I don't think we'll ever know.

I think the problem here is that the actions are designed to work best in combat, where there are fewer variables than story mode. In combat, time and position are more strictly tracked. The actions and their recharge rates seem to be balanced for that environment. In social encounters and in story mode, there are no such assumptions about time or position. Things are much more flexible and fluid, and GMs have more work to do. It's impossible for the rules to cover all of the possible uses of an action outside of encounter mode because of that. I don't think this is a flaw in the game's design, since many RPGs have a freeform story mode that gives way to a more detailed combat mode. The problem here seems to be with recharge rates outside of combat, and the lack of guidance in the rulebook. A future FAQ update might address this, but I wouldn't expect it to provide specifics. Some groups will be perfectly fine with everyone getting healed and rested up just after combat (spamming their blessings, in other words). I'd have a problem with the game if it was designed to do that. I doesn't feel right, but I don't think I could nail down exactly why. In story mode, the GM should trust their instincts about those sorts of things, but also discuss them with the players and get a sense for how the entire group feels. Recharge rates can still be used in story mode, and the GM can remove recharge tokens at a rate that feels right. I think the complaints about daily abilities in D&D4 are valid ones, and WFRP3 has opted for a hands-off approach to that sort of thing, letting the GM and the players set their own story-mode recharge rates according to their own preferences. I'd rather that these things were left to a case-by-case, group-by-group decision than strictly governed by something as arbitrary as a day. The "fix" to this issue is worse than the problem, I think. But we'll see what happens. I haven't run into any problems with this sort of thing yet, but of course my group doesn't have access to every action in the game.

Skywalker said: IMO that's very bad form for a GM to respond that way. It is far better to talk to your players constructively than try and punish them through game mechanics. As you say, a GM has considerable power over the game and should avoid abusing it. My point is that neither the players nor the GM should be trying to abuse the rules. Skywalker said: FWIW I agree that any RPG should have a "Don't be a ****" rule in it. However, I am not sure that some of the examples of weird results of using Action Cards out of Encounters are a result of the players being a ****. There is some genuine uncertainty that a GM will need to carefully manage as the solution may not be obvious or shared by all players. Talking it over is all I'm suggesting. Running away with the rules can be avoided that way.

Juriel said: You do need to houserule to make the game work as intended at all. For instance, Assess the Situation can remove all stress and fatigue - just spam it, each time getting 1 Fatigue and Stress back, by thinking about stuff that happened really hard. If the GM says you cannot use action cards out of encounters, then you can just start a detailed argument with an NPC (enter encounter mode) and boom, now you can assess to your heart's content. Being the GM, I would just keep spamming the party tension meter to maximum. I win. Honestly, I don't understand why this is an issue. The GM is supposed to be in charge of when this stuff is allowed, and make judgment calls. Want to use Assess the Situation in story mode? That's fine, but the GM should expect the player to make it interesting. After all, we're in story mode. "Go ahead. Tell me what you're doing to try to assess the situation." If you can keep coming up with ideas, the GM might keep letting you use that action. Or maybe they'll just let you use it once, giving you some extra fortune dice for your creativity. Starting an argument just to be able to spam an action in encounter mode is bad form, and everyone can sense that. It's metagaming at its worst. The player who tries that at my table will learn just how quickly I can hand out stress and fatigue as I see fit (which I'm allowed to do by the RAW). The GM's job is to make sense of the character's abilities in the situations they're used. If they don't make sense, or if they're clearly being abused, the GM can set any restrictions they like. "You'll be able to use that action again [whenever the GM says]." That way, the players will know where they stand and make plans accordingly. If they know they can't make another healing attempt for a few hours, that's fair enough, don't you think? I can think of reasons why healing blessings can be used more frequently in the heat of battle than in the relative peace that follows. All of that blood and passion and anger draws Shallya's attention. But when the fighting is over, Shallya's got other patients to attend to. You might try to spam healing blessings in story mode, but the GM can keep piling on challenge and misfortune dice as Shallya's attention is harder to get, since the need for her blessings is less urgent. Treating your god like a cash machine should be stressful for the character, and possibly for the entire party. The GM has ways to keep a lid on that sort of abuse that while still saying yes. "Some players may try to abuse the GM's position if all requests are approved without a second thought." That's on page 20 of the ToA, in the sidebar on The Power of Yes. The advice in that sidebar covers this issue and offers some ideas for how to deal with it. No house rules needed.

