Hi all,

I have finally ordered DH and while it is on its way, could someone recommend me some rule/storybooks worth buying, be it for interesting pieces of WH40k lore or good stories. No, buying everything is not an option (unless I rob a bank or something like that), even though I would love to. Amazon's shipping rates are quite...high and nobody bothers to sell it here in the Middle of Nowhere.

I have ordered only the core rulebook and GM's kit.

Thanks in advance.

as a start I would recommend, Inquisitor's handbook and the Ascension book. Reasoning the Inquistors Handbook gives you an addition career further expanded by blood of martyrsm but gives extra background starting locations as well as lots of info on religion in the Calaxis sector. Ascesion is useful for making your players inquisitor, and givesmore indepth knowledge of the inquisition itself, how they interact with each other which can bew likened to a bunch a 5 year olds on a school playground with only one teacher out who's the sector high inquisitor.

Disciples of the Dark Gods

Inquisitors Handbook

Those two are must haves. Then I would recommend Creatures Anathema, Radicals Handbook and then Blood of Martyrs.

Since you're just starting to get into DH I would hold off purchasing any more of the source books for now. Many of them are exceptional, but they are very expensive and I wouldn't bother until you absolutely need the extra material. When that time comes however I would recommend;

1. Disciples of the Dark Gods: full of some lovely bad guys and ideas for expanding upon pre-existing concepts. Some good cults and interesting warpcraft as well. I personally would get this one over Creatures Anathama (mind you I have and have read both). The latter of those I found to be lackluster.
2. Inquisitor's Handbook: I bought it mainly for the background packages (which are numerous and unique) but it also contains some good reference notes on the Calixis sector, different types of planets and a ton of gear. Note though if you want "holy" things, there isn't a whole lot of that in here - despite the original Sister of Battle classes being listed. If you want access to those go straight for Blood of Martyrs (which is by far my favorite source book to date.)
3. Radical's Handbook: Even if you're not going down the dark road it has some very... intriguing ideas for GMs to temp their player's with.

As for general books;

1. Cain: Any and all of them. While not strictly cannon and often slapstick they are undeniably an enjoyable read.
2. Shira Calpurnia: It was a very sound series, in a much more serious vein than the good Commissar. And it gives a very interesting look into the workings of the Arbites/
3. Gaunt's Ghosts: I loved the first 2 omnibi, very grim-dark with relatable characters and what I think is a fairly accurate view of the 40K world at large. There are a lot of them however and honestly after the Saint I find the series a tad aggrivating.
4. Eisenhorn: Was a really good one as well, and demonstrates some of the more subtle dangers an Inquisitor has to face.

Keep in mind, I'm one of those nuts who owns most of the Black Library (and the DH/RT/DW) material so I'm just throwing out my favorites.

even though ive been a wh40k fan for a couple of years and a dh player since it came out it was not until last summer that i actually got up to reading background sections of dh core rulebook and the experience was incredibly positive. it provides some really useful insights. so i would suggest reading them first when you get the rulebook, leaving mechanical parts for later.

until then, you can start here: http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Warhammer_40k_Wiki

and here: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Main_Page

next step is random web searching for bits of info that got you going, which will be plentiful.

Heya!

Inquisitor's Handbook is pretty much a must-have. Other good books have already been mentioned, but I would not consider them as mandatory in comparison to IH. The next step would be to ask yourself (or your group) which aspects of the setting are of most interest to you. DH now has books about xenos creatures, radical Inquisitors (meaning those who bend or even break their own rules) and forbidden cults plus the lure of Chaos. The game has also started to churn out a series of career-specific supplements, with Blood of Martyrs being heavy on faith, the Ecclesiarchy's clergy and the Adepta Sororitas. Next up is a book about the Imperial Guard, and another one that deals with Arbites and Scum. You may want to set aside some money for those, too, depending on your interests.

Note that you can also buy legal digital downloads of the books from FFG/DrivethruRPG.com now. Of course it's always nicer to have the "real thing", but the PDFs are cheaper in raw price and you won't get charged any shipping fees.

To the list of novels Siranna mentioned I would like to add:

Dark Imperium: An anthology of short stories dealing with all aspects of the Imperium, from the Imperial Guard to the Imperial Navy, from Space Marines to Sisters of Battle, from the danger of unchecked Psykers to the threat of Chaos. Very good if you want to get a feeling of the setting.

