Hey so I am new to Dark Heresy and about to GM for the first time. The group that I plan to run for has plenty of experience with rpg's but not too familiar with the darkHeresay/WH40K world. Is there any places where I can give them a brief summary of what they should expect? Thanks

Well, 1d4chan has an accurate writeup about the 40k universe...

Well, I adjusted the basic 40k introduction slightly, and that worked nicely to get my players hooked on the setting. It's not a detailed account, of course, but just enough to give a glimpse of the setting and hopefully promoting an interest in exploring it more fully.

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.

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. It is a dark and terrible era where you will find little comfort or hope.

This is the tale of those times.

If you want to take part in the adventure then prepare yourself now. Forget the power of technology, science and common humanity. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for there is no peace among the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter and the laughter of thirsting gods.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.

When I went about getting people into the setting it was a slow process, involving a great deal of storytelling, fluff trivia and links to various websites. I found that the art was often good at getting people interested enough to sit down and learn more about the setting. If you can get them interested enough they should go about educating themselves. Directing their attention towards the better works of fiction associated with the setting is also a fine idea. The good number of comics set in 40k are an excellent tool, since they don't take long to read and have the advantage of conveying the setting visually. Damnation Crusade explains Space Marines, Kal Jerico shows off a typical Underhive (and, later on, an example of Inquisitorial work), the recently released Fire & Honor portrays the Imperial Guard pretty well and so on. As for novels the Eisenhorne and Ravenor trilogies are excellent reads, as is Scourge the Heretic (which is essentially Dark Heresy: The Novel).

When it comes to pitching Dark Heresy itself you might have some additional difficulties. A fair number of people want to play a 40k game where they are the ridiculously powerful entities that fight each other in the tabletop game rather than "mere humans." There's also the issue of militant atheists who refuse to accept the religious part of the setting. I've heard several stories of players having their characters blaspheme openly ("The Emperor is a load of crap") and being shocked and angered when their character suffers a horrible fate a few moments later. Often at the hands of the rest of the acolytes. I've never encountered these problems with my own players (thankfully), but I've seen them crop up elsewhere.

Snidesworth said:

... seriously?

Graspar said:

Wow... that's... extreme.

But, I guess just as in any religion or belief structure, the strongly devout and fanatical (and the born-again verity) tend to have a hard time leaving their belief structures and dogma behind even when entering a fantasy world.

Thanks guys, appreciate the help!

Graspar said:

Yup. Recently heard a story about one guy who went through three characters, each of them dying in more or less the same fashion, before he quit the game.

Although there is a difference between power gaming and wanting to explore non- Dark Heresy themes that are a part of the broader "40k RPG" potential. Just because someone wants to play a "Space Marine" doesn't mean that they're inherently a power gamer—they may wish to explore the dynamics of the potential personality of such a character and how it relates to their "programming" in a game that, as discussed with the GM, will revolve around a campaign of "high-level" characters that are focusing on combat-orientated conflict resolution/battles/whatever.

In the 40k universe, there is even space for atheism. In some interpretations, not everyone is a ravening fanatic to the God-Emperor, nor are they necessarily going to gun down someone for saying, "Emperazooks!" . If that's the flavour of choice, that's fine, but it might no be a flavour for everyone, and while it is stronger in Dark Heresy than perhaps other GW publications, there are examples of both.

Seems to me, though, that the answer lies in finding out more about the group in question. What games have they played before and had difficulty with? Are they fans more of sci-fi than fantasy, in which case Dark Heresy might not be for them. Do they prefer "high power" campaigns over "low power" ones? That, too, might moderate if they enjoy the game...

Kage

There's atheism, and then there's declaring said atheism in a loud, irreverant fashion in front of several dozen Emperor worshippers. It's not so much "atheism is BAD in 40k," but more "telling everyone that the God-Emperor is a lie is a really bad idea."

As for space marines and the like, there's no problem with wanting to play one. But Dark Heresy isn't designed around them. It's rewards careful planning, subtle investigation and fighting in a cunning fashion. I'm just noting that I've seen a good few people disappointed by the game because it isn't focused on a higher level of play with regards to the power each character wields.

Eminently reasonable response there, efidm=10212... erm, Snidesworth.

**** stupid quotation system. Sorry, I'm going to have to make it look ugly and functional...

Well, if they all happen to be fervent worshippers of the Emperor, then yes that would definitely be bad. Guess it just comes down to how common you see the "zealots" being, which is fine whichever way you decide, but the answer is not universal. Well, Dark Heresy definitely comes down on one side of the argument, so playing RAW...? Yep. The PC is food for excommunication in a way that might also purge the soul and offer future redemption.

