As Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay nears its 40th anniversary, the team behind the beloved RPG are celebrating the milestone with exciting news: the launch of a new edition. We sat down with Dominic McDowall and Dave Allen to talk about the system, what’s new in the upcoming release, and what players can look forward to next.


Q: Next year will mark 40 years of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. How are you commemorating that milestone?

Dom: The 40th Anniversary of WFRP is a fantastic time to celebrate the incredible journey and impact of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. We’ve got lots of plans, starting with a new edition of the rules. I can’t quite believe it’s been over eight years since I sat down with a blank page in front of me and started designing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fourth Edition! Since the game’s release, we’ve produced dozens of sourcebooks, supplements and adventures, so we’ve been building up lots of ideas for the next iteration of the rules. We’re lucky to be part of the wonderful Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay community too – there’s so much passion for the game so we get to hear a lot of feedback from everyone else’s experiences.



Q: Players have invested a lot into Fourth Edition. Will their books still be usable with the new one?

Dave: Ensuring backwards-compatibility has been a very important part of the design process for us. We’re gamers ourselves, so we want everyone to be able to keep using their books. Apart from that, we’re too excited for everything we have planned for the coming years - we don’t want to delay anything revisiting areas we’ve already covered! 

 

Q: So, what can players expect from this new edition?

Dom: It’s a development from Fourth Edition - we’ve aimed to keep the satisfying level of detail people love while refining the play experience and addressing areas that have caused problems. We’ve reduced ‘special case’ rules where the impact wasn’t worth the additional effort, reworked combat to flow better and be easier to keep track of, and made the game a little more deadly. There are fewer ways to deflect critical hits now, for example, so combat feels more dangerous.

Dave: We’ve done a lot of work in the details of the system. Talents now apply to specific areas and do that one thing well, avoiding the problem of overlapping bonuses. We’ve merged Resilience and Resolve into Fate and Fortune to reduce tracking those resources. The magic system takes cues from Winds of Magic and integrates that material more tightly into the core rules. 

 

Q: Finally, WFRP Fourth Edition has had such an expansive catalogue of content. What can fans look forward to after the launch of this new edition?

Dom: Along with the new rulebook, we’ll have a range of cards, dice and maps to kick the new edition off in style. In the new year we’ll start to reveal some of the other plans we have for the 40th Anniversary! 

Dave: In the coming months we’ll be visiting Wrecker’s Point, exploring a Dark Elf Black Ark, heading back to Marienburg and embarking on a brand new campaign. There’s a lot to look forward to! 

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