Warhammer: The Old World RPG Offers A New Take On The Empire

An easy way in for people less familiar with the lore.
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The Warhammer brand is one of the few gaming IPs that has a similar cultural cache to Dungeons & Dragons. It has decades of lore that span multiple games and eras of the world. Celebrities have started to discuss painting (or neglecting) their armies. When Games Workshop released the Warhammer: The Old World miniatures game early in 2024, they wanted a fresh take on the setting that would appeal to potential customers who are new to the grim setting.

Warhammer: The Old World The Roleplaying Game, from Cubicle 7, looks to do the same on the RPG side of things. The game boasts a fresh take on the classic setting with a streamlined system meant for fast play. Cubicle 7 gave me access to an advanced PDF of the Player’s Guide for this article and allowed me to ask some questions of the design team.

“We wanted people less familiar with the lore to have an easy way in,” said Dominic McDowall, Game Designer and CEO/co-founder of Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd, “so each character has contacts. Your contacts give you advice or assistance, and also ground your character with background elements that tell you how you fit in. Besides that, we also designed the game to be easy to get your head around - simple to learn, and with a satisfying breadth and depth using those core principles”

“We considered how to make the game as accessible as possible at every step of development,” said Pádraig Murphy, Senior Producer at Games Workshop. “Even if you don’t know the name of every god or have a map of the Empire memorised, you will find the game invites you in. As Dom mentioned, contacts work really well for this. Focusing on one town, the port of Talagaad, also allowed us to show off the setting without immediately overwhelming new players and GMs. All of the depth of the setting is there once you’re ready for it, of course — this is Warhammer after all.”

Warhammer: The Old World The Roleplaying Game is set a few hundred years before its older darker sibling. Things have not gone to Hell in a handbasket like they have in Warhammer Fantasy Role Play, but you can see the basket in the process of being woven. Chaos cults and magical anomalies might be more rare but there’s still plenty of conflict in the air. There is no clear leader ready to lead the empire, which means all the city states are jockeying for power. Its through the cracks caused by these rivalries that Chaos begins to take hold.

Elements of the new game will seem familiar to fans that have played the original. The stats and skills are more or less the same. Characters still are built through class-like careers and encouraged to roll for random elements. While the company spins up content for this new line, it seems like it wouldn’t be too difficult to convert some of the more low key adventures of Warhammer Fantasy Role Play to use with this game.

“The ratcatcher was non-negotiable!” said McDowall. “One of the things that’s always important for us is capturing the feel of the setting we’re working on and reflecting that through our design choices.”

Combat and magic remain dangerous propositions. As players take injuries and summon unknowable power, they rack up a dice pool that’s rolled on a chart filled with the sort of awfulness expected in a Warhammer game. These dice can be disarmed if time is taken to bind wounds and discharge those energies but they can also quickly stack up during a battle and cause some unpleasant moments for player characters.

“We knew we wanted the possibility for players to suffer a grisly injury or two!” said Murphy. “We also wanted to keep the idea of degrees of success, and to make sure players had a chance to roll some dice when they were attacked to parry a blow or dive out of the way. Beyond that, the star of the show for me is the setting — the World of Legend is such a rich and rewarding world to explore, both as a developer and a player.”

Characters are given pieces that connect them to the setting and let them learn about it at their own pace. They get contacts, relationships and assets like businesses or holdings. These aren’t the amoral drifters expected to steal a dead man’s identity to kick off a grand campaign. These characters have homes, jobs and people they care about and, hopefully, fight for.

Which isn’t to say that this game is Warhammer: Animal Crossing. The players are linked by a Grim Portent which shows them the grave future that lurks in the dark spaces of the world. Perhaps they saw a Chaos ritual on the edge of their little town. Maybe they were drawn to a cursed location by a friend who didn’t make it out alive. They know that something's rotten in the Old World and they’ve got to stop it, whether for the greater good or simply to save their own skins.

“It’s a new take on a classic setting,” said Murphy, “with a snappy system and dynamic combat. It’s a great and accessible way to get your friends into a Warhammer Roleplaying Game if they’re not familiar with the setting, or if they aren’t normally into roleplaying games.”

“It's a great opportunity to explore a new era with its own flavour too,” said McDowell. “The new take on familiar elements mixes things up in ways you might not expect. Don’t take Sigmar’s ascendency for granted - invoking his name outside of the Reikland can land you in deep trouble if the witch hunters have recently rolled through town!”

