Introducing New Players to the Warhammer 40k Universe

By Dangerbutton, in Rogue Trader

I'm going to be starting a Rogue Trader campaign, soon, with a group that is entirely unfamiliar with the 40k Universe. Can anyone recommend any good 40k lore guides available on youtube?

EDIT: The majority of lore guides I've found on youtube go into great detail on the Primarchs and the Space Marines. While that's an important part of the universe, it's less relevant to the Rogue Trader experience. I'm looking for guides that give equal attention to the other factions within the Imperium, as well as Xenos and Chaos.

Edited by Dangerbutton

I've always found the Rogue Trader Core Rulebook is a great starting point, especially the section on the Imperium and the Expanse.

This is a good, short, moderately humorous introduction to the most basic of basics for the Imperium's backstory:

As for xenos lore, quite frankly, a couple hours of clicking interesting links on the wiki should be a good source of info. Maybe you don't want your players knowing too much at first though. Make it clear that they're Feudal spacemen who don't like green men, Chess AIs, and heretics and let them discover the universe.

This is a good, short, moderately humorous introduction to the most basic of basics for the Imperium's backstory:

As for xenos lore, quite frankly, a couple hours of clicking interesting links on the wiki should be a good source of info. Maybe you don't want your players knowing too much at first though. Make it clear that they're Feudal spacemen who don't like green men, Chess AIs, and heretics and let them discover the universe.

Aside from being Hilarious this is also pretty accurate!

If your players are out for novels, there are a couple of different books for setting the tone of your campaign. I am very partial to Ciaphas Cain, where things definitely put the comedy in black comedy. It doesn't show a Rogue Trader, but it is a good example of life in 40K.

If you pick up Koronus Bestiary, and are okay with your players reading about the horrible monsters they might be facing, it's written as the journal of the galaxy's most patient seneschal, which is a good point also.

I found it useful to take it a step at a time and explain things as they came up.

Once I get home I'll see if I can find the brief writeup I did for my newer players when I was running my Voided Warranty game.

Tell them to watch event horizon ( explains warp travel), enemy at the gates( how the imperial's armies work), Kingdom of heaven( how people are treated/ power plays). immortals( psychers/demons/and maybe how people see space marines) , snow piercer( what it is like on their ship) and to round it off aliens( xenos and appropriate response at all times). explain to them that all of this is happening at the same time, on their very ship, and it is considered a slow Tuesday. Sprinkle in the Spanish inquisition and the rules of acquisition and that should be all the bases.

Everything is heresy, everything wants to kill you, and everything is profit one way or the other.