Here's another random generator! This one will instantly give you loads of character background information. It should be great for generating NPCs before adventures, or for giving your Reiklanders an instant history and other details to spark your imagination. Eventually I'll post up the generators for other character types as well. Random Background Generator: Human Reiklander Male Below, you'll find a trio of examples of the sorts of results this generator produces. The results are in plain text, making it easy to copy-and-paste them elsewhere. Have fun! * * * * * * * * * * * * * NAME Your name is Wolfgang Allenstag. AGE & APPEARANCE You're a Human male from the Reikland, 26 years of age, from what you've been told. You were restless growing up in a plague-stricken hamlet somewhere in the Reikland. You are a tall individual of 6 foot 2 and weigh 200 pounds. You have firey red hair, eyes of darkest brown and tanned skin. You are left handed. You wear a necklace and your most distinguishing features are your smiling eyes. FAITH, WORSHIP & SUPERSTITIONS You believe you are favoured by the god Myrmidia. You believe that adding a drop of blood to any beverage will stave off old age. BIRTH DATE, STAR SIGN & DOOMING Your birthday is in the winter, on the 21st day of Ulriczeit (the Ulric Tide). Your star sign is that of Cackelfax the Cockerel, the sign of money and merchants. On your tenth birthday, according to a long-standing tradition in the Empire, you were brought before a seer, and they foretold the way in which you would meet your fate. The cause of your doom was revealed thus: Dismemberment. HERALDRY & FAMILY Your family's colours are sienna and crimson. Your family shield is emblazoned with the image of a hawk. You're an orphan and have only indistinct memories of your mother. You have no siblings. You have never married and have no children, legitimate or illegitimate. FRIENDS & ENEMIES You know several members of a local gang of toughs. It's widely known that you're hated by someone who has greater experience in your line of work. TRAPPINGS Your clothing consists of a plain vest, sturdy breeches, enormous boots and a jacket. You have some travelling supplies including a flagon, a thick slab of bacon and a meat cleaver. For journeys through the dark, you carry a candlestick, a few wax candles and a fire-starting kit. DWELLING You rent a flat in a nearby house owned by a quiet family. Your rent is paid up until the end of the month. * * * * * * * * * * * * * NAME Your name is Lambertus Dachbacher. AGE & APPEARANCE You're a Human male from the Reikland, 28 years of age. Before you set out for a life of adventure, you spent most of your life in a plague-stricken hamlet somewhere in the Reikland. You are 5 foot 10 and weigh 165 pounds. You have black hair, light brown eyes and a farmer's tan. You are right handed. You wear numerous earrings and your most distinguishing feature is your carefully-groomed beard. FAITH, WORSHIP & SUPERSTITIONS You have faith in Sigmar above all other gods. You believe it's unlucky to speak profanity. BIRTH DATE, STAR SIGN & DOOMING Your birthday is in the winter, on the 23rd day of Ulriczeit (the Ulric Tide). Your star sign is that of Cackelfax the Cockerel, the sign of money and merchants. On your tenth birthday, according to a long-standing tradition in the Empire, you were brought before a truthsayer, and they foretold the way in which you would meet your fate. The cause of your doom was revealed thus: The gods shall forsake thee. HERALDRY & FAMILY Your family's colours feature vertical bars of black and sea green. Your family shield is emblazoned with the image of four towers. Your mother is well, but your father is infirm. You have a step-brother and 2 step-sisters. You are not married and have no children. FRIENDS & ENEMIES You know where to find a good bounty hunter. You have no enemies. TRAPPINGS Your clothing consists of a green tunic, homespun breeches, ill-fitting boots and a corpse handler's mask. You have some travelling supplies including a clay pot, sliced bacon and a small painting of your favoured deity. To light your way, you carry a small bundle of treated torches and a few reliable matches. DWELLING You rent a dingy flat in a nearby tavern. Your rent is paid up until the end of the month. * * * * * * * * * * * * * NAME Your name is Klaud Hochelben. AGE & APPEARANCE You're a Human male from the Reikland, 24 years of age, being your best guess. It's been a long time since you've thought about your home in Berghof, a village near Kemperbad. You are a slouching figure of 5 foot 8 and weigh 150 pounds. You have silver hair, ice blue eyes and ruddy skin. You are right handed. Your lucky charm is a stone amulet that you wear on a necklace and your most distinguishing feature is your frowning face. FAITH, WORSHIP & SUPERSTITIONS You believe you are favoured by the god Rhya. You are superstitious about uttering curses on rainy days. BIRTH DATE, STAR SIGN & DOOMING Your birthday is in the summer, on the 11th day of Sommerzeit (the Summer Tide). Your star sign is that of Mammit the Wise, the sign of wisdom. Around your tenth birthday, according to a long-standing tradition in the Empire, you were brought before a seer, and they foretold the way in which you would meet your fate. The cause of your doom was revealed thus: Under an oak shall you find your doom. HERALDRY & FAMILY Your family's colours feature vertical bars of forest green and vivid green. Your family shield is emblazoned with the image of a citadel. Both of your parents are missing. You have 2 half-brothers. You are married, and your spouse is well. You have no children. FRIENDS & ENEMIES You have no close friends other than your fellow adventurers. You bear no grudges, and have not offended anyone greatly. TRAPPINGS Your clothing consists of a grey jerkin, white hose, thick leather boots and a wide belt. You have some travelling supplies including a pewter goblet, a bundle of horse meat sausages and a meat cleaver. To light the way, you carry a sack of fuel dung and a pocket full of cheap matches. DWELLING You own a little strip of land nearby. There are no buildings on it, but you can camp out under the trees quite comfortably.

