Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition

So it looks like WHFRP is getting a new edition. You can find the seminar about it on the FFG site here- http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/wfrp/3_media/wfrp3seminar....

One thing that has me excited is that the basic game is being released in an old-school boxed format. Yeah, I know it's weird to get excited about that but back when I got in to gaming (he says while waving his cane) this is how most games were released. Of course, it looks like this is being done in order to keep from releasing a 900 page book that only one person can use at a time. They're breaking up information into elements that different people can read and use at the same time. For example, the careers are included on large cards so that you could just keep in the information next to you without having to have the whole book open. They also have cards for keeping track of conditions of your characters. I really like this idea. I'm already a big fan of having the character class cards for D&D4. Having it threre from the beginning would be great.

It looks like the card system is brought into every area of the game where it would fit (combat, insanity, wounds etc).

Another interesting element... is that they are making the party itself something of a character. At least, the party can have abilities and skills that are tracked on a sheet. It also tracks inter-party conflict. It also helps define exactly what kind of group that you are. I don't thnk that I've ever seen the party codified in this way in an RPG before.

I'm actually watching the seminar as I type this.. and I'm seeing more and more elements that remind me of the D&D4 revamp. I don't think that it's exactly the same, but the feel of the kinds of changes that they're making move in that direction. What I'm seeing is more influence from both board games and MMOs being brought into the tabletop rpg space here. I certainly don't consider this a bad thing. It's just that we're starting to see an evolution of RPG design. If anything it feels like there's going to be a lot of things to learn about the new system up front for the GM, but playing it should be pretty streamlined for the players with all of the handy reference cards and such.

One thing that I can see being a hurdle for players of the old systems is that they seem to have abanoned the old dice system entirely in favor of a new picture-dice pool system. Again, this is bringing board-game sensibility into an RPG. I'm a lover of clever dice mechanics, so this is another area that I find interesting and potentially cool. It's a dice pool system that brings in different colored dice for different aspects of the challenge that you're trying to accompish (green dice for your stat, yellow for your skill green if you're going conservative, red if your being reckless, and even a die for difficulty. What I really like about the way this is presented is that the dice become more than just a pass/fail system... they provide more ways to help visualize the why and how of overcoming obstacles - providing players with more information for roleplaying. This is kind of amazing and something that the new D&D is lacking. I'm thinking that one of the potential downsides of this system is that players (and the GM) will be more inclined to try to decipher the dice on every roll even when you just need a pass/fail... simply because you can. This could bog things down.

Well, I just finished the seminar and I must say that I'm excited. Every time I think that I might be done with RPGs something like this appears and I get excited all over again. I really want to try this one out.

Oh, and before you ask it looks like the main set is going to be something that you'll want to get your whole RPG group to chip in for. It's $100. Of course, that includes everything that you would get in D&D4's first three books (and more, since you don't pay for the hardcovers).

Ooh.. I was expecting to read that this wasn't coming until some time next year, but it looks to be releasing this fall.

Here's the FAQ - http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/wfrp/warhammer-fantasy-rol...

And the official product web page - http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=93

Alternate views or opinions?