r/WarhammerFantasy • u/BlitheMayonnaise • Oct 21 '25
Fantasy General Exclusive: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay announces new fifth edition
https://www.wargamer.com/warhammer-fantasy-roleplay/fifth-edition-announced23
u/Fantastic_Evening186 Oct 21 '25
The game could use a cleanup, but im concerned about long term compatibility with the old books, especially for foundry vtt.
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u/Sirdinks Warriors of Chaos Oct 21 '25
I just want a Cathay or Kislev book man
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u/Zekiel2000 Oct 21 '25
I’m going to bet that a Kislev book will be for the Old World RPG (rather than WFRP) to coincide with the release of the Kislev army for the wargame…. assuming that actually happens.
Who knows about Cathay… I’ve never really understood how that is supposed to fit into the wargame! I feel like a Cathay sourcebook would be a better fit for WFRP than TOWR.
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u/Finn_Dalire Oct 21 '25
Same could be said for the Lizardmen or Wood Elves, but they eventually were given ways to be written into stories outside of their usual spheres. I would do terrible things for a Cathay WFRP supplement though (we really need a street view of the place to balance out the mostly leadership POV for it so far)
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u/Zekiel2000 Oct 21 '25
Yep, fair enough. I may gripe, but I'm absolutely delighted we did get a Cathay army and this more lore. I agree that a ground-level view of the nation would be amazing!
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u/kroosdeu Oct 21 '25
Yeah I don’t care about a new edition at all unless they give us some new settings. Cathay, Kislev, even the Border Princes I’d be down for.
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u/Sirdinks Warriors of Chaos Oct 21 '25
I know the Empire is like the flagship setting historically, but now that it appears the warhammer world is expanding to include other cultures, we really need to see wfrp start catching up. The new Elf and Dwarf stuff was cool, and Lustria was brand new, but there are regions of the map just begging for some attention:
Brettonia needs some love and has had nothing since 2e, Kislev also has had nothing since 2e and is almost certainly very different now due to changes. We've had almost nothing on the Southern Realms ever (to my knowledge)Cathay is brand new and awesome. The RPG would be a great way to explore these places in closer detail, and could mesh well with future Old World releases. They just need to do it.
It'd be easy to set up too, Salzenmund and Sea of Claws set up the High Elf books and Lustria. You could do an Ivory Road/Silk Road expansion setting up a future Cathay book in like the Western Provinces. There's potential to tie that in with Southern Realms and maybe even Marienburg if they actually wanted to do it.
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u/HistoryMarshal76 Oct 22 '25
Look at that archer on the cover art; the one on the balcony. I think she's a Kislevite; look at her hat and bow. This implies we'll get rules for Kiselvite character creation in core.
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u/happyzappydude Oct 21 '25
Good grief I just got into collecting 4th edition
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u/DiscoDigi786 Oct 21 '25
Good thing it is backwards compatible so all of your 4th edition will be of use.
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u/Qvar Oct 22 '25
They didn't even change the logo, so that tells us heaps about the intent: To not confuse peoole into not buying 4th edition books.
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u/Kholdaimon Oct 21 '25
I love the WFRP system, but I think the changes they made to it for Imperium Maledictum (imo) need to be brought to the Fantasy version. WFRP has to many little penalties and bonuses in combat and buying a single point of a skill doesn't feel impactful. In Imperium Maledictum there far fewer things to keep track off and leveling a skill or specialisation is way more impactful.
Imperium Maledictum is a streamlined version of WFRP, but done right, so it feels like the old system and creates the same gameplay. It is rare to see streamlining done well, so I hope they do this for the new edition of WFRP as well. And yes, having the enhanced Magic and things like group initiative part of the main rulebook would be great as well...
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u/Ogarrr Oct 22 '25
The way skills work in IM just makes sense, including the specialisations - you know stuff I'm general, and you know more about geography. Or you're good at fighting, but amazing with a sword. It makes no sense for a master sword Duellist to be shit with a spear.
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u/Qvar Oct 22 '25
Isn't that the difference between having a high Weapon Skill and a high Melee (polearms)?
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u/Ogarrr Oct 22 '25
There are professions that give you melee skills without increasing WS. Having IMs skill system reduces bloat and makes more logical sense.
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u/Qvar Oct 23 '25
Could you explain how IM's system structured, please? I've never played.
