...

[tkdguy]

Have you tried Mad Alfred's WFRP page, Criitical Hit and Warpstone? You can find good stuff there. And feel free to rip off my ideas. My RPG campaigns are all on hiatus anyway. :( Why not try them out and see how your players like the changes? If not, you can always return to the regular style of play.

[tkdguy]

I almost forgot...

I plan to depict the Purple Hand as a purely political entity. In my campaign, they won't necessarily be worshippers of Tzeench (although they could be). Their only purpose is to take over the Empire by causing political strife between the counties and infiltrating government positions.

[tunglashr]

I almost forgot...

I plan to depict the Purple Hand as a purely political entity. In my campaign, they won't necessarily be worshippers of Tzeench (although they could be). Their only purpose is to take over the Empire by causing political strife between the counties and infiltrating government positions.

I dont see why they dont worship chaos. Thats one of my favorite parts of WHFRP, I love cultists and using humans as enemies. Crazy ones who believe in a chaos god would be very formidable.

[tkdguy]

You can keep the worship of Chaos if you want. I just decided not to make it a requirement, so they could have a broader base.