World Famous Comics: Old World Armoury: Miscellanea and Militaria (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay)
Old World Armoury: Miscellanea and Militaria (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay)
By: Robert J. Schwalb Publisher: Black Industries Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Black Industries Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 127 Publication Date: August 13, 2008 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: Inside the Old World Armoury you will find a definitive guide to coinage, a detailed look at armour with new armour types, heraldry guidelines and variations by nation, an enormous selection of equipment, new poisons, draughts, and oddities, rules for animals and transportation, guidelines for owning property, rules for hiring characters, and a selection of treasures.
One of the Weakest in the Series Old World Armoury is by far one of the weakest books in the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay series. The book itself adds very little setting or flavor to the game and focuses mostly on toys for players and GMs alike. There are some interesting tidbits about medicine in the Warhammer Fantasy setting and some equipment details that are interesting reading but the information and additional rules are mostly superfluous. The optional custom weapons and armour rules are the main focus of the book and allow players and GMs who want to make their own weapons to do so but they are just that - more rules to worry about and not necessary in any way to the game.
Overall Old World Armoury adds little to the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game that a little bit of cosmetic dressing on the hands of inventive players or GMs couldn't do.
Only so so I can't help, but think that most of this rather short book should have just been part of the main book. Don't by this book if you're expecting stats for various weapons. (Some weapons have slightly different stats for good quality items, but that's it.) It does have a fairly large section on hiring various professions. I'd only buy this book if you have cash to spare, and your group likes the official word on how much to pay for goods, and services. Otherwise buy Bestiary, get the magic book, or buy Sigmar's Heirs.
For those interested in things OTHER than hack n' slash The crb for Warhammer has always been lacking in information on everyday items. This is a very useful tool at remedying it. The chapters on General Equipment, Special Equipment, Property & Business, and Treasures give excellent descriptions, pricing, and encumberance for things that adventurers and artisans might want to have to earn an income. From textile pricing to purchasing a bed frame, it is all in here. This book is a major improvement in the realistic aspect of the game and should be picked up by anyone looking to have a game that includes commerce and livelihood.
Mostly More Of The Same This book has chapters on currency, trade, arms, armour, equipment, transport and hirelings. Most of the chapters are expansions on material from the core rulebook. In some cases rules from the core rulebook are published here again. While convenient it adds to the page count and takes up space that could be used for more new material.
The chapter "Currency & Trade" was useful and interesting. The chapters on arms and armour were just more detailed descriptions of weapons fantasy RPG players already know and can read about in the core book.
The production quality of the book is high but the number of typos in the book make it look like it was rushed to production (something that I didn't notice in the core rulebook).
Overall, it should make a good reference for the gamemaster who wants a few more unique items in the game and some pregenerated nonplayer characters.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
