SaintRigger Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 I rather like the 40k fluff - being a history buff - so it's neat to see where they start pulling references from and how they apply them to their universe. It's like a bit of an easter egg hunt for me. That and I really like the gritty, pulpy gothich sci-fi feel and I especially like british sci-fi as it tends to be so dark and bleak. With that said, will I play a 40k RPG? Probably not, but if the fluff and art in the books is suitably good enough, I might pick some up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranzadule Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Saint Rigger, if you haven't yet, read Hawkmoon and the Chronicles of Castle Brass. Not only is it some of the classic and best sci-fantasy out there, but it was ripped off by GW to such a degree that it is no wonder they put out a line of licensed Melniboneans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRigger Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 OK! I also love the fact that GW heavily borrowed from the Dune series as well as the older 2000AD comics like Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper. I can't get enough of that stuff. :) Mix that in with english history, add a dash of WWI and a pinch of catholicism. Stir and let simmer with the History of Rome and you have a pretty good basis for 40k. Season to taste. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant_Crunch Posted March 21, 2006 Author Share Posted March 21, 2006 See, for me the goth feel was something that has always been a bit of a turn-off. I didn't realize at the time when I started wargaming that there was anything other than 40k and WHFB. That and I've never really been a big fan of mixing the mystical with the technological. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanite Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 See, for me the goth feel was something that has always been a bit of a turn-off. I didn't realize at the time when I started wargaming that there was anything other than 40k and WHFB. That and I've never really been a big fan of mixing the mystical with the technological. Bingo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokingwreckage Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Asimov's Foundation and Empire. Strip out the hokey political-religious crud and 40K is Foundation and Empire. The mystical annoys me because it's so poorly thought out. Change, Decay, War, and Naughty Sexy Things as the four incarnations of evil? Come ON. None of them make it past "ambiguous" on my evil-o-meter. In fact all but War I find either necessary or rather appealing.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlavanish Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Asimov's Foundation and Empire. Strip out the hokey political-religious crud and 40K is Foundation and Empire. The mystical annoys me because it's so poorly thought out. Change, Decay, War, and Naughty Sexy Things as the four incarnations of evil? Come ON. None of them make it past "ambiguous" on my evil-o-meter. In fact all but War I find either necessary or rather appealing.... Haha. Chaos has already worked its fingers deep into you . . . Ambiguousness is part of what I like about the 40K universe. Which is more evil - Chaos or the Empire? Hard to tell. What is evil anyway? Just a difference of opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant_Crunch Posted March 21, 2006 Author Share Posted March 21, 2006 Anyhoo, WRT to the 40k RPG, the reason I got out RPGs to begin with was that most of our sessions had pretty much degenerated into exercises in small unit tactics, regardless of which game we were playing. So I figured I might as well give up the pretense of role-playing and just play wargames. Though I'm starting to find myself becoming interested in some of the newer systems out there as well as the D20 future stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erion Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Actually, chaos has never actually been defined as "evil" in 40k. It's the antithesis of everything the Imperium stands for, but the Imperium isn't all shiny goodness, either. If anything, the only "Good" force in 40k is the Tau Empire, and even they seem to be conquering both by force and subterfuge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRigger Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Thats another thing I like, there is no "good" - just order and disorder. The Imperium is so rigid in it's enforcement of order that it's really an opressive fascist regime, but allowing the other side of the coin has the potential to be so much worse. It's one of those, we were pretty lax and we ended up in the Age of Strife, followed by the Horus Heresey so lets not go down that road again. Chaos may seem liberating, but in essence it has more of a capacity of enslavement by pandering to the baser side of human nature like anger, desire, curriosity etc... and it is what did the Eldar empire in. The Tau are akin to where "we" were before the Age of Strife in a period of exploration and imperialism but even they have their darker side of conquest. They are really akin to the Roman Empire in that they conquer and then make citizens of the Tau Empire - but they do it in a blind fashion and are slaves to "The Greater Good" I think the Orks are pretty pure as far as a race go. They just do their orky thing which is make big loud dangerous things and get in fights. Nothing more, nothing less. They aren't in it to carve out an empire or support some "higher cause". They just go where the fighting is best because it's what they enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranzadule Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 It's been a while but I seem to remember either from Elric or Corum, that Chaos, Law and Balance all need each other. If Law wins and there is no Chaos or Balance, then there is stagnation. If Chaos wins, eventually every new possibility is rapidly exhausted and the ultimate end is stagnation as there is nothing new to do. In Tanelorn, the Balance and peace makes is inhabitants restless so it appears that the perfect balance is to have things moving back and forth slightly out of balance as the struggle of life is the important thing, not the result of the struggle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRigger Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 It's been a while but I seem to remember either from Elric or Corum, that Chaos, Law and Balance all need each other. If Law wins and there is no Chaos or Balance, then there is stagnation. If Chaos wins, eventually every new possibility is rapidly exhausted and the ultimate end is stagnation as there is nothing new to do. In Tanelorn, the Balance and peace makes is inhabitants restless so it appears that the perfect balance is to have things moving back and forth slightly out of balance as the struggle of life is the important thing, not the result of the struggle. Yeah, it's a neat balance like light and dark, or yin and yang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Jim Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 the tyranids aren't evil either. they're just hungry, and everything is lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokingwreckage Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Must be why I like the tyranids...... I could go onto why I don't think they got the Order Vs Chaos thing right too, but yeah, that is what they're aiming for AFAIK: The Empire is Order (at least much of it is) and cares nothing for humanity, really. The universe also lends itself to replaying the mindset of some places and periods in Europe and the New World when people were so paranoid of Satan and his agents that they self-destructed. 40K does have a couple of elements that are really handy from a GM point of view: alomst infinite worlds, an undisclosed number of human and nonhuman subfactions, stacks of secret societies, and the Warp. Between all those the GM can pretty much do what he wants and mess with the players any old how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axegrrl Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 I am expecting to see typical Green Ronin quality (i.e., pretty dang good) along with typical GW production quality (lavish) and pricing (yikes). That's what we got with the WFRPG. Seems like a good game (have played 2 sessions of it). But, due to the prices GW slapped on the main book vs. the quantity of info/number of pages included in it, we've decided to not buy further books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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