It's always good to remember that Dark Heresy is not necessarily "40k RPG" as many people conceptualise it, which is just why you tend to see threads about why it cannot do "this" or "that."

I think that many people were. On the other hand, many people were disappointed because it – arguably! – doesn't provide people with the information that they need to fully immerse themselves in the tiny little bit of the 40k universe that Dark Heresy represents.

On the bright side this makes it far easier to entice players into Dark Heresy , I would imagine. After all, you're only describing and exposing the PCs to a small portion of the setting at a time...

Kage

If I could offer my suggestions as well...have you thought of looking outside of the game to pitch your game? My group was inticed with movies and video games (Gears of War as well as the 40K rts of course). To this day, I still use the movies Alien and Event Horizon for inspiration on how the mood and feel of my game should be. As always, your campaign is your campaign. Think of how you would like to present your game and perhaps flavour this for the tastes of your group (slow, forboding investigation or hard and fast combat). Be forewarned, players have a way of changing you well laid plans into something that you didn t anticipate. But above all, enjoy yourself. Good luck to you and your group!

this might not be the place to ask, but i didn't want to start a new thread....

I have been looking at getting into these types of RPGs as the GM, but Im not sure i understand how it works. Would I make up the quests using the outline of the universe? or what exactly, I'm SUPER new to the whole RPG world (out of the video game setting that is )

Hawknight said:

Pretty much. A good place to start might be by running a premade mission. I highly recommend Edge of Darkness: even if you don't use it it'll give you a good idea of how to structure a mission. Click below if you'd like to know more.

http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/dark-heresy/pdf/edge-of-darkness.pdf

Welcome to the world of role playing games.

Yes, you make quests, adventures, acts, whatever you want to call them, around the information you already have about the setting. Think of it as writing fan-fiction, or a script for an already established world. Your players are the heroes and heroines, while you are the director and author. You dictate, with your players, where the actions goes.

Fear The Boot have loads of useful podcasts, and recently did a series for people new to the hobby.

Pertante said:

I think slaunyehs intro sounds good. First thing I would ask is though is your players won't be too familiar with the setting, but are you? Make sure you read up a bit first if you arn't cause it's a strange universe.

I've found having your players with a healthy helping of ignorance makes the setting work quite well. Tell them they're in an age where superstition and blind faith are the norm. Scientific progress & understanding is practically non-existant. Humanity worships the God-Emperor and to openly speak out against his regime is an instant death penalty. Mankind is spread throughout the galaxy and is constantly attacked by strange aliens and heretics. The Emperors armies number in the trillions with Imperial Guard regiments defending mankind along with the rarer mythical superhumans called Space Marines.

Then get them to pick a career and homeworld.

I've actually written a bit of info for some of my players based on where they started detailing what they know. For example one of my players is a young person from a Feral World; I told her you don't know much other than you've been asked by the servants of your sky god the Emperor to fight evil monsters and bad people. They took you off your planet in their sky chariots called spaceships to sail the stars and help humanity, plus get to fight a lot!

Snidesworth said:

I guess then playing Nephilim would be right out...or perhaps that player might love it?

Although that would make an interesting adventure - playing heretics in the DH setting. While it could be fun I wouldnt' recommend it right away considering how tricky it could be.

Had to chuckle - our group just finished Edge of Darkness, hadn't read it yet, and are moving on to something else. Our GM has a lot of Traveller and SpaceMaster stuff he might convert over just to keep us on our toes.

I'm not sure what a Nephilim is, but a cultist game could work under DH. All the same, cultists who go decrying the God-Emperor before their plan has fully hatched will end up very dead very quickly. Or worse: captured by the Inquisition and forced to sell out the rest of their buddies. The worst cults are always the hardest to uncover.

I whipped up a 30+ slide PowerPoint presentation on character creation (covering the core book and the IH) and I'll probably make a few more for combat, a list of possible actions, basics of game play, etc. I can't distribute it yet as I made it on my work computer and it has a corporate watermark.

Sometime soon I'll copy and paste it into a new file and put it on some website for all you GMs out there.

It's ideal for a new group of players and especially useful if you have a projector or a large monitor/TV screen on which to show it.

Just "friend" me if you want me to let you know when I'm done with it.