Hi everyone! I'm new to the Fantasy Flight forums and am only here really because they have taken over the roleplaying license for WFRP. I've been an avid fan of WFRP since 2nd edition came out, finding it delightfully different from your average high magic rpg fair. I really liked the grimy grittiness of everything and that you started as a lowlife, a rat catcher. The best moments in gaming were due to the outrageous personalities these scumbags had and it made my life as a DM so fun.

Now I have a quesiton regarding the WFRP 3rd edition, as I am considering buying it. I have a great deal of the 2nd edition books but I sometimes find combat hard to track and the like. I enjoy 4th edition's power cards and the minimizing of looking through the rulebook during play. However, it does I find put too much emhpasis on combat. The thing I wonder is how diferrent is WFRP 3rd edition from second? I like that everyhting is contained in one box, and provided I can play witih what is there. I do worry about losing cards, however, or the dice or the like. Is there still a flexible career system? Do you still start off as nobodies? Or has it turned into high fantasy like the Warhammer Online game?

Finally, are the rules intuitive enough that they would allow homebrew and conversion of my 2nd edition books?

It's very different. How different? The FFG site describes many aspects of the rules extensively, and here's a detailed description of an actual play, stolen from a thread further down.

Basic careers include the usual mix of nobodies. Making new careers (or converting old ones) seems not at all difficult, once you get familiar with the system.

Welcome, Monkey Lord!

The new WFRP is mechanically a very different beast than 2e. The tone and flavor (or rather, flavour) are still there, but the annoying whiff-factor and the fiddly grid-based combat are largely gone. You can still miss, but it has been my experience (in the very few games I've gotten in so far) that you miss in far more interesting ways. The dice pool lets you make fun, narrative events even out of a string of misses. I find that probably the most compelling thing about the new edition for me.

As for conversions from 2e, I have found it pretty easy to eyeball. I haven't done a lot of it yet but I don't foresee any problems. The scale of things is pretty clear from the bestiary entries. I would like more of course, but I suppose that'll sadly have to wait for a release or two...

I wrote a fairly lengthy review over at boardgamegeek.com (here). It might be worth reading through as it covers some of the questions you've raised.

I would also echo the sentiments on converting old material as being fairly easy and straightforward. The one caveat that I always mention though is: the new core set has a limited number of careers and spells. If you're converting high level NPCs or wizards, necromancers, etc. you will have to create some of that content yourself. I actually found it fairly easy to convert over spells and the like after having played a session or two and understanding how the cards and dice work.