Hey all,
A wee while ago I put together this generator table as a fast method of getting inspiration for custom and home-brew planets set in the Screaming Vortex, or any other Chaos Sector in the 41st Millennium, for that matter. I figured I would post it here, with a detailed account of an example planet created using it, to help give anyone in need of some inspiration a quick way of building some planets.
Also, if anyone would be interested in starting a thread for building a communal sector for us to use and share stories in, post here or message me!
BLACK CRUSADE PLANET GENERATOR
PART I: LOCATION
Location within the Vortex (d10 Roll)
1-4: Gloaming World. The planet lies on the outer rim of the Screaming Vortex, largely free from the majority of the reality-warping effects of the Warp Storm but still firmly routed in Chaos. The planet’s Terrain cannot be Warp-Twisted.
5-8: The Inner Ring: The planet is saturated with realspace/Warp overlap, and many mind-breaking horrors can be witnessed here.
9-10: The Lower Vortex: The planet is almost totally absorbed by the warp, becoming a daemon world. The planet’s terrain is Automatically Warp-Twisted.
Planetary Classification (d16)
1. Feudal: Most advanced technology escapes the usage of the planet’s inhabitants, although basic Iron-Age analogues, rudimentary medicine, and gunpowder may be prominent. Feudal Worlds suffer a -2 Penalty to Technolgical Advacnement.
2. Feral: The planet’s population s comprised mostly of hunter-gatherer societies or the beginning of agrarian pastoralists. Such places serve as excellent recruiting grounds for personal Warlords and Chaos Warbands. Feral Worlds suffer a -4 Penalty to Technoligcal Advancmenet.
3. Forge Worlds: Usually controlled by the Dark Mechanicus, corrupted forge worlds are the sites of creation of most of the weaponry employed in the Vortex, from corrupted power armor to traitorous Titans. Forge World gain a +4 Bonus to Technoligcal Advancement and automatically gain the Dark Mechanicus as its Primary Faction.
4. Fortress World: This planet might serve as the headquarters of an enterprising Chaos Warlord or a renegade Astartes Warbands. Fortress worlds serve as stockpiles for munitions, vehicles, and other instruments of war. Fortress Worlds gain a +2 Bonus to Technligal Advancement.
5. Hive Worlds: These enormous industrial arcologies house innumerable masses of humanity, and the waulity of life on them is very poor, despite their relatively advanced technology. Hive World gain a +2 Bonus to Technlical Advancment.
6. Dead Worlds: Dead Worlds are often the sites of huge battles or mass deaths via Exterminatus or other arcane means. Usually, these post-aopcalyptic zones harbor few survivors, but many treasures may be found there.
7. Votive Worlds: Dark parodies of the Imperium’s Shrine Worlds, Votive Worlds serve as enormous edifces to the Glory of the Chaos Powers. It is here that titanic statues and temples are raised in the name of Ruin.
8. Pleasure Worlds: Paradises and scources of respite for decadent nobles and pirates, pleasure worlds are often full of exotic attractions to capture the gaze of tourists. Of course, paradise means different things to different people, and one heretic’s pain can be another heretic’s pleasure.
9. War Worlds: War Worlds are the sites of contuous conflict between two factions. War Worlds possess Two Primary Factions that are at war with each other.
10. Mining/Industrial: These planets are given wholly over to the extraction and processing of raw materials to fashion finished goods, and are often of great value to enterprising conquerors.
11: Agri-World: Used for framing and producing foodstuffs to sell and supplement the greed of its inhabitants.
12: Prsion World:
These enormous penal planets are used for incarcerating prisoners. While few are punished for conventional crimes in the Screaming Vortex, these planets are often used as dumping grounds for conquered people or breeding lands for sacrifices.
13: Death World:
The planet is almost inhospitable to humans, with very little to no technology or civilization apparent. Feral Worlds automatically have Primitive Clans.
14: Daemon World: The planet is inhabited entirely or at least mostly by daemons, where the veil is sundered badly enough for them to remain corporeal indefinitely. Daemon Worlds are automatically Warp-Twisted.
15: Stationary non-planet: These include orbital stations, defense installations and deeps-pace facilities. Do not roll for terrain type.
16: Space Hulk: A vast, wrecked ship, these structures are large enough to warrant their own systemic feature. Do not roll for terrain type.
