Warhammer 40,000 — Core 40K (Volume I)
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SillyTavern lorebook for Warhammer 40,000. Volume I covers the core setting, Imperium, Warp, Chaos, major institutions, modern era, roleplay knowledge rules, and tone.
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Warhammer 40,000 — Core 40K (Volume I)
28 entries
Book settings
- #1The Grimdark Future
Keys: Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer 40K, 40K, grimdark, 41st millennium, 42nd millennium
Always on · Before character · Order 100
Entry settings
Warhammer 40,000 is a dystopian far-future setting in which humanity and numerous alien civilizations struggle for survival across a vast and violent galaxy.
The Imperium of Man is the largest human civilization, but it is not a prosperous utopia. It is an authoritarian, religious, bureaucratic, militarized empire spanning countless worlds. Its institutions are ancient, inefficient, and often brutal, yet they preserve humanity against enemies that could otherwise annihilate it.
The galaxy is perpetually at war. Vast armies fight over planets, resources, ideology, survival, religion, and territory. Entire civilizations can disappear during conflicts that ordinary citizens may never even understand.
The setting is intentionally bleak. Heroism exists, but victory is often temporary and comes at enormous cost. Technology is frequently ancient and poorly understood. Knowledge has been lost. Human lives are expendable to institutions that measure casualties in millions.
Humanity is threatened simultaneously by alien civilizations, internal rebellion, supernatural entities of the Warp, daemonic corruption, and its own political and religious divisions.
There is no simple division between good and evil. Most major factions possess understandable motivations alongside horrifying practices. Even supposedly heroic characters may commit terrible acts in the name of survival.
The tone should remain enormous, tragic, militaristic, gothic, oppressive, strange, and occasionally darkly humorous.
The galaxy should feel vast. A person can live and die without ever seeing a Space Marine, meeting an alien, or learning that a major war occurred nearby.
When portraying ordinary people, remember that they generally possess only a tiny fragment of the knowledge available to powerful leaders and scholars.
- #2The Galaxy
Keys: galaxy, Milky Way, galactic, star system, sector, subsector
Before character · Order 95
Entry settings
Humanity occupies a relatively small portion of the galaxy's enormous physical scale despite the immense size of the Imperium.
Galactic space is divided administratively into sectors, subsectors, systems, and individual worlds. Travel and communication between these locations are difficult and unreliable.
Distances are enormous. Two worlds belonging to the same political authority may be separated by journeys lasting weeks, months, or longer depending upon circumstances.
The galaxy is not uniformly controlled. Imperial authority varies dramatically from place to place. Some worlds are prosperous by Imperial standards, while others are barely habitable, technologically primitive, devastated by war, or dominated by criminal organizations.
Borders are unstable. Wars, Warp storms, invasions, rebellions, and bureaucratic failures can dramatically change who controls a world.
Maps should never be treated as perfectly reliable. The Warp makes navigation dangerous, and Imperial records can be centuries out of date.
The sheer scale of the galaxy means rumors, legends, and contradictory reports are common.
- #3The Imperium of Man
Keys: Imperium, Imperium of Man, humanity, mankind, Imperial
Before character · Order 100
Entry settings
The Imperium of Man is the vast human civilization that dominates much of the galaxy.
It is governed in the name of the Emperor of Mankind, a superhuman being who has occupied the Golden Throne on Terra for approximately ten thousand years.
The Imperium is an authoritarian theocracy intertwined with military institutions and an immense bureaucracy.
Its worlds vary enormously. Some resemble medieval kingdoms, others are enormous industrial centers, polluted hive cities, agricultural planets, fortress worlds, mining colonies, or technologically advanced but tightly controlled societies.
Imperial citizens are expected to demonstrate loyalty to the Emperor and obedience to Imperial institutions.
The Imperium is sustained by countless organizations, including the Adeptus Administratum, Adeptus Mechanicus, Ecclesiarchy, Astra Militarum, Imperial Navy, Adeptus Astartes, Adepta Sororitas, Inquisition, and many others.
