Its is the 41st Millennium…
For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Terra. 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 each day, so that he may never truly die.
Yet 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 Astronomicon, 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 defence forces, the ever-vigilant Inquisition and the Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus, to name but 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 a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable. 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 darkness of the far 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.
– Traditional opening text to the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
But what is the 40K universe? Is it merely a setting designed for games, or perhaps it can serve as an examination into human nature and the lengths Mankind might go to to ensure its own survival in the face of extinction? In defiance of traditional science fiction conventions, humanity is not the new player to the stage; it is the dominant power in the galaxy and it doesn’t want to share that galaxy. Humans aren’t the heroes here, but they aren’t the greatest threat. In the run of things, Humanity is merely the lesser evil compared to what actually lurks among the stars. For all its strength and power, The Imperium of Man and its continued existence is on the knife’s edge and staring into the abyss. And it is slipping.
Humans live in a totalitarian theocracy and live in a state of near complete ignorance. Progress, both technological and sociological, has stalled for ten thousand years, partly out of fear and ignorance, but also because a second and independent empire within the Imperium pretty much hogs all the tech and knowledge for itself, despite not having any real understanding of what it hoards. Threats come from aliens, daemonic creatures and from within the Imperium as deviant cults and mutants seek to bring their dark masters goals to fruition.
Welcome to the setting of Dark Heresy. Chances are you’ll die a horrible death and be forgotten about in quick order.
Charming place then.
Dark Heresy
In Dark Heresy, you serve as a member of an Inquisitorial cell, acolytes and servants to a powerful Inquisitor, serving as the spearpoint to your Inquisitor’s investigations. Which probably means you do all the gruntwork while your boss sits in their luxury suite and drink expensive liquor as your neck deep in sewers or getting your ass shot off by some demented guy in a mask and hooks and bells.
But more than that, Dark Heresy is a look at the darker side of humanity. Threats come from aliens and daemons, of course, but to the acolytes, the greatest threat comes from other humans. Humans who are corrupt and have willingly sold their souls for power. Every time an acolyte goes out on a mission, there is a strong possibility that they won’t come back. But then again, the acolytes are quite possibly the first, last and only line of defense for a world. In the end, the acolytes and by extension, you, have been chosen to fight the secret war that prevents the Imperium from collapsing into Chaos. Ultimately this means that while you might encounter the odd alien or daemon, the majority of your enemies will be humans or mutants with ill intent.
Dark Heresy deals with very mature themes and concepts. Insanity, death, corruption and despair are key elements to the setting and players will often have to face these elements in their sessions. It ‘s not science fiction, but (grim)dark sci-fi. That said, at the end of the day, the objective is to have fun with your friends.
Have I caught your attention yet?
Why a Primer?
Simply, this will serve as a relatively short introduction to the 40K universe and to the setting of Dark Heresy, a scratch of the surface of what is available. If this hooks the interest, then great. In addition, I will soon do a primer for the various character options, but that’s a discussion for another time.
What You Need
- The Core rulebook (The game is currently in its Second Edition, but the first edition is still something of a joy to play through)
- Three or more players
- A quiet place to play
- A few hours
- Several ten sided dice (due to Dark Heresy using a percentile system, 2 D10 per player should be enough)
- Paper, pencils and an eraser
Who Are You?
In Dark Heresy, you play as an Acolyte, plucked from one of a millions worlds to serve in a small warband and serving at the beck and call of a powerful Inquisitor. You fight in a secret war that the rest of Mankind knows nothing about, hence the secret part. At the behest of your Inquisitor, you and your comrades are sent to investigate strange situations and to follow up on the muttered rumours.
As an Acolyte, you are unique. Unique enough to be allowed to use the Character Creation system. Now, Character Creation is divided into five parts which I’ll list:
Part 1 – Your Homeworld. The world your Acolyte comes from shapes them; be it religiously, culturally and by physically. You are given different bonuses and modifcations based on the type of homeworld you choose for your Acolyte, as well as recommended backgrounds for your character. For example, an Acolyte from a Feral Worlds would be stronger and tougher, more prepared for combat than an Acolyte from a Shrine World.
Part 2 – Your Background. This stage deals with the Imperial institution you come from, but in effect it is instrumental in determining the person you are. Why? Because it was your role in this background that got you noticed by an Inquisitor. To those who have played games like Dragon Age or the Elder Scroll series, this is essentially your origin and determines your starting skills, talents and gear, as well as some nice bonuses and aptitudes.
Part 3 – Your Role. This does sound similar to your background, but in truth, the is one of the most important one can make for their Acolyte. This is defining your role with the group and like your background, this is what got you noticed by the Inquisitor. In essence, Background is your Origins, but Role is your Class. Will you be a Seeker; the one who gives chase to her master’s enemies? Or the Warrior; acting as the muscle for the group? Maybe the Sage is more your speed, using your aptitudes for research to aid your comrades?
Part 4 – Spend Experience Points & Equip Acolytes. You aren’t a wet-behind-the-ears noobie in Dark Heresy, you’ve made it to adulthood in one of the most dangerous settings in fiction. You do have some starting experience, which represents the fact that you’ve lived so long. You start with 1000xp, though this can be changed to make more experienced acolytes or newer and less skilled hirelings. Experience can be used to raise characteristics, advance skills or to purchase new talents. New equipment can be bought, just to represent a down-payment on their services or such.
