Only because there is no Human Occupied Landfill RPG thread (And even then it would be close)

We could always make one.

That might involve playing the game wich would involve reading the books* and I'm not sure i can handle that much concentraded 90's-ness right now.

Still it has my all time favorite skill of ANY game:

"Ma k in g s h arp t hi ngs g o thr u s oft thi ngs that scr e am and blee d."

* yes, I also have Buttery HOLsomeness. (Ugh. dat title...)

Warhammer 40,000 is one of my favorite science fiction settings of all time. I kind of hate the term "grimderp" because - with a few exceptions - most of the "grimderp" actions that the Imperium...make sense from their perspective and in their situation. I think that's fairly unique among sci-fi: The creation of not only a vast and ancient universe that actually feels vast and ancient (I'm looking at you Star Wars...) but also a universe where human beings have a deep and incredibly alien view of the world, one that is more ancient than we are used to.

We're children of rationality. They are creations of dogma. But it isn't the benighted dogma of the past centuries - where we look back at the bloody idiocies of our ancestors and shake our heads.

Rather, it is a dogma that...in the twisted, nightmare future that they live in...actually makes sense. When a single man or woman can doom a whole solar system because of a quirk of genetics, you NEED an inquisition. When a galaxy spanning civil war almost kills your literal God, you NEED a feudal institution to prevent any single man from gaining that much power again.

When you travel the Warp, you NEED religion. Desperately. And if the Astronomicon doesn't make you a believer in the God-Emperor's divinity...you...kinda need to use the Navis Primer, your warp travel isn't kicking your ass hard enough.

And yet, underneath the Xtreeeeeeeeme 80s hairmetal that covers the game ("Dudes that fire ROCKET LAUNCHERS! AWESOME!"), the universe is majestic and in a way, beautiful. The ornate iconography of the Imperium inspires awe and reverence because it's goddamn supposed to. And furthermore, between the 50 meter high statues of ancient saints and the continent spanning cities, there is still the teeming masses of humanity, and every single one of them has a dramatic and interesting story that you can tell. That humanity combined with the vastness of the setting is incredibly appealing.

But finally, the deep core underneath these appealing trappings that really speaks to me...is underlined by this quote from 1d4 Chan, about Ollanius Pius.

(As a note, I fully cleave to the original fluff interpretation of him, not the weird retcons)

LOOK AT THIS ******* GUARDSMAN.

He's spent months fighting a grueling war in which his enemies are demigods allied with daemons, and now he's found himself in the closest thing to Hell he's ever known. He probably wasn't even supposed to get teleported up to the arch-traitor's battle barge in the first place, and just ended up in the wrong place at the worst possible time.

Somehow he's survived horrors beyond comprehension to make his way to the very bridge of Horus' flagship. He saw a veritable angel call upon Horus to answer for his crimes, and he saw that angel die as messily as any guardsman. His Emperor - who he fervently believes is a god incarnate, even if he's not supposed to - lies mortally wounded, and Horus, perhaps, has taken a moment to gloat before he strikes the killing blow.

His armor is slightly more effective than tissue paper, his weapon slightly more powerful than a flashlight. A single electrified claw from Horus' weapon is bigger than his entire body. He stands before a being infused by the dark gods' with incalculable power, that can and will obliterate his soul with no more effort than it would take him to swat a gnat. Nothing he can do could possibly make a difference.

He could run. He could turn his weapon on himself. He could give in to the insidious whispers that echo from the ship's corridors into his mind.

Ollanius Pius does the duty his Emperor requires of him. He dies standing and holds the ******* line.

In 40k, the stakes are so dire, the enemies so vast, and humanity is so very dependent on one thing to see them through: Pure courage.

Only in the darkest night do lights shine brightly. And that is why I, a born optimist and generally sunny person, loves 40k.

The bright ones - the heroes - shine more than the stars themselves.

...also, you get GIANT FUCKHUGE SPACESHIPS, WOOOOOOOOO!

Well said!

Only because there is no Human Occupied Landfill RPG thread (And even then it would be close)

We could always make one.

That might involve playing the game wich would involve reading the books* and I'm not sure i can handle that much concentraded 90's-ness right now.

Still it has my all time favorite skill of ANY game:

"Ma k in g s h arp t hi ngs g o thr u s oft thi ngs that scr e am and blee d."

* yes, I also have Buttery HOLsomeness. (Ugh. dat title...)

