The grim darkness of the far future

[arcanius]

Being the fanboy of warhammer40k I am, I realised something - knowing all this lore and stuff, I might as well use it to make a roleplay on it(Of course wh40k universe still belongs to games workshop)I have all the knowledge to be a storyteller on something like that, so first of all: character sheets

You may pick any of the following factions:
Imperium of mankind(For emperor and imperium)
Craftworld Eldar(Only we know the right path)
Dark Eldar(take their souls)
Tau Empire(For the greater good)
Orkz(Orkz iz meid fer to fings - fightin an winnin)
Necrons(Lucky creatures, at long last you have found the tranquility of death)
Chaos(None can stand against the coming darkness)
No tyranids cause really when you're a biolalien horde that just eats everything in its path it just doesn't leave much for roleplaying

You need to list the following things
1.Race & Faction
2.Name - please try to give a name that fits the race
3.What does your character look like - just a few sentences do nicely
4.Personality - well it's a must if this will be a character you're making
5.Backstory - if any
6.Abilities - psychic ability(psychic rank of alpha+ is locked cause it's way too powerful+your character will go mad and out of control very quickly), traits that could be useful one way or another and so on
7.Finaly - subfaction

If anyone wants to join and doesn't know anything on warhammer lore just PM me I'll explain the factions

[arcanius]

Notice:
If you're going to play as chaos you should specify your patron god(Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, Slaanesh)

[arcanius]

Story is set in an alternate Damocles Crusade

By 742.Millenium41, members of the Tau Water Caste had established trade agreements with Imperial Worlds on the frontier, near the Damocles Gulf, and exchanges of goods and technology were common. Alarmed by this, Inquisitorial investigation of the worlds in question indeed found evidence of Tau activity. The conclusion was that they represented a major threat and Cardinal Esau Gurney of Brimlock called for a Crusade to purge the aliens. The Crusade was based around a dozen capital starships of the Imperial Navy, five provisional companies of Space Marines, and nineteen Regiments of Imperial Guard, seven of them from Brimlock. The first move was towards the Timbra Sub-sector where human colonists had coexisted with the aliens. The Crusade first reasserted Imperial rule in the rebellious Garrus and Kleist colonies. Individuals implicated in dealing with the Tau were seized and punished at a special assize held before the furious Crusaders. The Imperial colonies secured, the Crusade forces moved on and engaged the Tau for the first time on their own territory in the uninhabited Hydass System.

So the two main warring factions are the imperials and the tau, and any other faction may have minor interest(Young Eldar that just go for pirate raids for example)but no major scale army, thats especaly f you're chaos seeing how tau have no psychic ability whatsoever and are of no interest to chaos(though that doesn't apply to the imperials mwahahahahahahahaaaaaa).

Now to the armies set in fighting(Note that this is alternate version and Tau may lose)

(Notable)Imperial Forces of the Damocles Crusade:

Imperial Guard
?17th Brimlock Dragoons Regiment
?19th Brimlock Dragoons Regiment
?9th Brimlock Fusiliers
?Rakarshan Rifles Regiment
?4th Storm Troopers Company

Imperial Navy
?Blade of Woe (Retribution-class Capital Ship)
?Dutchess McIntyre
?Honour of Damlass
?Lord Cedalion
?Niobe (Overlord-class Battlecruiser)
?Regent Lakshimbai (Dauntless-class Light Cruiser)

Adeptus Astartes Chapters
?Black Templars
?Iron Hands
?Novamarines
?Scythes of the Emperor
?Subjugators
?Ultramarines
?White Scars

Titan Legion
Legio Thanataris


Tau Forces:

Air Caste Forces:

Air Caste Cadre under the command of Admiral Kor’O’Li’Mau’Teng

Fire Caste Forces:

Commander Farsight - Mont’ka Cadres
Commander Shadowsun - Kauyon Cadres
Commander Bravesword - Defenders of Dal’ryu
Swords of Puretide Hunter Cadres
Kroot Mercenary Warbands

Note that a Tau Cadre represents an entire army by itself so the forces are more equal than it looks

[annoyed]

No Kroot?