Give yourself more time to learn the game, and feel free to ask questions on the internet. Lots of people are willing to give you advice and help you figure out the rules. I think it took me about three weeks of looking through the books and getting used to everything before I really saw how it all worked together. I think it will help to read the reviews written by people who have played the game. But I think the best way to learn the game is to make a character. That part of the rules is pretty straightfoward. As you create your first character, you'll be introduced to most of the parts of the game that you'll need to know. So give it some more time, and start using up some of those character sheets.

It's a great price, if it's indeed the third edition. If there's a way to contact the seller to be sure that they know what they're selling, I'd do that before buying. It doesn't sound right, because it seems to be priced less than wholesale. Does the shipping price make sense for a box that weighs about 3 and a half kilos? That price sounds more appropriate for a new copy of the second edition, but you just never know how games fall into sellers' hands. It might be something they ordered or received by mistake. It could be a copy that was opened but never played.

In V1 and V2, a wagon typically cost about 8 to 10 times as much as a hand weapon. So in V3, a wagon should cost about 2g 50s. (Anything between 2g and 3g would be reasonable). Based on that, I would recalculate the prices to come up with these guidelines: Superior Warhorse 19g Destrier 12g Light Warhorse 7g 50s Pony 1g 25s Riding Horse 2g 50s Cart 1g 25s Coach 12g Wagon 2g 50s

Ares said: Anyway, I guess my main issues with is system is really the limit on players, well cards at purchase You said it yourself: there's no real limit on the number of players. There's a limit to the number of sets of cards provided in the core set. The fact is, they can be shared. The same goes for what you wrote about not being able to play two thieves in the same party. It's just not true that you're limited by the number of cards. The only things you need to know about a career during play are the types of talent sockets and the career ability. These can be easily copied by hand, or kept in memory. After the session, all of the thieves can read off the same career card to determine their next advances, just like in earlier editions where players would reference the career listed in the rulebook. I think V3 intends for PC parties to be diverse. This is something that we see in some small-press games, and it's really clear that WFRP3's designers wanted to encourage it. If you disagree with the designers on this issue, you can make a few photocopies and you're ready to play your own way. It's funny to me that you consider the cards to be essential to play, but you think the stand-ups are useless. We don't need cards. All of that information could have been included in a rulebook. The cards are a convenience. Certainly, the cost of the cards is far more than the cost of the three punchboard sheets that contain the tokens and stand-ups, and a couple dozen plastic bases. Ares said: Suggestion? Put together a veteran's gamer box for a little cheaper without the useless bits.. hell even if the books are the same if they are hardback I'd buy it I don't think there'd be any savings for doing that. It might even cost more than the current set, unless all the books were hardbound into one volume. It sounds to me like the only thing you would ditch are the three sheets of punchboard and the bases, which probably don't cost very much compared to the dice, cards and books. Leaving out the punchboard sheets would mean that the game can't be played straight out of the box because players would be required to furnish miniatures. Of course, the GM could always keep track of combat on scratch paper, but that means more work for the GM and less convenience. That would seem really inconsistent to me, when the cards and the symbols on the custom dice are all intended to give you a lot of depth of gameplay in a convenient format.

