The Old World

Art by Andreas von Cotta-Schønberg

Grim and glorious adventures in the World of Legend might involve investigating grisly murders, exploring mouldering ruins, or manipulating cunning guilders and pompous nobles for your own gain. Not every hazard can be navigated with a keen eye or honeyed words, however. You must eventually draw blades and trust that your sword is as sharp as your wits.

Combat in Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game is fast paced, tactically rewarding, and lethal. It takes inspiration from Warhammer: the Old World tabletop miniatures game, in which movement and positioning are critical, and advantage is rewarded to a commander who outmanoeuvres their foes. 

When you make a successful attack, but your strike is not strong enough to wound a foe outright, your target is Staggered and knocked off-balance. Being Staggered imposes no specific penalty by itself, but many attacks and strategies are more effective against Staggered creatures, and some combat options are denied you while you are Staggered.

Worse still, if you are Staggered again, you’re forced to make a tough choice: give ground from your enemy, stumble and fall, or suffer a serious injury. Most often, you’ll fall back to a place of relative safety. The result is a much more fluid battlefield, where characters are often retreating, rallying, and repositioning to set up their most effective attacks. And when you do choose to be a hero — standing your ground, no matter the consequences — the wounds you suffer are as characteristically brutal as you’d expect from battling in the Old World. If you survive, you’ll certainly have a story to tell!

Art by Alessandro Boer

Battles in the Old World are resolved at pace, quick to reach their bloody conclusion. If you’re new to roleplaying combat, you’ll find the system presents the right amount of options to make interesting choices without being overwhelmed. As you gain more experience with the system, you might choose to advance your character so they have even more options in combat. You’ll need every advantage you can get, as you contend with even deadlier enemies.

This blog is part of our series onWarhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game. Missed one? Head HERE to catch up!

Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, available HERE!