MARCH 14 2006 (Nottingham, England) 2007 will mark the 20th anniversary of the first publication of Games Workshop?s legendary Warhammer 40,000 game system. It?s no coincidence that March 2007 will also see one of the most eagerly awaited events in gaming history ? the release of Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay (40KRP)! Rumours have been circulating in the roleplay community for many years about such a game. Now Black Industries, fresh from the success of the revamped Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, can reveal that it really will be happening, and in a way no one is expecting. Because there won?t be one 40KRP game, but three!
Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy will be the first 40KRP game, allowing players to take on the role of an Inquisitor?s retinue. Their task is to uproot the taint of Chaos in Imperial society, to smash dark cults and foil sinister plots. It?s a game of investigation and will be an ideal introduction to the dark and gothic universe of the 41st Millennium. Dark Heresy is just the beginning, however. After this basic game, two further games released eighteen months apart will allow the players to progress and explore the universe first as Rogue Traders and alien pirates, and eventually experienced players will be able to roleplay the devastating warriors of the Adeptus Astartes Deathwatch.
All three games use the same game system, which is itself based in part upon the award-winning Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Players will be able to progress from one system to the next, as they gain experience and a measure of understanding of the vastly detailed universe of Warhammer 40,000. Each of the games will consist of a core rulebook accompanied by regular releases of sourcebooks and adventures.
Game design is being handled by Green Ronin, the team who helped create the sensational new version of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay so successfully in 2005, and much of the background is being handled by the Black Library?s team of writers.
For more information as it becomes available keep an Inquisitorial eye on blackindustries.com. But remember, heretic: innocence proves nothing.
WARHAMMER 40,000 ROLEPLAY: Talking with the Team
Unsurprisingly, the news that Black Industries would be releasing a series of Warhammer 40,000-themed roleplaying games, starting with Dark Heresy in Spring 2007, has attracted a great deal of attention -- and not a few frenzied questions. In the first of a series of chats with key members of the project, we caught up with BI?s RPG Brand Manager Kate Flack, and managed to get answers even the undying Emperor?s Inquisition would be proud of.
1 -- The press release says the rules will be based in part on WFRP -- how similar will the systems be?
The 40KRP system will be similar to the WFRP system -- recognisably from the same family, as it were -- but it will have to be different. Scaling, firearms, vehicular combat, space travel and all manner of other situations are going to demand specialised rules that simply don?t exist in a system designed to impart the grim and perilous world of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.
If you know WFRP it?s likely you?ll be able to trace the ?origins? of some of the rules in 40KRP but don?t expect everything to be the same. We?re not shy about adapting the system!
What?s equally important to us is that the 40KRP system has the right feel, and can withstand the demands of the three different Warhammer 40,000 games that we are going to create.
It?s a big challenge, but it?s one we think we can meet.
2 -- Can you offer some examples about how background material will be presented? There has been a lot of back-and-forth discussion amongst fans about how information can be presented to make the universe sufficiently well-detailed in which to roleplay, without destroying/damaging the unique 40K flavour/tone.
I?m not surprised this has caused lots of forum discussion -- in fact, much of it has made a great read.
Obviously, we?re thinking primarily about Dark Heresy rather than the other two games at the moment, so we?re concentrating on developing a setting that is jam-packed with everything an inquisitor could want to uncover -- chaos cults, alien threats, daemon stars, psychic emanations, shrine worlds, vast starships, hive cities and heretical plots against Imperium control. Amongst other things.
As they say, the daemon is in the detail, so we want to present a focused background, a narrow but deep slice of the galaxy that typifies the 40K experience.
We?re working very closely with Black Library author Ben Counter to create something that not only gets the right mood and tone, but also allows GMs to really cut loose with anything their dark inspiration can conjure.
All we?re going on record to say right now is ?Lord Solar Macharius??
3 -- How much overlap will there be between the three games? Specifically, will there be a set of ?core rules? which are repeated in all three main rule books? Will a copy of Dark Heresy be required to play Rogue Trader etc?
Each separate game will interlock with the other. There will be a basic level of rules that is the same between each game. The nuts and bolts, if you like. The background setting will also cross over -- so yes, your character in a Rogue Trader game could potentially run into your Dark Heresy character. Which might be fun, depending on how may Xenos artefacts you?re carrying in your freighter?
We envisage each game having different types of optional detailed rules. Dark Heresy, for example, will deal quite a lot with personal corruption -- mental, physical, spiritual. After all, that?s kind of what the game is about. At the same time, you?re unlikely to need such detailed morale type rules in a Deathwatch game -- Space Marines aren?t prey to doubt in the same way that your standard human is.
Each game is a separate, standalone game, so you won?t need to have any Dark Heresy books to play Rogue Trader. The amount you choose to mix and match from each game line is up to you and your style of play.
4 -- Will there be setting books? If so, will they be very specific (i.e. a single planet/city), very generic (e.g. Codex: Hiveworlds), or somewhere in between, with specific examples and guidelines on making your own?