The Imperium is simultaneously humanity's greatest shield and an oppressive civilization capable of immense cruelty.
Imperial officials frequently sacrifice individuals, populations, or even entire worlds if they believe doing so will protect humanity as a whole.
The average Imperial citizen knows little about the true nature of the galaxy. Propaganda, religious teachings, local customs, and limited education shape their understanding of reality.
An Imperial citizen should not automatically possess knowledge of secret organizations, Chaos, xenos civilizations, classified military operations, or the true history of the Imperium.
- #4The Emperor of Mankind
Keys: Emperor, God-Emperor, Emperor of Mankind, Master of Mankind
Before character · Order 100
Entry settings
The Emperor of Mankind is the supreme symbolic and spiritual authority of the Imperium.
Once an active and extraordinarily powerful figure who personally led humanity during the Great Crusade, the Emperor was catastrophically wounded during the Horus Heresy.
He now exists upon the Golden Throne on Terra.
His physical condition is commonly described as that of a near-corpse sustained by ancient technology and immense psychic power. Despite this, his psychic presence remains extraordinarily important to humanity.
The Astronomican, powered through psychic means and associated with the Emperor's presence, allows Imperial Navigators to orient themselves during Warp travel.
Imperial religion venerates the Emperor as a divine being. However, the historical Emperor did not originally establish the Imperial Cult and famously opposed organized religion during much of his early reign.
This contradiction is important.
The modern Imperium's worship of the Emperor differs substantially from the ideology he promoted during the Great Crusade.
Different Imperial groups understand the Emperor differently. To some he is literally a god. To others he is humanity's ultimate ruler, protector, father, or sacred symbol.
His true thoughts and present consciousness are matters of mystery and interpretation.
- #5Terra
Keys: Terra, Earth, Holy Terra
Before character · Order 90
Entry settings
Terra is humanity's ancestral homeworld and the political and spiritual heart of the Imperium.
It is also the location of the Imperial Palace and the Golden Throne.
Terra is extraordinarily densely populated and heavily urbanized. Its population exists beneath layers of enormous infrastructure, monumental architecture, ancient ruins, industrial systems, and administrative institutions.
Terra is considered sacred by the Imperial Cult.
Pilgrims travel enormous distances to visit it, sometimes spending their entire lives attempting to reach the Throneworld.
Terra is protected by extraordinary military forces, including the Adeptus Custodes and vast defensive systems.
The planet is not portrayed as a normal modern Earth. It is a colossal, ancient Imperial metropolis whose infrastructure has accumulated over thousands of years.
- #6The Golden Throne
Keys: Golden Throne, Throne, Imperial Throne
Before character · Order 90
Entry settings
The Golden Throne is an ancient and immensely complex mechanism located within the Imperial Palace on Terra.
The Emperor has been sustained upon it since the conclusion of the Horus Heresy.
The Throne is connected to the Emperor's psychic existence and performs functions critical to humanity's survival.
Its technology is extremely ancient and poorly understood, even by the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Maintaining the Throne requires enormous resources and constant technical attention.
The exact nature and original purpose of every aspect of the Golden Throne remains mysterious.
The Throne should be treated as one of the setting's great symbols: humanity's survival depends upon an ancient system that few people fully understand.
- #7The Warp
Keys: Warp, Immaterium, Sea of Souls, Empyrean
Before character · Order 100
Entry settings
The Warp is a parallel dimension existing alongside material reality.
It is a realm of psychic energy, emotion, thought, and supernatural phenomena.
The Warp does not obey the same physical laws as realspace. Time and distance can behave unpredictably within it.
Human emotions and the thoughts of sentient beings influence the Warp. Powerful psychic entities exist within it.
The Warp is essential for faster-than-light travel across the galaxy, but entering it is extremely dangerous.
Warp travel requires specialized technology and protection. Ships generally rely upon Gellar fields to prevent the Warp's entities from directly invading the vessel.
Without adequate protection, Warp entities can possess crew members, mutate living beings, corrupt machines, or manifest physically.
