Cubicle 7 has announced a new Warhammer tabletop RPG based on Warhammer: The Old World. Many of you may already be familiar with the company's games set in the Games Workshop universe, including Wrath & Glory, Imperium Maledictum, and Soulbound.

The Old World is Games Workshop's wargame revival of the Warhammer fantasy setting that was destroyed in 2015 for Age of Sigmar. Oddly enough, Cubicle 7 already sells a TTRPG based on the Warhammer Fantasy setting and has for years. This is not a new edition of it, nor is it a replacement. The obvious question is why.

The announcement does not go into detail, but there are several possible reasons why it might make sense to create two RPGs in the same setting: first, the "Old World" wargames predate the Warhammer fantasy setting that many fans are familiar with by about 300 years - for example, the Total War: Warhammer" game, and that it is actually set in a much earlier time than what we see in the default setting collection of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

While most of the familiar elements are still there, there are some important differences in that era, such as which factions are most prominent. (Skaven fans lament: the rat boys don't exist in this era thanks to underground infighting, so people forget they exist.) Smaller details, such as the various colleges of magic, have not yet been established and could affect the player's character choices.

Tone may be another factor; Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay has a very specific grimdark style, where you play a lowly folk struggling to survive in a hostile world. Players looking forward to "The Old World" may be looking for a more heroic style of game. At the very least, they may be looking for a game where characters can have a significant role in the wars and conflicts that unfold in wargames. [That would be consistent with the way Cubicle 7 has done two Warhammer 40,000 RPGs so far. Rrath & Glory is heroic, allowing players to become Space Marines, Inquisitors, and other iconic archetypes, while Imperium Maledictum casts the player as an underdog, increasing fear and oppression. The two games, despite sharing a common universe, feel truly distinct from each other as a result. [Cubicle 7 has done a really good job with Warhammer RPGs and adventures over the last few years. I'm a fan of their "Soulbound" books, especially for Age of Sigmar, but I've also been playing through the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay campaign for a while now, despite the skeletal framework of the nearly 40-year-old system creaking a bit, and I'm really fun.

Keep an eye on the Cubicle 7 blog and the Warhammer Community site.