Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay’s 5th Edition has landed on-scene, and a week in we’re beginning to see some early impressions and reviews start to percolate throughout the media ecosystem.
Cubicle 7 Games had promised from the jump that this wouldn’t be a complete reinvention of the system, but rather an iteration of it that would allow for backwards compatibility. With the rules now available in the wild, early impressions have naturally focused more on comparing the differences between the two rather than assessing it as an entirely separate entity.
Today we’ll take a look at a few excerpts from these first looks into the new game which, as we’ll see, continues to hold a strong position on the DriveThruRPG’s Top 200 sellers listings.
Careless Conjuration
My first impressions are that C7 have made some positive moves in the right direction to make the game easier to run and more fun to play. However, I was really hoping for some bigger changes. There’s a lot more here which is virtually unchanged than I was expecting for a new edition, and this feels much more like Errata to 4E than a whole different play experience.
Ill Met by Morrlieb
Flicking through the book it is very clear that this really is an incremental upgrade to 4E. At first glance a lot of this book looks familiar: the same five core playable races, the same list of careers (I think?), the same skills and talents. That’s kind of unavoidable if you want it to be backwards-compatible, I suppose.
Overall my impression is that this is a decent refresh with some sensible presentation changes and improvements to some rules. It looks like Cubicle 7 have taken pains to ensure backwards compatability (though I’m sure we’ll see in time if there are any limitations to that). On the other hand, the lack of new artwork is disappointing – though what’s here is almost all excellent. I’m also a bit sad that the fluff looks mostly the same. Still, I’m happy this rulebook is here – it has felt for a while like 4e needed a rules refresh.
The Professional Casual
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.
The Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Subreddit
The clearest shorthand is that WFRP 5e is a genuine “4.5”, not a reboot. It keeps the d100/Success Level engine, opposed tests, hit locations, the five core species, eight classes, 64 four-tier Careers, Status, and the same Reikland/Karl Franz era. A 4e character or adventure still looks unmistakably like WFRP in 5e. It is also definitely not a rules-light redesign.
Compatibility looks genuinely good, but not completely automatic. Adventures, setting books, and most NPC profiles should transfer with little work. The conversion appendix explicitly maps old Advantage to Momentum, old Difficulty modifiers to SL modifiers, Resilience to Fate, and Resolve to Fortune. Supplements such as Up in Arms and Winds of Magic remain valuable for their additional content, although some of their replacement rules are now partly redundant. - u/MikadinShinjuk
Some of the things I noticed and want to point out:
-Character creation seems almost the same, with new welcome options to gain career trappings and even a point of fate. All careers now have 10 base skills to choose from, which is very welcome change. Advancing through the career has been streamlined.
-Advantage and Disadvantage is a major rules change, I think I like it, but we’ll see when we actually play a session next week.
-Simplifying rules so that +1SL and +10 modifier are the same thing is a welcome change.
-Momentum is probably a good change. Advantage was really strong mechanic, and skilled fighters could get 3 advantage per round, making them death machines very quickly, and losing the stack was often deadly. This might be a good change, but it removes some of the tactical aspects of the gameplay.
-Very good new skill usage rules, with plenty of examples. Most excellent.
-The book needs some serious proofreading before it goes to print.
-Removing Dark Deals was a huge mistake, we’ll be using that mechanic in our table forever, it’s such a good way for the gm to introduce more challenges, provide clues and hooks etc.
-Mutations don’t trigger instantly anymore. Unfortunately the alternative mutations table from Enemy in Shadows Companion book wasn’t included, it’s vastly superior.
-Resolve and resilience are gone. And that a good thing.
-All in all, the book has a lot of tools, rules and tables, especially for the GM. Our table won’t change from 4e to 5e during this campaign, but we’ll be using a lot of material from the new book, and we’ll start our net campaign sometime in the next year with the 5e. - u/VilleKivanen
Overall having had a look over it with two of my groups in detail today I would say I do have generally positive feelings on 5th Edition both as a GM and Player overall although there are something’s I feel are lacking and sad to see gone.
I do like most of the talent changes, the momentum system, the changes to how corruption is gained for the most part, the changes to the meta currencies into just Fate and Fortune to keep easier track of them, how you advance skills and gain talents now in your career as well as the additions they made to the between adventures rules. Most of the changes make the game flow easier I do feel during play.