[arcanius]

^ Kroot mercenary warbands, right at the bottom of Tau Forces list

[arcanius]

Here's a map of the Tau Empire

The Imperial Crusaders may initialy strike only the 3rd sphere of expansion, after the tau forces in the third sphere are either eliminated or forced to retreat you may advance to the second and so forth

[lovely corte]

Name: Sergeant Phryx Luip.
Race: Gene-Enhanced Human.
Faction: Adeptus Astartes/Ultramarines.
Appearance: images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130626181641/warhammer40k/images/thumb/1/13/Ultramarines_Artificer_Armour2.jpg/297px-Ultramarines_Artificer_Armour2.jpg
Personality: Loyal and resolute, Phryx has an unshakable faith. He is reserved and quiet, only really ever interacting on a social level with his Battle-Brothers or fellow Space Marines. He is a brutal soldier and gives no ground in a fight, going until even his gene-bred body gives out.
History: Rare for an Ultramarine, Phryx was raised from a relatively Feral-class World. He beat his trial and was given the chance to be a Space Marine. He survived and thrived. He is a Sergeant, decorated for participating in battles against the Green Menace, Chaos, during the Tyrannic War and against the Eldar Scum.
Abilities: Typical Space Marine attributes. He is also an adept hand-to-hand fighter and carries an engraved Bolter with an underslung Grenade Launcher. He carries a combat knife, almost fourteen inches. A bolt-pistol rests on his hip.

Fucking Warhammer mate. HNNNNNGH. Preh geed.

[arcanius]

Artificer armor eh?
Anyhow, glad atleast someone noticed this one

[lovely corte]

Yeah. I think that even as a Space Marine, he'd need something special. xDs.

I think It's just because not alot of people are into Warhammer. It's really... awkward to get into. It's just so expansive.

[arcanius]

Then let's bring the Emperor's Light to them

[lovely corte]

Maybe post a summary of Warhammer 40K. I'm not sure how well this will work though. I mean, Warhammer to most people is a hit or miss. ._.

[arcanius]

For me it's more than a hobby or a franchise, Warhammer has succesfuly formed its own mythology(I say succesfuly because most fictional universes usualy just end up with a little of its history a little of i'ts science and most of the "things" are just blankness that could be everything)filled with heroes, kings, monsters, tyrants, massive struggles and all the archetypes of legend etched into the Human psyche. Whether it is the Emperor's symbolism of mankind's true potential or the promises of chaos embodied in Horus and Abaddon, the eternal war of the orkz, the wisdom of the eldar or any other of the great offerings the factions present to us. We can all see? who we are and can be in the grim darkness of the far future, and that is what Warhammer 40k does that no one else ever managed

So really - From where to start and how to finish if I'm to sum it up

[lovely corte]

Maybe just lift the one from the Warhammer 40K wiki? Or a summary of Dawn of War for this? Or a summary of all the races?

[arcanius]

I don't think it could be helped for real this way, and really it's fucking warhammer 40k, a universe of badassness and a real shame(with this i meant - HERESY!!!) to claim yourself a fantasy or sci-fi fan and not knowing of it

[JW%]

Okay, honestly, I am reasonably familiar with Warhammer 40k. Reasonably, since, as you say, it is one of the absolute classics and any scifi or gaming fan should have had at least minimal exposure to it. That said, the subtleties are lost on me, as, unfortunately, I view Warhammer40k much in the same way as I do a good Death Metal song.

Musics awesome, high energy, good beat, gets my heart pumping. Cover art/band attire is impressive, sets the mood. The lyrics are unintelligible nonsense screamed at the mic as though trying too hard to get attention that all meaning is lost, and when you get down to figuring them out they're either silly in a boring way, or just boring.