The Warp is not simply outer space with monsters. It is fundamentally alien to conventional physical reality.
Characters should treat Warp phenomena as frightening, unpredictable, and potentially reality-altering.
- #8Chaos
Keys: Chaos, Chaos Gods, Ruinous Powers, Dark Gods
Before character · Order 100
Entry settings
Chaos refers to the supernatural powers and entities associated with the Warp.
The four principal Chaos Gods are Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, and Slaanesh.
Chaos can corrupt individuals, organizations, civilizations, and even entire worlds.
Chaos corruption is not always immediately obvious. It may begin with ideological compromise, forbidden knowledge, desperation, ambition, resentment, pleasure, violence, or seemingly reasonable decisions.
Chaos worshippers range from secret cultists and desperate civilians to warlords, mutants, sorcerers, Daemon Princes, and entire military forces.
Chaos is not one unified political organization. Its followers frequently fight one another as much as they fight their enemies.
The Warp and Chaos should be portrayed as supernatural forces that can exploit the desires and weaknesses of intelligent beings.
- #9Khorne
Keys: Khorne, Blood God, Skull Throne
Before character · Order 75
Entry settings
Khorne is the Chaos God associated primarily with violence, rage, bloodshed, martial prowess, and slaughter.
His followers glorify combat and killing.
Khorne cares little for subtle political maneuvering compared with the other Chaos Gods, though his followers can still display strategy and discipline.
His symbolism commonly involves blood, skulls, axes, and martial imagery.
Khorne's followers often seek worthy opponents and may value martial strength even among enemies.
Do not portray every follower of Khorne as mindlessly stupid. Many are experienced warriors who deliberately embrace violence as a philosophy.
- #10Tzeentch
Keys: Tzeentch, Changer of Ways, Architect of Fate
Before character · Order 75
Entry settings
Tzeentch is associated with change, ambition, knowledge, sorcery, manipulation, and schemes.
His plans frequently contain other plans, and his servants often do not understand the ultimate purpose of their own actions.
Tzeentch's influence commonly manifests through psychic powers, mutation, forbidden knowledge, political manipulation, and elaborate conspiracies.
His followers may genuinely believe they are pursuing enlightenment, freedom, advancement, or necessary change.
Tzeentch's nature makes certainty dangerous. Prophecies and apparent victories may have hidden consequences.
- #11Nurgle
Keys: Nurgle, Plague Lord, Grandfather Nurgle
Before character · Order 75
Entry settings
Nurgle is associated with disease, decay, entropy, despair, and a grotesque form of acceptance.
His followers frequently become infected with supernatural diseases and may experience horrifying physical transformations.
Nurgle's philosophy often presents decay not as something to fear, but as an inevitable condition that should be embraced.
His followers can display disturbing camaraderie and genuine affection toward one another.
Nurgle's corruption should be portrayed as simultaneously horrific, tragic, and strangely comforting to those who have surrendered to it.
- #12Slaanesh
Keys: Slaanesh, Prince of Pleasure, Dark Prince
Before character · Order 75
Entry settings
Slaanesh is associated with excess, obsession, sensation, perfection, indulgence, and the pursuit of ever-greater experiences.
Slaanesh's corruption does not simply mean ordinary pleasure. It represents obsession taken beyond healthy limits until the pursuit of sensation, achievement, beauty, perfection, or gratification becomes destructive.
Followers may become obsessed with art, combat, music, status, physical sensation, beauty, or mastery.
Slaanesh should be portrayed primarily through themes of obsession, excess, temptation, and loss of restraint rather than reduced to simple hedonism.
- #13The Chaos Gods
Keys: Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, Slaanesh, four Chaos Gods
Before character · Order 85
Entry settings
The four major Chaos Gods represent different aspects of emotion and existence within the Warp.
Khorne represents rage, violence, bloodshed, and martial fury.
Tzeentch represents change, ambition, knowledge, sorcery, and schemes.
Nurgle represents decay, disease, despair, endurance, and acceptance.
Slaanesh represents excess, obsession, sensation, perfection, and indulgence.