We?re going for a specific setting, so there will be books that detail groups of planets, or organisations within our setting in quite a detailed way. We want to support the GM as much as we can, whilst still leaving space for people to write their own stuff. We basically want to sketch out a map, saying ?This is what?s here, and that?s there, but everything inbetween is up to you.? We hope there will be a whole galaxy of fan made planets out there.
5 -- Is the scale/scope going to be different in the different games?
You bet! We want each of our Warhammer 40,000 games to have a different feel, theme and scope.
That was the whole point of carving it up into a trilogy of games. Dark Heresy is a personal game, moody, intriguing and challenging. It?s about the mind- its powers of deduction and investigation, but also how it can fool you into doubt, corruption and death.
Rogue Trader on the other hand is all about the spirit of adventure. Guts, glory, aliens and plunder! Charisma, character and ?soul?
Meanwhile, Deathwatch -- as you might expect -- has the potential to be a very physical game. Just what limits can you take? How brave and heroic are you? What is the death of your body, compared to the safety of the Imperium?
6 -- Will the first rulebook provide everything you need to play? For example, will it include sections for adversaries, GMing techniques, sample locations to play in, adventure seeds, introductory adventure, campaign creation, wargear, etc?
Yes. We believe in giving you all you need to get started in one book. If you want more juicy detail, then there will be additional books you might want to pick up -- but that?s your choice. One book and your imagination could certainly carry you through years of play.
7 -- Will Insanity still play as large a part in the system? I hear that only the insane can prosper, after all. In WFRP, many of the insanities, which are ridiculously easy to pick up, debilitate a character so much that they are rendered almost unplayable.
The horrors of the 41st millennium will certainly drive you mad if you aren?t careful. In Dark Heresy there are all sorts of distressing things that can happen to your character -- insanity being just one option for the GM to explore. You will be able to ?fix? what goes wrong -- with pilgrimage, drugs, augmentations and so on -- but it won?t be a case of ?drink the two-a-penny magic potion and make it go away?. There likely won?t be such a strong focus on this in Rogue Trader and Deathwatch, as there are further themes we want to explore in those games.
8 -- Will the core rules provide rules for mutation?
Hell yeah! And plenty of them! ?Reversed digestion? is the least of your worries?
9 -- How many pages will the core book have?
After our experience with WFRP where we just couldn?t stop writing things for it, we?re going for a 320 page core ruleook this time. Full colour, hardback and dripping with all kinds of Warhammer 40,000 art loveliness. Just like you?d expect!
10 -- Why release 3 core rulebooks, rather than one basic system, with a big expansion book for each major game setting? As it stands, it sounds like there will be a lot of reprinting of rules in each book, wasting a great deal of space.
Well, it?s great to hear you?re planning to buy all of the books! That?ll keep us in Panda Pops for a while yet then
Levity aside, we thought long and hard about this decision before we settled on the trilogy of games.
Our trilogy model allows us to realise roleplaying in the 41st millennium in multiple ways. We can do an investigation game, an exploration/character-driven game, and also a super-powered heroic combat game. In short, whatever your style of play, there is a Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying game for you. The games are intended to be different in the gameplay they offer, the characters one can play and the settings they explore. You can mix-and-match to build an even bigger game, but for most players we suspect they?ll end up with a favourite setting.
Underpinning each separate game with the same basic rules then allows you to choose the extent to which you want to blend the games. We?re very much into people customising their games to suit the way they like to play. We figured that you guys would do it anyway, so why not make it as easy as possible for you?
We also wanted to make Warhammer 40,000 accessible to roleplayers who might never have dipped their toes into the far-flung future of the 41st millennium. It?s a massive universe, with two decades of material to draw on. A vast über tome of the whole of the Imperium could be pretty daunting in one go!
Lastly, to paraphrase ?Alien? we admire its purity. Creating a game with a focused purpose, theme and specifically adapted rules set makes for tighter writing, tailored rules and an all round better book. If you can say to your creative team, ?This is Dark Heresy -- it?s about investigation, corruption and the war for the Emperor?s soul? everyone knows exactly what they are trying to achieve. In short, you get better quality.
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay Dark Heresy Rulebook
Combining the grim darkness of the far future with award-winning games design, the Dark Heresy rulebook allows players to take on the role of an Inquisitor?s retinue as they fight against the corrupt agents of Chaos. Within this awesome full colour rulebook, players will find all the information they need to play as agents of the Imperial Inquisition. It?s packed with evocative background, detailed rules, details of equipment and an adventure to get players started. Search out the traitor, the heretic, the mutant, and remember ? innocence proves nothing.
March 2007 ? 320pp ? Hardcover
UK ?35.00 ? US $49.99 ? Can $64.99
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Dark Heresy Games Master?s Screen
This lavish Games Master?s screen is just what every GM needs to help keep their Inquisitorial secrets safe. Behind the sturdy screen the GM can hide his dice rolls or simply keep his players from reading his notes. Printed on the GM's side are loads of handy quick reference charts that make running the game that much easier, whilst on the player?s side are evocative pieces of art from the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
March 2007 ? Screen/booklet
UK ?12.00 ? US $19.99 ? Can $25.99
Come back tomorrow when we will outline more 40KRP products.
