Wrath & Glory: experiences and thoughts?

[Bae'zel]

Just as the video game of Baldur's Gate 3 rekindled my interest in Dungeons & Dragons, so has the Rogue Trader game for the 40K setting.

I've been very pleased with the premise of Wrath & Glory, coming from the perspective of a former Dark Heresy DM and player back in the 2000s. We played a lot and generally most of our groups had some issues with the system and overt grittyness (while fitting for the setting, the rules themselves "felt" too harsh for us). To the point that I sold off my entire Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader collection over 10 years ago.

Being a fan of D6 types of games (eg Free League, Outgunned etc...) and for faster, looser systems (and more action-oriented), Wrath & Glory seems like a perfect fit. I read a few of the rules and decided to get the core rulebook (the Cubicle 7 revised edition).

With all that out of the way, I was curious Wrath & Glory's strengths, weaknesses and anything to consider before starting a campaign.

How do people feel about this game? I'm especially interested in the feedback from people who have run and/or played it!

 

[John R Davis]

We finished the starter set last night. You need to:
Have a feeling for the setting and the trademarked noun overload.
Get your head around some game terms, especially not confusing wrath and glory
Be prepared for it to be more like Spaceballs and Ice Pirates than grimdark/dune

We enjoyed it though and they are rolling their own pcs next week. It plays very similar to 2d20 games, and if you own The One Ring dice they are perfect for this system

 

[Bae'zel]

We finished the starter set last night. You need to:
Have a feeling for the setting and the trademarked noun overload.
Get your head around some game terms, especially not confusing wrath and glory
Be prepared for it to be more like Spaceballs and Ice Pirates than grimdark/dune

We enjoyed it though and they are rolling their own pcs next week. It plays very similar to 2d20 games, and if you own The One Ring dice they are perfect for this system

Oh yeah after several years of playing Dark Heresy (and owning nearly all of the books) I am well-steeped in the lore. My potential players are from the same group so we'll be fine there. That knowledge definitely helped me understanding the Rogue Trader PC game.

Spaceballs and Ice Pirates, eh? Is this due to the die that can generate complications on a 1? Can the complications be narrated more "grim dark" to help with the tone?

 

[John R Davis]

The adventure in the starter set over does the use of icky words so it can get a bit silly. And the setting is so over the top as well. The PCs in the starter set are tier two so they pack a punch. I'm sure new rolled up pcs will feel more fragile and in grim peril

 

[Bae'zel]

over does the use of icky words so it can get a bit silly

Sorry: what do you mean by this? Lots of swear words? That doesn't sound like Cubicle 7...

 

[RenleyRenfield]

I will jump in with our experience. We too came from Dark Heresy (and the rest of that FF line).

Dark Heresy and its BRP/d100 rules needed a handful of House Rules to make it work, but once we figured out a way to tweak it, the game was fun and we loved the books. It felt really "Grim Dark".

Then we moved on to Wrath and Glory... and dumped it a year later...

- It felt very generic. Their attempts to make a rule set that was more narrative worked, but everything used the exact same rules, so fighting a chaos marine felt like fighting an orc which felt like fighting an eldar.

- The art and tone of the book is super-heroic feeling compared to grim dark of Dark Heresy. Not like, suuuper Marvel feel, but... like... kinda Marvel narrative tone...

- The rules are easy to use and get decent results, but it felt like I had to worry less about tactics and more about tokens. Its a good system, I am not sure it's a good fit for WH40k...

- When Imperium Maledictum came out, it took us back the direction we were used to so we are trying that out now...

...

TL/DR
Nothing was a deal breaker, nothing bad. Just nothing to brag about or really kick WH40k up to 11 either...

 

[John R Davis]

Sorry: what do you mean by this? Lots of swear words? That doesn't sound like Cubicle 7...

Sorry. I meant squamous, bloated, pustule, etc

 

[John R Davis]

Maledictum is a power/tier drop below. Rather like dark heresy, Rogue Trader etc had different competency levels
I have never ever liked the d100 systems in whfrp 2nd and 4th, so this d6 system very much appeals to me

 

[Bae'zel]

I will jump in with our experience. We too came from Dark Heresy (and the rest of that FF line).

Dark Heresy and its BRP/d100 rules needed a handful of House Rules to make it work, but once we figured out a way to tweak it, the game was fun and we loved the books. It felt really "Grim Dark".

Then we moved on to Wrath and Glory... and dumped it a year later...

- It felt very generic. Their attempts to make a rule set that was more narrative worked, but everything used the exact same rules, so fighting a chaos marine felt like fighting an orc which felt like fighting an eldar.

- The art and tone of the book is super-heroic feeling compared to grim dark of Dark Heresy. Not like, suuuper Marvel feel, but... like... kinda Marvel narrative tone...

- The rules are easy to use and get decent results, but it felt like I had to worry less about tactics and more about tokens. Its a good system, I am not sure it's a good fit for WH40k...

- When Imperium Maledictum came out, it took us back the direction we were used to so we are trying that out now...

...

TL/DR
Nothing was a deal breaker, nothing bad. Just nothing to brag about or really kick WH40k up to 11 either...

Thank you for this, much appreciated.

Yeah my current players are pretty chill and want something simple and loose. They really liked Shadowdark, for example. They're ok with generic and super-heroic, which was why the game drew my attention.

I think what you said here is very important for some players to consider if they DO want to recreate the grittier, more detailed Dark Heresy experience. Imperium Maledictum looks like a much better fit for those players, for sure.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Thank you for this, much appreciated.

Yeah my current players are pretty chill and want something simple and loose. They really liked Shadowdark, for example. They're ok with generic and super-heroic, which was why the game drew my attention.

I think what you said here is very important for some players to consider if they DO want to recreate the grittier, more detailed Dark Heresy experience. Imperium Maledictum looks like a much better fit for those players, for sure.

In that case I think W&G will be a great fit for your group. Once you get through the way Tier works, the rest is easy peasy.

Again, I think its an ok system. So I don't want to push anyone away from it.