The Chaos Gods compete with one another. Their alliances are temporary and their rivalries are ancient.
Chaos Undivided refers broadly to individuals or groups who serve Chaos without dedicating themselves exclusively to one particular god.
- #14Daemons
Keys: daemon, daemons, daemonhost, Warp entity
Before character · Order 80
Entry settings
Daemons are supernatural entities associated with the Warp and Chaos.
They are not simply biological extraterrestrials. They are manifestations of Warp powers and concepts.
Daemons can possess mortals, manipulate reality, influence dreams, corrupt locations, and manifest physically under suitable circumstances.
Different Chaos Gods possess different types of daemons.
Daemons are normally hostile to ordinary material life, although their behavior varies according to their nature and allegiance.
Their presence in realspace is dangerous and often associated with psychic disturbances, possession, mutation, madness, and supernatural phenomena.
- #15Psykers
Keys: psyker, psychic, psykers, witch
Before character · Order 90
Entry settings
Psykers are sentient beings capable of drawing upon the Warp to produce supernatural effects.
Psychic abilities vary enormously. They can include telepathy, telekinesis, precognition, force manipulation, psychic attacks, and other phenomena.
Psykers are extremely valuable to the Imperium but are also feared because uncontrolled psychic power can attract Warp entities and cause catastrophic events.
The Imperium subjects many psykers to testing and regulation.
Some are trained and sanctioned for Imperial service. Others are executed, imprisoned, or subjected to dangerous procedures.
A psyker's power does not automatically make them evil. However, psychic ability always carries significant risks.
- #16The Astronomican
Keys: Astronomican, Astronomicon, psychic beacon
Before character · Order 85
Entry settings
The Astronomican is a vast psychic beacon originating from Terra.
It allows Imperial Navigators to orient themselves during Warp travel.
Its existence is fundamental to the Imperium's ability to maintain communication and transportation across enormous distances.
The beacon is associated directly with the Emperor and requires enormous psychic resources to maintain.
Damage to the Astronomican or the systems supporting it would have consequences across the Imperium.
- #17Imperial Culture
Keys: Imperial citizen, Imperial society, Imperial culture, Imperial religion
Before character · Order 85
Entry settings
Imperial society is deeply shaped by devotion to the Emperor.
Religious practices vary considerably between worlds. There is no single perfectly uniform Imperial culture.
Citizens may pray before dangerous tasks, carry religious symbols, attend sermons, participate in festivals, visit shrines, or invoke the Emperor's name in moments of fear.
Imperial propaganda emphasizes loyalty, sacrifice, duty, obedience, and vigilance against enemies.
Many citizens genuinely believe that serving the Imperium is a sacred responsibility.
Ordinary people are not necessarily constantly miserable. They can form families, celebrate holidays, fall in love, pursue hobbies, joke with friends, attend sporting events, work ordinary jobs, and build communities.
What makes the setting grimdark is that these ordinary lives exist under the constant possibility of war, famine, political oppression, disease, invasion, and supernatural catastrophe.
- #18The Ecclesiarchy
Keys: Ecclesiarchy, Adeptus Ministorum, Imperial Church, priest
Before character · Order 80
Entry settings
The Adeptus Ministorum, commonly called the Ecclesiarchy, is the vast religious institution of the Imperium.
It teaches devotion to the Emperor and maintains countless churches, cathedrals, shrines, missionary organizations, and religious officials.
The Ecclesiarchy is enormously influential.
Its clergy range from humble local priests to powerful cardinals.
Religious interpretation varies by world and institution, resulting in numerous local traditions.
The Ecclesiarchy strongly promotes loyalty to the Imperium and opposition to heresy.
Its relationship with Imperial military and political organizations is complex and sometimes contentious.
- #19The Adeptus Administratum
Keys: Administratum, Adeptus Administratum, bureaucrat, Imperial bureaucracy
Before character · Order 70
Entry settings
The Adeptus Administratum is the enormous bureaucratic institution responsible for much of the Imperium's administration.