Faith & Fire: The first and only Sororitas novel. Gives a very good look into the inner workings and rituals of the Sisterhood as well as the mindset of its members. In the grand scheme of things likely only interesting for you if you have a soft spot for zealots and fanatism, though.

Oh, and: Welcome to the Grim Darkness of the 41st Millennium.

Thanks for the advice, so the Inquisitor's Handbook will be the first on the "to buy" list.

And btw drathe, I have read probably everything on Lexicanum already, all I do when I visit there is hit random page hoping I will get something interesting and not some obscure SM chapter, IG regiment or planet with almost no info about it

Also the WH40k TT rulebook and IG codex were interesting reading (though getting the other codices would be a major PITA, against due to price).

Well, books have been covered so I'll just pop in a mention on where/how you could get them on the cheap(ish) since you mentioned money being a bit of a concern.

If you don't mind not having a physical copy of the book, most all of the books mentioned in this thread except for Blood of Martyrs can be purchased from DriveThruRPG for $20-$25 a piece as a downloadable pdf (so there's no shipping either). While you don't get an actual physical copy, you do get to text search them, which can be damned handy sometimes in tracking down random references to something that is driving you nuts at 3 in the morning ;-)

Just letting you know in case you didn't know about it.

To be honest, the core book has everything you really need. Sure the Inquisitors book offers some extra stuff for your players to dabble in and the other books are fine as well. But the Core book is all you need.

That and the living errata. http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/dark-heresy/pdf/darkheresy-errata-v3.0-printable.pdf

For a lark, try to get your hands on the: The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer. Not just funny, it actually gives you an idea of how things could work in the 40k universe.

In my opinion, the best reference for the "flavor" of the Inquisition in the 40K universe is the Eisenhorn trilogy by popular Black Library author Dan Abnett. As far as FFG books go, my favorite is Desciples of the Dark Gods- tons of good insperation in that one!

Sister Callidia said:

I have to second, well what is it at this point, fifth? Eisenhorn and add on Inquisiton War, if you can handle some trippy old school stuff.

Some good Fluff books that actually are taking place in the calixis sector are Scourge the Heretic and Innocence Proves Nothing by Sandy Mitchell. They are an awesome source of how an Inquisition team works together. Sadly still waiting on the last book to come out =/

As for books that are out to help you and your players in the DH setting I would suggest the following....

Inquisitors Handbook (IH)

Creatures Anathema (CA)

Blood of Martyrs (BoM)

Those are all good books to help out your players.... For GM help Disciples of the Dark Gods is a good one.

Hope that helps out some

Scourge the Heretic, I forget the author, is a novel that came out the same time the DH corebook did, and it is written with the concepts of DH in mind. For example the team of acolytes has an Arbiter, a tech-priest, a fiery female assassin ect. It was a fun read not to serious but can give you some ideas.

Doh, I just read the entire post above mine, I guess Redskull already hit on it and it was Sandy Mitchell. I did not realize that he made another one I will have to get that Innocence Proves Nothing myself.

RedSkull said:

The DH novels do stray from the DH setting some in time line and stuff, almost like he started to write them on a earlier "fluff bible" for the RPG then the finalized version. But still good reads.

And I must say Redskull, just FYI, I have three squads of Storm Troopers in my IG Army that have been converted with Khorn Berzerker Trimmed Skull helms that are indeed painted red (the helms).

@Peacekeeper

I know that some times they stray a little but so far they are the only books that I have found that are based in the area.....I'm hoping that Graham McNeil and Dan Abnett maybe get into this sector

....Also I approve of said berserkers

My three suggestions for novels:

1. Eisenhorn Omnibus

2. Eisenhorn Omnibus

3. Eisenhorn Omnibus

(4. Ravenor Omnibus)

vs

The Ravenor Trilogy has some links to a certain planet in the Calixis sector and gives some additional insight into its misteries and environment apart from the little info offered by the Core Rule Book.

Thanks again, guys.

I've found a shop that might sell some WH40k books in the nearby town, so I'll give it a shot and hopefully they will have something interesting because I really don't want to go to capital about 90 kilometres away.