Part 5 – Giving the Character Life. This can be the most detailed part of character creation, as it includes their gender, appearance, personal details and their name. Again, most of the previous parts will shape how they look, for example, someone from a Hive World (where billions live in a handful of cities), would invariably look pale, having never seen their sun before. Uniquely, characters can have their divinination told to them (generally a bonus but it could just as easily be a hinderence, or a “this sucks but there is a hidden bonus” type of situation).
But you are also asked about their nature, what does the character desire? What does the character hate? What are they willing to sacrifice? How did they meet the Inquisitor and what does the Inquisitor mean to the character?
Hire Character. Train Skill
Skills, Talents and Traits are pretty self explanatory. They are the abilities your charater possesses and uses in the defence of the Imperium, ranging from being able to operate various vehicles to survival techniques.
Talents meanwhile, involve the likes of Jaded, making you less likely to go insane (its going to happen later rather than sooner in most cases), to weapons training.
Traits are the inherent qualities humans and aliens and daemons possess. An alien could be a burrower, and if you’re lucky and they’re large enough, you could follow them in their tunnels. Likewise a Quadruped could move faster, especially over rough terrain.
Locked & Loaded
Where would we be without any gear for our Acolytes, huh? Well probably in Hell, but that’s maybe a discussion for later…
Sometimes an Acolyte might want to upgrade their gear and—oh who am I kidding. Every Acolyte is going to want something to replace their starter gear. Lets be honest, most of the time, the starting laspistol is little more than a flashy starting pistol (as in for racing), everyone wants that little bit of….ooomph! Unfortunately, being 40K there is no such thing as a little bit of ooomph. Bolt weapons and Chainswords are the iconic weapons of 40K, but they are not the only weapons at the disposal of the Acolytes (which is a good thing, because in First Edition Dark Heresy, it took my character a months wages to get ammo for a bolter….bye bye food….).
Equipment can range from the powerful and destructive to the downright primitive and simple (seriously, primitive is a weapon effect here), from the mundane to the exotic. Weapons and armour can be modded in various ways, a scope to a rifle to improve your aim, to forearm mounting, keeping your hands free for fighting, the arsonist’s favourite – the tiny flamethrower attached to your gun.
Likewise, Armour is available, including the basic heavy leathers all the way up to power armour. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, unless you’re carrying a nuclear power plant on your back, you’re only going to get a couple of hours usage out of that power armour. And unless you go for some brutal and life-threatening surgery, you’re not going to get the full package. Eh, the Emperor gives and the Emperor takes away.
Rounding off the armoury are the various means Acolytes can travel. Tank or horse, your choice.
This Is Your Mind On Warp Energy.
Humanity is becoming a psychic race. It is a slow process, but every year across the Imperium, more and more pyskers are being born. And yet, many of them are weak, unable to make full use of their abilities or even contain their eldritch power. They are hated and feared by the rest of humanity, especially for that weakness. Each pysker is a potential for unlimited devastation, because the power of a psyker comes from the Warp; itself a home to daemons and gods who seek nothing more than the destruction of Mankind. If a psyker were to become possessed by a powerful Daemon, they could potentially bring about the destruction of a vital world.
Because of this, the Inquisition serves as a sort of group to monitor psykers; their Black Ships make periodic visits to many Imperial Worlds and collect the psykers. While on these psychotically shielded ships, the psykers are tested as they make their way to Terra. The strongest are deemed worthy of serving the Imperium and sent to specialised institutes, where they are divided based on their abilites. The weakest are sacrificed to the Emperor, in death their psychic ability maintains the Emperor’s strength for another day.
If you’ve played the Dragon Age series, you can see the parallels of mages to psykers.
Psykers can be absolutely devastating and in Dark Heresy, a psyker has access to a number of different disciplines and powers; such as Biomancy, where the psyker can push their bodies beyond the limits with Iron Arm or even take control of the biological processes of others and make use of Enfeeble. Divination, the oldest discipline, allows the psyker to foretell the future on a limited scale. Pyromancy, Telekinesis and Telepathy should be obvious, I hope.
Them’s Fighting Words!
Combat….really the only thing you need to know is that there are 16 tables for critical injuries. Its bloody, painful and downright hilarious sometimes
Almost Done…
The last two chapters of the Dark Heresy rulebook deal with the narrative tools for a campaign, how to deal with the investigations the Acolytes must perform in their quest for the truth. In addition, as the storyline progress, the Acolytes are going to make friends and they’re going to make enemies. This can have both positive and negative effects on the story later on as the Acolytes might seek aid in their investigations. Trying to call on help from an organisation you’ve annoyed probably won’t garner you any help, but if you’re nice to the quiet adept in the library and you could find yourself the research materials you need to break the case.
Finally, the Askellon Sector, the particular setting for Dark Heresy Second Edition. Basically going to hell in a handbasket due to the Pandemonium, a massive and dangerous Warp Storm that periodically engulfs the Askellon Sector over the millennia. Because so many believe that the Askellon Sector is doomed, there isn’t as much of an Inquisitorial presence as in other sectors (couldn’t walk ten feet in First Ed without tripping over an Inquisitor…).
The final chapter of the book and the one with the most lore, fluff and background and it’s a good read even if you don’t really intend on running games, as it details the key worlds in the Askellon Sector as well as each world’s culture, traditions and quirks.
Hopefully this has been informative and maybe even a little entertaining.
If you’re interested in more Dark Heresy, keep an eye on this blog.
Also, if I’ve maybe whipped up enough interest for you to maybe think about buying the game, check out the following websites as Dark Heresy is available in PDF form:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/dark-heresy-second-edition/
Until next time.
Castlerook 