New to Warhammer Old World RPG and have some questions
I've read though the Player's Guide, and really like how it has streamlined Warhammer Fantasy 4E. I thought it would be much more streamlined, and was happy to see the amount of "crunch" that it had. It seemed to keep all the key parts of what people like about Warhammer Fantasy mechanics (status, varied classes, WS/BS/Init/etc...)
I have a bunch of combat-related questions though. I did my best to find the answers and came up empty, but it's possible that I just overlooked it.
- What is the general rule when you are asked to halve? Do you round down or round up? In particular for Improvised Spells that your Formalize or Memorize.
- Is there a limit to how many times you can use Defence or Athletics to avoid getting hit? If you're surrounded by 6 brigands (assume a hex map) are all Attacks against you Opposed?
- Does the game's mechanics get wonky when a character is outside of the expected "range" for stats and skills? For instance when a character has Resilience 8 with good Defence and the Defensive Stance talent (potentially negating Staggered multiple times a turn), available at character creation, it seems very difficult to take them down (and the character is not sacrificing much in offense to do this).
- Likewise, does combat get wonky if for example a character with 10 xp has Melee 5 and Defence 5 and is using a sword (89% to get 2+ successes), or Agility 5 and Athletics 5, are they so difficult to hit (a 3/4 or 4/3 attacker only has ~35% to get 2+ successes) that most melee attackers just end up becoming Staggered?
- Has anyone experimented with melee attackers not getting Staggered when they fail to attack? Does it serve any particular game/fight balance?
- Is being a melee combatant generally more advantageous compared to ranged? Melee has up to 3 positive modifiers (high ground, etc...) whereas Ranged only has negative modifiers. Ranged combatants are at constant risk of being charged, yet need to keep a distance. Ranged attackers have to remain in their Optimal range. Ranged damage with a bow (for iconic elven archer character concepts) is fixed, and relatively low (no more than 4), whereas Melee damage can be quite strong even at character creation. The only advantage of ranged seems to be not getting Staggered when you fail an attack? (normally I'd add that a ranged character is less likely to be in danger, but it seems the opposite due to charging and there is no way to block mobs from reaching the back line)
Speaking of which, I'm considering playing an Elven Arcane Wizard at DragonCon (the first time I'll get a chance to play Warhammer The Old World RPG in person). The concept is a well-to-do debonair (and a constant flirt), with high Fellowship/Charm and Reason. Anything I should keep in mind?
(the image is courtesy of Warhammer Online, to add some visual flair)