Yo! I have the WFRP Core Rules, and the Tome of Corruption. What other books should I grab to jumpstart a campaign? My players and I have run a couple sessions using only the Core Rules, and we enjoy it, though my players have mixed feelings about the critical hits system.

I love the Core Rules book, and it might be my favorite rpg product of all time. What else can you fellows recommend for this humble lamb?

I should mention though, that I mixed feelings about the Tome of Corruption. I love the mutations, but I HATE the art. The mutant freaks are actually TOO disgusting, and that actually makes me queasy, and puts me off the game a bit. I like my mutations to be a little more "Gamma Worldy", and less "blood and puss ooze out of you, and demonic eels leap out of your eyes". Blegh, gross!:(

I still love the Core Rules though. :keke:

Realms of Sorcery is particularly useful (and great value for money) if you want magic and wizards to be a major element in the campaign. Sigmar's Heirs is a decent guide to the Empire. The Old World bestiary is useful if you want to have a wide variety of monsters. The Companion is a grab-bag of cool stuff. Those are the supplements I'd prioritise (them and the Tome of Corruption, but you already have that heap of awesome).

If you're going to set your campaign in the Old World, do yourself a favor and get as many of the first edition supplements off eBay or somesuch. The setting in the second edition is nowhere near as good as the first. In fact, the first edition WFRP rulebook had an extensive bestiary, gazetteer, spell section, and was just dripping with flavor on every page, something that the second edition does not.

For second edition in-print books, I recommend the following:

Old World Bestiary
Sigmar's Heirs (if you don't feel like hunting down the first-ed stuff)

Realms of Sorcery IF, and ONLY IF, Old World magic is going to play a big part in your game. Most of the book is theory & setting, talking about the different color colleges. There is a small spells section, made even smaller when you realize they reprinted all the spells from the main rulebook as well. There's also a small section on magic items. The book is very low on crunch.

I would avoid Old World Armoury, unless you're really unsure what exactly a candle is. Seriously.

The Warhammer Companion is hit-or-miss depending on the game you're running, but I liked it quite a bit.

Take care,
AN

edit: obviously, all the above is IMO.  

Chaos mutations in Warhammer have always been gross like that, but ToC's artwork seems especially disgusting. I got over it.

The books I recommend:

Warhammer Companion
Old World Bestiary
Terror in Talabheim
Realms of Sorcery (if magic sounds fun to you)
Night's Dark Masters (if Vampires sound fun to you)

I happen to like most of the stuff in the Old World Armoury, but clearly it's not for everyone.

Get all the free goodness from Liber Fanatica.

Maybe it's not RPG-ready WFRP stuff that'll inspire you? I really like The Witch Hunter's Handbook, Blood on the Reik, and Darkness Rising.

Hmmmm...I think I'll pick up "Old World Bestiary" and "Realms of Sorcery" sometime this year. If I like it, I'll buy some more stuff from the line.

To "jumpstart a campaign"; I would say the main book, the bestiary, and the armoury. Those are the only really ultra-useful ones (and of those, only the main book is absolutely essential).

After that, realms of sorcery and tome of corruption are both incredibly useful depending on the campaign you're running.  Tome of Corruption is the ultimate "fuck up your players" guide ever created. 200000 ways of really complicating your player's lives and challenging them.

After that, the rest are setting material; including Sigmar's Heirs, which is not an "essential" book, its just the setting book for the Empire, which happens to be most people's default setting.  That said, I've found having the main book, plus the four "city books" for the empire (the three "paths of the damned" books that detail middenheim, altdorf and Nuln, plus the Terror in Talabheim book for Talabheim) are MORE useful for practical play than Sigmar's Heirs, which I hardly find myself using.

For non-empire books, by far the most useful one thus far is Renegade Crowns. Its an UNBELIEVABLY COOL book for creating your own setting regions, with shitloads of cool tables.

Finally, Karak Azgal is an awesome WFRP-style Dungeon Crawl.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Sacrificial LambI should mention though, that I mixed feelings about the Tome of Corruption. I love the mutations, but I HATE the art. The mutant freaks are actually TOO disgusting, and that actually makes me queasy, and puts me off the game a bit. I like my mutations to be a little more "Gamma Worldy", and less "blood and puss ooze out of you, and demonic eels leap out of your eyes". Blegh, gross!:(

wimp:hehe:

Quote from: Stumpydavewimp:hehe:

Quote from: RPGPunditTome of Corruption is the ultimate "fuck up your players" guide ever created. 200000 ways of really complicating your player's lives and challenging them.

Holy crap this is the truth. That book taught me to never ever ever ever (EVER!) touch warpstone. Ever. It's just not damn worth it.

Everything dammit!

More seriously, it really depends on how you see your game going. The other recommendations in this thread are all good. All i would say, is decide what you would like to focus on. If it's monsters, pick up the Bestiary and/or the specific monster books like Children of the Horned Rat or Nights Dark Masters. If you fancy a few more magical options , then Realms of Sorcery will see you alright. If you plan to stay within a certain area and want a bit of canon to work from then pick up Sigmars Heirs, Renegade Crowns or Knights of the Grail. Want a book with loads of random shit thrown in? Pick up The WFRP Companion. Want ready to use adventures? There's lots of 'em.

I would also point you all to the fan material, game aids and scenario sections of the BI site. There's enough stuff there to keep you gaming for a year and a day (some of it's mine!;) ). If anyone deserves an ENnie more than BI, in the free material section, i'd like to hear about it.

Hope that helps!

I'm really a newbie. I've GM'ed the game a couple times, but that's it. I have the barest, most superficial comprehension of the setting, and essentially played it like a modified D&D. I'm still not even convinced I want to embrace the Critical Hit system, as I'm a bit more interested in making fights fast and loose.

The only thing I'd change in my own personal setting is to make mutations a bit more player-friendly. We (my players and I) like mutant freaks, and unpredictability, but Tome of Corruption was laying it on just a little bit too thick, for my tastes. I half expected the book to come with its own personal barfbag. I like grim 'n gritty games, but ToC was just trying TOO hard to be gross. Not my bag, baby! :haw: :deflated:

I have the WFRP 2e Core Rules on my desk, and this book rocks. I measure all other rpg products against this book, in terms of layout, organization, and readability. WoTC should take some notes from Black Industries on this one.

Edit: Oh, and I think I might want to pick up the Armoury too. I'm intrigued.

What you have to remember is that mutations in whfrp aren't xmen style mutations.  They're a bad thing and the only people who actively want them aren't right in the head to start with.

Quote from: StumpydaveWhat you have to remember is that mutations in whfrp aren't xmen style mutations.  They're a bad thing and the only people who actively want them aren't right in the head to start with.

Yup. It appeals to the sort of deranged masochist who thinks having cancer will make them more interesting, taken to the nth degree because it's inspired by destructive religious mania.

Of course most mutations are a tad more functional than malignant tumors, but when considering Chaos and its effects it's a useful analogy to be mindful of. The first sign of true corruption is actually finding that sort physical degredation desirous.

Okay, this may be a bit unhelpful if you want a game supplement. But Simplex Simplicissimus (alternatively, The Adventurous Simplicissimus), a picaresque novel written in the mid 17th century by a guy called Jacob von Grimmelhausen, is the most valuable sourcebook you could get for an Old World campaign... well, except if you were looking for chaos mutations. The titular hero IS a WFRP character, right down to the way he keeps flitting between ignoble but fun "carreers". Very highly recommended.