We’ve fresh art from Warhammer: The Old World to share with you and a short interview from Cubicle 7 boss, Dominic McDowall and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay producer Padraig Murphy below.
Cubicle 7 has launched its latest RPG, Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, with digital copies of the Player’s Guide now available. This is a distinct new entity from the publisher’s popular Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, using a fresh d10 dice pool system and set around 400 years prior in the World of Legend. The game moves away from broad adventure, instead presenting itself as a focused thriller steeped in conspiracy and dread.
Early impressions suggest the game expertly establishes a tone of palpable tension. While sharing the grim and perilous atmosphere of its successor, The Old World is explicitly a thriller, taking place in a leaderless Empire where bitter internal strife has blinded the nobility to the true horrors gathering in the shadows.
The book’s art conveys this theme; one piece depicts a fortified bridge where opposing cannons are aimed at each other across a river, even as a goblin scout, representing the true threat, watches the scene unfold from the safety of the woods. You can see other examples in this post.
A tight focus is a core tenet of the game’s design. The 30 character careers are each presented on a single, clear page, and adventures are firmly centred on the town of Talagaad and its environs, giving characters immediate connections and stakes in the world. Rather than a grand tour of the Empire, player groups are bound together by a “Grim Portent” – a deadly incident that embroils them in a local mystery and pits them against a powerful, hidden foe from whom they cannot simply walk away.
This new game is set around 240 years before the time of Karl Franz that players of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay know so well. What new and exciting story opportunities does this earlier, “leaderless Empire” setting open up for both players and gamemasters?
Quite a few! The Empire is very inward facing just now. The Grand Duchy of Talabec is wary of the Reikland and what they might be up to, Sigismund Ulric doesn’t trust Ludwig XII, and so on. The Vampire Wars were the last great threat to the Empire, and they were settled a century ago. People don’t realise just how precarious a position the Empire is in, and that civil strife is a luxury they can ill afford. So you can have these characters who have glimpsed something like that, realised that there are more Beastmen in the forests than anyone thinks, and they have to deal with that knowledge themselves. It leaves a lot of room for player agency.
You’ve described the game system as a new d10 dice pool, contrasting with the d100 system of WFRP. Could you tell us a bit about the design philosophy behind this change? What sort of play experience are you hoping to create with these new mechanics?
We wanted to make something that was fast and accessible, but kept the idea of different degrees of success that Success Levels in WFRP gave you. The dice pool system gave us lots of room in that design space. It also allows us to have some fun manipulating the dice pool, allowing players to reroll failures, for example, if circumstances are really in their favour, or forcing them to reroll successes if things are particularly grim.
The list of authors for this game is fantastic, with industry veterans like TS Luikart, Michael Duxbury, and Cody Faulk who have a deep history with Warhammer. We were also intrigued to see some names that might be new to our readers, like Steph Farrow and Zsombor Sváb. Could you tell us a bit about what they brought to the project and if they have any other TTRPG work our readers should look out for?
Of course! We’re lucky to have TS and Michael on the team here at C7, and along with Cody and so many others, we couldn’t have made the game we did. It was also lovely to work with some new authors who could bring a fresh insight and perspective to the game. Zsombor Sváb is also a team member here, and did a fantastic job of pulling together a great team of artists. It was a group effort.
The initial adventure hook is called the “Grim Portent,” which immediately sets a tone of mystery and conspiracy. How does this initial threat set the stage for a long-running campaign, and what makes it a great entry point for players who might be completely new to the Old World?
We think it’s a great entry point, and along with the Dark Threads — connections between the various factions found in the region around Talagaad — you could be pulled into quite the epic campaign indeed! The Grim Portent brings all the PCs together, unites them against a common threat, and acts as a springboard for all the adventure to come. Something is hunting the PCs now; if they don’t band together and battle it, it will destroy them.
With both Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game and the established Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay now exploring the same world at different points in its history, do you envision any future crossover or shared inspiration between the two game lines?
It’s inevitable that there will be, which is very exciting. We’ve already seen this kind of thing from Games Workshop with characters like Burlok Damminson appearing as a young, less experienced and better-armed Dwarf in the World of Legend.
Looking beyond the initial release, what can we, and our very eager readers, expect to see next for Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game? Are there any specific regions, factions, or epic storylines you’re already excited to explore?
The Starter Set! Which will be a great resource for exploring Talagaad and its surrounds. After that we’ll be looking at an adventure book, and also a guide to another region. Which, I can’t say, but there are so many fantastic areas to explore it will be hard to go wrong!
Thanks, Dominic and Padraig!
Quick Links
- Pre-order at Cubicle 7 – Warhammer: The Old World.
- Download – Warhammer: The Old World Player’s Guide.
