The PDF for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 5E is out in the wild!

Cubicle 7's new version of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was announced in late 2025. Timed to coincide with the game's 40th anniversary, 5th Edition is now available for pre-order from Cubicle 7. And if you pre-order it now, you get the PDF immediately! Alternatively, you can simply buy the PDF from DriveThruRPG.

The classic British fantasy TTRPG launched in 1986 by Games Workshop. Over the years it has been published by Hogshead Publishing, Green Ronin, Fantasy Flight Games, and--currently--Cubicle 7, who launched 4th Edition back in 2018 along with a re-release of the iconic The Enemy Within campaign. The game is set in a 'grimdark' fantasy setting called the 'Old World', with various regions very loosely based on countries in the Middle Ages. One of the game's predominant themes is the battle against Chaos, as represented by beastmen, mutated ratmen (Skaven), and dark cults.

Cubicle 7's CEO Dominic McDowall, in an interview with Wargamer, indicated that this 5th Edition will be backwards compatible with 4th edition, retaining the classic d100 system, and set in a similar time period. There will be a conversion document of sorts, but most older material will be usable with ease.

The hardcover will not ship until Spring 2027, but the PDF is available now to those who pre-order.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

For whatever reason, Wizards of the Coast are reluctant to put any identifiers on D&D, beyond the D&D name itself. It was the same with 5.0: the playtest was called "Dungeons & Dragons Next" and when the final rules were published they were adamant that it was just "Dungeons & Dragons". I haven't scoured the PHB on this particular topic, but I think the only place "fifth edition" is mentioned is on the back cover, where it says "When you're ready for even more, expand your adventures with the fifth edition Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual."

I’d think it is due to D&D not wanting to tank the sales of it’s existing 5E product line by calling it an edition change.

Cubicle 7’s fan base are likely to be bigger RPG fans and be across the nuances of the edition changes, whereas D&D would have a lot more casual players.

 

[SkidAce]

Many of the spell effects are altered with more damage or other factors changed. The Backgrounds, Feats and the approach to character generation are different. The Classes are different with many getting boosted significantly in power and there are differences in Species/Races beyond then name change. Weapon Masteries are different. Equipment interaction is different. Monster design is different with higher average stats.

These are more significant changes than has happened in many other games edition changes. I find it barely compatible with the rules used in DnD 2014. I can however, use the rules used for Warhammer Fantasy 5th edition with 4th edition material as the changes are streamlining mechanics rather than changing the balance of character abilities.

Could you clarify how Equipment interaction is different? I hadnt noticed that yet.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Could you clarify how Equipment interaction is different? I hadnt noticed that yet.

It is in the way you Utilise items with actions.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

Are you actually confused?

In his defense even I thought initially "Oh no, why would they do that..." from the headline. Then I read the post. Didn't happen when VTM 5th edition came out, probably for two reasons: "5th" is not used with D&D much while 5E is, and that was announced before the WotC IP crossworlds program. So for just a second I assumed this was a crossworlds announcement....

 

[DEFCON 1]

In his defense even I thought initially "Oh no, why would they do that..." from the headline. Then I read the post. Didn't happen when VTM 5th edition came out, probably for two reasons: "5th" is not used with D&D much while 5E is, and that was announced before the WotC IP crossworlds program. So for just a second I assumed this was a crossworlds announcement....

Yeah, exactly... like it or not, the term '5E' is has now become pretty much synonymous with the Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition game engine that many companies are building their roleplaying games around. So if I see '5E', I automatically assume it is a game using said engine too.

If it is actually merely the fifth version of a bespoke RPG... using the fully-written term of '5th Edition' or 'Fifth Edition' makes it more likely to be understood as that game's fifth version and not just a D&D engine-adjacent product.

Now granted, as Doctor Futurity said... it doesn't take long to disabuse oneself of the potential misinterpretation by just reading the article of whatever headline uses the term '5E'... but I would be curious if that term would make some people just immediately click away from the article because they are that disinterested in the D&D 5E game engine. But then again... even if they did, would it really matter?

 

[TheSword]

Yeah, exactly... like it or not, the term '5E' is has now become pretty much synonymous with the Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition game engine that many companies are building their roleplaying games around. So if I see '5E', I automatically assume it is a game using said engine too.

If it is actually merely the fifth version of a bespoke RPG... using the fully-written term of '5th Edition' or 'Fifth Edition' makes it more likely to be understood as that game's fifth version and not just a D&D engine-adjacent product.

Now granted, as Doctor Futurity said... it doesn't take long to disabuse oneself of the potential misinterpretation by just reading the article of whatever headline uses the term '5E'... but I would be curious if that term would make some people just immediately click away from the article because they are that disinterested in the D&D 5E game engine. But then again... even if they did, would it really matter?

I suspect more people would click in rather than click off.