Hey there DH GMs!

I don't know if this has been asked before, but out of curiosity I was wondering how many of you allow Abhuman PCs for your games? Primarily Ogryns, Ratlings and Squats. I know there are no official rules for them, but there are some great fan made versions and are not difficult to convert yourself if you are so inclined.

I personally allow them, with limitations (group must be 75% human, so out of 4 players only one can be an Abhuman), but I was wondering what others are doing.

Some GM´s have difficulty allowing players to play anything else than human characters...because everything else is per definition alien to our mindset, and no player would be able to play such a character in a convincing manner.

Personally i have the opinion it that every human in 40K is from such a different culture that the character is always "alien" to what we perceive as "normal". So, why not allow abhuman characters? Disallowing your players to do so sounds like an artifical barrier to.

Generally i would say yes. But if you have "problem players" in your group....be wary. Otherwise you´ll get the most intelligent and plot-derailing munchkin orgryn killers you ever experienced.

No abhumans PCs until official rules for them.

Not just for the rules, but also for the background. I have already problems with some of my players understanding the mindset of Tech-priests or arbitrators. I will allow them if there is enough background for them, not just "Ogryn SMASH! OGRYN CRUSH puny humans!" background.

I've offered my players the chance (using Nathan's great (unofficial) rules uk.geocities.com/npdowdell/Something_Other_than_Human.pdf and EvilScary's Beastmen rules www.darkreign40k.com/careers/beastmen.html ) but to date no one has taken up the chance.

Well, one guy generated a Squat but decided to go with a human scum instead.

Ashen Victor said:

While i don´t see any problem with your stance, the question is: "Would bad roleplayers play an Ogryn better if they had background information on the ogryn race?"

Which i would answer with "Hell, No!" Playing a Tech-Priest badly is not different from playing an Ogryn Grunt badly.

Ogryns and squats sure have a different cultural background, but essentially, they are nearly human. The difference between playing a human assassin from a feral world, a human assassin from a hive world and a squat assassin from an imperial world is equal. All three are as different from us as possible, so the "difficulty" playing each of the three is equal in my opinion.

So, no matter how much background you have, a bad roleplayer always has an excuse for "Ogryn smash!". A good roleplayer will be able to play such a character well regardless of the absence of detailed background.

I completely agree. Power players will power play if left unchecked no matter what they are playing. And as you said, a bad/uninspired player will be so regardless of race/profession.

I allowed Ogre PCs in my long running WFRP campaign and while the race does tend to dominate combat-wise, a clever GM can find ways to balance that. E.G.-Going into sewers can be problematic for larger PCs and our Ogre got left out of certain situations due to size. This might be the case with Ogryns too in certain Hive Worlds. Plus any GM, either WFRP or DH40k, who ignores social stigmas and implications is missing a fundamental concept of the settings.

40K is a tough setting to wrap your mind around unless you have a good amount of experience with it (40K minis wargame, novels, etc.). Players with no knowledge of the setting often have difficulty with its mood, concepts, social structures, etc. I find that allowing the "space versions" of dwarfs, halflings and ogres, helps gamers get into the 40K setting. Plus, I'm old guard-my first 40K army was Squats way back in the late 80s, so they will never be left out no matter what GW says about some 'Nid wipe out. Pfaugh!

I think its worth remembering that Ogryns, Ratlings, (and if you allow them) beastmen, squats, etc., are HUMAN.

Unlike the WHFRP versions these are not different species, just different forms of human so roleplaying one is just like RPing a normal human - with the slightly different perspectives of the abhumans.

Don't forget also that technically psykers are abhuman so you do get to play one form of abhuman at least.

As for allowing them. I didn't ban them, but they just didn't come up as an option because we played it RAW, so they weren't officially available.

Using different rules, i've allowed them in the past, even running a squat-centric game...

As long as the player puts in some time to research the abhuman race in question I'd probably be fine with them. I always have my limits when it comes to character creation, but if a player can sell me on a cool idea that they've obviously put some thought into then I have no problems letting them give it a go. I rarely say no to a good idea.

Using the Some Other.. rules yes i allow them, if a player can convince me it'll add to the game.

They however make Great NPC's.

A couple of Ogryn bouncers on a Twist bar's doors run by an albino Ratling....

I use these rules as well (obviously as some are mine!) but no one has rolled one as a character.

One player was interested in playing a Squat, but at that point in the campaign it wasn't a suitable character choice so I asked him not to.

I have had a few abhuman NPCs turn up, mostly beastmen and Ogryns so far.

Evilscary said:

And thats the point! It sums up to: "Will the player be able to contribute to the game with a different race AND is the race suitable to the campaign from the GM´s view ?"

If you can answer both questions with yes the problem isn´t really a problem anymore.

Ikkaan said:

Squats aren't a different race. They are human . Abhuman for sure, but human none-the-less.

If they just want to play an abhuman let them pick the closest home world origin to the statistics they want to portray. If they want to be an ogryn, they would be encouraged to roll up a feral world guardsman or something.

I don't really see the need to develop new unofficial statistics, if they want to roleplay rather than rollplay, statistics shouldn't matter too greatly.

Crimsonsphinx said:

Even with that in mind, there's a big difference between a feral world human and an Ogryn.

For a start, the average Ogryn is about ten feet/3m tall and commensurately strong and tough.

Statistically yes, but I would ask them if they would accept those stats. If they complained I would assume they were not capable of roleplaying one, rather than just rolling lots of combat dice.

I would probably let someone if they had a good reason, and didn't want to spoil things.

I would be more willing to allow a tau or eldar character than an ogryn though, because I think the later just attracts people who want to go "hulk smash" things.

Are any books coming out with the rules on the Abhumans? Maybe the Creatures Anathema?

As long as their are no official rules, I will not allow them. The official stuff is already "broken" enough in some places. No need to add to the mess.

If a player likes to play a squad for one reason or another, he is free to take whatever existing world/career match he is willing to take and claim that his pc is 1,50m small and what-ever-pounds heavy and sporting alot of facial hair. He can be found of whatever he thinks a squad is found of, life out any quirks/customes he thinks to be "squad" and so on.

His people even might be named "squad" by all the others in the sector.

The thing is:
His "people" will not be "the squad" from the old background long disbanded by GW
No special character creation rules.
Any elite-thing is discussed in separate, like any "non-abhuman" pc.

I was never a fan of squats, they seemed very "dwarves in space"-ish for me. Ratlings either, as they are generally midgets with sniper rifles. If you wana play a midget with a sniper rifle then do that, but dont go around calling yourself a squat. As abhumans will rarely use these terms.

Ogryns, however, for an expiranced roll player is a wonderful oppertunity. I would be quite open to rules for ogryns, if the PC had it in them to be as stupid as an ogryn should be. They're undying loyalty is a great mood-setter.