FAQ

Q. So what race can I be?
A. Well all the heroic races from Warhammer, that's Humans, High Elves, Wood Elves, Dwarves and Halflings.

Q. What classes are available?
A. There are currently 26 basic classes, from an Imperial Wizard to a Reaver Knight. Humans have the widest choice of classes (13), High Elves and Dwarves have 6, Wood Elves have 7 and Halflings have 2.

Q. Do I have any skills?
A. Yes, each class has access to a set of skills. As you increase in level you gain additional abilities. The range of abilities is different for each class, this gives each one a unique feel.

Q. Will a mage have to pick a school of magic?
A. We have broken magic down into the basic schools laid out in the battle magic boxed set. We have added a raft of new spells as well as global magic school that all spell casters will get access to. The new school is general magic and it houses all the usual spells you expect a mage to cast (like fly or invisibility). The actual dedicated schools are tied to the class you pick, so a High Elf Mage would get the General school and High magic.

Q. What about spells, do we have a good range of spells?
A. Well it's not bad we not only have all the usual suspects (like the combat spells and the healing spells) but we have really tried to incorporate all the other little spells that most games ignore.

Q. New spells? You mean the old ones are not in?
A. Oh the old ones are in all right, we had to tweak a couple because they are designed for a table top battle, but you can still see spells like Vermintide move around the land causing damage where ever they go.

Q. Vermintide, isn't that a skaven spell?
A. Yep.

Q. So I get to cast Skaven magic, that's cool!
A. No, you don't. The Skaven monsters get to cast it at you though.

Q. So you were just teasing me with cool spells that can be used against me?
A. Guilty as charged

Q. Ok, so what cool spells do I get then?
A. How about Purple sun of Xereus for starters.

Q. That's from the Amethyst school isn't it?
A. Sure is.

Q. Can I form adventuring parties?
A. Of course you can, in fact some parts of the game will be almost impossible unless you're in a group. Some rooms require manipulation of levers or items to operate doors while other places require you to post guards while an advance party searches out a room (of course you may not want to post guards but try explaining your logic to the dead thief who just got mobbed by ghouls!)

Old fogey question alert!

Q. I want to role-play and relive my wasted youth, I'm not into buckets of blood that much and I want a rich adventuring land that's true to the spirit of Warhammer. What chance have I got?
A. Have no fear, we have built a land that can take the instant thrill merchants and handle the deep role-playing 'actors' who embrace the Warhammer culture. Be it a quick fix of goblin head smacking or a lengthy debate about the insidious ways of Chaos you will find something for all styles within this game.

Q. I own all the original role-play material, I want the dark gothic grey style in the land we shouldn't have loads of wizards running about. String them up I say and let us play peasants who till the earth.
A. Contact us, we have medication available.

Q. Hey, you can't dismiss that last question, come clean, how much of the game world have you 'altered'?
A. Well converting a game that exists in at least three separate forms (Warhammer FRP, Warhammer battles and Warhammer Quest) was always going to make us fudge a couple of rules or alter a couple of basic points. We tried to apply thoughtful wisdom to any and all changes we made, we spoke to GW a lot about all the changes to make sure we are not diluting the basic feel of the Warhammer world.

Q. So you're changing a lot of stuff?
A. No. Some of the basics like spells are being altered to fit in with an online game. In fact loads of new ones are being added. We altered the frequency of chaos beasts so you don't have to just kill rats and squirrels all day. The Gods walk the earth rather than acting on high and you get reborn if you get killed. The feel is high adventure in a Germanic world troubled by Chaos.

Q. Ok, but what about the Chaos and the stuff about wizards that other guy asked you about?
A. Well, chaos is about and probably more common than you imagine. As for wizards, we wanted as many class options available to players as possible. Wizards are popular so naturally there are a lot of them.

Q. So I can join the chaos Gods! Cool!
A. No you can't. You are a hero remember. You're supposed to be battling against chaos.

Q. What are you doing about equipment? Will there be a limit to what I can carry?
A. Your character has limitations based upon space. Your pack can hold twenty items. Your pouch can hold ten as well as a key ring for keys you may find. The exception to this is coinage where you can carry as much as you like, though you will lose half of what you're carrying if you are killed. It's a game consideration, we tried it with the full encumbrance system and it sucked. Too much reality just kills the enjoyment.

Q. Will my character have to sleep?
A. Well it's a real time game so at some point you will have to stop playing and log out, at this time your character has a sneaky sleep. We thought the idea of fighting a giant and suddenly being told you had to go to sleep was not only stupid but deadly! Same thing applies to feeding yourself and going to the toilet, your characters are smart enough to do it when you're not looking.

Q. Can I buy beer in the game then?
A. Yes, lots of it and you can get drunk, and you can build up resistance to drinking so you can challenge people to drinking competitions. We said we didn't like forcing you to drink or eat. We never said we didn't like beer.

