Looking for a new book for Christmas (Not d20)

[Attilargh]

As I've been thinking of introducing myself to a completely new game for a while and the holidays are fast approaching, I reckon I have an excuse to dig into my wallet for some filling for the bookshelf. At the moment, it's a tie between:

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, second edition
I'm a bit of a fan of the Warhammer World. I love the grim and gritty crapsack world, the filthy no-good protagonists, and especially the black humor that crops up in unexpected places. By what I've read, the rules are fairly simple and hold together well, the combat is fast and deadly, and magic ain't pretty.

Legend of the Five Rings, third edition
It's about samurai! I can't help it, samurai are just one of those inherently cool things. Also, the Roll & Keep system sounds a rather neat twist on the bucket-o'-d10s -mechanic (which I like). I've read combat is both cinematic and fatal, which sounds quite a bit like Kurosawa's movies. Which is good, 'cause they're awesome and have got samurai in them.

Exalted, second edition
It's a game about people who can punch other people through houses. What's not to like? The setting sounds pretty interesting, and I've got a soft spot for obscenely powerful super-people running on water and kicking whole armies' butts in one go. The mechanics sound quite a bit like new World of Darkness's, which I like. I recall an attack in nWoD only needs a single roll, is the same with Exalted?

So, I need help in choosing. Are there any kinks in the systems, and how easily can you break them? Are there any utterly idiotic things in the books? What quality are the books? Et cetera, et cetera. I want to know stuff about these gameses!

[Mr. Friendly]

As I've been thinking of introducing myself to a completely new game for a while and the holidays are fast approaching, I reckon I have an excuse to dig into my wallet for some filling for the bookshelf. At the moment, it's a tie between:

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, second edition
I'm a bit of a fan of the Warhammer World. I love the grim and gritty crapsack world, the filthy no-good protagonists, and especially the black humor that crops up in unexpected places. By what I've read, the rules are fairly simple and hold together well, the combat is fast and deadly, and magic ain't pretty.

Legend of the Five Rings, third edition
It's about samurai! I can't help it, samurai are just one of those inherently cool things. Also, the Roll & Keep system sounds a rather neat twist on the bucket-o'-d10s -mechanic (which I like). I've read combat is both cinematic and fatal, which sounds quite a bit like Kurosawa's movies. Which is good, 'cause they're awesome and have got samurai in them.

Exalted, second edition
It's a game about people who can punch other people through houses. What's not to like? The setting sounds pretty interesting, and I've got a soft spot for obscenely powerful super-people running on water and kicking whole armies' butts in one go. The mechanics sound quite a bit like new World of Darkness's, which I like. I recall an attack in nWoD only needs a single roll, is the same with Exalted?

So, I need help in choosing. Are there any kinks in the systems, and how easily can you break them? Are there any utterly idiotic things in the books? What quality are the books? Et cetera, et cetera. I want to know stuff about these gameses!

I have not played L5R but I have read about the fluff and backstory extensively. I like the world, it's pretty nifty. Reasonably high quality books from what I have seen.

Exalted.. well I basically hate White Wolf, so obviously I am biased against the game. If you want a superheoric type game, I'd recommend Champions instead.


Warhammer.... eh, I have a soft spot for it. It's a decent game and as you say, the world is brutally awesome.

[Morty]

I don't know about the other two, but WFRPG is definetly worth it.

[Darrin]

WFRP2 and L5R are both strong picks, hard to go wrong with either one.

I recall an attack in nWoD only needs a single roll, is the same with Exalted?

Kinda, if you were playing humans without any charms. If you're playing any character with a survivability beyond 30 seconds, though... well, maybe the new edition is a bit different but in the original Exalted, dropping upwards of 20d10 on the table wasn't entirely unheard of. Exalted's a bit like a high-performance dragster... looks oh-so-friggin-cool, but way too much horsepower under the hood.

[Attilargh]

One roll, not one die. I know that the pools can get mighty big, so I'm trying to find out if I have to scoop them up and then roll damage or something. I don't think I have a table that could take that for long.