I've just recently started a campaign of my own. What made this game really different and fun for me world building wise was that I tweeked the background rules a bit. Where in a planet is classified as one homeworld I changed it where one planet can have more than one homeworld choices for different characters.

For instance a made a planet where a player can choose to have been born there and yet he has the option to be a feral, hiveworlder or imperial. How could this have happened? Well the one player who choose to be feral was living underneath the toxic sludge part of the city where many of the other ferals of that planet fight for daily survival. The Hiveworlders where the underclass who had to eek out a living in a routine and hazardous job. While the Imperials where those who at least have some money with them.

Well that's it. Just a glimpse on how my games are being run this days.

That´s actually quite brilliant.

I may have to copy this idea if you allow me

I have always found it strange that according to RAW everyone on an entire planet have basically the same skills and background. An underhive ganger have the same skills and attributes as a mid-level merchant, doesn´t make any sense... But I guess it comes with the whole sci-fi thing, where most planets also only have one really big settlement, I know I´m simplifying a bit now but my point still stands.

Storhamster said:

That's the thing about all fiction, really. In Sci-fi each planet can be described by a single characteristic that supposedly covers the whole world ("desert world, "water world," etc.) and alien races generally stand united among themselves with a more or less singular perspective on the galaxy. All Klingons are honor-bound warriors, all Romulans are cloak and dagger shady types, etc. (Sorry if my use of Star Trek stereotypes offends anyone.) Maybe there are one or two characters who break the mold, generally as part of a story whose moral revolves around the idea that things aren't always what they seem or that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but by and large if you've met one member of an alien species, you've met them all.

The same thing happens in high fantasy, though. Each nation tends to be comprised of a single race ("predominantly") and has singular characteristics. The elves live in a forest nation whose borders are literally defined by the edge of the woods, the dwarves live in a huge network of underground caves (but they live exclusively underground, there are never surface settlements.)

The reason, of course, is because the author is trying to focus on the story he's telling. In the case of RPGs they're trying to create a backdrop that you can use to seed your own stories, but the end purpose is the same. All these planets/nations and aliens/races exist to provide one specific element of the story, and their whole existence is generally built around that one requirement. The homeworld your character comes from only needs to be described in a few broad strokes that explain your perspective on the world and maybe a few special stat changes, beyond that, the bulk of the story happens in the present and your homeworld is irrelevant.

To the OP: I applaud your idea and I hope it works out well. You're absolutely right that there's no reason you can't combine different "homeworld" settings on a single planet. In fact, I suspect this will work out especially well if you want to turn this planet into a centerpiece for the game and have the players come back here at some point to deal with bad guys. The world will be that much more intriguing for having multiple different elements at play.

This is a marvelous idea, and a logical continuation of something I already use.

I already use classes to describe much wider occupations than the book descriptions allow. For example in a story centered around a Guard unit the officers will often be Clerics, the tough sergeants could be Arbites, grunts will be Guardsmen (duh), intelligence types could be Adepts. The same sort of role division can be done for gang stories, Ministorium stories or anything else.

The idea can be further expanded by specific background packages if further detail is desired.

This is a good idea. As a general practice, if a player has a god concept that is not unbalancing to the game, I generally will run with it. You are helping them develop these concepts. Good job.

Thanks for the comments guys.

And Stormhammer go ahead and use my idea.

It's still too early to say how successful my campaign will be since I've only held one game but if it's not gonna be it's not gonna be due to the character creation process. My players also like the idea.

Alpha Chaos 13 said:

I meant GOOD concept! D'oh!

Don't forget the Noble origin for the Upper Spires. Rogue Trader: Into The Storm also added some new origin types that are very easy to adapt to DH games. Of particular note for me was Fortress World: "For Cadia! For the Emperor! ADVANCE!"

Blood of Martyrs also adds some interesting origins. Famulous Prodigy, Monastic, Shrine World.... Yummy!

Yummy?