So, I just found a thread on RPG.net asking what we knew about WFRP 3. As I hadn't been able to make it to the seminar at GenCon myself, I went to see if there was info from someone who had. And there was. The only person who was able to share actual information made it very clear that WFRP is a real RPG, with real RPG play, and true to its roots. The quote:
"Ok, some highlights from the seminar at Gen Conn. Not too detailed as I'm posting from my phone.
One: there is nothing stopping you from running any size group you want from the core box. The Adventure Pack adds some additional career cards and some spare dice but the core comes with around 30 career cards as it is. Sure you might not have the nifty storage box for more than 3 characters, but just use an envelope or note what cards you need to pull next time. Additionally you could just transfer the info from the cards to your character sheet.
Two: they are doing some really cool stuff with the cards, they're not just there for the heck of it. The cards actually get rid of the need for a lot of the charts. For example when you take a wound you pull a wound card and place it face down in front of you. If at some point you are critted, just flip your top wound card over and there is the crit. Insanity is also handled like this with an Insanity deck.
Three: The party has a character sheet! Their is a fortune pool for the party and a party tension tracker that has some fatigue effects as party tension ratchets up in play. This stress is added based purely on the GMs observation of the party's roleplaying. Also characters can tag some of their abilities to the party for the benefit of all.
Four: every character has a "Stance" track with a conservative side and a reckless side to it that affects all their abilities and spells that they use based on which side of the track they are currently choosing to be on (and yes you can change which stance you are in often - usually every round). Different careers have different amounts of conservative vs reckless on their track and how far out on on one side or the other you currently are will have a greater affect on how things work out. It should be noted that all abilities and all spells have both a conservative and an aggressive version which have their own bnefits and drawbacks and they are handily summarized on opposite sides of their cards.
Five: The dice are integral to the whole system. You have dice for your ability. You swap some of those out for dice that represent your aggressive or conservative stance. Instead of modifiers for circumstances or tactics you add fortune or misfortune dice. There are a few other types that account for some other factors. Making the dice pools is going to be incredibly easy as you form your initial pool by reading right off the character sheet and the fortune/misfortune dice are given out by the gm as he
describes the circumstances and you describe what you are doing and any tactics.
Six: This is not either a board game or a miniature game and does not require either a map or miniatures any more than current WFRP does.
Seven: The reason the careers are on cards is so that as more careers are added you just slip them in the career deck and have them all in one place rather than scattered over multiple books and supplements. Ditto for ability cards and spell cards.
Eight: Character generation - first you choose your race, then you draw three career cards and choose one. Or if you want to play hardcore you draw only one career and suck it up. Or (if you are a hippy, tree hugging elf - my words not theirs) you could just choose a career. Careers function very much like now with advances and skills. If you choose to leave your career without 'completing' it (i.e. take a certain number of your advances and skills) then you don't keep your career's special bonus. If you do complete your career you keep the special from your career. For the ratcatcher this would be the small but vicious dog (who apparently has his own abilities and is essentially your little, and vicious, minion). Note that you can still choose to buy skills not in your current career for a premium with gm approval."