Warhammer40k is the gaming version of a good Death Metal band. And like a Death Metal band I'd listen to the music, I'd admire, perhaps even emulate the art... but the lyrics are forgettable at best, annoying at worst, and ruining my enjoyment of everything else on average.

So I'd play a Warhammer40k table top game. I'd have to borrow or fake some miniatures, since I don't have a full set(and what I do have is... mix and match at best) but if nobody minds that I'm using a stack of legos as my Eldar army, the rules are sound and I'd play. The rules are, for the most part sound and well designed.

Delving into the mythos of the series however I don't find that much depth. Just enough to put a newbie(what I believe a majority of this forum is for this particular franchise) over their heads, but not enough you can really swim in. Plus, to follow the swimming metaphor, it's all sludge, so I can't really see the bottom, and it's hard to dive into. It's the grim darkness of the dark grim future that's grimly dark, yet somehow darkly grim. For a wargame setting, that's exactly the kind of fluff you need, with war being not only the single constant in the universe, but also being the only fun thing left to explore. This actually hurts the concept of roleplaying however.

With a really good GM, and some decent players, both with a good concept of what they wanted to do, it could work. But I don't see this having both of those. If you can prove me wrong, I'll join up, but right now I'm giving this a pass.

[arcanius]

Then with highest zeal I shal slay your heretical arguments.

First of all, the mythos is not a sludge, what they tell you is a sludge however, you get clues but to what they mean - thats your part. It's like a puzzle with missing parts - tell me what you see on the picture without being able complete it. It's a little on personal preference about that, but I like it this way, makes me think about how it all works together. If you just look at it in like "Well there's these dudes, and those dudes and they fight." that really isn't much of a story, but really as I said what you see isn't a story by itself, it's puzzle pieces - put them together into that story you're looking for. Sure it's difficult to delve into it, but for me that simply translates to "You dare challenge me!". So there, just put the story and mythos together from the pieces.

[arcanius]

P.S
I got just one question for you - What do you think on this one

Thats your nightmare, yes?

[Alastor]

W40k RP tends to be at its best when it's the 'not completely serious' and over the top shit the setting started out as, since the setting lore is- as JW% points out- grimdark of the darkgrim future where there is only war and chaos and the Orks (at least from my gleaming off of /tg/, not into wargames).

It's not impossible to do, but it requires a great game master and good players. Or people who like their grimdark set to 'ludicrous' speed.

Might have a few of the latter laying around.

[JW%]

Your efforts at slaying have only strengthened them.

You admit right off that what is being offered is a, metaphorical, sludge. Thick, unpleasant, and hard to dive through. Plus, very difficult to tell if there is a greater depth, or if you simply can't see further. I can't tell if there are any pieces worth assembling. The image it presents is murky at best.

Really, I don't see the Warhammer40k to be a workable roleplaying setting. For wargaming it's good. But I've seen at least one Warhammer40k movie, and it managed to do two things: Not delve into any kind of depth AND be boring. The characters were at best two dimensional, we only really saw one race(the movie follows a small squad of UltraMarines, though they do fight Chaos Marines), the plotline is at best mediocre and trite, with really no twist you couldn't see coming from before the UltraMarines set boot on the planet. That kind of scene is what I would expect of a RP really. Each character bound by either duty or madness to do only one thing, with little chance to explore their personalities or motivations and goals.

Take the one character that's already been presented.

Unshakable faith.
Only ever interacting with his Battle-Brothers or fellow Space Marines.
A brutal soldier.
Gives no ground in a fight.

That is EVERY Ultramarine(unless you're playing one that's humorously out of character, and since the only suggestion to play this setting for laughs was by Al there, I assumed you weren't). Which means that in order to have other players actually interact with this character they'd have to be carbon copies of him(quite literally given that they're clones) OR they would have to have an antagonistic relationship with him.

