C is for Career

A decade ago I probably blogged “C is for Career," or discussed Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay's Character development systems and subsystems—“subsystems?!, yes, subsystems, especially in newer editions."

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) is unique for character advancement in many Table-Top Role Playing Games (TTRPGs). Most will be familiar with the phrase “leveling up." Character levels in a Character archetype, or “class," is ubiquitous in TTRPGs and even in video games.

Since WFRP's introduction in 1986, when I first encountered the game in my Friendly Local Gaming Store (FLGS), where I also happened to work, WFRP stood out with Career-based advancement. There were games before it that hinted at the use of career advancement. Traveller's 1977 ruleset used a “lifepath system" famous for player's characters dying during creation. Traveller's “lifepath system" is beloved and some gaming conventions even host Traveller Character Creation events! There's even an online version.

In Warhammer, an adventurer has a career. Being a grim dark fantasy setting aligned to 14th-17th Century Europe during the Thirty Years war, i.e., the Empire is the Holy Roman Empire, these careers can span wide spectrums: Noble to Peasant. Warrior Priest to Witch Hunter. Scholar to Magic User. Zealot to Cult Acolyte. Thief to Watchmen. Merchant to Sewerjack.

Early editions of WFRP aligned starting careers to a career path. The newest edition continued this idea, but built out each career for internally consistent growth. For example, my character Niklos Kaunitz, started as a Thug and advanced into Racketeer with a current goal of building a gang to move into Gangboss. Pretty close I think, the company Niklos travels with just hasn't accepted their role yet.

Starting careers are best determined randomly, by the rules. This forces players into a creative mindset. Some Gamemasters (GM) allow choice, and as a veteran WFRP GM I allow common, official and unofficial, rules to be used. For example, a Human may want to pick a career from a class of careers, e.g., Academic, Burgher, Rogues, &tc. then roll randomly within the career class. I prefer to use the dice as rolled, but allow the reverse value as an option, i.e., 31 becomes 13 which could be a Scholar or Envoy (4e), Boatman or Drover (2e), or possibly a Coachman or Herdsman (1e Ranger class).

Moving through a career means spending Experience Points (XP) earned in a game session. In earlier editions this also required the player to acquire the trappings of the career moving into. For example, to move from an Envoy to Merchant in WFRP 2e, the player would have to be thinking about obtaining, in no particular order: a Town House, a Warehouse, and goods or hard coin valued at 1000 gold crowns! Buying, leasing, or swindling one's way into these things are part of the character's play and part of the story narrative. Can't find a tent to advance to Vagabond? Maybe make one from a tarp stolen from that unattended wagon. The GM didn't say there was an unattended wagon to steal from? Maybe some player agency is missing, but the creativity should be rewarded!

In the most recent edition, having the trappings at advancement is not a requirement (and in my opinion a loss). Asking a player to think about what happens in game downtime enriches the story and narrative. For this, WFRP 4e mechanics for Endeavors and Earning aid the player immensely.

Ready to play yet?