Xathrodox86 reviews: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th edition, part 2: the character classes

The second part of my WFRP 4th edition review will concentrate on the available classes and their choosing. Will the 4th turn out to be as diversed and interesting as my beloved 2nd? Let's find out.

First of all I highly suggest to check out Viluir's fantastic WFRP 4th edition review. It's in Polish only, but if you know the language, then you're in for a treat. The review can be found on her blog, cheekily named Rzuć 90k6! (Roll90d6!).

Now for the character creation. The standard races are all here with the small change for the elves - now there are those from the forests, the Asrai, and the ones from Ulthuan - the Asur, the High Elves. I really like that change, as anyone who knows even the bascics of the Warhammer lore, knows that these two factions are vastly different to each other.

You can roll a dice to determine which race you're going to play, in lieu of chosing. If you do so, you'll get additional 20 XP. Neat! The non-humans are a bit more specialised in certain skills or characteristics, but they're also harder to roll, if you're going for the whole "random" element.

For some the random element of the game is a huge positive quality!

Now for the classes - there's a shit ton of them, and they're all really fluffly and really fitting, when it comes to the dark and moody atmosphere of the Old World. Of course if you've chosen/rolled a human, you can only be from Reikland. That's right, save some money for the inevitable provincial sourebook. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I can already say one thing - it's absolutely great that the game promotes sticking to one career from the beginning. My beloved 2nd edition allowed swift and smooth changes from one career to another, and it wasn't always that well explained nor executed. For example a human was able to become a Shielbreaker. Like, I get it - it is technically possible, but that's the thing - only technically. In 4th edition a swap from one career to another is very expensive, points-wise. I honestly believe that this is a good idea, as it can only benefit the game in the long run.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th edition offers the players a standard assortment of character classes. Soldiers, knights, witch hunters, thieves, outlaws, wizards, priests, and more, are available from the start to anyone, wishing to delve into the grim world of perilous adventure. Each character starts from the very bottom and makes his way to the top, to become an absolute master in his chosen profession. This is rather self explainatory.

There are some careers, which are not available to all races. That said, a GM can decide to lift that limitation, if he so wishes. It's probably best to speak with your gamemaster about this option, before the actual rolling commences.

If a player decides to randomy choose his starting career, then a shiny 50 XP will be waiting for him to spend during his character creation. I like how the people at Cubicle 7 really give you options, when it comes to molding your chosen shmuck into a full-blown hero. Nice work!

Well, I can safely say that the character creation and career options, are very well done in 4th edition. The climactic art pieces as well as unique quotes, assigned to each of the races and professions, also add a lot to the atmosphere of the game. I can't wait to read more about the actual characteristics, traits and the character advancement. Perhaps I'll be able to do so with actual, physical copy of the book, since Cubicle 7 had announced that they will be shipping these to their customers very soon!

Until next time, when we will take a further look at the 4th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay!

Xathrodox86