I got a chance to try the game last night for a little bit. It was awesome!
We had three players and the DM (who owned the core box as well as the toolkit). Our DM was well-prepared, and had familiarized himself thoroughly with the rules, though he hadn't yet run or played the game. Two of the players had no exposure to the game before we sat down, and the third was myself, who had previously read most of the PDF of the main rulebook.
We only had about three and a half hours, and we spent the first two making characters and figuring stuff out, the DM explaining how things worked and such.
We randomly rolled for race, and did the "draw three careers and pick one" method of making characters. The other two guys ended up with a Human Bright Wizard Apprentice and a Dwarf Smuggler, and I ended up with a Wood Elf Thief. We picked the Glory Hounds party card.
The DM launched us right into the adventure that comes in the box, and we got to play for about an hour and a half. There was one combat that we got to, and we made a few other incidental skill checks.
The characters were awesome, the action cards were really cool, and there were tons to choose from. All of the game components were well-made and gorgeous, and the system was very interesting, exciting, and smooth to play. Lots of neat, innovative stuff going on under the hood, and plenty of opportunity for both tactical complexity as well as support for narrative play.
I really enjoyed character creation, and the combat was very fun and easy. Everyone seemed to get the rules pretty quickly, and nothing felt confusing or overly complicated. The unique dice pools for task resolution were VERY cool, and much less difficult than they might seem on paper. That aspect of the system seemed brilliant and new and wonderful to me.
We barely scratched the surface of the game, but I was highly enchanted by it. There's a lot of depth to it mechanically, as well as a rich support for role-playing and storytelling opportunities that I think is often buried or pushed aside by more restrictive gamist elements in many other RPGs. But even for crunch-loving powergamers, the robustness of the tactical options available (especially the wealth of talent and action cards, and the way they work together) is sure to delight.
I want to play this game again, and often. I think it definitely retains a strong Warhammer feel, even though it is very different from prior editions of WFRP. The system is innovative, both simple and complex (each in very good ways). I found it quite elegant, and the "bits" were great as well. They enhanced and facilitated play nicely, and didn't get in the way. The whole game as presented just worked together fantastically well, and was, as a complete experience, just a really great time.
All of us had a lot of fun with our brief exposure to the game, and I, for one, will absolutely be investing my money into this new product line.
I recommend the new Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay without reservation.
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