It was mentioned over on Discord how monsters in WFRP 4e have an insane amount of Wounds compared to the average Player Character. While it looks impressive on the stat line, it can be cumbersome and turn into a slog to try and get that critter down to something manageable.
Here are some alternative rules to try and overcome that.
Wounds
Rather than have the scaling set of Wounds as presented in the core book, let’s simplify that by putting everything on a level playing field (tiny creatures are still going to get squished).
Wounds = Strength Bonus + (2 x Toughness Bonus) + Willpower Bonus
Size Combat Modifiers
If larger:
Use the standard rules presented in WFRP 4e, plus…
- For each step larger, gain +1 bonus AP that cannot be used to Critical Deflect and cannot be removed by the Hack Quality or similar
If smaller:
Use the standard rules presented in WFRP 4e, plus…
Refer to the sliding scale below for the Qualities Impact, Damaging and the Flaw Undamaging.
- Impact
- Damaging
- None
- Undamaging
For each size step smaller, reduce the Weapon Qualities by one step. Only apply Undamaging if no Qualities remain. For example, an Impact weapon used against a creature 1 step larger would have Impact reduced to Damaging and against a creature 2 steps larger it would have Impact removed completely. Against a creature 3 steps larger, it would become Undamaging.
Siege Weapons and Magic:
Ignore the size rules when attacking with siege weapons, or resolving the effects of magical spells and divine invocations.
Concluding Thoughts
This has been written on the spur of the moment and in great haste (I am getting my excuses in quick!), so if you spot anything glaringly obvious that would break things or if you have your own spin on things, let me know in the comments.
However, I think this may help to make things a little easier at the gaming table, plus it might make players think twice about charging in against that dragon, or the enormous giant with an appetite for fresh meat. Also bear in mind the monsters and creatures in the core book are the equivalent of starting PCs and you as the GM really should beef them up as you see fit.
Also I think it’s quite cool if players resort to using siege weapons to take out a monster. Godzilla anyone?
