Alright, well, I admit that was unexpected. I haven't followed 4E that closely as I have a low-mileage set of 2E books sitting on the shelf and that's what I figured I would run for any campaign likely to develop in the near future. I did look at it a little in 2023 when I ran my one-shot game. As I began picking up their 40K RPG books and AoS books I also looked it over just to see how Cubicle 7 was managing their various product lines. It's only been out around 7 years AND they just launched an Old World RPG which is an alternate fantasy option so I didn't think they would be redoing their main Warhammer game but there it is.
Now I haven't run or played a ton of WFRP since the 80's & 90's - and even then it was always behind D&D - but I've always felt like it's underrated by RPG players in general, and especially as a sort-of traditional fantasy setting RPG that feels very different than D&D. By that I mean it's recognizably medieval European style fantasy with knights and elves and dwarves and wizards but it plays about as differently from D&D as you can imagine while still keeping those trappings. It can be a tough transition for someone who has played D&D to walk into this game and have their expectations rearranged. I think the part of the OSR crowd that's looking for lower-powered D&D could like this - if they aren't completely caught up in classes and levels for mechanics.
This new edition is launching next year so it's the 40th anniversary edition which is ... weird. Yet another game that I remember being the hot new thing hitting a milestone like that. I am very happy it's still being produced and supported, especially in a form that looks a lot like the original.
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| This is the cover on my original book |
I do wonder, business-wise, about launching a new edition of the mainline Warhammer RPG at almost the same time as launching a new separate line of Warhammer RPG. I'm thinking most people are only going to play or run one or the other but I suppose enough people will buy both to make it worthwhile. Also this one is all about backwards-compatibility - a notable trend of late - as the game is in that fairly common place of having been out long enough to have produced a shelf's worth of supplementary books that update or flat-out replace sections of the core rulebook so why not go ahead and integrate that material into the core. It's an admirable attempt and I like it but I also know there will inevitably be some compromises. "Now that the new core rules include systems from the Magic book, we can revise the magic book too and add more spells and items and optional stuff." It's just the way things work with RPGs.
Reading about this has me thinking I ought to do something with it. We are close to finishing up the Temple campaign so maybe a short run in the Warhammer world is a possibility. I had really been thinking about an Old World RPG test run but maybe giving original recipe WFRP another go is a good option too.
1 comment:
Yes, I'm rather reminded of how Shadowrun 2 incorporated the magic and netrunning rules from the respective first edition supplements into the core rules... then released brand new magic and netrunning supplements, which were then incorporated into the third edition core rules...
It makes sense to release a new/revised edition with the anniversary coming up and the... mixed reaction to the fourth edition rules, but it does feel a bit redundant having three* Warhammer Fantasy rpgs out at the same time, and one wonders what level of support C7 can give to all of them.
*(Four if you count the Talisman rpg, but most probably wouldn't and it is published by a different company at least.)
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