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ZWEIHANDER RPG: Revised Core Rulebook |
€18,37 |
Average Rating:4.4 / 5 |
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Zweihander is a great game. It's got an intuitive, streamlined, well-balanced system. It's got the perfect mix of grimess and dark humor. It's complete in one volume, with everyting you'd need to play it for years. The book is beautiful, with gorgeous, evocative art and top-notch production values. I've run and played it, and it really sings at the table.
On the downside, the book is overly verbose, and has some editing issues. And, of course, its lack of an express setting. I say "express" because the "totally not WFRP" setting is heavily implied. In fact, I've wondered if that's one reason why the book is so excessively (and at times confusingly) wordy. In order to convey a setting outline piecemeal. Regardless, Zweihander does manage to convey a Grim & Perilous atmosphere. Magic is dangerous, battle is bloody, and the forces of evil lurk everywhere, especially in the hearts of men.
On balance, however, the good FAR outweighs the bad. I really enjoyed this game, and am currently panning another campaign.
Though I like a lot of "Grimdark" games, this is the best such ruleset in my opinion. It has a great balance of crunch and smoothness, and the various tweaks and changes to its source material mostly feel like improvements. The highly modular nature of the game means it's easy to take what you like and leave the rest.
Zweihander seems to have an undeserved reputation for being overly crunchy. Well, I'm not a high crunch guy, and I found it very manageable, from either side of the GM screen.
Likewise, I think people are too quick to call it a WFRP "rip-off." There is a lot more daylight between Zweihander's mechanics and WFRP than there is between most OSR games and D&D.
Zweihander is that rarest of retro-clones that stands on its own as a ruleset. Give it a try if you find other "Grimdark" rulesets too clunky, too loaded with metacurrency, or too spread out among different splatbooks. Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, it's a great value, and a great system. Whether you want to use it to game in your favorite established setting, or a homebrew, if you're looking for a good, gritty, gunpowder fantasy that's as easy to play as it is on your pocketbook, give Zweihander a try.
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i have both the physical and PDF of this Corebook, and i got it out of curiousity and i will give my thoughts on the book and gameplay.
first, the physical book is pretty beefy, and the PDF is pretty long as well, i'm use to these types of books at this point, look at DCC and the 20th anniversary of OWoD books, this is normal to me.
i love the black ink art, really show chasing what kind of game you can run with this type of game. what the previous reviewers say is true: this is Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay without the Warhammer name. think Old School Essentials; it's a retro clone of B/X DnD. Zweihander is a Retroclone of WFRP, specifically 2nd edition, it also adds a lot of house rules and other modern mechanics that can make or break your game. for comparsion i have WFRP 4e, and it is pretty close minus a few changes.
i ran a one shot with this using a module from WFRP 2e, and it was a lot of fun, however i will be critical of this: it is overly detail to the point of information bleed over with fluff, or that it takes paragraphs to get to the point. i appreicate the details, but too much detail makes it a nightmare during play to find information. the PDF will help with this search, but even then there is a lot of information. i love the deadly nature of the game, and it was slightly confusing but after a few combat rounds it made so much sense. we love the skill system as well, its a d100 system, and my players are use to dnd 5e but caught on with the rolls and how the system work. the fury and chaos dies are really something especially with the exploding d6. if you get the supplemental book Main Guache, it adds more professions, cultists, daemons to make pacts with to get magic and so on. Magic is something to be feared, and my players loved the chaotic nature of it.
now the negatives, as i have mentioned, it is too detailed, too overly written which while specificity is nice, too specific gets lost on the players and DM. the pronouns is really weird, like you're selling a dark/grim dark fantasy book and setting agnoustic game, yet you mentioned the pronouns and trans being was really off putting. i don't remember where i read it, but in a book i read that while it's bad to live through those negative things, but it is good to have and overcome those negative things (for example, in my dnd game, as an urban conflict, the group encounters a pro-human gang that has a strong hatred of half elves specificially because the leader's mother was murdered by a half elf, therefore he acts out his rage by striking down those who are half elves, but has spilled over to the demi-races, and unintentionally gave pro-human individuals to act out their rage). i don't know, if you want to have a PC-Friendly fantasy game, maybe another game setting is better for that to work. this is a minor nitpick, but the pop culture references are really distracting. the dungeoneer for example is straight up says, this is Gary Gygax or another profession i can't remember made reference to Indiana Jones. gameplay wise it gets confusing to find rules and it can slow down the game due to crunch, and the vagueness of wounds to physical and mental attacks does get confusing as well.
Overall, this is like any other Retroclone: if you want to play that specific old edition, you can either use the retro clone or the official books. Zweihander as a system have other setting games that use this system really well, so if you have a homebrew or setting you want that works for the setting, Berserk, The Witcher, A Song of Ice and Fire series, it works well. it also works well for other settings that are gonzo/early renaissance period of Europe, it works out well.
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I have no idea why this game was extruded or who its intended audience was. I've bought some tosh on DriveThru before but this is my only genuine regret. Packs half of WHFRP 2E in thrice the pages. Overengineered, overwritten, and utterly uninspiring - I feel no compulsion to play in this world or engage with these archetypes, and no desire to wade through this morass of text to apply these rules. It feels like something that was assembled by a web crawler.
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Well. We are playing WFRP 2nd edition for decade so we wanted a change.
Rules are OK. I do not see major improvement here but it is a change and that is what we wanted.