Warhammer: The Old World The Roleplaying Game is due for a physical release in Q1 of 2026. Fans who pre-order the game can get access to early PDFs as they are completed.
 

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Rob Wieland

Rob Wieland


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On the flip side, I’m not a fan of the simplification. I like WFRP 4e’s crunch level and granularity once Group Advantage is adopted. I want more skills not less. I want a nuanced social system. I want quirky spellcasting.

I probably won’t get the base rules but will definitely be getting any adventures they release to convert to 4e.

I'm the opposite. 4e was too much (would've been fine if I was 30 years younger but I ain't). Simplification might get me back in. However despite being a WFRP diehard, I'm struggling to get excited by this.
 


Would like to hear why a new system? why it matters and the mechanics of difference, does it change anything or is it just a gimmick? Warhammer (to me) has always been about the world, the detail, the quirkiness, the dark and grim nature and over the years I have found a lot of material to just be republished from older material like Warhammer Fantasy Battle or White Dwarf. There is nothing bad about that, some would call it continuity but would love to see the new material and places, which may be directions this is going but show me the reasons why.
WFRP 4e is simply too complex for many people and it isn't helped that the core book feels a bit rushed with some things like monster building getting dropped in order to fit everything into one core book. It is hard to cross-reference related rules in core book and then you add in the complete change ("fix" is how must players see it) to magic in a separate book, and the love of the system for increasing rules complexity but scattering subsystems across many books, some of them in adventures. It can get unwieldy without digital tools and is very intimidating for many players.

I love WFRP 4e but it certainly had a learning curve. I played Soul Bound at a convention and appreciated the streamlined mechanics. If the Old World is taking a similar approach to Soul Bound but dialing down the PC power, I would be interested in it. I have so much invested in WFRP 4e that I'm unlikely to buy a whole different system in the same setting (even if set earlier in time). Also, I'm in the middle of a campaign that will likely last almost another two years.

I am looking forward to trying to play a session or two at Gamehole Con later this year.
Wait, what? They're trying to do Warhammer Fantasy without the skaven? Good lord, why? That's like cereal without mil
I like the way that movement and range works. It was a system borrowed from Imperium Maledictum. The scene is split into zones so a combat in might have four zones - the tap room floor, behind the bar, the balcony and the kitchen. Weapon ranges are sorted by zones, so is movement. If you’re in the same zone you can attack in melee and then become engaged with that combatant. It basically allows for much easier theatre of the mind combat and smaller scale maps than the 1” grid.
I also liked that. I run WFRP 4e on a VTT, so measuring out distances is simple, but it can still be difficult to remember to change the difficulty based on the range. The Foundry system for WFRP 4e doesn't calculate that for you. If the Old World system has a simple prompt to enter the zone, that would be another nice thing to speed up combat.
On the flip side, I’m not a fan of the simplification. I like WFRP 4e’s crunch level and granularity once Group Advantage is adopted. I want more skills not less. I want a nuanced social system. I want quirky spellcasting.
Yeah, group advantage is the way to go. While I'm comfortable with addressing the social pillar with role playing and simplified, generalized check, I would really miss the risk and uncertainty of magic casting. Are miscasting, critical casting, and malignant influences not used in the Old World?
 

Miscasting definitely is a thing with a chart that includes results from chittering to opening a rift to the Realm of Chaos. Of course, the penultimate effect follows:

Magic overcomes you in a truly spectacular miasma of unnatural energy, ripping your body apart and spreading it over every Zone within Medium Range. You are dead, your body beyond salvation or reanimation, the fate of your soul left to the whims of the Winds of Magic.

Spells have a magnitude set by the number of successes you get on your final spellcasting roll (casting a spell is an extended test that might take multiple actions). That magnitude determines how strong any given spell will be. Sometimes affecting targets, sometimes affecting durations, often affecting damage or other effects.

There's also guidance for improvised magic for each magic lore.
 
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WFRP 4e is simply too complex for many people and it isn't helped that the core book feels a bit rushed with some things like monster building getting dropped in order to fit everything into one core book. It is hard to cross-reference related rules in core book and then you add in the complete change ("fix" is how must players see it) to magic in a separate book, and the love of the system for increasing rules complexity but scattering subsystems across many books, some of them in adventures. It can get unwieldy without digital tools and is very intimidating for many players.

I love WFRP 4e but it certainly had a learning curve. I played Soul Bound at a convention and appreciated the streamlined mechanics. If the Old World is taking a similar approach to Soul Bound but dialing down the PC power, I would be interested in it. I have so much invested in WFRP 4e that I'm unlikely to buy a whole different system in the same setting (even if set earlier in time). Also, I'm in the middle of a campaign that will likely last almost another two years.