Wait

That's..... A real thing?

Yup: Concentrated alterantive 90s in a book. Not even intended as a proper RPG unitl buttery wholesomness slapped a character gen system on it. The base book only had premade chars (one who might very wel be a paedophile...)

This review sais it all

Behold it's magnificense!

TIL White Wolf has an "adult line".

And that game looks even weirder than All Outta Bubblegum. (at least it's no FATAL)

yeah and for even more funs: It's named after their evil world of darkness counterpart from Werewolf the Apocalypse!

I think they also made an expansion for Wraith based on the Holocaust... Yeah. Classy.

FATAL ugh *shudders*

It's also more playble than World of Synnibarr.

Mother of God......

It IS real......

FATAL.... As terrible as HOL looks, its not FATAL.

FATAL so bad (ass) it has it's own rap .

Maybe i should track down a copy.

I think they also made an expansion for Wraith based on the Holocaust... Yeah. Classy.

It...actually is classy and well done, from everything I've been told.

Yup Charnel houses of europe - The Shoah. Isn't made in bad taste. (White wolf would have gotten some massive flak if it was)

But its one of those "are you sure we're gonna play this ,guys?" books.

I like the 5 Galaxies of David Brin. He captured the essence of aliens, the darkness of incomprehension, and the passage of millions of years. The GURPS game just didn't do it justice, but that would have been a very tall order.

Yup Charnel houses of europe - The Shoah. Isn't made in bad taste. (White wolf would have gotten some massive flak if it was)

But its one of those "are you sure we're gonna play this ,guys?" books.

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh...

HoL is probably how I intend the 40K.

It might be one of teh few things that can match 40k for sheer over-the-topness and grimdark.

I've once made a guard regiment for OW based on HoL. Just for fun really.

It might be one of teh few things that can match 40k for sheer over-the-topness and grimdark.

I've once made a guard regiment for OW based on HoL. Just for fun really.

Tell me about it.

The Hölian Confederate 51th "The Wastits" *

Motto: "We make sharp things go trough soft things that scream and bleed."

Penal colony

Choleric

Rapid reconaisance regiment

Hardened fighters

Scavengers

Condemned

Equipment

Lascarbine

mono knife or sword

1 frag grenade

1 stub revolver with 12 rounds

1 knife

Höl is a combination of prison world and landfill used to dump the unwanted, the criminal, the mutant and the detritus of an entire sector. Once an ork held planet it is still plagued by 2 varieties of tiney squigs: the usefull and harmless "Wastems" and the similar looking and savagely dangerous "Wastits". Each person on Hôl is condemned to die, either from conflict amongst the inmate-inhabitants or from the occasional raids of the dark eldar kabal known as the "Fleshtenders". *

* I gotta stop making up guard regiments based on obscure RPGs

From original post:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/125510-fan-made-regiments/

Yes

This pleases me

Why do I play the 40k RPGs? Hmm...that's a tough and conflicted one. The thing that I enjoy most about the universe is the boundless possibility. Literally anything is possible, even with the established 'canon' such as it is. You want a human who was shanghied into space from a primitive world where they only use hardened sticks as weapons? Done. You want a technosavant from a plainslike world where people tried to convince them to farm wheat for a living? Done. You want a giant green alien who views conflict as the purest expression of existance and strives to fight stronger and stronger foes regardless of cost? Done. You want a giant green alien who has an uhealthy obsession with sneaking around and subterfuge? Done. You want a graceful alien whose races is slowly succumbing to attrition who left their ordered caste to traverse the stars to engage in piracy? Done. You want a graceful alien who has faith in the old ways and wants to rebuild their shattered culture? Done. You want an accepting alien race that believes in cooperation and inclusion? Done. You want an alien race that is long dead and just returning to the galaxy? Done.

Any of these things can happen, and that's wonderful. There is such a breadth of storytelling opportunity in the universe that is limitless and can tell any story, and the psychoreactive dimension that is steadily bleeding over is an excellent source for theological exploration. After all, is it the warp shaping the material or the material shaping the warp? Both? Neither? That's a story waiting to happen right there. It's these kinds of possibilities that really interest me the most, and why I enjoy the universe.