What is not OK is GENDER NEUTRALITY crap. It is the first thing you are going to read in this book.
Thank you author that you took your time to explaim to me how to be politically correct and how to run my game.
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More or less a heavily houseruled version of older versions of WHFRP, just without any defined setting and all the names scratched out and replaced with something else. The art and layout of the regular book are very well done, though the phone version leaves something to be desired as it was missing several pages last I had checked. As for the rules themselves, I almost feel like it somewhat expects you to already be familiar with the game it's based on, but they worked well enough to have had a single, incredibly janky, and hilarious test session with some friends that we still quote to this day, though we most likely probably won't play it again. The tone of the game fluctuates in strange ways, however, sometimes going from very serious and grim to cartoonishly edgy within a few paragraphs ("Yes, you need to sacrifice these kittens for your blood magic ritual!"). Not exactly distasteful, but it leaves something to be desired due to a lack of any actual setting material beyond 4 or 5 page-long blurbs that are vague ideas at best.
Overall, I can't really recommend it over actual versions of WHFRP unless you're specifically looking for something without Games Workshop's direct involvement or want to see what someone's "idealized" version of the game looks like. I've left my opinions of the author and his questionable attitude out for obvious reasons, but if you're deadset on trying it, ask to borrow a friend's copy first.
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In the genre of D100 dark fantasy systems (kicked off by WHFRP) this one cannot be matched. Clean mechanics, great GM tools, two books nets you a massive experience, and fun as hell to play. My only cons are the rate at which offical content is released (abysmally slow), it needs a rounds system, and that this is not setting agnostic as it could be. If you want dark low fantasy, get this game and never look back. If you want warhammer this is superior to the four editions of WHFRP, grab it. If you have a created setting that is rennaisance or late post-classical, this is the game for you.
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I've been gaming for over twenty years, and this is one of the more enjoyable and unique tabletop games I've had the good fortune to play. I first heard about it on the Vintage RPG Podcast and thought that I should give it a try. I was hooked immediately. Everything from the style of combat (brutal and unforgiving) to the emphasis on character development over just going hack and slash through a campaign (which, there's a time and a game for, but this isn't that) is perfect. My only complaint is that so few people out there know about this game. Highly recommend giving it a try. The digital bundle is handy because it means you don't have to lug around a phonebook sized game manual. The print manual is entirely worth buying, though. It's the one book you'll need to play the game and thanks to the fine folks that published it (actual textbook publishers, no less) it is an almost lavishly printed work.
The setting is essentially a Warhammer-but-not world, but better, somehow. It's been years since I played Warhammer and this had the distinct feel of being more manageable as a playing system, definitely felt easier to run.
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It is just warhammer fantasy but with none of the quicky lore me and my group are accustomed to poke fun at. Warhammer fantasy is good, zweihander is probably good, i am personally not a big fan.
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Yes, it could be called a shameless rip-off of the WH setting. A better way to describe it would be to call it War Hammer Managable, with a much better system. I'm currently using Zwei to run a Roll20 campaign, using a tweaked Harn as the setting, and it rocks, my players (none of whom had heard of Zwei before joining) absolutely love the game.
Now we need a Roll20 bestiary or monster manual to make the GM's life easier.
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Shameless rip off of WHFRP, filed off some serial numbers and sanitized it for "modern audiences." Just play what you really want to play and go get WHFRP 2e, and if youre looking for a spiritual successor check out shadows of the demon lord. Don't support an author whose claim to fame is dangerously close to plagiarism, while with the other hand goes around crusading against anyone he believes has plagiarized his products.
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ZWEIHANDER is an amazing RPG system which is a spiritual successor of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition (WFRP 2). If you liked WFRP 2e, and found 3e or 4e not as satisfying - then this system is the one to go with.
As an additional bonus, this RPG engine is independent from any setting/universe, so you could just as easily fit it into any world you wish - whether Warhammer, Witcher, or even your own!
The overall feel is gritty in a satisfying, fantasy-realistic way and characters do not feel like boring superheroes - instead they're actual people who can find themselves in danger by regular guards, soldiers or bandits. ZWEIHANDER is not all about combat (which it does in a fantastic way), but also about meaningful choices, as well as intrigue paired with creative use of character skills.
You can easily make this into a really fun RPG sandbox if you wish. You can also drive excellent stories and create in any setting you wish. A clear recommendation from me.
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If you like a robust game with interesting mechanics in a dog eat dog world, this one was made for you!
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The more comprehensive and streamlined dark fantasy game I've ever read. It has all the virtues of old school d100 but with a modern perspective that lacks the excesive book-keeping and system flaws in other dark fantasy rulesets. My absolute favorite TTRPG right now. Quality and quantity for this price is top notch.
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The first e-book for a game that I enjoy! I have rapidly become a big fan of this game and the system. Give the ebook a tey then buy the hard copy for the sheer joy it induces!
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So, some people are giving poor reviews because the book is not misogynistyc or transphobic as they would have liked, or because this game is not a different game. Damn!
I give 5 stars because the system is excellent, the writing is for the most part great (there's some ambiguity, but nothing a good call from the referee can't solve), the artwork is perfect, the layout is almost perfect, the options are great, the rules are easy (there are many rules and it's hard to learn everything, but it's easy to make a ruling when in doubt).
If there is one thing I really miss, is a character creation example. It took me long to make one (because the character sheet is huge and I made it while I was reading the book for the first time; that's how I learn, theory and practice at the same time). Still, it's not real a flaw.
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