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Zweihander & Warlock! Review (Extended) (Patreon)

Published:
2024-02-27 23:00:01
Imported:
2026-06
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Videos

Content

PDM reviews two games that evolved from Warhammer FRP: Zweihander and Warlock! If you have trouble viewing this content, try a different OS or device. 

Files

Previews only

Zweihander

Comments

Bagel-Man

Excited to watch Professor!

MrGunn

Will watch and respond

Ben Waters

I really like Warlock and I have 12 of the books in print but I'm disappointed that all the new books just use Midjourney as an artist. They look significantly worse than the old style warhammer art.

NØKKEN_WAITS

I've been really curious about BOTH these games as well as Warhammer RPG! Awesome.

Chuck Thorin

Warlock all the way. All the supplements really add some nice content. I don't remember if it's in Warhammer or Zweihander but in Warlock melee combat is opposed rolls. So if the defender rolls higher, they hit the attacker. Making combat even nastier.

Stefan

Dan the Didactic would insist on the Ä 😉

Sampo Keskitalo

Thank you for the review! Slightly too short on Warlock though. I hope you had mentioned the combat is opposed where either combatant can win and do damage so no whiffing or just standing there and taking it when you are the defender - a similar combat system the popular skirmish wargame Frostgrave uses. Initiative uses another mechanism similar to modern skirmish wargames, alternating activation where a PC goes, then the GM goes with one monster. As the icing on the cake, Warlock! works perfectly with Ultimate Dungeon Terrain. The art of zweihänder really rubs me the wrong way and I almost wish there was a no-art option. Ended up selling my hardback but you almost sold me on the starter kit.

Frank Mitchell

Some of _Warlock_'s DNA comes from the Fighting Fantasy books that were popular in the U.K. in the '80s. "Stamina" and "Luck" are a dead giveaway.

Mihovil Skelin
>>130891531

What don't you like about the zweihander art? I don't think its amazing, or bad but i don't mind it. Correction: after watching the video I think some pieces are amazing haha, like the artwork for combat at 6:35

Jeff Jones

Personally, I think WFRP 2e was the best edition of the game.

Firstspear

I'm using the Zweihander core book this very moment...as a stand for my monitor as I type this comment. Not meant as a characterization or opinion of the game - it just happens to be the right thickness to keep me in an ergonomic position. I do love Grimdark games - all of the discussed options are good and viable.

samurguybri
>>130891531

I agree. Great compare and contrast video, but missing this big part of Warlock!’s lethality. I think this is important for establishing “grimdark cred” as perceived lethality is one of the hallmarks of WH and I assume Zweihander. It also. varies from the simple roll a high target number that the rest of the system uses.

samurguybri

I also love the game Kreigsmesser. A great very rule lite take on the “Shit Renaissance “ setting. It flips the script on Warhammer in a wonderful way, in that the oppressive Law of the Empire is holding all progress and change back and that the People are the agents of change-Chaos. https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/357104/Kriegsmesser

Raven Shadowz

So is this starter set for a different version of the core rulebook or is it the exact same setting as the original core rulebook?

MrGunn

Dear Professor: I hope you are well. Thanks for sharing these reviews with us, they were interesting. I own a copy of Zweihänder but have never played. Zweihänder is a very crunchy skills/percentile system and like you, I prefer simpler D20 class based games these days. It was pretty clear you were more familiar with Zweihänder / WHFRPG system vs Warlock. You had a lot of words for Zweihänder, about ten minutes, versus about six for Warlock. I don't feel I got a sense of what it would be like to play Warlock (could just be me). I think you can get more YouTube mileage if you broke this review into two parts and re-shot the Warlock portion to be a bit longer, I know reviews don't sell on YouTube but you could put it in the 'can' for when you are sick or on vacation. Note, you mentioned Kobyashi but not the Merry Mushmen, the publishers of The Black Sword Hack. Incidentally, the Bundle of Holding has the Merry Mushmen's fantastic, Knock! magazine, issues 1-3 in PDF on sale for USD 17.95, a 75% savings off of the regular price. Offer ends Sunday, 2024-03-03! Thanks again for the reviews, I know they do not 'sell' on YouTube, so I very much appreciate you bringing our attention to alternative systems. Regards, MrGunn PS: PDM said; "Redonkulous!" Dan the Didactic would never tolerate such abuse of the English language.

MrGunn
>>130890702

I know, right! Someone has been spending too much time with the kids.

MrGunn
>>130891531

I agree, Warlock did not get equal time, PDM played WHFRPG for a long time, so this explains it. I did not get a good enough sense of Warlock to know if this is something I should add to my library or not.

Jimworm
>>131100332

The starter set uses updated rules, which are very similar but more stream lined. A new core Rulebook is being Kickstarted to use the rules in the starter set, but they say everything is backwards compatible.