An antagonistic relationship that, given that Ultramarines give no ground, no quarter, no mercy(such thoughts are heretical! To give quarter to the ever creeping chaos is to destroy yourself and all others!) is going to last exactly one fight when either one or both player characters kill one another.

You outlaw the Tyranids because "they don't leave much room for roleplaying" but from my perspective that sort of complaint can be applied almost equally across the board for everyone in Warhammer40k.

Warhammer40k is great for wargaming. You take a broader look as the commander of an army or larger. You can look at the vast reaches of the setting and you can see the story of nations and history playing out. You can see the rise of power and the spread of empires. But zooming in on the details, getting down to just the individual, you have nothing. They're not even cogs in the great machine, they are molecules chained together to make that cog.

Oh, the music video is kinda cool. The artwork is neat if random, and the actual music is blood pumping and enjoyable. The lyrics however are nonsensical voice clips or screamed in a language I don't even understand(and a translation is provided showing that they're just as nonsensical but could at least have been considered lyrical had they not been simply screamed with no rhythm) and are an annoyance that brings the whole thing down.

I much prefer the Sisters of Battle song by I believe that same group. It's just as nonsensical, but at least it's like the female vocalists were trying for some rhythm in their own voices. Or the Necrons, which has the male vocalists actually singing and matching the rhythm of the instruments. Which, amusingly, probably means that neither of the songs actually qualify as 'Death Metal' any more. The Necrons. Not Death. Heh.

It's not a nightmare. Heck the Seduced by Deamonettes is worse, since in that you get both the male and female vocalists, the females managing sultry lyrical and rhythmic tones while the males are yelling themselves hoarse with no effort put into rhythm or tonality. Where the enjoyment of the piece is potentially fulfilling(like Battle Sisters or Necrons), which makes the sharp grating addition all the more obvious and drags the whole thing to the point where I just grow bored with it and tune it out.

Now, if you enjoy that sort of thing, hey, more power too you. You're far from the only one. But I'm giving the reason why I don't think I can participate in this. Others might be able to.

[arcanius]

Thats your personal opinion, I assembled it and I actually managed to get a pretty clear picture. IF you're going to go out with the Ultramarines movie - then give up, everyone including the fanbase agrees it was mediocre at best(IF you ask me the only truly good piece was the soundtrack), next - if you're looking at the ultrasmurfs for character... NO, just NO. They are plain boring, go to the Space Wolves or something if you want a difference. I'm just saying - You should probably read the books, believe it or not, games and movies on Warhammer(Well I kinda lied here - Dow 2 actually does have some story and character - Cyrus was epic. Also Space Marine, it could have been easier to make them just character-less killing machines, but really everyone but Leandros(Who was a shallow traditional ultra)had distinct identity.) are not known for story and character.

[lovely corte]

I sorta' have to agree. I've based my guy off what the general archetype of a Space Marine is. While that doesn't really open up much grounds for roleplaying, I've been in one or two others that have succeeded at doing so and is more so just about the execution of it all than the actual roleplay.

And don't ever look to the Warhammer movies for anything above shitty fight scenes. If you want the more in-depth portrayal of character and all that gubbins, you want the Horus Heresy books. They're alot more about personality than just Space Marine kills everyone.

However, if you want to argue that Warhammer isn't about the individual, outside of the games, It really is. Everything in the book series usually follows an individual and his group of friends/enemies in the grand scheme of tihngs.

But if you really want a more personal touch, and this is an RP I was in before, try doing Warhammer: Rogue Trader.

It's pretty much the exact same thing, but less war and more about space pirates and aliens with the Warhammer mythos and legend. There isn't really going to be much grand one million kills one million battles, but It could make for a good RP.

[JW%]

Okay then, since we all seem to be in agreement on why this wouldn't work, I should probably switch to something more constructive.