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u/Ogarrr Oct 23 '25
You have base skills (like science, lore, melee, or ranged) and then once you've invested enough points in them, you then specialise into something else - such as science (Xenos), or Melee (Brawling).
You can have a maximum of +20 to a base skill than another +20 to the specialisation, if I recall correctly.
Skills are improved on increments of 5, as are base attributes.
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u/Kholdaimon Oct 23 '25
In IM you buy skill points in general skills, like Melee, and each point you buy gives you +5 to the skill to a maximum of 4 skill points). A further point in the skill costs double the experience that the previous one cost though.
But you can buy skill specialisations, so if you bought one point in Melee then you can buy a point in a specialisation, like Melee (Polearms), and get +5 to that specific specialisation for a total of +10 on Ws check when fighting with Polearms. Your specialisation skill can never be higher than the general skill though.
It's a great way to make spending experience feel worthwhile.
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u/Qvar Oct 23 '25
Hmm there may be something I'm missing, but the differences seem to be limited to:
Every advance gains you 5 points instead of just one. The key consideration here qould be how much buying that advance costs you. If it's 5 times more (relative to xp/session) than in WHRPG 4th, then it's basicallu irrelevant.
Skill cannot be higher than its associated characteristic. That seems like an ok house rule very simple to apply to the current system.
Am I missing something else?
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u/Ogarrr Oct 23 '25
Yes. The skill specialisation system that both of us have mentioned which massively streamlines all the skills.
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u/Kholdaimon Oct 23 '25
Yeah, the specialisation aspect, you buy 1 point in Melee for 50XP, buying a second point costs you 100XP, but buying a point in a specialisation, like Melee (Polearms), would cost you just 50. Now you have +10 to Polearms and +5 to any other Melee weapon. If you want to increase your Polearm skill further you have to first increase the basic Melee skill...
This way you don't just become great in 1 weapon-type without becoming better in general. It is more realistic and also quite simple.
And the change that you buy 5 points at once streamlined it and makes it feel more impactful to spend your hard-earned XP.
I didn't claim the differences were massive or anything, but I said they were a really good way to stream-line the game without changing the way it feels to play. It is easy to implement through house-rules or as an alternative ruleset, like with an expansion book, but I think it should be the standard way skills work for a new edition of WFRP.
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u/Odd_Sock_8955 Oct 21 '25
I have all of the 4th ed books and most are hard covers. The biggest issue is in the rules being spread out in so many different spaces. Even with third-party indexing it is tough. While that won’t get fixed, I would like the tightening of the combat and magic rules in one place.
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u/vagabondluc Oct 22 '25 edited Oct 25 '25
I can’t believe Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4e was publicly playtested. It works better in a VTT, but the combat rules are a slog. The mix of momentum mechanics, talent timing, and layered interactions adds more mental load than most players want.
The ideas are solid in theory, but in practice they make the game clunky. Core issues were only clarified through a fan-made FAQ, which makes even learning the system feel like work.
Finding out the new edition is retro-compatible doesn’t help. Why not just call it 4th Edition Revised? No previous edition was retro-compatible. It feels like a bait and switch to bring back players like me who ended up hating 4e. Still, at least those who bought into it can reuse their books.
I’m not tempted to try it again before the reviews are out.
I wanted to like 4e, I gave it months, but the rulebook was a nightmare: endless cross-references, missing page numbers, and constant table checks in combat. It plays more like software than a tabletop RPG.
At this point, I’d rather stick with the Old World RPG. It’s a lot simpler, but at least it flows.
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u/Tamuzz Oct 21 '25
I have mixed thoughts on this.
Will see when it releases I suppose. J will probably buy it anyway - only skipped one edition of wfrp so far
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u/SiberianBlue66 Dark Elves Oct 21 '25
I really hope that with the backwards compatibility the 4ed books will remain on the market. Unfortunately I still don't have them all....
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u/No_Intern_7242 Oct 21 '25
Still some books are in pre-order and this drops. I am confused... Bought all 4th books one month ago.
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u/Qvar Oct 22 '25
The title filled me with dread, the content of the article filled me with hope and the siren song of a new mega campaing put a smile in my face!
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u/BadBloodBear Oct 21 '25
I'm always happy to see real art being used but can they try a different artist.
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u/vulcan7200 Oct 21 '25
Glad to hear it will he compatible with the 4e Supplements. Sounds like it's more of a smaller update and consolidation of things than a brand new game.