The Death of Warhammer RPG's

[Ars Mysteriorum]

I got Paths of the Damned mostly to help me get out of the D&Dist idea of gaming and to help me get a grip on the setting in play.

I don't regret it. Not because the adventure is great... it's actually kind of average... if I want great I have a beautiful copy of Masks of Nyarlathotep

No... I don't regret it because my players are amazing. My wife is playing a halfling thief and she is probably the best player I've ever gotten to game with. It could be because we have no compunctions against acting like complete dorks, which is very, very helpful in a gaming setting.

I actually encourage my players to invent menial NPC's to interact with and I completely play along. It usually ends up not being so menial, as my wife's character's rant on the existence of flying squirrels (which included the presentation of etchings) at The Scholars ended up with her and her comrades being sponsored and quartered to further educate an interested, erudite noble.

Yay for free housing.

It took us a whole night to get through three pages of the adventure. Which is fantastic, considering it wasn't because of players cracking wise or wasting time with ridiculous plans. It was because they were really playing their characters. I've never been happier as a GM.

[PK Games]

Originally Posted by Merak Gren

I've done similar but left out Paths of the Damned trilogy, Talabhein, horned rat.

I would highly recommend Children of the Horned Rat. Its a shame they didnt do similar source books for teh Greenskins and Elves. I was also hoping to finally see a Lands of Men book that would finally add some real info on Estalia, Tilea and Araby. At least we got Kislev, the Border Princes and Bretonia.

An Orc book would have been so grand though. But at least there is the bestiary which covers enough of the races from the table top game to give you that variety in play. I only hope that they decide to expand up on the Disciples of the Dark Gods for 40KRP and add Eldar, Tau, Orks, The Millionaire and His Wife.

[Ars Mysteriorum]

Originally Posted by PK Games

I would highly recommend Children of the Horned Rat. Its a shame they didnt do similar source books for teh Greenskins and Elves. I was also hoping to finally see a Lands of Men book that would finally add some real info on Estalia, Tilea and Araby. At least we got Kislev, the Border Princes and Bretonia.

An Orc book would have been so grand though. But at least there is the bestiary which covers enough of the races from the table top game to give you that variety in play. I only hope that they decide to expand up on the Disciples of the Dark Gods for 40KRP and add Eldar, Tau, Orks, The Millionaire and His Wife.

And now I have the song in my head. Thanks for that.

[PK Games]

Originally Posted by Ars Mysteriorum

And now I have the song in my head. Thanks for that.

My work here is done!

[Ars Mysteriorum]

I'm a huge dork and spent a truck-ton of cash.

Now I am the owner of every Warhammer FRP book in print.

Oddly, this makes me hope beyond hope that they really are dead... I will feel very cheated that I dropped this wad of cash if it isn't.

[PK Games]

Originally Posted by Ars Mysteriorum

I'm a huge dork and spent a truck-ton of cash.

Now I am the owner of every Warhammer FRP book in print.

Oddly, this makes me hope beyond hope that they really are dead... I will feel very cheated that I dropped this wad of cash if it isn't.

Did you preorder A Thousand Thrones?

[Ars Mysteriorum]

Heh... I'm going to see if I can work out something with my RPG supplier where he'll reserve me a copy. He sells it cheaper and ships with great care

[Simlasa]

I broke down and bought a copy off Amazon for half price... I figure it will make something of a reference for converting stuff into BRP terms at some point... and I've been waiting for such a book since the old Rogue Trader days.
Mostly hoping for more idea on Imperial life that doesn't revolve around enormous battles...

[Joseph Paul]

To answer the OPs question: This doesn't affect me one whit. I never liked GW's stuff and stopped getting White Dwarf the moment it became a house organ. My condolences to those that feel this more keenly than I.

What this does do is remind me of how often I have been affected by Chaosium cancelling projects or not supporting games. Ringworld, Elfquest, Questworld and Superworld all got published and then languished with very little support. Eventually the licensed material got tied up or ended. This raises the question for me as to what Chaosium has learned about making a line profitable enough to keep. Anyone have any thoughts on what it takes either in general or specifically for Chaosium?

Chaosium has a line of fiction that they were making money on. Anybody know if that is going to affect how it devotes itself to supporting our RPG hobby?

And yes I thought it germane to connect the Dark Heresy travesty to Chaosium’s track record because this is after all BRPCentral even if this is the Gamers Cavern Forum. If that is too wildly inappropriate we can move the question elsewhere.

[Ars Mysteriorum]

Not inappropriate at all.

I think it's especially a good connection to make considering how lucrative making and selling RPG's is at this point. A lot of time and effort goes into development, where either you're paying people to focus on the game, you're spending a lot of time just developing the system without a paycheck coming in, or you're working at another job and developing when you have a moment to spare. Regardless, at the end, the margin of profit is small.

The more books you put out, the more profit you can make, but the more time you have to dedicate to it. Hiring a team minimizes the time between releases of support material, but increases the cost. Doing it yourself kills interest in the game due to the time it takes to finish something (whether you're working or not) and the payoff drops off with every release.

It's an ugly market, but only when one looks at it as a market. Some people just love the game. They develop products because it's what they love to do. This is why the so-called "indie" RPG market is receiving a lot of attention these days. By and large, independently developed and published RPG's are made by people who love the hobby.

Big games like Dungeons & Dragons make all their profit on the integrated peripheral merchandise. Miniatures usable as their own game and usable in the RPG were a brilliant marketing stroke. Development of a system that allows you to manipulate effects in multiple ways was also brilliant from a marketing angle. But when everything's said and done, you end up with a creature that is not an RPG, but a tactical wargame with overtures at being an RPG. If Games Workshop had integrated their miniatures game into the RPG more directly to supplement their main line rather than contend with it, the RPG would have probably flourished... but at what cost?

I suppose I can be happy with what I have of Black Industries (which at this point is every book thus far). It's still sad to see something wrought with the passion characteristic of games of old disappear.