Overall, I am quite happy on my end with the new book and I do feel it will be decently easy to move from one edition to another but I hope they do provide some more FAQ's after the release to address some of the interactions particularly with the other content in 4th and how some books like the Dwarf and High Elf Players guides will interact with the new core. - u/philipbv
Finally, for those preferring a deep-dive video review Dungeons & Dyslexia has you covered this week.
Overall a lot of good first looks and impressions, with plenty more to coming in trhe days ahead as players both get a chance to examine it more closely- as well as put it into play at their table.
RPG Bestsellers
Bookwriters get their New York Times bestseller lists, so why shouldn’t we enjoy the same thing? While we don’t have any aggregated sales lists, we can use DriveThruRPG’s top-seller list as a reasonable barometer- and here’s this week’s snapshot!
Warhammer RPG Titles in the Top 200:
#2 (-1) Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Fifth Edition Core Rulebook
#18 (-4). Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Sylvania: The Cursed County
#103 (-10). Wrath & Glory: Core Rulebook
#114 (-26). Wrath & Glory: Lex Imperialis
#148 (+6). Imperium Maledictum: Core Rulebook
Total Books in Top 200: 5 (-1)
With the Cosmere RPG hitting PDF this week, their offerings dominated the top ten. Still, it was nice to see the Fifth Edition Core Rulebook holding steady, and indeed at time of writing it appears to have reclaimed the summit1.
Talagaad Adventures slipped from the Top 200 this week, but most of the others remained relatively steady.
ICYMI
Careless Conjuration’s series, GM’s Guide to the Enemy Within, covered Chapters 4-5 of the campaign. This series aims to make running the campaign smoother for GM’s, pulling together disjointed parts of the adventure as well as drawing on their own experience at having done so, and makes for very interesting reading.
Awesome Lies, meanwhile, posted some bonus content shared by Salzenmund: City of Salt and Silver author Simon Wileman: the plans for Salzenmund Castle!
Miniature Realms took a dive into the worldbuilding side of things, asking “is the new lore working?”
Finally, more broadly RPG related is this piece from Nerd Ogre I found interesting, which examines the cost of RPG PDF’s.
Coming Attractions
Here’s a list of the known upcoming physical releases from Cubicle 7 based on the available preorder information we have. Note that Cubicle 7’s own delivery estimates appear to be just that- estimates- which is why many products have an upcoming delivery listed for Q1 while we’re already past that.
This section will be updated weekly in this column, with new or updated info presented in boldface.
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Warhammer Fantasy Map Bundle 1 (July 2026)
Limited Edition Warhammer Fantasy Map Bundle 2 (July 2026)
Shipping Q4
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Temple of Spite (Q4)
Shipping Spring 2027
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Core Rulebook (standard hardcover)
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Core Rulebook (collector’s edition)
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Character Sheets
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Reikland Dice Set
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Monsters & Adversaries Deck
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Conditions & Injuries Deck
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Reikland Map
Shipping 2027
Sylvania: The Cursed County
Shipping Q4
Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Starter Set (Q4)
Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Screen (Q4)
Shipping 2027
Talagaad Adventures
Shipping Q1
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Dark Gifts Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Spells Lore Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Artefacts & Wargear Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Core Rulebook (Standard and Collector’s Edition) (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Bloodwind Spoil Map (Q1)
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Age of Sigmar Map Bundle (July 2026)
Shipping Q1 2027
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound: Champions of Chaos: Carngrad Adventures
Shipping Q4
Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, Adventures in Gilead
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Imperium Maledictum Macharian Sector Map (July 2026)
Shipping Q4
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Collector’s Edition
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Player’s Guide
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Gamemaster’s Guide
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Character Sheet Pad (Q4)
Undated
(Nothing at this time)
Thanks for reading, and happy gaming!
I typically check the standings for this piece on Thursday evenings, for consistency’s sake
Interesting article! Also points for the Short Circuit reference :) Since I’m new to Warhammer fantasy rpgs, I’m torn between getting a game going with 5e or the old world… or Soulbound. It’s good to have options.
Always a great read!