As listed in the book, you start with more than just your career's trappings.
As it was an information that most seemed to have skipped in my other campaigns, here is what added gear your characters starts with
-Common clothing (Shirt, breeches, worn boots, tattered cloak)
-One Dagger (at belt or in booth)
-Sling bag OR Backpack
-Blanket
-Wooden Tankard
-Wooden Cutlery Set
-A Hand Weapon
-Purse with 2d10 Gold Crowns
If someone begins a career better off than most (Squire, Noble) they can replace their wooden tankard/cutlery set with one in Tin (wood is a bit under your status)
Hand Weapon
What is a Hand weapon? It's a one handed weapon that is not a dagger or spear, not an improvised weapon, not a weapon that falls into one of the Specialist Weapon Group and not one that is obviously not a weapon (like a shield)
Example:
-Sword
-Axe
-Pick
-Club
-Mace
-Hammer
MONEY
The monetary system in the Empire is an Imperial system based on 12 and from England, hence the names.
Gold Crowns= GC (Ex: 25GC = 25 Gold Crowns)
Shilling= s (Ex: 34s = 34 Shillings)
Pennies= p (Ex 23p= 23 pennies)
To ease off the calculations and smooth the game around, it would be assumed that you can get change wherever you spend your money (within logical reason). BUT, that doesn't mean that if you go around paying everything with gold crowns, you won't end up getting jumped one day; most everyday services and goods cost a few pennies. Buying a 3 penny beer with a 5 penny meal with a Gold crown might turn a few heads, not to mention giving the inn keeper a headache having to count 232 coins in change, and you having to screw around changing your money all the time.
I would recommend changing one of your Crowns into pennies and another with shilling.
Fate Points
If you played Dark Heresy or any 40k RPG, you know the principle. There is a few differences.
-Fate points reloads themselves each IN-GAME DAY and not every session; meaning if you burned them all to convince the toll keeper to let you pass without paying, you won't have any this afternoon when you face off those outlaws.
--If this proves too crazy, I may revert to reloading them every session, but we'll see.
-You can burn a Fate point to not die (even if you spend all of your FP during the day; you simply loose one from your total)
-You can spend Fate points on the following.
Re-roll one failed characteristic or skill test. Can only re-roll once.
Gain an Extra Parry Or Dodge; you cannot dodge/parry the same attack twice
Gain an extra 1d10 for your init roll
Gain an extra Half Action
COMBAT
Combat mechanics are Similar to Dark Heresy, with a few differences.
Initiative: Init rolls are 1d10+your FULL Agility characteristics rather than your agility bonus, Ex: 1d10+35 instead of 1d10+3 Dodge: Contrary to 40k, Dodge is an Advanced Skill, meaning that one cannot dodge if he does not have the skill. You can only dodge once per round (Free action). See House rules below. Parry: Parry will be most character's only method of evading blows in melee. This is a simple WS test; you got it, you parried the attack. You can only Parry once per round(Free action). A PARRY MUST BE PREPARED with the parrying stance half action if you only have a hand weapon. You can parry as a free action if you have a weapon (including shield and buckler) in your other hand. See house rules below. Attacks: Contrary to Dark Heresy, Attack in Warhammer Fantasy is a characteristic. A character can go to have 2,3 or even 4 attacks per round. You can always spend half action to do a single attack and another action, or spend a full action to attack to your fullest. IF you attack to your fullest (called swift attack) you can forgo a single attack to gain an additional parry (you still cannot parry the same attack twice) Two-Weapon Fighting: It looks cool, but you cannot gain additional attack wielding two weapons, but you can parry as a free action. Each turn you decide which weapon you use to strike or to parry. Keep in mind using a weapon in your off-hand, either to attack or parry, grants a -20 to WS. If you have multiple attacks, then you decide which weapon strikes. For ease and clarity of play, you must declare which weapon strikes when before you roll.
SKILLS
Like in Dark Heresy, there are two types of skills; Basic skills and Advanced skills.
