A History of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was originally developed as a spin-off from Games Workshop's popular Warhammer battle game, and was first published in 1986. Developed in-house, its creators were a team of GW's heavyweight games designers, including the architect of the whole Warhammer concept Rick Priestley, Richard Halliwell, Phil Gallagher, Jim Bambra and Graeme Davis.

The Warhammer FRP game took a different focus to its big brother: instead of concentrating on armies and battlefields, it looked instead at the rest of the Warhammer world, and specifically the Empire, a Germanic group of principalities based loosely on the Holy Roman Empire at the time of the early Renaissance. It is a world caught up in change: advancements in science and the arts sit uneasily alongside the older philosophies of magic, and the creeping threat of Chaos threatens to engulf all.

The game was conceived as a British answer to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and was a huge success in the UK and Europe. It found less of a following in the USA, at least initially: high transport costs and bad exchange rates made it expensive compared to rival products in America. Nevertheless, it is still the most successful non-American RPG ever published, and its background blend of dark fantasy and horror still draws new fans today.

The WFRP rulebook was followed by the six volumes of the Enemy Within campaign, which were released between 1986 and 1989, as well as being repackaged and re-released in several different formats and anthology volumes. It has become one of the most highly regarded and influential RPG campaigns ever published, but despite its critical acclaim it was not enough to secure the future of Warhammer FRP. Games Workshop, which in the mid 1980s had already moved away from its original role as a games distributor to a new focus on its own products, found that the RPG was not generating enough profit to support its team of in-house designers.

The solution was not to shut down the game-line, but to create a separate company to produce new material for the game: Flame Publications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Games Workshop. Flame began life with three staff - Graeme Davis and Mike Brunton, with Tony Ackland on art - and a mission to produce a new book every month, as well as new WFRP material for White Dwarf magazine.

With help from freelancers including Carl Sargent, Flame produced eight books before it was closed down in 1991. Several reasons were given for its termination: the RPG market was shrinking, Games Workshop was focusing more on miniatures-based games, and the subsidiary simply wasn't making enough money. Games Workshop continued selling Warhammer FRP until 1994, but the game was essentially in limbo.

There was talk in the RPG industry of various companies picking up the Warhammer FRP licence - Atlas Games and Steve Jackson Games were both mentioned - but it wasn't until 1995 that a successor came along: Hogshead Publishing. Having negotiated a licensing deal with Phil Gallagher, one of the game's original designers and now head of Games Workshop's licensing division, Hogshead quickly re-established the game in the RPG marketplace with a mix of reprinted and new adventures. Within months the game was back in the list of the top ten best-selling RPGs, and its future seemed secure.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay product list
 

GAMES WORKSHOP
The early Games Workshop WFRP titles are A4 (297mm x 210mm) in size; later ones vary.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay rulebook (GW, hardback, 366 pages, 1986. ISBN 1-869893-02-6)
As hardcover edition but with a different logo and some errata corrected.

The Enemy Within (GW, 64pp plus poster-map, 1986. ISBN 1-869893-04-2) by Jim Bambra, Phil Gallagher and Graeme Davis. Volume 1 (original numbering) of 'The Enemy Within' campaign.

Shadows over Bögenhafen (GW, 64pp plus poster-map, 1987. ISBN 1-869893-07-7) by Graeme Davis, Jim Bambra and Phil Gallagher. Volume 2 (original numbering) of 'The Enemy Within' campaign.

Death on the Reik (GW, boxed set, 1987. ISBN 1-869893-10-7) by Phil Gallagher, Jim Bambra and Graeme Davis. Volume 3 (original numbering) of 'The Enemy Within' campaign.

Warhammer City (GW, hardback plus map, 96pp, 1987. ISBN 1-869893-24-7) by Carl Sargent and Phil Gallagher.

Power Behind the Throne (GW, hardback, 112pp, 1988. ISBN 1-869893-43-3) by Carl Sargent.
Volume 4 (original numbering) of 'The Enemy Within' campaign

The Warhammer Campaign (GW, hardback reprint plus map, 128pp, 1988. ISBN 1-869893-37-9)
Compilation of The Enemy Within and Shadows over Bogenhafen

Death on the Reik (GW, hardback reprint with poster-map, 1988. ISBN 1-869893-59-X)

Something Rotten in Kislev (GW, hardback, 144pp, 1988. ISBN 1-869893-56-5) by Ken Rolston.
Volume 5 (original numbering) of 'The Enemy Within' campaign

Empire in Flames (GW, hardback, 152pp, 1989. ISBN 1-872372-08-2) by Carl Sargent.
Volume 6 (original numbering) of 'The Enemy Within' campaign

Character Sheet Pack 1 (GW, pad plus insert, 50pp, 1987. ISBN 1-869893-34-4)
Brown cover. With 16-page insert, 'Character Background Generation Booklet'

The Restless Dead (GW, hardback, 104pp, 1989. ISBN 1-869893-73-5) by various authors.
Compilation of short articles and adventures, many from White Dwarf magazine

Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness (GW, hardback, 280pp, 1991. ISBN 1-869893-51-4) by Bryan Ansell, Mike Brunton and Simon Forrest. Also contains material for Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40000

Realms of Chaos: the Lost and the Damned (GW, hardback, 296pp, 1990. ISBN 1-869893-52-2). By Rick Priestley and Bryan Ansell. Also contains material for Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40000