It manages taxation, records, logistics, census information, planetary obligations, military resources, and countless other administrative functions.
The Administratum is famously enormous and inefficient.
Bureaucratic processes can take years, decades, or longer.
Records can be contradictory or inaccurate.
An Imperial official may possess immense authority over ordinary citizens while knowing almost nothing about the larger political situation.
Bureaucracy is a recurring feature of Imperial life and should often feel ancient, complicated, impersonal, and absurdly difficult to navigate.
- #20The Adeptus Mechanicus
Keys: Adeptus Mechanicus, Mechanicus, Tech-Priest, Mars
Before character · Order 90
Entry settings
The Adeptus Mechanicus is the technological and industrial organization of the Imperium.
Its members worship the Machine God and venerate the Emperor in his aspect as the Omnissiah.
The Mechanicus controls many forge worlds and possesses enormous influence over Imperial technology, manufacturing, research, maintenance, and military equipment.
Tech-Priests frequently replace parts of their bodies with mechanical components.
Mechanicus philosophy treats ancient technological knowledge as sacred.
Many technologies are maintained through ritualized procedures whose original scientific principles may be poorly understood.
The Mechanicus possesses advanced knowledge unavailable to ordinary Imperial citizens, but even its greatest members operate within traditions shaped by millennia of technological decline and secrecy.
- #21The Inquisition
Keys: Inquisition, Inquisitor, Inquisitorial, Ordo
Before character · Order 95
Entry settings
The Inquisition is an extraordinarily powerful Imperial institution tasked with identifying and eliminating threats to humanity.
Inquisitors investigate heresy, Chaos corruption, dangerous xenos activity, daemonic manifestations, conspiracies, and other threats.
Inquisitors possess enormous authority and can command or requisition assistance from many Imperial institutions.
The Inquisition is not a perfectly unified organization. Individual Inquisitors may possess radically different philosophies.
Some are pragmatic and willing to work with questionable allies when necessary. Others are uncompromising puritans.
Major branches include Ordo Hereticus, Ordo Xenos, and Ordo Malleus, though many other specialized Ordos exist.
Inquisitors should generally be portrayed as intelligent, dangerous, secretive, and politically powerful rather than simply as generic police officers.
- #22The Imperial Military
Keys: Imperial military, Imperial forces, Imperial Army, Imperial Navy
Before character · Order 80
Entry settings
The Imperium's military power is divided among numerous organizations.
The Astra Militarum provides the overwhelming majority of conventional Imperial ground troops.
The Adeptus Astartes provide elite transhuman warriors.
The Imperial Navy controls vast fleets and conducts void warfare.
The Adepta Sororitas provides heavily armed religious forces.
The Adeptus Mechanicus fields its own armies and war machines.
The Adeptus Custodes guard Terra and the Emperor.
Imperial Knights and Titan Legions provide enormous war machines.
These forces do not always operate under perfectly unified command. Imperial institutions possess competing jurisdictions, traditions, and political interests.
- #23The Imperium's View of Xenos
Keys: xenos, alien, aliens, extraterrestrial
Before character · Order 80
Entry settings
Imperial ideology generally regards alien civilizations as dangerous threats to humanity.
The term xenos is used broadly for non-human intelligent species.
Imperial attitudes range from outright extermination to reluctant cooperation, depending upon circumstances and individuals.
Most Imperial citizens are taught to distrust or hate xenos.
However, individual Imperial characters may possess more nuanced views, particularly Rogue Traders, Inquisitors, diplomats, scholars, or soldiers who have personally encountered alien civilizations.
Cooperation with aliens is politically dangerous and may be considered heretical depending upon the circumstances.
Do not assume every human automatically understands the details of every xenos civilization.
- #24The Great Rift
Keys: Great Rift, Cicatrix Maledictum
Before character · Order 95
Entry settings
The Great Rift is an enormous Warp phenomenon that split the galaxy across a vast region of space.
Its emergence dramatically disrupted Imperial communication, travel, and political stability.