-Basics skills can be used by anyone, even if they are not trained in it. They must roll at half the related characteristic, rounded up.
-Advanced skills requires training, study or experience in/with them. They cannot be rolled for if the character does not have it.
-If you gain/buy a skill you already have, you simply add a +10 to it, up to a maximum of +20.
CAREERS&ADVANCEMENTS
Warhammer Fantasy works with a career system; and like real life, if you want to be on top, you got to start at the bottom. Numerous jobs follow a logical path (Squire to Knight to Knight of the Inner Circle to Grand Master, or Thief to Cat-burglar to Crime Lord to Prince of Thieves) or are connected with each other (a barber-surgeon can end up a a grave-robber).
To advance in your career scheme (as in, you want to pick a career under 'career exits') you must have done the following:
-Bought all skills, talents and available characteristic advances in your current career
-Bought the trappings of your future career
-Pay 100xp
You can at any time change your career to any of the Basic career doing the following:
-Buy the trapping of your future career
-Pay 200xp
Keep note than when you switch career you do NOT begin it with anything, apart form the trappings you need to actually do your new line of work. The only exception is your first career; You begin with all skills, talents and trappings and one free advance (Of either a +5% in your main profile or a +1 in your secondary profile). You also cannot "buy-back" any advances, skills or talents of any your previous careers.
Advancements as similar to Dark Heresy; for 100xp you can buy any available characteristic advancement available to your current career. The difference is that once you've bought a characteristic advance to a certain point, you cannot buy it backwards. So for example you're a Squire (who has a advancement possibility of +10% to his WS) and after a few games, for whatever reason, you decided to switch careers and become a smuggler (who only has a +5% to WS). As you've already bought a +10 when you were a Squire, that +5 from the smuggler career cannot be purchased.
As careers have a logical connection with each other, and the system is based on spending XP to advance, it is to simulate the fact that a Targeter or Wizard Lord will develop little attributes if they're working as Rat Catchers or Pickpockets because the job requires little effort from them and/or offer no challenges to them.
Also it is in place so that players can't jump from one career to the next collecting all those +5% advancements into that single characteristic and ending up with a 100 WS Squire or 100 WP Wizard's Apprentice "and now I can start to play my character."
HOUSE RULES
Books and Such
I allow careers from the Core Book Only; I might fetch out a book or two to give options to a player in case his character concept touch an existing career form another book (ex; Watchman can be a sewerjack; charcoal burner can be chimney sweep or dung farmer; soldiers can be recruits), but let's keep it simple for now.
If you want to play a magic user, I will get your the magic book, which contains more spells than what's in the core (thought I think for basic magic, there's not much more...)
Dodge&Parry
As per the core rules, Dodging and parrying can only be used in melee; the only way to reduce one's chance to be hit by an arrow or bullet is to have a shield, which incurs a -10 penalty to the firer's BS or simply not be visible (which makes for boring combat)
While one cannot parry an arrow or bullet, I will allow to possibility to dodge ranged projectiles. You can only dodge a single attack. When you are equipped with a Shield, you do not suffer the -20 WS penalty to parry with your off-hand. Safe to assume that parrying with a shield is as simple as 'raising arm' and lack of any dexterity (short of having your arm broken) cannot stop anyone from doing it correctly.
Armour
I will use the locations rolls to see where a hit is stuck (like in DH) so I will use the armour localization rules, meaning the head, torso and limbs are delimited individually when it comes to armour. I am not using the Armour penalties for the moment. I may use them at a later date, but for the moment, I find them rather disadvantageous for PCs and add a layer of bookkeeping for me (and you), having to track down who's wearing what and what penalties they have.
Weight
You know me. Or not. I was never one to count every ounce to see if you were going to suffer from weight penalties. I work with logic.
A Hand weapon with a shield, few throwing/normal daggers, maybe a two handed weapon of sort or a ranged weapon with a mix of leather/mail armour and a carry pack/bag or sorts. Well equipped, and sounds realist.
