Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay

Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay is a series of products published by Fantasy Flight Games. As the name suggests, it comprises a system (actually several systems) of role-playing games in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

The roots of the system go quite a ways back, all the way back to the Inquisitor role-playing game published by Games Workshop's Specialist Games division. The idea of role-playing in the grim, dark future was itself seeded by Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, which allowed role-playing in the grim, dark past.

All of the games published have a similar core system, with the stats of Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Strength, Toughness, Agility, Intelligence, Perception, Willpower, and Fellowship (which are themselves based on the stats of the Warhammer 40,000 wargame), and a roll under d100 system for dice rolls, but otherwise have grown slightly apart, especially as later systems include fixes for weaknesses of the others.

Systems

Though the game-lines seem to be spreading faster than Orks, here are the systems so far:

• Dark Heresy, in which you serve an Inquisitor and investigate possibly-heretical goings-on. Prepare to die a lot.

• Rogue Trader, in which you are a Rogue Trader (or a member of the retinue of one). You sail around the Imperium and try to make lots of money.

• Deathwatch, in which you are a Space Marine serving in the Deathwatch. You kill xenos for the Emperor.

• Black Crusade, in which you get to be the heretic, either a Cultist or a full-blown Chaos Space Marine. You fight the servants of the Corpse God, and each other, trying to become a Daemon Prince.

• Only War, in which you are a member of the Imperial Guard. Prepare to die even more.

Fa/tg/uys at Work

Although we don't know who, it's quite clear that someone working on the books is a regular reader of /tg/. This has been made evident with printed mentions of LIIVI, Castus Grendel and Alice Boone in rulebooks and supplements, which have effectively made these /tg/ creations actual 40K canon. Godspeed, you crazy fucking bastard.

Evidence

• 
  Exhibit A: Dark Heresy: Ascension
• 
  Exhibit B: The Radical’s Handbook
• 
  Exhibit C: Navis Primer

See Also

• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, the fantasy counterpart (now also published by Fantasy Flight Games)