I’ve been playing WFRP since the launch of 2nd edition my freshman year of college. It was my go-to RPG for years. When we decided to launch an Actual Play podcast during Covid lockdowns in 2020, I knew it had to be WFRP. I had skipped over the 3rd edition of the game and was pleased to learn there was a 4th recently released that took the game back to its roots. We dove back into the Old World with gusto on “A Grim Podcast of Perilous Adventure” (GPoPA) and never looked back. Now I’m looking ahead at another new edition of the game. Does it hold up to the history of this great game, or will it join 3rd edition in the restricted area of the Temple-Library of Verena? Cubicle 7 was awesome to share a review copy with me, so lets dive in together!
Why a New Edition?
WFRP 4E has been going strong for nearly ten years, which is a blessing and a curse. There are over two dozen publications for the game and so much of the Old World and beyond has been fleshed out and given personality. WFRP really feels like a living world. Things happen that your Party might not now about, but it could affect them. The downside to this is that rules are scattered all about. Some issues from the beginning of the edition continue through all the later publications. Some were amended or fixed in later books, but finding it all can be a pain. 5th edition comes out of the gate as a big fix. It’s backwards-compatible with 4th edition, which is amazing. A few of the most recent books, like the Temple of Spite, were written for both editions of the game (my review of that book here).
I’ve taken a look at the core book for 5th edition, and will give you my initial thoughts here. So far, I’m liking what’s been changed and what hasn’t.
This is not a new game, but a streamlined version of the game we know and love. All of the 4th edition books are usable with it, with some modifications, all of which are slight. Probably the biggest change that simplifies things is: no more differentiating between what gives % bonuses or SL bonuses to tests- any bonus or penalty now affect SL only. No more rolling on 100%+! Instead of taking time to figure out if you’re getting +20% to hit, or +2SL after the roll, and if it has to be successful or not you just get a flat SL bonus. I like this, as it doesn’t dumb the game down, but instead allows values and SLs to be determined much faster, speeding up combat and other times you’re rolling the dice. Yes, it loses some nuance here, but I thought that was overcomplicated anyway.
Another major change is Advantage and Momentum. Advantage is no longer tracked by each character in Combat, but allows you to reverse a die roll (91 becomes a 19, etc.). Similarly Disadvantage forces your to reverse the result if it would be worse (28 to an 82). Momentum takes the place of what Advantage was in 4th, and I personally love this change. Just about everyone had some kind of cap or home rule to limit the power of Advantage in 4th (I cap it at five and that’s still often much too high), but that will no longer be needed. If you win a melee opposed test you gain Momentum (you have it or you don’t, no tracking how much Momentum). Having Momentum gives you Advantage on Melee Tests and some creature Traits, like Bite, spend that Momentum to gain extra attacks (not every Trait uses Momentum, like Breath is just bonus now!).
Fate and Fortune
The amount of ‘meta points’ has been cut in half! No more Resilience or Resolve. If you didn’t like keeping track of all those points that helped, then be glad. We’re back to only Fate and Fortune, and they work pretty much the same way they always have. How many of each you start with is tied to your Species, and they can be used in the ways that we’re used to- Fortune allowing rerolls and such (and now to get rid of Conditions), and Fate is like an extra life. I do really appreciate how they cleared up the language for ignoring damage from a hit. Now this option is chosen before any damage is dealt, negating the hit effectively. I’ve always felt this option in 4th was confusing and not clear enough about what was ignored, but that’s not a problem now!
While I certainly haven’t read all of the words in the book yet (I haven’t gotten to Magic or Religion yet) but overall the language seems to be tightened up, more specific without taking forever to say everything.
A great example of this better writing is Fear:
“Fear represents an extreme aversion to something. When you
encounter one or more creatures causing Fear, make a single
Extended Psychology Test unless they are known allies. Make
one roll each round, with a target number of SL equal to the
Fear Rating. When encountering multiple sources of Fear, this
test is made against the highest Fear Rating among them, and
passing it applies to all sources of Fear of equal or lower rating.
