WFRP's own journal of eclectica
It is odd that I should be recommending this zine when it is much more to the Man's taste than my own. It is a lavish production with glossy covers and plenty of high quality black and white art including a picture that can be copied and used as a player handout. No effort has been spared on the layout. Even down to the flyer to promote the next issue.I appreciate the quality of Warpstone's production but I do find its content somewhat staid and traditional. That said there are some brilliant articles here that are both thoughtful and weighty. For example the one on Witchhunters in WFRP which considers their existence from a philosophical, spiritual and religious point of view. It is very much "in character" and also makes the point that WFRP's witchhunters are not that of our world in their land witches are very real and very dangerous. The only witchhunters I have ever heard of in WFRP are the deranged caricatures of Inquistors owing more to Monty Python than any historical ideas. We hate Monty Python here at carnel.
Oi! Leave Monty Python alone you hairy beast. I must admit that Warpstone's fantastic production values swayed my opinion of the zine very much initially. Thankfully though the contents match the exterior. There are several excellent articles and pieces of fiction. This issue has the Witchhunter article which would be a boon to any player or GM who wants to portray these complex characters with any accuracy. An article on diseases with details of their methods of infection, duration and cures. Pretty fascinating stuff. In addition there is good scenario which could be adapted to several game systems. This is one zine that I would definitely recommend subscribing to regards of what game you play.
I felt the disease article was pretty much pointless. I thought WFRP was about "Heroic Roleplaying"; there is not a great deal of heroism in dying of the pox is there? It would prove useful in other systems where realism is held up as an ideal. Here though it looks more like something a medical student thought would be a laugh to add in to the game. The scenario is also scripted to point of being linear. The letters page also needs to be increased because its current paltry size prevents any real discussion of either the zine or the game. If the editors can sort out these minor problems then they have a pretty much perfect zine on their hands.
Warpstone Individual Issues £3 Subs £10 Back-Issues £2.50 Warpstone C/O 5a Wolseley Road, Wealdstone, Middlesex. HA3 5RZ.