But so too is there a problem that I have with the universe, and it's not even with the universe. It's with some of the fans. I've been meaning to make a thread dedicated to it so I'll only touch on it here. I'm sure everyone has experience with fans who don't explore anything beyond what is covered in the Black Library books, and even then only the ones they have read, refusing to acknowledge any other possibilities. That kind of person (who I've had in several campaigns) tends to wind up being a bit of a stick in the mud compared to those who are willing to explore, most often because they cannot metagame knowledge about the universe. It's incredibly frustrating sometimes to try and have a discussion about what could be in the 40k universe only to be met with "ANYTHING BUT CATHOLIC SPACE NAZIS IS WRONG AND YOU ARE AN IGNORAMUS FOR SUGGESTING OTHERWISE".

Summation (tl;dr): I play it because of it's endless storytelling potential, but I have issues with the mindset that some people bring to the table.

To be fair the entire Wraith RPG was kinda... weird.

Also, yeah, everything said here applies, in addition to greek epic heroes in the form of Astartes.

Gah, I hate people like that, Lodge.

I mean, if you want to play a Catholic Space Nazi, play Dark Heresy!

Rogue Trader is to be the WEIRD people of 40k! And that's something else I love about 40k: It's conformist, and yet so vast that non-conformists are still present in numbers beyond counting.

I mean 0.1% of 12 quintilian people is a LOT of people...

It's Space National Socialists, thank you very much! Let's keep this thread PC shall we? :D

Yeah the universe is waaay bigger than space nazis! Heck even the imperium in it's broadest strokes is more diverse than that! Catachan ain't space nazi, Realm of Ultramar ain't space nazi, etc. etc.

Gah, I hate people like that, Lodge.

I mean, if you want to play a Catholic Space Nazi, play Dark Heresy!

Rogue Trader is to be the WEIRD people of 40k! And that's something else I love about 40k: It's conformist, and yet so vast that non-conformists are still present in numbers beyond counting.

I mean 0.1% of 12 quintilian people is a LOT of people...

... and they are all Alpha legion inflitrators. Sorry! I mean heretics,not everything is AL...

LOL that talk of (no) conformists made me think of the Goff (Goth!) orks.

It might be one of teh few things that can match 40k for sheer over-the-topness and grimdark.

I've once made a guard regiment for OW based on HoL. Just for fun really.

I´m thinking about Exalted on a good (or really bad) day, actually. WoD proper is crazy enough at times, but Exalted is really good at taking things to eleven.

Granted, its flying ships of doom are a bit smaller (and more draconic looking) than a proper voidship, but nothing says you can´t build one with several years and enough factory cathedrals.

Even then, 40k holds its own. A 60-meter tall mecha with a cathedral on its body and the sort of guns that level cities is pretty hard to beat, even in Exalted lore.

True. But even those books i can read (no C r A zy H and dRaWn Te Xt.) without spontaniously hearing 90's grunge in my head.

Excalted is awesome to, I haven't played it yet but iI hear you can do some very OP stuff.

I play 40k because its a very full on setting, it has deep involved interesting, intricate details that leave me wanting to know more, to send a character down that warren of possible madness.

That and I accidentally got into it some time back in 1995, and the stories of the campaigns and stories of related units that were in the magazine, Gorkamork, Mordheim, Necromunda etc all sounded amazing. 40k in general didn't appeal to me much back there. I was much more into Warhammer Fantasy. But then necrons appeared, and I had to know more [Desire to know more intensifies].

And then many years later 4 friends and I started a game from Rogue Trader, 3 and a half years later we're still going, with small breaks for holidays and such. we're down to 2 players and the GM. We have created our own version of the Calixis sector and Koronus Expanse with what we have done in game. the seriousness of the game is punctuated with humour and in-jokes. Most notably when we were stealing the ship back from a wayward cousin of the RT's my Seneschal shot and killed the guy leading the opposing forces after the RT fired and missed him, and calmly said "Well done, my Lord. You've killed him." the RT responds "Yes, I did, didn't I?"

I've had chance to use this line on many occasions and is always satisfying for some reason.

I guess after 3 and a half years you just love that setting, to start with I found it very interesting, but after that long, any RT game I play in will be compared to it. And any 40k game I play with my GM running it will be based in our setting. I like that, continuity.

Which we are planning on doing either DH2 as one of the RT's children, or as 2nd generation heirs of the dynasty.

We just wish we could find 1 or 2 others in GMT+9.5 for sunday arvo sessions with a healthy Fluffstapo mindset to join in and expand the dynamic of the group a little more.