I am looking forward to trying to play a session or two at Gamehole Con later this year.
Wait, what? They're trying to do Warhammer Fantasy without the skaven? Good lord, why? That's like cereal without mil

I also liked that. I run WFRP 4e on a VTT, so measuring out distances is simple, but it can still be difficult to remember to change the difficulty based on the range. The Foundry system for WFRP 4e doesn't calculate that for you. If the Old World system has a simple prompt to enter the zone, that would be another nice thing to speed up combat.

Yeah, group advantage is the way to go. While I'm comfortable with addressing the social pillar with role playing and simplified, generalized check, I would really miss the risk and uncertainty of magic casting. Are miscasting, critical casting, and malignant influences not used in the Old World?
So I personally love the complexity of 4e but I enjoy crunchy games, for most of my friends it is a bit to much. I will agree that I hate how you need the magic book and combat book just due to fixes they introduce. BTW what rules are hidden in some of the adventures? I have seen a lot of extras in the companions to the empire with books but not in the actual adventures themselves not to mention splattered in some of the city books. (The completionist in me wants to know.)

Soulbound to me is very simple while at the same time makes each character concept feel fairly unique. OW is not as simple as Soulbound but it is close, my main gripe is with magic. Since the colleges of magic haven't been formed each spell caster doesn't feel as unique. You decide if your an illusionist, an elementalist, a battle mage or a necromancer; anyone who cast battle magic or elemental magic could cast damaging cold spells you don't need to be an ice witch. In addition, the gods are comparatively weak where you can learn a massive 3 "spells" from your god and that's it outside of divine intervention.
 

So I personally love the complexity of 4e but I enjoy crunchy games, for most of my friends it is a bit to much. I will agree that I hate how you need the magic book and combat book just due to fixes they introduce.
I would not have run WFRP4e if it wasn't for the game system for it in Foundry. Now that I'm familiar with it, I would run it pen and paper with self-created quick references, especially for the tables, to avoid the constant page flipping. But I would not run it online without the game system. But having everything digital makes it so much easier, not just the automation (which has its downsides because it is easy to forget about things that are not / can't be automated), but being able to search across all the material at once.
BTW what rules are hidden in some of the adventures? I have seen a lot of extras in the companions to the empire with books but not in the actual adventures themselves not to mention splattered in some of the city books. (The completionist in me wants to know.)
Not I'm not listing whether the rules are in the adventure's main book or the companion book. They come as a package when bought for Foundry, and I'm too lazy to look it up. Road travel rules (including stats for vehicles and animals) in Enemy in Shadows. Trading and river navigation rules (including stats and rules for riverboats) in Death on the Reik come to mind first. Bar game rules and rules for playing Gnomes in Rough Nights and Hard Days. Rules for influence and social networks in Power Behind the Throne. Skaven-specific mechanics in The Horned Rat. Steam tank & armored vehicle rules in The Emperor's Wrath. The adventures and their companion books also have lore-specific spells and addition information on religious and cult politics and campaign-specific miracles.

Soulbound to me is very simple while at the same time makes each character concept feel fairly unique.
Agreed.
OW is not as simple as Soulbound but it is close,
I like that. The main thing I'm interested in checking out is how streamlined combat is. I would love quicker and more streamlined combat but still have interesting tactical choices.
my main gripe is with magic. Since the colleges of magic haven't been formed each spell caster doesn't feel as unique. You decide if your an illusionist, an elementalist, a battle mage or a necromancer; anyone who cast battle magic or elemental magic could cast damaging cold spells you don't need to be an ice witch.
Hmm...not sure how I feel about this. Will need to read the rules and see it in play. Does the system support playing non-humans? Are elves meaningfully differentiated in terms of their magical abilities?
In addition, the gods are comparatively weak where you can learn a massive 3 "spells" from your god and that's it outside of divine intervention.
So are blessings and miracles replaced with spells? Are strictures and sin points or something similar used?
 

I have virtually the entire 1e and 2e lines already, and since the lore is far more important to me than the details of the system (1e and 2e played just fine to me), I see no reason to go beyond that. 3e especially had a ton of money-wasting bling from my point of view.
 

This definitely was a problem if you came to the game from Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

I did not and received my setting information from WFRP 1st Edition and along with the system thought every character was meant to be a second away from death by goblin.
That's the way I always played it. I had two 1e PCs turn into Chaos Spawn.
 

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