First of all, looking through your first few posts, you posit this as being an "Alternate" telling of events. Just how "Alternate" are we going to go? I mean, it's entirely possible that we just have the same setup as the Damocles Crusade and as such the only difference is in the choices that the commanders make in order to alter the flow of the battle and either remain "histroically" true, or take things off in a direction of our choosing. Your listing out of troop allotments and battlefields(the comment that "Imperial Crusaders may initialy strike only the 3rd sphere" strongly implies that you want the player characters to play as either the Imperial Crusaders or the Tau Forces. And that we should be commanders.

However, you left open the option for players to play as Eldar, Necron, Orkz, or Chaos. None of whom I believe have all that great a reason to be involved, though a creative player who knows the setting might manage to slip them in "just to be unique".

Looking at the one character that has been accepted thus far, we can assume that is the kind of character you want to see more of: Imperium of Man UltraMarine. He's only a sergeant however, which if I'm not mistaken is not high authority. Which means that, in order for there to be that much nonantagonistic interacting and roleplaying going on, most of the rest of the characters need to be Imperium of Man and ground troops. A Sister of Battle or Inquisitor might fit into the unit, but the Eldar Pirate idea seems right out. Likewise, no Tau(since they are the foes of the Imperium for this crusade).

In short, you've got some contradictions there. UltraMarines wouldn't know or care about what sphere of expansion they were on or what was going to be struck next(infact, in their zelotry they probably would actively avoid learning, since a rogue psyker could get the information from them. Not that the Tau have psykers... right? Just that the Imperium knows how to deal with such scum), so you have a map there that's unneeded.

Clear up a few of those contradictions, get a more focused vision on what you want this game to be and what kind of story you want to tell, and we might have something here. A Warhammer: Rogue Trader or a Warhammer: ludicrous speed as have been suggested could work well. Conversely, a replaying of the Damocles Crusade would also work, though you should narrow down the potential player characters.

Remember, I'm willing to bet that most of the posters on this forum aren't familiar with Warhammer(Or Scifi in general, you'll note I tried to start a StarTrek RP and most of them didn't know what a Klingon was). You might have to walk them through what an Artificer Armor is or what their choices for Imperium(or whatever faction you wish to represent) character would be. Heck, you might have to explain what an UltraMarine is.

Fortunately, if you've narrowed down the scope, rather than listing off the major races, most of whom won't be appearing, you can just list off what a player character is reasonably expected to be.

[arcanius]

First thing first - I do intend a few additions that are going to require chaos forces and probably orkz. The Damocles crusade actually was ended by Hive Fleet Kraken and I'm keeping that part leaving imperials with a deadline of completion, also leaving the tyranids to be a full "NPC" faction was partly for this reason. Although I'd admit most of it will be focused on the crusade, but then there is the fact that Eldar Pirates are also mercenaries and the existance of his pesky this possibility of hiring them for either side(Yes Imperials have employed Eldar mercs, hell there was even that case with an mercenary ork commander behind imperial forces, so don't you argue with Xenos and inquisition stuff here.), that I think is quite a good reason to play an Eldar(Or Ork for that matter). Plus, In lore the damocles gulf crusade was an initial attack on the third sphere so even if we're following an alternate story - the setup begins the same way. So reasonably Orkz and Eldar are allowed pretty well to be seen in the battle, Dark Eldar I left there just in case if someone was a fan of the hedonistic psycho killers, And there are a few worlds in Tau Space that are Necron Tombs, imagine what could happen if an army of them were to awaken.

On Star Trek... Hell really, who dafuq doesn't know about Star Trek(And there goes my hope of joining the ancient holy wars Star Wars VS Star Trek on behalf of the latter.)Thats literaly common knowledge in the geek culture.

[JW%]

Okay then.

So we have the idea that all player characters are going to be Imperium or working for the Imperials.

So introduce the Imperium of Man. Explain WHY the Tau(who are the nearest to "good guys" the grimdark setting has) deserve this grand crusade launched against them. Give a listing of what kind of characters you expect to see. Do you want the commanders of the notable forces, or do you want this to be a more intimate look at a single team, which may or may not be working with mercenary Xeno forces(and may face an Inquisition because of it)?

