Publisher: Black Industries (BL Publishing, Games Workshop)
Designer: Green Ronin Publishing

"A Grim World of Perilous Adventure" or "No, I can't advance to that carreer until I have rope, dammit"

My first version of this review was very, very long. Too long. Not a nut-shell review. I also didn't review this based on "fun" initially. Bad Steve!

Anyhow, here's the short of it: This game is deeply flawed in it's mechanics. It doesn't do it's own d10 only system very well. It seems like a rehash of first edition, which was also very flawed (but very fun). Lot of important rules are missing or really hard to find, and I'm a research whiz (who needs rules on shields anyways?). When I GM this game, I have to come up with a lot of house rules on the fly. There is like a page's worth of play-testers listed... I ask: do these people really exist and just how much were they listened to? Damn this book is hard to find shit in. It could have been more indepth. Also, some of the rules seem arbitrary... like the trappings rules for carreer advancements and such (see above actual in-game, from last session, quote).

However: It's is one of the most beautiful rulebooks I have EVER seen. It is very ambitious. Of what is written, it IS written very well. This is still a quality work regardless of my complaints. The book makes you feel like you are THERE (in other words, there is a high immersion value). This game is very, very fun.

In the end, this game is NOT for starter players and GMs... At least, not until they come out with a revised edition. Also, with the exception of the very sad and sordid GM's Pack, all of the supplementary material I have seen is top-notch (what I would expect of the Mighty Awesome Green Ronin).

Still I have to say that since WFRP and Warhammery stuff in general are some of my favourite things ever, even I was a bit let down by this game in spots.

Publisher: Black Industries
Designer: Green Ronin Publishing

Now this is a supplement. Well thought out and researched. Detailed, gorgeous, fun to read, in-depth (even the coins of different regions in the Old World, and elsewhere, are covered). This book is a shining example of what Green Ronin and Black Industries can do. An excellent product, and a must for any WFRP player. Only bad thing is it could have been thicker for the price. Of course, with all of the new WFRP products, "MORE CONTENT PLZ" seems to be the biggest complaint. Still, I was very satisfied.

Publisher: Black Industries
Designer: Green Ronin Publishing
(Rating Note: 4 on the map, though... Hey, it looks nice! But it is very small.)

Now with the main rulebook, I was almost apologetic about pointing out flaws and expressing my displeasure. Not with this piece of shit. Gawdamn! Whomever came up with this 'gem' needs to be punished.

The landscape format GM's screen is lame. Landscape sucks... don't they know that? No one likes landscape... it's usually done poorly and this is no exception. Gah. And the charts are wonky... like the critical hits chart... it's lists them and what-have-you, but it doesn't show the table you need to roll on to tell you what kind of critical hit it's gonna be. Here is my well thought out message to the designers concerning this:

YOU MISSED THAT? FUCK.

The book inside gives some mini adventure ideas and other useless garbage (well, some of it is useful... I always wondered what reprints of 1st ed. inn floor plans would look like...*sigh*).

And there's 4 pre-generated characters. Hoody-fucking-Hoo. :-|

I dare say this is as bad as the D&D 3.5 GM's screen. Maybe worse.

There IS a nice map of the Old World included. It had art on the back of it.

Some information and pertinent data of the land or something instead would have been nice. Bastards.

I can't believe I spent my money on this.

It would've have been better spent on the Alone in the Dark DVD or going to see I.

Seriously.

Look, bottom line: It's not totally worthless, but it could have been done much, much, much better by rabid drunken gerbils... s'all I'm sayin'.

Designer: Sabertooth Games

I got this a couple or something years back. I played it a few times... It's not that great. No wonder Sabertooth abandoned it (I can only assume that, as there's, like , no support). It reminds me of Heroclix, as the figures have their "clickable" stats in their respective bases (as in you keep track of wounds, etc, by clicking a tab on their base). Does that make sense? Well, who cares. I found it to be awaste of money. But the map sheets and figs ain't too bad, and I've found uses for them. The game itself seemed like it had potential, but it lacked that one thing... oh, yeah: excitement.

There's really nothing all that compelling about it. Waste your money on stuff like Heroscape and Heroclix instead. Still, points for trying. And it isn't that bad.

Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing

What can I say? I love Glen Cook's Black Company books. They're fast-paced, gritty and rather fun... in a black/gallows humour sorta way. Green Ronin provides us a d20 fantasy setting that has no gods, no clerics with fancy powers, a magic system that regular fantasy folks are too pansy for and a world more deadly than most... with no monster races. That's right! Man is your friend and foe. Nasty. There's a whole lotta background information, buut not too much which allows anyone to come in and play, but doesn't spoil anything for readers. Some complain that perhaps there wasn't enough world data, but I think that's because nothing new has been provided by Cook (yet) in the books. But, hey, quit yer whining, I say... at least you get a map! New character classes, too... All in all, a fine addition to anyone's collection. A great campaign world, or use the tweeked rules for a grim dark fantasy land of your own creation!