3-4 hand weapons, a two-handed sword, a bag of throwing daggers, a brace of pistols, and a repeating crossbow while wearing full plate, two sling bags and two backpacks (Well it depends,does having one in the front can give me armour bonus? Even if it's filled with metal plates? oh ok.) one backpack, while riding a barded warhorse with saddlebags, holding a lance and shield (since everything else is holstered/slinged over the shoulder) is just no.
Non-Humans and Magic
I'm not against any race, but keep in mind the Empire is a land filled with superstition and fear; Magicians are feared and loathed, Elves are looked weirdly about (more so if he's a wizard), Halflings, thanks to their reputation, are not always welcomed and even shunned. Dwarves are generally respected, thanks to the Old Alliance made by Sigmar.
I'm not stopping anyone to do a character in any race (or from any culture of the Old World) but I try to make the world as 'real' as I can, so don't expect to (visibly) throw fireballs a plenty while saving a village from a few Orcs and get hailed a hero by the peasants; they'll be too busy shitting their pants begin so close to you, if they don't pull the ol' pitchfork and torches routine because they're more scared of you now than the Greenskins you've killed.
Advancements and Careers
As you know, we got an an Elven apprentice Wizard and a Troll Slayer in the Party. As one cannot possibly get a grimoire of 500 Crowns and the other, find a Giant 'round a corner coming out of a tavern in Ostwald, They are allowed to pick another other basic career (or take one from their exits) for 100xp. If/when they meet their trapping or career requirements, they will be allowed to switch to their 'logical' career path for Free (You will still require to add your Trappings)
Zero Wounds
After iscussion, here are the Zero Wounds Procedures
-If you drop at 0 wounds you can still act.
-EVERY OTHER DAMAGE is considered critical damage.
-Your wounds CAN drop lower than 0; of course, general rule, at -7 or -8 you're bleeding hard, about to loose a limb, if not just die.
-You can still act while under 0 wounds, but of course, you are suffering from the critical damage you are currently at.
STARTING TRAPPINGS
As listed in the book, you start with more than just your career's trappings.
As it was an information that most seemed to have skipped in my other campaigns, here is what added gear your characters starts with
-Common clothing (Shirt, breeches, worn boots, tattered cloak)
-One Dagger (at belt or in booth)
-Sling bag OR Backpack
-Blanket
-Wooden Tankard
-Wooden Cutlery Set
-A Hand Weapon
-Purse with 2d10 Gold Crowns
If someone begins a career better off than most (Squire, Noble) they can replace their wooden tankard/cutlery set with one in Tin (wood is a bit under your status)
Hand Weapon
What is a Hand weapon? It's a one handed weapon that is not a dagger or spear, not an improvised weapon, not a weapon that falls into one of the Specialist Weapon Group and not one that is obviously not a weapon (like a shield)Example:
-Sword
-Axe
-Pick
-Club
-Mace
-Hammer
MONEY
The monetary system in the Empire is an Imperial system based on 12 and from England, hence the names.1 Gold Crown= 12 Silver Shillings= 240 Brass pennies
1 Silver Shilling = 20 Brass pennies
Gold Crowns= GC (Ex: 25GC = 25 Gold Crowns)
Shilling= s (Ex: 34s = 34 Shillings)
Pennies= p (Ex 23p= 23 pennies)
To ease off the calculations and smooth the game around, it would be assumed that you can get change wherever you spend your money (within logical reason). BUT, that doesn't mean that if you go around paying everything with gold crowns, you won't end up getting jumped one day; most everyday services and goods cost a few pennies. Buying a 3 penny beer with a 5 penny meal with a Gold crown might turn a few heads, not to mention giving the inn keeper a headache having to count 232 coins in change, and you having to screw around changing your money all the time.
I would recommend changing one of your Crowns into pennies and another with shilling.