The player has gone for an entirely fighty character, which makes sense for a dwarf pit fighter. For a starting character it seems a little too fighty, but we're not talking about a well-rounded character, and after all, the game's called Warhammer and we're not picking flowers. I'm guessing his mental stats are all rated at 2, in which case stress is going to be really tough to deal with. You can't fight very well if you can't keep your wits about you. Being Broke means he can't afford a great weapon or a single piece of armor. That's kind of odd, but you could explain it by saying that the character has recently escaped a rough life fighting to make their handler lots of money, and that they couldn't take anything with them. But don't feel obligated to provide any snazzy weapons or armor. Make him work for those things using only the tools he starts with. In another thread we've talked a little bit about how to make Wealth more important. I think character creation is more balanced if you treat Wealth as not just being about what you start with, but how you think about money in general. Most of your friends are broke, and you don't know how to hold onto money, so you shouldn't expect to go from rags to riches. Get used to rags. To make more out of this idea, consider that this character might hook up with more money-savvy characters for the same reason that they might hook up with him because of his fighting abilities. Ultimately, he might able to put some money together, but he's going to need help. If you have wealthier characters in the group, maybe let them know that it's a bad idea to split the party's profits evenly. The pit fighter doesn't know the value of money, and he's likely to squander his share. After all, he's managed this far with hardly anything more than a dagger and the clothes on his back. I'm curious about how his first battle goes, considering how invested he is in combat while not equipping himself properly for it.

It's a maneuver. So, they can do it any time they can take a manuever.

Jericho said: But isn't that a hassle to always remember who assists who, since the bonus die will appear later in the round (I'm thinking of the GM controlling multiple NPCs here..)? I wouldn't expect that to be a big problem. The players will remember, and they'll remind the GM. Jericho said: Also, if you combine this with the fortune/misfortune dice related to being outnumbered, doesn't that make being outnumbered the worst thing ever that can happen to you? I'm interpreting the Assist maneuver to mean that some of the ways you can assist is to crowd your ally's opponent or create a distraction. You might also be trying to trip that opponent, or pin their arms back (as in a bar fight). So I don't think that the Assist maneuver is supposed to stack with combat advantages listed on page 60 of the rulebook. A player shouldn't say, "With my maneuver this round, I'm going to Assist Bob's character." Unless it's totally obvious what sort of assistance is required, I'm going to expect players to elaborate on what their characters intend to do in order to help. It's a situational thing, and I expect that the following turn will build on those details, maybe taking the scene in a new direction, or giving the opponents something they might be able to take advantage of. Pinning back someone's arms means that your arms aren't free to defend yourself but I'm definitely going to add some fortune points to your buddy's roll to punch your captive in the gut. But when it comes time for some drunken NPC to take his turn and get into the brawl, he might get some fortune points to konk you on the head with a bottle. I think that's how it's supposed to work.

In some ways, I think a character folio would be redundant. The character sheets, career cards, action and talent cards, and the tuck boxes are designed so that they act like a folio. What's missing, from my point of view, is somewhere to write down notes about your character's background details and maybe a journal (or just a place to keep story notes). But you've given me an idea. Since I like creating game aids for players and GMs, what I might do is create a sheet that's the same size as the character sheets, maybe with a nice parchment background. This would include space for character details (height, weight, age, birthdate, birthplace, distinguishing marks, dwellings, titles or honors, parents' occupations, siblings, spouse and children, cherished memories, events leading up to becoming an adventurer, hobbies and so on). I might even create a little fan-book so that players can randomly generate some of those details. On the back side of this sheet would be open space for a journal or game notes (or just to copy down the relevant mechanical info from the character sheet or your card inventory). This would give you something you could take home after play, and could be slipped under your character sheet during play so that it doesn't take up any extra table space. I'm not sure that GMs need a similar game aid. I usually type up all my game notes after play, and write my GM notes on scratch paper during play. But it might be useful to have some blank sheets for creating new monsters or NPCs. I'll give that some thought.