Dominant Terrain Type (d10)
1. Jungle
2. Desert
3. Ice
4. Ocean
5. Wasteland
6. Volcanic
7. Dead
8. Toxic
9. Airless
10. Warp-Twisted: Roll again for base terrain type.
PART II: INHABITANTS
Devotion to the Ruinous Powers (d10)
1-2: Blinded. The inhabitants either do not worship Chaos or, if they do, are unaware of its true nature. This is especially common on feral or feudal worlds where the understanding of the warp is misconstrued as magic and witchcraft. -2 to Mutations.
3-7: Average. The Chaos Gods are worshipped but generally not monotheistic. Chaos Undivided is most prevalent on these planets.
8-10: Zealous. The Chaos Gods are worshipped, often monotheistic, with utter fanaticism. +2 to Muatations.
Chaos Worship (d12)
1-3: Chaos Undivided
4: A minor god or specific daemon.
5-6: Khorne
7-8: Slaanesh
9-10: Tzeentch
10-11: Nurgle
12: Roll again, twice.
Technological Development
1-2: Primitive Clans: All items acquired from this planet must have the Primitive Trait.
3-4: Pre-Industrial: The inhabitants are capable of producing Primitive and Solid Projectile Weapons, along with gear that does not require advanced components.
5-6: Basic Industry: The planet’s industry can create Solid Projectile and Explosive weapons and gear, having abandoned Primitive technology.
7-8: Advanced Industry: The planet can manufacture all basic items of weaponry, armor and gear.
9-10: Voidfarers: The planet is capable of interstellar travel and commerce, with the facilities to produce its own starships.
Population Mutation Demographic (d10)
1-4: Pure. Mutations occur, but they are still not the norm.
5-7: Augmented. The population has been genetically or magically augmented to make one kind of mutation more common. Roll once on the Gifts of the Gods Table in the Black Crusade Core Rulebook, or select a specify deity (if it is desired to roll randomly, use the Chaos Worship Table).
8-9: Insane. Roll once on the Mental Disorder Table in the Black Crusade Core Rulebook.
10: Damned. Roll 1d3 times on the Gifts of the Gods Table or the Mental Disorder Table.
Factions (d20)
1. Chaos Cultists
2. Local Dictator
3. Chaos Space Marine Warband
4. Sorcerer Kabal
5. Dark Mechanicus
6. Corrupted Clerics
7. Traitor Titan Legion
8. Imperial Presence
9. Pirate Princes
10. Renegade Guard Regiment
11. Decadent Nobles
12. Unique xenos
13. Radical Inquisitors
14. Orks
15. Eldar
16. Assassin Guild
17. Dark Eldar
18. Daemons
19. Necrons
20. A new faction combining elements from two of the previous (roll twice). For example, Daemons+Dark Mechnaicus could indicate a strong presence of Daemon Engines, while Corrupted Clerics+Imperial Prescence could represent Imperial Secessionists.
Strength
1: Endangered: The faction’s control over the planet is waning, allowing others to rise up and compete for control. The planet gains 1d4+1 Tertiary Factions, each of which with its own strength (not that this does not generate more factions).
2-3: Weak: The faction is on its decline. The planet has 1d4 Tertiary Factions.
4-6: Nominal: The faction is maniting its power base. The planet has 1d4-1 (to a minum of 1) Tertiary Factions.
7-9: Strong: The faction is in control of the planet. The planet has 1d4-2 Tertiary Factions (to a minimum of 1).
10: Oppressive: The faction has utterly crushed all opposition. The planet has no Tertiary Factions.
PART III: CULTRE
Local Attractions –
credit to 1d4Chan’s Renegade Chapter Generator.
01-10: Preferred Fighting Style
11-20: Special Chaos Icons. Re-roll if your planet's devotion to chaos is "Blinded".
21-25: Daemon Weapons. Re-roll if your planet's devotion to chaos is "Blinded.”
26-35: Bestial Companion.
36-45: Ancient Weaponry.
46-50: Unholy Wargear.
51-60: Stolen Technology.
61-70: Special Mount.
71-80: Unique Daemon Engines. Re-roll if your planet's devotion to chaos is "Blinded" or if they do not possess Advanced Industry, or if they do not possess a faction that could feasibly construct Daemon Engines.