Fate Points
If you played Dark Heresy or any 40k RPG, you know the principle. There is a few differences.-Fate points reloads themselves each IN-GAME DAY and not every session; meaning if you burned them all to convince the toll keeper to let you pass without paying, you won't have any this afternoon when you face off those outlaws.
--If this proves too crazy, I may revert to reloading them every session, but we'll see.
-You can burn a Fate point to not die (even if you spend all of your FP during the day; you simply loose one from your total)
-You can spend Fate points on the following.
COMBAT
Combat mechanics are Similar to Dark Heresy, with a few differences.Initiative: Init rolls are 1d10+your FULL Agility characteristics rather than your agility bonus, Ex: 1d10+35 instead of 1d10+3
Dodge: Contrary to 40k, Dodge is an Advanced Skill, meaning that one cannot dodge if he does not have the skill. You can only dodge once per round (Free action). See House rules below.
Parry: Parry will be most character's only method of evading blows in melee. This is a simple WS test; you got it, you parried the attack. You can only Parry once per round(Free action). A PARRY MUST BE PREPARED with the parrying stance half action if you only have a hand weapon. You can parry as a free action if you have a weapon (including shield and buckler) in your other hand. See house rules below.
Attacks: Contrary to Dark Heresy, Attack in Warhammer Fantasy is a characteristic. A character can go to have 2,3 or even 4 attacks per round. You can always spend half action to do a single attack and another action, or spend a full action to attack to your fullest. IF you attack to your fullest (called swift attack) you can forgo a single attack to gain an additional parry (you still cannot parry the same attack twice)
Two-Weapon Fighting: It looks cool, but you cannot gain additional attack wielding two weapons, but you can parry as a free action. Each turn you decide which weapon you use to strike or to parry. Keep in mind using a weapon in your off-hand, either to attack or parry, grants a -20 to WS. If you have multiple attacks, then you decide which weapon strikes. For ease and clarity of play, you must declare which weapon strikes when before you roll.
SKILLS
Like in Dark Heresy, there are two types of skills; Basic skills and Advanced skills.-Basics skills can be used by anyone, even if they are not trained in it. They must roll at half the related characteristic, rounded up.
-Advanced skills requires training, study or experience in/with them. They cannot be rolled for if the character does not have it.
-If you gain/buy a skill you already have, you simply add a +10 to it, up to a maximum of +20.
CAREERS&ADVANCEMENTS
Warhammer Fantasy works with a career system; and like real life, if you want to be on top, you got to start at the bottom. Numerous jobs follow a logical path (Squire to Knight to Knight of the Inner Circle to Grand Master, or Thief to Cat-burglar to Crime Lord to Prince of Thieves) or are connected with each other (a barber-surgeon can end up a a grave-robber).
To advance in your career scheme (as in, you want to pick a career under 'career exits') you must have done the following:
-Bought all skills, talents and available characteristic advances in your current career
-Bought the trappings of your future career
-Pay 100xp
You can at any time change your career to any of the Basic career doing the following:
-Buy the trapping of your future career
-Pay 200xp
Keep note than when you switch career you do NOT begin it with anything, apart form the trappings you need to actually do your new line of work. The only exception is your first career; You begin with all skills, talents and trappings and one free advance (Of either a +5% in your main profile or a +1 in your secondary profile). You also cannot "buy-back" any advances, skills or talents of any your previous careers.
Advancements as similar to Dark Heresy; for 100xp you can buy any available characteristic advancement available to your current career. The difference is that once you've bought a characteristic advance to a certain point, you cannot buy it backwards. So for example you're a Squire (who has a advancement possibility of +10% to his WS) and after a few games, for whatever reason, you decided to switch careers and become a smuggler (who only has a +5% to WS). As you've already bought a +10 when you were a Squire, that +5 from the smuggler career cannot be purchased.
As careers have a logical connection with each other, and the system is based on spending XP to advance, it is to simulate the fact that a Targeter or Wizard Lord will develop little attributes if they're working as Rat Catchers or Pickpockets because the job requires little effort from them and/or offer no challenges to them.
