In this review we want to tell you about Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound. We thank Cubicle7 for providing us with the digital version of the Core Rulebook and its Starter Set.
Anyone wishing to buy them can find them for sale on the Cubicle7 website. The Core Rulebook is available for 49.99 euros, or 26.99 euros in the digital version. A Starter Set digital copy is instead available at 13.99 euros.
Before starting the review, a necessary premise. Soulbound carries on itself a twofold important legacy. On one side, Age of Sigmar is the miniatures game weblog Games Workshop succeeded the better known brandWarhammer Fantasy. Over the years it has gained its own hard core of fans, but the transition from the grim fantasy of the original game to a decidedly more epic fantasy step has been poorly digested by many. In a specular way Soulbound happens to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, a role-playing game that in its genre, precisely the grim fantasy, has been appreciated in various editions.
The advice is to avoid comparisons. Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay they are two profoundly different games, which offer different experiences. They are not interchangeable, but they can both be used for adventures that propose a different version of the Realms. It is no coincidence that Cubicle7 currently carries out both lines. And those who follow the world of wargames will know that the rumors about Oldhammer, the new version of the old Warhammer Fantasy, are increasingly concrete.
The Corebook
Four simple words: this is top qualiry. 352 pages full of content, a complete rulebook and a playable setting. The volume is complete with all the mechanical part and tries to give as wide an overview as possible of a decidedly stratified setting, an aspect that we will deepen at a later time.
The layout is very clear and yet it has its own strong imprint, but what is most striking is the quality of the artwork. Superb, with a strong stylistic unity, they make leafing through this manual a real pleasure. Feeling that is strengthened even more with the physical version. The volume, with a slightly smaller page than the classic format, is solid and imposing. The format is the same as Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay It is Warhammer 40.000 Wrath & Glory, of which you can find our review. They are satisfactory manuals, there is no better way to define them.
Review of the Setting of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound
Perilous adventures in the mortal realms. So says the subtitle of the Core Rulebookclearly visible on the cover. We will avoid dwelling too long on the setting, because it is definitely known for the wargame from which it was born; but some remarks are in order.
The Mortal Realms are a land constantly at war. From the Ashes of the Old World (most familiar to players of Warhammer Fantasy) the god-emperor Sigmar founds a new one, but cannot drive out its chaotic forces; in an attempt to fight them, he steals the souls of the dead to create new warriors, the Stormcast Eternal, who constantly return to battle. But this annoys the god of the dead, until then his ally against Chaos, further upsetting the balance of the Mortal Realms.
For those with some knowledge of the universes of Warhammer, Stormcast Eternals are one of Games Workshop’s best commercial gimmicks in recent years. Greeted with a fair bit of understandable wariness, they’re pretty much the fantasy version of the Space Marines. And over the years they have become one of the strong points of Age of Sigmar.
The Playing Characters
As anticipated, we do not go into too much detail, but it is important to know that the players will find themselves in a context where war is the order of the day. “There’s only war”… warmer. There are four main factions; the PCs belong to the Alliance of Order, which opposes Chaos by entrenching itself inside immense fortress-cities.
It is possible to play characters of various species, besides human. There are three aelfir dynasty: the Lumineth are the classic high elves, the Idoneth Deepkin instead they are inhabitants of the abyss. It is also possible to play the classic Dark Aelfir, rejoined the Order Covenant and no longer adversaries. The Duardin are divided into between the classic dwarven lineage and the Kharadron, with very strong steampunk nuances. Sylvaneth are instead taken from the more classic tree-men and dryads of the old editions, arboreal but sentient creatures.
Review of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound: the Bounds
A peculiarity of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound are the aforementioned Stormcast Eternal, souls of ancient warriors reforged precisely in the storm, and destined to be reincarnated every time they die to resume the battle at the price of a little of their own humanity. To fully understand the Stormcast Eternals it is necessary to explain another peculiarity of the game: the Flame of the Soul.
It is a common resource of dice from which each player can draw to perform heroic deeds, also introducing limited aspects of shared narration. Each character also has another individual resource at their disposal, Courage, but the Flame of the Soul has a much more important narrative value, and is directly influenced by the fate of the world. The Flame of the Soul represents the sacred bond that unites the heroes, the one that makes their mission so special and that will guide them towards the salvation of the Realms. Or that he won’t be able to save them from bankruptcy.
Stormcast Eternals are virtually immortal characters, though that doesn’t come cheap, and they start the game with more experience than most, reflecting their somewhat divine nature. But being bonded to Sigmar, they cannot be bonded to the rest of the party. This results in not being able to use the Eternal Flame. This mechanic creates very interesting ideas and group dynamics.
Game Maths
Character creation is not modeled on a class, but entrusted to a certain number of points to be distributed. It is not a complex undertaking because the regulation is full of options, but at its core it is extremely simple. There are only three basic stats and one skill pack, which also includes combat skills; the sum of these determines the pool of six-sided dice to roll in a test, with success on 4+ modified by the master. It is important to note that the master can establish both the difficulty of the action, i.e. the value to be achieved for success, and its quality, i.e. the number of successes required.
It is also possible, indeed fundamental, to customize your character with talents. These can also be used to access magic or to choose a blessing, a single miracle that the character can perform by addressing their patron deity.
A creation system like this can throw off players who are not familiar with the dynamics of the game, therefore however, there are typical archetypes for each species, where the margin of customization is reduced but there is the guarantee of a functional PG.
Review of the Modular Content of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound
The Core Rulebook it is completed by everything necessary: tables of weapons, insights into religion, magic and main cities, lists of spells; plus a series of tips for novice masters and a bestiary sufficient to face a first game campaign.
Overall it presents itself as an excellent RPG for an epic fantasy that is rather traditional in spirit, but with elements heavily borrowed from more modern RPGs. It’s not that easy to survive a fight, and the Soulflame is not only a mechanical asset but also an interpretive one.
The manual only explores the characters related to the Covenant of the Order, but Cubicle7 has already published various other material that allows you to play the Covenant of Death (undead, undead everywhere) and the Covenant of Destruction, for lovers of Orks classics. A modular structure that allows, as the game grows, to enrich the options both for the players and for the master.
The Starter Set
In the Starter Set who sent us Cubicle7 you can find the introductory adventureFaltering Light, set in the city of Brightspear; to which an additional in-depth study module of its own is dedicated. Our review is as usual without spoilers, but we can anticipate that the adventure is perfect for getting familiar with both the mechanics and the setting. By moving their characters first through the streets of Brightspear and then in its dungeons, players will be able to practice the rules. At the same time the need to reactivate an ancient realmgate, a magical portal, and to counter the forces of Chaos will also allow a progressive but deep immersion in the heart of the setting.
The in-depth module also allows you to develop other adventures in Brightspear and is accompanied by various maps of both the city and some of its key locations for the adventure. The whole is completed by two reference documents (on the rules and on magic), some tokens useful for monitoring some elements of the game and a set of pre-generated characters.
Final Thoughts of the Review of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound
All in all, Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound it’s a great RPG. It could have some filings, for example the combat statistics could give up some atmosphere to be managed in a more pragmatic way; this would be feasible using practical numerical modifiers rather than qualitative degrees expressed in words. But it is nothing that is not easily overcome after a first impact.
It’s not a game for everyone, but it will be certainly appreciated by lovers of an epic fantasy and deliberately over the top. And it certainly should be approached without having in mind Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, because it is something completely different. But for those who appreciate this type of game, calling it recommended is simply an understatement. Clean and fast but deep rules, for a game in perfect balance between classicism and modernity.