Wrath & Glory is the gripping up and coming Warhammer RPG system from Ulisses North America. This week we have an inside look at the system from one of the RPG industries best creative minds, talking about design inspiration and character elements!



I had the pleasure of meeting Ross Watson over a gaming table when we were both guests at Tacticon a few years back, and we have kept in touch ever since. Ross regularly comes to Austin for Chupacabracon, a local RPG and Tabletop convention the is a Mecca for game designers across the USA. Ross will be joining the BoLS RPG crew on May 2nd to Game Master an exclusive One-Shot session in the Wrath & Glory universe, and this week we are going to learn more about the system he has spent so much time building.

Meet the Designer

-What’s your role in the Gaming industry? Who do you work for?

I’m an author, game designer, and line developer. I’m currently the Product Line Manager for Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay with Ulisses North America.

-How long have you been in the gaming industry? How long have you been designing?

I’ve been involved as a professional in the gaming industry for over 18 years now. I’ve been designing rules and stories since I started learning to love games, which was quite a long time ago! I was mostly freelance up until 2008 when I went full-time as a game developer.

-How did you get your start in gaming? What inspired you growing up?

I got started with lots of regular games; Sorry, Monopoly, Battleship – but things really took off when my dad bought me the “red box” of Dungeons & Dragons in the early 80’s. All of a sudden, gaming became a huge part of my life from then on.

I was inspired by a lot of books I was reading—mostly fantasy and sci-fi novels—some of which are classics now, some that definitely aren’t. I read a TON of gaming-related fiction (like, ALL the Battletech books), plus things like Heir to the Empire. I was also an anime fan growing up, so things like Robotech and Bubblegum Crisis were also very influential on me.

-What are your favorite systems to play? What Character Archetype do you enjoy playing the most?

I have a LOT of favorite systems. Just to list a few: Shadowrun 4th edition, D&D 5e, Savage Worlds, Prowlers & Paragons, Hero system, and plenty more.

The character archetypes I enjoy the most are usually the “face,” or the “support” characters – sometimes I do enjoy a good paladin or cleric as well!

-What developers, writers, creators inspire you the most?

Mike Pondsmith is one of my greatest inspirations – he’s the guy behind Mekton Zeta, Cyberpunk 2020, and a ton of great video games as well. Jordan Weisman is another inspiring game designer and Ed Stark. Writers: William H. Keith, Jr. is a huge inspiration, as are newer writers like Drew Hayes, Marshall Ryan Maresca, and Scott Sigler. Creators in general? I’m always inspired by great artists—especially my friend Alberto Bontempi, Karl Kopinski, Kia Asamiya, and many more.

-What are your favorite finished projects?

My favorite finished project is probably Accursed, my dark fantasy setting for Savage Worlds. It’s basically “Solomon Kane meets Hellboy.” Some of my most popular projects are probably Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, Savage Rifts, and Torg: Eternity, plus all the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay lines from Fantasy Flight Games.

-What conventions/events can we find you at this year?

I’m doing several shows this year:

April: I’ll be at Starfest in Denver!

May: I’ll be at Chupacabracon in Round Rock, Texas, and then Koboldcon in Colorado Springs!

June: I’ll be at Origins in Columbus, Ohio!

August: I’ll be at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana!

September: I’ll be at Spa-Con in Hot Springs, Arkansas!

-What projects are you working on now? What’s coming in the near future?

Currently, my biggest project is Wrath & Glory, that’s taking up all my free time! We do some really cool stuff planned for the future—such as the Imperium Nihilus campaign—and I’m also devoting some time to work on that as well.

Let’s talk about Wrath & Glory:

-How long have you been working with GW?

I’ve worked with Games Workshop many times now, first as part of the US White Dwarf team from 2003-2005. After that, I worked with their licensing team to build the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay lines at Fantasy Flight Games, then again on projects like Dark Millennium Online, Regicide, and Battlefleet Gothic: Armada. So, all told, about 15 years now, off and on!

-What’s your favorite 40k Army?

That’s a very tough question! I started out playing Eldar, but I’ve been a huge fan of Space Marines (the Storm Wardens Chapter, of course!), the Astra Militarum, and the Grey Knights. Don’t make me pick just one!

-What can you tell us about the beginning of the Wrath & Glory Journey? Give us some history.

This all began in 2017, when Ulisses Spiele got the license for Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay. I was already working with them on Torg: Eternity, so it was a natural fit to talk to them about a new 40K RPG. I knew that I didn’t want to just do the same things that had been done before, and Ulisses North America was very supportive of taking the game in a new and exciting direction. I’m very excited about Wrath & Glory since it is a brand-new design and a very different approach to roleplaying in the 41st Millennium than what had come before. In addition, the new events of the Dark Imperium made this a perfect time for heroes to make a difference in the grim darkness of the far future.

-What kind of a system should we expect? What is its greatest strength?

Wrath & Glory uses a d6 dice pool system for its main task resolution mechanic. The strength of a dice pool approach is that it can easily scale up and down—important when Warhammer 40,000 has such a wide range of possible encounters!