Once you succeed, you are no longer subject to Fear.
When subject to Fear, you may not gain Momentum, and Melee
Attacks made against you by the source of your Fear benefit
from Advantage.”
I appreciate how specific it is and how it simplifies things to one or more creatures and if you test at the highest Fear rating. You no longer have to keep track of which enemies you’re afraid of, just if you’re afraid. If you’re not scared of the zombie dragon, you’re not going to be scared of the skeleton underneath it.
How Does it Look?
Compared to many RPG core books out there, this is festooned with artwork. Some of it’s awesome, some of it… not so much. But this does allow the book to really show what the Old World looks like, and the people that live in it. Yes, a lot of the art is reused from 4th and The Old World RPG, but there are some new pieces as well. Everything has that proper grungy look of the grubs in the dirt that the people of the Empire are.
The layout of the book is nicer as well. Larger text with more natural looking sidebars. Places for rules clarifications or additions don’t look like fluff text anymore.
What About My Spells and Prayers?
Magic is very similar to 4E. Language (Magick) to cast, Channeling to build up power before casting. Looks like they are undoing the change to Channeling we got in Winds of Magic for 4E- now the SL you gain from Channeling is added to your Casting test (for a spell of the same Lore). This allows a wizard to build up power to cast those big spells! Overcasting is still here with a new table. I’m not sure if this table is more generous than previously or not, I don’t usually get to use it as a GM! Grimoires are better- instead of doubling the CN of spells in your magical book, you can’t Overcast them- which makes them easier to cast, but less likely to be really spectacular. Dispelling seems about the same, Opposed Language tests, but this time it is limited to once per round- still seems very powerful and makes enemy spellcasters have another hurdle to jump over if the party has a wizard (or is all wizards!).
Unfortunately Touch spells are just as bad as they were before. The caster must win an Opposed Melee (Brawling) or Sleight of Hand test against their target AND cast the spell successfully. Luckily Enchanted Staffs are in the Core book and allow a caster to use their (almost certainly better Melee (Polearm) to hit with Touch spells). This is made even worse when no magical career has access to Melee (Brawling) and only Wizards have Melee (Polearm). Maybe someday Dazzle will be usable in combat…
CNs for spells have changed all over the place. Some cheaper (Teleport 5->3) some more expensive (Ward 5->6). I’ll do a deeper dive into 5E magic in another post. .
Blessings and Miracles for Priests looks virtually the same as 4E. Prayer tests are made to ask your god for help. Miracles are powerful, as they should be with no real way to power them up like Channeling for spells. Put those experience points in Fellowship and Pray!
Do I Need This?
While this is very similar to 4th edition, so far this looks like an improvement. It’s still crunchy, with a lot going on, but a few things are streamlined, explained better, or removed if they were unnecessary (I’m looking at you Resilience and Resolve!). While it doesn’t reinvent WFRP (for better or worse) at a glance this looks like an improved play experience for 4E. Should it be labeled as a new edition? The verdict is still out for me. This seems like 4.5 or 4.75 Edition. Cubicle 7 has learned a lot about their game in the eight or so years it’s been out, and this seems like an improvement in virtually every way.
I won’t be changing GPoPA over immediately, since we’re over six years into our The Enemy Within campaign, but I’ll certainly consider it when the Foundry modules release- especially since Steal Life has been toned down!
What Else Would You Like to Know?
That’s what I’ve got for now! Feel free to comment or join the PCN Discord to ask more questions. I’ll do more posts going into specific parts of the book in more details, but let me know what you want to know!
Dan is a founding member of the PCN, GM/host of “A Grim Podcast of Perilous Adventure,” “Settling the Southlands,” “Valley of the Doomed,” “How Doomed Are We?,” and “Star Omens,” as well as a player in The Lost Omens Podcast, and The Slithering. Dan is also a novelist and writer of adventures.