The demise of Hogshead
a philippic by Leif U. Schrader

Attention! Editors notes: If you are a Hardcore-WFRP-fan, you better stop reading... We know that this article will hit the WFRP-scene like a bomb and we risk to be burned on the stake by fanatic WFRP-fans for publishing it. Although we do not support every opinion of the author of this article, we accept it and also know that some points are unfortunately true.... But before you start a Flame War against us, read through the article and then take the opportunity to discuss with us about this topic. We have created a topic for this discussion at our Forum. The link is: http://strike-to-stun.com/board/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=332


As you, the reader, certainly know by now: Hogshead has closed its doors. This step came rather surprisingly for most of us. A fruitless discussion took place on the future of WHFRP. Most statements showed a sign of sorrow; others appeared to be more helpless, while a third category tries to call the fans to their pencil in order to continue WHFRP as some kind of "open-source-look-a-like" (one of those that were extremely popular during the internet bubble).

What was probably more surprising than the end of Hogshead itself was a statement by James Wallis. He succeeded in shattering as much glass as possible, by implicitly accusing a certain member of the community, who is also a contributor to this page, of virtually pushing him to the step he took. I do not want to comment on this most ridiculous statement and the fact that James Wallis succeed, if his aim was to disqualify himself.

I also do not want to argue whether WHFRP will survive or not. It certainly will. Before Hogshead got the license, the game was semi-dead for quite a number of years and still there were many people playing the game, although the number is infinitesimal when compared to other systems and the backbone of the game always sat in Great Britain and the game never reached the same popularity outside the island. Hogshead added some valuable (e.g. Marienburg: Sold down the River), some half-valuable (e.g. Realms of Sorcery) and some dubious (e.g. Dying of the Light) material to the game. The idea of the game will begin to disintegrate more or less slowly, when no more "official" material will be published and there will be fewer new people to play the game, but it will continue.

What I rather want to talk about is whether WHFRP would be worth saving. This may appear to be heretical question for you. However I will try to sum up the pros and contras of the game and whether the game as it stands today, is worth saving or not.

Rules

The rules are the backbone of the game on which the flesh - the background - hangs. They can spoil almost any kind of game, when the have weaknesses and for most people it is extremely difficult to come up with an ad hoc solution to loophole, weakness or inconsistency without the risk of creating problems somewhere else. Everyone will say that they have tweaked the rules more than once and some will argue that the rules do not matter that much. Certainly every system has its loopholes (for a nice account see Steve Jackson's "Murphy's Rules"). In the long run however the rules have to provide a flexible and coherent system.

The rules of WHFRP have not changed very much since the game was originally published. The Hogshead edition of the rulebook is almost unchanged.

The attributes reflect the scheme of WFB. They may suit a tabletop. Centred on combat with few attributes that reflect the actual role-playing. They cannot stand up against a more modern role-playing game. WHFRP was never able to leave its cradle, which was the cradle of a game designed to support a tabletop game. Most role-playing game have attributes that cover a range of areas. Physical and mental abilities are more or less equally represented. WHFRP has a clear dominance for combat and physical attributes. Although combat can be extremely hazardous for PCs, the attributes do not reflect this.

The skill system is almost unique. Instead of giving every skill a certain number of points, the skills closely interact with the attributes. When a character has a skill like climbing, he has it. There is no difference between good climbers and average climbers. They all have to pass the same test, done with the same modifiers. This reduces the motivation to concentrate on a certain field. A fighter has to take the most helpful fighting skills only once, to be able to stand up against all fighters in the world. This does in no way reflect the need for continuous training that is necessary and which separates the average thug from a sword master. It also leads to a great degree of uniformity among the different characters, even when they do have a different background. Whether it is desirable to have hundreds of skills for any possible task or not, is a question of taste. But this degree of uniformity is unable to reflect the different ways a character may develop.