81-90: Special Armour.
91-100: Biological Experiments
Local Cult Beliefs:
1-30: Revere the Gods. A single Chaos God is worshipped above all else with single-mindedness.
31-45: Undivided. The Chaos Gods are worshipped equally as a pantheon.
46-55: Honor the Warp: The Chaos Gods are not Worshipped. Instead, Chaos itself is viewed as a primordial force of nature.
56-60: Death Cult: Unsavory practices regarding the futility of life have arisen.
61-65: Pleasure Cult: Strange beliefs involving fetish and ritual have emerged.
66-70: Witchcraft: Psykers are revered above all else.
71-75: Warmongers: Fighting and destruction are lauded elements of society.
75-80: Totem Animal: A specific creature native to the planet is a huge part of society.
81-85: Flesh Above All: The mortal form and condition are praised.
86-90: Finality in Steel: The bionic and the mechanical is revered and sought after.
91-95: Ascension: Daemonhood is the goal of every civilian.
96-100: Servile: The inhabitants are easily lead and will pledge themselves to the strongest.
Society Type (d10)
1: Agriculturalist
2: Hunter
3: Feudal
4: Raiders
5: Nomadic
6: Monastic
7: Scavengers
8: Xenophobic
9: Tradition-Bound
10: Other.
EXAMPLE PLANET: THE WUTHERING
Generator Table Results:
Location: Inner Ring.
Classification: Pleasure World
Dominant Terrain Type: Ocean
Devotion: Average Tzeentch/Nurgle
Tech Level: Pre-Industrial
Mutation Demographic: Augmented (Tzeentch).
Factions: Dark Mechanicus (nominal), Chaos Cultists (weak), Unknown Xenos (Strong), Pirate Princes (Nominal).
Local Attractions: Unique Daemon Engines.
Local Beliefs: Finality in Steel.
Society Type: Scavengers.
THE WUTHERING
A pleasure world of the Inner Ring, the planet known as the Wuthering is a testament to the blasphemous tech-heresies of the Dark Mechanicum. According to legend, the planet that would later become the Wuthering – its name lost to the ages of time – was once a barren, lifeless rock, its oceans boiled away and its rocky crags collapsing back primordial soup. Undoubtedly, the planet would have been allowed to collapse into a volcanic ruin were it not for the ancient legends permeating through the Vortex regarding ancient troves of forgotten treasures, forbidden lore, and archaic technology buried beneath its surface by ancient void pirates.
Attracted by the promises of such relics, a kabal of hereteks self-designated the Mystiques of Vandermyre voyaged to the planet with plans to initiate and excavation. Said attempts proved increasingly difficult due to the dangerous rad-storms and tectonic catastrophes blighting the world’s surface. For fear of losing their prize, the Mystiques went to work terraforming the planet, with the intention to stabilize it before the priceless artifacts buried somewhere on the planet were destroyed.
Conventional terraforming techniques would have proven futile were it not for the warp dabbling and demonomancy of the Mystiques of Vandermyre. By striking numerous daemonic pacts, the terraforming could be achieved via the reality-changing abilities of the warp where mere technology had failed. Such was the direness of the situation that the Mystiques were required to give up their souls to the Lord of Change in order to conduct such a transformation upon the planet’s fabric. Miraculously, the Wuthering was transformed into a world of verdant tropical islands and vast, crystal-clear oceans to rival an Eldar maiden world.
Unfortunately, this paradise was not to remain untainted for long. Drawn by promises of riches, pirates, mercenaries and cutthroats from across the sector made the pilgrimage to the Wuthering to begin their new lives. While the influx of these ne’er-do-wells allowed the Mystiques to extend the range of their excavations by hiring the newcomers as scouts and explorers, the planet soon descended into lawlessness and piracy. Additionally, the conflicting interests of the numerous pirates has significantly hampered the activities of the Mystiques of Vandermyre, who, in a typically logical way, are unable to fathom the counterproductively competitive nature of the pirates. In order to try and quell their rebellious nature, the Mystiques have decreed that all reasonably modern technology on the surface is subject to thing and confiscation by the hereteks at any time, leading the Privaseer Lords to strike pacts with daemons to maintain some measure of independence. The most powerful of the Privaseer Lords command demonically possessed sailing galleys, baroque ships of writhing wood, metal and flesh that prowl the seas like vicious predators.