The Warhammer Adventure (GW, softback plus two maps, 256pp, 1991. ISBN 1-872372-22-8)
Compilation of The Enemy Within, Shadows over Bogenhafen and Death on the Reik

Warhammer City of Chaos (GW, softback plus map, 224pp, 1991. ISBN 1-872372-41-4)
Compilation of Warhammer City and Power Behind the Throne

Character Sheet Pack 2 (GW, pad plus inserts, 50pp, 1992. ISBN 1-872372-60-0)
Yellow cover. As above, but with different 16-page insert, 'The Graf Manfred'

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FLAME PUBLICATIONS
All Flame publications were 275mm x 80mm

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Character Pack (2nd edition) (Flame, pad plus inserts, 50pp, 1990. ISBN: 1-869893-82-4). Yellow wrapper with cover picture from WFRP rulebook by John Sibbick. With 16pp booklet "The Graf Manfred Inn" written by Graeme Davis, art by Tony Ackland.
 

Doomstones 1: Fire in the Mountains (Flame, softback, 102pp, 1990. ISBN 1-872372-14-7). By Basil Barrett, Brad Freeman and Graeme Davis.

Doomstones 2: Blood in Darkness (Flame, softback, 80pp, 1990. ISBN 1-872372-23-6). By Simon Forrest, Brad Freeman and Graeme Davis.

Doomstones 3: Death Rock (Flame, softback, 80pp, 1990. ISBN 1-872372-24-4). By Basil Barrett, Brad Freeman and Graeme Davis.

Doomstones 4: Dwarf Wars (Flame, softback, 104pp, 1990. ISBN 1-872372-25-2). By Simon Forrest, Brad Freeman and Graeme Davis.

Lichemaster (Flame, softback, 104pp, 1990. ISBN 1-872372-01-5). By Carl Sargent and Graeme Davis.
Much-revised version of WFB supplement Terror of the Lichemaster, 1985

Warhammer Companion (Flame, softback, 96pp, 1990. ISBN 1-872372-30-9). By various authors.
Compilation of short articles, some originally from White Dwarf magazine

Death's Dark Shadow (Flame, softback, 128pp, 1991. ISBN 1-872372-31-7). By Carl Sargent.

Castle Drachenfels (Flame, softback, 112pp, 1992. ISBN 1-872372-32-5). By Carl Sargent.
Based on the novel Drachenfels by Jack Yeovil (Games Workshop, 1989)

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HOGSHEAD PUBLISHING
All Hogshead books are 8.5" x 11"

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay rulebook (Hogshead, softback, 366pp, 1995. ISBN 1-899749-01-2)
As GW softback rulebook, with further corrections to errata.

The Enemy Within vol. 1: Shadows over Bögenhafen (Hogshead, softback, 128pp, 1995. ISBN 1-899749-02-0)
Compilation of The Enemy Within and Shadows over Bogenhafen

Apocrypha Now (Hogshead, softback, 128pp, 1995. ISBN 1-899749-03-9). By various authors
Articles from Restless Dead, Warhammer Companion and early issues of White Dwarf

Dying of the Light (Hogshead, softback,128pp, 1995. ISBN 1-899749-04-7). By various authors.

Doomstones 1: Fire and Blood (Hogshead, softback, 176pp, 1996. ISBN 1-899749-09-8)
Compilation of Fire in the Mountains and Blood in Darkness

The Enemy Within vol. 2: Death on the Reik (Hogshead, softback, 128pp plus map, 1996. ISBN 1-899749-07-1)

GM Screen and Reference Pack (Hogshead, screen plus 2x16pp inserts, 1997. ISBN 1-899749-08-X)

Doomstones 2: Wars and Death (Hogshead, softback, 176pp, 1997. ISBN 1-899749-10-1)
Compilation of Death Rock and Dwarf Wars

Middenheim: City of Chaos (Hogshead, softback, 96pp plus map, 1998. ISBN 1-899749-12-8)

Power Behind the Throne (Hogshead, softback, 128pp, 1998. ISBN 1-899749-11-X)
Reprint, plus 14 pages of new material.

Something Rotten in Kislev (Hogshead, softback, 144pp, 1999. ISBN 1-899749-19-5)

Marienburg: Sold Down the River (Hogshead, softback, 160pp, 1999. ISBN 1-899749-14-4).

Apocrypha 2: Chart of Darkness (Hogshead, softback, 128pp, 2000. ISBN 1-899749-17-9).

Death's Dark Shadow (Hogshead, softback, 120pp, 2001. ISBN 1-899749-27-6). By Carl Sargent.

Doomstones 3: Heart of Chaos (Hogshead, softback, 144pp, 2001. ISBN 1-899749-16-0). By Robin D. Laws.

Realms of Sorcery (Hogshead, softback, 256pp, 2001. ISBN 1-899749-13-6). By Ken and Jo Walton.

Corrupting Influence: Best of Warpstone, Volume 1  (Hogshead, softback, 128pp, 2002. ISBN 1-899749-34-9). By various authors. Edited by John Foody.

Dwarfs: Stone and Steel (Hogshead, softback, 112pp, 2002. ISBN 1-899749-28-4). By Alfred Nuñez, Jr. Edited by Martin Oliver & Graeme Davis.