Post originally by Fulsrush at 2005-05-02 06:37:57
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You point out that the world doesn't have a name, as if it's a flaw in the setting.
Why should the world have a name?
Ours doesn't, after all. Not a proper one, anyway.
I mean, what kind of name is 'Earth'? Mud? Soil? Dirt?
And how many people think of 'Earth', rather than 'the world'?
Characters in Warhammer also call their world, 'the world'. For convenience's sake, gamers refer to the world in WFRP as the Warhammer World - although this isn't a setting note, but a meta-detail.
Post originally by Fulsrush at 2005-05-02 06:49:13
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The reason there's no points-build system is that by definition, a points-build system gives players control over who they're playing, fine-tuning them to be as good in certain areas as they want to be (not necessarily min-maxing, just fiddling numbers around).
This leads to an antithesis of the WFRP PC. In WFRP, you're meant to be a random individual caught up in a shitstorm.
Besides, in practice, most characters are distinctly average at generation - humans have all their stats at around the 30ish mark. It's your careers that define you, and after you've been going for a bit there's very little difference between Human Soldier->Veteran->Champion 1 and Human Soldier->Veteran->Champion 2 anyway, since their stat advances have more-or-less doubled their starting stats.
It's the careers that matter, not your starting stats. That's why, in my opinion, allowing PCs to pick careers as an optional rule is all the choice (after species) that the players need.
Post originally by Elicia Davenport at 2005-05-02 06:56:06
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The official name of the Old World is 'Warhammer'. In all languages of the Old World the name of the world is pronounced the same way 'warhammer' is pronounced in English.
Post originally by lysanderus at 2005-05-02 08:20:42
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What? The Old World is a continent. Not to be confused with the New World where Lustria is located. But that's not really important.
The planet on which the game takes place doesn't really have a name in anything that I've ever read, and I'm pretty well versed in Games Workshop lore. I think the reason for this is because nobody in the setting really takes the time to think of the "world" as something small enough to be given a name. "The World" means, literally, everything that you can imagine. Combine this with a bunch of illiterate yahoos living in mud huts and terrified that the next knock on the door is going to be a muderous tax collector, marauding beastmen, or worse, and you begin to see why nobody gives much consideration to what "the world" should be called. There is nothing outside "the world," so what would naming it something like "earth" divide it from?
"Earth" only has a name because it needs to be separated from "<ars" or "Venus." And yes, Earth is a really stupid name for a planet.
Post originally by lysanderus at 2005-05-02 08:28:13
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Fulsrush wrote:
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It's the careers that matter, not your starting stats. That's why, in my opinion, allowing PCs to pick careers as an optional rule is all the choice (after species) that the players need.
Exactly, the setting is explicitly described as being an 'uphill battle.' You get to pick from amongst two of the randomly rolled careers. Even then some people, myself included, may balk at the limitations. I need a bit more flex, but I find that a third roll fixes most of my problems with it. More problems? Just roll a few more times, no biggy. Also the game explicity allows for players to pick their own classes, it just states that this takes more time and isn't in keeping with the theme of the setting.
And it's not like it's not possible to move into a new career that is totally unrelated to the one you're in right now. There is a mechanic built into the game that basically lets you move laterally into a new starting career after an adventure or two. So you have a dirt-farming peasant, but really wanted a wizard? Well, tailor your starting character as best you can, and then in a couple of adventures just move into the starting wizard career. Yes, you'll be behind your fellows a bit, and yes it's going to be hard work to make it into a full-fleded wizard, but that's the setting, ain't it?
Difficult, not impossible, and you'll feel greater rewards for it.
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