Right now I'm thinking that a mule, donkey, old ox or pack horse would cost 50s to 75s. A plough horse or ox would cost about 1gc. A good riding horse could cost 5g to 10g. A good warhorse could cost 10g to 20g. In the USA at least, we consider the Dark Ages to be the rather brutal times of about 400 AD through 1300 AD, give or take. The Old World of Warhammer seems to have been in a very long medieval state, so it's tough to compare Warhammer to our own history. Some parts of the Empire are still lingering in Dark Ages tech levels, while others are more advanced and look a lot like the early Renaissance. Because the Old World has been in this state for so long, we can justify nearly any sort of equipment prices we want. (Firearms are an especially unusual case, since they are sometimes shown as being relatively common in the Empire, and other times they seem to be very scarce.) Generally speaking, I think horses were fairly valuable. A riding horse could be something of a luxury, like owning a car in London is today. It's true that draft horses (working horses) cost about as much as a cow or an ox, and they were expected to work hard for several years. An ordinary farmer wouldn't have much use for a riding horse and probably couldn't afford one anyway.

That review is pretty close to my own opinions of the game. Thanks for sharing.

froo said: Not angry, just pointing out a fact. You write vitriolic crap intended to stir people up. I've seen it here, in the 2nd ed forums before they were shut down, over at STS and other places. His comments at StS seem pretty tame to me. I don't recall anything else he might have written elsewhere. But WFRP3 is not a joke. I think it's a great game. Before it was released, I was very intrigued to see how it all worked. As the designer diaries arrived, I became less interested, maybe even a bit disenchanted, because it seemed overly complicated. Once it was available to the public, I liked most of what I read from the play reviews and took a risk on purchasing the game. I'm happy to report, after learning how the game actually works and what it contains, that it's a very fine game and one that I'm eager to start playing regularly.

Yeah, you can assist every round. I'm going to ask my players to describe how they're assisting the other character and award fortune points based on their answers. I won't automatically give fortune points for every kind of assist, and I'll stop awarding them entirely if the players are simply assisting because they can't think of anything else to do with their maneuvers. If it really becomes a problem, I'll look for ways to break up combat over larger areas so that the PCs aren't always engaged with one another. One thing I always try to do with RPG combat is make sure that one side or the other has an objective other than wiping out the enemy force. I usually mention that there's some variety in the terrain, designating some aspect of the fight's setting as being "high ground" or "well protected" but keep this out of range of the start of the battle. This gives all of the participants some options and encourages movement. I think that sort of thing will cut down on the tendency for players to rely on assists, at least until they can all get together and really make a stand (in which case it's totally cool to assist each other).

le_renard said: i still don't see it as clearly in a close combat situation, but I agree... the Party tension meter may be a useful tool to counter-balance this. (I think the tension meter should be used carefully to avoid giving the players the feeling that they're infantilized and punished though... don't you think ?) I agree that the Party Tension Meter should not be used to punish the players or make them feel stupid. But if they're taking a long time to decide things, I would much prefer to slide the stress marker one space higher than sit there there with my head in my hands or try to argue with the players. If this happens, what I'm going to do is say, "Since you guys are taking a long time to figure out the order you want to act, I'm going to move the party tension up one space. I imagine that that you're saying things like, 'Get behind me!' and 'No, I've got this one!' and 'Come on, let's do this!" You can look at it as a punitive use of the stress meter, but it can be used to reflect how the characters are actually dealing with one another. I think it's going to be a useful tool when player indecision starts to interfere with the ability to have a good time. Without being heavy-handed, or having things erupt into an out-of-character argument, it's a nice way for the GM to let everyone know that things are slowing down, the fun level is dropping, and maybe they should make a decision quickly... or the tension might keep rising. Without this tool, the players could be deadlocked or spend too much time planning. I know there will be complaints that this is meta-game thinking, but the choice to raise party tension is entirely up to the GM and their tolerances for delays. To be honest, I really appreciate how elegant of a solution that is. By giving the PCs the freedom to choose their order of action, it opens up the game to unwanted delays. By giving the GM control over party stress, it keeps the players on their toes and encourages them to think fast and not abuse that freedom. The rules aren't forcing the players or the GM to do anything, but there are mechanisms in place so that problems can be addressed without upsetting anyone greatly.

