Polski opis
Warhammer lub Warhammer Fantasy (ang. młot bojowy) - świat fantasy stworzony przez brytyjską firmę Games Workshop.
Świat Warhammera w wielu aspektach przypomina naszą Ziemię z okresu późnego średniowiecza. Na mapie świata, pomimo nieco innego kształtu lądów, bez trudu rozpoznać można Europę (zwaną tutaj Starym Światem) oraz inne kontynenty. Państwa Starego Świata i ich kultura także były wzorowane na krajach z prawdziwego świata: potężne Imperium to Święte Cesarstwo Rzymskie Narodu Niemieckiego, Bretonnia to średniowieczna Francja, a stepy Kislevu zajmują tereny odpowiadające geograficznie położeniu Królestwa Polskiego i Rosji.
Podobieństwa do rzeczywistości kończą się jednak na geografii - istnieje tu magia, a obok ludzi żyją typowe dla fantasy istoty rodem z baśni i legend, takie jak jaszczuroludzie, elfy, krasnoludy, niziołki, orki, nieumarli czy szczuropodobni Skaveni.
Mimo to Warhammer nie jest typowym bajkowym światem fantasy - cały czas wisi nad nim widmo zagłady (dark fantasy). Północne i południowe bieguny to tak zwane Pustkowia Chaosu, gdzie z bram do innego wymiaru wylewają się zastępy demonów - żołnierzy Bogów Chaosu. Chaos jest motywem charakterystycznym dla Warhammera i w większości gier, których akcja dzieje się w tym uniwersum, gracze muszą w jakiś sposób przeciwstawić się temu pradawnemu złu, które nadaje mu mrocznego charakteru.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay był jednym z pierwszych wydanych w Polsce systemów RPG (ukazał się nakładem wydawnictwa MAG) i jako taki jest cały czas bardzo popularny. W roku 2005 wydana została druga edycja systemu, tworzona przez firmę Green Ronin Publishing. W Polsce jest wydawna przez wydawnictwo Copernicus.
Jesto to druga edycja tej gry.
(www.wikipedia.pl)
English description
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP or WHFRP) is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting.
The first edition of WFRP was noteworthy for having a dark and gruesome sense of humour in a period when fantasy RPGs were almost universally serious, and for having much better production design than most of its competition at the time.
Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play is more widely played outside the United States than in the U.S. Games Workshop has alternated between supporting WFRP, licensing it out to other companies, and ignoring it to concentrate on their miniatures-based games.
The first edition of WFRP spawned a well-known and highly praised campaign known as The Enemy Within. These five episodes were variously bound and collected. The first three episodes generally received the most praise; a rewritten version of the last episode, Empire in Flames, was to be issued by Hogshead Publishing under the title Empire in Chaos, but never saw the light of day.
For the second edition, Black Industries elected to create a new campaign, entitled Paths of the Damned rather than reprint The Enemy Within. This has been followed by standalone adventures, such as Barony of the Damned and Terror in Talabheim, as well as shorter adventures in each country sourcebook, such as that for Bretonnia or for the Empire.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay shares the same Germanic, doom-laden background as the Warhammer Fantasy Battle wargame. Being a game devoted to individual characters rather than entire armies, WFRP depicts the setting in much closer detail than does its wargame counterpart.
The primary setting for WFRP is The Empire, a region of the Old World based loosely on the Holy Roman Empire. Other prominent regions include Bretonnia, based on medieval France, Kislev, based on medieval Poland and Imperial Russia, and the Wasteland, based on a combination of the Netherlands and Venice.
The setting of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is 'low fantasy', in contrast with the 'high fantasy' setting of the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Earthdawn and other popular fantasy settings. Chronologically, the Warhammer setting is slightly later than that of most fantasy games, being closer to the early Renaissance era in terms of technology and society. Firearms are readily available, though expensive, and a growing mercantile middle class challenges the supremacy of the nobility. Magic is widely feared and reviled, and not without good reason. Miscastings can result in terrible fates for the caster and his companions, and even minor blunders can result in madness.
One of the most identifiable features of the Warhammer setting is Chaos. While the forces of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy Battle are depicted primarily in the form of maurading dark knights and beastmen, Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is an insidious force gnawing at the fabric of society. Secret cults abound among all strata of society, seeking to overthrow the social order or to further their own power. Mutants lurk in the forests outside the great cities, while the Skaven tunnel beneath them.
The first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was very closely based on early versions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The same basic array of characteristics was employed for both games, with some traits rated 1-10 in WFB being rated 1-100 in WFRP. In version 2, all primary attributes are ranked 1-100. Attributes are tested using percentile dice, with penalties or bonuses applied to the roll or the target in response to various favorable and unfavorable circumstances.
One of the most notable features of every version of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is the career system. Characters advance by entering a series of 'Careers' that provide access to a series of new or improved skills, and bonuses to attributes (called 'advances'). The menu of careers available to characters reflects the late medieval/early Renaissance setting of the Old World. Basic careers are those that might be filled by any individual in Old World society with a modest amount of training or instruction. Advanced careers require greater preparation and training, and, in version two particularly, are often more appropriate for the lifestyle of an active adventurer. The career system gives both an idea of what a character might have been doing before embarking on a career as an adventurer (working as a baker, night watchman, rat catcher, or farmer), and how they changed and developed through their career (becoming a mercenary, explorer, ship's captain, etc.).
Combat in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay also descends from the system used for large-scale miniature combat, making it substantially more deadly than the combat featured in many other systems (Dungeons & Dragons being the most common comparison). Most human-level creatures and characters can absorb only one or two hits without receiving a serious injury in the form of a 'Critical Hit' that may instantly kill, cripple, or permanently maim a character. 'Fate Points', representing a character's fate or destiny, provide a limited number of opportunities to avoid crippling or killing results.
(www.wikipedia.org)
