I'm on the brink of picking up the first three books in the rather legendary WFRP Enemy Within campaign, and would just like to hear your experience with it – is it really that good?

Also, it's the Hogshead edition I am getting, which, as far as I can see, is written for 1st edition WFRP. Would it be troublesome to run it using 2nd edition instead or would it lose some of its flavor in transition? I got the 2nd edition rules, but could pick up a first edition without too much hassle, and it would take some relearning/-reading of the rules anyway, since it would be my first venture into WFRP-territory.

Yes, it's really that good.  At least the parts you are looking to pick up.  After that it gets somewhat choppy - Kislev is take it or leave it, and Empire In Flames is average at best.  But everything through PbT is pure gold.

I can't comment on merging it to WFRP2 - I used it all with WFRP1.

Yeah, the Kislev adventures are weak-to-lame, although Empire in Flames, in my opinion, is good (better than Kislev, but that says little).

It's worthy addition to a gamer's collection, and Power Behind the Throne, with its minimal combat, easily adapts to any other system.

The adventures before PBT are very good also, and as they mostly feature low level fights, can be translated without too much difficulty, certainly won't be a problem with 2nd edition WFRP.

I just got finished running this with v2 this summer.  

I found Mistaken Identity/Shadows Over Bogenhofen and Power Behind the Throne to be the best adventures in the series.  Death on the Reik is fun, and offers more action than it's bookend adventures, but I found it too rambling.  Overall the campaign is excellent.

While the individual adventures are very focused, I found that the transitions between them were rather weak.  If I were to do it all over again I'd read the entire thing once and see if I couldn't forge stronger links between the adventures.

SPOILERS!
For example the first three adventures deal a lot with identity.  The whole thing starts off with one PC looking like an NPC.  The party then travels to a town where the enemy has a creature that can look like the PCs.  In the third installment the PCs must contend with a doppelganger.  If I were to run it again I'd have the Wittgenstein's making doppelgangers in their castle instead of frankenstein monsters.
SPOILERS!

I can't comment on Something Rotten in Kislev or Empire in Flames as I never ran those sections.  I tried to run MadAlfred's Empire at War and found it utterly boring.  So boring that it crashed the campaign and we started running something else.  

Also, check out Winds of Chaos for conversions to v2.  They also have a kick ass critical hit chart written by a trauma surgeon.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.  This stuff is still fresh in my mind.

Yeah, the different parts are hit and miss, more or less, but the overall campaign is still a classic. With a GM who knows what he's doing and does not hesitate to modify the material to suit the group, it's a blast. Worth getting.

Definitely.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to read ahead, take notes, and modify for your group.  If I were to run it again I'd use TEW as a framework for a much larger WFRP campaign.  Stretch the time lines out so accommodate other adventures.  Make liberal use of side-treks, seeking out trainers, river trading, etc.  I'd also make my own ending as well.

Don't let this discourage you.  The campaign in awesome and well worth the time and effort put into it.

Hammer, meets head. Utterly agreed.

Thanx guys,

I will certainly read ahead, allow for side quests and try and foreshadow things.

Another question. We have discussed in the group to go all random character creation, so we could potentially end up with a starting party consisting of a valet, a rat catcher, a militiaman and a scribe. You already mentioned that the campaign isn't combat heavy, but could such a party handle what they'll encounter, combat as well as non-combat?

I will probably have more questions once we start the campaign. Hopefully we'll create characters this Thursday.

I prepared an extensive list of pregens for my campaign.  Something like 5 potential characters per player.  Each one had a one sentence backstory that tied them into the campaign.

If you want a more random PC generation then might I suggest dividing up the careers into the WFRP v1 categories of Warrior/Ranger/Academic/"Criminal" and let the players choose which category they want but roll randomly within it.  Obviously some careers may fit in multiple categories.  If you have the Career Compendium (highly recommended) then they have an appendix which already does this.

The overall campaign definitely benefits from a mix of skills, but there are some potentially nasty combats the party can run into.  They need to stay on their toes and never ever fight fairly.