Word of the paradise planet finally proved to be its undoing when it attracted the notice of the Grandfather of Plagues, who was personally affronted that a world destined for such a slow, sweet death had been saved from the brink of oblivion by his arch nemesis, the Grand Deceiver. In recent years, a cult of Nurgle referring to itself as the Bayou Lodge has taken up root in the swampy marshes of the northern hemisphere, where much of the planet’s treasure troves is believed to be held. Reports of mysterious noxious light, cadaverous warriors in mechanical armor, and reanimated corpses permeate the nearby pirate bases, and most captains refuse to journey there for fear of losing their lives to the various parasites, poxes and toxins that blight the marshlands
THIBYSS
The desert continent of Thibyss forms the singular large landmass of the Wuthering, and is therefore of great interest to the Mystiques of Vandermyre – after all, any notable civilization capable of producing the wonders described in the ancient legends regarding the Wuthering must have possessed a reasonable base of land to sustain itself. As such, Thibyss now serves as the stronghold of heretek dominance over the planet.
From here, the Mystiques of Vandermeer rule from glimmering golden pyramids and minarets, inscribed with arcane runes and warded with protective sorceries. The gold pyramids of Thibyss act as the fortresses, palaces and laboratories of the Mystiques, where the latest finds and artifacts can be catalogued, examined, and reverse-engineered.
All manner of strange and esoteric devices can be found here, and while the majority of Thibyss is given over to the devotion of Tzeentch, followers of all of the Chaos Powers are welcome here as long as they do not interfere with the Mystiques’ archeological operations. Technological marvels ranging from archeotech treasures reproduced by the Mystiques to elaborate daemon engines can be purchased. For this reason, Thibyss is a bustling city of trade, and is frequented most commonly by technologically oriented factions such as other Hereteks, Obliterator Cults, and warbands of the Traitor Legions. In appearance, the Mystiques themselves commonly dress in robes of gold, sapphire or indigo adorned with glyphs, sigils and occult paraphernalia, and often display outlandish bionics and mutations befitting their devotion to the madcap Lord of Change.
THE EMERALD ISLES
The Emerald Isles are a network of tropical islands that serve as a base of operations, living quarters, and warzone for the various factions of nautical pirates that operate as mercenaries for the Mystiques of Vandermyre. Due to the limits on privatized technology, the pirates must make do with the barest essentials of flintlock weapons and wooden sailing ships. However, these meager supplies are supplemented by the daemonic pacts these pirates enter into. Due to the sway that the Architect of Fate holds over the planet, it is incredibly difficult to summon daemons of deities other than Tzeentch, although recent rumors concerning apparitions of the Lord of Plagues have become infamous. Therefore, the majority of the pirates, while not devout in their worship, are marked with the Lord of Change’s blessings in the form of writhing tentacles, extra mouths and eyes, and flame0belching orifices. Local custom dictates that whenever a pirate strikes a pact with a daemon for power, be it the talents of sorcery, the strength of a daemon weapon, or the versatility of the possessed vessel, a mark is made upon the flesh of the pirate. Therefore, those pirates who have struck the most deals are often adorned with mind-bending runes inked into the fabric of their souls, souls that are now irrevocably damned. The basis of the “pact economy” comprises the majority of inter-pirate trading, because the pirates are forbidden from selling their finds to others. As such, the trading of pacts is a popular pastime, and gambling games can be found in great abundance long the aisles as the seafaring cutthroats stake their boons in games of dice, cards, or skill at arms.
THE GLASS REEF
There is a place amongst the Emerald Isles that is forbidden, even for the most daring and depraved of pirate explorers. The Glass Reef is an island spoken of only in hushed whispers and frightened glances. Local legends refer to a Captain Dracozettii, a Privaseer Lord who flaunted the Codes of Trade enacted by the Mystiques of Vandermeer. He was punished for his insolence by a flood of arcane techno-constructions sent from Thibyss, and his stronghold was assaulted by all manner of sorcery-belching engines, gibbering data-daemons and mutated Skitaarii. After a single night the sands of his island were fused with the white ash of the incinerated bodies of his pirates, melting the entire island into an edifice of gleaming pearl glass, perfectly casts of the bodies of the dead and the twisted forms of the daemonic. The Glass Reef is said to be haunted and a bringer of bad omens, and pirate avoid it whenever possible. Unfortunately, the Glass Reef does not seem to maintain a fixed location, and its appearance off the coast of one of the Emerald Isles is said to be a herald of certain doom.
