Cubicle 7 has done it again! Warhammer: The Old World RPG (TOWRPG) is finally here, and I’ve been reading through it for a few days to give my first impressions. I’m going to address the gargantuan squig in the room first though- this is not the same as WFRP, this is not replacing WFRP, this is existing alongside of WFRP. Much like Wrath and Glory and Imperium Maledictum, WFRP and TOWRPG are two sides of the same coin. I’m going to try not to compare the two, but it will be impossible not to at times.

I know I said I wasn’t going to compare much, but I feel like I need to start with saying that TOWRPG does take a lot of its DNA from WFRP. Careers, d10, Skills and Talents, and familiar Characteristics like WS and BS all return. One thing I noticed right away, was the similarities the system has with Soulbound, the Age of Sigmar RPG. We all have opinions on Age of Sigmar, but the RPG is an elegant, easy game to play and run, so I’m really glad they took some notes from that system. This new system was developed by Dominic McDowall and Pádraig Murphy, the Publisher and Senior Producer, respectively, at Cubicle 7.

A primer on mechanics- you create d10 pools based on your Characteristic- Weapon Skill (WS), Ballistic Skill (BS), Strength (S), Toughness (T), Initiative (I), Agility (Ag), Reason (Re), and Fellowship (Fel). Your Skill, there are two for each Characteristic, determines the value you’re trying to roll or under. For example, Mina has an Ag of 4 and Athletics (the Skill) of 5. So when testing, she’ll roll four d10 and needs to roll 5 or less for successes. The more dice within your range, the better you do! This allows for quick determination of pools and targets. Of course, both of those numbers can change due to factors, such as the test being particularly difficult and removing a die from your pool. That’s the long and short of the rules, I’ll go into detail on combat later.

But What Do I Play As?

Careers are the backbone of your character. Your Origin (Bretonnian, dwarf, elf, halfling, or Imperial) determines a lot, but your Careers gets a unique Talent and more Skills. This is another area they borrow from Soulbound, the Career Talent really separates one Career from another and helps your character feel more unique. For example The Town Watch has Shine a Light, giving them an additional die on Tests to glean Insights about things that happened within your area. Compare this to another martial class, the Soldier, who gets Close Order- while in Close Range of an ally, gain an additional die on Defense Tests (a WS Skill). While they’re both melee-focused Careers, their Career Talent sets them up to play quite differently from each other.

A new mechanic, similar to ideas in Imperium Maledictum, are the Contacts. Each PC has two contacts that they can use in-game to help find information or get led in the right direction. This is a cool idea and can help with keeping Player Agency when the Players might be at a loss of what to do or where to go. Instead of giving them the information, they can use Contacts to learn more in the world. Each Career has a list of two types of Contacts- for example, the Wizard has The Great and the Good, and Wanderers and Wastrels, while the Town Watch has Comrades in Arms, and The Common Folk. Each of these four types of Contacts has a handful of examples in the Player’s Guide, each with a small table to roll on to determine your relationship with this Contact- they aren’t always positive!

Why Are We Doing This?

A Grim Portent is a new mechanic to unite the PCs, to pull them out of their hum-drum lives and become adventurers. Something happened to you, maybe the entire Party, that sets you up to be… different. Maybe you had a run-in with a cultist, or a vision in a dream, or witnessed something you shouldn’t have. This sets your life down a path you might not have expected. This allows for help determining why your character is away from their job and out in the wilderness, or chasing down cultists in the city.

Improving Characters can be done with experience gained, buying Talents and/or Characteristic improvements, or by increasing Skills during Downtime. Similar to things I’ve seen in games like Call of Cthulhu, failing at a Skill makes you better- learn from your mistakes! Test a Skill during Downtime, and mark on your Character Sheet your failures. Once this track is full, the Skill improves!

Combat- the backbone to any RPG- is fast and debilitating in TOWRPG. PCs will want to avoid this, but when it happens, it looks fluid and brutal. Attacking requires an Opposed test, usually your WS/Melee versus the target’s WS/Defense (BS/Shooting or BS/Throwing for Ranged attacks). Whoever has more successes wins- if it’s the attacker, they might do damage, if it’s the defender, no damage is dealt and the attacker becomes Staggered. Staggered is a condition that doesn’t do anything on its own, but is nasty once you get Staggered again- “No effect by itself, but if you are Staggered
again you must choose: Give Ground into an adjacent Zone (once per round); suffer the Prone condition; or suffer a Wound.” I love how missing an attack has a drawback more than just not doing damage- this makes combat truly dangerous, even if you’re on the offensive!

If you’re successful, compare your damage (S+X for melee weapons, where X is determined by the weapon such as +2 for a halberd) to the Target’s Resilience (their Toughness plus any armor/shield bonus). If the damage is higher, the target suffers a Wound- roll on the chart! This is a d10 roll, with an additional d10 for each Wound the target already has. This chart starts pretty tame, but ramps up quickly, any result of 24+ is death! This is where your character can become maimed- such as losing a leg, but it could be minimal like blood in your eyes and possibly getting a Blinded condition. Most of these Wounds can be healed with “A Night’s Respite,” worse ones require “Rest and Recovery,” and the highest need surgery with R&R! Don’t get hit (or if you do, have a bunch of armor!)

Downtime- What is That?

Downtime is integral to the rules of TOWRPG– you can improve Skills, learn new Lores, build Contacts, and make money. Cubicle 7 loves Endeavors during downtime, and I feel like they keep improving this system with each new iteration. It has the same concept as from WFRP, where there are certain things you can do- like learn a new spell, invest money to make more, or practice something to get a bonus during your next adventure. Most of these require a test and success either is a step towards completion-like crafting a Trapping, or gives bonuses later, like temporarily gaining access to a specific Lore.

The Winds do be Blowin’

Magic is done like any other test, using your Reason/Willpower tracking successes until you have enough to cast the spell. For example classic Fireball needs 3 successes to cast, but can be done over multiple turns. Careful though, any roll of a 9 is tracked, and once you have as many as your Wizard Level- you suffer a miscast (my favorite part of magic). Spells can be chosen from one of the four lores (more likely added later): Battle Magic, Elementalism, Illusion, and Necromancy. Many of these spells are right from the miniatures game, and will be familiar to those with experience with Warhammer Fantasy on any level. Formal spells have a Casting Value range of 1-3, while Improvised Spells can go as high as 12! I’ll cover more on magic in a future post.

How Does it Stand on its Own?

While I haven’t gotten to play TOWRPG yet, I’m excited to. I’ve got thousands of hours of WFRP (2nd and 4th editions), I’m pumped for something more streamlined and smoother to dive into with my favorite fantasy setting. I’m already planning out a one shot (once I get my hands on the GM Guide!) and can’t wait to roll dice for this game! I’m on the fence about having two separate books, I’ve never had an issue with one core book, but as a Forever GM, I’m in a different boat. I’m sure people that will only be Players will appreciate only having to get a Player’s Guide (which will likely save them some $$).

For more info on the new game line, check out Cubicle 7!

I will certainly cover more about TOWRPG in the future, let me know if you’re looking for anything specific! Until next time, make sure to check out our Patreon at patreon.com/professionalcasual for all kinds of awesome content.