So you want to play Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay on Start Playing and you need to create a character?

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Well here is how you do it!

Creating a character for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) 4th Edition is an exciting journey into the grim and perilous world of the Old World. Whether you’re joining a professional Game Master (GM) on StartPlaying or diving into your own campaign, this guide will help you craft a character that fits seamlessly into the setting.

In Fourth Edition WFRP, you can choose to go full random creation or you can make purposeful choices at each step of the process. The system rewards you with an XP boost for your starting character if you go full random and this is my preferred method, but each to their own - if you have a certain character type in mind, go for it!

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Step 1: Character Concept

Before rolling dice, think about the kind of character you want to play. WFRP is a game of downtrodden heroes, desperate scoundrels, and reluctant adventurers. Consider your character’s background, goals, and flaws. Do they seek fortune? Justice? Escape from their past? In the campaigns I’ve run, players have often found that grounding their character in the world’s harsh realities leads to more immersive storytelling.

Step 2: Choose a Species

The core rulebook provides several species choices:

• Humans (most common, adaptable, and ambitious)
• Halflings (small, lucky, and resourceful)
• Dwarfs (stubborn, honor-bound, and tough)
• High Elves (Aloof, alien and long-lived)
• Wood Elves (Ruthless, cunning and secretive)

Each species has its own unique attributes, skills, and talents. If you're playing in a Middenheim or Reikland-focused campaign, humans and dwarfs are the most common, but elves and halflings can find their place with the right backstory.

Step 3: Roll or Choose a Career

Careers define what your character does in the world. You can roll randomly for a more authentic Old World feel or choose one that aligns with your concept. The core rulebook includes:

• Academics 
• Burghers 
• Courtiers 
• Peasants 
• Rangers 
• Riverfolk 
• Rogues 
• Warriors 

Each Career Class includes 8 separate Careers to choose from and the extra source materials offer more options, for example, Up in Arms expands the military careers available, Sea of Claws, expands the seafaring options and Winds of Magic expands on spell-casting careers, but the Core Book is plenty for a beginner to get started with.

Step 4: Roll Attributes and Assign Skills

Each character has 10 attributes:

• Weapon Skill (WS) 
• Ballistic Skill (BS) 
• Strength (S) 
• Toughness (T) 
• Initiative (I) 
• Agility (Ag) 
• Dexterity (Dex) 
• Intelligence (Int) 
• Willpower (WP)
• Fellowship (Fel)

For humans, players roll 2d10+20 for each attribute, and each species has its own formula to assign Attributes, for example, Dwarfs get 2d10+30 for Weapon Skill, but only 2d10+10 for Agility.

Note that the 10s digit of your attribute score is called the ‘Bonus’, for example, if your Strength score is 31, then your Strength Bonus (SB) is 3.

Health

In WFRP, your health is represented by your Wounds attribute which is determined, for characters of ‘average’ size as SB + (2 x TB) + WPB. 

That is, your Strength Bonus plus twice your Toughness Bonus, plus your Will Power Bonus.

Success Levels

Success Levels (SL) are used to determine how successful you are when you take a test. SL are determined by the difference between the 10s unit of the dice rolled and the attribute you’re testing.

For example, your WS is 34 and you roll 21. That is 1 SL because 3 - 2 = 1.

If, with a WS of 34, you roll a 56, then you have -2 SL, a fail of 2 SL.

Fate Points

In WFRP, characters get access to a number of meta currencies called Fate and Resilience and it is worth explaining them here for the newbie.

Fate is spent to avoid death and survive even the most unlikely of situations. There are two options when using a Fate point.

You can choose to have the killing blow miss altogether or, you can have your character knocked out and left for dead until the end of the encounter.

Fate points are very hard to come by. You only get awarded a Fate point for an act of extreme bravery, heroism or significance and usually only at the end of a big adventure arc.

Fortune Points

Fate points are linked to another meta currency called Fortune. Your maximum fortune is equal to your current Fate. So if you spend a Fate point, you reduce your number of Fortune points.

Fortune points are most commonly used to re-roll a failed test and they refresh every game session. You can also spend Fortune to +1 SL on a test and you can even use a Fortune point to change your position in the Initiative order for one round.

Resilience Points

Resilience points allow you to fix the result of any test you take and always win by at least 1 SL in opposed tests. This means you can choose to crit the big bad or succeed an otherwise impossible feat.

You can also use Resilience to avoid developing a mutation as the result of gaining too many corruption points.

Resilience points are very limited and also hard to gain back and are only awarded for an act of extreme importance to your character’s Motivation.

Resolve Points

Just as Fortune is linked to Fate, Resolve is linked to Resilience, so your max Resolve is equal to your current Resilience.

Resolve points are used in a number of ways that represent drawing upon your inner reserves to overcome challenges. The most common use in my games is to spend a Resolve to clear a Condition, such as Prone, Stunned or Fatigue.

You can also use a Resolve point to become immune to psychology for one round, so you can charge that terrifying Ogre without penalty, or to ignore the effects of a Critical Wound for one turn.

Step 5: Species Skills

Skills and Talents provide unique benefits. Some are species-based, while others come from your career. At character creation, you get access to a number of skills and talents based on your species and are also assigned some random talents.

You are able to put 5 Advances in three of the available Species skills and 3 advances in a further three of the Species skills.

Skill Advances are added on to an attribute to increase the chance of success in a test. 

Step 6: Species Talents

All starting characters have access to 5 talents depending on their Species, which are either automatically given, or you choose between two options, or you are instructed to roll a number of random talents.

Step 7: Career Skills and Talents

Tier 1 Careers have 8 (or 10) skills associated with them, and at character creation, you are given 40 points to allocate between them, but you can’t put more than 10 points into any one skill at this stage.

You also get one Talent from your career for free at this stage.

Step 8: Trappings

Your starting gear is determined by your Career Class and your Career Tier. You start with all the gear listed for your Class and in tier 1 of your Career.

You also begin with an amount of coin determined by your Social Status.

Step 9: Adding Detail

Here you can give your character a name, age and appearance and there are cool random tables in the book to help you come up with these.

Step 10: Motivation

Your motivation represents your Character’s core essence. It is a word or short phrase that sums up what you live for.

Your motivation helps flesh out your roleplaying experience, but is also linked to regaining Resolve and Resilience points. Examples of Motivations include: Thrillseeker, Protect the Weak and Authority.

Step 11: Flesh Out Your Character

WFRP characters are defined by their hardships. Consider:

• Why did they leave their old life behind?
• What grudges or debts do they carry?
• Who do they trust—or fear?
• How do they view magic, faith, and nobility?

Step 12: Join a Game on StartPlaying

Once your character is complete, find a game on StartPlaying to experience the rich world of WFRP with a seasoned GM. The best way to learn is through play, and professional GMs often provide additional guidance and resources.

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Final Thoughts

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is a game of grit, intrigue, and misfortune. Embrace your character’s flaws, revel in the dark humor of the Old World, and prepare for an adventure filled with corruption, betrayal, and unexpected heroism!

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GM Bren has been playing TTRPGs for 30 years and has experience running a variety of systems, with their favorite by far being Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay!