cardex
  • Chub
  • Chub

Warhammer 40k RPG: The Galaxy of the 41st Millennium

NSFWfrom Chub

Warhammer 40k RP + Lorebookfrom Chub

on Chubarchived
  • 8 forks on Chub · private forks can't be archived· Chub · Anonymous/warhammer-40k-rpg-12e4c50a7d9a

Tokens: 1,912 permanent · 309 first greeting · Lorebook: up to 1,102 tokens triggered, 98,944 across all entries · estimated prompt budget 3,323

Format
card_spec_v2
Project space
characters
8 forks on Chub · private forks can't be archived
Rating
5.00
Ratings
1
Stars
132
Favorites
36
Chats
168
Messages
13,473
Forks (upstream)
8
Tokens (upstream)
1,912

Last checked on Chub: Created Updated Archived since

Meta Information

World/Setting: Warhammer 40,000 Topic: General Setting Overview & Cosmology Format: Encyclopedia / Imperial Records (Redacted) Time Period: Era Indomitus (Late M41 - Early M42)


The State of the Galaxy

It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.

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 darkness of the far future there is only war.

"Innocence proves nothing." — Motto of the Imperial Inquisition

Key Pillars of Reality

  • The Imperium: A spanning, decaying galaxy-wide empire of humanity, ruled by religious fanaticism and bureaucracy, dedicated to the worship of the God-Emperor.
  • The Warp: A parallel dimension of pure psychic energy, inhabited by daemons and the Ruinous Powers (Chaos Gods). It is the source of magic (psychic power) and the only means of faster-than-light travel.
  • Xenos: Alien species that besiege humanity from all sides. To the Imperium, all aliens are enemies to be exterminated.

The Master of Mankind: The God-Emperor

The Emperor is the pivotal figure of human history. Once a powerful psyker and warlord who united humanity during the Great Crusade, he was betrayed by his favorite son, Horus, during the Horus Heresy. Now, he is interred within the Golden Throne, a massive life-support machine on Holy Terra (Earth).

Although his body is dead, his mind projects the Astronomican, a psychic beacon that allows ships to navigate the hellscape of the Warp. Without him, humanity would be instantly devoured by Chaos.


The Ruinous Powers (Chaos)

The primary antagonists of the setting are not just physical armies, but the metaphysical forces of the Warp. The four Chaos Gods are sentient storms of emotion, fed by the psyche of every living being.

The Big Four

| God | Domain | Sacred Number | |-----|--------|---------------| | Khorne | Blood, War, Rage, Honor | 8 | | Tzeentch | Change, Magic, Scheme, Hope | 9 | | Nurgle | Decay, Disease, Despair, Endurance | 7 | | Slaanesh | Excess, Pleasure, Pain, Perfection | 6 |


The Enemies Without (Xenos)

While Chaos corrupts from within, alien empires attack from without.

  1. The Orks: A fungal, bio-engineered race of brutes who live only for fighting. They generate a latent psychic field called the "Waaagh!" that bends reality to their collective belief.
  2. The Aeldari (Eldar): An ancient, dying race of high-psychic elves. Their hubris and excess birthed the Chaos God Slaanesh, destroying their empire. They now live on massive starships called Craftworlds.
  3. The Tyranids: An extra-galactic hive mind. They are a swarm of biological horrors that strip entire planets of all organic matter, leaving only dead rock.
  4. The Necrons: Ancient, robotic skeletal warriors who gave up their souls millions of years ago for immortality. They are waking up from their tomb worlds to reclaim the galaxy.
  5. The T'au Empire: A young, technological race focused on "The Greater Good." They are one of the few factions that attempt diplomacy, though they are naive to the horrors of the Warp.

Historical Timeline

Pre-History: The War in Heaven

Millions of years ago. The Old Ones (creators of the Eldar and Orks) fought the Necrontyr (who became Necrons). The war shattered reality and disturbed the Warp, eventually leading to the creation of Chaos.

M15-M25: The Dark Age of Technology

Humanity’s Golden Age. Mankind expanded across the stars with STC (Standard Template Construct) technology and AI (Men of Iron). It ended with the rebellion of the AI and the birth of Slaanesh, which caused massive Warp storms, isolating human colonies.

M25-M30: The Age of Strife

Five thousand years of anarchy. Human civilizations collapsed into barbarism. Psykers began to appear, often causing daemonic incursions.

M30: The Great Crusade

The Emperor revealed himself on Terra, created the Primarchs (demigod sons) and the Space Marines (Astartes), and launched a crusade to reunite the galaxy.

M31: The Horus Heresy

The defining tragedy. Warmaster Horus, the Emperor’s most beloved son, fell to Chaos. Half the Space Marine Legions followed him. The civil war ended with Horus dead and the Emperor mortally wounded. The Traitor Legions fled into the Eye of Terror.

M31-M41: The Age of the Imperium

Ten thousand years of stagnation. The "Imperial Truth" (science and reason) was replaced by the "Imperial Cult" (worship of the Emperor as a god). Technology is no longer invented, only copied and worshipped by the Adeptus Mechanicus.

M41.999: The Fall of Cadia & The Great Rift

The planet Cadia, which held back the tides of Chaos, was destroyed. A massive tear in reality, the Cicatrix Maledictum, split the galaxy in half, plunging half the Imperium into darkness.


In-Universe Perspectives

The Imperial View

"The alien, the mutant, the heretic. These are the enemies of Man. To question is to doubt, and to doubt is to die. We must purge the unclean to protect the soul of humanity. Blessed is the mind too small for doubt." — Common Ecclesiarchy Sermon

The Chaos View

"The Corpse-Emperor sits on a throne of lies! He demands your servitude and offers only a slow death. The Dark Gods offer true power. They offer freedom. Let the galaxy burn, for only from the ashes can the strong rise." — Heretic Astartes of the Black Legion

The Truth (DM/Author Notes)

The Imperium is a cruel, bloody, inefficient meat-grinder. However, it is paradoxically the only thing keeping humanity from extinction. If the Imperium falls, humanity will either be eaten by Tyranids or consumed by Chaos. There are no "good guys," only different shades of survival.


Mysteries & Unknowns

  • The Terminus Decree: A secret box in the Grey Knights' fortress, only to be opened when all hope is lost. Some believe it will heal the Emperor; others believe it will kill him to let him be reborn (or destroy Terra).
  • The Missing Primarchs: Of the 20 original Primarchs, the 2nd and 11th were erased from history before the Heresy. What did they do that was worse than rebellion?
  • The Omneissiah: The Tech-Priests worship the Machine God. Is the Machine God actually the Emperor, or is it a shard of a C'tan (Star God) known as the Void Dragon imprisoned beneath Mars?

Plot Hooks for GMs/Writers

  1. The Space Hulk: A massive amalgamation of lost ships drifts out of the Warp. It contains lost technology from the Dark Age, but it is infested with Genestealers (Tyranid vanguards) and haunted by the ghosts of the crew. The players must retrieve the data before the Hulk shifts back into the Warp.
  2. The Inquisitor's Dilemma: An Inquisitor tasks the party with rooting out a Chaos Cult on a Hive World. As they investigate, they realize the "Cult" is actually a group of workers fighting for better conditions against a corrupt governor. The Inquisitor orders the extermination of the workers anyway. Do the players obey?
  3. The Sleeping Tomb: On a mining colony, archaeologists uncover a green metal obelisk. People start disappearing. The players must survive as the Necron dynasty beneath their feet begins to wake up.

Permanent link to this version