40k roleplay comments

[Mikey]

Hello all.

With Graham's permission, I am considering a Warhammer 40k RP. For those unfamiliar with WH40k, as it is abbreviated, it's a universe comprising the galaxy in the 41st millenium in which the Imperium of Man must struggle constantly against the forces of Chaos and the xenos breeds (aliens.) Entire planets are exterminated in order to obliterate the taint of Chaos, even among humans, and countless legions fight in the name of the Emperor in his constant state of undeath. Just so, the Holy Ordos of the Inquisition fight a far more subtle and sinister war, ruthlessly rooting out the touch of the heretic, the witch, the alien, and the daemon amidst the Imperium. An illustration is the foreword beginning the fictional works of the WH40k universe:

It is the 41st millenium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.

Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds. Greatest among his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defense forces, the ever-vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants - and worse.

To be man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Later I will provide some basic details, info, and links to get folks up to speed for character creation. For now, I will just state that I'm not looking to host super-characters; look elsewhere if you want to play a terminator brother-captain, venerable dreadnought, or Inquisitor Lord Karamazov. Further, characters should grow and develop during play, and I'm happy to advise and guide to that end, but there has to be some room!

I would personally wait to see who we have before deciding my own character; if I don't have a character that would be in a leadership position, I have no problem steering things through PM and roleplay.

Thanks to Graham for his graciousness, and to Rochey for his ideas and for being a sounding-board. Now, who's interested?

BTW: if there is sufficient interest, I will ask Graham or Ian to create a forum under "Roleplaying."

[Teaos]

Wasnt there a topic about this around earlier today that disapeared?

Well due to by total ignornace of WH40k and the Daystrom taking the majority of my RPing mojo I'll have to pass. But at least Deep will now have a good outlet for his 40k love.

[Sionnach Glic]

As I said to you via PM, Mikey, I'm in.

Would you like me to give a brief description of the scenario I thought up, or do you want to keep that for later?

[Mikey]

I don't mind if you want to put in a brief summary; right now, I'm just trying to gauge interest.

Although there will be an official sign-in later, with links and resources for character types etc., you can put in a brief char description for educational purposes if you so choose.

[Sionnach Glic]

I'll give a (very) brief summary in about half an hour. For now I'm off to get a haircut.

[Mikey]

Good thing - you're sig looks like a dirty hippie. For anyone else, there's people here (some with far more knowledge than I) to help - please don't let lack of experience with the 40k universe deter you.

[Reliant121]

I'd be happy to give it a try.

[Mikey]

Woo-hoo!

[Sionnach Glic]

Well, I'm back. Hair is a little shorter than I had planned on getting it, but still good.

Anyway, the plan for the RPG is as follows below. I've included links to the best source of knowledge for 40K, the Lexicanum, where newcomers might be lost. That said, it's actualy not too hard a universe to jump into. The scenario I came up with in particular lends itself nicely to newcomers. The subject of the scenario is something that few citizens of the 40K universe know about, as all knowledge of it is surpressed. As such, it wouldn't be out of character to have one or two members who don't have great knowledge of what's going on.

Scenario:
An Imperial Inquisitor (Think a secret agent with a license to blow up planets and an unlimited supply of coolness) and his hand-picked retinue (us) land on the planet of Talio Secundus to hunt down a rogue psyker (a guy with powerful psychic powers) and his cult of daemon-summoners (they summon demons, duh) before they try to take over the planet. The cult has gone to ground, and few know of their whereabouts, though the cult has contacts with several high-ranking people with great influence on the planet, giving the psyker and his cult numerous sources of supplies, weapons, allies and hiding place. The psyker also has his own ship, meaning that we have to act carefuly and quietly, lest we scare our prey off.
Our objective is simple: Capture or kill the psyker, and destroy the cult before they make their move to take over the planet.

Another good thing about this scenario is that it allows virtualy any character to be created and used: soldiers, political officers, pilots, assassins, psykers, computer experts, etc, etc, etc. Inquisitors often recruits people from all walks of life, so there are very few characters that would be considered unrealistic.

As for my own character, I think I might try playing as a Tech-Priest.

[Mikey]

I would have sworn either commisar or Inquisitorial explicator.

I myself am thinking Astartes - I'd start as a scout of the 10th company (definitely from a Codex chapter,) before the black carapace was implanted - or perhaps an Arbites. However, I'll wait for some other recruits.

For Reliant or anyone else - if you visit the Lexicanum to which Rochey posted a link, click on "Categories" on the left-side navigation. When you get the categories page, the left-hand column will include links to pages for the main organizations of the Imperium, so you can get an idea of what types of characters there are. Each page will also have links embedded or at the bottom for the type of gear associated, images, etc.

[Sionnach Glic]

I would have sworn either commisar or Inquisitorial explicator.

I figured my choice would surprise some.

Good to have you on board, Reliant. Presuming Deep jumps on, that'll make four.

[Mikey]

Bad timing as far as Kendall goes, I guess. I imagine there may be one or two more... I should probably give it a couple of days.

[Mark]

Well, I'm usually down for RPing, but I know ABSOULUTELY NOTHING about 40K, so, for the sake of not wishing to look like a putz, I'll have to pass

[Mikey]

As I said, don't let that bother you - there are some excellent resources out there, plus a few of us here. I'm more interested in getting people who can contribute constructively from the RP point of view rather than people who know every detail about 40k. I certainly don't.

[Mark]

Oh, well then, I'm open to the idea 8)