Just thinking about the whole thing with Warhammer 40k in the other thread on this board. The question that came was:

Is Warhammer 40k a horror setting?

If you were to run it as written (in general, not just as written in the 40k: Dark Heresy game), could you run it as anything else? With the humanity spread thin and institutionalized across most galaxies in Hives, all part of he great Empire War Machine, with death at all sides through martialization of heretical thoughts or direct alien infestation.


I personaly dig horror stories, but some members of my group may not.

Should I bother includng them in any 40k based game I run?

It could also be played for irony as a satire of religion, empire and ubermensch. Or played for low-humor as a parody of the same.  If the PCs were uber-enough it could be an unapologetically awesome slaughterfest. It could also be one of those insipid deconstructionist soapboxes.

Come to think of it, it's the same as Paranoia, except that the default setting is set to "grim."

I think it'd be pretty straightforward to run a horror campaign in a 40K setting.  Most sci-fi horror films seem like they could be used as inspiration and fit the setting quite well.

Two words, one movie. Event Horizon.

Quote from: Malleus ArianorumIf the PCs were uber-enough it could be an unapologetically awesome slaughterfest.

Yeah. 40k is fun so long as you are a musclebound psycho with a talent for violence.

Seriously, do you think all those kids lovingly painting their space marines are worried about the plight of the common man? Judge Dredd? Dirty Harry? Riddick? Marcus Phenix? They LOVE this shit. It is why they get up in the morning. Go ahead Punk - Make My Day! If they lived somewhere safe they would get bored and start drinking heavily and beating up their wives.

The thing to remember is that your guy isn't stuck in there with the gribblies - the gribblies are stuck in there with your guy!

Quote from: One Horse TownEvent Horizon.

I'll raise you a Doom.

Quote from: Erik BoielleI'll raise you a Doom.

and a Starship Troopers...

Depends entirely on what sources you're drawing on.

Quote from: KieroDepends entirely on what sources you're drawing on.

Yeah - 40k is at heart a way of selling you toy soldiers, so when you get right down to it, if you want it, they should try to flog it to you.

And I want a BFG9000 and a buster sword from final fantasy. And a pony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un1M7xbCCIs

Ah, i wondered how long it would be before we got the Erik version of the lolcat.

Yes, well, do we think that GW has become the biggest company in gaming through a thought provoking examination of the horrors of war and existential dread, or by pandering to the violent fantasies of teenagers.

I'll give you a hint:- it is by pandering to the violent fantasies of teenagers.

More accurately, it's by pandering to the centuries old desire of young boys to play with toy soldiers, but with added METAL (not lead). As soon as you move the setting away from the toy soldier 'field' into the RPG one you have to add more to it. Most of the complaints i've seen (bar Kiero, but he doesn't count) is that the RPG has moved away from the wargame, whilst with WFRP it was that it had moved slightly closer. That's a no-win, my friend.

In the 40k RPG, can you get big guns, metal armour and go quish/shoot things for jollies? Why yes, i think that you can. Can you also do an Event Horizon type horror game? Why yes, you can. Can you run an political game with it? Hmm, the answer is ringing a bell, yes! If you can only do one thing, it ain't an RPG, it's still the wargame. Great for you Erik (and others, i'm sure), but limits others.

Quote from: One Horse TownIn the 40k RPG, can you get big guns, metal armour and go quish/shoot things for jollies? Why yes, i think that you can.

I dunno man. A couple of mooks with assault rifles are going to shred even an experienced PC, while heavy weapons and demons are just going to cause unacceptable casualty levels.

And I think its gonna take a long, long, long time to get to play with a plasma pistol.

So, can you recreate your favorite (look - given GWs audience I don't think I'm reaching here) video game or action movie (with Dark Heresy) - probably not.

Can you make Riddick or Leonidas or go around acting like Marcus or Dante or Kratos?

I'd like to thank this thread for finally answering for me just why the 40K universe does not appeal to me.



I'm not into horror.

...and musclebound psychos with big guns bore the hell out of me.
 (I use them as comedy relief sometimes in my G:TRAVELLER campaogn)


- Ed C.

40k is a lot of different things.  The current corporate drive has been towards selling lots of little soldiers and rulebooks rather than trying to develop any new ideas.  Indeed, GW's rationale for the number of armies they produce is (according to White Dwarf a few years back) based on shelf space in their stores.

The setting was originally a fairly humdrum riff on Judge Dread, 3000AD in general, Call of Cthullu, Starship Troopers, and Dune.  And it was ironic in nature.  As time went on it reached the point where it was played strictly for laughs in the three Ork books.

And then, GW realized that the new boxed set format and plastics were good revenue streams and started standardizing what they did instead of doing whatever floated the designer's boats.  And an edition later they listened to the fans and made it darker and more like some of the better written bits in the Rogue Trader book.  And slowly but surely they started working on making the miniatures line less cartoony.

But here's the thing, Warhammer 40000 has never been about adolescent ultraviolence fantasies.  Indeed, Grand Theft Auto is much more that sort of thing.  Warhammer 40000 is about the injustice and hypocracy of entrenched authority figures who hold their position and authority through threat of violence.  Yup, it's about parents and churches and schools and policemen and how wrong it is that they have control over kids lives.  It's a very universal theme that underlies the philosophies of democracy and liberty.

And it's really good marketing.