[UPDATED - With Cubicle 7] Games Workshop Concluding Deal For Licensing Rights To Warhammer Fantasy

Either Cubicle 7 or Modiphius.

 

[Jer]

This will be a hard sell as the first inclination of a publisher with a new edition is to redo all the core stuff.

Although the trend right now is nostalgia, and Cubicle 7 is a British company. Just like 5e D&D was a reversion back to prior editions of the game I could see a new edition of WHFRP reverting back to something more like a mix of 1st and 2nd edition to try to get the folks who checked out for FFG's 3rd edition back on board. It would follow current trends to take those 2nd edition rules, trim then down and modernize them even more, and then release it with an art design that evokes the first edition of the game to entice skeptics to pick it up.

 

[fritsk]

Although the trend right now is nostalgia, and Cubicle 7 is a British company. Just like 5e D&D was a reversion back to prior editions of the game I could see a new edition of WHFRP reverting back to something more like a mix of 1st and 2nd edition to try to get the folks who checked out for FFG's 3rd edition back on board. It would follow current trends to take those 2nd edition rules, trim then down and modernize them even more, and then release it with an art design that evokes the first edition of the game to entice skeptics to pick it up.

Yup, but will we see any new content, or just rehashes of what has been done 3 times already?

 

[bsmith]

WFRP4 will be drastically different from 1st, 2nd and 3rd editions reflecting both the new licensees approach to game design (which by all accounts is good) but more drastically by GWs current Sigmarine setting (which has had a mixed reception) and all the new fluff and content that offers. I can hear the WFRP grognards baulking already!


I doubt GW granted the license with the intention of resurrecting their original (and best IHMO) Old World setting, but to sit along side their Age of Sigmar setting to open a new sales avenue to sell their stock of minis to (i.e. those who like to RPG with figures and battle maps) and also as a gateway to cross sell their core WFB game.


ZWEIHÄNDER is being released this year and my money is heading there instead.

 

[ilsundal]

Also vote for Old World setting, not Age of Sigmar. I fully trust C7 to make an excellent game engine that fully captures the "grim and perilous" mood (and finally frees us from the percentage-based skills of the 1st and 2nd edition).

 

[ilsundal]

Btw, could C7 run this as a kickstarter? Probably unlikely... but it could be really great for fans to be closer to the project. I also think this would make a better final product.

 

[Morrus]

Btw, could C7 run this as a kickstarter? Probably unlikely... but it could be really great for fans to be closer to the project. I also think this would make a better final product.

I know that GW don't usually let their licensees use KS.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I know that GW don't usually let their licensees use KS.

Also, I do not remember C7 doing any of their game lines on Kickstarter, or at least none of the higher profile, licensed stuff.

 

[Emirikol]

Great news. Im looking forward to writing scenarios again.

Jay H

 

[Parmandur]

Could they make OGL Warhammer D&D, or would that be a step too far?

 

[Morrus]

Could they make OGL Warhammer D&D, or would that be a step too far?

A licensee doesn't have the authority to designate it's licensor's IP as open content. GW itself would need to sign off on that, and that ain't gonna happen!

 

[Parmandur]

A licensee doesn't have the authority to designate it's licensor's IP as open content. GW itself would need to sign off on that, and that ain't gonna happen!

Well, no, I just mean make a 5E compatible Warhammer RPG, as they did with LotR.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I note that the license seems to be just for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and not for the 40KRPG lines.

What this indicates to me is that Cubicle is very much catering for a very British, long time fan favourite (although gamers from the rest of the world can like it too!). WFRP - or 'wuffrup' as it is sometimes called - has built up a pretty big cult following in the UK over the years. This would very much compliment the Cubicle 7 style as well as their other titles, like Doctor Who and The One Ring - whereas I kinda feel that the 40K stuff has a slightly different market somehow, and has run it's course a little too. WFRP, with it's slightly more humorous tone has more lasting appeal.

I don't think they need to do much development on what has already been done before, although I'd like to see the 1st Edition stuff - especially The Enemy Within Campaign - made available again. But 2nd edition was a highly polished system, while 3rd edition gave it's all for experimental design already. I could see their being an attempt to make a 5E version, but it would be tricky to reconcile D&Ds Class system with WFRPs career-path system without losing some of the flavour. The actual game in play would be fine though.

