Brief intro to WH40K setting needed

By Drenmor, in Dark Heresy

Posted at

Hi there,

I will be running DH in the near future. One player has a good grasp on the general WH40K setting having played the wargame many years ago. The other player however is completely new to the setting (not just DH but WH40K). I'd like to provide him with an overview of the setting before we begin - can anyone point me to a summary of WH40K that touches on the most important fluff aspects so that I could copy and paste a handout?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Posted at

i think the main 40k tag defines it plenty well enough...

Just google the "It is the 41st millennium" and you'll get the full 3 paragraph speech about being one man amongst countless billions and much GrimDarkness

Posted at

There is also at least one thread about DH themed/inspirational movies/books and such here. Go on and take a look. I've found that having such a movie playing either before/during chargen helps players get an idea of what the campaign is going to be like and the types of characters that would "fit best" or how to make a pet concept work within the paradigm.

Posted at

40k is a huge setting, with players unfamilar to it you will need to patiently explain at lot of stuff (trust me, 2 of my 3 players are totally unfamiliar with the setting). I recommend using classic 40k artwork as well, some of which is very evocotive. Keep your descriptions breif too, you could easily spend an hour explaining the Horus Heresy, but it would all be in one ear, out the other, info overload. Also, you-tube the Dawn of War intro movies (1 & 2) they give a great idea of the kind fo brutality to be expected in the setting. Oh, and encourage them to play characters who don't know squat about the Imperium, thus their igorance is characterful.

Posted at

Velvetears said:

i think the main 40k tag defines it plenty well enough...

Just google the "It is the 41st millennium" and you'll get the full 3 paragraph speech about being one man amongst countless billions and much GrimDarkness

Actually that speech was the first bit of text I copied down, thanks though.

Posted at

KidChainsaw said:

There is also at least one thread about DH themed/inspirational movies/books and such here. Go on and take a look. I've found that having such a movie playing either before/during chargen helps players get an idea of what the campaign is going to be like and the types of characters that would "fit best" or how to make a pet concept work within the paradigm.

I believe he has seen Chronicles of Riddick and Event Horizon, so that's a start!

Posted at

Agmar_Strick said:

40k is a huge setting, with players unfamilar to it you will need to patiently explain at lot of stuff (trust me, 2 of my 3 players are totally unfamiliar with the setting). I recommend using classic 40k artwork as well, some of which is very evocotive. Keep your descriptions breif too, you could easily spend an hour explaining the Horus Heresy, but it would all be in one ear, out the other, info overload. Also, you-tube the Dawn of War intro movies (1 & 2) they give a great idea of the kind fo brutality to be expected in the setting. Oh, and encourage them to play characters who don't know squat about the Imperium, thus their igorance is characterful.

Great ideas. I'll start collecting a folder of artwork and send him a link to the Dawn of War intro movies as well. Playing PCs with minimal knowledge of the greater universe is another excellent suggestion.

Thanks everyone.

Posted at

From 1d4chan.org :

Tgdhcover.jpg

More seriously, though, I find it's a lot like Frank Herbert's Dune with much heavier religious tones. The David Lynch film does a good job of representing the visual style whereas the SciFi channel mini series does a better job with the political intrigue.

Posted at

Ah yes, Dune. Another good film to refer to. Thanks.