Q. What will I do with extra equipment I want to keep but I don't want to carry around?
A. We have a locker system where you can store items for safe keeping. The locker is magical allowing you to draw items from it as long as you go to a locker location.

Q. Will I die a lot?
A. Probably, online worlds are not like stand alone products, there are no saved games, you cannot just switch off and reload. Your character gains a history and that will no doubt include a few deaths.

Q. What happens when I die?
A. Online games have a high mortality rate, the Warhammer system had to be modified a little. Death will relocate you to the plane of death. There are options for dying in Wolfenburg. You can choose to use a Fate Point (assuming you have some of these left) and die without any loss or you can embrace death and be reborn back in town with a small loss of experience points and gold.

Q. When I die and get reborn will all my equipment be lost?
A. No it appears with you back in town. We thought about dropping the items where you died but after trying it we found people up to no good and leading other players into death traps or worse players getting so fed up they just stopped playing. The only exception to the rule are mega quest items that will reset if you die (but there are only about 50 of these).

Q. How will I communicate with NPC's (non-player characters)?
A. Depends which ones you try to talk to. Server controlled ones have a list of topics they will talk about. This list is dynamic and alters based on what you have done and what you have asked them about. The evil sorcerer is hardly likely to tell a goodly knight where his evil wand is buried, likewise the goodly cleric can spot an evil player at a thousand paces. NPC's that are staffed controlled will speak and act as any other player would.

Q. Can I roll my starting stats over and over at the character creation screen?
A. No you cannot. After lengthy debate with GW and the testers we have elected to assign basic starting stats to people based on race and class selection. It's a game balance issue.

Q. What is the maximum level in the game?
A. Level 60 for any class.

Q. Will my character age?
A. Yes, your starting age is determined by your race and class, you age because the online game world advances in years. As you age you get effected. You also age under the influence of some spells (like Speed of Lykos) but no, you will not die of old age (who would play a human if you did?).

Q. How will you handle initiative?
A. Players have a speed rating, items have a speed rating and there is a general initiative delay built in when you attack. This means you have to pay attention when your in combat and time your blows.

Techie question alert!

Q. If I have a slow connection to the server will I be at a disadvantage?
A. The time delay system of combat should help you out but you will obviously not be getting information as fast as someone with a super fast connection.

Q. How will experience be awarded?
A. Experience is generated as you play. It's based on how powerful you are, where you are, what you are doing and how easily you're doing it. 16th rank fighters who slaughter snotlings all day will gain hardly anything, while a 1st level fighter attacking a frost giant will get a lot of experience, similarly a first level fighter with powerful magical items who fights an Orc will get less than a fighter who tries to attack an orc with just a spoon. Trust us, the experience system is neat.

Q. Will monsters have morale?
A. Yes, they will run faster than a Dark Goblins Spider if you're beating the hell out of them or you have just slaughtered loads of their allies.

Q. How many monsters are there?
A. Currently 250 different types and it is always growing.

Q. How many types of weapons are there?
A. Lots. Last count was over 200. That includes halberds to hand crossbows. We have swords of course. Lots of swords and axes.

Q. So how many items are we talking about?
A. Lots. Over 200 items of armour, 2000 different items of treasure, 3000 different items of magic, 100 items of food and drink, my God the list is almost endless!

Q. What sort of adventure areas will be available
A. We have two distinct types; general adventure areas that are open to all players at all times, these include the city sewers and the common crypt. We also have mega dungeons that are based on places like Mordhiem, these are joined to the land for a timed period and allow anyone who can find them to adventure into classic areas and pit their wits against terrible foes.

Q. But this is a text game right?
A. Correct, the basics of Warhammer use two things, text and imagination. This is the best way to fuse them both. Sure we could have built a quake engine but then it would have been themed quake rather than Warhammer.

Q. So all I see is text?
A. No, the interface is colorful with nice graphics, pop up maps, NPC's, and your character. As time goes on more will be added such as pictures of monsters, events, places, items and other cool things. Many of the pictures are in the style of the Warhammer products, in fact most of the pictures are drawn by the classic Warhammer artists. You also get sound effects and a really cool musical score.

Q. But it's not Quake or Diablo or Bauldur's gate? (all TM'd)
A. No, it's not, Warhammer is not a solely visual medium, it's an imaginative one. It inspires rather than spoon feeds, while we agree the above named games are all great in their own right, ours is not like them at all.

Q. And you're sure this games going to be great, I mean with the text and everything?
A. Well, if you're looking for a graphical master piece, if you want eye candy rather than content, then no. If, on the other hand, you have been adventuring to wild lands while sitting around a wooden table with a load of books in front of you and little metal miniatures, then you already have a good imagination so this will be no problem.

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