Also it is in place so that players can't jump from one career to the next collecting all those +5% advancements into that single characteristic and ending up with a 100 WS Squire or 100 WP Wizard's Apprentice "and now I can start to play my character."
HOUSE RULES
Books and Such
I allow careers from the Core Book Only; I might fetch out a book or two to give options to a player in case his character concept touch an existing career form another book (ex; Watchman can be a sewerjack; charcoal burner can be chimney sweep or dung farmer; soldiers can be recruits), but let's keep it simple for now.
If you want to play a magic user, I will get your the magic book, which contains more spells than what's in the core (thought I think for basic magic, there's not much more...)
Dodge&Parry
As per the core rules, Dodging and parrying can only be used in melee; the only way to reduce one's chance to be hit by an arrow or bullet is to have a shield, which incurs a -10 penalty to the firer's BS or simply not be visible (which makes for boring combat)
While one cannot parry an arrow or bullet, I will allow to possibility to dodge ranged projectiles. You can only dodge a single attack.
When you are equipped with a Shield, you do not suffer the -20 WS penalty to parry with your off-hand. Safe to assume that parrying with a shield is as simple as 'raising arm' and lack of any dexterity (short of having your arm broken) cannot stop anyone from doing it correctly.
Armour
I will use the locations rolls to see where a hit is stuck (like in DH) so I will use the armour localization rules, meaning the head, torso and limbs are delimited individually when it comes to armour.
I am not using the Armour penalties for the moment. I may use them at a later date, but for the moment, I find them rather disadvantageous for PCs and add a layer of bookkeeping for me (and you), having to track down who's wearing what and what penalties they have.
Weight
You know me. Or not. I was never one to count every ounce to see if you were going to suffer from weight penalties. I work with logic.
A Hand weapon with a shield, few throwing/normal daggers, maybe a two handed weapon of sort or a ranged weapon with a mix of leather/mail armour and a carry pack/bag or sorts. Well equipped, and sounds realist.
3-4 hand weapons, a two-handed sword, a bag of throwing daggers, a brace of pistols, and a repeating crossbow while wearing full plate, two sling bags and two backpacks (Well it depends,does having one in the front can give me armour bonus? Even if it's filled with metal plates? oh ok.) one backpack, while riding a barded warhorse with saddlebags, holding a lance and shield (since everything else is holstered/slinged over the shoulder) is just no.
Non-Humans and Magic
I'm not against any race, but keep in mind the Empire is a land filled with superstition and fear; Magicians are feared and loathed, Elves are looked weirdly about (more so if he's a wizard), Halflings, thanks to their reputation, are not always welcomed and even shunned. Dwarves are generally respected, thanks to the Old Alliance made by Sigmar.
I'm not stopping anyone to do a character in any race (or from any culture of the Old World) but I try to make the world as 'real' as I can, so don't expect to (visibly) throw fireballs a plenty while saving a village from a few Orcs and get hailed a hero by the peasants; they'll be too busy shitting their pants begin so close to you, if they don't pull the ol' pitchfork and torches routine because they're more scared of you now than the Greenskins you've killed.
Advancements and Careers
As you know, we got an an Elven apprentice Wizard and a Troll Slayer in the Party. As one cannot possibly get a grimoire of 500 Crowns and the other, find a Giant 'round a corner coming out of a tavern in Ostwald, They are allowed to pick another other basic career (or take one from their exits) for 100xp. If/when they meet their trapping or career requirements, they will be allowed to switch to their 'logical' career path for Free (You will still require to add your Trappings)
Zero Wounds
After iscussion, here are the Zero Wounds Procedures
-If you drop at 0 wounds you can still act.
-EVERY OTHER DAMAGE is considered critical damage.
-Your wounds CAN drop lower than 0; of course, general rule, at -7 or -8 you're bleeding hard, about to loose a limb, if not just die.
-You can still act while under 0 wounds, but of course, you are suffering from the critical damage you are currently at.