Another aspect of play that puts "fun" before "realism" is the shared-ability aspect of the party cards. It doesn't really make sense from a purely "simulationist" point of view to have one character's ability shared across an entire party, but that's how this game is geared. Clearly, the game is designed to encourage and enable teamwork while eliminating extra layers of complexity. With a strict turn-order system, you need to introduce a system for delaying actions. Instead of adding a new rule, WFRP3 just lets players determine the order they want to go. Now that I think about it, WFRP2 had this exact same situation. You could, by delaying actions, have the party take their turns in any order they desired. But it could get complicated, and it tended to punish delaying characters by having them act after all of the opponents, as well. I'd rather that the game err on the side of player freedom and opportunity for teamwork than try to simulate combat (which no RPG is really capable of anyway).

schoon said: A Priest of Morr can also really cut down on that sort of thing - those items will help the grieving widow, the bandit's orphaned children, or simply pay for funerary rights I really like that idea. It puts things in perspective for the players, exposing them to a side of combat that we rarely think about and almost never gets mentioned in video games.

Mal Reynolds said: In descent they have added silver and gold d6, wich works pretty much like the expertise die. you trade 2 ordinary d6 for one silver d6 and two silver d6 for a gold d6. it will not surprise me if we see somthing like this for warhammer as well. And that some advanced action cards will have like 6 successes to achieve something spectacular. So there's a precedent for it. That's good to know. I was wondering about the color, and had considered metallics. I wouldn't expect a dice to have more than 1 facing with a "righteous success" result, but I can imagine something like a "Mastery" die that's better than Expertise. Maybe you'd use a Mastery die when you've picked up all three levels of training in a skill. That sort of die might have fewer blank faces and more success/hammer faces. UncleArkie said: That could be an interesting mechanic, special dice for the 3rd and 4th tier careers. That's what I'd expect. Really, there are lots of ways to introduce a new die to the game. It could be part of an advanced career's ability card, something such as "When performing any Agility-based action, add one Mastery die". Or, it could be a die reserved for high-powered spellcasting, such as a Dhar (dark magic) die that has the potential for lots of successes but also includes a Chaos star result (which would be the first time we've seen a negative result on an "ability" die, but would be appropriate when messing about with dark magic).

Witch Hunters often travel with a few underlings, and I think they'll give you a lot of mileage with this sort of adventure. Former soldiers and bounty hunters could provide extra muscle, while a ranting zealot might be a good way to remind the entire party of why they're in this line of work. The group might all travel in a black coach with skulls and gothic crosses painted on the side, and covered in those sacred wax-sealed parchment ribbons. The PCs could be introduced to (or become aware of) the Witch Hunter after an encounter with one of its underlings. That might be a good way to build up suspense about meeting such an important and intimidating figure. In a good horror movie, you don't want to see the monster right away. The minions might even be relaxing in a tavern, or specifically planted in the town to gather information. Maybe the Witch Hunter has been deceived about the nature of their prey? A merchant who wants to eliminate his competition might have made up lies and accusations of witchcraft about someone else. If the PCs pick up that one piece of information that the Witch Hunter lacks, they might find themselves standing between the Witch Hunter and an innocent man, because it's the right and just thing to do. That would give you a good reason for the Witch Hunter to turn their attention to the PCs, and start hunting them. It wouldn't be easy to convince a Witch Hunter of your innocence, but this sets up a situation where the climax of the story is a social encounter, or a combat scene with lots of talkin'. Maybe the PCs are chased into a tower or some other building, and have to fight off the cronies while shouting at the Witch Hunter, trying to reason with him or her, presenting evidence of their good intentions and logic while parrying and retreating up stairs.

I would suggest that hourglasses are turned sideways to indicate that they've been used. (Just don't say "tap" when you do it. Wizards of the Coast has patented that move.) To differentiate between stress and fatigue, maybe keep your fatigue tokens on the left of your sheet and the stress tokens on the right, or otherwise keep your piles separate. I don't believe any of the cards contain characteristic or stance dice symbols. If you see a diamond shape on a card, it will always (I think) be a D8 challenge die. For the stance rings, I can't think of any great solution other than to clip out a tiny bit of the sticky part of a post-it note to label one side of the stance ring. This wouldn't permanently mark up your game piece.

Mal Reynolds said: Beside assisting in combat is not the same as flanking, as we have the tactic talent card: flanking manouvre. I think it's fine to think of assising in combat as flanking. A character using the the Flanking Manoeuvre ability can just be considered to have a lot more practice and training.

Thanks. The FAQ helps a bunch. It looks like it is optional for starting Zealots, rather than a requirement. (The wording on the career card says "may" instead of "must".) I'm not sure it's worthwhile to buy an insanity at the expense of a starting talent. I might wait until my Zealot develops an insanity during play (but I'll probably put him in more stressful situations, knowing that I can use an insanity to my advantage).