I run an established D&D group and we'll be playing a brand new DH campaign soon. We're all completely new to DH although some of us have played 40k wargames for many years. Some players have very little knowledge of the setting though.

As a GM I want to set the scene for the new players and I wondered what good themes should be introduced early on? My ideas so far...

1: The importance of the emporer and the Imperium.

2: The scale of the Imperium.

3: The existence of hidden and horrible threats.

4: The inherent high level of danger that exists.

5: The needs of the Imperium definately outweigh the needs of an individual (which are expendable).

After that I wasn't sure what to mention in an opening intro...

Chaos? The Warp? The Astronomicon? The Ordo Hereticus? etc

Any suggestions as to what should be introduced early are very welcome.

Cheers

QuantumAsh

Interesting question.

There are of course the 'key themes' detailed in the book itself but for me, some vital elements to base the tone of a campaign on or focus adventures round include;

Know thy place

The Imperium is about order, tradition, and unquestioning loyalty. People are given their roles often at birth. If they maintain those roles, things tick along fine. Problems usually occur when someone refuses to do what they're expected, gets ideas above their station, or breaks with tradition.

Entropy is everywhere

Everything is in decay and the knowledge to prevent that is increasingly lost. There should be a constant battle and tension around trying to preserve things (like technology, health, institutions, traditions, etc.), and that's a losing battle.

Genetic purity

The primary focus of the Imperium is the maintenance of human genetic purity. This is actually a debasement of the Emperor's original plans to guide and develop Humanity towards its psychic awakening (a bit like the Kwizadts Haderach in Frank Herbert's Dune). Now the maintenance of purity is key, which is why 'mutants' are so reviled.

Yet mutation is a key part of evolution so it again is a losing battle. However, i'd focus on the hate and revulsion people feel about mutation, birth defects, mental or physicial congenital illness, mutation from pollutions (cancers etc), and the ultimate evil of Warp mutation.

There are all sorts of lovely subtle plots that can be woven around that, and i think its worth ladelling on the casual and callous treatment of 'mutants'.

You will not be missed

The 40k version of 'life is cheap'. The Imperial authorities should be bureacratically callous, and there should be a disconnected callousness exhibited by many people in the Imperium, especially in association with trangressors. Death is so everpresent and close in most people's lives that it should pervade every aspect of the game.

Everyone dies, the only issue is will you die in the service of the Emperor and therefore die well and contented?

As for DH, i'd concentrate on mutants, heretics and witches rather than aliens (Xenos). Perhaps associate that with subtle Warp entities and Warp corruption (rather than 'ta-daaah!! A daemon!!!') DH is about investigation and uncovering the 'seedy underbelly' of 40k - much easier to do if your root it in the 'human'. Think Blade Runner film noir with a Se7en style twist, perhaps a sprinkling of Saw...

Its much more creepy and satisfying to have a human perpetrate unspeakable horror than a cut-out 'daemon' that pops up at the end. Personally i think 'the evil that men do' is far better for DH than 'the evil that other beasties do'...

Hope that helps a bit?

That helps massively, thanks for taking the time to write all that. I like the suggestions a lot and I particularly enjoy the thought of a bureaucratic callousness that runs through the Imperial Authorities. That could be demonstrated quite early on with something institutionally cruel... Maybe as a result of a minor investigation done by the PCs. That might make the players stand up a bit if something nasty happens as a result of something seemingly minor.

QuantumAsh

If your players have little knowledge of 40K, emphasize the way are machines are dealt with.

I never really mastered this GM-feat myself. This session (starting in the next hour) I will try to speak about machines like they are beings acting on themselves like "the laspistol tells you by flashing a green rune that it is ready for battle".

I think that alot of themes will depend a little on which Ordos that you are working for. An group of Acolytes serving the Ordo Hereticus will have a somewhat different experience than the Ordo Xenos. That you should leaves the Xenos out is something that I really disagree with. There's an entire Ordo of the Inquisition devoted to dealing with the threat of the Xenos and thus they have their place. It is after all a very hostile universe that which seems to produce nightmarish creatures almost as if by design and its against that the Inquisition exists.

So, which Ordos will your players be working for?

One addition I would make to your list is the concept of the "high-tech Dark Age"- make it clear that this is not a Star Trekian future, but one where the miraculous technology is in decline, irreplaceable and little understood, sometimes reguarded with superstitious awe.

One thing that I do whenever I start a 40k rpg campaign is to read the "standard 40k intro" that is in the front of many of the novels. You know the one:

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Sets the mood nicely, I've found, and can give the group chills if you do it in your best Darth Vader voice Add to that something extra to focus on the specific pieces of the setting that you want to highlight and bam! You're good to go.