[arcanius]

IMPERIUM OF MANKIND

The Imperium of Man is a galactic empire under which the majority of humanity is united. The founder and ruler of the Imperium is the god-like Emperor of Mankind, the most powerful human psychic(Psychics are pretty much mages under another name) to date. Founding the Imperium ten thousand years ago, he continues, at least nominally, to lead it.

The Imperium is the largest and most powerful political entity in the galaxy, consisting of at least a million worlds, which are dispersed across most of the Milky Way Galaxy. As a stellar empire, the size of the Imperium cannot be measured in terms of continuous territory, but only in the number of planetary systems in its control.

Several aliens and powers - the forces of Chaos, Tyranids, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks, Tau, Necrons - challenge the supremacy of the Imperium. From within, mankind is threatened more insidiously by rebellion, mutation, dangerous psykers, and subversive cults. Without the protection provided by the Imperium, humans would almost surely fall prey to the countless perils that threaten them.

The disparate and widespread nature of Imperial territory means that a strongly centralised government would be unfeasible. The Imperium divides the galaxy into five administrative zones called Segmentae Majoris, but we'll be looking only at one of them:
Ultima Segmentum - the largest province of all; its furthest extents are beyond the range of the Astronomican. This is also the place where the Tau Empire threatens the "eastern" fringes of the imperium.

The Imperium was founded by the Emperor, also called The Immortal Emperor, God-Emperor, and the Master of Mankind, at the end of the Age of Strife - a very long period of anarchy, war, and destructive regression which brought humanity to the brink of destruction and reversed the immense technological achievements made during the Dark Age of Technology.

As the Warp storms of the Age of Strife subsided, after having secured the scientific posts and spacedocks of Luna, along with the factories and scientists on Mars, the Emperor began to unite mankind under his rule. A vast navy was built, with which his armies undertook the Great Crusade, which lasted for about two centuries.

During this two hundred year-long military campaign, the Emperor employed his most potent military units, the Space Marine Legions, led by their leaders, the Primarchs. These, combined with the might of the Imperial Army (which was later separated into the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy), brought thousands of human worlds together under the Imperium. The Great Crusade ended with the corruption and treachery of the Primarch Horus, the instigator of the Horus Heresy.

The rebellion was fought across the galaxy. Horus, seeking to achieve a swift and decisive victory, led most of the traitor forces in a direct strike at the capital of humanity, in the Battle of Terra. In the final decisive battle between the Emperor and the Arch-Traitor, Horus was slain, leading to the breakup of the rebellion. However the Master of Mankind was himself mortally wounded. According to his instructions he was placed on the life-preserving Golden Throne, where, for nearly ten thousand years, he has remained. Though physically a carcass incapable of movement or communication, his omnipotent will extends across the million worlds of the Imperium, beaming the psychic energy of the Astronomican, soul-binding psychic humans and struggling against the daemons of the Warp. He endures by his undying will, and by the sustenance that only the souls of sacrificial psykers can provide. By the numberless masses of humanity he is worshipped as a god.

The culture of the Imperium can be said to be cosmopolitan in that no two worlds are exactly alike. Making all these disparate cultures into one that owes fealty to one source - Earth - is in itself difficult. Some general statements may be made, but the scale and variety of the Imperium defies even these. However the Imperium does have a unifying language, many worlds have Latin or Hihg Gothic as a first or second lenguage.

TAU EMPIRE

The Tau empire is a rapidly expanding empire situated inside of the Ultima Segmentum, near the Eastern Fringe. Founded by the Ethereals, who lead the Tau empire in the name of the Greater Good. Several alien races (Kroot, Vespid, among others) have allied themselves with the Tau.