Here's what my group ended up with for comparisons sake:
Barber-Surgeon -> Physician -> Witch Hunter (paid double to switch)
Shieldbreaker -> Veteran -> Sergeant -> Champion
Apothecary -> Hedgecraft Apprentice -> App. Wiz. -> Journeyman Wiz.
Bailiff -> Racketeer -> Judicial Champion (paid double to switch)
Squire -> Noble -> Pistolier (died during an intermission between DotR and PBtT)
App. Wiz. -> Journeyman Wiz. -> Master Wiz. (replaced Pistolier)

Feel free to ask more questions.  I love WFRP and love to talk about it.

Quote from: DKChannelBoredom;407288Thanx guys,

I will certainly read ahead, allow for side quests and try and foreshadow things.

Another question. We have discussed in the group to go all random character creation, so we could potentially end up with a starting party consisting of a valet, a rat catcher, a militiaman and a scribe. You already mentioned that the campaign isn't combat heavy, but could such a party handle what they'll encounter, combat as well as non-combat?

I will probably have more questions once we start the campaign. Hopefully we'll create characters this Thursday.

TEW is quite good. But yes, you absolutely MUST use the random character creation. Its a huge part of the WFRP zeitgeist.  You'll be amazed by how the players end up making use of their individual talents, if you just let them.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;407450TEW is quite good. But yes, you absolutely MUST use the random character creation. Its a huge part of the WFRP zeitgeist.  You'll be amazed by how the players end up making use of their individual talents, if you just let them.

RPGPundit

I will certainly try to push the random system, but a couple of players are already a bit skeptical - fearing they'll end up with characters they don't care for much, in a long campaign.

I'm considering offering a bonus to random generated characters. I'm thinking an extra Fate Point and/or one extra +5% free advance to the main profile.

Quote from: DKChannelBoredom;407639I will certainly try to push the random system, but a couple of players are already a bit skeptical - fearing they'll end up with characters they don't care for much, in a long campaign.

I'm considering offering a bonus to random generated characters. I'm thinking an extra Fate Point and/or one extra +5% free advance to the main profile.

Remember a couple of things: first, you pick your race.
Second, you roll TWICE on the career table, and pick the one you like best.
Third, make sure to use the background tables and such to add flavour. There were some good extra ones in one of the sourcebooks (was that the Companion? Or the GM pack? or what?), plus you can also find some very good ones online.

The secret in WFRP is that your character ends up being really unique.  Your players have played Warriors a thousand times, and Rangers hundreds of times, but how often have they played Roadwardens or Ratcatchers?

Remind them also that they can change careers once they start to play, they do not even have to complete all of their first career to do so (if they're willing to sacrifice some XP for the change).  Your First Career is just where you came from, not the whole of what you are.

RPGPundit

Last night we took the first baby steps into the campaign, with character generation and a little up start play. In the end everybody, to my great satisfaction, opted for random generation and we ended up with the following group:

Palle "Pale" Schneider, scruffy tomb robber.
Maximillian "Max" Steiner, ambitious squire.
Albert Whiteleaf, Halfling grave robber.
Ravandil, elven apprentice wizard.

And my wife will probably take the role of Rowena the Roadwarden, when her work schedule allows it.

It seems like an ok distribution and variation of skills and powers and there's already a fair amount of funny digging'n'looting banter going on between the two robbers.

Right now the group is employed by a young nobleman on a scientific/archeological mission, but it will soon lead them straight into the Enemy Within. I'll probably start an actual play-thread then.

Quote from: DKChannelBoredom;408580In the end everybody, to my great satisfaction, opted for random generation and we ended up with the following group:

Palle "Pale" Schneider, scruffy tomb robber.
Maximillian "Max" Steiner, ambitious squire.
Albert Whiteleaf, Halfling grave robber.
Ravandil, elven apprentice wizard.

That sounds like a fun mix! Maybe cause I just got done watching 'I Sell The Dead'... so I'm picturing the grave robbers in that light.