 

[Abhi5_5]

I am fascinated by this awesome news and really look forward to see the new WFRP developed under the capable hands of C7. But, I will prefer that it won't get destroyed by a 5e conversion. WFR in all its iterations had this very realistic career path system where you can choose to be rat-catcher and somehow survive enough to become a toll-taker at best (maybe even better or worse). I have yet see D&D 5e show this kind of progression properly. Not only that, WFR had an elaborate wound system with hit location and damage reduction, where 5e still follows the AC to calculate hits. In WFR you could lose your arm, eye or be maimed quite badly, something that I don't find in the 5e hp system. Lastly the specific 'winds of magic' spellcasting system shows clearly different mode of risk-management which absolutely doesn't go with the current modified spellslot magic system 5e has.

I am not against 5e which is a very successful system but it is more for a heroic feel rather than an authentic 'Grim-dark' feel. A Priest of Sigmar having an AC of 18 will never falter while standing in front of a gibbering rotting plague bearing demon of Nurgle. So I definitely want a new WFRP game but please by Sigmar's Twin tailed comet, don't make it a 5e game. It will ruin the WFRP old world.

 

[bsmith]

I could see their being an attempt to make a 5E version, but it would be tricky to reconcile D&Ds Class system with WFRPs career-path system without losing some of the flavour. The actual game in play would be fine though.

I agree with a wider mechanics disparity between WFRP1/2/3 and D&D, and trying to combine these would lose aspects which actually appealed to WFRP gamers. However the setting flavour of the Old World has already been lost with GWs new fantasy setting Age of Sigmar. This latter point is more the travesty to those who knew it as it was.

So I definitely want a new WFRP game but please by Sigmar's Twin tailed comet, don't make it a 5e game. It will ruin the WFRP old world.

GW already ruined their Old World with the End Times leading to the Age of Sigmar. I can see that the size of the 5E D&D market is bigger than those who were in the WFRP1/2/3 market and the former make more business sense for the licencee to concentrate on.


Why do some people think WFRP4 will be set in Old World setting and reusing previously published content? GW want the old fantasy setting forgotten, dead and in Morr's realm so supporting any spin-offs that keep it alive (or undead) go against pleasing the shareholders.

 

[Will Doyle]

Why do some people think WFRP4 will be set in Old World setting and reusing previously published content? GW want the old fantasy setting forgotten, dead and in Morr's realm so supporting any spin-offs that keep it alive (or undead) go against pleasing the shareholders.

Their approach to licensing doesn't seem to support that view at present though. See "Warhammer: Total War": released after Age of Sigmar, rooted in the Old World setting, with plenty of expansion packs scheduled.

 

[bsmith]

Their approach to licensing doesn't seem to support that view at present though. See "Warhammer: Total War": released after Age of Sigmar, rooted in the Old World setting, with plenty of expansion packs scheduled.

That may appear true, but if you consider the legal stuff, announcements and production timelines the "Warhammer: Total War" rolling stone was probably already in motion before Age of Sigmar blighted the lives of the Old World fans. Now that they have Age of Sigmar, any *new* thing they licence is likely to be in their new setting. Why would they do otherwise?

 

[trystero]

Also, I do not remember C7 doing any of their game lines on Kickstarter, or at least none of the higher profile, licensed stuff.

World War Cthulhu, Cthulhu Britannica, and Lone Wolf Adventure Game were all Kickstarted C7 lines, and all three are licensed. But I expect that Chaosium and Joe Dever (RIP) had less-restrictive licensing terms than GW does.

 

[JeffB]

rehashes of what has been done 3 times already?

Works for the 5e business model it seems.

 

[Maggan]

I'd be very surprised, and somewhat disappointed, if it turned out to be Warhammer Age of Sigmar Roleplay.

Why I think they will go with The Old World and v2 as the basis:

1. Cuts out developing time. Quicker launch possible.
2. Nostalgia is popular. There few more nostalgic than WFRP fans.
3. Instant fan base. An Age of Sigmar RPG would be a new game, so no "free" customers. If it would be Age of Sigmar, lots and lots of people would be very disappointed, and the game would have an instant uphill battle to win the hearts of WFRP players.
4. People at Cubicle7 worked on WFRPv2. So it would be an easy thing to pick up again.
5. Massive brand power. As massive as it can be in the RPG world. Not something you would want to throw away.
6. GW hedging their bets. If they license WFRP Old World, that IP will be further developed. If Age of Sigmar tanks, then they could reboot the Old World, since it's been kept alive.

 

[CapnZapp]

I know nothing about Age of Sigmar (other than, I guess you could adventure in, duh, the age of Sigmar), so for me the question would be "what do you mean they will go with The Old World? As if there are any other Warhammer worlds...?"