The Tau empire borders the Imperium, and lies within the reach of the Astronomican. It has suffered many raids from the Orks, and also seems to lie in the path of several splinter fleets of Hive Fleet Kraken.

The exact date of founding of the Tau empire is unclear, however the reasons behind its foundation are. In Tau prehistory, they lived in tribes on the desert plains, hunting and gathering their food. As their race aged, they expanded to all environments of T'au, adapting to each new environment. The Tau of the plains became strong and skilful hunters, larger and stronger than most other Tau. The Tau of the mountains developed the ability to soar high above the baking deserts on thermals. The Tau of the river valleys developed agriculture and metallurgy, forming the first true settlements. The development of settlements led to the need of trade, and wandering Tau began to negotiate and mediate between the disparate tribes. During the 35th Millennium, an Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleet Land's Vision, had discovered the Tau homeworld and determined that its population were a primitive people at the Stone Age level of development who had mastered the use of primitive weapons and fire. However shortly after this, a violent Warp-storm erupted around the planet. This continued for 6,000 years, making the Tau's homeworld utterly inaccessible.

For some unknown reason Tau technological advancement preceded at unusually rapid rate then would be expected for a newly emergent race. The Tau of the river valleys developed the first fortresses and crude blackpowder weapons to ward off the aggressive Tau of the plains. During this time inter-tribal conflict escalated. These fledgeling skirmishes led to the darkest period in Tau history, the Mont'au during the end of the 37th Millennium. The numerous wars that broke out lasted for years. Each year thousands died, squalid conditions and lack of access to fresh food and water created a plague that killed more Tau than were dying in the wars. The Tau were on the verge of wiping themselves out.

During this time, the Tau legends tell of the first appearance of Ethereals at Fio'taun. The Tau builder fortress city of Fio'taun was under siege by an alliance of warriors from the plains and air Tau. Though negotiation had been attempted, the fierce plain warriors would settle for nothing less than the annihilation of Fio'taun. For five long years the inhabitants held off the savage assaults with their thick walls and plentiful cannon. However, disease and starvation began to take their toll. As the tide of the siege turned, two mysterious Tau appeared. One made his way into the camp of the plain Tau, exuding a quiet authority that no Tau was able to resist. Soon, the leader of the plain warriors was persuaded to parley with the Tau of Fio'taun. Similarly, the other mysterious Tau made his way deep into the fortress. Within a few short hours, the gates stood wide open, and the Tau stood ready to talk.

The Ethereals spoke of the importance of peace and understanding between all Tau. They described a Greater Good that each Tau must strive towards. The besiegers and the besieged quickly agreed with the Ethereals and a truce was reached. Across T'au, Ethereals emerged, each with the same quiet authority and message of harmony and cooperation. With the Tau united, the Tau empire was founded.

Over the next thousand years the Tau empire experienced an unprecedented period of scientific discovery and philosophical advancement. The Tau empire continued to expand its border at a fast rate through a series of Expansion Phases. The Tau empire has gone through Spheres of Expansion These phases are a period of several Tau military campaigns during which nearby worlds are colonised, conquered, or sometimes peacefully persuaded to join the Greater Good. Therefore, apart from the star systems of the Tau, which are called Septs, the Tau Empire also incorporated worlds and star systems belonging to the Kroot, Vespid, and the Nicassar, who were the first race to join the empire and survive (as plague conviniently several generations after joining the Tau wiped out the Poctroon). It is currently unknown if the Demiurg are full members, allies, or mere trading partners. The empire is composed by over twenty fully developed septs and around one hundred settled worlds, but the exact number and most of their names are unknown.

When the Tau encounter a new alien species, the Ethereals direct each of the Castes preforms a designated role to bring them into the Empire's fold. The world is first scanned by the Air Caste and those classified as desirable are investigated further, and if a sentient alien race is discovered the Water Caste sends ambassadors to make trade deals, defense pacts, and offer advanced technologies built for them by the Earth Caste. However should all these efforts fail to persuade the planet to join with them in the Greater Good, it will fall to the Fire Caste to forcibly absorb the world into the Tau Empire. Only the stubborn and warlike Orks have been denied the offer to join the Greater Good, for the Tau abandoned their futile attempts to absorb the Orks after many battles convinced the Ethereals that bargaining with them was impossible.