THE BAYOU
The Wuthering’s northern hemisphere of swampland is infested by virulent plagues. Cursed by Grandfather Nurgle to be his bastion against the despicable verdance and life of Wuthering’s local fauna and flora, the Bayou is home to the eponymous Bayou Lodge, a cult of Nurgle. Ironically, the swamps themselves are teeming with life, all now twisted by Nurgle to more closely resemble the abominations of his favored garden. Travellers throughout the Bayou find themselves initially fatigued and sickened by the noxious plagues of the area, and then beset on all sides by mutated beasts and hateful spawn. Those wounded can find remedy in the healing curatives found deep within the marshes, but even those come with a price, merely replacing one malady with another that brings the healed closer to the embrace of the noxious Plaguefather.
The Lodge acts as Nurgle’s operative on the Wuthering, often-leading small raids on the local pirate bases. Often these raids are carried out overnight, with no evidence of intruders – one night, an encampment or port is simply emptied, with no word from its inhabitants. Occasionally, a festering plague-ridden corpse might be left behind. Devotees of Tzeentch especially are valued, as they make for ideal sacrifices in the Lodge’s decrepit rituals.
The Lodge reveres Nurgle though his messenger, the Herald Pothicrax. Pothicrax is a cunning sorcerer and powerful psyker, even for a daemon, and it is through him that Nurgle’s control over the Bayou is maintained. For Pothicrax holds dominion over a powerful daemon weapon, the Scepter of Hydrus. The Scepter of Hydrus is said to be the ceremonial staff of office of the first Magos of the Mystiques of Vandermyre, whose name has ben lost to the ages. Bound within it, by Pothicrax himself, is the Herald of Tzeentch who struck the original bargain with the first Magos to terraform the Wuthering so many centuries ago. Psykers and devotees of Tzeentch who have sailed near the Bayou claim to hear the voice of the daemon gibbering madly, insane in its captivity, although most do not understand what it is they hear or even if the voices are even real.
Some brave Privaseers who have attempted raids on the Bayou have returned with specimens of baroque, power-armored automatons, bedecked with elaborate runes and encrusted with icons of the Lord of Change. However, these suits are usually decayed and corrupted from exposure to the sump, often coated with vines, fungus, and barnacles, rotted through and rusted. Attempts to re-service these suits have been partially successful, but the Mystiques of Vadermyre have shown disquiet over the claims that these automatons have been fighting in conjunction with the Bayou Lodge, contrary to their iconographic loyalties.
THE PSYREN
The exact nature of the alien civilization that originally colonized the planet that became the Wuthering is unknown. While some sage amongst the Mystiques of Vandermyre believe it to be the work of pre-Imperial human colonists, reports from the Emerald Isles indicate a very different possibility. Stories and folklore of creatures from the sea, dark machine-fey who rise up out of the waves in the dead of night to carry away the witless and the unawares are popular ghost stories around the local taverns. Closer analysis reveals the possibility that these creatures, if they truly do exists, might be the missing link to the civilization that once inhabited the Wuthering.
While few who have ever encountered one of these xenos have lived to speak of it, and even fewer in possession of a coherent memory of the event, they described creatures of hypnotic but disturbing beauty, an unholy fusion of the serpentine and the mechanical. Many others claim that the apparitions they saw resembled breathtaking mortals, implying that some sort of psychic or pheromone clouding of the mind is at work. Even more bizarre are the similarly biomechanical conceptions they are reported to ride as steeds – a bizarre concoction of the equine, piscine and serpentine.
In any case, the Mystiques of Vandrmyre have designated the race of creatures “Psyren,” after old Terra Mythology. The Mystiques believe that through the warp-cursed changes in its evolution, the species became biomechanical, an unholy fusion of machine and flesh. Exactly what motivates them now is unknown. Many believe that the aliens seek human mates to bear unholy, hybridized offspring, although most followers of Chaos are undaunted by these portents and many Privaseers claim to have sired many a halfing spawn by the biomechanical maidens. On the contrary, those naïve prates that offer themselves up are never seen again, implying darker motives.