PUBLISHER: CUBICLE 7 | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (DIGITAL), HARDCOVER (TBC)
Age of Sigmar is the high fantasy setting that is the current focus of Games Workshop’s range of fantasy games and models, having replaced the ‘Old World’ setting back in 2015. One of the key features of Warhammer worlds is that they are incredibly detailed and also very dark. Though Age of Sigmar is more fantastic and magical than its predecessor, it’s still a worn-torn and gritty world.
Players take on the role of someone who is Soulbound; essentially, each member is tied by fate to go on adventures with the rest of the party. Character creation leans toward the heroic; you play an incredibly skilled being capable of changing the world. This is high fantasy so the characters are essentially super-heroes; the stories are intended to be closer in style to The Avengers or The Seven Deadly Sins than say Game of Thrones or Lord of The Rings. Rules are straightforward and nothing gets in the way of high-powered fun.
The book looks gorgeous and it is crammed with setting information, back-story and plot hooks. It’s a games-masters delight and great for GMs with busy lives. It has everything you need to understand this weird but epic world.
The system itself is pretty easy; six-sided dice and a handful of stats. The rules are very specific to the setting to hammer home the ‘epic but broken’ vibe of the setting. Storytelling leans toward the epic. You have a destiny, adventure beckons. It might be a dark fate, but it will crackle like lightning and boom like thunder.