The Tau made first contact with the Humanity shortly after the Second Sphere of Expansion in the form of free captains, pirates, and lost colonies. They had regressed so far that they knew not of the outside galaxy. These planets were eventually peacefully assimilated or forcibly subdued, but it took the Water Caste time to realize that these worlds were just the outer fringes of an unimaginably vast inter-stellar empire, the Imperium of Man. However thanks to the wisdom of Aun'va, the Fire Caste calls for war with mankind were averted and the Tau embarked on a subtle campaign of trade and diplomacy with Planetary Governors to absorb further human worlds. The Imperium's response to these activities was slow, but when it did come, it was characteristically brutal and the first wars between the Imperium and Tau Empire began.

The Imperium really has more reasons for attacking the tau(For starters, the Tau have this mysterious trait of causing incorporated humans to slowly dissappear generation after generation meaning only one thing - they sterilize the human population)but this will suffice I think.

[Penny Royals]

I'll just pop in here...

Can I suggest (again) that before you make this, you join some more RPs so that we can get to know you? It's nothing against you, just that I'm pretty sure all of us would feel much more comfortable going into an already shaky area if we knew more about your style of RPing - after all this RP seems like it needs to be BIG and needs a lot of massive commitment.

[Alastor]

It'd probably help to phase most of us into 40k, since next to none of us are into it.

[arcanius]

Sept 18, 2013 14:15:39 GMT -8 Penny Royals said:

I'll just pop in here...

Can I suggest (again) that before you make this, you join some more RPs so that we can get to know you? It's nothing against you, just that I'm pretty sure all of us would feel much more comfortable going into an already shaky area if we knew more about your style of RPing - after all this RP seems like it needs to be BIG and needs a lot of massive commitment.

PM some suggestions?

[arcanius]

Sept 18, 2013 14:31:07 GMT -8 Alastor said:

It'd probably help to phase most of us into 40k, since next to none of us are into it.

Just out of curiosity, how do you intend to do that, I mean it's not really an easy job to integrate people into a fictional universe(Technicaly speaking galaxy but it's still quite a tough one)

[JW%]

I would suggest starting with something understandable and relatable, and building upwards from there...

I'm still trying to be constructive on this, but I'm not sure how helpful I'm actually being.

To summarize(and vastly oversimplify) the plot:

An Empire of passive aggressive Xenos(aliens) on the edge of Human territory, that shouldn't be there, is capturing human worlds with words of "Peace" and "Trade". Investigations have shown this is a Bad Thing. War has been declared to stop this Orwellian nightmare and reclaim the territory. Our heroes are sent in knowing that things are not what they seem and confident they can bring the Light of the Emperor to these heretical surrender monkeys and heathan Xenos scum, but not knowing just how tense their struggle will really be...

Player Characters should create a character who is either a part of the Imperium of Man, or is allied with the Imperium for this battle(allowing for Eldar, Orkz or whatever if the player wants). They will likely need to be within(insert highest rank desired) and (insert lowest rank desired). If the game is supposed to take place within an intimate setting, say a single unit, then highest rank would be the unit commander. If the game is supposed to have a broader scope then the lower grunts wouldn't be included as potential player characters.

Suggested player roles include:
(Once we've worked out the scope, list off a few Imperium of Man units that fit withn in it. As examples and suggestions only.)

That should cover the faction, subfaction, and appearance(though "beneath the armor" appearances can be added at the players desire). Which leaves the player to figure out name and personality(both within the standards previously set).


... and this seriously means that unless you really want this to take a swing for the silly, my Necron Diplomat is not going to be allowed...