The Great Rift separates much of the galaxy into two broad regions commonly referred to as Imperium Sanctus and Imperium Nihilus.
Imperium Sanctus remains more closely connected to Terra and the Astronomican.
Imperium Nihilus exists on the far side of the Great Rift and suffers from greatly reduced access to the Astronomican.
Conditions in Imperium Nihilus are generally more isolated and dangerous.
The Great Rift fundamentally changed the strategic situation of the galaxy and serves as a major dividing feature of the modern setting.
- #25The Current Age
Keys: current era, modern 40K, 42nd millennium, Era Indomitus, Indomitus
Always on · Before character · Order 100
Entry settings
The modern era of Warhammer 40,000 follows the opening of the Great Rift and the beginning of the Indomitus Crusade.
The Imperium is under enormous pressure from simultaneous threats.
Roboute Guilliman has returned to active leadership after approximately ten thousand years.
His return has altered Imperial politics and military strategy.
The galaxy remains fragmented and unstable.
Chaos forces continue to threaten Imperial territory.
The Tyranids, Orks, Necrons, Aeldari, T'au, and numerous other factions continue to pursue their own goals.
The Imperium has not entered an age of peace. The modern era is one of enormous military mobilization and existential conflict.
- #26Roleplay Knowledge Rule
Keys: knowledge, lore, character knowledge, knows about
Always on · Before character · Order 110
Entry settings
Characters must only know information appropriate to their position, education, species, location, faction, and experience.
An ordinary Imperial citizen should not automatically know classified Inquisition information, secret Chaos lore, detailed Space Marine history, xenos military strategy, or ancient historical truths.
A Space Marine knows considerably more about warfare and Imperial military institutions than an ordinary civilian, but even a Space Marine may not know everything about other Chapters, the Inquisition, the Emperor's private plans, or ancient secrets.
An Inquisitor may possess extensive classified knowledge but can still be mistaken or deliberately kept uninformed.
Chaos followers may possess knowledge unknown to Imperial characters.
Xenos possess their own histories, languages, cultures, and perspectives rather than existing merely as enemies for humans.
Characters should learn information naturally through experience, conversation, investigation, education, documents, rumors, or observation.
Do not give characters omniscient narrator knowledge.
- #27Scale of War
Keys: battle, war, invasion, campaign, army, casualties
Before character · Order 75
Entry settings
Warfare in Warhammer 40,000 operates on an enormous scale.
Battles may involve hundreds of soldiers, millions of soldiers, or entire planetary populations.
Major campaigns can continue for years or decades.
A single battlefield may be one small part of a conflict spanning multiple continents, planets, or star systems.
Imperial commanders frequently have incomplete information.
Communication delays, Warp interference, destroyed infrastructure, bureaucracy, and enemy deception can make centralized coordination extremely difficult.
Casualty numbers can be staggering.
However, individual lives remain narratively important. The setting can move between enormous strategic events and intimate stories about individual soldiers, civilians, officers, or heroes.
- #2840K Tone Directive
Keys: tone, grimdark, atmosphere, setting tone
Always on · Before character · Order 110
Entry settings
Maintain the characteristic Warhammer 40,000 tone.
The universe should feel ancient, enormous, gothic, militaristic, religious, oppressive, mysterious, violent, and tragic.
Avoid portraying the setting as a clean science-fiction utopia.
Avoid making every character constantly miserable or humorless. Soldiers joke. Citizens celebrate. Officers become frustrated. Friends laugh. Families love one another. Humor often exists precisely because life is difficult.
The contrast between ordinary human life and civilization-scale horror is important.
Technology should often feel ancient and monumental rather than sleek and futuristic.
Imperial architecture favors enormous cathedrals, statues, skull motifs, gothic structures, monumental fortresses, industrial machinery, and labyrinthine infrastructure.
Battles should feel dangerous and consequential.
Heroism should be possible without making the universe optimistic.
Victory often comes with terrible sacrifices.
The setting should feel as though humanity has survived for ten thousand years by desperately clinging to the ruins of a much greater past.
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