I was very lucky to get my hands on the new Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play Starter Set by Cubicle 7 this week and I thought I'd take over Quick Look to give you my first impressions of it after opening up the set.

As with a lot of the Cubicle 7 creations, a lot of care and effort has gone into making this a product that fits the world. The box itself features some wonderful artwork and the interior doubles up as both a full-colour map of a section of The Empire as well as a Games Master (GM) screen with some helpful tips on it.

Inside the box, the first thing you're going to find is the folio with a big 'Read This First' emblazoned on it. This gives you the basics of what a role-playing game is and what you're likely to experience when you delve into the grim world of Warhammer Fantasy.

Choose Your Character

Following on from that you have a set of six different Character Folios which offer up pre-generated heroes for your group to play as. They've managed to cover all of the angles with these with a selection of different races represented as well as both combat and caster characters. Of course, each of them has a bit of nuance to them as well which is always good to see for those character building moments.

One of the things I liked about the new approach to characters is that they are more than just their statistics. Details, motivations, secrets and more; core ideas from the standard game, have been represented here to give you some good cues as to how to play the different characters.

Everything has been done to make these characters feel as accessible as possible and I can imagine people will immediately have a favourite once they get stuck in. For me, it has to be Gunnar Hrolfsson the Dwarf Slayer. Each character also has a little passage of text on the front of their folio which gives you a taste for them as heroes so you make the choice on that rather than their statistics...it also means your secrets remain secret!

Bits & Bobs

As well as the characters in the set you'll also find lots of helpful bits and bobs for both players and the Games Master. A range of reference sheets have been prepared for you to spread around the tabletop, stopping the need to delve into the rules too often and keep the pace moving in-game.

You'll also find a selection of different handouts which can be given to the players at different times alongside two full-colour maps showing off the Ubersreik and surrounding area so your players can plan out where they want to go adventuring.

Since this is a game you'll also need some dice at hand and whilst many of us have those the set also comes with a custom D10 and custom percentile dice which are used for resolving tests in the game. In addition to that, you also get a sheet of Advantage Tokens which are used by the players and their foes.

The Books!

Lastly and most importantly you get yourself two different books in the set. The first of these is The Adventure Book which will walk you through your first adventure in Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play. You are guided through it mechanic by mechanic, getting introduced to the way you take tests as well as a bit of combat (as is tradition!).

Everything here has been laid out nicely to make it easy to follow for someone new to the idea of running a role-play and even as somewhat of a veteran myself I'm glad of all of those hints and tips! I could see this being a really good solution to my problem of never having enough time to write original adventures anymore. There's enough here for a variety of different sessions!

Once you're done with the main starter quest you then have an entire section at the back of the book dedicated to ongoing quests with the first being the hilariously named The Hassle Of Johann Hoffmann. Well done Cubicle 7...well done.

This is a fantastic resource for someone considering a Starter Set. Not only are you set up for that first few sessions but you have a nice guide beyond this too so you're not just left on your own!

The second book, A Guide To The Ubersreik, is very much a resource that you'll want to absorb. It is a book detailing the region, its politics, enemies, places of interest, allies and of course what else might await you in the shadows.

The Adventure Book refers to this book at many times so you'll want to delve into it when you can and read up on everything Ubersreik so you're able to answer questions the players might fire your way.

Again, this is a fantastic resource for anyone starting out in a role-playing game as it once again gives you lots of story hooks to explore in the future when you feel more confident.

Final Thoughts

As a whole, I'm really impressed with what Cubicle 7 have created here. The set comes with lots to be excited about, giving you a helpfully guided path into enjoying Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play. I have yet to properly play the adventure myself or do much more reading because I'm not sure if I'm going to be the Games Master or a player yet!

From what I have read of the Core Rules however and the opening section of The Adventure Book I am really liking the system. It is taking what made the 2nd Edition rules stand out whilst adding in a few more options here and there to counter some of the pitfalls at the same time.

This looks like it could be a lot of fun!