The career system is also almost unique. The basic idea to tie the characters into the world is quite good in my eyes. The system however has major flaws. First and foremost the idea of changing careers does not fit into the background. Professions are learned once and people will stay in the profession unless under extreme circumstances. It may be nice to play a rat catcher, but a rat catcher is unlikely to leave his town ever, and a lawyer cannot be a lawyer outside the area, and will hardly be allowed to be a lawyer. Not to mention the problem that a judicial champion leaves his master for some time to dig for treasures. The second flaw is that progression in the careers leads to modifications of the attributes. It is understandable that someone gets a better weapon skill when he practises, but hard to understand why he should improve his toughness. Humans (and I guess dwarves, elves, halflings and gnomes alike) do not develop a thick hide just because they are hit a lot.

The problems of the rules continue with the magic system. Probably regarded as the major defect of WHFRP. The magic system has the problem that magic users during the first two stages of their career (apprentice and first level) are of little use for a group. Magic points are spend in the dozens when they want to practise their trade. Another problem is that the magic system is clearly streamlined for combat. Little attention is given to spells that are not directly usable in combat. Combat is certainly one of the centrepieces of almost any role-playing game, but for WHFRP it seems to be sole aim. Outside combat, the system gives little guidance.
These are just a few of the problems of the rules.

Background

The background is regarded by many as the strongpoint of the game. Most will agree that WHFRP is "dark and gritty" and the reason appears to be that it says so on the back of the rulebook.

I regard the background to be almost non-existent. The information in the rulebook? Scarce. Ten or twenty lines of text for large patches of the world is not even an overview. Probably just a promise, but a promise never redeemed. Marienburg is provided in much detail and the same is true for Middenheim and the River Reik. Outside these areas, the GM is left on his own. Areas like Sylvania or The Moot, that clearly need some explanation to make them, especially the former, not half as ridiculous as they appear, never emerged. Interestingly WFB - a tabletop game - has a much richer background than the role-playing game does. This fact speaks louder than words.

I would even say that the background is not a fantasy background. It is rather a historical world with some fantasy elements thrown into it. Most fantasy worlds may be pretty cliché, but most of them have a unique genesis and a unique theme. All the world of warhammer has to offer are the Slann, which are a substitute for a genesis. The history and the origin of the world looks as if it was drawn on a piece of paper (with a map of Europe below) and explanations added later. A real world derivate (e.g. Call of Cthulhu) can make a good and even a great game, if the reality is furthered by elements closely knit to the world and at the same time different from it. When the elements put into reality add a depth. Unfortunately WHFRP never got to this point. Reality was taken and all depth erased before standard fantasy feature were added.

We may be happy to be able to take what we like from history, you say. Yes, the world is a caricature of medieval/renaissance Europe and all kind of historical information can be put into the world. Besides the problem that the game will continue its fragmentation, this also means that background looses much of its independence. When it is just played as a kind of fantasy version of reality, it becomes less of a fantasy role-playing game. Do not get me wrong. Games like Call of Cthulhu, Harnmaster or Shadowrun are among my favourites and they are all set either in periods or ideas of our world or were made with history in mind. However none of these took history such brutally, pushing and punching it until only a mockery remained.

Many people among the fan-community reached their state of recognition, just because they
have a few history books at home or have read history at university. Many clutch pedantically on history, arguing with furor against anyone who does not follow the "historical facts". Due to this, the world seems to have become a playing ground for those that have or think to have knowledge in history.

It also appears to me that the world is not treated with sufficient respect by the designers, especially those of GamesWorkshop and to a lesser degree of Hogshead. By the continuous usage of strange, sometimes questionable names, terms and ideas the game looses much of its credibility. No one wants to deal with a demon called "dentist" (Dying of the Light") and the theme of Frankenstein's Monster (Death on the Reik) was novel long before I was born. And I have not even mentioned such embarrassment as "Untermensch".

Conclusio

I for one do not think that WHFRP is a very good game. It does have some nice ideas. However, these ideas were never worked on and over the years, it became clear that WHFRP is no longer a game that is original or novel. It resembles the kind of drawing you made in kindergarten or school. Sometimes you find them in the drawer, think, probably even with affection, of them, but you will put them back into the drawer and never consider of putting them on your walls.

They are a part of the past and it seems as if WHFRP has become just that. A very short entry in the history of role-playing. Probably it is better that way.